After River

[captainryan]

He lays awake, staring at the ceiling, Damocles sprawled and snoring on the comforter next to him. The dog was pleased to have his place in the bed back, though he didn't understand why River wasn't staying again.

Richard wasn't too certain himself.

He hasn't seen her since after breakfast, since he took care of his morning exercises. It'd been nice to do something mindless that would wear him out in a completely different way and just run for a couple of hours.

But laying in bed waiting for sleep, there's nothing to distract his brain. He misses River terribly. Lovesick, sneers his mind. He agrees without contention. That much is pointless to fight.

What will you do when she leaves?
If she leaves.
They always leave.
He has no answer to that.
So when she follows through?
I'll deal with it then. Live and learn. The end of my lovelife is hardly the end of the world.
It'll feel that way.
I've dealt with worse.
It'll hurt.
I know.
And still...?
It's not like I have a lot of choice in the matter.
You could end it now.
He gives the ceiling a look that implies it's a great moron.
No. No, I don't suppose you could.
No.
Where does that leave us?
With a girlfriend, apparently.
Feels like more.
I know.
Could be worse.
Very much so.
Last night was fun.
He smiles.

















Go to sleep, Richard.

Comments

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He looks into her eyes, blinking, with a smile on his face. The smile becomes a grin and shortly after that he's smothering laughter.

[hell_in_highheels]

She's puzzled, but shares his giddiness. Her laugh is rich and warm and she can't stop touching him. Her hand comes up to touch his cheek.

There is no sight in this whole universe that can pierce her heart so deeply as his face at this moment.

"Oh but wait, there's more," she whispers, pressing her cheek against his. "It seems my door has gone missing."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan frowns in the general direction of the Landlord, meaning he doesn't actually move since no one knows where he is.

"I'm sorry. There's room here," as she well knows, "if you'd care to stay."

[hell_in_highheels]

"I can't, Richard, I mean I don't want to impose. I can get a room here. I've seen others with rooms. This is your space and -- I mean we just met and this is all so sudden..."

Cue babbling.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"I know," Richard answers, just holding her. It's something he's wondered himself, repeatedly, these past two days.

But does she even have an income to pay for a room? The alpha is responsible.

"I can stay on the floor, if you like," he says a bit wryly. "Room already has your scent all over it."

He tried changing the sheets, but he can still smell her.

[hell_in_highheels]

She laughs, and then shakes her head. "Please don't make light." She lays her head on his chest, breathing him in, her hands around his middle. She's trying to find her center again, and he is her center. "I need you," she whispers, her voice barely audible.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

How fortunate he has good hearing, then.

His skin tingles where she's holding him. He's very aware of her arms, the areas where skin becomes shirt as they rub against his flesh.

"I'll take care of you."

[hell_in_highheels]

She takes a deep breath, and sighs at that. After a long moment, she pulls back, taking his hands in hers as she glances at the open door and the hallway beyond. "I don't want to be an obligation you keep."

When she looks back, her expression is serious, and he can hear her determination, even with a hint of fear in her scent. "I want to stay. I want to make love to you again. I want to wake up in your arms tomorrow. And the day after. But not if you feel like you have no other choice in the matter."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He does feel like he hasn't got much of a choice in the matter, but not for the reason she thinks. It's not because she's shown up on his door after midnight with no place to stay.

It's because if he's claimed her as his own, and he has, make no mistakes about that, that comes with certain responsibilities. He's driven to be sure she's taken care of, regardless of whether or not he's the one providing the actual care.

Being able to do it himself is a nice bonus, though. It makes him feel like he isn't useless.

"I would be content with wherever you decide to stay. The important thing is that you have some place to stay," he says honestly.

"That doesn't mean I haven't got a preference."

[hell_in_highheels]

She sees just the barest hint of a smile in his eyes, and she knows his preference. The same lightness she felt just moments before returns, and she squeezes his hands, stepping back into his embrace.

"If it's all the same, then, I want to be with you."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He takes her back into his arms gladly, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Good," he says simply.

