Page 58 of Nothing Heals Me Like You Do

“The purpose doesn’t matter to me,” Justine said. “Just come over if and when you feel like it. I’ll be here. I promise.”

Sienna wanted to do much more than bridge the distance and disappear into Justine’s arms. She wanted to kiss her and rip that T-shirt off. But she didn’t.

“You’re too kind,” Sienna whispered instead of giving in to her baser urges. “Thank you. Really.” Words couldn’t express Sienna’s gratitude for Justine helping her, but she had other ways of thanking Justine—a bank account full of them. “Maybe I’ll see you tonight, then.”

“I would like that.” Justine moved her hand towards Sienna’s face, but then retracted it, as if thinking better of what her instinct was telling her to do.

Sienna didn’t want her to get the wrong idea—although she didn’t really know what that was at that point—and slipped out of the bed she had slept so deliciously in.

Chapter32

Sienna came back every night that week, always late, and always ready to go straight to bed. As soon as Justine closed her arms around her, Sienna’s naked body relaxed against hers, and mere minutes later, Sienna’s breathing slowed before settling into the most adorable purr. She was exhausted in every single way, that much was obvious.

Despite her father’s sudden death, Sienna was a professional making a movie, and she wanted to do more than just a decent job. Those two things—grieving and playing Rochelle inGimme Shelter—were clearly all she had energy for right now.

If Justine’s only contribution was to let Sienna fall asleep in her arms each night, she would gladly oblige. She had patience. She had time. They could talk later.

But of course it moved her, in more ways than one, to hold a near-naked Sienna in her arms every single night. To push her breasts against Sienna’s soft skin and feel the heat of her body radiate onto hers for hour after hour.

Justine was still madly—and maddeningly—in love with Sienna but, apart from turning up to sleep in her bed, and arms, every night, Sienna hadn’t given any signs of wanting anything more from Justine.

It was Friday and if Sienna showed up tonight, she wouldn’t have to rush off to the studio in the morning. They might find some time to talk tomorrow—they might even have breakfast together. Although sometimes Justine considered that it was to her advantage that Sienna didn’t stick around for anything else than sleep, because it helped to curb the increasing urge to kiss her. Or to reach for her in the night, when their bodies had separated during sleep, and do so much more than just hold her.

Justine might have patience and time, she also has a wildly pulsing clit each night and surely Sienna must feel how hard her nipples grew when Justine pressed her breasts against her back?

Time ticked away and it was well past midnight when Justine stopped puttering about. She’d been keeping herself busy, waiting for Sienna, who still hadn’t turned up. The evenings before, she had always texted to politely inquire if it was okay to come over, but Justine hadn’t received a text yet tonight. Maybe Sienna had other plans tonight. Maybe she was out. Maybe she was with her family. Maybe she was fully rested. Or maybe—who knew?—she was on a date. Either way, her plans didn’t include Justine which made perfect sense because Sienna had told her that she couldn’t be with Justine. That it was too difficult. That she couldn’t trust her.

Still, you didn’t turn up at someone’s house each night to sleep in their arms, as though it was the only place in the whole wide world where you could find some peace, and not have some sort of feelings for them. Signals were mixed and things were complicated. That was pretty much the story of Justine’s life.

Because of Sienna’s presence in her bed, Justine hadn’t gotten enough sleep herself, and she was exhausted. She got ready for bed but kept her phone on, as always, and put it on the nightstand.

But Justine couldn’t sleep. Not without Sienna in her bed. Not so much because she needed her there, but because she was worried. Sienna was fragile. Only a few days ago she had turned up at Justine’s door in the middle of the night looking completely unhinged. Even though there was an explanation for that—severe sleep deprivation—there were a million other reasons why Sienna could go off the rails. There were the obvious ones that Justine knew about such as her father’s death. And the woman she was seeing not turning up to the funeral. But it was the reasons Justine didn’t know about that worried her the most. Because Justine knew what feelings that lurked under the surface could do—what they could make you do. She knew how vulnerability could make humans react in ways that weren’t in their best interest because she witnessed the result of that every single day.

But she didn’t want to call Sienna. She didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on her. Nor did she have any claims to make. Sienna hadn’t made her any promises—on the contrary—and Justine had offered her help freely and unconditionally. Worries after midnight were the price she had to pay.

Justine must have nodded off, despite her worries, because she was woken up by the doorbell. She hurried downstairs and, sure enough, Sienna stood in the doorway.

“Once again,” Sienna said. “This isn’t forgiveness.” She all but pushed her way into Justine’s house again, but instead of walking past Justine, she grabbed her by the shoulders, and pressed her against the nearest wall.

Sienna gazed at Justine through red-rimmed eyes—Sienna’s pain had obviously gotten the better of her again.

“I didn’t want to come, but now I can’t stay the fuck away,” Sienna whispered, before leaning in and touching her lips against Justine’s.

Oh, fuck.Justine wanted to kiss her back so badly. And she did, but only for a short moment. Sienna was in no state to do this. She was obviously not herself. She was hurting and stressed because of the movie and all the scenes she still had to shoot. She was blowing off steam and it took all of Justine’s willpower to say no, because all week long, she had craved this very thing. But this was not how she wanted to resolve the tension between her legs. Nor did she want it to be something that Sienna might regret tomorrow—that would be the hardest to bear.

Justine pulled back as much as she could while standing with her back against the wall.

“Let’s talk,” she said. But Sienna came for her again, pressed her lips against Justine’s again.

“It’s too late to talk,” Sienna groaned in between kisses. “I don’t want to talk.”

“Okay.” Justine put her hands between their bodies. “Time out. Stop.”

Instantly, Sienna took a step back. The look of hurt dejection on her face was almost too much for Justine to bear.

“Let’s take a breath,” Justine said softly.

“I don’t want to talk,” Sienna repeated. She took a step back and crashed against the opposite wall. The hallway of Justine’s house was so narrow that they were still standing close to each other. “I just don’t want to feel like this anymore.”

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