Page 54 of It's Only Love

Chapter 18

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Christy’s mind chanted over and over again as she got out of the truck. That was mind blowing. Admittedly, she didn’t have much experience with sex, but she knew that was on a whole different level. Her thoughts were going so crazy she didn’t notice he was standing in front of her. She smiled up at him, trying to be normal, and he dropped a quick kiss on her lips.

He took her hand and they walked away from his truck, the moonlight shining down on the driveway, reflecting brightly off the wet surface. Gone were the rain and clouds, and the temperature had thankfully dropped. Her clothes were wet, sending a chill through her, she needed to change. They reached the front door to the house and she realized they got there quite quickly. She turned round to look how far they walked, and it couldn’t be more than twenty meters from the truck, then it hit her.

“A bit of a trek, huh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him, he smirked at her and turned to unlock the door.

“No need to thank me, I know how much you enjoyed that.”

Her cheeks heated softly at his gentle teasing. She had never been teased by a lover before. She walked into the house sputtering about him enjoying it too, desperate to hear him agree but he didn’t, and she felt a little disappointed, did he seem a bit distracted? The house was dark inside, the moonlight shone through some of the windows, but as she heard Dean flicking a light switch it was clear the power was still out. He took her arm and steered her into the house and then to the left, through a wide arch opening and stopped her.

“Wait here while I grab some candles, don’t move, I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” he said, and then he was gone. She heard him banging around in another room, a muttered curse and then silence. After a beat, she heard his footsteps coming back towards her and felt his presence beside her.

“One second,” he said, and she heard a clicking sound, followed by a whoosh, and his face was illuminated. He lit a wide, square candle and she could see some more on the floor in front of him. He set about lighting them and distributing them around the room, then he knelt down in front of the fireplace and in no time, the flames were dancing and lighting up the room. There was a nervous energy about him, but when he came towards her, his features softened and her heart pounded. Now that they had sex, what happened next? She was in unchartered territory, she found she didn’t know how to behave. What would he be expecting? What did she want? A chill swept through her, now they were out of the warm truck, her wet clothes began to feel much colder. He frowned down at her.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and hurried off once again. While he was gone, she looked around the room. The décor was nice and warm, cream walls with wooden beams running across the ceiling. The fireplace was the main focal point of the room with a soft, brown couch facing it that had a matching armchair on each side. A wooden sideboard ran along the wall under the wide window that looked out the front of the house. There were some picture frames on the sideboard and Christy went over to take a closer look. There was one of him and Beau, both bare-chested and flexing comically on a beach somewhere. Judging by the people in the background it could’ve been L.A.

Seeing bikini babes in the background of the photo she suddenly panicked that he saw her completely naked when they had sex in the truck. She had been so lost in the moment she hadn’t thought about what he might think of the way she looked. Old insecurities tried to overtake her, she turned her attention back to the frames, trying to shove the thoughts out of her mind. There was also one of him and his mom, he had his arms around her, and they were both grinning at the camera. In between both of these photos, in a larger frame was a photograph of him and Taylor. They were both pulling funny faces at each other, Christy laughed to herself as she took it in.

“Here you go,” Dean said from behind her, she turned to see him holding out a navy, fleece robe to her. He brought her something to change into, something that was clearly his, and she couldn’t wait to slip it on and have his scent envelope her, but she looked around awkwardly. The rest of the house was in complete darkness and even after what they experienced together, she felt awkward stripping off.

“I’ll go make us some sandwiches; I’m starving.” He must have sensed her unease, he winked at her as he left the room. She waited a moment and then stripped out of her wet clothes, leaving just her underwear on, and hung them over the back of the chair near the fireplace. Then she wrapped herself in his robe, burying her face into the soft material and inhaling his scent. It reminded her of the woods, fresh, wild, and masculine.

She sat in front of the fire, legs crossed and palms to the flames, the heat felt wonderful across her skin and she could feel her hair drying already. She groaned inwardly at the thought of it drying fluffy and being unable to tame it. After a few minutes she warmed up, so scooted back and sat on the soft cream rug covering the floor and leant her back against the couch. The room felt so warm and inviting, it was amazing how she felt right at home here, she closed her eyes, feeling herself relax.

When she opened them again, Dean was sitting down next to her, putting a plate in her lap. She looked down and saw he made her a cheese sandwich and cut them into four small squares, like Taylor used to make for her as kids. How did he still remember that’s how she liked them? On the plate was a selection of grapes and strawberries.

“Sorry, turns out I didn’t have as much as I thought,” he shrugged, and his cheeks looked a little pink in the light from the flame. Her stomach chose that moment to let out a loud growl, and she cringed.

“It looks lovely, and as you can probably tell, I’m not fussy right now,” she laughed. While they ate, he told her about the house, it had been abandoned and run down, he had been looking for a project, so he put in an offer and got it. While he talked, she noticed he still seemed really tense, was it because of what they had done?

“No wonder you’ve been so good at fixing up my parents’ house,” she said, praise infusing her tone. He nodded, not saying much more.

“I can’t see the other rooms right now, but it looks like you’ve done an amazing job, it’s beautiful, you should be so proud,” she gushed.

“You really think so?” he asked shyly.

“I do.”

He visibly relaxed, as if her words eased some tension inside him. Had he been worried about what she would think of his place? How cute.

“Good, I can give you a proper tour in the morning,” he said, flames dancing in his eyes and just like that she felt nervous and needy for him all over again, already regretting her one-time rule. He looked at her a moment longer and then reached up, brushing her hair back from her face and cupping her jaw in his strong hand. She leaned into his touch, it had been so long since she felt human contact, or affection, and she had forgotten how much she missed it. She couldn’t help but wonder if it would be as nice if it was anyone but Dean.

He stroked her cheek with his thumb and she closed her eyes at the gentle touch. With his other hand he took her empty plate from her lap, put it to one side, and pulled her into the crook of his body where she fit him like a missing puzzle piece. Her head resting on his chest as the hand that was on her cheek began stroking her hair. She heard the gentle thud of his heart through his chest and settled into him, circling her arms around his waist.

“Tell me about you and Taylor,” she said with a sigh.

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