“Oh, yeah?”
“Mm-hmm. Otherwise, you might offer to give her free orgasms again, and this time, she might take you up on it.”
My cock hardened just hearing the word “orgasms” emerge from her perfect lips. “Did she want to say yes the first time?” I knew it was a dick move to ask her this when she was tired and in pain, but my curiosity won out.
“She wanted to say yes sooo badly,” she confessed. “Why have you stopped?”
I realised I’d completely ceased the head massage because I was too busy trying to get my erection under control. Shannon wriggled against me, and it made things even more difficult. Well, it was my own fault for asking questions when she wasn’t in full control of her faculties. I continued the massage, and when she let out a pleasured groan, it was all I could do not to come in my pants.
“Okay, I think that’s enough for tonight,” I said, my breathing laboured as I gently tugged her up to stand.
“But I was enjoying that.”
“I’ll give you another one in the morning. You need to get to sleep.”
She pouted, and I swear I was two seconds away from biting that bottom lip. “Come on. Up we go.”
I made sure she was in her room, prepared to leave when she said, “Jace.”
Turning, I saw her standing there, looking helpless. “What is it, Shan?”
She gestured to her clothes. “I need help.”
Exhaling the most tense sigh in history, I shook my head and approached her, “Come here, then.”
In quick succession, I had her out of her top and skirt—she’d already lost her shoes somewhere between the living room and here—and then she was crawling into bed in her bra and knickers, her perfect arse in the air as she wrestled with the covers.
“Someone grant me the restraint to survive this,” I muttered to myself as I closed the distance between us and helped her under the duvet. Once she was sufficiently settled with her pretty head on her pillow, I made to leave, but she caught my wrist. Her delicate fingers wrapping around it. I swallowed thickly when she peered up at me with sexy, hooded eyes.
“Will you ever ask again?” she whispered, and I knew instantly what she meant. Would I ever offer for her to use me for sex again? It was an impulsive thing, one borne of possessiveness and jealousy and the inability to function at the thought of her with anyone else. My mind was clearer now, my goal solid.
“No,” I said at last, and her gaze dimmed. Reaching out, I thumbed her lower lip. “The question will be posed differently next time,” I added, and she sucked in a sharp breath.
“Differently how?”
I offered only a tender smile as I leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. “You’ll see.”
Closing her door softly behind me, I went downstairs and set up my bed on the couch. Had my back been giving me hell the last few days? Yes. But had it been worth it to keep Zara and Shannon safe? Also, yes.
Settling in, I stared at the ceiling for a long while, pondering if Shannon’s flirting tonight meant she was starting to let herself have feelings for me again, or was it a simple case of lust and me being there? I was going around in circles in my head untilI found myself sitting up and turning on the light. I rummaged some paper and a pen out of the drawer beneath Shannon’s coffee table and began scribbling down lyrics for the first time in over a year and a half.
Your mind weary, you admit the truth,
The words I’d been hoping for
In the morning you’ll say you were just tired
To save face, to feel safe,
But you are safe, you just don’t know it yet
I’ll be all you’d been hoping for
My pulse raced as a melody entered my head. I hadn’t brought any of my guitars over, and my fingers itched to lay down some chords. Remembering the small one I’d been teaching Zara how to play, I found it where she’d left it in the kitchen, then returned to the living room. I played quietly so as not to wake anyone. By the time I finished the song, it was the early hours of the morning, so I put everything away and tried to get some sleep. It was tough as the adrenaline of writing music still rushed through me.
I woke to the sound of soft footsteps followed by Zara dropping on top of me. “Wake up, Daddy.”
Rubbing at my eyes, I blinked them open and found my little girl grinning down at me.
