A/N: This story is a sequel to 'Lord Byron', which can be found here s/8589007/1/Lord-Byron :)
I'd like to use the completion of this little string of stories to give a little shout-out to pseudofaker on tumblr! They made a post in the 'paily anchors' tag about Emily showing Paige the benefits of reading, and although I'm sure they had something entirely different in mind, it still inspired me to write this.
"What are you reading there?"
"A textbook for history … just like it says on the book cover. Why?"
"So no great English literature today?"
"No, nothing like that. What, are you hoping to repeat that afternoon last week? Cause if you want, I'm sure I can find more poems out there …"
"It's my turn today."
"Your turn?"
"Yep. I read some great English literature for today, and I thought that today I might show you some pieces of literature that remind me of you."
"Really?" Emily's eyes lit up and she set her boring textbook to the night table besides her. Eagerly, she sat up but then decided for a more cosy position and laid down her head on Paige's lap.
"Yeah, I really loved what you did with Lord Byron's poem for me. That was so cute and so moving. So I thought, it'd be really awesome if I did the same for you. You know English isn't my strongest subject, but I still tried to look up some authors and see whether their style spoke to me."
"Mhh," Emily made and idly began to let her fingers walk over Paige's leg next to her head. "And who did speak to you?"
"Do you know Oscar Wilde?"
"What a question, of course I know Wilde! What did you read, The Picture of Dorian Grey? Or, The Canterville Ghost?"
"Uhm, actually, I started by reading the Wikipedia article on him and then I decided that I thought he was interesting as a historical figure. And then I read a lot of quotes by him. There a few of them that I liked and I found out they were all from the same book."
"Which book?"
"It's called Lady Windermere's Fan. It's a play, actually … a comedy, I think."
"You read a whole play? Are you gonna act it out for me, of course speaking all roles because I haven't read that?" Emily laughed. She knew there would be no reciting to be heard today but the very thought behind Paige's action made her all bubbly.
"To be completely honest with you – I didn't read it either. I tried looking at it in the library but plays never really made any sense to me … I keep having to look up who is who, and a lot of things that apparently happen just go over my head in all that dialogue. So I just read a summary of it."
Paige had started fiddling with Emily's hair, probably to calm her nerves – Emily liked it nonetheless. After catching one of the hands that busied themselves in her hair, Emily pressed a kiss to the soft palm. She didn't want Paige to feel embarrassed or stupid, because Emily understood her aversion to plays, especially older ones – and she was still very much enamoured with the intention of Paige's failed literature project.
"That's pretty understandable. I myself have a love-hate-relationship with plays. I love how they're all about the dialogue – there's so much focus put into it, you can actually tell how the people in the play have different styles of speaking, you can almost hear them speak in your head, and the dialogue often has a really sharp wit to it. But I also hate how they're all about the dialogue – it makes it really hard to keep any sort of track on what's going on."
"Thanks for understanding. I was so afraid you'd be really disappointed in your illiterate girlfriend."
"You're not illiterate and you never disappoint me."
Paige lifted their joined hands to her face and kissed the back of Emily's hand. Then she tangled her fingers into Emily's hair again, having missed the opportunity to keep her hands busy – and having missed the wonderfully smooth texture that was spread out all over her lap and the bed beneath them. Emily's hair looked like a radiant halo around her head and it caught the fading sunlight coming in from her room's window in all the right ways. Emily let her hand brush over Paige's jaw, her shoulder and her collar bone on its way back down, then turning to drawing shapes on Paige's thigh again.
"Regardless, there's this really nice quote from the play that I unsuccessfully tried to read … it goes 'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars'." Paige nervously cleared her throat but Emily just looked at her with calm eyes, waiting for her to continue.
"This made me think of you. Because we really all are in the gutter, all of us who are somehow involved in this mess that is Rosewood. But you're different from the others. Your intentions are always good and seen through your eyes, you can make everything appear beautiful."
"Stop it with the flattery", Emily giggled but blushed nonetheless.
