She shrugs, looking at the floor. I sit her down in the other squashy beige armchair, and kneel in front of her, positioning myself so I can see her eyes. She looks like she doesn't know whether to bolt, or to jump me.
"Six words, remember?" I keep my voice low and steady. I've seen inhibitions catch up with desire before.
She sighs. "No. Not too fast…" She shakes her head. I can barely hear her voice.
Allen eases over to us, careful not to make any sudden movements. He rests lightly on the arm of her chair.
"Are you worried one of us might hurt you? Make you do something you don't want to do?" he asks, his voice low and soothing.
Her head shoots up, her eyes flashing fire. "No, of course not!"
Some of the tension dissipates from Zeke's posture, easing a little of my worry. Allen smiles warmly towards her.
"Record something that's meant to be private?" I murmur.
She flinches, but shakes her head. A little sigh slips out. "… no. Not you."
Allen inhales sharply. "Something that happened to you before?"
There's a pause. "Yes." She clears her throat. "But I'm never letting it happen again."
"I'm glad to hear that. Youknowyou're still in control.Nothinghappens that you don't want. And if you just want to sit around with us and talk or cuddle for the rest of the evening, I know each of us would be glad you were here. Right?" Allen's voice is firm, his eyes flaring with certainty.
I nod, angling myself away so the tenting of my pants is slightly less obvious. I feel Clarke moving behind me. He kneels next to the other arm of her chair. She turns towards him.
"Hmmm. But you didn't. You said you wanted more than just talking. Would I be right in thinking you wanted more than a cuddle?" His voice is low and gentle.
She takes a sharp breath. "Yes." She's chewing on her bottom lip and rubbing the folds of her skirt between her fingers.
"Would I be right in thinking youstillwant more than that?" His tone is so soft, I can barely make out his words.
Her fingers still as her teeth release her lip. Determination is sparking in her eyes.
"Yes." Her voice is a little clearer this time. I rest one of my hands on hers and give it a gentle, encouraging squeeze. A smile flits over her lips. Clarke sits back on his heels and grins.
"Well. I think I can safely speak for everyone here when I say that we would like to give you what you want. Nothing more or less than that. Would that be okay?"
A grateful "yes" falls from her lips, her face relaxing into a soft smile.
Something in my chest unknots. God, Clarke's good. I know Allen's officially the psychologist, but we all want Clarke to take point when words matter.
Clarke reaches up tentatively and softly strokes her face. Her eyes drift closed.
"What are your six words?" His voice is barely on the edge of hearing.
"Stop. Less. Good. More. Yes. No." Her pace is gentle. I run my thumb slowly over the back of her hand.
A purr emerges, unbidden, from my chest. A wave of gooseflesh ripples across the bare skin of her arms as my purr envelops her.
"Do you want to stick with those for now and figure out what feels right as we go along?" Clarke asks.
She bites her lip again, and opens her eyes. "Yes," she says, her gaze flicking back and forth between Clarke's pupils.
Her fingers interlace with mine. My cock jumps in my pants.
I scrunch up my toes in my shoes, and raise an eyebrow at Allen as I twitch my head towards the bedroom door. He raises questioning eyebrows at Clarke.
"Sweetheart, I worry we are crowding you a bit in here. Do you want to have a look at the setup in the other room? Seeif you might be more comfy in there? We can come straight back out if it's a hard no."
