chapter 57 ⚚
A lot of people's behaviour changed the moment they found themselves in bed with their partner.
Some would suddenly shift their entire approach, as if a different version of them had stepped in, while others barely changed at all, holding on to the same habits and they always had.
Valentina was the first type.
Because what happened to Lilith's warm woman?
"You're being mean to me," Lilith muttered, looking at the woman's face who didn't pay attention to her in the moment.
At all.
Valentina's gaze was focused on the girl's cupped breasts and her own fingers touching the lace.
"And I was so sweet and nice to you," Lilith pouted softly, hoping that her attempt of pretending to be upset would work.
She had been completely wrong.
"Oh... do I care?" Valentina also pouted, ironically, more to herself than anyone else, still refusing to look at the girl.
Her fingers brushed Lilith's blonde strands off her shoulder with an almost clinical precision, looking attentive yet at the same time strangely detached from whatever Lilith might have wanted to say.
Her tone remained teasing and Lilith clearly didn't take it in any negative way, but something had shifted nonetheless.
Where Lilith grew shyer in sexual moments like this—less likely to bite or talk back—Valentina became harsher.
Lilith watched the woman's sharp eyes take on a different look.
Was it possible that Valentina had previously been teasing the actual teaser?
"Tell me I'm wrong, Lilith," Valentina sighed to herself.
And it clicked so well to Lilith.
That little game Valentina was trying to play with her, pretending to feel disappointed in the blonde.
The girl wondered how to play in it, since she felt simply just so nervous.
"You're not," Lilith murmured.
"Right," Valentina answered, leaning down to place a kiss on the girl's pale swell of breasts.
Lilith had to breathe in.
Was she supposed to continue?
She tried to overcome the shyness and at one point, she realized how glad she was for such situations. It has been almost like she'd been under a training or some sorts of preparation.
Or at least that's what her delusional mind had imagined.
In the simplest truth, Valentina was only getting her comfortable while also enjoying.
"So what are you going to do with it?" the girl asked, feeling the soft, slow kisses against her skin.
"Hm..." Valentina murmured, her lips pulling away. "Nothing. Or at least nothing you'd enjoy." She gave her something close to a shrug, her gaze finally landing on the girl's face. Her hand came back to Lilith's bra, resting there now without movement.
She didn't speak either.
"That's it?" Lilith blurted out, slightly outraged.
"Do you want another kiss, sweetheart?" Valentina asked, her voice slightly higher, her eyes falsely widened.
She leaned in again, placing a warm, short kiss on the girl's chest, this time higher, closer to her collarbone and then returning to her previous position, waiting for Lilith to react.
"Valentina," Lilith groaned softly, her head tilting back.
"What is it?" the woman hummed.
Lilith wasn't sure whether she should feel merely irritated or start begging the woman. Deep down, she suspected neither would get her anywhere.
Her own hand rose, placing itself over Valentina's, and she guided it firmly to the edge of her bra and the sheer lace beneath, silently signalling that the womn should just take it off.
Valentina's hand didn't move, though. it remained exactly where Lilith had placed it.
"Speak up," the woman's head tilted.
"Do you genuinely want me to ask or do you just enjoy humiliating me?" the blonde haired girl asked, her brows furrowing.
Because what Valentina was doing was nothing more than making Lilith feel extremely shy and toyed with.
"Maybe it's both?" Valentina asked, her hand cupping the girl's cheek.
"Come on, angel.. you know you don't need to feel shy." she coaxed, an evil laugh escaping her lips when she finished speaking.
"Please, just take it off," Lilith said, her jaw tightening softly, enough for Valentina to feel.
"I thought you were supposed to ask?" Valentina questioned.
The woman was irritating.
And as much as Lilith didn't want to like it, she did.
She really did.
"Could you take it off, please?" Lilith sighed.
"I could," Valentina laughed to herself, her hand disappearing from Lilith's cheek and finally, she pulled the bra lower.
She really couldn't help herself but to first touch Lilith's breasts.
"What a pretty girl," Valentina grinned to herself while her long fingers cupped the girl's full breast, her thumb going straight to the girl's nipple, circling it.
Lilith's eyes closed for a second as she moved underneath the woman's body.
"Hmm?" Valentina hummed, her fingers stopping.
