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We’re silent for a moment, with only the waves crashing against the rocks below to fill the air.
It calls to mind the words of that ancestral goddess.
I glance at my own little goddess.
“It was hard to see the stars where I lived on Earth,” she tells me. “From here, the sky looks like a milky black soup of them.”
I chuckle. “What a poet you are.”
“About the kissing,” she says abruptly. I wonder whether the romantic atmosphere reminded her, or she’s been thinking about it all this time. “I’m sorry I suggested it considering there’s nothing more I intend to do aside from momentary lip and tongue contact.”
“Momentary lip and tongue contact? Ti kori, you sound like a Deadhead. It’s a kiss, not an operation.”
“Exactly. And I’m sure with all the restrictions, kissing me would be a nightmare. Let’s forget it.”
“I never said I wouldn’t take you up on it.”
She shakes her head. “It wouldn’t be fair to kiss you once. We agreed there would be no more exceptions and it’s better that we keep things friendly, rather than muddy the waters.”
“I’ve kissed you already,” I remind her. “I kissed you once thoroughly before, if you recall. So if that’s your concern…”
“And when that happened? I left you all alone with an untouched erection, remember? I’d just be making myself a tease and hurting you in the process.”
“Mmm, I remember it fondly. I think I’d like you to keep teasing me. I had a preview of what it might be like, and I wasn’t complaining then.”
“You did complain. You didn’t want to stop—”
“Because it tasted so good.”
There’s a pregnant pause. She’s clutching the balcony wall with one hand as if she needs steadying.
“You’re not worried about amma’ka?”
“I’m fully in control,” I assure her.
“Then, after this, we’re even.”
I nod, feeling dastardly for letting her mentally bargain this repayment as if I care about tit for tat. I already put one pill in my pocket in anticipation since she brought it up, which is another reason why I’m a rutting bastard. When I slip it in my mouth, it fizzes on my tongue. It doesn’t feel unpleasant, but it tastes metallic for a moment.
“I won’t touch or grab, or anything,” I promise her. “Just a kiss. And if you don’t like how it feels, we’ll stop.”
The strange flavor fades. I sit on the wall of the rooftop, trusting the thick sturdy stone as a comfortable seat.
“Look,” I say, gesturing to the water over my shoulder. “If I get handsy, just push me over the edge.”
“Very funny.” She comes closer. “Even if I wanted to, I’m not sure I could pull that off. You’re huge.”
“In many ways.”
She ignores my immature joke, but I see the corner of her mouth quirk up. I lean forward so that she doesn’t even brush against my thighs. The low wall brings our heights closer to even.
“One more step.” I coax her with my eyes.
“Thank you for always being so cognizant of my physical boundaries,” she says, clearing her throat and taking that step. She tucks her hands behind her back and looks straight at me. “It makes it easier for me to push—”
“I like it when I make you nervous. You say all kinds of interesting things. But we’ve been talking all day.”
She closes the distance, pressing her lips against mine without a word of warning. The pressure is light, so tentative, that I don’t dare move a muscle. For a breathless moment of euphoria, we stay like that. Maybe neither one of us has the courage to take it deeper, but it feels good. My lips tingle from the soft touch, and I feel like a youth again fumbling through the most basic steps of mating.
