Chapter 64: Fever Glass
The mall security office was the cleanest place they could find — relatively speaking. A dust - choked cluster of monitors flickered on one side, cracked screens frozen in time. Empty chip bags, toppled soda cans, and old security logs littered the desks. Aria wrinkled her nose as she bent to pick up a crusted coffee cup from the floor.
"We could've just slept in a store, y'know," Selene said from the doorway, arms folded as she leaned against the doorframe. "One of those plush mattress shops we passed? With five beds just waiting to be claimed?"
Aria, wiping down the desk with a torn t - shirt she'd soaked in water, didn't look up. "Too exposed. Too many windows. We need walls."
"We have walls here. And mold. So romantic."
"Shut up," Aria muttered, blushing.
Selene tilted her head, a smile playing on her lips. "Oh, I'm not complaining. I love what you've done with the place. The smell of mildew and despair? Really sets the mood."
"I'm trying to make it less gross."
"You're doing amazing, little flame. Truly. It almost smells like old gym socks now instead of dead rats."
Aria groaned and threw the t - shirt at her. Selene caught it one - handed, laughed, and finally stepped inside.
She watched as Aria reached into her pocket dimension and pulled out a vacuum - packed mattress, a clean set of sheets, two fluffy pillows, and — somehow — a blanket with a faint floral print. Selene's eyebrows arched.
"You hoarded linens?"
Aria shot her a defensive look. "I hoarded everything useful! This is useful!"
Selene smirked. "We're literally sharing a bed tonight, and you're giving me flowers."
"That wasn't the reason I grabbed it!"
"But you're not mad about it."
Aria looked away, cheeks flushed.
They set up in silence after that — quiet but comfortable. Once the mattress was down and the sheets tucked in, they sat against the wall with rations from Aria's stash. Dried fruit, protein bars, and a couple of sealed juice boxes. Dinner of champions.
Selene watched Aria over the rim of her drink. The girl was curled up in her oversized shirt, legs bare, skin still pink from the cold shower she'd taken in the mall's staff locker room.
"Comfortable?" Selene asked after a while.
Aria nodded. "Mm - hmm. Clean."
Selene tilted her head. "But still warm?"
Aria hesitated. "Maybe…"
Selene's smirk deepened. "How warm?"
"Too warm," Aria muttered, trying to focus on her juice.
"That's because you're thinking about it."
"I'm not!"
"Oh no? So you haven't been blushing this whole time because you know we're sharing a mattress and there's only one blanket?"
Aria shrunk in place, hiding her face behind the carton. "You're evil."
Selene chuckled low in her throat. "You have no idea."
Later, after the lights dimmed and the office was quiet save for the hum of dead machines, they lay side by side. The mattress was soft under their bodies, the air cool but not biting. Aria had her back to Selene at first, tucked into the blanket, her breath slow and steady.
Selene moved behind her. Silent. Smooth.
Then, without warning, she rolled Aria onto her back and pinned her down.
Aria gasped — more startled than afraid — but before she could say a word, Selene's mouth was on hers. Kissing her. Deep, slow, unhurried.
Aria's hands fluttered up in surprise, then tangled in Selene's hair. The kiss deepened, and the world fell away.
Selene didn't ask. She didn't need to. She moved like she owned Aria's body — like it was a song she'd memorized and could play blindfolded.
Aria didn't even notice when her shirt was gone.
She was naked beneath Selene's hands before her mind could catch up, her skin flushed and soft, breath hitching as Selene kissed down her throat, leaving warm, blooming marks in her wake.
"I want them to show," Selene murmured, lips brushing her collarbone.
"What?" Aria barely managed to breathe.
"The marks. Hickeys. Proof."
Aria whined — a sweet, breathy sound as Selene's mouth descended lower, licking between the curve of her breasts, then dragging her tongue across one aching nipple before giving it the faintest flick.
Aria arched up with a strangled cry.
Selene chuckled against her skin. "Sensitive."
"You're mean," Aria whimpered, clutching the sheets.
"Mean would be not doing this."
