A/N – Hey everyone. :) Whew, what a chapter this was to re-do! I really hope it's okay, my sore wrist is all but burning now from writing it. ^^; Caden had his part written out, but got axed, poor guy. I'll give him some love in the next one. ;) But I'm okay with it now. I'm going to be getting straight on with the next chapter after writing this. I'm really anxious to get to the next bit of the story! Thank you all so much for the bountiful amounts of love I've been getting for this story! I can't wait to hear what you think of this one. ;D Please review, as always. Love and huggles for everyone! :)

Anonymous review replies are up on my profile. x

Chapter Fourteen

"Caden, wait – !"

I stopped walking when I heard Gina's shout echo from her room. My eyebrows shot up into my hair-line. Against my better judgement, I stopped to hear something else. But there wasn't anything. I guess she could've been dreaming, but she sounded wide awake. I thought about knocking on the door but quickly decided against it.

Suddenly, I just didn't want to know.

The last time I dared to venture into asking what was going on in that area, because it was more than obvious to me, her best friend since forever, that Caden's rattled her. No, actually he'd done a little more than that. He'd full on got her walking on eggshells and hyper-alert to the point of paranoia the last couple of weeks. I might've thought it was funny if she wasn't so on edge. Although, she has seemed a little calmer this past week. A nice, manageable mellow calm. She's practically glowing! Whatever she's doing to de-stress, it's working three-fold.

I could've been reading too much in to it and she just had PMS or something. She can be a bitch to live with certain times of the month. But it seemed more than that.

They still snipe and banter when they happen to be stuck in the same room together. Nothing new there. But when did I miss them being on calling terms? That had to be it. She was on the phone to him. But then, why so early? It was confusing trying to work out where everything fell into place and when. She had one moment of flying off the handle over a week ago, that, even scared me just a little. She doesn't know I was there, and unless I want to live, I don't plan on telling her. I'd just caught her dancing around and singing along to her iPod. Normally there wouldn't be anything strange about it, except –

Well the music she was singing to isn't exactly . . . Gina.

"Don't know, anything about you, so close, just a touch away . . ." She sang to herself, really seeming to get into it. "Give me a break, I'm melting away. You're so dangerous!" Her eyes had widened to new limits the second she realized what she was doing and what she was singing. And then she exploded. "Oh for, fucks sake!" She'd bellowed; ripping her ear-phones out of her ears and in a fit of rage, had thrown her iPod at a wall, cracking the screen. I stayed hidden, stuck between finding it hilarious and wanting to get out of her war-path. "Get out of my damn head, Tarzan!"

She'd stormed off into her room after that.

I didn't let on just how much I knew it was getting to her. I did tell Jesse about it and he assured me that if Gina said back off and meant it to Caden, that he'd do just that. He wouldn't push her to the point where her true frustration would seep through. Just like her little outburst with the iPod was a flash in the pan. It was a long time in coming. With everything going on with the club finishing with the decorating and making sure everything will be on schedule for the opening, not to mention the weeks leading up to it and her annoyance with her broken arm . . . Caden apparently just tipped her over the edge. Like I said, she's been serenely calm ever since!

I didn't have any choice but to put Gina's accidental over-hearing of her phone-call to the back of my mind, though. I'd got a call of my own barely twenty minutes before and I was in a rush to get out of the door as it was. It was pure luck I couldn't get back off to sleep once I woke up, waving buh-bye to my nice long lay-in. So I got showered and was just hanging around on the balcony when Jesse called me for help. He'd got a call from Alisa's school saying she wasn't feeling very well and he couldn't leave, no matter how much he was trying. So being the perfect girlfriend I am, I jumped at it.

Alisa and I have got even closer over the past few weeks. Spending some quality one-on-one with her is time I look forward to as much as I do with her, Dad. Once you get past the little bit of shyness she had around me and really open her up, she blooms so bright, it's almost blinding! I love to just paint her nails or play with her hair. I've caught Jesse watching us a few times with a smile I can't work out. Whether she's sick or not, I'm always willing to have some Alisa time.

I scribbled a quick note for Gina and stuck it to the fridge, leaving her behind.

I drove the familiar route to Alisa's school without a problem. I've picked her up a few times before, taking over for my Mom, sometimes when it comes to having her in the afternoons. She was waiting for me in the nurses office when I arrived, laying down on a cot that with lots of bright, colourful posters stuck on the walls making it look even smaller than it already was. The nurse on duty was writing something down at her desk, so I tapped lightly on the open door to get her attention, frowning at the lack of colour in Alisa's cheeks.

Looking up, the nurse waved me in.

