There's that moment when you wake up in a strange place, in a bed that's not your own. The disorientation you feel for just a few seconds - where am I, what's going on, and when applicable, who is that? I was bleary and lost in a very dark room lit by only the led lights of an alarm clock, and really, who uses those anymore because, phones! And then it came back in a rush, with the rattling exhale of breath from the sleeping form next to me, and OF COURSE the alarm clock made sense because it was Danny.

Oh boy.

My bladder compelled me to arise and I silently cursed it's incompetence because navigating this black hole to find the bathroom without waking sleeping beauty was a puzzle I was ill prepared to address. I laid there for a moment, sheets tangled around my midsection, the chilly room giving my exposed breasts maximum nipplage, and tried to remember where I might have left my phone. It's an excellent flashlight in a pinch. Alas, finding it, or most of my clothing, would have to be left for daylight, so I slipped off the mattress and carefully made my way to pee in the dark. I'm not ashamed of this skill. I debated the flush/no flush question and decided letting it mellow would be more humiliating than waking him up. It was a low flow jobber anyway and when I peeked around the door, he was still sleeping heavily.

That task completed, I was wide awake and now quite thirsty, so the next adventure would be to scavenge some water. As long as he stayed asleep and didn't mistake me for a swarthy nude burglar I figured I was safe. I managed to get out of the bedroom without crashing into anything, a small miracle, and wall walked until I found a switch that bathed the kitchen in blinding, horrific light. Okay, just find water and go back to bed, or should I find my blouse first? No, just water, then sleep.

I grabbed a glass and opened Danny's fridge, thinking from his obsession with fizzy waters, I would have a vast selection. Wrong. Apparently in planning for his trip he emptied the it of everything but beer and condiments, which he had in spades, but otherwise there were just a couple of bottled waters of the plain wrap variety. Beggars not trying to be choosers, I grabbed one just as I heard, in what was appearing to be a recurring theme whenever I had a water bottle in my hands, a gravelly voice saying "Hey."

I don't know how high I jumped or how loud I shrieked, but the water flew out of my hands and I ducked behind the refrigerator door and peeked out to see the penis of Danny Castellano greeting me. That's really all you see when there's a naked man standing there, no matter how hard you try to avoid making eye contact with it. I mean, the entire Danny was there, not just the penis, because that's even more traumatic imagery, but still. Penis. It doesn't matter how intimately I got to know said penis just hours before, it was still awkward as fuck.

"Hey!" I said to the wall over his shoulder. "I was just getting a drink." Go back to bed, let me maintain the tiniest bit of dignity, if that's even possible with my ass in the deli drawer, I silently prayed. I try to avoid drama but internally I was feeling the need to flip the fuck out.

"Grab me a water too, would ya?" He asked with a grin spreading across his face. I fumbled about with my hand behind me but kept finding beers. Finally I turned around, necessitating a slight opening of the door to allow me room to move and as I did that, he closed the distance between us and came up behind me.

"Why are you hiding in my fridge?" He asked, placing on hand on my hip and using the other to sweep the hair off my shoulders. I felt his breath just before his lips met the nape of my neck.

"The... uh... lighting in here is really bad." Oh god please stop. I can't right now. Tingles ran through me and I closed my eyes to try and regroup. Bare ass naked in the kitchen with my friend/coworker/baloney pony partner was not where I wanted to be.

He exhaled loudly against my skin, like a frustrated stallion, and moved his attention to my jawline, slipping his lips over my earlobe. I had this sudden image of feeding him sugar cubes from the palm of my hand and let out a burst of nervous laughter.

"Was that funny to you?" Am I a clown? Do I amuse you?

"It tickled, Goodfella." I shied my face away because the contact was too much and I needed to sleep, to avoid figuring out what the hell I was going to do with my life. This did not dissuade him. He slipped his hand out of my hair and and ran it down my shoulder to cup my breast, muttering in my ear.

"Did we not establish that I'm good with you naked?" I nodded as his other hand dug into my hip then moseyed down my thigh. "Do I need to remind you?" He ran his lips down my neck and without even using his hands reminded me, insistently, that at least part of him was very good indeed. Damn, that was quick. Before he got the bright idea to bend me over the veggie crisper, I twisted around and put my hands on his chest, pushing him back, so I could duck back into the safety of the fridge.

"I appreciate that, Danny, but you can't instantly erase twenty years of body image issues with a boner. As lovely as that boner is..." I didn't want to hurt his feelings, because it was lovely and he could do fabulous things with it. I'd just prefer mood lighting, not the surgical suite equivalent he had installed in the kitchen.

"Okay." He was still grinning and fondling. I would not be seduced. Again.

"This is wasting electricity. How about you go to bed and I'll bring you some water and we can go back to sleep." Yeah, 'cause nothing major happened last the I made that offer.

"How about no." He grinned at me and that twinkle in his eye told me sleeping was not on the agenda quite yet. With one hand on the fridge door, trapping me in, he reached his other hand past me to grab a bottle, never taking his eyes off me. He must have great peripheral vision. He quickly unscrewed the cap and took a deep drink, then tipped the bottle towards my lips. I felt a smile creeping up on me and tried to tamp it down. I sipped from the bottle as he tilted it, then felt the cold splash as he "accidentally" spilled it down my chest. I gasped and he grinned even wider and leaned in to lick the droplets off me. Bastard. He could probably feel my rapid pulse against his mouth and he knew he was winning. His mouth found mine and I had to hold on to him to steady myself.

Suddenly i had an image of the neighbor chick and the chocolate sauce story and I was wildly, inappropriately jealous. I pushed him away again. Sorry, buddy, you aren't having a condiment party on my tuchus. If you want to reenact 9 1/2 Weeks, you need to restock.

"Danny, we need to get up early. Sleep is important for someone of your age."

He laughed and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I think it's ok if we're a little late."

I sighed, shook my head, wriggled from his grasp, well, attempted at least. Not that hard. I didn't really want to get away. There was something so wildly appealing about this side of Danny, one I had only seen glimpses of in the past. He was so playful and open and hell, I guess happy, that it made me feel all those things too. If I had known that all it took was banging him to bring this out, I would have done it years ago.

He pulled me out of the fridge and closed it. "You wanna go back to bed, let's go." His voice was like warm syrup drizzling all over me, which incidentally didn't sound like a terrible idea. I could feel my resolve melting like vanilla ice cream on a warm day, which also sounded pretty good, and I hadn't checked the freezer... No. I refuse to be a human buffet. At least right now. Right now, sleep, because in the morning light, everything will be easier to handle.

We walked back to the bedroom and he flipped off the kitchen light. Instantly, I relaxed. I slid into the cool sheets and felt his warm body slip next to me, barely making contact, waiting for a signal that it was ok to stall sleep just a little while, because that was the kinda guy he was. I curled into him, letting my lips roam, sliding my legs against his, running my hand down to grasp him and coax him, because that was the kinda girl I was... am. I can sleep when I'm dead, and a little death awaits.