116. Bite, Lick, Sip

As soon as I realized the coffee table in our room was actually a big ottoman with an attached tray, I got more excited than i should have.

"Cayden, you go get in bed, I'll meet you there in a minute," I said. He bent down to kiss me, one hand on my waist.

"I'll be waiting," he said, then licked my neck with the tip of his tongue, right below my ear. Goosebumps spread from my neck to my shoulder and down my right arm. Damn, he was good.

I set the two wine glasses on the tray and poured my $4 Lucky Duck Merlot until the glasses were half full. Then put Cayden's leftover chocolate cake with fudgy frosting between the glasses, two forks beside it. I unbuttoned my jeans, shimmied out of them, and kicked them near my open suitcase. I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor.

I slid the tray off the ottoman, balancing it ever so carefully. I'd worked at Sonic for five years, so I used to be able to balance five Route 44 drinks on a tray while wearing roller skates and weaving between parked cars, but apparently I'd lost a little of that touch as I watched the wine glasses slide to the right. I tilted the tray to the left to rebalance, then made my way to the bed.

"Dessert in bed!" I said as Cayden leaned over to take the tray from me. He balanced it while I climbed into the unbelievable softness. I couldn't wait to settle in under the covers and fall asleep next to the man of my dreams. I hadn't realized how tired I was until then. We'd been so busy the past three days we hardly scheduled in any time to relax. I felt Cayden watching me as I slipped my legs under the covers and fell in next to him.

He held up a glass. "Cheers."

I picked mine up, careful not to spill any on the white bedspread. "Cheers," I said, clinking my glass against his. We didn't need to say anything more than that. Not "Cheers to the most incredible but busy three days with the most perfect person in the world," or "Cheers to one more night together until we have to put 5,000 miles between us and go out of our fucking minds craving each other."

The one word "Cheers," said it all.

I took a sip and let the cheap red wine roll around my tongue before swallowing. I started thinking that maybe if we drank enough wine we'd forget to wake up tomorrow and he'd miss his flight. Or maybe I could just kidnap him—go back to my place, tie him up and have my way with him.

I watched him take a bite of his cake. I couldn't wait to kiss him and taste the chocolate frosting in both our mouths. I used to gag when I saw couples kiss while they were eating. Sick. But this was cake, not a cheeseburger and greasy fries, so it was different. I took a bite of my own and savored the taste of the chocolate and red-wine aftertaste mixing. It tasted like sex.

There was no way I was going to get through that glass of wine knowing we were both half naked under the covers. There was no way I could take one more bite of cake feeling his hand on my thigh. There was no way he wasn't thinking the same thing.

I felt his had move north and I took two full gulps of wine. He took another bite of cake and I watched him lick the chocolate off his lips. His hand moved higher and I took another bite to taste sex again.

He knew he was making my legs shake and my teeth started to chatter, but he kept on taking his bites, licking his lips, washing it down with a long sip of wine. Bite. Fingers slip into the side of my panties. Licks his lips. Lightly grazes my hip with his fingertips. Sips his wine. Tugs my panties down.

I threw my head back and let the last of my wine pour down my throat without really tasting it. I watched Cayden do the same while I tried to control the shaking in my legs. He set his glass down and pulled the tray off the table, letting go of me and setting it next to the bed.

Seconds later he bit my neck, licked my lips, and all I could taste was sex.

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I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to sleep. Every part of me was tired but I didn't want to fall asleep and lose minutes with Cayden. I tried not to think about him leaving the next day, but the more I tried to put it out of my mind, the more I obsessed over it. I'd be alone in my bed 24 hours from then. Cayden would be on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I'd be alone. He'd be alone.

He was in a deep sleep but I pulled his arm around me and snuggled into his naked body. A tear dropped out of the corner of my eye and I used Cayden's heavy hand to wipe it away. Part of me wished I was fast asleep and dreaming the night away like Cayden. The other part of me wanted to slap him in the face until he woke up so he could kiss me all night.

I rolled over until I was facing him, which was harder than it sounds because apparently when he's sleeping his arm weighs 40 pounds. I kissed his lips softly and listened to him breathe. I knew I was being creepy, kissing him while he was unconscious. I didn't care. I felt my eyelids get heavier and heavier, and I tried to force them open. Don't lose this. Don't let go of this moment. Memories like this is all you have to keep yourself warm at night until he's back.

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Despite my efforts, my eyelids won. I woke up to the sound of a blaring alarm clock at 8 am. I panicked, realizing I'd lost hours of time with Cayden. Now it was time to get up. Time to get out of bed, my favorite place to be with Cayden.

I turned off my phone alarm and Cayden rolled over, practically on top of me.

"Do we have to get up?" he asked with his face buried in the pillow.

I rubbed my eyes and held them shut while I tried to think of a way to make him miss his flight, convince him to stay another week, another month, forever.

"Nope, you don't have to go. I won't make you."

I wrapped my arms around him and clung to his warmth.

"Before you leave, I have to treat you to a very American breakfast."

"What does that mean?" he asked, lifting his face up off the pillow to look at me.

"International Passport Breakfast at IHOP, duh!"

His face went from confused to realization to humor.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"The other day, when I heard your family talking about IHOP, I thought it was an iPhone app."

Silly Brits.


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