Being kissed awake is good anytime. Begin kissed awake by Kiefer the next morning was exquisite. I was not jolted awake. I was simply suddenly aware of the warm breath near the top of my head. Slowly, his lips brushed my hair, ear, neck, shoulder, forearm, and then, even more slowly, traced the now tingling path back up to my cheek. This lazy traveling up and down of those lips against my skin should have had me shaking uncontrollably, but I found myself calm instead. Why not be calm? Enjoy this? I'm either dreaming or, if it's real, it'll probably never happen again.
I don't know how many seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks this heavenly assault continued, but my body's response was to flush with heat and go limp. Kiefer's body smelled of some maddening male musk--some divine, or diabolic, pheromone to drive me to distraction. My nostrils sucked up the precious scent. My eyes finally flickered open when the lips stopped at my cheek and pulled away. So close. So close. His face so near to mine. His breath was warm and smelled faintly of tobacco. Finally I thrilled to hear Kiefer's growl in my ear. It was bliss.
"Good morning," came the growl.
"Good morning, to you, " came my near breathless response. My body found life again. I squirmed. His face was near enough to my eyes that I could almost count the individual facial hairs comprising the captivating stubble. The stubble had lent itself to the sensations that had accompanied the voyage of his lips up and down my body only moments before.
Kiefer's upper body rested on his bent right forearm and he smiled down at me from this position, a half-mocking grin on his face. The hair was slightly mussed. The eyes sparkled with mischievousness. I marveled to see them so close to my own.
"God, I thought you'd neh-ver," he emphasized the word, "wake up!" His left hand went to my hair on the pillow, twisting a bit of it around his fingers. "I thought I was gonna hafta dial 9-1-1," he softly chuckled.
The husky whisper had my stomach in knots, my insides quaking. He could easily have been delivering the NASDAQ report and I'd have known no difference. One hand twisting my hair, the other extending from his bent elbow resting on my arm, I struggled to make clear to myself that I was really here. That he was really here.
The raspy voice continued in my ear.
"Sleep well," came his query.
Ummmm, I thought to myself. Heaven.
"Very well," I whispered. Pause. "Very, very well."
"Ahh," he whispered back. "Very well, eh?" He winked at me as he uttered the word "eh."
"Uh huh." I smiled up at the face lit with animation as I nodded my head up and down.
A tap at the door. My first thought was that somehow Shirley had divined Kiefer's presence and was here to haul him out and back to the big house, so to speak. Busted. Damn. Every fiber of my body tensed in anticipation.
Kiefer must have suspected what I was thinking as he read my body. He began to chuckle again, shaking his head.
"No, no. It's Del. He's bringing coffee and something . . . dunno what."
As he finished the explanation, Kiefer had already backed out of the bed, rounded the end of it, and crossed the room halfway. My eyes were glued to his buttocks, the smooth snow-white fabric hugging the form tightly. I leaned up on one elbow in order to get a better view. I envied that underwear.
I also missed that warm body. The air conditioning vent was pumping out cold air--its response to the humidity--a humidity high enough that I was frightened about what my hair might look like at this point. Any moisture in the air and the straight, polished look was gone within seconds. I sat up fully, reaching up and smoothing the palms of my hand over my hair in an attempt to tame it.
It suddenly occurred to me that indeed I had been sleeping well since I had no recollection of Kiefer calling anyone. I wondered how long he'd been awake as I watched him glide across the room. What had he been doing while awake? Watching me? Oh. Was that possible? Desirable?
As my eyes remained on him, Kiefer reached for the door's bolt and slid it free, opened the door, and ushered Del in with a "good morning." Del rolled in a cart laden with silver-domed dishes and Kiefer closed the door behind. He and Kiefer spoke softly for a moment, then I heard Kiefer clearly extend his thanks as he re-opened the door. I envied Del for hearing distinctly the words that Kiefer uttered to him. I was consumed with a jealousy over the voice. I wanted to swallow each and every captivatingly raspy word, chew them, digest them, assimilate them into my being. I wanted that voice near my ears again. Del briefly glanced my way before silently retreating from the room. Kiefer re-engaged the bolt on the door and turned, the cart before him.
Now emerged from the toasty bedcover from the waist up, the cold air was also enough to make my nipples stand up and salute. I would be less than honest, though, if I failed to admit that the cold air was only half the stimulus. The thin fabric of the t-shirt could not hide their condition. My gaze rested on Kiefer's face. I watched as he grasped the handle and raised his head to push the cart to the bed.