Rose wakes up the next morning to the sunlight shining on her face. She groans softly and cuddles her pillow, she feels extremely comfortable and doesn't want to move. She then notices her pillow is moving and that she is feeling skin instead of fabric, this causes her to open her eyes and quickly sit up and look at who she's cuddling with. She sees Ray who has been woken up since she sat up so quickly. "You ok?" He asks concerned, his voice deep and raspy since he just woke up.

"Yeah." She sighs and lays back down in his arms, she smiles as she feels his arms wrap around her and feels him kiss her forehead. "I'm not used to waking up so comfortable and relaxed."

"Me too." He sighs as he rubs her back. "It's a very nice and welcome change."

"No kidding." She replies as she nuzzles him. "I could get used to this."

"Yeah, it's an experience I'd love to keep experiencing."

"Same here." She replies softly. "You want to spend the night more often?" She asks shyly then looks at him to see him smiling.

"Yeah, I'd love to, just us or do you want hunter and violet to stay as well?"

"It can be just us." Rose replies while trying to hide her blush because she feels embarrassed about willingly spending a night alone with a guy.

"I can feel you're blushing Rose, you're cheeks are hot." He teases and laughs a little. "You don't need to feel embarrassed about anything. Whenever I stay with you it'll be just like this." He reassures her in a soft and gentle tone of voice as he holds her close to him. "Honestly, this is all I've ever wanted. To hold someone and be able to relax with them, to hold them and feel a connection with them."

"I've wanted the same thing. I've always wanted to feel relaxed and safe, to have that reassurance that I won't wake up to someone I don't want in my apartment yet again." Rose says uneasily and starts shaking a bit so Ray holds her closely and rubs her back soothingly.

"You have me now and I'll stay whenever you need me to or want me to."

"Thank you, Ray, but wait, don't you have to go to work?" Rose asks curiously and looks up at him, he just smiles at her and shakes his head.

"I never did tell you what I do for a living huh?" He asks with amusement and sits up to grab his phone. "Here I'll show you." He starts typing on his phone then hands it over to her. "Here, look."

"That's beautiful but what is it you...do...wait...you did this?!" She shouts as she processes everything and scrolls through the endless pictures she's seeing.

"Freelance photography is amazing Rose. I can take absolutely anything and make it beautiful. It's a skill I've been working on since high school and yes I already went to college and got my degree rather quickly since I already knew everything and aced the classes." He explains everything while smiling as he watches as Rose sits up and scrolls through the pictures.

"You take pictures of everything!" She says with amazement.

"Yeah, I have the equipment for anything and everything. I can photograph people, nature, animals, the sky and stars, you name it Rose and yes I can edit everything as well. When I sell my works I make a lot of money, most I've made off of one photo so far was $10,000." He explains with a big smile on his face as he watches Rose's jaw drop so he reaches out and closes her mouth.

"No wonder you are so free, you work whenever you want and make a lot of money doing it." She says quietly as she looks into his eyes. She can see the happiness and joy shining in them and that alone makes her happy.

"I do, so I'll always be here when you need me." He says reassuringly while watching her eyes as they light up with joy and wonder. He can tell she's the happiest she's been in a long time right now and so is he.

Ray is aware he still has his fingers under her chin from closing her mouth, he looks from her eyes to her lips and back again. He desires nothing more than to kiss her and hold her close to his heart, something he didn't know he had until he met her because it was locked away and hidden. Rose found it and has opened it up to a whole new world of experiences.

Rose is waiting in anticipation for him to kiss her, she desires it and wants to experience it again. When he kisses her she actually feels loved and wanted and not just for sex or as a trophy. She's loving the feeling of his gentle touch on her face but she longs for more. Out of all the guys she's been around he's the only one that she desires and that makes her happy but also scares her. It scares her because she doesn't want to lose him, the one man she actually wants can disappear somehow and that scares her more than anything.

"Rose?" Ray speaks in a soft voice as he moves a little closer to her.

"Yes?" Rose replies barely above a whisper.

"Would you mind if I kissed you?" Ray asks as he keeps moving closer to her. Knowing her past he'd rather show her respect and ask permission rather than just go for it and upset her somehow.

"No, I want you to." She replies almost in a daze by everything.

"You want me to do what?" Ray smirks a bit wanting to hear her say the words.

"I want you to kiss me." She replies as her breathing starts to get more rapid as he moves closer so the tips of their noses touching.

"Oh, how I've been longing to hear you say those words." He whispers before pressing his lips against hers.

