“Mmhmm,” she nods.
“Look at me.” I tilt her chin up. “You sure?”
Her eyes are sleepy but a little less hazy than before. “I'm blissed out but very much ok.” She cups my cheek. “Are you?”
My heart gives a squeeze at the question. I've been in enough situations where my partner didn't ask. Which, considering I typically chose the Dominant position, was fine. But it felt good to be asked.
I nod. “As long as you let me take care of you a little, I'll be just fine.”
She smiles. “This is the one situation where I won't fight that.”
“Why does that not shock me?”
She feigns an offended face, her mouth open, aghast. I can't help but take the chance to kiss her again, tasting her. I pull back before we're both breathless and before my cock writes a check the rest of me is too damn tired to cash.
True to her word, Toni lets me lavish her with attention in the shower and towel off every inch of her perfect body.
Much like music, the power exchange afforded by this dynamic does something to quiet my internal storm. Something about another person being willing to trust me with their body, their pleasure, their care after the fact, lets me put down some of the weight of my own distrust of myself. If someone else trusted me in this way, how dare I not afford myself the same, at least in these moments?
Back in bed, I pull Toni tight into my side, savoring the warmth of her soft body beside me.
“By the way,” she says sleepily, “these sheets are incredible.”
I chuckle low. “They better be for what they cost.”
“A man who splurges on bed linens, I like it.”
“A man who's willing to do damn near anything to try and get a good night of sleep every once in a while.” She presses her lips to my chest, just above my heart.
“Do they help?”
I shrug. “They don't hurt.”
“That's good.” She yawns, snuggling into me.
“Mhm.” After a few minutes, I feel her breathing grow steady. “Sleep well, Toni.”
Sunlight floodsthrough the window when I finally crack my eyes open.
The clock on my nightstand must be broken. No way in hell it was almost ten. Except my phone also insists it's 9:53 am.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept this late. Wallow in bed? Sure. But actually sleep? Years.
Toni is still sound asleep, looking serene with the side of her face against the pillow, facing me, red curls slipping out from her messy bun. My hand moves without thought to tuck a loose curl away from her face.
God, she practically glows. Radiant, like some precious thing from a better place than any I'd ever know.
I swallow hard, writing the static growing in my belly off as hunger.
Pressing my lips to her temple, I gently stroke my hand down the bare skin of her back. “Toni,” I whisper into her ear. “Wake up, doll.”
She lets loose a small sleepy sound before curling up into me, the button of her nose nuzzling into my chest.
“I'll make you coffee,” I try to bribe.
“Hmm, lots of coffee,” her voice is sleep-rough and lovely.
“As much as you want.”
