Simply Starve This Sin

Chapter 6: Frowns McBooHoo

The next morning, Nellie was the first to wake up. She was amazed she'd been able to sleep so soundly with all the worry she'd been feeling the night before. She cracked open her eyes, white light flooding into them as thin rays of sun poked through their bedroom curtains. The room was still warm from the fire being alight all night downstairs, the pleasant temperature calmed her slightly. She looked down to the covers over her body, like she could see through them, straight at Sweeney's arms coiled around her. She could feel his chest rising and falling against the smooth skin of her back, causing her spine to give out a shiver. She squeezed her eyes shut, still unsure of how to feel.

She blindly shuffled to her other side, turning to face him.

She could feel his hot breath on her face now she was nearer, and that's all it took to get her to open her eyes. She stared at him with hooded orbs, only just able to subdue a shocked gasp when she saw his face littered with tiny scrapes and cuts, all of them appeared to be angry. Strands of jet hair fell from their usual place to messily hang to the sides of his face. Some bruising had started to come out on one side of his neck too. Her eyes, now fully open, held a sad emotion as she looked over him. Not fully registering what she was doing, she'd lifted a soothing hand to his clammy face, gently stroking over his fresh scars. She winced as she did this, as if she had the wounds herself. He mumbled incoherently when she lingered her fingertips over the tender bridge of his nose, shuffling slightly.

Inside Nellie felt as if she were sinking. What had caused him to be so... broken? "It's just a club..." she recalled him saying, her brown eyes filling with tearful anguish. She wasn't stupid, if he'd gone home like that then clearly there was something violent about wherever he'd been the night before. What was it even a club for? Fighting? Drinking? Or ... something much more sinister? If so, why would Sweeney agree to be part of such a thing? After all, he'd promised her they were to be cleaner than clean now their child needed looking after.

So many more thoughts sifted through her mind at that moment as she was exploring his bruised neck with her hand, so many in fact that she'd failed to realise her actions had caused her husband to wake up. He smirked internally at her touch, his breathing pattern and closed eyes kidding her that he was still sleeping. He would stay quiet for a bit. He was curious to see what she was up to.

Nellie let out an exasperated sigh as she snuggled down a little, just enough so her chin perched onto Sweeney's muscular shoulder. He could feel her eyelashes tickling his neck's ashen skin when she leaned forward, nuzzling him. He gritted his teeth due to the bruised area being feeble, but to his wife, he appeared to have no reaction. She continued to ease his neck, but now had begun to brush her lips over him instead, which caused the entire right side of his body to break out in contagious goosebumps. He still did not give her any indication that he was fully awake and aware of what she was doing...

He was stubborn like that.

She breathed out onto him, her lips so close to kissing his skin every time her mouth skimmed over him. This was the most intimate thing that had occurred since Violet's funeral, which meant that it was incredibly hard for Sweeney to not be aroused from these tiny actions from her, so he was finding controlling himself to be rather a troublesome task. Having said that, he was clearly determined to surprise her if he'd still managed to mask his pleasure up until that point. He laid still.

She pressed her lips gingerly over his neck, not wanting to cause him any discomfort. It wasn't long until she took her mouth away from him, much to Sweeney's disappointment. If she hadn't had her eyes closed she would have seen that glorious pout of defeat on his face. Alas, it seemed that he was still cruelly playing with her, seeing as she hadn't spotted his crack beginning to form.

"Love?" she whispered airily, nonchalantly moving her form forward so she could softly press her front onto his own bare torso. He clenched his teeth again, but this time it wasn't due to any pain. It's like she knew he was biding his time, like she was purposely tempting him to open his eyes.

He once again, gave her no notion of him being conscious.

When she got no response she gave out a huff, and leaned forward, closing any space between her and her husband, lips slowly but firmly kissing his jawline, which unbeknown-st to her, appeared to be a tough challenge for her husband to tackle. He allowed his left hand to claw into the mattress below, seeing as she was on his right there would be no way she'd notice.

Her kisses were getting higher, yet she kissed him everywhere but his mouth (something that Sweeney knew had started to feel exceptionally neglected), her fingers traced over his fresh cuts as she did so. He swallowed as he felt the tickle of her auburn curls on his cheek whilst she continued to leave sensual pecks over his visage. She took her hand away from him, but only so that she could lightly draft a line down his lonely chest with a single finger. He clenched his teeth again, and this time, Nellie had noticed, feeling his muscles tense as she kissed him. Knowing this, she began to caress his torso with both skillful hands.

She'd missed this. And she knew he had too.

