Blur. How did everything blur so quickly? she wondered as the breath sighed out of her in a long, slow whisper of
sound as his lips moved. The hot liquid of that had her melting but his hand where it rested on her stomach had the
muscles tightening there. Had the butterflies furious in her stomach. And she was...
so very out of her depth.
She opened her eyes when he spoke. Turned her head to look at him. Saw his smile and loved him for it. Offered a
shaky smile of her own in response. Not at all sure where 'come on' led to. Not at all sure where she wanted it to lead.
On one level she was a far grown adult. A doctor. And on another level entirely she'd never even been necking.
Though she now understood quite clearly why they called it necking.
She slipped one of her own slim hands over his where it rested against her, wrecking such havoc on every nerve
anywhere near its heat. And yet - her skin was already starting to adjust to the shock and starting to find that heat,
that touch necessary. She rubbed her fingertips lightly against the back of that hand. Because she did know one thing
for certain. Hector's touch was right. On her. Out of everyone in the world. His touch felt right.
"All right." Her voice was soft as she nodded. Her smile was softer but it wasn't shaky as her eyes met his.
He was a grown man. That had been legally established. He owned property, he was a soldier, he voted. He could buy
alcohol without being carded, if he ever had an inkling to. His country trusted him with their most deadly and efficient
weapons, and spent a lot of money on his training, so sure they were of his adulthood.
She was a grown woman who on a normal day, held countless lives in her hands, waiting on the brink of life and death
for her decisions. She lived in a Red Cross camp on the edge of civilization and dealt with the uncivilized civilly every
day. That pretty much assured her the title of adult.
Which meant they were two consenting adults. They could buy Lotto tickets, a gun, a six pack and a carton of
Marlboros without any one batting so much as an eyelash.
But something had to be said. Which is why at times like these he wished he had Swanson's way with words. Guy could
sell sand in the Sahara.
He turned her around to face him and kissed her. "Relax." He said. "I didn't bring you home for a quick roll between the
sheets." He could get that anywhere. Truthfully, any man could if he wanted to. "I crossed a desert to watch a sun rise
with you, I can wait as long as you need me to."
Well, she did admire his way of letting people know where he stood, right?
He had a way of making everything inside of her rest. Surrounded her with safety and belonging and - and rightness
so that all the knots in her relaxed and slipped away. She slipped her hands up from where they'd rested over the
reassurance of his heartbeat and cupped his face. Looking up at him.
Miracle. He was her constant miracle.
"I don't know what I'm doing." She confessed softly. Eyes meeting his with an apologetic smile. If he hadn't guessed it
before, he knew it now. Her slender shoulder moved. "I do. With my head. Just - not the rest of me. I'm not used to
being touched the way I want you to touch me." Her lips shifted at their edges and her fingers curved but her eyes
never left his. He'd given her such a safe place and offered to take as much time as she needed. Given her that time
to take. Voice softer she said: "I trust you to teach me. Please?"
And that was such a responsibility that she had placed on him with that trust. He kissed her again and leaned his
forehead against hers. "Tell me to stop." He said. "Any time."
The less pressure she felt, the better everything would be. For the both of them. But if she wasn't ready....though he
had felt like he had known her his whole life, just hadn't realized it yet....that was the last thing he wanted as he led her
slowly toward the bed.
She slipped into the bed first. Holding his hands in both of hers while she shifted toward the middle. Long legs tucked
lightly at her side as she sat waiting for him, she never once lost eye contact with him.
She'd asked him to seduce her. As if she were an unwilling virgin in Victorian times. The edge of her lips twitched
upward. Well, she wasn't unwilling. Just - unused to everything. She'd gone from a missionary lifestyle to a boarding
school to university where she'd forgotten how to sleep under the work load. Then on to internship, then her Grandda
needing her. Working as a fill in doctor at that inner city hospital emergency room. On to volunteer work and then the
Red Cross. It hadn't exactly lent itself to a social life. Oh, there had been boys and later men. She'd found them
interesting or they'd found her so, but - there had always been something missing. A wall between them and she'd
never known whether it was hers or theirs. But because of it things, emotionally and physically, had never gone far at
all. She'd simply never actually wanted - never truly wanted what the roommates and giggling girls and fashion
magazines all touted.
She'd never wanted to share her body, much less her heart, her soul, with any of them. Not even in passing.
There had been no Hector until now.
And as much as she'd been taught 'good girls waited' she'd also been taught that regret was one of the cruelest, most
powerful harms you could ever do to yourself. And she would regret, no matter what the future held, not sleeping with
Hector and sharing that last part of herself with him. So the certainty was there. It was the actual physical ability to
relax about it that she still needed help with.
"I truly don't mean to be a tease." She told him softly. "I just can't seem to casually toss myself at you just yet. I'll pay
closer attention to Paige's method next time." Her quick smile flashed and then went apologetic again. She wasn't
being fair to him to ask. "Can we - tonight - could we maybe just work on touch?"
