Another Morning

The alarm had the capacity to be particularly loud on days when I did not have to be at school. That morning was no different. I growled a long line of choice curses that would make the most hardened criminal blush, as I flipped over with lightening speed to brutally hit the off button. Afterwards, I turned back into my previous position to snuggle closer to Kaden. His arms closed around me and I tucked my head under his chin, nestling my nose in his neck.

"Remind me never to make you angry. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of your tongue lashings, unless you're doing something with it other than cursing me." He sleepily mumbled into my hair.

I slipped my hand from his back into his boxers and rested it there after giving one tight butt cheek a brief squeeze. "That damn alarm clock must have a mind of it's own. I swore I turned it off before we settled in for the night."

His hard member pressed into my stomach, a blatant reminder of our actions the night before. "I turned it back on. You may not have classes on Friday, that doesn't mean I don't."

With a little kiss on his chest, I sighed. "Skip today. Let's spend the whole day in bed as either lazy bums or rambunctious rabbits."

"Tempting vixen, you know I can't miss a single class, especially since next week is the last full week of classes." Kaden ran his hand through my short, messy hair almost reverently.

"Well then, I better make breakfast. Army boys need fuel to get them through the day." I gave him a long passionate kiss, a kiss designed to make him change his mind even though I knew he would not. After I got out of bed, I turned and looked at him expectantly.

He turned onto his back, giving my body a long leisurely look. "You don't have to get up. I know how much you despise mornings and love your sleep."

I shrugged at his observation. "There's always time for a nap later."

Kaden stayed where he was, not moving, but staring at me. I wondered what he found so fascinating.

"You're sorely tempting me to stay," he finally whispered, lust shinning in his eyes.

My brow creased in confusion. "I didn't say anything."

"No, but you're giving me a great view." His finger pointed from the top of my head, to my toes, and back again with a quick flick of his wrist.

The deed caused me to look down and gasp. In my morning fog, I completely forgot that I was wearing nothing but my panties. Embarrassment hit me like a rock, I scrambled for my rob hanging on the back of my bedroom door. He laughed at my modesty as I headed for the kitchen, a blush adorning my face.

We shared a special moment the other night. Kaden gave me a gift that I would forever treasure. People might think me fanciful. After all, he gave me an orgasm which is no big deal to most, but to me it was a big deal. I thought I did not have the capability for sexual gratification. Kaden proved me wrong and I would never take it, or him, for granted.

Once in the kitchen, I gathered all the materials I needed for chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. My cat sauntered into the room, tail twitching. He jumped onto the kitchen table and tried to beg me for food. When it was obvious I was not going to give in and feed him early, he simply sat there and supervised my cooking.

Just as the pancakes were done and the bacon was almost finished, Kaden walked into the kitchen fully dressed and quaffed. He poured himself orange juice from the fridge, and then sat down placing his clasped hands next to my cat. Both men looked at me with expectant, hungry expressions. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

The three of us ate breakfast. I sat there staring at Kaden. He wolfed down everything like someone who had never eaten, even asking for seconds. When we were finished, he insisted on gathering the dishes and washing them for me. It was the least he could do after I cooked a scrumptious breakfast. Collecting his book bag from beside the door, he announced that he was leaving.

"I'll walk you to your car." I ran back to my room and threw on jeans and a t-shirt, hurriedly slipped into my house slippers while rushing to the front door.

Kaden gave me a warm smile, took my hand, and we walked out the door. He was looking at me funny; I could feel his eyes on me as we strolled to the side of the house where the car port was located. I was about to ask him what was on his mind when my neighbor called out to us.

She was wheezing from the exertion of carrying in her groceries. "Alex, dear, could your young man help an old lady?"

"No, Mrs. Newton. He'll be late to class. If you could wait a moment, I'll give you a hand."

Kaden let go of my hand to take off his book bag. "I can stand to be a few minutes late." He held his bag to me. "Please?"

