Page 31 of At The End There Was You

He held onto her body as if it was the only thing he could hold, letting out a low groan in her ear and coming inside of her.

They remained joined for a little while longer, his brow resting on hers as they both panted frantically.

Spent and nowhere near sated by the look Winter saw in his eyes, Azriel carried her to their work table and set her on it before pulling out of her.

Both were still breathing hard, unable to look away from each other. She’d broken her oath as a priestess, and she was sure he’d broken something, too. Something that had that haunted depth return to his eyes.

She tried to look away when he took a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped between her legs, suddenly too aware of what they had done.

“Winter,” a small voice called from the entrance of the library, and both of them froze.

Winter panicked. Suddenly struggling to gather her bearings, she quickly rightened her hair and her dress, and called out, “Clara?” Would she know what they had done? Would she notice?

Her small blonde head peeked from a corner. “There you are,” she said cheerfully at start, and then waned by the last word when her gaze landed on the man behind Winter. The young priestess sat up straight, shoulders back and chin high as she nodded at him. “Sir.”

Winter took one small step forward. “I-Is there a problem, Clara?”

She quickly shook her head and hands, clearly trying to dispel the alarm. “Miriam has ordered an overnight mass since we only, as you know, have but two days left. She asked me to come get you as well. I’m sorry.”

Winter looked at Azriel who nodded at her, giving his approval to join the mass. She hoped he’d refuse and let her stay there with him. Especially after what they had done. She wanted more of him. More of anything he could give her. “I’ll go then.” Regretting her own shaking voice, she turned to Clara. “I’ll follow right after I gather a few of my things.”

Right after her friend left, she faced the man who looked like he wished he was anywhere but there with her. “Should I have hid better?”

He didn’t look at her as he straightened the books on the table. “I would have found you, Winter. Wherever you hid. From me, you, the world.”

“Then why are you abandoning me back there again after finding me?”

His eyes rose to hers, dark brows bunching into a frown. “You do not regret it?”

“Of course not.”

“You looked away from me.”

“I can’t look at you forever,” she said with an anxious laughter that wanned quickly. “I…I was just—” She swallowed. “Feeling a bit…uh, shy.”

“What if I ask you to do that?” He said, slowly walking toward her. “What if I ask you to look at me forever? Only at me. No one else.”

“We don’t have forever. We only have two days,” she whispered, choking on her last words.

“I will give you forever, I will make sure you get forever. Tell me.”

She wanted to believe him, so she let herself pretend that she did. “Then I’d only ever look at you. Would you only ever look at me if I asked?”

“You don’t have to. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at anyone before.” He put a finger under her chin and lifted it to him before kissing her.

Two days until the end

Azriel had sent Winter a letter through Clara, telling her to rest and take the day off after the overnight mass. She’d sent one back even though she felt bad for her young friend.

No, was all she had written in it.

He was waiting for her outside the library when she went that morning, dressed in a black coat, his thin black framed glasses resting high on his nose. The moment he took notice of her, his lips slightly parted, his eyes tracking on every inch of her, his fingers flexing on his side as if he was contemplating on grabbing hold of her. “We are heading to Fessas square today.”

She stepped closer and grabbed him instead, holding onto his jacket as she looked up at him and asked, “We’re going to the city?” She’d never spent more than an hour in Fessas, only had gone to see the city while she’d been waiting for the next train towards Uvralis Sanctum, but she’d loved it.

He brushed a kiss on her lips, catching her entirely by surprise. Him, too, it seemed, because he swallowed thickly, his chest raising fast. All of the sudden, the innocent gesture didn’t seem so innocent anymore despite them having done worse the day before. “Grab a coat. I will wait for you outside,” he said.

She sprinted to her room and rushed back to his side, making him chuckle when she panted out of breath. Winter threw her cloak’s hood over her head and followed after him towards the train station that was merely feet away from the Sanctum. She could spot parts of it from her room. Sometimes she’d sit on the roof and watch the trains go by, but she had not stepped there since the day she’d arrived at the Sanctum four years ago. The station was barren. It always was except when Miriam left to pick up a new girl or to bring one back. No one from the village allowed themselves the comfort of the new technology to travel, and still relied on their animals as if to preserve that sense of time, which Winter understood—they didn’t wish to be stripped from the comfort of it.