Chapter 33

Elizabeth yawned as she pulled herself up in bed, her face breaking into a grin as she glanced at Jason, who was stretched out across the bed, his face buried in his pillow. He looked like such a little boy when he slept, especially when he curled up on his side like he often did with his relaxed face and soft sighs as he snored peacefully. Each morning that she woke up beside him was a reminder that the sarcastic, cutthroat businessman that she knew so well was vulnerable and subdued – if only in his sleep.

Of course, she spent more time thinking about how good he looked naked than focusing on his tender side. After all, she was only a woman, and she'd be a fool not admire him whenever she had the chance.

Sighing, she drew her knees up to her chest and tucked the sheet around her, torn between actually getting out of bed and snuggling back beside him. He'd been out of the hospital for three days now, but the doctor advised him to take it easy, and he'd held Elizabeth to her promise of a very nice homecoming. It was so nice in fact, that they hadn't gotten out of bed for the last three days except to answer the door for takeout and to shower. The issue of who would answer the door was usually a fight, but of course, the shower came easy. They were very into conserving water these days.

She couldn't help but grin as she thought about how nice it had been to just be lazy with Jason. It was something they'd never actually done; so much of their time was spent being high strung as they argued over the remote, or what to eat, and how Elizabeth left her stuff all over his penthouse. They'd never climbed into bed without pointing out how annoyed they were with one another or how long they had until work or a meeting. As crazy as it sounded, she knew the accident was to thank for the sudden calmness between them.

Or at least it was for Elizabeth.

It was a harsh reminder of what she could have lost, and while she thought Jason meant everything to her before, she knew for sure that he did now. She'd had doubts about their relationship, mostly because she was so intimated by the intimacy and the way he made her feel, but now she had no worries. She wanted to wake up beside him every morning and soak up every possible second she had with him – even when he was hogging the blankets and sleeping on her side of the bed.

She'd never had a man who actually wanted to sleep on her side of the bed.

Things were so different in her past relationships. She told herself she loved each of the men she'd been involved with, but she'd always kept them at arms length. Even when she lived with any of her ex-boyfriends, it had been important to her that her things remained where they belonged, and they weren't mixed in with any of theirs.

She had a side of the bed. She had a drawer to put her clothes in. She had a place for books on her shelf. And she had no problems giving them those things as long as they kept it in their places.

Maybe it stemmed from her childhood- this desire not to share, but with Jason it was different. They'd shared everything long before they ever climbed into bed with one another, and it never stressed her or made her worry if it was too much. She liked having him involved in her life, and she'd like to think he felt the same about her.

"What are you doing?" Jason muttered, his voice muffled by his pillow as he cracked an eye open.

"Just thinking," she sighed, resting her cheek on her knee as she looked down at him.

"About…?" he asked, his hand snaking out to stroke the small of her back.

She shivered beneath his touch, her back arching against his palm. "Whether or not you'll let me out of bed," she said, rolling towards him as she fell to the mattress.

"Not happening," he replied, tugging her towards him as he rolled over, leaving her halfway beneath him. "I took the whole week off because you told me to."

"Well, I didn't take the whole week off," she reminded him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"You will soon enough," he muttered, brushing her hair away from her neck before pressing his lips against it.

"Don't remind me," she groaned, letting out a heavy sigh.

Her boss had called two days ago to tell her he was closing his gallery because he'd gotten an offer to start up one in Manhattan, which meant Elizabeth was now out of a job. Sure, he'd offered her a hefty severance package that would allow her more than a few months to find a new job, but it wouldn't be at the gallery. It was the only one in town and she'd worked there since she was a teenager and thinking about going somewhere else was just sad.

"You can be my secretary until you find something else," Jason said, his breath on her ear as he traced her hip with his fingertips.

"Something tells me you don't want me around to answer your phones," she laughed, pulling her head away from his neck to look at her.

"Not really," he replied, his eyes trailing down what little of her body that wasn't covered by his.

"Pervert," she muttered, shoving him playfully.

He rolled onto his back, somehow managing to pull her with him so that now she was on top of him. "You haven't complained in the past few days."

"Jason," she hissed, holding her face in her hands as she blushed.

"Embarrassment from the girl who climbed on top of me in the hospital and went-"

"Stop," she warned, dropping one of her hands from her face to smack him in the chest. "That should have never happened. I just pitied you."

He arched an eyebrow as he grinned, laughing to himself. "Well you can pity me anytime, Webber."

"I hate you so much," she muttered, rolling her eyes as she tried not to laugh with him. It really wasn't like her to just jump someone without so much as giving it a second thought as to where they were, but Jason did things to her that were unexplainable. She almost couldn't stand it. "You know what would have happened if the nurse had walked in two seconds earlier."

"I doubt it's the first time she's ever caught someone with their gown up," he teased, sliding his hand gently down her back as he lifted his other to her face.

