Chapter 44: Crescendo
Happy late Christmas everyone! I'm most likely about to make 3/4 of you hate me, and 1/4 of you love this chapter, but in my defence, this is something I've been planning for this story since day one. I have been blessed with the strange happy coincidence that all 3 films have meant I can easily write my story with the plans I had for the narrative all along, without having to change TOO much of the main plots. This chapter was really important to me, I had so much fun writing it and I wanted to write something that showed Lyra's imperfections and how 'conflicted' she is when it comes to the men she loves and where she stands in the war. I wanted to show her susceptibility to the dark side, how Ren can easily manipulate her when she's vulnerable, how confused she is, how she loves both her husband and Poe, all of that stuff. For those diehard Poe fans, i'm sorry if the recent chapters haven't best pleased you, but much like all the Hux fans having to wait 25 chapters to even see Armitage again after the stories start, these past few chapters have been for our ginger General, but don't worry, our favourite charming pilot/general/all-around prince charming isn't far behind...
Poe could scarcely breathe after Hux had said those dreaded words.
"Lyra passed away."
No, it couldn't be. Barely any time had passed since he had seen her last, held her in his arms, saw her smile, heard her speak, give hope to their future despite everything that had happened, despite how heartbroken they both were over Leia. Is couldn't be true. She was stronger than that. His Lyra, the woman who had the strength to leave her husband, fly an X-Wing, fight against the First Order, run from a rancor, survive injuries time and time again, dead from a broken heart? It couldn't be true. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible, because if it was, how in the galaxy would Poe survive he thought to himself.
She had been weak yes, tired and sad from months away from Poe and her friends, but it couldn't be possible for her to be weak enough to give up on life as a result of her misery. Could it?
Her tracker had stopped working, she had lost a dangerous amount of weight as a result of her heartbreak, and something had seemed missing when he had seen her just after Leia's passing. But, but it couldn't have been enough to kill her? Could it?
A million and one thoughts raced through the Pilot's head as he thought of her, the idea of her being so heartbroken she would give up on life, the idea of Hux lying and Lyra being safe, the idea of her being alive but not safe. He wanted nothing more than to track down the Finalizer and see if she was ok. But the Resistance hung by a thread, and without Leia there, Poe was charged with the duty of leading the survivors, along with Rey and Finn, but nobody knew the Resistance the way he did. Leia wouldn't have approved of him leading a rescue party into the thick of enemy territory, he knew that. As he thought of the hopelessness of his situation, the frightening realisation that Hux might have been telling the truth filled him, causing him to throw his radio across the room forcefully enough to break it against the wall before crying out loud. He fell to the floor as he hit it hard enough to make his knuckles bleed causing BB-8 to roll back into the corner of the room in fear of Poe's drastic response to such news.
It didn't take long before Kaydel appeared, rushing into the room to see what was wrong with Poe.
"Commander Dameron, Poe, is everything alright?" She bent down, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He couldn't even bring himself to tell her. Everything was wrong. Everything felt wrong. Lyra wasn't there with him, Leia wasn't there with him, and he could scarcely believe his life could go on without either of them.
If Lyra was alive, he had to find a way to speak to her, at least until the Resistance gathered their strength back, then he would either find her and bring her back to him, or take solace in avenging her death.
"Kaydel, find Finn and Rey, it's time to find allies and find them quick" he said, wiping his tears away.
Six Months Later
Lyra glanced down at her tracker. She had held on hope for the last few months that it would magically work again, alerting her to Poe's presence. But he was gone. She wondered if being promoted to leader of the Resistance had made him forget about her. Connix had seemed friendly with him when she had briefly reunited with him after Leia's passing. Perhaps that visit had meant something different to him, perhaps it was closure. Perhaps Connix was the one comforting him now, the one by his side as Lyra should have been.
Lyra had exhausted every option in her head, every bad scenario, every future Poe could have without her. It had driven her closer and closer to insanity over the months, and Ren had tuned into her insecurities in training, projecting images of Poe with Connix, surrounded by women who celebrated him as the true hero of the Resistance over and over again until she begged him to stop.