She knew, because his top half arched towards her touch, his mouth slightly agape when he let out a deep breath. It was too much for Sweeney, he couldn't lie there motionless if she was going to do that to him...

In a flicker of a second, he'd shot his eyes open, hands tightly holding either side of her waist as he pushed her into the space he had been in, pinning her to the bed.

Nellie gawped at him, the look of shock on her face priceless. It seemed she'd managed to take him from zero to ten in a record amount of time, she'd never seen him move so fast. He was silent as he loomed over her, shoulders and arms tense and outstretched either side of her. All worry of him hurting seemed to vanish from her mindset, instead now she was pleasurably... anxious?

Those dark, gloomy eyes of his were quickly filled with want, boring into her alert orbs. Staggered pants pushed through his slightly parted lips, at this Nellie felt her throat becoming dry from anticipation. She swallowed. Her eyes seemed to falter when he gradually began to lower himself over her, arms still holding him up with easiness. She heard her thudding heart in her ears, not to mention felt it when his abdomen brushed over hers. The burning flame inside her body suddenly lit, and instantly she felt the most alive she had felt for a good couple of years. In the back of her head, she was unsure of why this was happening on that day of all days, when in fact she was still angry at him for the night before, not to mention extremely concerned due to his -

He let out a breathy groan which interrupted her thoughts, finding he'd lowered himself as far as he could possibly go and sank down her body so that he was no longer staring into her eyes with that same look he used to wear when he could sense his next kill. She found herself tipping her head back to the pillow behind her, exposing her delectable throat to him, just like she used to do in the old days, probably out of habit due to his murderous glare more than anything. She squeezed her eyes shut, half expecting a cold razor to be placed against her skin, instead, it was something warm and hot. Lips attacked her neck in a lethargic lust, and all apprehension disappeared. She reacted to him now, breathing out hoarse moans as she practically writhed beneath him, not used to his touch since it had been so long. He moaned huskily through his onslaught, something that caused her to bite her lip and reach her hands down to snake around his waist.

As he continued, she let out whimpers of annoyance, clearly she wanted his lips elsewhere now. Hearing her brewing frustration, Sweeney smirked over her skin. 'Why does he have be so cruel...' she thought, his hands lying flat over her torso to firmly brush over her. He continued to evilly press a smile into her skin as he pushed himself over her, nose caressing the full length of her neck in order for his lips to be directly in front of hers. She could sense his close proximity even with her eyes closed. Those artful, scheming hands of his ran down her body again, only to make her audibly gasp. She didn't want to appear needy, despite the fact it was one of her obvious traits, so she attempted to resist him. And he certainly noticed.

He was already burning his black eyes into her closed ones, daring her to open them. He knew it was a game she was playing, just like the one he had been toying with just moments before. But since it had been so long for them both, he was rather confused at her actions at that moment. It didn't help that her bizarre behaviour only made him want her more. Their noses brushed over each others as he made sure he was even closer, like that was even possible. Her eyelids were becoming an obstacle for him, he craved seeing her glossy eyes lit up with excitement, he'd been too used to looking into vacant ones for a long time. He yearned to see her back to her usual self.

He took a hand away from her upper body to place it on the side of her face, tucking a single lock that had fallen over her silvery skin behind her ear beforehand. His lips hovered ridiculously near to hers, so much so that he was becoming evermore difficult to resist. She wriggled her legs, like she was becoming restless.

"My, my," he breathed out onto her mouth, and she could just see him in her mind's eye with that snide smirk of his. "What's the reason for your discomfort pet?" His sarcasm made her open her eyes immediately, instantly meeting with that sinister look he had. Sure enough, he was smirking at her, and it seemed to widen as she looked up at him with challenging maroon eyes. Even though his face was imperfect due to all of the slits and bruises on him, she found it strangely arousing to think that he was numb to whatever pain he was feeling, like she was the remedy to kill off the pain of his injuries for the time being.

Nellie stayed unbelievably silent, smiling back smugly in response. She didn't have to say anything, for he knew exactly what it was that made her act in such a manner with a furious flush over her cheeks.

He didn't spare any time, colliding his scorching mouth into hers, their eyes dropping like window shutters due to the pleasantly hostile action. Succumbing to her desire for him was the easiest thing she'd done that morning, enclosing her arms around his lower neck, wishing to pull him even nearer to her. That smirk of his soon returned even as they were kissing, and seemed to broaden when she moaned into his mouth as a reaction to his digits giving some firm attention to her bust. He deepened the kiss, exploring her mouth with his tongue, to which she responded enthusiastically. It wasn't long until they were both moaning into one another, quiet sounds morphing into intense muffled ones. The sensations almost felt new since the couple hadn't attempted to do such a thing in a hell of a long time. Yet that spine-tingling familiarity of one another hadn't disappeared, it was the one thing that was clear to both of them. She took a hand away from his neck to clutch at his charcoal hair, tugging hard to cause him to let out a guttural groan, the vibrations seemed to pass from him through to the entirety of her body. Her being felt like it was on fire, her blood rushing furiously around her veins, pulsating against him. She was sure he would be feeling that same hyperactive rush that she was.

