Sleep

The sun filtered through the break in the curtains, and Cadence’s eyelid fluttered a few times before she remembered where she was.
Paris….
In Aaron’s hotel room….
She was facing the living room and immediately noticed he wasn’t sitting on the couch working on his laptop anymore.
In fact, she didn’t see him at all.
As she tried to sit up in an attempt to locate him, she realized she couldn’t do so easily.
An arm was tossed across her midsection.
Her eyes widened as she contemplated what to do.
“Holy shit!” she mouthed.
Not only had Aaron taken her up on her offer to climb into bed with her… he had his arm around her!
This… was interesting.
A glance at the clock told her she had about an hour before she needed to get up. The prospect of leaving this bed, with this man, to go shopping with Eliza was not enticing at all, not even when she considered the fact that they’d be going to the shops on the Champs Elysees.
“What to do? What to do?” she thought to herself as she considered how to best use this situation.
His arm was tucked around her midsection, loosely, so she could roll over if she wanted to. He was still asleep. She could tell by the way his breathing was so shallow and even.
She wished she could go brush her teeth or at the very least reach the unopened bottle of water on the nightstand without disturbing him. But she couldn’t take the chance. She’d have to hope that she didn’t have dragon breath. She couldn’t imagine Aaron’s breath not being all minty fresh even when he’d been sleeping, not that she even cared. She’d kiss him no matter what his breath smelled like.
Cadence decided to pretend like she was still asleep and scoot back into him, wondering if he’d tighten his grip on her. As she forced her body to relax, not an easy feat considering how hard her heart was beating in her chest, she slid backward in the bed a bit and nestled herself closer to him.
Yeah, he was asleep alright….
And he was either having a really good dream or it was just a glorious morning, but feeling his hardness against her bottom had Cadence’s insides tangling up in all kinds of ways and that ache she so often felt when she was around him intensified a hundred fold as her mind went wild with images of Aaron on top of her as she writhed beneath him.
He let out a soft sigh-like moan as he pulled her even closer to him, and Cadence found herself spinning around to face him.
His eyes were shut tight—he was definitely asleep.
And just as gorgeous as ever.
He was wearing a white T-shirt that left little to the imagination as it clung to his biceps and pecs, and she fought the urge to wake him up with a kiss… or something else. It wasn’t as if rolling over had made her feel his erection pressed against her any less. Now, it was her thigh that told her that he was physically capable of making all of the wild fantasies in her head come true. She’d only ever been with Jack before, so she didn’t have much to compare this to, but she was under the assumption that Aaron would’ve made Jack look a little less than accommodating.
His eyelashes fluttered a few times, so Cadence ducked her head down to his chest, keeping her eyes closed, too, hoping when he woke up, she didn’t give herself away. She knew taking advantage of him while he was asleep was an act of desperation even she wasn’t wild with lust enough to try. Still… if they just happened to be in a compromising position when he woke up… maybe he’d forget all about his decision not to pursue her anymore.
All of the movement must’ve woken him up because a moment later, she felt him pull away from her slightly, and lifted her head, doing her best to look like she was just waking up, too.
Aaron’s eyes were open now, his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he looked down at her and pulled himself away, just so that he wasn’t pressed up against her anymore. His hand had been resting on her lower back, and when he moved, it slid to her waist, but he didn’t remove it completely.
Damn this stupid sweatshirt! Why couldn’t she have been wearing something sexy and slinky so that his hand could’ve inadvertently slid beneath it?
“Hi,” he said, his breath as fresh as ever. “Did I wake you?”
“Oh, uh… maybe,” she said, pretending like she wasn’t sure. “Hi.” She smiled at him, her hand resting on his arm. “You slept?”
“Yeah.” His face turned that shade of red it always did when he was embarrassed. “Sorry. I mean… when I decided to take you up on your offer, I didn’t intend for….” He stopped talking and glanced down at the fact that they were lying so close together. “I didn’t intend to intrude.”
“It’s fine,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. She didn’t want to seem too eager.
He didn’t seem to agree with her as he rolled away, putting a few inches between them and pulling his arm away from her. Even beneath the covers, Cadence felt cold.
“How did you sleep?” he asked, still blinking like he wasn’t quite all the way awake yet. When he lifted his arms over his head and stretched, Cadence found herself momentarily distracted, staring at the muscles in his arms as he flexed them in his attempt to fully wake.
She shook her head, gathering her thoughts. “I slept well, thanks. And you?”
“Better than I have in a long time,” he admitted. With about a foot between them, he turned back onto his side to face her, propping his head up on his fist.
