Tell me you love me

a/n: I couldn’t help myself. I love this woman more than I should. Sally Mckenna owns my heart.

The woman smirks and approaches closer to you. “I’m sorry, baby”, she just shrugs and you understand she is amused by the entire situation. Her hand slides upon your hip; her fingertips squeeze your skin enough to leave marks on you. You shiver and sink your teeth on your lip, not daring to pull away. It’s impossible to divert your gaze when she is looking at you that way, like a predator circling its pray. There was something special in her orbs, something that you couldn’t fully understand yet, but that was intoxicating.

“You know you can’t win when we play catch up”, she says in a sing song voice and you roll your eyes as first reply.

You take a step forward and wrap your arms around Sally’s neck to pull her closer. Your fingers dig in her hair and she moans quietly when you massage a sensitive spot just behind her ears. “One day, I’ll surprise you. I just need to understand which short cut you take”, you simply say.

She shakes her head, tempted to giggle at you. Instead, a grin crosses her dark lips. She strokes your back up and down with a single fingertip, causing you goosebumps all over your body. “You’ll never find out”, she teases you. “I’ll make sure of that”, she whispers in your ear, before sticking her tongue out to titillate your lobe.

You tilt your head to the side as a hint of a smile appears on your nude lips. Her hands move down your back to grab your buttocks. “You don’t play fair”, you rest your forehead against hers and take a deep breath while closing your eyes just a moment. Her body is pressed against yours so much, her scent inebriates your senses. You feel in another world, a place just for the two of you. You can’t help the whimpers that escape your mouth every time she touches you.

She feels like the missing piece of your soul.

Sally lifts your chin, already missing the sight of your beautiful eyes on hers. Her lips slowly graze yours in a gentle, almost innocent kiss while you cup her smooth cheeks. “All’s fair in war”, a hint of a smile appears on the woman’s face when she chews on your bottom lip and you let out a moan. She clings to you; she holds onto you so tight as if you were about to disappear right there and right now.

“All’s is fair in love”, you correct her, making her chuckle. It sends you a tingle right in your low abdomen.

You were all her world. What she liked the most was waking up in the morning and finding your sleeping figure right beside her. The way your chest rose and fell had the power to relax her troubled heart and all the dark thoughts going on inside her head. She loved to caress your dark hair spilled across the pillow you both shared, lingering extra seconds to outline your delicate features and wake you up with a smile by tickling your lips with her fingernail.

You were her cure, the only addiction she needed and of which she had no intention of getting rid.

You lower your gaze to the floor above you and you notice Liz standing at the bar and looking directly at both of you making out like two teenagers. When you meet her gaze, she immediately turns her back at you, serving herself a cocktail.

You gently pull away from Sally. “We are putting on a show”, you say, when she frowns. It takes all your strength not to capture the pout that appeared on her lips and suck away all her sadness and make it yours.

“I don’t see how this is our problem”, she quirks a brow at you.

You roll your eyes, taking a step forward, touching the fabric of her soft coat. She wasn’t exactly like you, actually she was totally different from you. She was the storm in your clear and boring sky. Adrenaline and chaos. A breath of fresh air. She was what you needed to escape from the routine that kept you trapped for the past twenty three years.

“I thought you liked the risk to be caught”

An incredulous chuckle escapes from your mouth at her words. She tilts her head to the side, pretending not to understand your astonishment. And you stick your tongue out at her, making her snort at your childish ways. “This is your kink, my love”

She quirks a brow at your boldness and she slowly licks her lips, already missing the sound of your laughter. She hums contently. “Let me show you another of my kinks”, her skilled fingertips hover on your hips. She knows you; she knows every weakness of yours and how to exploit it. You chew on your bottom lip and narrow your eyes just a little to focus on her mouth pressed on your shoulder. Her teeth sink in your skin, making you tilt your head to the side and moan in pleasure. Her hot, wet tongue does magic on your skin. It has the power to heal the bites and make you feel in ecstasy.

