Chain Reaction 3.44: Ignition

     I wake up early the next morning--before Charlotte. She looks like she hasn't moved.

     She probably never noticed I was here at all.

      I can spend the last hour or so napping on the couch.

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     I awake to Lottie's face very close to mine, wearing a goofy smile.
     "Hey." I sit up in case she wants to sit on the couch. She does.

     It's torture. I can't take it! She didn't sleep in a bra, and she hasn't put one on yet. Plum, it's not as if she's in sexy lingerie or something. It's just a tank top! I'm glad I'm sitting down.
     I need a cold shower.
     But she looks too good. She did mention making out is okay. I need something to keep from going mad. I slide over to her and wrap my arm around her shoulder. "Sleep well?"
     She's up to something. "I don't know. You tell me." She smiles.
     "Why do you say that?" My eyes drift down the length of her hair and stop where it ends.
     "Because you know exactly how well I slept. That is, except for that time when I woke up and saw you sleeping."
     Oh. I let out one of those typical, nervous laughs.

     "Well, I, uh... I was very uncomfortable on the couch, and I thought if I just slept on top of the covers it would be okay."
      "And it was." She pauses. "I thought about waking you up the way you woke me up after closing the store the other night, but I was too nervous about what might happen." She puts her hand. on. my. knee. Then her fingertips slowly dance up my thigh.
     Does she know how close I am to igniting?

     I think she does. Her hand moves after I turn and face her.
     She whispers, "I'm not nervous now."
     Her body tells me otherwise. She was more daring--then I reacted. Now, she's having second thoughts. Meanwhile, I'm going out of my mind trying to stay sane, which is as crazy as it sounds.
     It doesn't matter. I want her. In whatever way.

     I'm reminded of when I kissed her at the charity auction, how I stole the moment, praying she would react in some way that didn't get me slapped across the face. That space of time was the happiest and most desperate of my life. This is another one of those times.
      What starts as a simple yet passionate kiss escalates into that same 'oh plum I need you all of you right now forever' kind we had the night of the auction. My hands are in her hair. Then on her legs. Then her chest. Then I have her straddle my lap while I bring her blessed-by-nature chest to my face, groaning.
      I can't decide if we stay here too long or not long enough, but I take her to the bed, shedding clothes along the vast distance from the couch to our destination.

     Everything. It's just... everything. We do everything. Everything I crave. And I make sure that everything is as perfect as it can be. Because she is perfect.

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      The air is beautiful here.
      Lottie and I stayed in bed all day-- in varied states of passion. I'm only out here because she complained she was starving. I'm still the better cook, so here I am.

     So much for excavating for artifacts, I think with a chuckle. Then I sigh happily.
     My mind wanders to where Lottie's taking her shower. I want to go in and 'check on her,' but I also know that she probably wants a little time to herself. Still... she's in the shower...

     We decide to get dressed to eat. Clothed, naked: it matters not. Every time I look at my Lottie, I see her naked.
      I'm a little more dressed up than she is, but I have my reasons.
      "Jarvis, you're not eating." She puts another forkful in her mouth.
      "Sorry. I'm... distracted." I smile wickedly.

     "Well, you need to eat or you'll have no energy to do whatever it is you're planning inside that head of yours."

      Instead of asking her how it is that she knows I'm planning something, I say, "And you really have no idea what it is, do you?"
      She should. It's been a while now since the last time I did it whereas before it'd become predictable.
      I remember a very picturesque spot from a brochure. I know she'll love it.
      I decided on these pants because I'm confident I won't lose anything out of the pockets. That's important because I'm carrying something very special in one of them.

Chain Reaction 3.43: Reservations

Jarvis

     I close up the store after another long day. Lottie had been here, but she claimed she was going to go upstairs for a break. I assume she's up here somewhere. I didn't mind working alone knowing she was up in my apartment. She's probably playing on the computer.

     She's not in the office.

