The Wind and the Horizon (Book 2 in the Starborn Series)

Chapter Forty-Two

[ CW: The Wattpad version of this chapter has been edited to conform to Wattpad's "Everyone" rating. To read the uncensored, NSFW edition, check out the STARBORN MATURE CHAPTERS book on my profile ]

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May waited a long time for Em to finish her call with Jeremy.

For hours she sat, folded up on the car bench couch. She was trying not to worry about what kind of plan could possibly take so long to discuss, and failing miserably.

How much trouble were they in? How risky was it going to be to reunite with the others?

From there her mind wandered to the tension between Em and Jeremy. What was bound to happen now that he knew her truth?

No wonder they've been on the phone forever, May thought as she picked at the worn upholstery. They have a lot to talk about.

She didn't want to think about what it would be like to face Jeremy again. To May, their situation - two people in love with sort of the same person - felt insurmountable; a towering mountain range with no discernible safe way through.

Eventually, she drifted off, her sleep marred by anxiety and filled with a long procession of dreams tinted by Jeremy's rage toward her.

When she jolted awake, chased from sleep by some nightmare that scurried back into the gloom as soon as her eyes opened, it took her a moment to get her bearings. The office was dark and the only light came from a sliver of where the door had been left open a crack. May blinked and stretched - someone had covered her with a blanket.

As wakefulness set in, she caught the sound of low voices in conversation outside the office. She could make out the familiar lilt of Em's voice and Grant's gruff replies, but not what they were saying. May sat up, relieved that Em was finally off the phone, and padded across the room.

She hadn't intended to eavesdrop, but when May heard the tears in Em's voice, she froze.

"I love her so much, Grant," Em sobbed quietly. Every word was weighed down with heartache. "I don't know how I'm going to do this."

"You're just going to do it," Grant replied in a voice that was gentler than May had ever heard from him. "And you're going to do it because you love her."

May forgot how to breathe. She stood in petrified silence, unable to think or react. What in the world was Em talking about, and what did it have to do with her?

Whatever it was, it was going to be bad. May vaulted back to the bench and curled up under the blanket. She took deep gulping breaths and willed her heart to stop hammering in her chest. Without wanting or willing them, visions of every horrible scenario that might happen when Em walked through that office door ambushed her thoughts.

But there was only one thing it could be; she knew it as instinctively as she knew how to breathe.

Out on the walkway, Grant bid Em goodbye with blunt words of encouragement. Em's footsteps made their way toward the door, then stopped. May wished she could fall asleep on command; she wanted nothing more than to avoid what was coming.

The door creaked and then clicked shut. Em stepped lightly to the bench. May felt the gentle warmth of her hand on her shoulder, the tenderness made her want to cry.

"Maybe?" Em whispered, giving her a nudge. "Baby, wake up. I need to talk to you."

May waited, pretending to sleep even though her eyes were clenched far too tight for it to be believable. She felt Em lean over her body, her face moving in closer.

"Please, May." Em pressed a kiss to her temple. "Wake up, love."

Turning her face, May kissed Em before she had a chance to react. Then she kissed her again, harder and more ardently. She kept kissing Em, each movement of her lips more passionate than the last, in a bid to put the inevitable off a little longer.

It seemed Em was of the same mind. Without breaking their embrace, she crawled on top of May and pressed their bodies together. Her hand slid behind May's head, fingers twisting in her hair as she crushed in closer. Intensity bloomed between them and their bodies responded in writhing motion. The heat of their proximity set May ablaze; she squirmed to free herself from the tangled blanket before Em pulled it aside and got to work on her clothes. She shoved May's shirt up, leaving a trail of greedy kisses up her body along the way. May finished the job, wrestling the shirt over her head while Em got rid of her own.

Their love-making was rough and urgent; May's didn't even realize she was screaming until she finished, arching and shuddering like a woman possessed.

As May gasped for breath, Em collapsed against her. She pressed her skin into the heat and sweat of May's, imagining they could melt together if she stayed there long enough. Slowly she circled her arms around May's lower back and held her tight, nuzzling her face into her hair. May listened to Em's slow and deliberate breathing. She knew that shallow cadence well; it was the way a person breathes when they're trying not to cry.

May let the moment settle around them, cold and quiet like falling snow. Her fingers trailed along Em's scored shoulder, down her arm and back again. They clung to this delicate hush and to each other, neither speaking a word and lost in thought.

But they couldn't stay like this forever.

May swallowed down the lump in her throat and shifted so she could turn her face to Em. Reluctantly, Em pulled back. She kept her face cast down as she peered back at May through damp, glittering lashes.

With feathery softness, May tucked a lock of silver hair behind Em's ear, smiling sadly.

"Go on and say it," May said, her voice wavering.

"You're leaving me, aren't you?"

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