Chapter 7: World's On Fire
(Three weeks later)
Sydney closed the door of the apartment slowly, exhaling in relief to be home at last until Francie bounded down the hallway and into the living room.
"Oh good, you're back. We're going out."
"Umm, no thanks Francie. I just got back from Poland where I outran three pit bulls and a German shepherd in order to deliver a disc of codes to my hairless boss. I'd rather stay in tonight."
"C'mon, Syd - you're going. You, Will, Weiss, and I are all goin' out on the town. Now go take a shower, pick out something nice, and let me know when you're ready."
Sydney knew there was no getting out of it, so she huffed and tossed her hands up in mock annoyance, kissing her friend on the cheek before retreating to her bedroom. Deep inside she was happy to be going out, a small flutter of excitement coming from the fact that Eric would be there. Her stay in Poland took much longer than expected, the five-day mission causing her to miss her best friend.
'You didn't miss him because he's your friend,' her brain commented, Sydney pushing it down.
An hour later, after Francie had wrangled her into putting on a sexy yet stylish black dress, she stood in the bathroom doing her make-up when the doorbell rang.
'Damn it,' she thought before yelling for whomever it was to go ahead and come in. When it rang a second time, she cursed aloud and set down the liner after missing her mark and poking herself in the eye, walking brusquely to the front door.
Amidst the burning sensation and watery, blurred vision, she tossed open the door to see Eric standing in a pair of black dress pants and a white button-up undershirt. A dark blue coat hung over his arm as he smiled down at her, his eyes taking in the beautiful black dress she'd managed to pour herself into.
Sydney smiled in greeting, though she had one eye closed, telling him that he really didn't have to ring the bell.
"Well, I didn't wanna barge in. You look great by the way," he grinned, Will taking over the conversation as she went to finish her make-up.
The drive to the club was animated, Weiss commenting on how they weren't just copping out and going to Francie's restaurant but actually going to a real hang-out.
"Well…that's the last time I give you free anything at my fake hang-out," she warned with a laugh, Eric's face dropping from the backseat as he looked over at Will.
"Well, wait a minute, I was just sayin'-"
"Dude, stop. You're dead anyway, there's no gettin' out of it," Will warned, Sydney laughing into the backseat as they parked and jumped out of
the car. The Hub wasn't too packed, and since it was an adult's only club there weren't any hormonal teenagers taking up the seats and dance floor.
"Okay, I'm gettin' the first round of drinks." Weiss took their orders, marching up to the bar as they found a booth in the back. Loud music thumped from the gigantic speakers and the bass reverberated through the floor as Will dragged Sydney out to the middle of the floor.
"I'm glad you decided to come, Syd." Laughing as he grabbed her hands and spun her around, his mouth turning up as she pranced around with him. Sydney noticed the relief in his eyes that everything in her mission had gone well.
"We did a good job, Will. Your Intel helped us get the disc with the map of the warehouse. I don't even have to be on the op. that takes the place down. You worry too much."
He shrugged his shoulders as she leaned up and placed a kiss to his cheek. "Thanks for worrying."
The night wore on as they danced and chatted, martinis and beer flowing freely. A slow song started as Weiss dragged Sydney to the dance floor, the group sharing confused looks back and forth as she shrugged, following as if she had a choice.
"You never dance to the slow jams, Eric, what's up?" Wrapping her arms around his shoulders as his looped around her, fingers clasping at the small of her back.
"I just wanted to ask you how you are, that's all. I haven't had a chance to ask how your mission went. Your dad kicked me out of the command area when I wouldn't stop pacing."
She laughed realizing that he most likely still hated the slow songs and fell into step with him. "It went fine, Eric, even with the snag. I got in and out mostly undetected."
"Any bruises you're hiding under that makeup?"
"A couple, but I'm fine."
She could see the relief in his eyes as he let his hands loose, intending to release her.
"Oh no, you dragged me out here during a slow jam, and now you're stuck. Besides, you smell really good."
Keeping him close she placed her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "I always get stuck with the slow jams," he mock-grumbled, looping his arms back to where they were.
