Chapter 7 - Under her skin
Peyton
I leaned against a tree in a deserted parking lot and sighed to myself. Here I was, yet again, back where everything started, the same parking lot where she drove away from me, where I drove her away from me. I shifted my weight from one foot to another as the sound of crunching gravel echoed in the empty space. A familiar throbbing pain in my right hand pulled my attention away from the scene and to my hand, which was holding a bloodied and crumpled piece of paper. As my hands worked to smooth it out and shake off the shards of glass embedded in my palm, an impending sense of dread settled itself on my shoulders as I read over the words again.
'Dear Peyton, Happy Birthday!', 'You've given me so much, so many memories that I'll cherish forever.', '-We can't be anything more than that. You're special to me and you always will be.', 'I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me.'
A feeling of heaviness settled over me, making it hard to breathe as the air turned dense. I keeled over, trying to get a hold of my bearings while my hands desperately tried to hold on to my jeans, slipping off due to the perspiration that had formed on my palms, along with the semi-dried blood. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling better by the second. When I opened my eyes, the ground beneath me had shifted and the gravel had been replaced by rubber mats. Standing up straighter I looked around to see how I no longer stood in the parking lot, but in the sparring gymnasium that was so familiar to me. Hands snaked around my waist and a head settled itself in the crook of my neck as someone's body pressed firmly into my back. I smiled to myself as I lifted my hand and placed it over hers as it lay flat against my abdomen.
"You know what you have to do, right?" She asked in that sultry tone that drove me wild.
"Do what?" I asked, gently pulling away to turn around and look at her. She stood in front of me in her skin tight electric blue leggings that I loved so much on her and a grey sports bra, her blond waves neatly pulled back in a ponytail.
"Let go of her, burn those memories away..." She said plainly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I don't know how," I said, looking down to the ground, disappointed in my inability to do what she asked of me.
"Burn it." She said softly, as one of her hands pulled my chin up so I could look at her while the fingers of her other hand trailed down from my shoulder to my right hand, which had ceased to throb and had zero traces of blood. She pulled up my hand and gestured to it with her eyes. My gaze moved to where she wanted it to go and a lump formed in my throat as I stared at the crisp white letter which had appeared in my hand. I looked back at Amber and swallowed hard. She let go of my hand and circled around me so she was now standing behind me. Her left hand squeezed my shoulder in encouragement while she brought her right hand forward, trailing it down my forearm until she caught hold of my hand and handed me a lighter.
"It's only a piece of paper, it doesn't mean anything." She said and I took a deep breath, her scent muffling my senses. Moving her mouth closer to my ear, she continued, "Burn it, and you will destroy everything she's ever held claim over. You can finally be free." She finished and I felt a shiver run up my spine. Free? I could finally get rid of the enthralling hold she had over me? The thought felt dangerously appealing but something at the back of my head kept tugging at me as if trying to pull me out of a haze. I couldn't give it much thought before I got distracted by a wet mouth that was nestled against the edge of my jaw, right under my ear. She whispered yet another, "Do it." and I felt my hands move, complying to her demand. I looked at the paper one last time, not bothering to glance over the words, lest I hesitate.
Holding on to the paper in my left hand, I lifted up my right hands that held the lighter within its grasp and with a quick flick, a flame appeared. With a final deep breath, I brought the flame closer to the paper and watched as it slowly caught on fire, the words fading away into nothingness. I did feel a weight lift off my shoulders and sighed in contentment as the wet mouth on my jaw was replaced with a gentler one. As the last shred of the paper turned back to carbon, I let it go and the ashes gently floated away. The mouth trailed kisses along my jaw and I closed my eyes, smiling to myself. I couldn't remember when I'd last felt this content with where I was, with who I was. The mouth moved away and let out a light chuckle, the beautiful sound of which soothed my soul and at the same time made my mind feel like a rubber band that had snapped. My eyes jolted open as I spun myself to look at the possessor of the beautifully torturous laugh.
"No..." I whispered to myself in shock as my breath hitched.
"Hi, Peyt." She smiled back at me, standing there in the most gorgeous blue sundress while her brown curls framed her face.
I shook my head and frantically looked around to find myself now standing in the backyard of a house, her house. I took a step back, not believing my eyes at what I was seeing.
"What's wrong, my sweet?" She took a step toward me, concern filling her eyes.
"No, you can't be here. Y-you shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here." I said, shaking my head, she wasn't supposed to be here, she couldn't be.
"And why's that?" She said, taking another step toward me.
"You left me... and th-that's okay, you did what you did and- and then I did what I had to. I got better and then I let you go... I let you go!" I said, rambling like a madwoman.
"And how exactly did you let me go?" She said, walking towards me once more, invading my personal space. Her intoxicating smell flooded my senses but instead of putting me in a haze, it made my mind clearer.
"I erased and destroyed everything of mine that you've ever laid claim over, everything you've ever touched... I burned the letter, it turned to ashes in front of me! And now, nothing remains that you've ever touched. I'm free." I rushed out while she just smiled at me in a way that said she knew something that I didn't.
"If you're as free as you say you are, why am I still here?" She asked nonchalantly like the answer was right there in plain sight.
"I-I don't know," I said, as my back hit a wooden wall and I looked at the ground, defeated. Looking back up a few seconds later, I found myself staring at her, my breath caught in my throat. The realisation of what I'd done hit me. I'd burned the letter.... The one thing of hers that had meant so much to me, my connection to her, had been destroyed. I found myself unable to figure out why I'd made that dreadful mistake. She cleared her throat, bringing me out of my thoughts and her smile seemed to warm up my soul. Taking another step towards me, she brought her hand up to rest it on my cheek. Leaning into her touch, all my anxiety faded away as I allowed myself to bask in the warmth that emanated from her.
"I'm here because it doesn't matter however many things you try to erase or destroy. You'll never be able to destroy the one thing I've touched the most." She said, gently placing her hand on my chest where my heart would be and kissed me.
I immediately jolted awake and blinked my eyes to clear my vision. I was breathing hard and my neck was drenched in sweat. I shook off the feeling of heaviness and took a moment to regain composure. Turning my head towards the window, I saw very faint light passing through the blinds and concluded that it was really early in the morning. Stretching my arms out, I contemplated going out for a run to do a perimeter check. But turning my gaze beside me, all thoughts of getting out of bed turned to mush. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I leaned back in bed and turned over to my side to softly run my fingers along the partly exposed creamy smooth skin of her back. Reaching over a little, I left a trail of kisses from one shoulder to the other and got sleepy hums back in response. Chuckling to myself at the sleepy sounds, I leaned back in bed with my arms crossed under my head as I tried to go back to sleep. Feeling the bed shift a little, I felt a comfortable weight settle over my chest and an arm that reached over to my other side.
"Why are you awake?" She sleepily mumbled.
"Weird dream, don't worry about it," I replied softly and kissed her head.
"You better not be thinking about going for a run." She said, trying to admonish me in her cute sleepy voice.
"I wouldn't dare," I replied, opening my eyes to gaze at her and found her sleepy eyes blinking back at me, her dishevelled chocolate hair framing her face perfectly.
