"Just focus on staying warm," Rachel said, the smile evident in her voice. "Then see what happens."
"Do you want me to drive you?" Kyla asked.
"No, it's just around the corner, really... I'll be there by the time you would've warmed up your car."
Tessa headed out, feeling warmer than the cold air should allow. She'd faced them, and they'd been accepting.
What could happen with Adam?
Adam had been through bad weather before. He'd lived in Snoqualmie for a few years now, and he knew when it came to the windstorms around here, losing power was more a matter of "when" than "if." He also knew that as long as the pipes didn't freeze, they'd get through just fine.
Oh, and he knew that the electric starter for the furnace was dodgy at best...so the smartest plan was setting up a base camp.
He heard the door open, and heard Tessa call out. "Adam? Adam! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said. "In here."
She moved aside the blanket he'd strung up in the archway between the foyer and the living room. "What...wow."
He had the fire going in the woodstove, blazing enough that he didn't even really need the lantern he'd set up. It glowed, cheery.
"I brought out all the blankets. It's easier to keep one room warm than warm the whole house," he said grimly. "I had to do this last year, too. I nailed quilts over the doorframes to keep this room warm. Power shouldn't be out more than a day, maybe two tops."
"Two days?" she yelped.
"It sounds worse than it is," he said, even as he crossed his fingers and hoped it didn't stretch longer than that. "Listen, I heard from Jen what happened...at least the basics. Are you okay?"
She felt embarrassed. "Better now. I was angry, and I just felt sick that all that work was for nothing. I should've told you, but..."
She trailed off, and he realized: she hadn't talked to him because he'd blown up at her.
"I had to let the girls know about the game first – about what happened, the cease and desist, being disqualified. Winning the contest would have meant so much to them – to have a Mystics actor there, to get the publicity. I was afraid they'd be angry or disappointed. But they were totally understanding," she said, plopping down on the couch. "I think I was more upset than they were. I still feel guilty, though."
"You did the best you could," he said, still moving the kindling and setting up a card table with various things. "It's not your fault that Impressario are vindictive, petty assholes."
She smiled, the warmth in her chest having nothing to do with the roaring fire. "Thanks, Adam. For everything."
They smiled at each other for a long moment. Then Adam shook his head, smacking his hands together briskly.
"Well...did you eat? I made some soup before the power went out. I've still got some, hot, in a thermos if you want it."
"You made soup?" She chuckled. "Feeling home-y?"
"Got tired after three days of junk food and take out. Besides, when the wind picked up, I figured I'd want something we could heat easily on the wood burning stove, if need be." He looked smug. "This isn't my first rodeo, you know."
"Well, then, soup would be great." He poured her a cup, and handed it to her.
"Sorry, but could you stand over there and drink it?" He gestured to the corner. "I need to pull the sleeper out of the sofa."
He waited. She stared at him.
"Why are you pulling the mattress out?"
"Because it's going to be too cold in the bedrooms," he repeated. "Seriously. Unless you've got something rated for twenty degrees or lower, you're better off staying down here. I'll keep tending the fire, and it'll retain the most heat."
She got up, her face still blank, the thermos cup in her hands. He took the cushions off, piling them to one side, grabbing the nylon handle of the bed.
"So where are you going to sleep?"
"Huh?" He grunted, tugging hard. Good thing he'd gotten a new sleeper couch when Casey moved out – although his primary purpose had been to have more places to sleep if the guys came over to game marathon. The mattress finally sprang out. "I'm staying out here, too. I gave my brother my mummy bag and most of my cold weather camping gear."
He smoothed it out, reaching for the sheets he'd pulled out...then noticed she was staring wide-eyed at the mattress.
"Oh. Ohhhh," he said, as her question sunk in. "Hmmm."
She took a deep breath. "So. We're supposed to share the sofa sleeper."
"Um, yeah." He glanced around. "I mean...I've got plenty of blankets. You can sleep out here, and I'll just tough it out in the bedroom. It won't be worse than camping." Probably. Although he really should be tending the fire. Well, he could just set alarms and work around her...
