Saturday night, Felicity shuffled tiredly into their bedroom, a large shopping bag hanging from her good arm. Oliver glanced up from his place on the bed to see the exhausted droop of her shoulders, the slightly drawn expression on her face that indicated she was in more pain than was comfortable. Without a word, Oliver set his laptop aside and headed for the bathroom.
When he emerged, it was to find Felicity flat on her back, feet on the floor but body stretched out in the middle of the bed. Oliver came to a stop by her knee and held out a hand to pull her up.
"Long day?" he asked, dropping a pain pill into her open palm.
Felicity took the water he offered her, swallowing the pill down and handing him the empty cup. "We went to six different venues, Oliver. Six. Plus the four dress shops we stopped into so that Thea could look at bridesmaids dresses."
Oliver smiled fondly down at Felicity, his hand coming up to curve around her cheek, his thumb gently grazing the thin skin just below one sleepy eye. Felicity closed her eyes, leaning into the touch and turning her face into his palm to press her lips against it.
"I hear retail therapy works wonders." Oliver teased, eyeing the bag Felicity had dropped just inside the door.
"It was nice to spend the whole day with your sister. Exhausting, but really nice. She makes it all seem so easy, you know?" Felicity blinked slowly up at him, her eyelids dragging sluggishly.
"Thea's always been good at that." Oliver agreed, moving to assist Felicity when she started trying to ease the sling off. "Did she find anywhere that she liked?"
Felicity pushed her aching body up from the edge of the bed with her good arm, grateful that Oliver didn't try to help because there were still some things she actually could do on her own, and trudged over to Oliver's dresser to pull out a t-shirt. "A few, actually. I doubt she's done looking, though." Felicity smiled, going back to the bed and letting Oliver help her out of her clothes and into his shirt.
Dressed for bed, Felicity crawled under the comforter and settled in to watch Oliver strip off his well worn t-shirt and cotton pajama pants, leaving him in only a pair of black boxer briefs. He turned out the lamp on her nightstand before moving around to his side of the bed and climbing in beside her. Felicity shifted onto her right side, offering her back for Oliver to wrap around. He tucked one arm around her belly and gently pulled her back into his chest, his knees pressed into the bend of her own and his feet tangled with hers. He slipped his other arm between her neck and the mattress, letting her pillow her head on his bicep as he buried his face in the gentle curve of her neck just below her ear, mindful of her tender shoulder. Oliver placed feather light kisses into the hinge of her jaw, trailing them up behind her ear then back down to let his lips rest over the pulse in her neck.
Felicity smiled into the darkened room, contentedly humming in the back of her throat as his lips moved over her skin. She threaded her finger through his where they lay splayed open low on her belly, his hand having dipped beneath the fabric of her shirt, the rough pads of his fingertips and palm sending delicate sparks across her skin. Oliver's thumb rubbed softly at the smooth skin right below her navel, the tip of his pinky finger nudged just under the topmost edge of her panties. Felicity gave a tiny shift of her hips, just enough to let Oliver know that she was more than okay with what he was doing, where they were heading.
Even with his erection pushing against her ass, Felicity could feel the hesitation coming off of Oliver. He'd been so careful with her since she'd come home from the hospital, not pushing her to talk, not asking her for anything more than she was willing to give. She was beyond thankful to him for letting her work through everything however she needed to, for allowing her the space to figure out where her own head was at.
Lyla's words had gone a long way in convincing Felicity that it was okay to feel guilty for what she'd done, that it was normal and healthy to shed tears for the life she took. It was an excruciatingly slow process and Felicity was nowhere near ready to forgive herself, but she was ready to admit that she'd done the only thing she could have in that moment. Faced with that situation, Brenna holding Oliver at gunpoint and frighteningly eager to pull the trigger, Felicity had done what she needed to do in order for Oliver to survive.
The man she loved with every molecule in her body was alive and breathing and, no matter what she'd been forced to do to ensure that, Felicity couldn't bring herself to regret it. They were alive and they were together and that was what Felicity needed to focus on. That was what was going to allow her to move on with her life without being crippled with guilt. That fact was the very thing that was going to let Felicity begin to heal.
