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You hear the door close behind you and the lock twist. You turn around to look at her. She’s exhausted. It’s obvious in every way; her shoulders slightly sag downwards, her eyes blink rapidly, as if they’re fighting to stay open. Her whole posture has changed in these last weeks, but you know there’s still fire inside. If something came barging in right now, she would fight to the very end and you would be there by her side.
But maybe it doesn’t have to be like that. Maybe tonight – just for tonight, just this once – you could have some peace.
“C’mere,” you whisper and hold out a hand towards Laura. She steps closer to take it and laces your fingers together. You trail your other hand up her arm, to her shoulder and rest it behind her neck. Lips press a soft kiss to her forehead before you lean forward to rest yours against it. Her eyes are closed and a single tear is slowly making its way down her cheek. You know very well all the emotion behind it, so you embrace her as she lets go.
She’s sobbing quietly into your shoulder while you stroke her hair. You know that nothing needs to be said. It’s just not what she needs right now. There’s a soft light glowing in the room; you found some candles and the energy is so calm in here, you almost have a hard time believing it.
As her soft cries subside, you pull back a little to wipe the evidence of your journey away from her cheeks. You give her a little smile, which to your relief she returns. It’s been a while since you saw that. It does wonders to your chest.
“I- I want to sleep,” she says in barely a whisper.
God, yes.
You turn to look at the giant, incredibly comfortable-looking bed behind you and gesture towards it. She starts walking over there, but stops.
Laura steps into your personal space to glance up at you. You kind of get lost into her tired eyes, before you feel her hands tug at your sweater. It takes a few seconds to understand what she’s doing, but she pulls it upwards and it gets blatantly clear that she wants it off.
“Laura, stop.” You put your hands over hers to stop her. This is taking a different turn than you thought.
“As much as I want you, don’t you think that this-” You pause for a second. “That this isn’t really the time nor place?” Well this is very uncharacteristic of you. Turning down advances from cute girls are usually a rarity.
But this is Laura. Cupcake.
You can actually smell the blush spreading across her face and you thank your stars for having spent so much time with her that it doesn’t bother you. No matter how hungry you are right now.
“I- I didn’t mean. I don’t want- Or yes, I do want. I like really, really want. I mean, look at you. Who wouldn’t? I mean- Not now. Not-“
“Laura.” You can’t stand her nervous babbling. You don’t want her to get even more exhausted. It effectively stops her downward spiral into incoherent spluttering.
You lift her chin because her eyes are locked on the floor. She meets your eyes slowly.
“What do you want?”
“Skin,” she blurts out. Her eyes widen. She probably didn’t mean for it to come out like that. “I mean, I need-“ She has to pause too. She takes a deep breath and tightens her arms around your waist.
“I need to be closer. I want you closer. And I want to sleep.” She closes her eyes, the exhaustion really taking over now.
Your body responds with an aching need to feel her skin against yours. It’s not anything sexual about it, although you won’t deny the anticipation of the notion.
You let go of her hand and she opens her eyes again, staring at you for a while, before she gently starts pulling it off. You lift your arms to help and the black top you’re wearing underneath comes into view. When the sweater is dropped to the floor and you see her hesitate, you slowly lift it yourself. Her eyes land on the smooth skin of your stomach being revealed to her. You see her swallow as you throw the top to a nearby chair.
You are well aware of the affect you have on the girls you’ve been with, but somehow, having Laura’s eyes on you like this, makes you feel like bats have taken residence in your stomach. It’s a foreign feeling. You decide that you like it.
She seems kind of dazed, but you continue, kicking off your boots and socks before unbuttoning you pants. You push the garment down your legs and step out of them. Since this is anything but sexual, you leave your underwear on. You have time for that later.
This is possibly the most intimate situation you’ve ever been in and you can’t help feeling a little vulnerable like this. But you let her set the pace here, so you stand perfectly still, determined to keep looking at her. She doesn’t meet your gaze though. Her eyes are basically raking across your body, seemingly taking it all in. Vulnerable as you are, you can’t help but smile at how cute she is.
Her hand reaches to carefully stroke from the front of your stomach to your side. The sensation makes you close your eyes. This whole thing is kind of overwhelming. Still not in a sexual way – it’s the intimacy of it that’s getting to you. You want to feel her too.
“Can I?” You ask as you lay a hand at the hem of her sweater. She looks up at you again and nods. You give her a reassuring smile before dragging it off. Her hair cascades in all directions as it lifts off her body. You run your hands down her arms and silently ask for permission to remove her t-shirt as well. Another nod and soon it joins her sweater on the floor.
God, she’s so beautiful.
“Thank you.” The blush is still there, making her shyly look down again.
You didn’t realize you said that out loud. Good going, Karnstein. Losing control of your speech.
She doesn’t let you stare for long before she bends down to remove shoes, socks and pants in what seems like a hurry. You guess the anticipation is getting to her. It’s definitely getting to you.
When she straightens up again, she doesn’t realize you stepped forward and she finds herself inches from your face. There’s a quick intake of breath when you slide a hand around her back to slowly pull her closer. Then there’s just a second that feels like it’s frozen in time when her skin connects to yours. You both sigh and then she’s kissing you.
It’s slow and delicate. You can feel how tired she is by the way her lips move and you can feel it in the way she’s leaning against you. You’re pretty sure her legs are going to give out soon, so you break the kiss and lead her to the bed.
Laura crawls under the covers and you follow. She’s facing you when you slide as close as possible, running a hand across her waist and pulling her against you. The action makes her moan and for the first time tonight you have to internally shake off the hot spark of lust going through your body when your legs tangle together. Not the time.
The way she’s looking at you right now is overwhelming to say the least, but you keep her gaze. You let your hand trail patterns across her back and you can see that she’s barely hanging on. Her eyes are fluttering, but she leans forward to kiss you again. It’s the softest kiss you’ve ever received. For once you feel yourself letting go of the tension you didn’t even notice you’d been holding on to. You can’t remember ever feeling this peaceful.
Laura tucks her head into the crook of your shoulder and you can feel her letting go too. You keep stroking her back until you can’t possibly stay awake any longer.
The world can stay outside these walls for tonight. This can be our little forever, is the last thought going through your mind as you close your eyes.