Chapter 751: Something Normal
For several moments, Ashlynn and Nyrielle remained motionless, basking in the feeling of holding and being held as their hearts began to still. There was still hurt, guilt and even a trace of fear between them, but the storm had passed, leaving them both shaken but still standing strong and still clinging to each other for strength.
"I’m a mess," Ashlynn said after a few minutes had passed. Slowly, she pulled back from Nyrielle and truly looked at her lover, realizing that, beyond her puffy, tearstained eyes, Nyrielle’s hair was in just as much disarray as hers was. In fact, she looked more disheveled at this moment, with her dark silk robe slipping off one shoulder and her sash only half tied than Ashlynn had ever seen her.
"You’re a mess too," Ashlynn added with a faint smile as she glanced around the room. Ashlynn’s armor and the practice sword she’d fetched lay strewn across the floor, dumped in a sodden, muddy pile along with the dress she’d worn under her armor. Elsewhere in the room, she spotted a pale night dress stained with dried mud and discarded near the door leading to Nyrielle’s lavish bath.
"There wasn’t much time last night," Nyrielle admitted, looking slightly apologetic. "You were shivering and cold when I found you and flying through the storm didn’t help. I barely had time to wash the mud from your skin and hair before the sun pressed down on me. I, I can’t keep you warm while we sleep," she said sheepishly. "So if not for the bath, I was afraid..."
"It’s fine," Ashlynn said, reaching out to place a finger on Nyrielle’s lips, unconsciously mirroring what Nyrielle had done for her in her moments of distress the night before. "Come," she said, sliding off the bed and pulling on Nyrielle’s hands.
"Let me thank you for rescuing me last night," Ashlynn said, flashing the vampire a fragile smile. "I’ll wash and brush your hair. And you can start making it up to me by washing and brushing mine."
"You don’t need to force things," Nyrielle said, hesitating at the entrance to her marble tiled bathing chamber. The fire in the room’s hearth had burned down to little more than embers, and the water wasn’t hot enough to fill the room with steam, but the stones of the room still held much of the warmth of the night before and the temptation to sink into the warm waters with Ashlynn was difficult to resist.
Still, Nyrielle hesitated, unwilling to take advantage of her lover when she was this vulnerable.
"Nyri, I’m afraid," Ashlynn said, pulling Nyrille closer and wrapping her arms around her lover’s lithe body. Nyrielle hadn’t fed recently and her skin was icy cold to the touch but that only made Ashlynn grip her tighter, sharing the warmth of her body with the woman who meant more to her than anything... including her vengeance.
"I’m afraid that if we let this moment become a wedge between us, the cracks will only grow," Ashlynn said. "I’m afraid that if you keep your distance from me, if we can’t even do normal things, then we’ll turn into strangers before we know it. So, right now, I mean it. I need you to make up for what you did wrong by staying close to me instead of pulling away."