The Little Dove #2 ✔️

50. The Horizontal Dance

CHAPTER 50: The Horizontal Dance

He stares down at me, wide-eyed, "What?"

I furrow my eyebrows, "What I said was pretty self-explanatory, Edmund." I elk him, blushing lightly, even as he cups my cheeks in both his hands and still stares at me wide-eyed. He pales, dramatically.

I sigh and step in closer, "Not like that right now, Edmund. When we're both ready to take that specific step forward, there's no rush, I'm just explaining to you that...I'm going to have a shower, excuse me." I catch myself, grabbing my clothes quickly and closing the door as he still stood there, frozen. I lock the door and lean my back against it, taking a long breath.

He reacted far differently than I thought he would when all I really had done was tell him I was ready to move forward; we hadn't thought about it. It almost appears as if he hadn't thought about it, given everything we've been through. I took a slow shower, glancing at the soap I know he used and deciding to just use my other one, the Ambrose fragrance. I spent time drying my hair, curling it slightly, and brushing my teeth, all so as to not exactly speak about it so soon.

When I open the door, I see he's sitting on the couch, eyes straight forward, looking like he was waiting, I sigh and give him a small smile, "Don't overthink it, Edmund." I murmur to him.

He still stares straight forward, face still pale, I slowly step up towards him and take a slow seat next to him, crossing one leg over the other, "Do you want to talk about it?" I ask him, softly.

"Last week, you barely spoke to me. No matter what I tried doing, I even had to watch you on television with Kenji, and the way you two interacted, I'm not blind, lemon." He says, monotonically.

"Kenji and I are close friends, I grew up with him, Edmund. It doesn't mean there was any chemical attraction." I explain to him.

"What about physical attraction? You expect me to believe that you're still a virgin?" He mutters, holding his head in his hands.

I roll my eyes, "I'll take that as a compliment. You're the first man I've kissed, therefore you'll probably be my first everything and anything, Edmund, and No, there was no physical attraction either." I whisper to him, placing my hand on his bare arm, leaning my head on his shoulder, broad and pale. He didn't feel warm, he felt cold. I slowly look up at him.

"Edmund, you already knew all this," I whisper.

"I'd never touched or looked at a girl before you." He murmurs, turning slowly towards me, he picks me up, tugging me onto his lap as I wrap my hands around his neck, my arms wrap around his shoulders.

I lower my forehead to his, "I know, and it's the same for me. What has you so shocked about it?" I murmur, feeling his hand flatten on my lower back, his other one curling around my waist, I trail my eyes up to meet lightened silver ones, he closes his eyes, nuzzling his forehead into mine.

"I never thought I would get to experience this, lemon." He murmurs.

I lean back to look at him, eyes scorching my own, I watch his throat clench. He looks down, moving forward to intertwine my fingers with his, "Most of my childhood consisted of surviving, I never looked into what love could feel like, the urges and instincts that I have already shown symptoms of with you." He murmurs, slowly trailing his eyes towards my lips.

BANG!

The door to my room opens, and I snap my head to see Marvin standing there. I give him a narrow-eyed look, "Forthright's asking for you." He says to me, eyes annoyed as he closes the door behind him.

I furrow my eyebrows, "How could he have even known we got back?" I mutter. Speaking about Forthright, curiously.

Edmund stands with me in his arms, "There are cameras at the gate, the second we entered-he probably would have been able to tell if what time we arrived back." He murmurs, sighing in defeat. I glance at his chest as if to ask 'why on earth he was carrying me?'.