Road Trip Ch. 04

She blinked slowly, her lips curving in a small smile, her hips nudging forward to meet him. He groaned and slammed into her, filling her completely in one move. Her head flew back and his teeth found her neck. His kisses traveled to her cheek, his lips resting on the corner of her mouth.

"Look at me," he urged.

Her head came forward to look at him, his piercing eyes a glittering silver. He took a shaky breath, beginning to pump in and out of her, their eyes locked.

"Don't - shut me out - like that. Not again," he said through gritted teeth.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise at the realization that he wasn't angry. He was hurt. She had hurt him by closing off the way she had done so many times it was instinctual. She searched for words but her inner muscles fluttered and her surprise grew. He felt it and glanced down briefly, startled as well that she was coming so quickly. He found her eyes again.

"Not again," he repeated.

She might have nodded. It might have been just her body moving in response to his forceful thrusts. She wasn't sure. He didn't seem sure either.

"Promise me," he grunted.

He shoved the bra up above her breasts, gripping and rolling one nipple between his fingers. She cried out, then bit her lip. Her one foot on the floor was trying to gain purchase so she could meet his thrusts. What could she say? What did he want her to say? She couldn't think clearly, her entire being focused on the weapon sheathed inside her like a sword, reaching straight for her heart.

---

She still hadn't said anything. Why wasn't she saying anything? It was driving him mad.

"Please, Eve. Please," he gasped. "I can't bear to have you shut me out."

Her body stilled and she sucked in a loud breath. She nodded quickly, her entire being tense and poised on the edge.

"Say it," he demanded.

His hips sped up and he smoothed his hand down her body until it was between her legs, flicking the swollen button. Her body jerked in response.

"Yes," she breathed, her legs quivering uncontrollably. "I promise - I - I'll try," she panted. "Please, Will - I'll - I'll try."

His relief at her words was fleeting, quickly turning into horror as her eyes filled with moisture, positive they weren't tears brought on by overwhelming passion.

"Sweetheart," he murmured, his voice pained.

Her orgasm overcame both of them and her look of distress was replaced with one of fierce, urgent hunger. The dark void surged around him in response to her expression. He growled and slammed into her, relishing the feel of her body meeting his, knowing she was trying to get closer to him. She was contracting around him, her body wracked with spasms. Pulling him deeper and deeper, and he let himself be sucked in. Falling, crumbling, shattering.

---

He had carried her to the bed, tucking the sheet around her securely, wrapping his body around hers. She was shivering, the simple touch of his hand burning her skin, the contrast of the cool sheet deliciously tortuous on her sensitive body. She felt him tuck her hair behind her ear, giving her a tender kiss on her temple.

"Okay?" he whispered.

"Mm-hmm," she replied in a soft moan.

She snuggled deeper into the sheets, into his embrace, feeling totally satiated. She had given up worrying about her enthusiastic responses to him, no longer caring if there was something wrong with her. There couldn't be, not when it felt like that. Maybe, just maybe, it meant this could be something more. That it didn't have to end.

"No - Eve," he said, nudging her cheek.

She blinked lazily and tried to focus on him.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Are - are we okay?"

Snaking a hand out of her cocoon of bedding, she stroked the wrinkle between his brows with a smile.

"Yeah," she said.

"Are you sure? I'm sorry if -"

"Shh," she said, trying to find his mouth with her fingers, her eyes drooping shut.

"Eve," he implored. "I -"

He broke off and buried his face in her hair, his arms locked around her. Arms that were shaking, she realized. Finding his hands, she laced their fingers together.

"You don't have to tell me what that was about," he said gently. "But I hope you know you can talk to me. About anything."

Her eyes opened, suddenly feeling wide awake. She stared at the wall over his shoulder. She began to speak without making a conscious decision to do so.

"I think it's just some - conditioned response," she said quietly. "It's how I react when someone yells at me. I always have, since I was a kid. I barely realize I'm doing it."

"Who?" he asked in a tight voice. "Your parents?"

She nodded, avoiding his eyes. "And Patrick," she said in a small voice.

His arms tightened around her. She could feel the tension and anger humming through him.

"Is that all he did?" he said roughly. "Or did he -"

"No," she interrupted firmly. "He was just a yeller. Just like my dad." She sighed. "It's true what they say, you know - about girls being drawn to guys like their fathers."

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's okay," she said calmly. "At least I realize it now - my pattern. Though learning that apparently doesn't help with my reaction to it."

She looked at him hesitantly.

"I am sorry about that," she said awkwardly. "I don't mean to -" She stopped and shrugged.

He shook his head and kissed her tenderly, reassuring her.

"I'm sorry I lost control like that, I really didn't mean to - I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked anxiously.

She grinned. "How many times do I have to tell you? I like it."

He smiled self-consciously, kissing the tip of her nose.

