Cross-posted over on AO3, this was written as a birthday present for my dear friend Val. I do not own FDTD or any of its characters and the title comes from the Bruce Springsteen song of the same name. I had a lot of fun writing this and hope you guys enjoy reading it!
There is a palpable silence in the room, but Kate finds it welcoming. Richie is in his own room for the night, and Seth has busied himself with the task of cleaning their guns. Both Geckos had spent most of the day unable to shut up and stop bickering - which was nothing new, but something she would not mind doing without.
The silence gave her time to collect her thoughts in peace and put them down into her diary; it was something she hadn't done since before her mother died, but found the ritual to be almost meditative now. Her thoughts raced at a million miles per minute, and it was the only time, other than the occasional long talk she would have with Richie, that she could really make sense of them.
There is a loud crash that comes from outside their hotel room, causing Seth to rise to his feet for further inspection. Kate lifts her head abruptly at the sound, and a sharp pain jolts through her neck. Her body is still in recovery after being used as a vessel for a hell goddess, but she's feeling pretty confident that she would never know comfort again. Instinctively, she brings her hand to her neck, gently rubbing the soreness away.
"It was just a car backfiring, I think," Seth says, backing away from the window. He glances over to where Kate is sitting on the bed. "Your neck still bothering you?"
She shakes her head. "I mean, yeah. But it's fine. It's more whiplash than anything else." She's downplaying it and she knows he knows it.
He watches her for a moment longer, as though trying to call her bluff, before crossing the room and filling the space behind her on the bed.
Before she knows it, his hands are kneading the muscles in her neck. Her whole body tenses at first; she'd never had anyone touch her this way at all. But the roughness of his skin against hers, the pressure he's applying, is nicer than she thought it would be.
And in the past couple of weeks, since their tumultuous reunion, she'd thought about it quite a bit.
They've been sharing hotel rooms since then, just like they had during their brief stint pulling heists in Mexico.
The initial plan had been for Seth and Richie to share rooms, but the nightmares were too much for Kate to bear alone, and there was that sense of familiarity with Seth, so she was in his room before their first night as a trio was even through.
Richie tends to keep later nights than them, anyway, and seems to like the time to himself, so the arrangement works out for all of them.
Still, in all their time alone together, they've kept a healthy distance, even on rare occasion, such as tonight, that they have to share beds. The only time they ever really touch is usually after one of Kate's nightmares, when she needs to cling onto what is usually ripped away from her in her sleep.
Things are different now, but they're also the same. They're still Seth and Kate on the surface, and she's too afraid, even after anything, to see what else may lay beneath it.
So it's alarming how natural it feels, how simultaneously comforting and electrifying it is, to feel Seth's warm hands pressed against the soft skin of her neck, easing away the strain.
There's a feeling in the pit of her gut that she doesn't recognize at all, and it builds like a small fire, slowly encroaching on the rest of her body.
She lets out a deep sigh, and it's not until then that she realizes she's been holding her breath. Seth applies more pressure against base of her neck. It feels like he's tending to aches she wasn't even aware she had.
His hands trail down to her shoulders now, where he spends some time gently massaging the muscles there as well.
The sound Kate makes is beyond her control - a low, rasping moan that she doesn't even recognize as her own. Another rush of heat comes over her then, a different kind of heat, and she can feel her cheeks reddening.
Seth's hands fall away from her shoulders, and she can sense that he is just as stunned by her reaction as she is. Though her eyes are shut tight, she can feel him stand up behind her and step away from the bed.
She lifts her head and opens her eyes. His gaze falls to the ground when hers meets his.
Wordlessly, she turns and brings herself to her feet, and in uncharacteristic boldness, rests both of her hands on his broad shoulders. Her stare drops to the ink on the skin of his shoulder, trailing up to his neck, to the scruff across his jawline, the curve of his bottom lip. Anywhere but his eyes; she's not ready to see what'll meet her there just yet.