"Don't be silly." She took a sip of the soup, then flinched, blowing on it to cool it. "I mean, we're both adults here. It's not a big deal."
Historically, this has not been the case on this couch, he wanted to say. In fact, the last time they'd been alone on this couch, she'd been working on stripping out of her sweater and he'd been hoping to get to see--and feel--a hell of a lot more. Still, she had backed off, and while they'd shared a few "moments" since, he hadn't pressed.
The words he'd thrown at her in the office came ringing back to him.
But I'm not going to push you...I'm tired of chasing you. You know what you want, you tell me.
Maybe he should sleep in his room. The freezing cold might help him keep his hands off of her.
He made the bed quickly, piling about a dozen blankets on top. "So we'll just be sleeping--literally snoozing--in fair proximity to each other."
"I know, right?" she said, drinking the soup. "Fully clothed, obviously, because it's ridiculously cold. I mean, it'd be like getting turned on by a woolly mammoth."
He laughed, ruefully, thinking there may not be enough blankets in the world. But he didn't say anything else.
"So. What are we going to do? No power. Not a lot going on."
"I want to save the charge on my phone," he said. "And I forgot to plug in my iPad, so that's out."
She stuck her tongue out. "Good thing I'm prepared. How about a Sherlock marathon?"
"I have a confession to make," he said.
She stared at him, curiously.
"Other than that scene you made me watch...I've never seen a full episode of Sherlock"
"You haven't?" She sounded appalled. "Well, we are fixing that right now. Get into bed. You're in for some fun."
Now it was his turn to blink...and laugh.
"Not what I meant," she said, rolling her eyes and blushing.
"A guy can dream," he said, tongue in cheek.
As she got her laptop out and set up, he sighed. At this rate, it looked like dreaming was all they were going to do tonight.
Tessa was lying on a beach, feeling unbearably hot. The sun was beating down on her, stifling, oppressive. It was like a physical weight on her chest. She was wearing a t-shirt and sweats, which she quickly and awkwardly stripped off. It didn't help. It was Sahara-hot out there. She heard the waves, but she couldn't see them. She hated beaches.
"You okay?"
She turned. There was Adam, wearing board shorts and no shirt, just like that day last summer when he'd mowed the lawn without a shirt. He wasn't hugely muscled, but he had definition--wiry and strong, like a distance runner. Her favorite kind.
"I'm hot," she said.
His grin was slow and sexy. "Bet you are," he said. She felt his gaze on her body like a hand, caressing her.
"You make me hot," she said, and walked up to him. She stroked a hand down his chest, and heard him--felt him--groan, a rumbling deep in his chest, as he closed his eyes.
"Thought you said this was a bad idea," he growled, but pressed against her hand. She let it smooth down his sternum, down his waist...just down.
"It's a dream," she murmured. "It doesn't count."
"Tessa..."
"Shhhh." She stroked lower still, and felt him--hard, like a rod a
gainst her palm.
His groan was even louder now, and he rested his forehead against hers. "Tessa," he breathed. "Wake up, baby. Wake up."
"What?"
Suddenly, she opened her eyes, and she was...well, it took her a second to figure out where she was. Living room, she realized. In the sofa bed. She was down to her underwear--or actually, since she hadn't worn a bra, she was down to her underpants.
Adam was down to his sweat pants. They were under the mountain of blankets he'd piled on them to keep them warm.
And his hard-on was nestled against her palm.
She yanked away as if burned. "OhmygodIamsosorry," she blurted, in one short breath.
He laughed, but it sounded pained. "Trust me, I'm not," he said. "I think I might've overdone it on the blankets. You are a furnace, woman."
"I should have told you," she said. "I tend to, um, produce heat when I sleep. Like, a lot. I didn't think about it. It's been years since I've slept with someone."
There was a pause with that, too.
"It's been a year for me, as well," he said.
