A/N: Alright, so this was supposed to be a continuation of SaturnineSunshine's "Sweet Fire". I just loved the o/s so much, but I wanted more at the end! Just some fluff/smut for when Chuck came home. =) However, after much deliberation with the author and trying to work out multiple kinks, I discovered just how dreadfully hard it is to write a sequel to something that isn't your own. Characterization, for example, can literally eat you ALIVE. So, this is "technically" a continuation because it picks up where SF left off, but I've changed the names (of the characters SS created) in an effort to make this my own story and avoid any judgment on potential characterization faults. Hope you enjoy, and please go read SF! =D It's gorgeous! *giggle*
*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended. Original SL belongs to SaturnineSunshine.
…
He saw him coming out of the elevator just as he opened the door into the lobby. He gave him a once-over and casually walked over to him. The boy was oblivious; probably thinking Chuck was just heading for the elevators behind him. He also looked remarkably like a little boy wondering what he had done wrong. Chuck smiled at the thought.
The young twenty-year-old couldn't wrap his head around it. The day before Blair had seemed completely in love with him, batting her eyelashes and kissing him sweetly on his lips. It had been weeks since she'd seen her husband. He'd honestly thought the bastard was gone for good. She'd found someone more worthwhile. Him. He'd allowed himself a victorious gloat every time he thought of that fact. Now he wondered if the hurt that would no doubt punish him all night and in the days to come would have been lessened if he hadn't been so cocky, albeit inwardly.
"So, you're my replacement."
Mark came to a halt suddenly, the words stopping his train of thought instantly. He looked up and saw the man himself. He blinked, trying to register what the guy wanted from him. He didn't like how he was analyzing him either. It made him feel uneasy.
"I have to admit, she did well. You're almost the spitting image of me ten years ago."
His eyebrows narrowed. "I've been good to her, which is hardly what you can say."
Chuck took a step towards him and leaned in. He'd learned it was much more effective than crossing his arms across his chest to make someone feel intimidated. Smiling calmly was even better.
"And what exactly is it that she told you happened?" he asked.
Mark shifted slightly, heat rushing through him as the telltale signs of nerves took over.
"She didn't tell me anything. I just assumed. She couldn't have done anything wrong. She's an angel."
Chuck smirked and patted him on the shoulder.
"Have a good night, uh…?"
"Mark," he said, looking confused as Chuck walked around him towards the elevator.
"Mark." Chuck smiled. The boy looked shaken up, but finally he managed to rid himself of the feeling, and headed outside. He stopped briefly at the doors as he noticed a couple carts filled with suitcases. It really was over between him and Blair Waldorf. Her husband had come home. It occurred to him then that he probably had not had much of a chance from the beginning.
…
The penthouse was drenched in darkness, except for a dim-lit lamp in the corner of the living room. Dorota had gone home for the night, and going off the almost complete silence, the kids were also in bed. He smiled to himself as he pictured the looks on their faces when they'd see him in the morning at the breakfast table. His heart warmed at the thought.
He silently made his way up the stairs and slipped inside the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He'd deposited his shoes and jacket in the downstairs hall, leaving him in only his button-down shirt, suit pants and socks. He smiled, looking over at his wife sleeping beneath the covers. Her arm was draped over the duvet and her body curled in on itself to savor warmth. He wondered if she had been this way every night, less warm than she needed to be because she lacked his touch. He realized again then how restless his nights had been without her beside him.
He moved silently across the room, unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it out of his waistband. He saw her move slightly at the clink of his belt buckle when he slid it out of the loops. He felt a cool warmth drift over him as he completely took her in. He rid himself of his pants and socks and slipped into bed with just his t-shirt and boxers. It was usually paramount that he wear silk pajamas to bed, but tonight was different. Whether they had sex again tonight or not, he needed to feel his skin against hers. It'd be too long since she'd been pressed up against him, and he on her – aside from the wall incident this evening. Besides, that had been all hot lust. This was tenderness.
