Eric and Tris trudged up to Eric's apartment, and then they went straight to the bedroom. Tris flopped face-first onto Eric's bed, and let out a loud groan that was equal parts frustration and exhaustion.
"Hey hey, you know the rules; no shoes on the bed," Eric said as he picked up Tris's foot and started to pull on the laces of her boot. Once he'd tossed her boot onto the floor, he started in on the other. "Hey, are you asleep?"
"No," Tris said, her voice muffled by the pillow. "Who can sleep with all of this stuff that's running through my head?"
"The war? What you talked about with Caleb? Jeanine's plan?"
"Yes," Tris said.
Eric dropped Tris's other shoe onto the floor and went around to sit on his side of the bed while he took his own shoes off. "Do you want to talk about Caleb or something? What did he say to you?"
"He told me about some of his motivation towards betraying the divergent to Jeanine," Tris said as she curled up onto her side and looked up at Eric. "He said that he felt guilty when she killed several divergents."
"I'm sorry, I know that he's your brother and everything, but honestly," Eric spat out as he lay down next to Tris. "He ratted the divergents out to Jeanine and then what? What exactly did he expect would happen after that? He probably knew very well what her opinion on them was. How in the world could he have been surprised at all that she went around and killed the divergents after he told her about them?"
"I don't know," Tris said. She pressed herself closer to Eric and he half-turned to kiss her gently. "I'm scared, Eric. I didn't sign up for a war."
"You heard what everybody said at the meeting: nobody wants a war. We just want to live our lives," Eric whispered against her lips. "I think that I'm just about as scared as you."
"What? Don't say that. You're Eric Coulter; you're not afraid of anything," Tris said quickly.
"I'm afraid of lots of things," Eric protested.
"Like giant spiders?" Tris teased him.
"Shut up, stiff," Eric growled as he rolled on top of Tris. He took her arms and pinned them above her head, and then he kissed down the side of her throat. Tris tipped her head back a little to give him better access, and then let out a throaty groan when Eric's knee rubbed against her crotch through her pants.
Eric released her then and pulled away from her. Tris sat up and pulled her shirt off. "Are you sure?" Eric whispered.
"I don't want to have any regrets as I go into this war," Tris replied as she reached back to unhook her bra. "Things that I should have done, but that I was too afraid to do."
Eric pushed down the bra strap that covered part of the tattoo on her shoulder, and then kissed the ink that curled up and around her shoulder. "I don't think that I ever saw your tattoo finished. You did get it finished, right?"
"Yes," Tris agreed shyly. "Right after Al died." She pulled her bra off completely, and then turned around on the bed to show Eric.
"It suits you," Eric said after getting a good look at it. "People expect for us to completely forget about our origins, but I don't think that they understand that it's not how people work. You were born in Abnegation, and even though you're in Dauntless now, you're still exceptionally selfless."
He leaned over and kissed the grey Abnegation hands on Tris's tattoo, and then he pulled Tris over until she lay with her head on his lap. He leaned over and kissed her before she sat up and moved to sit on his lap.
Tris fisted her hands in the fabric of Eric's shirt and then he pulled away from her to pull it off completely. There was a small tattoo with a bunch of seemingly random letters over his left breast. "EC" was on top, then "KC" in the middle, with "PC" on the bottom.
"What does this mean?" Tris asked as she lightly trailed her fingers over the tattoo.
"EC," Eric whispered. "My little sister."
"You have a sister?"
"Yeah. She's in Erudite. Elizabeth. And then Katherine, my mom, and Patrick, my dad," Eric finished.
"Are they still alive?"
"Yes. When Jeanine came to me, she threatened my family. It was the deciding factor in me joining Dauntless," Eric said gently. "But I don't want to talk about them. Not right now."
"No," Tris agreed. She kissed Eric. His hands moved up to gently touch her bare breasts. His thumbs brushed lightly over her nipples over and over until they were hard.
Eric pulled away from Tris's mouth and leaned down to put his lips around her nipple instead. Tris let out a throaty moan, and leaned back on her hands to give Eric better access.
