Sleep simply would not come for Sara. It didn’t matter how long she spent envisioning total blackness, it would not take her from her current state of consciousness. Tossing and turning was perhaps more pointless than sheep counting.
Why was it that her bed felt so empty in the darkness? She always slept alone. Tonight shouldn’t feel so different.
Had the brief time spent in bed – and beside it – with Paul earlier that evening really changed things so much?
She sat up and tossed the covers away from her body. This was stupid. She was in bed, bemoaning loneliness when there was a man upstairs who wanted her. Loneliness was a choice, one she’d chosen for far too long. That ended tonight.
A quick glance down at herself let Sara know she needed to change. Flannel pajamas were perfect for staving off the chill of a cold night yet they did little when it came to seduction. Not that it mattered. Something told her she could go to Paul wearing a barrel held up by suspenders and he would still undress her with enthusiasm.
Even still, she would need to put on something a little more appealing before she left her room. She wasn’t going to spend the night with Paul while she looked like a freakin’ hobo.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have much to choose from. She’d never been the kind of woman to keep lingerie on hand. There was no need to. Most boyfriends didn’t make it to six sexless months without getting frustrated and moving on. Paul was definitely the exception to the rule.
Was Nika right? Maybe Paul was good for her. If nothing else, what they had was special.
As she’d never been asleep, her eyes were already well-adjusted to the darkness of her bedroom. Without turning on the lights, she surveyed the room while thinking about her clothing options. Her eyes were drawn to the shopping bags on the floor. Of course. She already had everything she needed. It was a good thing her earlier retail therapy had involved a little bit of preparation for celebrating six months with Paul.
She removed the rich sapphire blue slip of silk satin from the shopping bag. A chill touched her skin as the delicate fabric whispered down her body. It was a good thing he’d be keeping her warm that night because she may as well be naked with as much warmth as the slip provided. Her fingers stroked over the lace as she contemplated the matching panties in her hands. As much as she disliked the idea of “going commando” through the house, she couldn’t bring herself to put them on when she’d yet to have time to wash them.
Shaking her head, she placed them back in the shopping bag. Of their own accord, her hands picked up the black bag that didn’t belong with her purchases. Leaving that with her own purchases had been cruel on Michael’s part. She wanted to believe it had been by mistake, but after the callous way he’d treated her earlier there was little she would put passed that man. Hurting her for her birthday didn’t seem so far out of bounds for him anymore.
Should she look inside? It was a special kind of masochist who’d want to see the engagement ring about to be given to her best friend by her first love. But soon she’d be seeing it on Nika’s finger during their every visit. Too soon she’d be standing beside her, holding the colorful bouquet in addition to the bridal bouquet while Nika and Michael exchanged vows of forever. Hesitant fingers made their way inside the bag.
“What the hell am I doing?” Sara pulled her hand out before she could wrinkle the tissue paper within. Seeing the ring now, seeing it then…it would make little difference.
What would make a difference was getting that damn bag out of her room and back to Michael where it belonged.
As quietly as she could, Sara crept up the stairs and down the hallway to Michael’s door. She couldn’t do what she wanted to do in that moment. Though flinging open the door, flipping on the light, throwing the jewelry store bag onto him and letting him know what an arrogant jerk she thought he was would hold a certain level of satisfaction, the embarrassment of having all her friends stumble sleepy-eyed from their rooms to see her shouting at Michael while wearing next to nothing would not soon wear off.
And he could be in there with Nika. She didn’t need to see that.
She’d just hung the bag on the doorknob and was heading for Paul’s room when a door creaked open behind her. “You heading to or from someone’s room, birthday girl?”
Sara turned slowly, tugging at the hem of the slip in hopes of making it less revealing than it was. “I’m…uh…”
Jane flipped on the bathroom light. “Must be heading to since that doesn’t look like it’s done time on someone’s floor yet.” She grinned and winked. “Don’t worry, Sara. I’ll never tell.”
She let out a sigh of relief once the blond vanished behind the closed door. For a moment, she thought it was Michael. That would have been…awkward.
Butterflies flittered in her belly when she reached the threshold to Paul’s room where the door stood open. Should she go in? He was sleeping. It would be wrong to deprive him of sleep when he’d clearly had a long day before he ever made it to the country home. She hovered at the doorway for several long moments before turning to leave.
“Sara?” His voice was husky from sleep. “Where are you going?”
She turned back to him, leaning heavily on the doorframe. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You didn’t.” He pushed himself up on his elbows. “What are you doing up here?”
“I, uh…couldn’t sleep.”
He grinned at her in the low light. “I couldn’t either.”
Biting her lip, “Do you want some company?”
“From you? Always.” Paul got out of bed and moved to the door, looking impossibly sexy in rumpled sweatpants and tee-shirt. “Were you going to come in?” His eyes trailed down her body. “I like what you’re wearing.”
A smile played at her lips. “I bought it for you.”
