Good evening!

Okay, so a quick note here: I'm sorry this last update has taken so long. On top op my laptop's issues I've got some personal medical stuff going on right now that's making it extra difficult for me to write. It sucks because writing really is my passion, but I'm going to have to ask for some leniency (more than normal) with spelling and grammar. I'll do my best and will hopefully be updating again soon, but I can't say when as I'm struggling quite a bit lately.

I just want to thank any of you who waited for this chapter (I know no one's sitting there waiting, but those of you who have signed up to get notified when I post), I truly appreciate it and I'm still wowed that even one person wants to read my drivel. Thank you.

Chapter Seventeen

When River woke, bright light swarming through the window to her left assaulted her eyes. Her... left? She was awake enough to know that her window was on the right of the bed, but still asleep enough to decide that, rather than realise she wasn't in her own room, her room had changed in the night. It was the only logical explanation, right?

She'd never been so glad to be wrong as, with a deep, satisfied grumble, a body moved beside her, pulling the thin covers up and over both their heads.

She opened her eyes fully, blinking to let them adjust. The cover hadn't done much to block out the sun, but she was glad for that. It meant that she could see the adorably sleepy face of Paul, fighting beside her to stay asleep. She couldn't help but grin and wipe her eyes, not willing to miss even a moment with him.

Groaning loudly and making her laugh, Paul picked his head up and dumped it back down, this time directly into her chest, grumbling happily. "Happy in the boobs?" River asked, her voice still barely a croak.

Paul's arms snaked tighter around her, pulling until every inch of their fronts were plastered together. "Happy in the boobs." Paul repeated back to her, agreeing thoroughly.

As she laughed, he grinned and playfully bit the soft flesh before him. He rocked them in one swift motion, rolling them both onto River's back, leaving him above her as he gently nosed her jawline, gaining easy access to her neck. She threaded her fingers happily into his shaggy hair, humming contently as he slowly peppered her neck with kisses, leaving an especially heavy one on her pulse point. She was panting within seconds, a slave to his advances.

She hoped that every morning would start like this one.

After the wedding, you can imagine how happy her father was to let her leave with Paul, but with a small speech from her tipsy mother about young love, he allowed it. That may or may not have been another ulterior motive for River having driven there in her own vehicle. Not specifically to leave with Paul, but she'd had a feeling that she may have wanted to speak to him.

When they'd gotten in, River had partly wanted to all but throw Paul into bed and dive in after him, but instead they talked. They talked about what they'd done in their time apart, what they wanted for the future and River's most burning curiosities about what exactly Paul was. It was decided quickly enough that they wanted whatever they could have of one another, but as for calming River's mind, well Paul simply planned to show her what he was and what he could do.

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"You can hear one another's thoughts?" River asked, swallowing the mouthful of muffin, glancing unsurely at Emily who was, as always, grinning.

With a smirk, Quil shrugged. "Hear thoughts. See thoughts. Feel thoughts." He told her, leaning back in his chair. "Memories, too." He added, earning a gentle tap on the head from Emily. "What? I was just saying-"

"We know what you were saying, Quil." The older woman scolded softly, pointing a finger in his face that had him almost cowering.

River felt a blush rise up her cheeks. Oh. "Feel?" She wasn't sure why she pushed, but dammit, Paul hadn't mentioned anything about feeling.

Jared reached across, grabbing a huge muffin while Emily was preccupied with keeping Quil in line. "Sure." He stuffed a piece into his mouth, chewing, thinking. "It's like, you know, watching a movie-"

"No it's not." Embry laughed. He then shifted, spinning his chair to full face River. "You ever seen any of those movies about crazy people who, like, have fake memories? It's sorta like that, but we're not crazy, you know?"

Barking out a laugh, Paul draped an arm around his confused imprint. "Or we're all the same crazy." He growled lowly beside her ear, earning a playful smack on the thigh as his breath, so close to her neck, wreaked havoc on her insides.

"That doesn't answer my question, Lahote." River looked across at him, dangerously aware of how close they were. How he'd practically wrapped her up entirely in him.

Smirking, he licked his lips a little before he spoke, watching with glee as her eyes followed his tongues, hearing as her heart skipped a little. "Okay, what do you wanna know?" His voice dropped. He definitely liked her still calling him Lahote.

"If you guys start making out, I'm gonna throw up." Quil feigned neausia.

Emily, with a roll of her eyes, shook her head at the younger boy. "Shut up."

River, however, was far too drawn in by everything Paul to care. "The thoughts thing. What did he mean, you can feel thoughts?" She wanted to know. It had been bugging her now for longer than she would have liked. She was sure that she knew exactly what it meant, but she had to know.

