“I sleep just f—”
I rolled fast, had her in my grip again and cupped her pussy a little too harsh. “Don’t you dare lie to me again. I can see those circles and tired eyes.”
She gulped, moaning a little. “Okay. I get nightmares.”
I sighed, embracing her, and then my lips pressed against her forehead in a long kiss. “One day you’re gonna tell me everything about them, but tonight, I’m here to help you sleep.”
“H-how?”
“I’ll take you in my arms all night and scare them away.”
“That’s…”
“If you say wrong one more time—”
“I was going to say sweet.”
My palms cradled her beautiful face. “I can be sweet for you, baby. I can bow at your feet and beg for mercy if that means you’ll take me. Please don’t ever set me free. You’re my jailer. I’m your slave. Yours forever until I go to the grave.”
When she gazed at me this time, a hint of smile crossed her lips and eyes. “I remember this one. It made me think you were dating Gaynor Mosley.”
“The Emo girl?”
“She looks more of a dominatrix… So…”
“She’s into some kinky shit that’s for sure.”
“Oh, so you did…you know…date her?”
I couldn’t help the smirk. “Jealous?”
She shrugged, averting her gaze. “Why would I be?”
“Because if you were, I’d say you were so fucking hot when you were jealous, Miss Meneceo,” I answered, and she blushed. Fuck, she was killing me right now. “Then I’d say that I’d been fucking the entire class just to get my mind off of you, and when it didn’t work, I wrote stupid poems about it and gave them to you as homework, hoping, praying, you’d get a clue.”
Her lips stretched into a full grin for one second, but then she shook it off her face and gave me her stern look. “I thought you were here to help me sleep.”
“God, you’re cruel.” I kissed her forehead one more time, and then I plopped on my back on the bed, hands clasped behind my head. “All right, go do your whatever girly bedtime ritual you have. I’ll be waiting.”
She sauntered toward the bathroom, and I murmured, “The flowers have not yet died… She swallows me whole.”
“I don’t remember this one. Where is it from?”
“Stuff I kept to myself.” I nodded toward the bathroom door. “Don’t take too long.”
A couple of minutes later she came out without the cardigan, not looking at me at all. Then she locked the front door methodically and turned off every single light in the apartment. It was pitch black in the bedroom, but somehow she found her way in. She went over to the curtains, closed them and made sure not a speck of light came through them.
The mattress sank next to me. Her breath was loud in the room, and her warmth radiated off her body. The bed squeaked under me as I scooted over to her and placed my arm under her head. She curled up against me, her back to my front. Her body fit perfectly on mine. Her scent, a whiff of roses and lavender and something…salty, summer breeze and sunrise, filled my nostrils. I inhaled her, engraving her smell in my memory forever.
“If you need to take your jacket off, only your jacket, that would be all right,” she said.
“Thank you.” I did want to take it off but didn’t want to spook her or give her the wrong idea. She already had plenty of those about me. I took it off and resumed my position. How lucky was I to have her in my arms, in her own bed, spending the night at her place?
“Ty…”
As much as I hated that name, I was happy she was no longer being formal with me. “Yes, baby?”
“What happens in the morning?”