Page 57 of Deserving Lara
He didn’t mention that falling asleep wasn’t his problem. It was waking in the middle of the night and not being able to gobackto sleep. But with a naked Lara in his arms, staying awake the rest of the night wouldn’t exactly be a hardship.
“Is this weird?” she whispered after a moment.
“No,” Owl said without a shred of doubt.
“I don’t think so either. But some people will.”
“Fuck ’em.”
She chuckled against his chest. “No thank you.”
Owl huffed out a breath and felt himself slip from inside her body.
“Oh…that felt weird!” Lara exclaimed.
Actually, it felt horrible. But Owl simply shifted Lara in his arms so she was mostly lying on the mattress, which had to be more comfortable than lying on him, and took the opportunity to remove his boxers. He kicked them off, not caring that they’d be lost under the covers. He’d sort out the bed tomorrow.
They lay there for a minute or two, before Lara lifted her head. “Would you be offended if I put my shirt back on?” she asked.
Owl let out a relieved breath. “No. I was about to ask you the same thing.”
They shared a smile as they reached for their T-shirts. Then they settled right back into the position they’d been in before. Even though Owl had loved the feel of her against him, he couldn’t deny he was much more comfortable wearing the shirt.
“I love you,” Lara whispered after a while.
“I love you too,” Owl replied, experiencing that overpowering feeling in his chest once more. “Go to sleep. The new guests with the kids will be here before you know it, and I know you and Cora have more stuff you want to plan.”
“Yeah.”
Owl thought she was going to say something else, but the next thing he heard was her deep breaths as her body relaxed completely against his own.
The responsibility he felt toward this woman was almost overwhelming. But it also felt as if it was meant to be. Life with her would be more complicated than living on his own, but he’d been doing it for the last few months, and found he was looking forward to his future. And that was new, as he’d merely been going through the motions of life since he’d been rescued.
Owl kissed Lara’s forehead and smiled when she murmured something in her sleep and snuggled closer. Closing his eyes, Owl couldn’t help thinking that life was finally looking up for him. He had a woman he loved and who loved him back, The Refuge was thriving, his friends were happy, they were getting a chopper and he’d be able to fly once again, and the possibility of children was on the horizon.
Life was good, and he’d do whatever it took to keep it that way.
* * *
Three hours later, Owl woke. He was momentarily confused about where he was and who he was with, then it all came back. Lara slept peacefully in front of him. They’d shifted in their sleep to their sides, and he was now curled around her back, holding her against his chest.
He sighed, turning to look at the clock. Insomnia sucked. He’d suffered from it ever since he’d been a POW. Everyone said it would fade, that as he healed physically and mentally, he’d be able to sleep through the night, but here it was, years later, and he still woke up after only a few hours’ sleep. No matter what he did, what remedies he tried, once he woke, that was it. He was up.
As he’d thought earlier, at least this time he could lay in his bed with Lara. That made his insomnia bearable. It felt like a dream that he was finally holding the woman he’d wanted for months. He respected her, admired her, worried about her, and yes, loved the hell out of her. And she loved him back.
Then, a surprising thing happened. As he lay there with Lara in his arms, reliving the most amazing sex he’d ever had and thinking about baby names, wondering what kind of pregnant woman Lara would be…he felt himself get drowsy.
Owl didn’t have any expectations. This had happened on rare occasions in the past. He’d feel as if he was going to drift back to sleep, but then he’d continue to lay there for hours, depressed when it didn’t happen.
The next thing he knew, Lara was pushing him onto his back, grinning down at him.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Morning,” Owl mumbled—then froze.
In tune as ever with him, Lara frowned. “What? What’s wrong?”
“I slept,” he said, utterly gobsmacked.
