Queen

Freshly showered, I pulled one of Syn's long sleeve shirts over my head and let it fall down my thighs before slipping into a pair of his sweats. I had plenty of my clothes but I preferred his, they smelled just like him and it was the closest I could get to being in his fucking skin. It was weird, but I had never been addicted to a smell like I was to his.

"What are you doing?" I jumped at the sound of Syn's voice, dropping the sleeve of his shirt from my nose.

"Uh, nothing," I replied quickly, clasping my hands together behind my back and giving him an innocent smile. My smile faltered slightly as I took in the sight of him. His dark sweats hung low on his sculpted body, blood staining them along with his naked chest. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it wasn't his blood. He wiped his blood-stained fingers with a paper towel, leaning against the door frame as he eyed me suspiciously.

"Mm, it looked like you were sniffing my shirt."

"I would never do that. That's weird."

He leaned off the wall and walked into the room. "Very weird," he agreed. "But you're a weirdo, so it makes sense."

"I'm not a weirdo." I crossed my arms. "I just like your soap."

He smiled. "But you're not smelling the soap, you're smelling the shirt that I just wore yesterday."

"Let me live."

"And you say I'm the obsessed one," he teased me, raising a brow. "You just like the smell of me and I don't blame you. Someone needs to capture my essence, bottle it, and sell it."

"I'm not okay with people buying your essence," I shot back. "What does that even mean?" He ignored my question, smiling down at me before kissing the tip of my nose.

"Shower with me," he said, the words sounding more like a command than a request as he looked down at me.

I shook my head. "I just showered," I said, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Sure, but not with me so does it really count?" He asked.

"Mmm, yes." I nodded. "My new body wash says it counts. Smell me." I lifted my neck and leaned into it, sniffing me before pulling back and nodding in agreement.

"I like it."

"Rightttt," I dragged. "It came in a set. So I have the scent in body lotion form, body oils, hand soap—" I stopped when I noticed his one too many nods and slow-spread smile. "You don't care."

"I care if you care, Princess." He laughed softly. "And I'm smiling because only you would talk about soaps and body oils while I'm covered in someone else's blood. There was a time you would've been horrified by this but now you barely even look twice at it. Have I desensitized you to these things?"

"Yes, you have." I nodded. "In fact, I'm more terrified when you show up not covered in someone's blood."

"I like that," he said. "Now, as much as I appreciate your scents and shit, I like showering with you more- I'll even help you put it all back on. Now, do you want to walk to the bathroom yourself or do I need to carry you?"

I crossed my arms, tilting my head and he shrugged, taking a step forward to pick me up. "No, stop." I laughed, taking a quick step back and holding back a pained groan at my persisting cramps. He stopped reaching for me immediately and my smile slowly dropped as a serious expression replaced his playful grin. "What?"

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" I frowned. "Nothing."

"You're in pain." I looked at him, momentarily confused before I realized just how connected we now were. "Don't lie."

"I wasn't going to lie, I am okay," I assured him. "When you reached for me, I moved away too quickly. Quick movements make my cramps a little sharper, but I'm used to it. Don't worry."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know."

"You're fine." I smiled.

"That means I was hurting you in the basement..."

"No," I said quickly. "Not at all. It actually helped, surprisingly. Thanks to you I've had a mostly cramp-free day—my body is just choosing to make up for it all now. My vagina hurts."

"Hm." He nodded. "Maybe I can help."

"I'm getting pains in my butthole too. If you want to help with that..."

He rubbed his jaw in thought and I held back a smile as he tried to find a solution. "I could massage—"

"I'm not letting you massage my asshole."

"Why not?" He shrugged. "If it'll alleviate some of your pain, I'll gladly—"

"Ahh, enough! Go shower," I yelled, covering my ears.

"Princess, you gotta know by now that I'd do anything for you." He smiled, his eyes still holding his sincerity as he raised his arms in defeat. I smiled in slight embarrassment, my joke flopping on me and he headed to the restroom.

