Page 36 of Learn For Me
Olivia
She was peopled out.
Alicia’s enthusiasm and Atticus’s commanding persona were like walls around her. Add in the considering stare of the little girl and the almost chaotic energy pouring off Link, and she was thoroughly drained.
On top of that, she was exhausted.
Sitting on Zeke’s lap hadn’t helped her internal ache, not one iota. While he’d been shoving food into her mouth, her brain replayed how it felt to take his cock inside her, an inch at a time, stretching her open, bonding her to him in a way she couldn’t describe.
She was bruised and emotionally wrung out.
Pushing open the door into the guest bathroom she’d used earlier, Olivia forced herself to the shower and blinked at the fancy controls, playing with knobs and levers until water streamed from only one of the dinner plate-sized heads instead of all four.
Debating whether to strip, she closed the toilet lid and sat down, leaning back against the ceramic tank and closing her eyes. It wasn’t the comfiest position, yet… she slipped beneath the surface of consciousness, not deep enough to be asleep, but hovering between them.
There was too much data to process, even from a simple breakfast discussion.
Her insides quaked at the thought of Tabitha hunting down Jared and doing unspeakable things to him, but it did bring a semblance of comfort knowing he’d never be able to hurt innocent girls ever again.
There was shame and abject humiliation, knowing her boss now possessed intimate knowledge about her sexual status—not only that she’d been a virgin up until last night, but also that Zeke was her first lover.
And going to the club? That was what the latter part of the conversation was about, she was sure. Going to the club for a girls’ night struck anxiety straight into her heart like a jagged spear, twisting until she tasted copper in her mouth.
Five minutes with her, and the women she mostly knew from reading their data on a computer screen would think she was standoffish, rude, socially inept.
Well, they wouldn’t be completely wrong, would they?
Goldfish developed better social skills than she’d ever have.
A hand cupped the back of her head. “Open your mouth, angel.”
Mired in the in-between, she obeyed, recognizing both the touch and the voice. Something dropped onto her tongue, but before she thought to spit them out, the cool rim of a glass pressed against her lips, and water spilled.
Swallowing reflexively, she winced as the pills disappeared down her throat.
“Good girl, Livvy. They’ll take the edge off the pain. Arms up.”
More blind obedience, letting Zeke’s calm tone guide the way forward. Bit by bit, he stripped her down to bare skin and raw emotions, his hands stroking her gently in reassurance.
“Shouldn’t be this tired, angel. How long have you been running on an empty tank, pushing yourself to the limit every day?”
Though her eyes were too heavy to open, she allowed him to lead her to where the water hissed loudly, warm steam dampening her skin. A moan rattled the air as heat pelted her in a multitude of drops, beating it into muscles strained by fatigue.
Arms wrapped around her waist, and she felt his chin rest on top of her head as water sluiced down over them. His chest was a wall at her back, his cock thickening lazily against her ass.
How long they stood like that, she didn’t know. Time was lost in the flow of the water and the safety of his embrace. If she went limp, he’d hold her up. There wasn’t any reason to believe she’d fall when he was with her, and that was something she’d never had.
Someone to lean on.
Eventually, Zeke shifted, and the scent of something spicily masculine infused the steam. Bergamot and cinnamon, with a hint of muskiness. He eased her partially from under the showerhead, lathering her from nape to ankles in rich foam, massaging every inch of her as though he understood how crippling the tension inside her had become.
When he spun her around carefully and set to work on her front, her arms lifted of their own volition to cover herself, only to be gently pushed down again.
“No hiding, Livvy. There’s no reason to hide away from me. I love all of you, love having my hands on you, love watching how you respond to me even when you’re too tired to open your eyes.” His tone picked up a lullaby cadence, rhythmic and soothing. “When you’re naked and with me, I want to take my time and study all this beauty, down to the last freckle.”
But his touch wasn’t designed to arouse, she realized. Yes, she was growing wet, but only because it was him. It was a chronic problem she’d suffered from since the day she met him, and nothing she could change.
He was simply tending to her.