I lie there for a few more minutes, my mind racing at thoughts of what I'm wearing, was it cute, what happened last night, then oh shit, my hair must be a mess, my breath must be horrendous and-eww, yuck!-I forgot to brush my teeth before bed. Then there are the flashes of memories. The way he carried me to bed, how I nuzzled his neck, how happy I was that he was home, and him telling me he didn't want to be anywhere else.
I smile and slowly open my eyes, being met with the gorgeous sight of Zander Roberts lying in my bed beside me, his eyes still closed, his breathing steady as he sleeps off his late night. He must have gotten home late if I had conked out on the couch. He must think I'm such a lush.
Lying beside him as still as I can, I decide that if I never have this opportunity again, I owe it to myself to at least explore my surroundings.
In short, his body.
I prop my head up on one elbow and start with his smooth chest. I can't imagine him having chest hair, but if he does, he obviously has to keep it short for his night job. Fuck if I don't like it smooth, though. I flex my fingers gently into his pecs as I watch his flat ni**les harden. Damn, that's hot. All I want to do right now is reach over and run my tongue over his chest. I wonder if he'll wake up if I do that? Is it crossing the invisible line that we, more specifically I have set for no sex before the third date. Can it be argued that we've had many dates, just not of the official going out and doing something variety?
Deciding that I should take opportunities like this while the going is good, I lean my head down and softly lick over his nipple. He tastes just like I imagined; his skin slightly salty, but oh so f**king delicious. I feel his heartbeat race, and I swear I feel his c**k twitch against my thigh, but it doesn't deter me. I rake my fingertips down his abs, counting in twos and stopping at eight, just as the V of his hips begins to taunt me.
“Don't start something you can't finish, babe,” I hear from behind my head as I jump in fright.
I pull back and look up to see the most devilish grin on his beautiful face.
“Hi,” I say sheepishly.
“Hey yourself. Couldn't help yourself, huh?” His shit eating grin gets bigger.
“Seems not,” I say. “Although, in all fairness, I was surprised to wake up plastered against you.”
“Why? You asked me to sleep with you, and I couldn't help but oblige.” The bastard winks at me when my expression changes to that of horror.
“I did not ask you to sleep with me! Oh shit, did I?”
“I don't know whether to be offended or amused.”
I feel my cheeks go hot. “I mean… um… did I ask to sleep with you?”
“You asked me to stay with you, after telling me in your very adorable drunken sleepy state that you wanted me.”
Deciding that now is not the time to back down to my insecurities, I just nod. 'Well I do, so that wasn't the drunk or sleepy part of me talking.”
With a quick flip, I find myself lying flat on my back with his hard everywhere body pressing down into mine. “That would explain the early morning discovery mission then,” he adds.
God, he feels good lying on top of me. “Mmm hmm.”
“For the record, I loved sleeping next to you. You're a very cuddly sleeper.” He rests his weight on one arm and sweeps my hair back off my face, causing my breath to catch.
“I always have been. Ask my mom. I used to wake up in the middle of the night and crawl into bed between her and dad for years,” I say nervously.
“Well, if you ever wake up in the middle of the night, you're always welcome to crawl into bed with me,” he says. His eyes seem to study my face, but I can't stop my eyes from dropping to his lips. Have I told you how much I love kissing this man?
“If you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to be forced to kiss you.”
“Mmm hmm,” I reply, totally distracted by the perfect curved lips that are just inches away from mine.
“You asked for it.”
Suddenly, his tongue is in my open mouth, and he's kissing the life out of me, but I'm not complaining. I'm fully on board with this move. So on board that I grip his hair in my hands and pull his head even closer, his still hard c**k against my stomach, my thighs clenching his.
He pulls back all too soon. “Babe, I have to stop or else I'm gonna lose it, and I want our first time together to be special for you. Not a five minute romp where I totally embarrass myself with my lack of endurance.”
I giggle at the absurdity of that sentence. There is no way that Zander would ever have any issue with stamina. “I think we've proven that you have more endurance than me when it comes to kissing.”
He looks down at me and smirks. “True, although in your case, that was one of the hottest f**king moments in my entire life.”
Holy mother of god. That just amps up my libido again, and I wish he'd just take me now.
Squeezing my thighs against his hips, I pull his head down and whisper in his ear, “You sure we can't just skip the third date and go straight to the sex?”
His entire body goes rigid, and he pulls back to look at me, finally breaking his gaze when he shakes his head as if he's trying to break himself out of a haze. “Babe, I told you it would happen, but you didn't believe me.”
I frown, not following him.
“I told you it would be a hard task keeping you from jumping me. Maybe the drunken cuteness was just a ruse to get me into your bed.” Then the bastard winks, and I know he's playing me.
“Cocky much?” I say, swatting his shoulder.
With one deep long stroke up my stomach, I instantly regret my choice of words.
“Much. Now I'm going to go cook pancakes, for breakfast this time, and once you mistakenly convince yourself that you've improved on the gorgeous goddess I had the pleasure of waking up to, your coffee will be waiting for you.”
With a quick, hard kiss, he achingly pulls his body away from mine, and I get the fine view of his boxer clad ass walking into our joint bathroom.
It's a good morning indeed.
Chapter 20: “It's Time”
ZANDER
This week has been hell, filled with final testing at the academy to make sure we're ready for field training next week. Talk about being physically and mentally draining. I've felt so bad for Kate. By the time I get home, she's lucky to get half an hour out of me before I'm collapsing in bed or falling asleep on the couch.
Don't get me started on the weekend either. I ended up being bribed into working for a night at the bar with Zach because he was two people down and desperate, and the other night was back to back gigs.