A sudden booming rumble of thunder roused Liz just before sunrise and for a brief, groggy moment, she wasn't quite sure where she was. After all, she only had one point of reference for having Red snoring softly at her side and it certainly wasn't in the woefully narrow bed in her college apartment.
Another loud rumble sent Liz shuffling down under the covers to snuggle closer to him, if that was even possible. How Red managed to stay asleep despite all the noise, she'd never know. The storm that had rolled in overnight was the type of thunderstorm she remembered so vividly from her childhood, the kind that marked the inevitable change from the crisp, refreshing atmosphere of springtime to hot, sticky summer weather.
Sheets of driving rain spattered Liz's bedroom window and every flash of lightning threw the incongruously imposing shadow of her tiny cactus onto her wall. She buried her face in the pillow next to Red's head to try to block some of it out, but the strong scent of ozone and wet soil still tickled her nostrils.
It was only once she had nearly drifted off to sleep again that the reason for the potency of that fresh earthy aroma floated through her mind and her eyes popped open.
Crap. She left the window open a crack last night, didn't she?
Disentangling herself from Red's embrace, she scrambled out of her blankets and struggled to crawl out of the tiny bed without disturbing him, which was easier said than done. Back in her big hotel bed, they had often woken wrapped around in each other; here in a bed half as big, they had no other option even if they wanted one.
Red stirred despite her best efforts once her feet hit the floor, causing the bed to shift without her weight on it anymore.
"Lizzy, it's early, come back to bed," he said. His voice was deep and rough from sleep; it sent a familiar thrill up her spine. He poked his head out from her pile of pillows, and squinted at her across the room. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to avoid losing my deposit to water damage."
She moved quickly to mop up the rain from the window sill and the floor, stealing glances at Red over her shoulder while she worked. His hair was sleep-mussed, sticking up at odd angles, and he offered her a lazy, awkward smile after she found herself staring at him silently for a few moments too long.
How could a man who dealt with such darkness on a regular basis be so adorable? Red put himself in grave danger just weeks ago and yet here he was, as light and sweet and playful as ever. She wondered at his ability to maintain his fascination and enjoyment of the world when he was so often exposed to the potential horrors of it. She wasn't sure she had it in her to do the same. At least, not without someone around to remind her to look for the good out there.
Truth be told, there was perhaps a lot she could learn from Red.
An especially loud and swift crack of thunder rent the air and Liz flinched, taking an instinctive step back from the window. Red threw back the covers and padded across the room. He rested his warm hands on her shoulders and peered out into the dreary, gray morning that was gradually brightening despite the overcast, stormy sky.
"What a day, huh?" he said. Last night as they drifted off to sleep, they had talked about venturing out in search of the perfect hidden gem of a coffee shop for breakfast, but the weather made leaving the comfortable dryness of her little apartment much less appealing now.
Well.
It was still mostly dry.
Liz balled up her soggy towel and tossed it into the hamper. "Maybe we should just stay in today."
"Maybe we should," he agreed. He brushed the hair away from the nape of her neck and pressed his lips there, lingering. "I'm sure we'll find a way to celebrate your first full day of freedom anyway."
Red's enthusiasm for cunnilingus always came as a bit of a shock to Liz, but the spike of arousal she felt whenever he dropped to his knees in front of her surprised her even more. The visuals did it for her almost as much as the physical sensations, though she certainly couldn't knock those either.
That was the state she found herself in now, sitting crosswise at the edge of her bed with one hand buried in the hair at the back of Red's head and the other bracing herself so she could watch him—caught somewhere in between the growing desire to climax and the desire to make the experience last as long as possible so she could enjoy the view.
Either way, Red teased her mercilessly, leaving tiny nipping kisses as he meandered his way to his ultimate destination, taking his sweet time despite the way her fingers tightened insistently in his hair, tugging him close, closer, closer still.
He had one of his hands splayed across her lower abdomen below her belly button with his thumb edging close to somewhere useful, and the other one clutched at her thigh where it lay draped over his shoulder. The stubble on his cheeks rubbed against the delicate skin of her inner thighs with every delicious movement. She'd be sore there later; she didn't care one whit.