He chuckled a bit and kissed the tip of her nose. "Seriously, actual sex, more or less overrated, as far as the media
portrays it." He said. "And if you took lessons from Paige, well, you'd see a whole other side of me. The patronizing,
condescending, aloof side. Besides, the whole touching thing....easily the best part."
Besides, when you figure in basic biology, tended to last longer too!
He already had the rest of her, and she him, so he was fine with this arrangement as he kissed her properly, hands
carefully sliding across her body.
She was worth waiting for, even if it was a hundred years.
She sank into the kiss with a familiar pleased sound. Body slowly unwinding as the familiar warmth and heat poured
into her. Hector hands set a warmth humming through her skin as they slowly started moving against her. Finding
sensitive spots she hadn't known she had with his long, gentle fingers. She was learning as much about herself as he
was. That she was just as sensitive to his touch at the edge of her shoulder blades as she was to his hands against
her stomach. That anything he did to her throat left her helpless. The strange sensitive spot just behind her ears and
the fact that the back of her knee was ticklish but when he moved his hand higher up the back of her leg it made her
feel impossibly secure. That he loved tangling his fingers in her hair just as much as she loved it when he did.
The room had been dim to start with but because they'd gone to bed so early the sun had still been up. She'd been -
so pleased to be able to see him between kisses and the way he could make her eyelids flutter closed. To see the look
on his face and in his eyes. When he looked at her. She'd always considered herself odd to look at. Not bad. Not
grand. Just - odd. But with Hector - she suspected he thought she was actually beautiful.
Slowly, cautiously, her own hands started exploring. Pads of her fingertips light and barely there. All the curves and
lines of him she'd always admired. The way his muscles flowed together and fit so perfectly over bone. The way his
skin felt, so warm, so surprisingly soft in some areas, the pleasant roughness in others. She was a doctor. She'd
touched hundreds of people. But this was entirely different. Wonderfully so.
The daylight slowly faded into the night and they slowly settled down into the bed, Hector pulling the covers over both
of them before his hands returned to her skin. Where she wanted them to be. Where they had every right to be. The
touches slowly went caressive, soothing for both of them. Cherishing. And, deep in the night, Andi slowly slipped off
into sleep, body humming contentedly where it rested against his.
It was such a peaceful way to fall asleep, that was for sure. Neither were so overwhelmingly exhausted that they barely
managed to get their shoes off before collapsing into deep sleep. No, this was a slow drifting off, before either one
realized it, both unknowingly helping the other drift off with slow gentle caresses.
The night was long, and deep, but it was okay. Usually if he wasn't completely exhausted, he'd sleep restlessly. Some
might say he was borderline PTSD, and they might be right, but he slept peacefully that night.
Those nightmares had been occurring since before he was in the Army, and it was a welcome respite.
But he would have taken any excuse he could to have her next to him, wrapped as completely around him as he was
her.
Morning came, and he awoke slowly. Not the sudden jerking awake, but the slow casual realization that he was waking
up, that it was day light.
He groaned then chuckled. "Damn, looks like a nice day." He murmured, seeing sunlight filter in around the window
shade edges. "Might actually have to do some work."
She woke as he did, something inside her reacting to him and him to her until, when he actually spoke, she was
already drifting right at the border between sleep and wakefulness. She was already pressed close, him holding her
tightly while she had wound herself completely around him in return. He always held her tightly. Even in his sleep. She
had grown to need to be held that way in return.
With a soft sound and a sigh, she smiled softly against him where her face was tucked up against his throat.
Remembering last night...
More than any woman had a right to even dream about, she thought, mind still fuzzy with sleep. Arms winding more
completely around him, she stretched against him. Skin feeling... alive. As if it had been asleep all these years and
was just starting to wake up. They'd kept their clothes on, though, by the end, Hector's hands had traveled over and
under hers. Now one of his hands was resting warm against her back and she sighed over the feel of its movement
against her skin as she moved.
"The infamous yard work?" She asked, voice low and drowsy. "I suppose I shall have to find out where you keep your
garden hose then." She teased musingly in reference to her threat of having to hose down all the women his sister
had said would show up if he attempted anything outside without his shirt on. Having now not only seen him without his
shirt on but having become quite familiar with the feel of his body that way, she couldn't say she blamed them in the
least.
Hector chuckled. "There is that." He said, shaking his head. "don't be disappointed when the hordes my sister
promised don't show up."
After all, people were working. There wasn't a 'horde' in the whole neighborhood right now. Of course Paige was out of
school and not working....but hopefully she'd be out shopping or whatever it was she did on a normal daily basis.
"But, it is how I always spend my vacation. Yard work."
"Mm." She made the humming noise against his throat. Still not moving to get out of bed. This - this was nice. She'd
get up in a minute but right now... this was very nice. Slow she trailed fingers up between his shoulder blades and into
the softly curling hair at the base of his neck.
"Scruffy." She murmured with a smile against him. Not a complaint at all. It never was. Pleased she exhaled and asked
mildly: "When are we going to work on your roof?"