Page 64 of Consummation

I lie still for a long time, breathing in her scent, pressing my hand against her flat stomach as it moves with her breathing—thinking about the words I’m gonna say to her when she wakes up. After a while, I hear the main door to the suite open, followed by a soft clatter—and then the sound of the main door opening and closing again. Silence. Nothing but the sound of Kat breathing and the beating of my heart against her back.

“I love you, Kat,” I whisper softly. I shift my palm on Kat’s belly, spreading my fingers out, trying to cradle every inch of it. “And I love you, too,” I say softly.

And that’s the last thing I do before surrendering to serene and blissful sleep.

Twenty-One

Kat

I wake up with a start. Josh’s arm is around me.

I’m in a warm bed.

I glance around the moonlit room, momentarily confused about my whereabouts.

Oh, yeah—now I remember. The hotel room where Josh and I let our sick fucks run amok with Bridgette.

Delicious.

But I’ve no sooner had that highly pleasant thought than bile rises in my throat and my mouth waters. Shit.

In a flash, I disentangle myself from Josh’s muscular arm and bolt out of bed, straight into the bathroom—where I proceed to hurl every Saltines cracker and drop of fluid out of my body with loud, ghastly heaves. Oh, God. I’m so gross. Gah.

I flush the toilet and whimper. I feel like I’m made of cardboard, not flesh and blood.I need to eat something right now or else I’m gonna die.

I wash out my mouth, rinse my face, and hobble back into the bedroom, expecting to find Josh sitting up in bed and staring at me, aghast at the horrendous noises I just made in the bathroom. But, somehow, Josh is still fast asleep, completely oblivious to the T-Rex I just wrestled in the toilet.

I stand over Josh’s beautiful sleeping body for a moment, looking at his peaceful face in the moonlight. Normally, when I think of Josh, the first word that pops into my mind issexy. Typically followed byfunny. Andgeneroussoon thereafter. But right now, standing over his striking features in the moonlight, the only word coming to my mind isbeautiful.

I sigh.

I love him.

With all my heart and soul.

More than I ever thought possible.

And I’m aching to exchange the words with him—to finally give full voice to my overwhelming feelings for him.

My stomach clenches hungrily, drawing me out of my Josh-induced stupor, so I pad carefully out of the darkened room to the main room of the suite, desperate to find something to eat.

I flip on a lamp and instantly spot a room-service tray on a table, so I head over there like a starving hyena looking for a carcass.

Along with utensils and tiny salt-and-pepper shakers, there’s a handwritten note on the tray: “Mr. Faraday, per your request, an assortment of cold-food selections are in the refrigerator. Please let us know if you require anything further.”

I make a “yay” face to myself and happily beeline over to the refrigerator.

Sweet Baby Jesus, I’ve hit the mother lode. If I didn’t already love Josh, I would have just fallen in love with him. How’d he know to have food waiting for me when I woke up? Is he some sort of pregnant-woman whisperer?

For a solid fifteen minutes, I’m a ravenous animal, stuffing food into my mouth with both fists and making “nom nom nom” sounds in the quiet room like Homer Simpson at a doughnut shop—and when I’m done eating and feeling fan-fucking-tastic again, a steely determination suddenly washes over me:It’s time to get my man.

I head back into the dark bedroom and fumble around in the moonlight until I find my laptop. I scroll into my music and stop when I see Audra Mae, my new obsession. “Addicted to You” with Aviici leaps out at me from my song list. Oh, how I want to make love to Josh to this redonkulously awesome song—but I’ll just have to wait. Josh and I have already confessed we’readdictedto each other—now it’s time for us to take our words to the next level. But to get Josh over the line, I’m thinking I’m gonna need a song that’ll beat Josh over the head with an “I love you” sledge hammer—a song that leaves absolutely no room for misunderstanding.

As I scroll through my music, I realize I’ve got lots of options—the lyrics “I love you” aren’t exactly a rare commodity when it comesto pop music—but I stop scrolling when I see “1234” by the Plain White T’s. I absolutely love this sweet little song—and the lyrics are so literal, Josh would have to be a pill bug not to catch their meaning.

I set the song to play on a loop, tiptoe slowly to the bed, and, as the song begins, slip naked under the covers onto my left side, facing Josh.

When I slide my arm over Josh’s sleeping body, his skin is warm and smooth. Delectable. I nuzzle Josh’s nose with mine and kiss his soft lips and run my fingertips over the ridges in his abs. Gently, ever so gently, I stroke his dick from his balls to his tip, and then stroke his shaft with the barest of touches, and the sensation of him hardening in my hand, even before he’s fully awakened, ignites me.

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