"Maybe I like hearing you tell me how much you like it," he said softly into her ear.

His warm breath tickled her hair and she shivered, goosebumps covering her arms. He propped himself up on an elbow, caressing her cheek.

"Were both of your parents Spanish?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" she said with a laugh.

He smirked. "It just occurred to me - you don't look that Spanish."

"And a good thing, too," she said, giggling. "Since I'm not. Cortes is Portuguese."

"Oh," he said, looking somewhat stunned. "I'm embarrassed I didn't know that until now." He smiled softly, tracing the arch of her eyebrow. "Just your father?"

"Half," she said dreamily, his touch warming her. "Half Portuguese, half German...my mom's Greek-Italian."

"Hm," he murmured, combing his fingers through her hair. "That explains this gorgeous hair."

"At least why there's so much of it," she said, smiling sleepily at him. "And what about you, Doc?" she teased.

"Oh, let's see," he said, putting a pillow under his head and drawing her to him. "There's some Irish and Scottish, some German, Polish, a little Dutch...I think there might be some Hungarian and Czech as well."

"Sheesh," she said. "You're like the European department of the United Nations."

He chuckled. "Did you have dogs growing up?"

She rested her chin on his chest to look at him.

"Are you doing a research paper or something?"

He pinched her behind before hugging her to him.

"I just want to know you, sweetheart," he said in a satisfied sigh.

She gave him a pleased smile, swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat. Shaken by his sincerity, his thoughtfulness. Wondering if it was a mistake to let him in. Realizing it was far too late to worry about that, when he already lived in her heart.

---

They stayed up late into the night talking, peppering each other with questions about their childhoods, their families, everything from their favorite colors and foods to various religions and their views on the afterlife. They debated Shakespeare and Richard III once again, as well as King John and Elizabeth I.

Will felt strangely rejuvenated by their conversation, realizing it had been years, possibly decades, since he'd felt this kind of intimate companionship where he could just talk for hours about anything and everything. Once he'd gotten past the initial shock of his wife's affair, the knowledge that they'd been growing apart for years, living separate lives, wasn't that surprising. Still, he couldn't remember if he and Barb had ever just talked like this, even in the early days.

Eve was in the middle of a story about her sister at some cheerleading camp and paused to look at him quizzically. He realized he'd gotten distracted by the sight of her lying on her stomach with her feet up in the air, her ankles crossed daintily, and was staring at her intently. She brushed her hair back self-consciously.

"What?" she said.

"Nothing," he said, smiling. "I just - I'm having a good time," he said lamely.

She tilted her head and smiled fondly, reaching out to rest her fingers lightly on his cheek.

"Will, I -" she hesitated, her quickening breath making her breasts visibly heave. "I am, too," she said simply.

A new kind of pressure spread through him, contracting rapidly in his ribcage and then expanding. His heart pounded in his ears. He felt his smile widen as he looked at her, seeing new things about her. Details he had noticed before but never really absorbed. The curl of her eyelashes. The small birthmark under the line of her jaw. How tiny her earlobes were. The way her nose crinkled. How captivating she was. How he was falling in love with her.

His chest constricted in shock. Am I falling in love with her? he thought, staring into the eyes that were currently a sedate grey. No. He had fallen in love with her. He didn't know when it had happened, how it could even be true after such a short time, but there it was. Overjoyed, he easily ignored any concerns about what was going to happen in the future and leaned over to kiss her.

She returned his kiss, her plump lips meeting his languidly, softly, meaningfully. He moaned against her mouth, running a tongue along her bottom lip, rewarded by her tongue meeting his. Teasing, caressing, giving. He slipped his arms around her, flattening her on her back, tangling them up in the sheets. They might have kissed for hours, he wasn't sure. He just knew that with each breath it felt like that first kiss all over again and he was just as lost. Drinking in the lingering taste of beer, of her tears, of her.

Dragging the sheet away, he trailed kisses down her chests, over her breasts, her stomach. Her fingers were curling in his hair, digging into his arms, her legs circling around him. He kissed his way back up to her mouth, resting on his arms and looking down at her.

"I - I can't wait," he whispered. "I need you."

She smiled dreamily, her eyes dark with desire, her lids heavy. Plunging her hands in his hair and bringing his mouth to hers in response. Swirling her tongue against his, nibbling on his neck, squeezing him with her legs. His eyes rolled back. God, yes - more. He groaned almost as if in pain, settling himself between her legs.

He entered her slowly, taking one of her hands and twining their fingers, staring into her eyes as she drew him in, her comforting heat engulfing him like hands giving him a welcoming hug, welcoming him home. When he had filled her completely, he rested for a moment, their mouths meeting tenderly. An unexpected stinging burned his eyes, but he smiled at her.

And, for the first time, he truly made love to her.