She scooted closer on the bed, still keeping a respectable amount of space between them. “You’re definitely not broken. Even if your body works differently.”
“That’s what I’m trying to say,” Brynn explained, running her hand across the covers, drawing a pattern that Hallie didn’t understand. “When I think about you. About us. I finally get what people are talking about when they say they have butterflies or that they feel desire. I haven’t felt that before. I think I just needed…”
“Needed what?” Hallie was waiting with baited breath, painfully cleaved in half by the idea that this moment between them could slip away—or, even more dangerous, that it was going to move forward.
“I needed to feel connected. And I do feel that way with you. And now that I know what it feels like, I want to see how far I can take it.”
There it was again, that deep, throbbing pain in Hallie’s center. She forced out a sharp, ragged exhale right before she admitted, “I feel that way about you, too.” She’d never been a good liar, and she definitely wasn’t going to be able to pull it off now.
Truly, she wanted to give Brynn everything. And the craziest part—her own uncertainty and insecurity aside—was that she was in a uniquely qualified position to do just that, right now.
Would wonders ever cease?
Hallie moved a little closer before she extended her legs down on the comforter, leaning her weight on one of her forearms. “Do you trust me?”
Brynn nodded and moved to push the covers down, which Hallie felt like she should be given a medal for stopping.
She placed her hand on Brynn’s, holding her still. “I’m going to guide you through it. Talk you through it. And then you can decide how you feel about everything. Would that be okay?” Hallie asked, wondering how she was going to survive. “I think we’d be good together—incredible, even—but I want this to be about you.”
The idea sent a shaky thrill through her. Talking to Brynn while she touched herself, as Hallie worked her through it with her words. She’d never done anything like this before, but the persistent, pulsing need to do just that was swallowing her from the inside out.
Just to torture herself, Hallie lifted Brynn’s hand and placed a light kiss on her knuckles. “But only if you want to.”
“I want it,” Brynn answered faster than Hallie had expected, her fingers flexing against Hallie’s cheek.
This was a big deal for Brynn, in multiple ways, and Hallie was going to do everything she could to make it a good experience for her. Really, for both of them, since Hallie was already so close to coming that she wondered if she could get off without even being touched.
When she let Brynn’s hand go, she would have laughed, in a normal situation, at how quickly it disappeared under the covers. But the sound died in her throat when Brynn’s eyes fluttered closed, and Hallie could see the outline of her arm settling between her legs.
Why were Hallie’s hands so clammy?
She was nervous, she accepted, even as all of her senses continued to fire on high alert. Because, god, did she want this. For it to be good for Brynn. To get to hear the sounds that Brynn made while she touched herself.
And, on top of it all, to do it with the knowledge that this was happening only because of how much Brynn wantedher.
Them not working in the long term didn’t mean that she couldn’t support Brynn through this, she rationalized.
With that last thought, Hallie took a deep breath and tried to relax as much as she could. There was no way she wasn’t seeing this through.
“How was it going before I came in?” she asked hoarsely, her fingers fidgeting against the covers.
Brynn’s eyes opened slightly, and her lips curled into a smile that made Hallie’s heartthump, thump, thump. “I’d just started.”
“What were you thinking about?” Just asking the question made butterflies roar to life in her stomach.
“How good it feels to be close to you. How well our bodies fit together,” Brynn said, at the same time Hallie saw almost imperceptible movement under the covers.
Brynn’s words, coupled with what Hallie knew was Brynn’s hand beginning to touch herself, made the butterflies swoop lower, the ache in her clit flare back again. Hallie swallowed hard. “Have you… done this before? Masturbated while thinking about us?”
Brynn shook her head. “I haven’t let myself before now. Even though I’ve wanted to.”
Hallie let out a whoosh of air. Cool. That was helpful information. Good to know, in fact. “What changed?”
She was finally understanding the idea that curiosity killed the cat when Brynn responded, “I’ve been finished with cleaning the rooms for the last hour, and I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Their eyes met again as heat threaded through Hallie. Her own need was rocketing through her, no matter how hard she tried to tamp it down. “Are you wet enough?” she asked, a little breathless herself.
Brynn seemed to respond to this. Her pupils blew wide, her hand starting to move more distinctly under the covers. But then she stopped abruptly, and Hallie felt the loss in her bones. She was about to beg Brynn to start touching herself again when Brynn cleared her throat and eased her hand back above the covers.
