“Um...no, I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. Hell, the last thing he wanted was to relive a single second of that nightmare.
She glanced over at the clock and he saw that it was nearly 3:00 a.m. “I guess I should head out and let you go back to sleep.”
“That’s not necessary. I have to get up in about an hour anyway,” she said.
He was still shaking a little and the effect of the dream was hard to dismiss. He had thought that he’d simply be able to waltz back into her life, answer a few questions for himself and then move on. But that wasn’t the case.
“How about I cook for you?” she suggested. “I know it’s early but we didn’t really eat last night.”
That sounded so normal and so comforting; she couldn’t even know how normal and comforting. But he wasn’t about to let himself stay here and put her in more danger. He knew there was no enemy waiting outside her door. The true enemy here was himself. He was a risk she didn’t need to take. He finally understood why she’d wanted to use him and move on and he regretted that he’d thought he could change her mind.
She deserved a man who could hold her through the night and not wake her with nightmares, she deserved a man who could sit in her kitchen and watch her cook without feeling a need to escape. She deserved a better man than he was and he knew he had to leave now before she started to fall for him again.
* * *
JAY GOT UP AND PULLED ON his jeans and began to walk out but she was sitting on the edge of her bed, watching him, and he couldn’t do it. He realized that this might have been why he’d left her when she’d been sleeping in Vegas.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I am a mess right now. I’ve never had a dream that real before. Not like that,” he said, unable to stop himself.
“You aren’t a mess,” she said. “You’re human. You’re allowed to have cracks and to make mistakes.”
He wanted to smile at her but didn’t. Not now. But he’d always treasure this moment and recall it whenever he felt alone. He wanted to do something equally nice for her and decided he didn’t have to run away after all. He could stay here for her until she left for work.
“So what are you going to show me how to cook?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, getting to her feet.
She wore a nightshirt that said Kiss the Cook on it and fell to just above her knees. Her hair was tousled and her eyes still a little sleepy but she looked good. The last thing he wanted to do was go and get something to eat. He undid the fly of his jeans that he’d just fastened and pushed them down his legs.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you back to bed where we both belong,” he replied, closing the gap between them and pushing her back onto the bed. He came down on top of her and her legs slid apart. His hips fitted nicely in the space there.
“We do seem to communicate better here than anywhere else,” she said. “But I think you need to do something to get your mind off the dream you had.”
“This is going to help. Believe me, making love to you doesn’t leave room for other thoughts.”
“Really? Why? Are you thinking about me?” she asked. She cupped his butt and arched her hips to rock.
“Like what?” she asked. “I’m thinking how right you feel between my legs. And how I like the feeling of your breath against my neck.”
“I enjoy that, too,” he said, reaching down to free his cock from his underwear and lift her nightshirt so that they were pressed, naked, together. It was easier for him this way.
“I also think about how pretty your breasts are under this shirt,” he said, leaning down to rub his cheek over her breast until the nipple hardened. He leaned up and then put his hot wet mouth on her nipple, sucking her through the fabric of her shirt. Then he slipped the tip of his cock inside of her body.
“I love the way you feel when I first enter you, Aly. When I’m not inside your body all I think about is when am I going to be able to make love to you again,” he said, entering her slowly, inch by inch.
She pushed up, trying to rush him but he kept himself still. He wanted to drive them both crazy and make this last as long as he could. She shifted underneath him and then reached between his legs to cup him.
He moaned. “Oh, baby, that feels so nice.”
“Good,” she said, continuing to tease him. Then she bit lightly at the side of his neck and pleasure spread through his body. He felt his resolve weakening. He slipped another inch inside her until he finally gave up on going slow and took her, his entire cock filling her.