Lies We Tell

10 : The Morning After

Zahra woke feeling well-rested even despite the sunlight blasting in her face. It wasn't too bright yet,— just enough to shake her from her sleep— but it would be soon. As she stretched in place, her senses slowly came back to her as memories of the night before flickered through her head. She remembered the dumping, Henrik's disappointment, and his request of her. She remembered Henrik and Rocco leaving, everyone's quiet night in bed, and asking Lucas to join her-

A heavy exhale against her exposed shoulder blade made Zahra freeze mid-stretch. "Do you always move this much first thing in the morning?" Lucas mumbled, his voice gravelly and thick with sleep.

Zahra drew her arms into her chest, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry," she mumbled back. "I forgot where I was for a minute."

Lucas hummed, and her skin vibrated where his cheek pressed against her. With another heavy exhale, he propped himself up to peer down at her. "You forgot where you were, or you forgot who you were with?"

She peeked at him through her eyelashes over her shoulder, noting the slight disarray of his normally perfectly coiffed hair. It satisfied her to see a little more natural and a little less perfect side to him. "I've been sleeping mostly alone. You can't blame me," she retorted, defending herself.

He gave her a half smile. "So an active morning isn't a regular occurrence then?"

Zahra's stomach tightened at the implied flirtation. "Guess you'll just have to find out," she replied breezily. She rolled then, shifting from her side onto her back, and winced at the soreness in her shoulder.

Lucas noticed her wince and leaned over to take a look. "A little stiff this morning?"

"I must have just laid on it wrong or for too long." She shook off his concern, making as if to sit up. "In case you didn't notice, I didn't move much last night."

Sitting up himself, Lucas tried to coax her back down. "Can I take a look this time?"

Zahra almost argued, but with a burst of confidence, she teased him instead. "You just want to get your hands on me, don't you?"

He inhaled sharply, and his gaze grew hooded. "No doubt about it, but trust me, this won't be enough."

She flushed at his forwardness. "Um-" When he nodded at her shoulder, she finally agreed. "Okay. Thanks."

Lucas smirked at her. "Don't thank me just yet. Roll over." She shot him a look of protest, which he brushed off easily. "You were tense last night, and one magic night of sleep with me didn't change that. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this right. Roll."

After a moment of hesitation, Zahra obeyed and rolled onto her stomach as he asked, holding her breath in anticipation as she waited for him to move. She felt him shift position until he balanced his weight in a straddle over her, then his hands were in her hair, gathering it all up and twisting it out of the way. "If it gets to be too much, just tell me to stop."

A knot of nerves knit together in her stomach at his warning, but before she could overthink it, his hands were on her shoulders, and the pressure he applied was perfect. His firm, targeted strokes along her shoulders, neck, and upper back elicited both pain and pleasure, and Zahra couldn't help but sigh her approval into the mattress.

Lucas chuckled above her, kneading her shoulders a bit more firmly. "Feels good?"

"So good," she moaned before she could stop herself. "So, so good."

His strokes faltered for a split second before resuming. "It's no wonder," he commented, digging his thumbs into her shoulder blades and pulling a groan from deep within Zahra's chest. "You're so tight."