Chapter 16 Neil #2
“You sure you’re okay?” I rolled onto my side and looked into her eyes.
I wanted to hide the distress I was feeling in that moment, but I knew she’d sensed it already.
Instinctively, I reached out and grabbed her wrist. I turned it over, pressing my lips to the underside, and lingered there for a few moments, trying to focus on her pulse.
It was strong and regular. It pleased me just to feel it.
“I’m always okay with you,” she said in a small whisper.
“You can tell me if you’re not,” I insisted, moving closer to plant a kiss on her shoulder. After a few moments, I pulled back to give her what was undoubtedly a distant look.
I couldn’t do much better than that.
I’d always hated cuddles, soft caresses, and all that bullshit. I couldn’t give her those things, but I did feel the urge to let her know that I cared about her in my own way.
Selene, like most women, required at least some minor show of affection, especially after sex. But as bad as I was with words, I was somehow even worse with romantic gestures.
I just hoped she could understand some of what I was trying to tell her through the few means I understood and had at my disposal.
I stroked the curve of her slightly arched spine with my fingertips.
Her ocean eyes were pointed at me, glittering just like the sea.
I’d been drowning in them since the very first moment I saw her.
Her crimson lips were parted just a bit, exhausted by my kisses.
Her hair was disheveled and spread out in disorderly waves all over the sheets.
Her nose scrunched up adorably as she smiled at me.
“I really am okay. I don’t want to change you, you know.
I like you—all of you,” she whispered, soft, sweet, and weary.
She was beautiful in her simplicity, though I had never told her that.
I wasn’t accustomed to giving compliments; I didn’t like exposing myself in that way.
I didn’t want my Babygirl to see too much of what was going on inside me.
“What are you staring at?” She shifted slightly under my fingers as I continued to stroke her skin, watching her face raptly as though I’d been hypnotized.
“You’re even cuter after sex.” I let slip a bit of sincerity, biting my lower lip in delight at the funny little forehead crease that had just appeared between her eyebrows.
“Cute…” she repeated thoughtfully before pursing her lips in a disappointed expression. Apparently, she didn’t appreciate that descriptor either.
“Yeah, you look…really nice.” I grazed her neck with the tip of my nose, and she shivered when my beard scruff made contact with her delicate skin, and damn it if I wasn’t feeling the urge to fuck her again.
My cock was in complete agreement.
“Neil…” she said in a lazy grumble, making it clear that I shouldn’t even think about starting anything up again.
“Uh huh?” I answered in a low murmur, slowly rubbing my erection against her thigh. I knew she couldn’t resist me.
“Don’t try that innocent act on me. I need a break and a shower.” She jerked away from my burning touch, and I shivered at the sudden cold absence. She sat up on the edge of the bed, offering me a view of her back and her butt cheeks, still red from my smacks.
Was she really turning me down?
I huffed in irritation and rolled over to stare at the white ceiling.
“Yeah, yeah, okay… Go on and take your shower…” I muttered irritably.
If I’d been with Jennifer or one of my other blonds, she would have been begging me to give her a little more attention.
Selene, however, wanted to put my mind through its paces rather than content herself with my naked body next to her.
Abruptly, my lucubrations disappeared as I felt her hands on me, her small body climbing astride me like a savage tigress. Her long hair fell over her breasts and stiff, pink nipples peeked between the auburn locks.
I stared at them, swallowing hard and longing to suck them.
“Are you upset?” she asked, positioning herself right on top of my erection.
I narrowed my eyes, forcing myself not to touch her. I folded one arm up underneath my head and let the other rest on the sheet.
“No,” I answered way too quickly. She giggled.
“You took me twice last night. And you woke up this morning wanting more of the same. You have to give me some time to get used to all of this; you really are quite demanding…” She leaned down and began to pepper light kisses on my neck, just where I liked them.
She sucked a patch of skin there slowly, delicately, like she was afraid of hurting me, and pressed her breasts against my pectorals.
My cock stiffened, and when Selene felt it twitch between her legs, she reddened.
Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them slowly, breathing deep.