Rose wraps her arms around his neck as they kiss each other passionately, both of them loving the experience more than anything. Ray moves his hand from her face down to her waist and pulls her closer to him so their torsos are pressed together but they both long to be closer still. Ray pulls her closer still so Rose willingly moves and straddles him, she's sitting on his lap facing him as they continue to kiss each other passionately.

"Rose." Violet calls through the door while knocking and turning the doorknob, they stop and look at the door just as it opens. "Rose is everything ok? We haven't seen you all...morning." Violet freezes when she sees the scene before her then smirks amusingly. "Well, that explains why we haven't heard from you guys all morning. I'll leave you two to get better acquainted." She says with a big grin on her face as she locked the door and closes it behind her.

"How embarrassing." Rose whispers as she hides her red face in Ray's chest causing him to laugh and put his fingers under her chin and tilting her head up to look at him.

"I've been caught doing worse and plus she wasn't bothered by it, she was happy to see us so close I'm sure seeing you willingly kissing a guy was something she wouldn't mind seeing." He smiles at her then gently kisses her lips again.

"It's still embarrassing." Rose pouts a bit which only made Ray smile because he found it adorable.

"I'd hate to see your reaction then if she walked in on us doing something way more intimate." He chuckles at her, now her face is extremely red from blushing and he's trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Don't say things like that!" She whisper yells and gently hits his chest with her hand.

"I've been walked in on doing that. My reaction was based off of who walked in on me." He says with amusement as she looks at him. "Sometimes I'd stop, Sometimes I'd purposely do things to make the girl moan louder and sometimes I'd ask if they wanted to join." Now Rose is giving him a disgusting look and Ray is just laughing at her expression. "Those things usually gets them to leave but one time a friend walked in and when I asked if he wanted to join he actually did. The girl didn't mind amazingly but having a threesome with another guy is not something I enjoy and it's something I'd never do again."

"But you'd have a threesome with another girl huh?" Rose asks as she sits back and folds her arms across her chest while still sitting on his lap.

"It's something I've already done." Ray shrugs but still has his hands on her hips. "It was fun but in the end, it just brought back memories of what happened when I was 14 so I won't do it again." He says as he watches her expression change from annoyed to sorrowful. He spoke the truth about the experience, it was something he wanted to try and it was pleasureful but he longs for the closeness he feels right now with Rose.

"At least I know I don't have to worry about you wanting to do those things with me." Rose sighs then leans forward and rests her head on his shoulder and runs her fingers along his tattoo.

"Entranced again?" He asks with some amusement in his voice.

"No, just relaxed. I couldn't and wouldn't do this with any other guy. I've never felt so at ease and comfortable before." She replies in a calm and relaxed tone as she admires his tattoo.

"Same here." He sighs as he wraps his arms tighter around her. "The first girl to sit on my lap like this and not have it lead to erotic destinations." He laughs causing her to look at him funny.

"Trying to imply that I don't arouse you?" She asks a bit insulted and raises an eyebrow.

"No, no, I know you can but you aren't but I know you could, I'm not saying you should though." He rambles because he's nervous. He doesn't want to insult her or make her feel pressured about this. To his surprise, she just grins at him and wraps her arms tightly around his neck as she moves her body closer to his.

"Don't forget I'm just as experienced as you and I do have hormones. Yes a lot of guys that had sex with me did force me but there was the rare occasion where I wanted it myself and I did have fun arousing them." She says in a soft and sexy voice as she looks into his eyes and moves her hips so she's grinding on him.

"I didn't forget your not a Virgin but I didn't expect you to desire it after what you've been through." He groans uncomfortably as she rubs herself against him.

"There's a lot I desire Ray but I keep it to myself. There is one thing I'll admit I desire though...and that's you." She whispers before kissing him with desire and longing.

"Rose...don't you think it's too soon?" Ray asks as he keeps his jaw tightly clenched after she pulled away from the kiss. He won't deny he wants this but he doesn't want her to feel obligated to do this with him.

Rose stops and looks at him with confusion at first because she's used to guys trying to rip her clothes off by now but the expression on his face shows that he cares about her and her feelings more than his sexual desires and that fact alone makes him someone special that she never wants to let go.

"Ray...you'd really wait to have sex with me because it's too soon?" Rose asks surprised as she looks him in the eyes.

"I would because I don't want to have sex with you Rose, I want to make love to you."

With those words, Rose felt her heart melt. She found someone that actually wanted to love her and she refuses to let him go without a fight.