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Note: This chapter is rated R for graphic sexual content. If you are under 17 please do not read this chapter. Don't blame me if you choose to ignore the rating and you get all embarrassed.
A Not so Perfect World Part 5
Finding Solace
By Phenyx
Jarod gazed at Parker with a startled, frightened look in his eyes. She leaned against his chest and kissed him again, sucking gently on his lower lip.
Parker felt a terrible need to touch him. She wanted to try to ease his troubled soul. Take his pain away. But deep inside, Parker knew that she needed to find solace for herself as well. The Centre had left them both so lost, searching for answers that never really filled the void in their lives.
Parker sat up, looked into his troubled face and smiled sadly. Jarod had been right. There was more to their relationship than running and chasing. There had always been a connection between them, a slender thread of trust that had made them emotionally dependent upon each other. No matter what had happened between them, The Centre had never been able to break that connection.
She stroked Jarod's cheek, running the pad of her thumb across his lips. Gently clasping his shoulder, Parker pulled him into a sitting position. Very slowly, using both hands she tugged his undershirt out of his waistband. The backs of her hands caressed the length of his torso as Parker drew the shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor.
"Parker," he whispered haltingly.
Pushing him back down against the pillows, Parker began nibbling gently on his neck. "No more fighting, Jarod." She murmured against his skin. "We've had enough misery in our lives. Its time we stopped hurting each other."
Jarod squeezed his eyes shut tightly and balled his hands into fists, wads of the blanket beneath him clenched tightly between his fingers.
When Parker ran her fingertips down his bare chest, his breath hissed between his teeth.
"You can't take this back, Parker." He gasped. "We can never go back to what we had."
"What we had stunk." She whispered against his flesh. "All we had were lonely phone calls in the dead of night." She kissed him again. "It was nothing. But I needed those phone calls, Jarod."
Parker sat up again and looked down at him. "Look at me, Jarod."
Jarod dragged in an uneasy breath and opened his eyes just in time to see a tear run down her cheek. He flinched as the teardrop fell from her chin and struck his stomach.
"Sometimes I needed those phone calls." Parker smiled sadly. "And you never failed to call when I really needed you." Another tear escaped, running down her cheek to land on Jarod's skin.
Jarod closed his eyes again and sighed. "I'm not exactly myself right now, Parker."
Her laugh was low and seductive. "You're not as cocky as usual. I think for once I may have caught you off guard and a little vulnerable." Parker leaned over and took his nipple between her teeth, running her tongue over the tip. The sensation made Jarod jump.
"Vulnerable is an understatement, Parker." Jarod panted. "Shattered would be more appropriate." He suddenly grabbed Parker by the shoulders and pushed her back into a sitting position. "Do you know what you are doing?" he whispered, staring into her eyes intently.
Parker nodded solemnly. With one hand she caressed the muscles on his abdomen. Stopping at his waistband she began to undo the buckle on his belt. Jarod's hands again curled tightly in the blankets at his sides.
Parker tilted her head curiously at him. Jarod was breathing quickly now. He had an anxious, almost frightened look on his face as Parker deliberately pulled the leather strap out of the loops and away from his pants.
She shifted her body, carrying her weight on her knees and straddled Jarod's legs. Parker could feel him trembling beneath her.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "You have done this before, haven't you?" she asked carefully.
A shudder ran through his body as Jarod sighed desolately. "Not with you." He rasped.
"Am I so different from the other women in your life, Jarod?" she asked casually as she undid the button on his pants.
"God, yes." He breathed. Jarod gazed into Parker's eyes as she smiled at him.
"Why?" She asked, lowering his zipper.
Jarod squeezed his eyes shut and moaned. He clung to the blankets beneath him as though his life depended on it. "You. You are Miss Parker." He gasped.
"So, what?" She cooed at him.
He couldn't think. Parker was easing his pants down his body. His body flinched each time her fingertips touched his thighs. "Parker!" he gasped.