The only solace was that Ren and Hux seemed to have developed a passable working relationship once more. It was as if Ren had finally realised he needed Hux's intelligence to run the First Order effectively. Lyra was only happy he had eased up on inflicting pain on her husband, even if it meant that he redirected that pain onto Lyra instead.
She had dealt with her pain in the only way she knew how stuck on-board the Finalizer, through training. Whether it was training with Ren on her connection to the force or combat training with Armitage. The General was more than happy to train with her of course, it had become something of a bonding experience between the two, and he spoke to her about politics and didn't shoot her down when she brought up the Resistance and had opposing views. They had developed an intimacy they had not shared before Lyra had run away.
And yet Armitage still craved her in the ways he had experienced her before she left. He couldn't believe how long he had taken her for granted in those respects. Before he had always been too tired, too involved in the First Order's next moves to pay her the attention she deserved. Now he wanted nothing more than to touch her, than to watch her as she came undone beneath him, to feel her warmth and kiss every inch of her body. It was the one thing she resisted. After the kiss six months ago, she seemed racked with guilt more than ever about getting too close to him, at least in that way.
Armitage, ever the gentleman didn't push her. He merely held out hope that she would finally want him and that her guilt for moving on from Poe would soon run out. But until then, he would wait patiently.
One day, when he was busy on the bridge, Ren trained with Lyra, the newly self-appointed Supreme Leader surprised the young woman by taking a break from torturing her during their training.
"You know I've had some… odd visions of late, about your future and your connection to your husband. It's like a shift in your mindset has allowed me to see another path for the both of you" he told her.
She paused, knowing any kindness from him would probably come with a price, perhaps he wanted more information on the Resistance, and Rey in particular.
"You can't see into the future, no connection to the force can help you see the future."
He smirked. "Perhaps you would like to see?"
Before she could protest, he raised a hand up and projected the visions into her head.
She saw flashes of her life with Armitage, of training with him and of life back in Naboo with him. Then she saw a small hand raise from a cot in their bedroom back home, and then Armitage sat in the gardens with her, the both of them laughing and then in his arms, a baby. A baby with red hair.
She stepped away from him, falling to the floor in disbelief.
"That's cruel, even for you Ren, to joke about a future I have no chance at having."
He stared down at her. "The doctors told you that you couldn't have children years ago, but that was before you realised your connection to the force."
She frowned at him. "I don't want to talk about this, why entertain something that can't happen?"
"The force can open our minds and our bodies to potentials we couldn't tap into before, people have overcome barriers of the mind, as you and I have done, overcome sickness and disease in some cases, so the possibility of you conceiving a child isn't impossible."
Lyra shook her head. "Why would you tell me this anyway, you hate me?"
"I don't hate you, I don't care for you enough to even hate you. I need your husband's cooperation in unifying the galaxy and finding the resistance. Speaking of the Resistance, the scavenger girl Rey, she disappeared after she killed Snoke. Her connection to the force was unparelled, what do you know of her?"
Lyra smirked. "I know she beat you, twice. She's always one step ahead of you and she will carry on Luke Skywalker's legacy. Other than that, I can't help you, even I wanted to. I don't know where she or any of the Resistance are anymore."
Ren's jaw tensed as he grit his teeth. "Fine. If I don't get what I want, you don't get to either. Perhaps you should see what your Pilot is up to these days."
Before Lyra could put any mental shields up, Ren pushed visions of Poe into her head. Visions of Poe leaning up against a door as Connix spoke to him, of the two of them flirting, he was laughing at something she said, laughing like he would have laughed at her jokes.
Another vision raced through her mind, one where Poe and Connix kissed and Poe's father Kez embraced Connix like a daughter as Poe looked on, smiling.
She pushed back against Ren's visions, not being able to handle seeing him with another woman.
"Stop!"
"Funny, how you grow closer to your husband and yet the thought of your lover moving on from you fills you with such pain" Ren told her.
"Why do you torture me over this? I don't know where the Resistance are. I can't help you."
