....  I leaned in closer, lightly touched his face to better find his ear to whisper into, and repeated, "Joel."  I added, "It's Mom.  I just wanted to say..."

Just then, my stepson rolled over, pulling the bedcovers tighter over himself, and sighed.  He was facing toward me then, lying on his back, and I finally realized he was still asleep. 

I felt reassured then, that Joel was fine, resting peacefully, and we'd still find ourselves close friends again in the morning.  I decided to leave him with a quick kiss on the cheek and carefully bent further over him to reach his face.  When my lips touched his cheek, he stirred again, and his arm wrapped around me loosely.

"Sorry for waking you," I whispered, my mouth still so close to his face as his arm held me in place.

Joel didn't stir.  His eyes were still closed.  I suddenly felt bad for almost waking him; he was obviously deep asleep!

I started to slip myself out from under his heavy arm, just as it held me more tightly and pulled me closer to him, my chest pressed up against his.

"Mom," he whispered in the darkness.  "Mom, I love you."

"I love you too," I automatically answered.

He was holding me so uncomfortably, the poor thing.  He had no idea what he was doing.  My back was starting to ache as his arm clamped me down in that awkward position.  I moved to adjust myself a bit and finally escape his sleeping arm.  It was enough to finally wake him, and I instantly felt guilty for disturbing him so late.

His eyes slowly opened and he looked down at me, half-lying on his chest.  He looked so peaceful with his eyelids heavy and his eyes only partly open, squinting through the moonlight to look at his stepmother.  I suddenly realized just how intimate my pose was... and just how much cleavage I was revealing in my thoughtless dress choice I'd rushed into earlier in the evening.  My cleavage that was pressed against my stepson's bare chest.

"Mom?"  His brain tried to catch up with the sight.

"Hi, honey.  I just wanted to slip in and wish you a good night.  I..."  I managed to release myself from his grasp and sit up straight next to his prone body.  "I wanted to make sure you're all right."  I smiled down over my stepson.  That peaceful look on his face just warmed my heart.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he managed to say.

"I'll leave you alone then.  I'm so sorry for waking you."

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I didn't do anything wrong, did I?  I mean—"

"No!  Oh, honey."  I immediately squeezed him in a big, reassuring hug.  "You're such a good boy, the best stepson a woman could wish for."

"I didn't mean to—"

"No, don't worry about that.  It's all right.  You didn't do anything wrong."  I looked straight into his sleepy eyes.  "Don't you dare think that.  Okay?  I love you..."  I found myself stroking his hair and that place where it curled just behind his ear.  "You're such a good boy..."  I felt my stepson's body shift under mine.  "I want you to know that, okay?"  I brushed his hair off his warm forehead.  "I want you to feel okay..."

I was so relaxed, curled up to my stepson on his bed, exhausted from a late night out, emotionally worn out from the moments in the closet earlier.  So tired.  He was so warm.  The way he turned his face to feel my hand as it brushed his hair out of his eyes... the way his arms returned my hug...

"Do you feel okay, honey?  Are you okay?  I want you to know—"

"Mom?"

"Mmm hmm?"

"Don't stop." 

His eyes were softly closed, his eyelashes were catching the glimmering moonlight, his bare chest beneath me was glistening with the slightest shimmer of sweat, and, for the first time—honest—I noticed my stepson's erection pressed just beneath me, hard against my waist.

"Don't stop, Mom.  I love you.  I love you, Mom."  His arms held me tighter, his back arched to move his body closer to mine.  "Don't stop."