He caught himself hard against his palms as he stumbled from the doorway, and Marie let loose the softest squeak as her back hit the wall. Stein had managed not to collide with her, and he swore that the house could have rattled from how hard he had slammed, though it was most certainly the thunder. But regardless of what had been the cause, Marie didn't seem to mind. Instead, she was focused with tugging aside the wet material of his shirt, standing on tiptoes to throw his collar open. The air was freezing against his skin, still wet from the rain, but Marie managed to toss his shirt to the side even as it clung to his skin, and it made a heavy sound when it landed in the corner.
He let his head fall back as she scrunched down, her hands frantically working at his pants, undoing the buckle and tugging, a frustrated sound seeming to echo through the otherwise empty lab when she couldn't remove them fast enough. Stein chuckled, his palms roving over the dripping material of her skirt, sliding down her zipper just as she managed to push his pants down to his ankles. He felt almost clumsy as he yanked at the material of her skirt, trying to simultaneously get out of his pants and shoes. Marie kissed over his chest, her lips trailing over the scar that extended diagonally across his torso as he struggled, and she seemed to get a kick out of his dilemma, because she giggled softly as she shimmied out of her own clothes, giving him the opportunity to finally kick out of his pants.
Marie's fingers were already working at the material of her shirt, but he scrunched the fabric up so he could grasp her around the waist, bringing her up suddenly so he could kiss her. She gasped, immediately clutching onto him for leverage, her legs wrapping around as he settled her against the wall, nipping at her lower lip. He only pulled away when she looped her shirt over her head, throwing her arms around his neck when it fell to the floor.
Connecting their mouths once more, he pressed one hand to her lower back, anchoring her as he moved from the wall, making his way to their room, instead. It wasn't as though the act of it was difficult; Marie was barely four foot eight, she weighed one hundred pounds soaking wet, as she was now, so it was near effortless to support her with only one arm, the other roving over her side, desperate to catch more of her skin. He barely had to focus on not falling, his hand cupping her ass as he took the stairs two at a time. With each movement, she bounced against him, disconnecting their mouths so she could pant in his ear. He gave her backside a firm squeeze when he feelt her lips working over his neck. She wrapped her legs around him tighter, wriggling up so she could kiss his shoulder, pressing her cheek against him as he stroked down her spine.
When he finally made his way to the top floor of the lab, he almost careened into the wall, and he had to release his hold on her waist to catch himself once more, unwilling to see Marie take the brunt of yet another stumble. But she didn't even flinch, trusting him completely, only sucking at the skin beneath his jaw, her teeth gently grazing. The low, throaty moan he gave off as she did so encouraged her to run her nails over his back, and he arched to her, barely keeping focus to bring them into their room.
How he managed to walk to the bed without falling flat on his face was a miracle, because the place was a mess on a good day, let alone when the power had cut out and he had only the faint, golden glow of Marie's skin to guide him, but he managed to set her down on the bed, the two of them bouncing slightly as he settled on his knees.
He bit his lip as he looked down at her, watching the way her chest heaved. Slowly, he let his fingers come to her ribcage, feeling how she was breathing, and she fluttered her eye shut at his touch, arching to him. The scrap of smile on his face stretched as he dragged his touch down, memorizing the soft way she said "Franken," the line of her body as she melted to him. He came to her hips, fingertips breaching the line of her panties, and he hunched over, giving an open mouthed kiss to her navel.
"Can I?" he asked, tugging slightly as he trailed his mouth down, breathing warm air on her skin. He let his gaze flick up, taking in how she nodded, still keeping her eyes closed as she basked in what he was doing to her, but he only smirked, sucking at the flesh of her belly, leaving a darkening mark as she cried out. "Hmm? Marie?"
"Yes!" she panted out, one arm stretching over her head to grab the headboard as leverage, the other coming to his hair as she urged him on. She wriggled her hips around and he finally dragged the soft material of her panties down, pulling away from her as he did so he could take them off of her. The fabric dragged over her soft, wet thighs, whispering against the nylon of her stockings when they reached her knees.
He settled back, tossing the material to the side as he grasped the top of her thigh highs, one of his hands holding her leg under the knee as he tugged the cloth off, fisting the material as he looped it off her foot. As he did the same to the other leg, her eye fluttered open, the warm amber barely noticeable from how blown wide her pupil was. Stein watched as Marie worried her lip between her teeth, swallowing as he stroked over her legs, moving on to the other. As soon as her second stocking was off, discarded somewhere in the room, he locked his gaze with hers, cupping her heel as he brought his lips to the side of her ankle, kissing her delicately.
She whimpered when he did, grasping the sheets, and he noted how her chest was rising and falling more rapidly. He hid his smile by kissing his way to her calf, letting his other hand run up her outer thigh. Marie spread her legs for him as he came closer to the apex, his chapped lips grazing her creamy skin. She was eager, it seemed, because he could see how she was puffy and pink, no doubt slick for him.
Finally, he allowed both hands to come to her hips, straining his eyes to continue looking up at her. She breathed his name, arching up, but he only kissed one hipbone, then the other, as he continued mouth marking her to the sternum. She writhed beneath him, tipping her head back as he came to her bra, nuzzling between her breasts even as his hands wormed under her, unclasping her in one swift click.
