Atramentum

by MJ Duncan

  “Having fun?” Joss teased as Maeve continued to trace the same looping path over and over again.

  “I am.” Maeve stepped closer and reached behind Joss to give her back a quick scrub. “Are you?”

  Joss wiggled her fingers against Maeve’s stomach and nodded. “There are certainly worse ways to shower.”

  “I’m afraid to ask what those are, but okay.” Maeve pecked Joss’ lips as she gave the loofa a quick rinse. She set it back on the shelf, picked up her shampoo, and poured a generous amount into her left hand. She put the bottle back in its place and tilted her left hand over her right to redistribute the suds as she turned back to Joss. “Come here.”

  The slight push and pull of Maeve’s fingers working through her hair had Joss swaying on her feet, and she bit her lip as she reached for Maeve’s hips to steady herself. Not actively supporting her injured side made her shoulder throb, but the pain lessened somewhat when she wrapped her fingers around Maeve’s hip, letting that hold take some of the pressure off her shoulder.

  Maeve’s touch gentled. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Moving just hurts.”

  “I know, sweetie,” Maeve soothed as she tilted Joss’ head back and began pushing the shampoo from her hair.

  Joss closed her eyes to keep the soap out of them and smiled at the way Maeve’s fingers tickled her back for a moment after she finished combing them through her hair. She stroked her thumbs over Maeve’s hipbones as she gave herself over to her touch, and was pleased that the small movement sent only a tolerable amount of pain through her shoulder and chest.

  A comfortable silence surrounded them as Maeve gave Joss’ hair the same treatment with her vanilla-scented conditioner, their hips and breasts rubbing against each other every so often as Maeve worked. In any other context, Joss mused, this entire scene would have been an exquisite form of foreplay—wet skin, gentle touches, bodies moving together beneath the steaming spray of the shower certainly made for a fun lead-in to a night of lovemaking—but instead of aroused, she just felt safe.

  Cared for.

  “All done,” Maeve declared, letting her hands slip from Joss’ hair to cradle her face. She kissed her sweetly, and sighed as she nuzzled her cheek. “How you doing?”

  “I have a beautiful, naked woman in the shower with me.” Joss blinked her eyes open. “I’d say I’m doing pretty good.”

  Maeve chuckled and shook her head. “Charmer.”

  “I try.” Joss took a deep breath and let it go slowly as she pulled her hands from Maeve’s hips and once again cradled her injured arm in her good hand. “Do you want to wash up real fast?”

  “I’ll do it in the morning,” Maeve said, shaking her head. “Let’s get dried off and into bed.”

  Joss nodded as she leaned in to capture Maeve’s lips in a quick, chaste kiss. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Me too.” Maeve turned off the water and pushed the shower door open just far enough to grab a towel off the heated rack on the wall. Joss tried to take it from her, but she shook her head. “Let me.”

  In what seemed like no time at all, Maeve had them both dried off, and Joss stole a quick kiss before she stepped out of the shower. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Maeve hung up the towel they had used and turned back to Joss. “Do you want something to sleep in?”

  Joss nodded. She had packed a just-in-case bag with clothes for the next day so she had clean underwear and stuff, but had not bothered with anything resembling pajamas because, so far, on those nights she stayed over, they ended up collapsing in a spent, naked heap beneath Maeve’s fluffy down comforter. But, thanks to that stupid line-drive, that was not an option for now. “Do you have a shirt I can borrow?”

  “Of course.”

  Joss picked up her sling and followed Maeve back into the bedroom. Unzipping the backpack she had brought with extra clothes took far more effort than it should have, and she let out a relieved sigh when it opened far enough for her to rustle around inside it for her underwear. Once she was dressed, she could put the sling back on, and then maybe the arcs of fire shooting through her left shoulder and down her chest would go away.

  “Here,” Maeve said as she tossed two T-shirts and a pair of pink bikini briefs she had pulled from her dresser onto the bed beside Joss’ bag. She eyed the pair of black boy shorts in Joss’ hand and asked, “You want help with those?”