Miss Parker knelt beside him on the bed and studied Jarod's now naked body. He had a death like grip on the bedcovers. His eyes were tightly closed and he was visibly shaking. Every muscle was tensed and taut.
Parker frowned. "You're afraid of me." She said softly.
She saw a tear run down Jarod's face and disappear against the pillow. "I can't lose you, Parker." He whispered hoarsely. "I'll settle for what little we had rather than risk it all for something that may not work."
Parker didn't realize she was crying until she saw drops landing on Jarod's chest. "I won't. I can't settle for that life anymore. I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone, searching for something when I know that something is right here, with you."
She quickly stood and shed her clothes. Parker kissed Jarod's lips and tasted the salt of her own tears as she straddled his hips beneath her own. "Give me your heart, Jarod." She whispered against his neck as she positioned herself above him. "I'll be careful with it, I swear."
"I can't." Jarod groaned. "It's not mine to give." He gasped as Parker lowered her body and he slid deeply into her. "I lost it a long time ago." Jarod's hands released the blanket and clasped around her hips, possessively holding her in place.
For a long moment he held her there, motionless. The two of them stared desperately into each other's eyes. Jarod abruptly sat up and wrapped Parker in his arms, pulling her to him closely. It was Parker's turn to gasp as his movement thrust him deeper into her.
"You've always had my heart, Parker." He whispered into her hair. "It was yours the day I met you."
Parker wrapped her arms around Jarod's body and laughed mournfully. They made love with a desperate abandon. Their bodies clung to each other with need long after they had both found a shattering release. They lay entwined in a tangle of arms and legs, comforting each other until sleep finally found them.
It was dark when Parker woke sometime later. Snuggled with her under the blankets, Jarod was curled against her back. With one hand he was tentatively caressing her abdomen.
She rolled onto her back and smiled up at him in the dark. "Hi there." She said.
"Hi." He answered cautiously.
Parker ran her fingers through Jarod's hair at the side of his head. He closed his eyes and sighed, savoring the sensation.
"Did you get any sleep?" She asked him.
"Some." He nodded. "But I had a dream about the most incredible woman."
Parker smiled. "Oh, really?"
Jarod propped himself onto one elbow and looked down into Parker's eyes. "I dreamt that I was snuggled up next to the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." He took a lock of her hair in one hand and brushed it against his cheek. "Am I dreaming, Parker?" He asked in a tremulous voice.
Parker wrapped her arms around Jarod's neck and held him close. "I think we're both dreaming." She whispered as she pulled him into a deep but tender kiss.
Jarod moaned softly. He rolled on top of her and kissed the area between her breasts. "I like this dream." He murmured.
Parker laughed low. "I'll bet you're going to like it even more in a few minutes." She said seductively as she wound her legs around his waist.
"Parker." He breathed her name like a prayer against her lips as he kissed her.
"I'm here." She soothed.
He entered her carefully, cautiously. Jarod loved her slowly as though he really was dreaming and too sudden a movement may wake them, ruining the fragile paradise they had found. He held her in a tight embrace as he pushed into her. When she cried out in climax, he caught the sound between his lips with a kiss and moaned his own rapture against hers.
Jarod laid his damp brow against her shoulder, nuzzled into the tender skin at her throat and fell asleep in Parker's arms.
Sunlight streaming through the bedroom window woke Jarod up. He blinked, disoriented for a moment. The warmth beside him reminded Jarod where he was. With one hand he carefully swept Parker's hair back to reveal her sleeping face. Jarod smiled.
Parker loved him. He knew that now. Neither of them had said the feared "L" word during the night. Love, like trust, was something neither of them had ever had much experience with. But last night, Parker had made Jarod feel loved. She had given of herself in a way that Jarod hadn't thought possible.