Gently, he lifted the covers and slipped beneath them easing up against her. She moaned quietly in her sleep and shifted, pressing her body back against his. She sighed contently and relaxed against his body. He stifled a groan as he felt her ass push back against his crotch. He wondered if it was intentional.
He tried to ignore the arousing sensation and buried his face in her hair, pressing a light kiss to the side of her neck. The smell of her was intoxicating. Her scent was the most exotic thing he'd ever inhaled. He could live on it forever. An even more glorious side of her seared his senses as he felt her grab his arm and wrap it around her waist. He sighed contently and started smiling like an idiot while somehow still smug at a Cheshire cat and beyond amused at her sly sneakiness.
Minx.
"You're awake," he whispered in her ear, pressing another kiss to her neck. He felt the chills ripple through her onto his own skin.
"It hasn't been that long," she responded with a yawn.
He pushed his lower body up against her until she moaned in a stifle higher-pitched manner that bordered on muted shriek.
"Okay, okay." She turned in his arms and opened her eyes to look into his adoring, smirking eyes. She ran her hand through his hair and flitted her fingers across his face, tracing the lines of his lips and the curves of his nose and cheeks.
"I couldn't sleep knowing you'd be home soon," she said softly.
He smiled adoringly at her, just watching her speak and breathe. She bit her bottom lip when he dipped his head to the base of her neck and pressed a kiss to her collarbone. She pulled him closer as he nipped at her shoulder.
"You are exquisite," he whispered against her bare skin.
She laid her head against the side of his face and sighed. "The kids will be so excited to see you tomorrow."
Chuck smiled against her. "I spotted your boyfriend in the lobby."
Her eyes widened and she pulled back. "You saw Mark?"
His smirk was thick and very satisfied. "Indeed."
"And?"
"He's juvenile." He shrugged. "Like I said." He leaned and kissed her. "Though, might I add that our only similarities are our looks?"
She sighed flippantly and rolled her eyes, nuzzling against him. "I wasn't going to be picky."
"There's more to it than that," he whispered in her ear.
"Of course there is. I missed you, but I couldn't let you win. He was my way of seeing you every day." She ignored his smirk by closing her eyes, but the flutters still burst inside her. She'd missed that smirk so much in these long weeks away from him. She'd missed everything.
She wrapped one of her legs over the top of his and pressed herself closer to him somehow, the side of her face against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat and it made her feel so warm she never wanted to leave this embrace of his love.
"You are a one-of-a-kind, Mrs. Bass." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I've missed this," she whispered, nuzzling against him. Chuck realized then that the flirtatious play was gone, as was the teasing abuse of sexual tension. She was so very serious now, and almost sad.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said. "Not ever again. Not even if you insist on it."
She smiled and drew circles on his chest with her fingers.
"No more insisting, I promise."
There was a long quiet silence that nagged at him until finally he asked, "Why did you do it, Blair? Why did you make me leave?"
"I didn't make you do anything."
He waited.
"We were getting so…normal. I didn't want us to become some generic family. No matter how good it was.
"We'll never be generic."
We could never be boring.
She rolled her eyes. "This sounds familiar."
"It's true," he insisted. "No other family is like ours."
She turned over onto her stomach. "Do you think we could go away for a weekend, or maybe a week, just the two of us?"
He smiled down warmly at her.
"It might switch things up a little. We could have some fun," she added.
He tucked a curl behind her ear. "That sounds like a fantastic idea. But I think we should wait a little while. I just got home. It wouldn't be fair to the kids to have their father come back and just leave right away. They've missed me too, you know." He nudged her shoulder, but she couldn't find it in her to keep looking so hopeful and smile like she'd done when he'd first accepted her proposition.
