Author's Note: Every day I am amazed at the number of views this story is getting! I can't say enough how much I appreciate the readers, reviewers and my very first favorites and followers. This story is far from over, so please stay tuned!
"Damn Jess you KILLED that chick! I think she's still seeing little birds floating around her head after that last hit," Kelsey is bouncing up and down next to me as I unlock the door to let us into our apartment.
The match David set up for tonight was supposed to be a big ticket match up, as much as an underground fighting ring at a yuppy college can be. Unfortunately for my opponent I was still flying high on adrenaline from my day out with Dean and nothing she threw my way broke my stride. Sad for her, but excellent for me since I was now 7K richer than when I left for the fight an hour and a half ago. Talk about easy money.
"It was definitely a good night."
"Yeah? And what about your day? How did THAT go?" Kelsey wiggles her eyebrows at me as I snag a bottle of water from the fridge and plop down on the couch next to her.
"It went…unbelievably well," I tell her. I don't really want to get into all of the details, and definitely not my internal freak-out on the beach. I'm exhausted and I can practically hear my bed calling my name.
"Come on, you have to give me more than that!"
"What more do you want? We spent the day together, I found out we actually grew up less than an hour from each other, he likes ferris wheels and is a really great older brother. Can I go to bed now?"
"Jessie! Ugh, you skimp over details like it's your job."
"If I give you one detail will you let me go to sleep?"
"Only if you make it a good one," she qualified.
"Ok well…he is the best kisser I've ever kissed, especially when he does this thing with his tongue…"
"Damn, Jessie! That's the making of some serious pent up sexual frustration right there."
"Kelsey, you seem to forget that I've got nothing but pent up sexual frustration," I counter.
"I know that. But this is the first time I've ever seen you get close enough to a guy to even consider the distant possibility of dealing with those frustrations."
She's right. Of course she has no idea about my real reason for keeping men at arms length. No one does, except maybe Jamie. There are the surface issues which those closest to me assume are the reasons I don't hook up with guys all the time. I'm busy keeping up this façade with my parents, and working my butt off in the ring to make money so that I can stay in school. That's all true enough, but my issues are more complicated than tuition and rent payments.
"I just met him Kels, I'm not going to jump into bed with him tomorrow. It's just nice to…feel something for a change."
With that, I hoist myself off the couch and trudge into my room. I'm so tired I don't even bother with sleep clothes. I just toss off my pants and flop onto the bed in my underwear and a tank top. I drift off to sleep instantly, willing the memory that has intruded too many times today away and focusing on the present.
We're back in the living room, when Dean sauntered out of my bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. Except this time instead of letting him retreat back into the room to change, I push him back against the wall and wrap my arms around his broad shoulders while I devour his mouth. He lifts me up so that I'm forced to wrap my legs around his waist. He backs me into the wall and I feel myself slam into it as he drags my shirt over my head. When he lowers his mouth to the lace covering my breast, I moan his name and press him closer.
"Jessie…" his voice is a rasp, filled with desire.
"Dean," I groan again as his hand replaces his mouth.
"Jess wake up," he says louder now, his voice suddenly no longer filled with the urgent need from a second ago.
It's then I feel myself being pulled out of the dream and falling back into reality.
I blink my eyes open and see Dean sitting on the side of my bed, his hand cupping my cheek, his sparkling blue-gray eyes studying my face. I have an urge to pull him down to me and continue where my dream left off. It's only then, as I begin to wake up fully, that I realize I'm still laying on top of my covers in only a tank top and a skimpy pair of underwear. Modesty wins out over lust and I jerk up into a seated position and do my best to yank the blanket over my lower half. Dean looks away and holds back a laugh.
"What the hell are you doing in my bedroom Dean?"
"Hey, calm down, I was on my way back from my morning run and I thought you might like some coffee so I brought you a cup," he explains innocently.
"That's very sweet of you, but you seem to have left out the part where you ended up on my bed," I cross my arms over my chest, still feeling much too exposed.
"Well, your brother was kind enough to let me in and he and Kelsey both insisted that I come right in here since you were probably already awake."
"How helpful of them…" Note to self: kill them both later.
"So," Dean starts, "have any good dreams last night?"
I'm suddenly all too aware that he's looking at me with an aura of amusement obvious in his facial expression. I briefly recall the dream I was having right before he woke me and immediately feel my skin heat from my face down to my chest.
"Nope. None at all actually," I bluff, hoping he didn't actually observe anything.
"Really? That's so strange…I could've sworn you moaned my name, twice actually, before I decided to wake you up."
Eff my life. With no other viable options to escape my utter humiliation, I yank the pillow off the bed beside me and cover my face with it as I sink down onto my back. Dear lord, just take me now. Save me from the embarrassment yet to come.
I hear Dean's throaty laugh and if it's possible I turn six more shades of red. I feel his hand on mine as he coaxes the pillow away from my face. Unwilling to meet his stare head on, I turn to face the window on the other side of the bed. His hand comes up under my chin and he pulls me back to look at him.
I can actually feel tears forming. I don't think I could possibly be more mortified.
"Jessie relax. I'm sorry for making fun of you. Honestly, if you were around for my dreams last night I'm sure you'd have heard a lot worse."
The fact that he's admitting that he was dreaming about me last night ignites a fire deep in my belly. I bite my lip as I consider what he might have been thinking about.
"And the reason I woke you wasn't to make fun of you," he leans forward until his mouth is nearly touching mine, making me all too aware that I haven't yet brushed my teeth. "I woke you because if I let you keep moaning my name like that, I don't think I could've stopped myself from taking you right here and now."
Just like that, all the air in the room is gone and my poor heart has once again ceased it's rhythmic beating at the mercy of this man.
"But trust me, when I do finally get to touch you, you're going to be fully conscious and aware of every second." With those final words, Dean lowers his mouth to the pulse just below my jaw and allows his lips and tongue to give me a preview of what he was just referring to.
Before my brain is able to direct my body to react, he's pulling away and standing up next to my bed.
"I won't be around tonight since it's Sunday and I'm having dinner with Danny, but I'll text you once you've had time to…recover."
He smiles and walks through the door, closing it behind him. His fresh, woodsy scent swirled with sweat from his run lingers in the room, drugging my senses. I close my eyes and concentrate on steadying my breathing. Turning my head, I squeeze one eye open and see the tall cup of coffee, from what I now think of as our coffee shop, sitting on my nightstand. Damn, he really is thoughtful. And sexy. Athletic. Smart, without being pretentious. Funny, even when a lot of his humor is taken from my awkwardness. Let's not forget his amazing body. Man, am I in trouble.
I reach out to grab the cup and take a long sip, scalding my tongue. At least the pain gives me something else to focus on. God knows I need a distraction right about now.