Page 49 of Wateredge

Seren felt her eyebrows rise almost to her hairline. She took a deep breath, all the while trying not to trip over her own feet or high-five herself in her head. Had she ever been this clumsy around a woman? It felt preposterous, yet here she was, straining not to lose her footing and not give away how much she wanted… wanted everything. Scent, touch, feel. Lark.

“I can do that.” Even to her ears, her voice was not steady and not even close to self-confidence, but then it never was around Lark, so what else was new? She stood very still and watched as Lark smiled at her, the corners of her mouth twitching, all earlier signs of uncertainty gone.

Lark was teasing her again.

“So is this ‘I can do that’ hypothetical, Seren Crowhart, Captain of the Fire Brigade and favorite of Crow’s Nest damsels? Or are you actually going to do it?”

Seren exhaled.

“Well, when you put it that way…”

A quick hand snagged her collar, pulling her closer.

“You talk too much, Seren.”

“Wha—”

And then there were no more words. Seren had gotten a pretty good taste of Lark during their first kiss at Crow House, but this? This was different.

She had been kissed by women who wanted her. She had been kissed by women who craved her. She had been kissed by women who wanted to steal into the night for a good or a long time. But nothing compared to how Lark Thibodeaux kissed her.

Tentative and sweet with that bravery coming into play again, giving the kiss a touch of desperation, a hint of hunger. Lark kissed like she had been working up her courage to this very moment from the second they had laid eyes on each other in Victoria’s kitchen, and Seren had winked at her. Lark kissed like this was the only kiss she had ever given. Lark kissed like kissing Seren was the point, the only point, and there would be nothing else to ever top this moment. And Seren felt like she had never, ever been kissed before. Because when you were the sole focus of a trembling mouth that opened in a sigh of pleasure, had you been truly kissed?

Cool lips slid over hers, and Seren whimpered, her hands coming up under Lark’s jacket, finding more of the cold and the quivering courage. Lark gasped as Seren’s fingertips dipped under her shirt, giving Seren the perfect opening.

When their tongues touched, gliding tentatively over each other, Seren could swear the ocean beneath them rose against the tempo of the waves, meeting her wonder, her desire.

The kiss ended, because it had to end, and yet as Seren bent down, laying her forehead against Lark’s, she felt the wretched butterflies in her stomach blink their wings in pleasant anticipation.

She indulged herself and placed a kiss on Lark’s forehead, smooth skin cool under her touch. Then she simply stilled and enjoyed the silence, disturbed only by the sound of their breathing, slightly unsteady.

In the chilly wind, she was untouchable. She was happy. Her ocean bubbled just feet away from her. Lark smiled, a dreamy, soft stretch of swollen red lips.

“You are very good at this, Seren.”

“At magic?” Seren cocked her head to the side, unwilling to break their skin-to-skin contact.

“Well, I suppose you can say that, since kissing feels like magic. Or is it just kissing you?”

Something tore inside Seren, something broke down, something opened. The feeling that her own heart was beating outside of her body returned tenfold.

“I hope the answer for you is kissing just me.”

Lark pulled back a little, and there were tears in her eyes.

“It was worth it, you know.” The words were so quiet, Seren read them on her lips, as she almost missed their sound. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from holding Lark too tightly, from trying to whisk her away from whatever it was that had clearly hurt her. The waves beneath them instantly quieted, the air itself standing still.

“What was worth it, Lark?”

The teary eyes lowered, and Seren touched the trembling chin, making them face her again.

“Waiting ten years to kiss someone I actually desire.”

It was the “actually” that confirmed all of Seren’s fears. All of her suspicions. Oh, she had known Lark had gone through something awful. Hadn’t they all suspected she was running from trouble, or at least moving away from an unpleasant experience? And here was her confirmation. “Someone I actually desire” implied there was someone she had to kiss while not⁠—

Seren felt her throat slam shut, fury and grief overpowering her. The same fury instantly enveloped the incoming tide beneath, hitting the cliff with increasing strength. Lark shook almost violently in her arms, and Seren forced herself to unclench her jaw. To empty her mind. To settle her thoughts, her magic, her waves.

Lark placed her fingertips on her chest, watching in awe as it rose and fell with Seren’s ragged breath.