“Sally", you try to stop her, not being the right place nor the right time to do such a thing. The tip of her tongue teases your lobe, making you squirm.

Before you can think of escaping from her tight grip, your back is pressed against the wall. “Ah ah, I don’t think so”, she lifts her knee, roughly pressing it between your legs to prevent you from moving. She smirks at you, when her palm slides under your shirt.

Your face turns in a red hue. A long shaky breath escapes your mouth when with her free hand she pulls your hair to lift your chin.

She captures your lips once more, this time in a hot, famished kiss and you can’t help but return it. You gently poke her upper lip with the tip of your tongue, timidly asking for full access inside her mouth. She lets you in and in a split second your tongues play the same game you two were doing a moment earlier. She tickles behind your teeth and you pull her closer by grabbing her hips.

Her knee makes friction to your privates making you moan hotly in her mouth. “Oh God”, you close your eyes, trying to focus on your breath that is visibly accelerating.

“You’re so beautiful", she murmurs back at you. Her voice is soft, tender, and you understand she is on the verge of crying. “The sounds you make are the best addiction I could wish for”

“Maybe I’m the one that can’t do without you", you admit sincerely.

You hear her sniffles and your eyes open again. Concern written all over your features when you realize your presentiments were right. You cup her face and gently hush her. You thumbs graze her smooth, pale skin and she leans to the touch, trying so hard not to let her emotions run rampant. You want to fix her, you want to suck away all the pain, the insecurities and God knows what else. Anything that is causing her the pain, you want to take it away. Imprison her darkness somewhere else and let her light shine once again. You know it’s there. She shows it to you.

“Tell me you love me", her voice cracks, she looks as fragile as a chipped mirror.

“I love you”

“Again", she urges you, sinking her nails in your skin.

It hurts but you don’t pull away. You smile fondly at her. In these moments, all she needs is reassurance. “I’m so in love with you”, you place a kiss on her forehead, closing your eyes while doing so. “I never loved someone the way I love you”, you promise.

She keeps a hold on you, by grabbing the fabric of your shirt this time. You graze the tip of her nose with yours before kissing it. You take your sweet time to place your lips on every inch of her skin. She even looks embarrassed because at some point she blushes and looks down, and takes both your hands in hers. “I love you too, little one”, she brings your palm to her lips and sweetly kisses your knuckles. “I never want to be away from you. I want us to be so close”, she whines. And you smile because she looks like a capricious child to you.

You know where this conversation is heading so you sigh. “I know, but I have to go soon”, you hate saying it, but you have a job and sadly bills to pay.

She groans and her eyes darken a little bit. “You really have to?”, she takes a step back folding her arms at you. She diverts her gaze from yours, but she can’t resist much, despite having tried everything to stay away from you. She looks like a scared caged animal, when she does that. You don’t really understand why it’s so hard for her to let you go, especially since you always come back.

“I’m afraid I have no other choice”, you shrug, and reach out to touch her chin. Your thumb lingers on her mouth and she immediately licks it, making you chuckle. “Hey!”, you try to withhold your hand but she is faster and she grabs your wrist. “What do you think you are doing?”, you ask, trying to sound annoyed.

But she knows you too well. She raises your fingertips to her lips once more, careless of prying eyes. “I licked it, so this”, she looks at your hand, before leering at you. “Is mine”, she puts one of your fingers in her mouth, circling it with her tongue.

You can hardly suppress a moan, and you stop resisting it, knowing that with Sally it is a losing battle.

An inappropriate joke

“Mutt and Jeff come to the crazy idea to prank Wilhemina Venable and to do so, they ask you, the only person, that in their opinion, Mina not only tolerates, but also likes”

Idk what’s this. Totally idiotic, Wilhemina is probably out of character here, but it was a fun ride anyway. Thank you for bearing me lol

On your way back home, Mutt and Jeff decided to walk you home, but you soon realized that it wasn’t a simple courtesy.

