Lead On (Complete)

~ Chapter 26 ~

Rose blinked as she stared at the sun peeking up over the horizon and through her window. She knew the body she was laying on and she wasn't willing to move yet to disturb it. She needed to stop lying to herself, she had missed moments like this; moments where Jeff took to her to the highest places during sex and then held her afterward, like she was something tender and sweet. Moments like that are what made her always long to be with him. Moments like that are where other men failed in her eyes.

She knew exactly what she was doing last night, she wanted him, and she was tired of fighting it. And in the dark of night, it was easy to toss aside the hurt, the worry, the pain but in the light of day, those very same emotions came and there was no stopping them, no turning away from them. She would always love this man! From their early days in high school, her mom had been against them. What wasn't mentioned was that her own mother was a young mother whose man had runoff. Yeah, no one asked what happened to her dad, but he couldn't handle the pressures of a family so he split, leaving a 19-year-old, high school dropout alone with a baby. And Rose's mother always begged for Rose not to be as stupid as she was.

It wasn't that her mother was happy with their marriage, but she wanted more for her daughter. But Rose and Jeff had so much love for each other. Guess one could say they still did, she still felt like they did anyway. And she had liked that. Over the years, she thought his love had faded. And why wouldn't she think that? There had been nothing for so long.

She quietly sighed, not meaning to, but the breath floated over his chest and he stirred, the hand on her back rubbing over her spine. She closed her eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She still wouldn't drop everything for this man, she knew that, hell he knew that. And she wouldn't forgive him, she couldn't. There were still years to make up for. And though she enjoyed their lovemaking, she knew she would have to be careful with that because feelings grow afterward. Her heart would soften because her body would want this all the time and she was always the type of person to lead with her heart over her mind.

"Are you sighing because you're upset? I can leave and let your anger brew without me around." Rose lifted her head and looked at Jeff.

"Why would I be upset?" she questioned.

"We had sex." Rose made it a point at looking at his naked body.

"I'm well aware. I do believe I asked for it in fact."

"Doesn't matter if you did, I shouldn't have done it. I..," he paused and shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "I shouldn't have allowed it to happen. You were vulnerable and asking for it was just a way to make you feel safe and comfortable and it was wrong of me."

"Hey, wait," she told him, putting her hand on his chest. She could feel the movement of his body as he tried to untangle their limbs. "You shouldn't have allowed it to happen? I asked for it Jeff, I wasn't in some dazed or confused state, far from it. And don't you dare feel guilty for having done it, unless you didn't want to do it or you didn't like it." His eyes shot to hers.

"I told you, on our wedding night, I will always want you, will always want to make love to you. That with you around, I always have a semi sprouting, so, no, I wanted this. I love having sex with you, it's always so mind-blowing and you are always so expressive."

"Not always. You seem to be the only man I'm that way with. Not to toot your own horn or anything, but that was a complaint I had from the few other lovers I had, I was rather dull and quiet." He chuckled, his fingertips still working up and down her spine.

"They must have been doing something wrong because you are not quiet. I remember one time we had gone camping and I had to kiss you through the whole act because you were moaning so loudly. And even my kissing didn't drown out the noise, it just muted it some. The next day you said your lips felt like they were bruised and Jimmy had to laugh because he said the kissing didn't block out the noise." She laid her head back on his chest, the blush staining her cheeks. Yeah, she had forgotten all about that time. She could feel the smile on his face and she chose to ignore it, instead focusing on some of his tattoos.

"You got quite a bit more ink while in Austin."

"Yup, I had a stint where I might have enjoyed them too much. But that doesn't mean that there isn't meaning behind the tattoos because there is. Each one has something."

"This one means what?" she asked as her finger ran along the dark lines over his left bicep. She did notice that not one of his tattoos had color, they were all black and she was going to say there was a reason for that as well.

"That actually connects to the one on my shoulder and over my heart. It's a dragon, the swirl is the tail." She looked closely and saw the point but couldn't make out any other features of it being a dragon, at least from this way.

"How is that a dragon? And what is it doing?"

"It's perched on my shoulder in such a way that it's looking at my chest, guarding my greatest treasure." She moved now, trying to see more of it, and could see the head looking downward at something, along with a bow over a horn.

"You have a girl dragon tattooed on you?"

"Yes. But more specific, I have a Rose dragon watching over her treasure, which is my heart." Her eyes slowly drifted to look at him and he smiled, squeezing her hip slightly. "Within the scales on its body, there are little roses to represent you. I got this piece about four years ago. Can't say it was cheap, but it's one of my faves."

"You have me tattooed on you?" He laughed and hugged her close, and she wasn't sure what the laugh was for.

"Oh babe, most of my tattoos were about you in some way or other. Of anything in this world, you were the one thing that meant so much to me." She knew that, not today with a house full of people, but soon, probably a lot sooner than she wanted, or that he wanted, they were going to have a major fucking hashing out over this shit.

She shook her head slightly, not sure what to say to something like that. Sure, she loved the idea, loved that something was so permanently etched on him, but it still was odd. However, now wasn't the time to ask, but she was putting it on the shelf in the back of her mind to bring it up later. Along with all the other questions she was getting along the way.

She blinked as he brushed her hair back, not expecting something so intimate even given their time together. Well, all of this had been intimate but the special caress was new for him. And she wouldn't ask where it came from because she did believe him when he said that he didn't have many past lovers. She was almost curious enough to ask what his past lovers had to say about him and his performance.

"Why so shocked?" She made a point of looking at his hand that was still playing with her hair even though it was now pushed back over her shoulder and then a side glance at the hand rubbing her back.

"You were always a caring lover, making sure I was happy, but you weren't an intimate lover with the extra touching or the extra love."

"I know. But there are things I loved when we were together that I wish I had done. This is one of them, the sweet little things that one would think were nothing but to me means everything. You are so beautiful, and I love your hair, and I always wanted to just play with it and push it away from your face." Yeah, that was something he didn't do. However, she did know he loved her hair but he never bothered to play with it. She drew her lip between her teeth and he grinned as he tugged it out.

"So, sweet intimate moments and pillow talk are some of the new things that have come up?"

"As hard as it was, I would have done the same thing in the cab of my truck but someone had to leave." She laughed at that as she dropped her head to his chest. She knew there were a lot of things she shouldn't be doing, like lounging naked in bed with this man, but she couldn't deny that she was enjoying this time either, no matter how much she needed to yell at him or talk with him.

"I'll make sure to keep it in mind if this happens again."

"If, huh?" Jeff smiled as he looked down at her. She felt his eyes and slowly lifted her head back up.

"What?" she asked. He played with her hair as he smiled softly.

"Go on a date with me?"