  “I got it,” Joss said, shaking her head as she leaned against the foot of Maeve’s bed. The entire process of putting her underwear on would have been a lot less painful had she been able to sit down, but the height of Maeve’s mattress made that impossible. She tucked her injured arm against her stomach and grabbed onto her hip to try to hold it there as she leaned down and slid her left foot, and then her right through the appropriate holes.

  “I could have done that for you,” Maeve pointed out when Joss finally stood up straight, her jaw clenched tight against the pain radiating through her injured side. She picked up the shirt she had tossed onto the bed. “Will you let me help with this?”

  Joss nodded.

  “Good.” Maeve looked at Joss’ bag and pursed her lips. “Um, okay. What about a bra? You’re going to be more sore tomorrow, so if you want to wear one it’d probably be easier to get it on now, but the strap will put some pressure on your shoulder…”

  “Fuck,” Joss swore under her breath. She had not thought of that. She hated the feeling of not being supported, to the point that she usually slept in the sports bra she would wear for her morning run—though that habit had fallen by the wayside over the last week as she instead spent her mornings naked in bed with Maeve. Joss sighed as she looked through the open bathroom door and spotted the sports bra she had worn to the game on the floor by Maeve’s hamper. “I’ll put the one I wore to the game back on,” she said. “The strap hits higher than the break, so it’d probably be more comfortable.”

  “Okay. That makes sense. You want to do that now, or in the morning?”

  Joss shook her head. It was going to suck either way, but she had a feeling that it would probably suck just a little less now. “Let’s just get it over with now.”

  “I’ll go grab it, then.” Maeve brushed a quick kiss across Joss’ lips and then hurried into the bathroom, oblivious to the fact that she was still completely naked.

  It spoke volumes to the level of discomfort Joss was suffering that she just leaned back against the foot of the bed and closed her eyes against the pain in her shoulder instead of ogling Maeve’s naked body. She opened her eyes when she felt the air stir in front of her, and forced a tight smile to try to alleviate the wrinkle of concern that was creasing Maeve’s forehead. “I’m good.”

  “If you say so,” Maeve muttered as she twisted Joss’ sports bra to slide it over her injured arm. “Reverse of before, okay?”

  “Sounds good,” Joss agreed.

  Maeve worked quickly, her eyes never leaving Joss’ face as she stretched and tugged at the fabric to try to make the process easier on Joss, and she blew out a soft breath of relief when she pulled it down over Joss’ breasts. “How was that?”

  Joss nodded. She had some adjusting to do, but she could do that once she had her sling back on. “Incredible.” Joss kissed her softly. “Thank you.”

  “Shirt?”

  “Sure.” The heather gray Columbia shirt Maeve had pulled for her was easier to get on than the sports bra, and Joss shook her head when Maeve offered to help with her sling. “I got this. You worry about you, now.”

  Maeve nodded, but kept a wary eye on Joss in case she needed help as she began to dress. Once Joss had her sling fitted snugly into place, she smiled and said, “Go ahead and get comfortable. I’m just going to run down and take George out one last time, and then we’ll be up.”

  Joss frowned at the plural pronoun. So far, they had gone with the vacuum at the bottom of the stairs thing every night, and she remembered all too well how George had pushed her out of her own bed back at
the cottage when she wanted to snuggle.

  Her concern must have been easy to read, because Maeve laughed. “George usually sleeps on the couch in the sitting room out there.” She tipped her head at the sofas on the other side of the fireplace as she unfurled a faded blue Cubs tee in front of her before pulling it on.

  “Right,” Joss murmured as she moved toward what she was beginning to consider “her” side of the bed.

  By the time she had gingerly slid onto the bed, Maeve had disappeared down the stairs, and she clenched her jaw as she laid down on her back. Relief flooded instantly through her the moment she was flat on the mattress, and she sighed as she arranged the comforter along her left side to support her elbow. Arm supported, she reached through the neck of her shirt to finish getting comfortable, and then closed her eyes.

  The energetic pounding of George’s paws up the stairs announced Maeve’s return, and Joss smiled at the way Maeve was talking to her, warning her that she needed to be good or else she would have to go back downstairs.