She sucked on the nipple gently while her fingers trailed down Aria's trembling stomach, teasing across the soft skin of her thigh, skimming the edge of her entrance but never quite touching.
"Selene — please —"
"Mmm. Already begging?" Selene licked her lips, her hand finally pressing against that sensitive bundle of nerves between Aria's thighs. "You're so wet."
Aria moaned, thighs parting instinctively.
Selene rubbed slow, lazy circles. Her fingers slicked with every pass.
"You're dripping," she whispered, lowering her mouth again to Aria's other breast. "Don't try to hold back."
Aria didn't. Couldn't.
She whimpered, arched, trembled — lost in the storm Selene summoned. It didn't take long. Her climax hit her fast and hard, body jerking as wave after wave crashed over her.
And Selene didn't stop.
She kept rubbing. Kissing. Teasing her with a maddening patience. Aria came again — louder this time — legs clamped around Selene's wrist, trying to hold on.
She didn't remember how many times. Only the heat. The wetness. The pressure. The release.
By the time Selene finally stilled her hand and kissed her again, Aria was trembling and soaked in sweat, hair plastered to her forehead, throat hoarse.
Selene pulled back just enough to smirk down at her, brushing a kiss against her mouth. "So, little flame," she purred, "did my performance satisfy you?"
Aria's voice was a rasp. "Mmmn. I —"
Her lips fumbled. Her brain refused to make sense.
"Another," she whispered, eyes barely open. "Kiss me again."
Selene leaned down, mouth soft and cold and perfect against hers. When the kiss ended, Aria curled against her, her body still humming from everything they'd done.
Selene wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging the blanket up.
"Sleep," she whispered into her hair.
Aria didn't fight it.
She fell asleep in Selene's arms, lips bruised, thighs aching, and the faintest smile still tugging at her mouth.
The morning was cruel.
Because it lingered.
Sunlight broke through the cracked skylight in sharp angles, painting the dust in gold and white. The mall was quieter than yesterday. Almost reverent.
Aria woke alone in the blanket, her shirt pulled halfway over her chest, hair still damp from sweat and dreams. Her body ached in strange places. Her thighs, her hips, her neck — all whispered Selene.
She sat up slowly, blinking against the brightness.
Across the room, Selene sat perched on an abandoned desk, one leg up, her coat hanging open and her eyes watching.
She'd been watching.
Probably for a while.
Aria shifted, pulling the blanket tighter, trying to compose herself.
Selene didn't speak.
Her gaze was a slow drag down Aria's body — calculating, amused. Hungry.
"You didn't sleep well," Selene said finally, her voice as smooth as cold smoke. "Nightmares?"
Aria's throat tightened. "Not… nightmares."
"No?" Selene's head tilted. "Then you've just been over there squirming and panting for fun?"
Aria flushed scarlet. "I wasn't —!"
Selene raised one eyebrow.
Aria dropped her gaze, jaw clenched, thighs pressed together. The warmth from the night before had returned tenfold. She could still feel Selene's touch. Still smelled her skin in the blanket.
Selene stood and crossed the room in slow, gliding steps.
Aria's breath caught.
Selene knelt beside her, reaching out to gently trace Aria's lower lip with her thumb. "You keep biting this," she murmured. "You know what it tells me?"
Aria shook her head helplessly.
"That you're desperate."
Aria's eyes fluttered shut as Selene's touch trailed down her jaw, to her collarbone, and then hovered at her hip.
"You're still burning," Selene whispered. "Even after everything I gave you."
Aria gasped, eyes wide. "I — I don't —"
Selene leaned in, nose brushing hers. "You want more."
"I want —" Aria trembled. "I don't know what I want. I just — want you."
Selene smiled, dark and divine.
"I know."
And just as Aria leaned forward, hoping — aching — for another kiss, Selene pulled away with a flourish.
"Put your shirt on," she said, coolly. "We've got to move soon."
Aria stared, panting. "What?"
Selene turned away, already walking to the door. "Keep burning for me, little flame. You wear it well."
And she left Aria there — quaking, soaked, breathless — still trying to remember how to breathe.