Sweet Little Pains

10

Why the hell had she agreed to this?

Clare lay on her bed on the right side which faced the wall with Simon lying next to her, mentally berating herself. Why the hell had she allowed herself to get thrust into this situation. Why had she agreed to this?

This was awful. This was just plain awful.

The bed was not large, not by any means. It had been made to comfortably take one person, not two. The result of two people laying down on it was a tight fit of bodies, ending basically with the two individuals spooning. There was completely no space in between them – any attempt at that would most likely lead to one of them on the floor. 

It was past two now, and yet she couldn’t sleep. There was no way she could fall asleep, not with the way he was pressed against her. His arm had somehow ended up curved around her waist over the course of the night. His long legs were tangled with hers, in an attempt to minimize the space it took. 

She couldn’t relax sufficiently to fall asleep. Whenever she tried, she would end up drawing in his scent, and any progress she had made sleep wise would go to hell. It didn’t help that she could feel him, every heated inch of him, since he wore nothing but his briefs. He had thrown in his clothes into the wash for the next day. 

At first she hadn’t minded. But then he had slipped in beside her after getting ready for bed, and she’d regretted it immensely. By then, there was nothing to be done. She had no clothes that would rest comfortably on his broad frame. He had gone to sleep like that, almost nude. 

To combat that she had worn her thickest and longest night shirt. It didn’t really help matters, however. She could still feel him. 

Clare stiffened slightly as his arms tightened around her. Silent, she listened as he let out a warm, soft breath. It tickled the small hairs at her nape, and Clare swallowed thickly.

At this rate, she would spend the night awake. That was not ideal for her, not in the least, since she had to get up early for her job. She couldn’t spend all night like this. She would practically be a zombie in the morning.

She needed to move.

Clare bit her lower lip, then released it. She debated how she would go about releasing herself from his grasp. She knew from past experience that Simon was ridiculously easy to rouse from sleep – leaving here without his knowledge wouldn’t be easy, not in the least. 

But she had to try, at least. Or else she would spend fourteen hours working with little energy.

Her mind made up, Clare reached slowly for his arm, deciding that her best bet would be to free herself as slowly as she could. She pried it from her waist, smothering the part of her that mourned the loss of the contact. It flexed in a reflexive motion in her grip, and she paused, holding her breath. After a beat passed she continued, directing his arm to his side, effectively freeing herself. 

Clare waited a solid minute, her motion still as she prayed he wouldn’t react to her actions. When he didn’t she relaxed, letting out a small sigh of relief.

But then when she made to pull herself up into a sitting position, he made a small grunting sound. It was all the warning she received before he reached for her again, drawing her closer to himself.

 Unable to help it, Clare let out a small groan. Damn it. That had been her only chance. If she tried to leave again, he would surely wake up. There was no way she was going to get some sleep now–

“Clare?” The sound of his voice startled her enough into freezing. “Are you awake?” 

For a split second, she considered pretending to be unconscious. But then she decided not to.