Chapter 11: Five More Days
Vaughn stepped into the apartment as soft light from the kitchen illuminated half the living room. Rolling the carry-on to sit beside the couch he stretched and instantly regretted it as pain from the fistfight with the bouncer reminded him of the punches he'd taken to the ribs and stomach. Tiredness made his body feel heavy as his eyes searched the open area for his fiancee. She was nowhere to be seen, his gaze catching the time on the stove and realizing that the debrief had lasted a hell of a lot longer than he had realized, 2:47 shining in bright blue numbers.
'She went to bed a while ago.' Sighing, he proceeded to kick his shoes to the mat in the foyer, his tie hitting a barstool as he padded across the wood floor to the fridge. The bright light blinded him as he stared at the beer, but he decided that he was actually too tired to drink one. Closing it quietly he headed toward the bedroom.
Soft light shone into the hallway, Michael walking through the door and seeing the lamp across the room from the comfortable bed on the lowest setting. Sydney was a lump under the blanket lying on his side, a fan of chestnut hair over his pillow all he could discern.
He smiled and shed his jacket onto the chair near the closet. Moving to the edge of the bed, he leaned over and gently ran his fingers through her hair while pressing a soft kiss to her temple.
She sighed a bit and curled deeper into his pillow under the blankets, Vaughn deciding to follow her lead. Unbuttoning the long-sleeved shirt and tossing it to join the jacket, his trousers kicked down his legs and socks toed off, he moved over to her unused side of the bed. Undoing his watch and setting it next to the alarm clock, making sure it wasn't set to wake them up any time soon, he pulled the blanket back just enough to slip under.
His hands sought her out beneath the warm comforter and came into contact with the soft skin of his very naked wife-to-be. He groaned into her hair and buried his face into the nape of her neck, Sydney taking a deep waking breath as he spooned into her. She squeezed the arm that was now wrapped around her middle and nuzzled her head back against his as she pushed the sleep away.
"You're home late," she whispered, feeling his lips suck a kiss to her neck under her ear.
"I hate coming to bed overdressed," he mumbled quietly hearing her sleepy chuckle. He wasn't sure how she knew each time his missions went awry, but when he was dog tired, sore, and jetlagged, he would often find her nude beneath the covers waiting for him when he finally managed to make it home.
His mouth continued exploring her neck and shoulder as he slid his left arm under her head, her own left hand finding his and winding their fingers together. His right hand splayed under her breasts across her stomach and she could feel his growing arousal against her backside as he pulled her flush against his body.
"If you'd been home earlier there were candles and lingerie, but I got tired and uncomfortable and didn't want to burn the place down." He chuckled deep and gravelly, the vibration against her skin shooting straight to her heat as the flames she'd tamped out earlier were rekindled.
Reaching back with her right hand she tugged at his neck while tilting her head, their mouths connecting gently. His tongue flicked against her lower lip asking for entry, Sydney sighing as his kisses deepened until she broke away to catch her breath.
His lips brushed her ear as he turned on his sex voice, "I missed you."
She groaned in response, her hips pushing back against his thighs as his left hand untangled from hers to bend at the elbow and bring it down to cup her breast, thumb brushing the sensitive nipple. Pushing up a bit on his arm, ignoring his aching side, he caught her lips again.
Vaughn's free hand ran up and down her body intent on reorienting himself with each toned muscle, hers reaching backward between them to cup his erection through the cotton of his boxers. His hands stilled a moment, the left squeezing her breast in his palm as he groaned into her mouth where his tongue has been dueling with hers.
His left side was beginning to throb, the tight muscles and bruise across his ribs making his breath hitch. He reluctantly pulled back, seeing a frown flit across her face.
"Took a shot to the ribs. Nothing broken, but too sore to keep holding myself up right now." His hands fell away from her body as he scooted back to lean against the headboard.
"Poor baby," she said, sitting up and maneuvering to straddle his legs, her hands flat against his chest as she settled before dragging them down his stomach, his abs jumping beneath the soft cotton of his undershirt.
The low light bathed her body in a soft glow, Vaughn running his hands in swirling patterns over her hips and thighs as she perched above him, content to simply watch her with tired green eyes and a lazy smile.
She took the hem of his shirt into her hands and tugged, Michael putting a few inches between him and the headboard while raising his arms so she could lift the cotton tee over his head. Tossing it behind her, her eyes fell to the purpling wide bruise across his side, her right hand delicately running her fingers across the injury.
"Yikes."
"Yeah. Not my best moment," he laughed, following it with a regretful groan.
"You sure they're not broken? Do you need anything?"
He reached one hand under her hair to cup the side of her neck, thumb rubbing the edge of her jaw under her ear, "I may need some T.L.C.," he grinned before pulling her in and molding their mouths together.
Sydney groaned into his mouth as their tongues dueled, her hands pressing flat against his chest. His ran down the length of her body ending at her backside and squeezing the soft flesh in his palms.
Her hands moved down his stomach tracing his abs until reaching the tented fabric of the boxers. Hooking the hem, she pulled them down his hips and off his legs before sitting back over his thighs.
