Cabin Affairs

Step 7. Alarm Detected

Step 7. Alarm Detected

Playlist: “Is it Me?” by Loveless

I wake up in a startled panic, eyes springing open to take in my surroundings. Where am I? I don't recognize this wood-paneled room with the one large, uncovered window on the upper wall across from me. Or this bed with the faded blue floral quilt…

Oh!

The memories from yesterday at the cabin flood back to me. Without stirring much, I tentatively place an arm onto where Eric slept last night, but find the side empty. I should have figured that out already by the lack of warmth beside me. The snoring is missing, too. Eric has always had a gentle rumble in his sleep.

So, he's awake and gone. That's probably for the best. No awkwardness while I find my way to the bathroom and rummage through my bags. I must look like a hot mess from last night, having never washed off my makeup or brushed my teeth.

Still, it’s weird he’s gone, leaving me alone in a strange place without warning. Why should he look after me though? I’m not a child. Besides, he usually goes for a run every morning; an old habit from the cross country team in high school. I chuckle at the thought. That particular joy, the pleasure of running, has always eluded me.

At least I am not in a hurry to get up since he will probably run for an hour or so. Shutting my eyes again, I relive the glimpses of our encounter yesterday with a smile on my face. I can feel my happiness in the ache of my muscles from our exertion. My inner thighs scream at me from having been wrapped around his torso so tightly and so long.

He wanted me all these years the way that I wanted him. He was attracted to me, too. I don't remember ever feeling this validated in my life. I drove myself crazy for years assuming all the attraction was on my side alone. If only I could also feel relieved.

What about the meaning of Eric's words before I fell asleep last night? What is he supposed to do now? Does that mean he wants to stop? I know we connect well on a physical level. That's definitely not a concern. Could it simply be that he fulfilled a childhood fantasy and now he's ready to move on from it? Surely, this no-strings arrangement allows for that.

There can be no other real feelings. Not on my side, and I know there certainly aren’t on his. That is rule number one. Eric said it enough times in text. How could I possibly forget? I am nothing if not one who staunchly adheres to the rules. I don't even drive over the speed limit. I can’t pay the amount of that speeding ticket, not even with my supple bank account. There are no longer butterflies in my stomach. This is the next level. This is 'hand me some blood pressure medication' kind of s****l tension. This was supposed to be gone after day one. How incredibly annoying to still need to f**k that man!

So, why does the thought of us never fooling around again bother me? My body feels like I just went nine rounds of getting pummeled in a boxing ring, yet this is the first gut punch. Perhaps he doesn’t find me as attractive as I thought yesterday. Maybe that is just the way he looks at every woman. He has this uncanny ability to lie, but I always imagined that I was immune to those charms. If he doesn’t really lust after me, I have a feeling my body image will take more than just the gut punch. I violently shove these thoughts as far away from me as possible. If he wasn’t aroused by how I look, he wouldn’t have taken me a second time that night. s*x doesn’t have to be this complicated.

It is just s*x, right?

Hell no, I tell myself. This is not just s*x. This is very, very, very good s*x. As monumentally phenomenal as it is with Matthew, yet this has a novel element to it that is beyond enticing. Matthew knows my body, but Eric is climbing the mountain to place his flag for the first time. And the second time, I remind myself, as I recall when my face was down on a pillow and my arms were losing feeling on the headboard railing.

That's the reason this bothers me, I decide. The s*x is just so good that I don't want it to stop. At least, not yet. I continue to snuggle into the many pillows on the bed while I try to think about ways of seducing Eric over the next few days that I am here. I want to do it again. I must find confidence in my ability to make that happen. How? My smile evolves into a smirk. If I have my way, the man won't know what hit him.

My plotting takes a backseat to the shrill beeps echoing off the smoke alarm in the cabin. Reeling and startled, I rack my brain for an explanation. We did forget about turning off the space heater last night. It's entirely logical that it could have caught fire. Of all the rotten luck! Especially when my personal fireman for the week is probably off jogging like he does every morning.

I scramble quickly out of the cozy bed and freeze. Literally, I freeze, because I am still naked from last night. I scan the room only to realize my bags are still in the living area, possibly on fire. I can't leave the cabin to go running around stark naked in the woods. Think, Jenny Lynn!

