Chapter 8: Alive
She drifts out of unconsciousness but refuses to open her eyes; the light too bright and she wants to remain as blissfully unaware for as long as possible. She takes a deep breath; the kind that fills you up and makes you smile, and feels movement against her back. A heavy and warm arm slides against her hip and across her ribs, pulling her into a warm embrace. Her mind blanks as the hand travels slowly and rough fingertips tickle her hip bone. An exhale brushes across her neck and ear and suddenly she can't stop smiling. There is no fear running through her veins or apprehension; she's not struggling to remember, it's just clear and comforting. Her mind races back to her kitchen, when he surged forward and kissed her. It was the kind of kiss that curls the toes and the heart stutters and it was uniquely him; everything about it was him, the warmth, the pressure, the heat of it, it was all him and to her it was perfect. He shifts again and she feels the bridge of his nose press between her shoulder blades and she remembers the dusting of freckles across his nose that she traces with her lips as she caressed his bruise. She remembers the way he held her, his hands felt like they were everywhere, the large palms guiding her. She felt heat travel through her at that memory; he was very demanding. She heard his breath even out as he settled; his heavy weight to her back and she couldn't help but feel safe where she was. She bit her lip as she counted the number of times she had ever felt safe; it was a disconcerting number, somewhere between one and never but now she felt that safety and worshipped it. She didn't want to think about what might happen when he woke and discovered her there, what he might say or do bothered her. She shook her head slightly trying to rid herself of those depressing thoughts; she never needed anyone in her life she wasn't about to drift away from shore and lose who she was, she wasn't that weak or careless. She took a deep breath and drifted back off to sleep; the warm hand and arm still holding her.
She didn't know how long it had been since she drifted back off and she didn't open her eyes again; afraid of what she might see, she was lying on her stomach with her arm wrapped around her pillow. At first she didn't know what woke her but she became quickly aware of a fingertip sliding down her spine slowly and she relished the feeling but she didn't want him aware she was awake for fear he would stop. At this moment there was no Reddington, Blacklist, jobs or bullets and she didn't want to go back to that. She waited for his finger to slow as it came back up to her neck and she felt the bed shift; his weight resting closer and she had to stop the shiver that threatened to give her away when his lips dragged across her back. The heat rolled through her again and she wanted nothing more than to roll over and look at him but she refrained.
"You might be the worst thing that's ever happened to me." He states softly; his lips forming the whispered words against her back and she bites back the sudden emotion that wants to choke her.
"Or the best, can't really decide." He mumbles and she decides to shift slightly. His lips drop to her neck again and then she shuddering; the feel of his lips dragging across the back of her shoulders and neck is enough to make her burn and she has a sneaking suspicion that he knows it. His large hands wrap around her hips and then she's rolled up and over him; her eyes snap open with the sudden movement. "Knew you were awake." He smirks at her and she swallows thickly trying to cover her guilt. She looks at him; his hair is mussed and wild from her fingers, his eyes bright and his lips slightly swollen and she decides that she prefers this look to any other on him. Her eyes drop from his face to his chest; hard muscle and soft skin, scars littering his flesh that she didn't notice the night before. She meets his eyes again and watches him swallow thickly as she lowers her lips to his chest. His muscles tighten against her ministrations and she hears his breath run ragged. She kisses his scars; her tongue sneaks out to trace the slightly raised flesh of a bullet wound and the long lines of knife wounds and as she does so, his hands tighten against her hips and she decides that his scars are one of the things she likes about him.
He sits up then and wraps one of his hands in her loose curls and pulls her forward and then he's kissing her; that toe curling kiss that got them where they currently are and she smiles into it. Her hands rise to his shoulders and she presses them into his hard muscle and she can't help but feel completely at peace as his lips demand something of her that she's not sure what is but she'll give it to him in this moment. They break apart and her lips land on the side of his neck; her tongue sneaking out to taste his flesh and her hand grips the back of his head and tugs, giving her more room to explore. His palms spread wide on her back and she feels herself being lifted slightly as he shifts. She can't stop a moan from escaping her throat when he flips them again and he's pressing into her and a gasp leaves her when his teeth nip at her neck. He shifts again and she feels him through the sheet that's still pressed between them. Her brain is fuzzy and she can't think straight but he starts talking to her and she forces herself to focus although it's very difficult with him there clouding everything with his very presence.
"So this is your room?" He asks a very real joke in his voice and she tries to slap him but he snatches her wrist and starts laying kisses and bites along the inside of her arm and her comments die on her tongue. She knew he was sexual, it was hard to not notice especially with the demanding hard side of him but this playful side of him was throwing her off and she felt herself teetering on the edge.
"Shut up." She states and it seems lame even to her and he knows it when his eyebrow cocks up and he smiles.
"I can't believe that this is the time that you don't have anything to say. You get a knife to your throat and you still hurl insults at me but now you're speechless." She watches as his eyes drop to the thin scar on her neck from when she was held hostage by Kyle. The playfulness dies a little in his eyes and she can tell he's reliving it and she can't help but drag her fingers down his cheek.
"Don; you deserve every insult." She states with humor and it's enough to break him out of it.
"Oh do I?" He asks as he presses into her more and she bites her lip hard.
"Yes." She breathes out and she notices that his eyes darken a bit.
"What makes you say that?" He asks as his fingers trail across her chest and again she has trouble breathing.
"You're an asshole." She smirks but it falls as he brushes against her again and her eyes slam shut with the pleasure.
"I guess I am." He states simply as he grips her hips and pulls her harder against him and she can't help the moan that slips past her lips. His lips are on her then and it has her gasping as she wraps around him once again and then he's pushing into her and she smiles as she hears his own groan as they reconnect. Then they're moving and it's slower than it was the night before and she can't help but feel more alive with him.