Chapter 4 #3
"I think so, too." He hoped that she was smiling. It certainly sounded like she was. "I know I didn't say I'd call you tonight... or text, but I wanted to hear your voice. So I texted you hoping that we could talk a little. I know you have work tomorrow-"
"You can text me anytime. I'll text or call you back when I can. I can't always pick up at that moment."
"Who can?" She laughed. "I'm not the kind of person who's needy or clingy. That's not who I am, Dom, but I've been hurt and I'm trying to work my way through it."
"You're still being hurt, Kawehi. I don't... I don't want to get your hopes up, but I feel like I should tell you that I've talked to someone on base who might be able to help us find your husband."
The call went silent on her end, and he wondered if he'd overstepped somehow.
"Us?"
He heard the question in her voice, but he thought he also heard something like hope. "Yeah. Us. No matter what happens between you and me, you deserve to find Nick and at least serve him with papers so you can get your life back on track."
Pallas heard her sniffle, but nothing else.
"Kawehi?"
"I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't- I don't know what to say to you. I don't know how to thank you."
He closed his eyes and wished that he could hold her tight and comfort her. "I can't promise that everything will work out with him and your divorce, but I want you to know that you have me on your side."
"One day," she sighed, "you're going to get tired of trying to help me."
"No." He was sure of that answer. "I'm not going to ever get tired of helping you. Isn't that what friends do?"
"Friends! Yes." He was pretty sure she was putting a little too much 'happy' in her voice. "Of course. We're friends."
"And that's a great thing," he smiled as if he was looking right at her with her eyes on him, "because being friends is probably the best way to start a lasting relationship. My parents and grandparents started out that way."
She'd gone silent again and Pallas felt bad that he hadn't explained it the right way from the beginning. They were still learning how they communicated with each other.
"I meant it when I kissed you," he told her. "I want more with you. I want everything with you, but I'm not about to force the issue in any way. Just know that I'm here for you as a friend because that's what you need me to be right now."
"My cousin's going to be so upset. She thought you were my boyfriend." Her laughter was filled with relief.
"Well, I'm going to be that, too. Like at the beach. I might not be able to stop myself from holding you. Or maybe if I'm lucky, you'll need someone to put sunscreen on your back."
"I think you'll be in luck then, Dom."
"I think I'm lucky right now. I'm glad you texted me."
"And I'm glad you called."
He heard her sigh and then the soft click of a switch.
"Are you in bed?"
She hummed softly before she answered. "Mmmhmm. I'm so exhausted I didn't even get under the covers. I just stretched out on top of everything."
"In your work clothes?" Yes, he was probably pushing a little by asking the question, but that soft, dreamy voice of hers had his heart pounding in his chest and blood rushing down to-
"No. I changed clothes while we were talking." She yawned and he barely stifled his own in turn. "I didn't want to miss a minute of talking to you."
"You sound like you're about to fall asleep on me." He grinned at the idea.
"That sounds like heaven." She sighed and he had a feeling that she was talking about it in the physical sense. "I bet you'd be a really good pillow."
"That sounds like fun. I wouldn't mind being your pillow."
"Yeah?" Her laughter sounded almost like a soft sigh. "Well, don't complain when your arm falls asleep. I'm a heavy sleeper."
He had a feeling that her mind was tumbling her thoughts around in her head. "I wouldn't complain if I had you in my arms. I think I'd be tempted to sleep in if you were around."
"Oh, good. I like sleeping in..."
"Kawehi?"
"Hmm?" Her voice was tender and sleepy.
"Put your phone down so you can fall asleep."
"It's down." He heard fabric rustling near the phone. "On my pillow. 'Night."
"Good night, Kawehi."
"'Night..."
She didn't speak again, but he waited for a minute or two just in case. Then he ended the call and put his phone back on the bedside table on the charging pad and turned off the light.
He hadn't planned on talking to her, but he was glad he had.
When he'd seen her earlier with her cousin at the bowling alley, he had a feeling that there was something going on that he didn't understand.
With just her uncle around, Kawehi had been easy to talk to.
Having her cousin around made her tense.
He didn't think that her cousin was mean to her, but it seemed like her cousin was much more interested in what was going on between himself and Kawehi.
Maybe it was just what she'd said, that her cousin thought that he was... What was the way she'd said it?
Stupid-hot?
Pallas laughed at the phrase. It sounded like something Axl would say. Grinning to himself in the near-dark of his bedroom, he wondered what it would be like to have Kawehi around the other guys on his Special Operations Team.
He turned over on his back and looked up at the ceiling where the fan turned and turned above his head. Pallas had never met a woman like Kawehi before. And he'd never even thought of bringing a woman around his team.
As far as he knew, they were all dedicated bachelors.
Things could change, he reasoned.
He could be the first guy and start the others falling.
Laughing softly to himself he pulled up the top sheet and felt the way it dragged over his erection.
He'd gotten hard talking to her near the end and it still hadn't relaxed after he'd ended the call.
It didn't surprise him much. Around her, listening to her voice, especially after he'd kissed her?
It wasn't a problem of getting hard, it was hiding it from her.
He didn't want her to think that he was looking to jump into bed with her just because he was horny. He wanted things to happen when she was ready. It didn't hurt that he'd been ready since the moment they'd started talking to each other in the bowling alley.
Reaching one hand down under the top sheet, Pallas gripped his cock to adjust its position in his boxer briefs, but the moment he had it in hand, he wasn't ready to let it go.
He'd been asleep when she'd texted, but like he already knew, it wasn't hard to get hard when it came to her.
He gave his erection a squeeze and bit the inside of his cheek as his cock swelled in his hand. He felt a tingling sensation in his lower back and dragged his hand over his cock, all the way to the base of it and back up to the tip.
"Fuck."
"I bet you'd be a really good pillow..."
Her voice had been soft with a sleepy quality to it and her sigh? It was pretty close to a moan.
With his eyes closed, Pallas imagined her lying close to him in bed, her hand on his dick.
As he moved his hand up and down, he swore he heard her voice in his head. Talking to him. Encouraging him.
And maybe even begging him to make love to her.
He groaned as his cock throbbed in his hand. "You don't have to beg, 'Wehi." He hissed through his clenched teeth. "I'll give you anything you want. Anything to make you happy."
He tightened his fingers around his cock and felt an electric sensation shoot along his spine.
He knew she'd be tight around him. Perfect. Squeezing him tight.
"Oh, shit."
He hadn't planned it, but he certainly wasn't going to stop it as he exploded with his hand wrapped around his cock. His hips flexed forward over and over as he rode out the waves of his orgasm. His skin tingled all over his body and he ended up laughing at himself.
"That didn't take long."
Pallas shook his head.
It hadn't, but it had been a long time since he'd had sex.
And he'd been primed since the night he'd met Kawehi, imagining the taste of her lips, the feel of her skin against his.
When it came down to it, it was probably a good idea to get it out of the way.
Maybe he'd be able to keep himself from getting ridiculously hard when they were at the beach. He didn't want to embarrass Kawehi by walking around with her at the beach, hard as a pole in his trunks.
Reaching under the top sheet, he used his boxer briefs to wipe himself off and then peeled them off to toss them across the room into his laundry hamper.
Being naked under his sheets wasn't easy either.
His cock seemed to have a mind of its own and that meant thinking about Kawehi.
Groaning out loud, he lifted an arm and draped his forearm over his eyes.
It was going to take a while to get to sleep now.
Falling asleep with an erection wasn't easy, but he needed to sleep before his alarm went off.
Yeah, life was changing for him.
In the best ways possible.