by Lisa Simmons
“That’s it, baby, that wasn’t so hard, huh?” he whispered, pleased he had gotten me to cave somewhat.
“You cheated,” I said, my voice weak and breathy.
“Did not, you never said I couldn’t touch you,” he said, smirking at me as his eyes flitted back and forth between mine. I grumbled something unintelligible.
“Oh, don’t act like you didn’t want it. You couldn’t sit still,” he teased, a self-satisfied smile lighting up his face.
“That’s your fault,” I mumbled, letting my head fall back against his chest and closing my eyes, my face still tilted toward his. I was surprised when he pressed a light kiss to my lips, mine automatically puckering against his at the contact before he pulled back. “Sorry, baby,” he apologized, clearly not meaning it at all. My body felt oddly heavy and light all at the same time, sleep creeping up quickly and threatening to pull me under.
“Liar,” I muttered. The last thing I heard before sleep pulled me under was a light chuckle from him, his chest vibrating as it resonated in his chest as the world blacked out around me.
The next thing I was aware of was Reece’s arms wrapped around my body, cradling me like a baby as a soft breeze whipped around my skin. My eyes squeezed tighter closed before I opened them, the darkness of the night making it difficult for me to see anything besides his neck, where my face was currently pressed. “Reece,” I mumbled. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you home,” he said quietly. I could feel the tightness in his flexed muscles as he carried me.
“No, don’t,” I said, suddenly feeling much more awake as I looked around. I was relieved to see we were still in his drive way and he was approaching his car, preparing to put me in the backseat and take me home.
“You fell asleep,” he said, a hint of amusement in his tone.
“I know, put me down, I don’t wanna go home,” I argued, sounding like an argumentative child. Much to my satisfaction, he stopped walking and gently put me down, my feet colliding with the solid concrete as he straightened up and looked at me. “You don’t wanna go home?” he asked quietly, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
“No.”
“You want to stay with me?” he asked, not offering but asking what I wanted to do.
“Yes,” I admitted. My eyes were burning into his, the sudden intensity waking me up more effectively than anything I’d experienced so far. He studied me, his expression difficult to read as he thought.
“Can I stay?” I asked quietly, suddenly very afraid he would say no. His eyes searched mine intently, his features sharp and devastatingly attractive in the darkness of the night.
“I was hoping you would,” he finally said, his lips pulling to the side as his eyes glittered at me.
"I don't wanna give you the wrong impression, I need love and affection."
Chapter 21
My body still felt oddly light as I followed Reece back inside, the lingering effects of what he'd done to me still running through my veins. I had been surprised to discover that he'd chosen to take me home rather than to just let me stay here; I wondered if it was because he didn't really want me to or if he didn't want to assume I did.
He had already clicked off the TV and the lamp from the living room before taking me outside, so I followed closely behind him as he led us to his room so I wouldn't trip over anything in the darkness. The dark shadows of his house whispered by as we entered his room, the light he turned on making me blink after so much dim lighting.
His room looked just as it had last time, simple and neat as he crossed to the closet and opened it.
"Do you, um, want something to wear?" he asked, turning to me as he observed my skinny jeans. I smiled, very much liking the idea of wearing his clothes, but more so the fact that he'd even offered to let me.
"Yes please," I answered, joining him at the closet as he pulled out a plain white t-shirt. He did not, however, offer me anything to wear on my legs. I caught his smirk as I made this realization and knew he had done it on purpose before he unbuckled his own jeans to let them hit the floor. A surge of confidence that came out of nowhere had me following his lead, brazenly tugging off my jeans and kicking them aside.
He bit his lip before turning from me and walking toward his bed, pulling his shirt off as well on the way so he was left in just his boxers. He sat on the bed and turned to watch me expectantly, smirk still plastered on his face. Gingerly, I pulled my shirt over my head, reveling in the way his eyes traveled over my body as he watched me closely. I decided it couldn't hurt to tease him a little, so I turned my back to him before reaching behind me to unhook my bra, standing there a second longer than necessary, stretching my arms over my head in just my underwear before pulling his thin shirt over it and turning back to face him.
"Who's cheating now?" he grumbled, smirk wiped clean off his face as he glared at me.
I shrugged and smiled, moving to join him on the bed. He was leaning against the headboard, arms folded in frustration over his chest.
"I still say you cheated, so it's only fair," I responded. I pulled the covers over as I sat with my legs crossed beneath me, facing him.
"You're cheating way more now. I didn't give you a strip tease then parade around in my underwear," he said, letting his eyes travel down my torso before coming back up to hold my gaze. He was leaning away from me, his posture tense as if holding himself back from jumping on me.
"That was hardly a strip tease," I laughed.
"Might as well have been," he grumbled again.
