The Edge of the Earth by Molly Joseph

Author:Molly Joseph
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, contemporary romance, opposites attract, war romance, mythology and romance, academic romance, opposites attract trope, romance with action adventure, rough edged hero
Publisher: Molly Joseph

* * * * *

By the time Will untied her, Charlotte was exhausted. She rested next to him in the darkening room. He held her back to his front, and she spooned inside the cave of his strong chest. As always, she weathered an inevitable plunge in mood. This was going to end far too soon for her liking. She already mourned what she’d lose.

“Are you falling asleep?” Will whispered.

“No, I’m awake.”

He pulled her more tightly against him, oblivious to her mood, or not caring. “There’s a language they used to speak in this part of the world, called Ubykh,” he said. “It’s extinct now. The last native speaker died a few years ago.” He ran a fingertip across her arm, up and back. “It’s a complicated language. It has eighty-one consonants, but only three vowels.”

“Fascinating,” Charlotte said.

“And it was never written down, not anywhere. Only spoken. It didn’t have a written form.”

“Wow, that’s so interesting.”

“Mm. Forget it.”

She wished she didn’t always feel so prickly after sex. It wreaked havoc on their pillow talk.

“You know, I listen ad nauseum to these stories you’re translating,” Will said, turning away from her in a huff.

“That I’m translating for you.”

“But when I want to talk about something I find interesting—”

“All right. Fine. Eighty-one consonants.”

“No, I’m not telling you now.”

Charlotte stared at his back, at the myriad freckles there. “I promise I’ll listen now. Please tell me.”

“No, you’ve hurt my feelings.” He rolled on his front, punching up his pillow. “You know, I don’t talk about language with all the women I meet. Only the special ones.”

“I’m one of the special ones?”

“I thought you were, but now I remember, you’re just annoying.”

“Forgive me,” she said, rubbing his shoulder. “I’m listening now. U-bick?”

“Ubykh.” He turned back to her. “What I was going to tell you is that in Ubykh, the words ‘I love you’ translate literally to ‘I see you well.’“

Charlotte took his hand, pressed it against her cheek. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. I always thought that was pretty cool.” He slid his fingers down to cup her chin, then leaned to lick her neck in a slow arc.

“Maybe they were onto something,” she sighed.

Will made a noise of agreement, drawing her hand down to rest on his hardening shaft. “My cock sees you well. That’s for sure.”

Charlotte laughed helplessly and covered her eyes. He pulled her hands away, not allowing her to hide. His touch smoothed over her skin, but she didn’t feel it as much as the heat in his gaze. What was that heat, if not love?

“Let me see you.” He said it like a caress.

She felt perilously close to crying. “Do you mean that in the Ubykh-ish sense?”

“I don’t think ‘Ubykh-ish’ is a word, lovely girl.”

“Can’t we just make up the words we want?”

He brushed away the first tear as it fell. “It doesn’t work that way.” He shook his head at her. “That wouldn’t be very organized, would it?”

Laughter, tears. It all blended together as he made love to her again. He was slow this time, deliberate.

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