When I finally got home the next morning, Andy was already in the shower, clearly having already taken Max for a run. Under normal circumstances, I think that I would've climbed into the shower with him for some sexy times, but after the night I had just had at the hospital, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I slipped my clogs off near the back door, dropped my keys and plugged in my phone on the counter in the kitchen and made my way into the bedroom.
I blindly started pulling off my scrubs, because they felt dirty and contaminated to me, even though I had showered and changed after my ordeal with Mr. Anderson in the ICU.
I changed into my red FEED t-shirt and a pair of comfy yoga pants and waited for Andy to emerge from the bathroom, as the water had stopped while I was changing.
Within minutes he did emerge, still dripping wet, with the towel wrapped over his lower half, but hanging low so that the fine V-cut of his inguinal ligaments was clearly visible, and the fullness of his chest was maximally displayed. He startled a little at the site of me, and me of him, but for different reasons. Taken unawares like this, it was truly stunning just how beautifully made he was. His arms were thick and strong, but not overly sinewy with unnecessary vasculature. His curly dark brown hair looked almost black and hung down past his ears. His grey-blue eyes were kind and soft, and surrounded by the most glorious lashes. His shoulders and back were speckled with occasional freckles and his feet were bony and callused from his running.
He walked over to me and kissed me softly on the lips. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him back - suddenly feeling more desire then I had mere moments before. He was becoming increasingly aroused, either that or he had smuggled an eggplant out of the shower. And yet, I think he could tell that I was exhausted and that if we walked down that road, we would not likely stray from it for several hours, which would be hard on both of us.
He moved away first, walking over to the dresser that I kept by the desk in my bedroom and opened up the middle drawer, which I had given him, so that he could stop feeling like a homeless migrant when he stayed at my place.
"How was your shift?" He asked casually, dropping the towel to put on some briefs.
I tried to look away to give him some privacy, but it was impossible. His unmoving body was indeed breathtaking and statuesque, but Dear Lord! His body in motion was a thing of beauty!
"I promise that I'll tell you about it at some point, I think I just need to not talk about it right now, if that's ok."
He paused for a minute in the middle of getting dressed and came and sat down on the bed next to me.
I'm not sure what came over me, but I just started crying, really more of a muffled sob. I leaned into his body and wrapped my arms around his head. He folded me onto his bare chest and just held me tightly as I quietly fell apart. I'm not sure what had prompted my outburst, probably stress from the night shift, general exhaustion, relief at being home, angst at having to go back to work tonight, arousal at Andy's naked body and sadness that I lacked the energy to act on it.
When I had quieted down, I pulled away from him, and wiped my face, embarrassed that I had just ugly-cried all over him.
"Sorry about that," I said, looking around for a tissue to wipe up the snot threatening to drool all over my face. "This is going to sound totally unfeminist of me, but I think it's that time of the month."
"Why is that an 'unfeminist' thing to say?" He asked, tucking a wisp of hair behind my ear.
"It's not, it's actually the most feminist thing I can think of, it's just I'm sure there is a cadre of self-entitled Internet trolls who would say that I'm betraying my gender by recognizing that I experience predictable catamenial emotional lability."
"Catamenial?" He said quizzically.
"It means with each menstrual cycle. And obviously, I'm about to get mine - hence the tears. I'm sorry Andy, I'm sure this isn't the morning reunion you were hoping for."
"Don't worry about it gorgeous," he said giving me a kiss on the lips. "Actually, I figured you'd just go straight to bed. Since you're awake, do you want me to make you some breakfast?"
"That sounds amazing, but honestly, I don't think I have the energy for anything other than Raisin Bran."
"What time do you need to leave to go back to the hospital tonight?"
"No later than 6:30."
"What if I come back here around 4 and I'll cook you dinner again before you leave?"
I gazed into his blue-grey eyes, that were the color of the sky before a storm, his lashes impossibly long, "I'm going to ask you a question, and I'm being serious, ok?"
"Ok," he said, leaning back on the bed, abdominal muscles taught to the point that they looked like a tray of cinnamon rolls (ironically, given that he probably had never had a cinnamon roll in his life, the fucker.)