She'd pulled away a little, but she realized that they were still pretty close. She must've spooned up against him in the night, and he'd had his arm wrapped around her. She vaguely remembered that--remembered liking that.
Experimentally, she turned back over, facing away from him...then scooted back, just a fraction.
He was stiff. Not just there, but everywhere. His whole body radiated tension, like a coiled spring.
Slowly, he put an arm around her waist. She felt his mouth brush against the hair at the nape of her neck.
She tilted her head, just a little--giving him access to her neck. He stroked the dark waves out of the way. She could feel his breath, hot and steady, just below her ear, and she shivered, pressing millimeters closer to him.
Softly, tentatively, he put his lips against her neck in a hot, soft kiss. Then another, near the junction of her chin.
She shivered more, her back arching. The silken slide of her underwear stroked the hard front of his sweatpants.
"Adam..." she breathed.
"Damn it," he whispered. "I swore I was...tell me if you want this, Tessa. I don't want to keep getting smacked away."
He kept kissing, his teeth grazing her neck, her shoulder. He pressed kisses along her spine, his hand stroking the soft skin of her belly. She felt herself go damp in a rush, and pressed her backside more insistently against his hardness, covering his hand with her own as her other hand fisted in the pillow. Her breathing went ragged as the restlessness in her increased.
He took her earlobe in his teeth, nibbling. It was more than she could take.
She twisted, turning to face him.
"Yes," she said, looking directly into his eyes. "I want this. I want you."
His eyes were dark, gleaming like a wizard's in the glow of the coals from the fireplace. He wasn't begging--he wasn't pushing. He simply stared at her, giving her the space to make a decision: to go ahead, or pull away.
"Adam," she murmured again, and moved forward. She kissed him hard, her fingers curling through his tousled waves as her mouth met his hungrily. She heard his answering moan a second before his lips opened, parting hers, and his tongue moved forward, caressing the soft skin of her inner lips before tangling with her.
It was like lighting a firework. Heat exploded within her, and she simply couldn't get close enough. Her breasts crushed against the hard plane of his chest. His hands were everywhere, it seemed. His mouth tore away from hers long enough to work down the column of her throat, then smoothing lower still. His mouth gently latched onto her left breast, and she cried out, arching toward him, pressing herself more deeply against that wet, hot wonder.
God, what the man could do with his tongue!
He stroked her, circling her nipple with his tongue, then moving to give her other breast the same treatment. She whimpered, holding his head against her as her leg hooked itself over his hipbone of its own accord. Her hips moved in a slow, unsteady rhythm, trying to bring him closer to her center, the place she most needed him to be.
He pulled away, staring into her eyes, panting slightly. "You sure?"
She tilted his head, her eyes looking deeply back into his.
"Stop being the gentleman and fuck me."
His eyes widened, and his grin was like heaven. "Yes, ma'am."
Just like that, he stripped her panties down. Surprised by the abruptness, she leaned back...only to feel that marvelous mouth of his moving lower.
"Adam?" she squeaked, then let out a cry of pure shock as the kisses went down her stomach and below, to her thighs. "Oh, my God."
Had she mentioned his tongue was magical? That was an understatement.
Before she realized what was going on, the orgasm hit her like a slap, and she cried out as stars exploded behind her eyes. Her whole body shivered.
"That good?" he said, leaning up on his elbows.
"I haven't had sex in three years," she said, still shivering. "I'm amazed I lasted that long." Then she smiled. "Thanks."
"Always a pleasure," he said, with a wink.
He could turn her inside out with pleasure--and make her laugh, she thought. What an amazing thing.
"Your turn," she said.
"I don't..."
"Do you have a condom?"
He nodded.
"Is it in this warm room?"
"No it's...oh, wait." He leaned over, grabbing a box. "José left this here. Party favors, from the post-Christmas party."
"This may be the only time I say this," she muttered, "But God bless José Yao." She grabbed one, tearing the foil packaging as Adam shucked off his sweats. "You ready?"
