Love's Not a Competition

Chapter 10

Rick runs his finger along my collarbone and I give a little shiver. The storm has cooled the air considerably and breeze from a slightly open window chills my overheated body. It's not only the cool air though, it's Rick's touch as well that causes the shiver, one of pleasure.

"Are you cold?" He asks, reaching down and pulling the duvet, currently tangled around our legs, higher so that it is covering us more fully.

"No, not now."

"Good." Nevertheless he tucks the duvet more closely around us. "Cherry... are you okay? With what we just did? I am, but I realise that for you... I don't want you to think that..."

We're lying face to face in his bed having intimately explored each other's bodies, making love to the background soundtrack of the thunderstorm and the rain still falling outside. I know I should feel guilty that I've just cheated on my fiancé, but I don't. I feel relaxed and calm, as if this was meant to happen.

I move forward and press my lips against his, stopping his hesitant words with a small kiss. Drawing back I smile, "I probably shouldn't be, but yes, I am okay with it; there were two more than willing participants in this I seem to remember."

"That's good." He lifts his hand to my cheek and strokes it with the back of his fingers, letting his hand trail down my neck and along my collarbone again. "This is pretty," he says, indicating the small butterfly at the end of my tattoo that sits on the tip of my shoulder, "can I see the rest of it properly?"

"Of course," I sit up and turn around angling my body so that he can see the full extent of the cherry blossom at the top of my spine and trailing over my left shoulder. I feel him sit up behind me and for a moment or two he just looks, or at least that's what I assume he does. Then I feel his finger trail across my skin as he traces the course of the branch that holds the blossoms. Finally he wraps his arms around me and kisses the nape of my neck.

"It's beautiful," he says, turning me gently to face him again and lying down, "almost as beautiful as you are. I'm surprised though, you never seemed like a tattoo type of person before."

"I guess I wasn't." I agree, snuggling down next to him. "I've only had it a few years, it was my 30th birthday present to myself. I don't know what turned me into a tattoo type of person, but I've not had a single regret."

I do know partly what changed me into a tattoo type person – Calum has the top of one arm and shoulder completely covered in tattoos and another round his other wrist – but I don't want to tell Rick that. It wasn't purely because of Cal I had this done though, I wanted something special to mark my 30th birthday.

"Have you got any more that I need to discover?" Rick asks, almost hopefully, although he explored almost all of my body whilst we were making love so I don't know where he expects to find another tattoo hidden.

"No, just this one... although the butterfly was a later addition." I say quietly, wondering why I said that; there's no way he would be able to tell that the butterfly wasn't done at the same time as the rest of it if I hadn't mentioned it.

"Oh?" He raises one eyebrow questioningly as I should have expected.

I hesitate, then decide to tell him why I had the butterfly added. "I had a miscarriage about six months ago, I had the butterfly done after that."

"I'm sorry Cherry, that must have been awful." He cups my cheek and leans in to kiss me tenderly.

I swallow, willing myself not to cry – it still is awful sometimes – and force a smile instead. "It was. But it was probably for the best."