Tav appeared beside her, a few feet away. Still following. Slower, more hesitantly, stepping clumsily on stems and petals. The smell of sweetness from the crushed plants followed their steps.
Eli led Tav deeper into the ocean of petals. The flowers swished against their legs and arms, waist-high, welcoming them with gentle touches. As they moved, Eli could see only flashes of skin through the pale green stalks and violet petals. Soon they were deep in the meadow, surrounded by flowers and bees.
“I used to come here, sometimes,” said Eli. “When I was going crazy, feeling trapped in my body, trapped by the witches and the City of Eyes, lonely in the City of Ghosts, feeling like nothing mattered. I would come out here and lie down in the flowers.”
“Thank you for bringing me here,” whispered Tav. Eli had to read their lips to understand what they were saying.
Eli reached down into the purple galaxy and emerged with a handful of petals. She threw the petals toward Tav, watching them fall in the space between them.
She waited.
Tav took a single, tentative step toward her.
Eli felt her breathing hasten and lulled her lungs into calm waves. Not yet.
Tav took another step.
Eli swallowed.
Tav was in front of her now, close enough to touch, the smell of gasoline and sweat mixing with honey and crushed grass. Eli’s eyes dropped to Tav’s mouth, to their full lower lip. She waited.
Then Tav’s mouth was against hers, and their hands were in her hair. Eli broke — hands reaching out to encircle Tav’s waist, to pull them close, to feel their entire body pressed against hers, to feel that heartbeat as if it were her own, to rub her face against Tav’s, to slide her hands up Tav’s back —
She pulled back, looking at Tav with their angry eyes and spiky purple hair, fiercer and sadder than the spiky purple plants. The universe of petals stretched out all around them.
“You belong here,” she said.
“We belong here,” said Tav, and then their mouth was against Eli’s again, needy and hot and wanting and asking, and the answer was yes, yes, yes.
THE HEALER
Last time had been fingers slipping under sleeves, sliding up her muscular arms. Last time, they had pressed their body against hers on the cold floor of the Children’s Lair, kissing her again and again. They had tasted the arch of her neck, flicked their tongue over her ear, gripped her sharp hips with shaking hands.
But they had stopped before it had gone further. Something had held them back. Maybe it was Cam asleep in the corner (although that had never stopped them before); maybe it was the electricity that crackled between their body and Eli’s. Maybe it was the way their entire body had trembled when Eli buried her face in the crook of their neck. They had never wanted someone the way they wanted Eli.
It scared the shit out of them.
This time, Eli took the lead. She pushed them down and straddled them, her thighs warm against Tav’s. The scent of honey and floral perfume from crushed flowers drifted around them. The hum of bees, and the softness of dozens of insects brushing against their ankles and knees.
Tav admired the curve of Eli’s biceps, and let their hands run over the hard muscle. She made Tav feel small and fragile, but in a good way. Tav’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment as they wondered what it would be like to fall asleep in her arms.
“Look at me,” said Eli.
Tav looked.
Eli pushed herself up to a sitting position. Eyes as yellow as the pollen in her hair. Collarbones sharp as blades. God, Tav wanted to touch them.
Slowly, Eli threaded her arm through one sleeve, and then the other. Hesitated. Then pulled her shirt over her head. Kept her fierce eyes on Tav.
Tav inhaled sharply, letting their eyes touch the freckle on her rib cage, the scar on her breast. She didn’t look like a creature made of glass and pearl. She looked human.
She looked soft.
“Now you,” said Eli.
A flicker of anxiety. The sun bright and hot on their face, like a spotlight. Tav wasn’t used to being nervous. They propped themselves up on their elbows. They could already feel the imprint of stems and leaves tattooing their forearms, the lines cutting through the ink petals and stamens and leaf spines.
“You’ll have to help me.”
“Okay.” Eli swallowed. Maybe she was nervous, too. She shifted slightly. Tav tried not to groan at her weight rubbing against them.
Tav leaned forward, tugging gracelessly on the back of their T-shirt. Warm hands on their shoulders. The feeling of soft cotton skimming their back and arms, quickly replaced with the gentle touch of air on naked skin. When they looked up, Eli was staring at them. Taking in their flat chest, the dark hairs circling wide nipples. The floral tattoos on their left arm. Where Eli was a wave, Tav was a line.
Eli leaned forward, her mouth inches from Tav’s. She moved to their ear, her breath tickling their neck. “You are so fucking beautiful.”
Tav reached for Eli. This time, they wouldn’t hold back.
THE HEART
Tav was narrow and lean. They had more chest hair than she had expected. She liked it. She liked the way they felt underneath her. Eli let her hands skim over the soft hairs, her fingertips grazing their chest. Tav groaned. Eli stroked their chest again, this time with her fingernails. Tav’s breathing was hard and fast, and their hands were skimming Eli’s hips and lower back.
“I want you,” she said, her mouth pressed against their ear. “I want you so badly.”
And then Tav’s hands were gripping her firmly, crushing her against them. Her bare chest touched Tav’s and they both gasped at the sensation. Soft and hard, smooth and rough, skin warmed by the sun and the pounding hearts underneath. Eli found herself starting to move against Tav, rubbing her body against theirs.
She wanted more.
She opened her mouth and