Jarod sat up, blankets pooling at his waist, and gazed down at the woman sleeping beside him. 'She is so beautiful' he thought. He found it amazing that something so lovely could have survived at The Centre. Like a spring blossom unfolding on an icy plain, Parker had been a bright spot in a dark place for as long as Jarod could remember.
Jarod turned and braced his back against the wooden post at the foot of the bed where he could study her more intensely. Parker was a jumble of contradictions. She was the strongest person Jarod had ever known yet at the same time she could be as fragile as a china cup. She was as tough as nails but had an innate tenderness to her personality that she hid far too well. She was independent to an extreme yet she desperately needed compassion from others.
Jarod frowned slightly while he tried to decide which of them had been giving comfort and which receiving during the night. Finally he shrugged and decided that it didn't matter. They needed each other in a way that Jarod couldn't explain, even to himself.
He smiled as Parker blinked slowly and began to wake up. She grinned back at him and sighed contentedly as she stretched like a cat. Her movement caused the sheets covering her to slip down just enough to reveal her breasts.
"What time is it?" She asked.
Jarod shrugged. "Early. Barely dawn."
Parker smiled broadly at him. "You're looking," she paused significantly. "Well-rested this morning."
Parker had always hated it when Jarod smirked at her in the past, but this morning, his cocky grin warmed her heart.
"Well-rested?" he purred. "Is that what we are going to call it?"
She laughed. "Yep." Parker nodded.
"Well then," Jarod sighed. "I'm beginning to feel like I need a little more rest." He grabbed the sheet at her ankles and slowly pulled the covering down her body.
Parker giggled softly as more of her body revealed itself to Jarod's gaze. "I think you've gotten plenty of rest." She said.
Jarod frowned playfully as he pulled the sheet even further. "What about you, Miss Parker? Did you get enough " Jarod paused meaningfully. "Rest?"
Parker laughed seductively. "I never get enough." She teased.
His eyebrows rose. "Is that so?" Jarod asked. He curled onto all fours and started to crawl menacingly toward her. "My, my. That sounds like a challenge."
"Do you think you're man enough?" She asked haughtily.
He answered with a growl pressed into her stomach that made her squeal. Jarod then proceeded to take inventory of Parker's body. Every scar, every blemish was meticulously studied with his hands, lips and tongue. The scars got special attention, with a descriptive narrative of each one's origin when Jarod knew it. For the few he didn't know about, he forced Parker to tell him how she'd received them.
He demonstrated an in depth knowledge of the female anatomy. He knew where all her most sensitive spots were located. At one point he purred into her ear, "Tell me what you like." But it had been a moot point. Everything he did felt marvelous.
He touched and kissed and nibbled at Parker until her arousal was almost unbearable. She squirmed beneath his hands and whimpered like a schoolgirl at his methodical ministrations. Parker arched against Jarod's body again and again as he repeatedly brought her to ecstasy. She moaned at Jarod's exquisite torture.
His voice was tight with restraint when he groaned, "What do you think Parker? Am I man enough?"
Parker dug her nails into the flesh on his back, "God yes!" she cried.
With that, Jarod pulled her knees toward him and plunged into her passionately. They came together moments later with a devastating intensity that made Parker scream.
Their sweat-damp bodies lay curled together in a tangle of sheets and blankets.
"I hope no one heard us." Jarod panted, his head pillowed against her breast.
Parker laughed. "Why?" She said throatily. "Your mother already thinks I've got your balls in my hand bag."
Jarod looked at her in puzzlement. "What?"
She giggled again, hugging him close. "She thinks that I can make you do whatever I want in exchange for sexual favors."
Jarod shrugged. "She's right." He said. Jarod sighed and kissing Parker's jaw line he added, "You are in so much trouble, Parker."
"Why is that?" Parker murmured contentedly.
Propping himself up on his elbows, Jarod pushed Parker's hair away from her face and cupped her cheeks in his palms. "You are never going to be able to get rid of me. Do you know that?"
Parker smiled happily. "Yes. I know."
