Return to Love (16 page)

Eric smiled remembering that day. “Yes I did.” He rumbled softly in his low voice the voice that sent shivers down Joanie's spine. “How many boyfriends have you had?” He asked jumping ahead to his next question.

“Well,” Joanie said thoughtfully as she pretended to count on her fingers, “If I include you that makes one.”

“One? Only me.” He asked surprised. “Why is that?”

“Sorry that’s two questions, and it’s my turn. I’m sure you’ve had loads of girlfriends, so I’m gonna skip that part, how old were you when first did it?”

Eric looked down and tried to hide his red face as he shook his head. “Fourteen.” He said watching her closely as she mouthed the word in surprise. “Alright how come you never had a boyfriend before?”

She shrugged still thinking about his last response. “When I moved away my dad sent me to an all girl’s school. Where’d you get that scar?”

He smiled. “Which one of I’ve got lots of them wanna see?” He asked as he started to lift his shirt. Joanie caught sight of his tight stomach and her eyes got huge.

“Yes. I mean no! I mean the one by your eye.” She said embarrassed as she felt her face getting hot. She lifted her hand to trace the thin white line, and Eric swallowed hard.

“I was in a knife fight a couple of years ago.” He said like it was no big deal. “How far have you gotten with a boy?” He asked daringly.

“Not very far.” She replied looking down.

“You have to be more specific.” He complained moving closer to her. His leg was touching her knee and she was having a hard time concentrating. She grunted. “Well, the farthest I ever got with a boy was what Chris did this morning.” There you said it! She thought to herself, and you didn’t even cry this time! She noticed Eric tense up at her answer. He reached over and felt her smooth cheek.

“I’m sorry Joanie I wasn’t even thinking what a stupid question.” Eric said angry at himself.

Joanie laughed. “It’s all right, but I would like to block it out.” Eric's eyes darkened at her meaning, and he gently leaned over and kissed her on her mouth. He sighed contentedly when she kissed him back.

“How’s that?” He asked.

“Umm that was real good but Chris made it to second base.” Joanie said teasingly.

Eric growled as he picked her up and sat her on his lap again he turned her so that she was facing him and gently took her face in his. He gently covered her mouth with his and gave her luscious lips a tiny lick with his tongue. Joanie's sighed opening her mouth slightly. He took advantage of this and very gently sucked in her bottom lip caressing it with his tongue he then moved up to her top one repeating the process. Joanie felt weak and leaned into his body for support.

He moved his hands from around her face and put an arm around her shoulders gently leaning her head back against the arm rest of the couch. With his free hand, he put it under her head in her glorious hair as he gently massaged her scalp. He then bent down and gently kissed her again. Joanie lifted her hand and ran it over his muscular shoulders. She moaned with pleasure as his tongue slowly entered her mouth. He gently caressed her tongue with his and when she responded he delved deeper into her mouth smiling as he heard her moan. He then pulled away very gently staring at her.

“How was that?” He asked smiling down at her.

“Wow.” She breathed. “You’re really good at that.”

“You’re not too bad yourself.” He chuckled at her amazement. “You could use a little more practice though. I’d be glad to give you some lessons.” He teased.

“You have a lot of students?” She asked feeling the haze lifting from her brain.

“Nope just one.” He said kissing her again this time a little more passionately if that was possible. Joanie felt herself floating as she returned his kiss. She felt his arms wrap around her, and she relaxed in his embrace. She ran her hand through his wavy hair and sighed. She pulled away to look at him her finger lightly tracing the scar near his eye and trailed her finger down to his chin. She felt the roughness of his cheek and ran her hand over it.

“What?” He asked looking down at her his eyes languid.

“You’re so scratchy.” She mumbled. She was surprised at the how dense his facial hair was. He must shave every day. Brad only shaved a couple of times a week.

“Um.” He sighed resting his rough cheek against her smooth one. “And you’re silky.” He slid a finger underneath the back of her sweater and felt her satiny skin. She squealed and wiggled to move his hand. “Ticklish?” He asked removing his hand to her side where it belonged. She grabbed his hand from behind her and held it up in front of them. She placed her hand against his heel to heel and marveled at how much larger his hand was than hers. She bent her fingers, so they were intertwined with his.