“You were tired,” she reminded him. “See, sleep isn’t such an awful thing.”
“No, sleep’s great. It’s the making up for all of the work that I missed that’s so terrible,” he explained. As if realizing he had a ton to do and that he needed to find a way out of the bed quickly before the situation took a turn, he glanced over at his laptop and then started to get up.
She couldn’t let that happen, not yet, anyway.
“It’s still early,” she said, her hand reaching out to rest on his arm again. She pushed down just hard enough to keep him where he was. For now. “You’re doing the job of two people. Or more.”
“You’re right; that’s exactly why. But until the Hunters elect someone else as Leader, I’m just going to have to do it myself,” he reminded her, giving her a small smile.
The last thing Cadence wanted to talk about was work, but she found herself saying, “Well, I may not be my grandmother, but if there’s anything that you think I can help you with, please let me know.:
“Thanks,” he said, staring at her in a way she couldn’t quite decipher.
Her mind was still stuck in the gutter, and she wondered if he was still hard. Visions of herself reaching down beneath the blanket to find out filled her head, and her cheeks flamed.
Aaron raised an eyebrow. “Cadence? Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “No.” She saw no point in lying to him.
“Jack?” he asked.
Did he really think her mind was on Jack?
It would be easy to lie and say that was the problem, but she had a feeling he could see right through her, regardless of what he claimed when it came to reading her emotions.
“No.”
“What is it then?” Aaron asked her, the V between his eyebrows growing even more as he studied her face.
Maybe he really didn’t know….
“Uh… you,” she admitted, trying to keep her tone as nonchalant as possible, but inside, her heart was racing.
“Me?” The shocked expression on his face made her face catch fire again. “Oh, I’m sorry, Cadence.” He started to get out of the bed again, and she dropped her head, shaking it, as he paused. “What?”
“What!” Looking up at him and seeing that he was still on the wrong page, Cadence closed her eyes and considered the situation. Perhaps she should just let him get up and go back to his laptop. The moment had basically passed anyway. Now that she was fully awake and more clarity had entered her brain, she was reminded of how she had felt the last time he had rejected her. Did she really want to go through that again?
He said nothing in response to her echo of his question, only stared at her, a questioning look on his face.
“Never mind,” Cadence said, trying to keep her tone cheery. She pushed the blankets off and put her feet on the floor, looking for her shoes, which she found beneath the edge of the bed.
“Cadence?” His hand was on her back now. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything is fine.” Her voice sounded so chipper, even to her own ear it was fake. “I’m good.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. He removed his hand but only so that he could come around the bed to look at her. He was wearing joggers, and even in those… he looked incredible.
She had to pull her eyes away from him.
“Yeah. I’m just gonna go see if Stormy is up yet. Eliza and I are going shopping.” She smiled, like she thought that would be fun.”
“Sounds… great,” he said, folding his arms. Her shoes were on now, and she could go.
“I’m sure it will be.” She stood, and a cloud of awkwardness settled over them. She felt compelled to thank him again for letting her stay in his room. But she also wanted to hurl herself at him, something that wasn’t a good idea.
“Are you going to see the Eifel Tower?” he asked her, innocently.
Visions of herself and Aaron standing on top of the Eifel Tower, looking out over the most romantic city in the world, their arms around one another as he bent down to kiss her had her biting her bottom lip.
“I don’t think Eliza is planning that,” she managed.
“Oh, that’s too bad. It’s really cool.”
“You’ve been there?” A pang of jealousy hit her again as she thought of someone else taking her place in his arms up there above the city.
“Lots of times,” he said with a nod. “Gustave was a pretty good guy.”
“Gustave?” she asked, having no idea who he was talking about.
“Eifel,” he clarified. “He used to have an apartment up there. In the tower.”
“Really?” Cadence had never heard that before. “And you visited him there?” Aaron nodded. “Was he a Guardian?”
“No, just a friend.”
“Huh….” He had known so many people and done so many things. She had had no idea what that must be like.
But then, she would find out eventually.
If she didn’t get herself killed.
“The meeting with Sebastian is at 8:00?” she inquired, running her hands through her hair and encountering a rather obstinate tangle. She wanted to make sure she dragged Eliza back in time.
“That's right, 8:00. And he’s coming over to the hotel. I guess we’ll just bring him in my room.” Then he added, “He doesn’t want you there, you know? He’s afraid you’ll lose your temper and kill him. Same for Stormy—no Hunters at all.”
“I don‘t blame him,” she admitted. “I just figured you wanted us all in the building, just in case something happens.”
“That is probably a wise idea,” he agreed. He gave her a small smile.