Page 121 of Earthbound

‘No, you suffered much worse than she did.’

‘And she lost nearly all the movement in her left arm, right?’

‘Right.’

‘So it’s unlikely I will walk again.’

‘No, I don’t think that’s a reasonable conclusion,’ Yeeran implored.

Furi scoffed. ‘It’s an entirely reasonable conclusion.’

‘You are not paralysed, Furi, only weak. There may be some muscles that do not fully recover, but it is likely you will walk again.’

‘How do you know that?’ She had finally found her voice in anger.

Yeeran sat up and leaned over her legs. She massaged her hands up from Furi’s ankles. ‘Can you feel that?’

‘Yes.’

‘And further up here, can you feel that?’

Yeeran’s hands travelled up from her calf to the top of her thighs.

‘And here?’ Yeeran’s fingers lay dangerously close to her waistband.

‘Yes,’ she said, her voice a rasp again, and it had nothing to do with weakness this time.

‘I don’t think there’ll be lasting damage. But I do think we should start some gentle exercises, build your strength again.’

Furi caught Yeeran’s hand before she could pull it away. ‘Exercises?’

It took a moment for Yeeran to understand her meaning. ‘Furi, no.’

Furi gave Yeeran a wicked grin and placed Yeeran’s hand beneath the seams of her undergarments. ‘I think there’s one place you didn’t check for feeling.’

Yeeran gasped as Furi guided her fingers down into the warm core of her.

The elf shook her head as though she was battling with her own conscience. ‘You’re still recovering, Furi. You can’t even stand.’

‘I need this, Yeeran. I need you.’

Yeeran’s face was flushed but she still hesitated.

‘Make me feel alive, Yeeran. Please.’

Then Yeeran’s fingers were moving, slick with Furi’s desire. She arched into Yeeran’s hand as the other pressed down on her lower stomach. And as Furi’s tempest began to build, Yeeran’s thumb moved to circle the knot of nerves beneath her curling hair.

When she was on the crest of ecstasy Furi said, ‘Tell me you love me.’

‘I love you.’ Those three words were the catalyst for oblivion. Furi trembled around Yeeran’s hand, as she continued to whisper, ‘I love you, Furi. I love you, queen of my heart.’

Furi lay back, well and truly spent. But alive.

She turned to Yeeran. ‘Allow me to reciprocate.’

Yeeran shook her head, moving away from Furi’s reach. ‘No, not today. You’re too fragile.’

‘But—’