seul’s Reviews > The Sun and the Starmaker > Status Update

"Good is not the word I'd use," the Starmaker said with lingering frustration. "Conflicted is more accurate, but I appreciate the sentiment." He sighed, long and heavy. "If you are still interested, I would like to show you how to tend to the roses."

Aurora's chest ached, and she blinked against the sting in her eyes. "Yes," she said. "I would like that very much."

He rested his head on her shoulder and took several deep breaths, and Aurora felt a hint of sweat on his neck when she pulled her hands away.

"I'm sorry," he said, raising his head to look at her. "You caught me in a moment of weakness."

Aurora wrapped her arms around his neck and curved into him, and the Starmaker's breathing quickened when her hips rolled against his. He reached for the tie on her cloak as Aurora tipped her head back, and he kissed along her neck, greedy at first, and then slower.

The Starmaker groaned and guided her toward the table, pressing into her, and she could feel how much he wanted her, how desperate he was to make her his own. Aurora was amazed by the need aching in her belly, the warmth blooming beneath her nightgown, and instead of fearing her hunger, she felt emboldened by it.

She untucked his shirt and ran her hands over his stomach, his muscles tightening beneath her touch, his skin hot as fire.

"I want this, too," the Starmaker said, as if he was in pain, his voice strained and low. "I want this, too," he said again, taking hold of her waist and pulling her closer, and then he kissed her with an urgency that matched her own. Aurora's body pulsed with desire, a longing she had never known before, and she arched into the Starmaker, wanting to get closer.

"We can't," he said, his breathing heavy, gripping the edge of the table behind him as if he needed to physically hold himself back. "It isn't fair to you."

"I am more than capable of determining what is fair," Aurora said, closing the space between them once more, bringing her mouth to his ear. "I want this," she whispered, and his whole body shuddered when her lips brushed his skin.

The Starmaker found Aurora's mouth once more, his kiss warm and lips soft and tongue teasing, and she sighed into him when his hand moved up her rib cage and over the swell of her breast.

She knew now what he meant. It wasn't necessarily that it was bad. The problem was that she needed him, insatiable and endless, and the more she got, the more she wanted. She would never feel satisfied again.

Aurora awakened with want, and she felt as if she would never be whole again, as if she would never know peace until every part of her had been touched by him and every part of him had been touched by her. It couldn't be healthy, and Aurora remembered when he had told her he was sorry that she had only ever experienced love that was good for her.