So cold, was all that Lily could think – she must have muttered something out loud, since Keeton came to with a jolt, his empty glass falling to the floor and rolling under the bed.

Her teeth chattering, the only recognizable word out of Lily's lips was, 'cold.' Drawing the blanket up from the end of the bed to tuck around her, Lily's eyes opened and pinned Keeton with her feverish stare, "Please…so cold." Knowing that she was still too warm, but powerless to resist, Keeton removed all but his boxers and climbed into bed, gently drawing a shivering Lily against him. Eventually, her body quiet, they both slept, unknowingly finding comfort in each other's embrace.


Keeton was dreaming - he had to be. Why else would the hand of the feverish woman that he'd put to bed a couple of hours ago be gently tracing circles on his abdomen? Her head rested on his chest while the rest of her body was wrapped around the left side of his body…and he didn't dislike the feeling. But her hand was doing crazy things to his self-control. He may be all kinds of an ass, but he'd be damned if he was going to make love to a delirious woman. Trying to gently still Lily's IV-inserted hand with his, Keeton was further frustrated when he felt Lily's inner thigh and foot gently rubbing against his leg. Christ, how much was one man to take?

"Lily, sweetheart," he whispered. "Go back to sleep. You're still running a fever."

"Mmm…" Lily raised herself on her good arm to look down at the visibly frustrated Keeton, her leg crossing over both of his to straddle his lower body. And Keeton had been worried about her pulling out her IV in her feverish state. What was he thinking?

"Lily, we can't do this…you're sick," he tried to reason with the siren on top of him. "You won't even remember this in the morning…"

"If I'm not going to remember this in the morning, where's the harm in it?" she replied playfully, rotating her lower body against Keeton's erection, her breathy moan the punctuation to her words and the final nail in Keeton's coffin as he threaded his fingers in Lily's hair and brought her mouth down to his. As she continued her oh-so beautiful movements against his lower body, Keeton could feel her heat and wetness against him through the thin layers of fabric separating them – pretty much the only thing keeping him from going to hell…or to heaven.

Taking stock of her arm and the location of the tubing for her IV, Keeton carefully, but swiftly flipped her under him, taking control. "You've got to stop this, Lily. I'm not going to make love to you while you're out of your mind with fever."

"You want me, Ben. You know you do - your body doesn't lie. Please, I need you inside of me."

"Brenner, this isn't you – it's the fever."

Lily raised herself up to whisper in Keeton's ear, "Why are you so sure that this isn't the real me?" Keeton's words from this morning rattled around in his head before he rested his forehead against Lily's. His moral code was taking a beating tonight, but Keeton knew that he couldn't give in. Where he found the strength not to rip the thin piece of fabric away from her body and plunge himself into her, he hadn't a clue.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but when we do this, I don't want it to be like a dream you had the night before. I want you to remember every detail – every touch…every nibble…every stroke."

Words meant to distract and to soothe, had the opposite effect on Lily, who found them incredibly sexy. She let him know in her subtle way, wrapping her legs around him, her ankles at Keeton's firm ass, bringing his hardness against her so that his tip pressed at her entrance.

"Jesus, Lily, you're killing me, here," was Keeton's agonizing plea. Realizing that he'd have to take drastic measures, he kissed Lily softly and rolled off of her in order to get some room to breathe.

Her persistence was wearing him down. He knew that she wouldn't stop until he was buried deep inside of her. There was no other way. He had to do it.

Raising himself up on one elbow in order to look down at the woman beside him, he whispered, "Shh…now just relax," while his other hand founds its way to Lily's face, tracing his fingertips lightly across her cheek and down her neck. "This is for you," he continued, his hand coming to rest on the exposed area of one of her breasts, dipping underneath her bra to gently rub her nipple between his fingers. Her gasp of pleasure was encouragement enough to continue his quiet assault on her body. Removing the straps of her bra in order to gain better access, he replaced his fingers with his mouth, rolling one hard bud around on his tongue before giving her other breast equal attention. A gently nibble on her nipple caused Lily to gasp yet again, her reaction bringing a satisfied smile to Keeton's face. He was just getting started.

Placing his calloused hand on the soft-as-silk skin of Lily's ribcage, he started a leisurely journey to his ultimate destination. Reaching the waistband of her panties, Keeton teased Lily by dipping a finger under the elastic, caressing and then retreating to the soft skin of her belly. His hand continued it's gentle torture, as his palm traveled past the curve of her hip, coming to rest on suppleness of her inner thigh.

Lily's hips bucked at the slight graze of his fingers over her sensitive flesh as his hand traveled back over the front of her panties to her waistband, his hand finally traveling underneath the fabric to gently stroke her. His fingers wet with her moisture, Keeton gently circled her hard little nub of flesh within her softness while fastening his mouth to Lily's breast, his tongue on her nipple mimicking the action of his fingers. She was so close, her hips moving with each motion of his fingers. Keeton lifted his head from her breast and covered her mouth with his – a kiss so deep that it seemed a lifeline for both of them. When it seemed that Lily was right on the edge of her climax, his fingers entered her, thrusting to push her further towards her goal. And with that, Lily flew apart, her cries muffled by their kiss.

Their kisses gentled, helping to ground Lily after her high. Keeton raised the sheet over top of them both, his quiet and gentle movements never belying the pain he was in. His lower body was rock hard and straining against his boxers, and as he lay back in the bed with the woman who was quickly becoming so important to him, he closed his eyes and listened to the sound of her breathing beside him. Sleep for him would not come so easily.