"Thank you for coming so quickly. You must be Ms. Simon? Alisa's Father, called to tell me you were coming," She answered my unasked question. Sidestepping her, I crouched down at Alisa's side and winked with a small smile. I got a watery one back. "She's running a bit of a temperature and she's complaining of a belly-ache so I didn't want to take any chances. We've had a couple of children in here the past week with similar symptoms, nothing too bad. Are you ready to go home now, Alisa?" She asked kindly, turning from formal politeness with me, to kind and compassionate with Alisa.

Nodding slightly, she started to sit up on the cot. "Is Daddy, going to be there?" She asked me with a trembling chin. Poor little mite!

"No, Daddy's at work, sweetie. But we're going to see him before we go back to your house, just so he can properly check you're okay. Then he'll meet us at home later," I answered carefully. I had no problem agreeing when Jesse asked me to swing by the surgery on the way home so he can check Alisa out for himself. It would put her mind at rest too. The thought distracted me enough from calling it, 'home'. "Come on, my little pixie. Let's go and get you somewhere more comfortable. No offence." I quickly amended to the nurse.

Laughing lightly she shook her head. "None taken. You take care now, Alisa. I hope you feel better soon." She patted down Alisa's unruly hair and walked us out into the hall.

She asked to be picked up and carried three seconds into busting the joint. I did it without flinching, more than used to carrying her weight around now. I've spent more time with Alisa in the past couple of months, than all my years with kids put together. My summer working at the Pebble Beach Hotel and Resort as a baby-sitting not-withstanding. Unless you call sitting on the edge of the pool baby-sitting. I wasn't knocking it though. It made me more confident in approaching Aiden. We've still got quite the leap to go yet though when it comes to being proper friends.

With her head resting on my shoulder, her thumb in her mouth, I proudly walked out of the school, not really wanting to let her go. I was too comfortable.

The little bit of fresh air she got from our short walk to the car seemed to perk her up a bit. She still felt hot under my palm and the only colour came from the slight nipping cold to the wind. But she was at least a little chattier on the way to Jesse's surgery. "What are we going to do when we get home, Sooze?" She asked after she questioned me of what I thought about her school and the nurse and anything else she could think of. Considering all I'd seen was the nurse's office, I didn't have much of an opinion. But she seemed happy enough.

"Well . . . if you still have a belly-ache, then I reckon we should grab your Daddy's huge duvet and watch cartoons for the rest of the day. But if you're feeling a bit better, maybe we should make some soup and have a little bit of ice-cream to wash it down. How's that sound? With cartoons of course!" I grinned into the rear-view mirror. She didn't give me her bright dazzling, dimpled smile back. But it was enough to let me know she was happy. "And maybe a little nap." I murmured under my breath when I caught sight of her huge yawn.

I managed to get an easy parking space and led a quiet Alisa into reception.

We didn't have to wait around to get in to see, Jesse. As soon as the nice receptionist clocked us, she called through and sent us in only a few minutes later. Alisa went running up to her, Dad while I stayed leaning against the door-frame, taking it in with a content smile and a racing heart-beat. Over three weeks of being in, what I guess we'd call a proper relationship now, has been . . . amazing. The dates where we've just talked and talked over dinner, or strolled along the beach at night. The picnics in the park with the three of us and trips to the movies. Snuggling up on the couch when she's gone to bed and making out like teenagers. The snatched moments here and there whenever we can, have all been . . . kind of like living in a dream.

But for one problem, yet to be resolved. The supremely bad timing each time we fall in to bed.

More than once I've wanted to just have one whole night alone with Jesse so I can finally satisfy this burning, undeniable ache! I totally agreed with Jesse when he said to take it slow, one step at a time. And we have. My family know about us, our friends do. Alisa really is the only one who doesn't; with the exception of Jesse's parent's. Any other guy and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be so bad. But when you increase the normal lust ten-fold and mix it with Jesse, it's almost unbearable. Gina's slid in subtle digs and openly knowing smirks when I come home from Jesse's looking flustered, pissed off and all but running to climb into a pair of cotton short pyjama's just to cool off a bit, don't help. Just because she's been glowing the past week or so. I just never knew lust could be so powerful!

But it's Jesse's patience that's closer to snapping point than mine is. And the intensity's just got more frantic and hot.

I don't know how much longer we'll be able to last.

All the sneaking around when we're with Alisa; the private looks and subtle touches that make me come undone, has just built the sexual frustration higher and higher! Any kiss makes me want to throw him to the floor and jump on him. Or he'll say something in his liquid, sexy Spanish, his eyes darkening and piercing through every fabric layer I have! He might has well have been dragging a burning piece of silk over my skin when he looks at me that way. It's just not enough, for either of us.

