Chapter Text
His palms were tingling, the blood in his veins fizzing just beneath his skin, like the bubbles in a champagne glass, streaming up the side of the glass until they burst against the surface. Sitting in the back of the cab, with her thigh pressing against his occasionally as the cab wound through the London streets on its way back to her flat, his palms tingled.
An almost itch, the kind that would only be soothed, he knew, by the feel of her skin pressed against them. No scratch could soothe this itch the way the softness of her could.
He needed to touch her.
They hadn’t spoken since leaving the party. He’d watched her say her goodbyes from the edge of the crowd, near the door. She’d kissed Vanessa and Oliver, grinning and laughing as Oliver made a comment. He’d felt Vanessa’s assessing eyes on him, over Robin’s shoulder. He’d ignored it, understanding she was protective, just as he was. It was the one, sure thing, they had in common.
He waited as she’d hugged and kissed both Wardles. Another look had been thrown his way, this time a raised eyebrow by Wardle, one he answered with a quick upward jerk of his chin. A subtle, “Fuck off.”
And then she was walking swiftly toward him, one hand holding her skirt to prevent herself from tripping in her haste. With every step closer she’d come, his skin had tightened with heat. When she’d reached him and slipped her hand into the bend of his elbow and ducked her head shyly he’d bent to kiss her temple, a silent reassurance. Then they were out the door, down the stairs and at the taxi rank.
Her thigh was pressed against his again. It was the only place they were touching. He’d avoided touching her after helping her into the cab, knowing that as soon as he did, there’d be no stopping. He’d waited years to have this night with her, to feel her against him, beneath him, above him. And now, sitting in the dark backseat of this car, her scent surrounding him, a scent he’d chosen for her, with the full knowledge that he’d smell it and remember the way her blue dress had shimmered in the candlelight as he’d poured her champagne the first night he’d smelled it. The scent of her, always calming and comforting before, was arousing beyond measure now that she’d specifically asked him to choose it.
“You’ve got to live with it in the Land Rover,” she’d said and, he had. It had permeated every facet of his life since the night he’d first smelled it. Floating through the office. Lingering in his BMW, as though she’d left her ghost behind after a stakeout. Once, he’d even smelled it on his scarf, left there, he assumed, after she’d borrowed it to dash down to the shop to grab their lunch. And naturally he’d smell it on the nights he had dinner with her and her roommates at her flat, or at Nick and Ilsa’s.
But tonight, he realized with another tingling flare of heat, he’d finally get to smell it against her skin, search out all the places she’d sprayed or dabbed it. The muscles in his legs tightened at the thought, flexing, as though they wanted to pounce on her and start immediately.
The cab slid smoothly to the kerb and he passed some folded notes to the driver wordlessly, nodding his thanks, before sliding out and turning back to offer her his hand. She stepped out gracefully and within seconds the cab was pulling away, leaving them alone, in a pool of light from the streetlamp beside them.
She tucked her hair behind one ear and bent her head, opening the small bag she carried and removing a ring of keys. “Max and Felix are on location this week,” she said softly. “So, it’s just me and Wolfie.”
He sensed a hint of nerves and stepped toward her, bent slightly to kiss her forehead, murmuring softly, “Nothing has to happen tonight, you know.”
“I know.”
“I’m happy just to be with you.”
“I know,” she sighed, looking up at him through her lashes.
“Then let’s get you inside before you shiver yourself off those heels,” he teased, taking the keys from her and offering her his arm. He heard her sigh contentedly as she took it, drawing closer to him, so that the back of his arm pressed to the side of her breast as they walked to her door. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, gesturing for her to go ahead of him.
He heard the soft click of dog paws on tile and bent at the waist to scoop up the elderly dog who’d some to greet them. “Want me to take him out for you?” he asked, as he scratched Wolfgang’s ears gently. “I can have a smoke, you can get out of that dress and make us some tea, if that’s okay?”
“Perfect.”
