Power and Lies

Eight

"You are under no obligation to be the same person you were a year, a month, or even 15 minutes ago. You have the right to evolve."
-Anonymous

She woke in the morning, John's arm draped across her. The morning smelled of dew on the grass and she put off prodding the man awake for a moment to admire the world that was just starting to wake up. For hours they had laughed, passing a flask between them, telling stories of childhood and embarrassing school tales. There had been more on his side than hers, but she was overjoyed at hearing everything he said to her. It was bliss unlike anything she had experienced. Her head hurt but she did not mind any more than she minded that John's body was pressed to her own. It was nice to have a male companion, she thought. She could see why some women chose to take no husband, opting instead for many companions to see their days through. She could not work at a whore house, that took a level of bravery she was very far from possessing, but she could admire their willingness to make their life their own. She had no place to judge- she had murdered her husband and fell asleep with gangsters.

"Oh fuck," John whispered beside her after a while. He made motions to move, but she grabbed his arm, holding him in place.

"Stay a while with me," she requested. The sun was barely starting to rise over the buildings warming the ground up. She had not realized how cold she was. John obliged, snaking his other arm underneath her and dragging her body until there was no room between them, his breath coming out on her neck. It was an erotic feeling, and she could feel a spark jolting through her body at their closeness. "John?"

"Yes?" His voice was deep with sleepiness and hoarse from drinking, a combination that on anyone would be enticing, but on John especially so. His fingers began to trace small circles in her arm, tickling her lightly.

She mustered as much bravery as she could before rolling over to face him. He had dark circles under his eyes from the lack of good rest, but she could sense that he was happy to be where he was, even if the ground was cold and wet. She was sure he had endured far worse. She leaned her face a little closer, staring at him in question as though she was asking permission to even ask the question. Judging by the glazed look in his eyes as he stared at her lips, she knew she had an answer.

"Would you kiss me?" And kiss her he did, his lips soft against her own, seeking something from her, love maybe, through the touches. It did not feel anything like when she kissed Lee, who forced his lips upon hers with such ferocity he once busted her lip. This was sweet, and loving. His tongue traced her lower lip and she happily granted him access, meeting his passion with passion of her own, happy as his hands found her hips, squeezing them gently as though he had never felt something so precious. This would not be forever, Freya thought, but for now it felt good.

"Oh good, you're both dressed." The two jumped apart from each other, Freya gasping in surprise. John draped his jacket over her shoulders, covering the bits of exposed flesh that the dress revealed in an attempt to keep her modest.

"Bit late for that, don't you think?" Tommy Shelby barked at his brother, before lighting a cigarette and inhaling deeply. He was angry for reasons Freya could not understand, but nevertheless she wrapped up in John's coat and walked over to the intruder. He had ruined a perfectly good moment.

"What do you want Tommy?" John walked up behind her, unafraid to wrap his arms around her from the back. It was a possessive gesture, and Freya knew it. She did not shirk his arms off, but mentally pleaded with herself to rectify the situation with Tommy. She felt the urge to confess to her kissing his brother and beg him for forgiveness for the sins she most certainly did not commit. She did not want Tommy to see her as John's woman. She could be John's woman in the darkness of the night when he was not around, but with those cold blue eyes on her, she wanted to shirk off the jacket and plead with him to love her in the way she wanted to love him.