Shadowglass

At last our lips parted, reluctant, and he sighed, flitting up a few inches to ease his weight but not relinquishing his penetration of me yet. The rain eased to a trickle, thunder receding.

Sodden strands stuck to his face, and he caressed my cheek with his to scrape them off. “Lady Appolonnia, that was . . .” He shook his head, lost. “I dunno what to say.”
“How about . . . kinda nice? Yeah. Totally unexpected? Definitely. A mistake? Absolutely. We don’t have to do it again if y—”

“Astounding?” He shushed me with a kiss. “Mmm. No, hang on. Unprecedented? Nope, not quite it. Incredible. Yeah. That’s the one.” Still out of breath, he dipped more kisses onto my mouth, like he couldn’t stop. “You. Are. Incredible. So. Shut. Up. And. Kiss. Me.”

I goggled, and obeyed. His lips caressed mine, his tongue now gentle and soulful in my mouth, and my heart teetered one final time and shattered. I was done defending. It was over. He won.

He unsnicked his claws from the iron and gently helped me tug my saturated clothes back into place. A protesting murmur escaped me as he slid out, and I flushed all over again, but I didn’t really care. My skin already shone blue from our loving. Let him see how I felt about him. Too late for lies.

He fluttered upward, rearranging his clothes, and lighted beside me on his butt, his silvery wings tucked back. I planted my hands on the roof iron, my fingerpads sticking, and pushed myself up to sitting. I retied my halter and arched my back, stretching my wings behind me to look up at the mist-covered moon. Over muted traffic and the city’s nightelectric hum, distant thunder still rumbled, and the sky scudded with fading storm clouds. The smell of rain and wet pavement leached from the ground, misting the air with fresh humidity that tingled my flushed skin.

I wriggled my hips to reseat the popped joints. My aching thighs stuck together with our fluid, but I didn’t mind. We hadn’t used anything. I could be spawning. I didn’t really mind that either.
He didn’t say anything, just inhaled deeply and stared at the stars. I inched to the roof’s edge and dangled my legs over, peering down at moonlight reflecting on puddles. Normally, I’d be afraid of heights. Tonight, I wasn’t afraid of anything. Except . . .

I glanced sidelong at him, and awkwardness crept in like evil green dust under a door. I wanted to touch him, take his hand, lay my head on those wet denim thighs. Was I allowed? Were we . . . something?
Tentatively, I brushed my head on his shoulder. He just kissed the top of my head and shifted with a wince to dig that iron sphere out of his back pocket.
I snuggled closer and grinned, though he couldn’t see me. “So. Not a mistake, huh.”
“Nope.” He pirouetted the mirror from hand to graceful hand, deft like the clever thief he is, titanium glinting green and purple on his wrist.
Could I accept his gift, after this? Take the cure and leave him, when his life was in danger? Take it and stay, even?
I swallowed. “You sure?”
He tugged my knees over his lap, trailing my wings on the steel. He locked his arm around my waist and rolled the mirror idly over my belly. “Yeah. I know mistakes pretty good. Wanna see one?”
His thighs felt warm and sticky under my butt, his chest sleek against my shoulder. I giggled, warm and content in his arms. “Sure. Just keep it clean, okay?”
He stretched out his hand. The mirror rolled, snickering in his palm. He curled long blue fingers around it, copper claws clicking. And then he tossed the mirror up, and let his hand float away.
The mirror flowered, sharp petals scything, and fell screeching over the edge.
My heart thudded. I jerked forward, breaking his embrace, but too late.
Three floors below, glass crunched.
Splat.

My vertigo abruptly returned, churning my stomach. I scrambled back from the edge on my palms, cold moisture springing on my skin. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
He grinned at me, and too late my gaze flashed again to his wrist. His right wrist was now wrapped in rainbow titanium, where moments ago, when we loved, it was bare.
Mirrorswitch. Right before my loveblind eyes.

Andy—or whoever this was—widened coppery lashes, a wicked golden glint in his eye. “Oops.”

Notes

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