All morning long at work – prepping for today's show, during the actual broadcast, in the keynote meeting for tomorrow – Robin is distracted, preoccupied. She keeps telling herself to snap out of it. It's ridiculous, pathetic, weak. She keeps telling herself no, but she's fighting a losing battle and she knows it. Deep inside, she already knows she'll give in long before she actually picks up the phone and calls Barney at work, inviting herself to lunch.
It's like an addiction. She can't go a day without seeing him; and not just in public, for a little while, with the rest of the group. She can't go a day – much less almost two now – without being with him. She doesn't know exactly when this absolute need cropped up, but it's here and it won't be ignored.
Which is how she finds herself rushing to GNB on a Thursday afternoon in mid-July, anticipation rolling thick and low in her belly.
With one cursory knock, she lets herself into his office.
Barney looks up; his gaze slides over Robin's body as the door clicks shut behind her. She looks amazing in a short pencil skirt and formfitting blouse. And from their earlier phone conversation, he has the distinct impression that before the hour is through he'll get a reminder of just how amazing she looks out of that skirt and blouse. A quick bite to eat and then it's back to his place for the main course.
"Robin," he greets her devilishly, getting up from his chair and walking around to lean against the side of his desk. "So…you hungry?"
"I'm starving," she replies, and there's a spark in her eyes that tells him lunch is going to wait.
She's primed and ready, and so is he. With her, he's always ready. One word, one look, is all it takes. "Come here," he beckons with a smirk, crooking his finger at her, inviting her – as years before – to step into his web.
After nearly two months of sleeping with the same woman, he isn't even slightly itching for 'the benefits of strange'. In fact, she can still make his pulse pick up simply by crossing the room to him, as she's doing now.
Once she's standing before him all pretext goes out the window and she presses herself to him. "I missed you last night," she manages to whisper before his earlobe is in her mouth; it looks too delicious to resist. The hole where he'd pierced his ear has healed and closed up, but she can still feel the slight indentation with her tongue.
His hands settle on her hip and lower back. "I missed you, too. It was just me, Little Barney, and the nighty you left behind on Tuesday." He feels her lips on his jaw, his throat, and he stumbles a little as he confesses, "We put it to good use."
Robin stops and looks up at him. "Tell me you didn't…." He raises his eyebrow wickedly. "….With my silk bustier?"
He chuckles, deep and low, and slowly brushes against her, warming all the places where their bodies touch. "A man's got to do what a man's got to do."
Her eyes narrow, but fill with heat. "Why does that turn me on?"
Then she kisses him, hard. He jumps into it with equal fervor, and it quickly devolves into lips and mouths and tongues, his hands immediately roaming her body. "No bra. Hot."
Robin's only response is a moan as she presses herself further into him. She's desperate for him and she knows that he knows it. But he's desperate for her too, and somehow that makes it alright
They end up on his black leather sofa, Barney sprawled atop her taking full advantage of the position. But the quickness and ease with which he guided them here leads Robin to break their kiss and question, "How many other women have you slept with on this couch?"
"None," he says hurriedly, leaning back in, but she puts her hand to his chest, stopping him.
"How many?" she repeats, giving him a look that clearly communicates his normal BS won't work on her – a fact he already knew, but he figured it was worth a try.
"A few," he reluctantly admits, if fudging the numbers a little. Then his eyes turn honest, his voice serious, as he declares, "But no one since you. Anywhere. I swear."
Robin's face softens and she smiles warmly at him. She'd hoped that was the case. It certainly is for her. But since they'd never made the terms of their – whatever this is they're doing – clear, it's good to hear it from him.
"And I'm not just saying that to get into your panties," he promises.
Giving him a whole other kind of smile, she reaches for her purse where it's fallen on the floor and pulls out a black lace thong. "I'm not wearing any," she whispers, sliding it into his pocket.
He makes some sort of inarticulate noise in the back of his throat, and then attacks her.
