Chapter Seventeen

She knew Matt was overworked and unhappy up at House 29. She knew it not because he said anything but because he was working a ton of overtime trying to sort out paperwork and set up drills and basically run the house, and because he rarely talked about anything from shift. No one could get much out of him except the occasional very basic recounting of a call they went on. No stories from the house, no jokes he'd heard in the truck, nothing. He got quieter, less likely to talk about anything. They hadn't 'gone out' anywhere but Molly's in weeks, and while she greatly enjoyed the nights he cooked for her, she sort of missed going out once in a while to a place where they weren't surrounded by a dozen of their friends. She didn't say anything though, because those nights at Molly's were the times he seemed happiest, with the Blackhawks or the Bears or Notre Dame or the Bulls or whoever on the televisions and his friends from 51 around, chatting about the season or filling him in on calls they'd had, and the way he'd hold her against him kind of tightly on those nights, like he was worried she was going to leave. She had no plans to go anywhere. He was as affectionate as ever and the fact that he sent flowers to her at the house twice now (the second bouquet perfectly timed for when the other had started to wilt, and she left them at the house because that was where she missed him) was incredibly sweet and attractive. He cooked for her and he cuddled like no one's business when she stayed over. The sex was still fantastic, and he wasn't even awkward anymore over her continuing fascination with watching him get hard – the first time she'd asked to watch him jack off he'd gone about four shades of red, but gone along with it readily enough, and he'd been a little weird about her blowing him but regularly taking it out of her mouth just to look at it, but she was amazed every time at how he went from a-bit-above-average to too-thick-to-fit-in-her-mouth. The fact that she was incredibly turned on by it seemed to have been his tipping point into wholehearted acceptance of her little kink. Relationship-wise, they were doing great, he just seemed a little unhappy in general.

Then, in mid-November (just about the time his stitches were finally fully out, though he'd ignored all orders to rest after day 3, gone back to both jobs, and pulled several already) he'd texted her in the middle of shift just after dinner and told her they had 'plans' for dinner the next night. He'd pick her up at 5:30, please wear a dress. She was curious, but didn't ask too many questions. A little mystery, as they'd already established, could be fun. In fact, since it put her in mind of that night, she wore that same underwear again. It had been lucky the first time, she'd take the chance on it being lucky again. She broke out a sexy-but-not-too-sexy navy blue dress, and some cute shoes, and was outside the building when he pulled up, or rather, when he got out of a very nice car service vehicle. It wasn't a limousine, but it was a very nice sedan with a liveried driver. Matt was in a suit, though no tie, and she thought he looked amazing.

"You look so beautiful." He kissed her gently. "And I think maybe…you're wearing my favorite underneath that dress."
"Maybe. And you, mister, you look very handsome in that suit."
"We have a reservation." He took her arm, and led her to the car, where the driver was holding open the door for her. She slid inside, and waited until they were on their way before asking anything further.

"Matt, is there…are we celebrating something?"
"Yes, we are. It's…kind of a silly tradition I guess, but" he shrugged, "I always treat myself to something really nice on my birthday."
"It's your birthday? How did I not know your birthday? We've been friends for five years! How did I…I'm a horrible girlfriend!"
"No, you're not. You're fantastic." Matt kissed her softly. "Chief and Severide are probably the only people in the house who even know it's my birthday."

"Gabby never said anything, and I never even thought it was weird that we never celebrated your birthday. I was a horrible friend. Wait, the whole house is horrible friends."
"Sylvie, I mean it, I don't want anything said or done at the house, I never did, I never will, I just…I don't like a big fuss."

"You're always on board when we throw birthday parties and stuff." She was confused. Matt loved celebrations. He never missed a birthday party, anniversary party, or anything like that, not for anyone. He did all the holidays and all the graduations and every milestone for everyone's kids and siblings and spouses. He showed up if there was any way he could, even if all he could was stop by briefly. She knew it was part of why the wives and girlfriends all adored him – he took his work family very literally as family. He took care of his guys like they were literally his brothers. It didn't make sense that he suddenly didn't like birthday parties.

