You've Only Just Arrived (a Tom Hiddleston fan fiction)

Part 20

The ever so light friction of fingertip to skin pulls you from your dream. Beneath the bed sheet Tom is feathering his fingertips over the skin of your stomach. You were dreaming about the events of the previous day – seeing Tom dashing up the sidewalk towards you with a mass of people in pursuit – but in your dream the pair of you had continued running through London in a giant game of cat and mouse. Was it the dream or the night's activities that left you now craving just a few more minutes of sleep? You smile as you roll onto your side to look at the man you are sharing a bed with and receive a contented smile in return. Tom murmurs a soft apology as he rests his hand on your naked hip. "I'm sorry - I couldn't resist."

You stretch a bit to try to push the last remnants of sleep aside. Tom takes advantage of the motion to pull your body closer towards his. "Tom..." You laugh as he slides his hand briefly up your back before trailing it down over the curve of your bottom. As Tom's hand reaches your thigh you lift your leg and, with his hand following your movement, you drape it over his body. This playfulness is a wonderful distraction from analyzing the meaning of your dream.

Tom emits a low growl when you push yourself off the bed and try to evenly disperse your weight onto your legs as you settle on top of him. As promised, last night you had helped him wash away the surprisingly stubborn remnants of the day's work before stumbling into bed. You probably have fabulous morning hair as a result of going to bed with it still wet. You lean down to gently kiss his collar bone before sitting up again and frowning at him, belatedly registering the subtle differences in decor. You are in his room, not the guest bedroom. And then another thought occurs. "Oh damn, you didn't get to see the lingerie I bought yesterday..."

Well there is no time like the present. You shift to sit back onto the bed so you can, hopefully with a little grace, retrieve your bag and the items in question from the other room. Tom sits up in bed, holding the sheet in place rather than letting you pull it with you. His laugh makes the mattress vibrate. "The logical conclusion to that statement being to get up just when things are getting interesting."

You hesitate but his holding the sheet hostage will not prevent you from leaving the bed now that you've gotten it into your head to model the pieces for him. You can feel him watching you as you head for the door and add some extra sway to your walk for his benefit. "You grumble now, sir. Just you wait."

"Why don't you just bring your things in here? My bed is more comfortable."

"Technically aren't they both yours? Why didn't you just buy two sets of the same – oh..." The flashing light on your phone draws your eye as you walk into the guest bedroom. You let out an uneasy laugh when you unlock your phone to scroll through the missed call list. You're half talking to Tom, half talking to yourself now. "Mark called. Aaaand left a few messages. He's glad to hear that you're ok." After skimming the first text you drop the phone onto the bed so you can kneel and pull some clothes from your luggage. Mark has sent a series of messages and it doesn't make sense to sit there and read them in the nude. Once clothed, you sit cross legged on the bed to delve further into the responses Mark has sent you.

You glance sideways at Tom when he sits on the bed beside you, making you bounce slightly with the force with which he drops onto the mattress. He, too, has donned clothes -- a t-shirt and a pair of sports shorts that sit dangerously low on his hips. You take in the sight of him, tempted to let Mark's messages remain unread for a little while longer.

Tom cocks a curious eyebrow at you, "That I'm ok? Did you actually talk to him or just leave a message?" He tilts the phone in your hands so that he can see the screen. Now both eyebrows are raised. "That answers that. It is early enough – you could call him before our run."

You scroll on to the next message, reading it quickly. "Let me get through the texts first and see if it's necessary. Hmm he is a big fan of having security accompanying us today. A whole booklet devoted to praising that idea. Reading between the lines here that means he already has several packets made up for me to look at regarding personal security. What fun that discussion will be... Oooh a few offers for commercials..."