"What's wrong with you? I mean, like, how is that you're gorgeous and smart and successful and funny and you have, like, the most beautiful genitals, and you fuck like a porn star and you cook. Like, I'm asking for all women everywhere, what is wrong with you? Do you have, like, a jar of ears at home or something?" I asked turning to look down at him in the shaft of morning light that was creeping into my bedroom window.
He chuckled to himself, and started softly caressing the small of my back with his left hand. "A jar of ears? Really?"
"It's from one of my favorite British TV shows called Coupling we absolutely should watch it one day, it's incredible."
He was quiet for a full minute, then said, quite thoughtfully, "well, I can get a little OCD about my workouts, and I don't suffer fools well, and I hate doing the dishes. Oh, and I can't sing."
"And you're positive that you don't have a jar of ears or other body parts at home?"
"Yes, quite positive. No ears or other appendages in storage."
"Well, none of those are deal breakers for me, but it's good to know about the dishes, I'll have to make a mental note of that."
"So I'll see you later tonight," he said, sitting up and walking over to his drawer to put on his shirt.
"It's a date," I said, laying down on the bed, too tired for even cereal.
***
I was in a house that was my house, only it wasn't my actual house, but everything was very dark, like the power had gone out. I moved from room to room, looking for someone, but no one was there. For reasons I couldn't explain, it felt like I was being watched or followed, almost like I could hear the scary music that always accompanies the female lead in a horror movie, right before she's about to get killed.
There was a room at the end of the long hallway, but it seemed like the faster I ran, the farther away it appeared. Until suddenly, I was standing before the door, and there was light streaming out around the edges. I pushed on the door, and it creaked open ominously, and I couldn't see anything inside because of the intensity of the light emanating from the room.
Then, suddenly, I was in the middle of a verdant forrest, moss and lichen covered the floor and the lower half of the trees, I could hear a small cry on the other side of the small grove I was standing in. I moved forward cautiously, stepping over fallen branches and rotting leaf matter, until I appeared in the next clearing.
There was a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, crying softly just a few feet from where I stood, I moved closer to inspect the bundle and was shocked to see that the baby was a girl, but she was quite blue, barely breathing. I picked her up and started performing CPR, but I could tell that my efforts were in vain. I pulled back and held her lifeless body in my arms, and when I looked down, the baby's face had morphed into Andy's and I woke up with a start, screaming.
"Jen! Jen! Wake up, it's just a dream, wake up."
It was Andy, he was leaning over me on the bed, holding my shoulders with both hands, as if he had been shaking me to wake me up.
"Andy!" I gasped, "the baby! The baby it's dead!" I screamed.
The look on his face told me that something about what I'd just said didn't make sense. It took me a minute to realize that I was no longer in the grove, that there was no blue baby, and that the baby's face wasn't really Andy's."
"It was a dream?" I asked, looking around the familiar room, surprised to see Max sleeping on the bed at my feet.
"Yeah, sweetie, it was just a dream, you're safe, everything is fine," Andy said, stroking my arm softly with his thumb.
"Feel free to just wake me up when I'm having dreams like that," I said, shaking my head a little to remove the cobwebs.
"Will do," he said. "But you haven't had many of this variety since I've been staying here, but you do have, uh, others..."
"Others? What, like, sex dreams?"
"Well, I assume that's what they are. Or, at least I hope that's what they are," he smiled, continuing to caress my arm.
"Well, I guess you can wake me up from those too. Or, I don't know, you could come with me into the dream."
"Jen, I'm not making love to you when you're sleeping."
"Why not, that's kind of hot," I said, "besides, you've done it before."
He rolled his eyes and stopped rubbing my arm, "that's not fair, I thought you were awake when that happened," he said defensively.
"Andy, I'm giving you permission to defile my slumbering form and to turn something that is disruptive to our sleep, into something that is good for our souls. I'm serious, the next time I have a sex dream, I want you to play along and take me."
"Whatever," he said, "I'll think about it. Right now, though, I've got to tend to my marinade. Why don't you hop in the shower?"