A while later, the two of them made love again in the shower. It was a quick passionate encounter that began under the warm spray and ended with Parker sitting on the counter with her back pressed against the mirror.
Jarod had left the water running in the shower when he had thrown back the curtain and lifted Parker from the tub. As a result, they had to spend several minutes cleaning up the puddles that had formed around the room while they had been preoccupied. They soaked every towel Parker had in the bathroom as well as the blanket from the bed before the mess was cleaned up.
Finally, Jarod sat dressed on the foot of the bed watching Parker brush her hair.
"You don't have to wait for me, Jarod." Parker told him. "Go get some coffee. I'll be out in a minute."
Jarod shrugged. "I'm in no hurry. I'll wait."
Parker looked at him suspiciously. "You are afraid to face them on your own." She stated.
Jarod sighed. "You know me too well, Parker."
She smiled at him sadly. Jarod had found a stability of sorts in Parker's arms last night. He was calmer and more confident this morning than any time since Parker had first taken him from the hospital. He was stronger and getting better. But he was still anxious. His relationship with Parker had found a solid foundation, but he still needed to find that balance with his parents.
Parker stood and walked to the bed to stand in front of him. "Everything is going to work out, Jarod." She said gently.
Jarod wrapped his arms around Parker's waist and pulled her close. Leaning his forehead against her abdomen Jarod asked, "Are you sure?"
Parker caressed the back of his head with one hand while she held him against her with the other. "I promise." She whispered.
Jarod shifted sensuously and kissed Parker's navel through the cotton blouse she was wearing. "We could stay here and get some more rest." He said.
"Oh no." Parker laughed gently. "I'm starving." She whined playfully as she danced out of his grasp. "So just leave me alone, or else."
"Or else what?" Jarod grinned up at her.
"Or else I'll scream." She said as she strode toward the door.
Jarod stood and began to follow her. "Strange," He said. "I thought that making you scream was supposed to be my intent."
"Cute, you rat." Parker chuckled. "Not funny, but cute."
She offered Jarod her hand and together they headed for the kitchen to face Jarod's folks.
A Not so Perfect World Part 5
Finding Solace
By Phenyx
Jarod gazed at Parker with a startled, frightened look in his eyes. She leaned against his chest and kissed him again, sucking gently on his lower lip.
Parker felt a terrible need to touch him. She wanted to try to ease his troubled soul. Take his pain away. But deep inside, Parker knew that she needed to find solace for herself as well. The Centre had left them both so lost, searching for answers that never really filled the void in their lives.
Parker sat up, looked into his troubled face and smiled sadly. Jarod had been right. There was more to their relationship than running and chasing. There had always been a connection between them, a slender thread of trust that had made them emotionally dependent upon each other. No matter what had happened between them, The Centre had never been able to break that connection.
She stroked Jarod's cheek, running the pad of her thumb across his lips. Gently clasping his shoulder, Parker pulled him into a sitting position. Very slowly, using both hands she tugged his undershirt out of his waistband. The backs of her hands caressed the length of his torso as Parker drew the shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor.
"Parker," he whispered haltingly.
Pushing him back down against the pillows, Parker began nibbling gently on his neck. "No more fighting, Jarod." She murmured against his skin. "We've had enough misery in our lives. Its time we stopped hurting each other."
Jarod squeezed his eyes shut tightly and balled his hands into fists, wads of the blanket beneath him clenched tightly between his fingers.
When Parker ran her fingertips down his bare chest, his breath hissed between his teeth.
"You can't take this back, Parker." He gasped. "We can never go back to what we had."
"What we had stunk." She whispered against his flesh. "All we had were lonely phone calls in the dead of night." She kissed him again. "It was nothing. But I needed those phone calls, Jarod."
Parker sat up again and looked down at him. "Look at me, Jarod."
Jarod dragged in an uneasy breath and opened his eyes just in time to see a tear run down her cheek. He flinched as the teardrop fell from her chin and struck his stomach.
