AN: So, this is the chapter where the story is rated M and it will continue through the rest of the story. This chapter isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but hopefully you like it. As always, reviews are apreciated!
When my alarm went off, I opened my eyes and smiled. Elena was curled into my chest, soundly asleep. I didn't want to wake her, but I had to get back to work. She lets out a soft sigh and grips my shirt in one of her hands. "Elena, it's time to wake up." I whispered and she groans.
I try tapping her back and talking louder and nothing earns me anything more than a groan. I run a hand through her hair and start whispering in her ear."If you don't wake up, I'm going to lose my job. I can't lose my job if you want to live on a ranch someday. I need to start saving the money now, because I want you to have that beautiful ranch house and lots of horses. I want you to be able to spend all day on a porch swing reading your favorite books and drinking sweet tea. By the way I make amazing sweet tea." She finally starts to stir.
"What about sweet tea?" She asks, opening her eyes.
"I didnt' say anything about sweet tea, you must have been dreaming." I tried hard not to laugh.
"Do you need to go back to work?" She mumbled, running her hand up and down my chest.
"Yes, but I don't want to. Will you stay until I get off? You can sleep in my truck if you want."
"You smell good." I had to laugh at that one, was she smelling me?
"So do you. But I really need to go back to work." She kind of rolled off of me, landing on her feet and opening the door. I followed her out of the truck and shut the door behind me. "You want to help put the horses out?"
"Yeah, that actually sounds fun. I haven't gotten to ride since I left camp and I miss being around horses." She informed me as we walked into the barn. The horses were patiently waiting at their stall doors.
"Mint is here if you want to ride." Her face lit up at that suggestion.
"Yes please." She bounced on the balls of her feet with excitment.
"Alright, let's get these horses out and we'll take Mint for a ride." I took her to the tack room and showed her where the harnesses and lead ropes were so we could get started. We led them out to pasture two at a time. I gave her warnings on the horses that bit and kicked and after ten minutes we were done. I saddled Mint and Elena climbed on first, then I climbed up behind her. I had a flash back to the first time we rode Mint together and felt a little nervous.
"Ready?" She asked and I wrapped my arms around her.
"Yep, let's go. There' s a field to the right that we can ride in." I explain and we took off. I had galloped on Mint more times than I could count, but doing so while sitting behind someone made it a little more intense. At one point I even had to take Elena's hair and drape it over her shoulder the best I could because it was all in my face. Elena just laughed the whole time. "It's not funny!"
"Do you want to switch places?" She asked as we rounded the corner of the field.
"Not in a million years." I didn't say it very loud, because I hadn't intended for her to hear it, but she did anyway. She pulled the horse to a stop suddenly.
"Damon, are you coming on to me?" She asked and she sounded shocked, but was she really or was she joking. I hadn't really made any sexual comments, but she was really starting to get to me and it was driving me nuts.
"Maybe...should I stop?" My confidence was no where to be found.
"No!" I jumped and Mint jolted forward a bit. "I mean, I've been waiting for you to...you know...but I didn't want to come right out and say that we should...you know..." I could tell from her voice that she was blushing and I couldn't help but laugh. "Don't laugh at me! That's so not helping!" I climbed off of Mint and Elena followed suit, because we couldn't have this conversation with her back to me.
"Look Elena, if you wanna go there, then we'll go there. But I'm not going to push you into it. So, when your ready, I'm all for it." I explained. Of course, now it would just be weird to go there after our awkward conversation. So, I hoped she at least waited till later that day.
"Okay." Elena walked up to me, placed her hands on my shoulders, rose up on her tip toes, and whispered in my ear. "I've wanted you since the first time I saw you." Then she got back on the horse and waited. I just stood there, in complete shock. Was she sure she was a virgin? How was I supposed to hold back now. We couldn't do anything until I was done working, which I needed to get back to. I groaned in frustration and climbed back on Mint. Elena giggled and waited for me to wrap my arms around her. As soon as I did, we took off again, back towards the barn. I hurried through my evening tasks, bringing in the horses, feeding them, cleaning the barn, checking to make sure everyting was in its place, and locking up. I must have had a burst of energy because I got done at six instead of seven. I took Midnight out of the stall and headed out of the barn. When I walked back out to the truck, Elena had the music turned up and was dancing in her seat. I had to knock on the window to get her to unlock the doors.
"Are you done?" She asked turning down the music when I opened the door. Midnight hopped in and settled himself in the back seat.
"Yes, finally. Do you wanna meet me at my apartment or are you going to head home?" I asked curiously, because her truck was parked not far from mine.
"How about I just ride with you to your apartment? Or will they have my truck towed?" She was really pushing for it tonight. I was trying not to get my hopes up.
"You should probably take your truck, that way, if you need to leave at any point...you can." I suggested.
"Darn, I really wanted to ride in your truck." I couldn't help but arch my eyebrow, because that sounded like she wanted to ride something else. She probably meant she wanted to ride in my truck, literally, but it sounded like she meant something else. "What?...No...no, no, I really meant that I wanted to ride in your truck...I'm just going to go get in my truck now. I'll follow you." She opened her door.
"Elena." I loved embarrassing her, she was so cute when she was embarrassed. She turned to look at me. "If you really wanna ride my truck...you can." She stuck her tongue out at me and got out of the truck. "I'm sorry Elena, I'll stop teasing you now."
