A month had gone by.  An entire month she had been spent with Adam doing normal girl things:  drinking red wine and eating popcorn, kissing, ardent, searching, soul melting kisses.   So much kissing that didn't lead anywhere just to a lonely ache in her bedroom later after he was gone remembering every detail of his lips and the glint in his eye up close that was like a buoy she wanted to reach in an endless ocean and feel safe and known.  But she never reached it.  He always left with tenderness and pleasantries and plans for tomorrow after they'd spent an evening watching Hitchcock and independent films, having late night talks.<br/><br/>It was the kind of relationship most girls dream and pine for in their bedrooms as little girls.  He was a perfect gentleman with a quiet, dominant intensity that aroused her.  It summoned her, and she tried to follow it but they never got anywhere.  Finally on a Thursday night, in bed in the darkness alone with her desires and thoughts, she decided that tomorrow she would actively do something to catch that glint.  She would not follow it.  She would chase it down and claim it.  She would give herself to this man and hope that he would take her, dark desires and all.<br/><br/>She went to work the next day on a mission.  She determined to broach the subject of a sleepover as soon as work ended.  She was terrified to be the aggressor in the situation, but she felt the urgency of the moment.  She couldn't wait for this to happen any longer.  It was up to her.<br/><br/>As soon as work closed, she threw her things in her work bag and hurried to the comic strip office.  She was determined to say what she had to say and not be interrupted.  Otherwise, she'd lose her nerve.  When she came in, Adam looked so excited to see her, like he had something to say himself and literally started to speak when she held her hand up and silenced him.  She wasn't used to being this authoritative.  It wasn't out of any sort of pride or power.  It was pure desperation to be finally herself.<br/><br/>"I need to say this right now."<br/><br/>Adam looked almost concerned with the urgency of her voice that sounded youthful in his awkwardness of the moment.  She continued though.  She had to.<br/><br/>"I want to spend the night at your hotel tonight.  I -- I need to."<br/><br/>Her cheeks were hot with the suggestion she had just made and her gaze averted to the floor.  She was shaking and terrified, but she felt free.  She waited to see his response.<br/>