? DISCONTINUED ? Between the Perennial Blooms || Paul Lahote

Thirty Two | Narcissus

Now though, after waking nearly an hour before her, Paul had spent the time admiring her in the early morning light. He'd seen what she looked like during the day — all bright and lively and full of flushed cheeks and smiles. He'd also seen what she looked like come the night — all curious and wide-eyed and aglow with blessings of the moon. But if he thought she had been something before, in the morning she was something else. Because while she was still full of flushed cheeks and aglow with the aftermath of sleep, she was also so much more. She was soft sighs and tender touches, lazy smiles and hazy eyes. She was pouty petulance and easy happiness, and if Paul had ever thought he'd seen something beautiful beforehand, it paled in comparison to what lie atop him now. Because Bailey was wonderful — beautiful and bashful and full of so much light and depth — and Paul loved her. He loved her. But now, under light of the morning sun and the soft haze of serenity, Paul knew she didn't need to hear it just yet. They still had so much to talk about — the healing wound on her thigh and how she felt about it, his anger over her keeping secrets and how he felt about it, and just how they would proceed with everything else in between. They had so much ahead of them, and the time for him to profess his newfound feelings could wait. After all, the Imprint pair had a forever resting in their midst, and so instead of uttering those three words that would undoubtedly mean so much, he opted for a laying an open-mouthed kiss on her cheek instead.

"Will this wake you up?" He murmured against her freckled skin, continuing his onslaught of sloppy kisses across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. When she didn't stir, he slipped her off his chest gently and situated himself above her, nudging her legs apart with his knees so that he could rest between them comfortably. His lips once again found home against the skin of her neck now instead, and he let his elbows rest on either side of her head as he nibbled ever-so-slightly on the tendon that pulsed in time with her heartbeat. "How about this?" His husky voice rasped against her throat, tongue soothing the gentle nipping of his teeth and eliciting a soft sigh from her lips at the sensation.

"Paul..." she sighed faintly, his name naught but a whisper from her lips. Her eyes remained closed, but the tell-tale flush of her cheeks alerted him that they wouldn't stay so for long.

"Would it wake you up-" he continued, sitting back on his heels and letting his hands trace along the expanse of silky skin on the outside of her thighs until he reached her knees. Allowing his right hand to rest there and draw lazy circles with his thumb, he reached back with his left to lift her leg by the ankle and bring it to his lips. "-if I did this?" He pressed a soft kiss to the arch of her foot, smiling to himself when she unconsciously wiggled her precious little toes as a result. Undeterred however, Paul continued to leave a trail of kisses up her leg — one at her ankle, four up the length of her calf, two on her knee, and a beginning three up her thigh. His lips stopped halfway when her small hand suddenly darted out to curl into his hair and upon looking over to meet her wide-eyed gaze, he smirked.

His name escaped her on a gasp. "P-Paul!"

"There they are," he smiled, relishing in the view of her glimmering yet alarmed cerulean orbs. His hand lowered her leg back down to the mattress and he returned to his position situated above her so that their lips now rested only a few inches away from touching. "Thought I'd have to do something to really shock you if you didn't wake up soon."

Cheeks burning with a bashful red blush, Bailey whined in the back of her throat. "Paul," she grumbled, reaching between their snug bodies to tug his shirt lower down her thighs. Her entire body felt as if it were burning, veins alight with a fire only  he could spark that left her simmering in a warmth she was so unfamiliar with. The feel of his lips on her skin had been intoxicating and the electric zing! his kisses shot up her spine all but left her breathless. It was a wonderful feeling to wake up to, she admitted to herself despite it forcing her heart to beat rapidly inside her chest and her head to feel so light she worried it might just float right off her shoulders. Remembering it had her falling right back into an earlier daze — the very one Paul's intoxicating lips had put her under — and unbeknownst to her, it had her eyes glazing over with awe too. It was a wonderful feeling, she remarked once again, the ghost of his kisses staining her skin once more.