Breathless (163 page)

“I told you I trusted you.”

He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my stomach, careful not to touch the tattoo. I rested my head back against his chest as I looked at us together in the mirror. There was a happiness to Jesse that hadn’t been there when I first met him. It made me happy as well to know that I was the reason for that.

“Come home with me tonight,” I blurted out.

“What?” he asked as I watched him raise a brow in the mirror.

“Come home with me. My mom isn’t home, so it’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know, Emma.”

“Please. I just want to spend the night together.”

Thirteen-Jesse

I wasn’t sure what she was asking when she’d said she wanted me to come home with her. I didn’t want her to think that my mind was only on one thing, but she was pressed up tightly against me, and I was sure she could
feel
exactly what I was thinking about.

“If you’re sure…”

“I am. I’m not asking for anything. I just want to fall asleep with you beside me.”

I smiled. This girl was going to be the death of me. “I think I can handle that. Let’s get something over your tattoo first.”

After I applied the bandage and cleaned up the room, I locked up and followed her to her car. She chatted as she drove, but I was barely paying attention. The farther we drove, the nicer the houses were that we passed. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we arrived at her house, but I knew it was going to blow me away.

“Why are you being so quiet?” she asked.

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. Tell me.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to feel when I see where you live.”

“You’re an idiot. A house is just a house.”

“Try saying that from my position.”

She slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a dead stop right in the middle of the road. I grabbed the dash as I flew forward.

“What the hell was that for?”

“You listen to me, Jesse Daniels! I don’t give a shit about where you live. I’ve told you that a million times, and you still don’t believe me.
When
are you going to realize that I’m telling the truth?”

“Okay, okay. I believe you. Jesus.”

“You better,” she growled as she started driving again.

We pulled up to her house a few minutes later.
Damn.
It was bigger than I’d expected. It was dark out, so I couldn’t see much, and I was secretly glad.

I didn’t need to feel worse about the differences in our situations.

“This is it.”

“Wow,” I said as she parked in a garage connected to the house. Correction—it wasn’t a house. It was a mansion. I really hated my life right about now.

“Come on, I need to get your passport stuff sent in.”

I followed her through a door that led inside the house. She flipped on a few lamps as she went so that we could see. The grandeur of the place completely amazed me. Her living room alone was bigger than my entire house. It, along with the rest of the house that I’d seen so far, had polished hardwood floors. The couch and the matching love seat were both a bright white that I would be afraid to sit on in fear of getting them dirty.

Surprisingly, there was no TV in the room.

“Where’s your TV?” I asked as I followed her out of the room and up a set of steps.

“That’s the sitting room, so it doesn’t have one. The room beside it does though,” she said.

“Fuck me,” I said under my breath.

After we made it to the top of the stairs, we walked down a hallway.

She stopped at the door at the end of the hall. “This is my room.”

I walked into the room behind her, and then I stopped in my tracks. Her room was almost as large as the first one we’d passed through downstairs. She had a massive California king–size bed against the far wall. There was a computer desk to the left of the door that was piled high with books and notebooks as well as a laptop and printer. A massive mirror was hanging on the wall between her bed and a dresser. Other than that, the room was noticeably empty. There were no pictures or knickknacks to be seen anywhere. I’d been in enough girls’ rooms to know that this wasn’t normal.

“Where are your pictures and stuff? I’ve never seen a room so bare in my life.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just never put up anything.”

“It’s like you don’t even live here.”

“Most of the time, it feels like I don’t. Sure, I go to sleep in this bed most nights, but I don’t consider this home.”

“And where do you consider home?”

“I haven’t figured that out just yet, but I will someday.”

“You’re so strange. As soon as I think I have you figured out, you do or say something that completely blows my mind.”

“I like to keep it interesting.”

“Trust me, you do.”

“Make yourself at home while I send this stuff in for your passport.”

“Sounds good to me.” I walked over to her bed and fell down onto it. It was like I was lying on a cloud. I wasn’t sure that I would be able to sleep in my own bed ever again after spending the night in this one.

I watched as she scanned the forms into her computer. After she scanned them and uploaded a picture, she sent the email out to whoever her contact was. She wasn’t paying any attention to me, and I took full advantage of that to watch her.
Jesus, she has a body to kill.
When we weren’t in school, she constantly wore those tiny little shorts of hers and a tank top, showing just enough skin to drive me wild. I wanted her so fucking bad. Apparently, my body agreed because I had to adjust myself to hide how turned-on I was just by lying on her bed and watching her.

I needed a shower, preferably one that was on the cold side. I didn’t want her to think that I was only after one thing.
I’m not, honest.
I just couldn’t help how I responded to her.

“You mind if I take a shower while you finish up?” I asked.

“Of course not! The bathroom is the door next to my room. There should be towels and everything in there.”

“Great. Thanks.” I stood and walked to the door, trying to angle my body away from where she could see what was happening downstairs.
Damn it, I need that shower now.
Sleeping next to her tonight is going to be hell.

“You know what? There’s no guy stuff in there, but I
think
my mom had the maids put some stuff in the guest shower downstairs. I’ll go check and see.”

She passed me as I walked into the bathroom.

It was huge, just like every other room in this house. I found a towel and hung it on the holder next to the shower. The shower was surrounded completely by frosted glass, and I slid the door open carefully, afraid to break something. I fiddled with the controls to get the water running, cursing the fact that she didn’t have a shower with knobs, like normal people. When I finally managed to get the water on and to the right temperature, I slipped out of my clothes and stepped into the shower. Despite the cold temperature I’d set it on, the water felt like heaven as it fell across my skin.

“Jesse? I found some shampoo and body wash for you,” Emma called from the bathroom door.

“Great. Thanks.”

I could see her outline through the glass as she approached the shower.