"Right. The kids." She nodded, forced a tiny smile and laid her head on the pillow, turning away from him. "You're right. It wouldn't be fair to them." She sighed and nestled her head deeper into the pillow. "Goodnight, Chuck," she said and moved to her side of the bed. His warmth was gone and she missed it already, but she just couldn't keep going. She'd promised him she wouldn't demand he leave again but already it felt like things were falling apart.
He frowned, knowing instantly he'd done something wrong, but he didn't know how to approach her or really restart the conversation.
"Blair…" He felt so cold inside and like he'd been kicked in the gut. Two seconds ago they were cuddling each other, never wanting to let go again and now she was so obviously unhappy with him. She accepted what he'd said, knew it was the right thing to do and deep down she had the kids' best interest in mind. But that didn't change the fact that things weren't right with them before they'd even fallen asleep.
"Goodnight, Chuck," she repeated, trying her best not to sound bitter or snappy. He could see right through it though. He placed his hand lightly on her shoulder.
"Blair, talk to me."
"There's nothing to talk about. Everything's back to normal. We're a family again." She tried to sound happy. "The kids will love seeing you again in the morning." A tear dripped down her cheek and across her upper lip to the mattress.
His entire body clenched. "Blair, I don't want us to be a family who just stays together because of the kids."
"We're not," she said after too long of a silence. "We love each other."
"Lots of divorced couples say that…" he whispered in her ear, sidling up against her. She discovered she couldn't move much farther away. "There has to be more than that."
She sighed shakily.
"I know we have that. I wouldn't be here if there wasn't something more."
She sighed and sat up. He let his hand fall off her arm and drop silently onto the bed. She scooted to the edge of the bed and switched on the lamp on the bedside table.
"You're here because I missed you." She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "That doesn't mean anything's fixed."
His eyebrows furrowed and he sat up. "What are you saying, Blair?"
She sighed and turned back around, staring into the seemingly empty space that was her fingers playing with each other. Chuck moved across the bed till he was sitting next to her. He put his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Blair…"
She pulled away from him and stood to her feet, starting to pace slowly. He watched her, extremely worried; panicked. Nothing about this situation was good. It was horrible.
"We can go away, Blair. Just the two of us."
She shook her head, still pacing. "That won't fix anything. Besides, you were right. It wouldn't be fair to the kids." Her voice rose a little. Chuck knew the telltale signs of sniffles and crying. He stood to his feet and went to her, placing his hands on her shoulders to stop her from moving.
"Blair." She kept her face downcast. "Look at me." Slowly, she looked up at him. "Tell me how I can fix this."
Her eyes watered, but she didn't look away.
"Never, ever go away."
He nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Never."
She sighed shakily and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest.
"It wouldn't just kill the kids. It would kill me."
He held her closer.
"But we can't just keep going like this…" She raised her head to look at him. He cupped her face in his hands.
"We can go away," he said. "At the end of the week."
"It's not just about going away, Chuck. I feel like we've lost who we are. The two of us, we were so…"
"We still are," he insisted.
"I look at our kids and I wonder how we went from being like them to becoming…this."
"What is it that's different, Blair?" he asked. "That they have two loving parents? That their parents don't give two shits about what people think about them and encourage the same thing in their own children? Tell me, what's so bad about that?"
She huffed. "It just sounds so ordinary. We were these really…unique, powerful kids in high school. Nobody messed with us. We had real…pazazz."
"Pazazz?" He tried not to laugh.
"We used to play games—"
"Until we grew up and realized it wasn't worth the hurt that could come of it."
Her brows furrowed in helpless concentration. "Was that what made us special? Scheming? Manipulation? Games?"
His hands covered over her upper arms. "We still have some games," he whispered into her ear.
She grumbled. "It's been years since we've played them though."
He smirked. "We could play them again."
She sighed dramatically. "That's why I wanted us to go away for the weekend," she whined.
He chuckled. "I said we could." He tapped her on the nose with his finger.
"No, it wouldn't be fair to the kids," she mocked him.
