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32
Archer
Idon’t know what wakes me up. It’s still dark out and my alarm hasn’t gone off yet. We have to get up early to head to Aspen Street to make sure everything is ready to go and there aren’t any last-minute emergencies. There always are. Someone doesn’t have enough power cords, or an entire batch of cupcakes gets thrown at Janette’s husband.
That one happened at last year’s Beltane festival. Janette runs the island bakery, Fairy Cakes. When her husband Jim came home drunk as a skunk the night before the festival, they got into a huge row that ended with her cupcakes being used as a weapon. I’m really hoping nothing like that goes down this year. I can already tell I won’t have the patience today.
The warmth of Lena’s body wraps around me. I’ve never wanted to sleep with someone tucked against me all night, not until her. Now I can’t imagine sleeping any other way. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had as good of a night's sleep as I’ve had on the nights we’ve spent together. I never want to sleep without her again.
She’s curled up against my side, her leg propped over my thigh and her hand resting over my heart. I can only see the top of her head, but I can tell she’s awake. Her breathing doesn’t have the pattern of sleep and her fingers keep fluttering against the bare skin of my chest. I sweep her hair back off her face, and her head tilts back so that we’re looking at each other.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No, but why are you up already? It’s early.”
“I don’t know. I can’t sleep.” Her hand presses flat against my chest. “I just have this feeling… I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Do you think it’s because of what happened at the last festival?” I lift a brow in question.
The nerves aren't unexpected. The Ostara festival ended with bloodshed and a forced bond between Miri and Davis. Normally, the worst we get from the island parties is someone puking in the streets and the occasional fistfight.
“Probably.” She exhales, her breath washing over my skin and causing goosebumps to break out all over my body. Fuck, she’s got me so damn lost for her. Lena draws a pattern on my skin, tracing the tree of life tattoo that sits just above my heart, while I let my fingers caress her arm in slow movements.
“I used to have a necklace like this.”
My heart does a dive before swooping back up and hammering wildly. “I know.”
Lena’s hand stills and she shifts, propping herself up so she can look at me without craning her neck. Her eyes search mine as if she can find an answer without asking the question. She sucks on her bottom lip, and I slide my hand through her hair, letting the silky strands glide through my fingers.
“Where’d you find this design?”
Her eyes are more violet right now, as they always seem to be when her emotions are heightened.
“There was this girl…” I smile at her, feeling stupidly shy for probably the first time in my life. The pulse in her neck is thrumming just as wildly as my heart, and I know I’m not in this alone. “I think I always loved her, even when I was trying to keep from feeling too deeply about anyone.”
“Oh. Yeah?” The words are choked out on a whisper.
“Yeah. I thought she was off-limits for too many damn reasons, but eventually, I couldn’t keep my feelings to myself.”
“Arch.”
She looks almost scared, and I ache to make her realize that there’s nothing to be afraid of.
“I love you, Lena. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I just didn’t realize how much that love changed and grew over the years. At least, not consciously.”
Her hand travels back to the tattoo, the one that is my favorite out of every piece of ink on my skin. When I got it, Ezra had side eyed me like the bastard he can occasionally be, but he kept his mouth shut. He’d recognized Lena’s necklace, too. Her dad had ripped it off her neck one night when we were teenagers and thrown it in the fire. She’d been devastated.
“I had this essential need to put this on my skin. Back then, I never questioned why, but I think I needed you close to my heart, always.”
Lena grabs my face in her hands, practically laying on top of me now, her nose touching mine.
“I love you. So damn much it makes me miss you when I don’t see you for a day. I’ve loved you for so long, I can’t remember a time when you didn’t occupy that space in my heart. I tried to bury it, to pretend it didn’t matter, but it hurt.” Her eyes are bright, full of warmth and love as they stare down at me. “I still feel like this isn’t real, like you’re going to get ripped away from me. Most of my life has been full of horrible things, but it’s only made me realize how lucky I am to have the people in my life who are worth a damn. I was so scared of screwing that all up by telling you how I felt. Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve this kind of happiness, but I refuse to give it up.”
Wrapping my arms around her, I flip us in one swift move. I settle Lena on her back, and she cradles between my thighs.
“You can never give me up. I won’t let you. I’m stubborn that way.” I place a chaste kiss on her chin, and another on the corner of her mouth. One more on her forehead, and that spot that makes her sigh just beneath her ear. “I’m always going to be your friend, Luna, but now, I’ll be your lover, your wall to lean on when you need support, and your fiercest protector. You are my other half, and I should have realized I wasn’t whole without you. Now that I have you, I know how much was missing. You’re my everything.”
We meet halfway, Lena lifting her head as mine dips down until our mouths collide. I kiss her like my life depends on it, as if she’s my only source of air. There’s no foreplay, no slow exploration of her body. I thank the sun and stars that we both slept naked, because there are no barriers to be taken away.