“Guys, come on”, you complain, rubbing the corners of your eyes, as you try to make some sense out of all their chattering. “You gotta be kidding me”

“Never been more serious, Y/n”, Mutt soon replies. “Right Jeff?”, he glances at him, that immediately returns the gaze with a wink.

“Quite right, Mutt!”, he replies, grinning.

You lightly shake your head, continuing to walk among them. “She is going to fire me”, you say in a mocking sing song voice, since you felt like you were talking to two kids in need of some sense into them. When they stare back at you with a blank expression over their faces, you snort loudly. “I need the job, jerks”, your voice comes out a little exasperated at this point, due to their insistence. Wilhemina was your boss, and you weren’t going to blow everything off for a stupid prank.

“And you’ll keep it”, Mutt says. “I sense it!”

You look up at him with a frown. “You sense it, huh?”, clicking your tongue, you fold your arms over your chest, narrowing your eyes towards him. “Who are you, some sort of spiritualist?”, the sarcasm is evident in your tone.

“Yeah, I like the title actually”, he mutters to himself, making you giggle. Yet, you aren’t convinced.

“Y/n, hear me out”, Jeff continues, grabbing you by your shoulders. You tiredly meet his gaze, still rather adamant about the entire thing. “I’ll bet you fifty dollars she will freak out and weep bitter tears”, he says, sweeping his tongue over his lips.

You can’t help but laugh at that. “Are you really that eager to lose?”, you continue, lightly shaking your head. You walk a little faster, putting yourself in front of them, hands on your hips and an arched brow. “You’re nuts, if you think she cares that much about me”, you talk as clearly as you can, eyeing both with a serious look.

“You’re the crazy one if you still haven’t noticed the way she looks at you”, Jeff clarifies, mimicking your tone. “Like she wants to-”, he looks for a delicate way to say it, until Mutt steps in.

“-eat you”, he nudges him and winks at you.

You’re shocked by the conversation you’re enduring and you quickly turn around; eyes open wide. “Oh my God, guys! She is not-”, you say both amused and embarrassed. “Wilhemina doesn’t-”, you can’t even finish the sentence that a lump forms in your throat.

Mutt is quick to wrap his arm around yours, pulling you closer. A smirk plays out on his face. “What are you afraid of? It’s only fair toying with people in this time of the year”, you try to pull away from his grip, but you find yourself trapped between both of them once again, as Jeff soon grabs your other arm.

“People, yes. Not Wilhemina…”, you whine. “Guys, please”

“Don’t be a pussy”, Mutt playfully ruffles your hair and you let out a feral grunt, absolutely hating when they did that to you. He ignores you and his gaze shifts towards the other guy, also smirking. “I feel savage today, so I’ll bet you an additional fifty dollars, that Ms. Venable is going to kiss her”

You let out an amused scoff. “Hello? In case you two forgot, I’m right here!”, you point out, squirming away from their grip and waving your hands in the air as to be noticed. “Do I have a saying in all of this or?”

“I’m in!”, Jeff does a high five with Mutt, before muttering a simple and plain no.

“Clearly…”, you mutter to yourself, rolling your eyes. At least you’re glad to be almost home. “Lord, grant me the strength to deal with these individuals”

*

You can’t believe, you’re actually about to put on a show. You lightly run a hand through your hair, gently messing it a little bit, as you always do when you feel nervous. Both Mutt and Jeff decided to turn you slightly paler with a light layer of makeup and dark circles under your eyes, yet you made sure they didn’t exaggerate. It didn’t turn out too bad actually, and you had to admit it looked pretty realistic.

You sweep your tongue over your lips, often shifting your weight from one foot to the other. You take a long, shaky breath, as you keep stalling about five more minutes, undecided whether to drop that ridiculous idea or not. But you were already halfway on this. Your hand is pressed against your “injured” hip, that’s slowly turning red. You had to admit, Jeff and Matt did a great job in mixing cocoa powder, water and some drops of reddish coloring to create fake blood.