When he doesn't react, she closes the space between them even further, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck, until there's nothing but fabric between their chests, until she can feel the rise and fall of his chest against hers.
It's only then that she allows herself to look into his eyes. They're darker than usual, black with something she can't put a name to, searching every inch of her face before falling to his lips.
She wants to kiss him - that's what this is all leading to, isn't it? - but he beats her to it, his lips crashing against hers like there's no time at all left in the world.
She is a forest fire in a drought now.
Kate's had her fair share of kisses, but she's never been kissed like this before, and she isn't quite sure what to do about it. They briefly break for air before she deepens the kiss, tilting her head and parting her lips to allow entry to his tongue.
His hands rest on the small of her waist, and she sighs into his mouth, and it does something to her stomach when she can feel his smiling against hers. She allows her hands to drop to his hips, gripping onto them as though he is the only thing in the world right now holding her steady.
For all she knows, he is.
He guides her back onto the bed, not taking his lips off her skin as he does so. His mouth falls off her mouth to trail kisses along the base of her jaw, down the side of her neck, over her collarbone, and his fingers have somehow managed their way into her hair, his free hand propped up on the bed, balancing his body over hers.
Her own hands explore the vastness of valleys on his abdomen, and another rush of heat rushes through her.
Basic knowledge of human anatomy and biology tells her what's happening to her; she may lack experience, but she knows enough to know.
Still, she feels so taken by it all. The fire beneath her skin, the simultaneous lightness and weight of Seth's body over hers, the damp heat between her legs.
It's almost too much, but it's also not enough.
Her fingers race across the skin on his stomach and she grabs for the hem of his tank top, lifting it over his chest. His lips break away from the expanse of skin above the collar of her rose-colored camisole to assist in the stripping of his shirt.
He presses his lips against hers once more before his eyes are searching hers for a reason to stop this now before it progresses any further.
Instead of giving him one, she reaches down to lift her own camisole off, tossing it to the side. His eyes drop to her chest, and she can't help but feel slightly self-conscious in his gaze. It's the first time anyone has seen her this way, and she has to fight back her instinct to cover herself with her arms.
His hands cup her breasts, his knees resting on her hips, straddling her lap. She can feel him against her, even through the harsh fabric of his jeans.
Another sound escapes her throat then, and this one is more guttural than the last. He takes her nipples into his fingers. It surprisingly doesn't hurt much, the way he's rubbing and grabbing at her breasts. It's more electrifying than when he was massaging her neck earlier, and it wakes up a part of her she didn't know she had.
A need.
She's never needed anything the way she needs this.
Keeping one hand on her breast, he trails his other one over the skin on her stomach, pausing briefly before slipping under the waistband of her shorts, beneath the soft fabric of her underwear. Her heart is pounding in her head when his finger brushes over… that . And she forgets how to breathe when he lets it dip inside her.
Hungrily, her lips find his again. She bites down on his bottom lip, taking its fullness into her mouth as he repeats what he just did with his hands. She doesn't realize she's thrusting against him until he stops and pulls his hand out.
Without any pause, he slips her shorts off, and her underwear goes along with them. He starts to unzip his jeans and his fingers fumbling briefly with the button, causing him to mutter a profanity under his breath. Kate finds this strangely endearing.
She takes his hands in hers and gently squeezes them before guiding his touch back to her breasts, and he flashes her that smirk she's always pretended she didn't find attractive. While he busies himself with her chest, she watches his face. She wonders when they crossed this line; when Seth stopped thinking of her as some impressionable girl he was stuck with, or if he ever did at all. When did she start to hold so much of his focus? When was the exact moment he realized he wanted her this way?
Better yet - when was it that she decided she wanted him this way?
She isn't sure if she could answer that for herself, at least not right now.
There is only one thing her mind keeps circling back to, and that's the two of them, right now, with every other thing stripped away.