Each time we've been lucky enough to almost be able to satisfy it for a while, the phone rings, or Caden strolls through the door, or some other interruption kills the moment. I just want to rip Jesse's clothes off and have the real thing, see if that connection sharpening between us, can take it to a whole new level of intoxicated euphoria. Instead of some dreams that wake me up gasping and cursing! If we have to go any longer than a couple more weeks, I'm going to book a Hotel for the weekend. If Jesse doesn't get there before me that is.

He looked up at me over Alisa's shoulder, his eyes saying what he wasn't, softening my red-hot thoughts that were getting me hot under the collar just thinking about it.

Stepping further into the office, I tuned back in to what was going on in front of me; taken over by how amazing it is to watch them both. Their bond is stronger than anything I've ever seen before. "Do you have to work, Daddy?" Alisa pouted sweetly once he pulled back from the hug and sat her on the edge of his desk while he subtle checked her throat to see if her glands were up. Doing the usual things a doctor does. I don't know what he was looking for, but I know it made him feel better just to check her over himself. "You can watch cartoons with me and Sooze." She plaintively went on.

Sighing, Jesse put his stethoscope back around his neck and stroked a large hand down her long dark hair.

"I have to stay here, Princesa. You know that," He pressed his lips together, seeming more mad at himself than anyone else. "I'm going to try and leave early. I know you're not feeling well and I don't want to be here because of that. But Susannah, will take good care of you until I can get home. You'll be having so much fun spending time together; you will barely notice I'm not there!" He grinned. It made Alisa giggle and me break out into a hot flush. I had to look away from him before I melted on the spot. I always wondered why in the movies, men with children always made the women swoon. But I get it now. It's seeing the way Jesse's eyes light up when she laughs. Seeing how much he loves and cares about her.

I'd be one crazy woman not to be knocked side-ways by it!

"Come on, sweetheart. The quicker Daddy, can get back to work, the quicker he'll be home," I waited for Jesse to hug her tight, whispering something in her ear. She nodded, whispering something back before he helped her down off the desk where he led her back up to me. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of each other, won't we, my little pixie?" I twirled her around on the spot before pulling her to a stop with a laugh. "I'll call if anything's wrong." I directed my smile at him when Alisa yawned again, rubbing her nose with her fist and leaning heaving against my legs.

"Thank you," Jesse said quietly, reaching out a hand to run his knuckles down my cheek in a graze of affection. I was shocked by the intimate touch in front of Alisa, but I didn't pull away. I leaned in to instead. I've been following Jesse's lead on when to tell her about us. It's his decision to make, not mine. But having him so brazenly do such a thing, including kissing me on the lips lingeringly, made me wonder if he's gearing up to do just that, soon. She didn't notice or didn't say anything about our moment. Just accepted Jesse's second hug and kiss to the head like it's an every-day thing to catch us canoodling in front of her. "Be safe out there."

"I always am," I winked at him over my shoulder, leading Alisa out of his office, his warm chuckles warming me to the bone following hot on our heels.

Any second wind and bit of energy Alisa might've had when we left Jesse, was gone by the time we got back to the house. The colour had drained her cheeks again and her fever wasn't dropping either. I got her straight into her pyjamas and curled up on the couch with Jesse's duvet as promised. I knew without asking that she wouldn't want anything to eat, so I made sure she was drinking enough and staying hydrated. I wasn't going to have her feeling worse on my watch! I promised Jesse I would take good care of her. I could tell from watching him examine her, that he wasn't happy about not being able to be at home taking care of her. I wouldn't have been either if it was my child.

That didn't really help me when Alisa went from having a belly-ache, to emptying it all over me though. The only warning I had was, "Sooze, I don't feel well." And then I saw why. I didn't have time to squeal in horror and gag myself. I just quickly held back her hair and rubbed her back until she was finished. I managed to get the brunt of it. Leaving her for a second to grab a bowl, I told her to sit tight while I quickly went to change to get the smell away from her. I was running through the top half of Jesse's house in just my underwear, after stripping off and sticking my clothes in the trash.

I slipped into a pair of Jesse's boxers and an old t-shirt before I went back downstairs to get Alisa. She hadn't been sick while I was gone, but she was looking a little green.

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go and get you cleaned up." I soothed her quietly, lifting her into my arms. She sniffled, tears gathering like a monsoon in her eyes. "It's okay, I know it's horrible and icky, but you'll feel so much better when it's all up." I repeated what my Mom used to say to me when I was a kid. It never made me feel better and I just cried harder when she said it. But it seemed the right thing to say and it stopped the tears from cascading down her cheeks.