Eric released her nipple, gently picked Tris up and put her down on her back on the bed. He trailed his hands down her sides until he came to the top of her pants, and then he moved his hands to the center. Tris thought that he was going to unbutton her pants, but he just moved his hands up her stomach until he reached her breasts.
He climbed up her and kissed her lips, her chin, her jaw, down her throat. He brought his knee up and started to rub at her crotch again, but then he started to finger her through her pants. His fingers were very skilled and he seemed to know exactly where to touch her that would draw forth the most breathy moans from her.
After about a minute of this, Tris was no longer quite as satisfied with his touch through her pants. She quickly undid the button and zipper, and she struggled to get her pants off from around her hips.
Eric pulled away from her and helped to pull her pants off. Once he'd tossed them aside, he hooked his thumbs under the elastic band of her panties and pulled them off, too.
Even though it was only just one little scrap of fabric, its absence left Tris feeling exceptionally vulnerable. Especially with the way that Eric was looking at her right now.
"Is it weird that I'm not feeling very brave right now?" Tris whispered as she tried to cover herself.
"I suppose that it might be a little unnerving somebody's first time," Eric replied gently. "Do you want to stop?"
"I don't want to stop," Tris whispered hesitantly. It came out sounding more like a question. "But I'm scared."
"Of what? Intimacy?"
"I don't know," Tris said quietly.
"You are so beautiful," Eric whispered. He leaned over and kissed her over and over. "I don't want for you to be afraid." He trailed open-mouthed kisses down her throat, between her breasts, down her stomach, and only stopped when he reached the patch of yellow-brown hair that grew over her crotch.
He pulled away then, sat up, looked down at Tris. "I don't want for you to feel like I'm pushing you into something that you're not ready for. If you want me to stop, just say so. No matter what."
"I don't want you to stop," Tris whispered, her voice barely audible.
Eric gave a slight nod and bent down over Tris again. He gently pushed her legs apart, and she let him. He slowly ran his tongue up the length of her pussy, which was already pretty wet. Tris let out a heady moan at the contact, and she fisted her hands in the sheets.
The salty-sweet juices of Tris's arousal dripped from her vagina, and Eric greedily lapped them up. Then, he moved up and started to suckle on her clit.
"Oh my god," Tris gasped. She'd never felt anything like this at all. It was simultaneously the best and worst feeling that Tris had ever experienced in her life. Even though she was afraid of the sensations that washed over her like waves, she also never wanted for the feeling to stop.
The waves got more and more intense. Tris thought that she was going to drown in the feelings that Eric was making her experience, and this was only just with his mouth. She felt like she was about to cry because of the intensity of her feelings.
And then the waves really did wash over Tris's head and she couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't control her body as it spasmed. She thought for certain that she was dying for real, but at the same time, she'd never felt more alive.
When Tris came down from her high, she realized that Eric was lying next to her again. He brushed some strands of her hair away from her face, and then gently kissed her chin.
"Wha-" Tris tried to ask. She felt completely boneless.
Eric laughed a little, but not unkindly. "Come on, Tris. I know that they wouldn't exactly encourage sex ed in Abnegation, but you mean to tell me that you don't know what an orgasm is?"
"We never had any sex ed, period," Tris said.
"Well then, I guess that I'll just have to put on my Erudite mortarboard and teach you," Eric whispered. He kissed her on the lips. Tris found the taste of her down arousal a bit off-putting at first, but the longer they continued to kiss, the more she got used to it.
Eric pulled away from her and looked her in the eye. "Are you okay?"
"It was amazing," Tris said. "I want to feel like that all the time."
"You'd go crazy," Eric said with a laugh. He gently kissed her chin.
"Yes, probably," Tris agreed with a wistful sigh. "And I would probably get used to it after a while. But I know that I want to feel like that again."
"I'm more than happy to supply you with an endless supply of orgasms," Eric said. He kissed her deeply again. "Tell me how much that you know so that I can educate you. Hands-on education, that is."
"I know that the penetrative part hurts," Tris said.