     There she is. I find her asleep on my bed. It's... a wonderful sight. Right away I fantasize about climbing on top of her and waking her up in a rather nice way. But I can't be perfectly certain she'll think it's nice; she might just get pissed off I woke her up.
     Plum. I can't help it. I decide getting next to her might be better to prevent waking her ire as I also wake her. I wrap my arm around her and kiss her awake. She mumbles my name as I kiss her neck, and my hand goes down to her ass. This is blissful torture.
     "Do you know what a fantastic sight you make on my bed?" I like how my voice sounds deeper than normal.
     She wakes up more. "What time is it?"
     "About midnight." Oh, how much I want her to stay. Stay forever.
     "Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to go to sleep and leave you by yourself so long."
     "I was fine." Then, I get an idea. "But I know how you can make it up to me." My hand, still on her ass, squeezes.
     "I should go."
     "That's not a very nice way to make it up to me." Maybe I should've climbed on top of her because that would've made it easier to prevent her from getting up like she does.

     I jump up and trap her in my arms. "Don't go. Stay. You don't have to go."
     I can tell she's smiling. "Jarvis, we've been over this. If I don't get home, Dad will get upset."
     "You're a grown woman." Oh, so very grown. "He can't call the shots anymore. Besides, he'll know you're with me."
      "I'm really tired."
      "Exactly! That's why you should stay. It's too dangerous to make your way home if you're this tired. Stay here and sleep." Just don't mind me as I watch you.
      She giggles. "You're relentless."
      "Of course." I start repeating the word 'stay' while kissing her neck.
      "I'll be back tomorrow."
      "I'm closing the store for a week because I want us to take a trip. I think selling artifacts in the store could be very profitable."
     "You want me to go?"
     "Of course."

     "This is so cute!" She walks up to the little casita I rented. Well, it wasn't the the casita I was supposed to have. The lady at the vacation rental agency accidentally gave our place to someone else. She said this one was similar.
     "Yeah, it is."

     I walk inside and take a look around. The front door immediately leads to the kitchen, and to my right is...

     ...a bed. Wait a minute... Plum. Oh no. She's going to think I did this on purpose. I'd specifically asked for a two-bedroom. "Maybe there's a..." I'm thinking aloud, hoping to find a door leading to a closed-off bedroom. I find a fireplace and small sofa. No walls.
     Lottie just stands silently looking at the bed, her eyes darting to me.

      "I don't know what happened!" I go immediately into an explanation. "I asked for a two-bedroom place. I paid for a two-bedroom place! Charlotte, you can't think I did this on purpose. This is a mistake." I laugh nervously.
     "I know you reserved a two-bedroom place." Her voice is calm.
     "Let me call that crazy woman who put us here. I'll fix this." I pull out my phone.
     Her voice stops me from dialing. "But I like it here. It's adorable."

      I drop my hands. "Are you sure?"
      "Can we just stay here? Ask her for a reduced rate."
      My feet carry me over to her. Just what is she really saying?

     "Lottie, there is only one bed." The look in her eyes makes me want to drop to my knees: begging, putting my head up her skirt, whatever.
     "Yes, I can see that."
     Plum.

     She acts startled when I pounce. I'm about ready to rip her clothes off. But she pulls back.
     "Whoa, Jarvis. I didn't mean that like that. I mean we can sleep in the same bed. Make out some, but I'm not ready for anything more."
      Plum, I think in a completely different way than before.

     I force my internal jet engines to cool down. "Okay." Sleeping with Lottie? Just sleeping? Sure, I've mentioned it several times in order to get her to stay after work, but... sleeping?
     "If it's going to be difficult, we can get another place."
     No way. "No. You're right. This place is great. It's cozy." I swallow hard, and she watches me. I know she knows what I'm feeling, so it's pointless to try and hide it. However, I still make an effort. At least she can see the effort.
     "I love you." Now that makes anything worth it. I'll sleep in the mud for that. Strong physical desire aside, that is what I've always wanted.
     I have to kiss her again, more calmly this time.