"You gave your Pilot too much credit, he moved on all too easily after he didn't have you in his sights. He kept his pain under control by finding comfort in the arms of a Resistance fighter, this Connix. She's young, naive, easy to impress. You, you used your pain and turned it into something better than that. You have been training hard, you have been using your powers to better yourself and those around you, just like I do. Just like Hux does. Perhaps you belong with the First Order more than you thought."
"I'm nothing like you" she spat back.
"Perhaps, though you do seem to fit well with the General, just as your pilot has fit well with this Connix girl, maybe you should revaluate where your loyalties lie."
She frowned up at him as she pushed him out of her mind. "Why do you care either way, you have done nothing but criticise both Poe and my husband, I wouldn't think you cared who I chose to spend my life with."
Ren's jaw tensed once more. "I need Hux's help to win this war, and he's happiest when he has you."
"I won't shape my life to suit your needs Ren."
He watched her as she got to her feet once more and made her way to the doors of the training room.
"And Poe loves me, not Connix" she called to him before leaving.
As she read on the sofa she couldn't help but think of the visions Ren had shown her. Her hand went to her stomach as she felt the flatness of it. To think of life growing there had become such a foreign concept to her over the years. She had been told by so many doctors her chances of having children was close to nothing, and yet there Ren was, telling her that her stronger connection to the force could change all that.
And the child, the child had been so perfectly formed in the visions. A girl, a girl with piercing blueish green eyes like her own but red hair and full lips, unmistakably inherited from Armitage. He was the father of this child, not Poe. She had pictured children with Poe, big brown eyes and long eyelashes and thick dark hair just like him. It had been years since she had entertained the thought of having children with Armitage on account of being told she couldn't bear them, as well as the realisation that even if she could, he worked so much he would barely be around to raise them alongside her.
Then there had been visions of Poe with Connix. Connix had one advantage over her at least, she could bear Poe children. Poe had expressed his desires for children even when they were together. He had brushed it off but she knew it eluded to the truth. He wanted children. Granted, he wanted children with her, but the desire for a family was there for him and it was something she couldn't provide. Even if Ren's visions held any truth to them, it was clear whatever children she had would be Armitage's. She felt warm tears slip down her cheeks as she thought of a future without Poe.
All she wanted was a life with him, free from war and the First Order. Free to be with a man who believed in her and loved her and made her laugh and made her feel like herself and yet all signs pointed otherwise.
It wasn't long before Armitage returned to their rooms and wasted no time in joining her on the sofa and reeling off events of the day to her. After five minutes of talking, he realised she hadn't yet said anything to him.
"My love, is everything alright?"
She paused before nodding slowly.
He moved closer to her on the sofa. "No, you aren't, I know you. What's the matter?"
"Nothing, really, just, just some things Ren showed me."
He rest a hand on hers. "My darling, you know he'll do anything to torture you, please try to pay no mind to his tricks."
"He said he had been having visions of a different future for us lately" she said softly.
Armitage shook his head. "I don't care what he's seen, I will work to ensure we have a safe future together, I don't care whatever poison he's tried to put into your mind."
"He saw a child in our future. Our child. A child with red hair and my eyes."
Armitage stopped, looking between her eyes and her stomach.
"How?"
Lyra's brow furrowed. "He said that those with a strong connection to the force have overcome great things, mental obstacles, sickness. I suppose it makes sense, if he has the ability to control others through causing physical harm to them, having control over your own body seems like a logical thing too."
His eyes widened as he looked to her stomach again. "You think it's possible then, to carry a child?"
She looked at him. "I don't know. If it was, is it still something you would even want? This environment isn't exactly ideal for raising a child."
He smiled, stroking her hair back behind her ear before his hand trailed to her own hand resting on her stomach.
"I would be lying if it wasn't something I still think of, raising a family with you. It would be lovely wouldn't it? Returning home after this war is over, having a baby, getting the time to raise it together, watching you happy with the only obstacle that's ever stood in your way knocked down."
Her eyes went to her stomach again before she smiled and nodded slowly. "Yes, yes it would be lovely" she whispered.