I helped her wash her face and brush her teeth when we got to the bathroom. But instead of taking her back downstairs, I got her settled into bed. "I don't want to go to bed," She whined, her lips trembling while I tucked the covers around her. "I don't want to be on my own, Sooze!"

"You're not going to be, sweetheart. I'm going to be right here with you," I explained, crouching down to her side to stroke her hair off her face. I wouldn't have been able to leave her alone after she said that, even if I hadn't already made the decision to stay with her. "I just have to go downstairs and clean up down there, and then I'll be back up. I'll only be a few minutes. Why don't you think about a story you'd like me to read to you while I'm gone?" I offered, standing back up. She clung to my hand when I tried to pull away. She looked so upset, it was squeezing my heart!

"Alisa I promise, I'll be right back. I'm not going anywhere." I whispered against her clammy forehead.

"Okay," She nodded so quietly, I barely made it out. Kissing her hair, I walked out of her room as quickly as I could. It made Jesse's dilemma even more understandable. She was looking so vulnerable and miserable, I just wanted to take it all away and make her feel better.

I tried to clean up the mess downstairs as quick as I could, which thankfully wasn't much. As I said before, I got the brunt of it. I'd had a quick wash down while I stripped off, so at least I didn't smell of it anymore. I left Jesse's rolled up duvet that had been saved, on the couch and picked up her bowl and juice before going back upstairs to her like I promised. When I walked back in her room, she looked straight at me, relief softening her drained cheeks. I crawled onto her bed and let her snuggled up by my side after I got 'Sleeping Beauty' down off the shelf and started reading it to her. It was such a surreal experience; I had to pinch myself a few times before I realized I was really awake and not imagining it.

I'm definitely not denying how much it felt like . . . home. There's no other way to describe it.

I've spent more time with Jesse and his beautiful little girl in the three weeks, than I usually do with a starting out relationship. We just eased into it without a problem. But when I'm alone with him . . . God, it's like when he looks at me, that I'm the only one that exists! He makes me feel as alive as his Alisa does with her innocence and unbridled happiness. I feel vulnerable and so safe when his eyes take on the tenderness and he kisses me like we're about to be ripped apart. He'll hold and touch me with so much gentleness, I have to shut my eyes just to remind myself I'm not going to fall to the weightlessness that comes with being revered and caressed by Jesse.

He makes the thought of going slow seem like a torture method! It feels like the ride we're on, is set to maximum and we're just clinging to it with a death grip!

It's not just the sexual tension between us that is so distracting. It's the way it feels like I've stepped into a family. Alisa has accepted me into her life, like a hand to glove. I've tried to figure out where I stepped from the friendship road, to something more. I was a little scared, but I wasn't going to back down. I already have the task of doing her hair before her dance classes, or when I'm there when she goes to bed. I doubt Jesse misses having to braid her thick locks, but being given the task by Alisa herself, makes me feel like I've been given something really important. A great responsibility.

Jesse didn't laugh at me when I told him this. He was quiet for a while, subdued almost. But he didn't say anything negative about it. I took that for what it was and let the subject drop. It's only been a couple of months since we met. If he's not as shaken by everything, then I'd have seriously been questioning some things between us.

I ended up reading through the whole of the detailed fairy-tale of 'Sleeping Beauty', Alisa's favourite, and was just getting started on 'Snow White' when she sudden went a sickly green colour again. "Sooze!" She cried out to me weakly. I just had enough time to throw the covers back and place the bowl in her lap before she was sick again. I rubbed her back in slow circles, trying to relax her and stop fighting it. When it looked like she was finished for now, I quickly got rid of it and went back with a wash cloth to wipe the tears and sweat away. "I want my, Daddy!" She cried and hiccupped, holding her stomach tenderly.

"I know you do, sweetheart. He'll be home as soon as he can," I shushed her, climbing back onto the bed with her, rocking her back and forth and just holding her while she cried. She clung to me, her sobs wracking her whole body. She was clammy still, but she didn't feel as feverish as she had done a couple of hours before. "Close your eyes and try and sleep." I whispered to her when she was calm enough to hear it. She shook her head no, but ended up drifting off anyway. She had no energy to fight it anymore.

I gently laid her down on her pillow, and for the next couple of hours while she slept, went from checking on her constantly, to answering the phone when Jesse called to ask how she was. He was concerned about her, understandably. But as horrible as it was for her to throw-up, her body was getting rid of whatever bug she had that was making her feel so bad. He was still trying to get off early but it was looking like he'd be later than he thought. I took the spare time out to have a quick wash and change into another one of his t-shirts. I figured I'd let him have the surprise of finding me in his clothes when he got home.

