A/N: This took so long to put together that I'm kind of ashamed for making you guys all wait, but I don't actually regret it. The love scene was written over a period of days, a sentence here, an emotion there, and it all just fell together perfectly. I'm glad I didn't let myself rush; i wanted it to be perfect (for mine and for all yours' sake, and especially for GhostWhispererFangirl's since I know that writing Ked's canonical first time is kind of huge.) So here we are. Sexy times ahead, ye be warned. ~Meowser 3
I'll shave my legs for you.
That was high on her list of things to do before Ned got here, Katie reflected, hopping into the shower. She was going to go all out; use a sugar scrub, get all the dead skin off, make her legs softer than they'd ever been.
Because she remembered the weighted tone of Ned's voice. She remember the promises they had not quite made and she shivered even standing underneath the warm flow of the water.
This could be so good. They were getting so damn close. Touching, daring, holding.
She'd seen him in such intimate moments.
But she still wanted more.
And she had a feeling that this might be the weekend that that happened. That she finally got her precious, beloved more. That she and Ned Banks became, irrevocably and unforgettably, real.
And she wasn't silly. She didn't think that sex was everything; she didn't think that people who waited had a lesser relationship than those who didn't.
But she knew that she wanted to give Ned Banks her all, show him everything, once and for all declaring herself his. It wasn't about the act itself; it wasn't like she was even a virgin anymore. But she wanted him to see her in those moments, she wanted to tell him that this was his. She was his.
Like she'd always wanted to be.
And to put it a little more bluntly...Katie wanted to jump his bones, and she had a for awhile.
And that was all there was to it.
She wondered idly how many girls before her, how many women, had prepared for a rendezvous like this. How many times a woman had dabbed perfume onto delicate places, wanting to entice her lover.
It had to be billions.
She bit her lip, looking at herself in the mirror, wanting to forgo some makeup because she didn't think much of it would last, but not wanting to be barefaced.
Not completely anyway.
She put on a light coat of lip gloss and then forced herself from the bathroom, knowing that she was done in there, and that if she stayed to reexamine herself she'd just drive herself nuts.
Her hair was up in a loose bun; it looked lazy but it was actually very carefully constructed, and she couldn't wait for Ned to pull out the clips holding it in place.
She felt fake, and she knew that she shouldn't. Every girl, every woman, most guys wanted to look good for their special someone.
There was nothing wrong with primping.
She dropped her towel, pulling out her favorite bra and panties; a matching set from Victoria's Secret; a lacy pink thong and demi bra.
The bra was literally just lace, with no coverage for the nipples.
Katie found herself swallowing, wondering just what exactly Ned's reaction to that would be.
She then pulled on a pair of black leggings, taking a blue tunic from her closet and sliding it on; it was elegant and expensive, a gift from Grandma Faith a few years ago; she didn't wear it much because she liked to save it for special occasions.
If this wasn't a special occasion…
She swallowed, pulling at the neckline to settle it.
She didn't know what was then.
She skipped jewelry, even earrings, because she didn't want to worry about how to best take it off...about when to take it off.
About it falling off.
She shivered a little, wondering what Ned would be bringing for dinner; she'd texted him to say that she didn't want to go out; it was too cold to walk and she didn't want to worry about the car.
And Hannah was on strict instructions to stay with Brandon that night and not come back until Katie texted that it was okay.
Because she loved both of them but she just didn't want to have to think about them. Which, thank god, Hannah had understood, hugging Katie. "Oh, Katie, you have no idea how much fun we have when you're visiting your family and we get this place to ourselves."
Something that Katie hadn't had to know, but thankfully, it meant that Hannah cheerfully left the apartment, letting her have all this time to herself.
Dinner.
She checked the clock, surprised to see how much time had passed; she'd been expecting time to drag but her preparation time had taken longer than expected.
She could begin to actually think about Ned getting here.
Ned hurried from the restaurant, his order held tightly under his arm. Italian was always a good choice; eggplant parmesan and breadsticks; he'd brought a bottle of wine from Grandview because hell, why not live a little?
It's not like a bottle of wine constituted getting drunk and throwing a rager.
Why not?
And Katie drank wine anyway; he knew that her parents had let her since she was sixteen, a glass with Sunday dinner and whatnot.
It would just set the mood, one glass to make them feel good.
If they'd even need it.
He knocked on the door, hands too full to manage the doorbell and then Katie was there, pulling it open, her lips spread in a smile.
And their eyes met, and he felt his heart stop. It was like an electrical current passed between them. It was like time stopped and the smile fell from his face.
Her smile was fading too; this moment was too intense for such a simple thing.
"Ned," she whispered.
"Katie," he returned, voice rough, and then she broke the spell, coughing, pulling the door open wide.