"Oliver." Felicity whispered, turning her head toward him as much as her muscles would allow. "It's okay."
Oliver let out a jagged breath, his body held tightly against hers and quivering with restraint. "I don't want to hurt you." he breathed, murmuring the words into her cheek. "We don't have to-"
"I want to." she promised, tightening her fingers between his. "I need this, Oliver. We need this." She rolled her hips back to emphasize her point.
Oliver sucked in a sharp breath, air whistling between his teeth as his pelvis jerked forward of its own accord. "Jesus, Felicity." he hissed.
He kissed her cheek, the corner of her mouth, letting her angle her torso into his chest so that he could more easily reach her mouth to slip his tongue between her lips. She sighed into the kiss, her tongue tangling with his as she reached up to slide her hand around the side of his neck. Oliver pressed forward, the rigid line of his cock digging into the full swell of her ass. He groaned, a rough and ragged sound that sent a shiver racing down Felicity's spine.
The hand spread open on her belly slipped lower as Oliver deepened the kiss, his lips moving more insistently, his tongue exploring her mouth as though it needed to relearn every ridge, every surface. Felicity moaned, her hips rocking gently when Oliver's fingertips brushed the delicate skin on the inside of her thigh, the blunt edge of his nails scratching gently, pulling blood to the surface. He dragged his lips away from hers, kissing his way from the corner of her mouth, along the edge of her jaw, down the slope of her throat, to the dip of her clavicle. Felicity bared her neck, giving Oliver better access to the long column of flesh.
"God, Oliver. Please." Felicity whimpered, arching against him. "Please touch me."
The growl that rumbled in Oliver's chest vibrated through Felicity, making her bones shake and rattle. His hand drifted up her thigh as lips and teeth continued to explore every inch of skin within their reach. He sucked and nibbled at her flesh as the tip of his thumb just barely brushed her slit.
Felicity shuddered, a full body spasm that made her skin erupt in goosebumps. Oliver shifted, freeing his arm from beneath her head. Felicity whined in protest, to which Oliver breathed a hoarse chuckle into the back of her neck, before he slipped his arm between her ribs and the mattress, crooking his elbow so that his hand came up to rest lightly at the base of her throat. He pressed the long line of his body flush against her back, his chest hot and solid against her back. Felicity made a needy sound somewhere deep in her chest, annoyed because she couldn't reach for him, her movements restricted by her injured shoulder and the way Oliver was holding her. Determined to at least get a hand on him, to feel his skin against hers in as many places as possible, Felicity brought her uninjured arm up to grip Oliver's forearm, her long tapered fingers curling around and digging into hard, muscled flesh.
Oliver rolled his hips, his breath hot and damp against Felicity's ear. She wriggled in place, trying to get the fingers lightly toying at the very edges of where she really wanted them, to stop their teasing.
"Felicity." Oliver kissed her name into her skin, his stubble scratching at the sensitive place between her shoulders, just below her neck. His lips brushed her skin, his tongue darting out to taste the notches of her spine. "Do you have any idea what this does to me? What having you like this does to me?"
Felicity could only moan in answer to his questions, her brain too fogged to form a coherent response. She was nearly trembling by then, her muscles tight with anticipation, every inch of nerve ending screaming for his touch. Her nails were leaving little crescent shaped dents in his skin, her teeth sinking into the pink plushness of her bottom lip in an effort to keep herself from simply flying apart in his arms.
"You're beautiful, Felicity." Oliver murmured, his teeth worrying at her earlobe. "Every God damn inch of you is fucking perfect." He all but growled the last part, taking her by surprise and stealing her breath as his fingers finally, finally, sank into her slick center.
Felicity's back bowed, her head landing hard on Oliver's shoulder as her body contracted. She gasped in a strangled breath as his fingers worked within her, gliding smoothly against her walls, slipping out and then thrusting back in.
She cried out, a sound ripped from somewhere low in her belly, a sound that had Oliver shivering behind her and fitting himself more tightly to her back. "Oh God." she moaned, "Please, Oliver. I need... Just... Please."