She pointed to the leash on it’s hook beside the door, and waited as he clipped it on. He set the dog back on his feet and with a jingle of the keys he still held he said, “Lock this behind me,” and stepped back out into the chilly night air, waiting to hear the lock engage behind him before lighting a cigarette and following his furry companion down the pavement.
Ten minutes later he let himself back in, hung the keys and leash on their hooks and, with Wolfgang beside him, climbed the stairs to the second floor. He’d assumed, as he’d smoked and walked with the dog, that when he returned to the flat, they’d have tea, maybe chat a little about the case he’d finished tonight or the wedding, and then he’d leave for the night. He didn’t want to rush her. Not when they’d taken such a huge step tonight. He’d waited this long, he could wait a little longer.
He found her standing in the kitchen, a swath of spiderweb thin black lace wrapped around her hips, leaving the lower cheeks of her arse bare. She still wore her heels, enhancing the long, lean muscles in her calves and thighs. Her back was bare, and turned toward him, the delicate dips and knobs of her spine begged for his lips to map each hill and valley.
He could tell, as he moved toward her, by the tensing of her shoulders as she drew in a breath, that she knew he was there, that he wouldn’t startle her by approaching her from behind. Even so, he stopped just before his body touched hers, certain she could feel the heat emanating from him against her bare skin, even as he felt her trembling slightly, with nerves. He ached to touch her, but wanted the choice to be hers, so he waited for her to close the minute distance.
He didn’t have to wait long. Her back swayed toward him slightly, just brushing against his chest, a silent request. Touch me. He slid his hand around her waist, feeling the fizzing tingle ease, bubbles bursting against the surface of her skin. The pads of his fingers lightly caressed the dip of her waist above her generously flared hip, before settling on her stomach, drawing her fully back against him so that she could feel his erection against her half bared arse.
“Dangerous way to make tea,” he murmured as he bent his head to nuzzle her neck, searching for a hint of the scent that had nearly become an obsession.
“Well, you did say to get out of my dress,” she said, trailing off on a quiet moan, her head falling back against his shoulder as he softly bit the curve he’d been exploring.
“This was not what I was expecting,” he breathed against her skin.
“Disappointed?”
“Fuck no,” he groaned as she pressed herself back against him, dipping her knees a bit so that his cock slid along the lace.
“Mmmm. What are you then?”
This time his head fell back with a groan when her hand clutched his thigh. “About…to lose…my fucking…mind.”
His hand was fisted against her stomach now, knuckles pressed just above her navel. He laid the other over hers on his thigh, squeezing gently until he could feel the edges of her nails through the material of his trousers, aching to feel them against his skin.
“So you’re saying,” she panted as he slid the hand pressed against her stomach up to cup a bare breast, his thumb circling her nipple softly, “you don’t want the tea, then?”
“There’s tea?”
She turned in his arms, giving him his first glimpse of her breasts, full and pale, tipped with a shade of rose that matched the lips that parted on a gasp as he lightly pinched the nipple his thumb had been circling. Her bottom lip caught between her lips as she gasped, “fuck,” so quietly he barely heard it before he dragged her against him, his hand delving into her soft hair as he crushed his lips to hers.
“Where’s your room?” he asked between kisses as her hands came to his shirt, working the buttons open.
“Downstairs.”
“Think we can make it?”
“Not if,” she panted, “you keep…oh…doing that,” as he grasped her arse, pulling her tightly to him, her thigh lifting against his hip.
“Right.” He stepped back, releasing her and holding his hands out, as though surrendering. “It’s either your bedroom or I’m bending you over this counter, Ellacott, and I’d rather our first time wasn’t quite so…” he trailed off, glancing away, unsure.
“Animalistic?”
His eyes met hers again, saw the flare of heat in the smouldering blue gray. “I can’t promise it won’t be that. But I’d at least like it to be on a soft surface,” he stepped closer, keeping his hands away from her body, but bending so that he could whisper in her ear. “I’m definitely going to eat you alive. But I think you’ll enjoy it.”