He shook his head and smiled at her. "You know, for all your exceptional maturity in the business world and as a mother, you can easily turn into a pouty little girl in a heartbeat when you don't get laid properly." He snuck his hand up behind her and cupped her ass.
She gasped and blushed, but didn't deny the facts.
"I think you need to face the truth, Mrs. Bass. You and I are the envy of everyone around us, those with good sense at least. We've just gotten busy with the kids and work."
"But we were still having sex," she retorted, sounding confused.
"I think we would have died from suffocation if we actually went without it."
Blair bit her bottom lip, thinking it over. Then she looked up at him again, unable to stop her whining. "But I want us to have fun again, take crazy family vacations, sometimes in the middle of the school year…I want to slip into your office in the middle of your meetings and have you sneak away because my texts to you are so dirty, you can't possibly stay in your meeting a moment longer without fucking me until I fall apart."
He chuckled, but his eyes were growing hot with desire.
"I want us to have parties for more than charities or Serena's latest fling." She laughed, realizing she was shaking him now. His grin was infectious and it spread to her face. "Can we do that? Can we have fun again?"
He leaned down and kissed her. "Absolutely," he said, nuzzling her.
She giggled then and it was music to his ears. Everything was going to be alright. It had scared him, how quickly things had gotten messed up so soon after he'd returned home. He'd been half-worried that he'd have to leave again in the morning or even still tonight.
But now she was smiling like a fool and pulling him down to kiss her. He slipped his hands under her nightie and pulled it up over her head. He kissed the crook of her neck and the curve of her shoulder. He let her wrap herself around him and carried her back to the bed when she wound her legs around his hips. She was practically riding his erection after they'd tumbled amidst the sheets and she was looking down at him through a veil of silken curls.
She leaned down and kissed him passionately, her tongue dancing with his. She pulled his boxers down and kissed her way up him, spending her time sucking him dry before she slipped her head under his t-shirt and kissing up his stomach and chest.
"Sit up," she breathed. He did so, helping her take his shirt off and toss it only the floor. Then, she sunk herself onto his throbbing, hard-as-steel dick. He gasped and groaned and grunted and moaned as she rode him. Then, he flipped them over and pounded into her until they both came, taut and desperate, stuck together with the glue of hot perspiration, lust and love.
They didn't say it. Both were too exhausted from all of it. But they thought it. They believed it with all their heart and soul.
I love you.
….
She sat at the table, organizing her apple slices into neat rows while her brother took a sip of his milk and quickly scanned the room for Dorota before wiping his mouth clean with the robe sleeve he'd told her he didn't want to wear this morning. But the rest of his robes were in the laundry, she claimed. So, it was that robe or none at all, and he wasn't about to go robeless to breakfast. He wouldn't be accidentally staining his new silk pajamas.
"Dorota," Elizabeth called out sweetly. "May I have my applesauce?"
"Miss Elizabeth, we out of applesauce. I go to store la—" She paused halfway into the kitchen, momentarily frozen by the glare the little brunette princess was giving her. "I have yogurt for you?"
The girl sighed dramatically. "That will have to do."
Dorota murmured something indistinct and placed the yogurt and spoon on the table. Elizabeth gracefully took a smooth swoop of her yogurt.
Stefan nearly dropped his plate when he saw him.
"Dad!"
Elizabeth was mid-gasp before she realized there was still food in her mouth and quickly swallowed. She spun around in her chair, quickly wiped her hands on the napkin in her lap and ran to her father. Chuck caught her in his arms and held her up high just as Stefan reached him and held him tight around his hips.
"Daddy, you're home!" Elizabeth hugged him tightly, wrapping her little arms around his neck and pressing her face against him. "I knew you'd come home. I just knew it. That Mark was funny, but he wasn't you."
Chuck smiled warmly at her as she pulled away.
"I told him so too, daddy. He actually thought when you and mommy talked at night, you were talking about him." She giggled and Chuck couldn't stop the smile stretching farther across his face.
