Even cradled against his side, she realizes how easily her mind slips back into her role as a Queen, as a superior. She has already said too much and she quickly bites her tongue as his breathing subtly changes with the change in his mood. For those long, intimate moments, Nayl had let all of her walls tumble down and opened herself to him. With their bodies merged underneath nothing but the moon and stars, Nayl became truly vulnerable for the first time in her life. It had been exhilarating, liberating, but when it ended so did everything else. Her mind immediately reeled back to what her peers would see, what legacy she has created, what image she is constructing for Nerine.
She can tell how almost disapproving he is of her questions by the silence that engulfs him. It rips into her heart and soul and the strength in her body falters while against him. A breath catches in her throat, and her eyelids lazily drift shut. ”I’m sorry,” she whispers into his skin just as his wing cascades across her body. She doesn’t pull away. For the first time, she refuses to let this moment end when she very well could have. The muscles in her jaw twist, wanting so badly to forget everything else but him – but them. In his caress, her ears swivel then fall as she tries desperately to ignore the thoughts feeding into her, ideas that would tear them apart. ”I just---“ she almost begins but purses her lips shut, refusing to entertain her reeling mind any further.
Lior is so accepting of this, gingerly holding her as her thoughts race and scream.
He was able to see her as more than just a Queen, as more than an untouched, cold-hearted woman. He did, in fact, see an honest version of herself with all her walls and guards fallen in disarray. In the night, he saw a raw and naked version of Nayl that had never before surfaced. The way his lips trace along her skin tell her that the moment isn’t over, that their intimacy isn’t over, and she tries to accept this as a heavy breath is sighed from her lungs.
”You don’t need to thank me,” she manages a light-hearted chuckle as her cheek leans against the flat plane of his neck, ”I wanted this, too.” Her icy shield has not been entirely erected yet; she is still exposed to him, trying to embrace this new vulnerability beneath the pale moon. ”I want you,” she admits as her mouth whispers along his crest down to his shoulder, ”all of you.”
These memories are eternal as a new life blossoms within her.
A new life.
A child.
A legacy.
The sense of knowing enthralls her. There is something – an image of perfection – that grows within her.
She peers up at Lior, smiling under the veil of his wing, and asks, ”What do you hope it will be?”
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