"Good, cause otherwise, I'd lock you out of the house." She said with a lazy smile and closed her eyes again after making her head comfortable on my chest.
"I mean, I do have a set of keys." I laughed.
"Don't make me change the locks on you." She mumbled into my chest, tightening her grip around me.
"Well, there's no way I can leave now, can I?" I said as my left hand moved from under my head to settle on her waist and I closed my eyes, falling back asleep but not before hearing a content sigh from her.
****
"Wake up, sleepyhead." Said a voice and I hummed in response as I mentally prepared myself to open up my eyes. "Oh, gods..." I groaned out in a low voice as I felt her head nuzzle into my neck where her mouth promptly decided to wetly suck on the skin.
"O-okay, I'm up!" I yelped when she dragged her teeth across the skin. She pulled away and I sprang up in bed, moving backwards till my back hit the headboard.
"I'm going to head to the shower." She laughed and added, "And, no, you can't join me." before she sauntered away to the bathroom, stripping off what little was left on her body and my eyes immediately shut themselves up. It had been about two weeks since Princess had confessed her feelings to me and things had been... interesting, to say the least. I'd woken up early the next day, gone out for a perimeter check and returned to an empty bed and an empty house. Being alone had been relieving because I'd still been reeling from the night before, not sure what to think of what had happened. A part of me was excited about the possibilities but another part of me felt anxious because I was in uncharted territory. Shrugging it off, I'd made my way to school, and had a mostly uneventful day. There'd been whispers when I'd entered the Common Room class but I hadn't cared enough to listen to what they were saying, I'd had other things on my mind. During the entirety of the class, Princess had avoided looking at me for too long. I hadn't been hurt about it because I understood that she might've been confused because this was new to her as well. And thus, had let it slide until I'd found myself standing outside her office later that day.
I walked in with purpose and silently shut the door behind me as I took a seat in front of her and kept my bag on the next chair. Her shoulders immediately tensed up when she looked up from her laptop to find me sitting in front of her.
"Hey..." She said nervously.
"Evening, Professor." I smiled back at her and settled my head on my palms as my elbows were propped up on her table. Her eyes moved back to the screen and she began typing while I just looked at her like she was the most interesting person in the whole wide world. She had on a baby blue shirt with her grey trousers and had decided to let her hair down today. I was amazed at how it perfectly framed her face every time.
"Okay, what?" She said with a shake of her head and shut her laptop.
"I didn't say anything." I shrugged innocently.
"Yeah, exactly." She said and glanced at the door, "Why is it closed?"
"Thought you might prefer some privacy, in case, you know, if you want to talk about last night?" I asked.
"I don't know what you're on about." She said and crossed her arms.
"That so?" I smirked.
"Yep." She said, popping the 'p' and narrowed her eyes on me.
"Well, I guess I'll have to remind you," I said firmly and pushed my chair back as I stood up and her eyes widened in concern.
"Okay, no, sit back down, don't you dare come any closer." She rushed out but her demands were futile as I'd already walked around the desk and was now standing beside her. I bent down till I sat on my knees and swivelled her chair around so that she could face me.
"Talk to me, what's up?" I said and lightly held one of her hands when I saw they were fidgeting about in her lap. She blinked at me, surprised that I hadn't pulled any of my usual antics and sighed gratefully.
"I just... I'm scared." She said. Nodding along in understanding, I gestured for her to continue, "I'm scared to ruin what this- what we have. I don't want to end up losing you, Peyt." I swallowed the build-up of saliva in my mouth and looked at her. Her eyes had watered up a little and I understood what she meant when I actually thought about it for a few seconds. It was a heavy statement, one I'd have to think about some other time because all I wanted to do right now was hug her and tell her that it was going to be okay, and that's exactly what I did.
"Hey, you're not going to lose me. I promise I'm not going anywhere. Not unless you want me to." I reassured her, standing up while her hands were still in mine.
"I don't want you to." She said as she stood up from her chair and let go of my hands to hug me. I hugged her back and softly rubbed her back as I inhaled her perfume and felt like I was floating for a second. I pulled back a little and kissed her cheek, at which she pulled back more, moving her arms from around my back to intertwine them around my neck.
"Well, this is nice," I said, surprised at her newfound boldness.
"Is it?" She smiled back dreamily and kissed me before I could reply, so instead, I chose to hum back. It was an innocent kiss, emphasis on the 'was' because I was all for taking things slowly but somehow, she managed to manoeuvre us in a way so that her back was now pushed up against the edge of her desk while my front was pressed into her. Far be it from me to complain, and so I complied dutifully when she tangled her hands in my hair and tugged me closer to her, such that I had to push her up onto the desk and stand between her legs to steady myself. As much as I loved what was happening at the moment, I felt terrified inside too. I was new to this... previously unseen side of Princess. I wasn't sure what to think of it, or what prompted it to come out. Needless to say, I was too distracted to give it a second thought.
Our mouths were still feverishly connected when one of her cold hands found its way under the red t-shirt I'd decided to wear that day and rubbed my side, prompting me to want to touch more of her too. Unbuttoning the first few buttons of her shirt, one of my hands snaked its way to caress her chest as it moved from her collarbone and gently wrapped itself around her neck while the other rested on her lower back. I gently squeezed her neck which made her respond immediately by moaning into my mouth and grabbing a fistful of my hair, making a shiver course through my entire body and causing my heart rate to rocket. Increasing the pressure, I tried to elicit a similar response but this time she chose to wrap her legs around my waist instead, both her hands making their way under my t-shirt and to my back, making my t-shirt ride up in the process. She pulled me closer, and my other hand immediately left her lower back, smacking onto the table to stop us from toppling over. Her lower back now touched the flat surface of the table where I was leaned over her and the fabric of her trousers rubbed against my waist as her legs closed around it once again
Pushing my hand against the table, I pulled back to catch a breather and couldn't help but let out a breathy, "Wow." At the sight before me. She looked up at me through slightly hooded eyelids almost as if she were in a daze, her cheeks were flushed and her chest moved up and down in rapid succession as she tried to catch her breath. I loosened my grip on her and my hand moved from her neck to rest at her waist and her hand reached out to touch my face and my face leaned into her touch. I smiled at her but it didn't last long as panic crossed over my features and hers when we heard sharps raps at her door, our heads immediately snapping in the direction of it. I pushed myself off of her as soon as her legs loosened their grip on my waist and pulled my t-shirt down.
"Professor Banks?" A voice called through and I immediately cursed under my breath when I recognised the voice and Princess glared at me but answered, "Just a minute!" She jumped off the table and started buttoning her shirt as I ran my hands through my hair. I grabbed a random stack of papers, plopping them on her desk, I grabbed one and settled on the chair on the other side of her desk. All the while Princess patted down her hair and readjusted her shirt before she opened the door.
"Dr. Valetta!" She said in a high-pitched voice, clearly caught off guard.
"Professor Banks," She acknowledged and looked past her to see me sitting on the chair with the paper in my hand, I replied back with finger guns and she continued, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important?"
"Uh, oh, no, of course, not. We were just-" Princess started but I cut her off and replied for her, "Going through these assignments!"
