Falling Deep: Stand Your Ground
Authors Note: So we're on the final book of Falling Deep, won't be long until this story's over and I can start on The Good Girl; which I really, really want to do hence why I'm pounding out chapters like no tomorrow! Nevertheless, I will finish FD first before moving on to that whirlwind of a story.
FYI: There's heavy lime in this chapter that goes into descriptive detail. I had to take breaks from writing it. Yeah, not playing, I might even have to change the rating (so I'll wave some of you goodbye now since it might be against your morals to read a rated M fiction, sorry). But since I'm doing that I might as well squeeze in a lemon, it'll probably be in two or three chapters just before the ending of the story because I hate it when it's back to back, feels trashy somehow.
On the bright side, I'm intentionally giving you a much longer chapter to read to make up for the length of the lime (yeah, it's kind of long) so I hope you can forgive me, sorry!
"Wouldn't it be better if you just had the house built?" Once-ler heard his mother ask as he carefully measured the large wooden plank covered in grayish purple paint, "At least buy new supplies, it's filthy!"
Once-ler grinned and smoothed his hand over the board, "It comes with memories already attached to it, mom, I'd rather use it." he told her, using a thick flat pencil to mark where he needed to cut before looking up at her unimpressed face. "It's going to be repainted anyways, who cares what it looks like now?"
She shook her head, "You're becoming so stubborn, Oncie." she sighed and he smirked at the unintended compliment, "It's no doubt the fault of that woman." he nodded his head in agreement and started picked up the small electric saw he'd bought. "Why do you look so pleased over it?"
"You date her and find out." he teased and she stared at him before understanding it was a joke, "Would you relax, there are worse things to become than stubborn." he made the cut and put the board along with the others he'd already done and lifted the next, pulling his measuring tape from his pocket to hold along the length before making a mark on the board and repeating the process.
Finished with that he stood back and took a long look at the framework that he'd already set up, his brothers were busily hauling tiling off a flatbed and he waved them over. "You guys remember to buy the dry wall or do I have to go back into town for that?"
Brett shrugged, "We bought it, but they didn't have it in the store when we went to pick it up." he answered, his thumbs coming up to hitch onto his overall straps, "They said they'd have it by afternoon so we'll go and get it then."
"This is why I told you to just hire someone." His mother said behind him and he gave a tired look to his brothers who grinned and gave him a 'we don't care' shrug and he narrowed his eyes at them. They were getting cockier every day they spent annoying the hell out of him in his tent as they mooched free meals off him. "You boys never listen to a word I say."
"Did you say something?" Once-ler asked, eyes his brows darting up in mock shock as his brothers chortled behind him, his mother glared and he gave a grin, "I was kidding, mom, get a sense of humor. It'll keep you young." at that she reached into her purse and snatched out her little pocket mirror to inspect for wrinkles and his brothers laughed harder, he shook his head at them and whispered, "I think she's seriously looking for wrinkles, guys, you want to be caught laughing if she finds one?"
Smiles gone they turned to run back to the truck when Juniper walked out of the tent with a large platter full of iced tea and almond cookies, "I found them at the store yesterday, couldn't resist getting some." she explained as they gathered around for the snack, "They taste better with hot tea, but I'm sure cold won't hurt the flavor to much."
"Tastes fine to me!" Chett grinned, snatching a handful and shoving them in his overall's front pocket until he couldn't fit anymore an, then taking another handful along with a glass of tea, "I love visiting you guys, you've always got the good stuff."
Once-ler snorted and picked up a glass for himself, "Visiting is when you stay for an hour or two and leave, not stay all day and leave for an hour or two; you've practically moved in " his brothers grinned proudly at him and he rolled his eyes and squared Juniper a stern look, "It's because you constantly let them in, you're starting something that you won't be able to stop."
She shrugged away his warning and set the tray down on the measured stack of wood before sitting next to it, looking at the house frame, and grinning, "That's why I wanted a two story house, bottom for company, top for privacy." she nodded as though it would solve all the worlds problems and he laughed, biting into a cookie and chewing on it before deciding that he liked it and eying his older brother's full pocket and the nearly empty plate that Brett and his mother were working on.
"I'm making pancakes tonight and you're not invited, Chett." He decided, earning a shocked look from his older brother followed by a groan as he unloaded some of his cookie hoard back onto the plate, "Try a little more and then we'll talk."
"Knock it off, hag, I'm not pregnant!" Juniper snapped, bringing the attention of the men towards her and his mother as the older woman persistently tried to touch the younger's stomach while she fended her off. "There's certain actions that you have to do before getting into that state that I haven't practiced so I can tell you for a fact, stop trying to goad me!"
His mother huffed, "You're not pulling a fast one on me, you can't be sleeping with a man in his bed and not be sleeping with him." she insisted, going for Juniper's stomach again, "I can see the bulge though your shirt, you're not even trying to hid it; now I don't see what the problem is, just let me feel my grand baby!"
Once-ler quickly stood up and grabbed his mother's wrists, however the damage had already been done and Juniper's eyes were wide and horrified, "Are you calling me fat?!" she looked down and jabbed the small bump over her jeans, her finger sunk in and she blinked, "Good lord, I'm fat!"
"Pregnant women aren't fat." His mother sighed.
Once-ler's eyebrows shot up in the air as his brothers howled with laughter, "Stop it, mom, we really haven't done anything!" he hissed at her. She gave him a disbelieving frown, "Really, stop!"
"I've never had a bump before, I can't believe this!" Juniper cried out, poking her belly again before looking at the cookies and wailing. Once-ler threw her a frown before rolling his eyes and letting his mother go, if they wanted to be crazy they could be crazy, "I'm never eating bread again, it's because of all that pie!"
