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she hated it, but pain was a distraction. It distracted her from

thinking about the things she shouldn’t be thinking about.

Usually. It usually did. Not right now. It hadn’t worked

since Haley had come into her home.

When Claire was naked, she felt a rush of emotion she

hadn’t felt in a long time. Not shame, because she was never

ashamed of her own body, but she didn’t feel impartial about

her nudity, or the fact that Haley was looking. The heat started

at her toes and rose up and up, until she felt it in her neck, then

in her cheeks. She realized she was blushing, or not blushing,

but that her face was flushed under Haley’s gaze, and that

made her belly cramp.

Haley finally moved. She pushed herself up on her elbows

and looked Claire up and down, her eyes taking in every

muscle and curve and detail, leaving nothing untouched.

Haley’s eyes lit up with the kind of storm Claire knew was

about to crash over them both.

She unfolded herself from the bed and walked over, taking

Claire’s hand when she didn’t move. Claire hadn’t let someone

else take the lead in a long time, but she let Haley command

her body now. Haley set Claire’s hand on her waist, then she

used both of her palms to bracket Claire’s face and pull her

down to her. Without the heels, the height difference wasn’t as

noticeable as it usually was, and Claire didn’t have far to go

before she reached Haley’s scalding mouth.

The kiss was so forceful that their mouths crashed together.

Haley could probably feel Claire trembling into that kiss. She

could feel herself breaking apart, bit by bit. She shouldn’t be

here, and she knew that, but she wanted it, and that’s why she

was. That was the only truth that mattered. That she was here,