"Ah, Ms. Bailey, I'm glad to see you've already been put to work." Andrea chastised and Princess turned around to look at me, shaking her head.
"What can I say? Professor Banks is an excellent influence." I smirked and the red returned to Princess' cheeks and unbeknownst to her, Andrea rolled her eyes.
"Would you like to come in, Dr. Valetta?" Princess turned to Andrea and asked.
"Oh, no, Professor, I don't want to intrude, just wanted to make sure Ms. Bailey wasn't giving you any trouble. I'll be on my way now. You, behave now, Ms. Bailey." She said one last time and turned on her heels as Princess slowly closed the door. She leaned against it and closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath.
"So, that was fun," I said and she opened her eyes to glare at me as I laughed.
"Why are you still in bed?" Her voice asked, pulling me out of my daydream.
"Why aren't you in bed?" I smirked back and she laughed back. Moving the towel through her hair, she began drying it. The towel wrapped around her torso was dangerously low and I was convinced that she did that on purpose. I shook my head as I pulled the covers off of myself and jumped out of bed.
"I'm going to head out for a run," I said, running a hand through my hair and pulling up the pants I'd left out the night before. She let out a sigh and continued to wring out the water from her hair. "I'll be back before you know it," I said and walked closer to her to give her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled when I pulled back and turned to leave. I was almost out the door when she yelled, "Hurry back!"
"Your wish is my command, Princess." I turned to her and smiled before walking out.
****
I slowed down my pace a mile away from the house, there was still a lot to think about. And that's what I'd been doing through the entirety of the past two weeks. Ever since Princess had admitted her feelings to me, she'd been different, we'd been different. I was getting to see a new side of her, almost as if she were a different person. And she was, I reminded myself. It had been awkward to distinguish and separate the two versions of her that I had in my head, one being who I thought she was and the other being who she really was.
I wasn't sure I understood how her mind worked and that put me a little on the edge because it made her actions so much more unpredictable. She'd been very affectionate lately and it had caught me off guard every time. And dare I say, it scared me a little too but I tried my best to go with the flow; I'd almost made it to the driveway when a black sedan pulled up into it and a blonde in a green jumpsuit got out. I almost wanted to turn around and run the other way, almost. I hadn't expected her to actually show up after last night.
"You definitely took your sweet time today." She said in a bored tone and looked at her watch to check the time.
"Got a tracker on me now, do you?" I laughed and slowed down to a stop when I reached the car and started stretching.
"I don't need one, it's in your watch, remember?" She said, matter-of-factly.
"Didn't think you'd actually show up today." I shrugged.
"And miss out on brunch? Prepared by my professor? Oh, no, how could I?" She said in a snarky tone.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." I remarked and walked towards the door, opening it. She shrugged it off and walked in, I walked in after her and closed the door behind me. The smell of brunch wafted through the house and my mouth salivated. Instead of announcing my presence, however, I decided to stand near the living room and observe the scene as Amber walked in and greeted everyone.
"Something smells great!" Amber exclaimed in an unnecessarily high-pitched voice.
"Hey!" Damian greeted and gave Amber a high-five when she pulled out a chair and sat beside him at the dinner table. Natasha gave her a smile as she helped around the kitchen. Damian was in a basic black t-shirt and washed out jeans while Natasha was in a grey t-shirt that hung off one of her shoulders and black sweats. I didn't see Princess around and let out a low sigh of relief. I was glad Princess and Amber hadn't seen each other yet, but I knew it was only delaying the inevitable. Spoke too soon, I thought to myself and cursed under my breath when Princess walked out of the bathroom near the stairs. She saw Amber and her footsteps halted for a second and her entire posture tensed until she relaxed a few seconds later and was on her way again. I could tell she was hesitant; I sucked a breath in for what happened next.
"Amber." Princess acknowledged with a nod. Now, I just hoped Amber didn't say anything stupid, "Afternoon, Paige. A great day isn't it? Hope you guys had a goodnight's sleep?" God damn it, spoke too soon again. I know what she said sounded like she was including Damian and Natasha in the guys too but that isn't what she meant at all, and by the looks on their faces, Princess and Natasha did too, while Damian, for some reason, was trying really hard to hold in a laugh. Princess tensed again and Natasha's eyes kept glancing between the two of them. The air in the room thickened and I tried to defuse the situation.
"Hey, guys!" I greeted everyone and they turned around to look at me with smiles on their faces. Princess' eyes softened a bit and she relaxed immediately.
"Took you long enough." Natasha murmured and Princess elbowed her. I laughed and greeted Damian with a nod as he did the same.
"I'm gonna head upstairs and get a quick shower in but I'll be down in just a few," I said and had just kept my first foot on the carpeted staircase when Princess' hand tugged at my elbow and I immediately halted.
"What's up?" I asked, and she smiled at me as she leaned closer and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "That was nice," I said and smiled back at her as she turned to go help Natasha. I glanced at Amber and she gave me a bored look as she'd leaned back in her chair with crossed arms as if she were throwing a temper tantrum. I shook my head and hurried up and into my room. The bed was still unmade from when Natasha and Damian were sleeping in it but I didn't mind. I quickly stripped off my clothes, took off my watch and got into the hot shower. I sighed as the hot water hit my body and my mind took me back to the tension downstairs that was probably back. I thought back to Saturday evening.
"You know what we should do tonight?" Natasha asked, and everyone's attention including mine was on her. "We should go get dinner and then head to a bar." Her answer was met with nods and then our attention was back on the movie.
It was a lazy Saturday evening, and we were all huddled around the flatscreen in the living room. Damian was sitting on the floor with his legs spread out, while Natasha sat between them with the back of her head on his chest. Princess and I were sitting on the couch which somehow had ended up with my head in her lap, with her hands running through my hair. It was nice.
Damian and Natasha had come over for the long weekend since Monday was an off due to labour day and had planned on staying for the entirety of it. I didn't mind as long as Princess didn't, which she didn't seem to, so that was sorted. I'd first met Damian last week when he'd dropped Natasha off for a sleepover. He was a cool enough dude, not the kind I'd have problems with. We'd had a nice conversation about his car after which he'd talked to Princess a little and left soon after. Princess seemed closer to him than she'd originally let on and I wanted to ask her about it but didn't feel like it was my place to, so I let it go.
The movie ended soon after around half past six when Princess and I had headed up to go get changed. I decided to wear a navy blue henley t-shirt with light washed jeans and a black bomber jacket with black combat boots. I strapped my knife to the inside of the boots, just in case. Shutting the door behind me, I walked downstairs and sat back on the couch. Natasha smiled at me then headed upstairs while Damian followed behind.
I'd absentmindedly been watching some cartoon on the tv when Princess walked in front of me to block my view and asked how she looked.
"I can't see, you're going to have to come a little closer." I smirked.
She rolled her eyes at me but complied nonetheless, and took a step forward. She had on a black crop top with dark grey jeans and a scarf wrapped around her neck. My eyes scanned her and came back up to look at her face and saw her looking at me expectantly. I smiled at her, leaned forward to grab her hand and said, "You look like a dream." Her eyes lit up at my comment and she let out a little yelp when I pulled her back onto the couch with me. She fell forwards towards me but I steadied her with my hands on her waist. She moved her feet around so they were on either side of my body while she was seated on my lap almost at my knees.