A phone call from Kendall interrupted the night as Sydney and Weiss were given another mission, ordered to board a plane at the Dover Airfield at 7:00 a.m. sharp and that they would be briefed en-route to Portugal. Calling it a night they climbed into the SUV as Will got behind the wheel. As the designated driver he'd stopped drinking a couple hours ago, content to just hang out.
"Why don't you just drop me off at Eric's and I'll stay there. I still have my clothes in the back from the trip this week and we'll have to drive together to the airport anyway," she left off with a glance over at the agent sitting beside her, his smile confirmation as Will agreed, pulling to the curb in front of Weiss' apartment fifteen minutes later. They got out, Eric grabbing her bag, and said their 'good-nights' before making their way into the cool house.
Alan and Donovan greeted them both, jumping up and demanding attention before they'd leave them alone.
"I don't know about you, but I don't think I could sleep if I tried. I slept all afternoon since they gave me the day off. But…you must be exhausted." His voice was slightly slurred and he carried her bag into his room before coming back out and seeing her standing at his fireplace.
After she'd begun spending time at his place since Vaughn had died he'd removed several of the pictures from his mantle that had the green-eyed man in them. Finding them one day in a drawer in his office, Sydney scolded him for hiding them so they were back where they were supposed to be and every time she was at his place he'd catch her standing before them at least once.
"I miss him, Eric."
"Me too, Syd."
"I'm not tired, by the way. I slept the whole flight."
"Movie night then?"
She turned, facing him with a small smile and nodded. For the first time in a long time, he didn't see tears in her eyes when she brought up Vaughn. An hour into 'The Descent', Sydney's face squished into Eric's chest as a scene from the horror flick made her jump, Weiss laughed and extracted himself from her death grip.
"Want another beer?"
"Yeah, hurry. I don't want to watch this movie by myself."
He resumed his spot as the brown-haired woman took the beer from him, taking a swig, before setting it down and cuddling back into his side. The credits finally rolled, Sydney admitting that it was indeed a good movie despite the fact that she spent most of it with her eyes closed and face buried in his shirt.
They stayed put, switching it over to television as she set her head to his shoulder and her hand over his heart and her fingers played with a button of his oxford. With his arm propped up on the back of the couch he continued to sneak peeks at the young woman beside him, a question burning on his lips that he couldn't quite get out.
"Hey…you okay?" Noticing that her eyes weren't focused on the television, he was surprised to see her pull back and look at him with a slight purple hue darkening her irises. He'd only seen it once in his time spent with her, and that was back in Guatemala when she looked up at him from their hotel bed as they released their pent-up emotions.
Unable to control the surge of lust that went from his brain straight to his cock, he tested the waters by turning his body on the couch, sliding one leg up and folding it against the back as the other stayed put on the floor, his stance about as open as he could get it while waiting for her to make the first move.
"I've been thinking…these last few weeks, Eric." Sliding closer while talking, maneuvering until she was crouched on her knees, she was thankful that Weiss' couch was so big.
"'Bout what?" He knew his voice was strained but that's all he could get out between his suddenly parched lips.
"About us." Closer still she moved, her knee touching the inside of his thigh sending shock waves to his stomach. Her hands reached up to smooth out the non-existent wrinkles of his shirt before falling down and resting on her thighs.
Sitting back on her heels he saw her eyes fill with tears. "I'm tired of being alone, Eric."
Unable to stand it any longer he moved, his hands cupping her cheeks as his thumbs preformed their usual task of brushing away her tears. "You're not alone, Sydney. You'll never be alone."
Moving forward she pressed their mouths together, Eric tasting the salt of her tears as he wrapped his arms around her. His lips were gentle and soft, anything but demanding as he held her close and hoped to dash away her worries. Rubbing circles over her back, his hand sneaking under her t-shirt, she moaned against his lips as his fingers brushed at the soft skin.
Her own hands were on his shoulder and in his hair, fingers gripping him as close as she could trying to suck in some of his warmth, though she wasn't entirely cold at the moment. His tongue traced her lips almost asking for permission to enter as she granted it, slanting her mouth and deepening their kiss. It was his turn to groan as she moved her body closer.
