Lily Van Horne was a con artist out of Brooklyn who won a one way ticket to ABQ and witness protection when she conned the wrong family and earned a price on her head and a dead fiancé. She turned over ten thousand dollars of grade A coke and the name and activities of the man she lifted it from to the Feds and they changed her last name to Hansen and handed her over to Mary Shannon and Marshall Mann on a cloudy Monday in the Windy City.
Lily was still grieving her dead fiancé and her designer wardrobe. Mary would swear in court that most of the tears and bitter remarks were for the latter. The drug runners Lily had inadvertently ripped off and then turned over to the authorities ran drugs from the Canadian border throughout the country and were known for silencing loose tongues, no matter the collateral damage, so the transport had involved Mary and Marshall as well as a team of local WITSEC officers for a flight to Austin, Texas and then a sixteen hour drive east to New Orleans via Dallas, TX. Once in New Orleans the Chicago marshals returned to Chicago and Mary and Marshall were on their own. The rest of their trip, a flight from New Orleans to Colorado Springs followed by a grueling ten hour drive from the airport back to Albuquerque avoiding all major freeways, was completed at high alert which meant next to no sleep for either marshal.
Friday morning they finally drove into ABQ and settled Lily at a motel with strict instructions not to leave the hotel and to answer the phone whenever Mary called OR ELSE! and then Mary and Marshall piled into his black GMC. They went to Marshall's because it was closer and Mary was never certain if her family would be around or not.
Marshall unloaded their bags and threw on a load of wash while Mary threw a frozen pizza in the oven and fished two cans of Pepsi out of Marshall's fridge. They were both exhausted, but eleven am was a piss poor time to hit the sack so they kept moving until the pizza was cooked. They ate standing because if they sat down they would fall asleep and then they would inevitably be up all night which would make them useless for work the next morning. They didn't talk much. It had been a hellishly long transfer and they were both tired and more than a little cranky.
Mary leaned against Marshall as she reached for a second piece of pizza. "God you stink," she said, giving him a tired half smile.
"You're no perfume ad either." He said, wrinkling up his nose.
"Yes well, someone decided it was more important to keep an eye on the whiny con artist than to bathe."
Marshall chuckled tiredly and pushed her in the direction of his room. "Clean towels in the cupboard as always.
"Oh no you don't!" Mary dug in her heels. "You just want me out of the room so you can sleep."
"No, I want you to shower so you don't stink up my couch while I kick your ass at Mario Kart."
"In your dreams, numb nuts," Mary's eyes lit up at the challenge and she took several steps towards the living room before Marshall caught her around the waist.
"Shower first."
"Make me!"
Strong arms wrapped around Mary's waist, lifting her as if she weighed nothing at all, as Marshall flung her over his shoulder.
"Hey!" Mary flailed her legs and arms, trying to squirm free on the fireman's carry.
He tightened the arm around her legs and moved at a surprisingly quick pace considering his exhaustion into his bedroom and dumped her into the bathtub.
Before she had a chance to scramble away he joined her in the white porcelain tub and flipped the shower on full hot. The first jet of water was frigid as the pipes cleared to allow the piping hot water from the hot water tank to reach them. Mary shrieked as most of the cold water hit her full in the back.
She grabbed for Marshall and tried to turn him so she could use him as a human shield against the unpleasantly cold water. She managed to turn him halfway before he grabbed her hips with both hands and pinned her against him.
The water, warm now, pelted from Mary's left, but the real warmth came from Marshall's hands on her waist. The pressure of his fingers burned through her clothing as he held her still. His breathing was uneven and when she looked up curiously at his face she found dark eyes boring in on hers.
Mary had never noticed Marshall's lips before. Thin lines of pink, slightly agape. She wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips.
He swallowed and her eyes followed his adam's apple. There were faint traces of stubble on his face, he hadn't bothered to shave while they were away.
Without pausing to think about what she was doing Mary pressed her mouth against his jawline. His skin was wet and prickly with stubble. His breath hitched and he tightened his grip on her hips, pulling her against him.
She felt his erection against her belly and a wave of heat flushed through her. God, he was hard. Mary was suddenly very aware that her white shirt was soaked through on one side and that her white lace bra was probably see through.
Marshall dipped his head so he could capture her lips with his own. The kiss was gentle at first. Close lipped and slow. Mary tangled one hand in his hair. It was soft, like down. She raked her fingernails experimentally along his scalp and he growled. She did it again and he plunged his tongue into her mouth, sliding one hand up her back to pull her closer. When he pulled back a few seconds later they were both breathless, panting.
Mary could still feel his erection pressing against her. She dropped one hand between them and cupped it through his jeans.
He stole her hand away, "Not yet."
His voice was gravelly and Mary felt wetness that had nothing to do with the shower gathering between her legs.