Eric was watching her intently. He was having a very hard time controlling his emotions. He cared about her so much. He in no way wanted to scare her or force her to do anything she wasn’t ready for. Since she had grabbed his hand that he had under her sweater he decided to back off a little, for now. He took her hand that was now in his and brought it slowly to his face. Gently he kissed every finger. He looked at her intently, how did he get so lucky? He wondered silently. She was drop dead gorgeous. He thought of Chris putting his hands on her, and his hand tightened unconsciously.

“Ow!” She said quickly pulling her hand away. “You certainly know how to show a girl a good time.”

“I’m so sorry Joanie.” Eric said cursing himself, he tried to grab her hand again to make up for it, but giggling, she hid them behind her back. Which she soon found out was a mistake. Eric taking advantage of the situation gently lowered himself on top of her trapping her arms underneath. Ignoring her threats he leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. He slowly moved down her face to her neck where he found a really sensitive spot behind her ear. He suckled gently for a moment on her earlobe and smiled as she giggled.

He leaned up releasing her hands and placing them around his neck. Joanie slide them over his broad shoulders and smiling moved them to his chest. She felt something hard pressing against her leg. She looked up seeing the desire in his eyes, and she became uneasy. Eric noticed the change in her emotions and quickly sat up.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said embarrassed by his lack of control.

Joanie sat up also; she ran her hands through her disheveled hair and straightened her sweater. “No. I’m sorry I’ve just never... we’ll you know. I shouldn‘t have let it go that far.” Eric excused himself and quickly headed to the room in the middle. She heard water running and smiled despite herself. He soon reappeared his hair was wet and still dripping. He smiled wryly at her as he came back and sat down in the chair next to the couch.

“You alright?”

Joanie nodded imagining him shoving his head into the sink. She wished she could do that to clear her mind but she would freeze to death on the way home. Home. She completely lost track of time she glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and was aghast to see it was after midnight. And she had school tomorrow, err.. today. “Oh my gosh! I didn’t realize how late it was I’ve gotta get home.” She started over to Marc’s room to get Kate but stopped mid way. She was afraid what she might be interrupting. She looked over at Eric her face again red.

Eric chuckled at her discomfort “Don’t worry, I’ll get her.” Joanie smiled gratefully as Eric crossed the room quickly with his long strides and knocked briskly on the door. It opened a couple of seconds later by Marc. Eric whispered to him, and a slightly ruffled Kate appeared soon after. She glanced at Joanie who was waiting by the door and winked. Eric came over and helped her put her coat on. He quickly put on his leather jacket and grabbed her books. She looked at him surprised.

“You don’t think I’m letting you walk home do you?”

Joanie smiled gratefully. She hadn‘t been looking forward to that. “You coming too Marc?” She asked as he put on his coat. He glanced at Kate before answering.

“Yeah, Kate said we can stay over there since no one’s home. We’re gonna give you a ride.” He saw Eric give him a dirty look and quickly added “To school in the morning. If it‘s ok with you?”

Joanie hesitated as Kate grabbed her and pulled her aside. “Come on Joanie, no one’s gonna know. It’ll be fun! We’ll even give you the bedroom. We’ll take the couch.”

Joanie’s eyes got huge. “No! Absolutely not!”

Thirty minutes later Joanie sat on her bed staring at her hands. Kate and Marc were in the living room and Eric was standing by the door watching her. “If it’ll make you more comfortable I’ll go home.” He said softly.

“No, Marc’s obviously staying you might as well stay too.” He came up to her and pulled back the cover on her bed. She climbed in fully clothed. She lay on her back nervously as Eric leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Goodnight.” He whispered as he grabbed a blanket off her mother’s bed and lay down in the floor next to her. Surprised, she leaned over the bed to look down at him. “You’re gonna sleep on the floor?” She asked remembering their similar conversation not so long ago.

He leaned up on his elbow and shrugged “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. Goodnight Joanie.”

Joanie smiled down at him. “’Night.” She leaned over and turned off the lamp on the night stand. In the darkness, she snuggled back down in the covers. Kate was right, she did feel more secure knowing that Eric was there. Chris’s face flashed through her mind, and she shuddered.