"It's like a memory." Paul supplied with a shrug, biting her muffin. He leaned back in his chair, situated behind her at Sam and Emily's kitchen table, letting his draped arm slide up her until his fingers were left lingering against the side of her neck, possessive. "You know, like I bet you remember the feeling of hitting a bag, right? Well, it's like that. Difference is, only one of needs to have felt it. If it's in the pack mind, we all know it. We all smell it, feel it, see it. All the four senses."

"Five." River corrected easily, failing at hiding the delicious shudder at the dragging of his hand over her body. "So, out of curiosity, if one of you was to, for example-"

Grinning, Quil grabbed what River was sure was his fourth muffin, speaking with his mouth entirely full. "You wanna know if we felt you take our boy's V-card in your truck?"

Her cheeks immediately went beet red, earning a few chuckles from the guys in the room and a sympathetic smile from Emily. They all knew. "Fuck." She gently slumped and let her head fall into her hands, elbows propped on the table. She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, groaning quietly as the colours burst.

"Idiot." Leah snarled, walking through the room from outside, having heard the whole thing.

"Ow!" Quil whined, getting no sympathy, only another slap, this time from Emily.

"Don't worry, he kept it under wraps." Embry assured her with a chuckle. He stood a moment later, grabbing Quil by the ear and dragging him toward the door. "We only know because, you know, we're guys. We talk." He shrugged, grinning warmly in at her.

"I'm gonna go die in a hole now." River announced after a deep breath, picking her head up, watching at everything coming back into focus. She was slightly amused to see Quil with an arm full of baked goods.

"Okay. Out, boys." Emily was quick to shoo the others out, even sending Paul with them, ignoring his protests and physically pushing him. He went with a fake-annoyed look, feigning struggle. "Come on, she doesn't want you lugs crowding around here. Out- Quil, I swear to God, if you don't put those muffins down, I'll- Out!" River couldn't help as Emily, five foot nothing, caught sight of Quil, putting the fear of God into him.

"Throw me off a bridge, please?" She asked a moment later, hearing Leah chuckle. She wasn't too sure how she felt about Leah, but that could have been due to the embarrassing crush she had on her a few years ago during her phase of discovering herself. She would take that secret to her grave.

"Oh, I know that feeling well." Emily took her attention quickly, sitting opposite her. "Sam had to explain it all to me after Jared phased. He'd seen me naked in Sam's head, couldn't look me in the eye for a week." She rolled her eyes, motioning with both hands to her chest.

River smiled softly. "Boys are so gross." She mused.

"You came close to getting out." Leah joked, clearly referencing River's previous gay relationship. She couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Tell me about it." Emily spoke in response to River, waving a somewhat dismissive hand. "They're a good bunch. They'll always look out for you. But yes, they'll also see what Paul sees if he thinks about it for even a second."

"He'a always thinking about sex." River practically whined. She was no better, but at least she wasn't sharing a brain or something.

"Don't worry, I asked Sam earlier. He's completely respectful in there."

"He is?"

Leah shrugged. "He is." She confirmed.

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"So, you feeling okay about the whole thing?"

They were back at Paul's, spooning on the couch. Food in the oven, cocoa in mugs, fire roaring. It was shaping up to be one hell of an evening. A quiet one, sure, but a nice one.

"I am, actually." River, having thought about Paul's question, nodded softly against his chest, tilting her head a little to look at him. "I'll be honest, I didn't think it was going to help all that much, but Emily? She really helped set my mind at ease a little."

"I'm glad." Paul nodded as he wrapped his arms a little tighter. She would have been lying if she'd said she didn't love every second of it. "It was nice seeing you with her." he then admitted, catching a little off guard.

She looked the rest of the way up at him, his words having warmed her somewhat. It was just so... sweet. "Oh?"

"She and Sam are the closest thing I've got to parents. Or, I guess, like, role models, you know?" She didn't know why, but seeing him so vulnerable with her made her feel... horny? Oh god, was she a bad person? "I just, I guess it makes me happy seeing the best parts of my life coming together and working."

She tried to contain herself as she stared up at him and into his eyes, but as soon as he clocked her look, he matched it in an instant. "I love making you happy." She murmured quietly, almost silently.

She watched as the cool, cocky smirk of Paul Lahote: Resident Asshole spread across his face. Fuck, she even found that hot now? "Oh, you do?" His arms tightened around her again, this time so he could hold her against him with one arm while the other, palm flat down, began to slide down her side.

"Mhm." She hummed, quickly shooting from his grasp, almost laughing aloud at the confurion on his face as he made to stand and follow her. She grinned and pushed his chest as he rose, sending him tumbling back down onto the couch. "Sit." She told him sternly, swatting his hands away and placing herself on his lap, quickly popping the button on his shorts.