"Sometimes I needed those phone calls." Parker smiled sadly. "And you never failed to call when I really needed you." Another tear escaped, running down her cheek to land on Jarod's skin.
Jarod closed his eyes again and sighed. "I'm not exactly myself right now, Parker."
Her laugh was low and seductive. "You're not as cocky as usual. I think for once I may have caught you off guard and a little vulnerable." Parker leaned over and took his nipple between her teeth, running her tongue over the tip. The sensation made Jarod jump.
"Vulnerable is an understatement, Parker." Jarod panted. "Shattered would be more appropriate." He suddenly grabbed Parker by the shoulders and pushed her back into a sitting position. "Do you know what you are doing?" he whispered, staring into her eyes intently.
Parker nodded solemnly. With one hand she caressed the muscles on his abdomen. Stopping at his waistband she began to undo the buckle on his belt. Jarod's hands again curled tightly in the blankets at his sides.
Parker tilted her head curiously at him. Jarod was breathing quickly now. He had an anxious, almost frightened look on his face as Parker deliberately pulled the leather strap out of the loops and away from his pants.
She shifted her body, carrying her weight on her knees and straddled Jarod's legs. Parker could feel him trembling beneath her.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "You have done this before, haven't you?" she asked carefully.
A shudder ran through his body as Jarod sighed desolately. "Not with you." He rasped.
"Am I so different from the other women in your life, Jarod?" she asked casually as she undid the button on his pants.
"God, yes." He breathed. Jarod gazed into Parker's eyes as she smiled at him.
"Why?" She asked, lowering his zipper.
Jarod squeezed his eyes shut and moaned. He clung to the blankets beneath him as though his life depended on it. "You. You are Miss Parker." He gasped.
"So, what?" She cooed at him.
He couldn't think. Parker was easing his pants down his body. His body flinched each time her fingertips touched his thighs. "Parker!" he gasped.
Miss Parker knelt beside him on the bed and studied Jarod's now naked body. He had a death like grip on the bedcovers. His eyes were tightly closed and he was visibly shaking. Every muscle was tensed and taut.
Parker frowned. "You're afraid of me." She said softly.
She saw a tear run down Jarod's face and disappear against the pillow. "I can't lose you, Parker." He whispered hoarsely. "I'll settle for what little we had rather than risk it all for something that may not work."
Parker didn't realize she was crying until she saw drops landing on Jarod's chest. "I won't. I can't settle for that life anymore. I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone, searching for something when I know that something is right here, with you."
She quickly stood and shed her clothes. Parker kissed Jarod's lips and tasted the salt of her own tears as she straddled his hips beneath her own. "Give me your heart, Jarod." She whispered against his neck as she positioned herself above him. "I'll be careful with it, I swear."
"I can't." Jarod groaned. "It's not mine to give." He gasped as Parker lowered her body and he slid deeply into her. "I lost it a long time ago." Jarod's hands released the blanket and clasped around her hips, possessively holding her in place.
For a long moment he held her there, motionless. The two of them stared desperately into each other's eyes. Jarod abruptly sat up and wrapped Parker in his arms, pulling her to him closely. It was Parker's turn to gasp as his movement thrust him deeper into her.
"You've always had my heart, Parker." He whispered into her hair. "It was yours the day I met you."
Parker wrapped her arms around Jarod's body and laughed mournfully. They made love with a desperate abandon. Their bodies clung to each other with need long after they had both found a shattering release. They lay entwined in a tangle of arms and legs, comforting each other until sleep finally found them.
It was dark when Parker woke sometime later. Snuggled with her under the blankets, Jarod was curled against her back. With one hand he was tentatively caressing her abdomen.
She rolled onto her back and smiled up at him in the dark. "Hi there." She said.
"Hi." He answered cautiously.
Parker ran her fingers through Jarod's hair at the side of his head. He closed his eyes and sighed, savoring the sensation.
