Page 27 of Twisted Revelations

13

Laura

At one in the morning, my body’s call for rest was about to be answered as I prepared for bed. The notion of sharing a room with Dax had bothered me at first, but my worry was eased with Beverly’s acceptance of the arrangement. She liked the idea of having a personal protector. “There are double beds. It’s not like we have to sleep in the same bed as them,” she’d pointed out.

Fresh from a shower, I’d washed away a day that never wanted to end. Gray eyes were on me as soon as I strolled out of the bathroom and made my way across the room to my bed. The irritating frown etched on Dax’s face caused me to return a scowl in his direction.

If he knew me, he’d keep his mouth shut and not say one word because I was a grumpy asshole when I was tired. “You’re being weird as fuck right now,” I muttered in his direction. He didn’t bother with a reply, but his eyes were aimed at me until I reached my bed.

Once I climbed in, I adjusted my pillows, threw my arms behind my head and prepared to relax for a minute before I passed out. Khalid’s song “Better,” spilled low from the earbuds I was about to plug in. Music before I fell asleep always eased my mind.

“Do you plan on covering yourself?” Dax questioned, his voice traveling across the room with enough volume to strike me upside my head.

I popped open one of my eyes and aimed my gaze at him. Shorts and a tank, how much more covered was I supposed to get? Did I need to invest in a burqa? With a deep sigh, my eyes fell closed again, ignoring him and his damn question. If he thought he was going to control me and my every action, he had the wrong damn idea.

My body relaxed into the mattress, allowing more of today’s tension to ease from my muscles. This was a gorgeous suite, so it would be wise to enjoy it before I returned to my lumpy mattress at home that was older than I was.

Finally. Silence fell over me, and a satisfied smile touched my lips.

A few seconds later, a shadow disturbed the space around me, causing my eyes to snap open to the sight of Dax standing above me. His bed hadn’t squeaked, the mattress hadn’t creaked, nor had the sound of footsteps tapped across the floor. Nothing had alerted me to his approach until he was in my face like a fucking homicidal lunatic.

“You’re not wearing a bra, and that’s disrespectful to me as your roommate,” he scolded, standing above me like he was the damn brassiere police.

“What does it matter? I’m wearing a shirt. Besides, they didn’t have my bra size at the store, so I was forced to hand wash mine in the sink,” I updated as I tucked my arms back behind my head.

“Are you planning on sleeping like that?” He was hovering like a deranged stalker.

“How the fuck else am I supposed to sleep? What’s your damn problem? I’m laying here minding my own business, and you’re hounding me about a damn bra?” The crease of irritation in my forehead was about to crack my skin. I gave him one of my signature eye rolls to portray my irritation, praying it had the power to get him away from me.

“The problem is you’re a woman, and I’m a man. You shouldn’t be walking around me like that,” his eyes were on my tits.

My elbows dipped into the firm mattress as I eased up higher and glanced down, turning my head from one tit to the next before I glared up at him. My face was pinched in annoyance and an ache that wasn’t there before pinged inside my head. He was giving me a damn headache.

“You’re making this shit harder than it has to be. I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of tits, so why the hell would my little tit-tots bother you?”

“You’re an attractive woman, Laura. I’m a man. I don’t need you distracting me,” he stated matter-of-factly. His straightforward statement caught me off guard.

When I found my voice, it spilled out all at once. “Need I remind you that I’m a lesbian? And it’s not like I’m well-endowed enough in the chest to distract you anyway. What…”

The rest of my sentence was stalled because his long arms reached across me, gripped the sheets and slung them across my body. The whole time he was maneuvering the covers, I was attempting to shove him, but his body was so solid and strong it was like pushing a brick wall.

He fussed as he wrapped me to his satisfaction. “It doesn’t matter about your size,” he mumbled as he tucked the covers he’d folded me into. He continued to manhandle me like I wasn’t slinging every curse word I knew at him. “On your frame, they are a distraction, so cover yourself around me, lesbian or not.”

By the time he was done, I was swathed and baby-wrapped to perfection. Instead of being upset at his behavior, I fought to keep from laughing out loud. I enjoyed pissing him off, and it was starting to become apparent a lot of my actions irked his nerves even when I didn’t intend them to. My eyes remained on his retreating back as he stomped off to the bathroom for his shower.

Beverly

The chemistry between Derrick and me was off the charts. Even after our talk, he’d stare without hiding the fact he was checking me out. Although the attraction tugged at the strings holding my resolve together, I couldn’t help thinking there was something missing.

It was flattering a man that good-looking was keeping an eye on me, but I’d been through it all before. The charmers. The ones that issued false promises. The ones that wanted a quick hit and run. The ones that looked good enough to make you forget about principles.

When a pattern of drive-by sex and drive-by relationships started to emerge, I’d decided to take a step back from men. My cookie and emotions were on lockdown until I felt otherwise. It would take a genie to make me take the chains off, and I was hoping like hell D didn’t have the magical combination that would lead me to remove them.

He was tall, well built, with smiling eyes, and a fun personality. His brown hair had length on the top but was cut low on the sides and back. He was well put together, not a thing out of place. There was no denying how sexy he was. But, however tempting he was, I was choosing to face the cold, hard truths of our situation and sticking strongly to the rules I’d set for myself where it concerned men. I wanted a deeper connection than sex.

We’d managed five days without a major incident. Dax and Laura bickered like an old-school husband-and-wife team. Every time Dax made a suggestion, Laura would oppose it. When Laura would suggest something, Dax would take issue with it. At times, D or I would chance stepping between them to get them to calm down.

Although, it was a trying transition, I think D and I were starting to fall into friendship with each other. He didn’t sleep much at night, so for the most part, the bedroom was mine. He spent a lot of his time at that computer. My gaze had followed his movement while he’d planted three guns in different locations throughout the huge suite. There was no telling what Dax had hidden as well. If someone were daring enough to enter, they would end up getting lit up like a Christmas tree.

Laura and I had ganged up on the men and convinced them to allow us to check in at the centers. City grants, donations, and sponsors kept the doors open, but it took hard work and constant networking to stay afloat. We had assistants, volunteers, and a system set in place if we couldn’t be there, but I missed the kids. I think it was Laura’s threat that she’d take me and speed off in her old Toyota that had convinced the men to concede to our request.

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