Disclaimer: I do not own 'Inception', it's characters or anything otherwise associated with it.
A/N: Well... I just happened to be trawling through my cluttered hard drive the other day, and was surprised to find this in my 'yet to finish' folder when it fact it was. So, some minor tweaking and here we are, my first published piece *eep* Please let me know what you think - Reviews make me happy, and me even prompt my muse to snap out of it's semi conscious state!
Taking a deep breath, Athur pressed his lips together in a fine line before slipping quietly into the grand hotel room, but not before looking around and making sure that nobody else saw him enter.
Closing the door behind him, he glanced around the well lit, plush room and saw that it was empty, so turned to leave when he noticed that the en suite door was ajar and the light on. Taking a step forward, he heard movement and the rustling of clothes before a flash of dark blue caught his eye. Looking closer, he realised that the flash of dark blue was the evening gown Ariadne had worn earlier during one of the many dinners they'd shared with Mr Miyazaki... And it was now lying spread eagled on the floor.
Without thinking, he allowed his gray suit jacket to slide off over his shoulders and started slowly approaching the bathroom door, unbottoning his waist coat and pulling his tie off as he walked.
Coming up to the door, he closed his eyes for a moment and pictured how radiant Ari had looked earlier that evening in the dress; the very thought of her out of it was enough to convince him that he was doing the right thing. Pushing it open noiselessly, he peered around the edge and was confronted with a vision of Ari standing before the overhead mirror removing her make up... In her underwear.
He stood and stared silently for a moment just admiring her body, and how her lacey black underwear added to the subtle curves of her hips and cleavage. Unable to take it for much longer, he made sure to make a noise upon entering, giving Ari a few seconds to look up and gasp before he was standing mere inches away from her. For what felt like a blissful eternity, they both stood and simply stared at each other as their bodies gradually inched closer without either of them realising until Ari spoke up.
"Arthur..." she whispered, using every ounce of willpower she had to stop herself from kissing him as she continued. "What are you doing?"
His eyes narrowed as he stared at her in that intense, familiar Arthur like way that she often saw when on the job, and he lightly stroked her cheek with his finger, a light flickering to life in his cold, dead eyes as he did.
"I just want to feel something... Real," he said as his hand slipped behind her neck. "Just once..." he added, something in his voice almost pleading with her, not that she would have needed much encouragement. Licking her lips, she threw her arms around him and moments later their lips met and the world came to a standstill. In that one perfect moment, a myriad of thoughts and feelings raced through Ari like lightning, but none moreso than the electricity that ignited her body as if it was waking up from a prolongued sleep. The kiss became heated, passionate, and it wasn't long before Ari had expertly undone the buttons of his crisp white shirt and tossed it aside as if it were a rag. Running her hands over his smooth, chiseled stomach, she moaned contentedly as he inched slowly along her jawline, smothering her skin with his soft lips as he slid his hands behind her back and unclipped her bra. It joined his shirt and was soon followed by his trousers. Jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist, Ari clung to him tightly as he carried her through to the main room, throwing her onto the four poster before instantly clambering on top of her. The kisses were fiery and fueled by pure, unadulterated lust, and it wasn't long before their wandering hands had removed the last scraps of clothing that acted as an inpeneterable barrier between the two of them.
Gasping in unison as they became one, Ari arched herself against Arthur as he moved slowly, digging his fingers into her thighs as he pushed deeper and deeper, eliciting low moans from Ari, who bit down on her bottom lip and bunched up the silken sheets in a vice like grip as she moved in time with him.
Picking up speed, both moved at a steady rhythm until Arthur leaned forward and pulled Ari into a sitting position, ensuring that there wasn't an inch of space left between the two of them. Throwing their arms around each other, their lips met again breifly before exploring the rest of their bodies, playfully nipping each other every now and then before Arthur started moving faster and with what felt like the strength of ten men. Throwing her head back, Ari called for every deity in the known universe as she felt herself almost leaving the bed and Arthur continued with his almost frantic pace, moving his hands to rest upon her hips as he attempted to pull her even closer, crushing her to him as if his life depended on it. It continued like this for what felt like hours, days even when they eventually came to their earth shattering climax, both crying out in ecstasy as they felt the world around them shift.
Collapsing against each other afterwards, Ari lay her head against Arthur's chest and listened to the furious pounding of his heart as he wrapped an arm around her weary shoulders, lightly stroking her hair before kissing the top of her head repeatedly, savouring the smell of her shampoo and the feel of her under his lips.
They sat like that for a while, basking in the other's company as Ari lightly ran a finger along Arthur's muscular arm while he allowed his fingers to slowly trail up and down her back, which after a while sent her into a contented dream like state as she snuggled against him.
