We returned to the room in the later hours of the night and showered before departing for bed. Nestled against Guy’s body, one arm braced under my pillow and the other draped across his side, I listened to his pale sighs and stroked the fine hairs on his abdomen as I tried to imagine what might happen come the following day.
We’d done something unprecedented.
If what Guy had said was true, no one had ever shown such defiance.
What would the Kaldr think?
The possible ramifications of the night were endless. Poised beneath the high windows, cast perfectly in the light of the closest moon of the year, we had slept in a manner that defied every expectation of the people within this settlement. Guy’s father, Elliot’s partner, every man and woman who’d laid eyes on us the moment we’d entered the settlement—even the Kelda seemed without reservations, for she’d spoken to Guy as if he were an enigma set to change the world. Yet, for some reason, I felt like we’d made a terrible mistake.
I closed my eyes and held my breath.
No.
I couldn’t think that.
If I allowed myself to doubt, even for a moment, then I risked collapsing the foundation we’d been so desperate to build.
Opening my eyes, I stared at the wall across from us and waited for some kind of realization to hit—for some false promise of security to come barreling through and strike me head-on.
It didn’t.
Then again, I wasn’t sure I expected it to.