At the first swipe of his tongue through her wetness, Red let out a deep and resonant moan as if he was the one being pleasured. But, then again, maybe he was. He always seemed just about as turned on by doing this for her as he was by the other sexual things they'd done. His passion for it was certainly as evident as ever and he put it to good use.
He was, after all, very good at this—every lick, every caress, every nuzzle well-placed to bring about exactly the pleasure he intended. He took going down on someone and turned it into an art form.
A noisy art form, which was quite inconvenient at the moment. The last thing Liz wanted was to wake Jess. Her apartment was much too tiny and the walls much too thin for any real privacy. It was one thing for her roommate to know, intellectually speaking, that she and Red were sleeping together. It was another thing entirely for her to know the hows and whys and whens, to hear firsthand the types of sounds the two of them made while they were in bed.
"Hey, shh," she coaxed, reminding him of the need for discretion.
"I'm sorry," Red whispered, "You taste intoxicating."
"Thanks. I think."
He chuckled, a delightful rumble where he pressed against her heated skin. It was all she could do to stifle the moans that threatened to creep up her own throat, aroused as she was. Her efforts, however, were about to become very moot indeed.
To Liz's horror, her doorknob began to rattle and turn, but before she could even manage to choke out a single word in warning, she looked up and made eye contact with one very surprised, very freshly showered Jess, who dripped even more water onto her poor, maligned floorboards.
"Jess, what the hell?"
"Holy crap, I'm sorry, I was looking for the hair dryer."
"There's a scrunchie on the doorknob!"
"I thought it was from last night," she said in a rush, "I thought you went out for breakfast!"
"Well, obviously we didn't!"
Jess's eyes were wide, like a deer caught in the headlights, and she had yet to look away. At least Red's head preserved some of Liz's modesty, such as it was. And from behind, between his shirt and his boxer-briefs, Jess wasn't getting much of a show there either.
"Hey, you know, it's not like you've given me much practice with this kind of thing!"
"Oh my God, I am not having this discussion right now, get out."
"OK, OK, I'm gone!"
As soon as the door clicked shut behind Jess, Liz turned her attention to Red. The bastard between her legs had had the gall to keep up his ministrations throughout the entire exchange with her roommate, making it nearly impossible for her to keep her mind focused properly. In fact, he still hadn't let up.
"Hey"—she tilted Red's head back with that fistful of hair—"what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"If you have to ask, I must not be doing a good job." He tried to lean in again but she held fast. "Do you want to stop?" he drawled.
"No," she said. "Now that the cat's out of the bag, Jess can just consider it payback for all the times I've had to study while she's had Mike over doing God knows what in her bedroom. Loudly."
"Well, if you don't want to stop"—he dragged his gaze up her body and met her eyes, smiled a wicked smile, licked his lips—"what do you want?"
Liz shivered and loosened her hold on his hair. "Get up here, now."
Red didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet and stripped off his shirt, dropping the expensive fabric to the floor without a second thought.
Liz pushed herself onto the bed so that her back rested against the pillows. Red followed close behind, capturing her mouth in a searing kiss. It was still new and exciting to taste herself on his lips; she angled her head to deepen the kiss, to savor the sensation fully. She pulled Red tightly to her by the hips, slid her hands around to clutch at his ass, rocking and rubbing herself against his hardness.
Red reached out to fumble around in her nightstand drawer and she knew the exact moment when his fingers connected not with the condoms he was searching for, but with something else. His lips quirked up in the corners against her mouth and when he pulled back, she saw that he was holding something longish and purple.
Oh, dear Lord. He found her vibrator.
He examined the toy with a curious glint in his eye, sizing it up, switching it on and off. Then, to Liz's humiliation, he raised it to his nose and sniffed; she blushed a deep, beet red, but she couldn't find it in herself to stop watching him.
"Have you thought of me while you used this?" he asked, sounding a bit strange, a bit strained.
