Kate sat there in his arms, not saying a word. She was mesmerized by the sound of his heartbeat and the slow rise and fall of his chest against hers. It made her feel a bit guilty, she was supposed to be taking care of him, and here he was comforting her.
God, does Freckles smell good, Sawyer thought, as he weakly held her to him. His hands had made their way up and under her shirt, fingers gently splayed across her bare flesh. He had never been one to get all touchy-feely like this, but her skin was so soft under his fingertips. Her faint, warm breath on his neck sent a shiver running down his spine, momentarily taking his breath away.
"I think we better get you back in bed," she whispered in his ear, "Then I'll get you something to eat." Neither of them moved.
"Only if you plan on coming with me," he whispered, seductively, brushing her hair back, so he could snuggle his face against her neck. He simultaneously pulled her closer to him, if that was even possible. He moaned a little, not anticipating that extra pressure upon him could ache so bad, causing the dull throb in his nether regions, to turn into a pounding, intoxicating thrill that made his whole body tingle. He was thinking about how good it felt to hold her, how it made his heart seem warmer. How soft she felt against him. But, another part of his anatomy was taking over.
Kate just smirked at his comment, holding herself even tighter to him, as well. She knew what she was doing to him. She could feel it, but he made no move to sate his need, he was just holding her. Kate pulled back slowly, looking him in the eye. She sensed something new there, that surprised her, hell, it surprised them both. There was a softness there. Something broke free, releasing something in him. The softer side of Sawyer, she thought and smirked. It was a nice change from the hard, cold, cruel, smart-ass front he was always putting up.
"Come on," she said, carefully dislodging herself from his lap, holding out her hand to help him up.
He didn't move at first giving Kate a chance to get a really good look at him. The shave and the haircut did him a world of good. He had lost a little weight, which made the muscles in his chest more defined. She allowed her eyes to go lower and……….…that was a mistake. She couldn't help but grin as she looked away, slightly proud of herself, feeling something herself, just less visible.
"Now THAT IS your fault," he chuckled as he noticed her slipping a peek. "In fact you deserve all the blame," he said, taking her hand and rising from the chair, the towel miraculously remaining in place.
"Shut up, Sawyer," she said with a grin she couldn't help, gently pulling him towards the door.
"And I'd think you'd feel guilty and all, doing this to a man in my condition," he smirked at her.
"Sawyer," Kate warned, though she was giggling and blushing like crazy.
"Okay, I'll stop…..for now," he said, grinning from ear to ear, as they slowly made their way back to the bedroom.
"Sit here, I'm gonna go get you something to eat and then I'll even change your sheets," she stated.
Sawyer sat. "You know there is one other thing you need to take care of," he said, raising an eyebrow.
She decided to humor him again. "Sawyer, you are in no condition to be..." but he cut her off.
"Hold your horses there, Freckles. I was gonna say yourself. You need to take care of yourself," he smirked, "You look like you need a meal and a rest too."
"Hey, I'm the one taking care of you. So just……just let me okay?" her tone softening.
"I'll be right back," she said disappearing from the room
Damn, how he loved it when he got a rise out of her. He also enjoyed the way she was babying him. With any one else it would have been torture, but he would have put up with anything for Kate.
Kate went and collected some new sheets and food, when she heard someone behind her, "I'd said I'd be right back," she said turning around, "Oh, Hurley, hey!" She gave him a smile.
"Hey, Kate, here for button duty, Sawyer awake?" he asked, who else could she have been talking about?
"Yeah, he is," she said with a smile, happy for Sawyer and herself.
"Dude, cool. Think he'd like some company? I'd really like to hear..." Kate cut him off.
"Ah, he really needs to get some more rest, you know, still weak. I'll let you know when he gets to feeling better," she told him. She was enjoying her alone time with Sawyer, he was opening up to her a bit.
"Okay, I'll be out here, let me know if you need anything," he said, not questioning her.
"Thanks, and I will," she said patting him on the shoulder, making her way back to the bedroom.
Thankfully, Sawyer was sitting right where she had left him, this time. He sat there with an expectant look on his face, just sitting there waiting for her. She came in, pulling the door closed behind her.
"What?" he asked questioning why she had closed the door.
She sat the food and bedding down on the small table. "Hurley's here for his button duty," she said, arranging the food, pulling the table closer to Sawyer. She pulled of the old sheets, to replace them with the clean ones.
"Oh, so you wanna keep me all to yourself, here?" he smirked, looking down at the food. "What do we got here? Beanie weenies, mandarin oranges? Do I look like a fruity guy to you?" he asked.
Kate ignored his first comment, "They're good for you, so eat it," she demanded.
"Not until you sit down here with me and eat something too!" he demanded back, he actually, really was concerned with her well-being. He didn't want her over looking herself, while taking care of him.
"Just a minute," she said, frustrated that he wouldn't just eat, he had to be hungry, "I'm almost done."
