Chapter 47
Ihad never paid much attention to what went on with hair and makeup, but I knew it was a skill and precision I didn’t possess. That was made even more apparent as the stylist I had hired for Allie’s photo shoot used a million brushes and picked out the perfect shades to complement Allie’s coloring.
Nicky was watching the puppies for us today so we didn’t have to coordinate bringing them out with me and taking my focus away from Allie. Her hair had been styled into long curls, a few bits held back with a red bow that added a hint of whimsy to the outfit.
Red really did look fucking incredible on her.
Once she was done with hair and makeup, she pulled on the dress and petticoat we had bought, along with the shoes. She looked so exquisite that I had to fight every instinct to not push her right back into the changing room and get my head under that skirt. Every time my gaze flicked to her shoes, I was reminded of that red sole pressed to my chest when she had stood over me like an absolute queen.
I adjusted myself discreetly on the way to the car and indulged myself with getting my fingers on her skin, nudging up the fluff of the petticoat to dig into the softness of her thigh.
Her eyes gleamed with heat as she looked over at me, false eyelashes making them look impossibly big.
“If you don’t quit looking at me like that, I’m going to have to pull over and do something about it.”
“That’s not a lot of incentive for me to stop.”
“If we didn’t have to meet Meg during her very limited time off, I would pull over right now, but since we’re on a time limit, you’ll just have to stew.” I crept my fingers higher and she parted her thighs with a soft breath, shifting her hips against my hand so I could stroke the fabric at the crux. Each shuddering breath and soft whine had my body reacting, demanding that I attend to her, but we would both have to behave.
Meg was already at the first site on the list of addresses we had sent. Allie bounded out of the vehicle when we arrived and threw herself into her friend’s arms.
“You look beautiful. Is all of this new?” Meg asked, smoothing down Allie’s curls.
“Yep. Head to toe brand-new. Sidney took me shopping.”
Meg threw an approving look in my direction.
“All right, we might as well get started. We have quite a few stops and not that much time.” Meg hauled out a set of blocks with numbers painted in black on the surfaces. “I thought this would be fun so you can tell at a glance when in your career you did each of these. This one was your second building.” Meg passed Allie a block with a two on it.
Meg really was a great photographer, arranging Allie this way and that to catch the light and fit in the prettier angles of the simple strip mall. She did the same for the dozen other buildings Allie had been involved with in some capacity or another.
She was adorable the entire time, striking the cutest poses, grinning so hard it was a wonder her cheek muscles still had the strength to smile by the end. I took a few videos on my phone when she got too excited to contain herself and did that precious toe-tapping dance while she waited for Meg to set up.
I had plans to get everything printed up in an album, and I had already picked up a digital frame that would cycle through the images and show off her career to anyone who came over. I already had one of my own with each of the litters and puppies I had fostered before they went to their forever homes.
Sometimes memories were all we got to keep, and I loved the idea of preserving them. While Allie was getting us slushies and Meg was packing up her supplies, I slipped over to talk to her. “Two things,” I said. “First, do you think you could get me some photos of you and Luna with Allie for a digital frame so I can put it up at the house?”
“I can definitely do that. What’s the second thing?”
“I want to get a ring for Allie.”
Meg’s jaw dropped.
“Not to immediately propose, but at least on my end, I know it’s only a matter of time. I want to have it for when the moment is right, and I was hoping you and Luna might want to help me pick one out.”
“I’d love to help. I’m sure Luna would too.” She looked over at me thoughtfully. “You know, I really thought she was exaggerating all these years. I thought she had put you up on some ridiculous pedestal and that you couldn’t possibly be as thoughtful as she said. You are, though. It’s kind of wild to see it in action.”
I warmed at the approval. “I just want her to be happy.”
“That much is obvious,” Meg said with a laugh. “You’re doing a great job with that. Every time you do something, we get a mountain of emojis. It’s really nice to see her this excited—not that she isn’t usually excited, but it’s different now.”
“You know her best,” I conceded. “I’m glad you think I’m doing well with taking care of her.”
“A+ grade.”
“Slushies acquired!” Allie trotted over, having exchanged her shoes for flip-flops. “Root beer for Sidney, blue raspberry for Meg, and a chaos mix of flavors for me.”
“What all have you got in there?”
“Orange, Dr. Pepper, cherry Coke, regular Coke, and an itty bit of root beer on top. It’s the parfait of the slushy world.”
“I used to do that with pop as a kid and we called it swamp water.”
“Hard same. It tastes way better in slushy form, though.”
Meg pulled Allie into a hug. “This was really fun. I haven’t gotten to play with my photography for ages, so thank you for thinking of me.”
“Of course I’m gonna think of you. I’ll be your model any day. Squish up close for a selfie.”
I took the photo with my phone and sent it to both of them. It was my first one with Allie and one of her friends, and it felt like I had broken through some invisible barrier of inclusion in her life. That was a strange thought, considering we basically lived on top of one another and were bonded, but there were all these avenues of her world that I wasn’t yet familiar with but was eager to be.
