Page 93 of Pieces

Like I ever could. There’s no holding back now, no hesitation, just her, just us, taking and giving exactly what we both need.

And as I fill her up, and she cries out my name, it’s fucking everything.

***

An hour or so later, we’re both clean and in pajamas. It feels incredibly domestic and I’m loving it, I’ve never experienced this with anyone before but I’m all in. Daphne stands by the dresser, running a towel over her damp hair. Then the hum of the hairdryer fills the room for a little bit before suddenly stopping.

I glance over. “Done already?”

She scrunches her nose, looking a little pale. “The heat. I don’t know. The whole moving my arm with the brush is making me feel sick. I’ll just go to bed with it damp.”

I’m already moving, her eyes follow me as I grab the hairdryer. “Hudson…” she starts to say, confused.

Dropping a pillow on the floor in front of the edge of the bed, I plug the hairdryer in and gesture to her. “Come here.”

Her eyebrows knit. “What are you doing?”

“Sit,” I say, grinning. “I’ll dry it for you.”

She blinks. “You— What?”

“Yeah, I used to dry Rory’s hair for her all the time when she was little. She’d always fall asleep straight afterward.” The memory tugs at my heartstrings. “She hated going to bed with wet hair and used to say that I dried it the best.”

Daphne hesitates for half a second, then with a little shake of her head and a smile, she sinks down onto the pillow between my legs. “This is…really sweet of you. I’m going to have to do something to thank you.”

Her words are innocent enough, but I can’t just leave that open like that.

Threading my fingers through her damp strands, I spread them over her scalp, letting my fingertips glide over pressure points. I tilt her head back just enough that her mouth parts and her eyes flutter closed. “I can think of a few ways you can thank me, princess.”

Her lips curve. “Anything you want, so long as you keep doing that.”

I chuckle. “Big promises to keep.”

I click on the dryer and get to work before I make good on those promises again tonight.

Chapter thirty-nine

Hudson

We’refinallysettledinbed, the room warm and everything feels good. The kind of good that sinks you into a peaceful night’s sleep. Daphne’s curled against me, her hair dried and head on my chest, my arm around her.

“This,” she sighs, tracing her fingertips over my bare chest, “is really nice.”

I smile. “Yeah, it is.”

Eyes sleepy, she tilts her head up. “I’m happy.” There’s something so simple about how easily she says it, something so sure that it practically knocks the air out of me. Because what she’s not saying is that she’s happy being here with me.

I brush a strand of hair from her forehead. “Me too.”

She hums, settling against me again, and that contentment washes over me like a soothing balm. It gives me the courage to ask what’s on my mind without hesitation. “Hey, Daph?”

“Hm?”

“We’re gonna make a go of this, right? Like, this isn’t just because we’re away from school. This is us being…us, yeah?”

Daphne shifts, her chin brushing my chest. “Yeah. This is us. If you want it, too?”

Relief sweeps through me, and my fingers find hers where they rest against me. “I definitely want it.”

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