Page 16 of His Angel

“Insightful.”

“I’m more than just a pretty face, you know?”

“Debateable.”

I give her the moment, thoughts and feelings flickering across her face unfiltered. It’s the most interesting thing I’ve watched in a while.

“She’s not going to invite you into her space for you to get to know her better without meeting on some kind of common ground,” I suggest again.

Give her a little and then she’ll give you a little back, it’s how friendship works, how everything works really, I guess.

“Any ideas?”

“What about a pamper session? You like that sort of thing, and there’s the sauna and steam room outside if it’s too cold to use the pool.”

Thoughts of the temperature, or lack thereof, flitter through her mind, goosebumps breaking out on her exposed arms. She always looks perfect as far as I’m concerned, but I know that’s not just luck of the draw, it’s intentional. She cares about how she looks, and how people perceive her, and that’s not vanity, not on her part, it’s care and consideration for herself.

She’s not primped, primed and plastic; fake. No, she’s always her genuine self, regardless of whether that’s dressed to the nines and dropped in the middle of an abandoned church, or parading through my house in borrowed leggings and a jumper that doesn’t even fit properly.

“I don’t think that’s her scene,” she ponders, tapping her nails in thought against my leg. “She’s more grungy than girly, but I don’t suppose the two things have to be separate entities.”

“And it’s about her getting to knowyoubefore she can open up,” I add. “This isn’t about finding what she likes though, this is about showing her yourself, and hoping she’ll share a little of herself too.”

“I’m still mad at you,” she says, but the words hold none of the mirth they did half an hour ago.

“If that’s what you need to get through the day.”

“And stop calling me yours.” She side-eyes me before folding her fingers together in her lap. “We’re mirrors, partners, and that means we work together and trust each other. We do not make decisions for each other.” I nod. “And I’m not moving in.”

“I never said you were…”

Didn’t know that was an option, in all honesty.

“And you’re not moving in with us either,” she adds. “There isn’t enough space for you or your ego.”

Ouch.

“I’m not going anywhere without Jacob, so that’s not happening.”

It’s hard enough having him in another room across a corridor, although we’ve been used to that for a long time at home, being here and being in danger is different.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

“Don’t be self-absorbed,” she admonishes, once again refusing to give me her eyes.

“You think you’re done with me, sugar?” I ask as she adjusts in my lap. Not moving away, but not exactly settling in either. “You think you got what you needed in the woods and are ready to drop it and walk away?”

She swallows, her tongue darting out to wet her lips quickly, nervously, as the vein in her neck pumps, the air between us crackling.

Oh, what I’d give to sink my teeth on either side of it, to feel her life force thundering beneath my tongue as I mark her. Obviously, that would be ten million times better with my dick buried in her sweet pussy whilst she rides me to oblivion and back, but that might have to wait. At this point, I’d just take the admission she still wants me as badly as I want her.

“What if I am?” she asks on panted breaths, her head finally turning to pin me with those sea-green eyes.

But I see the truth she’s not willing to admit. The lust that twinkles in those very same eyes.

“You’re a liar.” I whisper the words, waiting for a response. “You can’t walk away from this any more than I can.”

“Well, I can’t now.” She throws the words back in my face, and finally, I snap.

---