It was storming the next morning. I woke to a hard clash of thunder, the vibrations seemed to shake the house and rumble through my body. A hand inched under my shirt, rubbing absently at my bare abdomen. Contentment flowed through me and I closed my eyes again.
Last night Kaden did not leave my house. The storm started shortly after our small argument. We were so intent on each other that neither of us noticed until Kaden, in all propriety, reluctantly stated that he should go before it was too late. When I opened up the door, we saw a veritable curtain of rain pouring down past my balcony. Maybe I offered a place to stay because it would have been hard for him to see through the rain, or maybe I offered because I wanted him to stay and used the rain as my excuse. Whatever the reason, he took me up on my offer.
I gave him the choice of either of the two guest bedrooms, assuming that he would take the bedroom with it's own bathroom. He surprised me when he said that he wanted to sleep with me in my bed because he was afraid of thunder. I laughed at his pitiful excuse and refused him. Hours earlier I had promised to trust him, but I was still not prepared for anything truly intimate between us outside of kissing and light petting.
Kaden crossed his heart with the index finger of his right hand, promised there would be no hanky panky, and offered up one last excuse. He told me that it would get me use to the type of contact that was more personal. It was too late at night and I was too tired to put up much of a resistance. He stripped off his clothes, leaving his boxers, and crawled into my bed while I was in the bathroom changing. It was hard to miss the look of disappointment that crossed his eyes when he caught sight of my pajamas. They were a lot like my day clothes, covering me from the neck down. At least my feet were bare.
I joined him in bed, a little nervous at first. It had been four years since I shared a bed with a man other than my cat. Kaden gathered me close to him and placed my head on his chest. I promptly fell asleep.
A smile played at the corner of my mouth as thought of being so comfortable with Kaden that I would pass out with no hesitation. My thoughts wandered a little as I tried to reenter the dream world, instinctively knowing that it was still hours before I had to get up and start the day. The hand started to inch up my body heading towards my breasts. I put my hand over the mound it made in my shirt and flattened it to my body, effectively stopping any advancement.
"You promised." My voice was husky from sleep.
"Would you believe that it's all part of your training: Getting use to various forms of sexual contact?" His breath frolicked over the back of my neck, a pleasant breeze while chaos raged outside the walls of my house.
"Not in a million years. Men are predictable creatures when it comes to this type of contact." I gave him the benefit of the doubt and released his hand, trusting him not to move it any further.
His hand was warm and comforting. I would have been lying if I said that I did not enjoy the contact; that I did not get a little curious at how far he would have taken it if I had not stopped him.
Kaden sighed heavily. "I'm sensing another wall. Would you care to talk about it?"
I rolled over in his arms to face him. His eyes were still closed, but I knew he was still awake. "That's a serious topic for early morning."
He hugged me closer to him. "The sooner I understand what I'm up against, the sooner I can break it down and we can bump uglies." His eyebrows wiggled while his eyes were still closed. I could not help but to chuckle at the goofy scene he made. "I lightened the mood a little, so dish."
I was not ready to tell this story and I knew that things would not be able to advance without me telling him. Stalling was only a temporary option. Sooner or later he would press for the story and I would have to give in. From my observations and readings, I knew a good relationship was built on three things: trust, communication, and sex.
"Some other time, handsome. We'll need more sleep if we want to get through the day."
"That was blatantly evasive. You won't be able to hide from me on this one." The hand that once was on my abdomen was now rubbing my back in a soothing gesture. I knew that my reluctance was frustrating him. He was a man that was use to having sex often, but I could also feel his determination to wait. The night before he told me that he was starting for fall in love with me. That morning, intuiting his frustration, I started to fall in love with him too. I was resolute to gather my courage and tell him yet another one of my major fears later that day.
A few hours later we got up to the sound of my alarm clock. This time Kaden slapped the off button on the object of my daily torment. I asked him if he would leave my place early to get a fresh change of clothes over at his apartment. He just gave me a cheesy grin and informed me that he always had an emergency suitcase in his car.
I took a look inside his suitcase after Kaden went outside to fetch it from the trunk of his car. It had all the essentials for travel and, not only, one change of clothes but two. I flashed him a suspicious look and called him a "rake."
He gave me a questioning look. "What exactly does that mean?"
"It's an old English version of a player."
Kaden burst out laughing and gave me a sound playful kiss on the lips. "I can't be called a," he paused thinking of the word I just taught him, "rake anymore since I'm leaving my suitcase here. This is the only place I plan to sleep at other than my own apartment. How does that sound?"
"It sounds like my cat's going to have to fight for a spot on my comfortable bed."
--~~--
Much to the shock of Tabitha, I was in class ten minutes earlier than normal. I did not tell her the reason; she barely absolved me for forgiving Kaden. What would she think if I told her he spent the night at my house while she was still a little miffed? With her threat of beating me and Kaden to hell and back if he ever hurt me again echoing in my ears, I calmly read the school newspaper.
I had no clue why I insisted on reading the school newspaper. There was nothing in it that ever made me happy, nor interested me beyond the front page news and editorials. Yet I always picked up the latest addition. While I was reading an article convincing me that the student government members were a lot like real politicians, corrupt, Amanda Jane was sitting on her side of the classroom babbling. The subject of her latest gossip eluded me since I was not listening.
Maybe it was something she said, I could not be sure, but I found myself tuning into her words. I was now fake reading the school newspaper in favor of listening to one of Amanda Jane's ridiculous fabrications.
Out of the corner of my eye I watched Amanda Jane flick her hair in preparation to tell another one of her stories. "I had an interview with Jetways this morning." Jetways was the huge company in town that built airplanes used all over the world. "On my resume I wrote that I could speak Chinese, because I'm taking Chinese classes and all. They actually brought someone in who spoke Chinese to test me! The nerve! They actually expected me to speak Chinese.
Anyway, the job would require me to travel out of the country every six months. If they liked me after six months, then I would have to travel every two months. I would be living out of a suitcase! Can you imagine? That wouldn't leave much time to start a family. I wanted to be married and on my way to having two and a half kids when I turned twenty-four."
