Chapter 40 - Clay
I wake up and realise I’d fallen asleep. Val is sleeping next to me and has the most peaceful look on her face. Her arm is flung across my chest and I run my fingertips along the length of it. She shivers and wakes up gently. I turn my head to look at the bedside clock.
“What time is it?” she asks sleepily.
“It’s 6:30pm,” I respond.
“I’m starving.” Her voice is muffled into my shoulder
“What else is new,” I say laughing. “You’re always hungry.”
She groans in response.
“So am I. We should get up.”
I follow her to the bathroom and we jump in the shower together. I grab a loofah and soap it up before turning towards Val. I start with her back and shoulders, moving down over her perfect ass. The suds cover her body and I turn her around. I scrub her collarbone down to her chest, circling her breasts and massaging them as I move over her stomach. I move the loofah over her mound, washing between her legs and then lean down to wash the rest of her. She places a small foot on my leg and I soap it up. I love the way she giggles when it tickles her.
She rinses off and takes the loofah from me. It feels so good, so intimate to be in the shower here with her. She runs her hands over me, making sure to wash my body from head to toe. It feels like a new beginning. If I thought we were connected before, this afternoon has shown me what true intimacy feels like.
When we’re clean we both rinse off again and step out of the shower. The steam fills the bathroom and the mirror fogs up as soon as we step out. Val hands me a towel and I dry myself.
Something so simple as showering together has never made me feel as good. I like being around her, being close enough to touch, being comfortable enough with each other to wash together. I didn’t think I wanted it until I almost lost it.
We get dressed quietly, sneaking glances at each other. When she walks by with those tight jeans on I can’t resist smacking her ass. She giggles playfully.
“Now now, Clay. None of that. It’s food time.”
We head out together into the fresh evening air. It’s nice to get out, to walk together. I like having her beside me when we walk down the street. I feel proud to be the man next to her. I see how all the guys check her out and then glance at me and it makes my chest swell up with pride to be the one she chose. I grab her hand in mind and it fits perfectly as we stroll around the corner to the local pasta place.
“Another gem,” Val says proudly when we get there. “Doesn’t look like much but they make all their own pasta fresh in-house and have the best meatballs you’ll ever taste.”
“I think I have the best meatballs you’ll ever taste, but we can leave that open to discussion,” I respond. She laughs and elbows me lightly in the ribs. I’ll say anything to make her laugh, to see how it brightens her whole face. I love when she finds something really funny and her whole body shakes with laughter in the most infectious way possible. It’s cute and sexy and endearing at the same time. I smile and open the door to the restaurant for her, happy to be here together.
We sit down at the table and I’m finding it hard to focus on the menu. I keep thinking about the way it felt to be inside her, to feel the real her like that. The raw her. She catches me staring at her and sticks her tongue out at me. The waiter reappears and Val orders first.
“I’ll have the spaghetti and meatballs. Can you make it extra saucy please?”
I almost choke on my water and she glances over at me with laughter in her eyes. How is she keeping a straight face!
The waiter doesn’t even blink, “Certainly, miss. And for you, sir?”
“I’ll have the same,” I squeak out. The waiter walks away and Val breaks into that silent, shaking laughter that I love so much. Her shoulders are shaking up and down and her hand is covering her mouth. The way her face scrunches is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Just when we’ve recovered from our laughter I hear a familiar voice behind me. My heart drops when I hear the overly sultry, honey-sweet voice that reeled me in so many years ago.
“Well if it isn’t Clay O’Neill,” the voice says, amused. “Is it Doctor Clay O’Neill by now? And you have a new plaything! How cute.”
I turn around and see her. She looks just like she did eight years ago, curvy and gorgeous with sex dripping out of every pore. The only difference is that this time it doesn’t turn me on. If anything, it turns me off completely and my blood runs cold. She’s tall with jet black hair. It’s perfectly straight and falls to her waist. Her features are sharp. She’s beautiful, but looking at her I feel nothing but disgust. She does nothing for me except fill me with dread. Val is looking at her and then me, waiting for an explanation.
“Caroline. This is Val and she’s not my plaything.” I know my voice is excessively curt.
Caroline extends a long hand and I see the vermillion polish on the end of her fingers, each nail sharpened to a point. Claws, I think. Seems appropriate. Val reaches up and shakes her hand gently and I resist the impulse to shudder when the two of them touch.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Val says politely. I can’t help but feel like her voice is a breath of fresh air after the honeyed, sticky sweetness of Caroline’s drawl.
“So what stories has Clay here been telling you. I’m sure he’s mentioned me,” she says with a sly smile playing over her lips. She looks at me and raises a thin eyebrow.
“No, actually, he hasn’t. How do you guys know each other?”
“Oh, you know,” Caroline responds casually, waving her claws in the air by her head. She uses her hand to move her long hair behind her shoulder. “We dated for a few years, back when he was a stripper.”
Val’s eyes widen and she looks at me in shock. I glance at Caroline and open my mouth to tell her to be quiet. She continues before I can jump in.
“What, he didn’t tell you? Yeah, he didn’t tell me either. Then I found out he had girls all over him. It’s what broke us up. He just couldn’t keep his hands to himself.”
Val’s jaw is hanging open and she closes it, only to let it fall open again. Her eyes are burning through me, I can see the betrayal in them.
“Val..” I start. “Don’t listen to her. It’s not true.”
Caroline shifts her hips and places a hand on my shoulder. I flinch away.
“Why shouldn’t she listen, Clay. You afraid she’ll find out what kind of guy you really are?”
She laughs an emotionless laugh and then waves at us both before catwalking out of the restaurant.