I can't get enough

[ @hornyhimbos ]

The words made her body lock up, her hold on the DVD she’d been putting back on the shelf suddenly tightening like she would lose her grip on everything if she let that slender plastic case fall. A heartbeat passed and Arden swallowed the lump in her throat that was formed from too many tangles emotions for her to sort properly, but there was a tang of bitterness that lingered in her mouth, eradicating any traces of terror and covering up flecks of euphoria.

What Stella had done to her was a crime, an actual against the law crime, and Arden still knew it was wrong mentally even if she’d started to forget it some days emotionally. She normally didn’t think of Stella as cruel, but what she’d just said was undoubtedly the cruelest thing she’d ever done to Arden.

“Setting me free,” She repeated in a mutter, unsticking her feet from the carpet and continuing over to the shelf that house the DVDs, replacing hers and noticing that a few were out of place, as if someone had grabbed several of them, considered them all, and then jammed the rejects back in any spare space. It inexplicably pissed Arden off and she began to reshelve them, shoving them back into their proper place with savage force as she avoided looking at Stella. “Setting me free to do what?”

She couldn’t mean free, free. There was no way that Stella would simply let her walk out the door and go back to her life, was there? It seemed like it would be a security risk if nothing else because Arden should have known too much to simply be let go, so it didn’t make any sense unless Stella thought she’d say no, or that she could let Arden go and she’s simply return like a bird that thought it’s home was a cage instead of the sky.

[ @hornyhimbos ]

Feeling too tired to even glare, Arden simply allowed her head to loll to one side as she stared at Stella, feeling undeniably exhausted and ruined. She seemed to always carry some sort of mark on her body since coming into Stella’s position and Arden knew without a doubt that her skin would be a riot of color the next day around her ankles and wrists from being restrained, her hips from being grabbed, perhaps even her throat in a band that matched the collar.

It wasn’t that Stella had been particularly cruel that night, it wasn’t even that Arden disliked it - the problem was that she did, but sometimes she was overwhelmed and that was how it started. Slam against glass hard enough and it might crack and if you push again, the crack would spread over and over until eventually it cracked. Arden could withstand a lot, could hold up without crumbling with one solid blow, but just like glass, the repeated pressure left her covered in fissures and eventually she would give.

In the beginning, Arden had been so confident that she would outlast Stella and win their game, that she wouldn’t fall prey to all of Stella’s mind games and that instead she would manipulate Stella into granting her freedom. That seemed like such a naive fantasy to Arden as she lay there sore and faintly chilled from the dried sweat on her body. Too many orgasms in one night had left her feeling wrung out and the idea of getting to walk anywhere seemed impossible even if Stella threw open the door and declared she had thirty seconds to leave and reclaim her freedom.

She felt, in short, a bit like a broken doll and as much as Arden didn’t want to admit it, Arden knew that she was breaking mentally, too. Sex was no longer tolerated, but enjoyed, things were becoming to feel right as she adjusted to her new place in the status quo and the idea of living her old life, one without Stella, seemed strange and incomprehensible.  Arden had never taken defeat well, but the clock was quickly ticking down to see just which of them would win and Arden was afraid it wouldn’t be too much longer before she shattered completely, leaving her in pieces for Stella to reconstruct as she pleased.

“Ryker...” Ducking his head as he felt his face warm, Maxxie scratched at the back of his head and glancing up to sneak a peek at Ryker’s expression. Even before they were together, it had always been difficult to keep from staring at Ryker and the times he caught Ryker staring back always sent a jolt through his system, waking him up and making his blood sing.

“So you’re a poet in your dreams as well as your notebooks,” August surmised, an amused little smile playing at his mouth. He’d never looked in any of the notebooks he sometimes saw Arizona scribbling in because he respected Arizona too much to go bursting into something that was likely private, but August still knew what Arizona was doing.

Throwing the covers back on the bed, August sat down and leaned against the pillows piled along the headboard before looking at Arizona speculatively, head tilting. He didn’t think Arizona was uncomfortable or nervous about sleeping together and he smiled at the sight Arizona made snuggled up beneath the covers when a beat passed and Arizona didn’t make any move that could be construed as backing out of sharing a bed. Without further delay, August slid down the bed and pulled the covers up, propping on one elbow as he reached out to settle a hand on the just of Arizona’s hip, tracing the bone with a fingertip.

“If we’re sharing bad sleeping habits, guess I’d better tell you mine,” August drawled, shifting closer. “I’m a notorious cuddler. We could try building a pillow wall between us, but I can’t guarantee that it will help keep me from invading your space any. Chances are high that I’ll wrap around you in the night and you’ll wake up with me plastered to your side.” It wasn’t something that August seriously thought Arizona would have a problem with, but it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, prompting August to smile self-deprecatingly. “Not the best thing if you run hot while you sleep.”

That was why things like air conditioning and ceiling fans existed, but August didn't mention that as he shifted once again, moving forward until he was hovering over Arizona, the hand that had just been at his hip instead twisting at a strand of Arizona's hair. "I have to admit, I'm looking forward to hearing what you might confess to in your sleep, but I'll understand if waking up to me pressed against you is asking too much." There was a good chance August was smirking as leaned down to kiss Arizona, the contact light and lingering before parting, remaining close enough to share breath. "What do you think? Still want to sleep with me?"