AN - Warning - explicit content ahead. If you're not into that, read down to the first line break and then pick it back up after the second one. Oh yeah, and as usual, I don't own the song, yada yada yada
Reviews are love - please keep them coming! - KL
Lacey, for her part, simply acquiesced to whatever he needed at the moment. She knew what he was doing, what he was trying to accomplish with this, but she also knew that she needed to feel loved and wanted and needed tonight. She received his tender kisses, reciprocating them back to him as he worshipped her body.
Somehow, without her knowing it, Danny had managed to come completely undressed, and they lay there together, his body pressing into hers with need. He took his time with her, kissing each part of her slowly, making sure to pay attention to her every movement and reaction. He wanted to kiss away all of the hurt that he had caused her over the last few weeks, he wanted to make it all better for her.
He made his way down from her lips, kissing and nipping lightly at her collarbone in just the spot he knew she liked best. He then continued to make his way lower, planting a kiss between her breasts before continuing. He palmed her left breast in his strong hands, tugging and twisting her already engorged nipple. He knew she was especially sensitive here, and he continued his hand play while taking her other breast into his mouth. He sucked gently on the brown areola, rolling it through his teeth with his tongue and eliciting satisfied moans from his lover. After a few minutes he switched, pleasuring the nipple on the left with his mouth while busying his hand with the right breast. He felt the heat of her core against him as her arousal grew, and he reached down between them to feel the full extent of her want for him. He felt her wetness before he'd even parted her lips, and he knew that she was ready for him. He ran a finger up and down her wet slit, pausing momentarily to put pressure on her throbbing clit before retreating back into her folds to gather more of her juices on his fingers. He brought the soaked digits back up to her face, and coated her lips with her own essence as he lined himself up at her entrance. She moaned lightly, wanting desperately to feel him inside her. Slowly, deliberately, he pushed himself inside her, and they were one once again.
He kissed her hard, savoring the taste of her on his lips as he pulled himself out almost entirely before pushing himself back into her, filling her to the hilt with himself. He bore into her over and over, making love to her with such concentration that it was as if she were the only person in the world to him. Truthfully, right then, she was the only person who mattered. She dug her nails into his back and he relished in the delicious agony she caused him as she raked across his sensitive skin. He continued his ministrations, his thick member ravaging her slick hole as he tried desperately to communicate to her just how much he needed her.
Soon Lacey felt that familiar tightening in her core. She wrapped her legs around him tightly as she braced herself for her climax. Knowing that she was nearing the edge herself, Danny fought to maintain his rhythm as he neared his own. He leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss, just as she reached her peak. She turned her head just before his lips reached hers, biting down savagely on his shoulder as her body rocked with the convulsions of ecstasy. The combination of pain and pleasure was (as always) too much for Danny, and he reached his climax as well, spilling his seed deep inside of her.
They lay back on her bed, both gasping for air and willing their heartbeats to return to a normal pace. He looked over at his beloved, silently memorizing each line of her face, each curve of her body, instinctively knowing that he wouldn't be seeing her again for some time. As if on cue, the music he'd started playing for her earlier switched songs. The new track was heartbreaking in its accuracy – almost as if it was written just for them. He leaned over to gather her into his arms, whispering that he loved her over and over again, but still she said nothing. He laid that way for the rest of the night, listening to the winsome guitar from the songs on the stereo and holding Lacey as close to him as possible.
"It's not a silly little moment, it's not the storm before the calm,
This is the deep and dying breath of this love that we've been working on
Can't seem to hold you like I want to, so I can feel you in my arms
Nobody's gonna come and save you, we pulled too many false alarms
We're going down, and you can see it too
We're going down, and you know that we're doomed
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room…"
The next morning Danny woke with an uneasy feeling. He reached for Lacey before opening his eyes and realizing that he was in bed alone. He sat up and looked around, finding her sitting in the corner chair he'd watched her from the night before. He noticed that she was crying again, and dread struck him deep in the pit of his stomach. He motioned for her to come to him, but she only shook her head, staying where she was.
Finally he decided to go to her. He got up from the bed, pulling the sheet around his lower half. He knelt in front of her and placed his hands on the sides of her face.
"What's wrong, beautiful?" he asked, although if he were being honest with himself, he already knew the answer.
After a long minute, she finally spoke, "I can't keep doing this with you, Danny. I won't keep doing this to myself. You need to leave."
A thousand different arguments ran through his head at that moment. He wanted to tell her all the reasons she shouldn't send him away, all the reasons they were meant to be together, all the reasons he couldn't live without her, but the look on her face stopped him from doing any of that.
"I need time away from you, Danny, I need time away from us. I need to figure out who I am again – without you." She sounded so small and afraid. Had he done this to her? Had he taken his beautiful butterfly and crushed her under the weight of his love? No, he wouldn't lie to himself about that. It wasn't his love that had pushed her away. It was his secrecy and his insecurity. He loved her so much, yet he had chosen self-preservation over honesty, abusing her trust each and every time. And now, she'd finally had enough. She wouldn't be coming back to him this time.
"But I love you, Lace," he began in a feeble attempt to get her to reconsider, but she cut him off before he could even truly begin.
"If you really love me like you say that you do, Danny, you'll stop hurting me and let me go. I need to figure this out on my own, and you need to deal with your own issues away from me. Figure out what you're going to do about Jo and the baby… whatever… but let me go."
He wanted to cry for the first time in as long as he could remember. Was the best thing that had ever happened to him really walking out of his life, just like that? Was it really that simple, after all they had been through together, had they really come to this point?
He sighed, knowing that he had to let her go. If this is what she needed, then he would have to do as she asked.
"I'll never stop loving you, Lacey Porter. If you ever change your mind, no matter how far down the road it is, let me know. I'll be waiting."
With that, he turned to gather his clothing, getting dressed in under two minutes while Lacey continued to stare blankly out the window. When he got ready to leave, she reached for his hand and pulled him in for a hug. She buried her face in his chest for a long time before finally raising her eyes to look at him. He leaned down and captured her lips for one last kiss. Their kiss was fiery and passionate and carnal and desperate, heartbreaking in its intensity and the sense of finality that it brought with it. She knew in that moment that he loved her with everything that he had, and he knew that it still wasn't enough. All of the hurt he had given her over their months together would not be healed so quickly – she still needed him to go. Once it was over there were no words to be spoken, no more cases to plead. He righted his shirt, slipped on his shoes, and walked out of her life.