He set Elizabeth down on the ground and crouched beside Stefan.
"How's it going, mister?"
Stefan stood up as tall as he could manage and tried his best to look sophisticated. "Everything's still in order, Dad."
"Glad to hear it," he said, looking at his son with pride. "You know, whenever I'm not around, I'm counting on you to take care of your mother and your sister."
Stefan smiled wider. Then, he leaned in and whispered in his Chuck's ear, "That guy was such a loser, dad. He looked kinda like you but he just wasn't cool."
Chuck chuckled and stood to his feet, tousling his son's hair. The three of them headed to the table sat down just as Blair was coming down the stairs. It was clear Stefan had finished his meal, but he didn't want to be away from his father. He'd missed him so much. It just wasn't fun dismissing people with merely a glance without his father watching proudly from the sidelines. Other parents deemed such behavior "bad" or "inappropriate", but for some reason his dad found it awesome. Stefan reveled in that.
Blair saw the three of them sitting at the table and glowed at the sight. Unconsciously, she played with her engagement and wedding ring and saw Chuck playing with his. She loved him so much, and she loved their children. Chuck was right. There was nothing ordinary about this family. It was clearer to her now than it had ever been. She just needed to see all of them together to know how perfect they truly were.
"Mommy, Daddy's home!" Elizabeth squealed, following her father's stare to her mother.
"I see tha—"
"He came in last night, Beth." Stefan rolled his eyes.
She frowned, about to retort angrily, but she caught her father's stare and held her tongue. Beside that though, her mother's Stefan shut him right up and she was very pleased.
Blair sat down at the table across from Chuck and shot him love stares all through breakfast. If the children caught on, they didn't make them aware of it. The two did share a mischievous smile at one point though, which made the children wonder if they'd had something to do with her picking a low-life like Mark who just happened to look like their father. Serena was very gullible and generous when it came to those two. She could have been easily persuaded if the manner in which she chose an intern was able to be manipulated on a simple level.
She smiled at the thought. They were definitely not ordinary.
"Your mother and I are going away this weekend," Chuck announced when he noticed Elizabeth had finished the last of her apple slices and cup of yogurt. Both children frowned.
"Why—"
"You just got here—" They said simultaneously.
Chuck shared a look with Blair who briefly looked uneasy but then addressed the two. "Because next weekend we're going to France to visit Grandpa Harold and Roman!"
Stefan and Elizabeth gasped, thrilled beyond belief. Elizabeth quickly wiped her face of all traces of food and Stefan wiped his face on his sleeve again before slipping out of his robe and hugging both of his parents. Elizabeth followed suit.
"I've got to start picking out my dresses and headbands!" Elizabeth giggled running up the stairs. She paused at the top. "I'm so glad you're home, daddy." She smiled sweetly.
Chuck returned the smile. "Glad to be here." He nodded to his son who casually made his way up the stairs with a sort of elegance before dashing down the hall to his room to call his best friend to tell him about the news and if he could come with him. Without his parents' permission.
Chuck and Blair smiled at each other across the table and then stood to their feet and walked to each other. Chuck took Blair's hand in his own and kissed the top of it, pulling her close.
"I told you it would work, Mrs. Bass," he purred in her ear. Shivers shot up her spine.
"You…" she drew her finger down the front of his shirt, pausing halfway down his stomach, "are a genius."
He smirked, leaned down and kissed her.
"I should reward you," she breathed into his mouth.
He smiled and kissed her again. "Just let me go to work first."
She pulled away and punched his shoulder, then let him pull her in and kiss her again, giggling. The children would only be upstairs for so long and they had some catching up to do.
….
A/N: Again, this is not an official continuation. I just enjoyed SF immensely and wanted more, based off of how I interpreted it. =) Please go r&r "Sweet Fire" if you haven't though! The author is incredible and totally deserves the praise! =D