Chapter 41: I Am The Fire
June 20th, 2014 - 2300 (11:00 pm)
"I am," Tom said, kissing a path down Rachel's neck as he kicked their door closed behind them. "So damn proud of you."
Rachel shook her head, blushing deeply as Tom tugged roughly on the neckline of her dress so that he could attach his lips to the warm skin there. "I don't... I don't deserve that kind of honor," she argued, groaning when Tom reached behind them to lock their door. They'd had a brief conversation with the children; if it was locked, knock. They could only hope that they slept for the next few hours, because Tom was planning on needing a lot of alone time with Rachel right now.
"You deserve everything," he argued, one large hand cupping her face to kiss her deeply while the other slid around her back, dragging the zipper of her dress down slowly. "You created the cure. You saved the world. You risked your life, over and over again, to help others. You are selfless."
He paused, nipping the skin of her neck as he slowly dragged the material of her dress over her breasts, over her belly, and let it drop to the floor.
"You are brilliant."
A bite to the top of her breast, making her gasp with the quick bolt of pain before he soothed it with his tongue.
"You are kind."
Tom licked over one breast, briefly pulling it into his mouth and biting at the pebbled nipple.
"You are giving."
Rachel threw her head back against the door that Tom had backed her up against as he moved lower, licking and caressing the skin of her stomach.
"You are courageous."
He dropped to his knees, sliding her panties down her legs and letting them fall next to the dress.
"You are compassionate."
He kissed her belly button, her hips, the soft curls at the apex of her thighs.
"You are dedicated. You are persistent. You are an inspiration."
Tom worshiped the skin down her left leg, biting softly at the skin of her thighs, licking behind her knee, before kissing up the right leg. He bypassed where she really needed him, moving back up her body to kiss her lips.
"You are worthy of this award," he whispered, meeting her eyes to see tears forming. He kissed gently under each eye, brushing the tears away from her lashes with his tongue. "You are deserving of the praise that others bestow upon you. You are amazing, Rachel Scott, and I will spend every minute of the rest of my life proving that to you."
Rachel sobbed once, desperate, and cupped her hands around Tom's face to bring his lips to hers. She kissed him deeply, intensely, letting her tears fall as he wrapped his tongue around hers, kissing her back with just as much passion.
Her hands went immediately for the fabric of his suit jacket and he chuckled, pulling back slightly to pant against her lips.
"As much as I would love for you to tear the clothes off of my body, I really think we need to take a second and hang them up. We're going to need to wear these again tomorrow night."
Rachel nodded, seeing the logic but hating it a little nonetheless. She separated from Tom with much resistance, reaching down to pick up her dress. She smoothed it out and put it on a hanger in the closet, and then, while Tom was distracted hanging up his own dress blues, grabbed the scarf that she had tortured him with several weeks ago. She toed her shoes off, tossed them to the side, and pushed the comforter to the far side of the bed before laying down on her back, her feet flat on the bed and her head against Tom's pillow. She held out the scarf to him as he turned around, and he groaned, eyes fluttering closed as he clenched his fists.
"Fuck," he breathed, trying to keep himself from coming from just the sight before him. She was sprawled out on the bed, thighs open, holding out a scarf for him to tie her up, and he could not believe that this was his life.
He moved quickly, toeing off his socks and pushing his boxers down quickly before joining her on the bed.
"You are so beautiful. I'm going to make this so good for you," he promised, and then caught her lips in a kiss as he took the scarf, wrapping it gently around her wrists before securing it to the headboard. When he was done he sat back, admiring the sight before him.
Rachel was panting, her eyes half lidded and her neck and chest flushed. She tugged on the scarf once to test it, and moaned when it held tight.
"The things I'm going to do to you. Use the traffic light system if you need to pause or stop," Tom instructed her quickly. And then, as he crawled down her body and pushed her legs open, "Start counting."
"Counting wha- Oh God."
She groaned as he attached his lips to her clit without any warning. He sucked hard, and she was so worked up that she came almost immediately.
