Page 71 of Blueberry Cake
“I’m sure.” He still twisted the braid over his hand, brushing the other over her shoulders. “You still look so tense. Would you like a massage while we watch the movie?”
“Can we skip the movie and go straight to themassage?”
“Of course. Why don’t you get comfortable and lay on your stomach?”
He stepped back to give her room, supressing the urge to offer help. Eveline scooted closer to the headboard and then pulled her legs onto the bed. When they’d talked, she had told him she was in a wheelchair, but wasn’t clear about how much leg function she had—nor did he ask. By what he could see, she didn’t have any. Was him telling her to lay down without offering his help horrible? Was it something she needed, but was too shy to ask for? Renley banished the thoughts. She clearly had it handled.
Once she was settled with her head on a pillow and her arms under it, he climbed onto the bed and straddled her thighs, putting his weight on his heels. He danced gentle fingers over the thin cotton covering her back. Then he tenderly kneaded his thumbs into her shoulders, loving the smile it conjured on her lips.
He leaned over, running his nose along the cleft of her ear. “That smile looks beautiful on you.” When he saw the heat creep up her neck tinging her ears and cheeks a gorgeous pink, he chuckled—more to himself than her. “And those blushes are everything.”
Eveline closed her eyes, worrying that lower lip again. He sat up, grinning to himself, and watching as she slowly relaxed more and more into the pillow. Pressing his thumbs into her tense muscles he moved along her spine, feeling her ribs under his palms. She was petite, her hair long and her green eyes kind behind the overwhelming insecurities. She was a beauty, one that most men would lust after. So why was she hiring an escort just to have company?
When he moved his thumbs back up her spine, a quiethum vibrated the skin beneath his fingers. Emboldened, he moved over her shoulder, threading his fingers through her hair and giving a gentle tug. She seemed to like it—very much so. Eveline turned into the pillow, but the rosy tint creeping up her neck gave her away.
Still tenderly tugging on her hair, he leaned down and let his lips run over her ear shell again. “Would you feel comfortable taking your shirt off?” The next time that lip rolled between her teeth, he tugged it free. “There’s no need to be shy. You can do as you please.”
After a moment of deliberation, she shifted under him and tugged the t-shirt over her head. As he’d suspected, she wasn’t wearing a bra, so when she laid back down, her arms under the pillow, her breasts spilled to the sides.
God, she looked delicious.
Fuck. Was he supposed to be thinking these things?
She was his customer to a certain degree, but this wasn’t just any business exchange. This was sexual, intimate. So was it so wrong to think of her as attractive and gorgeous?
Returning to his massage, Eveline relaxed once more, though her teeth kept worrying her tender lip. “Talk to me, kitten. There is something you need and I’m willing to give it to you.”
Shit, he’d called her kitten.
“I liked what you did with my hair.”
“You did, huh?” Renley leaned over again, stole her hair tie, and repeated the motion. “Like this?”
“Yes, it feels really good.”
“Ilovehow you tell me what you need,” he softly purred, letting his lips vibrate against her skin. Her breathing was rapid, her ribs expanding with each breath she took. “Is that all you want for tonight? Me spoiling your sore muscles?”Shifting to sit back up, he ran his fingers down her spine and teased at the hem of her shorts. “I could give you so much more.”
Eveline swallowed hard, the sound ringing out in the quiet room. Her eyes found his and though he knew he was pushing boundaries, he couldn’t help it. Deep down, he could sense that Eveline was simply too afraid to ask. Even with her paying him, she was too timid, maybe even too kind.
Then she nodded. It was quick, so much so that he’d have missed it if he weren’t watching her so closely. But it was all the permission he needed to tug the fabric down. To his disappointment, she was wearing panties, but that didn’t stop him from tracing her panty line over her hip bone and under her stomach. Resting his other hand beside her head, he shoved the other between her and the mattress as if she weighed nothing.
“Kitten,” he hummed, finding her eyes right back on him. “Have you ever used a safeword?” When she shook her head, he softly asked, “What’s your favourite dessert?”
She scrunched her brow before answering. “Raspberry cake.”
Renley smiled. “If I cross a boundary, or you simply want me to stop, just say raspberry. I will take a step back, give you space and wait for you to tell me what you need.”
“What I need?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him over her shoulder.
“Yes. If you need me to console you or simply leave. Maybe you want me to apologize or need me to hold you.”
“It means stop.”
“Yes, only stronger. Sometimes we say ‘stop’ in the heat of the moment and we don’t really mean it. It easily slipsfrom our lips. Raspberry pulls me out of the moment. It’s something that tells me I need to stop right that second.”
“Raspberry it is.”
With a kiss between her shoulder blades, he urged her back onto the pillow. “Perfect. Now lay down, kitten, and let me spoil you.”