  Joss had suspected on several different occasions that George could actually understand her, and the uncharacteristically reserved way the Dane laid her head on the edge of the mattress by Joss just further confirmed that suspicion. “Hey, George,” Joss said as she carefully reached across her body with her good arm to pet the dog’s head.

  George licked her hand as she stared sadly at her for a moment, and then sighed as she turned and padded toward the sitting room.

  “Sorry about that,” Maeve apologized as she hovered beside the bed, waiting to make sure that George really was going to lay down. “I just figured she’d behave better if she was up here with us, too.”

  “It’s fine,” Joss assured her through a yawn. “Come to bed.”

  Maeve nodded and slipped beneath the covers. She curled up on her side at the far edge of the bed, clearly worried about doing anything that might cause Joss pain. “Is this okay?”

  “No.” Joss shook her head and smiled. “You’re too far away. Come here.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t.” Joss wiggled her fingers atop the comforter. “If I can’t hold you like I usually do, the least you can let me do is hold your hand.”

  “Oh, it is, huh?” Maeve smiled and inched across the mattress, settling herself close enough that she was able to press a tender kiss to Joss’ uninjured shoulder as she took her hand. “How’s this?”

  Joss smiled and closed her eyes as she gave Maeve’s hand a light squeeze. “Much better.” She yawned and added sleepily, “Thank you for all your help tonight.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Maeve murmured, sounding as tired as Joss felt. She squeezed Joss’ hand and sighed. “Sweet dreams.”

  “Sweet dreams,” Joss whispered as the events of the day caught up to her in an instant, dragging her into unconsciousness.

  Twenty-Nine

  Quiet bursts of sporadic typing coaxed Joss back to consciousness the next morning, and as she blinked her eyes open, she was surprised to see that the bedroom was flush with sunlight. The entire left side of her torso felt stiff, but the stabbing pain from the night before was replaced for the moment by a dull ache that thankfully did not morph into something more when she turned her head toward her bedmate.

  Maeve was sitting up against the headboard, legs stretched out in front of her to support the laptop she was busy plucking away at, so engrossed in her work that she was oblivious to the fact she was being watched. Which was just fine with Joss, as she loved these moments where she could just freely look at Maeve and marvel at how truly beautiful she was, even when hair was the very definition of bedhead and her Cubs tee was wrinkled from sleep. Joss smiled as she watched Maeve push her glasses back into place with the middle finger of her right hand as her eyes roamed back and forth across the screen, silently mouthing the words as she read as if she were tasting their cadence on her tongue.

  “It’s not nice to stare.” Maeve grinned and double-clicked her touchpad to mark her spot as she looked at Joss.

  “I didn’t think you’d notice,” Joss said, taking a deep breath as she stretched her legs beneath the covers. The ache in her shoulder remained constant, and she offered up a silent prayer that it would remain that way as she rolled onto her side to sit up. It did not, of course, but the pain was also not as sharp as it had been the night before, and she let out a small hiss of discomfort as she carefully levered herself into a sitting position.

  Maeve closed the lid of her laptop and reached for Joss in case she needed help. “How you feeling?”

  Joss shook her head. “Not as bad as I thought I would, honestly. Stiff and sore, but it’s manageable.”

  “Here.” Maeve turned toward her bedside table and then turned back to Joss, offering her a small, open bottle of Advil and a glass of water. “I brought these up for you.”

  “You are an angel,” Joss murmured as she held out her hand. She quickly tossed the pills Maeve shook into her hand into her mouth, and smiled her thanks as she took the glass of water to wash them down. She placed the glass back in Maeve’s waiting hand when she was finished with it, and sighed. “What time is it?”

  “Almost ten. You slept much later than I thought you would,” Maeve reported as she set the glass back onto her nightstand. She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I actually had to take George downstairs and put the vacuum back on the stairs to keep her away because she kept sneaking over to your side of the bed to try to wake you up.”

  “It’s because she has a thing for morning breath.” She grinned at the way Maeve laughed and nodded in agreement. “Anyway, you can get back to work if you want, I’m just going to go use the bathroom.”

  Maeve set her laptop on the bed between them. “I’ll do it later. Do you need help getting up?”

