dying; au. also nsfw

He couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

Hope figured that was normal behavior for a man recently engaged…especially if they'd asked the most gorgeous woman in the world to marry them. And surprisingly, Lightning didn't seem to notice. She was distracted by Serah's chatter about wedding dress designs.

Maybe that was why some of the employees were looking at him strangely. He figured that most of the husbands-to-be weren't invited on dress shopping trips. Either that, or they were wondering how he'd gotten so lucky.

That was a question Hope asked himself all the time, honestly.

"Oh, darn it!" Serah glanced at her phone, snapping Hope out of his wandering thoughts. "I have to go pick up Snow." She looked up at her sister. "Can you wait here for me, pleeease? It should only take a half hour or so."

"We don't have to do this today," Lightning tried to reason. "We haven't even set a date yet."

"Trust me, you'll want to get the dress as soon as possible!" Without waiting for a reply, Serah pecked her sister on the cheek, then waved at Hope. "Be back soon!"

"Serah - " But she was gone before Lightning could get out another word edgewise. As usual.

Hope got up from the chair he'd been sitting in and went up to his…fiance, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and nuzzling the top of her head. She didn't even seem to mind, despite the fact she usually frowned on public displays of affection. "Did you still want to stick around? I'm sure Serah would understand if we didn't."

Lightning sighed, leaning into him as she stared at a bunch of dresses hanging on a pristine rack. Clearly the employees didn't think much of them, since they'd been avoiding those off-the-rack dresses since they'd walked in here. "I guess we might as well stay. Who knows, maybe I should actually try on a dress."

His heart began to pound at the thought of Lightning wearing a wedding dress. Or more specifically, the dress she'd be wearing when they got married.

The tips of his fingers reflexively skimmed slowly down her arm. The knowledge that he could do this forever; that she never again had a reason to shy away from him…was…

"…Maybe," he finally answered, clearing his throat a bit. If she noticed the husky tone his voice had taken on, she didn't say anything.

"Might as well, since I'm here," she said, more to herself than anything. He wondered if maybe she was excited at the prospect of trying on a wedding dress, but was trying to hide it.

"Might as well," he echoed, watching her flip through the rack. Never one to be too fussy about clothes, she selected a dress - that looked more like a cloud than anything else - and headed towards the dressing room.

Impulsively, he followed her, but when she turned to lock the door, she couldn't, since he was standing right there. "I don't think you're allowed in."

Whoops. "Probably not," he agreed. "But…" He glanced over his shoulders, noticing that the employees were still ignoring them. "…You might need some help zipping up."

Lightning quirked a brow, staring as thought she was trying to figure out what was going on in his head, but finally opened the door enough to let him sneak in. "I guess you have a point."

He grinned, locking the door behind them, and glanced around the room. It was much bigger than a typical dressing room, not to mention the mirror that took up nearly an entire wall. Hangers were provided, presumably for the bride-to-be's street clothes.

Once they were both in the dressing room, Lightning carefully hung up the dress, staring at it with an oddly fond expression in her eyes. Hope was about to comment on it…until she kicked her shoes off and unbuttoned her pants.

Though he'd seen her undress hundreds of times over the years they'd been together, it never failed to enthrall him. Something about her long, bare legs slipping from the confines of her pants just…

"…Hope?" she murmured when he'd reached out and grabbed her hands, effectively stopping her from unbuttoning her blouse.

He simply held onto her fingers for a moment, his thumb running over the modest engagement ring on her left hand. "You know," he said quietly, meeting her eyes. "I'm still amazed that you said yes."

Her brow furrowed a bit in confusion. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I didn't think I'd get to be this lucky."

Lightning's lips parted in surprise. For a second, it seemed as though she was going to say something, but to his surprise, she suddenly yanked on his tie and brought their lips together.

He knew it was intended to be a sweet, loving kiss in response to his words. In fact, he almost didn't think of the gesture as anything else.

…At least until Lightning unconsciously slipped her bare leg in between his clothed ones, that is.