"And it also made me think of you because you said last week, during the Byron poem-thing, that I showed you the stars. Thus, of course, you are someone who looks at the stars. Someone who looks at the stars; someone who is as pretty as the stars, …"
Paige noticed that she was trailing off – she had run out of material after she had analysed her first quote and she very well knew it. And she still had to break to Emily that this was not actually why she had looked into Lady Windermere's Fan …
"Why are you blushing so much, and why won't you meet my eyes? That was really beautiful, I mean it. I loved it." Emily brought Paige's attention back to the present and when Paige took her eyes off the floor next to the bed she had suddenly grown so interested in, she saw Emily lifting her head off Paige's lap. After shifting around a bit Emily eventually kneeled next to Paige's stretched-out legs, looking into Paige's eyes and running a hand through Paige's hair.
"Uh, while that quote was pretty and while it did remind me of you, it uh … it wasn't the quote that initially caught my eye."
"And is that a bad thing? She Walks in Beauty wasn't the first Lord Byron poem I read, either."
"The first quote that actually caught my eyes was, … different. Less, um, cultivated and less romantic. A bit more of a forward thing."
"Oh stop teasing" Emily pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of Paige's mouth, which only made Paige's blush grow more profusely. "Tell me already."
Paige slowly traced her fingers up Emily's arm until they found rest on Emily's shoulder. She was unsure of how to proceed. If she was being completely honest with herself, she had to admit that she caught sight of this quote because she thought that this was a thing she could actually say when things were getting more … heated. Now with all the talk they had spent on this quote, and all the expectations Emily probably had built up, it seemed like such a small and absurd thing to say. Since Paige knew that Emily was not going to give up prying, she decided it was better to get that stupid sentence out of the way as quickly as possible and then move on.
"'I can resist everything but temptation.'"
Emily started to giggle, trying to keep her giggle so quiet that Paige wouldn't hear and feel embarrassed. Despite her best efforts though, Paige picked up quickly and started pouting at Emily.
"See? First you urge to me say it, and now you're laughing at me."
"Oh Paige", Emily pulled her resistant girlfriend into a hug, "I'm not making fun of you or your quote. In fact, I really like it. It's very Oscar Wilde."
"Why are you laughing then?" Paige was mumbling into Emily's shoulder, the pout still visible in her voice.
"I was just picturing you ploughing through Wikiquotes, looking for a pick-up line to use on me. Even after you called my idea of using pick-up lines on you totally dorky last week. You're willing to be a complete dork for me – that thought makes me really happy … kinda giddy."
Finally Paige hugged Emily back, pulling the other girl into a much tighter embrace. "I'd do anything for you, Emily. Of course I'm gonna be a dork for me if you like dorks."
Paige's voice had been a husky whisper close to Emily's ear, and it had sent a shiver down her spine – it pushed her buttons in all the right way. One of Emily's hands tangled itself into the hair at the back of Paige's head, while the other slowly started following the curve of Paige's side, which was pressed firmly against her own. The change in the air was not lost on Paige; she held tight onto of Emily's hips to steady herself against her own quickening heartbeat.
"Your English lit teacher was right – those literature pick-up lines really work", Paige tried to keep a calm head by continuing the conversation.
Emily seemed less interested in conversations about her teachers right now, though, and only laughed into Paige's neck in response. Her warm, ragged breath hit the skin there, upon which Paige inhaled sharply. Her fingers slowly made their way under the hem of Emily's shirt and her thumb started drawing small circles right on Emily's hip bone.
Soft lips met Paige's cheek as Emily lifted her head from Paige's shoulder. Once she was sat facing Paige again, Emily brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen onto Paige's forehead.
"Hey, you dork" Emily said softly.
"Hey" Paige smiled back at her and tried to keep her breathing somewhat even.
"I also know a quote by Oscar Wilde."
"You do?"
"Mhh. I actually think it's from your play, too."
"Oh," Paige let out a nervous chuckle, "It's not like I'd recognise it, anyway. How does it go?"
Instead of replying, Emily lifted her leg over Paige's lap until she kneeled directly over her, straddling her hips. A warm, tingling sensation rose from low in Paige's stomach to her ears and she had to gulp in order to contain it within her chest. The hue of her blush slowly changed from red to a deep pink. Her hand that had previously held onto Emily's hip for stability was now pulling Emily's hip closer to her own, hoping to maximize contact between them. Emily snaked her arms around Paige's neck and leaned in close to Paige's ear.