"One," he told her, and she panted, eyes fluttering closed as she realized what he meant.
"Fuck," she said, and he grinned from his position, biting the inside of her thigh as he moved one hand to her breast, the other slowly pushing two fingers inside of her.
"Eventually," he agreed.
She lost count quickly after that, but Tom helped her keep track as he brought her to orgasm with his lips and teeth and tongue, over and over. She was so sensitive from the pregnancy. Everything touch was like fire, sharp and sweet as he licked and sucked at her nipples, flicked her clit with his thumb, and drove two fingers into her hard and fast.
"Four," he said smugly as she shook around his fingers once more. She groaned, thrashing her head side to side on his pillow. She pulled against her restraints, but was unable to so much as even loosen them. Tom knew how to tie a strong knot, and had tied it as tight as he dared. She was trapped, at his mercy, and he loved it.
"Do you need a break?" he asked, but she shook her head.
"No. Green," she panted, and he smiled, pressing his lips to hers as his hands continued to roam. He took several long moments exploring her mouth, sharing the taste of her wetness with her as he kissed her over and over and over. His hands never stayed still, tugging on her nipples or caressing her stomach or running up and down the skin of her inner thighs. "Green. Please, Tom."
He chuckled, kissing her lips once more before returning to her body.
"As you wish," he said, and kissed a path down her body before returning to her center. This time he circled his tongue around her sopping hole while his fingers played with her clit, rubbing and rolling it with his thumb and forefinger. She came once more before he sat back, admiring her body, his eyes roaming over her flushed, red, bitten skin.
"Tom, please. I need you inside me," she begged, and he smiled softly when he realized that there were tears in her eyes. He leaned up, kissing them away, brushing his thumb gently over her cheek.
"You sure? You don't need a minute, love?" he asked, and she shook her head, blinking away the tears.
"No. I need you," she said, and he hummed against the skin of her neck.
"Tied or untied?" he asked, and she thought for a moment, her eyes flickering back and forth between his face and her hands, still immobilized on the headboard.
"I want to touch you," she said, and he nodded, making quick work of the knots before tossing the scarf on the floor. As soon as it was gone, Rachel wrapped her arms around him, one arm going around his back and one tangling in his hair, holding on tight.
"Please," she begged, and he nodded, taking himself in hand and groaning at the sensation as he lined himself up. It was getting more awkward to do this as her belly grew, but it was always so good, it was worth the effort. He lined them up and pushed in slowly, groaning at the feel of her around him. She was hot, and wet, and tight.
Rachel groaned, tugging on the hairs at the base of his neck as he pushed all the way in.
Once he bottomed out he paused, breathing deeply for a few seconds. He didn't want his to be over too soon.
"Tom," she said, and he placated her by leaning down and kissing her, distracting her while he tried to salvage some semblance of self control.
"Not gonna last," he grunted, pulling back as she pushed her hips into his.
"Me either," she said. "Please."
Tom nodded, and quickly switched their positions so that he was sitting back against the headboard and she was in his lap. It was easier like this, with her belly in the way, and he always went deeper when she rode him.
Rachel moaned at the change in position, and rested her forehead on Tom's shoulder as he began to thrust up into her quickly, each thrust hard and fast. She could feel his pelvis rubbing against her clit as he moved, and she closed her eyes, feeling the pleasure already building inside of her.
"Once more, baby," he groaned, reaching down to rub her clit, and she nodded, her hands scrabbling for purchase as she bounced in his lap. One of her hands ended up wrapped around his bicep while she brought the other to touch her own breast, rolling and pinching her nipples. Each touch added to her pleasure, and she was crying out, shivering and trembling around him as she came for the final time that night.
"Fuck," he groaned, loving the way she tightened around his cock. He thrust several more times in quick succession, chasing his own pleasure, and came with a horse cry, burying his head in her shoulder as he pressed up and emptied himself inside of her.
