Chapter 52

“Good morning.” She breathed as she focused on his blue eyes. Her voice betrayed her tiredness, husky and low, and Jon felt a little guilty at waking her so soon. But only a little guilty.

“Good morning to you too, baby.”

Sara’s vision sharpened as she blinked away the sleep, and she noticed Jon wore sweats.

“You’re dressed already? What time is it, Jon?”

“Almost eight thirty.”

“In the morning?” Jon nodded. “Well, that explains why I’m still tired, I guess. Why are you up so early?”

Jon shrugged. “I went to the gym. It was either that or wake you up and make love to you, and after less than two hours sleep, I didn’t think you’d be very happy if I woke you.”

“You are so right. If you’d woken me a few hours ago, I’d have been forced to hurt you! Now, though,” Sara stretched, “you may just get away with it.”

“Does this help?” Jon offered her the rose. “A beautiful rose for a beautiful lady.”

Sara took the flower with a smile, lifting it to her nose and inhaling the heady scent.

“You brought me a rose?”

Jon looked slightly embarrassed. “Actually, I stole it. From over there.” He gestured at the floral arrangement.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s the thought that counts. Nobody’s ever given me a rose before. Thank you.”

Sara sniffed the rose again, then Jon pushed it to one side so he could claim her lips for a searching kiss, and Sara’s tongue probed into his mouth as she ran the rose petals against his temple. Her mouth felt so tender, Jon restrained himself, illogically afraid he’d hurt her if he gave free rein to his desire, but Sara crushed her mouth onto his, letting him know she wanted more, and Jon was only too happy to oblige.

He rolled onto his back, pulling Sara on top of him and she straddled his hips without lifting her mouth from his. Obviously the workout hadn’t used up all of Jon’s energy, as Sara felt him stiffening beneath her almost instantly, pressing hard against the soft fabric of his sweat pants.

One of his hands slid down her back, wrapping tightly around her ass before dipping further, sliding around behind her. Sara shifted forward slightly, making it easier for Jon, and his searching fingers slipped slowly across her entrance, cupping his palm under her as his fingers reached forward to massage her clit. He wasn’t happy with the contact though, and he pulled his hand back again, pressing on her back to push her down onto the bulge in his pants, rocking his hips to grind against her pussy and feeling the moan in her throat.

She reached down, trying to push his sweatpants down, but Jon moved his hands, both of them on her hips now, and he forced her against him harder, angling her hips and keeping the layer of soft fabric between them as he slid her back and forth against his cock. Sara tried again to pull down his pants, to take him inside her, but Jon laughed softly as he refused to let her, keeping her waiting. He could feel her tensing, and she was moaning now as he expertly brought her to orgasm, her juices soaking into the front of his pants.

While she was still cumming, Jon brought one hand between them, freeing his cock from the now-damp pants and lifting Sara onto himself, feeling her shudder as he entered her. He pressed her down hard onto him, holding her still as the tremors died away, then he pulled her head down to his for a kiss, flipping them over again so Sara was pinned beneath him.

Sara’s hands kneaded his shoulders as Jon pushed down into her, using both his hands to push her legs wider apart, letting him sink in so deeply he couldn’t be sure where he ended and Sara began. He did little more than flex his back, just rippling his hips slowly and repeatedly, feeling her tighten around him as she came again, breath sobbing in her throat. As the waves passed, Sara whispered to him with sparkling eyes.

“Your turn.”

Jon sucked on her bottom lip as he let himself drive into her harder now, then Sara’s tongue invaded his mouth again, and Jon lost himself in the twin sensations of the heat of her mouth and her tight, wet pussy. Half-exhausted, all Sara could do was cling onto his shoulders as Jon thrust into her, faster and harder now as he came to his own climax, his hips slowing to an almost reflexive action as he poured the last of his seed into her.

Sara closed her knees around Jon’s hips, cradling him with arms and legs as he shuddered against her. Mingled with their sweat, she caught the scent of the rose again, and realised that Jon had rolled her onto the flower, crushing the petals beneath their combined weight and releasing the fragrance more strongly.

Jon could feel Sara’s limbs enfolding him, holding him close to her as his movements slowed and finally stopped. There was a wonderfully tender feeling to the embrace, as though Sara was supporting and protecting him, and Jon recalled her unexpected - but very welcome - declaration of the previous night. She hadn’t outright said she loved him, but he knew it would come. For a girl with Sara’s deep seated trust issues to even go as far as she had was enough.

Her eyes were closed, a beatific smile on her lips, and Jon tenderly caressed her face as he kissed her again. She opened her eyes a little, then closed them again, wriggling slightly under him.