He enjoyed watching her. Enjoyed the thought of her caring enough about him to take care of him. No matter how hard people had tried to get close, Freckles was the only one strong enough to push through the walls he had built up. Truthfully, he didn't know how she did it, he only knew how she made him feel. Also, his lap didn't mind the view of her bending over, making that bed. He sighed heavily.
"What?" she asked, finishing tucking in the blanket, "You okay?" she asked worried he was hurting.
"Fine, Sweetheart, just enjoying the view, which actually makes me a whole lot better than fine," he smiled at her.
How can he be so sweet one second, then throwing out his sexual innuendo the next. She turned and sat on the edge of the bed. She smirked at him and rolled her eyes, "I'm glad you find me so entertaining."
"I think it's a little more than that," he stated, staring at her intensely.
His comment and the way he was looking at her stunned Kate into silence, all she could do was look back at him.
His chest was starting to ache, but if he didn't get it out now he feared he never would. He took a deep breath, "In fact, if I was being completely honest, I'd say it's a hell of a lot more."
What did he want her to say to that? She was shaking a little now. Could have been from lust or something that felt a lot like love or her fear. Fear of the unknown, of what was going to happen next, what he was going to say or do. She kept eye contact with him, collecting her thoughts for a moment.
He swallowed hard waiting for her response. He had laid it all out there, put himself on the line, he hoped she wouldn't make him live to regret it.
"I….." she wanted to say it, almost needed to, those three small words that meant so much, but even she wasn't sure if that was it exactly was, whatever it was, they were both feeling it, and she was afraid, "I know how you feel."
His sad face perked up with a half smile. She smiled back. He finally looked down, his question answered. For a moment he wondered if she knew exactly what he meant, but was too afraid to say. And to say it would be so out of character for him. He wasn't sure he'd ever said it to anyone, for real. Hell, he'd never felt this way for anyone before, so it wouldn't have made sense to say it. The times he had, had been a lie.
"I'm hungry, let's eat," he said breaking the silence, that was unusually comfortable. There was really nothing left to say.
They ate in silence, every once and a while one of them glanced up at the other, a grin breaking across their face, when they got caught.
"I'm tired and as much as you don't want to admit it, you need sleep too," he told her.
Kate was done fighting it, their connection, she was done fighting him too. She did need to sleep. She nodded and smiled at him, bending down and pulling the blanket and sheet down so he could get back in bed.
He got in bed, in his towel, "Nothing quite like a clean bed."
"It's nice, huh?" she asked, about to pull the covers up, when he put his hand on hers.
"Like I said, you need sleep too, and I don't see any other bed around here," he smirked, moving over so that there was room for her.
"Sawyer, it's a bunk bed. There's another right above you," she said, but then looked at his face. It was hard to describe it, but he needed her there next to him, just like she needed to be there. After all they had been through, after all he had been though, he deserved a little special treatment right?
"Fine," she said, acting put off, and at the same time excited at the thought.
She crawled in, facing him, maybe they could talk a little, favorite color and book type stuff, they had never really talked about. Petty, cute stuff you like to know about each other.
He pulled the blanket around her, gently pulling her body against his, every inch of her against him. Sawyer realized that there was only his towel and her clothes, keeping them from being completely naked, here this close to each other. He wanted it so bad, but he didn't want to rush her, didn't want to ruin the connection they did have.
But, then she leaned in and kissed him. It was slow and gentle. When he was so used to rushing things, this seemed perfect. She trailed her hand to his cheek, rubbing her hand down his neck, up into his hair, touching him gently and as much as she could, keeping her movements slow and sweet.
Sawyer had never been in love, therefore he had never made love. He had only had sex, which felt good, but not right, not like this felt. The way she was kissing him, he felt as though they were getting off to a good start, if that was what she wanted.
She answered that unspoken thought as she slowly pushed him from leaning on his side, to down on his back, straddling his waist. She sat up a little to just look at him. He was looking back up at her, not rushing things, even though she knew he was ready. Then something just clicked, maybe the way he was looking at her, she felt as though it was right, that it would feel right, and she was then sure that she was ready. She leaned down trailing kisses down his jawbone.
Sawyer reflexively closed his eyes, enjoying her lips. It was so hard, not to rush things.
He wanted his hands and his lips all over her. He wanted to be in her and on her, consuming her, where she couldn't think of anything but him. His hands slid up the back of her shirt, pulling her closer, then she pulled back from his body. He was about to say something when she pulled her shirt up and over her head, flinging it, and then she was right there. Her body was warm and as close as humanly possible.
She kissed her way across his shoulders. "Kate," he moaned her name, making her shudder. She was slowly torturing him.
He lifted his hips slightly. "Sawyer," she gasped. Boy, did it please him to hear his name coming from her lips.
Maybe Sawyer had died on the trek back, he was pretty sure he was in heaven.