"I'm... sensitive," she admitted, offering a soft, apologetic smile.
"I know..." Valentina said, her expression briefly serious, until her thumb started circling the girl's nipple once more. "But you enjoy it."
Lilith could cry. Just like she wanted the first time Valentina touched her, back in the girl's bed.
Valentina didn't waste time leaning in and capturing the girl's nipple in her lips. She sucked on it while her other hand went to the other breast, genuinely playing with it for her own enjoyment.
She went from sucking to kissing, and at one point, she switched breasts while Lilith whimpered.
The woman knew the girl enjoyed it, but she was rather quiet. She was so lost in her own pleasure that she wasn't sure if she had even heard one proper moan escape the girl's mouth.
Maybe it was the fact she was still too shy, or the fact she wouldn't want to wake anyone in the huge house—which would be unlikely—that made her hold back.
Valentina released the girl's nipple with a soft pop, her lips slightly glossy. "Not only do you enjoy this... but you also enjoy the humiliation, am I right, angel?" she said, looking almost euphoric.
"You like when I play with you," she continued, shifting her focus back to kisses, "when I play with my doll." Her tone sounded almost like a whine.
Lilith was speechless.
Everything Valentina said sounded like it was straight from her dreams, or rather daydreams, whenever she had free time and wondered about the woman.
Was this it?
Did she find her match?
Did she find out that the woman liked it as much as she did and, when in bed, went for it rather than something soft?
"I feel like I'm about to come, Valentina," Lilith said seriously.
"Are you that desperate?" Valentina asked, her head tilting up slightly to capture the view of the girl's flushed cheeks.
"For you," Lilith whined, which once again made Valentina laugh, trying to suppress a grin.
It truly wasn't the right time for Lilith to start playing with the woman's mind.
To distract herself, Valentina slightly bit the girl's nipple, enjoying the slight wince she felt from the girl.
With a final kiss and the last look at Lilith's breasts until the next time, she murmured, "Of course for me... only."
"Don't stop, please," Lilith mumbled, not really acknowledging what the woman had said, her eyes snapping down as she watched Valentina neatly fix her bra and dress.
"I know now," the brunette said, a small smile playing on her lips, her eyes softening.
"What?" Lilith murmured, confused, her mind somewhere else still.
"I know what your favorite is now... I'm satisfied," Valentina replied, her hand going to the length of the blonde's hair.
"You are satisfied," Lilith stated slowly.
"Was there anyone but me that was supposed to be satisfied?" Valentina let out a giggle that sounded girlish, shooting the girl a lighthearted wink.
"You truly are a sadist," Lilith's voice raised softly, offended.
"Really?" Valentina gasped playfully. "You should thank me, sweetie." She leaned in closer, placing a kiss that she joked about a few moments ago on the girl's forehead.
"For what?" Lilith asked, her brows furrowing.
"I gave you something to actually think about next time you touch yourself thinking about me," Valentina said innocently, as if she had already seen the future. "It's only a suggestion, though," she added nonchalantly, pulling away to sit on the bed.
"I'm..." Lilith started, visibly stunned. "I'm not speaking to you," she decided, settling on the words as she tried to sound convincingly angry.
"Why? Is there anything else you'd like me to say?" the woman asked, standing up, raising an eyebrow, amused..
Lilith quickly sat up on her knees on the bed, the lingerie wrinkling beneath her.
"Yes?" she said, in a disbelieving tone. "You won't call me a... good girl? Anything?" she slipped out.
The girl was truly humorous that evening, because Valentina couldn't help herself. A few minutes ago, her laugh had been depreciating, now it was just pure and light.
"You never call me that," Lilith accused, looking at the woman who seemed far too pleased with herself.
It was the truth, though. In her life and even with the woman, Lilith had only ever been called a good girl once—and that had been at the very beginning of their relationship.
"Do you deserve it?" Valentina raised both of her brows, playfully accusing the blonde back.
"I do," Lilith said quickly, almost offended that the woman could think otherwise.
"I'm not disagreeing..." Valentina started softly. "But you did say I'm a sadist, didn't you?"
"So until you're crying and asking me for it, I might not call you that," she finished, sounding satisfied.
"Now... don't ruin my present. I like it." Valentina pointed at the girl's knees crushing the lingerie.
