Cedar watched, her eyes glazed over and a small smile on her lips, while Vesper untied her. She pushed the runaway strands of hair off Cedar’s face and gave her a gentle kiss. A tenderness she reserved solely for aftercare.
“You did beautifully,” she murmured.
She scooted into bed beside Cedar and wrapped her in her arms. Cedar rolled over to face Vesper, her arm draped overVesper’s chest, her hand fiddling with the underside of Vesper’s sports bra.
“Can I touch you?” Cedar whispered, drawing slow, light circles down Vesper’s stomach. She stopped when she reached the waistband of Vesper’s boxers and waited for an answer. She’d never actually let Cedar do that before, regardless of how often she’d asked.
“I can show you,” Cedar kissed her shoulder. “That you don’t need her, I can do it better,” she whispered, her fingers dipped under the waist band before Vesper grabbed her wrist.
“That’s enough, Cedar,” she ordered, voice calm and low in a warning tone. Cedar froze, her lips pulled into a pout, but she didn’t argue.
Cedar knew she was lucky Vesper had even let her do that much. The kissing on her neck, the hands in her hair. Sure, Vesper had punished her for it, but they both knew that she’d allowed it to happen first. She didn’t want to give Cedar the wrong impression. This wasn’t going to go anywhere.
Vesper didn’t need anything from Cedar, they were done for now.
They didn’t bother to wash up before drifting off to sleep.
CHAPTER NINE
Vesper
Light filtered through the closed blinds in the morning.. Vesper groaned quietly and rolled over, careful to dislodge herself from Cedar without disruption. Dressed in only her boxers and tank top, Vesper snuck out into the hall with pants and boots in hand. She released a sigh of relief when the body was no longer in the hallway. The bloodstain had been cleaned, and her wards disabled which could only mean one thing: Bellamy was fucking gone.
Vesper opened her door and warily scanned for anything out of place. She knew Bellamy would have gone through her shit, knew she’d have stolen something petty, but Vesper didn’t see anything amiss. The plant on her windowsill, a gift from Cedar, remained untouched. Aside from humidity that clung to the air from a recent shower, there was no evidence Bellamy had been there.
She was glad Bellamy hadn’t fucked up her room, but seriously? Bel couldn’t have taken a shower at her own fucking place? Vesper kicked the door shut more forcefully than intended and snapped the lock into place, dropping her boots next to the entrance. Then, she tossed her pants on her bed.
It was time for a shower of her own. Her skin was tight withdried sweat, and she didn’t particularly enjoy smelling like she’d spent the whole night having sex. She gathered clean clothes and made her way to the bathroom, but before she got there, the door swung open and steam wafted out. The air swelled with the fresh scent of her almond and coconut shampoo.
Bellamy’s hair was wrapped above her head in a towel—Vesper’s towel—and she wore one of Vesper’s grey v-necks and a pair of Vesper’s black denim pants. She sighed heavily, and Bellamy’s gaze narrowed in on her, turning malicious in an instant.
“Sure, just help yourself to all my shit why don’t you,” she groaned.
“You smell like sweat and sex,” Bellamy snapped, eyes narrowing further as she took in Vesper’s current state of undress. She ignored Vesper’s clear annoyance at the fact she’d stolen her clothes.
“Yeah, well, that happens when you spend the night shacked up with someone, doesn’t it? Get the fuck out of my place. And wear your own fucking clothes!”
“I cannot believe you left me injured on your floor to get laid,” Bellamy hissed, her glare lethal.
“Told you I was gonna, didn’t I? Now get the fuck out!” Vesper cried, exasperated. She’d been so looking forward to coming home and not having Bellamy there.
Bellamy ignored her, as usual. The towel dropped to the floor at her feet, and Bellamy ran her fingers through her dark, blue curls, attempting to comb them out.
“Couldn’t find your hairbrush,” she commented, causally stepping over the towel toward Vesper.
Vesper clenched her jaw. She kept her feet firmly planted where they were, refusing to give Bellamy the satisfaction of reacting. “Well, I haven’t needed one for a few months sincesomeonethought it would be funny to cut my fucking hair off.”
“You deserved it,” Bellamy shrugged, her nonchalant expression replaced with a satisfied grin. “Besides,” she murmured,carding her fingers through Vesper’s choppy hair, now cropped to the middle of her neck. “I like you better with short hair. And I didn’t cut it all off. This is the perfect length.”
Vesper forced herself not to react to Bellamy’s touch, to not slap Bellamy’s hand away or pull her in closer. Bellamy always had the unique and infuriating ability to make her freeze on the spot with a single touch. Not that she got the chance to do it often, but Vesper figured that short of physically forcing Bellamy out, she didn’t really have much control over her.
Whatever she might want to do was certainly not worth the fight it would bring. Especially not when Vesper had imagined fucking her last night instead of Cedar.
“There,” Bellamy announced when she’d finished. She was finally done with Vesper’s hair, but she didn’t bother stepping back. They were still too close. “Now it doesn’t look like shit from some whore grabbing it all night.”
Vesper scoffed. “Please. You think I’d waste my money for an entire night when I have a willing red-head just a few doors down?”
Despite not wanting to pick a fight, there were times when Vesper just couldn’t help herself. She was provoking Bellamy, and she knew what was coming before she even saw the magic crackling in the palm of Bel’s hand. Before she felt the pressure of it against her throat. Bellamy really fucking hated Cedar. That might have been part of the reason Vesper stayed with her last night.
