A/N – I apologize for the length of time between chapters! I've been in a stage where i have little time my fun stuff. I expect that to end soon. Also, my phone service was out for almost 3 weeks after Charley hit, so i couldn't get online. The Lord only knows when power and service will be restored after Hurricane Frances. With this in mind, i'm putting up what i have of the next chapter, even though it's short and incomplete. (All S & S; the REST of this chapter would have the plot moving forward.) I WILL finish the story, and I SO appreciate everyone that's told me they like it and miss it, and all that review. Thanks for stickin' with me all this time, and all the support. You guys are the coolest. I'll update as soon as i can.
Lies 30
"Mmmmmmm... God, Cohen, you're sooo good at that..."
"I believe I remember you saying that before. So I can add "Masseur" to my resume of useful skills, then?"
Summer rolled languidly onto her back. "Oh yeah." She raised a hand to him as he sat down next to her. "Put your hand up here." Seth placed his palm against hers. "Look how big your hands are! Mine looks like a baby's!"
"You do realize that I'm around 10 inches taller than you, right? I'm a tall guy. You're a tiny girl. Except, well, your, um -chest area." He cleared his throat. "You know. Those are nice sized."
"You think?"
He nodded uncomfortably. "So. What do you want to do tomorrow after we move you?"
She smiled, finding his embarrassment amusing. "You're so adorable."
"I am? Of course I am. Wait. How did I manage that?"
"You're different from other guys."
"Don't remind me. Not so long ago my differences revolted you."
Shaking her head, she pulled him down next to her. "You did not revolt me. I was just a little bit stuck-up, and like, narrow-minded. I still can't believe you even liked me."
Seth grinned slyly. "It was all about your chest. And I knew you couldn't resist the Cohen charm forever."
Summer heaved a sigh. "Great. And now you prove that all men are alike. Already." She rolled her eyes. "I knew it was too good to be true." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Go away now; I'm done with you."
"Ha. You love me. You'd miss me in about 5 minutes. "He rolled on his side and she followed suit, facing him.
"Oh, but five whole minutes of peace and quiet! Sounds wonderful."
"Are you implying that I talk too much, madam?"
"You ARE a genius." She responded enthusiastically.
"Even with my verbal skills, you'd miss me."
"Whatev...."
"You'd miss my big hands, and you'd miss my big –"
"Cohen!"
"What?! I was gonna say hugs, naughty girl! And you'd miss being spoiled rotten, etc., so on, and so forth. Am I wrong?"
"Yes. You're wrong."
"Liar."
"Am not! What I WOULD miss is talking to you. Sometimes you make sense out of things that I can't. You're funny and kind and smart and so sweet and you make me feel like life's going to get better and better, just because I know you. I have some – relief, like, quiet inside, because of you."
Seth's eyes widened, and he was silent for a long moment. "Well...... Summer. I think you're the first person to ever render me speechless."
"I'm serious, Seth. I tell you that I love you, but sometimes those three words don't say everything that I want you to know."
He reached across the space between them and grabbed her hand, touched, but at a loss how to respond.
She grinned impishly. "I have to admit, though, I do like being spoiled."
Seth breathed an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, thank God for the levity. I felt the need to write a country and western song for a minute there."
Summer's eyes iced over. "Nice, Cohen. I tell you deep feelings and you make fun of me." She jerked her hand away and sat up quickly, clutching her side.
"C'mon, I didn't mean it like that." He followed, reaching for her, but she was already crawling off the bed. "Summer, wait."
Afraid that going after her would make the situation worse, he sat back against the headboard and watched her make her way across the vast room to the glass wall overlooking the ocean. "I wasn't making fun of you. It just...sounded like I was - which I realize is an incredibly lame statement, now that I've said it. But I wasn't. Honestly."
She raised both palms to the window and dropped her forehead against the cool glass. "Whatever, asshole. Turn out the light before you leave."
Seth raised his eyebrows, sure that he'd heard wrong. "Before – before I what?!" For good measure he reached over to the lamp and flipped it off.
Instantly she was transformed into a small shapely shadow against a background of stars and moonlight. It glinted on her hair as she whirled around. "LEAVE."
Groaning, he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "Oh Lord, not this again."
"WHAT did you just say?! Are you really TRYING to piss me off?!! Because if you hadn't noticed, I'm ALREADY THERE!"
He moved to the edge of the bed and stood. Keeping his voice calm, he began walking slowly towards her. "You're not going to draw me into an argument, Summer, and I'm not leaving." He dropped into the chair halfway across the room. "Stop testing me. You know better than anyone that attempts at witty sarcasm fully unprocessed through the brain flow from my mouth when I'm confronted with situations that I have no idea how to handle, like, um, situations that include, uh, specific feelings. It's what I do. And I'm a guy. Guys don't know how to do that stuff."