“Um, how do you want to do this?”

I snickered. She was so damn nervous about shampoo. “However you want to do it.”

“I really hate you sometimes.”

“No, you don’t. You think I’m awesome.” I cracked the shower door enough to get my hand through. “Just hand them to me.”

She slipped two small bottles into my hand and retreated back to the bathroom door. “There. I don’t have any clothes for you to wear, so you’ll have to put yours back on. Sorry.”

“It’s cool. I like to sleep naked anyway.”

“I’m going to strangle you with my bare hands.”

I laughed as I heard the door open and then close again. She was so easy to embarrass. I finished my shower and pulled the shorts I’d been wearing back on. I put both of the bottles Emma had given me on the sink, so we wouldn’t forget to put them back from wherever they had come from. We didn’t need one little slipup to screw Emma over with her mom.

Emma was closing the door to her closet just as I walked back into the room.

“That was fast,” she said.

“I shower fast.”

“I can see that. I’ll be back in a few.”

My eyes followed her ass as she walked out of the room. I was so screwed. I was pretty sure that after spending the entire night in the bed with her, I would physically combust by the time morning rolled around.

I lay down on her bed to wait while she showered.
How long does it take for a girl to shower?
She’d
been in there twice as long as I had, and she still wasn’t back. I was about to get up to go check on her when she walked back into the room.

“I thought I was going to have to do a search and rescue mission to find you. How long does it take you to shower?” I asked as I turned my head to look at her.

Fuck!
She had traded her shorts for a pair of those boy shorts underwear, and instead of a tank top, she had on a spaghetti strap shirt.
No bra.
Her nipples were showing clearly through the tight material, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away. There was no way I would survive this night with my sanity still intact. As soon as she’d come into the room, the effects of my cold shower disappeared, and I was ready to go yet again.

“I like to take long showers. It’s the one time of the day where I can just relax.” She walked to the side of the bed that I wasn’t occupying and sat down on the edge. “You’re okay with this?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I fake yawned. “I’m beat, so I’ll probably pass out soon.”

“Okay. Cool,” she said nervously.

I waited for her to lie down next to me, but she remained where she was.

“Are you going to lie down or not?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

She still didn’t move. I would have laughed if I weren’t putting all of my energy into not tackling her.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” I grumbled as I reached over and grabbed her arm. I tugged, and she fell down on the bed beside me. “There. That wasn’t so hard.”

“I’m sorry. I must look like an idiot right now. It’s just that I’ve never had a guy in my bed before. I feel like a moron for asking you to stay with me.”

I laughed. “It’s kind of cute how nervous you are when it’s just us. You’re never like this in public. You’re always so collected in everything you do.”

She shrugged. “You make me nervous.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’re not like anyone else that I’ve ever met. You don’t give a damn about what others think. You just do what you want. And you’re kind of cute, too.”

“Kind of?” I teased.

“If I said I thought you were hot, your head would swell to twice its normal size.”

“Which one?”

“Ugh! I give up.”

I laughed. “I’m just teasing. Let’s go to sleep and forget all the awkward shit.”

“Easy for you to say. I’m sure you do this all the time.”

“Actually, I don’t.”

“You mean you’ve never slept in a bed with a girl before?” she asked skeptically.

Do I lie or tell the truth?
I didn’t want to hurt her, but I also didn’t want to lie to her.

“I’ve been in a bed with a girl, but I’ve never spent the night there.”

“Oh.”

“Come on, let’s go to sleep.” I was done with this talking crap, especially where it was going now. I pulled her tight against me and threw the blankets over us. My arm wrapped around her waist as she snuggled in beside me. “See, this is nothing to get all excited over.”

“Then, what’s poking me? A flashlight?”

I busted out laughing. “It is. Now, go to sleep.”

I held her tight as her breathing evened out. Lying here next to her was physically painful, but somehow, I managed. The last thought I had before falling asleep was how well we fit together.

***

I was having the best dream ever. Or at least, I thought it was a dream. When I opened my eyes to see Emma lying next to me, I realized that it hadn’t been a dream at all.
Shit.
I had Emma pulled tight against me with my hand between her legs. How the fuck did I manage that in my sleep? I started to pull my hand away, but the motion caused her to moan in her sleep as she clamped her legs shut around my hand. Fire shot through my veins as she wiggled against my hand and moaned again.

If she woke up now, there was no way that she’d believe me if I told her that I hadn’t done this on purpose. I stayed completely still as I tried to figure out a way to get my hand out from between her legs without waking her up. I tried to pull my hand away again, but she clamped down harder and moaned.
Jesus.
If my hand didn’t wake her up, then my aching dick pressed against her ass would.

“Mmm, Jesse,” she moaned in her sleep.

I closed my eyes as I dropped my head back onto the pillow and groaned. She was apparently dreaming about me, too. That was all it took to set me off. I couldn’t help it. I started stroking her through her underwear.

She moaned again as her breath hitched. “God, yes.”

She relaxed her legs for a split second, but it was enough for me to better angle my hand until I was right over her clit. I started stroking it slowly, loving the way her body responded to me in her sleep.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“In my defense, I tried to be the good guy.”

She turned her head to look at me with sleep-filled eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“I tried to move away, but you wouldn’t let me.”

She gave me a sleepy grin. “Well, it was a nice way to wake up.”

“Go back to sleep, and I’ll wake you up in an even better way.”

She laughed. “What do you have in mind?”

I pulled my hand from between her legs and rolled her until she was on her back. I leaned over and kissed her. My tongue slipped between her lips as my hands started exploring her body.

“Let me show you.”

Gone was the shy and nervous girl from last night. In her place was a girl who had fire in her eyes as she nodded, giving me permission to do what I wanted. I had no clue how far that permission extended, but I was going to go as far as she’d let me.