𝒍𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂 ➶ [ s. walsh ]

xxiii. | ❝ i love you. ❞

LOLITA.
xxiii. | ❝ i love you. ❞

✧

CASSANDRA SPENT almost an hour rinsing the rain from her skin. By the time she sauntered downstairs wearing knee-socks and an oversized t-shirt that belonged to Shane, he'd packed all the groceries away and was now stretched across the sofa in their living room.

"You good, princess?" he greeted, lifting his head as she entered.

The redhead just nodded, blushing gracefully. That particular nickname Shane had for her always tended to make her bashful.

She clambered up near his feet, stretching her own legs out so they were seated top-and-tail on the couch. He could feel the warmth of her supple limbs, as pale as a Harvest Moon, through the fabric of his trousers. When he inhaled, he caught a whiff of her scent - strawberries; sweet to the point where it was almost overwhelming.

Cassandra didn't say much. She just watched him. The way his wide nostrils flared, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed the urge to slide his calloused fingers over her still slightly damp skin. Those tiny cogs in his brain where whirring, and it wasn't difficult to see that he was thinking about how much he wanted her.

The pair savoured how sheltered they felt from that terrifying new world that lay just beyond their doorstep, listening to the sound of heavy raindrops hitting glass. A low rumble of thunder and a flash of lilac interrupted their harmonious state. It illuminated the room's dim interior and drew a gasp from between Cassandra's lips. She hesitated, heart racing, then shifted and crawled up Shane's body, longing to feel his big arms around her.

The curly-haired deputy's broad limbs enveloped her out of habit. When her face reached his, Shane could feel the copper-haired beauty's warm breath against his lips. He found himself drowning in oceans of molten chocolate that gazed at him with such adoration, her supple body trembling beneath his hands.

And then she was kissing him; her mouth soft and naïve against his own. Cassandra's hands slid up Shane's brawny torso, her fingers trailing the unusually silky skin of his neck, before coming to rest at his stubbled jawline.

When she broke the kiss, the flame-haired temptress pulled back slightly, her dark eyes shining coal-black in the hazy lighting.

"I love you." The words were breathed between her lips in a half-whisper that left Shane's heart soaring and skin rippling with goosebumps.

The pause that fell between them weighed down upon the pair immeasurably. The curly-haired deputy's calloused fingertips traced Cassandra's chin, and he cupped her face. Here was his entire world, lying astride him with limbs entangled lazily and lips plump and tingling from his kisses. And he relished the way those three words made him feel, like he was a teenager again. Like she was his first love, and his last.

"I love you, too."

Another boom of thunder made the air around them vibrate. The way Cassandra gazed at him with those wide, glinting doe-eyes caused Shane to lumber to his feet, cradling her in his muscular arms. The ivory-skinned beauty looped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, a smile lingering at her lips as she buried her face in her saviour's chest.

No words were spoken as Shane exited the lounge and made his way up the wide, chunky staircase to his bedroom. Cassandra never faltered once. Her limbs remained flush against Shane's god-like bulk; for he was Ares, and she, Aphrodite. She brought beauty and peace to his pain and his violence.

And as the window panes scintillated with streaks of amethyst which rippled through the leaden sky like a finger dragging its way across the surface of a pond, Cassandra and Shane's love blossomed and came to flower on the vine that was a four poster bed and bedsheets swathed around two gleaming, enthralled bodies.

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