𝐈 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮

Jonesy

  "Okay, so where exactly are you taking me?" Althea looked anxiously out the window as tall buildings flew past us. It was the day before her parents flew in from New York and I thought it would be best for us if we didn't spend the entire day staring at the wall and chewing our nails.
  "We are going into the city," I answered, briefly looking at her before turning my eyes back to the road.
  "Wow, thank you for that very informative tidbit of information, Sherlock," she laughed. "But where exactly in the city are we going? None of this looks familiar."
  I shook my head and laughed. "Can you just trust me to know where we're going? I promise I'm not kidnapping you."
  Althea crossed her arms and sat back in her seat. "Fine. Am I at least dressed appropriately for this mystery date? I wasn't given enough time to come up with something-"
  I reached over and took her hand in mine. "You look perfect, you always look perfect."
  She squeezed my hand before continuing. "Thank you, but is it appropriate for the date? I can't exactly go rock climbing in this skirt."
  I gave her a quick look over. She wore a short pleated skirt with checkered tights and a large oversized sweater. Oddly enough, she was perfectly dressed. I myself had decided to go with my favorite pair of tan cargo pants and a long sleeved sweater over a polo. I smiled at the fact we kind of matched, even if it wasn't planned.
  "I promise you, we are not going rock climbing. I did not wear the right shoes for that. Oh-and look at that, we're here."
  I pulled up to the toll booth and looked over at a wide eyed Althea. The attendant opened her window with a smile.
  "Hi, do you have your entry tickets?"
  "Tickets?" Althea mouthed silently, confusion flooding her face. I laughed lightly and pulled the two tickets from the sun visor.
  The toll booth worker took the tickets, stamped them and then handed them back. "Welcome to Waverly's Wild Underwater World, I hope you enjoy your stay with us."
  "Thank you." I took the tickets and handed them to Althea. "Hold these for me, please." She took them and quickly turned them over to read the back aloud.
  "Waverly's Wild Underwater World offers a unique overnight experience for sea creature lovers. Come join us for a one of a kind underwater adventure, explore the 220,000 square foot aquarium at your own pace before returning to your room to spend the night with a view of hundreds of live ocean animals."
  Her mouth fell open. "Oh, my God. This sounds amazing." Her face fell. "I didn't bring any pj's or my toothbrush, or my bonnet-"
  I covered her hand with one of mine. "I already took care of all that." I had enlisted the help of Gemma to pack all of Althea's necessary overnight things earlier this afternoon. "They're all in the trunk."
  She relaxed and I smiled; I had wanted this night to be perfect for her. She needed to relax and I could use some peace before going up against Priestley tomorrow. We both had a big day tomorrow and a night with just the two of us was exactly what we needed.
  After handing our tickets and bags to the man at the front desk, we wandered around, looking at all of the fish and sharks in their huge tanks. As much as I hated the ocean, I did enjoy watching all the creatures that lived there. As long as there was twelve inches of glass separating me from them.
  Every once in a while Althea would "ooooh" and "aaaah" at one of the animals. Her smile never left her face as we meandered the halls of the aquarium. I don't think I had ever seen her this happy, she was even happier than she had been on the ski trip last month.
  "Oh, my God, look at how big the whale shark is in comparison to this little clown fish." She stared up at the large docile creature as it swam above her. "Did you know that a whale shark's pattern is unique to each one? No two sharks have the same spot pattern, kind of like how no two tigers and zebras are identical. Isn't that so special?"
  I did know that, but the look on her face as she shared that information was too precious. I didn't tell her I knew. "That is really amazing. Now, how about you turn around so I can take your picture."

