“I d?nnae want t’ force anything. I ken that ye haven’t, and yer not—”
“I lied to you before too,” I tell him, and the frown on him shifts a little.
“Aye?”
“On my birthday, when you asked me why I didn’t want to…” I trail off. “With Peter, and I said I didn’t know. I did know.”
Jem licks his bottom lip. “Why d?dnae you do it?”
I give him a look. “Please don’t make me say it.” I roll my eyes. “I already don’t have clothes on.”
He pulls a face. “Bow, that’s mostly how this thing here goes.”
“Jem.” I cross my arms over my chest, covering myself as best I can.
He keeps going, eyebrow up and playful. “Sure, it’s an important component to it, so it is.” He reaches down and pushes some hair behind my ear.
“Please.” I give him my best pleading eyes.
He smiles down at me, uncrosses my arms from over my chest, swallows heavy. “Just say it, Daph.”
I sigh and glance away from him as I do. “It wasn’t what I wanted.”
Jamison crawls over me, takes my chin between his finger and his thumb, and angles my head so I’m back to looking at him. “Aye, and what do ye want?”
My cheeks have turned into full-bloom roses, and I poke him in the ribs.
Jem gives me another look. “Say it.”
I swallow nervously and take a few deep breaths that come out shallow. “I’d like you, please.”
A smile breaks over his face, and he drops his body on top of mine, my face still in his hand. “Then ye shall hae me.”
He pulls his own shirt off, and I stare up at him wide-eyed, and he smirks for a second before he grabs me by the waist and throws me farther up the bed, crawling up after me.
“Take your trousers off,” I tell him, because I’m nervous.
“Easy.” He sniffs. “Settle down.”
I gesture to myself. “I don’t like just lying here, naked.”
He clicks his tongue and gives me a playful look. “Well, I like it.”
“Jamison.”
He laughs, kicks off his trousers, and glances down at himself. “Is that a wee bit better then?”
I stare at it, and my eyes go wide and my face bursts into flames. “Does wee mean something different to you than it does to me?”
He beams over at me, chuffed, tosses me a little wink, and chuckles. Then he clocks my face, and his goes a bit serious. “Are ye nervous?”
I nod quickly, swallowing.
“Well, fuck.” He rolls his head back. “Now a’m nervous too.”
I flash him a look. “Don’t be mean to me.” I shake my head. “You’ve done it a thousand times.”
He pulls a face. “No’ a thousand.”
I roll my eyes. “Many, many times.”
Jamison pulls another face. “Ye cud just say many? Ye daen need to say ‘many, many.’”
I let out a sigh and look up at him with heavy eyes. “What if I’m bad at it?”
He holds my chin between his thumb and his index finger. “You cudnae be.”
“I’m sure I could be.” I tilt my head, considering it. “After all, we had such a good kiss just now, and what if—”
His face pulls. “Sure, are ye going to blether on the whole time then?”
I give him an indignant look. “Perhaps.”
A little smile escapes his lips, and he plays with some of my hair between his fingers. “Okay.” He nods, watching me.
“Okay?” I give him a proud look.
“Aye.” He nods. “Works fer me.” That makes me happy, and he rests his chin on my bare chest, looking over at me. “Will I talk ye though it?”
“Oh!” I nod quickly. “Please, if you wouldn’t mind.”
He licks his bottom lip and sits up, staring down at me. It’s a funny kind of stare; it would have been awfully intimidating if his mouth wasn’t so pink and his eyes hadn’t gone all tender at the edges.
“Ri’， well first.” He cocks an eyebrow. “I’ll lie down on top o’ ye.”
And then he does. You know when you’re cold on a winter’s night and someone throws an extra quilt on you, and you settle in happily under the heaviness of it? That’s how it feels when he lies down on me.
“Okay.” I nod, waiting for more.
“Then a’m going t’ reach up and touch yer face.” He does. “Push some hair from it, sure, but I won’t need to really. I’ll just want to.”