Chapter 18 #3
Strong arms welcomed her, rocking her as the ringing in her ears faded and her sight came back.
It took much longer for her breath to stabilise and even longer before her legs could be trusted to withstand her.
It was weird—what she was feeling, the vulnerable position she was in. She wasn’t used to being on this side.
This… This was new.
She was still panting when Eris eased her down. Her knees were shaky. Eris grabbed her chin, watching her with hooded eyes and a tender smile that made her stomach swoop.
“That was beautiful.”
Denny rested her forehead against hers, her blushing more self-complacent than embarrassed. She didn’t know what to say. Thinking was hard. She just wanted to stay like this and bask in this afterglow, just her and Eris and this aching belonging that tied them together so tightly.
Every time she swallowed, Denny felt the imprint of Eris’ teeth in her throat and a new rush of arousal poured into her blood. It was a different shade of arousal, closer to pride. She brushed her fingers over the spot, wondering if there would be a mark—wishing there would be a mark.
“Thank you,” she blabbered.
Eris pressed a kiss to the underside of Denny’s jaw, slow and reassuring, tickling her lobe with her nose. “Don’t thank me for something that you gave me.” A low, guttural sound reverberated against Denny’s skin. “You need to wash yourself and these clothes.”
“What?”
“You smell like her,” said Eris against her ear. “Make it go away.”
There was something feral in her tone—a completely different kind of feral from her usual. It was ardent, primal, and dark.
“I’ll get changed. And shower.” An impish grin curled one side of her mouth. “I need to, anyway.”
Eris smugly patted her arse. “I’ll make us coffee.”
* * *
There was a mark.
It was subtle, a pink crescent of small dents too far high up the neckline to be concealed by any top she owned. It was pretty. It would’ve been a pity to hide it.
Rocco noticed it, but was wise enough not to comment on it. Not openly, anyway. The dumbfounded look he shot Eris was telling enough.
“You’re a couple of freaks,” he grumbled, then fetched the broom and went outside to sweep up the mass of leaves that had collected among the plants on display.
With him in the shop, Eris deemed it safe enough to go and get some groceries.
She went upstairs to get the cart and her headphones and even asked Rocco if he wanted a snack while heading out.
Denny suspected she needed some alone time.
So much had happened in just one morning and they both needed to process.
The difference between them was that, when Denny needed to reflect, it helped to keep moving and channel the restlessness into a physical activity while her mind worked; Eris preferred tranquillity and isolation.
The supermarket wouldn’t be overly crowded so early in the afternoon and the walk would help her clear her mind, provided she didn’t run into too many idiots.
Everything would’ve been perfect if there hadn’t been Blake’s cloud looming over them. It was unfair that Blake reappeared just as Denny thought she had found her happiness. Now Eris risked getting into serious trouble because of her questionable past choices.
She spotted the severed head of a daisy on the ground and bent down to pick it up.
Doomed, but still too lovely to throw away.
She set it down on the counter by the register where a few other flowers that had met the same fate lay to wither.
She wasn’t going to let that happen to Eris now that things were finally looking up for her.
‘How far would you go to protect me?’
Denny’s jaw worked. She was ready to give Blake anything she wanted, if it came to it.
“Denny? Hello?”
Startled, she glanced at the door: Rocco stood there, waving his phone.
“Can you plug it in? Charger’s in my backpack.”
“Oh, sure!” Denny abandoned her dying buds and the gloomy thoughts to catch the phone that Rocco very unwisely tossed her. He was lucky she had great reflexes.
Entering the office, she nearly tripped into an delivery she had completely forgotten about.
She kicked it aside, fished the charger out of Rocco’s backpack and plugged the phone in.
On her way out, she ignored for the umpteenth time the fat folder on the desk.
It was a bunch of tax forms she was supposed to fill up before the end of the month.
The mere idea bored every shard of willpower out of her.
She couldn’t let Eris do that for her, though.
She wasn’t going to let Eris do anything for her until she was officially hired and paid for it.
If Eris didn’t want the job, Denny would have to go back on relying only on herself.
* * *
“Let me do that.”
“No.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m not hearing you laugh.”
Eris snorted but didn’t insist. She went on tidying the kitchen, instead. Denny suspected Eris wanted to keep an eye on her in case she fell asleep or, worse, got stressed out because she wasn’t getting anything done, as it always happened when she wasn’t really into a task.
“Wait! Don’t throw it away!” she exclaimed when she saw Eris grab the empty crispbread bag from the worktop.
“Why do you always keep the empty boxes?”
“As a reminder to buy them.”
Eris hooked a thumb towards the pink sticky note on the microwave. “That’s what shopping lists are for.”
“I know!” Denny whimpered. “I was going to add it, but then I saw you unloading the dishwasher and came to help you, then I sat down to do this and forgot about the bread altogether.”
She could see a flash of dismayed horror in Eris’ eyes. It passed quickly, it always did, and was replaced by an indulgent half smirk.
“You’re fascinating and terrifying at the same time.”