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I didn’t want to think about a single thing. Like a doll being pulled from one place to another, I wanted my words and reactions to carry no weight at all. I didn’t want him to feel obligated to respond to every little thing I said, or to constantly bend himself into whatever would please me.
Because if he did that… my witch self would feel awful. She’d start to feel like an overbearing mistake that needed to be fixed, when she was anything but.
Everywhere he touched, I melted a little more beneath the warmth of the water. When his lips found my shoulder again, I squirmed.
“It tickles…”
“Hmm…” His lips hovered above my skin, tracing a path up my throat, lingering on my jaw. “Feeling your bones makes me feel real. I wish I could go beneath them. I wish I was under your skin, living there, so you’d always feel my presence.”
“I already feel it.”
“Well…” His fingers moved through my wet hair, separating the strands. Then he leaned in to press a tender kiss to the nape of my neck. “Is it enough, though?”
“How could that not be enough? What could possibly be beyond that?”
Even though I couldn’t see his face, his faint chuckle reached my ears.
“I want to eat you.” he muttered. “I want to feel your flesh between my teeth and swallow your cells.”
Contrary to his chilling words, he kept leaving gentle kisses on my skin.
“You… what?”
He ignored my shocked tone, and returned to my shoulders. Damn it, was something like this even possible? Why hadn’t it occurred to me before?
When the little licks and sucks joined the kisses, I managed to stay calm. But a whimper escaped me. At my sound, he only pressed his lips against me more firmly.
“Raymo…”
When I caught a faint breath behind me, I attempted to turn and face him, but his grip held me still.
Was he… crying?
He pressed his forehead against my spine, silently feeling me against the cool water.
Getting used to you is easy.
In that quiet space, as he tended to me, I closed my eyes in peace. After a while, he rested his forehead against my back, showering my ribcage with kisses this time. I felt peaceful in that moment, but something felt off.
It didn’t feel like us. It didn’t feel like Raymond, either. Then again, did I even truly know Raymond?
Perhaps I was overthinking again.
He carried me to the bed, his nose never left my hair. From the outside, he seemed thoroughly affectionate and clingy, yet I couldn’t shake off that odd sensation. Most likely, it was because we had been apart for so long. In time, I would adapt to his energy and it would feel normal again.
“Can I come over while you’re under house arrest, I wonder?”
“Aneta said she’d talk to them.”
I hummed in understanding. When he finally laid me down on the bed, I looked up at him, anticipation flickering in my eyes. But instead, he reached over and switched off even the small yellow night-light beside us before lying down next to me.
“What are you doing?”
“As you can see, sleeping.”
“I actually hate you.” Frustrated, I turned toward the other side of the bed, but Raymond snuggled up to my shoulder like a kitten. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling my body flush against his.
“Sorry, but… I really want to sleep. I haven’t slept peacefully in a long time. Just this once… can’t we sleep like this?”