I smiled and accepted it. He was off to Mrs. Newton's car, taking in two bags. Meanwhile, Mrs. Newton walked over to me.

"He's very handsome, dear. I was wondering when one of those boys at your school would wise up. You've been single for too long." She gave my shoulder a motherly pat.

Lifting a sardonic eyebrow, I wondered how many groceries one little old lady needed as my "young man" kept hauling in bags. "Kaden didn't exactly 'wise up.' His friend spilled a drink on me and he came to my rescue."

Mrs. Newton chuckled, "Whatever it takes to get the attention of a divine man like him." There was a devilish gleam in her eye as she watched Kaden. If I did not know any better, I would think the eighty-something woman was eyeing his butt. She blinked rapidly as if coming out of her personal musings. "I'm glad I caught you this morning. Last night I heard some yelling coming from your house. Is everything okay?"

I grimaced, sorry that my inconsiderate mistake in the form of an odious man disturbed my kind elderly neighbor. "An old ex-boyfriend looking to rekindle a flame that's long dead, dismembered, and buried on four different continents."

"The man made a nuisance of himself." Kaden, done with the chore, came up to us. "I'm glad I was there with you. If things were different, if he had hurt you, I would have done a lot more than punch his nose." He kissed me on the cheek, not giving me the passionate kiss we both craved out of respect for Mrs. Newton. "I'll give you a call after class." Then he was gone.

Mrs. Newton's demeanor changed as if she took off a mask. "Is that rude young man from last night going to cause you any more problems?"

I marveled at her serious tone. All our past conversations had been light and airy. "I honestly don't know. It's a conundrum that he found me in the first place."

She put her hand on my shoulder, her grip surprisingly strong. Her eyes bore into mine as if she was trying to imprint her next words onto my brain. "If you need any help, come straight to me, or your family. I know you haven't seen much of them after your mom and grandparents passed, but they would still bend over backwards for you."

--~~--

Something started to nag at me after my disturbing chat with my neighbor. The morning started off well, continuing the relaxed sex charged atmosphere from the night before. In the afternoon, alone in the eerie stillness of my house; something felt very wrong.

My cell phone cut through the tension in my soul, scaring away old specters. I picked it up, seeing that it was Kaden was calling, and answered it with great relief.

"Tell me you miss me because I really miss you." His voice was a welcome comfort to my frazzled nerves.

"Of course I miss you. When will you be coming back?"

"I'm leaving campus now. First, I'm stopping by my apartment to pick up some clean cloths and school work. Although I should just stay at my apartment to get my major projects done this weekend. You're far to tempting, I don't think I'll be able to keep my hands off you let alone concentrate."

I bit my lower lip. He did need to get things done, I did not want to get in the way of his grades, but I did not want to spend the night alone in my bed. With the two nights he spent at my house, I was already use to sleeping comfortably within his embrace. "Stay home if it would help. Your grades are important. I'll still be here after this weekend."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Are you tired of me already?" He said it like it was a standard joke, but I could hear the underlying apprehension in the question.

"No, Kaden. I want more than anything for you to come back home, but I'm trying to think practically. We need this time to finish our projects because next week is our last week of classes. After last night, we're not going to be able to keep our hands off each other, especially me. Now that I know what you can do to me, I don't think I would be able to leave you alone." I was known for my brutal honesty, but it had never sounded so good or so flattering coming from me before.

There was a sigh of resignation on the other end of the line. He was thinking over my words, knowing that I was right. "I like the way said that, 'come back home.' You're right, of course, but I don't think I can sleep comfortably away from you. I've grown use to having you next to me in bed. Isn't that nuts?"

A serene smile spread across my face. "That's not nuts. I was just thinking the same thing...coupled with the possibility of having great sex."

"We won't be having sex. We'll make love, because it'll me more than just simple gratification for me."

