A/N: This one is actually a new chapter (not a repost). I hope you all like it!
Thanks Wolfmusic218 for reading over this one for me :-)

Chp 16

"No, thank you."

Ella couldn't help but smile at three seemingly benign little words that meant so much to her.

She shifted so that she was leaning against his side, tucked under his arm with her face pressed to his chest. Her left arm curled against his ribs and her other roamed over his chest. The solid warmth was both a comfort and a turn-on for her. More than any other time in her life, she wanted to remove the t-shirt and press her body to his. The mere thought of doing so had her face warming and her breath catching in her throat.

Of course John, being the super observant person that he was, noticed the change in her immediately.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." Her voice sounded a bit more pinched than she would've liked, but at least she kept it from breaking.

His fingers that had been idly moving over her back, running trails up and down her spine, paused. They moved up to her head and gently swept the hair away from her face. When they started threading through the thick strands and sliding slowly down, she couldn't stop the involuntary "mmm," from escaping.

She remembered loving it when her mother would play with her hair as a young girl. Daniel had never done it and she was glad now that he hadn't. This was something that she didn't have to compare him to with John. A first for her; a man touching her hair in a way that sent shivers up and down her spine. It felt so good. She didn't want him to stop.

Ella laid there barely moving, hardly even breathing, so that she gave him no reason to stop making her feel so good. After a few minutes though, he did.

"I'm sorry, do you want me to stop?"

She lifted her head and met his eyes. "No...why do you ask?"

His fingers almost immediately started working through her hair again as he answered. "You just got very...still. I thought maybe...it bothered you."

Her eyes drifted closed and her head sunk back down onto his chest again. "Noo." The word was drawn out on a quiet breath. "No, don't stop. It doesn't bother me...it feels...," she took a deep breath and answered on her exhale, "amazing."

His chest, that had been moving in a slow rhythmic pace, stilled as did his fingers. Ella moved, about to ask why he'd stopped when those magic fingers of his once again started weaving themselves through her hair.

The tiny electric tingles shot from her head straight down her body and back up again. She released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding just as his chest started its movement again.

Ella thought she would be content to lay here, like this, the entire night. She would savor her time with John and revel in the feelings he brought to life within her. All night...

Ella woke to the sound of soft snoring. She doubted she would have even heard it if her ear hadn't been pressed to the origin of the noise. Silently she cursed herself for falling asleep. She'd wanted to spend all night feeling like she had when he'd started touching her.

Her left arm was losing feeling but there was no way in hell that she was going to move. She was pressed up against his warm torso. Thankfully she'd had the conscious thought to keep her lower half away from his leg...again. One of these times she was going to end up pressing against him and hurting him.

She was supposed to be staying up and keeping watch in case he needed something, not falling asleep on the job. It didn't really matter now because her charge was awake. She felt it the moment he woke. His breathing was still just as slow and even but the arm wrapped around her tightened ever so slightly. She felt her lips pull up and knew that he would have noticed the tiny movement against the side of his chest.

"Good Morning."

Ella nearly moaned at the soft, low timbre of his voice. She enjoyed the slightly raspy quality to it. It had such an effect on her that it was almost a physical caress to her senses.

Her own answering "good morning" was lower than normal and whether it was all from sleep or desire, she wasn't quite sure.

His fingers began sliding over her arm in a slow lazy pattern that sent shivers cascading over her entire body. She couldn't remember ever waking up this happy. Her fingers started a pattern of their own over his chest. Even though it was covered, the thin material of his t-shirt couldn't disguise the firm body underneath. Not for the first time, she craved to touch it, skin against skin, to feel the warmth of it radiating onto her own.

She took a deep, but quiet, breath and slowly slid her hand down his chest, over his taut belly and the indention of his bellybutton to the bottom of his shirt where it met with the waistband of his sweatpants. Her fingers paused, but only for a second, before they slowly curled under the hem of his shirt where they met their goal.

Simultaneously, his chest rose as his stomach contracted in an obvious reaction to her touch. Ella almost pulled her hand back in a gut reaction of fear to his movement but the quiet gasp she heard was like a sudden injection of pure confidence shot right into her heart. She flattened her palm against his stomach and moved it slowly upwards.

The slight smattering of hair rasped against her palm. She quite liked the sensation. The further up her hand went the sparser the hair. When she reached his belly button again she circled it with her index finger. John exhaled quickly through his nose. Ella thought he might be smiling but she didn't want to take a chance and look up at him fearing that it might break the spell and she would have to stop.

As she moved further up, her fingers brushed against something smooth and plasticy. It was the edge of the bandage covering the gunshot wound on his side. Again, she felt an overwhelming urge to pull away but fought against it. Instead, she shifted her hand and moved it closer to his middle.

Just above his belly button the hair had all but disappeared but as she reached his chest, she felt it yet again. All at once she couldn't stifle the need to not only feel it, but see it, taste it, press her own chest against it. Ella imagined herself tearing the shirt from him in strips and ravaging him senseless with her hands, lips, tongue, and teeth. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance. A large hand wrapped its fingers around hers through his shirt breaking her out of her lustful daze.

She realized that her fingers were digging into the skin of his chest. Immediately she relaxed her hand under his, took her lower lip in her teeth and looked up at him sheepishly.

His eyes were dark, dilated, hooded under thick black lashes. For a split second, Ella thought he was angry but then her eyes lowered and caught sight of his mouth, slightly open as his tongue slipped out and ran across his lower lip.

No, he was certainly not angry, she thought. He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. Nerves took over and she started to pull her hand from under his but his soft whispered voice stopped it in its tracks.

"Ella...please don't stop."

Her eyes flickered up, met his, and then lowered as the blood rushed to her cheeks. It wasn't like last night when she would've been hidden by the dark. Now the sun, although filtered by thick, lush curtains, shone into the room casting a soft glow illuminating just how flushed she was.

Her mouth was dry and her heart was beating too fast. She wished, not for the first time, that she could control her reactions just a little. Ella nearly groaned in frustration but then she felt long fingers sliding slowly down her back until they reached her low back, right where her shirt ended. A soft gasp escaped her when they slid underneath and met the sensitive skin there. She laid her head down at the crook of his arm just at the top of his chest and allowed her body to relax against him. As John's fingers made slow, deliberate patterns across her back, she once again began exploring his chest with her own fingers.

Goosebumps rose on her skin and covered her entire body. Ella heard John chuckle, a deeply satisfying sound.

"What," she whispered quietly, "are you laughing at?"

"I'm not laughing...just enjoying watching your reaction."

Ella raised her head and met his eyes. "I don't like to be watched."

John's head cocked to the side, his confusion evident in the small wrinkles marring his otherwise smooth forehead.

"I'm sorry, Ella...but I can't help it. Someone as beautiful as you deserves to be noticed."

"Ohh," was her breathy reply.

"But if it makes you uncomfortable, I'll try to make it less obvious."

"I..." She was rendered speechless.

A tidal wave of thoughts seemed to crash down onto her at once threatening to drown her. She wanted to respond, to tell him that she was sorry, that he could notice her, look at her, all he wanted, but she wasn't sure how to tell him now. She'd hated how Daniel had watched her, like she was a piece of meat, always staring...leering at her. It made her feel disgusting, dirty. John didn't make her feel like that at all. He really did make her feel beautiful for the first time in her life.

Since she couldn't seem to tell him how she felt, she decided that she was going to show him...

Sorry it was so short...I'll update as soon as RL allows.