There was a pause that interrupted their kiss when they both instantly realized the position they were in. For a brief, tense moment, everything was held in suspension. He knew they were both weighing the merits of this little…idea. It was ridiculous. They were in public - in a wedding dress boutique of all places; and even though the employees had paid them little attention since they'd gotten here, they were maybe twenty feet away and only separated by the locked door of the dressing room. Hope almost let go.

But then Lightning's leg purposely brushed against the front of his pants just right and she barely had time to wet her lips in anticipation before he captured them in a fiery kiss.

"We - nngh - " she gasped as he back her up gently against the wall, easily molding their bodies together. "We - we have to be quiet…"

"Think you can manage it?" he whispered teasingly as he tore his lips from hers, only to skim them along her jaw and towards her ear. He was rewarded with another gasp. "Doesn't sound like it, Light…"

"Shut up," she muttered, but there was no malice at all in her tone. Instead, her hands seemed to move of their own accord to undo his belt buckle without a sound…hopefully leaving the boutique employees none the wiser.

He followed by quickly unbuttoning her blouse, but didn't slip it off and instead let it hang on her shoulders. His lips made way down her chest, over the expanse of skin now presented to him. Another gasp escaped her, quiet enough so that it was likely nobody else could hear it, but loud enough to be music to his ears.

"Light…" He captured her lips again, brief and heated. Kissing made too much suspicious noise, but he couldn't seem to help himself.

She responded by unzipping his pants, but then paused, much to his libido's disappointed. "W-Wait a minute."

His hands paused where they'd been trekking downwards on her body. "What is it?"

"I don't have anything with me," she murmured, closing her eyes and letting out a long, slow breath in an attempt to calm herself. "And I'm betting you don't, either."

She was right, of course. Who brought condoms with them while shopping for wedding dresses?

"That's okay," Hope murmured in reply, the words muffled against her neck. "We can improvise."

"What - "

Lightning had barely gotten the word out before Hope suddenly spun them around, and then turned her body in his arms. Now he was the one against the wall, and her back was pressed up against his chest…and they were both facing the mirror.

She made a shaky, pleased noise, though whether it was from what she could suddenly see or if was because she was totally on board with this, he didn't know. Either way…

"Light…" he breathed out, letting the word caress the shell of her ear. Her skin seemed to shiver under his fingertips, especially when he slid them upwards, tracing under her bra. He didn't bother to remove it, but instead slipped them right under under the garment, his touch harder than usual in the confines of space. "Light…you're so beautiful…"

To his surprise, she reached over her shoulder, not for him, but for his tie. At first he thought she was trying to pull him closer - though Hope had to wonder how he could possibly get any closer to her than this - but she didn't yank on the tie harshly at all. Instead, she lifted it to her lips…and bit down on the fabric, keeping it there to muffle her sounds.

Hope couldn't hide the low, quiet groan that escaped him. To think that she didn't trust herself to not make the sounds she was clearly dying to make…all because of him…

"Light," he gasped again, sliding one hand out from under her bra and over her stomach, pausing to trace her navel piercing. She responded by somehow slipping her hand back into his still-undone pants, fingertips grazing the front of his boxers. It was a bit of an awkward position, but he shivered at the touch nonetheless.

When he made his way between her thighs and traced the edge of her panties, Hope could just barely hear the quick, rapid exhales out of her nose. She was positively trembling, which wasn't something that happened often, probably because she usually liked to take the lead.

He made a quiet, pleased noise into her hair - especially when her touch grew a little more firm - and slowly slid his fingers under the fabric covering her, taking in every tiny hitch of breath he felt rather than heard because of the tie clenched in her teeth. She was already so slick that it took practically no effort to slip two fingers inside of her.

Immediately, she sucked in a sharp inhale through her nose, her head falling back against his shoulder. The position gave him perfect access to her neck, which he traced with the tip of his tongue, so distracted by her skin and the feel of her that he almost didn't notice the quickening pace of her hand.

Almost.

Now he knew why Lightning had felt the need to have something to quiet herself - he was dying to groan in pleasure, to give in to every instinctive touch and roll of his hips. He knew he couldn't, though - hell, he already knew that the longer they stayed in here, the more suspicious the employees would get, even if they hadn't been paying attention to them earlier.