My heart melted; an entirely new sensation when it came to Kaden. It was probably something that I should add to the list of things I needed to get used to feeling around him. I had a response to his confession. The perfect response, but I froze. He was being sweet and I could not muster up the will to tell him my feelings. The big three words that I never thought I would say to a man after Adam Jamison.

Instead I said, "You going girlie on me, handsome? Were you dipping into my stash of romance novels?"

There was a pause. It was not what he wanted to hear from me and I knew it. Why did he stay with me? At times like that one, I thought of myself as more of a burden, a chore, than his girlfriend.

Then I heard a depreciating chuckle. "Maybe I'm going girlie in my old age. You tell my friends and I deny the whole thing."

I laughed, simultaneously guilty and relieved that he was willing to joke about the situation to make me comfortable. "So you coming back? I need to know so I can lock myself in my study...which just so happens to be the third bedroom." My eyes rolled at my forgetfulness. "That's going to be hard locking me in since the third bedroom doesn't have a door handle that locks."

"Don't worry. I'll stay at my apartment. Out of necessity. Not because I want too. Be warned: as soon as finals are over, bunnies will pale in comparison to us."

A shiver wracked my body at his promise. "I'm looking forward to it."

--~~--

The house seemed ominous with just me and my cat inhabiting it. I could not understand why. The last time it felt that way was when I heard news that my mother and my grandparents killed in a car accident. Just like it was warning me, or preparing me, for imminent trouble. Something that you would hear about old turn of the century houses or older, except my house was only fifteen years old.

I pushed the thought aside and immersed myself in the fantasy of television. The evening and the night was the only free time I would have before I started finishing my projects for the following week. Aside from the doom and gloom senses that could have only been caused by separation anxiety from Kaden, everything else was relaxing.

There were no lights on in the house accept for the luminosity of the TV. My cat was contentedly sleeping on my stomach, lightly purring his happiness. I had warm green tea at the ready on the stand beside the couch, and my cell phone next to it just in case I received a phone call. While I convinced myself that I was overreacting, my scene of tranquility was overshadowed by that damn portentous feeling.

It was shortly after nine at night, I received the phone call that would shake up the chaos that had slowly settled into order. The number was one that was not recognized by my cell phone, but I picked it up anyway.

"Hello?" I sounded groggy, as if I had not spoken in years.

"Alex! Thank God you answered the phone!" There was a relieved quality to Kaden's words.

"Of course I would pick up my own cell phone. You know the rules. The only reason why I wouldn't is if I was in class or a meeting. It's Friday night." My heart kicked up it's pace. He had not said much to me, but I already did not like where the conversation was going. There was something funny about his call. I could hear familiar noises in the background, while I could not place them, they sent dread through me.

"Are your doors unlocked? Your windows open?"

Looking around the darkened room, my mind brought to mind phantom images where I was being watched. "No, you know I live in a great neighborhood. I could keep the house entirely open if I wanted and wouldn't have to worry."

His breathing sped up. "Start worrying, Alex. Shortly after our conversation earlier I spotted the police waiting for me outside my apartment as I pulled into the parking lot. They arrested me for assault and battery."

"What?!" At first, I thought my ears had malfunctioned. Kaden and I had already known each other for three weeks, but that was plenty of time for me to know that he would never do what the police were charging him for. "Who did they say that you assaulted?"

"I'll give you one good guess. They pretty much told me that I beat the crap out of Justin and put him in the hospital. I'm afraid that this is all a way of getting me out of the picture while he comes after you. Go through the house; lock all the doors and windows. You hear one little noise, no matter how significant, you call the cops."

My stomach was doing a free fall into a void, one that did not have an end to it. "I'll be there shortly to bail you out." I had no clue how to bail a person out of jail, and could only hope that the police were polite enough to help walk me through it.

"No, Alex. The bail is too much money and I know you're living off a limited budget. You concentrate on taking care of yourself until I get there. I'll find another way out of jail."

"It's my fault you're in there. Let me worry about my own money." I hung up before he could say anything.