"Well, come in," she said, forcing a laugh; his eyes lingered on her as he passed and damn it, she was wearing leggings and her legs looked amazing; long and lean in the tight black fabric.
And her hips, not quite hidden by the tunic she wore along with them, swaying from side to side as she walked to the kitchen, where she'd set a simple table; candles and a red checked tablecloth.
They unpacked the food, having a slightly inane conversation about what he'd picked; neither was thinking about food, or really caring about it.
He tasted the flavors of the tomato sauce, trying to savor it, trying to care, and Katie was still just looking at him, her eyes big.
They were talking; he wasn't sure about what because this suddenly felt so staged. Like an excuse.
They didn't need an excuse.
He reached over the table to take her hand, winding their fingers together.
"This is lovely, I like this," he said. "Good food, simple clothes. It's nice to know we don't need the restaurant."
She nodded. "I love this. Being able to just spend time like this. To not hurry anything."
"Exactly," Ned whispered. "I just want to...hold this moment."
"Cherish." Katie stated the word. "That's the word you're looking for."
"Maybe it is," he breathed. Their hands were tight together. He loved her tapered, artistic hands. She had calluses; he idly wondered from what as he lifted her fingers to his lips.
She whimpered in the back of her throat when his lips touched her fingertips, pressing a tender kiss to them.
He moved up to her knuckles, letting his lips linger, taking his time, proving to both of them that there was no reason to hurry and he wasn't going to.
"I like your hands," he said honestly.
Flipping so her palm was up, he pressed a kiss on the center of it, hearing her inhale.
"Let's do this," Katie stated, not asking, pulling her hand from his and standing up.
Her hair was long down her back as she started to the bedroom, looking over her shoulder at him to make sure that he was coming, a look in her eyes that burned through him, made him feel like though nothing had changed, everything was different.
He walked forward, quickening his steps, feeling his heartbeat escalating, placing a hand in the doorway in front of her, long arm stopping her.
Her eyes were on him, on his arms, skipping up to his face, lips plump.
He breathed in, and lowered his arms, dipping one arm to swing under her knees and one arm on her back, sweeping her into his arms, scooping her up into his arms, holding her close against his chest.
It was effortless; he found himself goddamn thankful for all those long hours at the gym.
She clung to him, her arm sliding around his neck, eyes glowing. "You're going to be mine, Ned Banks," she breathed. "Everything has changed, yet we're still both the same. You're Ned. I'm Katie."
She leaned forward and their lips met, and he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth, until she opened up to him and their tongues met, tangling together.
He could feel her breasts arching against his chest, and he kicked her bedroom door open, maneuvering them into the room.
He got them onto the bed, placing her in the middle, moving over her and her eyes were glowing when she reached to grab the hem of her tunic, pulling it over her head.
He felt himself breathing faster, surprised, because she always looked good but he'd never seen or imagined she'd own a bra like that.
It was pure sex. It sent all of his blood rushing to his groin.
It pushed her incredible breasts up, showing them perfectly. And it was all sheer pink lace, meaning that he could see her nipples... and that they were already pebbled, hardened in response to him.
How could he feel anything but lust and possessiveness to know he made that happen?
She was his. From this moment on.
He couldn't bear the thought of losing her. He couldn't bear the thought that he might mess this up.
He couldn't mess this up.
She was gazing at him, waiting for him to make a move and he was still caught in admiration of her; she shifted back to a seated position and grabbed hold of his shirt collar, pulling him down to her.
And they were falling. Through space and time. Through years and years of loving the other but never as truly as they did in these precious, weighed moments.
Their lips met, and his trailed down her neck as the embrace went on. He came to one lacy bra strap and edged it down over her shoulder, nipping at the revealed skin there.
And down. He kept going down.
How they were both still breathing he wasn't this moment was so incredible that it seemed impossible that it was real.
His lips found her breast. He could taste her through the lace of the bra, he found her nipple and pulled it into his mouth.
Yes, this was real.
It felt much too good for it not to be real. Because she was far beyond his wildest dreams. She was arching up to him, trying to meet his every move, as one of his hands settled over her other breast and gently palmed her, weighed her, relished how she felt.
The other hand finally moved around to her back, finding the fastening, undoing it. There were going to be no more barriers between them. None at all.
Never again, or at least that was what Ned fervently hoped.
Katie was shaking her head, pulling back, eyes sparkling as she just managed to keep her bra on for another moment.
"Oh no, Ned Banks, you have some things to take off before I lose any more clothes."
As if he would ever protest that. His fingers went to the buttons on his shirt and it was off in a moment, whipped across the room.
Her gaze followed the progress of his shirt with amusement, until she turned back to face him and all mirth was replaced by pure lust when she saw his bare chest.