[hell_in_highheels]

She buries her face in his chest, holding him as tightly as she can. Her muscles ache from holding herself so tight, waiting to know how this would play out. As his arms settle around her shoulder, she thinks she can finally breathe again. Really breathe.

She melts against him, drowning in the strength and scent of him, peppering his skin with tiny kisses.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Richard starts nuzzling her hairline, following its gentle curve with his mouth. He can feel her lips on his chest, ghosting over deadened scars and sensitive skin alike, and he smiles in anticipation.

[hell_in_highheels]

There is a subtle shift in the air, what little of it is between them. She felt it last night standing on the bridge in the mist. Whatever it was binding them together so powerfully, it began here and ended here. This was the thing she couldn't enumerate, but that had drawn her back to him, a comet trapped in his orbit.

She lifts her face to his kisses, her eyes closed, her lips parted. "My love."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Those are strong words. A part of him is always secretly amazed when he hears them, smells the truth behind them. She doesn't have to say it. He already knows.

He meets her lips and kisses them possessively.

[hell_in_highheels]

She returns the kiss, winding her arms around his neck, tasting him all over again, drinking deeply and without reservation. Her fingertips graze through his hair, marking the lines of his skull, the muscles of his neck.

yours

After a long moment, she pulls back, grinning, nuzzling his cheek. "We should probably close the door and go to bed."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Richard nods mutely, tugging at her shirt a bit.

"You need to catch up," he teases, pulling at the cloth even as he steps away. He lets it snap back on a grin before he turns to peer up and down the hallway again.

The door closes with a firm click.

[hell_in_highheels]

She steps back, waiting for him. Her boots are mysteriously already unlaced and she grins at him as she toes them off, carefully tucking them next to his.

"I guess I'd better. For the sake of my poor wardrobe," she teases as she untucks her shirt.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He doesn't look apologetic in the least as he prowls across the floor to her. His hands find the bottom button of her shirt, but his eyes are on hers, half-lidded and blinking slowly.

"Shall I assist?"

[hell_in_highheels]

That look steals her breath away. She is transfixed by his gaze, her heart in her throat all over again.

She can't keep her hands from reaching for him, drifting up to rest lightly on his forearms. "Please."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He works at one button at a time, resisting the urge to just rip the shirt open. He contents himself by reaching for her mouth with his own, placing firm little kisses from there to up her jawline. He finds his way to her neck and nuzzles her as his hands slide up to find another button.

[hell_in_highheels]

Her eyes close, intensifying her other senses, touch, smell, hearing. Her awareness folds down to these simple things.

The feel of his mouth against her own, the roughness of his beard, the touch of his lips on the delicate skin beneath her jaw. Goosebumps flare along the top of her shoulder.

The sound of his breath. She can hear him inhaling, drawing in her scent, drawing her into his body. The scent of his skin, smoke and earth, and something indefinably masculine. The heat of his body, radiating into her skin, warming her blood, her very bones, she thinks.

She sighs as he undoes another button, shivering at the graze of his knuckles against her bare stomach.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He keeps his hands out of her shirt, if not off, for now. The feel of her skin against his palms would be too much temptation, he suspects, if he doesn't want buttons everywhere.

Apples and jasmine. He's never going to be able to smell those things again without thinking of her. He breathes her in, tasting her with his kisses. His hands work at her buttons faster.

[hell_in_highheels]

.when did this happen? when did my heart become so completely yours?

Her hands rest on his forearms, memorizing the feel of skin and muscle and bone. She leans into him, tipping her head back to expose her throat to his mouth.

.when I saw you in the bar, when you turned and looked at me. i fell.

She gasps when his lips find the marks he left the night before, a hard shiver running down her spine.

.my love, i'm still falling.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He works at them, bringing blood to the surface again just below her skin, almost but not quite able to scent it, teasing himself.

.He wants to keep moving down, but there's still a few buttons in the way. He snorts at her shirt, sticking his nose in as far as it'll go.