Always by Your Side - Chapter 6 (Patreon)

“It’s so nice to be home...” Blake sighed while dropping her bag on the floor and kicking off her heels.

After a grueling slog of travel with too many public appearances to count, she couldn’t wait to sleep for the next day.  Or the next few days.  Knowing her parents, however, she would get to sleep tonight before having even more planned for tomorrow.

“I hear you there.”

Pulling out the desk chair, Yang sat down with a sigh suggesting she was just as road-weary as Blake.  She wasn’t sitting more than a few seconds, however, before popping back up to her feet and walking over to Blake.

Yang’s proximity made Blake’s skin tingle with unspoken desires and anticipation.  Even though that singular, incredible kiss felt like it happened lifetimes ago, Blake thought about it whenever Yang was nearby.  And, these days, it felt like Yang was always lingering close enough that Blake caught frequent whiffs of her hair or subtle brushes of warmth.

“Do you need anything?” Yang asked gently.  “Or are you staying here for the night?”

Yang seemed so oblivious to Blake’s unrestrained imagination, Blake nearly felt guilty.  Before losing herself to those thoughts, she pushed them aside and focused on Yang’s question instead.

“Not leaving my room for a week, if I can manage it.”  When Yang laughed - the sound lifting Blake’s spirits with ease - she paused and gave Yang a more thoughtful look.  “You have plans?”

“Yeah, I wanted to see my sister.  It’s been a while since we’ve caught up.”

“That sounds nice...and yes, I’ll be here.  No need to worry about me.”

It was an offhand comment, but Yang responded with a genuine, caring gaze.

“I always worry about you.”

The unexpected candor briefly took Blake by surprise, then she felt bad for causing Yang any undue worry.

“You think I’ll sneak out while you’re gone?” she asked before scoffing and shaking her head.  She hadn’t considered ditching Yang since they first met, unlike every other royal guard ever assigned to her.  Quite the contrary, actually, if her hopefully-subtle step closer suggested.

“It’s not that.”  Yang didn’t move away, allowing Blake into her personal space just as willingly as every time before.  “I just...like knowing you’re safe.”

“Well, I’ll be right here.”

Blake wanted to reach up and brush her fingers through Yang’s hair, or caress Yang’s cheek, or anything to express how sweet it was to care so much.  When Yang glanced at the floor and shuffled her feet, however, Blake abruptly understood what was really going on.

They hadn’t been apart in months.  They’d traveled all around Menagerie together, always staying within a stone’s throw of each other.  They’d gotten to the point where they ate almost all of their meals together - at least, the ones Blake wasn’t forced to share with officials - and spent most of their evenings talking until they were ready for sleep.  Even then, Yang’s room was always right next to or right across from Blake’s, and Blake slept soundly knowing Yang was never too far away.

Now...Yang would leave the palace, and Blake would stay behind.  That felt so...strange and...wrong, in a way.

“You know…”  Yang stuck her hands in her pockets, looking in no hurry to leave now that they’d both come to the same realization.  “When I took this job, your parents made you sound like a huge flight risk.  I thought I’d be chasing you everywhere, but...I’ve never gotten that feeling from you.”

“That’s because you’ve never made me want to leave.”

Yang’s eyes softened at the answer, but Blake quickly bit her lip and looked away.  The more she thought about it, the more she didn’t want Yang to leave - but that was self-centered of her.  For all she knew, Yang had been looking forward to ditching her for weeks but couldn’t because this was her job.

“But that’s just me - what about you?”  Meeting Yang’s gaze, Blake pretended she didn’t care that Yang’s first desire upon returning was getting away from the palace.  “We’ve spent a lot of time together recently.  Maybe you’re ready to ditch me instead.”

“I’m not tired of you if that’s what you’re asking, and I doubt I ever will be.”

Blake’s worry disappeared at the response, and her heart fluttered at the idea that Yang would never get tired of her company.  She felt the same, but...hearing it from Yang only made their connection seem that much stronger.

Rather than dwell on those feelings, which made Blake want nothing more than to pull Yang into her for another kiss, she changed the subject.

“What’re you and your sister doing tonight?”

“Grabbing dinner then checking out this new bar-club thing that’s supposedly pretty cool.”  After a short pause, Yang gave Blake a thoughtful look.  “If you want to come...”

“That’s ok,” Blake replied before Yang fully extended the invitation.  “I don’t want to impose on your plans.”

“You wouldn’t be imposing.”

Again, Yang answered with such certainty that Blake immediately believed it was true.  Still, she didn’t want to take away from Yang spending time with her family - something Yang seemed to understand from the way she shrugged and let it go.

“I guess that’s good though.  Now I won’t have to beat the boys away from you all night.”

Blake hadn’t even thought about that.  Yang mentioned a club - a bar - which meant drinking, dancing, and who-knew-how-many boys trying to pick up the most attractive girl there.  Which Blake could say, without a shadow of a doubt, would be Yang.

“Then who’s going to keep the boys away from you?”

When Yang’s brow rose at the response, Blake shook her head and turned away.

“Nothing,” she muttered towards the floor.  “Just curious.”

Jealousy swirled through her veins and tugged her mouth into a frown, but it wasn’t her place to be jealous.  They might have kissed, once, but Yang wasn’t her girlfriend.  Yang was her bodyguard.

Yang followed Blake everywhere because that was her job.  That didn’t mean she couldn’t have a life outside the palace.  If she wanted to pursue relationships, that was her decision.  Maintaining a relationship might be difficult when she traveled with Blake so often, but someone was bound not to care.  For the chance to be with Yang, why would anyone care if she was out of town a lot?

