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She was his for tonight...What did that even mean?
For the last few minutes of the ride, she was puzzled over what he had said.
You’re mine for tonight.
There was no way that he meant that in the way that she thought...right?
Right?
She was so busy thinking about what he had said that she forgot her previous fear. By the time they finally pulled up to his apartment building, she was feeling more normal than she thought she would be given all that had happened over the last few hours.
“I didn’t interrupt your work, right?” she double-checked as they walked up the flight of stairs to get to his place.
He shook his head. “That doesn’t matter.”
She didn’t understand how he could say that, but she decided to keep her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself. By the stiff way he was holding himself, she wasn’t sure where his thoughts were, and she was unsure if she wanted to hear about it.
They got to the second floor, and he stopped in front of the first door on their right. The entire time that she’d known him, she’d never been in his personal space. Not once. The farthest she’d gone was the living room of the house he had shared with her brother. So tonight was a treat because she could finally see how he lived.
It was homier than she expected. Immediately, she felt all of her nerves slide away as she surveyed the living room. He had a brown leather couch, a matching loveseat, and a flat screen across the room hanging on the wall. The furniture was all dark burnished brown. Paired with the white paint and light hardwood, the room was cozier than she had imagined.
And she’d imagined his place more than she cared to admit.
There were no empty beer bottles or pizza boxes reminiscent of the life of a bachelor. His computer was lying on the coffee table, and there were photos thrown around on the walls. The photos were of either his closest friends or his family. She took comfort in the way that he had made an effort to make this place feel like a home.
“Do you want something to drink? Water? I think I’ve got some tea, or if you want something heavier, I’ve got beer.”
She was tempted to say a beer, but she’d already drunk her allotted two cups at the party earlier, and she didn’t want to wake up with a headache. The reprieve from her thoughts wasn’t worth the pain she would surely be in the next day.
“Tea would be great,” she answered.
She followed him into the kitchen. Again, she was pleasantly surprised with how clean it was. He had dark brown cabinets with white granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. When he had finished pouring her drink, she reached out with trembling hands for the cup. She took a few sips before speaking.
“Your place is nice. A lot cleaner than I thought it would be.” She would’ve felt bad insinuating that she thought he was a slob, but the corners of his mouth lifted into a breathtaking grin.
“Is that really what you think of me? That I’m incapable of cleaning up after myself?” She could hear the laughter in his voice.
She shrugged, but couldn’t help her smile. “I mean...I went to your old house quite a bit, and before the guys met their girls, the place was a pigsty the majority of the time. I’m just glad that you seemed to have learned something between then and now.”
He rolled his eyes and reached out to shove her shoulder playfully. “I was never the messy one—that was all your brother,” he said defensively.
As they laughed gently, his gaze zeroed in on the bottom of her dress. She thought that he might’ve been looking at the sliver of skin that showed between her boots and dress, but the anger that filled his expression had her looking down as well.
There was a rip in the hem—just an inch or so—she wasn’t even sure whether she’d gotten it from the struggle with Richard earlier or when she hid in the bushes. All the lightness that had been in the kitchen blew away the longer David looked at her thigh. She wanted to say something to him to get his mind off what had happened earlier, but she couldn’t get it out. After almost a minute of silence, she set her cup down on the counter and walked slowly up to him. When she stopped a foot away from his body, she reached her arm out to squeeze his bicep comfortingly.
“I’m okay.”
He shook his head. “You don’t realize how lucky you are to be after what just happened.” When she started to wave away his concern, he stood up straight and put his hands on her shoulders, knocking her hand off of his arm. “I know that guy. Richard,” he said his name as if it was the dirtiest of words, “he has a history of not respecting women, and most of them aren’t able to get away as you did. You don’t know how close...If that bastard hurt you...” The way he growled the last two words had butterflies setting off in her stomach. He could deny it all he wanted, but she could tell that he cared about her. She just wasn’t sure if it was in the way that she wanted.
