A Witch’s Promise

Chapter 19: Rain

The rain had been coming down for hours by the time Naomi stopped noticing it. The tin roof seemed to turn every drop into a soft, constant percussion, like the mountain was breathing around them. Fog pressed close to the windows, blurring the world outside until there was nothing beyond glass but shifting gray and the dark silhouettes of trees.

Inside, everything was warm.

Firelight flickered across old wood beams and hanging herbs, casting moving shadows that made the cabin feel alive in its own quiet way. Naomi sat cross-legged on the rug near the hearth, Sav behind her on the couch with one boot tucked under her leg, both of them half wrapped in a blanket watching vampire diaries on Sav’s old laptop.

It was comfortable in a way that she didn’t mind. Naomi was starting to notice she didn’t mind a lot of things here. Sav leaned forward slightly, rolling a split piece of wood between her palms. “You’re thinking too hard again.”

“I’m not thinking,” Naomi said automatically.

Sav hummed. “That’s worse. That means you’re feeling.”

Naomi glanced back at her. “That sounded like a threat.”

“It kind of is,” Sav said, but there was a softness in it now. Less edge than before. More warmth than warning.

Naomi should’ve looked away.

Instead, she didn’t.

Something had been shifting between them in small, almost unnoticeable ways over the last few days. It was like a new gravity they were both quietly adjusting to.

Sav’s hand brushed Naomi’s shoulder as she leaned forward to set the wood down.

It lingered a second too long but neither of them moved away.

Naomi exhaled slowly as she unconsciously leaned into her touch. “Do bears usually give emotional commentary, or is that just you?”

Sav’s mouth curved faintly. “Only when the company’s worth it.”

That made something in Naomi’s chest loosen again. A quiet laugh slipped out before she could stop it. Sav noticed. She always noticed.

“You’re doing that more,” Sav said.

“What?”

“Laughing.”

Naomi looked down at her hands. “I forgot I could.” There was a pause after that. Not awkward. Just heavy in a different way.

Sav shifted on the couch, closer now without fully realizing she’d moved. “You didn’t forget,” she said. “You just weren’t safe enough to do it.”

Naomi didn’t answer. But, her fingers tightened slightly in the blanket. Outside, wind moved through the trees like something passing by too closely.

—

Later, they cooked together in the small kitchen, moving around each other in practiced rhythm now. Naomi chopped vegetables while Sav worked the stove, shoulders relaxed in a way Naomi was beginning to recognize as rare for her.

Their arms brushed once. Then again. Neither of them acknowledged it, but the space between them felt different afterward, it was charged in a way Naomi didn’t have words for.

At one point, Sav reached past her for a jar of herbs hanging from the rack above the counter. Naomi stepped slightly aside to give her space.

Sav didn’t take it. She paused as their eyes met. A slow recognition passed between them. Sav’s hand lowered slowly, not touching Naomi, but close enough that Naomi could feel the heat of it.

“You okay?” Sav asked quietly.

Naomi swallowed. “Yeah.”

It wasn’t entirely true. But it wasn’t entirely false either.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Sav said, quieter than before, “You trust me more than you used to.”

It wasn’t a question.

Naomi stared into the fire. “I don’t know when that happened.”

“I do,” Sav said.

That made Naomi look at her.

Sav wasn’t smiling now. She looked steady, but something in her expression had softened at the edges, almost like she was holding herself back from moving too fast.

Naomi shifted slightly. Closer.

“I don’t feel like I’m waiting for something bad to happen here,” Naomi admitted.

Sav’s gaze flicked to her. “That’s new for you.”

“It is,” Naomi said.

Then, Sav lifted her hand, just offering it in the space between them, like a question she wasn’t forcing an answer to. Naomi looked at it. Then took it. Sav’s fingers closed around hers carefully as if she was afraid Naomi might disappear if she held too tightly.

But, Naomi didn’t pull away. Instead, she leaned in slightly, forehead almost brushing Sav’s shoulder.

Sav Stilled. “Naomi,” she said quietly.

“Hmm?”