"What do you need, Felicity?" Oliver asked, his bottom lip dragging drily along the shell of her ear. "Tell me."
"Inside." she moaned pitifully, not actually sure if it came out as a word at all. "I need you- ah –inside me."
"I am inside you." Oliver scissored his fingers deep within her to make his point, his tongue tracing the hinge of her jaw as he did.
Felicity mewled, broken and wrecked. She shook her head, thrusting her ass back into the hard jut of his dick where it nestled between her cheeks. "Don't want your fingers." She clarified breathlessly, writhing against him.
Oliver hissed and then his teeth were sinking sharply into the junction of her neck and shoulder, his slicked fingers sliding out of her to tease at her throbbing clit. He wrenched a cry from her throat, the fingertips of his right hand pressing into the stretch of skin between her collarbones, just below her throat, while the fingertips of his left slipped and slid between her legs.
He pulled his hand away from her wet heat and she almost protested, until her brain registered that he was using the hand to drag her panties down her thighs. When they were far enough down, Felicity kicked them off as Oliver got to work shucking his boxer-briefs. Felicity only had a second to mourn the fact that she hadn't gotten to divest him of his last scrap of clothing before Oliver was repositioning himself behind her and the head of his cock was nudging at her entrance.
"If I hurt you, you have to tell me." Oliver said softly, though his tone was commanding.
"You won't." Felicity assured, canting her hips back.
"Felicity." Oliver warned tightly.
She could tell that he was controlling every movement, every shift of his body, to avoid hurting her in even the smallest way. She appreciated it, loved him for wanting to be gentle with her, but was a little annoyed at being treated like something fragile, something breakable. Gripping his forearm roughly, Felicity rolled her hips down and back, taking his cock in as much as their position allowed.
Oliver groaned, a sound that she'd swear was punched out of him if asked to pinpoint its origin. He thrust forward, shifting down her body so that he could get a better angle as he sank into her from behind.
"I promise, Oliver." Felicity moaned, swiveling her hips to take him deeper. "Now, move, damn it."
Oliver obliged, using his hand at her throat to anchor her while he thrust up, careful not to jostle her too much. He wanted this, wanted to make love to her for the first time since the gala, but he didn't want to hurt her. So he controlled every roll and push of his hips, held her tightly to his chest as he fucked into her, used the hand curled around her hip to steady her as he pushed in and slid out.
Felicity turned into him, conscious of her injured shoulder, and hooked one leg over his hip, opening herself up for him, easing the glide as he sank into her. She undulated her pelvis, rocking down on his cock as he shoved up. They moved together in near perfect synchronization, their bodies made to fit together like that, the hard lines of his muscled form molding into her curves as though it were the only thing they could possibly do.
Oliver's mouth explored the familiar expanse of her throat, her clavicle, her jaw. His lips never stayed in one spot for too long, his teeth and tongue equally as eager to taste her flesh. The hand at her throat never strayed, but the one on her hip roamed freely, ghosting over her waist, cupping a heavy breast, tweaking each pebbled nipple in turn.
Felicity held his arm firmly, refusing to relinquish the one part of him she could actually reach without aggravating any injuries. Her shoulder twinged now and then but not nearly enough to stop her from enjoying the feel of Oliver buried deep inside her. She focused on the slide of damp skin on skin, the feel of his stubble leaving burn marks in her skin, his teeth stinging where they sank into her flesh, his tongue as it laved away the pain.
Before long they were both panting, writhing together in a sweaty tangle of limbs, locked together in a desperate bid to crest the wave building between and within them.
Felicity moaned, high and breathy, the ache of her impending orgasm coiled heavily in her pelvis, radiating outward and just waiting to be unleashed. "I'm so close, Oliver. Oh God." she breathed shakily. "I love you."
His next thrust was sharp, a snap of his hips that had him hitting that spot that made her lose her grip on reality. He echoed the move, the head of his cock landing its target with every plunge. He mouthed at her neck, his breath humid and spine tingling every time it feathered over her skin. He slipped his hand back between her thighs, his middle and ring finger finding her clit and rubbing small, tight circles over the pulsating nub.