“I think we killed the rose.” She told him, but Jon didn’t get it.

“Huh? What d’you mean?”

Sara pushed against him, rolling Jon onto his back and lying on top of him. She turned his head to the side, pointing at the crushed flower, the juice from the bruised petals tinting the sheet pink.

“Oops. I’ll steal you another one.” He promised, then grinned, singing softly. “I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses…”

“Well, I’m just glad there were no thorns!”

“They probably cut them off, so guests don’t prick their fingers. No doubt it’s some kind of hotel policy. Can’t have the guests complaining.”

Sara laughed. “Hotels I normally stay in? You’d be lucky to even get fresh flowers in your room, but then I’m more of a Travelodge girl.”

Jon smiled up at her, smoothing the palm of one hand across her shoulder.

“Not any more, you’re not, baby. You’d better get used to this kind of place, Sara.”

Sara smiled at him, but her mind was racing. She was frightened by the sense of permanence Jon was putting onto this, and she almost wished she could take back her unintentional admission of the previous night. It felt like she’d jumped off a cliff, only it was her heart and mind that were freefalling, not her body, and the control freak in her couldn’t cope. At the same time, though, she didn’t want to hurt Jon, so she tried to make herself relax, lying down next to Jon as she tried to figure out what she was feeling.

Jon pulled Sara close to him, feeling the unaccustomed tension in her body. Looking down, he saw a worried look on her face, which she tried unsuccessfully to hide as she felt his scrutiny.

“Sara? What’s wrong, baby?”

“N-nothing.” Sara replied, thinking she hadn’t even convinced herself with that one.

“Liar. Tell me.”

She sat up, pulling her legs up and crossing her ankles in front of her, almost in a lotus position. Both hands scrubbed through her hair, leaving it tangled and messy as she looked at Jon uncertainly, her anxiety plain in her eyes. Now Jon was worried, and he gently touched her knee.

“Sweetheart, tell me. Whatever it is. Just tell me.”

“But I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know what I want to say. I just…..I….oh, dammit! Jon, will you just listen, I mean just let me talk this out? I feel like I’m drowning, and I don’t know……”

“I’ll listen.” Jon’s eyes fixed on hers, and Sara forced herself not to look away, hoping he’d be able to read her thoughts in her eyes, to understand her.

“Okay. Okay.” She repeated, then took a deep, calming breath. It didn’t work. “Last night, what I said last night, I mean - I’m not sure. Maybe it was just the moment, maybe I was overwhelmed.”

Jon opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, letting her talk.

“God, I don’t even know what I’m trying to say! I think, maybe, it’s - well, how do I know? How do I know if I’m in love with you? Falling in love with you.” She corrected herself quickly. “I love being with you, and I hate being apart from you. I love making love with you, but is all that love? Define love. I can’t - I don’t know how. I want to be with you all the time, and even now, right after we’ve made love, all I want is to feel you touching me, feel you inside me again.” She shook her head. “So now I sound like a whore.”

Slowly, Jon pulled himself up so he knelt in front of her, not quite touching. He tried to choose his words carefully.

“Okay, number one - you don’t sound like a whore. If you do, so do I, because all I want is to be touching you all the time. Define love? You pick some tough questions for this early in the morning.” That, at least, raised a smile from Sara, and Jon was encouraged. “I can’t define love, Sara. I don’t understand it any better than you do, all I can say is that it hurts when you’re not around. I mean, I physically feel it, like a knot in my stomach, and the only way to make it stop is to find you. Even when I know you’re in the next room, part of me wants to go check, just to make sure you’re really still there.”

“But why? I don’t understand this, Jon.” Sara looked truly baffled, and Jon was reminded of her inexperience, knowing that he could so easily lose her if he got this wrong.

“I don’t understand it either, but I’m scared.” He said honestly, and Sara looked surprised.

“Scared? I thought that was just me.” She whispered incredulously.

“Nuh-uh. I’m scared - actually, I’m terrified - that I’ll lose you, Sara. I’ve only just found you, and I’m so scared that I’ll screw it up somehow. I’m pretty good at that.”

Sara felt much calmer now, like talking it through had made things clearer in her mind. She was pretty sure - almost positive - that she did love Jon, and the realisation made her smile broadly, but she wasn’t going to tell him, not yet. Instead, she made a joke.

“Pretty good at what? Screwing?”

Jon stared for a second, then it dawned on him that her light-hearted comment was good news, and he grinned at her.

“Yes, ma’am.”