She made her way quickly through the front door of the apartment building and instantly a feeling of apprehension crept up her spine. The light in the stairwell was out which did nothing to alleviate her already troubled mind. Her hands were trembling and she was almost certain she heard a noise somewhere in the supposedly deserted building.
She offered up a silent prayer that it was Chuck she heard moving around in the apartment directly over her head. For the first time she wondered at the sanity of being in a vacant building in the middle of one of the most dangerous city in the world without another soul in the world knowing where she was.
What was to stop someone from breaking in and laying in wait for her ? What was to keep a vagrant from jumping her at any moment ? A lock on the front door. That hardly seemed like enough security to her and she was immediately almost too frightened to continue up the darken stairwell.
She hoped Chuck was waiting for her already. She didn't want to go into the dark apartment by herself. Suddenly, Eden was didn't feel like such a safe, secure place. Eden wasn't apart from the rest of the world. It was as open and vulnerable as any other place. There wasn't some magical spell masking its presence from the outside world.
As these thoughts rolled through her brain, she reached the top floor and went to the door hurriedly. Her hand was shaking so hard she had to try three different times to insert the key into the lock. When she finally got it opened she darted inside and found the interior dark and empty to her dismay.
Chuck would be there soon, she told herself. She would be okay until he got to her. She wasn't some damsel in distress. She wasn't some helpless, brittle little girl waiting to be rescued.
There was nothing to be rescued from. Everything was fine. She was being paranoid, jumping at her own shadows. It was ridiculous.
Her hand slide down the wall, groping for the switch that would bring light and with it some security.
But it never made it.
Her back slammed into the door the moment it shut behind her and she shrieked out in surprise. Then a body was crushing her, pinning her between it and the hard wood at her back. She pushed at the shoulders, struggling against the sudden assault with all her might.
Bringing her knee up quickly she tried to jab it into her attacker, but he was ready for the move and caught her leg easily.
A hot mouth found her neck. He roughly dragged her hair aside and grazed her throat with his teeth.
Her hands knotted in his hair and she yanked it roughly, pulling the stranger away from her and illiciting a pain-filled groan in response.
But instead of backing away like she hoped, he just mashed his body harder into her and grabbed both her hands in one of his. In the next instant he had her arms over her head and something was binding them together.
She screamed out a plea for help, but she knew it was useless in the empty building. The only other person who might hear her was Chuck.
Just as she opened her mouth to shout his name at the top of her lungs, the stranger found her mouth with his. The instant his lips found hers she relaxed and all the panic fled from her. The familiar taste of him calmed her.
" Chuck," She groaned out in a whisper that replaced the intended scream.
He didn't respond, instead his hands found her breasts through all the layers of her clothing and he palmed them with a punishing force that caused her to gasp into his mouth. He ripped at her clothing, snatching it out of his way to get to the skin underneath. Soon her shirt was a tatter hanging around her shoulders and his warm hands were covering her bare breasts. Thumbs grazed abrasively over her straining nipples and she squirmed against the sensation.
He dropped his hands from her breasts and moved to her hips. Then he stepped away from her, but only long enough to yanked the material of her skirt up and out of his way. Then she heard the sound of a zipper an instant before he was pinning her again.
She slipped her legs around his waist. And before she knew what was happening, he was inside her, plunging with a force that made her teeth snap together painfully.
She gasped and pushed her shoulders into the wall, making her hips surge forward and allowing him a better angle. His low, throaty, growl of approval was the first sound he'd made since she'd walked in the door. And she answered with a growl of her own when he thrust deeply into her and hit that perfect spot that only he could find. They struggled together, both yearning for the beautiful release that they could only find in each others arms.
Sweat covered her and she was panting, gasping so hard her chest hurt. But every time she tried to draw a breath, Chuck lunged forward, driving the air out of her lungs with the power of his thrusts.
She was sinking, falling over into the place where nothing else existed besides him and her and the amazing feelings he was causing inside her.
She fought against the binding around her wrists, wanting so badly to touch him. She wanted to feel his hair through her fingers, to traced the muscles of his back as they flexed with every movement.
" Tell me." He whispered into her chest as his teeth grazed her skin. " I need to hear you say it."
" I love you." She answered immediately. " I love you and I'm all yours. No one else's. Just yours, Chuck. Always."
He groaned loudly and redoubled his efforts. " I love you, too." He panted nearly unable to get the words out.
Her body smacked the wall so hard she feared her shoulder would be bruised. But suddenly she didn't care as the feeling in her stomach suddenly spread and light exploded behind her tightly closed eyes. Somewhere in the distance she heard him join her as he shouted her name.
When her surroundings finally returned to her, she realized that her hands were free and she brought them down lazily.
" Chuck," She whispered as his head fell to her shoulder and his lips brushed against her neck. " You scared the hell out of me."
She smacked his shoulder hard and he staggered in response.
" I didn't mean to scare you." He answered, moving back in against her.
" Yes, you did." She retorted before kissing him again.
He snatched the coat from her shoulders, dragging her forward so it could fall to the floor at their feet. " Maybe I did, a little."
He pulled her ruined shirt away slowly and then his hands were busying themselves with unbunching her skirt from around her waist.