"Well you have to learn to control your cravings, you'll never get your figure back if you just eat everything in sight." His mother stated smoothly, "Look at me, thin as a rail at the age of twenty-nine after having three baby boys."
Juniper stared at her, "I'm not pregnant, cow!" she picked up a cookie and made to throw it at her but Once-ler snatched it from the air and walked away eating it, looking at his brothers and shaking his head as they collapsed together he-hawing so much that they had to clutch their stomachs. "Stop laughing, I'm never making pie again!"
They continued laughing and Once-ler slid the first board from the pile and dragged it over his shoulder to carry to the house frame, waving Chett and Brett over to hold it in place as he nailed it in; "She pregnant?"
"No." Once-ler snapped at Brett, "We haven't done anything, she's not pregnant." he looked over his shoulder and seen his mother go for Juniper's wrist as the girl kept poking her stomach, "I have a feeling that our days of sweets and snacks is over for a while, boys." he sighed, Juniper went to smack at his mother's hands and the woman skitter back.
Chett yelped and Once-ler looked over at him to see him near to tears, "She's really going to stop making us pies?" he nodded sadly and the older man looked helplessly at the plate of cookies before running over and snatching the rest from the plate, stuffing them in his pocket and coming back with a frightened look on his face, "You'll still make pancakes though, right?"
"Like she could stop me." Once-ler cackled as he stood up to retrieve another board.
His mother tugged his arm as he was lifting it over his shoulder, "She's going to poke the brains clear out of it's head before it's even born!" she insisted and he sighed, pushing her away gently and lifting the board over his shoulder to carry back, "You'll be sorry when your baby comes out ugly and stupid!"
"I'm not pregnant!"
Later that night Once-ler sat at the table and watched as Juniper continued to weakly poke at her stomach, wondering if she intended to do it until it went away; "Just do some situps." he sighed, looking down at the papers in his hands. She glared at him but chose to ignore him and poke her stomach again, "If you don't stop I'm telling mom you're having a boy."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "It's not funny, do you know what it's like to have people asking if you're pregnant when you're not?" he looked, wondering if she completely thought that scenario out before belting it at him. "I don't get it, we're eating the exact same things and you're as thin as ever! Why am I the only one gaining weight?"
"Because I'm building a house and you're baking pie." He told her flatly, "You're worried over nothing, anyhow, so you have a little bump on your belly, lay down and I'll use it as a pillow. Problem solved." he grinned and stood up to do just that and she frowned at him as he crawled over her on the bed and put his head on her stomach.
"Well I don't know how to build a house, do I?" she asked snottily, petting his hair in the way that he liked, her nails lightly scratching against his scalp with each slow caress and he sighed pleasantly, "I'll start doing situps tomorrow, but I'm really not going to make anymore deserts until this goes away." he shrugged, not really caring. With her not baking all the time Chett and Brett might even stop coming around in the mornings to scavenge the leftovers they didn't eat the night before, "Why haven't you told me that I'm not fat?"
"I don't argue with crazy people." he informed her lightly, turning onto his belly so he could press his face into hers, ignoring the slight jerk of his hair that she pulled for revenge on calling her mental health into question. She was soft and warm, if she thought just pulling his hair would get him off her then she really was crazy. She pulled his hair again and he gripped her wrist, "Stop picking on me, I'm listening to our baby."
That earned him a sharp jab in his back and he flinched before laughing and lightly biting her stomach for revenge. She cried out in shock and tried to push him off but he licked his lips and clung to her, "You know, that didn't taste to bad."
"Don't." He ignored the single worded command that somehow sounded nearly as threatening as a gun being put to his head and pulled her shirt up, but her hands quickly brought her shirt back down and she made to wiggle away, "Damn you, Once, this is why people think we're doing things that we're not!" she cried out as he licked her stomach, making her squeal in disgusted laughter, "That's so gross!"
"Tastes great though." She kicked out and he laughed, wrestling her down to drag his teeth across her belly button before she managed to turn in his arms, wiggling away in the greatest way possible, "I vote you do that all night, you'll lose weight and I'll have the best time of my life." she kicked his shin with her heal and he grunted before dragging his teeth across the smooth skin of her back. "Wow, this part tastes good, too."
"I'm going to kill you!" She snapped, her hands coming up to the edge of the bed to try and pull herself out of his grip, "I'm going to rip you apart, set you on fire, and dance around the ashes." he ignored her in favor for tickling her stomach, smiling happily at the loud gasping laughter that shook through her body until she managed one great heave and slipped out from under him, falling to the floor in a wonderful tumble that he would have, at any other time, been impressed with. She picked herself up and glared over the edge of the mattress at him, giving him only a split second to hop off the bed and sprint for the door before she gave chase.
He managed to get outside and was half way to the water when she tackled him to the soft grass and had his nice clean white shirt covered in grass stains in no time as she tried to wrestle it up so she could tickle the pale skin below it. "Help! There's a chubby psychotic model trying to steal my cookies!" he shouted, she stopped her assault to blink down at him in shock and he slowly smirked at her.
"You have no idea the amount of hell I'm going to put you through now." she warned darkly and he blinked at her in wide eyed innocence before she restarted her assault, finally managing to get the shirt up and popping a few buttons in the process before her fingers dug lightly into his belly. He laid smugly under her, however, and it took her a few seconds to realize her attack was failing before she sat on him and glared, "Your stomach isn't ticklish?"
