Distractions and Admissions
By AnitaB
Author's notes: Well, let's see, they put an almost kiss on the show between Will and Ashley and then just forget it. I don't think so. At least my Ashley and Yummy Will couldn't forget, no matter how hard they tried. And then to put chocolate sauce on the bad for you icecream, Helen left them alone in the mansion for a week. (happy giggling as romantic smut ensues.)
Rating: Romantically and graphically smutty. Clean minds beware.
Distractions and Admissions
By AnitaB
Chapter one: Dangerous distractions
"Ashley, are you listening?"
Helen Magnus had the look on her face that her daughter had seen a million times. She wasn't going to let it go until full attention was paid. Ashley sighed, put the shiny, brand-new assault rifle down on the counter and turned to her mother. "I'm listening."
"Good. I'm taking Henry and Big guy with me to check out the cause of the computer problems in London."
"I remember, the comatose electrokinetic." She tried not to stare at the gun or roll her eyes. That only made the lecture longer. "You told me already, mom."
"Yes, of course I did. The part I need you to understand is your responsibilities. I'm leaving you and Will to take care of everything here while we're gone. It could be several days to a week."
Now her brain actually stopped focusing on the new gun. Her thoughts stopped dead in their tracks and stumbled over the locked box in her mind. The one labeled "Will." "A week?" She was going to be stuck in this house for a week with Yummy Will? //No fucking way.//
A week ago, that man had stood shirtless in her room and looked at her with heat in his eyes. And he wasn't built like any psychologist she'd ever seen. He was… ripped, with long, lean, hard muscles arranged perfectly under delicious looking skin. Ashley remember how she'd felt as he had leaned in so breathlessly close for a kiss she'd dreamed about but never gotten.
//Damn nubbin pheromones.// And by how hard he'd tried to avoid her in that week, it had all been pheromones for him. And Ashley couldn't get it out of her head. A week would be hell. "Won't you want Will there to pull his mind magic on your hacker?"
"No, I don't think so. With our hacker, as you say, unconscious, we'll be working more on containment than enlightenment." Her mother came to her feet as if the conversation was over. "Beside, everyone takes their turns as zookeeper now and then." She stopped at the door, almost off-handedly throwing the words back. "Between the two of you, I'm sure you'll have everything well in hand."
"Yeah, sure. Enjoy London." Ashley waited until the door closed before she sank into a chair with her head in her hands. "Damn London. Damn the abnormal. And damn you, Will."
If she'd just leaned in, met him half-way, she'd have gotten that kiss. Maybe then she could move the fuck on and forget his eyes, his voice, his lips.
"Target practice," Ashley rose and grabbed that shiny, new gun. If she was going to make it through his week without jumping or killing Will, she was gonna need a big, damn distraction. Weaponry had always done the trick before, the bigger, the better. They weren't even alone yet and she was jumping out of her skin. "I need bigger guns."
000
He'd almost kissed her. Another half a second and he'd have done it. Will would have finished crossing that tiny distance and tasted Ashley Magnus on his tongue. He couldn't forget the soft way she said his name or the way she looked at him.
But he should forget. She'd been holding that damned nubbin for hours. The hormones had to have flooded her system. Will shouldn't spend his time remembering her fingers at his shirt buttons and her hands on his chest.
It hadn't been her, not really. But it was hard to remember that he shouldn't reach for her, shouldn't fist his hands in her hair and finally taste her kiss.
So he stayed away. Will was on a first name basis with every abnormal in the rotunda and more than half of the ones in the shoe. For the last week he'd been the go-to man for any job that took him as far from her as possible. And now Helen was leaving the two of them alone, all alone in this castle of a house. For a week. A long, dangerous, tempting week.
He had to remind himself of all the reasons that Ashley shouldn't be in his mind like she was. She was a co-worker, a friend. She must be at least ten years younger. And she was, quite literally, the boss's daughter. Neither one of them was ready for a real relationship. And to top off the list, Ashley had never given the slightest sign of interest in him before she'd been dosed with hormones.
And despite it all, Will wanted it with an intensity he hadn't felt about anyone or anything in a very long time. He wanted that strong and fragile woman in his arms. He felt the need for that kiss increase with just the knowledge of their isolation.
The sound of her shower running had driven him out of his room and into the rotunda. His control was fragile enough without knowing she was naked and wet just on the other side of a wall.
Will dragged his fingers through his hair, trying really hard to keep his mind here with the rows of cells, not upstairs in the water falling over smooth skin and graceful curves.
//Stop.//
The fire elemental. He hadn't talked to the resident pyro in a while. Nice, hot, dry desert landscape. "Hot enough for you?" Will tapped the glass against all the rules of tanks. If he was miserable, someone else might as well be good company for him. A little burst of flame flashed against the glass. Will found himself smiling just a little.
000
Ashley braced her hands against the wall and lifted her face into the shower spray. She loved that they had a full, military grade obstacle course in the basement. It took a lot more attention than the basic shooting range. Three hours in it had been the most relaxing time she'd had all day. All week.
If only there could be an emergency. Real danger would take even more focus and attention. And fighting was fun. Once she was out of the shower, maybe it was time to go patrol the city streets.
Eyes closed, Ashley scrubbed away the last of the suds and reached for the knobs. A few minutes with her hair dryer and she'd be on her bike and the hell away from here.
Ashley had one hand on the shower curtain when the house alarm started screaming. "Will,"
Suddenly a gun appeared in her hand and she was running on bare feet to the rotunda. Will was in danger, she had to get to him. On the last corner, Ashley slipped just a little, already yelling. "Hey flame boy! What the hell are you doing out of your box?"
The wall of fire was blocking her view, but deep down, she knew that Will was on the other side and that the elemental was seriously pissed about something.