"So this is MY fault?! Because I didn't break down the odds of whether you were babbling mindlessly? Unbelievable, Cohen. You're just -"
"I'm not saying it's your fault and I'm not trying to defend myself. I was –"
"Oh, I know! It just SOUNDED like you were, right?"
Seth took a deep breath, determined not to argue. "I was utterly and completely, not to mention totally at a loss for words but I felt like I needed to respond since you were baring your soul, and maybe I panicked a little, so unfortunately a stupid attempt at humor ensued. I truly didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm not good at relationships, Summer. I – I haven't had – um – any, until Ryan, not counting the close personal friendships I've forged with the Playstation and computer, of course. And uh," he cleared his throat and his voice lowered, "well, I've certainly never had one as important and meaningful as this one with you, so I'm kind of flying blind, if that makes any sense." There was a quiet moment, then a very soft response.
"So am I."
Her silhouette was lowered to the floor now, her head on her knees, arms hugging them to her chest. After crossing the distance between them, he crouched beside her. "Listen, I know you're hurting from the accident still, and you lost your best friend today; the last thing you needed was my stupid mouth. Go ahead and cry, heck, hit me if it'll make you feel better." He tentatively reached a hand out and touched her shoulder.
Raising her head to look at him, she sniffed. "I may have over-reacted. Maybe."
He held up his hand with his thumb and forefinger pressed together. "Maybe just a smidgen. But hey, you're entitled - You've had a horrible week and you were off your meds all day, Summer. And I'm an idiot."
She gave him a little smile. "You're not an idiot, Cohen. You're squarely in dork territory, though... Sadly enough, I like that about you."
"I prefer to think of myself as a pacesetter, leading others like me in the parade, marching to our own drums. But whatever. What do you say - do you forgive me?"
"I will, probably, after some serious sucking up on your part." She wiped a lone tear from her face.
"Spoken like a true princess. So. How may I serve you, my pet?" He sat down and hugged her.
"To start with, you can help me get up. I'm all rolled into a ball here and I don't think standing is going to be any kind of a good time."
He stood and bent to help her. "Done. Come here...easy..." She finally was on her feet, unsteadily holding onto him for support. He hugged her, then swiftly picked her up.
"Cohen, I can walk! You're going to hurt your arm!"
"Shush. It's only across the room and I feel ok." He smiled as she put her arms around his neck and settled against him. "I've always wanted to do this. It looks so cool in the movies." He lowered her to the bed and then fell back onto it himself, winded.
Summer gave him a patented exasperated look and spoke dryly. "You're my hero, baby. But in the movies? The guy doesn't pass out all out of breath after carrying the girl across the room. He bends down and kisses her, and then they make mad, passionate love all night in Triple X detail."
Seth raised his head and turned to look at her. "Just what kind of movies have you been watching, missy? Do remember to invite me next time, ok?"
Summer crawled over and planted a kiss on him. "We can make our own movie, sweetie." She stretched out, settling on top of him and going back for a longer kiss. Sliding off to his side, her fingers began tracing lightly over his bare chest and stomach.
He felt himself falling under her spell, willing to do anything she wanted, and forced his eyes open, shaking his head. "No, we can't."
Summer laughed. "I was just kidding about the movie, Cohen. We've already had that conversation and there was bodily harm involved if you tried, remember?"
He gently pushed her hand away. "I know. I meant, we can't, uh; we can't have sex. Not for a while. Not, though, because I don't want to, because – perish the thought - but because regardless of what you've been telling me about how it's not hurting you, I've come to the conclusion that you're never going to feel better if we don't stop the bumping and grind-age. So to speak." Raising his voice over her protests, he continued. "This is not a discussion. I'm going to take care of you whether you like it or not. We'll have plenty of time after you get well to make mad, passionate love all night. In Triple X detail, naturally."
She sat up, eyes wide in disbelief and resentment. "You're not my keeper, Cohen! I think I know what hurt– "
He calmly laid his palm across her mouth. "Quiet. I'm going to get up and get you another round of medication, and then I'm going to make you feel better. I don't want to hear another word, and I'm not kidding." Confidently, he took his hand away and got up, heading to the kitchen for water.
She watched him go, stunned silent.
When he returned, she took her pills and then lay back on the pillows, eyeing him suspiciously.
Catching her gaze, he crawled onto the bed. "What?"
"I'm not sure if I like this new you. You seem to have grown a spine and stuff."
"Nice try, but you already told me that you love it when I talk to you like that." He pulled the covers down for her. "Get in."
She settled into the bed and he pulled the sheet over her legs. Carefully, he felt along her arm and then down across her ribs and stomach, watching her reactions to see what areas felt tender. "Back or front first?"
"What are you doing? I already got a back rub!"
"Hush. Who says I'm massaging anything? Back or front?"
She rolled her eyes. "Back, I guess."
