Damage

Chapter 39

LUKE

When I wake up, it's to the sound of bossa nova and the feel of fingertips on my jawline. Through the closed curtains I can see that the sky outside is dark and grey. The dark curtains aren't letting that much light in, but there are a few candles lit beside the bed and on the dresser. I didn't even know I had candles.

It takes a while to completely wake up and lift myself out of a fog, but when I do, I see Mia straddling my body, running her fingertips along the hem of my shirt.

I smile groggily and my voice is raspy with sleep. "I could get used to this, you know," I say and Mia smiles that knock-your-lights out smile.

"Mornin' sleepy," she says. And it feels like a fucking dream.

Her hair is still wet, twisted messily into a bun with little, dark curls falling out, framing her face and curling against the nape of her neck. She's wearing the same sweatshirt as this morning and I look at the clock, half-past four.

"How'd I fall asleep?" Mia smiles again and leaps off the bed to draw the curtains back, letting in the soft, silvery light from the rainy November day.

"I went to take a shower after we...well," she smiles. "And when I got out, you were asleep with your book on your chest and your glasses down."

I must have been asleep for at least 3 hours.

I smell the faint wafts of garlic and onion. "Are you cooking something?"

Mia smiles and comes back to the bed, straddling me as I sit up against the headboard.

"Mmmhmm, and it's almost done." Her big, almond-shaped eyes gleam and she kisses me, tasting like summer fruit in the middle of fall.

Mia's never looked this happy and in the soft light, she looks so beautiful it hurts. "What's got you all smiling?" I ask.

Mia leans in, her mouth millimeters away from my eye, her face inches from mine. "You look cute when you're asleep," she whispers, giggling as she finishes the sentence.

Then she leans back again, still sitting astride me.

Amused, I retort, "Oh so you think I'm cute?"

She smiles. "Mmhmm." And then she innocently fiddles with the neckline of my t-shirt. "And it's funny, because when you're awake, especially when I first met you and when I see you around other people, you're so dark and intimidating, so hard around the edges."

But I can't get my mind off the way her skin feels, the way it feels to trace her spine up and down her naked back, the way she whimpers my name when my lips are just underneath her ear and in the crook between the base of her neck and her collarbone.

Languidly, I lift up the oversized sweatshirt to reveal her plain white bra and the way it contrasts against her skin.

"Luke," she laughs but I silence her by placing my mouth against hers. I want her. Now.

She responds, her small frame sighing against me as she kisses me back. Slowly, I pull down the straps of her bra with my mouth still on hers, pulling away to admire every inch of skin.

But before I can, she nervously covers herself seconds after her bra tumbles down. I shake my head and then kiss her, whispering "Don't worry" against her lips as she drops her hands to her sides. Gingerly, I slide one hand up her side and the other up her back, pulling her close to me. With her mouth still on mine, I feel her soft breasts for only a moment before her body arches in pleasure against me.

I deepen the kiss as I lower my hands from her waist to the space where the bottom of her spine meets her ass, letting my hands cup it then slide across until they're against the backs of her thighs.