There's a bit o' smut (smut light, let's say) in this chapter, so I shall deem it nsfw. Just in case.

A Battlefield

It was the second morning in a row she'd woken up with Juice Ortiz' dick against her ass, and for the second morning in a row it took her several heartbeats to remember the reality of her situation. Her first thought, before she opened her eyes, was how good he smelled, and how glad she was she'd asked him to sleep in her room last night.

But then it all came back, and it took every ounce of her considerable self control not to flip over and knee him in the balls.

Instead she took a deep, calming breath, and she was ready when she felt him stir.

"Mmm," he said. "Sorry."

That surprised her. "What for?" she said.

He shifted. "That," he said. "Again."

"Ohhh." She turned toward him and slid her hand down his bare chest. "I'm sure I could take care of that for you."

"I'm sure you could," he said, catching her wrist, "but if anyone is making anyone come here, it's me for you."

"Promises, promises," she murmured.

He rolled over on top of her and kissed her long and slow. "Gimme a chance, baby," he said as he nipped her lips with his. "Tell me what you want. You want me to eat your pussy? Finger you? Both at the same time? Just tell me. Anything you want."

She let out a rough, shuddering breath. All of this might be easier if they just fucked and got it over with. As it was the tension was nearly killing her, and frankly it was distracting. She didn't want anything as intimate as his mouth on her pussy, though. A quick fuck she could handle: in and out and she'd fake it and that'd be it. Then when he fell asleep she could sneak off to the shower and the detachable shower head.

Her mouth curved in a teasing smile. "Maybe I just want you," she said. She reached between them to squeeze him through his shorts. "This. Inside me."

He ducked his head and tried to breathe. "That's—I can't argue with that idea, but—I don't have any condoms."

"Oh. That's okay; I do."

He looked up, wide-eyed. "What? Why?"

"Only a dumbass goes into battle unarmed. I got them for Teller, but obviously didn't use them. They're in my bag."

"That's what sex with him was, huh? A battle? I hope you don't feel the same way about us."

"Love is a battlefield, baby," she said with a grin.

"Thanks, Ms. Benatar." It didn't exactly answer his question, but he figured it was all the answer he was going to get out of her. Pressing the issue would just make it worse. He moved to lie beside her and she turned toward him.

"What's the matter?" she said.

He sighed and flipped onto his side. Ran his fingers through her hair and smiled a little. "We don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

She bit her lip. Was he trying to make her chase him? Beg him for it? Or was he being sincere? She had no idea. This time yesterday, when they were in the exact same position, she would have said the latter, no question. Now?

Now she had to question everything. Every word. Every touch. Every look and kiss.

His expression was so earnest. She wanted to believe him.

She knew she couldn't.

Instead she pressed her hand to his shoulder and pushed him onto his back. Crawled up on top of him and pulled her shirt over her head. "Clear anything up for you?" she said.

"Jesus," he said on a hard breath.

"You look so stunned, Ortiz. Surely you've seen tits before."

"Well, yeah, of course, but—" He flashed her a sheepish smile. "Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to anyway."

He hesitated a moment before he rested his hands on her hips. "I can't remember the last time I wanted somebody as bad as I want you. I wanna have my hands on you every minute. I wanna kiss you all the time. And now you're sitting on top of me mostly naked and it's sort of—" His brow furrowed. "I'm not used to getting what I want is all. It's kind of rare."

She swallowed hard. God he was layin' it on thick. She trailed her palms up his chest and managed a tremulous smile. "Yeah, Ortiz. I'm not used to getting what I want, either."

"What do you want, Olivia?"

Bracing her hands against him, she leaned down and captured his mouth with hers. The kiss deepened as she brushed her tongue over his and he sucked at her lower lip. "You," she whispered against his mouth. "I want you, baby."

"God I was hoping you'd say that." He wrapped his arms around her and flipped them over. His mouth found the sensitive spot below her jaw, then lower, down the column of her throat to her collarbones. He stroked up her sides, along her ribs, and as his fingertips brushed the bottom curve of her breasts he paused.

"Please," she said. "Don't stop."

He dipped his head to kiss along her sternum while his hand moved higher, to cup her breast, and she let out a soft sigh as he pinched her nipple between his fingers.

"Wanna make you feel so good, baby," he mumbled. "Been waitin' so long to get my mouth on you. To touch you."

That, at least, she could be believe. She couldn't speak; she was afraid of what she might say. Instead she laced her fingers in his hair and arched into his touch as his lips closed around her other nipple. His hand drifted back down, over her belly, to rest between her legs. He just held it there, unmoving, lightly pressing the heel of his hand against her.

