What Happens in Vegas?

Chapter 5

Ed slowly began to wake. He wasn't used to sleeping with a partner. He'd had bad luck, romance-wise, and was especially talented at pushing anyone away who got too close. That meant he was used to hook-ups that often ended before morning. But Stede knew every right thing to say and do to get past his defenses and disarm his prickly nature.

Ed was sprawled out on the huge king bed. Stede was curled up against him with a leg thrown over his hip, their faces just inches apart.

Stede was absolutely dead to the world. He snored softly and a little bit of drool trickled onto their shared pillow.

He was heavy and solid and the feel of him draped possessively over Ed's torso like a needy cat made him happier than he'd been in years.

Even though Ed's arm was asleep and his back was a minefield of knots, he couldn't bring himself to move, lest he disturb his bedmate. Even with all that discomfort, he still ended up drifting back to sleep.

He woke sometime later just as Stede tried and failed to close the bathroom door quietly. He heard Stede curse, then the sound of something hitting the floor. As the sound of the water continued, Ed found himself picturing Stede with the water cascading down his body. He pictured running fingers through his hair and getting a good look at his body in the light of day instead of insistent fumbling in a dark room.

Then Ed suddenly opened his eyes. Wait a minute. He didn't need to imagine it.

He tossed back the covers and slid out of bed, taking a moment to duck out of the t-shirt he slept in. Ed paused with his hand on the door to the bathroom. He took a deep breath. There was still a chance that Stede was drunker than he seemed, and that he regretted it all. In which case, this intrusion would only make things worse.

But Ed was tired of second-guessing every signal Stede sent.

He pushed open the door. Stede apparently didn't hear him over the spill of the water and the whirr of the ventilation fan.

Stede was humming with his back to the room as he worked shampoo through his hair. Ed bit his lip, then wriggled out of his pajama pants and underwear. He tried to open the door without scaring the shit out of him, but that was really quite impossible.

"Oh, Jesus!" Stede startled with his whole body and clutched his soapy hand to his chest. "Fuck! Ed, you scared the shit out of me!"

"Well, that's the most cursing I've ever heard from you in one go," said Ed as he slid into the shower. It wasn't very big, but that didn't bother him. He hadn't entered to stay away from Stede, after all. He slid his arms around him from behind, leaned in, and kissed his shoulder. "Morning."

Stede was pink, and Ed didn't think it was from the heat of the shower. "Morning," he whispered.

When Ed planned on entering the shower, the scenario played out like something out of a porno. Instead, he just held him as the water streamed over them both. He closed his eyes and let himself feel what it was like to hold the man who had dominated his thoughts for months.

Stede leaned back against him and rubbed his hand up and down Ed's arm. "We're wasting a lot of water," he murmured after several minutes. "And this is a desert."

"Fuck the desert," murmured Ed as he pressed a kiss to the curve of Stede's jaw.

Stede chuckled warmly. "We're also going to be late for the breakfast meeting. That will piss Nigel off."

"And fuck Birdie."

Stede turned in his arms and pawed at the side of Ed's face. "If he knew you knew about that nickname, and that we all use it behind his back..."