  Joss shook her head and flipped the covers aside with her good hand. She tightened her core to try to keep her shoulder from moving too much as she twisted her hips and swung her legs toward the edge of the bed, and was pleased to note that it seemed to help. No surge of pain, just the same teeth-gritting ache.

  I can live with that.

  She inched her butt toward the edge of the mattress and then slid forward until her feet touched the floor. Discomfort flashed through her as she straightened, but it disappeared quickly, and she smiled as she turned back toward Maeve. “See? I got it.”

  “Yes, you do,” Maeve confirmed with a soft smile. “Would you like some coffee? What about food? I can grab whatever you'd want from the kitchen.”

  “You don’t have to wait on me.”

  “I know I don’t have to,” Maeve said, rolling her eyes as she climbed out of bed. “But I want to. So, tell me what you want.”

  Joss bit her lip as her eyes trailed slowly up Maeve’s bare legs, past the hem of her wrinkled blue tee, to the tantalizing swell of her breasts, noting the way Maeve’s nipples pressed against the soft fabric, and she smirked when her gaze finally landed on green eyes that were regarding her with obvious surprise. “Well…”

  “Down, girl,” Maeve chuckled, shaking her head. “I think your eyes are bigger than your abilities at this point.”

  Joss smiled and nodded as she rounded the foot of the bed and shook her head. She knew that Maeve was right, but she was feeling good enough that she could not resist pointing out, “I have many abilities.”

  “Oh, I know you do.” Maeve sashayed up to Joss and hiked a brow in playful challenge as she toyed with the strap of her sling. “But do you honestly think you could exercise any of those abilities right now?”

  Joss made a show of pretending to think about it. “I dunno. Maybe.” She smiled against Maeve’s lips as she kissed her. “Is your strap on still in the middle drawer of your nightstand?”

  Maeve threw her head back and laughed. “You’re insane.” She shook her head and pressed a sweet, chaste kiss to Joss’ lips. “I am going to go get you some coffee. And you should probably eat something, too. I’ve got ba
gels, English muffins, or I can scramble up some eggs real fast. What sounds good?”

  “I dunno… Seriously, Maeve, you don’t need to make me anything.”

  Maeve tilted her head as she thoughtfully appraised Joss. “How about a bagel with peanut butter?”

  “Sure.” Joss nodded, not wanting to argue about it any more. If it made Maeve feel better to bring her breakfast, then she would eat it—even if she was not feeling all that hungry at the moment. “That sounds great.”

  “Good. And, do you care if I let George back up?”

  Joss frowned. “Why would I?”

  “I dunno. She can just be a lot to deal with.”

  “Let my girl back upstairs.”

  “Oh, your girl, huh?”

  Joss grinned. “Yep.”

  “Right, then,” Maeve chuckled, shaking her head. “Next time she’s being a monster, she’s all yours.”

  “I look forward to it,” Joss sassed. She grinned at the way Maeve rolled her eyes at her before she turned toward the stairs, and let herself enjoy the hint of cheek that flashed beneath the hem of Maeve’s shirt as she walked.

  Joss turned toward the bathroom when Maeve finally disappeared from view, and winced at the flash of pain that streaked through her shoulder at the sudden movement.

  “Yeah, my eyes are definitely bigger than my abilities at the moment,” she muttered under her breath. “Goddamn it.”

  Having only one functional arm doubled the time her morning routine usually took, and by the time she made her way back into the bedroom, Maeve was stretched out on the bed and George was lying on the floor beside her.

  Joss smiled at the way George’s tail thumped heavily against the floor when she saw her, and braced herself to receive the dog as she scrambled to her feet. “Good morning, beautiful,” she greeted George as she scratched behind her ears. George smiled her dopey smile as she turned and pushed against Joss’ leg to try to force her hand where she wanted it. Joss should have expected the move—it was trademark George, after all—but it caught her by surprise and she could not stifle the whimper that escaped her as pain shot through her shoulder when she stumbled back a step. She sucked in a deep breath to try to put a lid on the discomfort before it could get out of hand, and gave George’s head a few quick pats. “Okay. All done.”