“Well, I’m on my way back to you now, but… hopefully only long enough to load you up and take you with me.”
“… oh.” I squeaked, suddenly blushing. “I… I had this horrible thought…”
“What… that I wanted to be in a strange room in a strange place all by myself on Sunday night? Willa, are you deranged?”
“Some people think I am…”
“Willa!” she griped, despairing. “You need to get over yourself! You need to get over this fear you have that… that I’m going to cut and run from you. I couldn’t. I couldn’t ever. Don’t you see? Don’t you get it yet? You’re… you’re one of the two best things in my life! How could I want to be anywhere else but in your arms tonight? How is that even something you feel you have to question?”
I dug my nails into my thigh and tried to count to three.
“Willa? Are you still there?”
“Trying not to blub,” I gulped, at last.
“Oh, my love,” she said softly. “Just breathe. I’m… I’m about ten minutes away. Move that lovely rump of yours and start packing, will you? The room has an en-suite with a nice deep bath. I think we both deserve one after the last twenty four hours. And I’ll rub your shoulders for you too.”
“I’ll… I’ll get started.”
“See you now.”
She hung up; I sniffed and walked distractedly back to the boys.
“You okay, Willa?” said Pete, eyeing me with concern. “You look…”
“Um… I… think so… I just… I need to pack.”
“Pack?” said Marius. “Why? Where are you going?”
“To… to a rather nice hotel, I think…”
“In the company of the lovely and delectable Samantha?”
“Yeah,” I said, distractedly.
“I think I’m in love with Sam,” Marius stage-whispered to Pete.
“Get in line,” Pete growled. “I’m in love with her first. Willa, do you want to borrow a kit bag? It will be far easier to manage than that awful suitcase of yours.”
“Um… that… that would be grand, yeah,” I managed.
And then I simply sat there for a moment, trying to digest what she’d said to me.
Packing was easy; tomorrow would be a work day, so I dug out my bright primary blue skirt and a selection of tee shirts. I folded two thin cardigans and a peddler’s grab-bag of underwear and added them to Pete’s bag. I added some thin socks and a pair of tights in case it was cold. I had no toiletries; they’d been abandoned in Sam’s bathroom during our escape.
Sam arrived and Pete ushered her to our living area and made her a coffee while I packed the last few things I’d need.
“Hey,” I breathlessly greeted her as I closed my bedroom door on the chaos within.
“Hey yourself. Are you good to go?”
“Yeah.”
“Right,” she said. “Bye Pete. Bye Marius. Be wicked.”
“I really love her,” Marius told his partner, and Sam grinned at him.
Then she took my hand and dragged me away.
.:.
“I could get used to this,” I groaned.
“Lean forward. Let me rub your shoulders a bit more. Want some more hot water?”
“Oh my word this is so nice…”
“Yes. It’s a nice set of rooms. Clean, neat, and most importantly to me right now it’s safe and anonymous. It has a balcony, by the way. I paid extra for that, I thought it might be nice for breakfast… oh… oh my goodness, Willa, that muscle is locked up tight…”
“Uh… huh…” I drooled. “It’s… been a stressful weekend…”
“Willa, don’t you dare fall asleep on me.”
“I… I can’t help it; you melt me, you make me feel so warm and fuzzy…”
“Yes, well, likewise, but I’m not strong enough to lift you out of the tub if you start snoring, sweetheart.”
“Spoilsport.”
She laughed at that, and leaned in to kiss my neck.
“Mm,” I whispered, squirming. “Oh, oh God, your kisses are to die for.”
“Stop flirting,” she said, tartly.
“Or else what.”
“Or else…this…”
She let go of me, and I heard various interesting noises that indicated that her remaining items of clothing were being removed and discarded.
“Right,” she announced. “This is your fault. Move forward and make space, because I’m coming in there with you. To support you. Morally.”
“I have no morals where you are concerned.”
“I know that,” she said, sounding insufferably pleased.
She stepped daintily into the tub behind me, and slowly lowered herself into the water, slipping her slender legs between me and the side of the bathtub. Water began to run through the overflow – a merry gurgling that somehow set me giggling.
“You are completely crackers,” she said as she settled.
“I did warn you. I’m fucking knackered. So… I’m about three times worse, I guess. Borderline hysterical.”
She put her arms around me and pulled me back against her.
“Relax,” she whispered. “I’ve got you. And… Willa, honestly, tell those nipples of yours to go to sleep for now. They’re very distracting when they get all… hard… like that.”
“Sorry. I told you. Everything’s three times worse. And I do mean everything. Oh God you feel good…”
“Mm,” she said, as she ran her hands slowly over me. “So. Want to hear a funny story?”
“About…”
“Well… I suppose it’s not really all that funny. But… I want to tell it to you anyway.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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