He shivered when she ran her silky legs against his, catching the waistband of his boxers and dragging them down. Quickly, he pulled away from her, both his eyebrows up as he stared at her smug grin.
"What?" she started, something sparkling in her eye, "It's hardly fair I'm naked and you're not," she commented, using her feet to bring his underwear to his knees. The chuckle that bubbled out of him was muffled when he kissed beneath her jaw, trailing a line to where her jugular was. He kicked his boxers off, barely able to hear how they made a thick plop against whatever they landed on. He was too busy removing Marie's bra, looping the straps off of her arms and pressing himself close to her body the second they were both bare.
For a moment, he just felt the thump of her heartbeat against his tongue, and Marie's arms came around him, one hand tangling in his wet hair as she made quiet, pleased sounds whenever he sucked on her pulse. He knew she could feel the the hard line of him against her hip, and it felt like her hands didn't know where to rest, since he felt her palms stroking over his arms, against his shoulders, to his back, roving around to his ribcage.
Finally, when she settled her touch on his chest, right where his heart would be, she hummed happily.
"It's beating so hard. . ." she said, her voice thin and breathy from his ministrations, her other hand stroking his hair, and at that, he pulled away from her, looking at the hickey that was blooming over her skin. She smiled at him, though it could very well be a smirk as her manicured fingers tapped against his chest. "Do I still make you nervous?" she asked, blinking up at him.
He made an amused sound deep in his throat, gently cupping her left breast and rolling it around, thumbing her nipples. She inhaled in, arching up to his touch, but he carefully moved his hold so that he could press his hand slightly above, able to feel her own heart thumping.
"Do I?" he asked, nuzzling behind her ear as he inhaled in the scent of rain and her shampoo. Marie was both the calm before and after the storm, and the storm itself. She always carried the smell of rain about her. Perhaps it was a result of living in Oceania for so long, or maybe it was just her lightning soul naturally enhancing her scent, but he found it calming, grounding. And yet, he couldn't deny that he was nervous, a bit. It was strange to explain, feeling so comfortable with another person, with her, and yet always feeling some kind of fizzy emotion in his stomach, regardless.
Gently, Marie let her touch over his chest drop so she could settle her hand over his, grasping his wrist and bringing it up to her mouth. He hovered over her so he could watch what she was doing, his eyes half-lidding when he saw, felt, her bring his palm to her cheek. She leaned into the touch before she turned her head, kissing each of his fingers, nuzzling into his grasp.
"Yeah. . ." she told him, and he grinned down at her, feeling oddly relieved that he could still make her heartrate skyrocket even after all the time they'd spent together.
Slowly, he shifted his hold so he could hitch beneath her eyepatch, sliding it off her face, and with that, they were both completely bare. Nowhere to hide, nothing to hide behind. Marie inhaled in sharply, bringing both her hands to his sides, feeling the scar tissue that was so characteristic over all of him just as he traced over the scar she had, the jagged lines over her depressed eyelid.
He felt her soul flutter against his and he gently pushed his own to hers as though in reassurance. It was silly of her, as it always had been, to feel so concerned over his reaction to what was beneath her patch. He had seen it a million times, seen worse, but he still lowered his mouth so he could kiss over her eyelid, still cupping her cheek with one hand. She breathed out in relief, stroking down his spine, and he found that something inside of his chest swelled, some welling of emotions he would never be able to understand that inspired him to kiss the eyelid of her perfectly functional eye, too. Then, her forehead, trailing down to her nose.
Her giggle was sweet and bubbly, relaxed and reassured as he kissed over her cheeks, from one ear to the other, dragging his touch so he was cupping her jaw instead of her cheek, and he purposefully skipped over her lips to kiss her chin, first.
Finally, when he was certain that he had pressed his lips to every inch of her face, he moved away, maybe an inch or two, so he could look her in the eye. Her soul was thrumming in joy, and he finally realized that she was glowing even brighter, her wavelength making her skin flush gold, and he bumped his nose against hers at the fact.
After a beat, when her touch came to his damp hair once more, he lowered himself until their lips were barely brushing, and her breath tasted sweet, likely from the tea she had before they'd gone into the downpour. He held himself like that for a moment, seemingly too long, because Marie made an affectionately exasperated sound.
"Are you going to kiss me?" she asked, and there was no mistaking the breathiness in her voice as her free hand rubbed his side. He hummed, knowing she could feel the sound reverberate against her since they were pressed so close.
"I'm still deciding," he replied, his stitches stretching from his smirk. Marie made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle, bumping their noses once more. It took a special kind of person to put up with him, he knew, and he was ever-grateful Marie was that kind of person. He nuzzled against her, rubbing his thumb over her lower lip as she clutched him to her, nothing but the sound of the storm and their mingling breaths in his ears, nothing but her in his world. Her warm wavelength, her heated skin, her tender body, her breathy, high voice.
"Can I kiss you, then?" she asked, and he hummed once more as though debating, letting his eyes shut as he moved to close the final few spaces between them. Marie tipped her chin up, meeting him halfway as she giggled, and he sucked at her cupid's bow, holding her face in one hand as he tangled the fingers of the other in her sopping wet hair. Slowly, as his tongue slipped against her lips, he felt her smile stretch, and she opened her mouth to him, accepting him inside eagerly.
Because I'm a sucker for the smoosh.