Your girls too, she voiced the correction in silence. “They’re at a sleepover,” she said. Later, she’d tell him later, she promised. Now she wanted what he taunted her with.
For Hill, taunting had lost its appeal. He hoisted Persephone high against him, soothed her disappointed whining with a kiss when his fingers left her core. He cradled her bare ass visible beneath the hem of the wrap as their kiss elevated in heat and desperation.
Persephone tunneled her fingers through his hair, rubbing the loose, luxurious curls. Such an extraordinary texture, like lamb’s wool, silken to the touch and of a subtle, healthy gloss. It was beautiful and she luxuriated in sensation as he took her down to the bed. She could hear the velcro tabs give on the wrap before it fell away. She shivered, not from cold, but the feel of his clothes upon her skin. He kissed his way down her body- stopping to tongue her bellybutton and tickle her into a frenzy.
Hill moved on, nipping at her hip, the rise of her thigh and inhaling the fragrance of berries that gripped her. Jesus, had she bathed in the stuff? He wondered and couldn't have been more pleased. He continued his journey, nuzzling into her sex and smiling when she choked out his name.
He gave her the tip of his nose at first. Persephone contracted around it, maddened by the need to have him fill her there.
“Take off your clothes,” she hiccuped a moan when he ignored her request and gave her his tongue to ride.
He withdrew moments later to pay homage to her inner thighs. Faintly, he toyed with the idea of biting her there to leave a mark for her lover to find. Petty, but knowing that this was perhaps his last time with her- with what was his- had put him in a pretty petty mood.
“Hill...take off your clothes…”
“This’ll go way too fast if I do, Goddess…”
“We’ve got all night.”
Hill thought nothing he’d ever heard had
sounded so good.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Hill woke long before the softest of the sun’s rays streamed into the room from the terrace. He doubted that he’d taken more than a fifteen minute doze over the course of the long night he’d shared with Persephone. He’d wanted to waste no time with her by sleeping, preferring instead to indulge in watching her at rest.
He wanted her back and had actually devoted a great deal of time to insanely planning a way to disentangle her from the man who boldly thought to keep her. Thoughts of said ‘man’ prompted him to leave her sleeping and get at least halfway dressed in the event of a confrontation- one the pouting and petty side of his demeanor hoped for.
Dressed only in his trousers, he padded barefoot back to the great room. He wanted to take another look at the pictures of her girls. They had her eyes and that flawless skin, the color of rich cinnamon. No one could deny they were a pair of little beauties. He certainly couldn’t deny it. They were the image of their mother.
He didn’t realize he was smiling until he
went to rub his jaw and felt evidence of the gesture when his palm
brushed his mouth. Studying the pictures, he spent his time wishing
and regretting.
~~~
Morning arrived to find Persephone sprawled face down in the middle of her bed. The linens were tangled, twisting about her limbs in an unconsciously erotic display. She stirred, yawned and stretched in delight of the ache of her well-used muscles. Eyes still closed, she exhausted the last few moments of rest left to her and smiled. She reached out then in search of the solid, imposing form that had caged her so seductively the night before.
Her smile didn’t waver when she guessed she was alone in the bed. Instead, Persephone commanded one eye open and observed the massacred state of her 1500 thread count bed sheets. The sacrifice had been well worth it, she decided with a sigh while turning onto her back.
Feeling both relaxed and rejuvenated, Persephone spent the next few moments basking in the view and comforting breeze coming in from the terrace. She hissed a sudden curse and bolted upright in bed.
Rest and relaxation had almost made her
forget that her very unforgettable guest was in line for a very
unforgettable confession.
~~~
He was in the great room when she found him. He stood before the mantle, dark eyes fixed on the frames there.
“Hill?”
He cleared his throat, all six feet eight inches of him straightening, bracing. When he turned to face Persephone, she could see that his smile was undoubtedly forced. He slanted a look to the picture frames again and his smile softened.
“They’re gorgeous,” he said.
“They’re-”
“I’m gonna get goin, Sef,” he spoke while making his way to the room’s entrance.
“Hill-”
The doorbell chimed its interruption next and Persephone growled her second curse of the morning.
Hill’s smile was lazy and utterly appealing then. “Answer it. I’m gonna go get dressed. I’ll say goodbye before I go.”
Persephone watched him leave and served up another curse when the bell rang again. She hurried out to the foyer before the impatient guest decided on a third ring. Throwing open the door, she was almost knocked off her feet by the twins who rushed her legs and held tight.
“Mommy!” They laughed.
Persephone forgot her mounting agitation over the morning’s strange progression. She went to her knees and squeezed the girls tight. Next, she stood to greet the full-figured redhead who’d been smiling brightly at the little family.
“Thanks Jesse,” Persephone leaned over to kiss the woman’s cheek.
Jesse Reed rolled her whiskey colored eyes toward the heavens and sighed. “You may want to hold off on the thanks. The kids gorged themselves like wild beasts last night. Your girls are still high on a lot of junkfood, I’m afraid.”
“At least they had a good time,” Persephone looked down and tousled the twins’ hair.
“And then some,” Jesse laughed, “Good news is they’ve been up since yesterday morning so my guess is when they crash, it’ll be good and hard.”
Persephone laughed then too. “Now you’re
talkin’,” she reached out to high five the other woman.
~~~