"I really, really hate you," she groaned, failing to resist him as he tugged her mouth to his, kissing her gently.

He nipped at her lower lip and eased his tongue into her mouth, causing her to sigh with contentment, but she quickly reminded herself her goal was to get out of bed.

"Jas-" She was cut off as he flipped her over, pinning her below him. "You're awful. I have things to do, and-"

"Shh," he mumbled against her mouth, kissing her hard as he settled himself between her legs.

He slid one hand down her side, the other slipping up to cup her breast and gently pinch her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She tried to pull her mouth away from his, thinking of all the things she really did have to do, but when he was kissing her like this and touching her like that – well, there was just no hope for the rest of the world.

"Jason," she moaned, tearing her mouth away as his hand moved from her hip to between her legs.

"What?" he asked, pulling back to look at her. "Oh, that's right." He started to push himself away from her. "You have to leave."

"Shut up," she hissed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him back down to her.

"But you have things-" This time she cut him off by taking his lips in hers, and when he continued to fight, she slipped a hand between them and wrapped it around him, and he gave in instantly.

God, he was such a man.

"Elizabeth," he growled, burying his face in her curls as she continued to stroke him. She stopped long enough for him to think she was done, but then she tightened her hand around him again, eliciting a low, throaty groan. "Uh, uh."

"You always ruin my fun," she said, letting him tug her hand to pin it to the mattress beside her head.

"It'll be over before it starts," he muttered, gently kissing her before moving his mouth to the column of her throat.

She hissed as he pulled her skin between his teeth and sucked hard, her hand tightening around his as she arched against him. He took the opportunity and released her hand to slide it between her legs, the other pressing her hips into the bed. His name came from her lips in a low moan as he traced her slit with his fingertip, trying to buck against the force of his hand and get him to touch her where she wanted.

"Jas…please," she panted, frustrated as he continued to trace her slit with his knuckle, never going completely inside of her. "I swear to god, if you don't do something soon, I really will get out of bed and…" She sucked in a breath as he finally eased his finger inside her, his thumb gently swiping over the tiny bud between her legs.

"Better?" he asked, his mouth hovering over her breast before swirling his tongue around the hardened peak and drawing it into his mouth.

"Yes," she moaned, raking a hand through his hair to tug it playfully, causing him to suck harder in response.

He stopped long enough to trace his tongue from one breast to the other, making sure to pay them equal attention, his strokes slow and steady as if he was determined to draw her release out as slowly as possible.

"You're evil," she muttered, scraping her nails across the top of his back.

"You wanted to get out of bed," he reminded her, stretching to kiss her as he continued to stroke her steadily.

"Payback, huh?" she mumbled, arching her eyebrow.

He nodded, lifting his hips from the bed as she snaked her arm between them. "Elizabeth," he warned, swallowing hard when she wrapped her hand around him and pumped him hard in her fist.

"What?" she asked innocently, biting her lip as his thumb pressed against her, rubbing hard. "Jas…I swear…" She moaned loudly, tossing her head to the side as she shifted so that her free hand joined the other to grip him tightly in her palms.

"Uh, uh," he grunted, sinking his teeth into the nape of her neck. She cried out loudly, her hands loosening up just enough for him to quickly pull them away.

"Damn you," she hissed, more upset that he stopped touching her than that she'd lost the challenge she'd started.

Both their hands rushed beneath the pillows at the same time, fumbling for the stash of condoms they'd been using for the past few days. Jason scowled in frustration when he came up empty handed, and Elizabeth frowned, sticking out her lower lip.

"Looks like we're going to have to get out of bed after all," she pouted, slowly sliding her hand from beneath the pillow.

The morning sun hit the foil of the square wrapper in her hand, and Jason had seized it before she could tease him further. Within seconds the wrapper was tossed aside and Elizabeth was slipping the condom over his length, giving a gentle tug that caused him to swear just for good measure.

"Mmm," she sighed, settling her hands at his hips as he positioned himself at her entrance, anticipating the moment that he finally… "Ohhh."

Jason groaned in reply, sliding his hands beneath her legs to draw them around his waist, immediately finding the perfect rhythm to get them to a hurried release. Elizabeth's hands gripped his shoulders as she arched her hips, meeting him thrust for thrust, and minutes later, she was coming apart below him, his name coming from her lips in low moan. He buried his face in her curls as he grinded out his own release, his voice muffled against her silky hair.

"God, that was…" She trailed off as she lifted her head to press a kiss to the side of his face, her hands smoothing up and down his back.

"Mmhmm," he agreed, lifting himself off of her, worrying like he always did, that his weight would crush her.

"In fact," she said, sitting up on her elbows so she could kiss him, "anytime I want to get out of bed, you should do just that."

"Anytime?" he challenged, resting his forehead against hers.

"Any-" She stopped when her phone vibrated on the nightstand and craned her neck to look at the caller ID. "I have to get that."