"'Fraid not, but I firmly encourage you to keep trying." she slapped his stomach and he jerked up in pained surprise before grabbing her waist and rolling out from under her, throwing her over his shoulder, "That hurt." he told her sternly despite the large smile on his face as he walked steadily towards the smooth water of the river, "You're not supposed to hurt the ones you love, Juni."
"What are you doing?" she looked under his arm and started kicking, her arms coming around to wrap about his middle tightly, "Don't you dare!"
"That's not going to help you." He shook his head sadly as he kicked his shoes off and stepped into the cold water, shivering at the sharp bite against his skin, "Wow, you're really not going to like this, it's freezing." he warned.
"Stop, I'm sorry! Don't!" She yelped before he found a deep enough spot and took a large gulp of air. He waited just long enough to hear her sharp intake of breath before falling over sideways. The water swallowed them both and he released her when she let go of him, coming up for air with a trembling gasp just a split second before her and giving her a large grin.
"You look good in blue." She splashed him and he laughed, not bothering to dodge as she repeatedly gushed large waves at his head, he was already soaked anyhow and if it kept her from strangling him he was all for staying a little damp. When she finished he pushed his wet hair from his face and watched her stand up and glare down at him, her ire having been inflamed past breaking point and he wondered if he didn't, perhaps, make her a little to angry for his own good.
She twisted her hair to squeeze the water from it before whipping it around her head and he had to scamper out of the way of the now deadly locks of bronze, "You're going to be very sorry about this, Once-ler." she vowed, pointing at him with a trembling finger.
He blinked at her, "I love you." she continued to point at him and he gave her a worried smile, "You're the most beautiful, non-fat, generous, and kind woman I've ever had the pleasure to know."
She turned around and slowly pushed her legs through the water until she could climb up to the bank and slosh back to the tent in measured and controlled steps and he quickly followed after her, jogging until he was beside her, "Smart, too." he added, looking at her blank face hopefully. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes and he gave a nervous giggle, "Sorry?"
She stepped into the tent and walked over to the dresser, pulling out a set of his dry pajamas and he sighed, "I'm really so-" he choked himself off when she pulled her shirt over her head and let it drop to the floor with a damp thud before unbuttoning her pants and wiggled them over her hips, her blue stripped panties dragging down on one side to just below her hips as she freed them and pulled them down her thighs in a single bend. Stepping out of them she looked over her shoulder, smirked, and gave another wiggle of her hips before sashaying towards the bathroom.
"I'll sleep on the couch tonight." she told him over her shoulder as she paused outside the bathroom door, throwing him the single most seductive look he'd ever been given, "Without my panties." the door shut and he stood dripping in the same spot staring at the empty space until the door opened back up and she came in wearing nothing but his bunny pajama top. Taking his pillow and blanket she carried them to the couch and laid down, covering herself up cozily, "'Nite, Once-ler, sleep well."
Juniper woke slowly, stretching out over the couch and opening her eyes to see two tortured grayish green eyes staring at her pleadingly and yelped, jerking herself upright, "What the hell are you doing?" she looked out the window and seen that it was still dark and turned to look incredulously at him, "Did you actually sit there staring at me until I woke up? That's way to creepy, Once!"
"You're practically naked, it's not fair!" he howled, thumping a fist on the pillow, "In my pajama top, on my couch, that's not right, Juniper! I only made you a little bit wet-"
"You threw me in the river!" She snapped, picking up the pillow and smacking him with it, "Molested me and threw me in the river, you're getting your just deserts!" he let himself get smacked two more times before she realized he wasn't fighting back and stopped, looking at him curiously to see him watching her pitifully. She sighed and put the pillow in her lap, "Go get me some panties and I'll put them on."
"No, it's to late for that." He shook his head, "I already buried them."
She looked at him before standing up and walking over to the drawers, opening them to find her panties still rolled neatly into little rows and picked a pair up and turned to see him dragging the couch out of the tent, "What the hell, Once-ler?!"
He looked up before doubling his efforts and she ran over to try and pull the couch back before he made it completely out of the tent with it, her panties thrown angrily to the floor, "Have you lost your ever loving mind? Stop it!" he was winning the tug-of-war and the couch was slowly being pulled outside.
"Don't be so unreasonable, I'll burn the damn thing and this won't happen again." He looked up at her and smirked, "Go lay down, this will only take a few minutes."
"I'm not letting you burn the couch!" she snapped, heaving on her side uselessly until giving up and scrambling over the arm to sit on it before he could get it further into the yard and looking at him like he had blown sanity clear out of the water and shot it past the moon. His face was red and his breathing heavy with stumbling steps and she frowned, "Are you okay?" he nodded and she carefully crawled over to him, lifting a hand to touch his brow before staring at him, "Are you sick?"
He looked at her before touching his own head and pulling his hand down to stare at it, "Well, my shoulders do ache a little." he admitted, frowning at his fingers and rubbing them together, "I might be sick."
She flattened her palm over his brow and gasped, "Good lord, Once-ler, you've got a fever and you're trying to move the couch?" she shook her head and pulled him over the arm of the couch, nearly dragging him across the other to get him back inside the tent and pushing him to the bed, "Go lay down." he glared at her and she pushed him again, "Go lay down, I'm not playing. You're going to kill yourself over a couch?" shaking her head she turned and started pulling it back in.
Once she got it past the threshold again she sighed and shut the door, deciding to wait until the morning to move it back to where he'd pulled it from and turned to see him staring at her. "Lay down, Once-ler." she sighed, picking the pillow and blanket from the couch and walking over to the bed, crawling in herself, "Come on, lay down."