"I took them off on the way here," she says, between kisses. "To speed things up."
"God, you're perfect."
His lips slowly trace down her neck as he unbuttons her shirt, and she turns her head to the side to enjoy it. Sweeping the fabric aside, he kisses the swell of her breast, each brush of his mouth across her skin spreading liquid heat, hitting every nerve ending. She moans softly, murmurs his name, opens her eyes for a split second – and sees someone walk by outside.
The door to his office is frosted glass, but the design in the etching leaves clears strips every so many inches, meaning – though it's distorted – she can see into the hallway. And….. "If I can see them, they can see us," she says aloud.
"Hmm?" he asks distractedly, his mouth still working over her.
"They can see us, Barney."
"No, the blinds are closed," he mumbles, his lips and tongue not missing a beat, almost making her forget the potential show they're giving to anyone walking the halls.
"No, no, the glass in the door," she says, pulling gently at his hair so that he looks up, focuses on what she's saying.
His eyes slide to the door and he does catch a glimpse of a suited-up leg walking past. He gazes back down to Robin, who's wearing a "told you" expression. "Bathroom," he proclaims, climbing off of her and helping her to her feet.
But Barney pulling her up leaves them standing too close to resist. She crushes her mouth back to his and their progress to the bathroom gets delayed. Still, they make baby steps around groping arms and hands.
She pulls at his jacket, eager to get him undressed. To facilitate her – because, hell, he's just as eager; he's ready to devour her – he rips it off and tosses it towards his desk with uncharacteristic disregard for a beloved suit.
They're almost there, but the way she's kissing him is too distracting; they both need this too badly. Finally, Barney can't take any more. He groans into the kiss, grabbing her bottom with both hands and lifting her up. Taking his cue, Robin wraps her legs around his waist with practiced ease and he turns them, presses her up against the bathroom door, her back bouncing against his motivational poster.
He gathers her skirt in his fingers, drawing it up around her waist, and it's too much yet not enough. "Inside. Now," she gasps against his lips.
"Baby, I'm going there," he breathes, using his hips to hold her against the door as he reaches for his zipper.
"No, the door. Inside the door."
"Right. Right," he says, reaching for the handle instead.
They tumble inside and he twists the lock. A second later, he has her up on the counter. Her shirt is completely open and the sight is enough to distract Barney, but she pulls him back into a hot, no holds barred kiss.
Robin grabs at his tie, nearly chocking him, so he pulls it off, throws it to the ground. But their progress still isn't fast enough. She tugs at the buttons of his shirt, desperate to get to his bare skin, wanting to feel it against hers. Once she's got his shirt off, she spreads her hands across his chest, draws teasing circles over his nipples and down…down…. Then she's going for his pants and, after fumbling for protection, he's inside her, and they both lose track of time and place and everything else until the world explodes around them.
By sheer strength of will, Barney manages to stay on his feet, panting into her neck, "That….was…."
"So good," Robin finishes, trying to breathe. "Really good."
"….Epic," he agrees around his own gasps. He looks down at her, and what he sees takes what's left of his breath away. "You're beautiful. So beautiful," he tells her, and she smiles. He bends to kiss her left breast, then her right, nuzzles her there like a lazy sort of half-motorboat, then settles his face back into the hollow of her neck.
And she holds him, leaning back, the mirror cool against her cheek. She smoothes his damp hair. He has a bite mark on his shoulder and she's sure there must be fingertip-shaped bruises forming on his behind to match.
It scares her a little, how she has no control over this, this hold he has on her where she literally can't stay away, can't help herself, has to be near him, has to be with him this way.
What's worse, she finds that she doesn't want to close herself off from him now that the sex is done. She wants to stay here like this, holding him. She wants to run her fingers through his hair and kiss him and cuddle him and – oh god, it terrifies her.