There was something wrong, he could tell. He wanted to ask her, to reassure her, anything, but he had no idea how. Her body responded to him exactly how he hoped, but…something was missing. It was like she was only half there, and part of her mind was off somewhere else.

He wanted her, but not like this.

He rolled away and sat up, bracing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. She laid there a moment, blinking in astonishment, before she reached out a tentative hand to touch his back.

"Juice?" she said.

He pushed himself off the bed but stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "I've told you how I feel, Olivia. I don't know what else to say."

"What are you talking about? I thought—"

His look stopped her. "Come find me when you've made up your mind about what you want. Until then, I think we should keep our distance."

She stared at him, completely thrown. He leaned down to kiss her, long and lingering, and pulled away with a reluctant frown.

"I'm sorry, Liv. I really want things to be different, but you're not the only one risking something here."

Then he was out the door and gone, leaving her to gape after him like a landed fish.

What the fuck had just happened? She fell back against the pillow and scrubbed her hands over her face. Her entire body tingled at the memory of his hands and mouth and the feel of him against her. Okay, she didn't entirely trust him anymore, but that hadn't changed the rest of it. He still made her nuts. She still wanted him like crazy, no matter how hard she tried to deny it.

And they'd been—he'd been—his hand—

She cursed and dug through the bottom drawer of her nightstand. She had work later, and the last thing she needed was to be so wound up around Jax Teller. Men like that could tell, and he'd think it was about him.

Right. Like Jackson Teller could ever—

She let out a breath and checked the batteries—her vibrator had been getting quite a workout lately—before she flipped it on. She had no idea where Juice had gone; she hadn't heard his bedroom door. Maybe he was lurking just outside. She didn't care if he heard her. She'd listened to his dumb porn often enough before she'd suggested he invest in some good headphones.

Juice had stopped in the hall to try to get himself together. It took everything he had not to go back in there. Push her back against the bed and kiss her and tell her he was a stupid fucking idiot and she shouldn't listen to a word he said.

But he couldn't. Because he'd been right. Neither of them could do this halfway, if they were going to do it. It was too risky. He, for one, felt way too much.

He had just started to calm down a little when he heard it: a faint buzzing, accompanied by soft, breathless moans. He drew in a sharp breath and held it. Holy shit. No way. She was absolutely trying to kill him.

Cursing, he fled to his room and slammed the door behind him. Gritted his teeth and opened his laptop. If she wanted to play dirty he could play dirty. He cued up the movie he'd been watching the night she told him he needed to get headphones and cranked the volume.

Olivia's head lifted off the pillow as she heard moaning from Juice's room. What the fuck? Had he lost his damn headphones? She flicked her vibrator up a few notches and stopped trying to be quiet. The smell of him was still on her sheets. She remembered what he'd said about licking her pussy, and how good his mouth had felt on her breasts.

Juice hit mute on his laptop. Had he just heard—? Had she just—? No.

Except then he heard it again: she moaned his name, louder than the first time.

"Oh no you don't," he muttered. "Not without me." He'd been sort of idly rubbing his erection through his shorts, but as the volume increased next door he pushed his underwear down and wrapped his hand around his cock.

It had gone quiet from his room; he must've turned off the porn; but then she heard a muffled groan and her eyes went wide. That was him. His voice. A shock of pure lust hit her, and her hips bucked against the toy.

"Fuck!" she whimpered. "Yes, Juicy, yes, just like that!"

He hadn't realized before how thin these walls were. No wonder she'd asked him to get headphones. He knew the second her orgasm hit: her voice went high-pitched and thready, and she chanted his name in a breathless litany. It was more than he could take, and with a jerk and a cry he came.

"Livvie!" he moaned. "Fuck, baby, fuck yeah!"

She shuddered through the aftershocks and bit down hard on her lip as she heard him say her name. Sort of. Livvie. That was a new one.

She liked it. She turned the vibrator off and fell back, gasping and shaking. That had been fun, but she wanted him. At least she knew the feeling was mutual. How much difference did that make, though? Wanting was easy. There'd been attraction from minute one.

Her phone binged. She made a face. At least it had waited until she was done. Flipping onto her belly, she swiped it off the nightstand and typed in the complex unlock code.

It was a text. From Juice.

was it good for u?

She smothered a laugh. God he was too cute.

remind me to never touch your phone. no way you've washed your hands.

like u have? answer the q.

"Yeah, babe," she murmured as she typed. "It was great for me." She frowned a little. Then, "Bring ice cream."

She could hear his laugh echo from his bedroom, and a few seconds later his footsteps in the hall. Grinning, she snuggled down under the covers to wait for him.

I'm glad you guys were so excited about the last chapter! It'll be a minute before there's any evidence either way, really, so hold on to your butts. ;) And keep speculating bc that's awesome!