"'The only way to resist temptation is to wield it.'" The way she said it was raw, her voice was deep and laced with want. Paige searched Emily's dark eyes, seeing in them the same passion that she had heard in Emily's voice. Around Emily's nose played the same dark pink blush that completely claimed Paige's face by now. Paige took a few sweet moments to completely appreciate in how many ways she found the girl in her lap attractive right now – she could almost not count the ways. Everything about Emily was sexy right now.
Emily's hand tangled itself firmly into Paige's hair again when Paige pulled her in for a much-needed kiss. Paige closed her eyes and sighed against Emily's lips as they drew close to her own. Their breaths mingled between them and Paige brushed her bottom lip against Emily's. For a short while, their kiss was light and playful, their lips more ghosting over each other rather than actually meeting. Emily's free hand lightly massaged Paige's collarbone, working from the outside in towards her sternum. Once she had arrived there Emily continued down Paige's sternum, her hand running in the valley between Paige's breasts, down onto her stomach and back up again.
Paige groaned a little in frustration when Emily's hand failed to actually touched her breasts; she hoped to be able to change Emily's mind by taking Emily's upper lip firmly between her own and dramatically deepening the kiss all of a sudden. In surprise, Emily clenched the material of Paige's shirt and let out a small gasp. She relaxed almost immediately, melted fully into the kiss and pressed her hand flat against Paige's sternum. Paige took one of her own hands up between them and very softly coaxed Emily's hand into moving to one of Paige's breasts. At first, Emily's fingers lightly played on the outer curve of it, then she started stroking the hardening bud of a nipple under the soft fabric more firmly with her thumb until she finally cupped the breast with her entire head and gave it a light massage.
Finally having the feeling of Emily's hand on her breast, Paige moaned quietly into their kiss and let her hand work its way back under Emily's shirt until it found rest on her stomach. They broke their kiss because they were running out of air but Emily was quick to bow her head down and start placing little kisses under Paige's ear. She worked her way down to Paige's neck with little pecks, smiling into each one of them. Once she reached Paige's pulse point and placed a firmer kiss there, Paige had to throw back her head and let out a much louder moan than before. In reaction to the sound, Emily pushed herself further forward on Paige's lap until their bodies were flush against each other. She ran the hand that was still cupping Paige's breast down to the hem of Paige's shirt, under it and then to the small of Paige's back.
Paige very distinctively noticed the blood pooling between her legs and the head radiating off of Emily told her she was probably experiencing a very similar feeling right now. Her hands slid out from under Emily's shirt, indulgently placing long, sensual strokes on her hips and thighs before her hands settled on the perfectly round curve of Emily's ass, stabilising her in Paige's lap. Emily let out a very shaky breath close to Paige's ear as Paige's fingers began to play around with the waistband of Emily's jeans. When Paige placed a lingering kiss to Emily's jaw, she noticed that a layer of perspiration had formed on Emily's skin. She took the hem of Emily's shirt in her hand and lightly tucked on the material.
"May I?" The question came out as more of a pant than a question but Emily seemed to have understood nonetheless, for she nodded and whispered, "Please".
They had to break apart a bit to make room for Emily's hands to move up between and they immediately missed the contact when they did. Slowly, Paige began to inch up Emily's shirt. She took her time to appreciate what she saw; her eyes hungrily took in every new in inch of caramel skin that came into vision; she eyed Emily's stomach and only halted when she first noticed the seam of a bra. Afraid of appearing like a total perv, ogling her girlfriend like that, she lifted her gaze to Emily's face. She found Emily looking at her and immediately cast her eyes down to the ground in embarrassment. Paige's face was incapable of blushing any more than it already was, but she still felt heat rise to her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare like that. Sorry if it was creeping you out, I ... "
Paige was mumbling into herself, stumbling over her words but Emily quickly cut her off by taking Paige's face with both her hands and coaxing her to look into Emily's eyes. Although she was hesitant at first, Paige found so much love and adoring in the look Emily was giving her that she relaxed into Emily's hands and smiled at her like an idiot in love. Emily run soothing fingers over the side of Paige's face and returned her smile.