She could feel his muscles tense as he moved over her in a way that was almost superhuman, breaking away for a moment to pant for much needed air. It wasn't long before he was there again, the overpowering lust emanating from them so much that they both began to sweat from the heat. Her hands massaged into his scalp as his hands massaged something else of hers, one of those hands brushing downwards to lift each of her legs up to wrap around him, one by one. By doing this, they could feel a part of each other all over, sending electrifying sensations through them, inside and out.

As they greedily kissed each other, their bodies started to get more tense, as if they could sense what was about to occur. Sweeney broke away from Nellie again for a moment, forehead leaning on hers as his lungs pushed out breaths. "Mmm..." he groaned, feeling like he was drinking in her simmering aura as her chest heaved against him.

As their mouths practically ate the others once more, their moans gaining volume, a high pitched shriek made the two of them pause over each other.

It was Rue, and it sounded like she was hungry.

Sweeney reluctantly took away his lips from Nellie, forehead on hers again as they both sighed in a disappointed frustration. "How convenient," he whispered, making her unable to suppress a giggle, her cheeks flushing red. His look of annoyance faded into subtle amusement he held in his gaze as he looked down at her. "I'd better go feed 'er," she said with a hint of sadness as she looked towards the door, breaking her silence after all this time.

In a flash he'd darted towards her right ear, mouth brushing against her as he breathed, "I'm hungry too y'know." She chuckled at him, biting her lip. "I can perfectly see that Mr T," she said rather loudly, irritating him now she wasn't whispering. He loved her voice when she was quieter, when her voice was only just above a breath of air.

"But you ain't the one cryin' are ya?" she added with a pout, arms dropping away from him. "Only on the inside my love," he said with an ironic grin. His look of fake happiness made her burst out laughing, and she hit him playfully. "Oh do let me up you silly man!" she exclaimed, shaking her head at him. He humphed and got off her, rolling onto the bed next to her.

She prised herself up, stretching her arms out as Rue's cries got louder. Finding a discarded burgundy nightdress somewhere near the bed, she rolled her eyes, "Alright darlin', I'm comin'." And with that pulled the nightwear over her head and padded out of the room to attend to her little girl.

Sweeney let out a huge sigh as he spread himself over the bed in a star shape, narrowed eyes focused on the ceiling as his daughter's cries finally ceased and she erupted into little giggles and coos. Although he loved his daughter she tended to get in the way of certain things, and what they were about to do before was one of them... he would have to wait even longer now, thanks to her."Good things come to those who wait." he remembered his wife would say in a situation like this. "Well I think a year an' a bit is slightly excessive Nell..." he whispered to himself, disappointment evident on his features.

He would've gotten up to help his wife, but for some reason he didn't. He wanted to wait for her to come back. He scratched at some of the fresh scars on his face, realising she'd probably seen them. Well all that sneaking around the night before had been rather pointless now he thought about it, there was evidence of what he'd been doing whether he could do anything about it or not. He was surprised she hadn't asked him about it yet - although, they were slightly distracted on this particular morning. So it was understandable.

It wasn't long before Nellie returned, holding a little black box in between her hands. She sat on the bed next to him, on the edge of it to be more precise (seeing as he'd spread himself out so much). He didn't look towards her, he was still sulking with his mind elsewhere. She set the box down on her bare lap, undoing the silver catch to carefully flip the lid open. She took out an intricately designed glass bottle with murky looking liquid inside, along with an immaculately clean white cloth.

She bent down, placing the box on the floor for the time being before spinning around, kneeling on the bed to face her husband. "C'mere you," she teased, the little smile on her face drawing his attention away from the blank ceiling. He frowned at her with curiosity, sitting up against the pillows behind him. She advanced towards him, unscrewing the cap from the ornate looking bottle. "What's that?" he questioned, eyes narrowing at the strange blackness of the liquid. "Just ointment love, it'll 'elp y'wounds." she replied, pouring some of the evil stuff onto the pristine cloth. He was silent, expecting her to ask why he was worse for wear but she didn't, she just shuffled closer to him, still on her knees. She closed the cap back onto the bottle, tossing it aside on the bedcovers for the time being. She brushed her fingers across his face, wincing as she looked at his little scars. Sweeney had a calm look on his features, closing his eyes as her hand neared one of his cuts. "This might 'urt a little, but its gonna 'elp y'poor wounds," she whispered, stroking his forehead with her free hand. He lightly grunted in reply, but really he couldn't care if there was pain. He'd felt enough of it the night before, so there wasn't much change.

