LWLU – All Hell…

She awoke still snuggled to his bare chest.  It must be morning…or very close to it.  The room was no longer dark; instead, dusky hues of predawn light filtered through the curtains.  In that moment, she was content to stay in his arms for the rest of her life.

Perfect peace.  That’s what this was.  That must be how it felt to wake up with the man you loved.

But did she love Paul Kellerman?

There were definite feelings there.  Unfulfilled desire was chief among them after the sweet torment of yesterday’s bouts of lust.  Beyond the primal, there was another feeling lurking, unfamiliar and terrifying.

Yes, she could love him.  Perhaps she already did love him.  Maybe love for Paul would come pouring out of her soul if she would only let go of Michael once and for all?  Five years was a long time.  Had there been anything real between them all those years ago, surely it would have resurfaced by now.  It was time to let go.

And listening to Michael make love to Nika, his soon-to-be fiancé, had gone a long way to helping Sara let go of him…

In the darkness, hearing them had nearly destroyed her.  The thought of being with Paul while listening to those heartbreaking moans was unimaginable.  At the time, she’d thought it because sex with one man while her heart belonged to another was impossible.  Now she saw it for what it really was: she didn’t want her first time with Paul to be tainted by the sounds of anyone other than the two of them.

The house was all quiet now.

Did she dare?  Just as the whole house had heard Michael and Nika last night, they would all hear her with Paul now.  This time, the difference would be they wouldn’t have hours of sleep to dull the memory from everyone’s mind before they had to face their friends.  That kind of embarrassment itself was enough to cool Sara’s libido.

At least, it should have been.  The heat radiating from the slumbering man beside her through the thin satin fabric was more than enough to thaw her back out.  The impressive tent next to her didn’t hurt matters either.  She moved to press a kiss to his shoulder.

Oh…no.

Typical morning breath was made deadly by last night’s alcohol.  There was no way in hell she’d let her self-consciousness over her breath ruin their first time.  She had waited far too long for anything to ruin this for her.

Paul’s breathing was still deep and even so Sara reasoned she had more than enough time to slip downstairs, brush her teeth and return to his side before either tent or sleep faded from him.  Something about the idea of tiptoeing through her house in broad daylight was exhilarating.

But what if any of the others in the house were early risers?  Being caught commando in her slip under the cover of night was one thing; in the stark light of day, it was something very, very different.  Rather than worry about it, Sara retrieved Paul’s tee shirt from the floor and slid it over the satin, giving herself another half inch of modesty in length.

Quiet as a church mouse, she slipped out of the room, closing the door without so much as a soft click.  Was it possible she was good at all this intrigue?  Sneaking around was actually sort of fun.

“Good morning, Sara.”

Her heart sank.  Michael regarded her coolly from where he leaned against the wall near the stairs.  A cup of coffee was in one hand while the black jewelry store bag dangled from the other.

“Um…good morning.”

“No, it isn’t really.”  He set his mug on the level part of the banister and let the bag swing in his other hand.  “Here I thought you made a special trip up here last night to leave this on my door.”  His eyes raked over here body.  “Nice shirt.  Looks like you found it on the floor.”

Anger and embarrassment welled within her.  “Screw you, Scofield.”

“I wouldn’t think you’d have the energy after screwing Kellerman all night.”

The contempt dripping from his words was like a knife to her heart.  How dare he judge her actions when the whole house had heard him last night.  “That’s none of your business.”  She shoved passed him and started down the stairs.

Michael was hot on her heels.  “Will you hang on a second?”  He caught her by the wrist at the bottom of the stairs.

Sara turned on her heel and slapped him.  “Let go of me.”  When he didn’t, she moved to slap him again.

With ease, he caught her hand before it could reach his face.  “Look, I’m sorry.  It was a cheap shot, but stop hitting me.”

He released both of her wrists and she slapped him again.  “I don’t want your apologies, Michael.  I want you to leave me alone.”  Why was he doing this?  Why couldn’t she just be left to…What was she doing?  Oh, yeah.  Why couldn’t he just leave her to brush her teeth and return to Paul in peace?

