Fables & Other Lies - Claire Contreras Page 0,71

a step back and eyed me up and down.

“Has he called? Did he say anything about his apartment? Did he—”

She put a hand up to shut me up and reached behind her for an envelope. She handed it to me and watched as I ripped it open. There was a key inside it. I glanced up at her.

“What’s this?”

“From River,” she said, smiling. For a split second, I felt joy, but then she added, “He said he wanted you to keep it.”

I swallowed, unable to fight the tears that welled up in my eyes. I blinked rapidly and walked past her, toward the stairs in the back, stomping up until I reached the third floor and then the apartment. I unlocked and opened it, shutting and locking it behind me. It was empty, and it was then that I began to cry. The furniture was still there, but there was no sound, no movement, and . . . I ran to the bedroom . . . it was empty. Why would he leave me his apartment? Why would he leave me? I paced it. I went up to the window and looked out over the sea of people. The ocean was back, the waves had come well into the iron gates, flooding the buildings that stood near it. Even the Devil’s Chair seemed to be gone. My heart squeezed even more so. There was no Manor, no Dolos Island beyond the gates. Only water. It was an impossibility. I cried harder as the word came to mind, and then, I climbed in bed and closed my eyes to hang onto the smell of him as I wept.

Movement woke me up. I gasped when I saw him. Threw my arms around him when he neared. Buried my face in his neck and inhaled him, squeezing harder.

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I didn’t say goodbye.” It hurt when I spoke the words, emotion clogging up my throat to the point of pain.

“It’s okay,” he whispered against my hair, holding me tight.

“Is this a dream?” I pulled back.

His smile was sad. His nod was brief. I shut my eyes and let the tears cascade down my cheeks. His fingers wiped them away and I opened my eyes to meet his gaze.

“I’m only gone physically, little witch.” His lip turned up. “You’ll still carry me inside you, deep within your bones.”

“I want you here.” I shook my head, tears continuously spilling. “In front of me. For real.”

He kept smiling. “One day, when you’re alone and afraid, I’ll poke you from within and you’ll feel me there, and then you won’t feel so alone, so afraid anymore.”

“I don’t want that. I want you here.” I cried harder. My shoulders shook. Tears fell, snot loosened. I didn’t care. I wiped my face with the back of my hand. “I want you here.”

“You’ll have me here.” He kissed the tip of my nose, my cheek, my lips.

I returned the kiss harder, more frantically, and undressed him as he undressed me. I made my way down his body, dragging my lips on every etch and every plane. He gripped my hair when I kneeled between his legs. I glanced up at him, reveling in that dark gaze. The weight of his lust propelled me into action, pulling him into my mouth and sucking, licking, moving until he groaned and gripped me tighter. He yanked me off of him and pulled me up with the same hand that was just encouraging the foreplay, and slammed his mouth against mine, unleashing his tongue into my mouth. His other hand found my breasts, my nipples, my clit, and rubbed as he mouth-fucked me, his fingers in my hair gripping to the point of pain as I cried out, soaking his other fingers. He let go of my hair to hold me by the waist and pull me on top of him. It started out hard—him slamming into me, punishing me, but then he turned me so that my back was flat on the mattress and he hovered over me, looking into my eyes and sliding in and out of me painstakingly slowly, as if memorizing every second of the moment, unwilling to let it go. I remembered it was a dream, and that maybe, possibly, River might be experiencing it as well. I brought a hand up to his face as he continued to move inside of me.

“I love you,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

He kissed