"Then you can wait for it." He pulls his fingers free, examines them in the dim light, and then brings them to his lips, licking them clean. She tastes sweet but there's a sharpness to it, something that's uniquely hers and uniquely fitting. She has an edge. He knows this.

He curls his fingers around the rope over her shoulders and pulls, not too hard but hard enough to be, at the very least, uncomfortable. "Up. You wanna come, you have to earn it."