Olivia
After finding a safe position—which was my feet crossed over Shayne's lap—she started to talk.
"You know she took over after my parents died in the car crush and then after my grandpa passed away?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, you told me." My heart ached for young Shayne who'd just lost most of her family at the time. A lump formed in my throat.
"Well, after that, I was sure my life was over. I barely had any kind of relationship with her then. I cried every day for weeks, completely inconsolable. She tried to form a bond between us, but I hadn't given her the time of day.
"One night, a friend coaxed me into going to some stupid raging party. I got so drunk and high, I couldn't even move when the cops had crushed the party. I'd barely spent a few minutes in a jail cell before gran bailed me out though."
She started to massage my feet, and my eyes involuntarily fell to those skillful long fingers, eliciting explicit images.
Now isn't the time, stupid.
"I hadn't bothered to apologize and she hadn't said a word the entire way home. Infact, she hadn't said a word for days. The guilt began to hit me and before I knew it, I was apologizing.
"She'd gotten so mad at first, telling me I wasn't the only one grieving, and that it was selfish to assume she hadn't been grieving too. Then she'd made me gumbo and we binge-watched Faulty Towers till the next morning."
She chuckled lowly as a tear escaped her eye. Roughly, she brushed it away.
"After that we were inseparable. Even when I went off to college, she came along with me and we moved into a cosy little apartment.
"There was this one day when I broke her favorite casserole dish and I was too scared to tell her. The woman had the nerve to find my class only to pull on my ear and drag me outside for a good scolding." Her chuckle came again. "She was incredible and—"
Her voice broke and she looked right at me, pain in her eyes. That was when I knew what she needed at the moment.
Quietly, I pulled my feet off her lap and slipped my arms around her firm shoulders, bringing her closer to my body. Instantly, she wrapped me up in her strong hold, her face leaning into my shoulder.
"Shhh, it's okay," I cooed as I ran my fingers through her hair, coaxing her into falling back with me and laying half way over my body. One of my hands rubbed her muscular back while the other continued to play with her raven hair. "I'm here, it's okay, I'm here."
There wasn't a single sound from her, but the dampness sipping through my shirt at my shoulder indicated her state.
I didn't stop caressing her, and after what felt like an hour, her breathing evened out and I thought she'd fallen asleep. Until...
Drawsily, she said, "I never wanted you to come with me to the funeral because I would have lost it. Because I adore you more than you know, I was afraid you'd make me weak."
I froze. "You-you adore me?"
"So much." She snuggled further into my neck as her body went slack against me. She'd fallen asleep.
Immense joy overcame me as a huge smile took over my face. She adored me! Shayne West adored me.
My goofy smile stayed on until I dozed off too.
🍀
"Hey, open your eyes, princess."
I woke to the gentle tapping of Shayne's hand against my butt. Incredibly intense hazel eyes stared amusingly down at me when I opened my eyes.
The position I found myself in baffled me a little. I was fully stretched over Shayne's hard body, the side of my face pressed into her firm yet comfy shoulder while her large hand spread out possesively over my ass.
"I was afraid I'd crush you, so I had to switch while you slept." Her voice sounded rough and dark, thick with sleep. That and the lazy glow in her eyes; instant wetness.
"How long have we been out?" I said, pushing off her body and straddling her.
Her hands slid up my thighs, and rested over my hips, gripping them. "About an hour, but it's time for dinner now."
"Oh." I started to get off, but her hands tightened their hold on me.
"Just wait a little, it's such a high looking at you in this position."
My cheeks burnt red, but I wasn't shy, no. As a matter of fact, her little speech about not being ashamed of my sexuality motivated me. Despite the fact that her words had nearly deafened me.
"Do you recall what you told me right before you fell asleep?" I leant down and gave her spectacular jawline an open mouthed kiss.
"Remind me." Her hands moved to my ass to give a generous delicious squeeze.
A kiss on her chin. "You," A kiss on the other side of her jaw. "told me," A lick behind her ear. "you adore me."
By now she was breathing really hard, the look of hunger in her eyes making me ridiculously wet.
