Smoke and secrets | 18 +

XXIV

Tori and I laid in bed, our bare bodies pressed up against each other.

After two and a half hours, we finally wiped each other out. And now we're laying in her bed trying to come down from the intense highs we've both had tonight.

Her room is large. It's coated in black and gold. Her walls are white, with the signature 'S' at the back of the door. Her bedsheets are black with silk pillows, an ottoman at the foot of her bed which is black with smaller gold accents like the stands of it. Every single handle in her room is gold.

She had a large wall in closet tucked away to the side of the bed and a bathroom directly across from her bed.

Our bare bodies are pressed up against each other as she holds me close in her arms.

"Are you okay bambina?" She asked me softly while her fingertips caress my sides.

"I am." I said softly against her skin with my head on her chest.

We became a couple tonight. I confessed my greatest sin to her since arriving here. And she still took me in.

Yet I still had so much to tell her.

"So we're really together? As in girlfriends?" I asked her softly feeling a small smile tug on my lips.

"Sì bambina." She placed a kiss to my temple.

"I know I told you about me coming here from America under an immense amount of pretence, but I still think there's other things you should know."
I said to leaning off her.

Our legs still entangled, I laid up placing my hands on her body leaning my chin on her.

"So tell me bambina, I'm here to listen." She said with a smile on her lips.

I took a deep breath and started saying all I had to say. How everyone is here for something, to help take the saints down from the inside, how Arman is working with Killian. How we obviously know Killian has a meeting in France in two weeks but Arman is also going to that meeting.

I told her about Rev and how he's helping Sousa and convinced me to come clean because of what was going to happen wasn't going to be good.

"Bambina stop talking." She said firmly and zoned in on my arm.

"Did I do this?" She asked grazing over my bruised arm.

She hadn't noticed anything earlier, I guess because her room was dimly lit whereas now the lights are actually on. I guess they're more visible now anyways since it's been a few hours.

"Arabella, you're blue and purple," she said, softly running her fingertips along my bruises. I winced slightly at the pain, pain I didn't even know was there. I suddenly felt embarrassed by it. "Did I do this?" She asked softly looking into my eyes.

"No, no it wasn't you." I said lifting off her.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" She asked me sternly.

I sat up on her bed and she watched as I tried to hide my wrist too.

"Arabella, your wrist—" she said. She was soft but her eyes vibrated slightly. Maybe she was angry? I don't know.

Was she angry at me? I stayed silent the whole time.

"Bambina, I need you tell me who did this?" She said softly taking my hands into hers.

"No one I—"

"I don't like lies bambina." She said and I sighed taking a deep breath.

"Grey got angry earlier because he saw us. We have a history together but not anymore, not since I got here. But he got angry and I guess..." i trailed off in embarrassment.

"You don't guess anything. Come here." She tugged me into her arms, holding me close. "This is the second time in a day. I promise you we'll handle him." She held me close.

"You don't have to, I'm fine. They'll be fine in a week at most." I said against her skin.

"No, we will. I promise you, you'll be okay." She placed a kiss on my head.

In that moment she made me feel safe, like she cared. My heart thumped a little harder in my chest when she held me a little tighter. I felt safe, genuinely safe, I'd never felt like this before.

We laid in each other's arms for a moment in comfortable silence with small kisses being placed on each other every now and again. Even if the air outside was growing cold, I felt warm in her arms.

Our silence was disturbed when she got a phone call. She turned to pick up her phone and looked at the name. "I'm sorry bambina." She said and I sent her a warm smile as she picked up the phone.

Her face was stoic as someone on the other line spoke for a moment. She cut the call without saying anything which I thought was odd.

"Everything okay?" I asked her and she looked at her with a sudden soft gaze quickly.

"I need to go." She said and my heart fell.

"Why?" I asked her as she slid out from under me slowly.

"I'm sorry amore, I'll be back soon okay. Stay here, use anything you want and I'll be back soon." She said moving around her room, sliding on a pair of briefs and her bra.

"Oh okay." I said as she disappeared into her wardrobe.

She came back out in a black button up shirt and black dress pants. She rolled her shirt sleeves up onto her elbow and tying her hair up in a tight bun.

"Here amore," She handed me a pair of black shorts and a big oversized white shirt. "Pyjamas." She said in her usual raspy voice.

I took them silently from her and sat them next to me. "I'll be back soon." She said.

"How long will you be gone?" I asked her softly. I didn't want her to leave, I wanted us to just lie in bed next to each other in comfortable silence.

"Not long, less than four hours bambina."

"Oh, okay." I said calmly. It's four hours, I'll be asleep in four hours anyways.

"Good, have a shower and use anything, okay. There's an extra toothbrush under the sink on the left side, and everything else is in the shower." She said leaning down to place a kiss to my lips.

"Okay." I blushed softly. She kissed me once more and then left.

I smiled like an idiot while looking down at the clothes she'd given me. I felt so giddy.

I went to her bathroom to have a shower. It was enormous. The bathroom floor and counters were marbled black and like her bedroom, had gold accents, while her walls stayed white. She had two sinks, each with their own mirror and under cabinet space.

She had a white large bathtub. It was Victorian style with little bathroom legs, it was tucked away in a corner next to a window which had a great view of the city lights. Her shower was large, it had three shower heads. Two on either side and one rainfall shower head in the middle.

I started the rainfall shower head and waited for it to steam up before I stepped inside. She had a body wash that smelt like flowers, roses to be exact, so I used some. I decided to wash my hair too so I used her shampoo and conditioner which smelled like coconuts, it was refreshing.

Once I finished I stepped out, dried myself off and used her rose scented body lotion before putting my pyjamas on and stepping to the sink. I brushed my teeth and had to settle for no skincare tonight because I wasn't sure if she had any.

I went back into her room and finally laid back into her bed. I curled up quickly and closed my eyes to fall asleep.