books44 Chapter 407: Mirror
Chapter 407: Mirror
Chapter 407:
Lorelei
I am not the only one who was hurting.
She was too.
I can feel it in the way she holds me...too tight, too desperate, as if she is afraid I will disappear. I can hear it in the way she breathes that are shallow, shaking, broken. I can see it in the way she looks at me, like I am something precious and fragile and lost.
I can understand the pain in her touch.
Because it mirrors my own.
I hold her face in my palms. I make her look at me. Those dark eyes that are so familiar, so aching—meet mine.
"I am here," I say.
She blinks.
"I know."
"No." I shake my head. "I mean... I am here. I am not going anywhere. I am not leaving. I am not disappearing. I am here."
She closes her eyes.
She relaxes into my touch.
Then she turns her head and presses her lips to my palm.
"Still curious about kissing?" she asks.
I nod.
She smiles. Then she leans up and presses her lips against mine.
It feels soft.
Her lips are soft.
She pulls away slightly.
"Open your mouth," she says.
I do not understand.
"Why?"
"Trust me." She places a hand in my hair. Her fingers thread through the strands, gentle but firm. "Trust me."
She presses her lips to mine again.
This time, it is not soft.
Her mouth is warm. Her tongue brushes against my lower lip, then against my tongue.
I gasp.
My body trembles.
It is something I have never experienced before.
But also something I am familiar with.
She pulls back.
"Lorelei?"
I look at her.
Her dark eyes are soft. Concerned.
"Are you alright?"
I touch my lips.
"Do that again," I say.
***
Nancy
I feel weird.
I meant to talk to the Devil about what she asked me to do—to find the nearest islands, to chart a course, to plan our route. I had maps in my hands. I had coordinates in my head. I had a purpose.
But I walked in on her kissing her lover.
The door was open. Just a crack.
I should have turned away immediately. I should have walked back to my maps and pretended I saw nothing. I should have knocked.
But I stood there.
And I watched.
The way the Devil held her gently and desperately, like she was afraid she would disappear. The way the mermaid touched her face, her hair, her heart. The way they kissed deep and hungry.
It was so... erotic.
And romantic.
It made me feel weird.
I have never seen anything like it. Not in books. Not in stories. Not in the whispered confessions of the noble ladies I grew up with.
It was real.
It was raw.
It was beautiful.
Even as I left and went about my day,marking our position on the maps,I still thought about what I saw.
I am still thinking about it.
The way they looked at each other. The way they held each other. The way they kissed.
Like the rest of the world did not exist.
"You have been distracted."
Marina appears beside me. Her red hair is pulled into a loose braid. Her arms are crossed. Her gray-green eyes study my face.
"I am just thinking about... things," I say.
"What things?"
"Navigator things."
She raises an eyebrow but does not push for more.
"Anyway, come." She takes my hand.
"Where are you taking me?" I ask, being dragged along.
"You will see."
She leads me across the deck. Past the crew, past the rigging, past the main mast. She stops at the rope ladder leading up to the crow’s nest.
"You cannot be serious," I say.
"I am always serious."
"You are never serious."
She grins.
"Come."
She climbs.
I watch her go;her red hair swinging, her boots finding holds, her hands gripping the ropes.
"Marina—"
"Come."
I hesitate.
Then I climb.
The ladder sways. The wind pulls at my skirts. My hands are sweaty. My heart is pounding.
But I climb.
When I reach the top, Marina is already there. She reaches down, grabs my wrist, and pulls me onto the platform.
The crow’s nest is small. Barely big enough for two people. The flag flaps above us—the cat skeleton, black and white, grinning in the fading light.
It is so high.
It is scary.
I glare at Marina.
"Look," she says.
I turn.
The sun is setting. It hangs low on the horizon, a perfect circle of orange and gold, sinking slowly into the endless stretch of water. The sky is layered with color—pink and purple and deep, dark blue.
It looks like a painting.
Marina moves behind me. Her fingers find my hair. She pulls it free from the ponytail, letting the strands fall loose around my shoulders.
"Feel it," she says.
She raises her hand.
As if on cue, the wind blows.
I close my eyes.
I feel it.
When I open them, Marina is watching me.
"You are smiling," she says.
I touch my face.
I am.
"Is not that why you brought me here?" I say.
"You look pretty when you smile."
"Thank you."
We sit cross-legged, leaning against the pole. The wood is warm beneath us. The flag flaps above. The stars are beginning to appear, one by one, scattered across the darkening sky like scattered jewels.
"This is a feeling you can only find on the waters." Marina reaches out her hand as if to touch the sky. Her fingers stretch toward the stars, toward the horizon, toward everything.
I watch her.
"The freedom," she says. "The endlessness. The knowing that tomorrow, you could be somewhere new. Somewhere no one has ever been."
She puts her hand down.
"I do not know if I make sense," she says.
"You do." I say quickly.
"You do." I add on, softer this time.
She looks at me. Her gray-green eyes are bright in the fading light.It is my turn to raise my hand toward the rapidly appearing stars.
"I feel it too." I spread my fingers, as if I could catch the light between them. "When I look at the stars. They guide us. They are constant. A map with secrets I want to find."
I lower my hand.
"I understand you." I add on quietly.
She smiles.
She looks at the water.
I look forward too.
I think about what the Devil said. About having someone who understands you. About the certainty of being seen.
She is right.
I do not think there will ever be a man who can do this. Who can sit with me in silence and make me feel whole.
Who can understand the parts of me I have never spoken aloud.
I clench my fists.
I shift.
I kiss her cheek.
Marina looks at me, surprised.
I press my lips against hers.
She freezes.
I move away.
"I am sorry, I—"
She brings a hand to my neck and kisses me.