Author note:
Having all kinds of trouble posting this. Hope it shows up okay. Just a quick piece of Fluff. Enjoy!
CH 41-Late Night Surprise
Emma was annoyed. Pissed and annoyed. This weekend would be a long one for her due to the MLK holiday. She & Clay were planning on spending it together and working with their new puppy. That was before her SOB of an English teacher decided that it was the perfect time to assign a five-page paper due when they returned to school on Tuesday. Why did teachers do that? Did they give themselves extra work just because they had an extra day over the weekend?
She worked like a dog every second she had all week. But, come Friday, she still wasn't done. She let Clay know that she wouldn't be able to come over after school. He was disappointed, of course, but he understood.
Emma had already been accepted to the program she wanted for college. She was going to pursue Music Therapy for Special Needs children. Both of them knew she had to keep her grades up for that and they knew that Jason wouldn't be nearly as accepting of her time spent at the apartment if her grades suffered.
She determined that her whole weekend was not going to be ruined. She pushed herself to stay up and she finished about two in the morning. She debated waiting to go to Clay until morning, but she wanted to sleep in his arms. So, she swallowed her fears about going out by herself, left a note for her dad, and set off. She arrived with no problem and let herself in. As she opened the door, she thought that she should have texted Clay to let him know she was coming. But it was too late now.
Clay was, by necessity, a light sleeper. He was awake the minute he heard the front door open. As he was about to get out of bed and confront the intruder, he recognized Emma's silhouette darken the doorway of the bedroom.
"Emmie?" He reached to turn on the light. "Are you alright?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come so late."
Clay sat up and reached for her. "No baby. It's fine. I just wasn't expecting you."
Emma went into his arms and laid her head on his shoulder.
"I finally finished my paper and I didn't want to spend any more time away from you."
"Why didn't you call, or text me? I would have come and gotten you."
"I didn't want to wake you," she said sitting up.
Clay pushed her hair behind her ear and cradled her face in both hands.
"Baby, it's too late for you to be out driving by yourself. Please promise me you won't do that again. I don't care what time it is. Please call me." He kissed her gently and pulled her against his chest. "Promise me Em."
"Okay. I'll call." She was so tired and feeling his arms securely around her had her falling asleep.
"Let's get you to bed."
Emma sat up and let Clay strip her down to her underwear. He unclasped and removed her bra and laid her under the covers. He slid in beside her and she rolled over and buried her head against his chest. Clay pressed kisses into her hair and made sure the blankets were tucked in behind her.
"Night Emmie."
She didn't really answer him. She only murmured his name softly. Holding her, feeling her skin pressed against his, Clay closed his eyes and slept.
Waking later than normal, Clay smiled as he registered Emma's body tucked in close in front of him. She had been working hard that week and needed to catch up on her sleep. He knew he should get up, but he couldn't think of anything he'd rather be doing at the moment than holding her close, breathing in the scent of her. He could detect the lingering fragrance of her vanilla shampoo and body wash, as well as something that was uniquely Emma. It aroused and calmed him at the same time. That combined with the warmth of her body lulled him back to sleep.
