Desiree lay still. Eyes closed.
Cognitive thought was returning. The air around her smelled musky with sweat and pheromones. She smiled.
There was a muscular arm laying across her naked body. The equally naked man attached to the arm lay face down, breathing heavily. Exhausted.
She lay there listening, the breathing next to her started to even out. Her breathing was slowing too, not so ragged. She heard a rustle as he moved slightly. She opened her eyes partway to look at him, he had turned to face her but his eyes were still closed. He looked so peaceful. Relaxed.
Desiree felt very relaxed.
His lips looked slightly swollen. There were red indentions on the back of his arms and shoulders where her fingers had gripped maybe a little too hard and her nails marked his skin. She wanted to touch him, again. But, he looked so peaceful.
Desiree closed her eyes and took inventory of her own body. Nipples sore. Breasts tender. Surely her lips were swollen, she smiled again, all of them. She wondered if there were any marks left on her in haste and passion? Would there be bruises? He tried to be so gentle with her, but some of the things they did could not be done gently.
His breathing seemed deeper now, had he fallen asleep? She opened her eyes again, yes, sleeping. Trying hard not to disturb him, she reached around the bed for some kind of covering. Finding the edge of a sheet, she brought it closer and carefully covered both of them. And closed her eyes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Desiree lay there quietly with her eyes closed, she couldn't sleep. Julio's arm still reached across her body, just below her breasts. When he moved in his sleep, he pulled her closer. He made her feel safe, protected, wanted.
She had to move soon. As much as she didn't want to, but the wine caught up with her and she had to go to the bathroom. Slowly, she tried to move his arm and after a momentary refusal, Julio allowed his arm to be moved to his side and Desiree slid carefully away and made her way to her bathroom.
Returning to the bed, she could see that Julio had moved even more in her absence. His eyes were still closed but his breathing didn't sound as deep. Crawling into the bed, she saw his eyes slowly open and he smiled. "Mmmm, hi."
"Hi." She answered, leaning closer to kiss him. "Did you have a good rest?"
"What time is it?" Julio asked a little frantically, raising himself up and trying to focus on his watch. Then realizing that he hadn't been asleep very long, he lay back down and began to grin.
Desiree had to lean back when Julio sat up so fast but now she laughed. "Don't worry, you didn't sleep the night away. I know you have to work tomorrow."
"How much longer are you going to be visiting?" He asked, watching her move the sheet so she could slide underneath, legs next to his, intertwining. Gently pulling her closer, he pushed her hair back, out of her eyes and started kissing her neck. "Can I see you again? Before you go."
The words spoken, just inches from her ear, excited her. She pulled away from Julio, just far enough to look him in the eyes, "I'd like that." She answered as calmly as she could while she leaned in to kiss him softly, " I'm here until Saturday afternoon, I have a ride back to my brothers place near Santa Barbara. I promised my niece I would be there when she woke up, Sunday."
"So," Julio said, thinking out loud, "we have Wednesday."
"Wednesday." Desiree repeated as she moved closer to look at the fingernail marks she left on his shoulder. "Wednesday's are always good days." She started gently kiss every mark.
"And Thursday." He went on, trying to remember if he had any previous plans.
"Mmmmm, I like Thursday's even better than Wednesday's." Her kisses had gone from his shoulder to his neck then up around his ear, totally ruining any chance at concentration he had left.
"Friday." The word came out with a slight gasp as her tongue traced the inside of his ear.
"Friday's." She was almost purring in his ear, "I like Friday's most of all." A thought came to her. "Do you have to work on Saturday?" She asked suddenly serious, pulling away far enough to look him in the eyes.
Julio was smiling and grateful that she abandoned the attention she was playing on his ear, it was starting to excite him and he did have to leave soon. "No. Not unless there's been a major crime and they approve the overtime."
"No overtime." Desiree averred, and this time she stopped his words, with a much more passionate kiss.
When the kiss ended, she started noticing other subtle things about his body. Things she missed when they frantically undressed each other earlier. Like the scars up by his right shoulder, others on his arm, one long one on his left side. She traced the lines of the scars with her fingertips, carefully, like they might still hurt. Julio watched without speaking. "Are all of these from being a police detective?" She asked, her voice full of care and concern.
"No." He said, "some are from when I was a kid. Surviving in my neighborhood wasn't always easy."
"Do they hurt?"
"No, not hurt, sometimes my shoulder aches sometimes, from the surgeries to put it back together, but it's not too bad." She could tell that Julio wasn't one to let physical pain show, she knew other people like that.
He started focusing more on Desiree's body too. So many things he didn't see earlier because of the passion that overtook them both. The soft curve of her nose. The freckle that one breast had but not the other. The roundness of her behind that seem to fit just right into his hands, and those legs, those beautiful, strong, sexy legs.
