Tender - A Disney-esque Adventure for Adults

Chapter 4

The dream lingered with me as I rose up through layers of consciousness in the morning.  The room, the men talking…  It felt like more than a dream, but I really wasn’t interested in thinking about it.  Wherever I’d been previously, I was in Numerlain now, and I liked it. 

What was there not to like?  There was the gorgeous animated world, the way my emotions had stabilised, and the divine Casimir lying next to me.

While he slept on in the slanted morning light cutting through the hayloft, I studied him closely.  His broad chest rose and fell evenly, and a half-smile tugged at his lips, as if his dreams we much nicer than mine.  Close up, I could see how unruly his eyebrows were, the strands a darker blond than the mop on his head.  Animated or real, he was the most perfect man I’d ever laid eyes on.

I stroked his cheek gently and he stirred, nuzzling into my touch.  “Cas, I’m going to get some water,” I murmured in his ear.

“Wait…”  He tugged me to his chest, and I let myself fall, adoring the way his shirt fell open at the neck, the loose laces exposing his tanned flesh.

“Wait for what?” I said, breathless.

“This…”  Cas brought his lips crashing down onto me.  I parted mine wide, drawing a breath from inside him.  As our mouths moved together, my hands wandered under the white cotton of his shirt.

Cas groaned low in his throat as my fingers began to rub along the defined ridges of his stomach.  Silently, I thanked the animator in charge of Cas’ character development for gifting him abs like bubble wrap.     

I attempted to pull the shirt over his head, but Cas gripped me by the wrists.  “Wait,” he said again, this time, with a very different tone.

“Why?”  I tried not to feel rebuffed, but it was hard.  I’d never been one to jump into bed with anyone, but this was my dream, or coma-vision, or whatever.  Surely, I should get to call the shots and have some fun with my crazy-sensitive body, right?

That’s not what this world is, and you know it…

Cas had the perfect answer anyway.  “Because, the first time you and I disrobe each other, I want to lay you down on silken sheets in the palace.  Not a dirty cloak on a hay bale.”

“The location doesn’t matter if the person is right.”  I kissed him again, and I could see him struggle to hold back.  My breasts were heaving only inches from his hands, the delicate orbs begging for his touch.

“When we reach the palace, I will come to you at night.”  He laced his fingers through my hair, which was still looking salon-perfect, even after a night’s pillow-less sleep.  Pulling me close to him, he said, “Then, I will touch you everywhere.”

“And I will return the favour.”  I couldn’t resist; I trailed my fingers over his hard nipples, poking through the white fabric.  Cas reacted as though he’d been charged with a current, gasping and gripping me harder.

For a moment, things hung in the balance.  It really could have easily been a frenzy of clothes tearing and a literal roll in the hay.  But Cas’ noble green eyes made my mind up.  I lowered my head and rested it on his chest, giving us both room to breathe.

Cas’ voice rumbled.  “Princess…  You are more than I ever dreamed you’d be.”

My fingers found his.  “I think I’ve dreamed of you without realising for my whole life.”  It was the truth.  Every Disney flick, every fairy tale, every rom-com and romance novel had left me aching for a man who could live up to the standards set by my imagination.  Now, I had one in my arms and I wasn’t letting go.