Chapter 129: Detour

There was a knock on Penelope's door, and when she answered it her daughter stood there looking flushed. 

"Are you okay?" Penelope asked without thinking. Her first thought was that something awful had happened again with Rayth. She scanned Cora for any injuries, and then she imagined the fallout if Theo were in the room and Rayth laid his hands on her. It would not be pretty. "Are you hurt? Is Theo hurt?" 

"No, mom," Cora chuckled softly and glanced back toward her room where she had left Theo for a moment. She could feel an invisible cord connecting them, urging her back. His gravity was pulling on every fiber of her being, demanding that they finish what was not yet complete. 

She could still feel the path he had traced with his tongue as if he were readying it, as if he were choosing the perfect spot for his teeth. She raised a hand to cover it as if it already revealed the visible evidence of their connection.