"It only hurts the first time, and most women say that it feels more like a… slight pinch."
"I'm disturbed that you know that, and I don't what to know who you asked about that," Tris said.
"I'm still very much Erudite, and I have a thirst for knowledge," Eric explained simply. "And the way that girls sometimes talked about how much that it hurt made me afraid that I was going to hurt… my partner."
Tris nodded slightly before she sat up and started to undo Eric's belt. "I want to see you now."
Eric let her undo his button and zipper, and then he pushed up with his feet so that he could pull his pants off. Tris helped him to get them off, like he'd done for her a few minutes ago.
His cock strained against the dark material of his boxer-briefs. Curiosity to understand Eric's foreign, male anatomy overtook Tris's fear, and she quickly pushed his boxers off until he was naked as well.
The sight was alien and yet completely natural at the same time. Tris climbed up onto Eric's lap, but he stopped her from penetrating herself on his dick.
"Wait," he said quickly. "I need a condom."
"Do you have one?" Tris asked. How stupid could she be? She didn't want to become pregnant right now.
"Yes," Eric agreed. "Get off me." Tris obliged, and Eric twisted over to reach his nightstand. He pulled out a box from the first drawer, and then pulled out a condom.
"Why do you have those?"
"I bought then right after you became a full Dauntless member," Eric said. Tris gave him a surprised look. "What? Can't a guy have hopes?"
"No, I'm just surprised," Tris said quickly. "And relieved, because I completely forgot about protection."
"I'd hardly expect for you to remember," Eric said gently as he ripped open the package and pulled the condom out. "After all, you didn't even know what an orgasm was."
"That isn't fair. There's a difference between a condom and an orgasm," Tris protested. She watched curiously as Eric rolled the condom over his penis.
Eric picked Tris up and put her down so that her head was on a pillow. "You can still tell me to stop. At any time."
"We've gone this far, and I want to do this now," Tris said firmly. Eric slowly moved into her, and Tris's face pulled into a weird look of discomfort.
"Are you okay?" Eric asked quickly.
"It feels weird," Tris said. She tried to move into a more comfortable position, and then they both groaned loudly at the friction that her movement created.
Eric slowly started to push in and out of her. "Oh, oh yes. That's really great. It's a lot better now that I've gotten used to it. It's not as great as what you were doing with your tongue earlier, but it's a pretty close second."
"I've barely even gotten started," Eric started as he gave Tris a cocky smile. He gripped Tris's hips tightly, lifted her up for a better angle, and then he started to roughly pound into her.
Tris was barely able to think as the sensations bombarded her. It was like the wave sensation earlier, except different in a way that was completely wonderful. She whimpered and fisted her hands in the sheets again.
Eric stilled. "What? Don't stop," Tris complained.
"Wrap your legs around my waist," Eric ordered. "And put your arms around my neck." Tris did as he asked of her. Eric moved against her, and Tris understood why the change of position: it allowed them to be even closer than before.
Tris gasped loudly as Eric hit something inside of her that was painful, but somehow pleasurable at the same time. She dug her nails into the skin on Eric's back since she couldn't reach the sheets without letting go of him. Eric kissed her lips, her cheeks, her chin, her jaw.
One of Eric's hands was braced on the bed by Tris's head. The other one was still on her hip, and his fingers dug slightly into the flesh there. "Tris," Eric whispered against her lips. She tilted her head a little and kissed him again.
With every thrust Eric made into her, Tris felt like the waves were just starting to wash over her. Rather than to be afraid of the feeling, Tris now embraced it with open arms and welcomed it. She tipped her head back, and just tried to focus on the sensations that were building up inside of her.
At any second the wave would…
Eric stilled and let out a loud groan into Tris's shoulder. "What?" Tris gasped, annoyed at his poor timing. "Why did you stop?"
"I'm sorry, Tris," Eric whispered into the side of her neck. "I came. I tried to hold out until you were at least close to your orgasm, but it's been too long for me."
"I was really close," Tris whined.