He moved the blankets back, and she finally got a good view of him--all of him. In all of its splendor, as it were. "Wow."
He cracked a strained grin. "You have no idea how good that makes me feel."
"Keep in mind, I'm out of practice," she said. Then she leaned down.
"Oh, wait, you don't need to..."
She ignored him, taking the head into her mouth and stroking it with her tongue. She thought she saw his eyes cross, and fought against grinning. Instead, she traced the smooth, silky cap, then stroked her fingers down the shaft. Suckling slightly, releasing, moving...
It seemed like less than a minute, but he dragged her up. "I want to come with you," he said. "Inside you."
The words made her nipples go hard. She suddenly wanted it, too. Now.
She rolled a condom on him, liking how his skin jumped beneath her fingertips. Then she moved over him, straddling him.
"You mind letting a girl be on top?"
"As long as it's you," he answered.
She slowly lowered herself onto him, feeling him stretch her--groaning at the pleasure of him filling her. His eyes rolled back, and his head swayed to one side. She could feel his hips rise off the mattress to meet her. To bury himself in her.
"Tessa," he said, his voice broken. "Oh, god, Tessa."
She arched her back, then leaned down. He kissed her, stroking her breasts, stroking her hips. She lifted herself, then lowered herself. The stroking, squeezing tension was driving them both mad.
He sat up, facing her. Stroking her hair back. Then pushing forward, pulling her hips taut against him, so she felt the pressure just where she needed to. She couldn't help it. She sighed in delight, then started breathing harder, moving faster.
He reached between them, stroking her clit slightly as he moved intently. "Come on baby. Come for me."
She couldn't help it. It was like he knew just what she needed, when she needed it. Helplessly, she rode him, rolling her hips against his. He picked up tempo, and she felt it--that slow, lovely build.
"Oh, God. Oh...oh... yes!" she screamed, and her body convulsed around him.
She thought she heard him call out her name, although she couldn't be sure. They pulsed together--and came like an explosion.
Adam woke from a catnap the next mo
rning at his usual waking time, around six-thirty. He had gotten maybe two hours of sleep the night before--not because of the cold. Far from it. He was snuggled, naked, against Tessa, and feeling warmer than he'd felt in ages. They were curled up, swamped in blankets.
He knew he should probably get up, stir the fire up...figure out how they were going to do things like get ready for work, that kind of thing. He also knew that as soon as she woke, there would be recriminations, possibly regrets. At least, on her part.
The only thing he regretted was that she'd been asleep when the whole thing came about. He'd still been awake, unable to rest. His body had been acutely aware of hers, all too close--and then as close as possible, when she'd backed up against him. He'd tried retreating, all the way to the edge of the bed, but she wasn't having it, following him all the way until she was plastered on him like a wet T-shirt. Not that it was his fault--but he was really afraid she was going to chalk the whole thing up to a dream. Or worse, a mistake.
He got the feeling whatever was going on between them, it wasn't a mistake.
He snuggled against her, breathing in the scent of her hair, feeling the softness of her skin. He let out a little sigh, more a soft exhalation than anything.
It was enough. She woke, contorting, obviously startled. Then she twisted.
He held his breath. "Morning," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "How're you feeling?"
She blinked slowly a few times. "Limber."
He let out a surprised bark of laughter. "You are limber," he said, stroking a wayward lock of hair away from her face. "Anything else?"
"Well, I need to go to the bathroom," she admitted.
"Oh! Right. Right."
She pulled off the blanket, then gasped. "Cold cold COLD!" she yelled, then swore.
"I know," he said, chuckling. "Makes you not want to get out of bed."
Of course, in his case, that wasn't the only reason.
"All right. We need to be grownups," he said finally. "You go handle your business, then I'll get cleaned up and get changed, and we'll...erm, head in to work."
"Are you going to build up the fire?"
"No point if we're not going to be here," he pointed out.
Level Up: A Geek Romance Rom Com, Book 1 (Fandom Hearts) Page 13