"You'll be alright," I told him, unable to wipe the smile from my face.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "How long are you gonna hold us to this?"
"I dunno," I admitted, still unsure of when the right time to bag the rule would be. Not after only one date, that was for sure. "Didn't you have a good time tonight?"
A sudden fear flashed through me that he still was only in this for the sex, appeasing me just long enough until I caved with the rule and went back to sleeping with him. I knew that wasn't the case, but it wouldn't have been completely irrational of me to think what with his track record and all.
"I had a great time tonight," he told me, his eyes studying me closely as if he could sense the troubled thoughts floating through my mind and was trying to decipher exactly what they were.
"Even with the rule?" I asked tentatively. He rolled his eyes almost immediately.
"Abigail, I told you, I'll do the rule as long as you want," he said exasperatedly. "Not that it's not torture not being able to fuck you."
"Well you keep asking how long it's gonna last so it makes me think..."
"Makes you think what?" he asked sharply, his eyes burning into my skin intently as my gaze dropped to the covers between us. He leaned forward and uncrossed his arms, his hand coming to tilt my chin up and force me to look at him.
"You think that's all I want from you?" he guessed, correctly reading my dark thoughts that refused to stop lingering in my brain.
"I don't think that but it keeps popping into my brain against my will," I admitted.
"I don't know what I can say to you to make me believe me," he answered. "I don't know what exactly it is I want but I know it's more than just sex, alright?"
I was quiet, thinking over what he'd said. That was what we had agreed to, right? We were going to give the going on dates and hanging out thing a shot, which mean we were more than just friends with benefits but we weren't actually dating yet. We had to figure out if we could even walk together before we could run.
"You're more than just someone I want to sleep with. If that was the case I would have laughed in your face and ran away the second you suggested a date," he told me. "Probably before that, actually."
"Okay," I said, a small smile tugging at my lips, my gaze held firmly by his own. His hand fell from my chin and grabbed onto my wrist, pulling me lightly toward him. He reached to click off the lamp before sliding down in his
bed, tugging me with him so my body was pressed into his side, my head resting on his shoulder once again. His skin was warm against mine as my arm slid across his firm torso, and I felt the heat of his own arm burning through his shirt I was wearing as it tucked against my back.
"We said we wouldn't lie to each other, right?" he asked suddenly after we'd both settled together like two pieces to a puzzle.
"Right," I said, waiting for him to continue. I couldn't see his face, and my breath stilled in my lungs as I waited for what had prompted him to say that.
"So I need you to believe me when I say these things, Abby," he said softly. "I'm not... I'm not playing with you. This is... this could be real."
My breath leaked through my lips in a relieved exhale, his words flooding through my body and warming me from the inside out. My head turned to the side to allow my lips to press into his chest, the skin smooth against my mouth.
"I believe you," I answered, shifting beneath his grasp despite just getting settled. I needed to see his face. He was watching me closely, his eyebrows pulled together tightly and his green eyes practically glowing in the dark. "I really appreciate you trying, Reece."
A soft smile tugged up the corner of his lips.
"I'm trying for you," he said quietly.
"I know," I whispered, the distance between us quickly disappearing as I pushed myself further up his body. My lips pressed into his despite making no conscious decision to kiss him. He didn't hesitate to slide his hand up the nape of my neck, his long fingers snaking into my hair as he held me to him. Heat seared through my veins from the simple kiss, and it struck me how odd it was that he could make me feel such intense things whether he was rocking me into his mattress or simply pressing his lips against my own.
I pulled back, my eyes scanning over his face in the darkness, taking in the tiny details I was very quickly coming to memorize.
"You wanna know something?" he asked quietly, his thumb tickling lightly against my jaw.
"I do, tell me."
"You're the first girl who's ever stayed with me," he said, his eyes burning into my own. "The first one I've wanted to stay."
"Really?" I had suspected so, but to hear him confirm it set my heart aflutter. He pinched his lips together and nodded slowly.
"Yeah. And you're the first girl to wear my clothes."
That one did surprise me; surely with the amount of women he'd brought back one of them had managed to steal some article of clothing.
"Lucky me," I said, smiling at him as his thumb continued to stroke my skin.
"You're a lot of firsts for me, Abby," he admitted. My breathing seemed to grow more ragged and my heart pounded harder as he talked, his words taking a physical effect on my body.
"Are there more than those two?" I asked, my voice so quiet it was hardly audible.
He sucked his lips into his mouth and nodded slowly again.
"First... date," he said, nodding at me. "First kiss that really meant anything, and first girl in my bed."
I blinked in surprise. "First girl in your bed?"
He nodded. "I don't take girls to my house. Didn't," he corrected.
"You took me here," I pointed out.
"Not the first time."
"But you did the next time," I said.
"You were already different for me," he said quietly. "I didn't care if you were in my house."
