LYRA
07.16.15
“I don’t think I can walk inside. My legs are on strike.” I stare up the walkway from our car to the house and groan. Why does it look five times longer than it did when we left?
Tavian chuckles then reaches over and squeezes my thigh. Despite the soreness, his touch incites tingles deep in my core, but I don’t let on and treat him to a proper glower and grunt.
“Aww, do you need me to carry you inside, buttercup?” he teases as he loosens his grasp.
Following our night of naked cardio, we’d slept in and Tavian treated me to a late breakfast in bed. We then took turns thoroughly washing each other in the shower, which took much longer than it had in the past, got dressed, and drove to another nearby town to explore some hiking trails he wanted to use my camera at. After six hours of trekking through rough terrain with steep inclines and drop-offs, stopping every so often for him to take pictures of the admittedly breathtaking scenery, I’d melted into the chair at the little restaurant we discovered back in the village.
It was the two hours we spent eating the most delicious veal piccata on the planet—interestingly, the only item on the menu—and sharing a bottle of wine that my muscles had a chance to rest and really get pissed off. The forty-five minute drive back to the house where my legs were idle in the cramped floorboard didn’t help matters either, and now they just ache from hip to toe and feel like they weigh a thousand pounds.
“Don’t act like I didn’t see you dragging ass the last thirty minutes or so of that devil hike you made us go on,” I retort, sticking my tongue out at him.
“Careful with that tongue, or I’ll give you something you can use it for.” He smirks and gives me that damn chin dimple.
Chuckling, I roll my eyes and shake my head. “You’re such a pig.”
“Speaking of pigs, I’ve seen quite a few flying lately.” Tavian’s eyebrows arch high up into his forehead and he grins proudly. “I’m pretty sure paragliding was on your official list of things you don’t do. And last night you were anything but the boring person you claim to be.”
I swallow hard, knowing he’s right. The last eleven days have torn apart everything I believed to be true over the previous twelve years. And it’s all because of him. Regardless of the hurt I know I’m going to endure when we have to say goodbye, whether that be tomorrow or nine months from now, our time together is worth it. No one can ever take these memories from me.
But instead of admitting being wrong, I stick my tongue out again and obstinately mutter, “I didn’t see any pigs flying.”
Barking out a laugh, he gets out of the car and circles around to my side. Scooping me up out of the seat and cradling me against his chest, he presses his lips to my temple and tsks. “You’re as stubborn as you are cute, you know that?”
I grin like an idiot and loop my arms around his neck. “It’s part of my aloof charm. I think you secretly love it.”
Another hearty burst of laughter and then I’m swung over his shoulder and flipped upside down. “This,” he growls, lightly smacking each of my butt cheeks as he strides toward the front door, “is what I love. Now hush your mouth so you can soak in the tub and I can give you a leg massage, woman.”
I wriggle in his hold, more to rub myself against his firm shoulder than to actually try to get free. When I woke up this morning, my inner thighs were tender to the touch and a little achy, but about what I expected. The hot shower had helped loosen me up then, but now, after spending all day with Tavian touching me, whispering me promises of things he’s going to do to me tonight, I’m eager for him to make good on everything he said. Just like he did yesterday when he kissed me stupid. By the time I passed out last night, I couldn’t even form comprehensive words. I’m ready for that and more tonight.
He unlocks the door and stalks inside, taking me straight into the bathroom off the room we’ve been sleeping in. I slide down the front of his body and my nipples pull taut as they drag over his pecs, already anticipating his touch. My clothes are stripped off me and into a heap on the floor next to his before I know it, but he takes his time unwrapping and examining my purplish-yellow fingers, kissing them before turning around to start the bath water.
I shiver while I wait, equally excited and nervous. Even if I’m not technically a virgin anymore, I realize one night doesn’t make me an expert either. So I follow his lead and hope I don’t do anything too awkward. Like I’m doing right now, staring at his fine naked ass.
“Let me know if this is too hot.” He beckons me over, definitely catching me gawking at his backside, but he’s nice enough not to gloat.
Shuffling over next to him, I stick my hand under the faucet and give him an approving nod. He then pours a capful of soap into the water and steps into the tub himself. My ogling shifts from his rear to the front, and I’m shocked that he actually fit inside me. The little toy I have is a microbot compared to him.
“You’re welcome to touch it whenever you like,” he jokes as he sits in the rising water, and my cheeks burn with mortification.
Come on, Lyra. This is your last night together. Stop being weird and just relax.
“I just wasn’t sure if there was room for all of us in the tub,” I playfully jest, quick to regain my wit.
“Awww, I’m flattered.” He beams up at me and holds his hand out to help me get in.
I step over the side and lower myself to the basin, situating myself between his thighs and leaning back on his chest. “I was talking about your ego,” I snicker, “not your little friend there.”
“My little friend?” he sputters as I crack up, clearly amused with myself. “You’re asking for it, you know that? I give you an inch and you take a mile.”
“Don’t you mean a kilometer?” I taunt further, a direct hit after he scolded me all day on the trail for using the incorrect measurement system.
The next thing I know, he’s rolling with laughter, too, and we slosh and splash around like two people without a care in the world. Like we’re not going to get on a plane tomorrow and go to our two different lives in two different homes in two different states. Like he doesn’t have a bunch of people who love him waiting for his return, and I have absolutely no one.
The last of my giggles tapers off as he turns the water off, and once again I lean back to rest on him. Almost as if he can hear my thoughts, we both grow quiet and the mood around us turns a bit somber as reality begins to slip through the small cracks of our bubble.
“I’m not ready to go home,” I admit softly, interlacing the fingers of my uninjured hand with his.
“Me neither.” He squeezes me with his arms and burrows his face in the side of my neck. “I don’t want this to end.”
An idea hits me. “Let’s stay another week,” I suggest hopefully. “Wherever you want to go. Hell, we can stay right here if you want. All on my dime this time. My next assignment isn’t until the first of August.”
He sighs and shakes his head, and my heart sinks. “I wish I could. The Monday after we get back, I start teaching a summer mini intensive. Eight hours a day, five days a week, for four weeks. Then I get about a week-and-a-half break before fall semester starts.”
“Boo, adulting sucks,” I mumble, doing my best to hide my disappointment.
“That it does.” He chuckles, kissing my shoulder. “That it does indeed.”
Silence surrounds us again, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I try not to think about what I’m going to miss about Tavian, but it’s impossible. I know I’m a better person for the time I’ve had with him, but that doesn’t ease the longing and sadness.
“Lyra, when we get home—” he begins, but I quickly cut him off.
Twisting around and sliding up on my knees, I reach out and press my fingers to his lips with a shake of my head. “No promises,” I implore, my eyes begging his not to make this harder. Him not keeping his word will hurt worse than anything. “No promises and no expectations. Whatever happens from here, happens because it’s supposed to. For the rest of tonight, it’s just you and me, and then we let Fate do her job.”