Monroe studied the naked man with him in bed. They did that a lot, lying together, running hands over the other's skin, and he found he was slowly getting addicted to it: human contact in the form of his Grimm.
It didn't have to be a wild rut every time. The first claim had left him with blackouts as to what had really happened and the very primal part of him only remembered the intense pleasure, the taste of his mate, and the scent of his claim-surrender-challenge-need. Like with Angelina he didn't recall much, but at least he wasn't picking rabbit fur out of his teeth.
Though his teeth had been biting into Nick, drawing that intoxicating blood of his Grimm, and he had left quite a mark. Nick had soothed the momentary horror with a sleepy mumble to 'chill and c'mere', and he had been drawn into a lazy kiss that had scattered all doubts.
No, they didn't have wild sex all the time. Leisurely sex was wonderful and blowjobs were fantastic, and getting Nick off with his mouth and fingers alone was a sight to behold.
Earlier encounters with his own kind had never held such depths and it was only growing. He was afraid and looking forward to it in one. He loved seeing the Grimm undone, panting his name, yelling his climax, hair tousled and skin flushed.
Scars had remained of the terrible injuries. The one on his abdomen was ragged and still prominently visible against the otherwise unblemished skin. Monroe ran explorative finger tips over the mark, drawing a little hitched breath out of the man sharing his bed with him. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against the scar, letting his tongue bathe it briefly before drawing back and looking into those wide eyes.
The scar was a reminder of his own near-loss. It had been the wake-up call. It had been his last chance. He had seen it in all its stages, from nearly-fresh to healing to now. The smell of blood, dried and flaking, Nick's blood, was still a bright memory.
Nick was silent as he watched him, then wrapped a hand around his neck and drew Monroe into a kiss. Slow, deep, expressing so much without talking.
No words.
It defined their relationship so well. No words needed. He let a hand slide up the naked side, following the gentle curve of the ribs and splaying his fingers across the smooth, well-defined chest. Nick carded his fingers into his hair, caressing him in turn.
Monroe's eyes were on the mark on Nick's shoulder. The bite mark, recent and plain as words to any blutbad who might see it. He nuzzled over the light scar, licking it, pleased with the sign that this man was his.
The Grimm hummed and snuggled into his embrace, relaxed and warm and near-boneless in his arms. So trusting. A trust that wasn't wrong.
"Never took you for such a cuddler," Monroe murmured and ran his fingers through the mussed up hair.
"Not hearing you complain," was the drowsy reply.
"Not complaining."
"Good."
Monroe smiled and pressed a kiss to the exposed neck, watching goose bumps rise.
Too bad it had needed Nick getting shot for him to realize that this was what they had been heading for. Unstoppable, maybe fate.
Nick was dozing off in his embrace and he watched, taken by the sight of the younger man, naked, in his bed, relaxed and alive and at ease.
His Grimm.
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Monroe was the first to wake. Blutbaden lived on very little sleep and years of a firm routine had him wake up at the same time each day. He smiled briefly as he looked at his little Grimm. Nick was still fast asleep, spread out over his side of the large bed in full splendor, one arm flung out. His hair was in wild disarray and there was a beard shadow Monroe found rather appealing.
He followed the call of nature, then started his morning routine. Pilates, then a shower, then breakfast.
The insistent ringing of a cell phone announced a call for Nick and he listened with one ear as his partner took it. There was a brief exchange, then hurried footsteps came from upstairs.
"Case?" Monroe asked casually, holding a coffee-to-go mug for Nick to take along.
"Yeah. Body found at the river."
A cream cheese bagel was next. Nick took it gratefully as he shrugged into his jacket.
"Have fun," Monroe teased.
Nick was already chewing on the bagel and just waved with it, then he was gone.
Monroe leaned against the kitchen counter, feeling strangely at ease like he hadn't in a very long time. At home and settled and balanced. He let his gaze roam over the open living room area that no longer resembled the cold, impersonal space he had first seen so many months ago. It now held so many of Monroe's things, it was almost like his own home now.
He smiled and sipped at his coffee.
Tamed. Well, no, that wasn't the right word for it. A blutbad was never tame; far from it. The beast in him was still there, wild and violent if let lose, but the temptation was gone. He had found that looking at a young girl in red was no longer so bad. He still reacted to it, but it was like a distant twinge. He felt more at ease when seeing the alarming color worn by possible prey. It wasn't just the regular sex coupled with his regimen. It was something else, something deeper within him.
Maybe it was a Grimm thing; maybe the Grimm bloodline had a magic all of their own.
Monroe smirked behind his mug. Right. Nick would have a fit if he came up with that theory.
With Nick out of the house, the blutbad mentally went through the clocks he wanted to work on. An antiques dealer had sent him several small ones, requesting his opinion, and he had already told the man that he might be able to get them working again. The hefty sum offered for his services had been a surprise, but apparently the client really wanted them fixed.
Taking his coffee with him, Monroe walked into his work space and set to work.
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The case had taken the better part of two weeks and it had been high profile enough to run Nick and Hank slightly ragged. The mayor had been breathing down Renard's neck. Unlike other superiors Nick had experienced in his career, Renard was good at taking the pressure and not immediately turning it onto the case detectives. He told them firmly what he expected and that they find the killer of a young woman fast, especially since the woman was the mayor's niece. But that was what he always did. This time he only reminded them of the press watching; nothing else.