Eric fell backwards and took Tris with him, but he remained inside of her. Then, he pushed her into an upright position. Without breaking eye contact from Tris, Eric slowly started to circle his thumb around her clit.
In the few seconds of Eric having his own orgasm and the resulting conversation, Tris's approaching orgasm had died down a little bit. It took a moment for Eric to build Tris back up again. She slowly started to rotate her hips over Eric's cock; even though he was only semi-erect now, it still felt amazing inside of her.
But then Tris's orgasm crashed down around her. She closed her eyes, her head tipped back, and she just let it happen. She was a little bit more aware of what was happening to her this time around, and felt Eric wrap his arms around her and lie her back down on the bed again.
Tris opened her eyes after a moment, and looked at Eric. He brushed more hair away from her forehead. "Are you okay?" he whispered.
"Yeah," Tris replied. She frowned at him. "But you're an ass, though."
"I said I was sorry, and I made it up to you," Eric said quickly. Tris gave him a disgusted look. "…Right?" He leaned over and kissed her. Tris wrapped her arms around him again and kissed him back.
"Yeah," she agreed rather reluctantly. "But you owe me another— uninterrupted— orgasm."
"Yes," Eric said quickly. Tris heaved an exhausted sigh and snuggled in closer to Eric.
"But not right now. It's so late it's early, and we have to go to work tomorrow," she whispered.
"Yes," Eric agreed. "Get some sleep now."
"Are you okay, Tris?" Christina asked as the two of the moved through the line to get their breakfast. "You've been yawning an awful lot this morning, and there are some big-ass bags under your eyes."
"Gee, thanks," Tris said dryly.
"I mean, you look as beautiful as ever, even when you look super shitty," Christina backtracked. Tris just gave her an exhausted glare.
"I've been super stressed out because of work and then Eric and I-" Tris broke off and her eyes went wide as she realized what she'd just been about to say.
"What did you do?" Christina hissed.
"Nothing, nothing!" Tris said quickly. She felt her face heating up.
"Oh my god!" Christina gasped. She grabbed Tris's wrist and dragged her out of the dining hall. "Oh my god!" she repeated once they were alone. "You guys had sex, didn't you?"
"Yes, but keep your voice down!" Tris hissed.
"Wowwow," Christina exclaimed. "What was it like?"
"Really weird, but really amazing at the same time," Tris said as a blissful smile spread over her face. Christina punched her in the arm and bit into the muffin that she'd snagged.
"Look at you, all smiling and shit. What about his penis? How big was it?"
"I don't… I don't have anything to compare it to," Tris stammered out with a slight shake of her head.
"Well, was it as long as your forearm?"
"I don't know; I honestly didn't look that much at it," Tris said. Her face felt like it was on fire.
"Was he able to fit all of it inside of you?"
"No," Tris said slowly after a moment of hesitation. Christina let out a squeal of excitement.
"But how does it feel now, though?"
"I'm sore in really weird places," Tris said as she scrunched her nose up. "Eric said that it was normal to feel like that, though, and said that I only needed to be worried if I for-real hurt or if it lasted for a really long time."
"This is so cool, though," Christina whispered. "The first in our group to become a real adult."
"I think that we became real adults as soon as we became full Dauntless members," Tris said. "But thanks for considering the loss of our virginities as part of becoming an adult," she went on rather sarcastically.
"Will doesn't want to do anything. The only time that we sleep in the same bed is when I invite myself over for the night," Christina said. "He never says anything about that, and just lets me do whatever I want. But when I ask him to stay the night at my place, suddenly he's got meetings and shit in the morning and he needs his rest. Every freaking time. I think that he has some intimacy issues or something."
"Just give him time, okay?" Tris reassured her friend. "Everybody moves at their own pace, and, let's face it: adult relationships can be very scary to think about."
"But we're in Dauntless! You'd think that relationships here would be all about jumping in feet first and not looking back or regretting anything."
"Relationships are not like playing paintball, Christina," Tris said with a roll of her eyes. "And having sex with somebody isn't something that you should take lightly. Sure things are a lot safer with things like condoms, birth control pills, and medication to stop the spread of STIs, but pregnancy and STIs are still something that everybody should be worried about."
