Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
“ Y ou better not still be smiling like an asshole,” Carin grumbled.
Oakley glanced at the closed curtain to make sure they couldn’t see him, then shrugged it off. Of course he was still smiling like an asshole. Who could blame him?
It had been the best week with Clementine. A week where he got to watch her fall apart on his fingers. He was slightly worried about how long she’d be interested in him when his body didn’t do what everyone else’s did. So far, she’d been understanding and an eager student—she asked a million questions and made sure to do what he liked.
That morning, when they’d been touching and stroking each other, she had whipped out her vibrator. If he hadn’t been so tense and breathless from his lack of an orgasm he would have totally taken advantage of the fact that she was ready for more. The first few times, he put on a brave face about disappointing her. She called him out on it pretty quickly.
“If you’re embarrassed because you’re worried I’ll judge you, don’t be.”
“But this is fucking ridiculous.”
She brushed his hair back, staring into his eyes. “What’s ridiculous is that you think I’m disappointed. I’m not.”
“You know that I’m turned on by you, right? That this is not about you.”
“ Oakley . You know me better than that. Besides, this isn’t the end of the world.”
He pouted and leaned into her touch. “Feels like that.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I don’t know. I’ve only ever come when I do it alone.”
“Okay.” She slid out of bed, taking the sheets with her. “I’ll get ready for my day, you do what you need to do.”
“Clem…”
“As someone who’s finally experiencing some pretty ridiculously awesome orgasms, I know how good it feels. So give yourself that, Oak.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“ This .”
She rolled her eyes, the action still so fucking charming. “It doesn’t matter how you get there, Oakley. What’s important is that you’re comfortable and satisfied when you do.”
With a quick kiss, she vanished into the bathroom. When he heard the shower running, he let himself go. It didn’t take too long—he stroked and tugged, visuals of a naked Clementine spread out for him filling his head. He came minutes later, spurting onto his stomach and hand, feeling mildly satisfied. And upset. She deserved to have him come for her. She was right; it wasn’t about her and the fact that she recognized that comforted him. One day, he would stop getting frustrated with his body for betraying him.
Until then, he would enjoy her pleasure.
Clementine discovering masturbation was his new favorite thing to witness. Since that first night, he hadn’t done more than rub her clit, but he loved watching her. It was in the way she threw her head back as she buried her fingers deep inside her pussy, the curled toes and trembling in her thighs as she rode out another orgasm. Her dusky nipples that matched the color of her pussy, the soft folds of her stomach that quivered with every jerk of her hips.
It wasn’t always sensational or satisfying, because there were times when even her body would shut down before she had an orgasm. They’d lie in bed and distract each other until they fell asleep. Like Kristof said, everyone put so much pressure and expectations on sex when it was something that relied so heavily on the body and what it could do. Sometimes, your body just said ‘nope’ and you went with the flow.
He never thought that an orgasm could alter your brain chemistry, but he saw it happening with Clementine. She stopped growling when he called her baby and he would catch her smiling when she thought he wasn’t looking. He wasn’t the kind of person who believed that someone looked better when they smiled, but the level of joy that radiated off his girl was blinding. She still had her scowls in place and lots of eye rolling, but she was lighter, happier and it filled him with the kind of contentment he didn’t think he’d ever feel.
So much so that the back pages of his sketchbook were filled with Clementine. One page, so far, was dedicated to documenting her smiles. Multiple pages were filled with sketches of her face, her body and even her hands. Ever since their first kiss in that very room, he’d seen different renditions of Clementine and he was fascinated.
Flipping to the last page, he tapped the heading: CLEMENTINE’S SMILES , followed by a short list of the ones he’d noticed so far. He’d attempted to draw little doodles beside each one, but gave up when it became impossible. How could he ever even capture Clementine’s smiles visually? He checked the time then added a new one from that morning to the bottom.
° when she thinks nobody is watching and the corners curve upwards
° when I appreciate whatever she’s cooked
° when I call her ‘baby’, she fucking hates it and even rolls her eyes
° fresh off an orgasm, a blissed out, almost drunk one
It was a miracle Oakley was getting any work done, because when he wasn’t bent over a tattoo, he was daydreaming about her. That had been the case from the minute he met her, but now that he knew what she looked like when she came, that visual lived in his head rent-free.
His phone buzzed and one glance showed a text from Clementine before the screen went dark. Smiling, he closed his notebook and grabbed the device.
Clementine
Do you have any plans tonight?
Oakley
I can change my plans.
Clementine
Oh.
No, we can do this another time.
He chuckled, visualizing her face as she responded. They didn’t go into every day knowing they would see the other person that evening. Often, he showed up at the bakery to whisk her away. Sometimes she would be waiting outside when he wrapped up at work. They always ended up at her house, pressed up against doors and walls as their mouths and hands wandered.