I absorbed what he said, and it made more sense the more I thought about it. He had taken me to his friends house the first time, but after that he'd taken me here. The whole clothes thing made sense, now, too; how could girls steal his clothes if he didn't take them to his own house? They couldn't. My smile widened on my face as I realized how many things he'd already changed without my knowledge before we'd even decided to give this a shot.
"I like that," I told him. "A lot."
"You like being my first for all that?" he said, smiling gently at me. I nodded, my grin growing even wider. I ducked my head to press a kiss to his chest again.
"I love it, actually. It's like you... trust me."
"I do trust you."
"You do?" I asked.
"Yeah," he sounded kind of surprised by his own answer. "Do you trust me?"
"I do, actually," I told him. It was probably dangerous to trust him, especially so soon, but I already knew he was trying his hardest to do this right. He frowned at me, his hand falling from my neck finally to rest on my back.
"I don't know if I've earned that," he responded. "Actually I know I haven't."
"You will," I reassured him, dropping my lips to his chest yet again. I couldn't seem to stop doing that.
" I like when you do that," he admitted, the words seeming to slip from his lips before he knew he was saying that. I grinned again.
"What, this?" I asked, dropping my lips to his chest once more and letting them linger against his skin. The birds tattooed there darkened his skin where my kiss fell. He hummed quietly.
"Hmm, yes that."
He closed his eyes and relaxed against the pillow as I let my lips press one more light kiss to his skin. I snuggled back against him, my head resting on his shoulder once more as we readjusted ourselves back into our comfortable position.
"I'm glad I stayed," I said quietly. I could feel his body relaxing, the tempting pull of sleep starting to creep through his body as his breath evened out.
"I am, too," he agreed, his arm squeezing lightly around me before relaxing again. I smiled softly as I felt his lips press to the top of my head, my eyes already drifting shut as sleep threatened again now that I was warm and comfortably pressed into Reece.
"You remember the rule, right? No leaving?" he mumbled, his voice deeper than it had been seconds ago.
"Yes Reece. I'm not going anywhere," I promised. My arm squeezed his torso lightly.
"Okay. Goodnight, Abby."
"Goodnight, Reece," I responded, my heart fluttering once more at his nickname for me.
The steady beat of his heart through his chest lulled me into a deep sleep quickly, the heat of his body and the rhythms of its functions singing me the perfect lullaby to fall asleep to. I had never felt safer lying in someone's arms than at that very moment with Reece. He was curled into me slightly, his arm draped securely over my back and his chest curving into mine while my claim on his torso never lessened.
This time when I fell asleep, I had no thoughts of fleeing, no thoughts of protecting myself. It was so different from the first time I had agreed to stay, because then I hadn't been able to shut my brain up for even a few seconds. Thoughts of anxiety, fear, and resistance had dominated me, pushing me away from him in every way possible as I tried shamelessly to protect my damaged heart.
The lack of fear was a little unnerving, because I knew how dangerous this situation had become. After tonight, there was no going back to the way things had been. There was no ignoring the words we'd exchanged, the emotions we'd admitted to, or the lingering burn we felt for each other no matter how hard tried to ignore it.
If things went wrong now, that would be the end of us. We wouldn't be able to take a few steps back and fall into the simply physical relationship we had once had because there would be too much damage to overcome. There were two very different roads we could go down now, each of them more terrifying than the last. We could either stick to this and make something work, or we would fail miserably, damaging each other more than probably either of us currently realized.
There was no in-between, and there was no going back. It seemed that my heart was having a difficult time keeping up with the sensible part of my brain, falling for him a bit more every second I spent with him despite knowing it was fast. I liked him too much, too soon, too recklessly. It was dangerous for me to feel this way, especially when I didn't know the depth of his feelings for me.
I knew they were there, but I had no idea if he felt as strongly as I did. He was trying, yes, and he had told me a lot of things I was
fairly certain he'd never said to anyone else, but I still didn't know. Maybe he only liked me a little but it seemed more extreme because he'd never felt something like it before. That part did scare me, when I thought about it, because the quickly increasing intensity of my feelings for him made me pray he felt the same.
Yes, I should have been terrified, but I wasn't. I should have sprinted as quickly as I could away from him and the things he was making me feel, their potential to destroy me increasing drastically by the passing hour, but I didn't. He had wormed his way into me with the strange physical connection, and it had grown to something much stronger in such a short amount of time.
Before, when there had been fear, defiance, and stubbornness, I had been trying to stop myself from giving in. From giving in to Reece and the way he made me feel, as well as the potential for how he could make me feel if I were to fully let him in. Yes, I should have been more careful, more cautious and frightened, but in my heart there was no resistance, no rebellion, just a sweet, simple submission- complete and utter surrender to Reece.