So two weeks later Nick resurfaced from work, with all reports written, the perp behind bars and awaiting trial, and they had a few days to breathe more easily. The weekend was coming up and no new cases had been handed to them.
Nick and Monroe had barely seen each other all that time. The blutbad had tinkered around his home, doing 'repairs' as he had told Nick before the case had involved all the Grimm's free time, and Nick had only had enough brain capacity to feed himself every night and then crash. In the morning he had grabbed a coffee and a bagel at Clari's store, then headed off to work, interviewing friends and colleagues, following evidence, doggedly on the trail of a non-creature killer.
And wasn't that new that there wasn't a creature incident in those two weeks either.
Nick was too involved in the murder of Emma Jenssen to have any Grimm time anyway. He didn't even have Monroe time!
That one moment hadn't been enough, though it had been intense.
x
The door had just closed when Monroe pushed him against it, claiming his mouth in a kiss. Nick didn't protest, simply pulled him close by grabbing his open shirt. The kiss was long and slow, not leading to a sexual encounter, and finally Monroe leaned against him, exhaling slowly. "Monroe?" Nick murmured after a moment. "No talking," the blutbad growled, silencing that mouth with another kiss. The Grimm responded and he didn't give a damn. Right now it was good to feel this, to feel this man with him, kissing and being kissed. They separated again, Nick looking at the taller man, aware of so much. Like how little time they had had lately, how fresh they were into this again redefined relationship of theirs, and how badly he wanted to be with Monroe. But the job demanded a lot from him and Monroe respected it. He wrapped a hand around the blutbad's neck, cupping his head, and pulled him into a new kiss, this one almost chaste. They finally broke apart after an indefinite amount of time and Monroe straightened. Nick was still silent, watching him. Both were aware that Nick had only come for a change of clothes, that nothing else would… could happen. Nick felt the warmth and weight of Monroe's hand on his scar, the only confession of the other man how worried he was right now. He stroked over the broad chest, smiling apologetically and Monroe stepped back with a nod. Nick was gone within an hour, freshly showered, shaved and dressed. He pushed any thought of his partner out of his mind, concentrating only on his work.
x
Now, at the end of the case, that would have to be rectified. Monroe had been so patient, so accepting, and still so much there for him, Nick felt a lump in his throat. Supportive. With no conditions or demands.
Damn. He felt emotions bubble up inside him, all of them pretty intense and mostly sappy, and he felt them choke him.
A few weeks into their more intimate relations and he was… what? What was this to Nick? To Monroe himself?
He didn't know. And right now, what they already had, this intimacy, this ease and the trust, it was enough.
More than enough.
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Nick watched his partner as Monroe fiddled with a clock part. He had chosen to drop by the house and while a lot of the other man's stuff had migrated to Nick's place, turning it more into a home than it had been ever since Juliette had left, there was still a lot here, too.
The welcome kiss had been no less than breathtaking and it had Nick yearning for a lot more. Monroe apparently, too, judging by the blowjob, which turned his knees to jelly. They hadn't made it to the bedroom and the carpet had seen some action.
Nick ached pleasantly and while there were teeth marks on his neck, he couldn't care less.
What he did care about was the fact the Monroe seemed kind of distracted. Since they hadn't seen each other for two weeks, except for a hasty hello and good-bye and that really intense kiss, Nick hadn't noticed. He had been too involved with the chase of a killer. Now he had time and the need was taking a backseat.
"You okay?"
Monroe looked up, peering over his glasses. "Why shouldn't I be?"
"Because you've been staring at the innards of this clock like they hold all the answers to the world's problems."
Monroe blinked. "Uh, what?"
"What's going on, Monroe?"
The blutbad was silent, still playing with a small cog. Finally, after apparently composing his thoughts, he looked up and at Nick.
"You have those books of that aunt of yours, right?"
"Ri-ight," he answered slowly.
Not the kind of conversation he had been expecting. They hardly talked about Aunt Marie's heritage in form of all the creature books and weapons and whatever else was in the trailer. Actually, Monroe had never actively asked about any of that stuff, like if he didn't know it didn't exist, or something like that.
"Could you look something up? I mean, if you guys even have something on them."
Nick frowned. "What are you talking about? Who is 'them'?"
Monroe fidgeted a little. "I… ran into something."
The Grimm in Nick suddenly sat up and took notice. A lot of notice. And from Monroe's look of alarm, he had noticed the shift, too. Nick felt a kind of tension he usually got when Grimm things were about to happen.
"What something?" he asked, more sharply than usual.
The blutbad got up and moved around nervously. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly agitated.
"Monroe…" Nick took a step forward. "What happened?"
"Just… look up regnant, okay? Or premier. If there is anything at all on them."
"And what are they?"
"You tell me."
Nick shook his head, mystified. "What are you talking about?"
"Just… go wherever those books are and have a look, okay? And no, I don't want to know where you hide them. Better this way."
"Monroe…"
"Go. I really don't want to know. Shoo!"
He looked into the brown eyes, noticing no sign of the wolf, just this weird confusion mixed with what could be worry. But about what? And when had Monroe run into this regnant thing?
"Alright," Nick said slowly and picked up his keys. "I'll go. I'll call you, okay? My place."
Monroe just nodded.
So Nick went, mystified as to what was going on.
