𝑀𝓎 𝑔𝒾𝒻𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝐸𝓌𝓎𝒶

Chapter Fifteen

As Neteyam carried Raya back to their pod she cried. When they got there nobody was there so he laid her down gently.

He went to stand up but she grabbed his hand tightly.

"Please don't go." She begged through tears.
"Raya, my love, it's okay." He said as he kneeled down in front of her. He wiped her tears and cupped her face.
"Neteyam please." She put her hand on his and squeezed it lightly.

He sighed and looked down. "Raya. I don't know how much longer I can do this."

She started breathing heavily. "What do you mean? Are you ending things with me?" He looked up at her quick and started shaking his head.

"What? No of course not, I just don't know how much longer I can handle is being secret. I feel like I haven't seen you much since we became secret." He put his other hand on her face as well.

"Every second I'm away from you, feels like another second I'm without air. Every time I hear your name I want to be with you, to hold you. I can't stand to be away from you." Neteyam said softly as he rubbed his thumb against her cheek.

"You've brought out the best in me, Raya. A part of me I've never really seen until now. You took my soul and whipped it clean." Raya felt a tear run down her face and Neteyam whipped it away.

"To be in love with someone is one thing, but being able to fall in love with you is a completely different thing entirely." Raya said as she put her hand on his cheek.

Her eyes danced across his face. She smiled at him and he smiled back. He pulled her face close to his so their foreheads were resting against each other and their noses were touching.

"You're so pretty it hurts." Neteyam whispered before kissing her. She instantly melted into his arms and his warm touch. They pulled away and rested their heads together again.

"I've got my eye on you, Raya." Neteyam whispered.
"And I've got mine on you." Raya whispered back.

They were silent for a moment and then Raya remembered her night with Ao'nung.

"Neteyam." She said quietly.
"Yes, my love?"
"That night with Ao'nung, I know you saw everything."

Neteyam nodded. "And you don't understand how badly I wanted to pull him away from you." He grabbed her hand and held it. "But it was also my fault for making you hide everything. He didn't know and you couldn't tell him."

Raya felt really bad for kissing Ao'nung, but she knew Neteyam was right. She looked down at the ground and closed her eyes trying not to cry.

"Listen, I know you don't like him so I'm not mad at you." Neteyam said as he gently made her look at him. "You understand that, don't you?"

She nodded and looked down at her arms and thighs only now realizing how bad the bruises were.

The bruises on her wrists were the perfect outline of hands and the ones on her thighs were giant circles.

She started shaking as the events came rushing through her mind.

"Hey hey, it's okay." Neteyam said, trying to comfort her. "You're safe with me." She looked up at him and nodded.

"Is anyone here?" They heard from the opening of the pod.

Raya and Neteyam both turned and saw Ao'nung standing there.

"Raya? What happened?" He asked seeing her bruises and he rushed over there. "Who did this?" He asked frantically.

He then noticed the bruises on her wrists were hands, with only three fingers.