     However, as dusk starts to fall, I worry about my resolve.

     I'm crazy. This is completely loco. What have I gotten myself into? What if I can't do it?

     Am I really no better than an animal, needing to hump at all costs? I'm on a vacation, well, business trip sort of, with the woman of my dreams, and I think I can't make it through the night?

     It's all the fantasizing I've done in the past.
     "What is it?" She picks up on everything.

      I make a decision. "I'll go ahead and sleep on the couch." I stretch, get my plate, and go inside. She stays quiet.
      Miraculously, I don't have any difficulty getting to sleep.
      However, I wake up with my muscles cramped and aching from being in a weird position.

     I sit up. This is nuts.

     I'll stay on top of the covers. I watch Lottie's face for a minute while she sleeps, and I drift off into my own dreamland.

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Chain Reaction 3.42: Whirlwind

A/N: Chronologically, this backs up just a hair before returning to the "present." I'd lost these pics for a while then found them again in my external hard drive, so I'm doing a quick insert-chapter.
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Isabella

     I heard from Kade. He asked me to meet him here at a park.

     I just know Ethan had something to do with this. Mom told him, and he went nuts, getting a crazy look in his eyes. I told him to stay out of it. Why did I think he'd listen?

     He thinks he had to go all big brother on him. I don't need that. I can take care of myself. After all, I've been taking care of Mom for months. And Mom can help with the baby when it gets here.

      Well, there he is: the father of my unborn child, the man who got me pregnant. My "baby daddy."

      "Isabella." He says my name like he's reminding himself who I am.

      "What do you want?" I'm not interested in small talk. This pregnancy is making me feel sick and hungry at the same time, and that's making me mad. Plus, just the sight of Kade makes me mad.

      "I want to know why you didn't tell me." Damn him for trying to touch my heart. I guess it's not fair that I didn't tell him, but at the same time I didn't feel like I had to.

      "Why should I? You vanished, never calling me again."

      He sounds like he's trying to be patient with me. "No. I did call you. Remember?"

      "Yeah. Almost a week later!"

      He exhales in a puff. "Is that what that was all about?" He walks over and sits next to me.

      "Bella, I'm sorry. I thought you had enough on your plate with your Dad and all. You didn't need some guy bugging you, but it was starting to be the weekend, and I changed my mind. I thought maybe getting out might be just what you needed."

      "So you think you know what I need?"

      "Please let me finish."

      "Fine."

      "Well, I did call you, and you started acting b*tchy at me. I took that to mean you didn't want to hear from me again. After all, you never called me. Not that I expected you to. I'm just saying."

     "So you're going to try and pin all the fault on me?" Why did I come here to listen to this schmuck? 

     "Who's saying someone has to be at fault?!"

     "You did! When you started blaming me!"

     "I wasn't blaming you for anything!" He clenches his fist and pounds it down on his thigh. "Dammit, Bella, I'm trying to apologize here."

     "Well, you're doing a plum poor job of it."

     "You're not giving me much of a chance, either." He huffs. "Just let me speak, okay?"

     I have to pee. He'd better hurry up. "Fine."

     "What I'm getting at is I thought you didn't want to see me again. From what I'm seeing now, I'm starting to think I may have been right, but whether or not you want to see me now or ever, I know about the baby, Bella."

     "So that's the only reason you called?"

     He sighs, getting exasperated. "No. Like I told you, I truly thought you didn't want to see me again. The fact is, though, I was going to call you again anyway--after you'd had time to stop being mad. Because I missed you. I just... wanted to be more than just the rebound guy."

     My mood immediately changes directions. Oh, I've been a monster! All this time, I didn't worry about what he might've felt. I jumped to conclusions, false conclusions I made up on my own. He was worrying that I might still not be over Jarvis. He didn't want to be just a rebound guy, which I guess is what he was. He'd taken a chance dating someone who'd just broken up with someone, and I did nothing but sleep with him then tell him to shove off.