Before walking in, he turned back to me. "By anything, I mean anything. There's nothing too crazy for me when it comes to you. Hold a mirror for you while you wax or shave, pop a butt pimple, put in a tampon..."

I started at him mortified. My mouth dropped and he continued. "Remember, I researched how to do it just in case there comes a time when you can't or don't feel like it. I know the angles and everything, you can trust me."

"Yeah, I'll never let you do that, but that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever offered to do for me." I smiled, my eyes getting teary.

"It's not sweet, it's practical," he clarified. "Why struggle or have someone else do all of these things for you when I can do it myself?"

"Because it's embarrassing," I admitted shyly. "You're supposed to think I'm perfect and sexy. None of those things you mentioned would help maintain that idea."

"You maintain it on your own already." He smiled, crossing his arms and leaning against the door. "You are perfect and the word sexy wouldn't do you justice," he said. "You're also mine, Princess. You're stuck with me forever. People may come and leave throughout our life together, but we will always have each other. I want to take care of you and I want you to feel comfortable enough to come to me for anything."

A smile spread across my lips as my heart fluttered and he went on, "That includes diarrhea problems, plucking any straggling ass hairs, applying creams for any chaffing or skin irritation on—"

"Okay!" I stopped him. "I get the picture." I smiled at him, blinking away the threatening tears. Ugh, I wanted to blame my being emotional on my period but it wasn't that, he was amazing. I had never had a man offer to pluck the pesky stragglers.

I fucking love him!

I sniffled. "Thank you, baby. I would kiss you but you're covered in blood. I more than love you, though."

"Oh." He raised a brow and held an arm out. "So I offer to tweeze ass hairs and you can't kiss me because of a little blood?" I scurried toward him, my cheeks heating and puckered my lips. Anything to get him to stop talking about ass hairs. He bent down, placing several kisses on my lips without touching me and getting me dirty. "Thank you."

"Thank you." I smiled at him. He winked at me before turning toward the restroom and I cleared my throat. "Same to you, by the way."

He scrunched his brows, looking at me over his shoulder. "To which part?"

I shook my head and shrugged. "All of it."

He looked at me for a long moment, his eyes still on me as he walked into the restroom. "You stay the hell away from my ass, Queen."

"No promises," I whispered with a giggle. He closed the door in my face and I laughed out loud before a stomach pain made me stop and wince. I rubbed the lower part of my stomach and headed downstairs to the kitchen. I needed something sweet- maybe salty, I didn't know yet.

I walked past Paris to the kitchen and opened the fridge, frowning as nothing to satisfy my craving came into sight. After staring at it longer than I needed, I closed the refrigerator. "What are you looking for?" Paris asked me. I heard the crumple of a chip bag and my eyes snapped to him.

"What are you eating?"

His eyes remained on the television as he held up a bag of salt and vinegar chips. I gasped, walking around the kitchen island to the couch. I plopped myself on the couch beside him and gave him an innocent smile. "What?" He glanced at me.

"Those chips look really good," I said with a nod, tapping my leg. I felt like a fiend but as soon as I saw them, I needed them.

He plopped one into his mouth with a smooth crunch and glance back at the TV. "They are good."

"Did you know they're my favorite?"

"Nope! But I knew they were mine, which is why I bought them," he quipped in amusement.

"L-let me buy them from you."

He laughed out loud. "You're stuttering and shit. You're real hungry, huh?"

"How much, Paris?"

"The bag is almost half empty, Queen." He shook it. "It's not—"

"How. Much," I repeated and he squinted at me in thought, trying his hardest to hold back a laugh. I appreciated him not laughing as I was dead serious, but he was close.

"How much are you willing to pay?"

"Anything."

"Five hundred dollars," he said.

"Deal."

"You're insane." He laughed, shaking his head before passing them to me. "It's okay. Knock yourself out."

I flashed him a grin before grabbing them and leaning against the couch beside him. I focused on the movie he was watching, almost combusting as the chips hit my tongue. "These are bomb."

"Mhmm, breaking a man must make you peckish."