Fortunately, I’d had a lot of practice resisting sexual urges, or else I would have had her right back on her hands and knees again.
I seized her hips roughly and yanked her off me, depositing her on the mattress.
“What…what’s the matter now?” she asked, confused.
I turned my back to her and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I sucked in a breath when my feet hit the cold hardwood floor.
What time was it? More importantly, how long had we been locked in the pool house’s bedroom? We’d gone out last night for dinner, after which I’d brought her right back here and promptly lost all track of time.
I ran a hand through my sweat-slicked hair, and my eyes landed on the pack of Winstons on my nightstand.
The problem was, I was getting far too used to Selene’s presence, and that was going to make her absence much more difficult.
Our time was running out.
I’d finished my studies, and in the spring I’d be starting my internship in Chicago.
I’d been working hard to get everything together before then, though Selene had been a constant distraction.
“Nothing,” I answered her after a long silence.
“I really am sore, Neil. You weren’t gentle.
I’d never reject you. It’s just that…” she trailed off.
After taking a drag from my cigarette, I got to my feet and turned to look at her.
She was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest, clutching the sheet against her breasts.
Watching my naked body, she grew steadily more uncomfortable.
Her gaze dropped down to her knees, but then she appeared to gather her nerve and looked back up at my face.
“Is it about graduation? Are you stressed about the next step?”
“No,” I interrupted her. “I don’t give a shit about that.” I blew the cigarette smoke out my nose.
I should have thought of graduating from college as an accomplishment, but instead it only stressed me out, as did the idea of leaving for my internship.
I’d only sent my confirmation email to Professor Robinson a week earlier, making him, Logan, and Megan the only people who knew about my decision.
Megan had texted me the same day, saying, “Congrats, colleague.”
Selene was still in the dark about all of it.
She continued to stick by my side, to support me and try to be the right woman for me, unaware of what I was planning.
I told myself I wasn’t just enjoying these last moments with her; I was also protecting her even if Player had apparently disappeared into thin air once again.
We’d seen no further signs of the woman from the video chat. There were no more puzzles or threats or attacks, and though we’d checked multiple times, there was no sign of any videos or pictures of Selene being sent to people or posted anywhere.
Had she finally given up?
Nothing about it added up for me, though.
The woman on the video hadn’t revealed her identity, and in general she had seemed way too innocuous and accommodating.
I’d purchased a new laptop for Selene, but I still wanted her to keep her socials deactivated and made her change all her passwords, just to be safe. I also told her to tape up the webcam like I did with my own MacBook.
“Neil…” Babygirl broke me from my reverie—I’d been standing there staring vaguely at the bed with the cigarette still dangling from my lips.
I turned my gaze to her only to find that she was standing right in front of me, naked.
“Will you stop being patronizing and shutting me out of your world?” she said, resting her hands on my hips.
I gasped. Her fingers were cold, and she was trembling.
She pressed a kiss to my stomach before moving up to my chest, pinning my eyes with hers.
“You’ve taken it over completely,” I said in a confused murmur. “My world,” I continued, taking another drag. I narrowed my eyes as curls of smoke wafted up while she smiled in satisfaction.
“Well, that’s nice to hear, considering all the effort I put into getting in there,” she said slyly.
“Not so much for me,” I answered brusquely.
Babygirl rubbed the base of my spine and pressed herself against me.
I tried to take shallow breaths to avoid succumbing to the temptation of her lovely tits against my abdomen.
She must have been able to feel it because she gave me a wicked look.
She walked her fingers along my abdomen, which contracted with her touch, before continuing up my chest worshipfully, as though she had gotten the chance to closely examine something surreal and fascinating.
“What are you doing?” I asked her warily.
The cigarette was still burning between my lips as I let my arms relax while Selene grazed my shoulders and biceps with her fingernails.
She used her index finger to trace the lines of my toki while the other hand did the same on my pikorua.
I let out a guttural groan. I wouldn’t have minded if she’d just moved those fingers over a few inches so they could wrap around my cock.
She could have given me a moment of pleasure to wipe away all the angst, but that apparently wasn’t her intention.
Instead, she wanted to talk.
Talk, talk, and more talk…