“Fuck no. I’d kill you.” She said with such sincerity that Caleb couldn’t help but chuckle against her thigh.

“Where’d you learn to talk like that?” he mocked gently. She responded by rocking her hips up slightly. She winced a little and they both remembered how hurt she was. He didn’t want to make her ask again. He caressed her leg and delved his tongue a little deeper, probing, sucking her deep, pink folds into his mouth.

Unconsciously, she attempted to pull away from his mouth. Not because she wasn’t enjoying it he knew, but because the sensation of being licked and sucked simultaneously was nearly too much sensation to bear. His mind entertained a fantasy of his cock being sucked into her mouth, the tip licked by her soft tongue and he groaned against her. His hips rocked hard into the bed, but he remained focused on her pleasure. He let up a little, allowing her to adjust and then he pulled her in tight and did it again.

She gasped and moaned and rocked her little pussy on the tip of his eager tongue and this time there was no thought of pain. There was only pleasure.

His fingers found her and spread her open. Within her wet folds he found the tiny opening to her body. He licked it and she shivered. He slicked the tip his finger against her clit, loving the way she whimpered and writhed. She moaned. “Caleb,” and then her hands were in the way, pressing his fingers to her flesh in a plea for something she didn’t fully understand yet. Her hand clutched at his, “It feels…oh god. I think…” And the rest went unsaid as he moved his hand against her clit and his mouth sucked her fingers.

He felt her pussy pulse beneath his hand and he wished he could see it, those tiny muscles contracting. Her pussy leaking wetness onto the bed. He’d lick that up too. But this wasn’t about him.

For a long time, he rested his cheek against her thigh, panting and breathless, even as she was also panting and breathless. Her hand moved slowly and he nearly sighed when she ran her fingers through his hair. Despite the fact his dick felt like it had been punched in the eye, he wished this moment could last for a very long time. He couldn’t be certain of her motives for trying to have sex with him, especially after all that had transpired between them and in the hours before he was able to reach her, but he could not deny that it had changed something in him, irrevocably. He had underestimated her in some way and she had found a way to affect him. At the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to care, but soon, it would matter very much.

“What about you?” The words were sluggish and he suspected she was only being polite and had no real intention of moving, let alone helping him finish.

He smiled. “Don’t worry about me. I’m not prone to acts of selflessness, so let’s just both enjoy this moment.” He looked up in time to see her smile to herself and then she gently nodded off to sleep.

He lifted himself off the bed as stealthily as possible and grabbed the clean sheets he had brought. The comforter was clean, so he didn’t bother moving her, he just covered her up and climbed in next to her, clothes and all. He indulged himself for several minutes, simply looking at her, beyond the bruises.

An annoying beep pulled him away from his thoughts. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to remove his clothes and rub his dick across her soft skin. He wanted inside of her.

He shook himself and got up to pick up his phone from the floor. He had received a text:

R: I’M FLYING IN. SEE YOU SOON.

He felt dizzy, then angry, then like yelling and throwing things around the room, and then…a deep, deep loss. He thought about the three and a half weeks with Livvie and the time that was now lost to them. All the debt piled high above his head. He stared at the text, feeling…nothing at all. He watched Livvie sleep and the rage that had always coiled and seethed, floated away.

Rafiq, he thought, Rafiq. Things had just become more complicated than he had ever dreamed. As he looked at the sleeping girl on the bed, only one thought entered his mind. Be strong. Whether he meant the thought for himself or the girl, he had no energy to guess. He only knew he wanted to get back in bed with her and pretend the last few minutes never happened.