She reached for his hand but he drew away, “Ellacott, I swear to God if you touch me right now we absolutely will not make it to your bed.” He turned to the side, motioning for her to go ahead of him. “You lead, I’ll follow.” And as she passed by him he once again felt his body sway slightly toward her, as though he was about to pounce on her. The tingling bubbles had returned with a vengeance that hadn’t been fully assuaged now that he’d felt her skin, seen her bare, smelled that scent on her.
She started down the stairs, moving slowly, he knew, so that he could keep up with her. It was just an added benefit that he was able to watch the sway of her hips as she moved, her half bared arse exquisitely round and full, still encased in delicate black lace. At the bottom she stopped, and turned, her skin glowing in the dim light as she stood waiting for him to join her.
He didn’t stop, didn’t wait for her to lead the way again. He prowled toward her, his eyes roaming her body, trying to take it all in, trying to decide where to start, what to taste first. He backed her against the wall, smiling darkly at her slight gasp as her bare back met the cool wall. He leaned into her, capturing her lips with his as his hands bracketed the vault of her ribs. The delicate bones beneath his hands expanded and contracted with her breaths as he teased her tongue with his. The way her tongue chased his when he pulled back slightly, his thumbs just barely grazing the underside of her breasts, had him groaning softly.
Her hands were at his stomach, finishing off the buttons of his shirt and he tried to get himself under control, taking deep breaths, his mouth against her neck, as he gritted out, “Which room?”
“This one,” her whisper mingled with the clink of his belt buckle as she slid the leather of his belt through it.
“Oh…Fuck…”
He dropped his forehead against the wall behind her, a moan catching in his throat, as her hand slipped into the trousers she’d unfastened. Her palm was warm against his cock as she squeezed him firmly. He didn’t know how long he could last if she kept this exquisite torment up, but he was loathe to stop her, not now that her teeth were grazing his neck and he could feel her soft pants against his heated skin.
Her boldness was something he’d been unprepared for. He’d assumed she’d be shy, the nerves she’d displayed when she’d stepped out of the cab had been exactly what he’d expected. She’d only ever been with one man, he knew, and he’d been unwilling to push her farther than she’d been willing to go, especially not right after they’d finally laid their cards down for the other to see tonight. He’d assumed she’d need time, gentleness, delicacy.
But this woman, this absolute siren, pressed against him, had complete control. He realized, as she slipped her hand from his trousers, reaching for the knob of the door beside them, that she was going to demolish him tonight. There wouldn’t be a corner of his heart she wouldn’t own by morning.
And she hadn’t even had to work for it.
He’d given it freely.
She slid along the wall, one hand buried in his hair, her mouth fastened to his, drugging, sucking kisses from her full lips driving him higher and higher. The skin of her waist twisted slightly against his hands as he moved with her, unwilling to relinquish his hold as she stumbled backward into the darkened space, drawing him with her, their mouths still entangled.
She was fire and flame and he was the moth, drawn to her from the beginning, helpless to resist her heat and light.
He unbuttoned his cuffs and shrugged his shirt off as she tugged at it, watching in the soft light filtering through the curtains as she climbed onto the bed and knelt up to press herself against him, tugging at his waistband again.
“Off,” she whispered urgently, “Off,” even as her hand delved back inside to capture him again.
“You have…to slow down…Robin. Fuck. God,” he struggled to regain his sanity as she squeezed him firmly. “I haven’t even gotten to—” He palmed her breasts in his hands, squeezing softly, weighing them and teasing the tautened tips, relishing the way she gasped his name as her head lolled back, her back arching to give him better access.
He pressed the palm of his hand to her sternum, between her breasts, pushing her gently back so that she sprawled on the mattress, then hurriedly dealt with his trousers, finally standing completely bare before her.
She was propped on her elbows, watching him as he bent over her, his knee on the edge of the mattress, between her thighs. He lowered himself to her, nuzzling her neck, just below her ear, finding the scent of her perfume again, strong here, driving him mad. “You're going to let me taste this, yes?” he skimmed his hand up her thigh, his breath catching as he reached the apex of black lace, so hot and damp that he almost fell to his knees and dragged her to the edge of the bed so he could feast on her immediately. Her back arched as his fingers danced over lace, teasing her. “Answer me, Ellacott.”
