Page 13 of Invidia

Tallulah hummed. “Me too. I just don’t want our exploring to affect you negatively, you know what I mean? I don’t want to get in your way.”

“In the way of what?” The question felt like a trap, but I couldn’t quite figure out where the spring was. Did she want me to say out loud that no one wanted me? It was the truth, but I also had some pride. Then again, that didn’t seem like the kind of request sweet Tallulah would make.

“You know. A relationship, or whatever.”

“I’ve never had a relationship before. I don’t foresee that changing,” I told her honestly. As far as Shades went, I was no prize. “It wouldn’t be compatible with my job, anyway.”

There was a long pause and Tallulah’s scent grew muddled again.

“Okay,” she said eventually, speaking slowly as though she was choosing her words carefully. “But you want to explore with me.”

“If that’s something you want, I will be available to you for as long as you’re willing.”

Tallulah hummed before settling back against me, which had to be a positive, didn’t it? She was relaxing. Relaxed was good.

I wished I felt relaxed, but there was a weight pressing on my shoulders that I couldn’t quite shake.

“Alright,” Tallulah said with renewed confidence. “We could be, like, friends with benefits, I guess?”

“Of course. This way you can build your confidence with me while you continue to get to know all the Shades that are undoubtedly throwing themselves in your path.”

I, in no way, expected any kind of exclusivity from a woman who was being courted by all the finest Shades in the realm. I’d take what I could get of her presence for as long as I could get it. I wasn’t even sure how the situation had arisen that she was remotely considering me to sate her curiosity.

I had to assume that it was only because she knew there was no risk of me expecting anything more, as I was so clearly beneath her notice. Maybe that was why, with me, she didn’t experience those sudden panics.

In a way I hadn’t expected, I was safe for her.

“Okay…” She hesitated for a moment before clearing her throat, a burst of sexual confidence seeming to bloom out of nowhere. It was incredible to witness. “I don’t suppose there are any beds in the in-between?”

Shit.

I couldn’t take her back to the barracks. We’d have to go down a long corridor past every other Guard member’s door. It would be disastrous for Tallulah’s reputation.

“Unfortunately not, though I can do my best to make you comfortable here?” I said, expending a little more energy to shroud us more tightly in shadows before lying back on the ground so Tallulah would be spared the cold surface. She startled before laughing lightly, adjusting her position so her legs straddled my hips, hands planted on my chest.

“I’m not crushing you?” she asked. I did my best not to take the question as a personal insult to my strength. I may not have all the features that other Shades had, but I was still more than capable of carrying her.

“Of course not.”

She hummed, her fingertips confidently exploring my chest in a way I wasn’t sure she would have done if there was light in here.

“And no one is going to see us here? Isn’t it basically a highway?”

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure of my ability to keep you safe,” I assured her. “I spend more time in the in-between than anyone else in the realm. No one knows it better than me.”

This particular spot was mine in all but name. No one came here but me.

I’d never brought anyone else here either.

“Well, if we’re definitely alone…” Tallulah leaned in, her lips tracing the edge of my jaw before moving up, leaving a trail of soft kisses up to the corner of my mouth. “I wonder if Shades kiss like humans kiss.”

I held myself perfectly still as she moved over my mouth, her lips soft and plush compared to my thin, hard ones.

“Tallulah…” I murmured. “My teeth.”

“I’ll be careful,” she whispered against me, sucking my lower lip lightly into her mouth before biting down gently with blunt, harmless teeth. I bucked up against her, my hands gripping her hips the only thing preventing her from being thrown off.

“Give me your tongue,” Tallulah demanded in a seductive rasp. I did as she ordered—I’d do anything she ordered—my shadows spiking eagerly, as her tongue stroked against mine. It was the most erotic experience I’d ever had.