So Much for Sleeping

By AnitaB

Chapter two: Sudden Exposure

Skin. She needed skin, right now. And every single inch of Patrick was covered from his neck to his heels. Just like always. If Teresa didn't absolutely love the way he looked in this exact vest she would rip it off him in pieces just to get one layer of cloth out of her way.

She wanted him naked against her sheets and she wanted it right the hell now. But first she needed him closer and she needed a kiss. Her mattress touched the backs of her thighs and she held on even tighter. Patrick was going to have to pry her off with a crowbar to make her give up the tiniest bit of his warmth. "Patrick," He was smiling as her lips reached his and suddenly he stopped trying to let her out of his arms. Finally, it had been way too long since she'd had so much of his body against hers, since she'd gotten lost in his taste.

/Yes, finally,\\ Maybe he really was a mind-reader or it was a case of great minds thinking alike. Not that the hot, strong drag of his hands up the hungry skin of her back left her able to do much thinking. Breaking the kiss to gasp for air, Teresa arched helplessly into the slide of his fingers and dug her nails into his back.

"Teresa, you feel…"

/So good, Patrick, please.\\ His shoulders moved under her hands and she knew he was about to peel off her clothes. /Not so fast,\\ She was getting him out of at least his shirt before she let him do the same. Teresa had been sleeping half naked in his arms for weeks. He'd had his damn chance to strip her first and he hadn't taken it. "Fully dressed, and staying that way until you lose some clothes already. I want to touch you, Patrick. Take this off." Pulling him closer by a double fistful of his vest, Teresa heard herself growl against his lips. "Do it or I will."

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled, stole a quick, hard kiss and sat back on his heels to start unbuttoning his vest. /Hell, yes, at last.\\ It was so hard to decide where to look right now. Those gorgeous hands were finally making some progress on his buttons. But his eyes… damn, his eyes were locked on her face and they held heat like she'd never in her life thought possible. Patrick really did love her; he really did want her this much. "Here's your vest." Grey cloth fell across the fists her hands had made in the sheets before his fingers returned to the collar of his shirt. He managed three buttons before she could drag her eyes from his to gaze at the strong lines of his throat. But so little of his chest was exposed by the lengthening gap. When every single button was unfastened, his chuckle dragged her eyes back to his face and the hot curve of his lips. "But I'm not losing the shirt until you do. Come on, Sweetheart."

He expected her fingers to work when he was kneeling between her ankles looking like that? If she moved her hands at all, they'd be sliding that shirt off his shoulders and stroking over his chest. And then she'd be kissing and licking her way down the strong lines of his throat and climbing down into his lap. His hands stroked up her legs from her knees to her hips, making her hands that much less likely to function at all. "Take it off for me, Patrick. You know you want to."

"Hell, yes, I want to." Patrick growled against her lips, pulled her closer to the edge of the bed and right up against his hips. "You have no idea how much I want to, how long I've wanted it." He was trying to kill her with that amazing kiss and the heat of his hands opening her buttons. Teresa found her fingers could move, but only enough to fist in the loose fabric of his shirt for balance as he trailed his fingertips down the midline of her torso behind each opened button. "You are so damn beautiful, Teresa. And you're all mine." When the last button was opened, Patrick wrapped his arms tight around her waist and buried his face against her heart. "I love you, so much."

Their shirts were forgotten in the need to hold him closer. Teresa wrapped her arms around him, tight enough that they almost couldn't breathe. But something was more important than air. "And I love you, Patrick. Tell me you know that." Her fingers stroked through his hair, cuddling him closer against her ribs even as his arms tightened around her hips.

"I know, believe me, I know." Patrick lifted his head, making her miss the heat of his skin against hers, but the look on his face was worth it. "You have no idea what that means to me… to have your love."

Teresa caught his face in her hands and pulled him up for a soft, sweet kiss. It wasn't enough. It wouldn't ever be enough. She needed all of him, every inch of his skin. Right now. Sliding one hand down to cover his heart, she helplessly groaned against his lips at the heat of his skin under her fingers. "Patrick," His ribs heaved under her hands in the instant before his fingers left the skin of her waist. The protest died on her lips as those hands caught her wrists to unbutton her cuffs and start dragging the sleeves down her arms. It was almost painful to take her hands off his skin long enough for her shirt to clear her fingertips. But she certainly wasn't getting enough of his skin with their shirts still on. "Yours now, take it off."

He didn't say anything, just smiled and rolled his shoulders. Her eyes helplessly fell to his chest as that damn shirt was finally pulled out of the way and thrown aside. "Well, Teresa, you said you wanted to touch me. Here I am." His hands curved up the outsides of her thighs, feeling breathlessly good even through the cloth. /Yes, want to touch, need to touch.\\

But now it was her turn to be speechless. Teresa found her arms wrapping tight around his shoulders, dragging him tight against her ribs to get lost in the heat of his skin against so much of her own. His arms tightened around her waist until they were both gasping for air and exploring with eager fingers.