"I'll follow you, see you in a bit Damon." She shut the door and ran to her truck.
The drive home was so quiet that I was tempted to turn Elena's music back on. Driving alone was never going to be the same. And technically she'd never ridden in my truck. When we reached my apartment I hooked Midnight's leash to his collar and climbed out of my truck. Elena fell in step beside me before I reached the stairs. "Hey, so what time should I kick you out tonight? I know you don't have school for a while, so I didn't know if you wanted to stay for a while or if you were going to head home in an hour or two." I didn't even know what we were going to do.
"Actually, I have an idea. I'll tell you once we're inside." She said grinning as we walked up to my apartment door. I unlocked it and let Midnight loose, Elena followed me in, shutting the door behind her. I set my keys on the table inside the door and walked into the kitchen. I was dying to know what her plans were, but I was trying to play it cool. I opened the fridge to see if I had anything for us to eat. It was mostly leftover fish and stuff for sandwiches.
"I'm starving, are you hungry?" I asked Elena who was leaning against the island behind me, doing something on her phone.
"Yes, what are the choices?" She asked walking up beside me. "Your fridge is almost empty."
"I'm aware of that, do you want a sandwich?"
"If its as good as your fish, definitely. I honestly would eat anything you made." She smiled brightly and I pulled out the things I needed. She put on the movie from last night while I put the sandwiches together and then we settled in on the couch to eat.
"Are you going to tell me your idea?" I asked curiously. She gave me a nervous look and set her plate down on the coffee table. My heart thudded in my chest and I was a little worried about what she was going to say. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and took a deep breath. I set my plate down too, because this seemed serious.
"If it's okay with you and if you want me too. I was going to stay the night...we don't have to do anything if you're tired, but I just hate going home. It's so quiet and lonely." She rushed out. She wanted to stay the night? How could I not want her to? I wanted nothing more than to spend more than a few hours with her. The idea of getting to hold her all night had me so excited that I almost forgot to respond. "Damon? Is it okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I've just been waiting for you to want to." I said unable to hide my grin.
"On the downside, this was a spur of the moment thing, so I don't have any clothes with me."
"You can borrow something of mine." I said picking up my plate again. We finished our sandwiches long before the movie was over. Elena started to get tired and ended up laying down with her head on my lap. I played with her hair while we finished the movie. She stayed quiet, but I was wondering if she actually planned to do something besides sleep or if it was going to be a night of cuddling. I was happy either way, but I couldn't lie, I wanted her. At some point during the movie, Elena fell asleep. The only reason I knew was because she rolled over so she was facing my stomach and let out a soft sigh. I decided I wouldn't wake her until it was over because she looked so peaceful. I layed my head back against the couch and relaxed, enjoying just being with her.
The credits started to roll and I decided to put Elena in bed. I slid my arms underneath her the best I could without waking her. I lift her slowly, not sure if I would be able to get my balance. When my legs were steady underneath me, I started towards the bedroom. Luckily the door was open, I set her gently on the bed and went to the dresser to find her some clothes in case she decided she wanted to change. I set them on the bed, grabbed my own pajamas and went into the bathroom. I changed, brushed my teeth, ran a comb through my hair, and washed my face. I walked back into the bedroom to find Elena awake and changed into my clothes. "You're up." I commented, walking towards the bed.
"I can't believe I fell asleep, I feel like all I've done today is sleep." She said folding her clothes and setting them on top of the dresser.
"Drinking will do that to you." The moment after was awkward, we were about to sleep in the same bed. I wasn't sure what to say to make her feel comfortable.
"Uh, left side or right side?" I ask shifting from one foot to the other.
"I don't care, where do you usually sleep?" I had to make this better somehow, I felt like an idiot. I'd dated several women over the years, who eventually left because I still lived with my mom and worked on ranch all the time. But while we dated I always knew what I was doing, and they never wanted me to leave.
"Right in the middle." I said quietly walking towards her, she was blushing now. I pulled her to me and leaned in really close. "Let's just both sleep in the middle." I whispered and kissed her neck and then her shoulder and then her collarbone. Her breathing was shallow now and I was working my way back up to her mouth. When I reached it, she gave in and pulled me up against her, kissing me fiercely. I ran a hand up her side and back down again, not sure where I should draw the line. She had one hand tangled in my hair, the other gripping the front of my shirt. I knew she wanted me, but I didn't know if she was ready yet. I thought back to her reaction of my leg slipping between hers when we went for our walk. I wanted that reaction again. I decided I'd go for it and if she got uncomfortable or shot me down, I'd stop. I push her up against the door, pressing myself into her and she let out a moan. I smirked into our kiss, because she was holding back and had been from day one. I was going to get her to ask me for it. By the time I was done, she'd be addicted. I let my hand run up her side again coming to a rest on her breast. I massaged it gently and she pulled away from our kiss to catch her breath. I slipped one leg between hers, bringing it up to rub against the spot I was dying to get to.
"Damon..." She breathed my name and I shivered because there was no better sound in the world. I started kissing her neck again and her head fell back. She held me there with the hand that was tangled in my hair and I knew it was time. We'd waited long enough.