"Those are for other people. I don't like a fuss over me." He shrugged again. Then he sighed. "My dad was a jerk, you know? I loved him, he was my dad, but he wasn't a great family man. When I was nine, my mom wanted to have a birthday party for me. They'd had a big thirteenth birthday party for Christie earlier that fall, which Dad complained about paying for as well. I just remember him shouting at her that he wasn't going to spend a bunch of money on something worthless."
"Oh, Matt."
"Yeah, looking back, he probably meant a ninth birthday was kind of a stupid thing to make a big deal out of, but at the time, I figured he meant me." Matt shrugged again. "They fought about it a lot that fall and I told mom I didn't ever want a birthday party, just for them to stop fighting. We never did my birthday after that, but they didn't stop fighting."
"That is…really awful." She didn't know what to say. She knew Matt only let a very few people know anything about his childhood. He guarded it very carefully, even Kelly and Gabby probably knew only bits and pieces. She couldn't help remembering her annual birthday parties as a child, rarely expensive sorts of parties but always something special to mark her getting older.

"So, now I throw myself a little…well, most years I treat myself to something. When I'm on shift, it usually gets skipped."
"Well, now I am especially grateful that I am, in fact, wearing 'your favorite' under this dress, and you can see it later tonight." She kissed him, much more heavily than he'd kissed her thus far. "I'd already made a decision, but it feels…well, we'll talk about that later."
"A decision?"
"Oh, one I think you'll like, Matt. It just requires some privacy. And a bed. And a lot less clothing."
"We could skip dinner."

"Patience is a virtue."
"Sylvie, nothing about you in that dress, or the promise of you in that lingerie, makes me feel the least bit virtuous." Matt laughed. "But, I have been looking forward to this steak for a while."
"Steak?"
"It was a little last minute, but I was able to score a reservation at Gibsons. That okay with you?"
"It's your birthday, Matt." She smiled though. "But I love steak. I've never eaten at Gibsons, but I've heard it's fantastic."

Dinner had been beyond fantastic. The restaurant was beautiful, the service top-notch, and the steaks perfect. They split a giant piece of chocolate mousse pie. Her wine was phenomenal with the steak, perfectly paired by the staff (she hadn't been sure what she wanted, so she'd asked, boy was that the right thing to do) and Matt had had two scotches. She'd felt…like her old dreams back in Fowlerton of being a princess or something, with people bringing her wonderful food and treating her like she was the most important guest, and a liveried driver, and a very handsome prince on her arm. She doubted he'd had the same daydreams, but she hoped he at least had the same feeling of a perfect evening out. She'd declined his invitation to find another drink after dinner, leaning forward to kiss him as the driver brought their car around.

"I'd rather go back to yours and get out of this dress, and these shoes. They're cute, but…" She almost laughed, seeing that he was staring at her, rather than actually listening. "Matt."
"I'm sorry. Just you put the idea of you out of the dress in my head, and," he pulled her close, "now all I can think about is that red lingerie. Fire engine red. Coincidence?"
"Maybe not." She kissed him, and chased the smoky taste of his scotch into his mouth. She wasn't much of a scotch drinker herself, but mixed with him and the steak and dessert, she found herself loving it. Matt pulled away, just as their driver emerged from the car to open the door for them. She could, but shouldn't, get used to this sort of treatment. She slid into the car, and Matt right behind her. She wanted to be conscientious and put her seatbelt on, but then there was Matt in the other seat and she didn't want a foot or more of space between them. Instead, she sat as close to him as possible, turned towards him, her legs half on his lap, so she could kiss from his lips across his jaw, then down his neck gradually, and back up to that spot where his ear and jaw and neck met, the one that made him gasp a little and tilt his head enough to give her even more access. His arms wrapped around her, holding her in her spot. She moved her head, ducking under his chin to drag her tongue and lips down his neck, until she nudged his collar aside enough to find the pulse point. Judging by the way he arched when she nipped there, then soothed it with her tongue, she should spend some time right there, so she did.