"You should ask Amber if she wants to join us." She suggested and I almost choked on my saliva.
"Uh, yeah, sure." I said nervously and lifted my butt up a little so I could slide my phone out of my back pocket and shoot her a text.
"Shouldn't you call her?" Princess asked with a quirked brow and I shrugged in response. To be honest, I wasn't too keen on Amber joining us. Yes, we hadn't hung out in a while, but this wasn't how I wanted to do it. I hadn't told her about Princess and I yet, mainly because there wasn't much to tell, but I had a feeling that she was about to be really passive-aggressive when she found out. I felt my watch vibrate and glanced at it then let Princess know that Amber would join us at the bar. She nodded and played with my left hand while I scrolled through my emails and surveillance updates.
"Aww, aren't y'all cute?" Natasha cooed and took a picture of us.
"Dude, shut up," Princess grumbled and I laughed. She tried to get off my lap but seemed hesitant on how to do so.
"Grab onto my waist with your legs." I said and she looked at me with a quirked brow while Natasha let out a high-pitched, "Ooooh, kinky!".
"Trust me," I said and she nodded, wrapping her legs around me tight. I placed my phone on the side, grabbed onto her waist with both hands and jumped up and off the couch. She let her legs go and they landed on the fluffy rug with a soft thud. She thanked me and I let my hands drop from her sides to grab my phone. Damian came down a few seconds later and hugged Natasha from behind. Their outfits perfectly complementing each other's, Natasha was in a grey top that hung off one of her shoulders and blue jeans while Damian had on a pair of ripped grey jeans with a blue shirt.
"Wait, no one told me we were going for a theme." I teased
"Oh, shush." Natasha brushed off and Damian laughed. Princess checked the house once and then we were out the door when Natasha complained, "I feel like now's a good time as any to point out that both of ya'll's rides are like really inconvenient for doing things as a group."
Princess laughed after which Damian addressed Natasha, "If it's okay, love, I'd like to ride with Peyton." I shrugged and walked towards the garage to get into the car while the three discussed whatever it is that they were discussing. I saw Princess frowning while Damian spoke.
"Good evening, Agent." The car said, making the HUD light up and the console glowed orange. I cursed under my breath; I still wasn't used to the virtual intelligence thing yet.
"Silent Drive, mute functions," I said. The HUD disappeared, and the console dimmed to a light blue. I looked back at the three and Princess was shaking her head when she started heading my way along with Damian while Natasha walked around the car and slid into the shotgun of Princess' car. I unlocked the car so Damian could get in but I didn't pay him any attention as I lowered my window and looked at Princess instead. She leaned down on the door and asked, "How do you feel about following me to the place?"
"Woman, I'll even follow you into hell," I smirked. She rolled her eyes and laughed when Damian said, "Damn, Paper, roll your eyes any harder and you're going to go blind."
"I'm sure the Demon wouldn't mind taking a trip back home." She retorted at my hell comment while addressing it to Damian. He laughed and brought his hands up in surrender.
"I'll see you there," Princess said. She pushed herself off the door and walked around to get to her car.
"Seatbelt," I said, rolling up the window while reaching for my own, Damian didn't have to be told twice as he quickly complied.
I pulled out after Princess and looked to the rear-view to make sure the garage door closed after us.
"So..." Damian drawled five minutes into the ride.
"What's up?" I casually asked, my right hand on the wheel while my left rested lazily on my lap, two fingers barely touching the bottom of the wheel.
"What are your intentions with Paige?" He said seriously but let out a laugh after I gave him an incredulous glance.
"Okay, okay, I'm kidding. But then again, I'm not." He said and the serious look came back to his face. He suddenly looked much older than he acted.
"Say what you need to," I said shrugged.
"Paige means a lot to me, Peyton. She's not just a cousin, she's like my baby sister, she is my sister." I nodded and he continued, "It's been a hot minute since she's been with someone. I need to know you're not just messing around with her." He finished and I could see him look at me expectantly through the corner of my eyes.
"Damian, if I'm being honest, I don't know what exactly it is that we're doing. But I can tell you this right now, she means a lot to me. And I would never do anything to knowingly hurt her." I said, being as honest as I could.
"Well, good, because I promise you, if you hurt her, if you break her heart, I will hurt you and I will break you." He said with a smile.
"You can try." I laughed, he laughed back.
"Do you know where we're headed?" He asked, looking out at the houses that faded away in the distance as we got on the freeway.
"I'm following her lead, but I assume she'd like us to be away from town, lest anyone she recognises sees us," I said with a humourless laugh at the end. It was smart, really. She didn't need people asking questions and neither did I.
"She cares about you." He randomly said a few minutes later.
"What?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the road.
"She was smiling differently today." He said, beaming.
"Was she now?" I asked, smiling to myself.
"Yeah. The only other time I've seen her smile like that is when Derrick's around. You know Derrick, yeah?" He asked and then continued when I nodded, "I always thought there was something there. Apparently not though." He laughed and I nervously chuckled back. I was definitely not fond of Derrick. Sure, I hadn't met the dude, but I had a feeling I wouldn't like him even if I did. He was, after all, a liar with a colourful past who was involved in organised criminal activity.
"Okay, someone's feeling fast." He said, gesturing towards Princess' car in front of us as it picked up speed. I revved up after her and soon enough we were at the place. I parked the car next to hers and Damian got out before I did. I didn't realise I was staring at the wheel until Princess came around to knock on the window. I shook my head and got out after cutting the engine.
"What was that about?" She asked.
"It was nothing, don't worry about it," I reassured her as I placed my right hand on the small of her back. I felt her spine shiver when my hand came in contact with her skin and quickly asked her if she was okay. When she nervously nodded in the positive, I pulled open the door to let her walk in first. We walked straight to our table as Natasha and Damian had already grabbed it for us. I pulled Princess' chair out for her and she smiled at me after saying a soft thank you when I took the seat next to her.
"Aww, look at you two." Natasha cooed while Damian gave me a knowing grin.
Princess was about to retort back but stopped herself when the waiter came to take our orders.
"So, Nat tells me one of your friends is going to join us later tonight, is that right?" Damian asked with a quirked brow after he handed back the last of the menus to the waiter who informed us he'd be back with our drinks shortly.
"Yeah, she couldn't make it to dinner," I said, readjusting myself in the chair.
"Oh, I remember you telling me that your cousin had a crush on her?" Natasha asked and Princess turned to look at me with a funny look.
"Uh, yeah, that apparently is a thing. Don't think Amber is aware of it yet." I said, letting out a forced laugh.
"Well, both of them are in class during one of my sections. I could assign the class a "random" seating plan." Princess suggested, wiggling her eyebrows. The entire table laughed and dinner conversation flowed pleasantly.
"So, Amber, huh?" Natasha asked from the passenger seat. Damian and she had decided to switch cars after dinner. It was fine with me.
"Hmm? What about her?" I asked with a quirked brow. I readjusted myself to rest my right hand on my lap while the left loosely held on to the steering wheel.