"No." I glanced at him. "Blood continuously gushing from my body is what makes me hungry."

"Intriguing," he said flatly and I smiled.

"But speaking of said broken man, what happened after I left? You must've heard."

"Syn hasn't told you?" He asked, his dark eyes meeting mine and I paused, chip mid-air on the way to my mouth.

"Told me what?"

"He got a name from the guy."

"What was the name?"

He shrugged. "Who knows? I don't listen to everything. I was trying to focus on my movie." He caught sight of my frown. "I'm sure he'll tell us when he comes down."

I nodded before turning back to the movie. I tried my hardest to stay silent, granting Paris the little bit of peace he may have been having before I came, but I was bored. "I have a question," I spoke up.

"Cool," he said, his attention still on the movie. When he noticed my eyes were still on him, he smiled and slowly returned his eyes to me. "Oh, you want to ask it?"

"Generally, when someone says they have a question, it usually means that they want to ask it."

He grinned. "What's your question?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

He rolled his eyes in boredom, looking back at the television. "No." With his eyes off of me, I took a chance to study him. I hadn't paid much attention to it before, but the guy was hot. No one was near as attractive as Syn was in my eyes, but this guy could do some damage.

His eyes were a deep brown, matching his neat wavy hair. He wasn't attractive in the way that crept up on people- if a woman looked long enough to notice, they'd be stunned. "A boyfriend?"

He smiled at the television, the dimple in his cheek being exposed before he tilted his head at me. A loose strand of hair fell over his forehead and I squinted my eyes. "Do I seem gay to you?"

"I don't like to assume."

He laughed a bit, looking away from me. "No, I don't have a boyfriend, Queen. I'm straight."

"So then what's your deal?"

"My deal?"

"You're attractive, funny, and your name is Paris of all things- like, come on. I don't see you having a problem with getting women."

"I didn't say I have a problem getting women," he said. "I said I was single." He turned to me. "And why do I have to have a deal or something wrong with me because I'm not with anyone? Surely you've been single before."

"It's just crazy to me." I shrugged, chewing on the chips. "Because if I was you..." I raised a brow, nudging his arm with my elbow.

He grinned. "If you were me, what?"

"I'd be deep in it."

"Deep in what?"

"Everything," I whispered.

"Ah." He nodded slowly in understanding. "You'd be a whore?"

"I'd be the next thing that comes after a whore."

He laughed, rubbing the neat stubble on his jaw with a smile as he nodded. "I'm going to take this little talk as a compliment."

"You've managed to tell me nothing in this entire conversation," I pointed out.

"What can I say?" He sat back. "I'm good at what I do."

"This isn't work, Paris. I'm not trying to interrogate you, we're friends."

"This isn't a conversation I have with my friends."

My smile spread and I wiggled my brows. "Best friends?"

"You need to get out more."

I frowned, sighing as I shifted back into the couch and looked back at the TV. Clearly, the man didn't want to be bothered. I felt his eyes on me as I tried to let the moment go and I swung my head back in his direction. "What?"

"You're very sensitive during this time of the month, aren't you?" He teased. I punched his shoulder- hard and he chuckled. "I'm sorry, okay? It's habit, I don't like talking about myself. I honestly suggest you find another bestie, but if you insist on me; I prefer listening than speaking. If that's okay with you, then we're golden."

"No, that's depressing." I rolled my eyes, waving my hand in dismissal. "I'll stick with the friends I have, thank you."

"Ugh, your mood swings make you twice as annoying. I didn't think you could get worse." He shivered and my mouth dropped as he looked back at the television, dismissing any trace of our conversation from his demeanor and expression.

"Is she bothering you?" I heard Syn ask as he walked down the stairs and into the living room. I frowned as I noticed him completely dressed.

"No," Paris said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "She's a joy."

Syn smiled, his eyes moving to me and I scowled at Paris before looking back at him. "Where are we going?"

"Paris and me," he clarified, "...are going to follow up on a lead."

"What lead?"

"The one your friend Aiden so graciously volunteered up."

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