Somehow, I'm not sure how exactly, I managed to avoid a phone call with his Mother! I was just about to pick it up when the answering machine kicked in and her voice, heavily hinted with Spanish, lilted over the speakers. I thought my heart was going to burst out of chest with nerves, like she knew I was there or something. But all she said was for him to stop avoiding her, lest he want a surprise visit. It was funny to listen to once I got my heart back under control. But it put me on edge for a while.

After Alisa woke up from her nap, she had a little more colour to her face and was ready to eat something. So I made her some dry toast, just to see how she got on before I tried anything else. I didn't want to give her anything too heavy in case it curdled against whatever it was she was fighting. She only ate one slice, but it was enough. For the rest of the afternoon after that, I was running back and forth getting her juice, clearing up after the two other, much more minor, incidents of her being sick, and trying to get a hold of Gina. She was, indisposed according to her voicemail.

By the time Jesse got home, Alisa was spark out on the couch with warm soup in her belly and her head in my lap, with his duvet pulled down over us both. I was watching 'Sleepless in Seattle' when I finally realized he was standing there, watching us. Stretching lazily, I smiled back impishly, letting his gaze slide over me like the afternoon sun warm on my back.

"You look comfortable," He commented, coming over to sit on the arm of the sofa, resting one hand along the back to rest on my shoulder, while he leaned forward and stroked Alisa's hair softly, checking her temperature with his hand. "How has she been since I spoke to you last?" He asked quietly, drawing back enough to look down into my eyes. He traced his thumb over my cheek and along my lips before dropping his arm, his concern for Alisa still as prominent as anything else.

"She was sick a couple more times, but nothing like before. I've been pumping her full of juice and she's eaten some more toast and a bit of soup. Her temperature's a lot better, but as you can tell, she's exhausted," I replied, absently running my fingers through her loose hair running across my lap. "She fell asleep before I could move her."

"Don't worry, I'll do it," He smiled easily, getting up off the arm of the couch and gently moving the covers aside.

When he caught sight of the t-shirt and boxer shorts I was wearing, he cocked his scarred eyebrow in a silent question; his smirk turning into a lopsided grin.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention; hope you don't mind." I shrugged.

"Not at all. There's no denying you look better in them than I do, querida," He grinned, leaning forward to kiss me before I could say anything. When he pulled his lips from mine, leaving me feeling bereft and tingly, he kissed my forehead. "Before I forget to say this on account of how distracting and tempting you're looking in my clothes . . . Thank you for taking care of her today. I'm sorry I couldn't have been here. But at least I know she was well taken care of." His sincerity was as strong as the hold he had on my hand.

"Anytime," I honestly replied. So some of it left me a little queasy; but I was prepared for that the moment I made an important promise to a pretty little girl. I wasn't going to run from the bad and just enjoy the good. Jesse and Alisa both deserve more than that from me. I don't think he's really had it in the past. Which made sense of why he looked a little shocked and relieved when he walked in to find the house in one piece, and Alisa curled up, sleeping peacefully on my lap. Just how many times has a woman gone, 'You're on your own,' to him, because of Alisa? The thought made me sick and mad.

With a little manoeuvring, Jesse got Alisa into his arms without her even stirring. Standing up to stretch my back and legs properly, I followed them both up the stairs and into Alisa's room. I pulled her fresh clean covers back and stood on the other side of her bed, watching him gently lay her down. She rolled straight onto her side and tucked her rag-doll closer still, without batting an eyelid. "She's so Angelic." I murmured under my breath, lifting the cover a little higher on her shoulder.

Jesse chuckled and nodded. "Sí, she is."

I looked up when I heard the pride in his voice, while he was calmly watched Alisa sleep. Skirting around her bed, I squeezed his strong tanned, forearm. "I'll meet you downstairs." I said quietly before slipping out of her room again.

Blowing a piece of my hair out of my eyes, I escaped to the front living room and put on a small lamp to light the dark room gently when I got downstairs. "Ahh, comfy!" I sighed, stretching out along the deep comfortable couch, kicking my legs up and throwing my arms over my face. I'd got a snippet of the time on my way into the room and was surprised to find it gone six o'clock. Jesse never did get to have the rest of the day off, I realized belatedly. It made sense for why I was so tired. I've had Alisa for the day before, but it's more exhausting when you're fretting over a kid that's not very well, I figured, relaxing into a light doze.

I snapped awake a few minutes later when Jesse padded into the room and collapsed on to the other sofa sitting directly across from mine. A formal dinner table resting in the second half of the room behind him made up the rest of the space. His exhausted sigh drew my attention though. I peeked out from under my arm and judged from the minimal light of the room from the lamp, just how tense Jesse was looking in his rumpled work clothes. His hair was in disarray and out of place, and his eyes were heavy, his thick lashes throwing more shadows onto his cheeks. He looked totally worn out, but was sitting like he was ridged with tension.