"Shit." He leaned back, granting access as she unzipped his fly, lifting his hips and helping to slide his shorts down. She didn't wast any time, releasing him from his shorts and leaning in to quickly leave a hot kiss on the side of his neck. He whined, hands gripping her hips, but she shoved them off just as quickly, shifting herself on him, giving herself room to begin planting kisses down the front of his chest. "The food-" He panted, but was cut off.

"Won't be ready for a half hour. You really think I'm about to suck you off for thirty minutes?" River stopped immediately at his protest though, eager not to do anything he didn't want. Watching his eyes grow impossibly wide though, she had a sneaky feeling that wasn't going to be an issue.

"You're... about to suck me off?" The awe in his voice, cute as it was, for some reason sent a chill down her spine. She had to admit, she fucking loved feeling powerful. He was putty in her hands and she loved it.

She bit her lip softly, glancing down at his dick hungrily before looking back up and shrugging playfully. "Unless you'd rather check on the food."

"Shit no. Fuck the food." She couldn't hold her laugh in, fueled on by is enthusiasm as the previously concerned Paul quickly melted back into the couch, pulling her in for a quick, fierce kiss before resuming his position, this time with one arm tensed across the back of the couch.

"Atta boy." She climbed off his lap, sinking to her knees on the floor and pushing his legs apart, letting her fingers rake up his thighs. "Close your eyes."

Paul seemed barely able to catch his breath. Still, he grinned and shook his head. "You know, seeing's half the fun, right? It's so hot." His head fell back for a second when River licked her palm before taking hold of him.

She had to admit, she was kind of nervous. It was a little mebarrassing, but for all the times he'd gone down on her, she hadn't once gone down on him. Sure, they'd had sex and she'd jerked him off, but she hadn't done this yet. Was there a way to do it wrong? It was definitely different with her past sexual partners, that was for sure."Okay, but I don't want your friends to see me doing this." She voiced, deciding to bite the proverbial bullet, leaning down and letting her tongue take the first flat lick.

Paul groaned, his spare hand immediately falling down to cup the back of her neck. Oh fuck. She wasn't sure what it was exactly, but feeling his fingers curl, desperate to grab her but unwilling to hurt her, it did things to her.

It took Paul a second to process what she'd said, so much so that she was going down to lay a hesitant kiss on his shaft when he spoke. "What- the guys? What do they have to do with it?" He choked out, lifting his head in confusion.

"Well, the see what you see, right?" She stopped her gentle, tender tortures for a moment, rocking back on her heels. Did he really not get it? "I mean, if they walked in here right now, I wouldn't put your dick in my mouth." She motioned to the door, then down to his crotch. She definitely didn't want them seeing her like this, down on her knees, Paul's dick almost in her mouth. Hell, she barely even knew them.

Paul chuckled and shrugged, reaching out gently to skim her jaw with his fingers. She could feel him trying to encourage her back, but she couldn't help but feel like he wasn't taking her seriously. "I'm good at controlling myself around them with this stuff, I won't let them see." He assured her. His dismissal felt like a sharp pain.

"Paul." She breathed, giving his an are you serious look as she rocked away and stood up, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What?" He laughed uneasily, sitting a little straighter and looking up at her with eyes that had no clue what he'd done wrong.

"I..." She sighed, realising that she needed to be clear. if she was uncomfortable, he needed to know. "This is a hard wall for me. Right now at least." She told him, taking a breath afterward to steady herself.

Scoffing, he shuffled in his seat a little. "So, you want me to close my eyes now every time you're naked? Or every time we're screwing?" He asked, though she could tell from his tone alone that he was joking. Fuck, it actually made her a little mad. Was that crazy? She didn't think so, but this wasn't exactly a common issue.

"I mean, yeah. Kinda." Shrugging, she stepped further away, this time taking a moment to really look at him. If she could ignore the fact that his dick was going limp, she could see that he really didn't see an issue with his friends getting to see her with a mouthful of cock. She began to head for the bathroom, deciding that the anger she could feel brewing would help no one. She needed a second to gather her thoughts so she could speak clearly. If she spoke now, she feared it would be harsh and too much.

"Babe, nudity's just one of those things. I won't let them see- Wait, where are you going?"

"I need a shower before we eat." She replied, almost through the door. For some reason the "babe" really grated her.

"River, come on-"

With what was almost a snarl, she spun, seeing him stand and yank his shorts up. She held a hand out to stop him, silently ordering that he not follow her. "I'm trying to express that something is a big deal for me and you're brushing it off to get head. I'm not cool with that." She spoke as calmly and as steadily as she could, watching his brow furrow a little. He could clearly see that he'd upset her. "I know it's not a big thing for you, but it is for me, okay? I'm gonna go get cleaned up."

