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Disclaimer: Not ours. The real ones at least. Just wild imaginary spinnings.

Summary: Hmmm, about technophobes and friends who mean well.

Chapter Seven

Orlando almost missed the soft beeping sound echoing in the room. It was still dark outside. At least a couple of hours before he had to get up. And it was Sunday, so technically he could sleep all day if he wanted ... until it was time to call Jen and enter his very own private hideaway, where he was just Orlando. No movie star, no media fugitive, no fans' idol. Just him.

The cell phone beeped again, and he reached for it in the pocket of his jeans laying on the floor.

"H'llo?" he said into the phone, his voice hoarse from sleep.

"Orlando? I'm sorry to wake you ... but I didn't know ... I was alone ... I'm scared ... Dear God, Orlando. I'm sorry." The sound of her sobbing, broken voice was enough to wake him up, worse than a bucket of ice water. Something was very wrong.

"Jen? It's okay. What happened? Are you okay, love?" he said, while sitting up in his bed. He heard her crying quietly on the other end of the line and panicked. "Jen, I need you to tell me what's wrong. What happened? You're scaring me, love."

"It's my fault, Orlando, it's all my fault! I should have been more careful ... he didn't know... Merlin is dying, Orlando, and it's my fault!" she sobbed.

He let out the air he had not known he had been holding and forced himself to talk calmly to her. "Listen Jen, I need you to tell me exactly what happened."

Trying to breathe and stop her sobbing, Jen told him about the accident.

"The vet says Merlin has internal bleeding, Orli. She said they'd have to do surgery and try to save him. She knows that I'd do anything to save him! He can't die Orli, I need him, and I love him .... I can't bear this."

Orlando's heart was breaking as he heard the despair in her voice. "Listen, love, don't be scared. They will save him. They will do all they can to save him. Trust me love, he'll be fine in no time."

"I know I sound pathetic, but he's all the company I've got. I want him to be okay but I don't want him to suffer, and I'm so scared and alone .... I'm sorry, Orlando, I really am!" she said softly into her cell phone.

His first impulse was to get up and take the next plane to Minneapolis. She sounded so lost and vulnerable. And she was in pain, damnit! He jumped up to his feet, beginning to pace as he gnawed on a thumbnail.

"Do you want me to come to Minneapolis, Jennifer? I can be on a plane and there in just a few hours."

He heard her sigh heavily. "No...no, that's okay. Just...just talk to me, Orlando. Get me through today. I just...I can't be alone. I have to hear you."

"Then hang up and let me call you back. I don't want this costing you money."

"Like you don't already have a phone bill the size of China?"

"Hang up, Jen," he ordered softly.

"Okay. You'll call right back?"

"Halfway there now."

"Alright, hanging up now."

"Bye."

She ended her call and cradled the phone in her hand, waiting anxiously for him to call her back. She picked it up on the first shrill ring. "Hello?"

"That was fast."

"Well, I was waiting…" She had to laugh at herself.

"Now that's what I like to hear…you laughing."

"Well, only you can do that."

"Oh really, well, I'll just make it happen more often. Say, did I ever tell you about the time Billy and I went surfing in New Zealand?"

Jen sat down to listen to his tale, relieved that he was there for her…just like she knew he would be.

**

When Jennifer woke, she found herself cradling her phone in her hand, her head aching and her nose running. Raising her head slowly, she looked down at the phone in her hand and smiled. He had done it. He had talked her through the whole day. Holding on even when she had to call the vet to find out how Merlin was doing. Sighing, Jennifer brushed her hair back from her face and started for the bathroom. It was midnight now, according to the clock, and she was long overdue for a shower.

Pulling off her running clothes, Jen stepped into the shower and let the hot water soak into her hair and skin. She just stood there, leaning against the wall, letting the water beat down on her, as she thought back to the long conversation she and Orlando had shared.

She felt as if she knew everything there was to know about him now. He had seemed to genuinely care about whether Merlin was going to make it as well. Orlando had questioned her relentlessly about what the vet had said after she had called. Thankfully, Merlin was going to be okay. He would have a slow recovery, but at least he was going to be fine.

Jen smiled and quickly washed up, feeling better than when the day had started. She slipped on her gown and was about to slip back into bed, when her phone rang again. Frowning, she picked it up, wondering who would be calling her this late.

"Hello?"

"Hullo, love. I just wanted to make sure you had eaten something before going to bed."

Jennifer smiled at the sound of his voice. It didn't matter that she had just heard it not more than six hours ago…she loved listening to him. "Yes, I did eat, before I fell asleep."

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Yes. Got a bit of a headache from all that crying."

"You forgot to drink some water and take an aspirin, didn't you, love?"

Jennifer laughed. "You're something else."

"Why is that?" his voice sounding confused.

"Well, it's just that…you really care."

"Of course I care. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because we've never met. And probably never will. Yet, you act as if it's your job to protect and care for me as if I were yours."

There was a moment of silence. "Why would we never meet?"

Jennifer bit her bottom lip. "I just don't see how it would be possible. Between my work and yours…"

"It'll happen one day, love, I assure you of that."

"But still, Orlando…I'm finding myself depending on you more and more. I'm not sure that's such a good thing. I'm liking it way too much. And you're still a…stranger."

"No, love, I'm not. No more than you are to me. And no more talk of this silliness. Now, are you going to bed?"

"I just woke up and took a shower actually."

She thought she heard him groan, but wasn't actually sure, the connection not being that great.

"A shower, huh? Sounds nice."

"It was. I had fallen asleep in my running clothes…not exactly a good choice smell wise."

"Bet it felt nice to wash off then."