"Did you get any sleep?" She asked him.
"Some." He nodded. "But I had a dream about the most incredible woman."
Parker smiled. "Oh, really?"
Jarod propped himself onto one elbow and looked down into Parker's eyes. "I dreamt that I was snuggled up next to the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." He took a lock of her hair in one hand and brushed it against his cheek. "Am I dreaming, Parker?" He asked in a tremulous voice.
Parker wrapped her arms around Jarod's neck and held him close. "I think we're both dreaming." She whispered as she pulled him into a deep but tender kiss.
Jarod moaned softly. He rolled on top of her and kissed the area between her breasts. "I like this dream." He murmured.
Parker laughed low. "I'll bet you're going to like it even more in a few minutes." She said seductively as she wound her legs around his waist.
"Parker." He breathed her name like a prayer against her lips as he kissed her.
"I'm here." She soothed.
He entered her carefully, cautiously. Jarod loved her slowly as though he really was dreaming and too sudden a movement may wake them, ruining the fragile paradise they had found. He held her in a tight embrace as he pushed into her. When she cried out in climax, he caught the sound between his lips with a kiss and moaned his own rapture against hers.
Jarod laid his damp brow against her shoulder, nuzzled into the tender skin at her throat and fell asleep in Parker's arms.
Sunlight streaming through the bedroom window woke Jarod up. He blinked, disoriented for a moment. The warmth beside him reminded Jarod where he was. With one hand he carefully swept Parker's hair back to reveal her sleeping face. Jarod smiled.
Parker loved him. He knew that now. Neither of them had said the feared "L" word during the night. Love, like trust, was something neither of them had ever had much experience with. But last night, Parker had made Jarod feel loved. She had given of herself in a way that Jarod hadn't thought possible.
Jarod sat up, blankets pooling at his waist, and gazed down at the woman sleeping beside him. 'She is so beautiful' he thought. He found it amazing that something so lovely could have survived at The Centre. Like a spring blossom unfolding on an icy plain, Parker had been a bright spot in a dark place for as long as Jarod could remember.
Jarod turned and braced his back against the wooden post at the foot of the bed where he could study her more intensely. Parker was a jumble of contradictions. She was the strongest person Jarod had ever known yet at the same time she could be as fragile as a china cup. She was as tough as nails but had an innate tenderness to her personality that she hid far too well. She was independent to an extreme yet she desperately needed compassion from others.
Jarod frowned slightly while he tried to decide which of them had been giving comfort and which receiving during the night. Finally he shrugged and decided that it didn't matter. They needed each other in a way that Jarod couldn't explain, even to himself.
He smiled as Parker blinked slowly and began to wake up. She grinned back at him and sighed contentedly as she stretched like a cat. Her movement caused the sheets covering her to slip down just enough to reveal her breasts.
"What time is it?" She asked.
Jarod shrugged. "Early. Barely dawn."
Parker smiled broadly at him. "You're looking," she paused significantly. "Well-rested this morning."
Parker had always hated it when Jarod smirked at her in the past, but this morning, his cocky grin warmed her heart.
"Well-rested?" he purred. "Is that what we are going to call it?"
She laughed. "Yep." Parker nodded.
"Well then," Jarod sighed. "I'm beginning to feel like I need a little more rest." He grabbed the sheet at her ankles and slowly pulled the covering down her body.
Parker giggled softly as more of her body revealed itself to Jarod's gaze. "I think you've gotten plenty of rest." She said.
Jarod frowned playfully as he pulled the sheet even further. "What about you, Miss Parker? Did you get enough " Jarod paused meaningfully. "Rest?"
Parker laughed seductively. "I never get enough." She teased.
His eyebrows rose. "Is that so?" Jarod asked. He curled onto all fours and started to crawl menacingly toward her. "My, my. That sounds like a challenge."
"Do you think you're man enough?" She asked haughtily.