"I like it when you stare, it makes me feel so wanted. You could never creep me out; I trust you and I love you."
Emily kissed Paige gently on the lips and felt Paige smile wide into the kiss. Suddenly, she moved her hands from Paige's face and down her torso, coming to rest on her breasts. When she broke their kiss, Emily shortly took Paige's bottom lip between her teeth and teasingly pulled on it. Then she moved to Paige's ear; she kissed underneath it and nibbled on the sensitive earlobe.
"Now get this shirt off me, before I go and rip yours off."
With this encouragement, Paige finally slid Emily's shirt up all the way to her shoulders, pulled it over her head and discarded it to the side. She ran her fingers gently all the way over Emily's arms as she made her back to Emily's torso, where she held tightly on to Emily's back. Now she freely marvelled at the sight of the exposed cleavage in front of her, dipped her head down and pressed a kiss on the warm, soft expense of skin showing just over the bra.
A wave of arousal washed over Emily when she felt Paige's mouth on her chest; she took off Paige's shirt in a hurry and lay Paige down on her back. With Paige's topless self laid out in front of her, she lowered her head to Paige's shoulder and kissed her way down from there to Paige's stomach while her hands cupped Paige's breasts. First, Paige had to smile at the desire expressed in Emily's actions but once Emily found a particularly sensitive spot on Paige's abdomen, she arched her back and groaned. Her fingers of one hand tangled into Emily's hair, the others clenched the bed sheet beneath them because she needed to hold onto something as her breathing turned fast and ragged.
Paige's growing arousal was evident and it encouraged Emily to give her everything to Paige right now. She fiercely kissed Paige's half-exposed breast; her hand made its way under the fabric of the bra covering the other breast – a layer of cotton was not going to stop her. Her fingers ran over the hard nipple, teasing and twisting it between them. Paige's breathing was growing ever more erratic, her back arched up again and Emily used the chance to release the clasp of the bra behind Paige's back. Both Emily and Paige simultaneously clawed at the piece of clothing remove it; somewhere in the resulting tangle of limbs, Paige threw her arms around Emily's neck to draw her down into a searing kiss.
It reassured Emily that Paige wanted her just as bad as Emily wanted Paige. The kiss left their lips tingling, they were red and puffy. Through various hands entangling themselves in them and some abrupt changes in position, their hair was a joined mess now, strands sticking to their faces and necks and the pillow. Seeing Paige in such a perfect state of disorder turned Emily on like nothing else, especially when she knew that she was responsible for the mess.
Emily's hand reached down to the waist of Paige's jeans; she teased Paige for a while before popping open the button of the pants. Paige lifted her hips off the bed and Emily was quick to remove Paige's pants, her underpants immediately followed suit. Emily kneeled between Paige's legs and began sensually kissing the inside of her thigh. Because Emily was now too far away for Paige's hands to reach her, Paige simply leaned back into the pillows, closed her eyes and savoured the feeling of Emily kissing up and down her thigh.
Carefully, Emily cupped Paige's core with one hand and looked up at her girlfriend for reassurance. She was so aroused she could barely keep herself from diving right into Paige but she did not want to go faster than Paige was comfortable with. When Paige lifted her head, her eyes were foggy with desire and she looked at Emily pleadingly. The hand slowly slid off Paige's core, just barely brushing all the most important places in the process. Emily's head dipped down and pressed a first kiss to Paige's core. The most beautifully aroused sigh Emily had ever heard escaped Paige and Paige placed her hand softly on Emily's head.
Emily's lips ghosted over Paige's mound for a while, playfully teasing her until Paige groaned almost painfully because she couldn't stand all the teasing anymore. Her lips found the place where Paige needed them to be the most. Paige searched for Emily's hand that was resting on Paige's hip and laced them together while her breathing turned more and more into panting, her stomach muscles tensed and her hips canted forward in rhythm with Emily's tongue. Just when Emily thought Paige was nearing climax, Paige ran both her hands over Emily's arms until she reached Emily's shoulders and dragged her up to her face.
