Page 44 of Suncatcher

“You will fly? With me?” Driz asked, her wings twitching. Pearl liked that tell of hers. Driz was anxious or excited by the thought.

Pearl nodded, having to crane her head back to look up at Driz. “How should we do this?”

“Like before.”

Pearl’s lips curved. “But without the stabbing?”

“Yes, without that.”

Hesitantly, Pearl glided her hand over the open collar of Driz’s shirt to wrap around the back of her neck. Driz wore Pearl’s thin blue scarf, but not to hold the collar. Instead, it rested beneath, against her skin.

Her hair was surprisingly soft as Pearl’s fingers brushed it.

Their bodies pressed together, front to front. A faint tremor ran through Driz, and it matched the one that skittered through Pearl as her other arm mirrored the first and she hitched her leg up Driz’s hip.

Driz remained frozen. Even her breathing had stopped.

“Aren’t you gonna help me?” Pearl asked.

Driz finally moved, her arms closing around Pearl, hoisting her higher. Pearl caught her breath at the ease and suddenness of it. She wasn’t used to strong women picking her up like she weighed nothing. But she couldn’t deny she enjoyed it, with her legs around Driz’s waist and the curves of breasts molding against her own.

She hooked her ankles at the small of Driz’s back, the toes of her boots brushing folded wings.

This was a wild thing to do.

She met Driz’s eyes, so close, shining in the night from the face that was becoming more familiar.

“Are you ready?” Driz asked.

Pearl took a deep breath and nodded.

Driz crouched, wings flaring, and launched them into the air.

What if Driz never let go? Pearl fit so well in her arms. The warmth and shape of her sent a new kind of heat flushing to the tips of Driz’s horns.

She held Pearl close, one arm braced up her back and supporting her shoulder, the other wrapped down and clutching her hip.

As they climbed above the walls of the ravine, Pearl’s already tight grip constricted around Driz’s neck and waist.

“Are you alright?” Driz asked.

“Yeah,” Pearl whispered, barely loud enough for Driz to hear.

Driz flew west. Her wings strained slightly, the muscles of her back and shoulders working more with the unfamiliar weight and position of Pearl. But Driz had carried much heavier burdens. And even if she had not, Driz would have carried Pearl if it had taken every ounce of strength in her.

The recent storm had left the air clear, the moon shining bright and the stars blanketing the sky. Pearl clung to Driz and stared only upward at first, before she carefully glanced around. Driz smiled, thrilled that she could show Pearl this lonely joy of her world. Did she like it?

The rushing wind caught some of Pearl’s fair hair and tickled it over Driz’s face. The scent of her shivered through Driz.

Too soon, they neared her grotto and she dropped lower. Pearl sucked in a breath at the change and Driz tightened her hold.

“We are landing,” she said into Pearl’s ear.

Driz angled them into the canyon, thudding on the soft shore downstream of the waterfall. She leaned forward, depositing Pearl on her back on the sand, sliding her arms from beneath her. Pearl unwound her limbs but didn’t fully remove them, her hands resting on Driz’s shoulders.

Pearl stared up at Driz with an odd expression on her face, her breathing faster than usual. Her hair had come loose and spilled around her. Driz wanted to lean down and cover Pearl’s body with her own, to press into her again. To touch. To have Pearl’s hands move and explore everywhere else. She longed to stare at the smattering of dots on Pearls’ skin until her eyes burned. They were reflections of the stars above them, running across her dainty nose, down her chin and her throat. How far down did they go? What did the rest of Pearl’s skin look like?

Pearl parted her lips, and the glint of gold drew Driz’s gaze back up to her mouth, entranced by the shine.