He sighed and got in bed, putting his head on the pillow she set down for him before hugging her closely and she covered him up, "Only you would get yourself sick making me miserable." she told him, annoyed with herself for not noticing sooner. Why else would he lie about her panties and try to burn the couch? Even he wasn't that random, "Let me get you a fever reducer from the medicine cabinet."
He curled around her, pressing her back to his bare chest and she sighed. If he wanted to snuggle she'd let him snuggle, the important thing was that he got some rest in the end, right? "I'm sorry I buried your panties."
She rolled her eyes and patted his arm, "It's okay, Once, you didn't bury my panties." she comforted him, laughing softly in amusement and he squeezed her.
"Then I'm sorry I'm going to bury your panties." He corrected and she scrunched her eyebrows before rolling her eyes, letting him squeeze her in a near painfully tight hug before his grip slackened. After a few moments she felt him relax and sighed, closing her eyes and going back to sleep as well, chances were he'd sleep off the sickness and be better than ever in the morning and she wanted to be well rested so she could yell at him for trying to burn the couch in his delusional haze.
This is the part where you blush
and turn away before your
eyes burn to ashes.
Once-ler awoke with Juniper in his arms and gave a large yawn before feeling a nagging headache squeeze around his head and groaned, pressing his face into golden hair that smelled like stale shampoo and remembering that he'd dunked them both in the river the night before. Then he remembered her revenge for it and chose to ignore the headache in favor for smoothing his hand across her naked hips and giving a surprised gasp when not even a thread separated his flesh from hers.
"Best morning ever." He happily sighed, lightly rubbing the naked hips that were attached to the naked bottom pressing nicely against him until the full realization hit him and he jerked his hand off her, yanking it free of the blanket and raising it into the air. She was going to wake up and think he'd raped her or something; the best morning ever theory thrown out of his head and he considered the many different reactions she would give him, each one ending with murder.
She sighed in her sleep and wiggled against him and he stifled the harsh groan that nearly burst from his throat; he was in so much trouble. He was going to die, and it would no doubt be a painful death.
He heard his door open and bang into something hard before looking over his shoulder and frowning when he spotted the couch, why was it in front of the door. He seen the Lorax poke his head in and frown at it as well, "Why's a couch-" he stopped and looked at the couple on the bed before blinking at them and slowly pulling his head back out, closing the door softly
"Come back!" Once-ler hissed, however there was no answer and he was left alone with his eventual murderer once more. Why was the couch in front of the door? That would only make things worse on him, someone needed to move it! Juniper moaned and shifted against him again and try as he might he couldn't restrain his body's reaction, his hand formed a fist in the air and he brought it down to his mouth to bite harshly on his knuckle in attempt to distract himself from it.
His other arm was stretched out below her head, her hair entangled around it so much that he couldn't even budge it, he was screwed. There was no getting up and moving the couch, there was no scooting away, there was no getting out of the dangerous path he had woken to find himself in aside from waking her up and trying to explain what he had no idea how to explain.
When he actually managed to bite through the flesh of his knuckle painfully and found himself still in danger of an arousal he gave up and let himself enjoy. If he was going to die then he would die deserving the death that awaited him anyways and let his hand creep back under the covers to smooth over her naked stomach, tracing the small circle of her belly button and letting a slow sigh escape as her back arched against his naked chest. He could feel the smooth skin of her back against his own bare stomach and moved his hand to her hip again, holding it lightly in his hand and pushing his growing erection against her backside and letting out a deep growl when she sleepily sighed.
There was no way in hell that he could stop his hand from moving down her hips, lightly caressing her outer thigh as he slowly smoothed his palm between the soft flesh of her inner thigh; especially not when he heard his name lightly murmured from her sleeping lips as she pushed her bottom against him and shiver in his arms.
He looked at her face and trembled himself; her lips were partially open to let hot panting breaths escape in quick bursts, her brow furrowed from his attention to areas that had previously gone unexplored. When he freed his hand and pressed it against her sex she moaned, her eyes opening slightly to blink in confusion as her pink tongue came out to moisten her lips. She must have realized what he was doing because her hand went to his wrist to pull it away and he quickly took her lips in his own, thrusting his tongue into her surprised mouth to lick and tease the soft slippery muscle.
She turned her head to free her lips, but he attacked again, kissing her roughly as his fingers found a slick warm little bud and he pressed against it, earning a drugged moan from the girl in his arms. She twisted her hips and pressed them against his waiting hand. Her muscles twitched and he curled himself over her, his lips molding against hers as he tried to taste every last inch of her, smoothing across the back of her teeth and gently licking the roof of her mouth.
When her tongue finally slid across his own he trembled, luring it into his mouth to gently suckle before releasing it to kiss the corner of her lips, murmuring her name as he pinched the small nub between her legs. Her legs trembled and she gasped his name softly, "I'm sorry." he whispered, letting his fingers travel down to the silken wet folds. Her legs parted slightly for him and he slid a finger into her.
"W-wait." she gasped, her hands coming to push against his chest. He nodded, but his finger didn't seem to understand and continued in until it was completely inside and he groaned. It was warm, wet, slippery; like wet velvet, and when he wiggled it just right her nails would rake across his chest in response. "Juniper, I can't, I'm sorry." he sighed, biting lightly at her lips, "Just let me, it's okay."
She shook her head, but her hips moved against his hand and she could only pant, "It'll be okay, I won't do more than touch, I promise." he slipped his finger back out slowly and she made a long low noise of pleasure. He licked his lips, his eyes darting down to watch as he slowly slipped his middle finger back in, "See, it's okay, just touching." she shook her head and he wiggled his finger, "Please say it's okay, Juni, because I don't think I can stop myself even if you don't."