"Not if it requires you to get out of bed," he teased, easing himself off of her and rolling onto his back.

"It's Lulu," she said, scooting across the bed to grab her phone.

Jason muttered something she couldn't hear as he got out of bed and crossed the room to the bathroom, and she imagined he was complaining about her interrupting. It probably didn't help that despite their amazing few days in bed, Elizabeth had also spent a good amount of time wondering what was going on between Lulu and Johnny.

As far as Elizabeth knew, Lulu had agreed to stay in town for a few days, using Jason being in the hospital as an excuse. And they hadn't so much as heard a peep from the blonde since the morning after Jason's accident when she'd brought them breakfast from Kelly's – Johnny in tow, though he chose to linger in the hallway.

"Hey," she answered, leaning against the headboard. She contemplated between covering herself or not, but decided that Lulu would probably be against having a phone call while naked, let alone post sex, so covering herself seemed like the least Elizabeth could do.

Clearly this woman had gotten into Elizabeth's head too much.

"Elizabeth! Is this a bad time? I really need to talk to you."

"Uhhh…" She sucked in a breath as she Jason opened the bathroom door and yawned as he crawled back into bed beside her – still naked. She'd have to get Lulu to teach him about phone etiquette.

"Elizabeth?"

"No, it's fine. I was hoping you'd call before you left town."

"You know that I would," she murmured, her voice hitching towards the end of the sentence, "but fortunately I'm not leaving town."

"You aren't?" she grinned, reaching over to smack Jason on the arm. He shook his head and rolled onto his back, his eyes fluttering closed. "Are you really staying?"

"Yes, I'm staying."

"Oh, this is so great, Lulu!"

Jason snickered beside her, clearly amused that Elizabeth was relieved to hear that the woman she once wanted to run off wasn't going anywhere. She smacked him again – harder this time, and threatened to do it a third when he glared at her.

"I took your advice, so it's all thanks to you. You were right about doing what makes me happy, and to – to hell with my family if they don't like it!"

Elizabeth's lips turned upward at the awkward sound of Lulu swearing, but she was too excited to focus on the fact that just maybe she had corrupted the woman a tiny bit. "What did they say?"

"Well, my father is furious, but my mother – I think she's okay, and I'm okay, which makes everything okay. And I just love him and I'm tired of that not being good enough."

She smiled softly, glancing over at Jason who was peeking at her from the corner of his eye, a smug grin on his face. If he kept it up, she would really slug him. "It is good enough. Sometimes coming to terms with your own feelings is harder than anything else, especially when everyone around you is so sure of what you feel."

Jason's smugness faded, instantly replaced by something else, and soon he was scooting towards her, his hand snaking around her waist to pull her against him. Lulu continued to talk, but Elizabeth had a hard time paying attention as he tugged her earlobe between his teeth and whispered for her to get off the phone.

"Eliza-"

"Yeah, I'm still here. I just have some other things going on," she said, sucking in a breath as he cupped her breast. She tried to smack him away, but he didn't budge, responding by pinching her nipple hard. "Son of a – Sorry, Lulu. Jason is just a huge baby to tend to. He requires all kinds of things – and I swear-"

"Oh, well, I can let you go-"

"No, it's-" She bit her tongue as he slid a hand between her legs, pushing her thighs apart.

"Actually, I should go…" She narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. "Did you, uh, need something?"

"Fuck," he groaned, when she elbowed him in the stomach and sat up to pull herself away from him.

"Jesus, Jason,I didn't mean to do it so hard," she apologized, grimacing when she heard Lulu laugh on the other end.

"No, I just wanted to ask a favor."

"What's that?" Elizabeth asked, reaching over to rub her hand gently against his side. He mumbled appreciatively, grabbing her hand to tug it between his own legs.

"Elizabeth?"

"Yeah, I'm here. What do you need?" she asked, shaking her head as Jason tried to get her to wrap her hand around him.

"Well, I wanted to see if you could still help plan the wedding. I mean, I know it was supposed to be happening in a few days, but-"

"Jason!" she cried out loudly, when Jason snatched the phone from her and pressed it to his ear.

"Lulu, she'll plan the wedding. It'll be perfect, I promise, but she has to go now," he muttered, snapping it closed before she could reply. He tossed it off the side of the bed and pulled Elizabeth below him, pressing his erection firmly against her thigh.

Seriously, where did this man get his stamina? It was completely unreal and yet so very incredible.

"Jason, she needed me-"

"I'm doing what you told me to," he interrupted, sliding his hands over her hips.

"What are you-"

"You were getting out of bed," he cut in, nuzzling his face against her neck.

"One problem, we're out of – I hate you," she said, laughing when he flashed a foil package, knowing that she should have figured he'd have more somewhere.

"Webber, you should know by now," he replied, tearing it open with his teeth, "that I'm always prepared…meaning you aren't getting out of this bed anytime soon."