Love and Pride

albatros

CW: The one where CanEm gets a little bit smutty 😉

Sanem

He stopped at a street cart and bought tea and sandwiches.

"I bet you've never eaten from a food truck."

"Never. My mother would faint if she saw me eating on the street like this. Scandalous!" I smiled with sheer joy and he choked on his tea.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile like that," he said. "If only I had known that bad çay would be the key to your heart."

"Now you know." I beamed at him. His smile dawned like sunrise and my heart swelled.

****

"What is this place?"

"My cabin," he said, "It's not much," he opened the double doors and looked so boyishly unsure of himself, my heart squeezed in my chest.

"It's charming," I said smiling. I enjoyed seeing his thunderstruck look every time I smiled at him. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"I'll never get tired of seeing you smile," he whispered in my ear. I shivered and he straightened.

"If you want, I have something here that you can wear. Not that you don't look amazing wearing my jacket," he said in all seriousness.

I laughed and he hugged me again. His suit jacket swallowed me up entirely and I was sure I looked like a kid playing dress-up. But the way he looked at me, it was obvious that he liked what he saw and I loved being wrapped in his delicious scent.

"What's this?" I pulled out three stones from the pocket. I was curious when I felt something clicking around in there while I was holding on for dear life on his motorcycle.

"Moonstones. I'll tell you the story one day."

He closed the doors and left me to change. When I came back outside clad in his shirt and shorts, he was nowhere to be found. My attention was snagged by his impressive record collection. I looked through them and decided this was a night of firsts. So I put the record on and danced under the moon for the first time.

After a few minutes, awareness crept in but for once in my life, I wasn't self-conscious and I let him watch me until the song ended. He stood outside the cabin holding a bundle of wood looking stunned. I switched the record to a slow song.

"Dance with me, bad king," I said. He dropped the bundle heedlessly to the ground and had me in his arms within one breath and the next. I placed my head on his chest and listened to his racing heart.

"Bad king?" he said after a moment.

"Yes. The bad king is gorgeous and he knows it. He's also a thief of hearts, leaving a trail of broken ones wherever he goes. Plus, the bad guy is always more interesting and much better looking than the prince."

"Does the bad king get the girl in the end?"

My silence spoke louder than words. He gathered me tighter.
I played with a necklace he wore. A melancholy feeling stealing the moment until I peered closer at the necklace.

"Albatros, " I looked up at him in surprise and confessed, "It's a recurring dream of mine."

"Let me show you something."

He pulled up his shirt and my mouth went dry. I couldn't tear my eyes from the magnificence before me. His chest was a breath-stealing work of art and I had a sudden craving to lick every inch. I took me a few minutes to realize what he was actually showing me when I saw the tattoo on his chest.