“You don’t have to.” Sav stopped herself, exhaling. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for.”

Naomi finally looked up.

Her voice was softer than it had been in months. “I know.”

Her fingers tightened in Sav’s. Naomi lifted her hand to Sav’s jaw, not fully sure where the courage came from. Her thumb brushed lightly along the edge of her cheek.

Sav’s breath caught—just slightly, but enough.

And then Naomi kissed her. Sav responded immediately pressing Naomi’s body against the wall as she matched her pace. She moaned into her mouth as Naomi granted her tongue access. Naomi’s hands slid underneath Sav’s top as her hands brushed against Sav’s pebbled n*****s.

“Oh my God.” She shivered as heat pulled in her belly.

Breathless, they finally broke apart.

Sav rested her forehead against Naomi’s for a moment, eyes closed.

“You’re shaking,” Sav murmured.

“I’m not scared,” Naomi whispered back.

Sav opened her eyes. “I didn’t say you were.”

Naomi let out a small breath that might’ve been a laugh if it had more air behind it.

Sav brushed her thumb lightly over Naomi’s hand. “Come here.”

This time, Naomi didn’t hesitate. They moved down the hall together without words, rain still drumming steadily against the roof as the fire below settled into low embers. As they entered the room, Sav gently placed Naomi on the bed as she climbed on top of her and began placing gently kisses on her neck as Naomi moaned. She became a puddle underneath Sav’s heat.

“Oh God. Sav. More. Please. More!” Naomi screeched in esctacy.

“Are you sure?”

Naomi opened her eyes and stared at Sav. “I want you Savannah.”

At her exclamation Sav’s lips crashed to Naomi’s with intensity. Her hands slid into the waistband of Naomi’s borrowed sweats as she thanked the Goddess Naomi wasn’t wearing panties. Her hands gripped the shorts as Naomi hoisted her lower half to allow Sav the ability to pull her pants off. At the same time, Naomi pulled Sav’s shirt over her head as her perfect peaks made their debut.

Kissing her again, Sav moaned into Naomi’s ear. “You have no idea how long I have wanted you exactly where you are. Between my legs, feeling your heat.”

Sav’s confession drove Naomi into overdrive. She rocked back and forth against Sav’s hand as her fingers curled inside her folds. Sav began kissing down Naomi’s chest searching for her n*****s. She sucked her breasts into her mouth and rolled her tongue around her gum drops as Naomi cried out in pleasure.

“Oh God. Sav, baby. I need more. Give me more!” Naomi hollered near her peak.

Sav immediately brought her face to Naomi’s entrance and inhaled her scent. She slammed her tongue deep into her crevice as she groaned in pleasure. Her tongue roamed her sacred spot, pressing against it and strong deliberate motions.

“You’re going to make me c*m. Oh, God. You’re going to make me c*m!” Naomi screamed in pleasure as she toppled over the edge as Sav licked up all her juices.

After a few minutes, Sav hoisted her body back up to Naomi and held her as she came down from her experience. It was at that moment Naomi realized Sav’s pants were still on.

“I’m sorry.” Naomi stated. “That was incredibly selfish. I didn’t even realize.”

Sav looked at Naomi in a way that can only be described as love before answering, “Don’t worry about it. We have all night. This is only the beginning.”

As if agreeing, Naomi leaned into Sav and pressed their bodies together as their soft embrace resumed into more intimate kisses. And for once, neither of them looked toward the tree line. The forest stayed outside. The storm stayed outside and everything else followed.

The next morning, the cabin was quiet in a different way. The fire had gone low again, and mist pressed against the windows like breath held too long. Naomi woke first but didn’t move right away. For a long moment, she just listened to Sav’s steady breathing beside her as the rain eased up.

Outside, far beyond the trees, something moved through the forest with patience that didn’t belong to wildlife. Sav had been right to be watching.

And somewhere else in the mountains, Chris and Elijah were closing in on another broken trail, one that still carried Naomi’s scent… tangled now with someone else’s. Someone who had stopped her from being alone. And that, more than anything, changed the shape of the hunt.