11-28-2025, 07:10 PM
He lifted his head from the cold ground, the rush of blood momentarily dizzying. He let his gaze drift across her face, the way the inadequate carnival light caught the shine in her eyes, still high and wide with eagerness. Her hair was a wild tangle against the dirt.
He rolled from his back onto his side, settling close enough that the lingering scent of her mingled with the weed smoke clinging to him. He reached out, his serpent-tattooed finger finding the sweat-slicked hair near her temple, gently sweeping the strands back behind her ear, exposing the delicate curve of her neck. His movements were languid, almost impossibly slow, drawing out the moment.
He leaned in, his lips just brushing the cool skin of her ear, close enough for his breath to tickle. This was the point where the air grew thick, where the game tightened. He could feel her anticipation, the profound, the mystical, the word that would unlock him. She wanted a piece of his darkness.
He paused, letting the silence stretch, savoring the small, satisfying tremor he sensed in her stillness. The corner of his mouth twitched, not quite a full smile, but the barest hint of one. He took a shallow breath, holding the air in his lungs. Then, he finally whispered, his voice a husky rasp against the chill air: “The thing I call you, the thing I whisper to myself when you’re being most demanding… is ‘Colossal pain in the ass.’”
He pulled back just enough to watch her reaction, a flash of pure mischief in his eyes. The truth of his pet names the real ones, the ones that spoke to the strange, untethered thing she was to him was too precious, too potent to be tossed out like a drunken offering. She’d need to work harder than this. Getting him high was easy; truly getting a secret from Sámiel required more finesse, and certainly more sincerity.
He gave a genuine, soft chuckle, the sound settling around them in the dark.
He rolled from his back onto his side, settling close enough that the lingering scent of her mingled with the weed smoke clinging to him. He reached out, his serpent-tattooed finger finding the sweat-slicked hair near her temple, gently sweeping the strands back behind her ear, exposing the delicate curve of her neck. His movements were languid, almost impossibly slow, drawing out the moment.
He leaned in, his lips just brushing the cool skin of her ear, close enough for his breath to tickle. This was the point where the air grew thick, where the game tightened. He could feel her anticipation, the profound, the mystical, the word that would unlock him. She wanted a piece of his darkness.
He paused, letting the silence stretch, savoring the small, satisfying tremor he sensed in her stillness. The corner of his mouth twitched, not quite a full smile, but the barest hint of one. He took a shallow breath, holding the air in his lungs. Then, he finally whispered, his voice a husky rasp against the chill air: “The thing I call you, the thing I whisper to myself when you’re being most demanding… is ‘Colossal pain in the ass.’”
He pulled back just enough to watch her reaction, a flash of pure mischief in his eyes. The truth of his pet names the real ones, the ones that spoke to the strange, untethered thing she was to him was too precious, too potent to be tossed out like a drunken offering. She’d need to work harder than this. Getting him high was easy; truly getting a secret from Sámiel required more finesse, and certainly more sincerity.
He gave a genuine, soft chuckle, the sound settling around them in the dark.