Your eyes flutter close for a moment and count to three, before lifting your right hand in mid-air, in order to knock at the door. You do it gently; a small part of you hopes Wilhemina isn’t at home, despite having noticed the lights on in the window.

I’ll be so dead after this, you mutter to yourself.

Few seconds after, the door opens. “Y/n?”, she says your name softly, a hint of surprise in her tone. “What are you doing here at this time?”, the redhead gently smirks up at you. You’re glad there’s not any hint of discomfort in her voice, despite having showed up both uninvited and without an intelligent reason at her house.

You wrinkle your nose, and feel your cheeks turning into a slight nuance of pink. She looks both beautiful and relaxed. You’ve never seen her with her hair down, a pair of wide leg joggers and a slightly unbuttoned blouse. Squeezing your eyes shut for a moment, you try to avoid the tickle in your stomach as you feel Wilhemina’s stare on you. “I’m sorry to intrude, I just…”, you mutter weakly, remembering the reason why you’re there.

Pretend to be hurt.

Wilhemina opens the door a little more, leaning against the jamb, so that she can loosen the grip around her cane. “Can you speak a little louder, dear?”, she tilts her head slightly to the side when you avert your gaze from hers, in order not to be betrayed by the amused twinkle in your eyes.

“I don’t… I can’t…”, you fake pant, hissing as you put some pressure on your hip.

Wilhemina frowns a little bit. You’re sure she is watching you with confusion, yet you don’t dare to look up at her just yet. “You’re more of a stutterer than the first day you introduced yourself to me”, she says amused, letting out a short chuckle. She is way too focused on your face that’s’ looking down at your feet to realize the bloodstain that is rapidly scattering under your shirt. Few droplets fall on her doormat. You know it’s just a matter of seconds before she notices what was going on.

You look up at her, narrowing your eyes and biting your bottom lip, before muttering in a faint whisper, “Hurts”, your face is contorted in a pained expression.

Concern flashes across Wilhemina’s eyes, when she shifts her gaze towards your stomach. To her horror, she finds your shirt crimson red. “Y/n?”, you can’t detect any hint of sarcasm in her voice anymore. Her will to play with you faded away in a heartbeat. She lets go of her cane, dropping it on the floor, before taking a rapid step closer to you. “For Christ sake, what happened to you?”, she hesitates at the door about whether to touch you or not; something that you find adorable.

“Help me…”, you respond in a light tone, staggering on your feet. Wilhemina parts her lips open to say something, but nothing comes out in time. She gasps and without seconds thoughts, she wraps her arms around your upper body, being extra careful, given the fact that she wasn’t aware of the gravity of your injury. A small smile crosses your lips, but you bite down your tongue, trying to keep the game for as long as possible.

She places one hand to sustain your head as she gently puts you down on the floor, after shutting the door. You shift your eyes close for a moment, and Wilhemina only fears the worse when you do so. “No, no, no, no, hey, stay awake”, soon, the redhead is on her knees; she reaches a hand toward you, stroking your pale skin.

“Wilhemina…”, you call to her and she quickly runs her hand down your forehead. “My hip…”, you blink, making her believe it was hard keeping your eyes open.

“I know. I know. I’ve got you”, she whispers, her throat suddenly goes dry. She feels tears forming to her eyes, but she doesn’t allow them to roll down her cheeks. “Don’t fall asleep on me”, she continues more harshly than intended.

Is she actually worried about me?

You look down at your wound, nodding weakly. Hissing, you try to sit up, but Wilhemina has other ideas and stops you before you can even make an attempt.

“Easy, easy, sweetheart”, she soothes you, yet her voice has never sounded more concerned. “It’s going to be alright, I promise. Just stay awake for me”, she looks up at you; hope in her tone.

You smile weakly back at her, nodding again.