There was a second where they stayed still, neither seeming to know what to do. The second passed all too quickly though and River was the first to turn away, retreating into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. Paul stayed on his feet for a second, wondering briefly if they'd just had an argument about him getting blown, before slumping back down onto the couch.

"Fuck."

He realised quickly that what he needed was another opinion, but who to ask? He wanted to make things better, but how? Who would know something like this? Oh. He knew exactly who. He also knew he wouldn't hear the end of it, but that the guys would never hear a damn word of it. He knew who he needed.

"Hey. I need advice." He sent a quick text, hoping to hell that he got a reply.

"Girl shit." He then clarified, knowing that advice was a broad topic.

As the conversation happened, he found himself feeling more and more stupid by the second.

As it was laid out to him brutally and as he was practically crucified via text, he took it all in until finally, a mere five minutes later, he knew exactly what to do.

Quickly, or as quickly as he could, he grabbed a shirt and a belt before approaching the bathroom door. He could hear the water, he could smell the heat through the door.

On a mission, he quickly threw the shirt over his head, wrapping it around his eyes and tying the arms blindly at the back of his head. He waved his hand a few times, making sure he couldn't see so much as a shadow, then going on to wrap the belt around the shirt, forcing the pin through the leather where there wasn't a hole, ensuring the fabric wouldn't come away from his eyes at all.

When he finally reached for the door and pushed it open, he couldn't help but feel like the smartest idiot alive.

River's somewhat broken sigh hurt him, almost physically. "Paul, please. I just told you I'm-"

What actually hurt him physically though? Walking directly into the sink, stubbing his toe. He almost ripped off his blindfold there and then. Almost. "Sh- Fuck!" He barked out, picking his foot up and quickly grabbing at his toes, bracing himself against the offending porcelain.

"Are you-" The shower curtain made a loud noise as it was thrown open angrily. River wasn't playing about, but her voice stopped as quickly as it started, though he imagined he probably looked pretty stupid. "What are you doing?" She then asked, clearly trying to keep the note of anger in her voice.

Okay, this was his chance. Now or never, right? "I'm an idiot, okay?" He started, reaching blindly until his hand found the wet shower curtain. Aha! The right direction!

The water hammered uninterrupted for an awkwardly long moment before River's light chuckle broke the silence. "You... poked a new hole in a nice belt for this get-up?" She asked, clearly amused through her anger.

Paul couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Don't laugh at me, asshole." He told her loudly, pointing a finger in her general direction. "Just- Fuck, guide me?" He pleaded, stepping as highly as he dared to clear the walls of the tub, climbing in and directly into the jet of water.

"What are you doing?" River immediately placed steadying hands on his sides, laughing as he finished his ascent. "Paul, your clothes!"

"It's water." He spat a mouthful out after speaking, letting a quick hand run from her side up to cupping her cheek. She allowed it. "Anyway, I'm a moron. I forgot what it was like before all this crazy shit turned my life upside down. I don't get a say on who sees your body and it doesn't matter how sure I was that I wouldn't slip up, I should have just listened the second you said you were uncomfortable." The advice he'd gotten, or more accurately the verbal beating, had clearly done the trick. Fuck, it made him feel sick that he'd hurt her like that.

"Thank you." He could hear the light, sad smile in her voice. He'd clearly understood sooner or later where he'd gone wrong.

He ran a thumb over her cheek, feeling as she melted into his touch, leaning. "I'm sorry." He told her truthfully.

"It's okay." She replied, reaching up and touching the belt with an amused shake of her head. "You, uh, keeping that on?"

He smiled down at her, hopeful. "Do I get to stay if I do?"

"Sure." She told him after thinking for a second, clearly trying to hide a smile even from his blind eyes when she spoke.

"Then hell yes." As he spoke though, she was gone, stepping away and into the stream. But wait, what was that at the button on his shorts. "What are- Oh, fuck." His hand shot out t brace himself against the wall, his other hand reaching down the grab at the wet strands of hair at the nape of River's neck as she ran the tip of her tongue over him through the sopping fabric of his short, peeling them off a second later.

With his head rocked back, he screwed his eyes as tightly closed as he could, making sure he didn't screw this up for even a half a second.

As always, fingers completely crossed that this one was enjoyable! I'm (as always) still deciding a few things about the direction of this fic, but I think that ultimately I want to see how River's life can pan out in regards to what she wants etc and how Paul can fit into and around that.

Please let me know what you think/thought, I'm always interested! Also, thoughts on who Paul texted? It's not a huge thing, but I'd love to know if it was obvious or not! As ever, have an amazing day and I'll see you next time!