farther down. "Do you really only want to sculpt if the product is important?"
Cosmo hummed and shook his head. "No. No, I…I love sculpting because it's as if I'm getting to know someone with my hands. Almost like creating them, except it feels as though they already existed in the clay before I ever arrived. I sketched Owen today, but when I plan the piece, it won't be him who appears. There will be someone new, and I learn them as I build them. Learn the strains in their muscles and imagine where they might've come from. Their age as it shows on their face or in their stance. Their moods and behaviors from their expression."
Cosmo was somewhere else now, not with me in the boat, and I wanted to reach out and drag him back to me, to fall into that same place in his head where he went when he was working. My body tightened, and I huffed out an irritated breath as I lurched up to my knees, the boat rocking a little at my movement.
Cosmo's gaze fell back to me, eyes widening and lips parting, but I didn't wait for him to ask. My arms circled his shoulders, and I pulled him to me, claiming his mouth with a kiss.
He was right. The Hunger was more than physical lust, that was just how it manifested. It was Cosmo who'd triggered it, simply by being himself.
"Bryony," he gasped, and then groaned and returned to my kiss, slipping gently down from the bench he'd been sitting on, pushing the oars to the back of the boat. We were floating toward the oak on the bank, the boat rocking slightly as we rushed to press closer.
We'd probably be fine. I didn't really care either way.
All I wanted in the moment was Cosmo, and I dragged him down on top of me, my back pushing the basket to the tip of the prow and out of my way. Cosmo laughed as the boat moved with every little jostle of our bodies as we tried to fit together in the small space. We were on our sides by the end, hands groping over clothes to try and hold each other closer, mouths meeting messily, nibbling at any flesh they could find.
"Please," I begged, my body trying to work itself against Cosmo.
"It's all right. I have you."
He did, but not enough. I nearly tipped us over trying to climb on top of him, and the Hunger didn't care if Cosmo was laughing wildly, if I was giggling too. It still wanted more. I settled my knees on either side of his hips and tried to grind down on his lap, my hands braced on either side of Cosmo's beaming smile, but there was too much fabric between us for real friction.
"Is this you?" Cosmo murmured, a little fold appearing between his dark brows. "Are you as much possessed by the magic as you could make me be?"
I paused to catch my breath, sitting up over his lap and staring down at him. Cosmo Pianetta was handsome, although it was in an earthier way than the others. His lips were full and strong, and his nose had a distinctive line down the tip. His curls were black and thick, and I indulged in the impulse to reach out and dig my fingers in, watching in fascination as Cosmo's eyes fell shut and his head tilted back under my grip, throat bobbing with his swallow.
"It's me," I said, realizing it was true. The Hunger was on my back, panting and salivating like a wolf waiting to leap on its prey, but it was willing to be patient if I demanded it. "I want you."
Cosmo grinned, eyes opening and finding mine. "Then I'm yours, muse."
Which is, of course, when the goose arrived on the boat.
16
Bryony
I screamed, and Cosmo broke into immediate rowdy laughter. The goose spread its wings and honked, leaning forward, snapping at me and bouncing closer, perching on the wobbling oars like a gargoyle. A second bird appeared by Cosmo's head, and his laughter died abruptly as we both sat up and the geese began their attack, claiming our picnic basket and cornering us against the side.
We were up, clutching each other, trying to shoo the geese away, when the balance tipped and the water rushed in and I went spilling out. Sky and the tall green branches of trees spinning over my head as Cosmo fell out with me, something like a