Somehow I'm keeping up with this update a day. I hope you like it. We're getting steamy.
It was deja vu the way Maka woke him with that musical voice except for this time, just as her face hovered over his, it was to let her lips feather against his. Soul couldn't stop himself as he grabbed onto her cheeks, only letting her get a few inches away. "Can I get that every morning?"
"Depends," she grinned.
"On?" He was already craning his neck, trying to close the space between them but Maka was toying with him as she tilted her head back.
Her lips pursed in thought for a moment before pink spilled across her cheeks. "A fair trade."
"I'll kiss you all you want," he laughed.
Maka shook her head, "Not that."
"Not that?" he raised his eyebrows as he echoed. "I'll make breakfast."
"Nope."
"Go running every morning?" Soul offered with a bit of a grimace.
"You already have to do that," she laughed. "Your reward is your health."
"Lame," he groaned. "I'm not cleaning the bathroom."
Maka let out a short snort of a laugh before pulling in a long breath. "I kind of want…" she trailed off.
"Open and truthful," he nudged her along.
She sighed, "Can we sleep in the same bed?"
"That's a fair trade?" Without much of a second thought and a laugh tumbling from his lips, Soul moved his hands from her face to her waist, pulling her into the bed. It was a difficult transition and as she fell he definitely got a knee to the thigh and an elbow jammed somewhere in his ribs but the end result was what he wanted, a laughing Maka laying next to him. "Could have asked for that from day one."
Maka turned on her side, putting her hand exactly where it should be on his chest. "Slow."
And slow is the last thing on my mind when I have you like this, or when I think about tonight, after another day of loving you, to lay next to you in the dark and not touch you… "Like I said, Maka, slow is hard. But you sleep here or I sleep there, deal. At least a kiss every morning, deal."
"At least?" she raised an eyebrow.
Soul replied by leaning in, stealing another kiss from her lips that he couldn't leave as just a soft touch, instead coming with a hint of the force he was trying to keep at bay. His hand clamped over the one on his chest, trying to ease the urge to reach for the rest of her. When Soul was finally able to release her, finding happily that she almost didn't let him go, he murmured, "At least."
'At least' echoed through Maka's head for the entirety of that week along with the revisiting of the way his kiss had made her own body sizzle alive. She had avoided that with the dates, the idea that hands could play a part just as much as lips could, and when the scant few broke through that usual rule, it was lackluster. Not to mention the way the guilt as if she were cheating ate away at any enjoyment. But these moments, when Soul grabbed a hip or played at her lips set something in her alight, and his constant answer of 'slow is hard' started to ring truer each day.
It had also taken time and practice to arrange a bed together, the first night as separate as could be, neither wanted to test waters beyond just that step even if sharing the same sleeping bag on missions had happened more than once. The second night came with that hand on his chest, an anchor so she could feel his breath and his heart working all night, whenever she needed reassurance he was there. By the fifth night, she had inched close enough that she was sure he could feel her breath against his neck because before he would fall asleep she would watch the goosebumps.
The end of the week had her itching in a way she couldn't quite describe, where every touch just felt like it was barely enough and she knew she was forcing their kisses past time limits. Soul was always well-behaved, taking her lead. Just as he was tonight as she inched closer to him in the bed, her face now on his pillow as she pressed against his arm. "Open and truthful," she whispered almost against the skin of his neck.
"OK…" he murmured back as he lazily opened one eye, already half asleep as it was before her breath against his neck awakened him.
"How are you feeling about us?"
Soul sighed as the other eye opened, his chin tilting down to get a better look at her. "Be a little more specific."
Maka pressed her lips together in thought as she arranged a better question. "Are there things that I still have to be forgiven for?"
A sharp hmph left his throat. "What was I supposed to be forgiving you for? What'd you do?"
"Not the letters, I know, but the not in love thing, the way I hurt you for no reason." Why does it sound like I'm pleading with him to be angry with me? Maka caught the sigh that wanted to escape from her lips.
Soul's fingers crept up to hers on his chest, tapping at the back of her hand before tracing the muscles there. "That hurt, sure, but I don't know. That was then. We were both stupid. Said stupid things, did stupid things. It's not worth holding on to."
"I kind of said that to mom." Maka paused, waiting to feel a tense or the anger come over him at the mere mention of Rin but he was steady, breathing clear and slow. "That sometimes we're not good to one another but that's both our faults. I'm not the best to you sometimes and you're the same. I tried to get out that it didn't mean I don't love you but she wasn't very interested." She lifted herself on an elbow, leaning down to catch those crimson eyes. "But you know that I loved you the entire time, right? I think… I think I kind of loved you since we were kids."
"Not kind of," he corrected. "Loved you since just before I earned myself this scar." Soul moved her hand a little higher on his chest, tracing the start of the line from his armpit. "I'm going to take a guess that maybe right after was when you started loving me."
Maka blinked at him, her mind suddenly reeling. "How did you…?"
Soul sighed, "I think that's when we both started keeping secrets. Being scared of what loving you was, what it meant, started all that for me so just a good guess."
"Good guess," she repeated.
A smug little smile glanced over his lips before fading. "Are there things I have to be forgiven for?"
All of the confusion was quickly shelved as she produced the best glowing smile she could manage. "Nope."
He seemed a little surprised, his jaw working to chew through the words before he said them. "You sound sure."
"I shouldn't be?" Maka raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"Guess I'm just-"
"Overthinking." Because you're the dictionary definition, but I still kind of love it. I love being your surety.
Soul huffed in reply.
Maka let herself fall back to his side, angling her head so close that she was breathing across his skin, her hot sighs bringing color to his neck. "I think we're alright, Soul." To punctuate this she tilted her head just so, letting her lips press against the cord of his neck.
