The first time she saw him, was the letting himself into his apartment.

     He lived three rooms to the left of hers, and always come back at odd hours of the night. Roselyn came home late once in a while if a project kept herover hours, but nothing like what he did. She worked for a graphic design and advertising firm, and was currently in the middle of one of the largest commissions she had ever received. Roselyn was dragging herself up the stairs, and was surprised to find him in the hallway unlocking his door.

     With a quick glance, she saw his gray eyes. His hair was dirty blond and very ruffled, highlighted naturally from the sun and being outside. He was tall and intimidating, wearing a long dark coat, with a rugged look to his face that made him look like some sort of old-world explorer. From the way that he moved, Roselyn could tell that he was very well built.

     He would nod his head at her like always, and then disappear into his apartment. Roselyn stared at moment in the spot that he once stood before letting herself into her own apartment. Leaning against the back of the door, she wonderedr what he thought about her. She always thought of herself as plain looking, but always had nice skin, with shoulder-length corkscrew hair. It brushed over her shoulders and was the color of milk chocolate. Her eyes were blue like the sky.

     She didn't even know his name. It had been two weeks since he moved it, and she couldn't stop thinking about him. All she really knew was that he was intimidating, handsome, and came back really late at night. Every night.

     Just who was he, anyway?

---

     "So, what did he do this time?" Chloe grinned. After the arrival of the newcomer, it had started to become a daily routine for her best friend Chloe to question Roselyn about him every lunch hour.

     Roselyn frowned, knowing that she was being teased. It was starting to become a run-on joke between the them about Roselyn and the mystery man down the hall.

     "He just nodded."

     "He always nods. Why don't you go introduce yourself to him? You're practically neighbors."

     "He's three rooms away, Chloe."

     "Maybe he wants you to come see him. Everyone probably thinks someone else went to greet him, and then they think they don't have to, and maybe no one has seen him because they think the other person did."

     Roselyn's frown turned into a scowl. Chloe had a habit of having run-on thoughts.

     "That's stupid."

     "It's not stupid!" Chloe took a sip of coffee, "He's hot. You should at least bake him cookies this weekend or something."

     "He probably has a girlfriend," Roselyn stared at a strawberry she had packed in her lunch, "With my luck, he'll be dating a Victoria Secret model."

     "Well-" Chloe smiled, "-you never know until you go over and ask him out."

     There was no way that was going to happen.

     Chloe's words were still ringing in her head as Roselyn trudged up the stairs to her apartment. It was Friday night, and she wasn't going anyway, doing anything, nor did she have any particular ambitions. It had been a long week, and next week was going to be even longer. Her plans consisted of an ordered pizza, a long movie, and a few days away from reality.

     He was at the door to his apartment again, fumbling with the keys. Something was different, and Roselyn couldn't help but glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His left hand was free, but the right was wrapped in a sling. Her feet moved before she could stop herself and suddenly she was standing next to him.

     "Um, excuse me?"

     Gray eyes fixed on her. There was a hint of frustration on them.

     "Yeah?"

     His voice was low, low enough where she couldn't tell if he was talking softly or if his voice was very deep.

     "Do you need any help?" Roselyn asked. It was obvious that he was having a hard time with his injured arm. He regarded her a moment, and then handed her his keys. She unlocked the door for him, and then handed the keys back.

     With one last look, he stepped into the doorway and promptly shut the door in her face.

---

     Chloe's mouth dropped open, "How rude."

     It had been a week since Roselyn's failed attempt to communicate with the strange man down the hall. After relaying in the whole event to Chloe, she sighed and listened to a five-minute rant about 'how could he do that after you helped him?' and 'men are such idiots'. Roselyn had later come to the conclusion that it had probably been a long day, and he was just tired and in pain. She wondered how he had injured his arm, and had spent most of the weekend thinking about it.

     God, she felt pathetic.

     "So, how is the project going?"

     Roselyn frowned, "The client is being pushy. The advertisement needs to go out next month, but they haven't given us all of the resources and the information yet. We've had a hard time, but once we get everything we asked for, it should be fine. I'm going to take some work home with me tonight, and that should help for tomorrow."

     "At least there's only a week or so left. Then you won't have to think about it anymore."

     At the end of lunch, Chloe headed back to the human resourced department, and Roselyn dragged herself back to her office.

     She didn't want to think about how much work she had to get done in the meantime. What she really wanted to do was go back to sitting on her balcony and sketching, but it was hard to do with ten hour work days.