But then Barney raises his head to look at her, awe in his eyes. "You make me crazy, Robin," he says, his voice soft and earnest. He withdraws from her, pulls back and gazes intently down at her: clothing still half on, hair mussed, looking thoroughly ravaged. In that moment he feels how much he loves her, and he's terrified too. "You kill me," he sighs.
She presses a kiss to his chest, his neck, his lips. "You make me crazy too," she whispers before sliding from the marble countertop. She glances toward her bare feet as she steps down and notices for the first time that they've knocked off the crystal soap decanter and it's broken, oozing liquid soap across the tile floor. She looks over to see his reaction. That's when she notices his shirt, now in his hands….and the missing buttons that must have flown off in her overzealousness to get it undone. "Sorry," she says sheepishly.
He wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. "Totally worth it."
He kisses her, his tongue hot and teasing as it slides into her mouth. But the beeping of his office intercom carries through to the bathroom and he releases her. He already has his pants back up and fastened before she's so much as righted her skirt.
"You go," she tells him. "I just need a minute to fix myself up."
He looks down at her exposed breasts and the hickey forming just above her right nipple. "Yeah, you better put those away…..Unless you want to go again?" he asks, hopefully.
"Go," she laughs, pushing him out the door.
Five minutes later, Robin's just opening the door to the bathroom, about to make a fairly dirty remark on the all the sweet, sweet lovin' they just made, when Marshall walks into Barney's office.
"Robin," he says, stopping short, and all three freeze. "What are you doing here?"
Her eyes dart around the room, taking in the scene: her purse, lying open and tipped over beside the couch; her shoes nearby, where they'd fallen off when Barney pressed her down into the cushions; his motivational poster slightly askew. At least, she notes, Barney's put his suit jacket back on, and either changed his shirt or found a way to repair the other one, as there's no hint of the broken buttons.
Thinking fast, she explains, "I came for lunch. You know," she shrugs, "I've been hearing about this Food Guy for weeks. Thought I'd see if he's as good as you both say."
"Food Guy? His lunches are crazy, but Robin….what happened to your shoes?" Marshall asks looking down at her bare feet.
"Oh," she says dismissively, "there was this accident and traffic was terrible. Everything was backed up, so I had the cab drop me off a few blocks from here. By the time I got to GNB my feet were killing me. Plus I had way too much coffee on the way over. So I came up to Barney's office, killed two birds with one stone."
Marshall nods, accepting her story without further question, and Barney can't help thinking Robin is one incredible woman.
"Boy, it must be hot out there," Marshall remarks as Robin steps back into her heels.
"Why's that?" she asks.
"You look really, really flushed."
The three of them make small talk throughout lunch in the conference room, mostly about Food Guy's food and what "Guy" Barney and Marshall each are at the office. Then it finally turns back to the fictitious accident Robin witnessed, and just how hot it must be outside.
Barney watches Robin, impressed with the way she handled their near discovery but unable to resist flustering her just a little. He loves to fluster her; it always leads to such naughty things.
Catching her eye, he says, "It's no wonder you were so flushed earlier, Robin. The heat'll do it to you every time." She can tell by his tone that trouble's coming, but there's no way to stop him. "It slides slowly into you, inch by inch, filling you up. And then it eases out, only to slam back in, hard and fast, hitting the good spot. Over and over again."
Marshall's eyes narrow and he looks back and forth between the two of them. "Are we still talking about how hot is it? Cause it kind of sounds like you're talking about sex."
Robin's gaze never leaves Barney's as she answers, "Barney's always talking about sex."
"I was talking about the heat, I swear," he says, raising his hands innocently. Just when the moment's settled and it seems like Marshall's going to let it pass, he continues, "But, conveniently, if it does get hot and you do start to sweat, I have just the thing here in my pocket."
He reaches in for Robin's thong, where she tucked it earlier, but before he can pull it out she quickly interrupts, "Marshall, I was just reading this article on the Lock Ness Monster."