Eric lay awake listening to her steady breathing; it was going to be a long night.

He awoke suddenly at the sound of her cry. She was thrashing around in the covers crying out softly. “No, leave me alone.” He quickly turned on the light and shook her to gently wake her up. As soon as he touched her shoulder, her eyes flew open, and they were filled with her terror. She quickly looked around and realized where she was and who she was with.

“Shh, you’re okay Joanie I’m here.” He said soothingly over and over again. She quickly relaxed and was embarrassed, she never had nightmares. She had been dreaming that Chris had broken into her house and was attacking her again. Hearing Eric’s calming voice she looked over at him. He was sitting on the side of her bed, the light from the table lamp illuminated him, and he seemed to glow like an angel. Her angel. “You alright? You scared me. I thought someone was in the room.”

“Just a stupid dream.” She whispered shuddering as it still hung in the back of her mind it had seemed so real. “Would. . .” her voice cracked from her nervousness “would you lay down with me?” She asked not looking at him.

Eric nodded. He turned the light off and lay down next to her pulling her into his arms. He turned her, so her back was to his stomach and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. He felt her trembling and held her tightly against his chest. He kissed the back of her neck and whispered to her. His soft voice soon lulled her back to sleep.

Joanie’s alarm sounded, and she automatically reached over and turned it off. When she laid her hand back down it rested on something solid instead of her soft bed. She woke up instantly. Her head was nestled on Eric’s chest, and she was curled up on his right side with her leg thrown over his. Her eyes widened as she slowly looked from his chest up to his face where he was watching her intently with his blue eyes. “Morning” She murmured trying to untangle herself from him and the covers.

“Rise and shine!” Kate said cheerfully throwing open the bedroom door with a bang. She glanced over to find her friend and Eric entwined in the sheets and smiled broadly. “First dibs on the shower!” She said grabbing her overnight bag and heading out of the room.

“You ok?” Eric asked her climbing out of the bed, so he wouldn’t embarrass her any more than necessary.

“Yes, thanks for being there.” She barely whispered.

Eric came up to her and gently lifted her face to his. He brushed her lips with a kiss so tender, Joanie thought she might have imagined it. “Anytime. I’ll go outside, so you can get ready.” He went out and carefully closed the door behind him.

With the door shut Joanie lay back down with a groan. She had so much to think about. She couldn’t wait ‘till her and Kate could talk in private. She forced herself up and got her clothes together. She knew she’d end up with a cold shower again, but that was ok. At least it would wake her up and cool her down.

Taking a deep breath, she headed out into the living room. Eric and Marc were watching the television. Eric winked at her as she came into the room. Nervous now that Marc knew she had shared a room with Eric last night she avoided his eyes. She wondered how close he and Kate had gotten. Kate sure was in a sunny mood.

She heard the water turn off, and a couple of minutes later Kate emerged fully clothed. Joanie smiled at her as they exchanged places. She quickly undressed and turned on the shower. It was still warm. Maybe this is going to be a good day after all Joanie thought. However, it didn’t last long; it began to turn on her. Soon it was too cold to stand, and she quickly climbed out and dried off her goose bumps.

At least this time she had brought her clothes into the bathroom to dress. She didn’t need any more temptations, and she was already running late. She stepped out of the bathroom and smiled at Kate and looked shyly at Eric. Kate was sitting on the couch munching on some toast and jelly.

“Hungry?” Eric asked smiling gently as he held a toasted slice out to Joanie. Joanie thanked him and took the offering. The jelly had over flowed onto his thumb, and she watched mesmerized as he put it up to his mouth and licked off the excess.

“Sorry to break you guys up but we gotta go unless we wanna have detention with The Prune.” Kate said, handing Joanie a glass of milk, so she could wash down her quick breakfast. The foursome headed out the door and into Eric’s car.

The school yard was a buzz as Eric and Marc dropped the girls off on the way to work. Eric frowned grabbing Joanie’s hand. “You sure you’re alright?” he asked. Joanie leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Much better now thank you! Seriously I‘ll be fine I promise.” Kate clamored out behind her and the girls waved bye as Jane and Sally rushed over towards them.