Soon, I was breathless, breathing from him as our lips could not part. His hands were hot on my body as he explored all the places we pressed together. We were too warm, but not close enough, longing to hold each other connected.
Owen undressed me slowly, the magnetic pull of his gaze heating every inch of skin he bared. He let me pull his shirt over his hard shoulders, then he slipped free of his jeans. He brought his body against me slowly, the warmth touching me like sunlight. His agate-blue eyes held mine as we came together, and our gaze did not break even as our bodies took over.
For all the pulsing desire, it was slow, as if Owen needed to savor every small sensation. The pressure of him, the anticipation, the wild longing soothed by the possessive look in his eyes, brought me to shattering before him. He drank up my shuddering cries, brushed my hair off my neck. I felt him whispering there as he rode my aftershocks, words he could not yet say out loud. Words I understood anyway, saying things that made my heart sing and my body surge around him again as he poured himself into me.
We lay for a long time afterwards without moving. His lips stopped their soundless words, and instead, kissed the curve of my neck. My hands drifted up and down the contours of his back.
And we both held on to each other. Every throbbing beat of my heart was answered by his, and neither of us moved away.
When Owen finally leaned back on his arms, he gazed down and caught tears in the corners of my eyes. He kissed them away. I could not say anything, and he did not try. Instead, we pulled each other up and got dressed.
Somewhere between balancing to put on socks and buttoning up shirts wrong, we started laughing. I had never felt so free or at ease. It was like the whole world was anchored securely beneath my feet.
"Wait, shhh. Do you hear something?" Owen asked. He was still struggling to put on his left sock.
I gave his shoulder a prod and giggled as he toppled back onto the couch. "No. Please tell me you are not paranoid the police are going to bust in the door again."
"No, sorry. I just thought I heard voices," he said.
"I mean, I know I'm good, but I didn't think I was that good," I said.
Owen snagged my waist and dragged me onto the couch where he tickled me mercilessly. I had just struggled free and ran for the kitchen when the apartment door sprang open. Jasper stumbled in with two overflowing grocery bags.
"Snacks and supplies. The alcohol's still in the trunk of my car," he said. He stopped and eyed the both of us. "But, never mind. You finish up whatever is going on and I'll get it." He dropped the groceries in the entryway and disappeared back down the hallway.
"Supplies?" I asked. "For what?"
"Who knows? He mentioned having a few beers with me and hashing out the whole police search problem," Owen said.
I brushed the tangles out of my hair with my fingers and fanned my red hot cheeks. "Boys' night or can I stay? I was thinking, you do have pasta here. I think there's enough stuff in your cupboards that I could make a sauce."
Owen came up behind me in the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck. "That sounds perfect. I'll get rid of Jasper."
Unfortunately, Jasper returned wit
h four friends. They carried more than just a six-pack of beer. Soon, an entire party spread was all over the kitchen island. Jasper turned on the apartment sound system and music took over.
"We can't let them see they've gotten to us, man," Jasper said to Owen. "Don't worry, I invited all the neighbors. Maybe we can find out who’s been sending the bad vibes our way."
"No. This is a terrible idea," Owen said. He turned the volume down. "This is the opposite of what we should be doing."
"Come on, man, let go a little. They didn't turn up anything during the searches, they've got nothing on us. A party is not illegal, and frankly, I think you could use a little fun. Though, you do look remarkably looser than earlier," Jasper said. He winked at me.
I tried not to gag. Something about Owen's roommate had never felt right. He told big, exciting stories with details that did not quite match up. From what Owen said, Jasper was a talented website designer with a promising freelance career, but I had never seen one scrap of evidence that he actually worked.
A group of five more people filed into the apartment. Two were friends of Jasper's, but the other three were local gamers. Owen greeted them with big hugs and smiles. Maybe Jasper was right. A night spent surrounded by friends would make Owen feel a lot more supported.
"Everyone's read the chat rooms and they have ideas for what we should do," Owen said. He brought me a beer and leaned against the kitchen counter next to me. "I hate to say it, but maybe Jasper is right. I'm worrying about things that haven't happened and probably won't."
"I'll drink to that," I said. I slipped an arm around Owen and was relieved when he did the same.
It was one thing to feel so connected to him when we were alone, but it was still hard for us to be together in front of people. Most of his friends had met Sienna and they knew who I was. It was just something we were going to have to get past together, and Owen's arm around me helped.
The apartment started to fill up, and Owen saw people he knew everywhere. I was content to stand back in the kitchen and observe while he made tracks back and forth through the growing crowd. His friends were there, but Jasper's eclectic guests soon outnumbered them. He claimed most were clients, but many did not strike me as flourishing business owners that had hired Jasper to design their websites. In fact, I recognized a few as regular burnouts from my high school.
I was making my way towards them to ask how they knew Jasper when someone caused a scene in the doorway. Anya arrived in a skintight green dress. The Dark Flag players applauded as they recognized her Ayaan costume, minus the green scaly skin. I wished she had done the makeup, because without it, she was devastatingly beautiful. Every eye was drawn to her.
Even Owen looked. I watched as he accepted her kiss on the cheek and clinging hug. They talked closely for a minute, and then Owen kissed her on the cheek. I was glad when he moved away from her and came directly over to me, but there was still a hard knot in my throat, and I could not speak.