That brought a shaky sigh from his lips and the hand that was playing over hers was now on the move, gliding up her arm. "Can you do that again? Please?" He sounded powerless, begging, so unlike Soul that Maka almost wanted to lift her head and double-check his face.
Instead, she did as requested, lips lingering through a few more feathery kisses against his neck. "More?"
Another withering sigh came from his lips, "The answer's always gonna be more."
She laughed against his neck and his hand clutched into her shoulder, pushing her back into his skin. Maka nuzzled at the skin first, feeling his fingers tighten and a hoarse grunt grumble in his throat. "Tell me we're alright," Maka breathed out against his neck.
"Maka," he groaned. "We're fucking perfect."
Soul had hands shoved in his pockets as he wandered out into the training yard. Maka had joined meister class early that morning, not necessarily much of a student anymore but looking for a challenge and to still keep her title as teacher's pet. It was with Stein, some kind of obstacle course day, and Soul could only imagine the insanity involved. All of those wonders dropped completely from his mind as he caught sight of her standing with her back to him. Maka was in just the sports bra, no shirt to speak of and his eyes couldn't stop tracing the line of her spine. Not to mention her shorts weren't covering much else, just those long legs welcoming the sunlight. When she turned to him, Soul had to hold his breath, hoping to quell the beat of his heart as she just beamed. "Hey, Soul!"
"Hey," he croaked.
She was trotting over to him, tiny droplets of sweat glistening on her skin and he couldn't look away. "We're done for the day. Will you take me home?"
That question fell to the wayside, the next sentence squeaking from his mouth. "What happened to your shirt?"
"Oh!" Maka looked down as if her situation was a surprise. "Got wrecked within an hour. Just ripped right down the back and I ditched it."
"Come here." He started to tear off his own t-shirt but Maka stilled his hand.
"It's OK," she laughed. "You're the only one looking."
"Not true," he grumbled. Soul's hands were still struggling with hers and when he found no hope of winning, he instead moved to guide her off the field, blocking her from the others by hustling her into the hallway.
"You're not looking?" The innocent little dip in her voice brought his a shiver down his spine, seeing a knowing smile curling on her lips.
"They sure are." Soul sent a useless glare backward into the empty corridor before continuing the effort to block eyes that didn't exist.
"But you, Soul?" she cooed back again, turning her head over her shoulder to blink at him.
Soul swallowed hard, those green eyes glowing in a way he couldn't read. "What happens if I say yes?"
Maka shrugged, "I'd be happy."
She wants you to look, a pleased little part of his mind murmured. But I think she wants you to tell her. Soul waited a few more steps before grabbing her arm, tugging her back as he slipped open one of the doors. He blessed everything he knew as he found it was an empty classroom, darkened except for pinpricks of light sneaking from the lines of the closed blinds. As the door clapped shut he pressed her against the wall, one hand coming to her neck to tilt her chin just right while the other splayed against her stomach.
She gasped but managed to eke out, "I'm sweaty."
"Don't care," grumbled from his mouth just before his lips crushed against hers. 'At least' and 'slow' evaporated from his mind as his hand drifted up over her sweat-stained skin. He melted as her stomach muscles fluttered under his fingers and his tongue parted her lips, slipping against hers. On the tail-end of the kiss, he nibbled at her bottom lip just as his hand met the underside of her breast and dared to slip over the curve.
The soft groan from her broke the kiss, each breath after panting over his lips. "Soul…"
"I'm looking." His hand didn't relent, stealing one last squeeze before letting the hand drift back down her stomach. "You're beautiful, and all I want to do is look, touch. Don't ever doubt it."
"I won't," she murmured as a soft laugh left her mouth. "You might have to carry me out of her."
"That a good thing?" He nuzzled his nose to hers.
"Duh," she laughed again. "But… maybe wait until we're at home."
Soul grunted, "Slow."
"No," Maka murmured. "Just, private. Maybe not so slow anymore."
"Not so slow?" That was barely a question and more a sigh of relief, his hands both coming to her cheeks to steal one more kiss.
Maka brought her hands to his chest, slowly pushing him back. "Yes, so, let's go home."
Soul coughed out a laugh, "Give me a second." He detached from her, turning his back as he readjusted his pants which weren't exactly forgiving, his body not ready to quit. There weren't enough cold shower thoughts to erase the moment as he struggled with his brain against reliving over and over.
Her soft hands pressed to his back, only working to make matters worse. "Just walk behind me. It'll be fine, we'll just make a break for it."
Soul snorted, "Sure. Sounds like it'll work perfectly." He let her guide him out anyway, her head peeking back and forth before pulling him out into the hallway. The flex in the small of her back, the way her shoulder blades were still glistening slightly didn't make the cooldown any easier and he found himself having to walk closer. As he was still busy looking at the different dips in her skin, he practically ran into her as she skidded to a halt.
"Oh, hey, Liz, Patty," Maka managed that sweet, beautiful chirp in her voice even as her hand moved back as if to protect him.
Patty raised her eyebrows before turning her head back to Liz. "They look guilty."
"You do look guilty," Liz echoed. "What were you up to?"
"Nothing," Maka shrugged.
"Just picking her up." Soul made the mistake of copying her movement, the wave of shoulders looking awkward.
"You feeling OK, Soul?" Patty grinned, dipping her head to try to get an angle around Maka.
"Stop being weird," Soul huffed.
Liz pulled Patty by the shoulder. "Don't bother. Not like the two of them can manage anything, anyway. They don't even kiss," Liz rolled her eyes.
Soul's mouth twitched as he smothered a laugh in his throat. He leaned closer to Maka, the softest whisper in her ear, "We're practically prudes."
Maka turned her head, her lips practically at his as her mouth broke into a grin. "Not for long."