Page 54 of Suncatcher

Driz dove for it, snatching it right before it plummeted down toward the firefoxes. Pearl had also lunged. She collided with Driz, one knee slamming into the stone with an audible thud and grunt. Driz curled her arms around Pearl, sitting them up and shifting away from the edge.

“Are you hurt?” Driz asked, worry clawing at her chest.

“I’m fine. That was my bad. It’s hard to see, even with the glow.”

“Did you bring your lantern?”

“It’s back at the ravine.”

A few moments before, Driz would have been content to keep playing her new game all night. But Pearl was now partly sitting in her lap, and that chased all thoughts from Driz’s mind.

Warm breath brushed her throat. Pearl gripped the fabric over Driz’s shoulder with one hand, the other curled around the strap of her suspender.

In the canyon below, the firefoxes continued to play, but Driz forgot about them as Pearl’s slow smile reappeared.

Driz’s gaze fell to Pearl’s mouth and she went utterly still at the memory of last night.

“Do you wanna kiss me?” Pearl asked.

“How do you know?”

Pearl chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

Driz’s wings twitched, her heart uncomfortably loud in her chest. “Really?”

“Really.”

She slowly leaned forward, flicking her gaze between Pearl’s mouth and her eyes, looking for any sign of distress or a word to stop her. But Pearl didn’t pull back.

Driz pressed their lips together.

When Pearl cupped her cheek, Driz thought she might push her away, but instead, Pearl drew her closer, angling their faces.

Heat flooded her.

Pearl’s lips moved over her own. So soft. So warm. Pearl’s eyelashes fluttered closed, but Driz couldn’t look away.

Pearl made a sound in the back of her throat as she stole her lips back. Driz tensed, but Pearl just pushed up enough to readjust over Driz’s thighs and fully straddle her lap. Driz supported her, running a hand down her spine, marveling at the shape and heat, and the permission to hold Pearl as their mouths met once more.

Sudden fear that she would do something wrong and hurt or frighten Pearl made her freeze.

Pearl met Driz’s gaze from so close. The lights of the canyon outlined her, highlighting the whisps of hair straying away from her braid. Driz smoothed them with a shaking hand, her claws too sharp near Pearl’s delicate skin.

Who was Driz to dare touch her?

“Was that your first kiss?” Pearl whispered.

“No.”

Pearl raised an eyebrow, sitting back. “No?”

“My first kiss was two nights ago.”

Pearl smiled, her teeth glinting. “That didn’t count.”

“Oh.” Driz’s heart dropped. “It did not?” Had Driz misunderstood?

She stilled as Pearl ran her thumb over Driz’s lower lip, catching against her left fang. Did Pearl mind them? Driz could break them off. They would grow back with the stone sleep, but Driz could just break them again the next night if she needed.