“...are you worried I’m going to hook up?”

Blake’s frown deepened at the phrase, which sounded juvenile yet made her heart ache.

“That’s...none of my business.”

“You don’t want me to,” Yang said.  She stepped closer, but Blake still couldn’t look at her.

“It’s none of my business,” Blake repeated, wishing the words made her better.  Because it wasn’t her business.  Yang could do whatever, or whoever, she wanted with her free time.

“Say you don’t want me to go.”

Those words caught Blake’s full attention.  Finally looking up, she felt her heart start racing when Yang took another step forward.

“Say you don’t want me to go,” she repeated, the look in her eyes serious and yearning.  “Tell me you don’t want me to.  That it makes you uncomfortable, upset - anything.”

With Yang standing so close, searching Blake’s eyes just as desperately as Blake searched hers, Blake found it difficult to think, let alone speak.  The idea of Yang going to a club and ‘hooking up’ with some stranger made her feel all of those emotions and then some.  Jealous, upset, possessive, wanting...but it wasn’t her place to tell Yang what to do outside of work.

After all the time they spent together, was Blake really only part of Yang’s job?  Because Yang had become a huge part of Blake’s life...couldn’t it be the same in reverse?

“I don’t want you to go,” Blake whispered.  With the admission out in the open, she tilted her chin up to meet Yang’s gaze and watched a swirl of emotions pass through seas of lilac.

Before Blake could even worry that she said too much, Yang leaned in, and Blake moved forward to match.  Their lips met with a spark that sent excitement through Blake’s veins, urging her closer while Yang’s hands settled on her hips.  Savoring the softness of Yang’s lips, she ran a hand through Yang’s hair while pressing her body against Yang’s.

This kiss wasn’t like the first.  That one was quick and chaste; this one unveiled feelings neither of them had spoken aloud until this moment but were suddenly in a rush to put out in the open.  Now, Blake heard them loud and clear.  She felt them in how hungrily Yang’s lips moved against her own, firm and demanding yet gentle and relenting at the same time.

As the kiss progressed, their breaths grew elevated, coming in short bursts whenever their lips separated.  Those separations never lasted long - never more than a split second to take in some air before their lips locked together again.  Yang’s hands clutched Blake’s hips tighter now, keeping them pressed together while Blake’s arms wrapped around Yang’s neck.

This time, there was no thought of stopping.  Especially not when Yang’s tongue slid across Blake’s lips, requesting permission Blake immediately granted by opening her mouth and letting that tongue slip inside to meet hers.  At that moment - tasting and feeling Yang everywhere - her desire multiplied in a way she didn’t know how to handle.  All she knew, as her tongue swirled and played with Yang’s, was that she wanted to be even closer.  She wanted to feel more of Yang - everywhere, covering every inch of her.

Yang seemed to feel the same, as her hands squeezed Blake’s hips before moving up her sides, tracing the outline of her ribs before sliding around to her back.  Blake tried to encourage her by pressing even closer, silently begging her to slip those warm, capable hands under Blake’s shirt.

The moment Yang’s fingers grazed Blake’s midriff, her desire doubled.  If her lips hadn’t been preoccupied with Yang’s, she might have told Yang exactly what she wanted next.  Instead, it was all so much, so fast, but it felt so overwhelmingly good that she could do nothing to stop the soft moan that slipped from the back of her throat.

The sound broke the relative silence in the room, and her cheeks flushed furious red when Yang paused.  That blush only deepened when Yang leaned away with an amused smile on her lips.

While the moan was embarrassing, Blake was slightly grateful for it.  She didn’t know how much more of that she could resist, and going further would make things...very, very complicated.

After clearing her throat, she tried to say something but found no words.  Yang’s hands had returned to her hips, serving as a distraction while she tried to get her breaths under control.  Her heart was still pounding, and her skin tingling with the aftereffects of that kiss, but she already wanted to do it again.  God, did she want to do it again.

“I, uh -”  Yang paused and cleared her throat before flashing an uncertain smile.  “I hope that was ok?”

“Yes.”  Blake got that answer out just fine, along with a nod as extra assurance.  “Yes, that...was fine.”

‘Fine’ was the weakest way to describe what just happened, but she couldn’t think of a better word while her mind raced with thoughts and emotions.  That had been...more incredible than she’d ever imagined.

“Then I still have a job?” Yang asked, her signature smile appearing the moment Blake scoffed.

“Yes, you do.”

“Thank god.”  After breathing a sigh of relief, Yang took one step out of Blake’s personal space, then another, and another.  “I should probably get going...you know, before you change your mind.”

Blake opened her mouth to argue that she wouldn’t do such a thing but stopped when she saw Yang’s grin.  That grin said Yang already knew - that she heard what Blake had tried to say through her lips and understood every bit of it.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” Yang added.  From her expression, it didn’t look like she would stop smiling anytime soon.  “I’ll grab dinner with Ruby then be right back.  Shouldn’t take more than a couple hours.”

“But what about…?”

“The bar?  I’m not really feeling it anymore.”

Winking at the implication, Yang opened the door of Blake’s bedroom and, after sending one last grin Blake’s way, disappeared into the hall.

Alone now, Blake listened to her pounding heart and couldn’t stop smiling.  She should probably feel bad that Yang canceled plans for her, but...she didn’t.  Not in the slightest.  In fact, right now it felt like she was walking on clouds.

Yang wasn’t hers; she understood that.  At the same time...maybe there was much more there than she initially thought.