Serenity [Book 2]

Chapter 19: liberation

"Hey." A light murmurs comes from him, his thumb gently stroking back and forth along my cheek, waking me slowly.

I let out a quiet groan, shaking my head into the pillow, not ready to say goodbye just yet, so instead, I hook my right leg over his hip to trap him in his bed.

"It's four-thirty." Ethan tells me and I hum, still not opening my eyes.

"Thirty more minutes." I mumble, and he chuckles, most likely shaking his head.

"I can't go back to sleep, darling, or I won't wake up at all." He says, and I make a incoherent noise in response. "You're like a lazy puppy."

"Thank you." I'll take that as a compliment. "Puppies are cute. We should get a puppy. Ooh, want to get a puppy with me?"

"You're delirious." He chuckles, and I smile lazily when I feel his lips press against my forehead. "But yes. Yeah, I'll get a puppy with you in the future."

"What breed?" I mumble, half awake now.

"I like bulldogs." He says and I nod.

"I've always wanted a pitbull." I tell him, blinking my eyes open, and he smiles. "A pitbull called..."

"Don't say Pit. I swear, you suck at naming shit. First of all, fish was called Fish. Second, our bear is called Bear." He has a slight point, but I do have good names in mind.

"Cobain." I mumble, and he strokes his thumb back over my cheek. "Zeppelin. Mercury. Rennie from The Stone Roses. Bowie. Prince."

"All music artists, huh?" He chuckles and I nod, closing my eyes again. "Don't sleep yet. Still have to show you the photos from last night."

"I have a sneaky suspicion you're just trying to jeopardize my beauty sleep." I whisper, and he squeezes my thigh comfortingly before removing it from over his hip.

I whine in disapproval, not wanting him to leave, and he slaps my ass in response before lifting up from the bed. He comes back shortly though, and when I open my eyes, he has the camera.

"I don't take photos a lot, by the way." He excuses and I shake my head, lifting up to give him my full attention. "It's a hobby I picked up with Felix – he's really talented."

"And I'm guessing you aren't?" I raise my brows, and he lets out a low chuckle as he plays around with the big black box thing that takes photos. "Thought so."

He pulls me closer to him and I lie my head down on his chest as he begins to flick through the photos – many more than I thought he'd originally taken. He finds the first one he took, and a smile draws up on my face as he cuddles closer to me, so we can look at them together properly.

"You look so fucking sexy." He comments, and I nibble down on my lower lip.

"I do." I agree, not sounding egotistical, just... in shock almost. These photos are so beautiful, and as he said, I do look sexy. "Can you, um... actually it doesn't matter."

"No, tell me." He urges.

"I don't know... I just, I really like how these look and I want to do something like this again." I mumble and he smiles down at me.

"Wanna be my little muse?" He asks, and I hesitantly nod. "Good because you're my new favorite thing to picture."

"Can you maybe develop one of them, so I can draw it?" I ask, hoping it doesn't sound weird. "I know it may seem self absorbed, but I need to draw more portraits. I stopped drawing for a while, and I want to get back into it."

"Of course, I'll get one developed when I have time, and then I'll frame it once you're done with it." He says and I stare at him, wondering if he's joking or not.