She shook her head and tried to move away from him and he wrapped her in his arms, bringing her flush against his chest. His finger came back out and rubbed the small nub, enjoying the wiggling hips that she pressed ageist him before she suddenly tore herself from his hands to shakily get to her feet and stumble awkwardly from the bed.
"What do you think you're doing." he shook his head and held his arms out to her, "No, Once, it's wrong!"
"No it's not, come back." he begged, his fingers curling in the air, "It's okay, I'm right here and I always will be, come back."
She stared at him, her wide eyes so dark he wasn't sure if they'd turned completely black or if they'd just become so dark he couldn't tell the difference. She took a hesitant step back towards him and he nodded, "Good girl, come back. I won't do anything else but touch, I swear." he wasn't sure if he could keep the promise, but he didn't care. He wanted her in his arms so badly that it hurt when she wasn't.
"It's bad, Once, we're not married-"
"We might as well be, come back!" He begged, getting to his knees and reaching for her, he grabbed her hand loosely and pulled her back to the bed when someone knocked on the door. He looked over at it before pressing his lips over hers. "They'll go away." he urged, trying to mentally decapitate whoever was at his door.
"Oncie, are you awake?" he heard his mother ask and damned her to hell for it. Juniper was shocked back to reality and she tried to pull her lips from his but he kept them firmly clamped together. "She'll go away." he whispered, against the dark softness of her mouth, "Stay with me, right here, let me touch you."
She shook her head, "That's enough touching, Once-ler, she'll open the door anyways, how do we explain this to her?"
"Why do we have to?" she tried to get out of his arms but he hugged her to his chest, he was throbbing all over and knew that if she got away he wouldn't be able to stand the pain, "Please, Juni, just choose me, okay?"
"Are you two awake?" The door knocked again and he hoped fervently that she would just walk away.
Juniper looked nearly ready to cry and he sighed, letting his hands slowly release their grip, she wasn't going to agree and he wasn't going to continue forcing himself on her and make himself hated forever afterward for it. "I'll stop."
Once-ler's mother knocked again and Juniper's eyes flew to the door, uncomfortably moving her throbbing legs before looking back at the depressed man sitting on the bed. His muscles were twitching and his face was tense and she nearly let a nervous laugh escape when she realized that the sun from the kitchen window was making his skin glisten.
Dark hair wildly tangled and his fists digging in the mattress, he looked like an angry rock god wearing out of place bunny pajamas that, for some wild reason, had never looked better on him. Even his eyes were a dark blue that she'd never seen them be ever before; he was intense, dark, brooding, and she couldn't help but feel a little pride swell in her chest. He was hers, she was the only one to ever see the mess he'd become and she had been the one to make him like that.
She licked her lips and slowly crept towards him, her fingers shakily combing through his dark locks and his eyes jerked up to hers in surprise. "She'll go away." she whispered, her voice sounding weak even to her own ears. He nodded quickly, his arms coming around her waist and pulling her to him so he could press his face against her stomach.
His fingers nimbly slipped the buttons from the holes of the partner piece of his pajamas until he could press warm wet kissing to her abdomen, his hands sneaking in through to trace against her rib cage and leaving burning trails of fire in their wake. His mother knocked on the door again, but she could hardly even hear the sound outside of the steady pulse of blood rushing through her head, leaving her feeling dizzy and weak.
He gave a gentle pull and she tumbled into his lap willingly as he whispered soothing sounds to her, his fingers seemingly everywhere; expertly tuning her with his long talented and work roughened fingers. He pulled the top free of her shoulders and she helped to shrug out of it, leaving it where ever he'd thrown it and immediately forgetting it ever even existed to begin with.
His lips nuzzled the hollow spot of her neck before trailing down to her nipple, gently taking it into his lips and she gasped when his hot tongue flicked across it, nipping his teeth against bud before suckling it. She arched to him, her arms wrapping around his neck as electricity shocked through her sharply and she gasped from the shock as she felt him press her firmly against his hardness, her name nothing but a sound growled out of his throat.
He released her nipple and her eyes widened as the cool air quickly replaced the warm wetness of his tongue before he took the other into his mouth, a hand coming up to massage the firm tip, teasing it as he dragged his tongue across the other as he pressed himself firmly against the throbbing pressure that had long since formed between her legs and she moaned his name, rocking slightly to relieve the pressure.
When he rolled her under him he looked down at her, his hands smoothing over her breasts down to her belly, firmly pressing into her flesh as he breathed heavily above her with eyes so bright she could hardly stand to look in them. They were electric, filling her with his energy and greedily taking hers into them with each second that he looked at her and she turned her face to keep herself from catching fire from his gaze.
"It's okay." He whispered to her again, his fingers pulling her chin back so that his eyes could devour her, burn her to nothing more than a pile of ash to be blown away with a breath, "It's okay." she shook her head, it wasn't okay but she was fine with that, and as she reached for him he rewarded her with a drugging smile that inflamed her senses, turning everything around until the only thing that made sense any longer was him.
She trailed her palms across his back and delighted in the feel of his muscles twitching under her fingertips as he gasped for air and kissed her, sucking her breath from her lungs to his and drowning her in pure sensation. Nothing else mattered so long as he kept touching her, so long as she could touch him. The outside world could shrivel and die and she wouldn't give it a seconds worth of mourning, and as his fingers found the small nub between her legs once more she was sure that it had.
