Author's Note: Descriptive sex scene ahead.
I returned to find two guards rummaging through the hut Neville and I once shared. The door had been broken open and a firebird of anger hatched in my stomach, but I contained myself.
I stood just behind the doorway for a moment and watched them frantically searching for something I knew wasn't there.
Eventually, I cleared my throat. "Are you looking for something?"
The guards simultaneously whipped their heads toward me with rage in their eyes. "Where is she?"
I casually walked into the room and sat on the bed. "You know as well as I that Neville would never have told me anything that could endanger me." I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees and cocked my head at them.
I was able to properly assess the situation then. Two constables and in hardier armor than usual. They really were prepared for Robin to be here.
A mischievous butterfly fluttered in my stomach. I knew where Robin would be tonight and they didn't. I was several steps ahead and I would be damned if I gave that up. They killed Neville to make a point. Not Robin. Oh, how my thoughts had changed in the last day.
I wasn't only keeping Robin a secret for her survival. I was because it gave me a new power over the world around me. One that should be used responsibly but I had no interest in doing that. It was the first step I took towards my destiny. The first one I chose to take, that is.
I knew both the men in my room. Both of them knew I spoke true about Neville. But both of them underestimated how much danger I would happily throw myself into.
I would spend my life chasing the stars and never touching them.
Robin shouldn't stay. She had to know there would be more guards. And if she didn't, she was clearly not as intelligent as I gave her credit for. She was drunk when she promised she'd come back.
What was last night anyway? Just a head rush after escaping death for her. She couldn't possibly stay.
But what if she did? What if she sobered and kept her promise?
I had to go to the tree no matter what.
--
"You came," I said, seeing the thin shape of Robin. "I didn't know that you would. I thought you'd leave once you came to your senses. You should leave."
She pulled down her forest green hood, and her sleek dark hair fell around her shoulders. My heart did that thing again. Robin was beautiful, and her stare unraveled me.
I thought all of my emotions towards her would disappear when I sobered but instead they sharpened and left me breathless.
"I-" she started before wincing and turning away. "I thought about it but I couldn't. I-I couldn't-"
"You couldn't go?"
She shook her head and took her eyes off mine. "Not without seeing you again."
"This was just a shared loss, Robin," I lied.
Looking back up at me, she said, "That's not true. You know that's not true."
She walked closer to me, the leaves crackling under her feet. "I've murdered, Marianne. I've stolen. I've lied. I lied to you. But you're the only one I can look in the eyes for more than a heartbeat."
Robin touched my jaw and looked into me. "Leave with me."
Oh, god. How I wanted to. But I knew if I left with her, I'd lose myself in her. I'd never want to leave, and I had barely realized I existed. Our eyes met and I dared myself to reach up and touch her soft hair.
She leaned into my hand and closed her eyes. So fierce she was, but so soft too. There was a child in her who never grew. I didn't want to think of leaving. I wanted her to be mine. At least until morning.
Finally, I pressed my lips into hers and gave in. The power in her that had been resisting finally unleashed around me as she pulled me to the grass.
My skin had never burned as it did. Not when I secretly touched my body in the night. Not when I imagined how it would feel to have someone in me and me in them. Robin incinerated me, and I wanted nothing in between us.
She pulled off my skirts and blouse until I was bare and trailed her hot kisses down my neck and to my stomach until her lips were under my navel. I wanted her to go lower and urged my hips up for her to get the hint. Instead, she made her way back to my lips but traced a light fingertip between my legs.
I didn't know if this was what was to be expected, and I had the feeling Robin wasn't sure either. "Is it your first time too?" I whispered.
"The first time I wanted to," she said, pausing. The gravity of what she said set in.
"We don't have to," I started.
"I want to," she said, pressing her face to mine and moving down faster this time. She licked at my inner thighs, and I heard my moans. I couldn't handle it anymore and whimpered every time she made the slightest movement.
And then I felt her kisses in between my legs. "Please," I gasped.
She started to lick gently, which made me cry in relief. I held her hair while she figured out what made me moan louder. Robin learned fast, whatever she was doing. Heat was building in my middle and building pressure until I was on a precipice of starlight. I screamed and wailed as I came and pulled her up to start undoing her pants.
There was a hardness there, and I felt her stiffen when I noticed. The hardness started to evaporate. No, I wasn't about to let it. "You're beautiful," I told her, moving my hand up her shirt and removing it. I lightly bit the tip of her nipple and couldn't bear to tease, but did anyway. The salt of dried sweat gave way to smooth, sweet skin. She tasted like honey and spring air. I wanted more and started to move down.
"Marianne, there's no need to pay me back." Her voice was squeaky, and I knew she wanted me to keep going, so I looked into her eyes, saying nothing while I untied her trousers and lightly stroked her with my fingertips.
Her eyes became hazy, and I wondered if she ever asked for something before. And was given it. "What do you want me to do to you, Robin?" I lowered myself, eyes not leaving hers while I finally freed her.
"Because I want to taste you." I drew small circles with my tongue. She urged her hips up, desperate.
"Ask me for it."
She groaned. "Stop torturing me and--"
I took her into my mouth, not letting her finish her sentence. She moaned. I circled my tongue and sucked and stroked. As I expected, she tasted like honey. Sweeter than her breasts. I lost myself, savoring every inch. Her breath came in short gasps, some of them my name.
"No, come up here," she growled and pulled me to her, kissing me hungrily. One of my legs was hooked around her arm while her length teased my entrance. At first, I thought she was trying to go in, but then
I looked at her and saw her watching me. She was analyzing my reactions to her movement.
"I want you so much, Marianne," she said, positioning herself at the edge, ready to dive. Her voice was tender and shaky, the need for release pinned in her words. "I've wanted you desperately since I first saw you." She kissed my neck and whispered, "Can I?"
I brushed a strand of raven hair from her brow and said, "Yes. God. Please. Yes."
I gasped when she plunged into me. The stretching hurt at first, but the sting gave way to slick surging that set the virgin parts of me on fire. All shyness gave way to desperation. Innocence to knowing. I always wondered what it would be like, but my imagination could never have come close to how I felt with Robin.
The building warmth was deeper now, and I felt the clouds gathering. I was going to erupt soon. She was intentionally prolonging our connection, slowing whenever she felt close to the point of no return.
She clutched my head close to her chest. "I don't want this to end, but I can't hold back for-"
"Fuck me hard," I said. "And come for me. Please." I was so close to the precipice now and I wanted to see her lose herself.
She plunged deeper and I choked a cry of surrender. I begged her for more and felt her thrusts growing in desperation until finally, she bellowed my name while her body quaked.
It was enough to release the hurricane in me. Pleasure was the word people used to describe sex, but pleasure couldn't capture the storms surging through me. It wasn't pleasure. It was in its own way, painful and desperate. The pain coming from knowing it was almost over. It was vulnerable and broken. It was wild and alive. I felt more than I ever thought my small body could feel with Robin. My climax prolonged hers, and our cries mixed in the air. We scratched and clung to each other, wanting every last drop of release.
Our cries turned to murmurs, and our panting replaced the screams. We returned to our bodies and stayed like that for a moment. Crickets sang in the forest. We were back on the cloak over the leaves, now wet with sex.
We held each other. Our eyes were alight with the sunrise. I knew I could go with her and I'd be happy forever. My chest ached for her as it had never ached for anything. We now had the virginity of the other, and this moment would last for our lives.
"I love you," I said without thinking.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"No."
She kissed me deeply.