Lilith shook her head, groaning out of desperation. Her reaction did nothing to the woman.
With a sigh, she looked down as well.
"I hope the size will be okay... I might have gone through some of your bras in your closet," she giggled to herself.
She knew Valentina wouldn't be mad.
And she wasn't.
What slightly shook her was that the girl didn't know.
She didn't know how similar they were—and that the first chance Valentina got to go through the girl's clothes, she took it.
The woman was slightly worse, though.
Lilith did it to check her size.
Valentina did it simply because she wanted to.
Lilith reached for the lingerie, taking it into her hands before passing it to Valentina. It was already so late and if they wanted to be functional the next day, they needed to start getting ready for bed.
"Time to shower," Valentina sighed.
The girl got up messily, one heel already off, shaking her leg to remove the other, before tiptoeing to the woman and wrapping her arms around her waist.
"Are you inviting me?" she grinned.
"Don't get too confident now." Valentina's finger went straight to the girl's forehead, flicking it.
?
The house was strangely quiet, considering there were at least ten people staying in it.
Lilith feared that even though she could usually fall asleep anywhere, the long nap—and the rush of excitement Valentina had given her—would make it harder this time.
She absentmindedly played with Valentina's damp hair as they lay together.
"Thank you," the girl murmured.
"No need," Valentina exhaled, her voice quieter now as she also noticed how quiet it had become.
"I'm not sure what's gotten into me while I was writing that letter," Lilith chuckled softly.
"I loved it," Valentina murmured, her eyes already closed.
"You know why I said no, right?" the woman asked.
Lilith lifted her head slightly to look at the almost sleeping beauty next to her.
"I think so?" she replied lightly.
"Even if we were somewhere else right now... it's not the time, sweetheart," Valentina continued.
Maybe a lot of people would have felt hurt or disappointed hearing that.
Lilith wasn't.
A warm smile settled on her lips, because it was a rare thing, to be with someone who read you that well.
Or perhaps someone who lived by the same rules.
"Not without a name," Valentina muttered.
Lilith couldn't agree more.
?
Waking up to the soft sun on christmas morning felt to Valentina much like it had the year before.
Twice in a row, she scrunched her eyes.
This year, though, she wasn't alone.
And it was ironic—because last year, when she had woken up alone, she had wondered when the time would come for her to bring someone with her.
Valentina from a year ago probably wouldn't have expected it to be a girl ten years younger than her.
Valentina from this year, though, knew that her past self wouldn't be so shocked. Or worried.
Her fingers moved across the girl's bare thighs, then along her back, exposed by the shirt that had ridden up during sleep. She moved her finger along the edge of the girl's panties too.
She laid in silence, until she heard a knock on the wooden door.
Quickly covering Lilith's body with a blanket and putting a hand on her head, which laid on the woman's chest, she said, "Come in," as quietly as she could.
The person behind the door clearly didn't get the hint from Valentina's voice, because they barged into the room loudly.
"Good morning... time to get up," Chiara said loudly, her face bare as well as her legs, her outfit—which consisted of underwear and a shirt—the same as the sleeping Lilith's.
Valentina felt like she truly hadn't gotten as mad at her younger sister for the whole year as much as she did in that moment.
Her free arm, which wasn't crushed under Lilith's weight, rose up, signalling the girl to get out—and probably disappear from the world—as she gritted through her teeth, "Shut your fucking mouth."
As soon as Chiara noticed the sleeping girl, a guilty, apologetic smile appeared on her lips, her hands raising slightly before she quietly removed herself from the room.
As soon as the door shut, Valentina sighed, looking at it.
"Language, Miss Salvatore," Lilith murmured, amused, opening her eyes.
"Did she wake you?" Valentina's eyes softened as she looked down.
"Yeah, but it's okay," Lilith giggled.
"She makes me sound so... indecent," Valentina rolled her eyes.
"I liked it," Lilith muttered, shifting under the covers.
Both of them slowly got up, and without even dressing properly—Lilith putting on sweats and Valentina finding fluffy slippers that looked slightly silly, making Lilith giggle—they went downstairs for breakfast.
"I'll go make myself some coffee, do you want to come with me?
