Title: So Close
Characters: DG/Cain
Rated M – NWS!
Genre: Drama, comfort
Summary: Assassination with a twist
A/N: Soooooooo…I mentioned this what, 5 weeks ago? With a: oh give me till the end of the weekend to finish it. Yeah, about that…remind me to not make deadlines… I blame Cain, for he tried to make this super sappy and that's just not how it was supposed to be. Anyway, here's the smut-shot I promised.
TMTMTMTMTMTMTMTMTMTMTM
Numb.
The feeling of feeling nothing.
Staring at a spot on the floor, on the wall, in the distance, but not actually seeing anything.
Each blink of the eyelids brings reality back slowly, so avoiding it is best.
They were so close.
A door closed somewhere nearby and jerked him from his reverie, not that he'd have been able to do anything if they meant him harm. He was physically and mentally taxed. Worn out. Checked out. Come back tomorrow.
Concerned blue eyes met his. He could see remnants of tears, and though he couldn't find it in himself to do anything but stare, somewhere, he felt something.
So close.
She had scratches on her arms and a cut on her cheek from where the glass had blown in on them. He was pretty sure he had quite a few gashes on him, though he couldn't feel them. He was numb after all. But there was that faint feeling again.
He could still hear her terrified cry.
No!
"Cain?" she whispered.
Cain!?
He looked up from where he was staring at the floor again to see her standing just a few feet away. She looked devastated. She was shaking her head slightly.
They had missed their target by inches.
A tear leaked out and rolled down her cheek. The faint feeling was getting stronger. He blinked, and the world started coming into focus again.
He had been following her down the hallway, a respective ten paces behind. He was her bodyguard after all.
So why did she save him?
And what is that look that she is giving him now? The feeling was becoming more insistent.
She stopped walking for a moment before turning to him and screaming.
"No!"
And then came the assassin's bullets.
A strange exhale reached his numb ears and he realized her breathing was shallow and she was about to have a panic attack. Freak out.
Pounce.
That's what it was. She was about to hug him.
He almost died.
The bullets were not meant for the Crown Princess. They were meant for him.
But she had yelled and disappeared only to reappear a split second later right before him and tackle him out of the way. Glass had blown in from the windows as it shattered from the bullets. Shards pierced their skin before she could put up a magical barrier around them, blocking the rest of the glass and sending the rest of the bullets ricocheting around the hallway.
"Cain!?" she had cried out in a panic, leaning back to check him for injuries.
But he was fine. He could finally react enough to drag her back down to him, and then lead them out of the hallway while the Royal Guard took care of the shooters.
Now in the aftermath, the insistent feeling in what he now realized was his stomach finally became clear in his head, and he suddenly locked eyes with her.
Fear.
He had almost been assassinated.
And while no, he wasn't afraid of dying, he realized that he was very much afraid of dying in front of her. Being taken away from her. He couldn't bear the thought of her going through life without knowing that he…
That's what it was! The look on her face mirrored the fear in his stomach. She was scared and looked like she had come to a similar conclusion as him.
He blinked twice, his eyes swiveling back and forth between hers, searching. Could it be? She was standing nervously before him, clearly wanting to touch him and make sure he was real and okay. She looked like she hadn't known whether to laugh or cry but ended up crying.
Suddenly he didn't care. She needed to know now. He almost died today. The shooters had missed by inches. Life is too short. He almost didn't get to tell her…
He stood and dropped the glass of water he didn't know he was holding and framed her face in his hands, leaning into to claim her mouth with his own. She gasped just before and wrapped her fingers around his wrists as his lips captured her bottom lip.
She kissed him back and a broken sob escaped her as he pulled back slightly. She leaned back into his lips and started kissing him somewhat frantically, which he returned equally as frantic.
She could have died too.
Her hands brushed over his arms, the side of his face, the back of his neck, he wrapped an arm around her waist, she brushed across the back of his shoulders, they were suddenly chest to chest, hips to hips, and she was being pressed into the door frame.
She whimpered and exhaled shakily as they paused for air, and both of his hands found her waist, his own breathing ragged. Her eyes were searching his while asking him to kiss her again.
She cupped his jaw and he pressed his lips to hers again, more firmly this time, his fingers curling in, gripping her sides tighter.
They both had been so close to dying earlier.
He didn't know what had tipped her off, but he was eternally grateful because it gave him the chance to do this. To hold her in his arms and shower her with kisses.
He pulled back slightly and brushed some hair out of her face. Her hair was still falling out of the tight bun she had it in when they were attacked. Her brow was still furrowed with worry and fear and a number of other things.
"DG…" he breathed, eyes locked on hers, not knowing how to convey the strong emotions building up inside of him. She brought one arm back from around his neck and brushed away a tear he didn't know he had on his cheek.
"I almost lost you," she whispered, a tear of her own escaping her left eye. He blinked again, another tear starting to form. "I love you and I almost didn't get to tell you," she said in a rush before her voice broke.
He pressed his lips to hers and held them there, eyes squeezed shut tightly. His heart felt squeezed too. She loved him. She did. This can't be a dream. He'd be devastated if it was. His girl loved him.