Armitage's breathing hitched. For once Ren had thrown him a bone. It was either some new level of cruelty for him or his attempt at pushing Lyra closer to her husband once more. Whether there was truth in his visions or not, it certainly worked in his favour.
He noted her sadness and closed his hand around hers gently. "Don't let Ren get in your head too much my love, at least, don't let his negative comments affect you."
She nodded slowly, smiling as he tried to comfort her as he always tried to.
That night when she slept, thoughts of a baby weren't what filled her head. Instead, her usual nightmares of the torture and death of both Poe and Hux occurred along with images of Poe embracing Connix so real it caused her to cry out and break into a feverish sweat.
It wasn't long before she felt Armitage's voice and arms on her gently wake her from her nightmares.
"My darling you're having nightmares again" he told her gently. She inclined her head towards him, gasping as she tried to catch her breath.
"I'm sorry I woke you" she whispered.
He shook his head. "Don't be silly my love, that's not why I'm concerned. Look at you, you're covered in sweat, I wish there was a way I could help."
She tried to calm her breathing as he stroked her hair back away from her face gently.
"Wait here" he told her, getting up to go to the bathroom. When he returned he placed a folded wet towel on her forehead gently to try and cool her down before resuming his spot next to her in bed as he softly comforted her by staying close and stroking her arm gently.
"I'm here now my darling, everything will be alright Lyra. They are just dreams, they can't hurt you."
"I don't think these nightmares will ever go away Tij, even with my handle on the force, they are getting stronger. And Ren would probably have me believe turning to the dark side as he has is the only way to stop these nightmares" she told him as he monitored her temperature.
"You won't turn to the dark my love, you're much too strong for that, and stubborn" he smiled.
"So then I'll just descent into madness as the lines between reality and dreams blur even further."
His hand went to her cheek as he frowned at her. "You are strong Lyra, you will overcome whatever pain your enemies inflict upon you. You know it's true. And I'll be here with you always, we'll face whatever madness comes our way together."
She took his hand in her own as she brought it to her lips, kissing it gently. "Thank you Armitage, for sticking by me through all of this."
He nodded, holding her close as he hoped his gentle embrace was enough to keep the nightmares at bay. Lyra fell asleep once more in his arms, the soft sounds of his steady breathing and feel of his face against her hair soothing her enough to allow for a few more hours of restful sleep.
The next morning Armitage had already left by the time Lyra woke up. He had left one of his usual notes for her on his pillow for her to find.
"Darling one,
I hate leaving you to wake up alone but after last nights fit, I felt it would be unfair to wake you when you finally managed to sleep. I have ordered you some sleep tonic made from some rare medicinal herbs, anything to help you sleep. I can't stand to see you in such mental pain.
Don't let Ren get you down in training today, we'll be away from him soon enough.
I love you,
Your Tij."
She smiled as she read his words. Considerate as always.
Lyra prepared for her training session with Ren. Her training had become an unusual thing, in some respects she hated Ren for the visions he planted in her head, but in other respects, she relished the power she held when Ren cooperated with her and taught her how to harness her powers and connection to the force.
As soon as she entered the training room, Ren was stood there waiting for her. He glared at her as she approached him.
"Didn't sleep too well last night?"
She sighed. "No thanks to you."
"Couldn't stand thinking about your pilot in the arms of another woman? I wonder if he thinks of you when he lies with her, or if he's moved on completely."
She frowned as she shook her head. "It's too early for this Ren, can't you just help me control the force instead of being petty."
"I've told you already, if you want to unlock your true potential you need a constant, real motivator, and what better motive than anger or fear?"
She tilted her head to the side. "So you torture me to help me?"
His jaw tensed. "I challenge you to test my own abilities and to make you see the truth instead of thinking the Resistance are this innocent band of heroes you believe them to be."
Lyra rolled her eyes. "You know there are other motivators other than hate."
"None as strong as hate. Think about it, the most powerful things in life are done through hate, violence, words that linger, dictatorships…. You can use it to your advantage, channel whatever hate you feel into your connection with the force. Life becomes simpler when you stop fighting it, just like my doubts faded when I killed my father."