Oakley
I’m all yours. What did you have in mind?
Clementine
Are you sure?
Oakley
Well…now I feel like I should wait to find out what you’re planning to do to me.
Clementine
Since you never asked if I was capable of murder when we first met, it’s a little late to back out now.
Oakley
I’ve seen you with knives and I know you’re definitely capable of chopping me into tiny pieces.
Clementine
Bonus points, I’m not squeamish about blood.
Oakley
…
Should I be worried?
Clementine
Are you squeamish around blood?
Oakley
That’s not what I meant!
Clementine
Well, now I forgot what I wanted to say.
Then the texts stopped and he grinned as he scrolled through their conversation. He’d sent tons of selfies, but she always sent him pictures of cakes or dessert she’d made. There was one shot of her face—flour, chocolate icing and buttercream frosting clung to hair and cheekbones—that had probably been taken by Freya. Even through the bakery products, he could see the sparkle in her eyes.
Clementine
I got my test back, by the way.
All clear.
But we’re still using condoms.
Oakley
*sends test results*
Same on the all clear.
I’m okay with using condoms until the day we die.
Clementine
Oh, you’re going to be fucking me that long?
Oakley
Want to send me that question as a voice note? You know how I feel about you swearing. *fire emoji*
Clementine
*eye roll emoji*
*sends voice note*
Oakley
Fucking hell, Clem. I played that out loud.
Clementine
What did you think it was going to be?
Oakley
I don’t know, not that!
Clementine
Sucks to be you, buddy.
Oakley
Baby.
We talked about you calling me ‘buddy’.
Clementine
YOU said something about it, I don’t remember.
Oakley
We’re not buddies.
Clementine
Technically we’re FUCK buddies.
Oakley
For fuck’s sake, chef.
Clementine
*sends voice note*
Oakley
Nope. Not listening to that.
Clementine
I’m only whispering the filthiest fucking things to you.
Oakley
Nope.
Clementine
Well, then I guess you don’t want to know what we’re doing tonight.
Oakley
…
You’re killing me, babe.
Clementine
Oops, got a cake tasting to handle. Bye!
Oakley
Clementine…you get back here, right now.
When the message said Delivered , and stayed that way for a while, Oakley growled. Lowering the volume, he played her last voice note and heard her breathy voice say, “I can’t wait to have your fingers so fucking deep inside me, twisting and fucking me until I see stars”. He listened to it again, and heard the slight hitch in her breath as she spoke.
I can’t wait either, baby .
“If you’re done mooning over your girl, your client is here,” Auburn said as she pulled his curtain open with a grin.
“I’m not…you know what…” He flipped her off as Lucas stepped into the small space. “Hey, man. How’s the ink healing?”
“Really well. My partner didn’t seem to hate what you did.”
He chuckled and gestured to the table. “Get comfortable. I need to grab supplies.”
Lucas lay down and Oakley silently cursed himself for being so distracted he forgot to prepare for the session that afternoon. Once he had the necessary ink and refills, he returned and closed the curtain to get started. Since he was only filling up parts done last time, he didn’t need Carin’s help. Lucas chattered the whole way through, talking about a new guy who had joined the squad at the firehouse. He talked about how his partner felt about the ink. Every few minutes, he’d stretch and refill the ink, then return to coloring.
When he was finally done for the day, he cleaned up Lucas’ back and helped the firefighter sit up on the table. As Oakley gave him the usual spiel about care, the curtain slid open to reveal the most beautiful human ever.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said, eyes wide as she looked between them.
“We’re wrapping up.”
She nodded, eyes dropping to the phoenix on Lucas’ back. “Did you draw that?”
“You like it?” Oakley asked, looking her over.
“It’s beautiful.” Dropping the curtain, she stepped into the room and he saw the bakery box in her hand as she peered at the tattoo closer. “You’re covering up scars?”
“Survived a lot of fires in my lifetime and my scars stress out my partner,” Lucas said and stood up, carefully tugging his T-shirt on over his head. He offered her a smile before turning to Oakley, he held out his hand. “See you in a couple of weeks.”
“You know the drill, Lucas, be careful with that!”
Once the firefighter was gone, Oakley turned to find Clementine watching him. There was something unidentifiable in her eyes, but it was the smile that floored him. He stripped off his gloves and moved towards her as she did the same thing. They collided in the middle of the small space, laughing as they grabbed each other for support. He let his hands brush over her sides, up her back and then down to her ass. He tugged her against him as she draped one arm around his shoulders.
“Fancy seeing you here,” he mumbled, nuzzling into her neck as her fingers pushed into his hair.
