Free Not My Type by Chrystal Vaughan Page B

physically; it preceded him through
the door. He leashed it long enough to pet the dancing Spike and
give him treats before pinning her to the couch with his
gaze.
    "Busy day?" he asked, his tone
dripping with sarcasm.
    "I went swimming...after you left, and
I sort of...lost track of time."
    "Yeah, I bet." He tossed
his keys on the side table by the door and shed his jacket. Without
another word to her, he stalked down the hallway to their bedroom
and kicked the door closed. What the
fuck? she thought. Because I went swimming?
    Elsa started to get mad, herself. She
flung herself off the couch and stormed into the bedroom, finding
him sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirt off and his head
in his hands. She stopped, surprised to find him that way.
"Babe?"
    "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I can't do
this. I can't have you going somewhere else where I can't watch
you, can't protect you. I know it makes me a chauvinist pig or
something but...I just can't help it."
    She dropped to her knees in front of
him and moved his hands so he would look at her. "I thought...you
were mad because I missed lunch?" she made it a
question.
    "No, I'm mad at myself for being upset
that you went off somewhere where I couldn't go."
    "Why? Why does it matter?"
    "Because I can't protect you from
yourself, goddamit!" his eyes blazed at her with the force of his
emotions.
    "Are
you... jealous ?"
    "No. Yes. Fuck I don't know. I'm
worried you'll hurt yourself and I won't be there to stop you, or
fix it if you do. I'm jealous, okay yes, I'm jealous you want to
swim with Claire and not with me. Mostly, I'm upset about all these
fucked up feelings and I'm worried that I'm going to lose you
because I'm being a colossal pain in the ass."
    She smiled a little,
relieved to find out what was wrong. This, she could handle. "Well,
then stop being a
colossal pain in the ass. I told you, I love working out with you.
I just really used to like swimming and I read it's really good
exercise. Honest. You're not losing me to Claire. She doesn't have
the right equipment."
    He snorted. "I wasn't
worried about that ...though I am now, thanks very much. You...stopped me...this
morning."
    She regretted it instantly,
remembering how she'd been in a hurry to get him out the door so
she could go swimming. If she'd known it would make him feel this
insecure...briefly she thought back to her musings about
co-dependence. She wasn't the only one, it seemed; their fights
were so stupid, so full of each other's insecurities. She always
pictured Joe as strong, but he needed her as much as she needed
him. She knew of only one way to prove how much she loved and
desired him above all else.
    She was still holding his hands,
kneeling in front of him, but she released him and pulled her shirt
over her head, revealing naked breasts beneath. She took both of
his hands again, placing each one in a strategic location while she
surged forward to kiss him with every ounce of passion in her body.
She felt lithe, supple, and strong; she wanted him to revel in the
changes in her body, not become unhappy because of them.
    He was slow to respond but finally
did, running his enormous hands up and down her body, feeling the
new curves and mourning the loss of the old ones. It had not been
that long since they had sex, it never was, but this time felt
different. She felt different. It was disconcerting.
    She leaned into his touch, pushing him
down on the bed, aggressively taking his mouth with hers and
plunging her tongue inside. She released him, stripping his pants
off of his long legs as suggestively as she knew how, running her
tongue up each muscular thigh until her wet mouth touched him, her
tongue circling his hard, fevered flesh until he thought he would
explode. He made a sound deep in his throat and she dug her nails
into his thighs in response. The familiar pinch of pain from her
claws wakened him from his strange fog; this was his Elsa, his
lioness. Nothing was changed, and that was the way