His eyes closed tightly as her fingers wrapped around his hardness, hand slowly pumping.
"T.L.C., huh?"
He groaned low as she leaned down to pepper kisses across his chest and up to his throat, her left hand continuing the slow rhythmic strokes.
She stayed perched on his thighs as her thumb brushed the wet tip of his hardness with each upstroke. Michael shifted one hand from her hip to run the length of her side upward and tangle in her hair dragging her lips to his for a breathless kiss.
The pad of his pointer finger traced a line from her waist to her center, the first sweep over her clit making her jump as he swallowed a high pitched mewl against his lips.
"Don't," she grumbled with a dimpled smile, pulling her hips up away from his hand.
Vaughn chuckled, "that close already, huh?"
"Shut up," she growled playfully, giving him a squeeze and making his body stiffen.
Raising herself up on strong runners legs, she positioned him at her entrance then set her hands on his shoulders, his splaying across her back as she lowered herself until he was buried to the hilt in her warmth.
His entrance triggered her first orgasm, her back arching and her thighs squeezing his hips as she groaned into his neck. He pressed kisses to her collarbone, Sydney releasing a shuddering breath against his ear. "I missed you too."
She rode him slowly, the pace sensual, and his hands traced soft swirls up and down her body as her nipples rubbed against his chest. His mouth trailed a line of wet kisses between her left and right breast, Sydney arching her back as he took a taut nipple into his mouth and massaged it with his tongue. Tracing patterns from her shoulders down the lengths of her arms, their hands twined together as his finger traced the hard metal edge of her engagement ring.
Releasing the bud from his lips he let his head fall back against the wood and smiled up at her, "five more days."
Sydney beamed and folded her fingers through his. "Five more days," she repeated, her runners legs flexing and moving her up and down as she worked above him.
His head flopped back against the headboard as his eyes closed, their hands breaking apart as his went to her hips and squeezed to push and pull her slowly over his shaft. His eyes being closed made every motion, tug, caress, and warm thrust feel that much better, and while he loved the feeling of her above him and knew that with her physique she could stay on top and in control for a while, he felt fatigue digging at him from his bones. As good as her velvet channel was, he was nearing 30 hours without sleep and his body was threatening him with a warning shot.
Opening his eyes he saw that she'd closed hers as well, her pouted lips parted and cheeks flushed. They opened when his low gravelly voice broke her concentration.
"I love when you're on top and I love when we go slow, but after 28 hours my body is literally giving up on me." She gave in with a smile and fell to her back as he rose to his knees with a grimace. She propped herself on her elbows and met his lips as he tipped forward to kneel between her open legs.
Bending over was too painful so he sat back up, his right hand clutching his ribs as a curse fell from his lips.
"Stay up," Sydney ordered, turning over to get on her hands and knees.
Vaughn groaned deep in his chest as she backed toward him, the sight of her muscled backside making his hardness bounce in anticipation. Aligning himself with her opening he pulled her back with her hips and resheathed himself, their shared groans intoning high and low and echoing down the hallway through the open bedroom door.
On all fours, she rocked back to meet his thrusts as their bodies moved in tandem picking up the tempo. His thighs slapped against her rear as his fingers squeezed her hips, and they both knew she would have finger-shaped bruises the next morning. Neither cared.
Sweat beaded on his forehead and he rumbled low in his chest at the churning began to boil in his lower stomach. This angle slid the bulbous tip over her g-spot, Sydney pushing her face into the soft mattress and bunching the sheet in her fists. Her moans were muted by the cushion, but he could still hear the higher pitch and knew she was just as close as he was.
The fluttering of her inner muscles triggered his orgasm as he pulled her in and sunk as deep as he could go. That sent her off the cliff and her body stiffened, calves squeezing against his in her ecstasy. He continued with short half-thrusts until he was spent, and it immediately felt like lead weights had been strapped to his arms and around his neck. Pulling from her warmth he tipped to the side and ended up with his head at the foot of the bed as he panted up at the ceiling while flat on his back.
Sydney stretched her legs out to lie on her stomach as her contracting muscles loosened, the air-conditioned breeze in the apartment welcoming on her heated skin. A soft snore from her left made her look to her soon-to-be husband, Vaughn out cold with one leg hanging off the bed and the other with his foot propped on his pillow. She pressed a kiss to his forehead on the way to the bathroom, coming back out a moment later to find him unmoved and snoring blissfully into the night.
"Vaughn, c'mon," she urged, her hands cupping his cheeks as she leaned over him. "Wake up just a little."
His eyes split a few millimeters, Sydney blurry in his sleep-deprived, unfocused gaze. He mumbled something incoherent, but she managed to get him sitting without hurting his ribs too badly. Tipping him the opposite way, he was back to sleep the moment his blonde head hit the pillow. The blanket was pulled up to his waist, a lock of hair brushed away from his forehead, and a soft kiss placed against his temple before she moved back to her original side of the bed.
No matter how deep the sleep he always seemed to know when she was there, and after she climbed in beside him, his arm automatically wrapped around her waist to pull her close.
"Five more days," she whispered, drifting away with her nose tucked into his throat.
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