I got up, and shuffled toward the bathroom while Andy went back to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner.
When I was out of the shower, I noticed belatedly that there were no towels in the bathroom except for a large hand towel that I used to wrap up my hair. I stood naked in front of the sink and brushed my teeth, put on some lotion and then I undid my hair from the towel, squeezing out the last few drops of moisture, and brushed it out, putting in a little gel to prevent it from frizzing up too much.
I walked into the bedroom, and was surprised to see Andy sitting on my bed, working on his laptop. He looked up and immediately shut his computer. He slid over to the edge of the bed and motioned for me to approach him. I did, slowly, and when I arrived, I stood stoically between his legs and watched him as he watched me.
With his right hand, he traced down the front of my chest and abdomen and over to my right hip. With his left, he reached around and caressed my back, resting his hand on my backside. He took one breast into his mouth and flicked the nipple to alertness with several strokes of his tongue. I moaned approvingly, and he squeezed my butt and my hips encouragingly. He switched breasts, this time rousing my nipple with gentle nips with his teeth.
He moved one hand between my legs and then groaned himself, when he perceived my degree of readiness for him. Without saying anything, he laid me down on the bed, and quickly removed his shirt and his pants. He laid his body upon me so that I could feel the heat of him and could perceive his readiness too, as it pushed against my thigh. He parted my lips with his tongue and kissed me softly, then parted my lips lower down and spread my juices around with his thumb.
"Andy, I'm ready, come to me," I said, persuasively.
He needed no more encouragement, and in one movement, he pulled down his briefs and entered me hard, not bothering to be delicate. I screamed in pleasure and pain at just how much he filled me up. His thrusts were neither aggressive nor gentle, but were almost urgent in their need. Within a few minutes, I could tell he was close, because he slowed his rhythm down so that he would last longer.
I took this opportunity to roll him into his back and to climb on top of him. We came uncoupled with this movement, and so when we joined again we both moaned appreciatively. I took both his hands and put them on my breasts as I rocked rhythmically on his hardness. Sensing my own orgasm approaching, I leaned forward to rub my clit against his pubic bone, knowing that that would bring me to completion.
Feeling the urgency of my need, he moved one hand down and tried to wedge it between our bodies, but with me leaning forward he couldn't get past his abdomen, so I obliged and sat up again, this time leaning backward, permitting his thumb to flick my bean as I rode him like a bronco.
He hardened perceptibly and I could tell he was close. I was too. Who would get there first? He rubbed my clit harder with his thumb, causing me to scream out. My hips bucked and rotated wildly, almost becoming unseated a few times, but I stayed in the saddle. He was holding out on me, waiting for me to release, but I could tell that he was on the precipice. I leaned forward and started to rub around his nipples with both of my thumbs. He came violently and almost involuntarily. His whole body shuddered and for a minute he was unable to move.
It took him a few seconds to recover, and when he did he had a look of pure determination on his face. My contortions had slowed, and now I was only rocking back and forth like the gradual slowing of a metronome which has run out of potential energy. He pulled me off of him and laid me down on the bed, and with no delay, he kissed my nether mouth with a shocking intensity. He flicked and sucked and rubbed on my clit until I came in a spasm of ecstasy, completely spent by the thoroughness of his oral assault.
"Oh fuck," he said, getting up off of me quickly, "I completely forgot about the rice." He pulled up his boxer briefs and ran into the kitchen while I just laid there and willed for my boneless body to reossify. When my breathing slowed, I sat up and went back into the bathroom to pee and to shower off the smell of sex. I emerged after a few minutes and dressed quickly in a fresh pair of scrubs and went into the kitchen.
He had set the table, but without candles and was in the middle of plating a small portion of rice, green beans and a piece of chicken onto each plate, still undressed except for his boxer shorts. I looked at the clock, it was 5:45 pm, I'd have to eat quickly if I was going to make it to the hospital for my 7pm shift.
He walked past me in the kitchen, putting the tray of leftover chicken breast on the stove top. "You start eating, I'm going to wash up and get changed."
I nodded and kissed him softly on the mouth.
I could seriously get used to this.