"I would never hurt the ones that I love" she spat back at him.
"No? And yet you ran away from your husband to begin an affair with his enemy, knowing he was doing everything in his power to bring you back to him."
"No I didn't. I thought he wanted me dead after I ran. And I never meant to hurt him, things just happened, I didn't plan any of it."
"But admit how good you felt, how powerful you felt just going out and doing whatever you wanted, think about the power it gave you to have your pilot and your husband both wanting you for their own, admit how wonderful it was to feel like you had the galaxy at your fingertips."
She shook her head. "That isn't how it worked, I didn't plan anything, things just happened the way they did."
"Fine, tell yourself whatever lie you need to in order to get by, let's train."
Lyra obeyed, eager to distract him from torturing her.
They trained for what felt like hours before Ren's usual temper flared up.
"You aren't using your full potential, you're holding back. You need to fuel your power, your connection to the force, use anger to push your mind, your body, let it fill you" he told her.
"I'm not going to use anger, I won't be like you" she bit back.
"I knew it. Pointless trying to even test you. Tell me, is the scavenger girl, Rey, is she like you? Unwilling to use her emotions to better her own connection to the force?"
Lyra smirked. "She isn't like you either. She's strong, she protects people not hurt them. You won't be able to control her, you won't be able to manipulate her. She'll see right through you."
Ren tilted his head to the side. "You think? I've seen her, fought her, she fights with fury, she wouldn't make the same stupid choices in life you do."
"Sounds like you love her. Keep dreaming Ren, she'll never be yours."
"You speak as if you have your own love life under control. You, a woman who strings her husband along, who lets him take the bullet for her every time and yet treats him like second best, all for a man who's already forgotten you and moved on to another woman, and not even one who measures up to the potential you have."
Lyra's anger bubbled up again as she focused her mind on the room instead of Ren's words, trying to channel her anger into something useful as he had suggested.
"No smart comeback? No petty remarks. Is it because you know I'm right? You shun the love of a man who would move mountains for you despite your infidelity for a playboy pilot who's using his grief as an excuse to move on from you as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the General sits and waits in vain for you to see him, give him another chance as he gave you so many after your disloyalty."
Lyra felt tears sting her eyes as she focused harder. Above them, the metal rafters in the training room slowly curled. Ren looked up at them, seeing her connection to the force grow stronger, he spurred her on, wondering if perhaps having her give into her anger enough would be enough to give into the dark side and reveal the location of the Resistance….. and the scavenger girl.
"Doesn't it make you angry to know that Leia's passing didn't bring you closer to the pilot, instead he's found comfort in the arms of another, and you, you resist your own relief from the pain by pushing Hux away. Doesn't it drive you insane knowing that the man you thought you would spend the rest of your life with is doing just fine without you, has even risen higher in the Resistance without you, and soon enough will replace you, his precious Captain for this Connix woman. Then you'll have no one. Hux will grow tired of waiting. He'll grow tired of never being your first choice and you, you'll be alone."
Lyra was reminded of her own dream months ago, were a vision of herself had even told her that she would end up alone if she kept choosing between her husband and Poe.
Above them, one of the metal rafters split in half, causing even Ren to backtrack through fear that Lyra might even possess enough power to tear a hole through the whole ship.
"STOP IT" she cried out, moving away from Ren as she closed her eyes and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Before Ren could torture her with his words more, she raised a hand and slammed him to the ground.
As he stared up at her in disbelief from the ground, she quickly left the training hall and went to find Armitage.
When he wasn't on the bridge, she walked briskly to his office, opening the door to see him stood there over his maps and work. She slammed the door behind her using the force, causing him to look up at her, but as he went to ask her if she was alright, she spoke first.
"Why are you always so forgiving of me? Why aren't you angry with me? I left you, in the middle of the night I left you, I escaped with your enemy and then fell in love with him. I had an affair, and you, you just pretend as if everything is alright, why, why aren't you angry with me?"
She stepped towards him, waiting for a response.