"Are you going to tell your brother about this?" Desiree asked curiously, "or are you going to let him wonder if anything happened?"
Julio smiled and he let himself fall back so he was looking at the ceiling, "No, I think I'll let him use his imagination. He'd probably just tell me that it will never work."
"Oh, are you looking for something that works? I thought you were just interested in the sex." She said with a wicked grin, propping her head up with one hand so she could still see his face. "And it was pretty good sex."
"Not, amazing sex?" Julio said, with a slight hurt tone in his voice, reminding her of her earlier words.
She smiled a very satisfied smile and answered, "I think amazing comes with trusting your partner and knowing what you both enjoy. I don't think first time sex can be truly amazing." She watched him start to pout, making her think of a little boy. So she added, "But what we just had was damned close!"
"Yeah, it was pretty good wasn't it?" He was smiling again. Then he noticed his watch again. "I'd better get home. Can I take a quick shower?"
"Mmmmm, ok." Desiree reached over to touch his face. Then leaning forward she kissed him again. She didn't really want him to leave, but trying to keep him here didn't make sense either. "I don't want you to leave here all sweaty and smelly. There should be towels, I'll see if I can find all your clothes." She watched him throw back the sheet and get out of bed. Right then she decided that she liked watching the way his body moved while he was naked.
Covering herself with a silky wrap in case Derek came home, she scavenged for their discarded clothing in the hallway and the living room. She found almost everything. She marveled on how neatly the suit jacket landed, opposed to his shirt, which would need to be replaced, the bottom two buttons were indeed, ripped off.
Desiree was laying his clothes out on her bedroom chair when she heard the water stop. A minute later the bathroom door opened to a freshly washed Julio with a pastel green towel wrapped around his waist. A damp arm encircled her waist and pulled her close, she could smell the clean scent of her shampoo filling the room as he embraced her. "You are not acting like you want to leave." She exclaimed through a giggle when a shake of his head spattered droplets of water everywhere.
"I don't. But I should." Julio let out a sigh. "There is some stuff going on at work and I have to be," he paused, trying to think of the right word, "dependable." Desiree didn't think that this was the word he was searching for, but it was the one he chose. If he wanted to tell her more, he would do it when they knew each other better. Maybe.
His embrace loosened and he started to reach for his clothes. Without warning the bedroom door swung open, a tall, handsome, dark haired man stood there, looking at something in his hand. "Hey, Des!" He was calling out, "any reason why I found a tie," He looked up, "in the elevator?" The word elevator was drawn out as Derek slowed and took in his view.
Julio turned his head toward the door and the intruder, just as the towel slipped from his waist to the floor. "Sorry!" Derek said quickly as he closed the door most of the way. The door swung open again, this time to a smirking Derek, "I suppose this is yours?" He asked the now naked man, holding up the tie to show him.
"Out!" Desiree shouted at her cousin.
Derek quickly closed the door, only to swing it open one more time. "By the way," He called out through his laughter, "Nice ass!" The door finally closed, all the way this time, saving Derek from being hit by one of Julio's shoes. They could hear laughter moving away from the door.
Desiree retrieved the tie Derek hung on the door knob and the shoe she threw across the room. Julio was dressing fast, he had been taken aback by the interruption and wasn't sure what to think, but getting dressed seemed like the best idea. Desiree sat down on the bed to watch him finish putting on his clothes. She was smiling.
"What?" He asked after he noticed how close she was watching.
"Well." She said, still smiling, "I must admit, I didn't notice in the bar, but Derek's right, you really do have a nice ass."
This time Julio's ears turned red. But he was smiling too.
Sitting down and putting on his shoes Julio glances over at Desiree watching and asked, "Is my being here going to cause any trouble between you and your cousin?"
"No." She said laughing a little while shaking her head, "But he will probably tease me for a couple days because he found a naked man in my room."
Julio found his cell phone in his jacket pocket, which miraculously hadn't fallen out, and handed it to Desiree to enter her number. "I'm not able to take many personal calls at work, but if you text me, I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
Desiree added her number to his phone and handed it back, he immediately sent a text to the number, it just said, "Julio".
"Do you think he's is still out there?" He asked as he stood up to go, not really wanting to be teased again.
"Probably not, he likes to be funny, but he really is a nice guy. I'm sure he went back downstairs to give us privacy." She stood, straightened her wrap, and took him by the hand.
The walk to the elevator was quick and there was no sign of another person in the apartment. Desiree pushed the button to call the elevator back up then she wrapped her arms around Julio's neck. She couldn't let him just go with a just a goodbye, she hugged him long and hard. His arm wrapped around her to return the hug and they held each other until the elevator door opened.
Before she let go, she whispered into his ear, "thank you." Julio pulled back a bit to look her in the eyes, and she tried to finished, "for, for, for being here." One last kiss and Desiree, reluctantly, let him go.