Page 114 of Roses in Summer

She lets out a heavy sigh, her body rising and falling with the effort. “I know,” she says simply, dropping her head to my chest and resting her ear against my rapidly beating heart. “We should have told Olivia we’d stop checking our phones but that they’d stay on, especially after what happened with B.” She sighs against my skin. “You may not want an apology, but I’m sorry anyway.”

I furrow my brow at her words; my mind was going to Seraphina’s safety, even Olivia’s. But Bianca? I didn’t realize she was at any increased risk. “What do you mean? What happened to Bianca?”

Her fingers comb through the hair on my chest for long moments, and I imagine that she’s trying to figure out how to respond. Finally, she does. “Did you see the news report about the psychic murders?”

I look down at her sharply. “Yes.”

“Bianca was a client of the latest one. Rationally, I know nothing happened to her, and she’s safe, but knowing that my sister could have been the client in that chair at the time it happened is terrifying. Knowing that Bianca had to give statements to the police and that our family seems to have this cycle of being involved with the wrong people at the wrong time is exhausting.”

“Jesus,” I mutter, holding her tighter and more firmly to my chest. “You realize this sounds like a cheap made-for-TV movie, right? All of this shit going on?” I’m making a joke of the heavy situation, but she and I both know the truth: this latest bomb is a fucked-up addition to an already tense situation.

“Believe me, I know.”

“Is Bianca okay?” Aside from her exhibitionist display, last night was the first time I really spoke to her in a while.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I’ve been trying to get her to talk to me, but she’s been pretty closed off. She’s scared, she’s angry, and mourning the loss of someone she came to care about. Coupled with how tense Olivia has been since we realized she and I both knew Mitch and Chris, it’s been difficult for all of us. Last night, we tried to find some sliver of normalcy, but you see how that turned out.”

“Hmm,” I respond, keeping my hand tangled in her hair. My mind is racing from her words, but one sticks out amongst them: normalcy. I may not be able to alleviate the shit storm brewing in each of these girls’ lives, but I can do something for Seraphina to make the world seem a bit more normal, if only for a second in time. “Do you have work tonight?”

“No, I’m off tonight. Why?” Her mouth moves against my chest, lips grazing my skin with each syllable.

“Can I take you somewhere? I have to work the lunch shift, but I’m off tonight.”

At my words, Seraphina leans up, a smile tugging at her lips. “Like a date?”

I scoff at her words. “Yeah, ciern, like a date. Will you sleep at my place tonight?” Her smile falls, replaced by a weird twist of her lips. “What’s with the face?”

She looks down before replying, “The ugly, jealous, irrational part of me knows you and Gemma shared that apartment, and it’s hard for me to disassociate her from your personal space. I keep telling myself I have no right to feel that way and to get over it, but there’s a knife in my gut at the idea of sleeping in the bed you shared with her. I hate that I even am saying this, and I feel like an idiot for feeling this way.”

“Hey,” I whisper, pulling on the back of her head so that she meets my eyes. “Don’t apologize for feeling the way you do. You think I don’t fucking love that you want to mark your territory around me and make sure no other woman is present? I love it, ciern. More than I should.”

“Really? That’s what you got out of that?”

“Partially. Listen, let me at least show you my apartment, and if you feel uncomfortable, I’ll bring you back here, okay?”

She takes a moment to consider my words before nodding. “Okay. Should I meet you at your apartment?”

“No, I’ll pick you up after work.”

Her head rears back, causing my fingers to slip through her hair until they’re lodged in her ends. “You’ll make two round trips if you do that. No, I’ll drive.”

“Ciern,” I scold, tugging on the ends of her hair. “I’ve seen how you drive, and it’s terrifying. I’ll pick you up around five, okay?”

“Fine.” She huffs, and I’m surprised by her easy acceptance. She starts to shift her weight, moving backward until her ass hits my groin and the very obvious morning wood that’s a symptom of Seraphina. She bites down on her lip as she comes into contact with my cock, and I feel myself growing harder at her evident interest.

She continues to wiggle her ass against me, and while part of me wants to flip her over and bury myself inside her cunt, the more dominant part of me wants to see where Seraphina will take this, especially as she starts to inch further south, sliding down my torso until her sweatpants-covered center is pressed against my cock.

Her throat bobs as she swallows. I expect her to rock against me, to ride me through the bullshit fabric separating us until I can tear it away and slip inside. What I don’t expect is for Seraphina to lower her hands to the mattress and press up on all fours. I don’t anticipate her to crawl backward, and I didn’t think she’d settle like a hungry little kitten between my thighs, fingers gripping the fabric of my briefs as she tugs them down.

“Pierdolic,” Fuck, I groan as her soft hands flutter over my upper thighs and my pubic bone. Her head lowers, not stopping until her mouth sucks the tip of my dick inside, and I let out a string of curses as her tongue circles around the slit and laps at the precum.

“Goddamnm, ciern.” I groan, choking on my words when her fingers skate over my sensitive foreskin, running her hands up and down the length of my cock as she continues to lick at me. The flicks of her tongue stop as her head lowers, and her mouth swallows more of me, not stopping until her nose is flush to my groin and my cock is lodged in her throat. My eyes slip closed as I clench my teeth and will myself not to come in her mouth after a thirty-second blow job.

Seraphina pulls back, giving me half a second to clear my mind before she descends again, swallowing me and making me see fucking stars as her warm mouth envelops me. “Fucking hell, baby,” I grit out, unable to communicate just how good it feels. Seraphina hums at my obvious pleasure, causing vibrations against my dick.

I lose it.

My hands dive into her thick hair, pulling it away from her face and giving me leverage to help her move up and down. Her eyes shoot up, never breaking her movements as she lets her teeth scrape gently along the underside of my cock, giving me a hint of pain within the pleasure, reminding me that while she’s the one on her knees, I’m at her control.

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