A/N Thanks for continuing to follow this story. I hope you enjoy your time with Erin and her sleeping sheriff. This installment would take place between chapters 20 and 21, after they make love for first time at the quarry…
The setting sun adds soft amber to the window sills while bright fluorescent light shines down from the ceiling fixtures, gleaming on the small black knight in Erin's hand. She moves the plastic horse-head two spaces to the left, hovers over the white square for a moment, and then returns the piece to its original spot. Lifting the black pawn that guards her rook, she places it on the square two spaces closer to her opponent's royal battalion. "So that was some dream last night," she says with a smile as she reaches for the white knight across the checkered game board. Rick continues to lie quietly in the bed as the thin tubes release oxygen into his nostrils. His eyes remain closed but she can almost see a cocky curve of his lip, can practically feel a tiny smirk of pride that awakens his mouth for just a moment as he recalls their sexy dream.
"You scared the crap out of me for a while there, sheriff. But you certainly made up for it in the end. My God, that was incredible." She moves another black pawn to free the space in front of her queen. "Yes, honey, even the first time in the water was wonderful, no matter how long it lasted. It was amazing. And the second time in the tent – well that was just unreal. Well okay, I know that it actually was not real, but I also know that it definitely happened. It was very real. And I will never forget the way your hands felt on my body," she says softly, whispering the words as gently as the tender caresses they had shared in each other's arms. "Or the taste of your mouth, or the sound of your voice when you called my name." She closes her eyes to relive the dream that had warmed her heart and stroked her flesh as she'd slept; the kind of dream that fantasies are made of. But this was so much more than a fantasy. She can see him still, sexy as hell with his hair slicked back in the rain as she clutched tightly to his shoulders. "The way your body filled mine so perfectly, like we were created for each other.
The way you held me so tight and so gentle all at the same time, like you were afraid you were going to hurt me, but terrified to let me go. I will always remember the way you loved me, Rick, and the way that you trembled in my arms afterward." The memory builds an emotional tower behind her eyes. She swallows hard. "I will never forget waking up and feeling you inside me for a moment. It was just a second or two, but you were still with me. And you're still with me now, honey, aren't you? I feel you in here," she says, pressing a fist to her chest where her heart is beating for him with more love than she'd ever thought it could hold, beating with a dream of hope that will mend his injured body and rouse him from his deep, deep sleep.
"When you first came back to the quarry and found me crying by the water, you said that you would always come back to me. You promised me, Rick. Remember? Of course you do. Well I'm not letting you break that promise." She sniffles hard and clears her throat. "So, why don't you wake up now and then we can go back to my place and make love in a nice big bed. No air-mattress this time. I'm talking about a real thick pillow-top Sleep Number that you can sink into. Even more comfortable than that bed you're lying on right now, I can assure you. So what do you say, sheriff? Open your eyes and let me take you home."
She stares into his handsome face, desperately trying to see beyond his closed eyelids. "No? Okay, we'll go back to your place if you insist. Come on, honey. Please open your eyes." He must hate the tinge of whining that laces her tone but she is helpless to keep it at bay, too frustrated and annoyed at the Fates who seem determined to keep them apart after teasing them with a brief interlude of wonderful.
"Alright, I'll tell you what…" She picks up the white queen and holds it up to his eye level, then glides it diagonally across the board into her territory. "I will let you win this one if you promise to wake up today. Oh come on, that's a fair trade. You win and then we'll go celebrate. A nice dinner and then we go back to your place. Or we can relax in my bathtub. Remember how much you liked my tub? That's right, the one with all the candles. We can get even cozier than the last time I brought you there. Maybe you won't be so insistent on keeping my feet from exploring this time. We'll put on some nice romantic music… oh, I don't know about that, honey. Does Johnny Cash even have any slow love songs? Okay, fine, I'll even let you pick the music. Just open your eyes and we'll leave right now. What's that? Oh, you want to finish the game first? You're right, I'm sorry. I did say I'd let you win this one. Okay, let's see, how about I put this bishop right… here."
Ten minutes later, when the majority of her army is gathered beside the board to watch the final stand of white queen versus black rook, she lays her cornered king on its side and brushes a long rusty curl behind her ear. Looking up at her opponent, she spears him with an endearing grin and a triumphant gleam in her eye, despite the outcome of the game. "Congratulations, sheriff. Now what do you say we get you back up on your feet and out of here. We'll run along the Chattahoochee River like we did in our very first dream. Remember that one? Yeah, I know at the time I didn't know it was you. But I know that I really liked my new partner, the dark-haired stranger who made me feel safe." She recalls the whispery image of the figure jogging beside her, his quiet strength leading her onward with a feeling of profound peace in her heart while Springsteen filled her ears and moved her feet.
"I think that was the first time that I realized something big was missing from my life. It's hard to explain, but I think that maybe you would understand. Maybe the only one who could understand. It was like I had a hole in my heart that I never knew existed until you came along and stepped right in with your running shoes and cowboy boots. I think you're holding the only key that could access that area. And if you run right out again, that hole would open back up, stretching wider and wider until that was all that was left of my heart; a big black hole in the shape of you. I would never get over losing you. Charming, annoying, funny, infuriating, adorable, stubborn, sexy… yes, incredibly sexy man that you are," she says with a flirty grin to the blue eyes she imagines are dancing proudly behind his lids. If only she could see them. She swipes a fingertip beneath her eye to brush the tear that she couldn't keep from escaping, tinged with the doubt and despair that has tried to engulf her heart since the day she woke up in his dream. "No, I could never get over losing you," she whispers, and then closes her eyes tightly to fight the melancholy seeping into her bloodstream. With an exhausted sigh, she shakes off the sorrow and lets her soul lead the battle as it refuses to give up on him.
Over the next few weeks Erin keeps her doubts and fears hidden deep inside a tiny corner of her heart, refusing to let them breathe. She ignores their taunting and teasing as she continues to nurse him, counsel him and encourage him, until one day, he finally comes back to her.