"Is there a thing there? Like, don't get me wrong here, Peyton. I love that you and Paige are lowkey dating but I'm going to need you, to be honest with me about Amber." She finished with a sigh.
"Is this a question that you have, or it's a question that Paige had?" I asked, my grip on the wheel tightening, feeling not too happy about the implication behind my question.
"It's a question I have. I'm just trying to look out for my best friend." She said.
"There's nothing there," I said, shrugging my shoulders. I was getting really tired of answering the same questions.
"Okay, so that's that. Have you guys gone out on a date yet?" She asked, her cheerful demeanour returning.
"Uh, what's your definition of a date?" I asked with a chuckle at the end
"Spending alone time and getting to know each other, dinner or going out may or may not be included." She finished with a nod.
"Uh, well, there's been alone time but not a lot of getting to know each other," I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her.
"WAIT ARE YOU GUYS FRICK FRACKING?!" She squealed loudly, and I couldn't help but flinch.
"Heck, woman. Frick fracking? What are you, twelve?" I asked with a laugh, my eyes trained on Princess' car.
"That's not a no." She said in a smug tone.
I turned my head to look at her with narrowed eyes and she smirked back at me. Shaking my head, I laughed and said, "No, we're not frick fracking. The only alone time we get is during her office hours and when we're back home. I don't particularly enjoy bothering her when we're back home, because I feel like if I were her, I would not want to be bothered after interacting with a shit ton of students."
"Okay, makes sense. But you do want to fuck my best friend, yeah?" She asked, and I choked on my saliva, the car swerving a little. Natasha seemed unfazed by my reaction.
"Okay, so we've moved from frick fracking to fucking, then?" I asked, still coughing loudly to clear my airway.
"That's not a no either." She smirked back yet again.
"Wow, you're like a dog with a bone," I said, with a deep breath. My chest feeling clearer.
"Oh, look, we're here." She said nonchalantly as we turned into the parking lot. I let her get out before I backed the car into the parking space and sent Amber a quick text. She replied back just as I got out of the car and locked it. I walked towards the group before we all collectively walked inside after waiting in line for a bit. The music wasn't deafening but was appropriately loud, and so we went upstairs where it was slightly quieter. We found a booth in a far corner and quickly grabbed it, Natasha and Damian taking one side of it while Princess and I took the other.
As soon as Damian excused himself to the bar so he could get our drinks, Natasha turned towards Princess and said, "So, she definitely wants to fuck you." Princess' eyes widened at the casual statement and I choked yet again. "Natasha!" Princess exclaimed while she patted my back and Natasha shrugged in response. I coughed wildly for a minute before my airway settled.
"I never said yes," I said, my eyes trained on Natasha while she quirked her brow in response.
"Wait, you don't want to?" Princess turned to me and asked in a low voice that made her lower lip quiver. My head immediately snapped towards her and my insides melted at the look on her face. I realised how my statement sounded and tried to save face, "W-wait, no, yes. No, no, that isn't what I meant. L-like yeah, uh, sure, I mean, yeah, like... if you w-want to uh." My brain scrambled for the right words all the while her eyes searched mine for confirmation.
"Want to what?" Damian asked as he placed our drinks on the table and slid back into the booth. I sighed in relief and replied quickly, "Want to have a good time tonight."
"Well, look no further cause your good time just arrived." Amber greeted us as she shuffled into the booth next to me and placed her own drink at the table. Princess and Natasha said their hellos before Damian introduced himself and shook her hand over the table. Amber and Damian carried on their conversation, while I chimed in every now and then. I'd have been more into what they were talking about had I not been glancing at the silent conversation taking place between Princess and Natasha. Natasha looked at me with a knowing glance and gestured to Princess and Princess shook her head in response and shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she sipped on her drink.
"Okay, what is up?" I asked, looking at Natasha.
"You gonna tell her?" Natasha asked Princess.
"Don't worry about it, Peyt." She told me and glared at Natasha.
Natasha sighed, "It's about yo-"
"Okay, I'll tell her!" Princess interrupted her before she could finish, a little too loudly I'd say as she drew Damian and Amber's attention.
"Okay, so what are you guys talking about?" Natasha asked, distracting them so they wouldn't pay attention to us.
I turned in my seat to look at Princess as I took a gulp of my drink and set it back down on the table. I offered her my left hand and she took a hold of it and squeezed it as I looked at her reassuringly.
"I uh... It's, nevermind, it's stupid and not at all important. We can talk about it later." She rushed out and gave me a forced smile. My eyebrow quirked and my mouth was pressed in a firm line while I searched her face for clues. She looked at me like she was a deer caught in the headlights. I shifted towards her and took a deep breath before I started, "Does it have something to do with the uh, frick-fracking, that was mentioned earlier?"
She shut her eyes and nodded and I couldn't help but be amused. "Okay, let's talk about it," I said as I moved my hand from her grip and slid it behind us on the headrest of the booth and around her so as to give her a comfortable space to talk about it.
"How are you so comfortable with this?" She asked, loosening the scarf around her neck.
"Oh, this?" I pointed to myself, "This is just pretence, I'm a nervous wreck inside but that isn't what you need to see right now. But, hey, if you'd rather we have this conversation some other time, that's completely okay." I reassured her again. And yeah, none of it was a lie. I could feel my heartbeat in my palms and my heart was pounding against my chest. I could only imagine how Princess was feeling.
"Do you want to?" She finally asked after downing her drink, and mine.
"Do I want to what?" I asked, chuckling.
"Do you want to have sex with me?" She finally asked after a pause.
"Of course, I want to. Do you?" I asked back, she seemed caught off guard by my question and thought to herself. Before she could answer, I gently placed my right hand on her thigh, made sure that it was okay with her, and added, "You don't have to answer me right now, Princess. If/when it's supposed to happen, it will. I'm happy with where we are right now and absolutely nothing has to change unless you want it to." I finished with a small smile and she leaned into my chest for a side hug. I turned back around in my seat and nodded at Natasha for keeping Damian and Amber distracted. We joined the conversation that the three were having while my left hand had replaced my right on her thigh while her right hand sat comfortably on top of it.
"Hey, Natasha. I think I'm going to head to the restroom, do you want to come with?" Princess asked after a few minutes.
"Nah, I'm good. I'm sure Peyton wouldn't mind though." She smirked leaning back in her seat. I shook my head at her and got out of the booth after Amber vacated her seat to let us move. Princess glared at Natasha once and took off towards the restroom while I followed after. I stepped in after Princess and she moved around me to lock the door and leant against it with a sigh.
"You good?" I asked, as I moved closer and settled my hands on her waist.
"Yeah, I'm great." She said, her eyes hooded slightly and her neck tilted, looking up at me intently.
"What's up?" I asked with a smile while my fingers played with the ends of the waistband of her jeans. She shivered slightly from the coldness of my fingertips against her skin.
"Why are you so good to me?" She asked with a playful smile.
"Well, that's because my Princess deserves nothing but the best," I said and hooked my hands under her thighs to lift her up against the door and she let out the most adorable laugh ever. Her arms rested on my shoulders while her hands intertwined themselves behind my neck.
"You look really pretty tonight." She lazily smiled at me.