He looked somewhat peaceful and she smiled, pressing a kiss to his head. The touch of a smile greeted his lips, but it was quickly gone as soon as she lightly pressed the cloth against a cut on his chin. He frowned at the unpleasant contact and set his jaw, but was easily bearing the stinging sensation his wound was being subjected to. Nellie nuzzled her nose in his hair, trying to ease the pain with her actions. She moved the cloth to another angry slit, surprised when he pulled her forward to straddle him, her hand adding a bit more pressure as she moved.

"That's better," he muttered with a smirk, arms linked around her waist and thumbs stroking her there in a to-and-fro action. She moved the cloth again to another wound, in fact she would do this every now and then as a pleasant silence fell upon them both. "You were rather quick Nell," he spoke again, surprising her seeing as it was usually her who started a conversation. "to feed Rue, I mean." She smiled contentedly, admiring how well he was taking the stinging pain. "She weren't 'ungry, turns out she'd thrown Frowns McBooHoo out of 'er crib 'gain." she chuckled out, making him smile with amusement. Frowns McBooHoo was Rue's first and favourite toy - he was a fuzzy black bear with a grumpy face. Guess who picked that one out for her... "Why's that? Was 'e bein' a grumpy git again?" he replied, cracking open his eyes so that he could watch his wife's movements as she had to lean further forward to cleanse the scratches on his temples. Her face came inches away from his as she did this, that bubbling lust that they had before returning slightly. "S'pose it's a love-hate relationship. She loves that bloody bear to pieces and then the next minute she's throwin' 'im left, right and centre!" she exclaimed cheerfully, giggling. She could empathise with Rue actually.

She pushed forwards into him further, reaching for a scar on the left of his forehead. As she was doing this she failed to notice that the top of her breasts skimmed over his chest's skin. He audibly swallowed, being engulfed in her scent as she breathed out into his face. "How'd you get all these, ay?" she whispered solemnly, the excitement in her voice dead. "Y'look a fright you do." He grimaced, finding that the pressure she was putting on his wound was too much, so he batted her arm away from him. She wore a look of rejection, eyes seeming wide due to the horror of his reaction. "D-Did I do somethin' wrong?" she whispered hurriedly, eyes shimmering from the formation of tears.

Sweeney sighed, " 'Course not. Y'just pressed 'arder than I was expectin'. Carry on pet. You're bein' a great help." Nellie let out a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding, cautiously pressing the cloth to the same area as before. "You didn't answer me question." she said in a small voice. "It's just a club Nell, like I said." he replied in a reassuring tone. "I promise you it's more professional than you'd think." She frowned at him, wanting to look into his eyes to see if he was being sincere, but she couldn't. "In what way? Look at ya Sweens, all battered and bruised. What on Earth were you doin'?" she breathed out firmly, her brewing hostility making his heart speed up that little bit faster. "Brawling, is all." She took the soaked cloth away from him, gawping at him with an amused expression. "And what made you wanna do that? You'd straight out kill a man, I know what you're like!" she exclaimed, much to his surprise she seemed to find what he had been doing the night prior humorous. "Nell?" he asked in apprehension, frowning as he opened his eyes to see her childishly snorting at him. "You're not concerned? I've broken a promise to you, and our child, and that is somethin' that I can't ever forgive myself for." She shrugged, tossing the cloth up into the air behind her now that she'd finished with it, not caring where it landed. "I always knew you'd do somethin' Mr T," she said huskily with a mischievous glint in her eye. "I know 'ow 'ard its been for ya, 'specially with 'ow I've been behavin' this past year. I don't care what you're doin', I just don't like seein' you 'urt like this. But unfortunately, s'pose you'll always be you, and violence is a need that's a part o' you now. I wouldn't want you to feel you couldn't have... release, as it were." He smirked but his eyes held confusion, "You're not upset?"

"Far from it. I mean, it's not like you're killin' a man, is it?"

"Well... no."

"I mean sure, y'might go a bit too far, but who cares? You know 'ow far to push 'em, I'm sure. And who I am to complain if I get t'tend ya wounds like 'is, ay?"

