only silence remained, holding my breath in the dark; gasping for air with the lungs of a lark
If she knew that she was trapped, would she mind?
Would she fight against his hold?
Or would she be relieved that someone wants to hold onto her at all?
He closes the distance between them and she cannot help the way that her breath hitches. She cannot help the way that her chest tightens and the emotions flood through her—the way that she has to try and fight her head above the surface of these feelings. It feels a little like drowning, and she finds that she is dizzy, a little lightheaded. She remembers that they have never touched, but that is not so strange, is it? She has never touched anyone outside of her family and those had always been light, easy, forgettable.
This? This is anything but.
He smiles and she takes a step forward, unbidden and nearly unnoticed. Before she can blink, they are closer still until she feels as though she can smell his breath—sweet as honey wine. “I know,” she responds to his voice in her mind, not questioning that she did not hear it spoke aloud. Had she? “I know now,” she whispers as he takes another step toward her and she feels slightly faint, trembling.
There are other thoughts—of her family, her brother, her other siblings, of Tephra—but they fade into darkness in the back of her mind. They churn into silence until she is consumed with this moment.
“I’m here,” she reassures him, braving glancing up to study his features, to find his lavender eyes and fall into them. She doesn’t remember what he had asked her focus on, but she knows that she is meant to focus on something. She swallows, worried that he will not find her interesting enough. That he will bore of her. That he will toss her aside. She is so deeply disappointing she thinks, she would not blame him.
