Page 193 of Bend
"You'll not be wearing that shit to bed because I swear I'll rip them off of you. Unacceptable, babe."
"Cain," I whined, "For Chrissake, I'm sore. Can we just cuddle for a bit?"
He turned back to the mirror, tilted his face upward so that he could take his razor up under his chin.
"We did that cuddling shit earlier," he replied, shaking the razor to get the shaving cream off in the sink full of water. "This is our last night together," he said plainly. "I want to make it memorable."
I had to smile. "On two conditions," I parried.
He looked at my reflection in the mirror, quirking a brow again and waiting to hear my conditions.
"First," I said, "We sleep in my room tonight, okay?"
He nodded and waited for me to continue.
"Secondly, uh…can you be extra gentle?" I asked hesitantly because, the truth was, my crotch was, in fact, sore from all the attention he'd been giving it for the last day and a half.
"Why do you think I'm standing here removing my face stubble, babe? You think I can't see your reddened skin?"
I felt myself blush, of all things. Where in the hell did that come from? This man had seen and licked every inch of my body, including every crack and crevice, the truth be told.
I stifled a giggle and left the bathroom, pulling off all of the sheets on their bed
and throwing them into the washer.
I re-made their bed with fresh sheets and blankets.
"Why are you doing that?" Cain asked as he came out of the bathroom, wearing a white T-shirt and low-slung pajama pants.
I shrugged. "I just don't think I want Eli to come home to sheets that…you know?"
"What? Smell like our sex?"
"Yes," I said, quickly, tossing a bit of a glare into it.
"Don't you think that I would've had the good sense to do that?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, Cain," I sighed. "This is just…new to me. I don't think I'll know how to act around him when he comes home."
I was tucking in the top sheet when he came over and pulled me around to face him.
"Stop," he said firmly. "Eli knows what's happening with us this weekend and he is fine with it," he said, annunciating the last six words.
I turned from him, and continued making up the bed. "He's fine with it because he loves you," I said, a hint of exasperation in my voice. "And he would allow this before he'd ever want to lose you and I guess I don't blame him."
"Hey," he said, a little louder, "He loves you, too. He doesn't want to lose you either."
"It's not the same, Cain," I said, sighing loudly. "It's just not the same thing."
He grabbed me then, pulling me up against his hard chest. "You need to give it some time, baby. You'll see. It's all gonna work out fine."
He stroked my hair with his hand, and he held me against him and for a minute, I wanted to totally believe that he was right.
That everything would work out fine.
chapter 17
To say that things were a bit…strange after Eli returned home Monday evening would be a bit of an understatement.