Once they arrived back at his building, they managed to walk like civilized humans into the building, remain appropriately behaved in the elevator, and all the way inside the apartment. Inside the apartment, though, he spun her into his arms and then his tongue was back in her mouth, and his hands were under her ass as he picked her up. The dress was a little tight for wrapping her legs around him, so she ended up trying to pull it up farther while he was holding her, which thank God he was so strong because she didn't even feel the least bit like he might drop her no matter how much she wriggled, Finally, her legs could wrap around him, and she did, though their mouths never parted. He laid her on the bed before she even realized they'd moved through the apartment to his bedroom. Kissing him was like a parallel universe, like everything else disappeared, and he was the whole universe. His hands roved, and they felt fantastic, but a few moments later he pulled back, looking at her with some confusion in his eyes.

"I can't find the zipper to your dress."

"It's right here." She reached under her left arm. He wrinkled his nose a little bit. "What?"
"Designers do weird things to women's clothes." He replied. "You'd never see a man's shirt or suit with a zipper in the armpit."
"Well, some of us have to wear form-fitting things to look sexy. All you need is those shoulders, Mr. Firefighter."
"How does a zipper there even help?"

"Loosens it so you can pull it over, or down." She replied. She pushed him off her, he went easily on to his back on the bed, and she stood. It took a little shimmy, it always did in this dress, but she got the dress over her head which given how far she'd rucked it up already seemed easier than pulling it down. Matt was staring at her, once she'd set the dress aside and was looking back at him.

"That may be the hottest little…shimmy striptease ever accidentally given." Matt was grinning broadly. "Come back to bed."
"Nope. Not until we get you down a few pieces of clothing yourself. Stand up."
"Woman wants me naked. Who am I to argue?" He laughed, standing up and peeling his jacket, then undid his belt. He kicked off his shoes, then stopped, looking at her. "Are you just gonna watch me?"
"I like watching you do all sorts of things." She admitted. "Leave your pants for now. Just take your shirt off. And your socks."
"Yes, ma'am." He did so, tossing it in the general direction of the chair in the corner of the room. Sylvie was randomly reminded of Joe's 'door chair stuff' except that Matt never had anything piled there, like he dropped things there when he came in late but always put it away the next day. She knelt in front of him, undoing the button and then the zipper of his pants, before opening them. She kissed him through his boxers, and felt his groan as well as the answering twitch of his dick. He wasn't exactly hard yet, though headed that direction, which was what she'd been hoping for. She looked up at him, as she pushed his pants and then his underwear down his legs. She loved doing this for some reason. But she had something else she'd been wanting to try, well two things, but this one was first. She kissed her way up his cock, which was rapidly hardening. If she had to guess (she hadn't exactly measured it) fully hard he was around seven inches long, and more than that around. Right now, he wasn't there yet, and she could still suck him into her mouth. She'd found that she liked tonguing under his foreskin, before he or she had rolled it back, and more importantly, she'd learned that she loved the noises he made when she did it. She didn't stick with his dick for long though, instead her mouth wandered to the base of his erection, then behind to lick down his balls. She'd never actually sucked on a guy's balls before, but she wanted to try. It always looked hot in the porn she'd seen (she hadn't watched a ton of it, but hey, the internet was there and sometimes she was curious about stuff). His balls were a little hairy, and she idly hoped nothing got stuck in her teeth, but the sound he made when she sucked his right ball into her mouth was indescribable. She tugged at it gently, knowing that she didn't want to hurt him, and then switched to his left. His hands wove into her hair, which she took as his wordless form of approval. She traded back and forth for a few minutes, feeling his dick finish hardening next to her face. Then she backed away, and stood up. Just like he always did after she'd done anything like that for him, he pulled her into a deep kiss, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, and it was one of her favorite things he did. So many guys acted like they might get some weird sort of cooties from kissing a girl after she'd given him head, or maybe just too many guys Sylvie had known before. Matt had no such hang-ups. She moved them back towards the bed, breaking the kiss and dropping onto it she hoped gracefully. She shifted back so her head was on the pillows, and her legs spread pretty wide, inviting him between them. He took the hint, and practically fell onto her. She let him mouth at her boobs, but he made no move to actually remove her bra. After a few minutes, she guided his head up to hers. She kissed him briefly, then met his eyes.

"I want you to eat me out." She'd thought of a couple ways to put that, and that was sadly the least awkward option she'd come up with.

"You…I thought you don't do that." He looked torn between his desire to do exactly that, immediately, and hesitance to do anything that might bother her.

