Page 43 of Crescendo

“Good morning,” she said, her eyes flicking down over my body. That was something I could get used to. “Did you sleep well?”

“Mm. Fantastically. I always sleep well when I’ve had a really good night. And you?” I said, stepping closer, pushing my luck a little by stepping in close enough our hips almost met, laying a hand on her hip as she tilted her head up to look at me. She blushed brilliantly, but she held my gaze with a smile.

“I had someverynice dreams,” she said.

“Oh yes?”

“Mm. You were there.”

Well, that sounded lovely. I slipped a hand up under her shirt, teasing at the band of her underwear, suddenly very convinced she didn’t need them. “Was I doing anything interesting? Trying to compose but realizing I don’t know what I’m doing with anything?”

She smiled wider. “You certainly seemed to know what you were doing.”

I tucked my hand inside her underwear, slipping around to grip her ass. Firmer than I’d expected. Doctors did a lot of walking. I wasn’t complaining. “And you certainly seemed to know a thing or two for someone who’s apparently been out of the game a while…”

She ducked her head with a nervous laugh. “Maybe it’s just… easier with some excellent inspiration at hand.”

I slipped my free hand up to caress the base of her neck, and just when she softened and arched into it with a quiet noise, I swiped my other hand inside her underwear, around to the front to brush through the short, coarse hairs right above where I’d been last night, and when she made a small gasp againstme, I pulled back, stepping away, taking my hands off her. “Maybe this excellent inspiration should stop distracting you while you’re making breakfast, then,” I said, fighting a laugh. “We wouldn’t want you going hungry.”

“God, Lydia, you aresucha tease,” she groaned, rolling her eyes with an exasperated smile, as she turned back to the stovetop. “But fine, then, if you want to get me riled up and not do anything about it, then at least put the kettle on.”

“I like it when you get bossy.”

She flashed brilliant white teeth at me. “Make me a damn cuppa, then, Lydia.”

This girl had me thoroughly suckered in. Trouble all the way through. I didn’t mind.

I made tea for us both—I really needed to figure out a way to get some decent coffee, because I was starting to miss it, but I’d die before I let myself settle for the Nescafe instant schlock in the cabinet—as Ella finished up breakfast, serving two plates for us both to sit side-by-side, and we flirted relentlessly through the whole meal, my hand sneaking under the table to trace patterns on her deliciously bare thigh. I felt like I’d burn a hole through the chair by the time we finished our food, and I didn’t wait long—I guided Ella up out of her seat and forward to straddle my lap, where she settled on me with a satisfied sigh, her eyelids fluttering. She rocked her hips against me the second I had her there, and even though I knew we had to talk, I didn’t stop her. Quite the contrary—gripped my hands on her ass and encouraged the movement, looking at where her peach-toned nipples showed through her white shirt just below my eye level.

“We should probably figure this thing out,” I said idly, and Ella’s fingers gripped tighter on my upper arms, not slowing her movement on my lap.

“The problem of all this fabric between us?”

“Mm, I don’t know. I like seeing how desperate you get.”

“God, Lydia,” she groaned, hanging her head. I could feel her underwear starting to get wet, hot against my pajama pants. “Do I have to beg? Because I’ll beg.”

“Truth be told—I’m not good at casual,” I said, and she paused, looking up at me through that ragged expression.

“Are you saying you don’t want to do this?”

“That’s definitely not it. I’m not good at casual because I’m very… all-in with feelings. Maybe you’ve noticed that about me. I’m not good at keeping it just casual.”

“Ah…” She looked away, a blush tinging her cheeks again. I slipped my hands to the inside of her thighs, stroking softly, and she let out a perfect little whimper.

“That’s why I was trying not to do this, but… turns out you have quite an effect on me. And after last night, I don’t think either of us can not do this.”

“Likewise… as evidenced, I suppose, by this,” she said, gesturing lightly to the present state of things, her grinding in my lap. She spoke in this breathless haze that was indescribably sexy, like she was already gone and just needed to get fucked before she could come back, and I guess I had no choice but to be a good friend and oblige. “Likewise in that I, er—I’ve never been one for casual. But I cannot, for the life of me, ignore this… ignoreyou,Lydia. God, I’d be kicking myself forever if I had the chance to do this with you—formonths—and didn’t take it.”

“So, casual,” I said, slipping my hands up inside her shirt. “We should figure out what that looks like, if we’re both prone to taking it too far…”

“Isnowthe moment for this conversation?”

“Mm, yes. I like seeing you desperate and panting for me.”

“Lydia,” she groaned, hanging her head, but the way she bucked her hips against me when I said that implied that she did not remotely mind.

I moved my hands up under her shirt, cupping her breasts, massaging them softly, and she moaned quietly as I teased my thumbs over her nipples. “We should keep this between us… I think it’ll start to feel too serious to me if other people know about it.”

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