She is so loving. And so cute. Also, wait a moment. Did she call me sweetheart?

A soft blush is now rising upon your cheeks.

“Good girl”, she gets even closer to you; her shaky hand moves on your side, that with slight hesitation she presses against your skin. You feel a shiver run through your spine. “You’ll feel better soon”, she takes few unsteady breaths as to pull herself together and, in that moment, you wonder how concerned she actually is about you. She has never felt so hopeless before and that scares the shit out of her.

For how long should I keep the game? I already feel so bad.

You soon realize in which position she is bent and your eyes wide in horror. How could you forget such an important detail about her? The last thing you want is causing her physical pain due to a silly game. “Wilhemina, y-your back. You shouldn’t bend over like that”

She ignores you, tucking your hair behind your ear as she keeps putting pressure on your non-existent injury. “We have much bigger issues to worry about. My back doesn’t even hurt”, she promises and it’s partly true. All she can think of right now is you. Your pain. She knows how to deal with hers, but little did she knows about how to cope with others. Especially if it’s about people she secretly cares about.

You can’t help but think how pretty she is, frowning and pursuing her lips like that. “We need to clean this injury, and- Lord, should I call the police? Who did this to you?”, she starts rambling as panic comes over her. You haven’t thought of that, actually, so you say nothing, and just let Wilhemina vent and talk nonstop. A small smile forms to your lips, when she averts her gaze from yours. “No, probably the ambulance first. I swear I’ll kill with my own hands whoever did this to you”, at this point she isn’t looking at you anymore.

“Listen, I need to get help. Hold on for me, alright?”, she places your hand against your wound, telling you to push with all the strength you have. She grabs ahold of your face, gently stroking your cheeks with so much tenderness. You nod, allowing yourself to offer her a reassuring smile.

She lets out an exasperated groan, once she gets up; her eyes roaming around the house. “Where did I put the goddamn phone?”

You’re glad her back was turned, because at that point you can’t hold back your giggles anymore. You decide to put a stop to the prank, that surprisingly went better than expected. She actually cares about you. And it doesn’t matter if you lost the bet, because somehow the reaction you got is much better than any amount of money you could have won instead.

“Wilhemina, calm down, I’m fine”, you slowly get up, however, she doesn’t see you do so, way too focused on looking for her phone, and scattering everything to the ground as she searches for it.

“One second, sweetheart”

There it is, that pet name again.

“I’m fine!”, you repeat, giggling a little loudly this time.

“You’re not fine!”, she stammers, picking through the drawers all over the house. “I won’t let you die on my floor, damnit”

You bite your bottom lip and fold your arms over your chest, unable to control your giggles. “Mina, please, just look at me”, your voice comes out cheerful, different from the one you used earlier.

She turns around and her eyes widen in surprise. “W-what? How are you standing like that?”

You lightly shake your head and bite your lip. “It’s fake blood ”, you explain, with a guilty expression on your face. You lift your shirt just a little bit to show her that under all that gobbledygook there is nothing but your smooth and clear skin. “That’s not real, see? It’s chocolate”, you raise a finger to your lips, licking off it.

WIlhemina’s expression is all of the sudden unreadable. “I beg you, pardon?”, she asks calmly, too calmly for your liking.

You swallow hard, giving her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, it was just a joke…”, you swipe your tongue across your teeth. “Are you okay?”

She casts her eyes upon yours, and she lets out what seems to be a breath of both exasperation and relief. “No, I’m not okay, you goddamn idiot!”, she responds, lightly raising her voice at you.

You bow your head; all of the sudden your feel so small.

Wilhemina notices that and she tiredly rubs the root of her nose. “How did you-?”, her gaze softens, as she realizes how guilty you must feel. “Why did you do such a thing?”, she reaches you and firmly grabs your chin in need to look into your eyes.

“I’m so sorry I never meant to do this”, you mumble lightly. “You see, Mutt and Jeff, they…”, once she hears those names, she scoffs unamused.

