Serendipity // Camren

Chapter 59

The feeling of soft fingers lightly stroking up and down her throat pulled Lauren from sleep as she smiled as she felt Camila's lips following in her finger's wake, ghosting soft kisses across her bruised skin. Every touch was achingly gentle and she felt her heart swell with affection for the brunette.

She knew that Camila was most likely still feeling the effects of what had happened, but she selfishly played asleep and let herself bask in the feeling of the brunette attending to her wounds. Soft touches and the most gentle of kisses moved over her throat, up and down and side to side, covering every inch of skin that could be reached. The warmth of the brunette's love washed over her with each tender brush of lips against her skin, and she felt her heart skip a beat as she realized that she had almost lost this.

She had almost lost her.

Images of the encounter with Johnston flashed through her mind, the maniacal look in his eyes when he grabbed her, the feeling of his fingers tightening around her throat until it was difficult to breathe. She drew a deep breath and grit her teeth to force the images out of her mind, and she gasped in surprise when she felt warm tears begin to rain down on her skin.

Knowing that Camila was suffering pulled her from her dark thoughts and she immediately wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist and pulled the smaller woman down onto her. "Shh, sweetie," she murmured in a voice that was markedly rougher than usual as she smoothed her hands over the brunette's back. "It's okay... I'm okay." The words, while meant to reassure Camila, also worked to help her own lingering fear of what had happened to disappear.

"I know," Camila said, her voice thick with tears. And she did know. She could feel Lauren's sleep-warmed against her own; she could feel Lauren's hands stroking up and down her back, occasionally slipping lower to draw a slow circle on her naked backside; she could feel the gentle press of her lips against her forehead. But none of that made the ache in her heart go away. None of it made Lauren's bruises go away. The bruises haunted her, even with her eyes closed, taunting her with the knowledge that Lauren wasn't invincible and that this happiness she'd only just finally found could be ripped from her grasp in a second.

The way Camila was trembling told Lauren everything she needed to know about the brunette and she grit her teeth to keep from making a sound as she twisted her hips and rolled so that she was hovering above Camila. The move actually hurt less than she'd been expecting and she took a moment to take a brief inventory of herself. Her neck, while sore when touched, actually wasn't that bad. She didn't feel any real strain in it as she held herself up, there was some, of course, but it wasn't unbearable. The knowledge that she was better than she'd expected to be – she'd been anticipating to feel like she had a bad case of whiplash – made her smile and she hummed softly as she dipped her head to press a soft kiss to Camila's lips.

"You're going to hurt yourself," Camila chastised.

"I'm not," Lauren murmured. "This doesn't hurt." The disbelieving look Camila shot her was impossible to miss and she smiled reassuringly. "Fine. It barely hurts at all."

"Please roll back over," Camila whispered, lifting her right hand to press against Lauren's shoulder.

Lauren sighed and did as Camila asked. "Better?" She stared up into red-rimmed eyes and felt her heart clench. "Talk to me Camz. What's wrong?"

"I'm..." Camila's eyes dropped to the purpling marks on Lauren's neck and she shook her head. "Still scared."

"Of?"

"Losing you," Camila whispered. She ducked her head to hide from Lauren's concerned, loving gaze, ashamed that she was making Lauren's injury all about herself. She felt Lauren shift beside her and she looked up to see what she was doing.