Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Eighty-Nine

    There was the sound of rushing water, but nothing but darkness. There was...warmth, and a feeling of contentment. Drake cracked his eyes open and lifted his head. He instantly recognized the decorative sconces lined up on the walls and the blue pool lights. He was still in the grotto. He looked down at the brown heap of lusciousness lying under the protection of his arm. Smiling softly, he bent his head down and kissed her bare shoulder.

    She shifted against him, moaning in her sleep.

    He'd come close to telling her that he loved her earlier. A part of him had wanted to tell her. Past experiences be damned, he did love the girl. Remembering Shawn's earlier words, he'd wanted to seize the moment and let her know he felt. But at the last possible moment, he'd chumped out. What he had with her was too important, too special to him. He didn't want to risk jinxing what they shared.

    He kissed her shoulder again and whispered, "Mia."

    "Hmm," she moaned in her sleep.

    He smiled. "Mia. We can't sleep here."

    She raised her head and looked around.

    "If you sleep an entire night in this spot, you'll wake up feeling like shit," he told her, withdrawing his arm from her and sitting up.

    She sat up and winced. "Too late, I already do."

    He stood up and helped her up.

    "Oh, shit, we have to get back in the water to get out of the pool?" she asked, walking over to where her bikini top and bottoms lay on the stone floor. She picked up her bikini bottoms and stepped into them.

    "Yeah, I didn't really consider that falling asleep in here could be an issue," he said, smiling.

    She held her bikini top over her breasts and walked over to him. "Help me with this?" she asked, sweeping her hair over one shoulder and turning around.

    He stared at the beautiful curve of her back, tempted to suggest a third round of lovemaking before heading back to the house. He suppressed the urge and tied her bikini top for her. He couldn't resist caressing her skin with the knuckles of his hand, though.

    "Mmm."

    Before he could fall victim to temptation, he reached out and grabbed her hand. He pulled off the hair tie that was looped around her wrist. Then he proceeded to gather her hair up and secure it in a messy topknot on top of her head.

    When he was finished, she looked at him over her shoulder. "Thank you," she told him, turning around to face him.

    He kissed her forehead and walked away from her. He walked to the far end of the grotto, near the bar area, and messed with some of the controls on a control panel embedded in the wall. The sound of rushing water quieted and then stopped altogether. He'd effectively turned off all of the waterfall effects in the swimming pool area. He walked back over to her. "Let's get going." He led the way to the pool steps. He stepped down into the water, cursing under his breath at the water's chilliness.

    She dipped a toe in and frowned.

    He looked back at her and laughed at the look on her face. "It's not that bad."

    "This is so fucked up," she muttered.

    "So you do use the F word," he said, still laughing.

    "When I'm pissed of or...the other thing," she muttered. "And I'm pissed off right now."

    He tried to stop laughing, but that only made it worse.

   "You're laughing at my pain," she called out to him. "What kind of boyfriend are you?"

    "I'm sorry baby," he said, getting a few last chuckles out before turning serious. "Once you're in, I'll keep you warm. Come on."

    She rolled her eyes and stepped into the water, gritting her teeth. The minute her feet hit the pool floor, he was there with his arms around her. Just as he'd promised. Pressing kisses to her forehead and temple while rubbing her arms. "Thank you," she said again, sheepishly this time.

    "Let's go in the house," he said. "I'm fucking exhausted."

    She nodded and followed him, making sure to keep her head above water.

    He swam, taking long, measured strokes. He loved the feel of gliding through water. There was something tranquil about it. The sky was still dark. He wasn't wearing a watch and didn't have his phone on him, so he had no sense of time other than what the sky told him. If he had to guess what time it was, he would guess maybe midnight or one o' clock in the morning. He heard the sounds of light splashing behind him and knew it was Mia trailing behind him. When he reached the edge of the pool near the patio, he hoisted himself out and helped Mia out. He strode across the patio to the cabana area, where he grabbed large towels for the both of them.

     She stood by the pool, shivering with her hands clasped together in front of her.

    With his eyes locked on hers, he returned to her and slung one of the towels over his shoulder. He spread out the towel that remained in his hands and knelt down to the ground. He toweled off each of her legs, then stood up again and started to dry off her torso.

    She watched him in fascination.

    He circled around her and worked on drying her back.

    "A girl could get used to this," she said softly.

    "You should have been in bed resting today," he told her. "You've done a lot of moving around and after our sessions in the grotto...who knows what effect those will have on you when you wake up tomorrow. It's the least I can do." He draped the towel around her shoulders and pulled at the towel he'd slung over his shoulder. He started to dry himself off. When he was finished, he slung the towel over his shoulder again and held his hand out. "Let's go in."

                                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    It felt good to be in a soft, comfortable bed instead of lying on a hard rock surface. Mia lie in bed watching Drake sleep. Relaxing music played through speakers mounted into the walls. She was warm and snug beneath the covers. Drake's arm was around her, which made her feel safe. She didn't know why she was having such a hard time going back to sleep.

    He shifted and his arm around her tightened. "Don't leave me," he murmured.

    I'm not going anywhere, baby, she thought, smiling. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but didn't want to wake him.

    "I wanted to tell you," he said dreamily with his eyes closed.

    Her brows drew together. Tell me what?

    "I wanted to tell you that I love you."

    Her breath caught in her throat.

    He pulled her closer to him and moaned softly in his sleep.

    You hallucinated that, she told herself. You imagined that because you wanted to hear it. You knew he was going to say the words earlier and you wanted to hear him say the words so badly, your brain cooked up this crazy realistic fantasy...

    "I wanted to tell you I love you, Mia," he said again. Clear as day. She wasn't hallucinating.

    She stared at him, her heart filling with so much love, it was overwhelming. Blinding. She no longer cared if she woke him up. She leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. After a few moments, his lips started to move with hers, but when she pulled back, his eyes were still closed. She rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. The previous night, she'd been plagued with nightmares about Trevor. Years ago, she'd been plagued by nightmares about her parents dying. Her brain's cruel way of making her relive the tragic experience of finding out about their deaths, over and over again. She eventually got over those nightmares, but once in awhile they would still creep up, out of the blue. But tonight as she slipped into a peaceful slumber, lying in the arms of the man she loved - the man who loved her - she dreamt nothing but blissful, sweet dreams.