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"Cytherea," came a voice.
Cytherea stirred awake, looking up. Loveday was looking at her with a smile that warmed Cytherea as much as the afternoon sun.
"Love," she responded. "How are you?"
Loveday walked over and sat next to her on the recliner. She leaned in and gave Cytherea a gentle kiss.
After a few moments of languid kissing, Loveday broke away with a smile gracing her lips. "God, I never tire of that." She looked up at Cytherea, entangling their hands together. "Good," she clarified: "I'm good. Happy. Feeling better. I made some progress on the other rooms. I know you've been avoiding them since what happened in the siphoning room. But I really am feeling better."
Yesterday evening Cytherea had almost killed Loveday during the siphoning process. Cytherea had just crossed back into safety when Loveday passed out. Cytherea had thought she was dead; her pulse was so faint. She nearly had been. If Cyrus hadn't been in the room and able to coax her spirit back to full strength, she might have been.
Cytherea looked down at their hands. "I can't lose you," she whispered. "I can't. I've seen Mercy after what happened to Cristabel. I can't be the same. I'd be a shell of myself." She watched the small drops of her tears wet Love's knuckles.
"Hey," Love whispered, pushing Cytherea's hair behind her. "Shh, it's okay," she crooned, pulling her into her chest, her beating heart. "I'm sorry I scared you." Love sighed. Cytherea felt it in her hair. "We were just so close. I thought I could hold out a few more minutes and would just faint. I didn't think-" at the sound of Cytherea's hiccup, she rerouted. "I'm sorry. I'll try to communicate better next time." Cytherea heard a smirk in her next words. "That way we can both be aware of how fucked up I'm feeling." She pressed a kiss to the top of Cytherea's head. "I won't take myself away from you again."
Cytherea didn't say anything. She just reached up and cupped Loveday's jaw, slowly stroking her thumb from cheekbone to jawline, as if trying to memorize her face. Loveday enclosed her own hand over one of Cytherea's. Then, the cavalier turned her head slowly in her adept's hold and pressed a soft kiss to the palm of her hand. "One flesh, one end, my lady," she said in the quietest voice Cytherea had ever heard the woman use.
"One flesh, one end. My love," she responded, leaning in for another kiss. She tilted her head back, deepening the kiss. She ran her hands in Love's hair, along her back, whatever she could reach. She needed to know Loveday was solid beneath her touch, she needed to know she was here. To believe Loveday's promise to her that she would never abandon her again.
The kiss broke with them both panting, a slight string of wet light still linking the two.
Cytherea leaned her forehead into the other woman's while she continued to catch her breath. She would've been happy to spend the rest of their time at Canaan together, here in this room with Loveday.
Loveday echoed her thoughts. "Let's stay here all day. Everyone else can go to hell."
Cytherea hummed in assent, but her mind latched onto something. Loveday wouldn't have mentioned the others unless, wouldn't have woken her up unless-
"How close are they?" Cytherea asked, pulling back and looking at the other woman.
Loveday looked sheepish, probably at having been found out. Knowing Loveday, she was probably also worried that she was pressuring Cytherea. "Pyrrha and Gideon are getting close; they're on the last two trials."
Cytherea pursed her lips. Damn. If there was ever a way to get her to do something, it was by tempting her competitive nature. She wasn't Duchess of Rhodes - or an Aries - for nothing after all. "Hmm, all right, let's do it. But you have to carry me, and we quit at 9 on the dot. I'm already quite tired."
Loveday, in usual Loveday fashion, looked thrilled. "I think we can still beat them." She waggled her eyebrows momentarily before throwing Cytherea over her shoulder, who squealed in response. She twirled and laughed before setting Cytherea back down and sweeping in for a kiss. There was laughter interrupting the kisses, and Cytherea felt like she was drinking her joy, happy to have caught a happy contagion for once.
Cytherea stroked her hair. "Love. You can't appeal to my sense of pride and then start to kiss me like that. Kiss me one last time here and then we will annoy the others with our affections."
Loveday pulled her body closer to Cytherea and gave her one last kiss. It was soft and gentle, and enthusiastic all at the same time. It was Loveday personified. When she broke the kiss, Cytherea chased it before a finger was pressed to her lips and a kiss to her forehead. "Your rules. Come on," Loveday said, scooping up Cytherea in her arms like she weighed nothing (she probably did to Loveday, she had watched the girl hold Cristabel against the wall during one of Augustine's parties), and yelled "LET'S DO THIS SHIT!" almost running into the wall by the doorway, leaving Cytherea in a fit of giggles as the two made their way through the rest of Canaan. She smothered her with kisses all the way, hoping everyone (especially John) would see.