He looked at her in disbelief, she was talking to him like she was that little niggling voice in his head that would often tell him to do bad things. It was a surprise that it was coming from her, considering they were meant to be whiter than white. He didn't question her reaction any longer, only enjoyed the feel of her front as she sunk lower so she could look him in the eyes. "Just don't kill anyone." she whispered, voice sincere. "Please."

His black eyes studied her with forthright warmth, "I won't. I assure you, that this is a promise I won't break."

She wrapped her arms around him in a cuddle, pulling him into her. She could tell he meant it, just from the way his arms looped around her firmly. She was finally happy to know where he had been the night before, although it may not have been the safest of places, it was far better than the cheating situations she'd been fearing. And it wasn't like the man couldn't handle himself.

"Thank you," he said in a small voice, right next to her ear. Clearly his thanks weren't just for understanding him, but also for her seeing to his open cuts. "No need, love." she replied gently, pulling away from the embrace to confidently press a kiss to his lips. His eyes closed at the contact, but she pulled away before anything he wished to do occurred. "Where are you going?" he questioned, obvious disappointment in his voice. She'd moved over the edge of the bed once more, headed for the door.

"Well we 'ave a business t'run if you ain't forgotten!" she proclaimed with that amusement and cheery spark she'd clearly found again. "Not exactly able to take days off when we're runnin' short 'o money, are we?"

"Oh I don't know..." Sweeney proposed, almost suggestively as he sat up straight, covers folding over as he did so, revealing his top half to her unintentionally. "It wouldn't do any harm to miss a day. I am rather fatigued."

She raised her brows at him as she turned from the door, hands on her hips (this only spurred him on more, he loved this particular mannerism she did), she was smiling but it was obvious she was holding in a laugh. "Oh, 'eavens! Mr Sweeney Todd is fatigued! Well who's bloody fault is that then?"

"Certainly not mine," he quipped, smirk reaching his eyes, and then his mouth. "I do think you appear to be fairly fatigued too, pet. One day of rest isn't gonna 'urt, is it?"

She open and closed her mouth like a gold fish, unsure of what to say to him. On the one hand he was wrong, one day off was going to impact on their profit immensely. On the other, she was indeed aching from all the work she'd been doing. They hadn't even had days off on Sundays sometimes (much to the annoyance of the local church, who considered the business being open as disrespectful).

"C'mere," he coaxed, with that rasping voice she couldn't resist, even more so now that it seemed lower for whatever reason.

Nellie obliged, heading back to him with a defeated gaze.

Sweeney pushed the covers off himself to reveal his nude form, making her blush furiously, even though his intention had been to meet her halfway across the bed. She opened her mouth, about to say something but his mouth cut her off, hungrily morphing around hers. She reacted immediately, hating how easily he could persuade her... whilst also loving it at the same time. He pulled away, the two of them panting hard.

Still worrying like the worrier Nellie was, she began to blurt out her thoughts now in gasps. "What 'bout the money?" she mumured, as though she was incoherent or somewhat intoxicated. "Y'know 'ow 'ard times are." He spun her away from him so her back faced him, in order to pull off her nightdress and kiss a trail up from the base of her spine to the top of her neck. She crumbled at this, arms reaching back to grip onto his body for support. His arms reached under hers, laying flat over her abdomen, where he kneaded for the time being. "I 'ave it covered, pet." he spoke, pushing his moist lips to the base of her neck. She trusted his words and gave in to his touch by leaning her head back, adoring the way he immediately tore away from her seeing as he could reach her lips again.

It wasn't long before things heated up again, and much to Sweeney's surprise she'd turned on him without breaking their kiss, pushing his chest so he fell back with her on top of him.

And that was when it came again.

They paused, not even moving a muscle or the mouths that were pressed to each other, both sets of eyes staring into one another with disappointment. They hated this, they knew that if they were to try again later on there would be something else to interrupt them, something else that would get in the way. So they both groaned out in frustration.

"I'll go, shall I?" Nellie whispered against his lips, her seductive tone still there much to Sweeney's delight.

"No, I'll go..." he replied just as quietly, also disappointed when her body and warmth left him. "But I s'pose we can continue this later..."

She smirked, her expression enticing, "No doubt about it."

And with that, Sweeney slowly made his way to his daughter.

How appropriate it was that Sweeney Todd was the one saving the grumpy Frowns McBooHoo in order to make his daughter happy.

He would have found it amusing too, if he hadn't been interrupted from his intimacy with Nellie...

...again.

A/N I'm aware how long this chapter is, and I'm so grateful that you made it to the bottom. There'll be more to come, I have so much planned. I'm not sure if all the next chapters will be this long, but we'll see. Which do you prefer? Long chapters or short chapters? Thanks for reading :) And thanks to those reviewing :)