She had opened up – even just a little – to him, but the way his gaze shadows over immediately sends a tendril of regret through her mind. There are very few, if any, that she can bring herself to admit herself to and pry herself open to. She has savored being able to fortify her thoughts behind a wall; she has expanded on it to never let anyone in, but she has let herself slip. In this instant, with his mistrusting expression and hooded eyes. Regret cusps her throat and sinks its claws into her guarded mind. Slowly, Nayl inches backward. Her face, like stone, turns to openly wonder at the ocean. ”Good question,” she tersely states with a casual shrug. As he withdraws himself, so does she.
His offer lingers in the mild air, brushing across her ears on the salty wind. It’s tempting. The idea – the hunger – of it is reflected in her autumn eyes when they look back at him. She wants to take his offer and prove whether he is wrong or right. Is her skin so fragile to chip away beneath a man’s touch? Or is she of fire and brimstone and harm him instead?
Or would nothing at all happen?
Nayl doesn’t react to the proposal. Her body remains apart from his, still lacking his heat. Why is she suddenly cold when he isn’t near? Is her desire festering and clouding her better judgment? She bites her tongue as a means to restrain herself and suppress the urges blossoming in her gut. Her expression doesn’t soften; it remains molded of stone although her eyes are lit underneath her forelock. Hesitating, however, is enough for him. Stillwater notes it and reacts to it by adding gasoline to their inferno. Watching him is enough. Her gaze narrows and ices over, her lips frowning in distaste for a hearts breadth before straightening herself. He can’t know how much it affects her and eats away at her wall.
”Gladly,” she hisses before turning and leaving him on the barren shoreline.
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