Chapter 18 #3
Maya always forgot just how tiny Harper was.
She could be the center of attention of any room if she wished it, her presence so brilliant that it made everyone else look dull by comparison.
On top of that, she was so quick-witted that it took serious effort to keep up with her, and her confidence was so assured that it seemed impossible to shake.
Small wasn’t a fitting descriptor for that person. Except for right then, with her nestled in Maya’s arms, wrapped in a blanket and with her eyes closed. Then small fit pretty well.
“How do you keep doing that?” Harper mumbled. The first words she’d spoken in the half hour they’d been sitting on the bed.
Maya pushed a lock of hair away from her forehead. “Keep doing what?”
Harper opened her eyes, blinking slowly until her gaze refocused. Then she gave Maya a slight scowl.
“Stealing my voice.”
Maya couldn’t help but laugh. Harper was still groggy, so her annoyed tone wasn’t as sharp as clearly intended.
“Not sure. I didn’t realize I’d done it before tonight.”
“Well, you have. Several times.” Harper’s scowl faded, a tiny smile replacing it. “It’s super annoying. Just so you know.” She leaned against Maya again. “You didn’t bite me. I kind of thought you would.”
Maya stiffened. Only for a second, and going by how lax Harper still was, she hadn’t noticed.
“That won’t happen.” Maya swallowed, jaw clenched. “I don’t feed like that. It’s not really my thing.”
Never mind that she’d wanted to. That she’d been tempted. That when she’d nipped at Harper’s throat, her fangs had ached at the thought of breaking the skin. Of tasting this woman as pleasure made her moan and shiver.
But she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. This wasn’t about that at all. It was just a glimpse of normalcy. One she had been without for a long time.
Plenty of the women she’d dated had been surprised about this side of her. She was, too, at first, as one long-ago evening of experimenting had turned into a fascination.
For most of her life, she had been drifting, never really fitting in.
Never being wanted or missed when she eventually left.
But this erased all of it. The push and pull and play of it all…
That she was good at, both when the power scales were tilted in her favor and when they returned to equilibrium.
“You okay?” Maya kept her voice calm and quiet. Harper needed both at the moment. “It got pretty intense before.”
Harper’s brows furrowed. Then she stiffened. She looked down at herself, seemingly just noticing how they were sitting, with Maya leaning against the headrest and Harper curled up in her arms.
“Yeah, I… I’m fine.” She moved away slightly and rubbed her temple. “Just a little dizzy.”
Maya grabbed the water bottle from the bedside table. There should really be food there, too, but she didn’t have any in her apartment, and no force on earth could have made her leave Harper alone right then.
“Here. You’re probably dehydrated.”
Harper looked at the bottle as though she didn’t know what it was.
“What are you doing?”
Maya frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re being all… attentive and stuff.” Harper tightened the blanket around herself. “It’s unnecessary. You don’t need to bother with it, and I said I’m fine, so… you don’t need to.”
Maya’s frown deepened. She hadn’t expected that response, especially not its delivery. With suspicion and discomfort, as though Harper was surprised. As though she hadn’t experienced this before.
Moving carefully, Maya pressed the bottle against her hand.
“I do need to. Please let me.”
Suspicion still shined in her eyes, but Harper accepted the bottle.
“You’re being sappy, you know that?” Harper muttered, taking a sip of water. Sighing.
“Being sappy is important for this sort of thing. I need to make sure that you’re okay. That I didn’t go too far.”
“Does it look like you went too far?”
A surface-level glance would suggest no. If all you noticed about Harper was her smirk and teasing tone, she looked like her usual confident self.
But the unease hadn’t left. It remained as tension around her shoulders and in the way she still clutched the bedsheet.
“You’re uncomfortable. Why?”
“Maybe it’s because I’m not used to chatting this much afterwards. This is usually the time when people turn over and pass out.”
“Is that what Kieran did?”
Harper swallowed. Then looked away. “Among other things.”
It was actually good that Harper was looking away right then. The fury burning through Maya’s chest was potent enough that it probably showed on her face, and that wouldn’t help this situation.
Kieran had already shown himself to be an abusive piece of shit, but he’d been an uncaring one, too. That Harper was unnerved by something as simple as aftercare made Maya want to find that pathetic excuse of a man just so she could make him swallow his own teeth.
But anger had no place in this room.
Moving slowly, Maya pulled Harper close to her again.
“He should have done this, too.” She kissed Harper’s temple, caressing her through the blanket. “He should have made sure you were okay. Should have treated you with care and respect.”
“Isn’t the lack of respect kind of the point?”
“Only as much as we agree on, and even then, it would only be pretend. If it ever goes further than either of us want, we say it, and everything stops. If this wasn’t fun for you, then it wasn’t fun for me either.”
Harper stayed quiet. Stayed still. But only for a moment before she set down the bottle and turned so they faced each other. Her smile, though humorous, was softer than was common for her.
“You look cute when you’re worried.” She hooked her arms around Maya’s neck, shrugging off the blanket. Leaving her naked in Maya’s lap. “I’m okay. In fact, I’m not even that tired.”
“You’re trying to distract me.”
“And I have a feeling it’s working,” Harper whispered. “If it wasn’t, your hands wouldn’t have moved.”
Maya’s hands had moved, settling on Harper’s hips. Which shouldn’t have happened. Something was wrong here. Something Harper didn’t want to share. But did she have to?
There were plenty of things Maya didn’t want to talk about, and Harper hadn’t argued. Hadn’t asked any of the questions whose answers Maya still dreaded.
Besides, all the tension had left her body now. Flowing away as she brushed her lips over Maya’s, giving her a kiss made infinitely sweeter by how Harper hummed against her mouth.
Then she pinched the back of Maya’s neck.
“But I’m making a new rule. You can’t fuck me that well every time. People will ask questions if I suddenly lose the ability to walk.”
Maya couldn’t help but grin. Maybe she should have maintained her composure, but it was hard to do with Harper smirking like that. Though it briefly looked like a smile.
“Is that your way of telling me this wasn’t a one-off?” Maya asked. Harper pursed her lips, shrugging.
“I wouldn’t be opposed. And going by how you’re staring at me, you wouldn’t be, either.”
Maya had been staring. But not how Harper was insinuating. The way she was sitting—hips pushed forward and shoulders slightly back—gave a perfect view of her body. Her small breasts, narrow waist, and fit physique. She danced for a living, and her body made that obvious.
But what caught Maya’s eye were things beyond the obvious. The sweat shining on her skin. The slow rhythm of her breathing. The tattoos scattered all over her body and which Maya hadn’t been able to inspect in this much detail until now.
They had to have stories. Reasons behind the flowers on her shoulder and the moth on her bicep. A deeper meaning to the butterfly on her ribs and the tally marks at the crook of her elbow.
She longed to hear them. If Maya had her way, she would sit in this exact position until the sun came up, listening to Harper talk.
“You didn’t take these off.” Harper lowered her hand, touching the hem of Maya’s boxers.
“Didn’t need to. Making you feel good was enough.”
“Really?” Harper’s finger eased under the waistband elastic. “I disagree. If you don’t want to be touched, I get it, but if you do… then I want to make you feel good, too.”
Her voice was mostly teasing. But a hint of hope hid in there. The fragile kind, utmost vulnerable to rejection.
Maya pulled Harper close, kissing her as deeply as she dared, and being rewarded with a breathless chuckle. One that quieted into soft sighs.
That noise was music. Sweet, soothing, perfect music. Maya already had countless ideas for how to recreate it. But those could wait. They had all night, after all.
Right then, it felt like they had all the time in the world.