Jennifer barely suppressed a groan of her own. Why did a simple shower all of a sudden sound like the most erotic thing she could have done?

"It…it was," she breathed. "Warmed me up."

"Warming me up too, love."

Jennifer laughed, pressing a hand to her stomach to hold in the butterflies. "You're being a bad boy, Orlando. Didn't your momma ever teach you that it's not nice to make suggestive comments to a stranger over the phone?"

"Maybe, but then again, I wasn't always listening. So, what are you doing now?"

"Fixing to slide into bed."

"Sounds like a good idea. Mind if I join you?"

Again, she was speechless. How could she possibly answer that? "Uh…I guess."

She heard him chuckle and then something that sounded like the rustling of sheets and the creaking of a bed. "Comfy?" she teased, as she climbed in her own mussed bed.

"No. You're not here."

"Is it your personal goal to see how many times you can make me lose my train of thought tonight?"

"Maybe. Am I doing a good job?"

"Yeah…I would say so. Did you enjoy your day off?"

"Not really. I should have been doing chores but I just couldn't make myself do it. Besides, talking to you is much better than working or doing chores."

"Thank you…I think."

He laughed again, and she could almost imagine him stretched out on his bed, the phone to his ear and smiling. Almost being the key word there…she had no clue as to what he could look like.

"Orlando?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you have dark hair or light?"

"Curious, love?"

"Very."

"Dark."

"Eyes?"

"Dark."

"Is everything dark about you?"

"Maybe," he said it so low that she almost believed it. "What about you? What do you look like?"

"I'm plain."

"Seriously, Jennifer."

"I am! I'm nothing special. Plain hair, plain face…plain eyes. Nothing exciting about me."

"I don't believe that…you excite me just by talking."

"Orlando," she laughed, her nerves making her heart race. "You are a cad! Not to mention a shameless flirt."

"Most of the time…but not with you, love."

"How can this be? How can I feel so…" Jennifer struggled for the word.

"Aroused?" he supplied.

"Yeah. And I don't know what you look like, never met you face to face…and just hearing you…it makes me so…"

"Hot. Now you know how I feel, love. I find myself staring at the clock, watching each agonizing moment go by until I can call you and hear your voice again. You are a balm to my soul and then I want to touch you, feel you, and be close ... in every possible way. And I mean in every possible way, love. Sometimes I go to bed hurting so much, I wonder if I'll be able to walk the next day."

Her cheeks burned with heat, even though he wasn't there to see it. She covered her face and laughed softly. "Sorry. But couldn't you, uh, take care of that little problem?"

"First of all, it's not little. Second, yes I could, but it wouldn't be the same without hearing your voice."

Jennifer sank down in her bed, her heart still racing with the desire firing in her blood. "I guess that would be a little…hard to handle," she teased.

"Keep talking in that breathy voice of yours and nothing's going to be hard for very long."

The thought pleased her. "Is that right? So, are you suggesting that with me just talking to you like this, could really get you off? I mean, I wouldn't have to say anything suggestive like how much I would like to lick every inch of your body, or leave love marks on certain parts of your body?"

His groan was low and rough, and she couldn't help laughing.

"Jennifer."

"Yes?"

"If you're not prepared for the consequences, then you better hang up right now. Cause I can tell you, I'm not doing this alone. And I sure as bloody hell can't take any more teasing."

Her nipples hardened and she moaned herself at the thought of what he was suggesting. "Okay," she whispered.

"What?"

"I said okay. Let's finish this."

"God…Jen, I wish I was there beside you. I would slowly pull the sheet off your naked body, my body covering you instead," he started, his voice harsh, his breathing ragged. "Then I would make sure that I left no inch of skin untouched."

"Orli…"she whimpered, closing her eyes and gasping as the image popped into her head.

"Then I would lave your breasts with my tongue…wetting each tip till they glistened in the moonlight."

She felt the answering response in her breasts, the tips aching for just what he had described. "I can feel you here," she whispered. "I can feel you laying on top of me…heavy but not too much. My hands are stroking you, feeling how hard you are. I can feel you everywhere."

"Jen…Jen, I have to be inside you."

"Yes! Please!"

Jennifer felt her body primed to fly, and knew it would take no more than a touch for her to climax. She wanted to wait for him…she wanted him to be there with her.

"Can you feel me, Jen? Can you feel me pressing into you?"

Jennifer had to fill the ache her body was screaming with. She reached down to press against her bud, two of her fingers sliding inside her body. It wasn't enough…she had to have him! "Yes, I feel you," she moaned. "Oh God…please…"

"Let go, Jen. I'm there! I'm cumming with you!" he shouted.

Jennifer stroked her fingers over herself, once…twice…

Her body surged up in release, her cries filling his ears over the line, as he moaned and called out to her. She felt the phone drop from her numb fingers as she shook, her body still riding out the waves. When she finally felt her senses coming back to her, she realized that he was calling out to her over the phone. She grappled for it, fighting to control her breathing.

"I'm here!" she gasped. "I'm here."

"Jen…Jen, I hope you're not embarrassed."

"No…oh no," Jennifer sighed with total satisfaction. "That was…wonderful, Orlando."

She heard his embarrassed laugh. "I don't think that describes it perfectly, but close enough. Thank you, Jennifer. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like that in my life."

"Me either," she admitted, her cheeks now flushing from her own embarrassment. What would Mick think if she ever found out about what Jen had done? Not that Jen was ever going to tell her for that was sharing way too much.

"Sleep well, love. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye, Orlando."

She hung the phone, her body still humming with satisfaction. Sleep came easily tonight and this time her dreams were very real in her head.