On the dresser I notice a stack of clothing. I grab the top item on the pile, uncaring, and pull it over my head as fast as I can. It's just a t-shirt, but it completely covers me to the thighs. It must be one of Eric's that he had enough forethought to move yesterday. I read the upside down logo of his fire department, and then scold myself for wasting precious seconds on an insipid t-shirt inscription.

I test the doorknob leading to the main room. To my pleasant surprise, it's not even warm. There is no smoke billowing from underneath the door either, I note. Great! I did not relish the idea of going out that ranch-style window, which was located so high up that I doubt I could pull myself up and over.

The fire alarm is still deafening to my ears. It’s now or never. With a deep inhale, I push the bedroom door open and look around the smokey room, expecting to see fiery beams on the ceiling cracking on their way to the floor. That's when I get the surprise of my life.

My deep breath is released in an outpour of laughter as I watch Eric trying to dispel the smoke from the stove to the open window by frantically waving a dish towel.

"Just turn the detector off, E!" I shout to him over the raucous. I can't hear what he grumbles back to me, but he is most assuredly pissed off as he walks over to the detector and works his magic on it. The ringing continues in my ears even after the alarm goes silent.

"It goes against my nature to turn these things off, J. I hope you never do that at home,” Eric berates me, wagging an index finger in my direction and ignoring my know-it-all grin. “I guess I'm more used to the noise though."

He moves back over to the messy kitchen with a roll of his eyes at me. Eric's bare back is to me as he apologizes. "I'm sorry. I really was trying to let you sleep."

"Well, I think that ship has sailed, but it's really OK. I'm used to getting up early with the kids anyway," I console him as I hop onto the only clean spot of the kitchen peninsula, surveying the crime scene against food that lies before me.

"Yeah, yeah, but this isn't about you. It's about me. I wanted to make you breakfast in bed," Eric huffed and pouted like a child, showing me the remains of some bacon he charred to perfection. "It’s so weird. I usually cook better at the Station. It’s not like I’m some fancy chef, but I can whip up a breakfast for twenty guys, no problem. Here, it all falls apart. I don't know what went wrong."

"Oh, E," I sigh at him pitifully. "It was a very sweet notion. But I don't think frying bacon when shirtless is ever a good idea."

Except for maybe now, I think, because I am being treated to a front row seat at the gun show. Every tiny movement of his is more pronounced by the contours of his upper body. Eric sets the pan down and faces me in all his muscular glory. Shirtless, with only a pair of joggers riding dangerously low on his waist, I believe I finally understand the smutty reason women enjoy what has been deemed 'gray sweatpants season.'

As I'm off in my own little intermission, Eric interrupts my ogling. "What are you wearing?"

I look down again at the Station logo on the blue oversized t-shirt. "This? It was the first thing I found in the room to put on. I didn't know you were still here, so I had to get out quickly."

"That's my shirt," he accuses.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," I joke. Though I find it impossible not to cross my arms against my chest, feeling uncomfortably on display by his accusatory tone.

"That's my shirt," he repeats. He points another finger towards my chest. "You are wearing my shirt."

"Yeah… I know. Is that a problem?" I ask cautiously. I'm starting to wish I had run out the window naked after all.

"No," he answers uncommittedly. He is staring at the shirt and my crossed legs hanging from the kitchen counter. His eyes trail downward too slowly to mistake his thoughts. Although, even if I do, the front of his gray sweatpants add another reminder.

Perhaps getting him to have s*x with me again won't be so difficult after all. I start to fidget purposefully with the bottom hem of his shirt at my thighs. "If it's a problem, then I can always take it off."

"f**k, no!" He straightens up from leaning on the sink behind him as he answers.

"No?" I tilt my head and slide the hem up, revealing more of my upper thighs.

"No," he says firmly and my shoulders fall a bit at his decision. He seems to understand the negative train my thoughts want to take at being rejected, and heads me off at the pass. "It's not that, Jenny Lynn. It's just… You look really hot wearing my clothes. I can't believe I've never seen you do it before."

My courage rises.

"So, you don't want me to take the shirt off? Are you really sure about that?" Since he's watching, I uncross my legs, too. Leaning back on my hands at the counter, my chest naturally perks up at him.

"Yes, beautiful. I'm sure." His words are disappointing, but his tone is reverberating down my spine. Eric crosses the distance between us and stands in between my legs. His hands warm the tops of my thighs, but then I gasp. One hand is sneaking into the sudden wetness between them.

"I have all the access I need right here."