“Something tells me it looks better on you than it would on me.”
“That was the plan.”
They held one another’s gaze for an endless moment before he tugged her into the room. “Get over here.” Bodies melded together and lips crushed against each other in a frenzy of need. The door closed more loudly than she might have liked, but any thoughts about it were short-lived in Sara’s mind as Paul’s arms circled her slim waist, hands pressing against the small of her back to draw her body near.
Blindly, they made their way to the bed while lips and hands explored. Earlier in the day had been about patience and the testing of boundaries. Now was about the fulfillment of a need gone too long unsatisfied. The torment of their unfinished foreplay had left them both still primed for passion, even after hours of limited caress.
She shoved the thin shirt over his head. “Tell me you have the present from Lincoln nearby.”
“In my pocket, Angel.”
“You were expecting me tonight?” She pushed him back onto the bed and was quick to climb onto him. “That’s cocky of you.”
“Well, that’s one way to put it, babe, but I think you already know how to help me out with that.” He grinned up at the frustration on her face. “I think you know I wasn’t expecting anything.” He caressed her face with light fingers. “It just seemed like a good place to keep them…mainly since I almost showed up at your bedroom door a dozen different times tonight.”
She lowered her lips to graze his. “You did?”
“You have no idea how much willpower it took to stay up here.” He reversed their positions and nipped at her neck. “Now that I’m out of willpower, I might not be able to stop until sometime tomorrow night.”
“Did you get enough from Linc to make it until then?”
Paul’s hand stole under the silk satin, teasing her to oblivion. “Oh, yeah. I cleaned him out. He said he wouldn’t need them this weekend anyway.”
“Good.” She smacked him on the ass. “Then get these off, suit up and take me already.”
He pushed himself off her body to look down at her. “Someone’s impatient tonight.” He smirked. “Maybe I want to take my time.”
“Oh for fucks sake, Kellerman. Do we really have to deal with the power-trip male ego thing now?”
“Hey, you came to me, Tancredi. I think that means I’m running this show.”
Sara sighed. “Fine. It’s your show, Paul.” Her hands slipped inside his sweatpants to stroke him. “We can go as slow as you want.”
He growled and shoved the pants over his hips. “Fuck slow.”
“That’s about what I thought.” After a moment had passed, “What the hell are you doing?”
“The fucking condom won’t open.”
“Probably because you’re pawing at it like some kind of wild beast man or something.”
He tossed it at the far wall and retrieved another on from his pocket. “If the damn package would cooperate then I’m about to show you just what kind of wild beast man I am right now.”
Her stomach flip-flopped in desire. “Give it here.”
Paul handed it to her then wasted no time in covering her body with desperate kisses. Okay, so maybe she’d been overly harsh. With his mouth moving over every inch of her body, she couldn’t get it to open either.
Why were these things so hard to open? Did they want people to use protection or not?
“Oh, yeah…” came the hushed female moan.
“Was that you?”
Paul lifted himself off her. “Yes, Sara. I sound like a fucking woman in bed when I’m waiting on you to open the damn condom.”
Logically, Sara knew it was a stupid question when she’d asked it. Obviously, he was all man. “Well, it wasn’t me.”
“Right there…like that…don’t stop…”
He grinned down at her. “I’d say someone else is having a little fun tonight besides us.” He nuzzled her neck. “I say we show ‘em how it’s done.”
Sara’s fingers froze on the packet in her hands. Lincoln told Paul he wouldn’t need any protection that weekend so it wasn’t Jane making the sounds. Roni was here alone. That left Nika.
And Michael.
Oh God. She was actually hearing Nika and Michael having sex.
“Sara?”
She shook herself out of her trance. “Yeah.”
“You checked out on me. Where’d you go?”
“I…I don’t know.”
Paul moved to her side and pulled up his pants before taking the condom from her hands. “You’ve been acting kind of strange since earlier this afternoon.”
She curled against him. “Have I?”
“You have.” His voice was hushed, tense. “I think I know what’s going on.”
“You…do?” She held her breath. He knew about Michael.
“Yeah. I do.” He hugged her against him fiercely. “You’re angry I didn’t tell you about the thing with Nika.”
Relief washed over her, but she didn’t trust her voice to respond.
“I should have told you. I meant to tell you before now, but…I really didn’t want anyone to know about it.”
“Okay?”
“It’s not exactly something I’m proud of. We had a friends with benefits kind of thing for a few months after I graduated high school. It was a strictly physical thing for both of us and it died out when I went off to college.” He let out a sigh. “It was nothing like it is with us, Sara. I promise you that.”
“I…believe you.” She propped herself up on his chest to meet his regretful eyes. “Are there any other past lovers I should know about before Nika blurts it out to me over breakfast?”
“No. She wouldn’t know anyone else. Neither would you, for that matter.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “What about you? Are there any old flames I should know about?”
“No.” She snuggled against his chest. “No one important.”
© 2009, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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