When he leaned back this time he finally knew what to say. "I almost didn't get to tell you either…" he took a deep breath and brushed her hair away again. "I love you, too." She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his, and exhaling the breath she had been holding. He moved his nose up along hers. "So much," his whispered against her eyelashes.
They stayed like that for more than one shaky breath. They let the weight of their confessions fall away from them as they stood there, so close together. And then he started nudging her face with his nose, getting her to tilt it back up to him. Their breaths mingled, and he traced under the cut on her cheek with his thumb as her hand went back around his neck. He could tell they were thinking the same thing. Neither of them were letting go of the other anytime soon.
The bullets had been so close.
She kissed him again, leaning away from the wall. They began stepping backwards towards the bed he had been sitting on earlier, keeping their kisses brief, but more frequent. His hands found her waist again and the skirt of her dress inched up from being bunched in his fingers. She began tugging at his shirt to un-tuck it and things snowballed from there. Buttons were unfastened, clasps undone, clothing pulled over head, all amidst kisses pressed to lips, jaws, and necks.
Her breathy sigh made him pause as he tugged her dress over her head. His undone pants hung loosely from his hips and she brushed her fingers down through the hair on his bare chest as she lowered her arms from above her head.
He dropped her dress beside them, unknowingly in the puddle of water left by his forgotten dropped glass. His gaze drifted over the expanse of bare skin now in front of him as he toed off his boots, but eventually his eyes found her face again.
She looked slightly nervous. Slightly dazed. Is this really happening? They went from unresolved tension, to assassination attempt, to this in the matter of an hour or two. His mouth twitched into a bit of a smile as he ran his hands up and down her bare back soothingly.
He hoped to calm her, but it was hard when he was a bit anxious as well. She returned his nervous smile as her hands found his waist, and pushed his pants down past his hips.
He pressed his lips to hers as the last of the clothing fell away between them. But it almost wasn't enough. His tongue slid out and along her lips. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and kissed back trying to curb his fear as well as her own.
She almost hadn't made it in time.
He pulled her backwards onto the bed with him and they fell somewhat gracelessly into the cushions. Her breath caught slightly as they were pressed together, and then it caught for an entirely different reason as he rolled them over so that he was raised on his elbows above her.
He kissed her urgently and palmed her breast while she worked her legs to the outside of his. She moaned as he tweaked a nipple and ground against her, his body's urges taking over most thought of romancing their first time together. He was having trouble fighting back the irrational feeling of if he didn't make this happen soon, he might not be able to make it happen at all.
Bullets could come flying in and there would be nothing he could do about it and he might not ever be able to be with her and have a life with her.
And then she raised her knees, making his hips fall right in line with her center. His eyes locked onto hers as he slid a hand between them to rub over her clit firmly before dipping down to her moist heat. He sank a finger down into her and his eyes nearly fluttered shut as hers did. Sweet Ozma she was wet, and the heat threatened to melt him on the spot.
He nibbled on her jaw and pressed kisses to her face as he stroked her a few times and circled her clit once or twice. He gripped himself firmly before he caught her slight nod and slid himself home.
She inhaled sharply and tilted her head back into the pillow. Her bare neck and shoulders rose off of the mattress as he thrust completely into her and wrapped an arm clear around her back. His lips found the side of her neck and bit down lightly before pressing kiss after kiss all over her bare skin as he moved inside of her.
She moaned softly and gripped his lower back. As he continued to stroke in and out of her, her fingers reached down to grip his ass, moving her hips more with his rhythm. He moaned against her skin as the heat wrapped around him threatened to consume him.
As his pace increased, her hands fell away from his behind and she crossed her ankles behind him. He paused briefly to move his hand out from beneath her and to brace himself above her better. Her hands found his and he laced their fingers together, pressing her hands into the mattress as they found their rhythm again.
Their eyes were locked and he saw her blinking tears away, their breathing labored. He leaned down to kiss her tears away. Kiss away the memory of that hallway. The panic. The pain. The possibility.
She turned her head to capture his lips with hers and he was distracted from his thoughts. She seemed to be trying to do the same to him.
He could feel her start to spasm around him and she broke the kiss as she fell over the edge with a cry. He followed shortly with a moan and nuzzled her neck.
As their breathing calmed, he shifted to be beside her, but she ended up draping a leg over his and resting her head on his shoulder. Her breath tickled his neck and he wrapped his arms around her securely. He didn't want to let her go all that much anyway.
He felt himself relax and he took stock of what he was aware of. The lack of numbness. Her heart thumping against his side where she had her chest pressed against him. His own heartbeat beating loudly in his ears. Her bare skin against his, from her toes to her hair cascading over his arm. He reached up and pulled the hair tie out of it even though it was barely hanging on anyway. He rubbed her scalp and she hummed, brushing her fingers lightly over his arm, tracing the cuts she found there.
He shifted his head away from her so he could look at her. She raised her head slightly in return, her free hair falling haphazardly around her face, surrounding the small smile he found there.
He liked this. This being so close to her.
It made everything else seem far far away.