He answered with a growl pressed into her stomach that made her squeal. Jarod then proceeded to take inventory of Parker's body. Every scar, every blemish was meticulously studied with his hands, lips and tongue. The scars got special attention, with a descriptive narrative of each one's origin when Jarod knew it. For the few he didn't know about, he forced Parker to tell him how she'd received them.
He demonstrated an in depth knowledge of the female anatomy. He knew where all her most sensitive spots were located. At one point he purred into her ear, "Tell me what you like." But it had been a moot point. Everything he did felt marvelous.
He touched and kissed and nibbled at Parker until her arousal was almost unbearable. She squirmed beneath his hands and whimpered like a schoolgirl at his methodical ministrations. Parker arched against Jarod's body again and again as he repeatedly brought her to ecstasy. She moaned at Jarod's exquisite torture.
His voice was tight with restraint when he groaned, "What do you think Parker? Am I man enough?"
Parker dug her nails into the flesh on his back, "God yes!" she cried.
With that, Jarod pulled her knees toward him and plunged into her passionately. They came together moments later with a devastating intensity that made Parker scream.
Their sweat-damp bodies lay curled together in a tangle of sheets and blankets.
"I hope no one heard us." Jarod panted, his head pillowed against her breast.
Parker laughed. "Why?" She said throatily. "Your mother already thinks I've got your balls in my hand bag."
Jarod looked at her in puzzlement. "What?"
She giggled again, hugging him close. "She thinks that I can make you do whatever I want in exchange for sexual favors."
Jarod shrugged. "She's right." He said. Jarod sighed and kissing Parker's jaw line he added, "You are in so much trouble, Parker."
"Why is that?" Parker murmured contentedly.
Propping himself up on his elbows, Jarod pushed Parker's hair away from her face and cupped her cheeks in his palms. "You are never going to be able to get rid of me. Do you know that?"
Parker smiled happily. "Yes. I know."
A while later, the two of them made love again in the shower. It was a quick passionate encounter that began under the warm spray and ended with Parker sitting on the counter with her back pressed against the mirror.
Jarod had left the water running in the shower when he had thrown back the curtain and lifted Parker from the tub. As a result, they had to spend several minutes cleaning up the puddles that had formed around the room while they had been preoccupied. They soaked every towel Parker had in the bathroom as well as the blanket from the bed before the mess was cleaned up.
Finally, Jarod sat dressed on the foot of the bed watching Parker brush her hair.
"You don't have to wait for me, Jarod." Parker told him. "Go get some coffee. I'll be out in a minute."
Jarod shrugged. "I'm in no hurry. I'll wait."
Parker looked at him suspiciously. "You are afraid to face them on your own." She stated.
Jarod sighed. "You know me too well, Parker."
She smiled at him sadly. Jarod had found a stability of sorts in Parker's arms last night. He was calmer and more confident this morning than any time since Parker had first taken him from the hospital. He was stronger and getting better. But he was still anxious. His relationship with Parker had found a solid foundation, but he still needed to find that balance with his parents.
Parker stood and walked to the bed to stand in front of him. "Everything is going to work out, Jarod." She said gently.
Jarod wrapped his arms around Parker's waist and pulled her close. Leaning his forehead against her abdomen Jarod asked, "Are you sure?"
Parker caressed the back of his head with one hand while she held him against her with the other. "I promise." She whispered.
Jarod shifted sensuously and kissed Parker's navel through the cotton blouse she was wearing. "We could stay here and get some more rest." He said.
"Oh no." Parker laughed gently. "I'm starving." She whined playfully as she danced out of his grasp. "So just leave me alone, or else."
"Or else what?" Jarod grinned up at her.
"Or else I'll scream." She said as she strode toward the door.
Jarod stood and began to follow her. "Strange," He said. "I thought that making you scream was supposed to be my intent."
"Cute, you rat." Parker chuckled. "Not funny, but cute."
She offered Jarod her hand and together they headed for the kitchen to face Jarod's folks.
