Take Courage, My Heart

Chapter Twenty-Two

I stretched my arms out a yawn and at the feel of the empty space around me, I frowned and lifted my head off the pillow. Leander was nowhere to be found. The sheets were ruffled all around me and I was naked, having fallen asleep after two more orgasms that he had pulled out of me the previous night. And yet, despite all the sex, the room didn't smell too bad. The curtains were drawn from the windows, light gray clouds in the sky. And Leander was nowhere to be found.

I couldn't smell him in the room or the adjacent bathroom, and I couldn't pinpoint his heartbeat. With a pout, I sat up and exhaled heavily. We were exclusive now, but we weren't dating so I didn't have a right to feel upset over it. I didn't even know why I was upset over it. I had never woken up next to anyone before. Had never had someone to wake up to.

The door was unlocked from the outside and I went a little rigid at the electronic sound, but as it opened, I relaxed, Leander's scent hitting my nose.

"Oh, you're awake," he noted with an easy tone and my face turned into more of a grimace. I hummed and fell back on the bed, looking up to the ceiling and knowing I was being stupid about it. Bratty. "Are you okay?" he asked, coming to a stop, by the foot of the bed. He was holding onto a plastic bag, I could hear the crinkling of it, but I didn't look down to check what it was.

With a deep breath, I rolled onto my stomach, pressing my nose to the pillow he must have laid on –even if only for a couple of hours. His scent on it was slowly fading. A low hum left my lips and Leander let the bag he was holding onto fall to the ground. I heard him shuffle around the bed and then felt his fingertips move up the back of my thigh, drawing little circles as he made his way to my lower back and massaged me.

"Use your words, baby," he said, pressing his fingers into the fading sore spots on my lower back and ass.

"You left again," I mumbled against the pillow, squirming a little and then hissing as my bare skin rubbed against the sheets. I turned my head to the side and looked out the window at the darkening sky, bringing my hands up to cradle the pillow under my head. "Where did you go?" I asked and grimaced at just how needy I sounded.

Leander stopped massaging me and moved his one hand up the length of my back, settling at the nape of my neck, fingers playing with my hair as he lowered down to crouch next to me. The inner corners of his eyebrows were pulled in a soft frown, lips forming a small pout.

"Just went to pick something up for later. Are you okay? We might have to go back to Vancouver tonight so we should leave soon. I am looking forward to leaving this place; you should have seen how the receptionists looked at me this morning," he said, and my grimace only worsened.

"You are never there when I wake up," I whined and inhaled with purpose. I was over myself and over this, so I sat up and went to the chair by the window, where the clothes I had been wearing the previous night were folded neatly.

Leander came up behind me and fastened the chain I had been wearing around my waist. I was in the process of putting on my pants and my movements came to a halt when his arms wrapped around me after he was done with the chain, pulling my back until I was pressed against his chest. A soft kiss was pressed to the side of my neck, and he quickly followed it up with two more, one closer to my spine and the other higher up and underneath my ear.

"I'm sorry, next time I'll stick around," he whispered against my skin. "Is that why you are grumpy? Does my brat want cuddles in the morning?" he went on, his voice turning a little bit more teasing, and I exhaled, letting my shoulders slump.

"Is that all that I am?" I managed to ask, leaning my head back and looking at Leander out of the corner of my eye. "Your brat? Your exclusive baby?"

Sex was fun and all, but to deny that I had growing feelings for him felt wrong, especially when we were spending so much time together. When we shared a bed and had become exclusive physically. Was it that bad of me to ask for some emotional exclusivity?