Exhausted&Lost

Chapter Twenty Nine

"You're staring again," Ava warned, blowing away the loose curl that had tumbled out of her ponytail for approximately the 50th time in the past 20 minutes.

"I'm not staring, I'm... appreciating," Dave argued, breaking eye contact for only a moment, before resuming his slack-jawed gaze.

She moved from Cobra to the Downward Dog pose and had to swallow her giggle at the involuntary groan that escaped his mouth from his perch on the patio.

Usually, she preferred to do yoga alone, enjoying the peace and quiet, but she and Dave had the rare opportunity to spend the entire morning together without him having to disappear to the Studio or her having to disappear to the Hide Out, or without at least one of the kids running around the house - and he was supposed to be making brunch but was getting a little... distracted.

"Oh come on," he wailed, "you're just doing that on purpose now."

"I am just over here trying to improve my spinal mobility, David. I have no idea what you're talking about," she said innocently, turning her face into the crook of her elbow to hide her smirk.

She didn't hear him launch out of his chair, nor did she see the strides he was taking across the grass towards her, but suddenly she was standing, her wrist gripped in his hand and her chest was pressed to his. His pupils were dilated and his breath was ragged as he stared her down like a predator that just cornered his prey.

The primal air around him triggered something within her, that made part of her want to dart away to safety, but another part of her... and she could sense this part of her was inching toward victory in her current internal battle, that wanted to pin him to the patio and make him submit.

His grip on her wrist tightened and she broke the silence that had hung around them for what had felt like several minutes.

"Inside."

Her voice sounded gruff, authoritative, surprising even herself. Dave raised an eyebrow at her, the hint of a smile pulling at his lips, but he dutifully led her through the french doors onto the cool tiled floor of the house.

"Wher-" he tried, but quickly shut his mouth when he realized Ava had disappeared without him noticing. He made his way through the foyer, trying to pick up on any noise in the house that would give away her location, but there was only silence.

He checked his bedroom, the guest rooms, the dining room, even the laundry room, but there was still no sign of her. The only places left to check were the garage and his studio.

As he neared the door he could hear her softly strumming on his Martin D-28. He lingered behind the door for a moment, reluctant to interrupt her quiet moment, before suddenly remembering why he was in the house in the first place.

He didn't mean to interrupt her yoga, knowing that it was one of the only precious moments of peace she got in her crazy life but no one could exactly blame him, those yoga pants... and the damn poses. 

She had to have known exactly what she was doing to him. Before he even knew what he was doing himself, he was off the seat and yanking her off of the ground, but what he didn't expect was the fire blazing in her eyes when he did so.

He pushed open the door to find her perched on the arm of the couch, she had pulled her hair out of its ponytail and it now fell over her face as she concentrated on the melody she was playing.

"Took you long enough," she murmured without even looking up from her hands.

"Would have been a lot quicker if you hadn't darted off like a frightened deer," he chuckled, crossing the room slowly to gauge her mood as she stood and carefully placed the guitar back against the wall.