Barney smirks at the weak diversion attempt. It works, though. Marshall's forgotten anything else, deep into spouting the evidentiary support of Nessie's existence. But he can't let it go at that, can't resist teasing Robin just a little further. "So I totally nailed this girl today in my office."
That gets their attention. "What?" Marshall asks.
But Robin recovers well. "Gross, I sat on that couch."
"What makes you think it was on the couch?" Barney counters. "Actually we had quite the time right up against my motivational poster. 'Strength', not 'awesomeness'," he informs Marshall, "though I suppose both apply. To bad there isn't one for 'satisfaction guaranteed'. What. Up." He raises his hand for a high five, but gets no takers.
Marshall just stares incredulously at him. "Dude, it is a miracle you haven't gone down on sexual harassment charges yet."
Barney resists the obvious joke and instead simply says, "Ten for ten."
"It was that new woman from accounting, wasn't it? The one with the – " Marshall motions his hands in front of his chest to indicate a pair of large breasts. He shakes his head. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you hit that."
Robin's eyebrow goes up and she looks to Barney, who masterfully changes the subject.
When they've all finished lunch, Marshall says his goodbyes to Robin in the conference room, and expects Barney to do the same, but she mentions she left her purse in his office, providing the perfect excuse to follow him back there alone.
As soon as the door shuts, Robin says, "So tell me about this woman in accounting…."
Barney's lips curl into an amused smile. "Tell you what? Is she hotter than you? Because the answer would be 'no'." He can see she's pleased by that, but not dissuaded.
"Actually, I meant something along the lines of why Marshall thinks it's just a matter of time before you 'hit that'?"
He reaches out and palms her hips, pulling her into him. "Probably because Marshall doesn't know I'm much too preoccupied with hitting this." She shakes her head but smiles anyway, and he nestles closer. "I have a free hour before my meeting with the North Koreans. We could make good use of it?"
"Uh uh. Nope. Sex in your office is too dangerous. Look what almost happened. We cannot make a habit of it." He pouts, but presses a quick kiss to his lips before releasing her. "So I'll see you later at McLaren's with the gang?" she asks.
"No, make it a couple hours earlier." She looks at him curiously. "I figure I owe you dinner. Food Guy's manicotti was sadly lacking today."
"Alright. I'll meet you back here at six thirty." She gathers up her purse and turns to go but then remembers. "And hey, I told Ted I have a date, so I'm free to stay the night at your place."
"Sweet."
Robin gives him a sexy, playful smile. "Not what I have planned."
And she doesn't make it out of the office without Barney kissing her again – this time longer, with decidedly more tongue, and a cupping hand to her behind.
As she's leaving, Robin gets off the elevator two floors beneath to take a peek at accounting – out of plain curiosity and nothing more – and immediately spots the woman in question; there can be no doubt who Marshall was talking about: slim, blonde, huge boobs, and a vacant look in her heavily-mascaraed eyes – just Barney's type.
Later that night when they have intense, wild sex all over his apartment, she's sure the extra elevator stop has nothing at all to do with it. Proving that she's way hotter than Accounting Girl and making sure Barney stays preoccupied with 'nailing' her alone are the farthest things from Robin's mind – at least that's what she tells herself, particularly when she's cuffing him into the sex swing.
AN: So there's still August and September to go (actually they'll be more than one chapter in September, as it shows a bit of the group's discovery of their relationship).
The challenge of this is just getting one little snapshot of them per month and trying to show a developing relationship within that context. Along with the sexiness of their relationship (which, come on, this is Barney and Robin so you know their secret summer had to be filled with tons of sex!) I'm trying to show the growing bond and connection that they didn't anticipate, that scares them senseless, but they can't stop. This chapter, I delved more into Robin's feelings, her jealousy over other woman, the fact that she wants more from Barney than just sex and that unnerves her. Next chapter will show more of how Barney's changing, and Robin's reaction to that.