     After careful consideration, and a little clever talk, she managed to get out of work by four. It wouldn't be hard to spread her project on the living room floor and work. Part of her figured that she would be able to get more done at her apartment, away from the office where people tended to bother her about something every five minutes.

     It was seven in the evening when she stretched her arms and decided to take a break. In the summer, there was still the rays of the sunset peeking through her balcony windows. With a smile, she gathered up her sketchbook, and went outside.

     There was an interesting mix of blue, purple, and red. Sitting in an old swing, Roselyn wrapped herself in a shawl and took out her colored pencils, trying her best to capture the scene. It wasn't too much longer after she came out that she heard the sliding door of one of the other rooms. Roselyn figured it was Mr. Winters next door, he tended to like to come outside to smoke. Turning her head to greet him, she saw something unexpected.

     That was defiantly not Mr. Winters.

     He padded out onto the balcony, the man from three doors down, and he was stripped bare from the waist up. She could tell from the deep bruise on his right shoulder that he had injured himself, but the rest of him was flawless. He was muscled, as if he worked out regularly, and there was a tattoo on his left bicep, as well as a dark print of elaborate lines on his lower back that dipped below the waistline of his jeans. His blond hair was disheveled as if he had been dragging his fingers through it.

     She was transfixed, and all at once, her mind snapped into overtime. A pencil moved over the sketch paper, and she drew him standing outside, watching the sunset. Roselyn adverted her eyes to the paper, adding a touch of color to his eyes, and then began to shadow his face. He was unshaven, but so incredibly beautiful that it made her ache.

     When Roselyn looked back up, he was watching her. She froze and stared back, until he shoved his hands in his pockets and went back inside.

---

     She fluffed her curly hair, wondering if she should even attempt to do something with it. Tonight was the annual company winter gala, and Roselyn had finally sucked up her apprehension and decided to go. Of course, she needed an escort, and Thomas Davidson from accounting had asked her to go. He had started to show interest in her, but it wasn't any different than the interest he showed to every other woman in the office. In the end everyone else had some sort of significant other to go with. It would have been embarrassing to go alone, so when Thomas asked her, she had accepted.

     Her dress was black and tight, dipping low at her back, with a thin pair of straps and a neckline that was low enough to show a little skin but not too much to expose anything. Pulling her long coat over her shoulders, she clipped a small silver necklace with a diamond drop around her neck and matching earrings, and went out to meet him.

     It was seven. Thomas was supposed to pick her up at seven thirty.

     Knowing it was too cold and not a good idea to wait outside, she stood in the front entry of the apartment. Roselyn waited for the familiar blue Camero that Thomas always drove, glancing at her cellphone once the clock moved to five minutes after seven-thirty.

     Maybe the traffic is bad.

     She rocked backwards in her black pumps, and leaned against the wall. Roselyn was generally patient person, but she wanted to be on time. Once the clock rolled bast eight thirty, she dialed Thomas' cell. There was a little worry in the back of her mind that something terrible had happened, and she felt guilty for being irritated. What if there was a car accident and he was in the hospital fighting for his life? That was a lot more important than picking her up for some dumb party.

     There was no answer. Roselyn dialed the number once more. Nothing.

     Finally, she punched the buttons for Chloe's number. She was answered promptly with a, "Where have you been? You're late!"

     Roselyn scowled, "Tom was supposed to pick me up."

     There was an odd silence, "Oh, Ros, I'm so sorry."

     "What?" she stood up straight, "Did something happen? Is Tom okay?"

     "He's okay alright," Chloe grumbled, "As okay as he can be hiding in the storage room sucking on Marcy Anderson's face."

     Truthfully, Roselyn didn't really have any feelings for Thomas other than being co-workers. Despite this, she wished that he would have at least had the decency to call her and tell her he was ditching her.

     "Oh."

     "I'm sorry, Roselyn," Chloe said, concerned, "Are you okay? Flynn and I can come get you."

     Flynn was Chloe's boyfriend, "No, that's okay," Roselyn waved a hand absently, "I'm actually kind of tired, I think I'm just going to go to bed."

     "But-"

     "Really, Chloe, it's okay."

     The other woman sighed, "Well, alright. Sleep well."

     "Thanks, have fun. See you Monday."

     When she finally hung up the phone, Roselyn suddenly felt close to tears. She had worked hard that evening to look halfway presentable, and the jerk had never even bothered to call her. Heading back up the stairs, she had every intention of going back to her room to take a long bath before bed. She was half-way up the stairs when she heard the front entry door open, and someone enter the apartment. Turning a brief moment to see who it was, she stopped in the middle of the staircase.

