The Bleeding Crowd by Jessica Dall Page B

“Nothing. Go on.”
    She watched him kick off his pants.
“Honestly, Ben. Shouldn’t I be doing something?”
    “Just calm down.” He kissed her mouth with a
light touch. “There’s no wrong way to do this.”
    “So, if I just close my eyes and lie
here...”
    “I’m sure I’d get by.” He smiled, pulling her
bra off. “Open your legs a little.”
    She did.
    “Are you really this nervous or just not into
this at all?”
    “I’m just used to doing more at this
point.”
    “Do you trust me?” He smiled.
    “Not really.”
    “At least in this?”
    “I suppose.”
    “Then stop thinking so much.”
    Dahlia nodded, pressing her lips
together.
    He kissed her, trailing his lips towards her
neck as he repositioned himself. “Keep talking if you need to.”
    “I... I... uh...” Dahlia stammered, finally
just shook her head when she couldn’t get a coherent sentence
together.
    He pulled his head back, just enough to look
at her. “Dahlia.”
    She looked at him, eyes wide.
    “Do you want me to stop?”
    She hesitated a moment, shook her head.
    “Then trust me,” he barely whispered. “Can
you do that?”
    Just another slight hesitation, and she
nodded, lifting her lips just enough to meet his.
    It was all the invitation he seemed to need.
He pressed forward. She gasped, wrapped herself around him, and
felt him smile against her skin.
    He dropped his head, brought his lips next to
her ear as she began to fall into his rhythm. “Good. Relax. Trust
me.”
     

Chapter Seven

    Dahlia groaned as the chimes of her alarm
went off. Nothing in her wanted to move. She lay in bed, warm,
relaxed, cursing the pad for being on the other wall. One more
minute and she’d get herself up. The chiming suddenly turned off.
Dahlia frowned, easing her eyes open and levering herself up onto
her forearms.
    Ben looked over sheepishly. “Sorry.”
    “What did you do?” she said.
    “I pressed the button.” He pointed at the
keypad. “Those things nearly gave me a heart attack. I was standing
right next to them.”
    “Your heart’s fine.” She shook her head,
still frowning. “Why are you up?”
    “I was just looking out the window.” He
shrugged. “There were some women knocking around the fountain out
there earlier. I’m surprised they didn’t wake you.”
    “Oh, they’re always trying to fix that.”
Dahlia stretched, wrapping her blanket around her body before
standing to look out the window. “It’s been broken for as long as
I’ve been living here. I suppose I’m used to them, how did you put
it, ‘knocking around’?”
    He nodded, slipping his arms under the
blanket and around her waist. “I take it they can’t see in
here.”
    “Not when the glass is sort of smoky looking
like it is,” she said. “When it’s like that you can only see
through it one way.”
    He nodded, kissing her neck.
    She pulled back a bit. “You promised last
night you’d be a jerk right now, don’t you remember?”
    He hummed noncommittally. “Can I start after
breakfast?”
    She broke away from him. Looking at the time,
she sighed. “Now or never. I need to get ready for work.”
    “Seriously?” He turned to watch her.
    “Seriously.” She opened the closet and tossed
the blanket back on the bed. “There’s cereal in the headboard if
you want it. I don’t think I have any milk though.”
    “You’re infuriating, you know that?”
    “I’m picking up the slack since you aren’t.”
Dahlia did her best to fight down a smile.
    Ben nodded with a grin. “It seems we’re
perfect for each other. When one of us is being nice—”
    “I wouldn’t go so far as to say we’re perfect
for each other.” She pulled on her underwear and then a dress.
    “When will you get back?”
    “I get off at 17:00,” she said, looking at
him, unsure. “Do you want to stay here or go back to the camp?”
    “What’s today?” he asked.
    “Monday.”
    “I meant the date.”
    “The ninth,” she said. “Why?”
    “Almost your