"I need to see your face while we do this. I want this to be all about you."
Paige panted into Emily's ear. A shudder ran down Emily's back as she realised how sexy and how loving this statement was at the same time. She pressed their lips together for a long, sensual kiss. After Paige opened Emily's pants and began to run her fingers over the waistband of Emily's underwear, the obstructing garment was quickly kicked off and Emily brought her body back over Paige, now only in her underwear.
Her body weight was balanced on one of her forearms while the other one made its way back down to Paige's core. The wetness her fingers were met with as she ran her fingers through the folds excited Emily; she circled her fingers around Paige's mound to silently ask for permission. Paige ran her tongue over Emily's bottom lip and deepened the kiss. This was all the permission Emily needed, and much more, so she slowly entered Paige with two fingers. A deep moan rolled from Paige's throat and broke the kiss. Emily started placing small kisses on Paige's neck; Paige ran her fingers up and down Emily's spine, faster with every bit she came closer to finding release.
Suddenly, Paige drew up one of her legs and placed the thigh directly between Emily's legs. Emily halted in her movement shortly as a bolt of excitement shot through her body. Even through her underwear, Paige could feel Emily's wetness on her skin and slowly started a rhythm against the junction of Emily's legs. Once more, Emily started shuddering because she was so aroused; it took her a few seconds to return her attention to her fingers in Paige. Within a minute, both of them were panting heavily, their hot breaths mingled between them and their kisses had turned sloppy. Emily was quickly nearing release, and Paige was well aware of that, quickening the rhythm of her thigh.
Although she knew that going down on Paige, tasting her, feeling had turned her on, Emily was surprised by how fast everything was happening now. Before she knew it, she moaned loudly into Paige's neck and rocked her pelvis on Paige's thigh. In embarrassment, Emily realised she had reached climax before Paige had, and that within a matter of only a few minutes. She hid her face in Paige's hair because she had to look like a horny teenage boy right now. Paige dragged Emily's face up again to face her own; she kissed Emily and told her she loved her. Emily realised that she was being stupid and that Paige would never judge her like that. She kissed Paige back firmly and quickly pushed Paige over the edge, too.
Waves of her orgasm still washed over Paige as Emily slowly brought her down. Her mouth hang wide ajar, her eyes were shut tightly, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead – but there was a glow to her face, something that made her seem like the most beautiful person ever and Emily peppered small kisses all over Paige's face until her breathing had turned calm again. Paige opened one eye, still exhausted, and looked at Emily as if she was a creature she had seen in a dream.
"You certainly have a very practical approach to literature", Emily giggled into Page chest, where she had rested her head. She pressed a kiss to the underside of Paige's jaw.
"I'm a natural when it comes to literature, just admit it" Paige laughed and Emily could hear the laughter's echo in Paige's chest beneath her. She loved the sound.
"Seriously, though, I never thought that would work. I felt like such a massive idiot, you have no idea."
"You're adorable when you think you're being an idiot. You really didn't need to find anything, just the mere thought of searching literature for me made me fall in love with you all over again."
Paige kissed the top Emily's head and they lay in silence for a few minutes, just holding each other. Then Emily let out a deep sigh and sat up a bit so she could kiss Paige on the lips. She rested their foreheads together and smiled peacefully.
"Thank you, Paige. Everything is so perfect right now, I couldn't ask for anything more."
"You think? Because I see a major problem with the situation at hand."
"What do you mean?" Emily furrowed her eyebrows. Was she lying on Paige in a way that made her uncomfortable? Was Paige getting cold?
Paige grinned cheekily at Emily. "You're still wearing your underwear. I don't like that, especially because it will be in the way for what I'm about to do to you."
Paige slid her hands under the waistband of Emily's panties and Emily blushed profusely. Her underwear was gone before she could realise what was even going on. Paige was already turning them around, pushing Emily onto her back and kissing down Emily's body. As she leaned her head back to give in to the feeling of excitement that spread over her, Emily realised that it had gone completely dark and that her parents were bound to get home soon. Emily didn't find it in herself to care.