“I’ve got to get going, but I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Meg said before slipping into her vehicle.
The reminder of tomorrow seemed to shift Allie’s entire demeanor and got her nerves going. Luckily, I had a perfect distraction for that. I detoured to her apartment instead of going back to the house, where Nicky would be waiting. The moment I got Allie inside, I nudged her over the edge of the couch, flipped her petticoats, and peeled down her panties. She buried all of her perfect sounds in the couch cushions as I lapped up her slick and sucked at her clit until her legs were shaking.
It was partly to soothe her mind and partly to let me indulge myself in what had been floating through my brain all day. When she came on my tongue, I shucked my pants and drove myself into her waiting heat.
“Fuckity fuck.” Allie pressed her face into one of the throw pillows and screamed, her pussy squeezing tightly. “I’ve been waiting all day for that.”
She looked so goddamn beautiful wrapped up in red fabric like a present. The bow on the back of her head made me a bit feral. I fucked into her with abandon, folding my body over hers and pushing her hair aside so I could cradle her throat with one hand and get my teeth on her skin.
Allie whined, pawing desperately at the pillows. “Sidney…”
I was never going to get tired of the way she said my name.
“Oh god.” Her stomach clenched against my arm as I wedged my other hand beneath her to tend to her clit, breaking her apart until she spasmed on my cock, her words coming out choked and gasping. Her body trembled as she helplessly took everything I had to give.
It wasn’t too long before the warm perfection of her body pulled me over the edge. I pressed my hips to her ass and let myself go, keeping a steady rhythm on her clit so that the muscles wrapped around me never stopped twitching, sending sparks of pleasure ricocheting through me with each contraction.
When we were both spent, we stayed that way for a moment, breathing hard. I was quick to return her panties to their rightful spot when I pulled out, pulling her back against me, keeping her throat cradled while I ground my fingers roughly against the fabric. Allie squeaked and bucked in my arms, but allowed me to do as I pleased.
“I should get you in the shower before we go to the house. I love my sister too much to let her get a whiff of you right now.” I nuzzled Allie’s throat. “You smell exactly like you just emerged from your heat with me.”
After a hasty rinse and a change of clothes, we made it back to the house. Prince leapt straight off Nicky’s lap when we walked in, hopping excitedly until Allie picked him up and covered his face with kisses. “Sweet baby, were you good for auntie Nicky?”
His response was to try using Allie’s hair as a chew toy.
“He was a very good boy,” Nicky replied, crossing the space to stand with us. “The other babies were good too. Did you have fun?”
“So much fun. I can’t remember the last time I got to dress up for a photo shoot.”
“I can’t wait to see the pictures from it.”
“Do you want to stay for dinner, Nick?”
“I absolutely would love to. Made me get all attached to the puppies.”
“Yeah, that happens.”
Prince let out a tiny howl.
“Do you think it’s time for your dinner too?” I gave his head a pat. “If Allie can start on food for the pups, I’ll get started on food for the people.”
“You got it.” Allie disappeared with Prince into the nursery.
Nicky followed me to the kitchen. “You two are so cute.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“What can I do to help?”
I got her set up with salad ingredients and pulled some frozen chicken cordon bleu out of the freezer and turned the oven on to preheat.
“Things are going well?” Nicky asked.
“I think so. She has a date tomorrow.”
One of the carrots Nicky was peeling flung out of her hand and she turned to me with a confused pinch of her eyebrows. “A date?”
“I mean, I did sort of put a damper on any of her romantic plans.”
“I thought you were her romantic plans.”
“That doesn’t mean she might not want to pack. I’m trying to be flexible about it.”
“A pack sounds both fabulous and terrifying,” Nicky said. “Like, you’d get a whole host of personalities and there wouldn’t be all that pressure to be everything for one person, but also that’s a lot of people.”
“I still think you would do well in a pack.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re neurotic.”
Nicky stuck her tongue out at me.
“If you have the right mix of people, it could be a great support system for someone with your particular brand of anxiety.”
“You don’t think being an introvert would make it difficult?”
I shrugged. “Maybe at first, but the right people don’t feel like people, if that makes sense. They don’t drain your social battery in the same way.”
“That’s true. I guess that would also be a lot of people to split chores and housing costs with. One of my friends at work was joking that she couldn’t afford to be monogamous if she wanted a house.”
“Is that the friend with the designer bag addiction?”
“See, you get it. I pointed that out to her, but I think she just wants to be able to buy all those things and a house.”
“You know what, fair enough.”
I didn’t get to hang out with my sister very often, but now that we were both full and proper adults, it felt a lot more natural than when we had been kids. She laughed and bonded with Allie over dinner, of course winning points by telling embarrassing stories about me when I was small. It was hard to mind when Allie’s laugh was so sweet, and I got to see the connection she was forging with my family.
Whatever tomorrow brought, what we were building together now wouldn’t be easily broken.