     The blond-man stared at her, his eyes wide. He was standing in the middle of the entryway, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. His eyes seemed bolted to her, and Roselyn figgeted under his gaze, like he could somehow see straight into her mind. Suddenly his fists were balled at his sides, and he gritted his teeth. She heard him murmur to himself before he moved from his spot.

     "Shit."

     Roselyn found herself yanked off the third step, and a strong mouth ravaged hers. She stiffened, feeling his hands wrap around her waist inside his jacket, his callused fingers covering the bare skin of her back. His kiss was desperate, so full of need, and she didn't let herself think twice when she allowed herself to sink into him. Warm breath covered her face, her fingers tunneling through his soft hair, and she pressed the entire length of her body to his. He nipped her lips, tipping her head back so he could trail his mouth over her jawline, and down to her throat.

     His hands slipped underneath her, lifting her to his waist, and her legs wrapped around him. Booted feet climbed the stairs, and she didn't care that he turned towards his room. Roselyn heard a moan escape him when she took the initiative from me, her tongue tasting him, giving him a long deep kiss that came from a place she didn't even know she had. Her teeth bit his ear, and she pressed her lips to the side of his neck when he moved to unlock the door. He stumbled, and she gasped when he cursed again, finally getting the door open. With a quick kick, it slammed shut again, and he flipped the lock.

     She wanted to peel those offending clothes off him, and lick that tattoo on his back, following the lines below his waistline to see how far it went. He moved through the dark into his bedroom, where he dropped her onto the bed. Practically tearing off his jacket, he made quick work of hers, groaning out loud when he lay on top of her. Roselyn loved the feel of his weight on top of her, and began to work the buttons down on his shirt.

     He wasn't going to wait that long. His hands bunched up her black dress around her waist. His fingers smoothed over the skin on her leg, and her breath hitched when he trailed over her stomach, moving low to her hips.

     "You are so beautiful," he told her.

     Her hands pulled off his belt, and pulled open the button of his jeans. When her fingers brushed him, he froze in her arms, and then his gray eyes were once looking at her with an odd wisdom. Their clothes were still half-on and half-off, but he slipped a hand under her waist, and began to sink into her.

     Her hands balled up in the shirt on his back, pulling it off his shoulders, and leaving them bare as he leaned over her. When she couldn't get it any lower, Roselyn locked her legs around his hips and hung onto him, letting the feeling of his hips rocking against her flood her mind. She followed him, letting him do what he wanted and what he pleased.

     "Daniel."

     "Wh-What?"

     "My name," he managed to grind through his teeth.

     "Roselyn," she whispered into his lips. Then shivered when he cradled her face in his hands, and whispered her name with a strange reverence. It wasn't long until they fell over the edge, and Roselyn felt like he was actually pulling her into his being.

     When their breath had finally calmed, she turned her face slightly to look at him. Daniel, as she had finally learned his name, had rested his head in the crook of her neck. He reached back and pulled his shirt off his shoulders, and she was finally able to smooth her hands over his back. Roselyn brushed the hair from his eyes, smiling slightly when he seemed a little surprised at her expression.

     What did he expect from her now?

     "Are you alright?" he murmured. His voice was low and raspy, making her toes curl. He was still inside her, and didn't seem to have any intition towards leaving. She figured she probably looked like a mess. Her curls were spread out over the bed, her dress rumpled.

     Roselyn smiled, "I'm just fine. Are you okay?" her hand lightly smoothed over the shoulder that was previously injured.

     Daniel grinned, and it made him look even more handsome than before, "Better than fine."

     Her fingers were already trailing over the tattoo on his lower back, and she followed the lines over his skin to the end of his tailbone. Daniel's eyes sunk closed as her fingers idly wandered. He was already growing hard inside her again when he slipped the dress over her head.

     "I've been watching you ever since I moved in. I couldn't stop staring," he explained, "I didn't even know who you were, and I wanted you so damn much I couldn't handle it," he murmured into her ear, "I finally got you, Roselyn, I'm not letting you leave."

     Roselyn flipped him over onto his back, his hands rose to trail down her sides. Her legs straddled his hips, and he bit back a groan as she twisted her hips around him.

     "That's good then," she whispered, leaning down to trace the muscles in his throat with her tongue, "Because I'm not letting you leave either."

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