“I know, but I’m safe now. There’s no use in thinking about the what-ifs. It’s done and over with... I’m here... with you. He’s not going to get to me here,” she told him in a strong voice.
Something akin to pride flashed in his eyes for a second before it was replaced by a softer emotion. A sort of tenderness as he looked down into her eyes. She almost felt like he was looking directly into her soul.
“I’m sorry that this happened to you.” He took a deep breath before his hands drifted from her shoulders to the sides of her neck, he stepped forward—so close that their feet were very nearly touching. “I’ll say one more thing before we put this whole thing behind us. I’m glad that you’re here with me...There’s nowhere else I’d rather you be.”
His eyes dropped down to her lips, and her breath hitched at the look of desire that was in his eyes. She was so sure that he was going to kiss her. At last. She closed her eyes and waited, but just a few seconds later, she felt him pull away and looked up with disappointment as he backed away from her, the moment broken.
“Do you want to watch a movie or something?”
She took a few more deep breaths to remind herself where she was and what just happened. She didn’t want her first kiss with David to be marred by Richard and what he had tried to do to her. Even though she wanted almost nothing more than to give herself to David, she didn’t want to do it under these circumstances.
“Sure.”
They situated themselves on the couch in front of the TV. He brought a soft, thick blanket to her from one of his closets before he went back to the kitchen to get a bowl of popcorn going in the microwave.
“Do you want to change into something more comfortable?” he asked from the kitchen.
She looked down at her tight dress that was smudged with dirt. It would be a good idea to get into something better, but it wasn’t like she’d brought another pair of clothes with her.
“I don’t have anything else,” she told him.
He popped his head out of the kitchen and gave her an enigmatic look. “I have some shirts that you can borrow. Even some sweatpants if you want them. They might be a little big on you, but they’ll probably be more comfortable than what you’re wearing now.”
Would she turn down possibly the only chance she could have to wear David’s clothing?
No way in hell.
She just nodded her head shyly before saying quietly, “Sure.” As he walked down the hallway toward what she was assuming was his bedroom, she hoped that she hadn’t seemed too eager. He came out just a few minutes later and handed her a pile of cotton.
“You can use the bathroom. It’s the door to the left,” he told her while pointing towards the door in question.
She gave him a grateful smile before going in there and shutting the door. She tried not to think of the last time she was in a bathroom, so she was quick to take off her dress and boots before sliding the soft and comfortable clothing over her body. Just like he’d told her, the white shirt hung down almost to her knees, and she had to roll the gray sweatpants more than once to make them fit. He even put in a pair of his socks that nearly went up to her knees, but were super soft. She folded her clothes and put them in a pile on the counter before she quietly slipped out of the bathroom.
David’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, but that was the only reaction she got out of him. While she’d hoped that he might strut over to her and take her back to his bedroom, he just gave her a smile when she sat next to him on the couch.
“You look nicer in my clothes than I do,” he told her.
She rolled her eyes but decided not to respond to that. She motioned towards the remote with her chin and looked at him curiously.
“So, what did you choose?”
He handed her the remote. “I thought you could pick. Just nothing too girly... I don’t want my man card to be taken away,” he said seriously.
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue with him. She flipped through his Netflix account, trying to find a good comedy that could get her mind off of everything. After just a few minutes, she found what she was looking for.
“Just Go With It?” he asked her, shocked.
While the beginning credits started to roll, she said defensively, “I love Adam Sandler.”
He shook his head. “It’s just not what I thought you would pick. I love this movie.”
During the next hour and a half, Carrie felt herself relaxing more and more. If she wasn’t laughing so much, she would’ve probably passed out on the couch that was a lot more comfortable than she had originally thought.
By the time the ending credits were rolling, they had moved closer to each other—so close that their thighs were almost touching—and his arm was slung behind her. They weren’t touching exactly (his arm was just laying on the couch itself), but she felt like she could imagine the way his hard body would feel against hers.
“Do you want to go to sleep now?” he asked as he paused the credits.