     I see things through Kade's eyes, and I want to cry! I bite my lip, but the tears threaten anyway.

     "Heeeeyy," he says slowly and takes my hand.

     "I'm not trying to make you cry, Isabella."

     My voice sounds annoyingly whiny. "I know." These plumbing pregnancy hormones really screw with my head. "I'm sorry, Kade. I've been a real b*tch."

     He chuckles. "No, not really. I can see how you would think what you thought. Can you see where I'm coming from, though?"

     I nod. Then, I have to ask. "You really were going to call me again even before Ethan told you?"

     He smiles. "Yeah. For days, I was picking up my phone and putting it down again, almost calling you but then either chickening out or talking myself out of it." He pauses. "I wish I had. I'd have much rather heard the news from you."

     "I'm sorry for my moron of a brother. He's been trying to fill in for my dad in some ways."

     "Naw. I totally feel that." He chuckles again. "Though, he was going a little nuts, I think I would've done the same thing if someone had done that to my baby sister. If I had one."

      I look at him, and I remember how much I really like his warm brown eyes.

      "Can we try again?" he asks me. "Just to see where it goes." His hold of my hand tightens like he doesn't want to let go.

      "I'd like that."

     After I swiftly make it to the nearest restroom, Kade takes me out, even though it's the middle of the day. Turns out the dance club isn't as loud during the day, acting more like a tiny restaurant. I like it as I really get to know Kade. He's funny, and the way he looks at me makes my knees shake. When we go make out in a closet, I remember how much I loved the way he smells. It feels so nice to be in his arms again, to be caressed and adored.

     We date for weeks, and we start sleeping together again. He likes to serenade me on the piano. He's so talented, and he looks so hot when he plays and sings that more than once I've woohooed him on the piano bench. Even when he's just practicing, I want to rip his clothes off. I like getting between him and the instrument, utterly distracting him with my mouth.

     Weeks turn into months, and he starts asking me to move in with him.

      Sometimes I think I may as well. But I worry about Mom. If I move out, it'll be just her and the cat. But if I move in with Kade, we can both be here for the baby. I'm over here almost all the time anyway. Mom has started cooking to deal with her stress. She's become a favorite with the neighborhood kids, even if the parents still view her as a convict's wife.

     I won't be far, and she also has Ethan and Emily to call on if she needs help with anything. Ethan is over there almost every day anyway. 

     When I talk to her about it, she blinks a few times and tells me she was wondering why I haven't yet. She hints that she's been waiting to hear of me getting engaged. That settles it. I move in, and Kade and I start living together.

     We take a trip to Bridgeport, and I meet his family. I immediately love them, even if they're a bit overwhelming because there are so many of them. I guess five older brothers can do that. They mercilessly tease Kade about "finally" getting around to adding to his own branch of the family tree.

     We're over at Mom's when Kade asks me to step outside.

     "Bella, it was going to happen anyway, but now I'm sure of it. I love you. I've waited too long in telling you, but I didn't want you to doubt that I really mean it." He means he wanted to make sure I understood that he's not saying and doing all this just because I'm pregnant with his baby.

     "I love you too, Kade." I haven't told him because I was too scared to.

     He smiles. "I'm so glad. Because I'm tired of just living together." Oh my maker, I think he's proposing!

     "I'm begging you to marry me, Isabella. This has been a whirlwind I don't want to stop. I want us to be a family, the bigger the better."

     I don't know about the big family part, but I do want to marry him. I've loved waking up next to him every morning, even though he's sound asleep from having worked gigs all night. It would be even better if he were my husband. "Yes, of course I will!"

    He puts the ring on my finger. Then, speaking of whirlwind...

     We take advantage of the fact that we live in a game and elope right here.
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A/N: Yeah, I couldn't help but break the story's fourth wall and mention the game thing. :P
:)
It's not like me in the past gave me a lot of options to work with considering the pics I found. How else could I explain how they just ¡poof! got married right then.

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