Suddenly forgetting how tired I was feeling, I swung my legs down from the couch and moved over to his and stood behind it, lightly resting my hands on his tense shoulders.

"I think someone needs a massage," I lowly murmured in his ear when I dipped down to press a kiss to his cheek. He gave another sigh and short nod before turning his head to kiss me on the lips. His tired smile said it all. "Just sit back and enjoy it, Huggy Bear." He chuckled at the pet name and I got to work kneading out the tense coils in the back of his neck. His chuckles soon turned into moans of relief, his head falling forward. I rubbed soothing circles up the back of his neck with the pads of my thumbs, feeling the tight knots unwind within minutes. Once done there, I moved on to his strong shoulders I always get a kick out of running my hands over.

"Damn, Jesse, you really are wound up tighter than a tick!" I exclaimed, feeling the rock hard muscles of his shoulders and back. He tensed even more for about a second when I got started there, before he groaned heatedly again. "Can you stop moaning like that, you're starting to wind me up," I moved further down his back, liking the feel of his smooth shirt under my hands. I wouldn't have minded if it was just skin on skin. My cool hands against the hot muscle flesh of his back. I pictured his half naked body in my mind, my lips twisting and parting when I splayed my fingers across the looser muscles, tormenting my needs by picturing them fluttering when I run my hands down his arms and along his body.

The thought made my blood rev harder and faster, my hands slowing while I just enjoyed the feel on him beneath my hands without worrying about someone walking in on us.

"Don't stop, querida. I need this," Jesse's rough voice sent shivers of anticipation through me, making fireworks crackle and explode in all the right places; a pool of heat shooting right to the pit of my stomach, causing my fingers to twitch and dig harder, gripping him. His resounding long, drawn-out moan of pleasure almost made me fall over the back of the couch and on to him. I was supposed to be treating him, not getting teased! l doubted it was unintentional, the bastard! "Ah, that's it . . ."

Scowling at the back of his head, pretty sure he was grinning at me, I worked his tense muscles over some more for a couple more minutes before I couldn't put up with his moaning and sighs of pleasure that were driving me mad!

After the last time he sighed about how good it felt, I patted his shoulder that I was done, and left him sitting there as wound up as I was feeling. Walking back around the couch I dropped into the sofa I was sitting on before and glared directly across at him. My fingers dug in to the cushions like claws on a tiger; my body humming for his touch more than ever. To quell a thirst and uncoiling of my own. And he knew it. He stared right back with the worst knowing grin I've ever seen on him, his long legs kicked out, his arms resting casually either side of him. Looking relaxed and smug. And definitely as turned on as I was. I felt smug about that.

But it was his eyes that burned a hot need inside me . . . They looked like burning black coals, igniting more embers.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked; his thin lips quirking at the corners.

When a guy sets a challenge like that, there's only one way I deal with it. I get even.

"Not much, handsome," I licked the tips of lips slowly, dragging my tongue over my lower full one before turning it into a pout. Lifting my arm high, I let it fall to my cleavage where his tank shirt dipped lower than normal, tracing over my chest lightly before pulling the already loose top down enough to show off my black lacy bra; like I was trying to cool off. "I'm just a little hot and bothered from all your pleasurable moaning," I purred, letting my hand drop down from my chest and to my bare thigh, slowly drawing it up until I reached the bottom of his shirt. I pulled the bottom of it up a little, showing off some skin, still watching him.

Just as suddenly I let it go and dropped my head to fall back on the cushions with a breathy sigh. Imagining his hands as the ones teasing and tugging at my top. I knew my throat and neck were enticing him. It's his favourite place to go, other than my breasts.

So when I slowly pulled myself back upright and pinned him with a hooded look full of lust that he answered in kind, I knew what I had to do.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?" I questioned innocently, looking up at beneath my eyelashes when I sat forward so he could see down my top enough to make his pupils dilate. I slowly arched myself up and off the couch like having an invisible arm slipped around my back; taking three, languidly slow steps across the distance to him on the sofa. I stayed watching him for a second, before kicking his feet apart and moving in to the space between his knees. Bending low, I made sure he got a full view to my lacy underwear that peeked out of his shorts, his top riding up my back. With my lips to his ear, I whispered seductively, flicking my tongue every now and again, tasting him.