***

  After we had walked the entirety of the downstairs floor of the aquarium twice, we took the elevator up to the sleeping area. The room was complete with a king sized bed, a full bathroom with a tub and shower, an extremely large tv, and of course, the large open window where we could watch the aquatic animals.
  "I am so tired I could just fall right over," Althea mumbled, falling onto the bed. I felt the same; all of the walking hadn't seemed like much while we were doing it but now it was definitely catching up with me.
  "How about a shower and then we can order room service?"
  "Oh, God, yes." She breathed out, sitting up. "I'm starving, I could really go for a burger and some fries right now."
  I laughed, lifting up the bottom of her sweater. "I could eat an entire horse." I pulled her sweater over her head and tossed it onto the floor with the rest of our clothes.
  Althea led the way into the bathroom, turned on the hot water and stepped in. I followed after her, not letting go of her hand.
  "Jesus Christ! You could boil a crab in this water!" I yelped as the steaming hot water hit my back.
  "Oh, hush; you're such a baby." Althea rolled her eyes, lathering some soap into one of the washcloths and handed it to me. She did the same with the other before gently scrubbing at her skin.
  "Could you get my back?" She turned around and handed me her washcloth. I gently ran the cloth across her shoulder blades and down her back, watching the soap suds trickle down her skin.
  I watched as the muscles in her back tensed and flexed before relaxing as I ran my fingertips across her skin. I heard her breath hitch as I moved her hair to kiss the nape of her neck.
  "You have the most beautiful naked body," I murmured against her skin. Althea moaned in response and over her shoulder, I could see her pulse quickening in her throat.
  I ran my fingertips down the length of her arm before interlocking her fingers with mine. I kissed her neck, her shoulders, the tiny freckles on her back. Gently turning her body towards mine, I kissed the small space where her ear met her jaw.
  Althea ran her fingers through my wet hair before her mouth found mine. Each of her kisses were filled with so much hunger and passion, I honestly could not believe I was actually kissing her.
  I didn't even care about how hot the water was anymore. Everything else was drowned out the moment our lips met.
  Althea looped her arms around my neck and straddled me with her legs. I pressed her up against the shower wall before my fingers found their way down her body and up her thighs.
  I smiled at the small gasp Althea let out when I gently slid one and then two fingers inside of her. Her nails dug into the skin on my back as she bit down on my lower lip. I could hear the slight intakes of breath each time my fingers slid in and then out.
  I felt her walls tighten around them and she moaned into my mouth. "Oh, God, don't stop," she panted out, her hold on me tightening.
  I had absolutely no intention of stopping whatsoever.
  I quickly sped up, my thumb rubbing her now swollen clit while my index and middle finger curved, pumping in and upward. Althea's mouth left mine and she gently tossed her head back.
  In that moment, seeing the way her eyes closed and her neck curved, a flashback from seeing her duet with Aiden briefly flooded my mind. I thought about his hands on her, just inches away from her ass. I thought about the way he had looked at her before, during, and after their practice set and a mixture of emotions I couldn't quite name flooded me.
  I pulled Althea's head back towards mine, kissing away the picture of her and Aiden in my mind. I shouldn't be jealous of him. I wasn't even sure you could call it jealousy.
  Althea was mine. She was in my arms, kissing my mouth, whimpering my name, and coming on my fingertips.
  Nothing about their interaction had given me any sort of indication that she was even the tiniest bit interested in him, and yet I couldn't get past this overwhelming sense of anger towards him.
  "Fuck, fuck, fuck," Althea bit out as her orgasm took over her. She wrapped both arms around my neck tightly, soft moans and gasps for air escaping her lips.
  She was breathing hard and hot against my skin and I took this moment to take a step back, pulling us away from the wall and gently setting her back onto her feet.
  "Jesus, I don't think I've ever come that hard before." She pushed her wet hair away from her face, the curls slowly tightening and turning into a small afro. "What did you do differently? This wasn't like times before, you were rougher."
  Thought about your ex eye fucking you, I thought to myself. I ran a hand through my hair, shaking out the water droplets and gave her a sheepish smile and a shrug.
  "I'm just really, really good with my fingers." I picked up the discarded washcloth. "I am a guitarist afterall." I added with a laugh.
  "You should be rougher more often." The smile on her face told me she was satisfied with that answer. Not that I would have actually told her what had caused the sudden change; I didn't want to think about it, at least not for the rest of the night.
  Tonight wasn't about Althea's past feelings for him. Tonight was about her current feelings for me, and mine for her.