Page 11 of In the Cover of Darkness

Grabbing a few things from my bag, I head toward the bathroom and just as I'm closing the door, I hear her moaning in delight, biting into a slice of pizza.

That woman is going to be the death of me. I know I shouldn't be lusting after her, she's vulnerable and deserves better from me, but there's something about her I can't escape. Every minute I'm with her the harder I know it's going to be when she finally moves on from me. Until then I'll try and hold on to this feeling as long as I can, make sure every part of her and what she's willing to give me is etched in my memory so I'll never forget. I'd never want to take advantage of her or the situation she is in, and I definitely don't want to push her away by being coldor disinterested. I don't know how to explain it other than she calms me, the world seems to slow down, and I can breathe a little easier when she's near me. I've never experienced anything like it before and I don't know if I want to give it up either.

Turning on the shower as hot as I can stand, I try to ignore my aching cock. I don't want to be that guy, but at the same time, I can't stop my thoughts from going to her. Her delicious curves, her ass, and just knowing I was so close to her pussy sends me over the edge, and I start fisting my cock hard, coming shortly after with a low grunt.

My hair is still wet but I’m in a fresh pair of clothes. Opening the door of the bathroom, I find her sitting on one of the two chairs next to the coffee table.

“I'm sorry, I had to put your jacket on. I was cold and couldn't figure out how to turn up the heat,” she says a little timidly.

"No problem at all, did you manage to eat all the pizza? You didn't really touch your food in the medical centre,” I say, walking toward the wall heater, and turning up the heat for her.

“I think I'm in love,” she says, looking down at the pizza box with affection. “I think this is the best food I've ever had in my life. I'm going to run away with this pizza and elope somewhere, make a ton of pizza babies and then eat them,” she says grinning at me.

“There are several laws you're breaking with that pipe dream, but I wish you luck on your pizza romance,” I say, chuckling back at her.

Moving toward her, and taking a seat in the other chair, I say, “Okay, you've set the bar high, so this better be the best damn pizza I've ever had in my life.” Opening the box I can see she's managed to eat half of it, which is impressive, considering most women I've dated in the past will order a salad, and say they're full after one bite.

Picking up a piece of the room temperature pizza I fold it and take a large bite, almost fitting the whole slice in my mouth. Chewing, I give her a look of contemplation, bringing my finger up and tapping on my chin before swallowing. Looking at her I say nothing, keeping my face expressionless to not give my thoughts away.

She repositions herself on the chair she's sitting in, turning her body to face me directly, bringing her legs up and wrapping her arms around them, tentatively resting her chin on her knees.

“Oh gods, I can't take this. Do you think it’s good?”

Still staring at her I give nothing away while she looks straight into my eyes. It feels like she can see directly into my soul. That she can tell I want her and don't care about the life she's come from. Shaking my head, I look all over the room, anywhere but at her while I collect my thoughts, forcing my focus back to the critique of the pizza.

Clearing my throat and returning my gaze to her, I say, “I might have mentioned that I was in the Army so I had to eat a lot of instant-type MRE meals. Some of them are okay but a lot of them are bad so I don't think I have a particularly fussy palate …"

“So you hate it. No. Do you love it then? Ugh, I can't read you! Come on, you're dragging this out so much,” she says, smiling at me, a look of hope that I'll agree with her view.

“This is the most gods damn ..."

“Come on Dante, just tell me already,” she says laughing. Gods I love it when she says my name, the way it rolls off her tongue with such ease, such familiarity.

“Worst pizza I've ever had. This is awful. I don't know how you ate so much of it. I think we should take you back to the doctor and get them to check your taste buds,” I say, grinning at her, stuffing the last bit of the slice I was holding in my mouth.

“WHAT!” she yells, “I don't believe you, you're lying.” Picking up the box with the remaining slices in it, she says, “Fine these are all mine then. You've chosen your side and it's the losing one,” a smile erupting on her face.

“Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I take it back. Please let me have more. It's not that bad, I mean it's not good but I'll still eat it,” gesturing for her to pass me the pizza box.

“Hmmm, okay but this makes us basically even now, you know since you saved my life and all,” she laughs, and hands me the box. “Do you want to watch a movie? Unless there's something else we need to be doing. I'm a little tired, I think the pain relief makes me a little drowsy, so I might put something on to fall asleep to, if that's okay with you.”

Looking at the room I see that the TV is opposite the bed so we will need to sit on the bed to watch it. Sit on the bed together, close together. We haven't been that close since the first night I held her to get warm. I can feel my heart beat a little quicker, before asking her, “Are you opposed to pizza in bed?”

Maintaining eye contact with me she says with bated breath, “For you Dante, I'll break all of my rules,” and right there, in this shitty motel room, holding a cold pizza, staring at the most beautiful woman, I fall in love.

Chapter 11 - Mila

Turning, I take the two steps toward the bed, feeling myself blush. I can't believe I just said that, mentally giving myself a facepalm. He's been so serious the whole time we've been together, it was almost exciting to see this playful side of him. I hope I get to see more of it as we get to know each other better.

Standing in front of the bed, I only now realise how small it is. We will practically be on top of each other, not that I mind. I just mean, you won't find me complaining about being pushed against a man who was carved from the heavens, that's been nothing but kind and caring towards me. I feel safe when he's around, like nothing could ever hurt me because I know he's close by.

I feel his body move to stand behind mine, both of us staring at the bed.

“Okay, let's not make this awkward. The bed is a little on the smaller side and you're a little on the larger side.”

“I'll take that as a compliment,” he mumbles, and I turn my head to smile at him.

Chuckling and nudging him in his side, hoping to keep this playful banter up, I say, “What I mean is, we're going to be touching. Are you okay touching me? Because I'm comfortable with you, but if you're not we can figure something else out.” I look back at him and he has a confused look on his face so I try to explain further. “Because the bed’s so small, if we both sit on it to watch a movie we will be touching … our arms and le—”

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