Thank you all so so much for all the amazing review for this story. It makes me grin like an idiot when I see your comments in my inbox!
Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than most, it was just a scene I had to write for this emotion and I didn't want to bog it down with more than necessary. I hope you enjoy it! Zoe
Nell wasn't sure what woke her but her eyes began to blink open and she wriggled into the unfamiliar soft cotton sheets wrapped around her, letting out a sigh of contentment. As full consciousness slowly returned, a broad smile crossed her face as she remembered just where she was waking up. She rolled over onto her back and turned her head, her smile fading as she realised the other side of the bed was empty. Gripping the sheets around her chest, she sat up and looked around, noticing from the clock how early it still was, and a knot of nervousness began to twist up in her stomach.
Since she was in his house and in his bed, she figured he couldn't have left…unless he escaped to the refuge of the office, regretting what happened between them the night before. Nell quickly shut down that stream of thought, knowing that G Callen doesn't do anything he doesn't want to. But that fact that at 5am he was not in bed with her caused her some concern. They hadn't talked last night. They had done everything but talk. And that left things between them perhaps a little awkward. A clatter coming from somewhere else in the house caught her attention. Glancing around, Nell grabbed a t-shirt lying on the floor by the bed and pulled it over her head, smiling when she realised it was the Grateful Dead t-shirt she had pulled off him as they had stumbled into the bedroom. After climbing out of the bed, she picked up her panties from the floor by the door, shimmied into them, and tip-toed down the hall towards the muffled sounds she could hear.
Nell paused at the doorway to the kitchen, her body tense, not knowing what to expect. Standing at the counter with his back to her wearing just a pair of black sweats, Callen was meticulously cleaning his gun seemingly unaware of her presence. Nell didn't know whether to call out to him or wait for him to notice her. But she didn't need to make a choice.
"You coming in?" he asked, turning his head to look over his shoulder at her with a soft smile on his face.
As Nell took a few hesitant steps into the room, Callen opened his arm out in a gesture for her to join him. Her confidence growing, Nell took the remaining steps across the cold linoleum floor to his side. When she reached him, his arm slid around her waist and he drew her to stand in front of him, wrapping his arms around her and dropping a soft kiss on her neck. Instantly the nerves she had been feeling since waking dissipated and she leaned back into him, relishing the warmth from his body.
"You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you." He whispered, by way of an explanation.
"You couldn't sleep?" Nell asked.
"I don't sleep much." He shrugged as he moved to continue piecing his gun together, keeping Nell between himself and the counter and looking over her head to see what he was doing.
"So you clean your gun?" she asked.
"Or read, sometimes practice a language, fix the toaster." He smiled.
"At least now I know why you weren't there when I woke up." Nell shrugged.
Callen suddenly tensed. He had never considered how his odd sleep patterns might affect a real relationship and after only one night together, it had already raised questions.
"It's not going to put you off, is it?" Callen asked with a hint of nervousness as he set the gun down.
"Put me off what?" Nell asked as she twisted and turned around to face him.
"Staying over?" his eyes locked with hers and Nell saw something she had never seen before – doubt.
"No." she replied firmly as she slid her hands up to rest on his chest. "Just promise me you won't try to 'fix' my toaster." She grinned.
"Okay." Callen chuckled.
"So you're not tired at all?" Nell asked, tracing circles on his chest with her fingers.
"Nope." Callen replied, his eyes drifting down and for the first time realising what she was wearing and just how sexy she looked in his t-shirt with her tousled hair and sleepy eyes.
"And your gun is clean now?" she asked, catching her lower lip between her teeth.
"It's done." He whispered.
"So maybe we could find something else for you to do?" she asked suggestively.
Callen leaned down and caught her lips with his in a soft, sensual kiss, his arms winding around her back and pulling her tight against him.
"You have something in mind?" he asked, nuzzling at her neck. Nell leaned up and whispered something in his ear. With a slightly surprised look on his face, Callen grinned and in one swift movement, lifted her up off the ground. Nell wrapped her legs around his waist and dropped kisses on his neck as he moved them out of the kitchen and back down the hall to the bedroom.
I always appreciate a review!
