Page 308 of Every Almost

"Really?"

Then Reyna’s mouth curved, barely.

“You’re smiling,” Charlie said.

“So are you.”

“I am not.”

“Oh, yes you are. Right...” And Reyna lifted her hand to touch the corner of Charlie's mouth before placing a chaste kiss against her. "Here."

"That doesn't mean anything," Charlie teased.

"It means that what I'm feeling, you're feeling, and that's..."

"Different."

Reyna laughed. "Different is not the word I would have used."

"Oh?" Charlie asked. "What word would you have used then?"

"Plenty come to mind."

"Is that so?"

"Mm hmm."

"Like what?"

"Like..." Charlie watched Reyna ponder the question. "Like 'mesmerizing.'"

"Mesmerizing," Charlie deadpanned.

"It seems to be a very popular word among this ship as of late," Reyna quipped. "Before it was 'incredible.'"

"I kept telling you the ship was impressive. Incredible was the best word to have on hand!"

Reyna laughed in Charlie's arms. "So defensive," she teased.

"You still seem to be tracking my vocabulary with impressive exactitude," Charlie retorted.

Reyna's laugh escalated, and Charlie felt it vibrate through her whole body.

Charlie kissed her to end the argument. Reyna laughed once against her mouth, but the sound disappeared when Charlie’s fingers moved again.

The rose felt different beneath her touch without being raised from the skin, a faint change Charlie couldn’t have measured or mapped, almost a pull against her fingertips, as though the markings were beckoning her hand closer.

Charlie followed them. Over Reyna’s shoulder, down the curve of her side, back toward the light burning above her heart.

Everywhere Charlie touched, Reyna answered with a catch in her breath, fingers tightening in Charlie’s hair, her legs drawing Charlie closer as though even the smallest distance between them had become unbearable

She’d wanted Reyna for so long from a distance. Across consoles and tables and the narrow stretches of corridor. She’d built an entire private language out of glances and accidental touches, then spent months convincing herself she’d invented instance.

But despite all of that preparation, none of it had primed her for how Reyna responded to her, the woman who held entire rooms steady trembling beneath Charlie’s hands, coming apart in small, beautiful increments and letting Charlie feel each one.

Charlie kissed her harder. The rose flared where their bodies met, and Reyna’s need moved through Charlie again, stealing her breath, enough to know it was deeper than wanting alone.

“Does it always do this?” Charlie asked against Reyna's mouth.