The Smell of Lilies

Chapter 16

The thin red curtains shielding the window didn't do much to keep the streaming sunlight from leaking into their room the next morning. It slowly slid across the wooden stationary desk, over the carpet, and crept onto the two sleeping figures in bed. 

Kel's eyes fluttered open when the light crept far enough to lay over her eyelids. She felt a heavy arm around her waist, just below her chest. Brandon had been cradling her against his body as they slept and his arm had kept her warm. She could hear his light breathing and decided it was one of the best sounds in the world. She turned over gently, trying not to wake him, so as to face him and put her face in the crook of his neck. Her gentle turning failed though, and Brandon stirred.

"Kel?" he asked, in a crackled, sleepy voice that only she could think was sexy. She took what she thought before back; this was her favorite sound in the world.

"Hm?" 

"You okay?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

"Mm-hm."

"Good," he said definitively, taking in a big breath. "Is my arm too heavy?"

"Mm-mm."

He leaned down to kiss her lips. Her hands came up to hold his face, but the old bitchy critic inside her head made her worry about her morning breath and messy hair, how awful she must look. And then she recalled last night and everything Brandon had ever said to her...The critic was now out of business.

Brandon pulled back and swept a strand of her hair away from her eyes. "How was that?" he asked playfully. 

Kel smiled and once again mumbled, "Mm-hm." For lack of a better word.

"You need to work on your vocabulary."

"Too early."

Brandon craned him head over to look at the clock on the table. "It's almost noon."

Kel's head popped up. "What? Really?"

She sprang up from the bed and tried to locate her clothes from last night. Brandon crossed his arms above his head and watched with an amused look on his face and hunger in his eyes as he watched her body move. 

Kel found her fresh bra and underwear, quickly pulling them on. She turned to get clothes and then  stopped and turned back. She had a pointed expression on her face and held a finger toward Brandon. "You didn't just see that."

Brandon had a wicked grin on his face. "See what?"

She glared at him for only a mere second before opening boxes trying to find something to wear. "...told my sister that I'd been in L.A. by the afternoon...can't believe we slept in...where are my jeans..." she rambled on. 

She heard Brandon get off the bed and walk over to her, buck-naked and confident. His abs and arms were hard not to look at. Kel tried to concentrate on finding her toothbrush, but Brandon just stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her hair, the base of her neck, all the way down her cheek, just stopping at her lips. 

"I'm not going to be able to get anything done with you distracting me like this," Kel said, trying to keep her heart rate down.

"Am I a distraction?" His voice was pulling her in, a cloying sound that rung in her ears. He kissed the crook of her neck again, making her a little weak in the knees.

"Yes," she said, a little less steadily than she liked. "A big distraction."

He said nothing. He just kept kissing her, avoiding her lips. His hands rubbed up and down her waist, feeling her soft sun-kissed skin.