"I love you, Felicity." he whispered, his lips finding their way back to her earlobe. He bit down, then sucked it into his mouth, his voice wrecked when he swore to love her for the rest of his life.
Those words on his tongue, his fingers working her body furiously as he thrust in and out of her, that culmination was what sent Felicity spiraling over the edge, had her exploding, set off like a firework. Fire rushed through her, surging up her spine and down to her curling toes. Her fingernails dug into his arm so sharply the skin tore. The leg over Oliver's hip tightened with her orgasm, hauling him in closer as her walls spasmed and clutched around his dick. The groan that ripped its way up Oliver's throat was devastating in its intensity. Felicity whimpered as the tendrils of her release curled around her, making every inch of her skin overly sensitive to his touch. His palm pressed down on her pelvis, holding her down as he chased his own release.
"Come on, Oliver. Let go. Come for me." Felicity coaxed, turning her head to capture his lips.
The kiss was messy and uncoordinated, all teeth and tongues with no finesse. It was wet and filthy and desperate and Oliver would testify under oath that he saw stars when Felicity sucked on his tongue. It only took half a dozen more thrusts before Oliver was coming, his body drawing tighter than his bow ever had, his vision going a little white at the edges until he buried his face in Felicity's throat and struggled to breathe.
Felicity rubbed soothingly at his arm, avoiding the four tiny spots of broken skin. Oliver listened to her pulse calm, slowing from a thunderous pounding into a gentle thrum. It wasn't until they both came back to Earth that he brushed a delicate kiss to her throat and spoke.
"Felicity?"
"If you ask me if I'm okay I'll do a lot worse than leave nail marks on your arm." she warned, but Oliver could hear the smile in her voice.
"I wasn't going to." Oliver grinned, lifting his head to look down at her even though he could hardly see her in the dark bedroom, only able to make out the vaguest details thanks to the moonlight spilling in through the open curtains.
"Then by all means, please continue." She lifted her head to peck a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and he could feel her smile that time.
"I think we should start looking for our own place." Oliver told her, his hand finding her hip under her t-shirt, his thumb stroking gently at one of the scars on the jut of her pelvic bone.
Felicity shuddered before responding. "Really? I thought you'd want to stay here for a while longer. Thea and Roy will be home in a few months, and I know you love having the family all together."
"I know." Oliver conceded. "But... I don't know. I guess I just thought that with them getting married, and us wanting to do the same at some point, we might want our own place. Somewhere where we can start our future without all the memories this house has."
Felicity untangled her legs from his, repositioning until she was flat on her back and she could look up at him without straining her neck. "You love this house." she reminded him.
"I'm not saying that I don't." He propped his head up on his palm, his elbow on the mattress. "Remember when you moved in here and you said that this place couldn't really be ours because it belonged to my past?"
Oliver could feel her laugh. "I remember. That was the first night we slept together."
Oliver grinned, leaning in to kiss her, his lips lingering on hers just to feel her smile. When he pulled back, he continued, "You were right." He covered her mouth with his hand to stop her from a smartass remark about how she always was. "There's too much here, too many things to haunt us. I want us to have our own place. A place that's half you, half me."
Felicity was quiet for a few long minutes, in which Oliver's hand stayed over her mouth and he started to worry about her response. Eventually she gave him a nod to get him to remove his hand. When he did, she was smiling.
"Okay." she agreed. "Let's start looking for a place."
"You're sure?" Oliver asked, even though the pleased smile was already lighting up his face.
"Absolutely." Felicity laughed easily, squeezing his arm.
"What about your apartment?" Oliver questioned when he suddenly remembered that she still held the lease.
She laughed again, the sound light but a little hesitant. "Uh... Yeah, about that." She chewed on her bottom lip, but Oliver just waited her out. "So, I might have bought out the lease already."
Oliver's eyebrows rose in surprise. "When?"
"The morning after you came home from raiding my liquor cabinet." Felicity grimaced. "We didn't need a place like that, Oliver. We need somewhere for us to be together, not to hide from each ot-"
Oliver cut her off with a kiss.