"How do you just get better looking?" She moaned. "Do you do anything besides work out?"
She sounded so proud, so pleased. "You are in the best shape you've ever been, and believe me, I remember everything keenly."
He chuckled a little, at the memory of younger Katie, at the thought of her just dissecting him, and suddenly it wasn't funny anymore as she moved forward on the bed, just pushing him until he was laid back, spread out for her, and she was crawling towards him, and oh god, the view was incredible as she slowly straddled him, her lips landing on his, hungry and warm.
His hands went around her, on her back, coming restlessly back to her breasts, feeling everything, all of Katie as their lips met again and again, as their tongues moved together, in a synchronized dance. He pulled her closer, grabbing hold of her perfect ass, each hand a little overwhelmed by how good it felt to do such a motion with Katie. And back up to cup her face, angle them better.
And he finally let his hands drop, fall down; it was finally natural to come to rest at her waist, hook his fingers in the waistband, slowly start to tug her leggings down.
She arched her back, helping him, wiggling her legs, and it was finally thrown away, and he could see every inch of her lean, fucking long, legs, bare and smooth, and their positions switched and he was kissing up her legs, to the tempting pink panties covering something even more tempting.
She was flushed, watching him, waiting for him, moaning as he got closer to his goal. "Um, you should take more off," she said, and he finally pulled back, reluctant, tugging his jeans off, his socks, until he was just in his boxers.
And they were matched again; their lips came together because it was just natural to do that, to kiss again, to reexamine the others' emotions like that, doublecheck that they both really, really wanted this.
Her hands were on his ass, squeezing, holding, gasping and pulling him closer, pressing their hips together.
And finally he was easing her panties down, and god, he loved her ass, and he most definitely spent a few minutes with her on her stomach, and he was just feeling her there, lightly spanking her, just to see how it felt, and she returned the favor when his boxers came off, her hands fierce.
They were kneeling on the bed then, clinging to each other, completely bared to the other, ready to give their all.
His fingers slipped between her thighs and up, and she bit his tongue in her ecstatic acceptance of that choice.
And he was inside her, finding her, teasing her, bringing her closer but she was pulling back, shaking her head.
"Can we try?" She wondered, lips plump from his kiss. "To come together? With you inside me? I know it's unlikely but I want to...I want this to be…"
He was sliding a condom on, shaking his head at her protests. "We've both had other partners recently, it just makes sense," he said, as she reached out and took hold of him, making him gasp, as she smoothed the condom out.
"I don't like these," she whispered, but then lay back, spreading her legs, the look in her eyes one that made him know that she was ready for this. That there had never been a time that she wasn't, on some level, ready to be his.
And he didn't know how to react to that, except to be extremely, eternally grateful that he'd gotten over himself and knew what he was doing now, and he'd never let these moments end.
Katie felt everything come to completion as Ned entered her, and he was big and she hadn't been kidding when she said that he just got better looking because he had muscles in places she hadn't even realized guys could get muscles, but he didn't look like a body builder; they were all…natural looking muscles; they just looked like the by product of a healthy lifestyle and not like he took hormones or was obsessed with his appearance.
His biceps weren't bulging but they were rock hard.
And Katie deeply appreciated every line of definition on every plane of his body, especially the ones below his hip bones, the ones that seemed to literally be pointing down.
And then there was his erection. She shied away from cruder words, because it felt like so much more right now, it felt so goddamn perfect as he arched into her.
She'd held him, for such a brief moment, as she'd smoothed the condom, and he was everything she'd remembered from that day on the beach.
He was more.
She almost wept as he crashed into her again, deepening their connection, filling her, making her feeling like everything would be okay, like life was good and beautiful, because she had found the one guy to make her feel like this and she didn't think she'd ever lose him. She knew that she'd never let herself do so.
That she'd fight. No matter how hard it got.
"I'm closer, Katie, I'm so close," Ned said, almost in apology, and she nodded, shifting her hips, so that the next time he shifted inside her it was better and she felt a new jolt of sensations, and his lips were on hers, his hands were desperately cupping her face and they came, not quite together, but close enough in time that Katie was never sure, afterwards, who came first.
And he was sagging over her, breathing hard, sweaty, warm, strong, holding her close, cradling her.
"I think I love you, Katherine Ann Clancy," he whispered, placing a hot kiss on her neck. "I think I will forever."
"Don't say forever, it'll jinx things," she said. "Besides, I don't want forever. The future doesn't exist. Neither does the past." She licked her lips. "Only now does. I want now, Ned. All of your nows."
"You always have to have the last word," Ned breathed.
"I love you too," she added a few seconds later, realizing she hadn't said it yet.
Their lips met again, and everything was just pretty damn near perfect. For the next few hours at least.