"You make me feel so hot, and . . . desperate," I moaned pleadingly, my bare knee rising to brush along the inside of his thigh and the growing erection pressing behind his pants zipper. Resting it beside him on the sofa after his eye-lids flickered to a narrow stare, I carried on breathily telling him what he does to me. "Like, I just can't catch my . . . breath. I need to have your hands - " I picked one of his up and stuck it on my hip, arching enough for it to slip somewhere else." - touching me. You make me feel . . . mmm, so good, Jesse." I panted, bracing my hands on his shoulders to lever myself up so I could straddle his hips. Sitting on his lap, his desire throbbed against me.

When I made myself comfortable, I looked deep into his eyes, his hands gripping my hips tight, his jaw clenched so hard I thought I could hear his teeth grinding.

"I've been so hot and ready for you for so long; everything I wear feels so irritating and tight," I frowned playfully, toggling the bottom of the top between my fingers. His jaw twitched and a vein popped out on the side of his neck, but he didn't say anything. So I sat up off his lap for a second, stretching and arching myself higher so I could drag his shirt up my body and over my head. One of his hands went to my back to slide and guide me down to his lap, while the other slid along my bare thigh on show from his boxers riding up. Caressing the soft skin and making me shiver. Tossing my top behind me, I tip-toed my finger down his chest.

"Do you know what I mean?" I asked idly, ignoring his hand that was wandering up my spine to the clasp of my bra. I got to work with unbuttoning his shirt instead.

He took in a deep breath, his rough palms grazing over my ribs to rise up and skim the underside of my breast, until his hand crept over and cupped it. My nipples tightened at the way his thumb ran over them, feeling the heat of his touch through the black lace, my body already singing with arousal, pivoting in to his touch.

"Cobre vida para mí, querida." His husky voice deepened and thickened around the Spanish. His lips gliding over the words like his hands moulding to my body. His ease with it was fluid and sexy. He sounded so confident, possessive and in-control when he spoke the sexy as sin words. I was only allowed to interpret what he said by his eyes and his touch. But knowing he was saying something to me in a beautiful language that made my toes curl and the deep well of arousal in my stomach to shoot straight to my core was a major turn-on. Just like he knew it was.

Still undoing his buttons, his shirt coming undone the further down I went, I tugged my swollen lips, waiting for his kiss, between my teeth. "Let me guess what I do to you," I started coyly, moving his shirt apart and dropping my hands to his chest to rake my nails down over him, leaving nice deep marks. "You're blood starts singing and boiling through your veins, rushing to your – " I flicked my eyes back up to him, raising one eyebrow." – loins. Your hands prickle and itch to run over my skin, touching me, and claiming me as yours. To make me moan and writher with pleasure from your . . . loving caress. Am I close?" I breathed against his cheek, my fingers clawed into his shoulders.

"Sí," He growled, his hands undoing the clasp of my bra, dragging it down my arms quick and easily. I sat on him, intoxicated by the way his eyes were nothing but obsidian pools of powerful craving as he took me in shamelessly. His lips turned up into a sexy grin, a hand sending my mind into a warped sense of reality with his first touch. I bit down on my lip and clutched on to him a little harder. When his arm wrapped around my back and his body lifted me up to settle me down on the couch, my leg went straight around his to pull him down to me. "Very close."

I pushed his shirt down off his arms and let it drop to the floor, enjoying his prominent biceps when he braced himself above me. "I thought so," I grinned, slipping my hands over his shoulders to feel along his back. Whispering and teasing him like he did me was one thing. But what I wanted, what my lips pulsed for was Jesse's kiss. Slanting his mouth across mine, I gave him instant entrance, meeting his tongue and exploring him, leaving me breathless within seconds. His lower body pressed down on mine, his erection grinding against the restriction of clothes still in the way, making me even more hot and wet for him. I tightened my leg around his and made the friction worse.

When he pulled away from our kiss for air, he took his time to just look down at me with free abandon. "Bello," He murmured under his breath. My body was craving him something fierce when he ran the raw graze of his eyes over my naked flesh. My nipples peaking to painful points, pleading, begging - growling for his touch.

"Yes," I moaned in to his mouth when he came back down to kiss me with fresh fervour, his rough palm running over my breast again, his thumb running along the underside and dragging his hand back up and over the peak. Sparks flew behind my closed eyes and I pulled him closer, my hand slowly running through his hair. Tugging his lip between my teeth, I nipped at him, laughing when he growled frustratingly. I would've still been doing it until he pinched my nipple, rolling it between his fingers. A thrilling cry slipped from my tongue, captured by Jesse's smirking lips when I writhered beneath him and mauled my hands through his hair.