"Lyra, calm down, what's the matter? What happened with Ren?"
"Why aren't you angry? Why are you so understanding? Why do you stand by me, why is it you? Why are you the one here after all of this? Why haven't you moved on? Why do you stay with me? It doesn't make sense."
"Lyra, please, you need to calm down" he told her, reaching for her.
She hit her fists against his chest. "Why aren't you mad at me? I was disloyal, I left you, I fucked another man, I fell in love with someone else, you should be mad at me. Hit me, get even, tell me you hate me. Tell me you're finished with me."
She hit him and he looked at her, bewildered by her sudden outburst. "Lyra, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Do it! Hit me, get revenge for how I treated you. Hit me, make it easier for me to hate you, make it easier for me to move on, please! Hate me, I deserve it Tij. I deserve it. Why aren't you angry? Be honest!"
Armitage took hold of her hands. "FINE! You want the truth. I am angry with you, I'm angry you left me, I'm angry you left before you would give me the chance to explain, talk things through. I'm angry you found comfort with another man, I'm angry you fucked someone else. I'm angry you made me worry for months about where you were and if you were safe. I'm angry you won't be with me as a wife should be with her husband, I'm angry I'm not the only one you want. I'm angry with you for all those things Lyra!"
They stared at each other in silence for a moment, months and months of restraint and words they didn't even know they needed to get off their chests now between them, out in the open.
As tears fell down Lyra's cheeks, she shook her head. "Then why do you stand by me?"
He looked at her as if he were in pain, as if the fact that she didn't already know the answer why was breaking his heart.
"Because I love you Lyrasanna. You are the only thing in my life I'm proud of, that I don't regret. I love you dammit."
The words echoed in her head and she choked back a sob so hard it hurt her throat. She tried to think of her response, but no words came out.
Instead, she met his words with her lips, pressing them against his own so hard she feared she might have hurt him. When she pulled back, he stared at her in disbelief, and she answered his disbelief with another kiss. This time it was a real kiss, she took advantage of his open mouth, pulling him in.
The last time they kissed, Armitage had led and had been rejected for his advances. But this time, this time Lyra took the lead and Armitage was all too glad to reciprocate.
His lips were cool and familiar to her, like entering a warm house on a cold winters day. He dropped her hands to instead cup her face as he kissed her. He quickly became as desperate as she was, kissing her as if it were the only way to keep a hold of her. Months of denial accumulating in a kiss so fierce he worried her connection to the force might take hold and harm the both of them.
But such worry was secondary. She was there and she was kissing him. He would pay any price for such a thing.
Before Tij could scarcely believe things could get better, her hands pulled his great coat off and trailed down to the belt holding his uniform in place, she unbuckled it with ease and pulled at his clothes, causing him to look down at her in confusion.
"My darling, are you sure?"
"I need you Tij, stars, please, I just need you" she whispered.
He helped her remove his uniform shirt and watched as she stared at his bare torso. He was so different to Poe, she couldn't help but think. Pale, and thin, but Poe wasn't here for her now, Tij was. Her Tij. Her husband. She leaned forward and kissed his chest, running her nails along his lower torso causing him to gasp before running her mouth along his collarbone and back to his lips to kiss him again.
She pulled his lower lip into her own, biting at it enough to earn another gasp. His own hands went to her torso, clothed only by a thin cotton top she trained in. He skimmed her breasts, already feeling her nipples harden under his touch. She moaned softly as he curled his fingers under her top and pulled it off.
He picked her up with ease, causing her to wrap her legs around his waist as he shoved his things off his desk and placed her on it. Even through his uniform, she felt him hard against her clothed core and pushed up against him further in an attempt to get closer. He moaned against her mouth, his hands caressing her body as he brought his mouth down on one of her breasts, swirling his tongue over her hardened nipple. Her own hands went to his hair, gripping it as she moaned at his movements. He kissed her other breast before his mouth travelled down to her navel.
