She didn’t resist or say anything as I reached for the bottle of shampoo.
“I’ve never assumed to know you, Sully,” she said, tilting her head back while I poured water over it and began massaging shampoo into her hair. “You’re as much a mystery to me as the Order and the Oleander are.”
“I like long walks on the beach, Labrador dogs, and a cognac by a raging fire,” I played. The conversation was getting far too serious for my comfort. “And apparently I like washing the hair of pretty blondes.”
She giggled. “Well, this blonde thanks you. I’m finally starting to feel normal again. If the intent of the Order was to make me feel beastly, then they succeeded. I actually felt like a feral animal out there on the run.”
“Those assholes are sick in the head,” I said as I rinsed out the shampoo and reached for the conditioner.
“Sully?” she said softly. “Do you think we’re going to complete the 109 days?”
I released a deep breath. “I do. I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but I think you and I have something going for us.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re both stubborn asses.”
She laughed. “You’re right about that.”
“And we both don’t want them to win. If we lose… Well, I don’t want to hand them that satisfaction.”
“Nor do I,” she said.
“Well, then let’s make a commitment that no matter what, we complete the Trial and refuse to allow them to break us.”
“Deal. Us against them.”
“Us against them,” I echoed.
My next moves were guided by a man who genuinely had feelings for the woman sitting in a pool of bubbles, locked in a mansion of hate.
This wasn’t me. I didn’t nurture. I didn’t care. But Portia deserved for me to do exactly that. She was owed gentle, she was due kindness, and she had earned devotion.
At least for now.
At least for tonight.
I helped her out of the bathtub and wrapped a fluffy towel around her. Her big eyes looked up at me in a silent thank you.
No more aggression.
No more harsh.
No more edge of a jagged blade.
Not tonight.
I brought her over to the counter and reached for her brush. Not asking permission, but not feeling I had to either, I ran the bristles through her hair. She watched my actions in the reflection of the mirror in silence.
We didn’t speak.
But we didn’t need to.
Right now, we just needed each other.
We were in the middle of a game not for everyone. It was a nightmare we endured together. We shared something that I’d never share with another. I needed her. She needed me.
If I was mean to her, then that meant I was being mean to myself.
We were one now.
At least in the Oleander.
As I combed through the final tangle, she turned and kissed me as gently as I had been combing her hair.
I wasn’t planning on fucking her tonight. That wasn’t my intent. Not after everything she went through tonight. But as she dropped the towel and stood damp and ready before me, she gave me no choice.
I needed to be inside of her.
She definitely gave me no other option when she began shedding me of my clothing.
“I need you,” she whispered between our kisses.
We needed each other.
Once my clothes were off, I picked her up and sat her on the bathroom counter. She wrapped her legs around my waist and drove her tongue deeper into my mouth.
I ran my fingers through her hair and resisted the urge to tug. I liked rough sex, but not tonight. Tonight was about her. Making her feel safe and cared for.
Spreading her legs wide, I lowered myself down between her thighs. Inhaling deeply, drowning my senses with her essence, I kissed.
“Sully…” she purred as she took hold of my hair, and it was her turn to pull.
The muscles in her thighs constricted, encouraging me to continue on. My kisses turned to licks as I circled my tongue over every inch of her smooth pussy lips. She cried out and pressed into my face as my mouth found her clit.
As a reward for her visible and audible lust, I inserted two fingers into her pussy as I swirled my tongue with the goal to make her cum on my lips.
“Oh my god, Sully…” Her words came out as pants and her legs quivered around me.
“Come for me,” I ordered as I pumped my fingers in deeper. I wanted to do nothing more than to simply give her pleasure.
The submissive side of her instantly complied with my command. Her mewls grew in intensity as she jerked her hips beneath me in a moan of completion.
Before she could fully get her breath back, she said, “I want you inside of me. Now.”
I was never one to take direction from others, but in this case, I would most certainly make an exception. Not wasting another minute, I stood up and positioned her body at the edge of the counter so I could thrust my hard cock inside of her.