She looked at the clock hanging on the wall and was surprised that it was almost two in the morning. She hadn’t realized how tired she was, but now that she had noticed, she suddenly had to fight back a yawn.
“I probably should,” she told him.
He stood up and told her to wait for him. He went back to his room, and it took him more than a few minutes before he was back.
“I put new sheets on the bed for you,” he explained.
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m good to sleep on the couch.”
He shook his head. “That’s not happening. You can have my bed.”
She tried to argue one more time. “I don’t want to kick you out of your own bed, David.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re not. I’m telling you.”
She sighed but could tell that arguing more would get them nowhere. “Fine, but just remember you’re making me do this.”
He followed her into his bedroom. He had a king-size bed in the middle of the room with a pair of dark wood nightstands on either side. There was a matching dresser across from the bed. The bed had dark blue bedding and, when she ran her hand across it, she realized how soft the comforter was.
“Is there anything else I can get for you?” he asked from behind her. She hadn’t heard him walk in, so at the sound of his voice, she turned around and almost jumped a foot in the air. The combination of the jump and the turn threw off her balance, and she could feel herself start to fall backward.
David’s hands snapped out to stop her from falling and pulled her body flush against his. He held her so tightly against the hard planes of his body that not even a piece of paper could have gotten between them. She gasped as she felt a certain part of his body start to harden the longer they stood there staring at each other.
His eyes kept flicking from her eyes to her lips, making her so nervous that her teeth involuntarily bit down on her bottom lip. His eyes zeroed in on the movement as the air around them crackled. She waited to see what he would do, desperately wishing he would kiss her. If she was a braver woman, she would beg him, but she didn’t think that she could handle the rejection if he decided against it.
“I’ll let you get some sleep now,” he told her softly.
The last thing she wanted to do at that moment was go to sleep, but she needed to tread carefully around David right now. She didn’t want him to regret any moment that they shared. She didn’t know if she’d be strong enough to see the shame in his eyes.
She was left alone then. She didn’t take the time to look around his room, she just turned the light off before lifting the blankets and crawling into his bed. She was pleased to discover that the pillows held a small amount of his scent. Breathing in the smell that was purely David (reminding her of a forest after a storm), she drifted off to sleep, replaying their conversation over and over again.
~~~
DAVID COULDN’T BELIEVE how close he’d been to kissing her. He wanted to kick himself for being so stupid, but the memory of the way that she had looked, standing there with her big brown eyes, could’ve been his undoing.
The erection that he’d had raging since the almost-kiss he’d shared with her didn’t seem to be going anywhere. He didn’t want to take matters into his own hands, especially since she was right on the other side of the wall, but no matter what he thought about, it wasn’t going away.
He had just slipped his hands under the blanket to relieve some of the pressure when he heard a sound come from his room. Hearing Carrie cry out in fear was a surefire way for his erection to disappear. He jumped up from the couch and ran towards his room, ready to fight whatever demons were attacking her.
She was writhing around on the bed, fighting unseen attackers. Or one attacker. He was pretty sure he could guess who was starring in her nightmare right now, and he wanted nothing more than to go to where that weasel lived and beat him to within an inch of his life.
But that wouldn’t help Carrie now.
“Honey, wake up. It’s me. It’s David. You’re safe. Wake up,” he repeated while he knelt down next to her and ran his hand over the top of her head in an effort to calm her down. It took a few minutes before she was finally breathing normally and laying still. He breathed out a sigh of relief and went to stand up, but her hand shot out in front of her, grabbing his before he could get farther away. He looked down and saw that her eyes were open and filled with sadness and fear.
“Stay with me... please,” she begged brokenly.
She didn’t have to ask him twice. He circled the bed, lifted the covers, and crawled in behind her. He slid her body closer to his so that her back was tucked into his chest, his body curled protectively around hers. With his arm resting over her waist, he felt her breathing even out as she fell asleep.
It didn’t take him much longer before he followed her.