Word Count: 2232

~Ayah

Any thoughts of making a mistake are pressed to the very back of my mind.

The stone is cold and rough against my unmarred palms as I inch over the balcony fence, clinging at the faint grooves in the wall.

With both legs over, I dig my fingers into the knotted ivy and honeysuckle that clambers up the wall, supported by a frail wooden trellis. My bare feet find the angular slats as I gently bear my weight down to test its stability.

Mercifully it holds true, so I start my descent.

Glancing down, I see Zaon staring up at me, the soft curve of his sensuous mouth urging me on.

"That's it. Nice and slow," he encourages, his faint murmur tickling my senses.

I've never been more grateful for my long skirts. They may wind and bunch haphazardly around my legs, but at least Zaon can't look up and see my undergarments.

"You're distracting me," I grit out, picking my way past vines that creep like veins up the side of the house and honeysuckle blooms that brush against my skin.

"You sure you can manage? You're shaking," Zaon notes darkly.

I am, in fact, trembling. It's not from the exertion of scaling down a wall, or from the frost tinged breeze. It's not even from the blood I coughed up earlier. It's from Zaon's keen stare and his choice of words.

"I'm just fine-"

My foot suddenly slips, my hands scrambling for purchase. My fingers grasp thick vines, which rip violently away from the wall, stony grit and dirt raining down atop me as I fall.

Thankfully I'm mere feet from the ground. Zaon grabs me before I topple backward into the grass, his catch effortless as he pulls me against his body.

His scent floods my senses — snow and violets and amber. The warmth of his body twists around me, his hold firm and secure as he gently lowers me until my toes brush against the grass.

"Oh wow..." I breathe out, my lips parted as I stare, awestruck, at the stranger whose arms don't move from where they brace around me, his hands pressed into my back.

From this close he doesn't seem real. The arc of his cheekbones to the hollow of his cheeks is too idyllic. His upturned mouth is too faultless and his eyes...like a palette of every shade of blue I've ever been fortunate enough to see.

"There you are. In the flesh," he murmurs quietly, brushing his knuckles against the slope of my cheek in an effort to rid my skin of the fallen debris.

I stumble from his grasp abruptly, afraid his touch will sear through me, that my traitorous heart will reveal my nerves.

He lets me slip away, folding his hands behind his back. I can still feel the weight of his arms, feel the strength in his muscle as he caught me, saving me from a twisted ankle.

"Thanks for catching me, I guess." I hug my arms around myself, feeling the tiny bumps that have gathered on my skin.

"You seem flustered." He angles his head, surveying my from head to toe.

All of a sudden my pale nightdress feels sheer and revealing. It's the nature of his gaze, I realise. It feels hot enough to scorch through even the thickest of fabrics.

"I haven't touched a strange man before," I admit sheepishly, digging my toes deeper into the grass. "I mean, maybe a guard or two, but not like this..."

He probably thinks I'm some simpering fool. All he's done is catch me from a fall and yet I'm left feeling like I've been pressed against a wall and ravished.

"You're safe, I promise," he murmurs.

The cool of the night air brushes against my heated skin as I wander past him. It's been mere hours since I've been condemned to my room and the relief to be freed from it is overwhelming.

I sink down, rolling onto my back amidst the fog laden grass. It curls around me, cool and soothing as it rests against my skin, its pleasant scent drifting into my senses.

"I'm so grateful to be outside." I rip up a clump, letting it sift through my fingers. "Oh grass, I missed you!"

It's only until Zaon crouches down beside me that I remember his presence. Even still I'm too relieved to be concerned about how he is perceiving me. He probably leads an army, knowing freedom and exploration like no other.

"Being locked up isn't very nice, is it?" He looks over me, at the grass stains now addling my white dress.

I stare up at the moon, at its sharp angles and argent glint. "Oh I'm used to it."

"You smell like honeysuckle and grass now." He laughs breathily, the sound so stunningly masculine it makes my toes curl. "And I think you've stained your dress."

"I've been locked up for hours and it has felt like torture." I scramble up, wandering over to father's grand fountain, staring down into the dark oblivion of water. "I even missed you, little fishes."

They dart around, some with iridescent scales while others are golden. Water spouts from the statues mouth, bubbling in the water magically.

"Tell me your name and I'll give you your gift." Zaon's voice tugs my attention back to him.

I straighten, staring down at the small box he produces from his pocket. "Why did you get me a gift?"

It's black with a thin purple ribbon, fitting in the palm of his hand. My heart catapults into my throat, my eyes hungrily observing the box that gives nothing away.

"I want you to remember me when I leave," he admits softly, stray strands of deep brown hair brushing hypnotically against his brows.

Reaching out, I make to grab for his present, but he pulls back an inch. My curiosity won't be sated until I trade for my own secret.

"My name is Ayah," I relent.

He shivers involuntarily, overcome by some transient feeling that seems bigger than just the simple offering of a name. 

"I really needed to hear that," he admits gently, reaching his hand back out. "Take your gift, Ayah."

Plucking it off his palm, I pop the box open, the silken bow falling away to either side.

Inside is a dainty pendant shaped like a cluster of pink peonies. It's so simple yet decadently beautiful, attached to a thin silver chain.

Zaon doesn't speak as I slowly pull it from the box, examining it beneath the mellow moonlight, utterly awestruck.

"It's beautiful," I marvel.

"I saw it and you came to mind," he admits.

