Page 60 of Deserving Lara
Lara shook her head. “No.”
“Yes,” Cora insisted. She grabbed Lara’s hand. “The worst weeks of my life were when we got you here to The Refuge. Seeing you so…broken. I hated it. I would doanythingto ensure you didn’t have to experience that kind of fear. But now you’re…”
“I’m good,” Lara said softly.
“Yeah, you are,” Cora agreed. Then she smiled. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you and Owl have been eye-fucking each other the last several days.”
Lara tried to keep a straight face, but she couldn’t stop the small smile that formed.
“I knew it!” Cora exclaimed. “You and Owl are gettin’ it on! Please, please,pleasetell me that man is good in bed!”
“Shhhh,” Lara scolded, looking around.
“No one’s around. They’re all outside saying goodbye. Spill, Lara. Seriously.”
“Owl is…he’s amazing.”
The smile on Cora’s face was so big, she looked like a complete goof. Her voice gentled. “And it’s…okay? I mean, emotionally? After what happened?”
“Amazingly, yeah. Being with Owl is nothing like being in that basement. He’s very careful to not do anything that he thinks will bring back even the slightest bad memory. He lets me be in charge.”
“Ooooh, that’s not something I would’ve guessed,” Cora said with a smirk. “I love when Pipe takes control in bed. I’d deny it if anyone other than you were sitting here, but there’s something so freeing about letting him order me around.”
Lara grinned at her friend. “I’m happy you have that.”
“No, we aren’t making this conversation about me. I want to know more about you and Owl.”
“There’s not much more to tell. I’ve been really busy with the kids the last few days so by the time I get back to the cabin, I’m exhausted. But…”
“But what?” Cora asked when Lara’s voice trailed off.
“I’m happy I took everyone’s advice and made the first move. But now…” She paused again, not sure how to explain her feelings while not sounding completely crazy.
“You wish he would initiate things,” Cora finished for her.
“Yeah. He’s been so careful with me. And I love being on top and being in charge of our lovemaking. But I think I want him to be a little more…in control.”
“You aren’t worried that you won’t be able to handle that emotionally?” Cora asked, serious now.
“A little,” Lara said honestly. “But I know Owl, and if I do start to slide into my memories, he’ll bring me back.”
Cora’s eyes filled with tears again.
“Lord, what are you crying aboutnow?” Lara teased, glad to lighten the conversation a little.
“I’m just so happy you have a man like you’ve always wanted.”
“This might not last,” Lara warned. “What is it Sandra Bullock said in the movieSpeed? Relationships formed under intense situations never last? My situation is probably as intense as they can get.”
“Whatever,” Cora said, waving a hand in the air dismissively. “I know how much you love that movie, you’ve made me watch it a million times, and it’s not because you love action flicks. It’s a heroine-in-peril movie.”
Lara grinned at that. She’d had a long conversation with Cora at one point about how she didn’t like the term “damsel in distress,” because it had negative connotations and inferred that the woman was sitting around, waiting for a man to “save” her. Heroine in peril didn’t seem quite as bad.
“I do love that movie,” Lara admitted.
“And Owl is your Jack,” Cora said with a sigh.
“I think he is,” Lara whispered.
