Much love to lynnwiley and Cream of the Ice for your reviews on the last chapter!
So I now have two collections, this one and one called "The Family Way." For the most part, anything set before Eep and Guy get married and start their own family will go here, and anything after that will go in The Family Way.
I'm definitely suffering from some writer's block this week (still) so I've been looking through some older pieces, and I found this. Have some steam, with a side of awkward. Or maybe the other way around. You decide.
This was their morning routine, although Guy wasn't sure whether Eep was aware of it. She woke in the predawn light daily, and climbed up to her favorite ledge on the cliff wall that backed the glade they had chosen for their new home. Every morning, Guy woke as the first rays slanted across the sky, and rolled over to look for her, and watched her watch the sunrise. Sometimes she flopped on her belly on the narrow ledge, kicking her heels up behind her. Sometimes she sat on it with her legs hanging off, kicking in the air.
Today she was standing, alert, waiting, leaning, up on the balls of her feet. He wondered what she was thinking, why today was different. The light was creeping down the cliff wall, and something made him hold his breath as he waited for it to reach her.
It reached her outstretched hand first, travelled down her arm to her sloping shoulders, down and down, lighting each curve of her body. He rose up on his elbows, unconsciously leaning towards her. Light traveled over the swell of her breasts and the flare of her hips, the stripes he painted for her on her powerful thigh, down her muscular calf, until it reached her bare feet.
The sun cleared the horizon and light flooded the clearing, breaking the spell. Guy realized he was trembling and let his elbows slide out from under him, dropping his head on his forearms with a groan. He had a sinking feeling that it was going to be one of those days where she made him completely useless.
He was okay with loving her; it came as naturally as breathing now. His life would be a lot easier, though, if he just didn't want her so badly. Grug had grudgingly accepted Guy's relationship with Eep, but it was perfectly clear that there were some things he would NOT accept. Aside from the fact that Guy liked living, he genuinely wanted Grug and Ugga's respect and approval, so he kept his hands (mostly) to himself. Most days, he could sublimate.
Some days, he burned.
"Hey!"
He raised his head and found Eep's face so close to his that his eyes almost crossed trying to look at her.
"Hi," he said weakly.
"Are you up?"
Guy choked back something between a laugh and a groan. "Yeah, yeah, I'm—uh, awake."
The day was torture. Eep was constantly there and worse, so was the rest of the family. Guy finally caught a break in the afternoon, as the family made their way back through the jungle after a rather unproductive foraging expedition. He and Eep were walking towards the back of the group. Guy nudged Belt. "Hey," he whispered to the sloth. "Cover for me, will you?" Belt looked at him, and then at Eep, and chortled. Guy lifted him up and let him climb up on Ugga's shoulders with Sandy. Then Guy caught Eep's hand and pulled. Eep stopped walking and looked back at him, and he tugged again, inclining his head back the way they came. His eyes flicked to the family, still walking ahead of them, and back to Eep. She followed his look and grinned, letting him pull her down the path.
He tried to contain his urgency but he was walking fast, his knuckles white on her hand. Eep didn't seem to mind; despite her shorter legs she kept pace with him easily.
"Where are we going?" she whispered.
"Here," Guy tugged her off the trail and under the arching tendrils of a tree whose leaves brushed the ground. It formed a green dome overhead, shielding them from view.
"Here?" Eep said, surprised. "Why—"
Guy grabbed her face in both hands and kissed her, hard. His hands slid back into her hair, tilting her head back for a better angle to deepen the kiss. He could feel her surprise, the catch in her breath, and she made a noise in the back of her throat that only fueled his fire. He just gave up. Relief was impossible, but this was better than nothing. His body pressed forward by itself; soon he had her braced against the trunk of the tree.
Eep stiffened suddenly, and he broke away. "What's wrong?" he asked breathlessly. She was staring at him. "Eep, what is it? Did I—" He cut off in an inarticulate gurgle when she slid her knee between his thighs. "Nngh!"
"You...want me," he heard her say, somewhere through the haze, like it was a revelation to her. Her leg fell away, leaving him gasping but at least able to think. He stepped away from her quickly, embarrassed and almost afraid, but she caught him by the arm, holding onto him with a grip that he'd never been able to break. No quick escape for him.
Maybe one day he'd learn not to underestimate her perceptiveness, but today was, apparently, not that day.
"Um..." Guy swallowed, not really sure what to say. He felt like he should apologize, but how was that supposed to work? Eep caught his chin in her other hand with surprising gentleness and made him look at her.
She didn't look angry. Her eyes were soft. "I was afraid you didn't."
His eyes widened, and he stopped pulling away from her. "Eep, I..." He gave her a lopsided smile. "Only every day." He bobbed his head uncomfortably. "More or less. Today being 'more,' clearly." Shut up, genius.
Something flashed through her eyes that spurred his pulse again. "Really?"
Guy closed his eyes and thought of her standing on the ledge this morning, drenched in light. "Really," he said roughly, opening his eyes, and she inhaled sharply at the heat in them.
"You never..." she trailed off, letting go of his chin.
"You've seen your dad, right?" he said with his usual humor, but his eyes were still dark and intense on hers. "Big man, kinda grumpy, likes to smash things? Also, his pet, Chunky? Big claws, bigger teeth? Sound familiar?"
Eep made a face that was something between a pout and a scowl. "It shouldn't have anything to do with him. It should be my decision if I want to—"
"Do you?" he asked, very quietly, still looking at her.
She reddened all the way from her shoulders to her hair. "I—"
"It's okay," he tried to smile. "You can say no."
"Not—not no," she said slowly. "Just not—now."
"Eep, I didn't mean—I wasn't going to—" He put his hands over his face, embarrassed and relieved at the same time. "That's not why I brought you here, I swear."
"Oh," she said, her tone odd, and he took his hands from his face to look at her.
"Wait, are you—disappointed?" Guy shook his head. "Okay, this is officially the weirdest conversation we have ever had and I am very, very confused."
"Why did you bring me back here?"
"I just really wanted to kiss you," he said, touching her face. "We haven't been alone all day and I was going crazy."
She raised an eyebrow and he grinned. "Crazier."
"Well we definitely can't have you going any crazier than you already are," she said, with a slow smile that stoked the fire in his blood again. This time he didn't bother hiding the want in his eyes when he moved close to her again.
"You never looked at me like that before," she whispered as he bent towards her.
"I did," he said, chuckling. "You just never saw it."
"Well, that's a waste," she muttered, and then Guy's mouth was against hers and there were no more words for a good long time.