Breaking apart with a gasp he opened his eyes to see her sit up on her knees a bit more as her hands grabbed the hem of her shit, pulling it off and tossing it behind her. The lacy black bra made his cock twitch in its cloth prison and he responded by replacing his hands at her sides and rubbing at the soft skin.
"You're so beautiful, Syd."
A blush rose from her neck to her cheeks as she broke their gaze, an embarrassed smile bringing out the dimples that he loved. Cupping her chin and bringing her back up to face him he reclaimed her mouth, dimly feeling her fingers at his chest as the cool air rushed against his newly bared chest. Pulling his arms from the sleeves it joined her shirt across the room.
Her hands fell to his arms as she traced his biceps, his mouth breaking apart from hers to move to her jaw and throat. Tongue laving at her racing pulse point he suckled at the spot, tasting her perfume that she splashed on that morning, pulling back to admire the purple mark marring her once pristine skin.
Sydney leaned away from his enveloping body, seeing confusion seep into Eric's eyes. "C'mon, let's go to bed."
"You sure?"
Flashing him a smile and rising, she held her hand out to him in an invitation to continue. His fingers looped through hers as he stood, towering over her before wrapping his arms around her and capturing her lips. "You taste wonderful," he mumbled, her smile making their kiss awkward.
"Bull. I probably taste like popcorn and beer."
"Maybe I like the taste of popcorn and beer."
Sydney's fingers moved down over his slightly padded stomach, the evidence of her forcing him to run with her nearly three times a week peeking through, until she began to undo the belt of his trousers. This caused her to brush against his straining bulge, his wandering hands stilling for a moment as he moaned into her mouth. She barely felt her bra go limp as his own skilled fingers unclasped it.
She turned in his arms and walked down the hallway toward his room, Eric groaning as she peeked over her shoulder and slipped the straps down her arms. Ditching the bra into the hallway, he jogged to the front door - sliding into it on socked feet - and locked it, kicking the dogs out into the backyard before joining her in his bedroom. She stood staring at the bed, her bare back the immediate focus for his eyes. Running his hands down from her shoulders to the top of her pajama pants he felt her shiver under his touch.
"You sure you're okay with this? I mean...I'll understand if you're starting to sober up."
Turning, giving him a full look at her breasts, she shook her head. "Honestly...I don't want to be anywhere else."
His eyes never left hers as they stared at each other, Sydney rolling hers and conceding, "I know you want to look, you might as well do it."
He broke focus instantly, his hungry eyes taking in her perky breasts as his hands soon followed. Cupping the flesh, one in each hand, her arms flew around his neck as he pushed her back until she fell against the rumpled comforter of his messy bed.
With her hair fanning out around her like a chocolate halo he straddled her legs and knelt above her before placing his hands beside her head, the silken tresses tangling in his fingers. Snagging her lips in a breathless kiss he groaned and pulled away with a pop as she lifted her hips and pressed his hard-on between their throbbing bodies.
Making quick work of their trousers she lay before him in a pair of lacy black underwear - that he assumed matched the bra lying in the hallway - and he perched above her in a pair of boxer briefs.
"I didn't peg you for a tighty-whitie kind of guy, Weiss."
Shrugging he slid down until his feet were hanging off the bed, trailing kisses between the valley of her breasts to her belly button, his tongue dipping inside, before finishing at the hem of her panties. Hooking a finger and sliding it down he felt her hands in his hair as she sighed, lifting her hips slightly as he slipped them the rest of the way off and tossing them to the floor.
"Have I mentioned how beautiful you are?"
"A couple times, maybe. C'mon, you know I don't take compliments well," she groused, reaching down toward him as he sat up and finished undressing, standing before her in his birthday suit. He felt semi self conscious. Their first time wasn't exactly normal and he distinctly remember that while they did get naked they didn't actually allow time to take one another in.
'Time to get rid of the pity party. She's lying naked in your bed and you're standing here wondering if she thinks your fat.' Scolding himself mentally he took a deep breath and crawled up over her body.
Her eyes were still tinged with purple and she welcomed him into her arms, her mouth peppering kisses along his jaw until their lips met seconds later. His cock throbbed with his heartbeat as the flesh pushed against her lower stomach. Shivering in his arms she hooked a leg over his hips as he used one hand to prop himself up at an angle, the other traveling to her waist to pull her as flush as he possibly could.