She couldn't stop her legs from moving despite her hardest efforts, and her hips wouldn't stop following the slow circles that his fingers made against her. Her name shuddered out of his mouth as though he couldn't help but say it and she moaned in response before his finger once more sank within her.
He was whispering to her again, but she couldn't hear any of it as his eyes stared into hers through tangled dark brown hair with an intensity she didn't know they were capable of. Hard and focused with a tiny crease between them and she raked her fingers through his hair so he could see them clearly. She must have pulled because he flinched, however his eyes remained on hers before his mouth dove to meet hers, thrusting deeply and capturing each unrestrained whimper she couldn't hope to hold.
The fire in her belly grew and she desperately grasped his shoulders, a slow fear making itself known in the back of her mind as her nerves went up in flames, threatening to tear her apart. She tried to push him away, to tell him she was dying, but he wouldn't budge and his tongue continued to move inside her mouth when lights suddenly burst in her eyes and her every muscle tensed; the world shattered around her to the rhythm of his fingers leaving nothing but sparks of color and light to simmer into darkness and a surprised scream that was swallowed whole by the man above her.
As her world fell around her those steady bright blue eyes never strayed once until all her strength left her and it became a difficult chore to even breath. His lips came down to play lightly against her own and she sluggishly wrapped her arms around his neck and tiredly returned them as her eyes drooped.
She fell asleep in his arms, her muscles still twitching from the aftermath and as he slowly removed his fingers from inside her he swore he would never forget the dark pools of a blue so dark they'd crossed into violet only to fall into black as she'd nearly convulsed under his hands. He felt a hallow satisfaction from her release and sat back to stare at the still blushing body in front of him, his fingers lightly brushing light bruises he'd unintentionally left behind and grinned at the proof left behind.
She would no doubt wake up and see them, they would confirm to her what he'd done to her and he greatly looked forward to doing even more in the future. He looked down at himself and seriously contemplated finding his own release, but even the thought of it seemed to cheapen his memories; so he pressed a soft kiss on her lips before uncomfortably standing and going towards his bathroom to blast himself with realities freezing water.
It's okay to open your eyes!
"Shit." he had a problem.
Hitting the shower tiles he looked down at his still raging member and cursed again. Though it had lessened dramatically it was still swollen and throbbed, the water was biting painfully at his skin he could only blame the images of Juniper's writhing body and his inability to put them in the back of his mind.
Sighing, he turned the water off and dried himself before stepping into a fresh set of clothing and looking at himself in the mirror. He almost turned and missed the small reddish brown mark at the base of his neck that was half covered by his shirt, and when it caught a glimpse of it through the corner of his eye and turned back to move his shirt aside he smiled dumbly at it before doing the top button that he would have otherwise left undone before turning and leaving the bathroom in a slightly better mood. At least he'd have something to defend himself with when Juniper caught a glimpse of her own body in the mirror.
He paused at the sight of his naked girlfriend tangled in his sheets and his grin widened before tearing his eyes away and pulling the tangled sheet around her, tucking it about her body until he was sure it wouldn't move and turned to the couch. He still wasn't entirely sure why it was moved in front of the door, but he was thankful that it had been and sent a thank you to whoever had done it; which had to have been him or Juniper.
So he probably just thanked himself... He thank himself again and began tugging the small couch back to where it was supposed to be and turned to make a pot of coffee, humming happily to himself as he turned the little switch on and sat at his table. His gloating was doing nothing to help his situation, however so long as he didn't move from the table he could hide his shame and have no one else the wiser.
Juniper sighed in the bed and his smile grew until there was another knock on his door, then it fell and he frowned, not knowing how to answer the door without anyone figuring out his problem. He also couldn't just shout for them to enter and let them come in in case Juniper decided to roll over in her sleep, which she was prone to doing if he wasn't laying next to her. "Oncie, are you awake yet?" his mother sighed and he shrugged. He wasn't awake yet, he was sleeping in. "I smell the coffee, open up this door or I'm coming in."
He jumped up and ran over to the door, locking it in place and scrambling away with the irrational thought that she might just bust through anyhow. "Did you just lock the door?!" he groaned as the handle turned, "You just locked the door on me, how dare you?"
He looked over at Juniper in panic and tried to ease his furiously beating heart, she was never going to let him hear the end of it if his mother found out what they'd been up to. "Once-ler, you open up this door this instant!"
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
He hurriedly picked his phone up from his nightstand and called Brett, his heart beating madly in his chest until the older man picked up on the fifth ring, "Hello?"
"Get mom, now!" He hissed into the phone. He heard the tell-tell crunch of grass and ran for the kitchen window, letting the flap down and zipping it into place before she could peek inside and the coffee pot beeped, alerting both to the fact that the coffee was done. Yippee.
Brett laughed, "What's wrong? She catch you with your pants down?"
"Don't ask questions, get her!" He whispered harshly, running over to the other windows and zipping them closed as well before she could get the idea to peek through them. His brother laughed again and hung up, leaving Once-ler to stare at his phone blankly before calling Chett, who didn't bother answering at all.
Then he heard it, bellowed out loudly to echo across the forest and fell to his knees in thanks as the yelps, hollers, and insults flew outside his tent and his mother yelped, "What are you two fighting about? Stop it this instant!"
"I am buying you two so many pies." He swore to them, clasping his hands and bowing his head in honer to the two who were now getting loudly lectured as they continued their fight. Juniper groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing her neck and doing her little feline stretch that he was always a fan of before looking at him in confusion.
