brazen hussy. He pulls back and gives me a stern look on an arched brow. 'No.' he mouths and drops his hands from my face. 'Do you want to wash your make-up off?'
I'm shocked. 'Are you denying me?' I ask in disbelief. So it's one rule for him and another for me? My jilted state has woken me up good and proper now.
He starts chewing that lip, watching me curiously. 'I guess I am. Who would have thought?' He shrugs and runs a wash cloth under the warm tap. 'Show me that beautiful face.' I look up at him and he gently wipes the damp cloth over my scowling expression.
'But I thought we were going to make friends properly?' I'm very slighted and it's obvious in my tone.
He pauses and the edge of his mouth lifts. 'Are we not friends?'
'No, we're not.'
'Oh?' His brow furrows. 'Would you snuggle with someone you're not friends with?'
I purse my lips and place my palms on his firm arse, pressing him up against me. 'I might if my non-friend promises to make friends with me in the morning.'
He laughs lightly. 'Deal, let's go snuggle.' He lifts me from the vanity unit. 'I love you in lace, but I love you more naked and all over me. Let's take it off.' He strides into the bedroom, puts me on my feet and reaches around to unclasp all of the hook and eyes that are running down the centre of my back, letting the bodice fall to the floor before drawing my knickers down my legs.
He steps back and starts undressing himself as he nods towards the bed. I clamber in and settle down, my earlier tiredness returning as soon as my head hits the pillow. Jesse climbs in and lets me crawl onto his chest where I'm at my happiest. I feel his arms settle around my body and I'm drifting off, just like that.
'Tomorrow, we get all of your things from Kate's,' He shifts, pulling me further onto his body. 'On Monday, we tell Patrick, and I think you should be letting your parents know that I'm more than just a friend.'
I mumble an inaudible acknowledgment of his words. Moving in officially doesn't seem like such a concern now, but I'm mindful that Patrick and my parents might be a completely different scenario. Actually, Patrick I'm not so concerned about either, even with the Mikael situation, which I still haven't worked out how to deal with. My parent's opinion, though, has eclipsed everything. To the outside world, Jesse might seem like a controlling tyrant and he is to a certain extent, but he is also a whole heap of other things. I'm not sure my Mum and Dad will see past his obvious need to smother me and control me. They will see it as unhealthy, but is it unhealthy if you accept it? Not because you're frightened or vulnerable, but because you love them immeasurably and the times when you want to scream with frustration, and maybe even strangle them, are trumped by the times like this. He's challenging all right, and I fight him to a certain extent, but I'm not deluded enough to think that I'm the one wearing the trousers in this relationship. I know exactly why he is like this with me. I know he lives in fear of me being taken away from him, but I live with the same fear. And I'm not sure that Jesse's fear is an unreasonable one - not with my developing knowledge of his history.
Chapter 24
'Good morning.'
I open my eyes to an invasion of natural light, my hearing invaded by the erotic music I remember from the communal room. Jesse's handsome face is floating above mine and he has his morning stubble. He looks delicious.
I shift my arms in an attempt to grab hold of him, but they go nowhere.
What the hell?
His face breaks out into his dark, roguish grin, and I know immediately what he's done. I lift my eyes and find my hands are cuffed to the headboard of the bed.
'Were you planning on going somewhere?' he asks.
I return my eyes to his and find them hooded, his long lashes fanned. I should have anticipated this. 'What are you going to do?' My morning voice is husky for more reasons than one.
'We're going to make friends.' he says on a half-smile. 'You want to make friends, don't you?' His eyebrows rise expectantly.