" Valentina asked, her head tilting at the girl as both of them eyed the table they had all eaten at the evening before—where Valentina's mother, father, as well as Chiara already sat, and Nathan was just pulling out a chair to sit down too.
Lilith would like to come with the woman.
She felt shy being alone with her family, but at the same time—as much as in private she could be her helpless pet, she wasn't going to be in other situations.
She didn't want Valentina to think she was that awful or that embarrassed.
So she swallowed and quickly shook her head. "No, it's okay."
With a slight squeeze to the blonde's waist, Valentina went towards the kitchen, while Lilith slowly made her way to the table, looking around.
There were no uncles, aunts, or cousins.
"They left," Chiara murmured to her, patting the space next to her for Lilith to sit. "They hate us," she added, taking a sip of her coffee.
"What are you saying?" her mother asked, catching the words as she spread butter on fresh bread.
"I'm just joking," Chiara whined, annoyed that her mother had taken it seriously.
"Good morning, Lilith," the older woman said next, smiling after shaking her head slightly at her daughter.
"Good morning," Lilith put on the sweetest, most polite smile that could ever exist and nodded softly to both the mother and father.
Sometimes, the girl wondered if people were that stupid—or that naive—to think she actually was the most polite girl on earth, while half of the time Lilith would rather slap any authority than obey it.
Clearly, acting like an angel worked once again, because Valentina's father smiled at her too.
"Did I wake you up?" Chiara asked, slapping Nathan's hand away as he tried to grab a grape from the large shared plate, before taking a small bunch herself and placing it onto his plate.
"Yeah," Lilith giggled.
"Am I dead?" Chiara asked, eyeing the grapes again before placing some onto Lilith's plate too.
Lilith shook her head, plucking one into her mouth.
She looked over the table to see some of the cakes Chiara baked, as well as other pastries, but also bread, cheese—basically a charcuterie board.
It would be embarrassing to not eat anything, or eat only fruit.
She grabbed a fresh slice of bread and put some butter on it, also taking a bit of vegetables onto her plate.
As soon as she was done with the butter, Valentina's father spoke.
"Charlotte, could you pass me the butter?"
Her head tilted as she shut her eyes for a brief second, so embarrassed for him rather than herself.
She silently prayed and wishes that it wasn't the name of one of Valentina's exes, but when Chiara groaned, whining, "Dad," Lilith wasn't sure what to think.
"Forgive me, Lilith," the father said.
Lilith passed him the butter, giving him a small smile. "It's alright."
Now the only thing she could think about was who the fuck Charlotte was.
She lost her appetite.
Especially when she saw Valentina returning.
"The kitchen is an absolute mess," she sighed, placing her mug of black coffee next to Lilith's plate before sitting down beside her.
"Yeah, just like you," Chiara was quick to say.
"Give me a break, child," Valentina replied, patting Lilith's thigh under the table as she looked around to see what she would eat.
Chiara's face twisted slightly as she swallowed down a comment—about how Lilith was literally five years younger than her—trying to think of something better instead of pointing out the obvious about the sweet blonde girl.
While all of them ate, Valentina's mother was trying to force Nathan to eat more. He shot Lilith a look only a guest in a family could understand.
Valentina, meanwhile, cut Lilith a piece of cake, knowing she would like it, but the girl barely touched it.
Valentina's father slightly scolded her for not answering her phone from business partners the previous night and Chiara bickered with her once again.
It was, objectively, a really nice morning.
Subjectively, Lilith wanted to murder Valentina.
Just a little.
Only until breakfast ended, and Lilith was left alone with Nathan.
He looked even shyer than when she had met him yesterday, clearly lacking any of the attitude or fire Lilith carried somwhere inside, naturallyi.
"Charlotte," he murmured, cleaning up after himself. "It's Chiara's friend. Don't worry."
He gave her a small, shy smile.
While Valentina got herself an angel from hell, Chiara got herself a true angel.
"Thank you," Lilith exhaled.
Subjectively, Lilith did not want to murder Valentina anymore.
And she decided the morning was, in fact, great.
Back in the room Valentina and Lilith were staying in, the blonde girl scrolled through her phone, answering a large amount of Christmas wishes.
Until she came across a message from Miss Lockhart.
I know I'm probably crossing a boundary right now, but could you give me a call? Merry Christmas, Lilith.