His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 198: Sleep

** Harper ** freёnovelkiss.com

Was sleep really possible when Eli was hugging her like this, turning her whole body into jelly with the scent and warmth that she so craved?

Harper curled into him, soaking in his precious presence. When they made it into the room and he put her down into the bed, rearranging the blanket carefully to tuck her in, she let out a whimper of protest at the loss of delicious contact from his embrace. But it wasn’t long before the protest turned back into a sigh of delight, because he was quick to climb in next to her and wrap his arms around her again from behind, holding her tight.

"Mmm ... It feels like we’re still in Hawaii," she commented happily when he switched off the light. "So comfy and familiar ... Only without the whole place smelling nice like plumerias and orchids."

"Is that a hint for getting you a big tropical bouquet tomorrow?" Eli breathed into her neck, giving her a rush of tiny tingles. "I’ll make sure to include roses, too."

Harper chuckled, folding herself more snuggly into his arms.

That was when she noticed, with belated observance, that he was carefully spooning her at an angle, keeping a suspicious amount of distance between her body and his groin.

"... Is there a situation of some sort that you’re trying to hide from me?" She wiggled her hips slightly to demonstrate her point.

A half groan was her confirmation. "A situation of some sort is almost always guaranteed whenever I’m with you, Harper." Eli stopped her with a squeeze on the waist. "But before you suggest anything other than sleep, no, not tonight. You look exhausted. Even your eyes are pretty badly bloodshot."

Oh ... Really? But wait, had she really just greeted her boyfriend at the door with a messy apartment, crazy hair, and bloodshot eyes?

Fortunately, Eli didn’t seem to be focusing on the same aspect of it as she was. "I should’ve gone ahead and changed your flight anyway," he added regretfully. "Direct first class would be so much easier. And I could’ve been there with you the entire way."

The longing edge in his voice when he said the last part brought a smile to Harper’s face. "Well, but then you wouldn’t have missed me so much and come all the way here just to snuggle with me," she offered. "So in the end, I consider it a fair trade."

Barely a second passed before she felt a pinch on her butt, making her ouch.

"What makes you think I wouldn’t have missed you as much, just because I get to see you for twelve more hours of the day?" Eli suddenly sounded a little dangerous as he took her chin with his other hand, turning her face around to seal her lips with a hard kiss. "Sleep, so that I can properly show you tomorrow just how much I missed you."

Harper decided quickly that she liked this promise.

She smiled again into the dark as he released her, settling his face back behind her shoulder. "It’s a deal then. Make this restful night worth it," she whispered and closed her eyes, even though the warmth of his breaths tickling her neck reminded her nothing of sleep.

~ ~

Maybe she was tired indeed. Or maybe it was just that comfortable and soothing to sleep with Eli spooning her, because the next time Harper opened her eyes, the morning sun had already come and passed her window. She had fallen asleep so quickly and so deeply that the first few moments she was awake, she even forgot where she was, and she had to blink a few times to remember why the familiar decor of the presidential suit wasn’t there anymore.

The warm body wrapped around her was still familiar, though, as was the soft rise and fall of his chest against her back.

When the scenes of last night that led them here finally returned to her, Harper couldn’t help but grin like an idiot. It was hard to believe that Eli had come all the way to her place to literally just sleep ... Though from the look of it, both of them had indeed rested incredibly well from simply sharing a bed. She could tell from the calm rhythm of his breathing that he was sleeping more soundly than usual, and she liked how his arms were still tightened around her, not letting go even in his dreams.

Maybe it was slightly odd to think that they had actually spent a whole night like this without doing anything, but at the same time, it was satisfying in an unexplainable way that such an innocent night could still turn out so lovely.

Harper closed her eyes again, quietly appreciating the moment. She wished she was facing him — she could spend the whole morning lying in bed and simply looking at him, listening to the sound of his heartbeat pressed against her ears — but in their current position, she didn’t want to stir and wake him up. So she stayed still, drifted in and out of sleep a few more times, before she finally got curious enough to check her phone for the time.

It was 1pm. Damn, they really did sleep well.

She scrolled idly through her phone notifications while she was at it. A few texts from Chelsea, a couple of emails from work, and a lot of comments from her web novel. She clicked on the web novel app — the trip had been interrupting her usual writing schedule for a while now, and she hadn’t checked for comments since the start of the long flight. Good thing she had a small stockpile and all those angelically patient readers.

She had barely finished replying to the first comment when she felt a light squeeze around her waist. Eli stirred behind her, with a husky noise of sleepiness that sounded ... unfairly sexy.

"Good morning." A light kiss landed on the top of her hair, just like last night. "I hope it’s me that you’re texting so early in the day?" he mumbled groggily, burying his nose into the crook of her neck.