"Thank you. And you look as gorgeous as ever." I smiled back and she dipped her head to kiss me. Her lips lingered on mine for a few seconds before she pulled back and said, "Okay, that was nice. But I really do have to pee." I laughed at her expression of urgency and gently dropped her on her feet before I unlocked the door. I turned around to wash my hands while Princess let herself into one of the stalls. Giving myself a quick glance in the mirror, I turned on the faucet and saw someone walk in from the corner of my eye and heard a low click of the lock. I let my hands down under the cold running water and glanced at the mirror once before quickly sidestepping the swing of a knife that came down behind me.
"What the fuck, woman?" I whisper-yelled, knowing Princess was still in the stall but knew that the sound of running water would muffle our voices.
"You're a little slow." She said, swinging at me again with her right, making me block her attack with my forearm. She quickly dropped the knife from her right hand and into her left, which swiped at me again and would've cut clean through if not for me jumping back.
"I sense underlying issues at play." I taunted and she sneered at me. She swung at me yet again and I grabbed her hand in time to twist it around her back, messed up and ended up with the tip of the knife digging into my back. I restrained her hand as best as I could with my wet ones while we both had our backs against the far end of the restroom. Our heads snapped to the sound of a lock clicking, and out came Princess. She looked at the running faucet and then a look of surprise overtook her features and she saw Amber standing behind me.
"Amber? I didn't hear you come in." She said, looking back and forth between the running faucet and me, "Are you guys... okay?"
My left hand struggled against her right as she tried to push the knife further into my back and nodded when Amber said, "We'll be out in a few, Paige. Just discussing something." Princess washed her hands, turned off the faucet, looked at me once and then proceeded to walk out after unlocking the door. I jumped off the wall as soon as she stepped out and successfully disarmed Amber after scuffling around for another few minutes.
"Of all the goddamn places you could've chosen." I chastised as I handed her the knife back and rubbed my back where it had dug in.
"Have to keep you on your toes somehow. You do seem to lose focus around a certain someone." She said, leaning back against the wall with her hands crossed in front of her chest.
"I do not." I scoffed as I finished washing my hands
"You guys fuck yet?" She sneered yet again.
I turned around to look at her incredulously with my eyebrows raised. "What? Like I can't see you guys practically eye-fucking every time you look at each other?" She said it like it was the most obvious thing ever. Her words irked me but I chose not to react.
"I can see you're clearly upset at the changing dynamic of our relationship," I said, walking closer to her.
"Me? Upset? Why would I be upset." She scoffed, looking anywhere but at me.
"I'm sorry you had to find out like this, I should've told you earlier." I started and stepped closer but she held the knife back up and said, "Screw you, Peyt."
"What are you gonna do, stab me?" I asked incredulously and looked at her. Her blonde hair was curled and fell around her shoulders while her body was wrapped in a short light green dress that accentuated her blue eyes.
"Wow, are you really checking me out right now?" She said and my eyes snapped up to look at her, "You're unbelievable." She said as she strapped the knife back to the inside of her thigh and under the dress. "You've got some explaining to do." She said as she brushed my shoulder on her way out.
"Heck," I muttered under my breath, grateful that no one had decided to use the restroom through the entirety of my presence here. I ran my hand through my hair a few times and walked back to our booth. Princess and Natasha had troubled looks on their faces which immediately changed when I slid back in next to Princess, not seeing Amber or Damian anywhere.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, and they both answered with an unreasonably quick no. I looked at them weirdly but let it go.
"Where are-" I was asking but Natasha interrupted me with "Refilling drinks" before I could finish. She was glaring at me while I just looked at her perplexed, not knowing what I'd done wrong. I stole a quick glance at Princess and found her deep in thought, sighing to myself, I propped up my elbows on the table and looked at Natasha expectantly. She narrowed her eyes at me and was about to speak but Amber returned before she could say anything.
"Scoot." Amber simply stated, placing our drinks on the table and slid next to me, pushing me into Princess a little bit. "Damian's waiting on yours." She continued when Natasha gave her a look.
"So, what are you guys thinking about for tomorrow?" Princess chimed in to break the tension between Amber and Natasha.
"Depends on when any of us wakes up, we do tend to stay up late," Natasha said, seemingly addressing Amber.
"How about we do brunch? I'll cook." Princess said, "You should come too, Amber." She added, making Natasha and Amber's heads snap back to look at her.
"Oh, I'll be there. Thank you." Amber said courteously. Damian arrived shortly after and after the second round of drinks was over, we headed downstairs to the dance floor.
"Come dance with me!" Amber yelled over the music and dragged me away from
Princess and to the middle of a dance floor. I glanced back at Princess to make sure she was okay, she was talking to Damian and nodded at me when she saw I was looking at her.
"Spill, right now," Amber said as we moved to the rhythm.
I chuckled and shook my head, Amber grabbed my hands and put them on her waist as she turned around in my grip and sashayed her hips side to side.
She gave me a look so I started, "Well, I met this really cool woman a few weeks ago, we started dating and I moved in. The wedding's next week and you're invited."
She turned around, punched my shoulder and we both laughed.
"Peyton! Be serious." She said.
"I.. don't know. She said she'd been holding her feelings back, I'm not entirely sure where that leaves us, but I'm not trying to think about it too much." I said, swaying to the music.
"You're under her skin, huh?" She chuckled.
"What do you mean?" I asked out loud.
"I was wondering how long it would take her to succumb to your charms. Lasted longer than I did." She said, making me laugh and continued, "Peyton... that's all well and good. But, please... for the love of gods, don't start something you can't finish. We're not here for good, we're here to do a job, and when that job is over, we're going to move on." She said, and it hit me like a rock. Amber was right. We were here to do a job, I couldn't stay here, and I couldn't ask her to come with me either, I would not ask her to come with me.
"I need a moment," I said, and excused myself to the bar where Princess was sitting. Damian nodded at me on his way to the dance floor with Natasha but I didn't bother looking at her since she was going to be glaring daggers at me anyway.
"A whiskey sour please," I said, sitting down on the barstool beside Princess.
"You okay, sweet?" She asked, sipping on her apple martini.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm good. How are you?" I asked, changing my demeanour. This wasn't the time or place to think about what Amber said.
"I'm a little tipsy." She said sheepishly, after her third drink.
"Yeah, lightweight? You don't say." I chuckled, feeling a little tipsy myself, considering I'd had more drinks than her.
"Don't be rude." She chided me playfully and I replied with a cheeky grin.
"So, I wanted to talk abo-" She began but Natasha hurried to us and dragged her to the dance floor before she could complete her sentence. I sighed and turned around on the seat with my drink in my hand to observe the dance floor. Damian was dancing with Amber while Natasha and Princess were dancing together. Another drink and a few songs later, they'd changed their partners, Princess was now dancing with Amber while Damian and Natasha were dancing nearby. It happened in a matter of seconds, what started out as dancing had turned into a heated argument. It took me a few initial seconds to realise what was happening, I immediately downed my drink and rushed to the dance floor.
"-dating you! Keep your hands off!" Princess yelled. Damian and Natasha also rushed over to see what the commotion was about. Damian had his hand on Princess' shoulder while his other was clasped firmly in Natasha's hand.