I've never received such a gift. Father gives me a great deal of things, but only ever to buy my compliance. This gift feels real, unprompted. Zaon is just a man who saw a necklace and purchased it for me.

"Thank you so much. I've never owned something like this before." I brush my thumb of the pendant, warmth blooming in my chest.

"May I put it on?"

"Yes please."

The chain trickles into his palm as I place it down. Turning, I sweep my hair off my neck so he can loop it around, adjusting the clasp until it's secure.

I gaze down best I can, trying not to giggle with happiness as I see the pendant nestle at the top of my breasts, just above the fabric of my dress.

Zaon doesn't move. His fingers brush my skin, and then his hands which he lays flat against my shoulders.

I shiver at his touch, remaining painfully still, afraid I'll disrupt the moment. His hands are warm and assertive, trailing leisurely back and forth against my shoulders, his brazen fingertips occasionally touching my collarbones, my neck.

"Your skin is incredibly soft," he murmurs, his breath coasting against my ear. His chest brushes against my back, his proximity intoxicating.

"T...thanks," I stammer.

His hands turn me so I'm facing him. I anxiously reach for the pendant of the necklace, needing to touch something that isn't him.

He watches the movement, his forehead creasing with concern suddenly.

Grabbing my hand, he splays my fingers out so he can examine them. My skin is stained with dried blood, which I mustn't have washed off thoroughly enough from when I was coughing into the sink.

"What is this?" He demands, the authority in his tone stunning me for a second.

Yanking my hand away, I tuck it behind my back, mortification staining my cheeks pink.

"It's nothing."

"You're bleeding." He angles his head, concern waring with anger in those tumultuous eyes.

"I'm not bleeding." I flash my hand in front of him again. "See, it's just staining. I'm fine."

He grabs my wrist before I can hide it again. He's silent as he brushes his fingers against mine, examining every inch of my skin that is tainted red.

"You were bleeding."

"Zaon, I'm just fine. Seriously," I breathe out, offering a tight smile.

Explaining that I can heal people with unknown magic is complicated enough, let alone what I would need to admit if he knew I was healing my sick mother and doing so is killing me.

Coughing up blood is a familiar symptom. The recent dizziness, lack of appetite and fatigue bothers me the most.

"Are you okay here?" He whispers, his concern so genuine is makes my stomach ache.

I'm not sure anyone has actually cared about my health in a long time. I suspect father only cares about me losing my ability to keep my mother alive, and not the prospect of losing his daughter to overexertion.

That's what you do for your mate. You sacrifice everything. Even your own daughter.

"Please don't tell anyone, I'm just fine," I insist carefully. "It's just this job I have to do everyday and some days it really takes it out of me."

He shifts closer, his chest mere inches from mine. His warmth bathes my skin, his scent digging into the recesses of my mind, never to be forgotten. He bows his head, his hands reaching up to cradle either side of my face.

"You're dying, Ayah. I can see it," he murmurs.

His thumbs sweep back and forth against my cheeks as his eyes trace every detail of my face up close.

"Dying? No...I'm not dying." I choke out a faulty laugh in an attempt to cover my reality with humour.

He just shakes his head knowingly. "I sense your light fading."

"Don't be ridiculous," I stumble.

I should step back, insist he's wrong and be done with this conversation. But I can't. I'm convinced were I to look down I would see the fog has become material and has shackled my feet to the ground.

Zaon has a dangerous magnetic energy that my body responds to, that it craves. I don't want to release from his hold, from his perfect touch.

"What if you came with me?" He asks. "The pack where I reside is beautiful, amongst the snow and the mountains. See those ridges? I live somewhere around there."

He turns, letting me go as he points toward the horizon. The fog has lifted enough to see the tips of those glorious mountains that stand as ancient guardians in the distance.

"I've always gazed that way and wondered what was there," I admit, ignore the shiver that sprawls down my spine. "But I can't. I have a job here."

Adding that has turned my words to oil, so hard to get out. It seems too much like fate that he would reside in a pack amongst mountains I've dreamed of visiting since I was a little girl.

"You can have a job with me—"

"No, I have a job I cannot step away from, even if I have moral trepidation about it." I rub the back of my neck, where my hair stands up on ends. "Plus my father is here. I wouldn't leave him for anyone."

To my surprise, he relents. "That is entirely fair."

I could stay here until dawn with him, asking him all manner of questions about his life back in his home pack. Unfortunately I'm tired, and fear the blood I lost tonight will cause me to collapse were I to linger much longer.

"Will you help me back up?" I ask softly, backing toward the wall.

"Absolutely." He grabs my wrist, gently yanking me toward him. "But first..."

He leans down and presses a chaste kiss to my cheek. His soft strands of dark hair brush against my cheekbone, his breath teasing against my skin.

I jump from his grasp, my hand instinctively reaching to my cheek.

I've never had someone do that to me before. The sensation is startling as it is glorious.

"Uh..." I can't find apt words to string together.

"Shh, don't speak. I just want you know that you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Air has vacated my lungs, leaving me breathless and captivated. I'm beginning to think I'm doomed...

Because I'm really starting to like this man.

❤️••❤️

Thank you everyone for continuing to read this story, your support means everything to me (:

If you want to read ahead, this story is 15 chapters ahead on INKITT (@midika) and is 5 chapters ahead on RADISH.

Thanks again for reading (:

~Midika 💜🐼