She lets go of your chin, without moving away from you. “Assholes”, she mutters under gritted teeth. “I should have known it was their handiwork”

“I should have never agreed on doing this-”, you lift your head up to fully look at her just in time to see her quickly wipe her cheek. You frown. “Hey, are you crying?”

Congratulation, Y/N. You deserve the credit for the jerk of the year.

“No. Of course not”, Wilhemina bites her lip, slowly regaining her natural composure. “You stained my carpet, that’s what I’m upset about”, she mutters, lowering her gaze down to the floor.

“What?”, you can’t help yourself but grin at her reply. “You’re joking”

She looks at you, unamused. “Do I look like I’m joking to you?”, she snaps, folding her arms over her chest and hardening her features for a split second. Her eyes, though, tell you a different story. And you let out a sigh of relief.

You wipe another falling tear with your thumb. “Is this the only reason why you’re crying?”, you ask softly.

Or were you actually worried about me?

To your surprise, she doesn’t pull away. With a small huff of annoyance, she replies, “This carpet cost more than your entire wardrobe”, there’s both truth and sarcasm in her statement and you find yourself nodding and flattening your lips in a thin line, not offended at all by her words. She continues, “It won’t be easy to clean it up”

A light chuckle escapes from your mouth making Wilhemina’s heart warm up. It’s probably the first time she listens to such a melodic sound. She had no idea you could light up the room in such an easy way. As your chuckle dies out, you add, “I’ll gladly pay the laundry bill. Seriously though, forgive me”, you repeat, eyes roaming on her features, in search of a hint of a smile or a sign that would make you believe that she didn’t totally hate you for that. “I never thought I’d scare you that much. I honestly agreed with Mutt and Jeff because I was sure you’d have noticed it was a joke. I wasn’t expecting you to…”, you rumble.

She cuts you off, eyes narrowed as she asks, “To do what? Help, let you in, care?”

You open your mouth to speak but nothing comes out. You shake your head, though. “No, I-”

“Look, I’m aware, I’m not the easiest person to deal with”, she reasons softly. “I can’t even imagine what people say about me”, a sad smile graces upon her lips.

“No, it’s not true”, you’re quick to object, frowning. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. I really am. And I love working with you, I mean it… I ruined your evening with this stupid prank”, you grumble, feeling a little ashamed. “I should probably leave”, you trail off, about to turn around.

Wilhemina sighs loud and clear. “Hey, what’s your rush now?”, she grabs your wrist, and when your eyes cast upon hers once more, you find her smiling at you. “I’m not mad if that’s what you’re concerned about”, she says apprehensively.

“But-”

“No buts”, she objects with a raised brow. “You should put on something clean. It’s a little bit early for Halloween”, she teases, briefly cupping your apple cheek. “You’re covered in chocolate. It looks like you bathed in it”

Once again, you find yourself both blushing and chuckling. “I must look very sweet then”, the redhead grins at your response.

She gently wipes some of it from your cheek. “Wait up here. I’ll get you one of my shirts and clean towels. If you want you can take a shower”

Your face warms up underneath her soft, delicate hands.

“Oh no, you don’t have to… I already messed up your carpet, and-”

Wilhemina can’t help but laugh genuinely, finally relaxing after that scare. “You’re right, that’s why I highly suggest you not to move form that spot. You don’t want to do any more damage now, do you?”, her voice is firm, yet you notice something changed. She feels at ease; she looks actually happy.

“So, I can’t sit on the couch?”, you decide to play along.

She lightly shakes her head, as she walks away to get you a shirt. “If you want to bleed for real, please, be my guest”, she says, chuckling to herself as she perceives you tense up on the spot.

“You wouldn’t”, eyes knitting in suspicious.

Wilhemina’s cane taps slowly against the floor as she makes her way up to her room. A fond smile plays out on her features, as she whispers to herself, “You’re quite right, sweetheart”