Page 79 of A Spark So Bright
"Good."
His hand trailed up her back, and it felt so good. So comforting. The sensation was strange to know that she could be touched by someone else and it would feel good.
Everything about him did, though. She'd loosened sitting on him like this, her legs spread maybe a little too wide to accommodate his hips. She didn't feel the hard bar of his cock pressing up against her, insistent and hungry as men always were. Instead, he was just here. With her.
His fingers toyed with her jaw, sliding down to her chin where he pinched the tip to make her look him in the eyes. "You're here with me," he said fiercely. "No one else. Never anyone else. You and me, Rose. Forever now."
She didn't have to think after that. She just leaned forward and kissed him.
Rose didn't have any idea what she was doing. She had to go with what felt natural, and her body seemed to know what to do. She kissed him hesitantly, quietly, just holding her lips against his for a few moments before moving. Then she pressed a little harder, feeling him pliant and calm beneath her.
She placed her hands on his chest and could feel how hard his heart thundered. He was nervous, or excited, she had no idea. But that spurred her on.
Like a match had been struck, he leaned into the kiss. Gunnar's hand spasmed in her hair, dragging her a little closer as his other hand came down over hers. He held her against his heart, supporting her body as he kissed her back with all the finesse of a man who had done this many times.
And thank all the gods that he had. His kiss nearly blistered the skin off her body, and she felt what it was like to swoon after a man kissed her.
Rose was lightheaded. Couldn't think about anything other than his hands, his lips, the gusty breath that exhaled out of him because he was so relieved to kiss her.
Eventually, however, he pulled back. They were both breathing hard, staring at each other. And she could feel now that he was actually excited. The sensation of him between her thighs wasn't necessarily unpleasant, but it was hard to feel when she knew where it would lead. When she knew she hadn't been awake for any sex in her life, but her body remembered.
Her mind didn't understand the swell of anxiety, or why she suddenly tensed. Every muscle in her body seemed to bunch up, waiting for pain that she knew he would not give her. Gunnar had never hurt her. She knew he was safe.
But her body didn't know that.
Gunnar smiled at her, the expression soft and calm as he brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Up and off, Rose."
"I don't really want to."
"You do. We don't have to rush this or go any faster than you can handle. Pushing yourself will only make this harder." Somehow he lifted her up off his lap, setting her down on the moss beside him.
Instantly, she relaxed again. As though the distance helped.
Thoughts crowded in, and were silenced by him leaning into her line of vision and saying, "Do not be frustrated with yourself. That was a gift for both of us, and I will not have you ruin it with the words of other people rushing in. If I only kiss you for the rest of my life, I will be a man drowning in happiness. Do you hear me?"
"I don't know if I believe you."
He grinned at her and shook his head. "You don't have to yet. But I'll spend the rest of my life proving it to you."
"I don't mean to be so broken."
"You're not, Rose. You're not broken. You're learning how to be safe again, and that's going to take time. Don't put so much pressure on yourself."
Thirty-One
Gunnar
The dead led them home. He had wondered if they would be able to do so, and they absolutely did. All he had to do was trust in them.
Strangely enough, he hadn't thought they would get out that easily. But the next day, once the venom was completely out of his body, they were able to make better time. Gunnar was shocked to see that Rose could just listen, and all of a sudden she knew which way to go. Of course, the ancient beings had lived here far longer than he had, but still. He was a little offended.
Even odder, he could pull on his own magic. Magic that he had never really given much thought to, and then be able to see them as well. It didn't disturb Rose that they were all in varying states of decay. She didn't care at all that one of those souls was holding on to his head so it didn't topple off his body, or that another woman had a wound down her spine that was so wide they could see the delicate bones where her flesh had been flayed open.
Rose didn't seem uncomfortable to talk with the dead in the slightest. She just smiled at them. Nodded when they talked. Asked questions that were completely unrelated to their travels. Questions he never would have thought to ask.
What was their favorite snack? And then a follow up question of the recipe because that one hadn't survived the eighty years since the woman had died. She asked another their opinions of the king, and they were very adamant that the troll king was doing his best with what he had been given.
He guessed he'd just never given the dead their dues. Of course they would have opinions. Of course many trolls would remain here, in their home, surrounded by family and descendants who might not be able to see them, but who still meant a lot. They watched their lines grow and change and develop and they were so, infinitely proud.
