Page 80 of Mistaken Intention

I wake with a start, and although I’m still in a haze of sleep, I’m aware of being alone… no longer swathed in Drew. A shiver of fear runs through me and I lean up on my elbows, his name on my lips, as I see him, sitting on the mattress, leaning against the end of the bed. He’s unashamedly naked, utterly perfect, his legs bent up, his arms resting on his knees as he gazes at me.

“What are you doing there?”

“Watching you.”

I crawl over and he parts his legs, making space for me to nestle between them as he brings his arms around me. “You didn’t want to lie here and hold me, then?”

“Yes. And I did, for a while.” I look up at him and he smiles, leaning down to kiss me. “You’re very cute when you’re asleep. Did you know that?”

“No.”

“Well, you are,” he says.

“Then why did you get up?”

“Because there was something I wanted to do.”

“Oh?”

He lowers one arm, reaching down beside him, and then brings it back up again, holding his camera.

“I went downstairs to get this.”

“Your camera?” He nods and I sit up slightly. “Have you been taking photographs of me?”

“Yes.” He keeps a firm hold of me as I try to pull away. “Before you get upset, or insulted… please don’t. They’re not explicit.”

“Really? I’ve got no clothes on, Drew.”

“I noticed.” He pulls me back into his arms, turning the camera around and showing me the screen. “I’d never do anything that made you uncomfortable… but please, will you look? And will you trust me?”

I can’t say ‘no’ to that, and I settle against him as he flicks through the images. The first is of my eyes, shut and fast asleep, so close I could count the lashes. The second of my lips, pink and swollen from his kisses. He moves on, showing me my fingers, flat against the surface of the pillow, and the nape of my neck. In all the photographs, the sunlight shimmers off of my skin, even in the one he’s taken of my foot, hanging over the edge of the bed.

“What’s this?” I ask, gazing at the screen. The top corner of the frame is filled with white sheet, and the rest is taken up with skin. I can see a dip and a curve, but I can’t make out what I’m looking at.

He pushes me forward gently, putting down the camera, and rubs his hands down my back in a slow, sensual movement.

“It’s this bit… right here.” He lets them come to rest, just above my ass.

“Oh.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“I guess.”

He pulls me back against his chest again, his left arm coming tight around me as he picks up the camera again, showing me the next photograph.

“And this?” I ask, seeing yet another shot that’s just filled with me… or with my flesh, even though I’m once again, unsure which part of me this is.

“That’s right… here.” He puts the camera down, and lowers his right hand, skimming down my side until he reaches the very top of my thigh, running his fingertips from the outside in. “This part that leads from your hip inward.”

“That’s quite intimate.”

“I know. It’s as close as I was willing to go without you being aware of what I was doing.”

I twist my head, looking up at him. “You won’t show them to anyone else, will you?”

“Of course not. I took them for me, Josie.”

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