"Oh yeah? I'm not the one who needs to be keeping her hands off!" Amber retorted sharply, looking at me. If there weren't people paying attention to them before, they sure were now
"Hey! Hey! Settle down, both of you." I said, raising my hands up to create distance between them and deescalate the situation. Amber smirked smugly when my hand accidentally landed on her chest. Princess seemed to fume but she took in a deep breath before walking away. Damian gave me a questioning look and followed after Natasha who had been rubbing Princess' back. I stayed behind with Amber and dragged her off to a corner.
"What the fuck was that about?" I asked.
"Ask your girlfriend, why don't you?" She scoffed at the word girlfriend.
"Amber..." I said, squeezing my forehead with my left hand, "we'll talk about this later. I gotta go check up on Princess." I said, walking away without a second look.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked Princess as soon as I reached her. Damian and Natasha were standing on either side of her, as if ready to pounce at any threat.
"I'm okay, Peyt." She said, with a forced smile and took a swig from the glass of water in her hand.
"Okay, I think we've all had a little too much fun. Let's call it a night." Damian said, and I nodded. I offered Princess my hand and she took it with a smile, getting off of the barstool. She let go of my hand and it glided towards her lower back. I gestured to Amber, who was thankfully looking at me and started following after. Damian guided Natasha out with their hands intertwined together while we followed after. Unbeknownst to any of them, my right hand was intertwined with Amber's as she followed behind me.
I let go of her hand but not before Natasha saw me drop it. I didn't bother looking at her as I turned to Amber and said, "Stark's here somewhere, I texted him earlier tonight." Amber scoffed at me and tried to walk off before I let my hand drop from Princess back and walked her over to where Stark was waiting so Princess couldn't see him. After getting Amber into the car, I nodded at him. He did the same and took off. I walked back to the group and said, "Uh, sorry about that. I had to make sure she got back safe." Damian nodded and Natasha glared at me with her eyes narrowed. Princess stood there awkwardly and rubbed her shoulders, trying not to meet my eyes. My brows furrowed but I didn't question it, and took off my jacket to wrap it around her shoulders.
"Paige, keys," Damian said. Princess' brows furrowed and she replied with a, "No?" that came out more like a question than it did a statement.
"Yes." He said sternly and she frowned while she fumbled around for her keys and threw them at him. Damian effortlessly caught them with a single hand while he nodded at me and guided Natasha to the car, who for some reason, was still glaring at me.
I shook my head at her and turned to face Princess instead, "Ready to go?" I asked and offered her my hand. She took it with a smile and I led her to the car, taking the keys out of my jeans' pocket, it beeped open at the click of a button. I opened the door for her and helped her get in before walking over to the other side and sliding in. Locking the doors and turning on the ignition, I contemplated whether I should ask Princess about what happened but decided against it when I glanced at her smiling face.
I nodded at her and shifted into drive before driving off. We didn't say much during the drive, but it was a relatively comfortable silence. However, sometime during the drive her hand had found mine and intertwined itself, so, maybe the drive wasn't all that uneventful. Damian and Natasha had already parked the car and gone inside when I pulled into the driveway. Princess got out of the car to key in the garage passcode, I drove the car in when the door fully opened up and put it in park before shutting off the ignition and getting out. Meanwhile, Princess had shut the garage door and it was halfway rolled down when I got out of the car. She was waiting for me by the door and offered her hand to me with a smile when I got close.
I smiled back with a tilted head and gave her a surprised expression as I took her hand because I wasn't sure what was in store. She led me through the house and up the stairs towards the bedroom. Dropping my hand once we were inside, she turned around to close the door and then walked past me towards her closet without a word. Watching her saunter away, I shook my head and walked over to the chair kept against her desk to reach for the nightclothes I'd picked out earlier in the day. Placing the clothes on the bed, I carefully took out the knife from inside my boots and placed it back inside after I'd taken them off along with my socks before pulling off my henley. I felt a cold hand settle itself against my abdomen and my breath got caught in my throat. She was standing in front of me in an oversized t-shirt with paws on it and short shorts on with a warm smile on her face. I released my breath and placed my right hand over hers, walking closer to her.
We stood in the same position for a few seconds longer. I was mesmerized by the tender look in her eyes and grabbed her hands when her hand dropped. I bent down on both of my knees and kissed her knuckles. She giggled, and sat down on the bed, our hands still intertwined.
"How are you so good to me?" She asked, a little dreamy look in her eyes.
"You make it very easy." I smiled, shuffling closer to her on my knees.
She pulled back her hands and put them on my cheeks instead, caressing them until she pulled my head in to kiss me. I smiled into the kiss and pushed my legs off of the carpeted floor and placed my hands on the bed on either side of her. But my hands slipped on the silky comforter and both of us fell on the bed with me on top of her.
"You really have to stop falling on me all the time." She laughed and I smiled widely while hovering above her.
"Aww, I thought you liked me being on top of you," I smirked.
"I like you on top of me, I do." She smiled and pulled me down for what I thought was a kiss but she shifted her weight to flip us so she could be on top. "But, I love it when you're under me," she said, sitting on my crotch. I laughed and so did she until she spotted something and a look of concern crossed her features. She bent down and one of her fingers along one of many faded scars. This particular one was the most recent and so was more prominent. I'd gotten it when I'd brought an unloaded gun to a knife fight.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," I said nonchalantly.
"Is that the only thing I don't have to worry about?" She said, getting off of me and lying on her side of the bed.
"What do you mean? Is this about what happened earlier tonight?" I asked, getting off of the bed and unbuckling my belt. Her eyes immediately moved from my face to my hands that unbuttoned my jeans and lowered the zipper.
"Y-yeah." She said, her face flushed and she turned her head, "Forget I said anything, it was just a little argument, nothing Amber and I can't fix." She finished and I nodded while I took off the jeans, folded them and kept them on the floor next to the nightstand.
She still wasn't looking at me, so I decided to get on the bed anyway since I had my boxer briefs on and didn't need my nightclothes. I sat against the headboard on my side and said, "You know you're going to have to look at me sooner or later." She turned her head at that and her eyes widened as she looked at me and then began to... check me out?
"Damn, Princess, no shame, eh?" I teased. She slapped my uncovered leg and scoffed at me.
"I could say the same about you, don't think I don't notice your eyes on me instead of the lecture." She said matter of factly.
"I thought you liked having my eyes on you," I said, teasing again.
"Tease me again and-"
"And what?" I retorted, "What are you gonna do? Punish me?" I asked, challenging her with my eyes.
She didn't say anything for the longest time until she did, "Do you want me?"
I was taken aback by her bold question but now that there weren't any eyes on us, I answered without hesitation, "More than I want anything."
"Then show me." She said, and a wave of excitement coursed through my body but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. Crossing her arms, she grabbed the ends of her t-shirt to pull it off and threw it somewhere on the floor. My jaw fell open at the sight that beheld me, and I let out a throaty groan that made her blush. Heat coursed through my body as my eyes feasted on the image of her perfectly pert and ample breasts covered by a silky and lacy navy blue fabric. It took me a few seconds to regain composure but when I did, I pushed myself off of the bed to sit upon my knees and snaked my right arm around her waist while my left pushed back a few strands of hair that were framing her blushing face.
