'Listen, Nugget. Papa will still visit you but for now, I have to go.'

'No, please...Papa, don't go.'

In an effort to get on eye level with his five-year-old daughter, Sebastian squatted down on the floor. 'Papa, won't go anywhere, Nugget. I promise.'

'No, no,' she shook her head, her eyes filled with tears as she begged her father not to leave.

She watched her father stand up from the floor, picked up his duffel bag, and walked out of the door, without looking back.

Jess wanted to run after her father, but her mother's hands were on her shoulder, not letting her go after him.

The door creaked and slowly closing --

"Noooo! Please, don't go!"

Jess jerked up from the bed, her hands stretched in front of her, grasping the air.

"Baby, wake up," he grabbed Jess's shoulder, but she flinched away from his touch.

"Don't go," she whispered in the dark. She was gasping for air.

The dream felt so real — it was real. The dream was a memory of the day her father left their house to live away from them. It was the day her father and mother decided to live in a separate house.

He held the side of her head and pulled her to the crook of his arm, "Shhh, I'm here. It was just a nightmare. You were having a nightmare."

He pressed a kiss on the side of her head. She was sweating despite the room cold temperature. "It's okay… I got you," he whispered, stroking her bare shoulder.

Her arms circled around Noah's waist, she buried her face on his armpit, sobbing. She could still feel the remnants of the nightmare. Her heart is pounding as though someone was stomping on her chest, and their footsteps were echoing in her ears.

"Hush, baby...shhh."

He woke up when Jess squirmed next to him. She was flailing in her sleep, sniffing a cry.

At first, he gently called her name but got no response. He began to shake her shoulder when she abruptly got up from the mattress, screaming with her hands stretched out in front of her as if trying to grab something.

"Baby, I am here," he whispered again. He could feel her body stop shaking when she heard his voice.

Before Noah knew what he was doing, he started humming a song while caressing her naked back.

"When did you know the OST of Howl's Moving Castle?" she whispered without lifting her face from being buried on the crook of Noah's arm.

He chuckled softly. "I memorized the song since Lucille started requesting the song as part of our bedtime routine...that and one chapter of the book Anne of Green Gables."

"You are a good father Noah. Lucille is lucky to have you," she replied in a hushed tone.

"I am not always a good father."

"Hmm, I bet your daughter would say otherwise."

He didn't reply and just tightened his arm around her. He grabbed another pillow using his other arm that wasn't holding Jess. He threw the pillow on top of the one he used and pulled Jess back to bed.

She tried to lift her head when she landed on Noah's chest but she felt his hand on the side of her head, pulling her down.

"Shhh, don't you want to hear me sing again?" he chuckled in the dark.

The room was pitch black because he doesn't like any light entering his bedroom whenever he sleeps.

That's why there was a black-out curtain hanging on the sliding glass of the balcony. He doesn't want any lights to enter the room. But maybe, he should change that.

He noticed before when they were in San Lucas, Jess likes the morning rays to stream on her bed in the morning.

He should put some night lamps on the bedside tables too. Right now, he wanted to have some light in the room, but the only lights were the ones in the ceiling and the light switch was on the wall next to the door.

He wanted to turn on a light but he had to stand up to do it. And he didn't want to let go of Jess. Not when she was screaming in her dream for someone not to leave her.

His eyes have already adapted to the dark. He could see one side of her face facing him. He could hear her breathing steadily. She has already fallen asleep again.

He stared at her face in the dark while he stroked her arm. He wondered if her dream had something to do with him leaving her or was it something that happened before - when he wasn't a part of her life, yet.

Speaking of a dream, he creased his eyebrow when he realized that he didn't dream tonight.

He didn't dream of Jess riding on top of him, bouncing and grinding on his shaft while moaning in ecstasy, calling his name.

He wondered what it meant. Since his headache episode in Jess' bathroom, he dreamed of that same dream every night - except tonight when Jess slept next to him.

'Does it mean that the recurring dream represents my buried desire for Jess to ride me?'

He wondered if that was the case. Because if it does, it would be so lame. Imagine repetitively dreaming of Jess riding him like a Harley just because he was lusting over her like a freaking hormonal teenager.

He chuckled in the dark. He gently stroked her cheek and softly pressed his lips on it. Her warm breath hit his face, and he swallowed his saliva, for his throat went dry when his eyes had a glimpse of her curved lashes, fluttering over her closed eyes.

'Yes, Noah. You are just like a disgusting teenager with raging hormones.'

***

She groaned and stretched her arms over her head. A crease formed in between her eyebrows when she took in a deep breath and she had a whiff of a familiar scent, but it's something that should not be in her room.

She moved her head on her right side and the smell got stronger. She rolled to her side and found the smell on her pillow. She sniffed the pillow and realized the scent wasn't just in the pillow it was on the bed, on her, and her eyes flew open.

She wasn't in her room. She was in Noah's room. When the realization hit her, she scrambled to get up from the bed, dropping the blanket covering her body.

She noticed the thick curtains of the balcony were drawn to the sides, the bright morning sun bathed the room with its morning light.

She looked down and saw her naked breast. Her face heated up when she saw red patches on her skin.

Most of them were around the swell of her breast down to her flat stomach. She was scared to remove the blanket covering her lower body.

The image of her and Noah tumbling around, groping each other's naked body, moaning like hungry beasts in this king-sized flashed through her mind. She chewed on her button left and scanned the room. She couldn't see Noah.

She was debating what to do next when the door opened, Jess grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to cover her naked body.

"Good morning, baby," he greeted her with a sexy smirk on his lips.

He saw her pulling the blanket to cover her body that was covered by lots of love bites - they were redder in the morning. He felt a bit guilty with his overwhelming desire to take every part of her.

But the guilt disappeared as quickly as it came to his mind because it was replaced by desires from the memory of how Jess yelped and moaned every time his mouth traced her skin with open-mouthed kisses that tend to be a little harder than it should be.

"Breakfast in bed," he smiled, putting the wooden bed table on her lap. He half crawled on the bed to give her a morning kiss.

"Ohmp, I haven't brushed my teeth," she mumbled against his mouth.

"I don't mind. You taste as good any time of the day," he grinned, playfully tugging her lower lip between his teeth. "I don't know what you want for breakfast but I'm pretty sure with coffee."

Jess looked down on the breakfast tray that Noah prepared for her. It has a big cup of steaming black coffee, a glass of pineapple juice, scrambled eggs, fresh cherry tomatoes, and a slice of wheat bread.

She picked up the coffee, "Thank you," she smiled and gave him a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

He smiled sheepishly, "If I will see you this…" he scanned her with his eyes full of mischief, "I'm willing to be a slave."

Jess scoffed and rolled her eyes. She pretended to drink her coffee to avoid the intensity of his gaze.

"Say, ahh…" he has the fork with scrambled eggs, aimed at her mouth.

She chuckled, "Noah I can feed myself."

"But, I want to."

Staring at his blue eyes, Jess opened her mouth for Noah.