"I know you like to do it. You have to stop yourself every time we have sex. Well, almost every time." There had been a few quickies that wasn't the case. Any time they had the time, he visibly started to head in that direction and then changed his mind.

"If you don't like it, baby, I don't want you to-"
"I think, I might, with you."
"You think my tongue has magical powers to change if you like something? I'm flattered, but…"

"No, well, actually, maybe." She smiled at him. "Your dick is pretty magical, and your fingers, so why not your tongue? But seriously, Matt, I want to try it with you."

"You're sure? A hundred percent?"
"I'm sure." He grinned, happiness and horniness clearly blending into one right at the moment for him, and he slid his way down her body, his mouth and tongue leaving hot wet rapidly cooling trails down her body. He kissed along her underwear lines for a little while, then his mouth was on her pussy but with the fabric of her underwear still between his mouth and her body. He looked up at her, as his hands slid her underwear down her legs (or up, her legs were in the air), clearly checking with her once again. Was she okay with this? She'd been thinking about it for a few weeks now. Everything was so different with Matt. It was so safe. She didn't have to be perfect or sexy or anything for him, just Sylvie. She nodded to his unspoken question.
"I'm sure, Matt." He grinned again, like a boy at Christmas, or maybe fittingly enough on his birthday, and kissed along her left thigh, then once again mouthed along the line of where her underwear had been, then wandered up nearly to her navel, then back down. She'd always kept herself trimmed neatly down there, but knowing she was thinking about this, she'd braved the possible embarrassment and gone in for some professional care. She couldn't stand the idea of going fully hairless, but she had had her lips and that area waxed, leaving hair on the vulva so she looked like a grown-up still. He didn't seem inclined to judge her choices at the moment. At the last minute, his mouth tracing the edge of her hairline, she grabbed hold of his hair, pulling hard. He stopped, looking up at her, with just a touch of disappointment in his eyes.
"Just...maybe not your tongue fully inside me?" Just the idea of that made her feel too nervous and tense, too weird, to enjoy anything, and he smiled again, his eyes lighting up with something dirty.

"I can work with that," Matt said. Then he kept his eyes on hers as he leaned in to lick her pussy lips, tongue as flat and broad as it could be. She shivered a little. It felt good, promising, but she was also nervous. She'd heard that it tasted funny, smelled weird too, and it had always made her so nervous that her guy would be completely disgusted by her that she couldn't enjoy it. She knew she was too tense about it, she just couldn't help feeling they were judging or something, and then the first few guys she was with either acted like it was gross or in Harrison's case, flat said he wouldn't do it because she was 'cheesy'. Matt didn't seem to find anything wrong so far, though he was still running his tongue over the outer parts at the moment. The fingers of his right hand got involved, and she felt herself tense up as she realized he was spreading her for him to really get his mouth down there. He stopped, moving to kiss the inside of her thigh.

"Babe, if you don't want this-"
"I do. I want to get past this." She paused. "I trust you. Just if it's awful, don't make yourself-"
"Awful?" He looked shocked for just a second, then rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. Idiot asshole former boyfriend said it was gross, or tasted bad?"
"Uhm. Yes."
"Well, please refer to the idiot asshole part of that description." Matt smiled at her. "Am I going to recommend an ice cream flavor after it? Probably not. You probably wouldn't expect to walk into a candy shop and find 'Matt's dick' as a flavor either, but do you hate having that in your mouth?"
"No." She laughed a little. "It's you, and it's…I don't know, sexy and hot in the moment, and sometimes I see you across the bar or something and I just want to pin you against it and put your dick in my mouth, not for the flavor but for the feeling of it."
"Exactly the same thing." He kissed her thigh again. "Trust me, Sylvie. I will love doing this. Relax and let me show you how much I want to do this. Trust me."
"I do trust you. Just-"
"I remember. Surface-level for tonight. Trust me." She nodded at him, and he kissed his way down her thigh, and she took a few deep breaths, consciously forcing herself to stay relaxed. He went back over the outer areas he'd already paid plenty of attention to, and then his fingers, then his mouth, then his tongue were on her most intimate places. It felt good, but not the sort of earth-shattering she'd heard Foster go on about, until he swiped right across her clit with his tongue and she couldn't help her reaction, that felt like an electrical shock, but a good one. She kept her hands at her side, though, curling into the sheets and her lack of objection must've been what he was waiting for because then he was all over or it felt like he was all over, lips and teeth and tongue all over her pussy, but especially on her clit and she came in what felt like thirty seconds flat, but thirty seconds of some of the most intense fucking pleasure she'd ever experienced. She had about twenty breaths to catch her breath, and then he was nipping and sucking at her clit all over again, and she was flying again, not cumming but it felt like nearly there, but it just kept going and going, and building, and without warning she crested that wave and crashed down, her hips bucking as she came hard on his mouth, but he still didn't stop, just slowed for a moment then was there again, and she swore it was like she just stayed on that wave, cresting and crashing, cresting and crashing, until she was sure her heart was going to burst and she tried to push his shoulders but ended up slapping him in the head and pushing his head away, but she was laughing because there was just nothing else to do. It wasn't funny it was just…laughing. He slid up her body, and she was still laughing and shaking when he kissed her, and it took her a moment realize that taste was her. Maybe she should be grossed out by that, but she wasn't. It tasted odd, but also really fucking sexy.