"Why are you sitting there like that?" she asked, frowning at him before memories of less than an hour ago sunk in and he got the added perk of watching her blush all over again as she snatched the forgotten sheets to her chest and hurriedly stumbled from the bed, tripping onto him from a misplaced step. He caught her and nuzzled her neck, kissing it lightly as she fought to get up, laughing until she jerked on his ear, "Let me get dressed!"
He rubbed his ear as she riffled through the closet and pouted at her back, "That's some way to treat me after leaving me high and dry like that." she froze. For several seconds she stayed in front of the closet, not moving even an inch, before turning to look at him with a face the same color as a tomato. She opened her mouth, took a step towards him, then turned back around to riffle through the closet before turning back around and he rolled his eyes. "Please don't do the weird dance shuffle thing, I'm not complaining or anything."
She blinked at him, her face somehow growing redder, before randomly snatching something and running to the bathroom with it. She came out a second later and exchanged his suit for a pair of red shorts and a yellow tank top before returning to the bathroom. Once-ler waited for the expected return and wasn't disappointed when she stormed out of the bathroom and stopped in front of him. "What's this?" she pointed to her neck and chest, the kiss marks he'd left behind clearly showing from under the yellow top.
"Looks like a bug bit you." He stated, undoing his button and giving her an evil grin, "It got me, too, see?"
Her mouth dropped open to stare wide eyed at the mark before she did the weird shuffle dance he'd only moments ago asked her not to do, "You're going to hurt yourself doing that one of these days." He stood up from the ground and redid the button, giving her a large smile before walking over to the bed and remaking it, "Coffee's brewed, but I'd suggest a different shirt."
"Yeah." She mumbled, shaking her head, "I don't have anything that's going to cover... Give me your Thneed." she jerked it off the wall before he could get to it and threw it over her arm before grabbing a black short sleeved t-shirt and going to the bathroom to change again. She returned shortly after with the marks hidden from view under the Thneed and glared at him, "I only left one!"
"I know, how disappointed are you?" he asked playfully and she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Giving her a cheerful grin he turned and made them both coffee's and put it on the table, "Relax, drink your coffee and wake up. We'll head into town today and pick up the dry wall-"
"I want a new kitchen table." She narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to argue and he nodded, "You never replaced the chair, either."
"Stop making yourself angry to cover your embarrassment, it's cute but it's not getting us on the road any faster." He informed her and she flushed again at being called out for it. Smiling he sat in his chair and leaned back, watching her join him at the table from over the mugs rim and tentatively sip at her own when his mother returned to knocking on the door and sent her back into doing her shuffle dance.
He motioned for her to sit down and she quickly did so as he answered the door and let the older woman in, "Well it's about time! Do you have any idea what your brothers were doing? Fighting over a cookie!" she stared at him wide eyed, "Why are they still arguing over cookies at their age?"
He shrugged his shoulders, standing aside to let her in and seeing his two older brothers standing proudly outside the RV. He gave them both a thumbs up and closed the door, "I have no idea, I guess some people just never grow up; I'll take them to town with Juniper and I when we go to get the rest of the building supplies in an hour or two and get them our of your hair for a bit."
She patted his cheek, "You're such a good boy- Why are you blushing like that?" she was looking at the guilty blush on Juniper and crossed over the room to her. "You're looking like you've done something wrong, what is it?"
"Don't treat me like that, this is my hou-tent!" Juniper defended herself, her eyes darting over to him for help and he quickly stood beside her.
Clearing his throat he nodded, "Juniper's right, mom, whatever she does in here is her business and she doesn't have to share it with you."
"Does what?"
"Wow, I'm sure ready to go!" Juniper jumped up from the table and ran outside before his mother could question her further, leaving him alone to deal with the now suspicious woman staring at him with her hands on her hips. He looked at her blankly and picked up his coffee, sipping at it casually with a shrug.
"What were you two doing this morning?" She asked slowly.
He had no answer for that, but he shrugged, "We decided to lay in and watch TV but she's convinced you all think we were doing something else because someone kept insinuating she was pregnant yesterday." he answered smoothly, surprising even himself with the effortless lie as he stuck a hand in his pocket.
His mother blinked, "Oh, is that all? I was only teasing her a little she doesn't have to act so hyper over it." she sighed, shaking her head, "Anyhow I just wanted to tell you that the factory opens next week and we've posted adds where we could to generate publicity."
He nodded, taking another sip and setting the cup onto the table, "Well, since she's ready to go I guess I'd better head out as well." he told her, reaching down to pick up her shoes and put his own on, "Feel free to stick around and drink the rest of the coffee, love you!" he shut the door and went out to see his brother's talking happily with the blonde. "You all ready to go?"
"We're going, too?" the men asked and he nodded. They high-fived each other before climbing into the backseat of the truck and jumper quickly got into the passenger side as he climbed in the drivers, "Why are we going?"
"Because I owe you one and I'm starting it off with an all-you-can-carry pie deal that I know you won't refuse." he answered, pulling off towards town as they cheered in the backseat, "Of course, this means you never breath a word of this ever, you forget it happened and remember only that one of you really wanted that cookie."
"He did eat the last cookie." Brett laughed, "He always does."
"Yes I did." Chett grinned.
"I have no idea what's going on anymore." Juniper sighed, looking at him curiously before shrugging and sliding him a secret grin for his eyes alone. His life was hectic, but no matter what he wouldn't trade it for anything. Juniper turned around and smiled at the men in the backseat, "You boys want to help me pick out the most expensive table I can find?"
He frowned at her and she happily tapped the Thneed at her neck, turning his dark look into a snort of laughter, "Yep, spare no expenses, just make sure it's about six and a half feet long." she gave him an odd look and he whistled the rest of the way to town.