000

She was shirtless in his arms and the heat was burning him alive. Skin, fire hot and silken smooth, slid under his eager fingers. Her hands clutched at his shoulders, finally with nothing in the way. The only thing better than the heat of so much of her skin against his own was the breathless little sound on her lips as his hands stroked over the lean lines of her back. But Teresa still wasn't close enough. He needed to feel her, taste her. "Teresa," Patrick tangled one hand in her hair and claimed her sweet lips for a deep kiss. When he managed to pull himself back from her lips, it wasn't far. Patrick braced her upright with his hands on her back, kissing a path down the arched line of her throat to stroke his tongue into the notch of her collarbone. He'd stared at this little triangle of skin in the open collars of her work shirts for …years.

"Patrick," She arched in his arms, her nails digging into his back and her breath catching in her throat. Her heart was pounding against his ribs. Patrick wanted more, he wanted to feel her heart beating against his lips, wanted to taste her need on his tongue. "Please,"

"Anything you want, sweetheart, everything you need." He kissed his way down her ribs to bury his lips against her heart. She arched and whimpered at the touch of his fingers over the clasp of her bra. "Is this what you want?" He took her trembling and a strangled gasp of his name as a yes, unhooking the strap with a flick of his wrist. "Oh, Teresa," Nothing, nothing was more beautiful than the heat on her face and in her voice when his hands finally cupped the sweet curves of her breasts. So soft, she felt so unbelievably soft against his fingers. He had to taste her, now.

"Patrick, please," Patrick dipped his head, dragging an eager tongue over each stiffened peak for the taste of her skin and the vibration of her voice. It was so hard to hold back but he loved that sound in her voice. Pressing light, little kisses to her skin, he waited for her nails to sink into the back of his neck, waited for her arms to tighten and her legs to squeeze around his hips. Then and only then Patrick pulled her nipple into his mouth to tease her every sensitive nerve. "Finally, yes."

She tasted… perfect. She was warm and soft and so sweet he could live on the taste of her skin for days. Patrick braced his hands against the smooth heat of her back, holding her tight and still under the exploration of his hungry mouth. "Sweet Theresa," The line of her back arched and tightened under his fingers. He loved the shaky breath she drew in as his lips moved over the pounding beat of her heart to close around the other peak, adored the bite of her nails in his back and the arch of her hips against his ribs. "That's my girl. You taste so good."

Her voice groaned, vibrating the sweet, soft skin under his lips. In the next moment Theresa was trying to drive him mad. "Patrick," She wiggled off the edge of her bed to settle across his lap, burying every nerve in his chest in the soft heat of her skin. His arms obeyed his skin not his brain, wrapping tight around her waist to keep her just this close. /Oh sweet Theresa…\\ Closer than she'd ever been, Theresa still wasn't close enough. Patrick flattened both hands against her back, helping her press closer against every inch of his chest. The heat was nerve melting, sending a helpless little sound to his lips, just in time to brush hers on the way. Then his sweet Theresa was kissing him. /Yes, Theresa, more of you.\\

Patrick happily lost himself in the hot depths of her kiss and the burning silk of her skin against his own. But it was the deliberate and precious arch of her hips against his that tightened every muscle in his body. He wanted… he needed. He was about three seconds from ripping her out of her pants to wrap himself in even hotter and softer skin. The sound of his name on her lips was trying to speed up the countdown. /No, not like this, not our first time.\\ Forcing his hands off her skin, Patrick closed his fingers on the fabric over her hips, pushing her off his hips back onto his knees. "Theresa, get back in the bed, now."

She laughed, smiling, and ran her fingers down his chest to his belt. Theresa pulled herself back against his hips. "But that would mean getting up. I like it here." She rocked her hips against his and buried a low, soft sound in a kiss. "I love it right here, Patrick." She was killing him and he loved every single minute of it. And she clearly wasn't about to give up either the power over him for the feel of this much touch. He couldn't blame her. Patrick loved her right where she was too.

"Hold on, then." He curled both arms around her waist just as her arms tightened on his neck. They needed the bed, now. Forcing himself to his feet, Patrick crawled onto the mattress with Theresa wrapped around him like a monkey. Not that he could tell her just how cute that image was. She'd shoot him. "That's my girl, almost there." Her hair spread across the pillow as he braced himself above her with a smile. Patrick couldn't resist a quick, deep kiss before he pressed his hips against hers. "Now, about your pants…"

Tiny fingers, remarkably strong, fisted in his hair, their owner nearly growling against his lips. "Yours first. I mean it, Patrick. You're naked first or I won't be naked at all." The look on her face was one even he didn't argue with or defy. Besides, when the woman you loved asked for something you so desperately wanted to give her, only a madman would resist.

"Then hold still and stay put. One wiggle and I'll lose my concentration." Patrick weakly pulled back, slowly giving up her skin against his an inch at a time until he was kneeling between her ankles with his belt unbuckled and his hands at his zipper.

She was unbelievably beautiful, lying there trying so hard to hold still. He could see her pulse racing in the skin of her throat, adored her ragged breathing and the way it moved the curves of her breasts, and loved the helpless clenching of her hands. Theresa Lisbon wanted to touch him almost as much as he wanted to touch her. "Hurry up, Patrick. Please."

/Yes, ma'am.\\ His eyes stayed locked on her face as he kicked aside the last of his clothes and climbed back into bed to reach for her belt. If he didn't get her out of her clothes right now it was very possibly he'd find himself buried inside her with fabric still wrapped around her knees. "Lift up for me," Buckle, button and zipper gave way under his stumbling fingers. Her hips arched, helping him slide the fabric down her legs and off. "My beautiful Theresa."

000