"Perfect. Lift up." She sat up as he pulled on the t-shirt she wore, lifting it over her head. "Roll over. I'm gonna start a fire."
Summer changed position and watched as he coaxed flames into life in the fireplace, casting a flickering yellow glow through the dimly starlit room.
"I love fires. They're so...homey, and romantic." She sighed.
Seth returned and lay next to her on the bed. Running his fingertips lightly over her arms, shoulders and back, he spoke softly. "I know you do." Pulling down the covers, his hands slowly traveled lower, across lush curves and down her legs. He worked his way back up her nude body, following the path of his fingers with lips and tongue. She shivered at the delicious sensations his touch gave her.
"I thought we weren't having sex, Cohen," she whispered.
He bit her earlobe gently. "We're not. YOU are. You're going to relax while I take your mind off your pain. Uh, not to say that I'm not, technically, having it, since I will be involved, of course, as an active participant in the deed, but we're not - so to speak - doing, you know, that. Sex. The, uh, most recognized version of it. Ok, I –"
"I GET it, ok?" Raising her head, she turned on her side to look at him. "But that's no fun! What about you? That's -"
He quickly kissed her to cut off her protests. "Shhh...." Kissing her again, he carefully pushed her shoulder until she was on her back. His head moved lower, lips skimming her throat while he continued stroking her soft skin as lightly as he could. "Am I hurting you?"
"Mmmm......not even...... you seriously don't me want me to do – like, anything? For you?" She took in a sharp breath. "Oh god, that feels nice." She raised her head to look down at him, simply not comprehending that a guy didn't want some kind of sex in return. He was unbelievably and so totally sweet.
Seth lifted his lips from her breast. "Nope. This way I can hold this shining moment over your head forever, dangling it in front of you as a key source of bribery and extortion for the respect and admiration that I should always have, yet rarely receive from you. And sexual favors, of course."
She nodded and let her head fall back on the pillow. "
He smiled, then lowered his lips to her silky skin again, continuing his exploration of the perfect female form.
The coals were barely casting an orange glow now, and light from the fireplace caused the shadows shifting on the ceiling. With his head resting comfortably on Summer's leg, he'd been staring upwards for quite a while it seemed. Shadows danced slowly around each other, merging and pulling apart, wrapping around each other in an effort to become one shadow. It went on and on.
Her ragged breathing had long since slowed, easing into a quiet steady rhythm barely heard. She took in a deep breath, letting it out in a slow contented sigh while shifting slightly on the bed, reaching out a hand toward his side. After meeting with cold sheets, her eyes slid open. "Seth?" Hearing no response, she lifted up to look and at the same time felt the pressure of his head on her leg. "Wha' ya doin' down there? Come up here with me."
He heard her sleepy voice, not the words but just the mellow tones she made. Her voice was an insane mix of soft, sometimes remarkably childlike pitches wrapped in the low, husky tone of a beautiful temptress. He vowed to never tell her that listening to her speak sometimes made him want to buy her an ice cream cone or a lollipop, and ravage her for hours, over and over again. Not necessarily in that order. Fingers stroking through his hair brought him out of his dreamlike trance. "Huh?" He raised his head to look at her.
"Come up here so we can snuggle, baby. I'm cold."
The sleepy voice and imploring brown eyes had him crawling up the bed to her instantaneously. After pulling the covers over them, he settled back into the pillow as she curled up against his side and nudged under his arm to rest her head on his shoulder.
"......mmm...that's better......"
He kissed dark hair and whispered to her. "Do you still hurt anywhere? I can get you some more stuff to take."
He felt her head shake slightly against his shoulder.
"......you fixed me already..." She yawned. "'m just so sleepy..."
He smiled a little. He had figured more painkillers plus a "special moment" would help her sleep well through the night. "'Kay. Night."
She yawned again. ".........love you, sweetie............"
The combination of the words and the tiny, trusting voice they arrived on hit him squarely in the gut, and he instantly wanted her more than life itself. His brain was consumed with images of her flushed cheeks and the way her eyes went soft and liquid, looking up at him as he moved inside her. He could feel her arms around him, hands sliding over his back and butt, fingers digging into flesh and muscle at times, and knew how she felt under him, hot bare skin against his, giving back as much as she could. The urge to roll over her and fall into that soft husky voice and those bottomless brown eyes, the evidence of her love for him shown by each gasp and moan they made, was extreme and huge, and his hands shook with the effort of restraining himself. Gritting his teeth, he forced thoughts of the car accident and the reason why they weren't having sex into his head. Reliving the moment the car hit her swiftly deflated his enthusiam, inspiring guilt for thoughts of selfish desires. Remembering he was a 17 year old guy who'd just had his hands, lips, and tongue all over the gorgeous girl sleeping next to him without any gratification for himself killed the guilt in it's tracks, leaving him simply...exhausted.
Deep, dreamless sleep overtook him.