Title: No Hallucination
Author: AnitaB
Author's notes: The season one finale can bite me. That is not okay. So Kate, Daniel and I decided to take another route to the first kiss. That story's being stubborn, but the happy romantic future smut... that's being pretty easy. Thoughts are inside / \\.
Oh, and I own nothing from Perception. No money is made and no infringement is intended.
No Hallucination
by AnitaB
Chapter 1: The power of belief
He still couldn't believe it sometimes. Hell, he shouldn't believe it… ever. There was no way he was lucky enough for this to be his reality.
That said, Kate had laughed so hard she couldn't breathe the last time she woke up in the middle of his 'am I hallucinating this?' tests.
Really, Daniel should just know by the position his body was in when he woke. For years before this, Daniel always slept on his side, half curled up. But not now. Now he woke up on his back because of the simple fact that someone else was half curled up on their side... sprawled over his chest, her head tucked under his chin and her leg curled over his hip.
But, not just anyone. /Kate,\\ Doctor Daniel Pierce smiled with his eyes still closed. Kate was here… sleeping in his arms. Warm breath pulsed against his neck. Soft, dark hair tangled under his chin. A small, strong hand had found its way to his skin, snaking past the hem of his shirt to touch her rings right over his heart. /Please, let this be real. Let this always be real for me.\\ Daniel pulled his wife a little closer and buried his face in her hair. His left hand tightened on her back, fingertips getting lost in the smooth warmth of her skin.
He really had no right for this to be at all real, but he wouldn't give up a moment of it for the entire world. Especially as her father's, and now his, wedding ring trailed up the line of her back and her wedding ring rested on his ribs. "Hmmm, Daniel,"
His eyes clenched and he helplessly pulled her closer. He loved the sound of his name on her lips, loved the sleepy warmth and trust of her body in his arms. He loved her. And beyond any sense in this world or any other, Kate loved him back. She'd married him… "Kate,"
Daniel buried his fingers in her hair and angled her chin up until he could see her face. Dark eyes opened and his favorite lips in the world curved in his absolutely favorite smile. "Good morning, Daniel."
Her chin angled even further on its own, until he knew without a doubt that his wife wanted a kiss. "Great morning, Kate." Daniel met her halfway, closing his eyes to lose himself in the soft, sweet press of her lips against his own. This couldn't possibly be a hallucination because his mind simply wasn't capable of imagining anything quite this perfect. His schizophrenia had never even attempted to describe the smooth, soft warmth of lips meeting, the sweetest of gasps and the warmest of sighs. His mind couldn't fathom the taste of her kiss, the agile stroke of her tongue, the hungry little sound at the back of her throat in the instant before her tiny body shifted fully above his to get the perfect angle for a deeper, sweeter kiss.
Mental illness had nothing on Kate. Neither did anything else of course. Kate was… Kate in his arms was the world's best argument for intelligent design. Because nothing about this was less than inspired perfection. From the simplest meeting of lips to complex acts worthy of the Kama Sutra, they always fit together. Better and smoother than laser cut puzzle pieces. It was like they were quite literally made for each other.
Dr. Daniel Pierce simply hadn't found even an inch of FBI Agent Kate Morretti-Pierce that was that was anything but heavenly. And it wasn't like he hadn't spent a truly delightful amount of time examining every gorgeous inch of her.
From the sound on her lips when he pulled back for a breath, he was about to get another chunk of time in the only heaven he believed really existed: Kate's arms. "Daniel…" Little fingers trailed along his jaw as her lips reached for his.
/Hmm, not yet, love. There's something else I want first.\\ Daniel brushed his thumb back and forth over the sweet curve of her lower lip. "Kate," Her back arched against his other hand, long hair falling over the back of his fingers. She resisted the breaking of the kiss enough to make him chuckle against her lips. "Sit up for me, Kate… just for a second."
Her eyes said she didn't want to give up the kiss or the closeness. Daniel couldn't blame her. He also couldn't fault her at all for the oh so perfect placement of her hips over his as she braced her hands against his stomach and rocked above him. But his hands locking on her hips defeated the purpose of making her sit up. The helpless little thrust of his hips against hers was involuntary and made the sweetest little moan of his name appear on her lips. "Daniel…"
"Shh, Kate… arms up."
Suddenly the woman above him was all about obeying. Tiny hands helped him peel the t-shirt up her ribs and over her head before promptly dragging him half upright to do the same to his. "Yours, too, Daniel. I get to touch, too."
Like he ever objected to her hands on his skin. If they both never had to leave the room ever again, Daniel's would be the first signature on the 'ban clothing' petition.
Slim arms wrapped strong and tight about his shoulders as his arms did the same to her waist. A sigh left two sets of lips as their bodies managed dozens of tiny shifts to put as much bare skin into contact as humanly possible. "Kate," Daniel buried his face against her heart and treasured the glide of her fingers through his hair. She was so close, so warm, so perfect. But it wasn't enough, wasn't ever enough. "Kate, you're still not close enough." He whispered the words against her shooting scar, pressing a soft kiss there before meeting her eyes. "You're never close enough."
