Chapter 31: Rose
A few days later and things were relatively alright. Sherlock was still in a bad mood but she was out of her room and had at least showered. That made kissing her easier. They had started doing that now. It seemed to come out of nowhere and things were still fresh but they would kiss and kiss and kiss and time would seem to fly by.
Round two of onboarding training passed by in a blink.
John woke that morning to find a completely new outfit waiting for her. Green pants, brown boots, a light tan button up, a large cowboy hat, a satchel, and a whip. John was in a fit of laughter as she tugged it on. That was until she found out Sherlock had a case and she would have to leave the flat looking like that.
John turned to give Lestrade and the other coppers the full display.
"Does that make this one Short Round?" Lestrade joked, pointing at Sherlock.
Sherlock refused to look up from her phone but John saw her crack another smile.
The whip turned out to be quite handy. John had never used one before but when one of their perps fled the scene and no copper was to be found with a pair of cuffs it made an excellent rope.
Sherlock immediately started aiming it at street signs the minute they got it back. She was a natural at hitting her mark every time. Whenever the whip swished and metal crashed, John found herself biting back a smile.
They were only kissing but that whip accompanied some inventive imagery. John strapped to a bed, Sherlock above her with a coquettish grin, the sound of leather on flesh. John had to shake off her blush before Lestrade called her out on it. She was sure she could blame her outfit for her embarrassment.
Sherlock received a message on her phone and very suddenly pulled John back to 221B. Lestrade had been frustrated, as usual, with their sudden disappearance but Sherlock said it was a matter of urgency.
When they returned home, Sherlock immediately jumped on her laptop while John was left to linger in the living room.
"So?" John asked. "What was so urgent?"
Sherlock looked up, looked at the door, and back at her laptop without explanation.
"Yoohoo!" Mrs Hudson called. "Ladies! Is everyone decent?" Mrs Hudson walked inside without waiting for them to respond, a package and a stack of letters in hand. "I have that mail you wanted, Sherlock. And John, you received a package today!"
John took everything she had in hand. The stack was so large it had to be the entire months worth of post. John took it all over to the couch and dumped it into a pile, knowing full well she would be the one sorting through it.
"That'll be all, Mrs. Hudson," Sherlock said.
"Oh," Mrs Hudson said. "But don't you girls want-"
"That'll be all, Mrs. Hudson!" Sherlock shooed her out the door and shut it behind her.
John sucked in a breath to scold her but simply let it out. She would check in with Mrs. Hudson later and have tea. Besides, she was rather curious about the package. Who would be sending her a package?
There was no return address other than the store it was purchased through. It did not sound even remotely familiar. Her birthday was some time off and it was not a holiday. She dug out the scissors from the coffee table and tore it open. Inside the cardboard was another box, this one silver and black with the name of the company scrawled in hard to read cursive over the front.
La El
The box was the only thing inside, no note or any indication of who it was from. The lid slid off the top easily enough and inside resting on a soft bed of purple velvet was a choker necklace. Two small strips of leather overlapped, a small diamond encrusted dark green jewel laid at the center.
"Wha-" John gasped as she held it up to the light. She looked at Sherlock as the smile crept into her voice, "Sherlock. What is this?"
Sherlock was still by the door, blocking any attempt Mrs. Hudson might make to reenter. Her arms were crossed and she refused to let any emotion sneak through her stony face. "Necklace."
"I can see that," John said and thumbed the jewel in the center. It must have cost a pretty penny. "Is it mine?"
Sherlock rolled her eyes and snatched it out of John's hands. "Don't be stupid." She twisted John around and threw the necklace around her neck, gently clasping it into place. "Stupid doesn't suit you."
John spun in Sherlock's arms, her fingers petting the band lining her neck. "Does this?" Sherlock's eyes were wide and dark but John kept staring at her mouth. "Suit me?"
Sherlock's answer was to engulf John in a kiss that nearly sent her to the floor. John's mouth opened and Sherlock's tongue grazed her teeth. John's middle flushed and her body melted.
John slowly pulled her head back and smiled. "I have a proposition."
Sherlock's mouth quirked up. She pushed the hair on John's head back. John shivered.
"Are you propositioning me, John?"
John pinched her back lightly. "I am. Miss."
"And your safeword will be-"
"Rose." John fixed her eyes on Sherlock's. Her mouth would not stop smiling and her face flushed as she said, "I'd like it to be rose."
Sherlock's brow furrowed and her eyes pinched, her mouth fell open and she whispered, "Rose?"
John laughed, too happy to hold it inside. "Yes."
"Since when…" Sherlock trailed off, her face still crumpled. It was absolutely adorable.
"Always," John whispered before gently pulling her in for another kiss.
It was true. From the moment they met there had always been something more there. A connection that John could not understand. All it took was an engagement falling apart, a case full of cocks, and a non-sex sex-experiment to get her to realize what it was. Love.
They were interrupted when the doorbell rang.
"Sit on the floor and wait," Sherlock instructed.
John curled her knees under her and sat, using the back of the couch to hold herself up. She pet her neck again and smiled. Things were going to be alright.
Sherlock came back up with a brown bag that smelled like heaven in her arms.
"Hibachi," Sherlock confirmed.
Sherlock sat behind John and wrapped her legs on either side of her body. She carefully opened every package and laid it out in front of the table, turning on the telly to some crap station that always intrigued Sherlock for reasons unknown and started digging in. John simply watched, wondering and waiting.
During one of the commercial breaks, Sherlock held out a piece of salmon sushi. John eyed it wearily and reached for Sherlock's hand. Sherlock snatched the fish away without looking and popped it into her mouth. John groaned. The food smelled really, really good and while she was happy Sherlock was eating, she was starving.
Again Sherlock held out a piece of sushi and waited. This time John leaned in without raising her hand and the sushi stayed. She licked her lips and stuck out her tongue, wrapping her lips around the bite. Tangy soy sauce dropped off Sherlock's fingertips and onto her tongue. It was delicious.
It went this way with the sushi, the shrimp, and even pinches of rice that Sherlock scooped up. It was up to John to nibble off every last grain, needing to suck in Sherlock's fingers to get them off her sticky skin. In between bites, Sherlock offered her a drink through a straw and John felt her cheeks blush.
When it was all done, Sherlock ordered John to clean up the dishes and run her a bath. John mumbled to herself in the bathtub about her royal highness needing her back washed as well, but pretended to have said nothing with a smile on her face when Sherlock entered the bathroom.
Sherlock stared at her as she undid the buttons on her blouse. One after the other, revealing a single stretch of soft pale skin. There was no bra to hide the curves of her breasts. They delicately rounded the shirt and just barely hid from view as she bent over to remove her trousers. It was knickers-free-Tuesday apparently. John smirked at Sherlock's complete confidence as she tore off her trousers and presented her toned bum to the world. One might think she planned all of this around the delivery of John's present.
John moved out of the way as Sherlock removed her shirt and pulled up her hair to slide into the prepared tub. She groaned far too suggestively and closed her eyes as the water surrounded her.
John shook her head and got to her feet to leave her in peace.
"Where are you going?" Sherlock asked, her eyes still closed.
John smiled. She silently undressed, slipped into the tub in front of Sherlock, and leaned back into Sherlock's waiting arms. Sherlock immediately started petting her skin and John closed her eyes, using Sherlock as her goose feather filled pillow. They stayed like that until the water ran cold.
"I like you, Sherlock."
"The same to you, John."
After you admit your feelings for a girl, snog her, and have her be the cause of multiple orgasms -and not necessarily in that order- sex and feelings were not really all that hard.