I don't own any MMPR or other Power Rangers characters. Duh.
"Tommy," she sighed. She let her eyes close and let her head lean back against the wall. The alcohol was making it hard to stand, but between the dark haired man holding tight to her hip and the wall against her back she was steady enough.
"Ah," she gasped as he kissed her inner thigh She reached down and threaded the fingers of her left hand through his hair, urging him just a little higher. "Yes." She gripped the wall with her other hand as she felt her knees wobble.
He chuckled quietly before swirling his tongue around her center. Running his hand down her leg, he grabbed her ankle and urged her to lift it over his shoulder. She complied, loving the way the pink, stiletto heel sounded as it scraped against his dress shirt.
His hand went back to her hip to push her back. "Stand up, or I'll stop."
He said it like it was so easy. She felt her legs start to shake as he licked and sucked and kissed and… "Holy shit." She groaned as she felt his tongue move inside her. "Tommy, I can't…"
He stood up, smiling. "Turn around," he commanded.
She complied. "But, please, don't stop."
He laughed again, and unzipped the back of her dress. The garment fell to the floor leaving her in nothing but the heels and a pair of lace panties. "Then behave," he commanded before smacking her ass and spinning her back around.
She giggled and grabbed the front of his shirt, puling his lips to hers. As their tongues met, she began slipping the buttons out of the holes. Once done, she pushed the item of clothing off his shoulders. He let go of her long enough to for it to fall to the floor, and she savored the feel of muscles under her fingers. She hadn't ever loved him for his body, but she damn-well appreciated it.
"I'm up here, beautiful," she heard the humor in his voice, but frowned in response.
"Don't call me that."
"What d-"
She cut him off with a hard kiss and a hand unbuttoning his dress pants. She heard him groan when she pushed them off his hips and wrapped her hand around him. "Fuck, Kim."
She smiled, loving that she could still have this effect on him. Letting go, she slowly sank down to her knees, pulling his boxers off as she went. Once down, she looked up. He looked back at her like with a mixture of awe, confusion, and something she couldn't place. With a smile, she took him into her mouth, not wanting to waste any time. As she worked her mouth up and down him, he buried his hands in her hair, working loose the intricate braid she had worked so hard on this morning. But, screw it, this was worth it.
She had forgotten what he tasted like. No way could she put a name to it – running through the woods, taking out an especially big bad – nothing was as good. His grip tightened and he pushed her back. "Not like this." He helped her stand. "It's been too long to be over like that." She smiled and kissed him again.
He slid his hands down her back and picked her up, holding her against him tightly as he carried her to the bed. "I forgot these," he pulled on the top of her panties as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Get rid of them," she ordered settling on top of him.
He looked puzzled for a moment before shrugging and ripping the lace to where he could toss it on the floor.
Not interested in waiting, she reached down to guided him into her. Slowly, she lowered herself until his hands gripped her hips so hard she knew there would be bruises. Her eyes closed as she savored the sensation. She felt full, whole, right. Before she allowed herself to get caught up in the emotion of it all, he pushed her hips up before pulling her back down. She cried out, one hand moving to hold on to his wrist to urge him on and the other reaching for the head board to push herself down farther, harder. She felt greedy and she wanted him to know it.
She caught his eyes, and he looked torn between getting what he wanted and making it last. She bent over and kissed his cheek, whispering in his ear, "Don't you dare make me wait."
With that she saw him let go, helping her move faster, making her take more of him, holding on so tightly until they both came apart.
After a moment, she untangled his arms from around her waist and stood.
"Where are you going?" He sat up, looking like she had just broken his heart.
"To clean up." She headed for the room's bathroom, grabbing her dress on the way. Once the door was shut she leaned against the wall and glared at herself in the mirror. What had she done. She had wanted to seem him, sure, but fuck him? "Not in the plan, Hart." She stepped into her dress and pulled up the zipper.
There was a knock at the door. "Can we talk?"
Quickly running her fingers through her hair to try and detangle some of it, she pushed open the door. "Yeah."
He had put his pants on and was looking at her like she was about to kill him.
"Something you wanted to say, Tommy?"
Suddenly his gaze hardened. "Why'd you come back, Kimberly."
"Billy. It's not every day your friend opens a billion dollar tech company." She went back to trying to restore order to her hair.
"And this?" He gestured around the room.
"Not in the plan."
"Happy accident?"