"Seth," her breath hitches, and she pushes against his chest. "I, uh… Sorry but... Do you, you know… have… protection?"
"Fuck," he lifts himself off of her, stumbling over his own feet to the bag resting on the dresser against the wall. His hands fumble around before he pulls out a box of condoms, his eyes looking for the expiration date. With a sigh of relief, he all but leaps back over to her on the bed, pulling his jeans and boxers off along the way.
He tears at the foil with his teeth, and she watches him as he stands over her and rolls it onto himself, and for the first time all night, she feels nervous.
"This is, you know…" he asks as he lowers himself over her, his breath heavy. He's looking at her with anticipation, a question in his eyes. "You've never-"
"No," she shakes her head, and a soft laugh escapes her lips. "No, I haven't."
He brushes away the hair matted to her forehead with sweat and Kate swears to God that she's never been more sure or more nervous about anything in her life.
A second later, he's guiding himself inside her, and she has to shut her eyes so tight they start to water at the way she stretches around him.
It hurts as much as she expects it too, but she's grateful it's at least not worse than what she imagined. It's a pain she'd gladly trade all others for; an ache that doesn't feel like a betrayal or a burden.
His head is burrowed into her shoulder, his tongue tasting the salt of the skin on her chest while his hands grip onto the curves of her hips. He pulls out and thrusts into her then, and she's shaking beneath him. Once she catches her breath, he thrusts into her again, and then sets a rhythm that she soon adjusts to. She has nothing to compare this too, of course, but he almost feels too full inside her, and it seems as though she has to keep adjusting every damn time that he pushes into her.
The room is filled with the sound of her cries and his grunts and occasional string of nonsense profanity, with the sound of their bodies crashing against each other and the creak of the mattress springs beneath her.
His hands reach down to where their bodies are joined and he pushes his thumb against her center, the calloused skin creating friction she surprisingly craves. Her heart is pounding so hard in her chest she feels like he can probably hear it.
There is nothing in her mind now but Seth and his hands and the feel of him inside of her. His breaths become heavier, faster as he begins to move more erratically. She wants to scream and has to bite on his shoulder to herself from doing so.
He stops inside of her, suddenly unable to move, and then it's over. She feels his hardness diminish and a soft whine emits from somewhere deep within her.
After catching his breath, he pulls himself out of her, promptly discarding the condom into the small wastebin at the bottom of the bedside table.
She still feels wired, and is wondering if that was it, when Seth lowers himself down her body, his head hanging over her hips. His eyes lock on hers before he tosses her that smirk again, and it's all she can do not to die right then and there.
Using his mouth now, he continues her undoing. He presses his lips to the inside of each of her thighs, the coarse hair on his beard scratching against her skin - more friction - before delving right in with his tongue. Her hands grab at the comforter beneath her, grasping for dear life, and there isn't much she can do to suppress her screams now, without any of Seth to bite on to. Chewing her own lip doesn't suffice.
Seth seems to take her cries as encouragement, because he laps at her more eagerly, with more determination than she's seen him have in a long time.
She feels unsteady, and then the world seems to slip away from beneath her, the fire erupting into an explosion, and then disintegrating into thin air.
Seth, panting, brings himself up to join her at the pillow. He's staring at her when she finally opens her eyes again. The lids of his dark eyes are heavy, his lips parted.
Kate presses a kiss on the side of his face, letting her hand brush through his thick hair.
"Goddamn you," he says, sighing deeply.
She smiles and drops her head to conceal the blush that's rushing over her face.
"That was…" he begins, but trails off before he's able to find the words.
She doesn't know exactly what he was going to say, exactly, but she has an idea, and she understands. The lamps in the room are still lit but she can't bring herself to care, let alone get up to turn them off, and it doesn't seem to bother Seth much, either.
The room falls silent again, save for the sounds of their breathing as they begin to drift off to sleep. For the first time, when they fall asleep with his arms around her, it isn't because of a bad dream.