With surprisingly nimble fingers Marshall made quick work of the buttons on Mary's white shirt before pushing it off her shoulders. He cupped both breasts with his hands, running the pads of his thumbs over her hardened nipples.
The hot water slapped at their skin, turning it pink.
Mary tugged Marshall's belt loose and then went to work on the front of his shirt. Each button she undid revealed a few inches of Marshall's lightly haired chest. His belly button was an innie and she spent a few seconds tracing a circle around it with her finger before moving on to the next button.
It wasn't until she freed the last button and pushed his shirt fully off his shoulders, exposing the scar he carried from three years earlier when he'd been shot in the chest, that Mary's brain caught up to her hormones. This was Marshall. Her partner. The only partner who had ever been able to stand working with her. This wasn't some random cowboy she'd picked up at a bar. She took half a step back from him, and dropped her hands.
Marshall looked confused for a moment and then his eyes registered a deeper hurt.
He thinks I'm going to reject him. The realization stung.
He'd wanted in her pants years ago, she remembered that. She'd never realized, or had been too afraid to see, that those feelings hadn't disappeared. Now here they were, half naked, soaking wet with an entire day to kill. She wanted him, that much was evident by her rock hard nipples and the hot wetness between her thighs. He wanted her too, his eyes said so as loudly as his erection. So... why not?
"Marshall…" She lay one hand on his chest.
"Mary," his voice was guarded, but his eyes screamed want and...something else she wasn't ready to identify. Not yet.
She closed the space between them again, placing a gentle kiss against his lips. He stood still as she trailed a line of kisses from his mouth, over his jaw and along his throat. "Marshall," she whispered against his collar bone. She felt him shiver beneath her and wondered how they had gone so many years without trying this before.
She pinched one nipple with her hand and stored away the little moan he uttered. It was a delicious sound and she was going to find out everything that triggered it. She undid his fly with hands that trembled just a little and let the sodden fabric fall to the bottom of the tub. His cotton boxers were already soaked through and clung to his penis like a pacman covered second skin.
"Condom?" she asked, running her fingers along the waistline of his boxers.
"Above the sink," he answered in a breathless voice.
Mary climbed out of the tub and fumbled in the cupboard for a moment before finding a box of extra large Trojan condoms behind his aftershave. She pulled one from the box and, after taking a second to shed her jeans on his bathroom floor, rejoined Marshall in the tub.
Marshall watched as she knelt before him and pulled his boxers off. Their eyes locked and she maintained contact as she licked a droplet of water off the tip of his penis. He gasped and she took that as a cue to take the tip of him into her mouth.
He wrapped both hands in her hair and encouraged her onwards with gentle pressure as she relaxed her throat and took his length slowly into her mouth.
"Oh God, Mary." He gasped, his eyes falling shut in pure pleasure.
Mary worked her mouth around his penis until she felt his thighs tense under her hands. She knew he was close to the edge and she didn't want him to finish yet. She released him gently, storing away the almost whimper of protest as she released him from her mouth and slid the condom over his length. Her Marshall made amazing noises.
She rose to her feet and kissed him. He kissed her back hungrily while his hands attempted to remove her bra and panties at the same time. Mary helped him with both and in seconds she too was naked.
"My turn," Marshall growled, turning and pinning her against the back wall of the shower. She could hear the water splattering against his back, but was touched by none of it. He inserted one leg between her thighs and she rocked against him almost coming from the feel of his skin against her swollen clit, his fingers digging into her ass, his mouth on her breast.
"Marshall!" She gasped, her hips bucking of their own accord, seeking release. He brought one hand between them and rolled her clit between his thumb and forefinger. Mary screamed his name as she came.
When the waves of her first orgasm passed and she could breathe again, Mary pulled his mouth to hers. She leaned back into his hands which cupped her ass and managed to wrap her legs around his waist. His penis nosed at the edges of her vagina and at her moan of encouragement, Marshall thrust inside her.
Mary dug her fingers into his ass, urging him deeper. He dropped his mouth to her shoulder and bit just hard enough to leave a mark. "Faster." She urged, hips bucking as another orgasm threatened to tip her over the edge.
He needed no encouragement as he thrust into her. He shifted her a little, increasing the contact between his thrusting hips and her sensitive clit. Mary's entire body tensed with her second orgasm, holding him inside her as her inner walls contracted in waves.
Seconds later Marshall came with a shuddering cry.
When he finally pulled out of her, the water had turned tepid. "Mario Kart?" Marshall asked, with a little grin.
"I'm so going to kick your ass." Mary said, pinching the aforementioned body part for good measure.
Marshall kissed her once, softly on the lips and shut off the water.
They toweled off, but didn't bother pulling on much clothing. It was only one. They had to do something to stay awake the rest of the day.