Then he stood and ran his hands over her pants, waiting for a sign he could go further. When she nodded and lifted her frame from the desk momentarily, he rolled her pants off, leaving her bare before him. She went to remove the rest of his own clothes but he gripped her hands and brought them to his face, kissing them gently.
"Wait, wait my love" he whispered.
Before she could protest, he raised her legs so she was forced to lie back on the desk. She gasped as she felt him kiss her inner thighs, running his tongue along the soft skin there. If he wasn't so desperate for her she imagined he would have relished taking his time with her. It wasn't long before she felt his tongue against her pearl, soft and gentle flicks of his tongue. It wasn't like Poe, when Poe kissed her there it was passionate, clumsily so. Armitage kissed her as if he were handling fine china. Delicate, precise, so precise it almost drove her mad. But stars did it feel good. She moaned and writhed about as he licked at her core, revelling in the feel of him. It had been so long since she had felt him, she had forgotten how good he felt, how much he worshipped her. He ran the flat of his tongue up along her centre, tasting her like a man starved of a good meal in weeks.
When she felt one of his fingers slide into her she moaned again, her hands going to his hair, pulling it gently as she felt his deliberate yet gentle movements. His fingers were long, and thin and most importantly, nimble. After years of being married, it was as if he knew her body better than anyone else, knowing exactly where to touch her and where to increase the pace and pressure. And after months of such denial, it didn't take her long before she came as a result of his skills. Her hands gripped his hair harder and she came so hard her legs shook and as Armitage raised his head, he smiled at the realisation he had been the cause of such a response.
Just when he thought she might push him away when she came down from such a high, she sat up to kiss him, tasting herself on him as she ran her palm over his hardness. She pulled at his belt, unbuckling it before watching him take off the rest of his clothes. She bit her lip as he pulled her to the edge of the desk once more before entering her slowly.
They both moaned at the sensation, at finally being joined together. Armitage could have cried, the feeling of being inside his wife once more almost too much to handle. She wrapped her legs around him, wanting to be as close to him as possible, wanting only him and her to exist in the moment. He pushed his length into her completely, but slowly, drawing his face back a moment to look at her. She opened her eyes as he stared into hers and felt tears well.
He raised a hand to her face, running his thumb over her lip before cradling her face.
"I love you" he whispered.
A tear fell from her eye before she leaned forward and kissed him again, rolling her hips against him in an effort to get him to continue making love to her. He obliged of course, all too happily, pushing her back down on the desk as he pulled out before pushing back into her, this time more forcefully than before. He leaned forward, kissing her breasts again, sliding his tongue over the hardened peaks of them before drawing a long, lazy swipe of his tongue up from her chest to her collarbone. She ran her hands over his back, digging her nails into his skin as she met his thrusts with her own. He leaned back far enough to kiss her legs, gripping her thighs as he ran his fingernails down them as he kissed her inner thighs, thrusting into her. She moaned, spurring him on as one of his hands reached between them to rub his thumb across her clit, drawing another moan from her.
He watched her face as she furrowed her brow and arched her back in pleasure. Lyra reached down to grip his wrist as she held him there, not wanting him to stop.
Her writhes and moans alerted him to the fact that she was close to coming again and he picked up the pace against her clit with his thumb until he felt her tighten around him as she came undone once more.
He couldn't help it, the sounds of her moans and feel of her around him caused him to speed up and it wasn't long before he came too, spilling inside of her with a choked moan. He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers as they both tried to catch their breath.
"I'm sorry" he whispered.
"For what?"
"I wanted to last longer but, it's been so long and you, you're so, sublime."
She smiled against his cheek as she wrapped her arms around him. "It's fine Tij. It's fine."
They stayed like that for a moment before Armitage slipped from her and lowered himself to the ground, taking her with him. The ground was cold beneath them but either one of them didn't seem to mind. They lay on their sides facing one another, bare. Tij's arm beneath her neck to serve as a sort of pillow for her. His other arm circled her hip gently.
Before Armitage could talk to her, he noticed Lyra had already closed her eyes in a light sleep. He couldn't help but smirk, proud their lovemaking had tired her out so much.
How one afternoon could change things so drastically.