His wife smiled down at him, leaning close for a soft, sweet kiss. "Help me get us both out of all the clothes and let's see what we can do about that." He found himself clinging to her waist as those warm, soft little hands rubbed down his ribs. If she stripped him right now, it would be all over far, far too fast for his tastes. He was keeping his pajama pants on until he'd explored her enough.
"Give me a kiss first, Kate." He let both his hungry hands slide up her back, thumbs just trailing by the outer curves of her breasts on the way to brush the backs of his fingers against her cheek. "I need a taste of you."
000
He couldn't really know, could he? Daniel couldn't know just how much power the simplest of his touches held over her. He still seemed just a little surprised at how much Kate needed him, wanted him, loved him. Daniel, brilliant, sensitive, amazing Daniel had no idea just how intensely she needed this. He said she was never close enough and she couldn't agree more.
Daniel was never, ever close enough. No amount of skin was enough. Every kiss left her desperate for another one. Kate would never get enough of him. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to try to damnedest to get every little bit of Daniel Pierce, starting with the kiss he asked for. Kate cupped her hands against the stubbled line of his jaw, claimed her favorite lips and happily lost herself in the taste and heat of his kiss.
Kate moaned against his tongue when his arms held her tighter, pulling her closer against the heat of his chest. Close enough to feel his heart pounding against her ribs. It was heaven and he still wasn't close enough. She was wrapped from the waist up in hot skin. Strong hands rubbed up and down her back. His chest hair tickled sensitive nerves with every shift of their ribs. And she was still lost in his kiss, so lost that she only realized he'd moved them when those lips left hers. "Daniel,"
"I'm right here, Kate." She fucking loved that smile on his lips, in his eyes. Daniel leaned over her with so much heat written on his face, so much belief and hope. Daniel wasn't holding back at all, not any more. "I'm not going anywhere." He smiled against her lips, long fingers winding through hers to pin her hands gently against their sheets. "And neither are you." Those lips teased hers before pulling back to trail heat along her throat before breathing a low, sweet moan against her ear. "I'm nowhere near done with you, love."
He was trying to kill her with the need in those whispered words. And that was before strong hands braced her back to hold her still and he licked himself a path down her ribs. "Daniel, please." Kate arched beneath him, both hands fisting in his hair as she tried to guide him to where she needed that mouth. And he knew exactly what she wanted, blowing a warm breath over her aching nerves with a twist of a smile. "Damnit, Daniel. Touch me!"
She could feel the vibration of his chuckle against the inside of her thighs before he finally, finally wrapped those lips around her nipple. /Yes, Daniel, you feel…\\ The tickle and scrape of his stubble only made his lips feel even softer, made the stroke of his tongue hotter. "Hmm, so sweet, my Kate, I could never imagine just how good you would taste." He pressed a hot, chaste kiss right over her heart, then turned his head just enough to lick his way over her other breast. Her knees tightened helplessly at his waist, the fabric of her pjs blocking the heat of his skin.
/Damn clothes.\\ Clenching her fingers in his hair, Kate dragged her husband's head back enough to mourn the heat of his lips and get his eyes to her face. "Damnit, Daniel. We need to be naked… now."
That smile on his face made her heart start racing. Daniel was completely confident in her love for him, in her need and want and desire. She fucking loved the look on Daniel's face when he didn't carry a hint of his old insecurity in his eyes. "You first, Katie. Lift up for me." Those long fingers tangled in the drawstring on her pants before curling under the waistband to peel the last of the fabric down her hips as she arched helplessly beneath him. Then he stared down at her and the heat in his eyes made breathing all but impossible. Kate found herself trembling under him as he stroked one hand up the outside of her leg from ankle to hip. "You are so beautiful, Kate. So damn beautiful, I can't believe you're mine."
He couldn't believe it... he couldn't believe it. Kate had spent years imagining just what it would feel like to have this man touch her, kiss her. And now... now he was hers, now he was her husband. Every inch of him was hers to touch, to kiss, to hold him close. "I'm yours, Daniel. I'm all yours and you're all mine. I want you, need you. Get naked and get down here so I can touch you. Now." Kate was reaching for the drawstring holding on his pants when he shook his head and captured her wrists.
"Not yet, love. I want to touch you first, before you steal all my control." His fingers curled through hers, stretching their arms up the sheets to guide her hands above her head. "These beautiful little hands have too much power over me to let you touch me just yet." Daniel's hands had too much power over her. That body against hers stole all her control so easily that he couldn't possibly understand.
"Daniel," One of his hands cupped her jaw, leading her into the softest of kisses before those fingers guided her knee up his side as his hips rocked against hers.
"Let me show you, Kate. Let me give you..." The lean strength of his ribs rubbed against the inside of her thigh as he moved lower along her body. That brilliant head dipped. And Kate knew exactly what it was that her husband wanted to show her, give her. She also knew that he wasn't about to get naked for her until he'd finished what he started.
Not that she minded. The things that man could do to her with that brilliant mouth... "Yes, Daniel, please show me..." Kate felt him smile against the skin of her hip before those strong hands guided her knees over his shoulders. The first stroke of his tongue made any words she'd been meaning to say simply disappear out of her head, turning her voice into a helpless moan. The second stroke made her back arch helplessly and her fingers lock into the tangled warmth of his hair.
000
