“I don’t expect you to,” she sighed, resting her forehead against mine. “I’ll never do that to you, James, I swear. I’ll never leave you so exposed, and I’ll never risk your job. I’d leave myself before you suffered, I promise.”
I kissed her nose, breathing in the soft hint of Amber. “I don’t want you to leave your job, Lydia, and I don’t want to leave mine, that’s one of the problems.”
“This is a conversation for a long time away,” she sighed, yawning. “It’s not for now, now is just us, Cat and Masque. James and Lydia can sort that shit out one day far away, if they ever get that far.”
“And you’re happy with that, Lydia? Seriously? You can live without sandwiches at lunchtime and a public declaration of adoration.”
She grinned, eyes sparkling. “I can live without those things, I just can’t live without Masque.” She breathed deeply, her mouth just a fraction away from mine. “I would like more, though, nothing much, just a little more than Explicit. I want some real time with you, when you’re not wearing a mask and we’re not at the office. Like in Brighton, I love it there.”
“I can’t promise anything, Lydia, but I’ll try. I can’t let go of this wall I’ve built up, I don’t know where it finishes and I begin.”
“I can relate to that,” she laughed. “I’m the one who can’t cry, remember?”
“I guess we’ll both try our best and see what happens.”
“That’s good enough for me,” she said. Her sweet little mouth pressed onto mine and I pulled her right the way onto my lap. “It’s late, James, I’m really tired.”
“Bed time for tired little girls,” I said, rising from the sofa and taking her with me. I walked through to her room, laying her out on her bed.
She smiled up at me through sleepy eyes. “Goodnight, James,” she said. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“You’ll see me a lot sooner than that,” I said. “Scoot up, will you? Unless you want me to sleep in Rebecca’s bed, she might get a shock.”
She scuttled along, throwing open the covers. “You’re staying? Really?”
“It seems a good night for firsts, Cat, don’t you think?”
I threw off my clothes, slid in beside her. Her bed smelt of Cherry Blossom and White Lily and her. It smelt of her. I pulled her into me, her head on my chest, and she felt so fucking good.
The beast slept, finally. He slept like a baby in Lydia Marsh’s arms.
***
Chapter Fifteen
Lydia
I woke with James beside me, my head in the crook of his shoulder as he slept. The night still felt a blur, but he was here, he was real. He rolled towards me in his sleep, wrapping me in warm arms, and slowly, ever so slowly, he opened his eyes.
“Good morning, Miss Marsh, what a pleasant surprise.”
“Not that surprising,” I whispered. “Considering this is my bed.”
“That is a fair point.” I felt his swollen cock against my thigh. It sent a flurry of nerves around my stomach.
“Horny, James? I didn’t think sex in a bed would be your style.”
“I’ll make an exception,” he said. “Do excuse me if I taste of stale scotch.”
I opened my mouth for his tongue. “You taste like you, and stale scotch,” I breathed. “I like it.”
He pinned my arms above my head, moving to rest on top of me. “I’ll take your beautiful cunt any way I can get it, Lydia,” he groaned. “I can’t get enough of your sweet little snatch.”
We both jumped at the rapping on the bedroom door. Rebecca hardly left it a second before she launched her way in.
“Hey lovebirds, sorry to gatecrash, but I’m having a bit of a personal crisis out here. I’ve been waiting a fucking age for you two to wake the fuck up.”
James didn’t move his arms, just looked over this shoulder at her. “It seems quite the time for personal crises.”
She perched herself on the bed without any hint of reservation, resting her head on his shoulder. “It’s Cara,” she said. “I fucked up.”
James eased himself off me, freeing my wrists. “I think we can make room for another small one, can’t we, Lydia?”
I nodded, pulling the covers back enough for Bex to join us in bed. It felt surprisingly normal, but my standards of normal had already warped considerably. Rebecca lay back on my pillow, staring at the ceiling while her arm draped across my waist. “It’s fucking Jaz’s fault,” she said. “All of it. We were arguing, after you’d both left. I was up in her face and she was screaming at me, and then we were in the toilet, and she pulled my hair and I’m pretty sure I gave her a decent thump around the jaw, you know how it goes.”