"Did I?" she rasped, her grip on my ass becoming brutal.
"Unfortunately." I moved to her mouth and tugged on her bottom lip with my teeth, eliciting a sexy groan from her.
"Keep this up and we won't be able to make it for dinner."
"Just a sec. I wanna hear you say it again?"
"Say what again?"
My teeth grazed along her jawline and set at the side of her neck, biting hard.
Her hips jerked upward. "Fuck! Okay, I'll say it."
Quick as lightening, she turned us over so that she hovered above me. My legs immediately went around her waist while my fingers dug into her ripped back.
I grinned widely. "I'm waiting."
She chuckled down at me, those adorable dimples on display. To my absolute shock, she looked away, a hint of insecurity and shyness brightening her eyes.
I reached up and caressed her cheek, turning her face towards me. "Tell me."
"I adore you, Olivia." It was barely a whisper, but the honesty in her tone was audible.
My smile could have blinded the sun. "Good. Because I adore you too." My fingers creeped into her hair. "I hope you don't panic like the last time I told you."
Another beautiful laugh. "I didn't panic."
"You sorta did."
"Maybe just a little. I'll never be good enough for you. "
My smile fell. "How can you say that?"
"It's true." She brushed aside the strands of hair on my forehead. "There are things I've done that if you had to hear about, you wouldn't want me near you. And I don't think I can bear it, I need you too much."
I looked at her for a moment before reaching up and kissing her cheek. "I don't care if it's selfish of me, but as long as I see you as who I've come to know and care about, whatever you've done should not affect me. You're incredible in my eyes, and I wish you'd see it too. Unless you're a puppy-killing sociopath of course."
Chuckling, she bent down and pecked my lips. "Are you crazy? I love puppies. But just so you know, you're all types of incredible too."
"I know," I said cheerfully, grabbing handfuls of her shirt and pulling her to me for a deep delicious makeout session.
Like a little jealous bitch, my stomach grumbled loudly in the middle of the kiss, resulting in Shayne pulling away.
Her brows furrowed down in concern and the slightest hint of anger. "Didn't you eat?"
Something so embarrassing should have been just that, embarrassing. But instead, I was worried about someone else.
"It wasn't Jeffrey's fault."
"Like hell it wasn't," she snapped back, getting off of me and pulling me up with her. "Come on."
"Calm down, Shayne, I'm the one to bla—"
"Don't worry, I'll deal with him and make sure he never makes the mistake of starving you again."
She started for the door, dragging me along as sheer panic slid up my spine for Jeffrey's well being.
"Shayne!" My tone came out sharper than I intended, and it stopped her midway before she was able to open the door.
She turned to me. "What is it?"
Now that her attention was on me, I was flustered for a second before I snapped out of it. "Jeffrey was about to make my meal when I told him to help me bake instead. It wasn't his fault."
She still didn't look convinced. "Olivia, I can't have to worry about your safety and your health at the same time. I gave Jeffrey clear instructions to make sure you don't starve on any account. He knows better than to defy my orders no matter what."
I shook my head softly, sliding my hands up her arms and resting them over her shoulders, kneading away any tension in the stiff muscles. "It's one insignificant meal that he didn't make because of me. Tell me another time when Jeffrey didn't follow your orders, and I'll let you get as angry as you want."
She opened her full-lipped mouth and closed it again, seemingly racking her brain for something.
"See? He only defied you because of me, so I should be the one to be blamed, not him."
She briefly closed her eyes, opening them a second later to peck my forehead. "I don't deserve you, you know that? I promise not to bother Jeffrey. But since you offered yourself to be blamed, how 'bout you serve me dessert after dinner, as your punishment of course?"
The sudden heated look in her hazel eyes translated her words perfectly.
My cheeks warmed up while the space between my thighs throbbed with anticipation. "Oh dear, what cruel and unusual punishment. I'll try not to enjoy it," I said dramatically, allowing a hint of seduction into my tone.
She laughed again, this time a little more huskier and lower.
Oh man, I can not wait for dessert.