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When he finally withdrew from my body, AJ pulled
me on top of him, so that my head was resting on his chest. I
listened
to his breathing as it slowed, until it was finally back to normal.
"How're you feeling?" he asked, stroking my
hair. I looked up at him, trying to think of an answer, but he
interrupted me with a laugh. "Never mind ... damn, but that look
on
your face is the one all guys pray to see after they're done.
It's
beautiful."
Irrationally, I blushed. How could I be
embarrassed after what just happened? "You were amazing," I told
him.
He kissed the tip of my nose. "So were you." I
laid my head back on his chest, content to just lay with him.
My mind, once it came back down to earth, began to work overtime.
Somewhere along the line, the conservative, prudish part of my brain
had
been shocked into complete silence, so I enjoyed the chance to luxuriate
in
the sensuality that being close to AJ brought to me. AJ empowered
me in a
way Steve never had ... I suddenly wanted him to know how much he'd
given me, in such a short period of time. "Do you feel like listening
to me
again?" I asked softly.
"Always," he said.
"It's kind of sad," I began, "but ... I've never
felt strong, before now. I've always kind of existed on the edges
of
everyone else's life; I don't think I had my own until I drove out
of
Kansas City. I was Steve's girl, Sarah's friend ... dependable
Victoria, who would always help you out when you needed it, but wasn't
quite important enough to think of for fun. Sometimes I didn't
know if
I even really existed ..." I looked up at him. "I'm babbling,
aren't
I?"
AJ shook his head. "In a strange way, I kind of
understand. I've always been a complete goof, getting people's
attention, partly because I was afraid that, if I wasn't the center
of
attention, I wouldn't really matter."
"Yeah ... well, I've never been brave enough to
grab people's attention. Did you notice how badly I was shaking
when I
first approached you yesterday? I was scared half to death."
He chuckled. "I was still too pissed at Nick to
really notice. To be honest, until you asked me to come with
you, I
really wasn't paying any attention."
“Oh, thanks,” I joked, “that makes me feel special.”
“It wasn’t personal!” he protested.
“Oh, I know, I know ... you, personally, really weren’t the point
yesterday, either. It was just the fact that I’d gotten the nerve
to talk to a
stranger ... to do something spontaneous.”
“Spontaneous, huh?” he said lazily, running a hand from my ass
all
the way up my back.
I closed my eyes. “Uh-huh ...”
“You know, I think having hot sex with a virtual stranger definitely
qualifies you for ‘spontaneous,’” he informed me, pulling my leg over
his
so that I was straddling him.
A grin spread across my face. “Yeah, I suppose it would,
wouldn’t
it?” I pushed myself to a sitting position, so that I could look
down at the
upper half of his body.
Suddenly, his face turned serious again. “Hey, turn to your
left,” he
told me.
“What?”
“Just do it ...”
I turned, only to see a full length mirror on the wall next to
me. It
was vaguely embarrassing, to see myself, naked, straddling his waist.
I
started to turn my head back, but AJ reached up and held my chin lightly.
“Look at yourself,” he said huskily. “The next time anyone dares
tell you
you’re plain, or ordinary, remember what you look like right now.
Because,
personally, I don’t remember ever seeing anything this gorgeous.”
My breath caught in my throat. I looked, once again, at
the mirror --
and realized that I hardly recognized myself. My face was flushed,
my hair
was wild ... I looked ... passionate. It was the most amazing
sight I’d ever
seen.
I turned back to AJ and leaned down, letting my hair fall around
his
face. “Thank you,” I whispered, kissing him soundly.
We didn’t get out of bed for quite a long time.