She pushed back tears. "Sure." Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she turned, "I should go." As she walked past him he grabbed her elbow and pulled her into him.
"This is not you."
"What do you mean?" She pulled out of his grip.
"You're not a bitch." He grabbed her hand this time.
She felt tears in her throat and swallowed them down. "What am I, Tommy, since you think you know."
"You're mine." His gripped tightened. "You're my Beautiful."
"I told you not to call me that." She stopped fighting him and sighed. "I'm not that anymore. I left it behind eleven years ago."
"Yeah. You left. You made that choice. Not me." He pulled her close again. She couldn't stop the tears this time. "Shh," he wrapped his arms around her and she let him. He held her there, letting her cry, before he asked, "Why'd you leave, Kim?"
"The letter," she choked out.
"No." He did his best to hide it, but she heard the hurt in his voice. "That letter was bullshit. I know you loved me. You wouldn't leave because of that." He almost sounded like he was begging her to tell him he was right.
"I couldn't do it anymore, Tommy. I couldn't go blind into the night anymore." She felt all the words bubbling up and bubbling over, and suddenly she couldn't stop. "I didn't care about anything when it all started. I went into every battle willingly, craved it, even. I would have sacrificed anything and everything if it meant winning. And I didn't care."
"We were all like that," he said quietly. "We all craved it. We still do."
"No." The rebuttal was sharp. "We don't. I don't. I didn't." She took a deep breath. "I started asking questions. I started really thinking about what we were doing. We were 15 when it started, for goodness sake! How was it our place to save the world?"
"Zordon choose us. He knew we were the only ones would could do it."
She laughed, "Zordon choose 5 children who didn't know how to question it. He trained us to put aside our worries, fears, our rationality. We worshiped him and didn't know any better!"
"So what? You didn't want to be part of the cult anymore so you ran?" His voice was hard. Angry.
"No. I wanted you to be safe. I wanted you all to be safe." She felt a fresh round of tears come up, but pushed them back.
"What do you mean?" His voice was quieter but still on edge.
"After you lost the green ranger powers the second time, Zordon called me to the command center. He said that he had noticed my indecision about our missions and warned me that Rita or Zed or whoever could use it against the rangers. But you were gone, and it didn't matter anymore. I worried about the others, but not enough to be as cautious anymore. I went back in, no questions."
"So you were fine?"
"Fine. Sure, I guess." Now was not the time to tell him she cried herself to sleep every night he was gone. Now was not the time to think that maybe she had fought so hard after he left because it meant that maybe she wouldn't come back. "And then you came back. And it was the same. Then the others started to leave for this or that, and suddenly everything was terrifying and loss was around every corner."
"Kim, I had you. I wasn't going to let anything happen to you." He lifted her chin so her eyes would meet his, "You shouldn't be scared."
"Goddamn right, you should be scared!" She was nearly yelling. "It's war, Tommy. Flat out war. And everybody doesn't make it back from that. How many rangers have we lost now?" She saw him bristle. "What did you tell Trini's parents after that night?"
"I didn't talk to them," he admitted quietly.
"Do you think I could have avoided your mom so easily?" She reached up to wipe her eyes. "I was too scared. And I was too cautious. And I was going to get someone killed." Her voice was scratchy from keeping from crying. "I saved you the only way I knew how."
"You ran." He wouldn't meet her eyes.
She nodded. "And I'd do it again."
"Once a ranger, always a ranger, Kim. You can't run from that."
"You're right. That's why Trini came back for that one last time. It's why you consult for them – fight for them occasionally. It's why I sometimes hear my old communicator go off."
"So come back." Tommy ran his hands down her arms. "Come back to us. To me. I love you. I always have."
"I know. But I made the decision to leave and the decision that something was bigger than being a ranger." She caught his eye. "You haven't. When he calls you still go running."
"That's low, Kimberly." Suddenly, the unmistakable beep of his communicator sounded loudly in the hotel room.
"Prove me wrong," she gripped his arm tightly. "Stay here. Love me like you say you do." She moved flush against him and caught his lips with hers. "Pick me."
He held her for a moment longer before backing away. "This is what I do."
She closed her eyes so she couldn't see him teleport away. She didn't want to know what color the light was. As soon as he was gone she sank to the floor and let the tears come. He was right. That's exactly what he did.
That was the difference between them.
He saved the world and left her.
She saved him and lost her world.