She opened her mouth to answer but no sound came out; she could only nod. Red twitched against her thigh. He kept looking back and forth between her and the toy with his mouth slightly parted, a question poised on his tongue. He seemed to be having just as much trouble forming words as she did.
Anxiety began to rear its ugly head the longer he stayed silent. "What?"
"Show me?" he said, more a question than a request. His voice had gone quiet, almost shy, and just a little… hopeful.
Liz's breath caught in her chest. She swallowed reflexively and nodded again. "OK."
"OK?"
"Yeah. If you show me."
"What d'you m—"
"Let me see you touch yourself," she said quickly, before she lost her nerve. Red nodded before she had a chance to worry she'd gone too far.
"Yeah. Sure." He leaned back on his haunches. "How do you want to…?"
Thinking fast, Liz pulled one of the pillows out from behind her back and handed it to Red, motioning for him to prop himself up facing her at the foot of the bed. They settled themselves so they were almost overlapping, legs cradling each other in the middle. She drew her fingernails through the hair on his shin and his calf, and he shivered, stretching his leg out further to be even closer to her touch.
Liz took a slow, deep breath. She'd never done anything like this before, never masturbated in front of someone else. Strangely, it felt more intimate than sex, sharing this part of herself, this act she usually only experienced alone. Could she do it with his unblinking attention on her body, completely and utterly exposed to him?
She could.
His fingers tightened slightly on the soft skin of her ankle when she began to tease herself with the toy. She rocked up as she slowly slid it inside and his hips came up a bit as well in an unconscious thrust. Pleasure lanced though her abdomen, and she couldn't tell how much of it came from the physical stimulation and how much came from the heat and weight of his gaze.
His erection strained against the dark fabric of his underwear. His free hand rested on his thigh, his index finger tracing the seam along the leg of his shorts mere inches from the tip of him and the dark, damp patch of fabric that covered it. Liz's mouth started to water.
"Come on, your turn," she said, desperate to see him, and rocked her hips in short little thrusts against the toy.
The faintest hint of a whimper escaped his parted lips at the sight before him. He slipped his hand beneath his waistband and drew himself out, closed his fingers around his shaft and began to move them up and down his length. He teased more liquid from the tip, spreading it to help ease his movements. Liz moaned and rocked faster, clenching herself around her toy in time with his strokes.
Goodness. If cocks could be beautiful, Red had a beautiful cock. Well-shaped, nicely-proportioned, and thick—he filled her so much better than her vibrator. Just the anticipation of finally experiencing that feeling again made the pleasure building inside her now even sweeter. If she wasn't so intent on watching him, she could easily call the whole thing off, if only to experience it sooner.
But she wanted—no, needed to see him. She never had the opportunity to study him like this before, or anybody else for that matter. She'd maybe seen a stroke here and there as he prepared himself for her, but nothing prolonged, nothing she could observe and memorize to use on him herself.
Liz watched, mesmerized, as Red worked his fingers, his fist, and his wrist, trying as she might to learn the rhythm and motion he liked best, to discover his most sensitive spots. She may not yet be a match for his considerable skill and experience, but in time she would be, and until then she seemed to get by quite well on earnest enthusiasm and instinct.
It didn't take long for either of them to reach their breaking point. When he did, he reached out towards her urgently, and she grabbed hold of his hand, entwined their fingers in a tight grip. His eyes locked on hers as he came, and she followed soon after, hips arching off the bed.
Liz came down slowly, panting, trembling, and boneless in the aftermath; Red was the same, boxer-briefs stretched around his thighs, his spent cock against his belly. Once she could move again without shaking too badly, she plucked a few tissues from the box next to her bed and handed them to him before taking another for herself.
"Wait," he said, hoarse but determined, "May I?" He held out his hand and she stared at it for a few seconds before she caught on and placed the vibrator in his palm.
She watched him as he licked the toy clean with her lips parted, half in surprise, half in exhilaration. He sucked the tip into his mouth, careful not miss any of her slickness. Her abdomen throbbed, wild and pleasant, and she swallowed hard against the unexpectedly swift return of her arousal.
"God. I hope Jess didn't use all the hot water."