She was still struggling with his shirt, tugging impatiently at the buttons, ripping and tearing at the material with her nails. Suddenly, she needed to feel him against her.
" I swear I'm going to stop wearing shirts I like around you." He groaned into her mouth before he kissed her. " My tailor is starting to get upset about all the repairs."
She let the shirt go in mid-yank. " If you don't like it, I can stop." She announced, backing away from him as far as she could.
In response, he scooped her against him, pulling them both off the wall.
" Don't you dare." He answered as he moved them to the moss green sofa in the middle of the room, a new addition that she had only added a few days earlier.
Her back contacted the softness of the cushions, but she refused to pull her legs from around him, instead she ground her hips upwards, noting that he was already hardening again as he rubbed against her moist center.
" Someone is very eager tonight." She whispered as he found her earlobe and drew it into his mouth.
" I haven't been able to think about anything but you all day." He responded, nipping at her lobe as he did.
" Me, either." She agreed, finally freeing the shirt and shoving it off his shoulders forcefully before attacking his chest with her lips.
He let out a low feral groan when she brushed against his nipple and a moment later he was plunging his hand into her hair as she latched onto it and began sucking.
" I don't think I will ever be able to get enough of you." He told her as he threw his head back and tangled his hand in her hair.
A ringing from inside her discarded purse by the door brought her attention away from him. Chuck pulled her with him as he straightened up.
" It's Nate." She said quietly.
Chuck remained silent as she retrieved her phone and answered the call.
" What ?" She hissed a touch more forcefully than she meant it to sound.
" Are you mad at me ?" He asked immediately.
" No, I'm just in the middle of something. I didn't mean to snap. What's up ?"
" I want to see you. Can I come over ? Or maybe meet you somewhere ? We could get dinner."
" Not tonight. I'm busy. Maybe tomorrow. We can meet for breakfast."
She went back to the couch and sat down directly beside Chuck, so close her leg brushed against his. His hand immediately went to her thigh and he began to slid it upward slowly.
" Where ?" Nate was asking as her gaze fell to Chuck's hand and she watched as he eased her skirt out of his way and he began to trace the top of her stocking with his finger.
" I don't know." She murmured into the phone as he found her inner thigh and gently parted her legs to grant him better access. " Where ever you want."
She was nearly mesmerized as Chuck's hand moved under her skirt and his finger grazed her center.
" How about that little diner we used to go to all the time ?" Nate was saying as Chuck slid a finger inside of her and she fought against the groan that threaten to escape.
Then he found the perfect spot and brushed over it forcefully and the groan was out before she could stop it.
She gave a small cough to try to cover the noise, but Nate had heard it anyway.
" You don't want to go to the diner ?" He asked misinterpreting the sound.
" It's all the way downtown. Just come to my place. I'll have Cook make all your favorites." She offered, trying to get rid of him as quickly as possible as Chuck continued to move his finger, now accompanied by another, inside of her.
" Alright. I'll see you around nine."
Chuck found the spot again and she dropped her head, letting it fall to the back cushion and closed her eyes.
" Better make it eleven. We'll call it brunch." She replied. " I might be up late tonight."
Then she pulled the phone away hearing him tell her he loved her even as she snapped it closed. It fell from her hand and landed on the floor at her feet.
Chuck's hand had stopped moving. In fact, Chuck had stopped moving. When she tugged her eyes opened she found him staring down at the phone.
" What's wrong ?" She asked at the expression on his face.
He removed his hand from her and fell back against the cushions purposefully avoiding her eyes. "That sounds cozy." He muttered quietly.
She was covering his chest in an instant, pulling his face towards hers so he would have no choice but to look at her. " It doesn't mean anything."
" I know." He sighed but the troubled furrow never left his brow.
She mimicked his sigh with one of her own and pulled her hands from his face. " I'm sorry. This whole thing is just impossible."
He took her hands in his and pulled her back into his chest before she had a chance to move away. "It isn't impossible. It just isn't ideal. There is a difference." His voice was heavy with a sadness that killed her. " I think I just need a vacation."
"A vacation ?" She asked, turning in his arms so she could see his face. " You mean like going away ?"
He nodded. " Yeah, that's usually how it works."
" Oh, how long would you be gone ?"
" I'm not going anywhere yet." He laughed at her sudden downtrodden expression. " Besides, I wasn't thinking of leaving you here. It wouldn't be much of a vacation without you."
" I can't leave right now." She announced though her smile was back in place. " Not with my father so sick and I have so many things to do."
" Blair, stop it. I'm not talking about a month. I meant a weekend. And it was just a thought."
" I love you." She told him out of the blue as she turned in his arms and rested her head on his chest. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to say it. It just seemed like he needed to hear it.
He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. " I love you, too. Are you staying tonight ?"
" Everyone thinks I'm with Serena. Serena thinks I'm with Nate. So yeah, if you are." She nodded.
" Everyone thinks I'm out whoring. So yeah, if you are."
He sat up, dislodging her from her comfortable position. But then he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. " I think we were in the middle of something when we were so rudely interrupted."
" Yeah, I think we were." She answered as she let him drag her beneath him.