Sydney's hand wandered between them, her fingers curling around his shaft. Thrusting unconsciously into her hand he chuckled an apology, "it's been weeks, Syd."
"I know, I was there."
His tongue dove into the recesses of her mouth as she aligned his hardness with her opening, pressing the head in before removing her hand and letting him decide the pace. Breaking their lips apart he pressed his forehead against hers before pushing himself fully into her soft, warm body.
Gasping his name and clutching his shoulders, he waited a moment to make sure their night wouldn't end prematurely. Continuing his lazy thrusts, pulling out almost completely before sliding slowly back in, he nipped and sucked at her throat while her mewls and moans filled his bedroom. Weiss' pace was steady, albeit slow, but he felt her walls begin to tighten around his member. His hand left her hip to travel across her stomach, his thumb settling over the swollen bundle of nerves that the root of his cock continuously bumped into with each full thrust.
The slow yet purposeful thrusts coupled with his finger at her clit made her fall off of the cliff and into her first orgasm, his name tumbling from her lips as her fingernails dug crescent shaped dents into his shoulders. He stopped as she tried to catch her breath, though every fiber of his being ached for him to sit up and plunder her until he came just like she had.
Sydney's face blushed as she opened her eyes, a hand coming up to run through his hair. "I...can usually handle a bit more than that, I promise." Suddenly shy she smiled and buried her face into his neck, her hair sticking to their sweaty bodies.
Eric only smiled down at her before cupping her cheek and kissing her. "I didn't think it would be possible for you to be adorable and hot at the same time, but I was once again wrong about you, Syd."
He kept up his gentle ministrations, his hands rubbing light trails down her arms, one thumb breaking out to run across her nipple. Testing the waters he pulled back with his hips as a sweet moan filled his ear. He pulled out and thrust again a bit harder this time, her teeth biting into his shoulder spurring him on.
"You know...I'm not gonna break."
"I know...I just - want to take my time." 'If I can.'
Nodding she pulled his head down to hers and slanted her mouth over his as their tongues dueled. 'So much for taking my time,' he thought as he picked up the pace. He felt the familiar tingle in his lower stomach as well as his balls moving toward his body preparing for his imminent release. Sydney wrapped her runners legs around his thrusting hips while her hands clung to his upper arms, their mouths breaking only for need of oxygen as she felt her second orgasm rising quickly. Hers triggered his as they came together, his groan against her neck as strands of her hair stuck to his sweaty forehead.
They lay together for some time after her pulled out of her heat, rolling to his back as they stared at the ceiling sated. Bodies cooling quickly Sydney was the first to reach toward the end of the bed and pull the comforter up, his side pooling around his waist as she tugged her side to her chest.
Heaving a sigh she turned to see him studying her face. Flashing him a bright dimpled smile she saw the worry leave his eyes before leaning in and pressing a kiss to his mouth with her swollen lips.
She rolled to her side, fingers tracing his large hand before she broke the silence. "Will you want to kill me if I say I'm not ready for a relationship yet?"
Weiss chuckled an cupped her cheek with his free hand. "Of course not, Syd. I...I'm crazy about you - I'm sure you already know that. I don't even know how to deal with this whole thing right yet either, but I know for a fact that you're worth waiting for. If all I need to be for a while is a friend with benefits then I consider myself lucky. You come to me when you're ready, okay?"
Cuddling into his side she stole a glance over at the bedside clock and saw 4:47 in the bright red display. "We need to be up in an hour and a half in order to get to our plane on time, I don't know if we should fall asleep."
"Hmmm," he mumbled as his hand traveled down from her cheek to her chest, skimming her breasts while pulling the blanket down with it and offering himself a glimpse of her nude body. "I might be able to think of some way to pass the time."
The precise moment his fingertip reached her belly button her stomach growled, forcing them both to laugh. "Or we could get up and eat breakfast before I pack."
Dressing silently and sneaking looks back and forth, some getting caught and others going unnoticed - but not unfelt, Eric offered to cook breakfast.
'Maybe this mission won't be as bad as I thought.'
…