The wall faded just enough to see Will crouched under a black spot where his head would have been. "Ashley!"
In a moment she'd let herself think about the sound of that voice. Right now, she had to cowtow a pyro problem. "Listen up, fire boy. You're got five seconds to get the flames out and your moody ass back in your cell before I hose you down with fire retardant."
A curl of flame wave towards her in a threat. "Push me and you'll go into the mermaid's tank. Go now."
With a puff of hot air, the elemental turned and went into his cell. It was that breeze on her skin that finally kicked her brain into gear. That was right, she'd brought a gun but not a towel.
And the look on Will's face was hotter than any fire elemental could ever be. She felt the heat of his eyes move over her skin like a laser.
Ashley felt every single muscle in her body melt into that look and the way his hands clenched. Will wanted her, he couldn't pull up that instant nuclear heat if he hadn't been fighting it all week. Just like she had. "Will,"
He almost flinched, dragged his eyes off her skin and his fingers to his shirt buttons. That yummy chest was exposed inch by inch as she watched helplessly imagining him crossing that distance, pulling her in against that bare chest and…
Stopping more than an arm's length away and handing her the shirt. "Uh, thanks, Ash, for the rescue. Here, you must be cold."
It could be forty below in here and she'd still be burning up from just the heat in his eyes. The eyes that wouldn't even look at her now. Ashley slipped her arms into the sleeves and stepped closer. "Will, look at me."
He stopped dead, eyes locked on the floor in front of his toes. "Why?" His hands shoved deep into his pockets and muscles up and down his arms tightened and twitched. He wanted to touch her. Yummy Will wanted to touch her and was fighting it. //Will, please.//
Ashley smiled and came to a decision. No more fighting it, for either of them. One more step let her hungry hands rest on his chest. "Please, Will, look at me." He went still under her fingers, eyes closing before he locked them on her face. There was want, need written in every inch of him, every gorgeous tightly controlled inch of him. "Do you want me, Will?" She watched him try to deny it eve as his eyes dropped to her lips.
"I … Ashley, it's the nubbins hormones, making us feel…like this." His hands eased out of his pockets to rest ever so lightly on the skin of her waist. "It's not really us." His arms were trembling with the desire to pull her closer.
"Really, Will?" Ashley deliberately licked her lips just to feel a groan vibrate low in his chest and watch those eyes follow the tip of her tongue. "'Cause neither of us has been within twenty feet of a nubbin in over a week. And I want you so bad, I can feel it in every inch of my skin." She bit her lip and dragged all ten fingers over the pounding beat of his heart. "I think you feel it, too."
"Ashley," She had a fraction of a second to thrill at the low growl in his voice before he dragged her close and claimed her lips with his own. She'd been waiting a week for this kiss. //Oh, yes, Will.//
Throwing her arms around his neck, she opened eagerly to the thrust of his tongue. //Finally,//
000
She was trying to kill him. Gorgeous skin glowed, tempting his to touch. Her hands heated the skin of his chest as every inch of his body ached to be under the stroke of those fingers. His hands disobediently moved to her waist. The last dregs of his restraint were barely letting him hold back, to not drag her closer. "It's not really us."
She smiled. "Really, Will?" He couldn't help a groan as she licked her lips. Will had dreamed of that mouth. "'Cause neither of us has been within twenty feet of a nubbin in over a week. And I want you so bad I can feel it in every inch of my skin." And such lovely skin it was. Will fought to breathe as her hands dragged over his heart and her teeth nibbled at that gorgeous lip. Her body leaned along his but it was her next words that shattered him like glass. "I think you feel it, too."
//Dear lord, yes.// "Ashley," Of course he felt it, in every inch of his skin. His arms helplessly dragged her flush against his chest. His lips finally found and explored hers as his tongue tasted the sweet warmth he'd been dreaming about for a week. Her arms slid around his neck, holding him close as her tongue met his eagerly. This kiss was everything he'd been wanting for a week and more. They played with angle and depth. Satiny as her body rubbed and rocked against his. Ashley felt so damn good in his arms, he was going crazy. If she felt any better, his bones were going to melt from the heat. If her knee climbed any higher up his side, Will was going to lose all control. Ashley would find herself pinned to a wall and taken right here in the rotunda in front of god knew how many abnormal. "Oh, Ash, wait.."
Her nails scratched lightly against his neck as he pushed her knee down and lowered her to her feet. "Will, what are we waiting for?" Ashley tested his restraint with the heat in her face and the touch of her fingertips on his lips. Her body leaned along his, his shirt somehow not keeping a single inch of her skin from his. //Sweet Ashley,//
"Ashley, we're half-naked in the middle of the rotunda. And you're stealing my control."
She smiled, cocked one hip and poked him in the chest. "Well, who's the one that decided to piss off an elemental while I was in the shower?" Then her hand flattened against his ribs. "'Cause that wasn't my idea at all."
His fingers ran through her hair, tilting her chin up to his. "And who decided to run naked through the building with a gun? 'Cause I never even thought that would happen."
She bit her lip and dropped her eyes. "You were in danger, Will. I had to hurry."
She was killing him with that shy concern and hesitation. "Are you sure about this, Ash? 'Cause I'm gonna kiss you and carry you to bed. And there's going to be no going back."
Her smile brushed his lips before she gave him a serious look. "I'm sure, Will. I don't wanna go back." Her hand burned over his shoulders to clutch at his back. "I want that kiss."
Will met her halfway, loving the dance of her tongue and the press of her body against his. Weakly, he pulled back, closed his shirt around her ribs, and swept an arm behind her knees. He loved the slight gasp on her lips as her arms tightened around him. //That's my girl.// "Hold on, Ash. I got ya."
000