She gave a muffled noise of assent. He felt it against his lips as he slid them along the column of her throat. He slipped a finger under the lace, sliding a knuckle along swollen flesh. Her hips twitched, almost bucking up into his hand. He tugged the lace down her thighs and she kicked them away as he slid down her body, mouth cruising over her collarbones, to the valley between her breasts where he pressed a lingering kiss to the warm scent of bruised flowers he discovered there.
He dropped soft, open mouthed kisses along the inside of her breasts, one hand still sliding through soft curls, parting them with one finger and chuckling softly as her knee jerked up, angling further open for his touch.
“You’re so warm. For me?” he asked between tiny sucking nips along the underside of her breast. “You’re drenched, Robin, and I’ve barely touched you.”
“Don’t stop,” she canted her hips up against his hand as he rubbed the heel of his palm against the top of her mound.
“Tell me what you want,” he urged her, slipping back up to her ear. “My hand?”
She whimpered as his finger circled her clit, spreading the moisture he’d found gathering just below.
“My mouth?”
He nipped her earlobe softly, watched her lashes flutter as he sucked softly at the skin behind it. He slid further down her body, trailing kisses over her stomach, exploring the tiny divot of her navel with his tongue, fingers still circling her center, coaxing gasps and near whimpers from her.
As his tongue parted her folds he allowed his finger to slip inside her. Surrounded by her he felt lightheaded, the bubbles rising again all over his body, popping against the soft skin on the inside of her thigh as he stretched her further open for him, fizzing through his cock, tingling up his spine, a precursor to an orgasm he already knew was going to surpass anything he’d ever experienced before.
He sucked softly at her clit as he added a second finger to the first, pumping them gently in time with soft sucks, followed by firm licks. She tilted her hips, fingers tangling in his curls, angling herself, showing him where she wanted his mouth, guiding him to where she needed his tongue. Her whispers of, “there, God, yes, there,” and breathy moans and exhalations enflamed him. He grasped her thigh, his arm wrapping around it, holding her gently in place as her back arched away from the mattress, her hips thrusting firmly against his fingers and tongue as he felt her contracting around him. His name shuddered on an exhale as he continued licking her through this first storm.
He eased away, licking the last of her from his lips and grasped her hips in his hands, sliding himself further up her body until he was wrapped in her arms, her mouth against his neck.
“Or do you want this?” he drew her hand to his cock, wrapping his hand around hers as he slid it up and down. “Do you want this? Me, inside you?”
She gasped again, turning her head to meet his eyes, blue flame sparkling through clouds of smoke.
“You’re already inside me , Robin. Twisted and tangled in the very fiber of my being. Can I come inside you? Please?”
“Yes. Please, God, yes.”
“Condom?” he paused.
“Birth control.”
“Handy.”
He chuckled, awed that the humor they shared could add to the intensity of such a moment. She snared his lips in another kiss, her tongue meeting his, stroke for stroke as he slid over her, then bracing himself above her so that he could see her face, he slid slowly into her warmth. Her hips thrust against his before he pinned them with his own. “Are you always in such a mad rush?” he asked, humor sparking again, as he moved slowly against her.
“Do you always take forever?” she groaned, her head kicking back as her neck arched with his next slow thrust. Her hands grasped his lower back, her thighs bracketing his hips. He could feel her nails again, the edges of them against his skin, scratching softly, just enough to sting in the best way, chasing the tingling away again as she tried to pull him into her more firmly.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered into her hair, as he continued his slow, tortuous thrusts.
“More, Strike.” she groaned against his shoulder, her teeth nipping gently.
“Faster?”
“Oh…Yes.” He sped up a little, moved a hand to caress her clit as he felt the tingles begin bubbling, coalescing into lightning gathering at the base of his spine.
“Harder?”
“Please,” she whimpered breathlessly.