But he couldn't just leave her hanging.

"Light," he breathed out against her pulse, curling his fingers and moving them in time with her rocking hips. His other hand was still on her breast, trapped under her bra.

She made a nearly silent, pleading noise, teeth clenching hard on his tie as her hips rolled up into his hand. The motion made him glance in the mirror in front of them and he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat at what he saw. With Lightning mostly undressed with so much of her skin on display and he himself still nearly fully dressed, it seemed as though…

…Well, to him, it felt as though she were some sort of ethereal goddess succumbing to the touch from him, a mere human.

Knowing she'd just roll her eyes if he said this out loud, Hope instead turned his attention back to her neck, quietly kissing his way back up to her ear. If there was any other noise at all outside the dressing room, it had completely disappeared - all he could hear were Lightning's muffled sounds of pleasure as his fingers moved, and his own hushed, labored gasps as her hand stroked him.

Usually he could tell when she was getting close, but this time, it completely took him by surprise. He gasped when she suddenly gripped his wrist, nails digging into his skin as her hips grew a little more frantic. His gaze went to their reflections, watching Lightning's nearly silent orgasm in fascination. He realized that while of course he'd heard her satisfaction many times - once they'd gotten over the initial embarrassment, she could be pretty vocal in bed - he'd never really quite felt it, not like this. Hope was completely in tune with every little shake and shiver of her body, her trembling exhales that were muffled by his tie, and her grip on his wrist - so tight that it was as though she would positively die if she didn't hold on.

Hope gradually slowed his fingers, only slipping them out when she finally let go of his wrist. The tie fell from her mouth, but her head remained fallen back on his shoulder, her eyes closed and a satiated, blissful little smile on her face.

He kissed her jaw and she lifted her head to meet his lips in a brief kiss. He was about to ask if she had a plan for where her other hand - which was still in his pants - was going…

…At least, until there was a sharp knock on the door.

Lightning's eyes flew open and she gasped, immediately taking her hand back. "What?!" she blurted out, obviously annoyed, although Hope couldn't help but notice that her tone sounded rather husky as well, like she'd just….well, like she'd just been doing unmentionable things in a public place with her fiance.

"It's me!" came Serah's voice, and Hope couldn't help his huge sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're still here, sis. Are you trying on a dress?"

"I…" Lightning's eyes slid to the long forgotten dress, which was still on the hanger. "…I did, but I didn't like it much. Hope was just helping me out of it."

"Scandalous," Serah teased.

Hope tried not to laugh. "We'll be out in a few," was all he said. When Serah presumably wandered away, he glanced at the dress, then back at Lightning. "Are you sure you don't want to try it on? I mean, since we're in here…"

"I wouldn't be able to take it," she replied, buttoning up her shirt. "Not even if it was absolutely perfect."

"Why not?"

She arched an eyebrow, looping her arms around his neck once she'd finished with her shirt. "Because I wouldn't be able to put it on without thinking of this. I'd rather we keep this…private." She smirked a little as the laughter of some of the employees was heard. "In a manner of speaking."

"R-Right." It was hard to concentrate…also in a manner of speaking.

Lightning cocked her head a bit, her eyes - still looking utterly relaxed and satisfied, even though Serah had scared them half to death - searching his face. "I want you to do something for me."

"Anything."

She tipped her head up and kissed him, her words scattered across his lips. "I want you to go home and put some condoms in my bag. I didn't bring it with me, so it should be on the dresser." She smirked again. "Then I want you to get in bed and wait for me, so we can finish this."

"Definitely," he agreed instantly. "But why in your bag…?"

"Because," she replied, moving to pull on her pants in a way that really should not have looked so alluring. When she'd buttoned them, she buttoned his as well.

"Because…?" Man, he definitely needed to make some…adjustments before he left the dressing room.

"Because," she repeated, the little smirk still on her face as she opened the door to leave the dressing room. "Next time…I'd like to be prepared."

Thank you all for your reviews so far c: I'm so close to finishing all of these!