"Gosh, you sound like one of those Erudite safe sex pamphlets that they had in the nurse's office at school," Christina said with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm being serious, Christina," Tris protested. "Choosing to have sex isn't something that anybody should take lightly. Just give Will time, let don't try to force him, or else he might leave you."
Christina pressed her lips together and considered Tris's words for a moment. "Yeah, you're right. I just never thought that I'd be taking advice from a former stiff."
"It's the former that's the keyword," Tris said as she playfully hit Christina on the arm.
"Hey, speaking of paintball," Christina said as she punched Tris right back. "Some people have been talking about getting up some teams of paintball. You and Eric in?"
"I don't know," Tris said slowly. For a few seconds, she'd been able to forget all about the upcoming war against Jeanine and Erudite and just pretend like her biggest stress was her training to be a Dauntless leader. But the thought of paintballing, which was already pretty war-like, snapped Tris back to reality. "We're both really busy with meetings and such. And we've got the meeting with the other factions coming up soon."
"Oh come on. I hardly ever see you anymore," Christina complained. "We're both always so busy. Just take a few hours out from whatever it is that you and Eric do when you get off from work and come out with us. Just for an hour or so."
"I don't know," Tris said hesitantly. She really didn't want to play paintball, but she also really didn't want to disappoint Christina. Especially not after Christina had pointed out that they never got much opportunity to see one another anymore. "I'll have to-"
"Tris!" April called out from the other end of the hall. "I've been looking for you. Where's your boytoy? We need to talk schedules."
"I left him in the dining hall, and I haven't seen him come out," Tris explained. She mentally breathed a sigh of relief. She would be able to put Christina off now because of April, and hopefully, her friend would forget all about it the next time that they saw one another.
"Well, come on then," April insisted. "Let's go find him. We all have a meeting at ten."
"What? Nobody told me this," Tris protested as she followed after the older leader.
"It's our quarterly, before-the-big-faction-meeting review," April explained. "You know, because none of us can be bothered to remember the leaders of the other factions, let alone their obnoxious spouses or their sticky crotchfruit. We have one before every- There he is. ERIC!" Her already overly-loud voice carried over the noise of the dining hall. All eyes were on the two of them. "Times a-wasting, honey! Tick-tick, you're on the clock now!"
Eric said something to the others that he was sitting with and then stood. When he got over to April and Tris, he handed Tris a bran muffin. "Because Christina dragged you away from the line, and now it looks like we're going to cut our breakfast short."
"Thanks," Tris said before she took a big bite from it. She was starving. Illicit midnight gatherings and 3 AM sexy times sure worked up an appetite.
They walked across the compound and over to the Dauntless leader offices. April hustled them into her office. It was dark in there, and April turned her desk lap on to give the room a little bit more light. There were dark curtains that hung in the windows— Tris had always wondered about it, but now she understood why.
"Since we're the Dauntless leaders, it should be up to us to come up with the training schedule. Eric, how many initiates did you train this year?"
Eric had to think about it for a second. "Nine," Tris supplied. "But then Edward got stabbed in the eye and he and Myra left. And then Al died, so at the end, it was six."
"Nine," April said slowly. "Was that a very large class? Could you manage a group of ten?"
"Easily," Eric said.
"I know that you don't have any experience teaching, but do you think that you could also manage a group of ten on your own?" April asked Tris next.
"Yes," Tris said without hesitation. It didn't seem that hard, and she knew that Eric would help her out if she really got stuck.
"Okay, we need to brainstorm how we can get the guns to Natalie," April said next.
"Well, I was thinking about it…" Eric started.
"…And we appreciate the efforts that Dauntless is going through to help us to clean up the city," Andrew finished. Tris honestly hadn't been paying much attention, and by the dry looks on all of the Dauntless leader's faces, including April's, she wasn't the only one. She'd instead been focused on watching the movements that her father made as he gave his presentation on litter in the city.
