Page 53 of Can you take it?

“They won’t let them in. She’s fine, trust me,” Eletha muttered under her breath to Walter.

“She’s not really who I’m worried about,” he whispered back, and they both looked at me.

Eletha flattened her hands on Walter’s chest and leaned up on her tiptoes to whisper against his neck. “I need to feel you. It’s been too long. They’ll be fine for two days. I want to make up properly.” She kissed his neck.

He let out a low growl and lifted her up over his shoulder, holding her with one arm as she giggled. “Find Bexley and meet us back on this dirt platform in two days. I have some things I need to take care of,” he said with a smile, having to raise the volume of his last sentence to be heard over Eletha’s giggles. Walter slapped her ass and, with a wink at us, turned and walked away.

Eletha only made it from his shoulder to his chest, where she wrapped her arms and legs around him, kissing him as he held her tight and continued to walk in the direction the wolves had gone.

I was so happy for him—for them. Really happy. Definitely not jealous at all. So happy in fact that something in the pit of my soul twisted up in knots. I couldn’t help but wonder why the Fates never gave me something like that. My brows knit together as I turned to look at Anna. She was still watching the two of them with a giant smile plastered to her face.

“Let’s go find where Bexley went,” I said, watching her every blink.

“Okay, but if you carry me like that, I am definitely getting the pendant from your neck,” she laughed.

I let out a snort of laughter that was rather embarrassing. “If I carry you like that, you’ll get more than just the pendant,” I said, feeling a sinister tug of my lips.

“What happens if you carry me like this?” Anna called out before leaping like a lockhorne jumping shrub and landing on my back. “Will I get more than the pendant now?” she asked with a laugh.

Somewhere inside of me, there had to be something that felt ashamed at the rush of endorphins that shot through my body when Anna clutched me tight, but the wave of good feelings pushed any logic away from my grasp and I let myself enjoy it.

A peal of laughter carrying double its weight in sadness flowed out of me. It felt so fun to have this type of interaction. I could lose my head to the pure joy that I felt from this tier. I almost didn’t want to leave. A two-day stay here might not be the worst thing. It might be a good place to really figure some things out.

“You heathen,” I shouted to the side as I pulled my arms free and laid them over her legs so she was wrapped tightly around my torso in a proper piggyback position. Silently I hoped she would stay like this for a few minutes. It felt kind of nice to pretend—maybe if I didn’t stop walking, she wouldn’t want to jump off.

She made a clicking sound with her mouth as if she were riding a horse and urging it to go faster.

“If I must be your steed, let me at least be blessed with the physique of your previous stallion—the one you rode in the red keys, what was his name? Sir Bunson the colossal?” I teased as I took off in a run, holding onto her legs tightly.

“Bunson the colossal? What kind of name is that? His name is Vlad.” I could feel her body move with laughter against my back.

I slowed, testing to see if she would jump off my back. Did she want to stay on as much as I wanted her to? I noticed she was keeping her hands on my shoulders, not moving them around my neck—where the pendant was, something that surely took a lot of restraint and forethought on her part. It also caused little caterpillars of something dangerous to tickle around my stomach. “Quick, say something evil,” I teased. “I’m starting to enjoy your company.”

“Zef,” she said, turning serious.

“Zef?” I asked, not understanding. Did she want to talk about her father? Did we still call him her father? Thankfully she was adopted by the king himself—Kaohs really had stepped up for Anna. Perhaps he wasn’t as bad as I had been told either. That seemed to be a pattern I was experiencing lately.

I pulled my elbows into my side to keep her in place. Her body relaxed onto mine and my eyes shut with gratitude for another moment of this. Feeling her hug my back was…cozy and euphoric. She began to slide down from my back.

“Wait,” I whispered, my eyes still shut tight. She paused. “What?”

“Stay like that. I like you this close.” My voice felt so raspy and gravelly rumbling out of my throat.

“I’m sure your back could use the relief. I’m not the lightest girl around.” The slightest hint of insecurity tangled into her words.

“You are perfect. Whoever made you feel that you are anything less than that is a weak, stupid person.”

She stilled. “I can’t hold on very long without putting my arms around your neck.” That sounded even nicer than her hands on my shoulders. “But I will try and rip the pendant from your throat if I do that,” she said, and I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

“Heathen,” I said as I turned to look at her. She shrugged but laughter filled her eyes. “At least you’re an honest heathen.”

Sparks danced in her eyes. “Would you stop me?” she asked softly, sliding completely off me.

I had turned before she had stepped too far away so she craned her neck to look up at me. From this angle I could see the soft skin of her neck and under her jaw. It looked like skin that had never been touched, and good suns, did I want to touch it. “I think so,” I replied honestly. For a minute or two, she and I stood still, just looking at each other from the new angle. “I really think you should go to Moirai,” I said, sensing immediately I’d ruined the moment when she let out a grunt that rivaled one of Thistle’s. “What if you could help more than just Kaohs by going there? The Fates made it sound like they really needed you. What if they have something incredible and amazing planned for you?”

“I’m sure they do. The Fates don’t make mistakes⁠—”

It was my turn to roll my eyes. It certainly felt like my being here had been a pretty huge mistake on their part.