Running through the house, I picked up everything I would need to get to Kaden: my wallet, my keys, and my phone. In my haste, I almost stepped on my cat that was lying on his back in the middle of the hallway. It was not until I was outside, on my way to my car, when I spotted my neighbor's house. The lights were on, giving it a flush of welcome. Clarity cut through my churning emotions and I started to remember things. My aunt's husband- do to past differences I refused to call him by the name of uncle- had connections with many cops in the county Kaden was arrested in.

The man spent all of his 20's and 30's trying to figure out what emergency specialist he wanted to be. He went from fire fighter to ambulance driver to cop to county coroner. I theorized he wanted a profession in the emergency services because he was allowed to break traffic laws legally and everyone had to pull over to the right side of the road so he could pass. There was never a use for him in my life, thinking him as a drain on my aunt's income. You never knew what life was going to throw at you.

--~~--

The phone call was not as bad as I thought it would be. My aunt was elated to hear from me, telling me how worried she was. I was the one person in the family that took the deaths of my grandparents the hardest. It took an act of God to keep me from reminding her that my mother died along with them. I set aside the painful memories. The present was what we were dealing with and Kaden was alive.

My aunt was more than surprised that I wanted to speak with her husband, Jared. He got on the line being his abrasive self as usual. When I told him, in one breath, what had happened, he was a little nicer...not by much. Because I did not grow up with a father, and because my grandfather made both my uncles promise to look after me the way a father should, Jared beleaguered me with a barrage of questions.

I answered all his questions in short order, not expounding because I felt I could not afford the extra time with Kaden in jail. It was pissing me off that Jared was wasting my time, but I knew that he would be no help unless I indulged him.

After he was reluctantly satisfied with his interrogation, he told me that he would put in some calls. He stressed that I should wait until he called me back and do nothing. I felt like I was in a lame movie, where the heroine could do nothing but stand around and worry while the strong men handled all the work. It was time for me to take the position of the savior. That meant that I had to confront the villain, my ex-boyfriend.

I called the only hospital I knew that was in the next county. He was not there, so I called one of the two hospitals in my own county. I hit gold with the third hospital, the one that was downtown. Before I left the house, I called Tabitha. Someone needed to know where I was just in case something happened.

She did not want me to go, saying that it was too dangerous. I was adamant, I needed to go, I needed to do it, and I needed to feel like I was not helpless. Maybe, I just wanted to feel worthy of Kaden. She knew that it was hopeless talking me out of it. Not only did she want to know what hospital I was going to, but she had me tell her the room number I would be in and we set a time limit. If I did not call her in an hour, she would call the police.

Thanks to Tabitha, I had back up, although I thought everyone was going a little overboard with the precautions. What they were thinking about- kidnapping, murder, and rape- only happened in movies. I was often accused of being a drama queen, was everyone else taking my place when it came to overreacting?

Mrs. Newton was taking out her trash when I went to my car. She waved me over, something she often did. My mother and I moved into the neighborhood a week after Mrs. Newton's husband died. Her and my mother use to talk a lot and it always seemed that Mrs. Newton was comforted by my mother. It seemed that she never felt alone with the knowledge that me and mom lived next to her.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Newton, but I don't have time to talk."

"What's wrong, dear?" She was genuinely worried and I did not want to keep her guessing as to what was wrong with me. That would just be cruel.

"Kaden was arrested for assault and battery. They're saying that he put my ex in the hospital."

Mrs. Newton grunted at the thought. "Any young man that would be late to class to help out an old lady would never do anything so awful. Somehow I knew something bad was going to happen."

"You and me both. I was just stupid enough to ignore my instincts. Sorry, Mrs. Newton, I'm on the clock. It's time for me to see what help I can be." I did not give her time to react, I just walked away. Tabitha tried to talk me out of my course of action; I knew Mrs. Newton would too.

--~~--

Sorry for the delay! I finally got this chapter done and I'm working on eight now. Voting and criticism/comments are welcome!