They rested there for several seconds, sweaty foreheads pressed together. Tom had one hand on the back of her head and one on the small of her back, holding her tightly to him, while she continued to grasp his arm tightly. They breathed together, eyes closed in pleasure, until a kick from the baby made them both laugh.
"I think we woke someone up," Rachel said, grinning as she carefully lifted herself off of Tom. She groaned at the feel of his come leaking out of her as he slipped out. "Now we need a shower," she lamented, and Tom laughed, standing and quickly gathering her into his arms.
"Good thing we have that nice, new shower. Lots more room than the one aboard the Nathan James."
Rachel laughed, leaning up to kiss Tom again before letting him lead her into the en suite bathroom.
"Wanna go for number seven?" he asked as he pushed her back into the shower stall and closed the door behind them.
"Oh my god," she groaned, and he laughed, turning on the water to drown out any noise they made.
June 21st, 2014 - 1100 (11:00 am)
By eleven the next morning, they had already met up with the President to address the nation, gone to the school, and enrolled Sam and Ashley. Both children had been given the supplies they had needed, and had been led away from Tom and Rachel to meet their new classmates.
"Bye, daddy! Bye, momma!" Sam called, waving as he was led away by a young, perky looking teacher. They waved back at him, and Rachel sucked in a breath, fighting with herself to not follow after them and take Sam back into her arms.
"Didn't get to see him leave for his first day of kindergarten," Tom said, wrapping his arm around Rachel's waist. "Don't know if he had a first day of kindergarten, actually. I think they were already up at the cabin by then."
"This is so hard," Rachel said, holding tightly to Tom's arm as they turned to leave the school. "Noah is never allowed to go to school."
Tom laughed, caressing her belly briefly before they stepped into the sunshine.
"He'll have to, one day. It'll be hard, but it's good for them. They need to get out on their own, they need time away from us. We've been so close, on the ship, for so long. It'll be good for them to build some independence."
"Mm," Rachel agreed, remembering when she'd woken this morning to find both Ashley and Sam in their bed again. "I suppose you're right. And anyway, it'll be good for them to be in school when we start working."
Tom nodded, taking Rachel's hand as they walked down the sidewalk. The school was close enough to their house that they had walked this morning. There was no bus option for the school yet, though it was something that they said they were looking into. They did have an operational after-school program, which was good, because Rachel had a feeling that when she and Tom started working, it would be hard for either of them to leave by three in the afternoon. The after school program would feed them a snack, help them with homework, and keep them entertained with games and sports.
"What are we going to do this afternoon?" Rachel asked, swinging their hands slowly between them as they walked.
"Well," Tom said. "We'll be seeing everyone from the ship tonight at the ball, otherwise I'd say we should check in on some of them. And Thorwald banned us from working today. Apparently we need 'a break'."
Rachel grinned, laughing brightly. "Imagine that! A break. After a year of almost non-stop work. It feels unreal. Whatever shall we do with ourselves?"
"We should go to the market," Tom suggested. "I'd like to see what they have, food-wise. We'll need to get a few things to stock the kitchen with. I'd also like to get a feel for how we will end up paying for what we need. I know Andrew said it's a mix of bartering, trading, and credits from working in the community, but we don't have anything to trade yet. We also haven't built up any credits from work."
Rachel nodded, wondering that herself. So far, anything they had needed had simply been given to them, and though she knew no one was expecting them to pay anything back, she felt bad that they didn't have anything to give in return. Money was fairly useless at this point, while they rebuilt the economy.
"I want to start a garden," she said. "We should look for seeds and tools. It's still early June. If we can get some things planted, we can harvest at least once or twice."
"We should probably learn to fish, too," Tom suggested, smiling, as they turned toward the market. "Seems like, being on the coast, fish is going to be a big part of our diets."
"Guess I need to learn to like fish, then," Rachel said brightly, and Tom laughed.
"Probably a good idea. Now come on, we have a few hours before we have to pick the kids up to get ready for the ball. Let's enjoy the sunshine and this beautiful day."
"Let's," Rachel agreed.