Loading the dry wall and the seven foot table was a piece of cake compared to loading the pies and Once-ler wasn't quiet sure they could even eat them all before they went bad, but he did so without complaint. Not even when he signed for another thirty to be delivered next week. What he complained about was trying to figure out how to get out of the truck without upending the pies in his lap, "Get Uncle Ubb and Aunt Grizelda out here to help us out with these, they don't do anything anyhow, might as well be useful for hauling pies."
Brett laughed at that and Chett nodded in serious agreement as they shuffled the pie boxes around until they could get out, "Wait, just take some with you on your way in!" Juniper shouted, however they'd already closed the doors and were running to the RV before she could even finish the sentence and she sighed, adjusting the boxes on her lap before looking over at him. "Why did you buy so many?" she asked.
"They helped us distract mom so she couldn't discover what we were up to." He answered honestly, grinning when she blushed, "I'd have just bought them the entire shop if they'd asked for it for the lecture they no doubt got for fighting over something so stupid as a cookie." he chuckled and shook his head.
Juniper blushed, but thankfully managed to contain anymore of her nervous habits, "They're strangely reliable." she laughed before shyly looking at him from the corner of her eye, "I'm sorry, by the way, for leaving you 'high and dry'. I didn't mean to."
He shrugged, "Don't worry about it, just make it up to me next time." her face darkened more and he grinned happily when she made no sound of disagreement. When his brothers and uncle got to the truck he opened the door and handed down the pile in his lap, "Go get the ones off Juniper, then you can unload the rest." he looked around and frowned, "Where's-"
"She's in a bad mood." His Uncle sighed before he could finish as he collected the boxes from Juniper and shook his head, giving them all a morose look, "She a little frustrated at the moment."
Once-ler rolled his eyes and climbed out of the truck, grabbing a stack of pies himself to carry into the RV, walking in and setting them down hurriedly in case the woman could somehow smell him and be after him as well, when he turned and seen Juniper holding a stack of boxes he shook his head and took them from her, nodding her back towards the truck.
It was good that he did, too, because as he set the pies on the table and turned to leave Grizeldathumb stood in her massive girth blocking the exit, "Hello Aunt Grizelda." he sighed. She harrumphed, but otherwise left him alone and looked at the pies, "Those are Chett's and Brett's." he held is arms protectively over the stack of pastries and swallowed, "They're getting these because they're... helping me build my house. Leave them alone."
"You sure they didn't get them for covering for you and your little girlfriend?" she asked snottily and he hurriedly pressed two pies in her hands. She nodded and carried them away, leaving him frightened but alone as he ran out of he RV.
Chett and Brett looked at him and he sighed, "I had to sacrifice two of your pies." he said apologetically. Brett nodded in understanding but Chett quickly ran in to reclaim the pies and Once-ler shook his head disbelievingly, "He'd actually go that far for pie, huh?"
"You'd be surprised at what he wont' do for pie." Brett answered with a shrug as he carried a tall stack in, "He likes it more than squirrel and you know how it is about that."
It took one last trip before the pies were carried into the RV until they could pull the tuck bed up to the half finished house and park it, "Just leave the drywall in the bed of the truck and help me get the roof finished." he told his brothers, frowning strangely at Chett as he stuffed his face with a large bit of blueberry pie, "Couldn't you wait for a minute?"
"I've been waiting my entire life for a never ending supply of pie, Oncie." Chett answered resolutely, taking another large bite. Once-ler shook his head and sighed, looking at Brett who blinked at him like he didn't see what the problem was.
Shaking his head he turned around to see Juniper standing with a hammer in hand and a smile on her face, "I'm helping-"
"by staying out of the way." he ended, taking the hammer from her hands, "We working on the roof today, I'm not letting you up there. You'll break your neck and I'll never get my pay back." He said it for shock value and was pleased to see it worked until he turned around to see her loading shingles onto the makeshift pulley elevator he'd rigged up, "What are you doing? Those could fall on your head!"
She looked up at him before looking at the pulley and shaking her head, "How is it going to fall on my head when it's closer to my hips?" she asked, arching an eyebrow, "Wouldn't it make more sense for it to fall on my foot or something?" he frowned at her but couldn't really argue, "Calm down, I can load it onto the pulley and move back while you lift it up."
"Stop being overprotective and let her help, Oncie." Brett said and he looked behind him to see the other man had climbed up after him and was now stuck either going back down or waiting for him to continue to the roof, "Hurry up, I'm not here to look at your butt all day."
He huffed and climbed up the ladder before going to the pulley and checking to see if Juniper had backed away; she must have because he didn't see her, "I'm pulling it up now! Watch your head!" he shouted down. She didn't answer and he frowned, "You hear me?"
"I'm over here, Oncie, not like it's going to fall on me!" Chett yelled up and he gave him an annoyed look, "What?"
"Juniper, move to where I can see you, I don't want any accidents!" He shouted again, however she still didn't answer, "Juniper?"
"Who's Juniper?" Brett asked and Once-ler's heart nearly stopped, looking over his shoulder at his older brother in horror before leaping for the ladder and hurrying down.
"Juniper!?"
"Seriously, who's Juniper?" Brett called down, looking at him like he'd lost his mind, "We're the only one's here, Once-ler, you need a break or something?"
Authors Note: That's seventeen pages, people, seventeen! My finger's were flying through this like a man on a trapeze, too. XD I hope that I managed to spring Juniper's disappearance on you like a brick in the face, it's really what I was going for the entire chapter, but at least I let them be 'happy' first; no one can call me evil! Mawhahaha... er... Hahaha. n.n;
