In Love and Diplomacy

Chapter Forty-Eight: All of My Todays

"No masters or kings when the ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am human, only then I am clean"

- Hozier, "Take Me to Church"

Chapter Forty-Eight

There was urgency.

There was desire.

There was need.

His warm breath curled in the crook of my neck; fingertips traced letters of love to seal with a kiss. His chest heaved and caved beneath my own, heart pounding beneath his skin. His lips were desperate to show how much I was loved, his hands were gentle as they pressed me closer.

I finally counted his freckles and lashes. I added the freckles across his back, his shoulders, the faint one hidden beneath his collarbone. I laid kisses among his constellations as he cherished me in return. His curls twisted around my fingers and my own splayed on the pillow beneath my head.

Thumbs on cheeks. Palms on backs. Flushes of red and pink, shudders and trembles soothed with the weight of the other.

I touched. I held. I loved.

His lips carved promises in my skin, and I hoped he'd keep them. Otherwise, I would bear the scars of his love forever.

We were untouchable, unreachable. Lost in a reverie that'd become reality. Lost in him, in us. In breathy gasps, desperate touches, and loving gazes. We were the embodiment of passion, of love.

Of forever.

The summer sun was dwindling. In summer, light didn't leach away as it did in winter; there was no gradual dim before it disappeared completely. In winter, the day melted away into night, escaping little by little and darkening with purpose. But in summer, the bright light disappeared in a blink, pushing past its expiration until it couldn't hold on any longer. It was light one moment and dark the next, but only ever as dark as the months allowed. In summer, the sky fought to illuminate until its final breath.

Some summer nights retained their light. The few times it wasn't spontaneous, and summer won the battle to stay. The rare times it was slow, slower than even winter, and light settled lazily into a mutual understanding with the heat of the day. Times where the twilight settled and played, the frogs croaked, and the fireflies bobbed. Times like at the safehouse, where the light had slipped away drop by drop, chased away by the growing, chanting hum of the cicadas. Times like right then, when Reed's arms held me, and quiet settled around our personal haven. When forever was a concept for today and tomorrow. A definition for him, and for us. When forever was that summer twilight and fading heat.

We laid in his bed, tangled together, and watched the sun drip away from his bedroom window. The sun clung to every skyscraper as it was dragged apart from us. We watched as the day began to wind down, his arms twisting even tighter around me; his hand intertwined with mine.

When Reed finally peeled away to get dinner at the door, I checked my phone. I responded to Kennedy's text, a lewd message stating she had a good idea of why I wasn't back yet. I thanked her for another night of watching Rolo and received a winking emoji, along with some crude reminders of safety, back almost immediately. I barely had time to smile or roll my eyes before the bed dipped again.

Reed tugged me closer, carefully lining kisses up my shoulder. Warm, gentle, loving brushes of lips on bare skin, and I shivered as he made his way up to my neck. When he reached just below my ear, I twisted to face him, pulling his face to mine.

His love carved deeper.

He lingered even as I began to pull away. I watched a slow grin began to grow; it was a wide, lazy smile that brightened his face and softened his sharp features. He hummed softly as his eyes blinked open, and his fingers traced my collarbone.