"Fuck me, Matt." She encouraged, grabbing his ass and pulling his hips into hers as hard as she could. She could feel his cock against her, and all she wanted was him inside her, right now, one more run at that feeling because fuck knew his cock was going to make her come again, the way she was feeling right now a finger in her was likely to send her crashing again, let alone his cock, and she wanted it, wanted to see if it was more than what his mouth alone had delivered.

"Gotta get a condom." He muttered into her ear, as she kept pulling him back to her when he tried to shift away. She let him escape for a moment, heard the drawer open and then slide shut, and she bit lightly at the nipple in front of her face.

"Fuck." He cursed loudly, but he did hurry, which was what she wanted. She didn't care that he put the condom on himself, it was faster and she wanted him in her. He slipped two fingers in, then a third, but she kissed him, shoving her tongue in his mouth and then managed to say,

"I'm so wet for you, just fuck me, Matt."
"Can you ride me?" He asked, and she suddenly couldn't think of anything better. She nodded, and he rolled them, and she impaled herself on him without much thought. It hurt a little still, but it was also like a completion, and she was too impatient, she just started riding him as hard and as fast as she could, chasing that feeling again. His hands were on her hips, at least until the right moved so that he could rub her clit as she rode him, but his eyes only moved away from her tits to meet her eyes every once in a while, the rest of the time he was focused on her tits, still in that red push-up bra so all he could see was the top and the inner part bouncing in the confinement. She leaned forward, which gave him a better show but also put more pressure between her clit and his fingers, and it felt like an instant later she literally lost her mind. She had an out-of-body-experience or something, like a blackout, but the best sort where she came back into her body still atop him, moving slower but like on spinal reflex, every nerve singing and utterly exhausted in the best possible way. She slowed to a stop gradually, then slipped off him, collapsing onto the bed next to him.

"I need to take this condom off." Matt whispered a moment later. "I'm not sure I can walk."
"My work here is done, then, birthday boy."
"My gift was perfect. Especially you letting me…trusting me enough for that."
"Do you really like eating me out?"
"Do you really like giving me head?"
"It seems like a weird thing to do. But I love it."
"Exactly how I feel. Except I don't think it's weird at all. I can make you feel like that, give you that, and that," Matt tugged at her until she was lying curled into his side, half on top of him, "Sylvie, the power to do that for you, that makes me so damn proud and…I don't even know, just feels fucking fantastic. And whoever didn't love you enough to feel like that, that idiot asshole didn't deserve the opportunity anyway."
"I am officially okay with you doing that again."
"Good, because now I've definitely got the taste for it." He sighed, "Are you going to think I'm a disgusting guy if I just toss this on the floor until morning?"
"Nope." She kissed the pectoral muscle just in front of her. "I will think you're a wonderful boyfriend who does not want to make me give up my warm, perfect whole-body pillow even for a few seconds after I just had the sort of orgasm that makes you reassess your life choices."
"Really? Reassess what?"
"I should've jumped you at least six months earlier than I did. That life choice."