He drew back further, settling onto his knees, allowing her to rock her hips against him finally, setting the pace she wanted. Lost in the sight of her, the feel of her he tried to hold the lightning in check, tried to hold it off, determined to watch her splinter beneath him again.
Her hips lost their rhythm just as he felt the beginnings of her rippling around him. He leaned back into her, plunging a little deeper with each thrust, taking control again as he brought his hand to her knee, pushing it back slightly and gave himself up to her. He lost all semblance of control as he felt the flutters and spasms of her orgasm gripping his cock. The lightning shot up his spine, through his veins. He was electrified, suspended in the flash, her name ripped from his throat as he burned alive, lost in her, unsure where he stopped and she began.
He felt her hands sliding along his back as he collapsed against her, her fingers sliding along his face as her lips kissed whatever skin she could reach. His mouth, his cheek, the tip of his nose. He could feel her body still trembling with aftershocks beneath him, worried briefly that he was crushing her, but realized he was incapable of moving just yet.
“I’ll move in a second. I’m sorry. I just—”
His cock, still semi aroused, slipped deeper into her warmth as her legs locked around his waist, holding him to her as she slid her arms around his chest and hugged him with her entire body, pressing her breasts and stomach tightly against him, making it clear she didn’t want him to move just yet.
He felt her sigh against him, her cheek rubbing against his as she smoothed her fingers through the curls at the back of his head, tugging gently, an invitation to lift his head. He complied, finding her eyes shining, her lips smiling softly, swollen from desperate kisses. He slid his nose along the side of hers, pressed a smiling kiss to the apple of her cheek as she hummed contentedly.
“That was—”
“Stunning,” she finished, Yorkshire sounding clearly in her voice, comforting him in a way he hadn’t expected.
“I was going to say incredible…but,” he kissed her softly. “I like stunning better.”
He rolled off her, onto his back, gathering her close, pulling her into his side so that she was curled on her side against him, her thigh hitched over his, her foot resting on the strap of the prosthesis he hadn’t removed. He let his hand slide along her side, down the slope of her waist and up the curve of her hip, over and over, relishing the feel of gooseflesh rising under his palm.
He grasped the small fingers sifting through the hair on his chest and raised them to his face, pressing a kiss to the tip of each one, then her palm, before, lured by the faint scent, he brought her wrist to his nose, inhaling musk and gardenia and Robin.
“Did you just sniff my wrist?” she asked with a soft laugh.
“Your perfume—”
“The one you bought me for my birthday?”
“It’s been haunting me,” he admitted.
“Oh?”
“It lingers everywhere, so it’s like you linger everywhere.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“Sometimes. Other times it’s a torment,” he admitted softly.
She boosted herself onto her elbow, looking down at him, her brows quirked, bronze hair disheveled in a way he’d never seen before, and knew he’d never forget. “A torment?”
“It lingers in the office, you see, after you’ve left for the day, and that’s comforting, because it’s like you’re still there and I can pretend you just went to make tea. But it also lingers in the car when you’ve been on surveillance and when I take over for you it just makes me want to call you, or beg you to come back and keep me company.”
Her eyes were soft above him, tears beginning to pool and gather against her lower lashes. He raised his hand, swiping a thumb under her eye as one spilled over.
“And once I caught a hint of it on my scarf and it took everything I had not to come here and tell you how I felt. But I didn’t, because I wasn’t sure how you felt and I love you so much I didn’t want to scare you away. Having you as my business partner would have been enough. Just being around you everyday, but…”
“But this is better,” she murmured.
“So much better,” he tightened his arm around her, hugging her close. “And tonight was the first time I got to smell it on your skin, so I was searching it out, trying to find all the places you sprayed it, to see if it smelled different in different places.”
“Mmmm. Well you missed one spot then,” she said with a sly grin before laying her head on his shoulder and snuggling back into him.
“Where?”
“The backs of my knees.”
He turned his head, kissing her forehead. “Really?”
He felt her nod against his shoulder. “Mmhmm. Mum told me I should spray it there when I was wearing a dress so that it would rise as I walked.”.
“Well then,” he chuckled. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll investigate that spot next.”