He wished so much for that moment in time to stretch out and last forever, wanting nothing more than to hold Ari like this for an eternity; but sadly he knew it couldn't happen.
"Ari?" he whispered against her forehead.
"Mmmm?" she responded sleepily.
Taking a deep breath, he gazed up at the silk lined covers of the four poster and bit his bottom lip, knowing that he didn't have long.
"You need to know that I... I wanted so much for this to happen," he said, gently pulling away from her so that she was forced to look into his eyes.
She gazed awe struck at him before a warm, loving smile crossed her face.
"Me too... You have no idea how long for," she breathed.
There was a pause in which Arthur felt his insides freeze over as he wondered if she even knew that the time they just spent together hadn't really happened. It had seemed so incredible, so intense and most importantly of all, so real to both of them. He could feel the heat radiating off her; feel her skin against his, smell her hair, hear her breathing... And he had certainly felt something only ten minutes previously, yet he knew this was all in their heads, and had no idea how she'd react when she realised.
"Ari.." he said breathlessly before she placed a silencing finger over his lips.
"Whatever you have to say can wait; let's just enjoy this moment," she said, already moving in for a kiss.
Reluctantly pulling back, Arthur looked away before shaking his head.
"That's just the thing, it can't-" were the last words he uttered, and the last that Ari heard before both of them woke with a start inside the derelict warehouse that had been designated their unofficial headquarters whilst on the Miyazaki job.
Taking a moment to fall back to reality, Ari looked over at a solemn looking Arthur, who immediately sat up in his deck chair and removed the strap from around his wrist. However, before he could leap up, Ari had done the same in what felt like the blink of an eye and was already grabbing for the canvas messanger bag that lay at her feet.
"Ariadne!" Arthur called out as she turned and walked away. "Ariadne, please!" he tried again, only for her to completely ignore him and continue heading in the direction of the exit.
"And here I was thinking that there was a private party I hadn't been invited to," a familiar voice drawled from somewhere in the large, empty room.
Spinning around, Arthur groaned when he noticed Eames casually leaning against a far wall, standing with his hands in his pockets and a smug grin crossing his face.
"This doesn't concern you Eames," Arthur said, shooting him a warning look.
Pulling his hands out of his pockets, Eames straightened up and sauntered towards Arthur, the grin never shifting as he spoke.
"Actually it does – We're a team of professionals that needs to stick together and inform the others of where we are at all times... I came to find you and Ariadne, but neither of you were in your rooms, so of course I was dreadfully worried-"
"Nosey more like," Arthur muttered to himself.
"-So naturally I came looking for you in the first place I'd expect either of you to be and here you are enjoying a midnight rendevous... Using the PASIV nonetheless," he added with a wink.
Sighing wearily, Arthur turned to follow Ari when Eames spoke up again.
"What's the matter Arthur? Don't know how to show a woman a good time using just your manly prowess? I could give you a helping hand if ever you needed it..."
Stopping in his tracks, Arthur felt his hands instinctively ball into fists as his patience began to wear thin, as it often did with Eames.
"You need to stop talking NOW!" he hissed, his tone taking on a deadly calm that usually meant danger was fast approaching.
Despite his warning, Eames continued as if he hadn't heard Arthur talking at all.
"And a professional such as yourself should know that dipping your pen in the company ink is ALWAYS a bad idea-" was all he managed before Arthur's fist came out of nowhere and connected with a sickening thud to the side of his face.
The punch sent Eames sprawling to the dank concrete floor as Arthur hovered above him threateningly, his hand still balled into a fist and appearing to be standing on guard, as if expecting Eames to leap at him in retaliation.
Eames however propped himself up on an elbow and touched a hand to his now bloodied lip and looked up at Arthur in stony silence for a while.
"How did that feel? Good?" he asked, his tone now deadly serious.
This wasn't what Arthur had been expecting, and it was evident by the quizzical look on his face as he uncurled his fist.
"What?" he asked, staggered by Eames' response.
Groaning lightly as he shifted position and pulled himself to his feet, Eames dusted himself down and glanced over Arthur's shoulder.
"You should go after her – She didn't look to be in the highest of spirits when she ran past; and the last thing the team needs is a lover's quarel screwing everything up."
Arthur instantly formulated many responses in his mind, all of which included him insisting that there was nothing between him and Ariadne, but that would have been a flat out lie, and he didn't believe in keeping things from his colleagues. So instead he nodded, thanked Eames and bolted in the opposite direction, hoping that he was able to catch up with Ariadne and smooth things over before he lost the team their architect... And he the one person in the world who'd managed to break through his every barrier and caught a glimpse of the real Arthur.
A/N: So... What did you think? Please R and R ^^