My left hand grabbed her cheek, the intensity of her gaze burning a hole through my soul. My mouth crashing into her own, my right hand pressed into her back and pulled her towards me, such that she was also on her knees. I let myself fall on my back while I pulled her with me so that I was now sitting on the bed and her legs were wrapped around me on either side of my waist. Our mouths were still feverishly connected; her hands running down the length of my back, trying to push our bodies closer and inadvertently grinding on me every time she did. My hands travelled to her waist and sat on the waistband of her shorts, periodically travelling under the waistband to the dimples on her back. "Paige.." I groaned out her name as she rubbed her crotch against mine, "Oh, uh, sorry." She mumbled as she hurriedly tried to lift herself off of my crotch, almost as if she were trying to climb me. The shifting weight made me lose my balance and I landed on my back, but since my fingers were hooked in the waistband of her shorts, they slid off of her waist and gathered at her knees.
"Oh, god, I'm so sorry," I said, as I hastily sat back up, my hands on her waist to help her up as well. Blood rushed to my ears in embarrassment, as my hands fell to my sides. Paige laughed, "It's okay, sweet. I'm okay," as she kicked her shorts off of herself and flung them off the bed.
"You sure?" I asked, not meeting her eyes.
"I'm sure." She said, lifting her finger under my chin so I'd look at her. She smiled as she sloppily kissed me and my concern dissolved into desire. I grabbed her thighs and lifted us off the bed, her legs tightened around me, so I could reposition myself against the headboard. "Okay, better," I said in between kisses, "Much better," she mumbled and turned my head to the side so she could kiss a trail down my ear, down to my lobe and made her way to my collarbone. Her hands were on my shoulders, while mine hesitantly sat at the waistband of her matching underwear.
"Paige... um, can I, uh..." I tried to form a sentence but her mouth had me distracted as she sucked at the spot just under my ear before making her way back to my collarbone. She hummed in response and I didn't know what to make of it so my hands stayed where they were until Paige let her hands drop to mine, grabbed them and placed them on her butt all the while her mouth stayed glued to my collarbone. I chuckled to myself and brought my hands back up to her face so I could kiss her. She lazily smiled into the kiss and pushed my head back for more access as she trailed kisses down my throat. My hands found their way back to her butt, taking their time to make themselves familiar with the uncharted area of exposed skin. I gently caressed her cheeks and when my hands were full, I squeezed. She let out a throaty moan in surprise and ground herself on my abdomen while her grip tightened around my shoulders, surely leaving marks. Waves of heat and pleasure travelled through my body, my ears feeling like they were going to combust.
"Fuck..." I groaned, surprised at the wetness I felt on my stomach, "Fuck, do that again." I said, wanting to hear her moan again, and again. She swallowed hard and ground herself on my abdomen again, "Oh god..." she moaned out loud, at which my grip on her butt grew harder and I threw my head back, hitting the headboard. Her eyes met mine, concern shrouded behind the desire that dripped out of them. My hands pushed her up towards me, encouraging her to continue. She bit her lower lip, her hands letting go of my shoulders and grabbing the headboard instead. She started out slow, moving her hips slowly, dragging herself across my abdomen, all the while maintaining eye contact with me. My hands travelled between her butt and her waist, helping her establish a rhythm and providing squeezes of encouragement.
Her moans started out light and breathy, getting louder and throatier with each stroke. My breathing got heavier, letting out an involuntary growl every now and then until it got downright erratic like her movements. My core grew hotter with wanting each second that her pressure built up; she dipped her head to capture my mouth in hers, her tongue demanding to be let in. Her tongue teased mine as her strokes became slower. Frustrated, I took back control, my tongue backing hers into her mouth, my hands pushing her toward me and then away. She laughed into the kiss and quickened her strokes until they got harder and faster. "Pey.. ton... I'm gonna.. fuck.." She said, breaking away from the kiss. "Come for me, Paige," I said, my hands reaching up to touch her breasts, staring straight into her eyes. She nodded, grounding into me faster and harder, while my left hand caressed her breast over her bra, my right reached up to grab her neck and applied pressure. All it took was a final stroke and she came undone over me with a heavenly moan of pleasure, my grip on her neck tightened as I helped her ride over her wave. The sound of her pleasure was enough for me to find my own release as I came under her, with a throaty groan that sounded more like a growl than anything.
She settled calmly into my arms, her head on my chest and her legs on either side of me. I was staring at nothing in particular when she tilted her head to look up at me. "That was..." She began, "Beautiful." I finished for her. She smiled and turned around in my grip to kiss me and I kissed her back.
"You know you're gonna have to come out sooner or later, right?" Princess asked through the bathroom door, breaking me out of my reverie.
"I'd rather have it be later," I said, opening the door a few minutes and walking out with a towel wrapped around my waist since I'd already put on my bra.
"I'm sure we can make it later," She smirked, pushing me onto the bed and settling on my lap while she wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Can I just say, I love this side of you," I said, pulling her closer for a kiss.
"I'm aware," She said, glancing at my neck before kissing me back, "-but we do have to go downstairs, everyone's waiting on you." She finished, getting off of me.
I nodded as she walked out of the bedroom and back downstairs, taking off the towel, I hurriedly slipped into a pair of boxer briefs, sweats, put on my watch and a T-shirt. After hanging the towel in the bathroom to dry, I made my way downstairs towards the bustle in the kitchen.
"Heyoooo," Damien drawled.
"Finally." Amber scoffed.
"Aww, guys! Missed me?" Everyone laughed as I placed a kiss on Princess' cheek before settling down on a stool beside her. Amber, Damian and Natasha were sat on the opposite side of the island from Princess and me, which was good cause I got to hold her hand on my lap. Everyone served themselves and conversation flowed pleasantly, Amber smirked at me after a glance at my left hand; she could deduce that I was using my left hand to eat because Princess was holding my right. I shook my head at her; the situation between Amber and Princess had seemingly defused itself since I couldn't detect any tension between them.
"So, Peyton, that's a nice hickey you've got there." Amber pointed out as I took a bite of my toast. Princess' grip on my hand tightened, while Damian and Natasha shared funny looks.
"What hick- oh..." I was about to ask before I glanced down and saw a fresh bruise making itself apparent on my collarbone. I looked at Princess with a quirked brow and she mumbled a low sorry. Shaking my head, I cleared my throat and reached for the glass of orange juice that Amber had set out.
"Well, if I'm being honest, you guys were rather loud last night," Natasha commented. I choked on my orange juice and Princess' immediately let go of my hand to rub my back. Amber, Damian and Natasha burst out laughing and I could tell Princess was smiling through the embarrassment.
"Okay, guys! Don't be mean!" Princess exclaimed after I reassured her that my coughing fit had ended.
"Okay, okay, as long as you tell me all about your sexcapades," Natasha said, addressing Princess, making everyone laugh. Princess groaned and I shared a knowing look with her, grabbing her hand, I kissed it but not before whispering, "This is gonna be a long day," as we sat looking at everyone's jovial faces before we burst out laughing ourselves.