Everybody clapped politely as Andrew took his seat. "Ugh, how much longer?" Tris whispered to Eric under her breath.
"Abnegation always go last, but you should know that already," Eric said. "So unless there isn't any other business, that should be it." He rolled his eyes. "Thankfully."
The only other person in the room who was older than April was an old judge in Candor. He stood up and looked around at the other people who were gathered in the big meeting room. "Is there any other business this quarter? Erudite? You passed on your chance to present business earlier. Would you like to speak now?"
"No thank you," Jeanine said curtly. "We're working within the other factions to help make their lives much easier. Our only business right now is on an individual basis with the factions."
"Alight," he said as he looked around the room at the other factions. "Anybody else?" When nobody spoke up, he picked up his gavel and brought it down on the sound block. "Then the meeting is adjourned."
"Thank god," Tris groaned as everybody moved to get up. But rather than leave, everybody started to talk with one another, and greeted the other faction leaders like old friends. "Are we not leaving now?" she asked Eric.
"No, we normally stay and socialize a bit with the other faction leaders," Eric said.
"Mr. Coulter," Andrew said as he walked over to where Eric and Tris were still sitting. Eric jumped to his feet and shook Andrew's hand.
"Mr. Prior," Eric said.
"It is a pleasure to see you again," Andrew said. He turned to Tris and offered her a brilliant smile. "And welcome to the Faction Leader's Meeting, Ms. Prior. I hope that you weren't too horribly bored."
"I was, but this wasn't my first super boring meeting," Tris said honestly. "It was just the longest." Andrew laughed a little.
"April and Daniel are together again," Max said as he walked over to the three of them. "We really should pull them apart before midnight this time around." Tris looked around the room and saw April sitting in a corner with the old judge from Candor.
"Oh lord, let's go nip this in the bud right now," Eric said. "Sorry, Mr. Prior. We don't want to be here all night again." Eric and Max left, which left Tris awkwardly with her dad.
"How is… um… your wife?" Tris asked hesitantly. She hated the fact that she could no longer acknowledge her father as being her father.
"She's as well as to be expected," Andrew said carefully.
"That's good," Tris said with a slight nod of her head. She offered her father an awkward smile and he returned it.
"I'm going to go talk with some of the other leaders. It was nice to meet you, Ms. Prior," Andrew said before he left. Tris let out an annoyed huff of air and looked around the room.
"The first time is always the hardest," April said from behind Tris.
"Huh?" Tris said as she spun around.
"The first time that you publicly see your family after joining another faction is always the hardest," April elaborated. She motioned over towards Daniel. "He is my brother. We grew up together, played together, knew everything that there was to know about one another. But he picked Candor and I picked Dauntless, and here we are. It wasn't so bad at first, because I was a leader in training, and he was just some office clerk. But once he became a judge and got on a seat on the Candor council, we started to see one another at these quarterly meetings. We hadn't seen each other in a good twenty years. And do you wanna know what we did the first time that we saw one another?"
"What?"
"We completely ignored one another, because society had taught us that faction was more important than some silly thing like sibling relationships. We continued to ignore one another at the meetings for another five years, until one day, I just said 'fuck it! He's my brother, and nobody's going to stop me from talking to him!'. So I did. And here we are now." April patted Tris on the shoulder. "One of these days, you'll eventually come to the conclusion that nobody really gives a damn what you do so long as it doesn't hurt people. Me catching up with my brother during these quarterly meetings doesn't hurt anybody— not really. Your father is one of the Abnegation leaders. But at least you spoke with him. You're already proving to be much braver than I was the first time I stared across the room at Daniel."
She shuffled away and Tris looked around the room to find out where Eric had gotten to. She found her father, talking with some other Candor leaders. Their eyes caught and he made a slight motion with his cup at Tris before he returned his attention back to the people that he was talking with.
"The Dauntless leaders are all ready to leave now," Eric said from behind Tris.
"Good," she said as she turned to leave.
As always, please let me know if you spotted any grammatical errors so that I can fix them.
And, like always, reviews are appreciated.