Arc 5: Chapter 7: Admission
We lay together after in a tangle of sweaty limbs and sheets. Catrin still held me tightly, nuzzling my chest so her curly mane hid her face.
She cooled my heated skin as well as the open window did. I pulled her close, rewarded by the satisfied sigh I heard through her mussed hair. As she had done to me earlier, I pressed my lips to the top of her head. She said something in a muffled mumble I didn’t catch.
“What was that?” I asked.
Catrin shifted to look up at me. Her eyes had become a bright, almost liquid red, like pools of blood through her bangs. “I asked if you’re alright. I think I clawed up your back pretty bad.”
I could feel the blood drying around my spine, along with a sharp heat where her nails had raked me. “I’ve had worse,” I said honestly. They were shallow wounds, and would heal within a day or so.
“I got a bit carried away,” she admitted, uncharacteristically embarrassed. “If I’d done that back at the inn and a guest made a stink of it…”
She winced, realizing what she’d said. It had bothered me a lot once, the fact she slept with the Backroad’s guests, taking blood, coin, and secrets from them in return. This time I just held her closer, unbothered. I had no stones to throw, and was just glad of her company.
“I won’t go tattle on your employer, promise. Besides, we were both a bit rough.” I hesitated a moment, unsure if I should ask. “Are you not hungry?”
She hadn’t taken any of my blood. Her lips were very close to my heart. We could both feel it thump-thumping. Strangely, I didn’t hear hers.
Catrin stared at the spot a moment, unblinking, before closing her eyes and adjusting into a more comfortable position. “I’m fine.”
Confused, but not wanting to press, I let it go.