“Thought you might need a sugar hit.”
“I actually need a Clementine hit.”
She tugged on his hair, tilting his head back. “Are we revisiting the conversation about murder?”
“I’ll take anything at this point.”
“I try not to lean towards violence with my friends.”
Beaming at the mention of them being friends , he batted his eyes. “I like being your friend.”
She rolled her eyes and kissed him, a quick press of their lips. Before he could go in for more, she pulled away and stepped out of his arms. Oakley smiled and sat down on his stool as she set the box of goodies on the table. She flipped it open and he peered inside, his heart racing at the slices of cake.
“Tasters?”
“Had some leftovers and thought you’d like them.”
He didn’t really think, but Oakley was on his feet, hands cupping her face as he swooped in for a kiss. A surprised squeak escaped her lips before it turned into a soft moan as she kissed him back. He dropped his hands to wind around her waist, pulling her against him as she smiled into the kiss. He pulled back and grinned, which made her sigh dramatically and nudge him.
“Behave.”
“That’s physically impossible when you’re around.”
“Do you have a notebook with all these cheesy lines written down or something?”
Oakley laughed. “Probably.” Most definitely .
“Make sure you add some new nicknames into it too.”
“Aw, you still don’t like being my baby?”
“ Oak ,” she growled, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Love riling you up, sweetheart. Now, lemme eat this cake.”
She fluttered her hands at him and he smiled at the lightness in her mood. Once he was sitting down, he picked up the first piece. There were six in total, and all of them looked similar on the surface. Knowing Clementine, each one would have something delicious on the inside and he couldn’t wait to find out what it was. As he took a bite, he lifted his eyes to find her swinging her legs and typing furiously on her phone. There was something so simple about having her there with him, but not feeling like she had to fill the silence with chatter. Honestly, that’s how it was with her always and he loved it.
All thoughts of Clementine vanished the minute the chocolate hit his tastebuds and he groaned, not even bothering to contain the volume. She was brilliant in so many ways, but with dessert? She was a genius. His eyes had no hope of staying open as he finished the piece and licked his fingers. When he opened them as he groaned again, he found her watching him in amusement.
“Have I mentioned that your dessert is orgasmic?”
“Not in so many words.”
Oakley picked up another piece. “Not as good as sex with you, but pretty close.”
“We haven’t even done that much.”
“But I can already tell that it’s going to be better than dessert.”
“Put that into your cheesy notebook,” she teased and he smirked as he stuffed the cake into his mouth.
“Jesus, Clem,” he moaned, chewing and licking his lips because she had outdone herself again. “Fuck the donuts, I want cake.”
She adjusted her sweater, pushing her sleeves up. “You’re getting cake and donuts, isn’t that enough?”
“You’re forgetting one important thing.”
“What?”
“You,” he said softly and stood up, setting the box down. “I’m getting cake, donuts and you . Which is more than anybody else is getting.”
Her lips twitched. “And yet, you still seem to turn this up to a hundred when you’re with me, why?”
“Because you make me this way.”
She shook her head and spread her legs so he could step between them. He smiled when she picked up another piece of cake and held it against his lips.
“This is my least favorite. Can you identify the flavors?”
He gave her a ‘what do you think?’ look and opened up. She slid the piece in, her eyes fixed on his mouth as he took a bite. Their eyes met as she put the rest of the cake into her mouth, tongue swiping over her lips to get the icing. He closed his eyes as he chewed and focused on the flavors before swallowing to speak.
“It’s got a funfetti taste to it, but I don’t think that’s what it is. There’s some vanilla, for sure. A citrus of some kind, but I can’t figure that one out.” He smacked his lips, like that would help him identify it.
“It is funfetti with citrus,” she told him and his eyes widened.
“Really?”
She nodded, licking the rest of the icing off her fingers. “It’s apparently their favorite and wanted me to put a twist on it. Funfetti seemed so boring, so I tried something else.”
“It’s interesting, not sure I like it that much.”
“I knew there was a reason I picked you,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss the corner of his mouth, her tongue brushing against his skin gently. She hummed and pulled back. “Couldn’t waste any of the icing.”
Then, her mouth was pressed against his. Oakley sighed softly into the kiss and cupped her face with his other hand as well, stepping closer until their bodies were locked. Her fingers brushed through his hair and he almost buckled at the knees from how good it felt to have her touch him that way. The kiss deepened, their mouths parting and tongues dancing, her chest squashed against his.
In that moment, with Clementine in his arms and the taste of cake on her tongue, nothing else mattered. He forgot where they were, the sounds around them fading into nothing. All he could feel, hear and think about was the woman he was falling madly in love with.