His palms slipped around to the curve of my back, pulling me up towards him as his mouth trailed wet, hot kisses down to the hollow of my throat. He was licking me, savouring what he found. I tried not to thrash about too much, but it was hard not to dull the keening cry born from the primal need holding my body in possession of my thoughts or senses. Why would I need to think when I had a hot tongue licking at my breasts, suckling and biting playfully? My body twitched, my head thrown back into the cushions while I gripped tight on to Jesse for more.

Feeling his erection pressing against me enticed me to slip my hand to his belted waist. With only one hand and some major concentration on my part when Jesse's mouth slid to my other breast, fondling and treating that with as much possession and skill as the first, I managed to unhook his belt and un-button him. I was letting my imagination go wild when he hissed in a breath and bit me harder than before as my hand cupped him, rubbing him through his pants. He groaned and covered my mouth with his when I cried out from the pleasure, his hard kiss making me drop my hand so they could both tangle and tug at his hair.

I was enjoying the battle of his kisses, the feel of my breasts pressed up against the course hair of his chest where he pinned me to the couch with half his weight. Up until he stopped just like that! "What – ?" I tried to say before Jesse put a finger to my lips. I frowned and pouted around his finger, coming back to my senses a little too quickly.

"Shhh," He quietly whispered, canting his head to the side and listening for something. I frowned deeper, not hearing anything. I was about to say as much when I suddenly did.

"Daddy? Sooze?" A very sleepy, very young, very sweet voice called out from somewhere down the hall.

"Shit!" I snapped, throwing Jesse off me. Luckily he was already on his way to doing just that and landed on his feet agilely, picking up his shirt and throwing it at me with a wickedly tempting grin. Really not wanting to be caught half-naked by his four-year old daughter, I quickly slipped my arms into the holes, getting more caught up the quicker I tried to get it on. Jesse, making sure his hair was a little straighter and his flies were done up, threw me one sheepish look before slipping out into the hallway. " . . . Crap." I exhaled, buttoning up enough to make me look presentable if she came in to the room. I tried to pat down the ravaged, out of control hair I knew I had and quickly yanked my bra up off the floor and stuffing it under a pillow.

I could hear muffled talking coming from what sounded like the den and held my breath when it moved in to the hall. "I know, Princesa, its okay. I promise, next time I'll wake you just to say goodnight," He answered whatever she said, a definite grin and hoarseness to his voice while he climbed the stairs. Relaxing and sighing with relief, I crept out into the hall and slipped down to the kitchen, gasping for a glass of water. Hearing her voice ring loud and clear had shattered the moment we were so caught up in. We wouldn't be getting that back tonight. It was probably for the best. We were well on our way to finally quenching that need, beyond foreplay.

And there is no way I'm having sex with Jesse on the living room couch!

I knew I couldn't stay after that. So I silently moved around the bottom part of the house, putting my bra back on with Jesse's tank shirt. I wasn't joking when I teased everything felt too tight. It does! Plus, wearing his shirt gave me the bonus of not only being cooler after that heated fun; but I got to inhale his scent as much as I wanted. Which was what I was doing when he came back downstairs still shirtless and stood watching me with a smile.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped into the room. "Sorry about that."

I shrugged and laughed. "Trust me; you have nothing to apologize for. We just got carried away. Don't worry about it. But . . . I'm going to go before we have an interruption from someone else." I stepped past him with a hand drawn across his chest, and stepped out into the hall. He watched me slip my feet into my shoes and pick up my bag and keys sitting on a table by the door. "I'll wash your clothes and bring them back tomorrow. Do you think the ravaged by my sexy Spanish lover look suits me?" I twirled on the spot, winking when I came to a stop and got caught up in his arms.

"I couldn't agree more. Of course, it would be even better if I could not let you walk out of the door, but take you back out of my clothes . . . " He growled for a second before straightening up, and with a visible effort, reined himself in. "I suppose I'll just have to wait a little bit longer for that," His kiss promised it wouldn't be too long and I stepped back a little dizzy when he let me go."Be careful driving home, Susannah. And thank you for looking after Alisa, today. I'll make it up to you."

"Normally I'd say there's no need. But in this case . . . I'll hold you to it. Goodnight, Jesse. Thanks for the . . . fun." I winked, reaching around to pinch his butt before I quickly opened the door and slipped out with a laugh. I just managed to avoid his hand reaching for me and nearly fell off the porch again for not watching where I was going. But his chuckles warding off the chill of the night were more than worth it. I waved behind me while I jogged down to my car waiting on the curb. I hate driving away and leaving him standing there on the porch seeming all dark, mysterious and sexy. But I had to. I just held on to the old cliché of, worth the wait, while I headed for home.

Something told me I'd need the extra patience soon.