Clearly, that wasn’t part of Michael’s morning agenda.  The bag fell from his hands as he made another grab for Sara, this time pinning her wrists to either side of her head against the wall in the hallway, well out of sight of the stairs.  “I said to stop hitting me.”

“And I said to leave me alone.”

“I can’t do that?”

“Why not?”

“Because…”  His eyes dropped from hers in thought.  “Because…What the hell is this?”

Sara let her eyes drop to see the line of blue satin peeking out from under Paul’s shirt.  “That’s none of your business.”

“You got that to wear for him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”  She tried to struggle out of his grasp, but it was no use.  “Why wouldn’t I?  I’m with Paul now.”

“Because he’s not right for you, Sara.  He’s not good enough for you.  Not by a long-shot.”

“He loves me, Michael.  If he’s not right for me then who the hell is?”  Her eyes flashed with fury.  “Or am I supposed to be alone for the rest of my life?  Would that make you happy?  Do you prefer it when I’m completely alone while you’re fucking my best friend?”

“That’s not fair.  You know I don’t…”

“I don’t know anything!  I don’t know why you insist on picking apart my relationship every chance you get.”

“Sara…”

“I don’t know why you insist on leaving Nika’s engagement ring in my room to rub your happiness in my face.”

“Hold on a…”

“I don’t know how you have the audacity to treat me like I’m some kind of a hooker for spending the night in my boyfriend’s room when the whole house heard you and Nika going at it last night.”

“Now wait a damn minute.  How could you have possibly heard anything over all the noise you and Kellerman were making?”

Had they really been that loud before they stopped?  “Michael…”

“The two of you kept me up half the night with all that bed squeaking and moaning.  It was a disgusting display.”  His hands tensed on her wrists.  “He doesn’t make you scream the way I did.”

That did it.  “Get your hands off me.”  She mustered all her strength and managed to shove him away from her.  “There is no comparing the way Paul makes me feel with the way you used me.”  She fought for control of her voice and reined in it before she could begin to shout.

“I never used you, Sara.”

“Don’t try to rewrite history.  We both know what you did.”  Anger coursed through her veins at the first images of that unwanted memory.  “And it’s none of your business, but I haven’t been with Paul yet.  But you already know you made sure of that by sending your brother to the door before dinner and then again last night.”

The muscle in his jaw worked.  “What the hell did I do last night?”

It was Sara’s turn to exude disgust.  “Don’t pretend you don’t know how loud you were with Nika last night.  The two of you were a real mood killer.”

“I was alone in my room last night, Sara.  The only sounds in the house were you and Paul.”

She scoffed.  “No, they weren’t.”

A grin spread across his mouth.  “Well, you can’t blame that one on me.”

“If you claim it wasn’t you and I know it wasn’t me then who was it?”  Curiosity momentarily wiped the resentment from her mind.  “Do you think it was your brother and Jane?”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

“For one, we cleaned him out of condoms. I always thought he was more careful about that stuff than…”

“Than who, Sara?”

She hesitated.  It felt wrong to go there after all these years.  “It doesn’t matter.  I just thought Roni used to say how overly-cautious he was.”

He held her gaze for an endless moment.  “Yeah, he is.”  He cleared his throat and looked away.  “Any chance Wonder Slut and Studman hooked up again last night?”

“No, there’s really not.  I barely slept so I would have noticed if he left.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”  Concern touched his face and he took her hand again, this time in a gentle caress.  “Your mom?”

“Among other things.”

“What’s going on?  Talk to me.”

“I…can’t.”

“You can talk to me about anything.”  Light fingers stroked her face.

She looked away.  “Not this.”

“Sara…I think there’s something you should know.  A few things, actually.”

“Whatever it is…don’t.  I don’t want to know.  I can’t.”

“You sonofabitch!  How could you do this to me?”

Whatever moment was being shared by Michael and Sara was shattered by Jane’s angry voice ringing out through the house.

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