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On their journey back to Katolis, Rayla had been missing all of the alone time that she and Callum had together during their Xadian adventure. It seemed that everytime the opportunity for her to be next to him presented itself, someone else was just around the corner waiting to ask a favor, or start a conversation, or just be nearby, which meant that she couldn’t steal a kiss, or rest her head on his shoulder, or anything without feeling self-conscious.
She looked across the small clearing to her beloved asleep on his bedroll and sighed, wishing she could go over to him and fall asleep on his shoulder without it being weird. As she sighed, he stirred. He rolled over to his other side, and Rayla smiled to herself. His green eyes were open, she realized, and they met hers. Her cheeks reddened at being caught staring.
“Whatcha doin’?” He whispered with a smile, just loud enough so she could hear.
“Can’t sleep.”
“C’mere,” he beckoned her. He pushed himself up, throwing his blanket off. She stood as well, and crept quietly across the grass to grasp his waiting hand. “Let’s take a walk.”
“That sounds perfect.” She dropped his hand and elected to instead wrap an arm around him as they walked. He copied her and even gave her shoulder a squeeze. As they continued down the forest path, she wondered: How could such a tiny, tiny action make her stomach flip like that?
“Why were you awake?” He asked casually.
“I was missing you.” She admitted. She’d hoped to sound flirtatious, but she frowned when, instead, the words came out sounding sad.
“Really? But we’ve been together all day?” Callum said nonchalantly.
“Yeah, I guess,” she shrugged. “It’s just not the same as before.”
“Why not?” Could he be anymore dense? Didn’t he want to be alone with her too?
“Because, Callum,” she started, with a bite in her voice, “we can’t be alone together now!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He stopped walking and stepped in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “It’s okay, Rayla. I didn’t know you were feeling that way. I’m sorry.” His face softened from the panic of having upset her. “You can always just ask if you want to get away from everyone for a while.”
“I—I can?”
“Of course you can.” He pulled her into a hug. “I love you, Rayla.” At this Rayla’s face dropped from anger into embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to yell at him.
”Callum, I love you too.” She brought her hands up to wrap around his waist, enjoying their embrace. “I shouldn’t have gotten upset with you.”
”It’s ok. I don’t ever want you to feel upset if I can help it.” As he spoke, he pushed her shoulders away gently so that he could lean up and kiss her forehead. When he pulled back again, they were both smiling. “So...why do you want to be alone so bad?” He winked at her, and she rolled her eyes in response.
Before she could find a witty way to ask him to kiss her, he was already leaning in, capturing her lips against his. His hands migrated to her waist and she let hers travel to his shoulders. After a few moments, they broke apart, a little out of breath. He rested his forehead against hers. “Love you,” he repeated.
”I love you too,” she whispered back.
”Can I kiss you again?” He asked.
“Of course,” Rayla breathed in, in preparation.
”Can I...try something?” Callum whispered.
”Mmhmm,” she responded, gently rubbing her nose against the side of his. He angled upward to capture her lips again.
Once her lips were firmly planted on his, he dared to open his lips just the tiniest bit to let his tongue touch her bottom lip. She squealed a bit, surprised, but angled her face somehow closer to his. She ran a hand from his shoulder up to the back of his head. He ran his tongue slowly from the right side of her lip to the left. She broke their kiss to breathily say, “Let me try.” They didn’t even open their eyes again before sealing their lips to each other’s again. She mimicked his kiss, and he gave a light sigh. He pulled her a little closer, dropping his hands from her waist to her hips. He opened his lips again, letting his tongue touch hers. Her tongue retreated, practically dragging his along with it as she opened her mouth a little more, allowing his tongue to brush the inside of her bottom lip. Absentmindedly, his hands slipped further down, and didn’t quite grasp at her behind but certainly rested on it. She broke the kiss.
”Callum!” She exclaimed.
”What?” Callum asked with a dopey, lopsided smile on his face that went perfectly with his half-lidded, lovesick eyes. Rayla couldn’t help but smile back and roll her eyes, especially realizing that he hadn’t purposely decided to grope her as they kissed. “Keep your hands to yourself, you sly mage.”
He raised his eyebrows in surprise, clearly just having realized where his hands had been, but smiled nonetheless. “Oh, sorry!” He said, and completely withdrew his arms, placing them rigidly at his sides. “Hands firmly to self,” he playfully put on a stoic expression.
“Well, maybe not all the way to yourself,” Rayla smiled. She pulled at the fabric of his jacket at his elbows, drawing his hands back to her waist. “Should we go back?” She asked, placing her arms back around his neck.
”Probably,” he shrugged. He dropped one arm from their loose embrace and turned back towards camp and started back along the trail.
”Same time tomorrow?” Rayla asked, this time giving his shoulder a squeeze.
“It’s a date,” he beamed back at his love, illuminated by the light of the moon.