I nod, caress his face, test the stubble on his jaw, the softness of his lips. “I want to…I want to postpone the scene. Okay?”
He blinks and backs up, giving me way too much space. “You all right?” He looks me up and down, leans in and runs his hands over my waist, arms, shoulders, flanks, as if searching for a wound. “What do you need?”
“I’m good.” My mouth twists into a smile. “I just…I want to… I want to be with you. Not a scene. Just…with you.”
Blade appears, as if from nowhere, fully dressed, while the two of us are totally naked out here on the porch. “Hey.” He walks up and puts a hand on my cheek, his other hand on Zion’s. “Love you two,” he says, leaning in to kiss my forehead, while he strokes Zion’s cheek. He gives Zion a long look, filled with a cryptic message I can’t begin to decipher. “You got this, Zion. You do.” With a final squeeze, he takes off down the porch steps, leaving the two of us alone. It’s a goodbye, a benediction.
I watch him stalk down the dirt path and disappear into the night.
Suddenly nervous, I look up at Zion. “What now?”
* * *
Zion
Hell if I know.
She’s the one asking me what to do next? I’m the fetish expert here. I can tie a Prusik Head Knot with ease, cut a rope in a jiffy, and come up with any number of filthy scenarios, but she wants me to tell her how to dothis?
Except, when I stop thinking and check in with my body, my breathing’s even, my pulse regular, my brain…content, I guess.
This calm isn’t something I’ve experienced before. It’s not the calm I step into before walking onto a set or the quiet emptiness of a hard run. This is a peaceful thing. Serene and wide open.
“Now, we go home.”
“To your cabin?”
I shake my head. “To Liev’s place. It’s where I stay when I’m here. It’s like…my family home.”
“Okay.” She grins. “Can I take this thing out of my butt now?”
“Fuck, baby. Yeah. Here. Let me.” She bends forward and I breathe through the desire that swamps back over me when faced with her gorgeous, soft ass in all its fucking glory. I pull her cheeks apart and admire the view. “Fuck, you’re amazing.”
“Yeah?”
I knead her ass cheeks and breathe deep. “You’re so goddamn beautiful.”
“Says the man making eyes at my booty.”
I give one cheek a light, playful bite, gratified when she lets out the kind of lowoohthat tells me there’s potential for more fun there, and ease the toy from her body, sighing at the sight of her all stretched out and open. “Any time you want to try this again…” I say before planting a quick kiss on her and standing. Something else occurs to me. “You know, I found a shoe the other night. It’s back in my room at Liev’s. Reckon it might fit you.”
“Youdohave my shoe!” She slaps me lightly on the arm. “I knew it!”
“I um, kind of didn’t want to let it go? Is that weird? Like, as long as I had it, I’d find you or something. I had a piece of you. I know. It’s silly.” I shrug.
“It’s not silly, it’s sort of lovely.”
“Come on. Let’s get some clothes on.”
“I don’t have any clothes.” She sounds put out, but in a pouty-lipped way that strikes every goddamn chord in my soul. “You ruined my dress.”
“I’ll buy you a new one.” I take her hand and walk her inside.
“That’s not the point, Zion. The point is that I’ve got nothing to wear. Right now.” She still sounds annoyed, but she’s not pulling her hand away, and that—just that—feels meaningful.
“Here,” I bend and pick up my T-shirt, turn it right side out and slide it over her head. She purrs a little, which isn’t a thing I knew humans could do.
It makes me smile.
