He wakes with her the following morning, or rather wakes before her. The city is already awake and bustling, automobiles chugging and honking. But Tina, tuned to the rhythms and cadence of the sprawl, dozes until she wakes naturally. She stretches, and he blushes at the peek of her breast over the silk edge of blanket.
When she tucks her hands under her chin and gives a coy little smile, he stumbles back to her and he is sure that this will become a well-worn path he travels for many years to come.
Newt is roused from a sound sleep by a blaring car horn, coming awake all at once and with no sense of disorientation. He is immediately aware of who he is and where he is as he lifts his head to look out the window. Dawn is a dream on the horizon, and he stifles a content sigh as he lays his head back, before carefully turning to take in the other occupant of the bed.
Tina sleeps on, snoring very gently through parted lips and blissfully unaware of the surrounding world. The soft snores humanize her, in a way, and he doesn't bother trying to hide his smile. She's a lovely shadow of a woman in the low light of the room, slumbering angles and curves softened by the blanket, and he's careful not to wake her while he extracts himself from the bed and casts about for his clothes. His pulls on his underwear and trousers before deciding to simply gather the rest.
Newt is well-aware that he's mostly clueless when it comes to the particulars of the opposite sex, but he's certain that leaving her to wake up alone is not considered acceptable. However, the creatures need feeding and he needs to wash up, so he places his case next to the bed, where she's guaranteed to see it. He leaves the lid open in clear invitation after a moment of internal debate before climbing down.
The creatures can smell the remnants of Tina on him, a few of them going so far as to sniff his crotch in obvious approval. He endures this with a minimum of blushing, not bothering to scold the guilty parties until he's finished with his morning rounds and can lock himself safely away in the relative privacy of the bathroom behind his shed. There, he shaves and baths and thinks his long thoughts, until he's dressed and presentable and his spirit is fortified enough to brave Tina and the outside world.
The sun has just lumbered over the horizon when he climbs back up, casting the small bedroom in golden light. She's still sleeping, though she's rolled onto her back and the blanket has slipped enough to reveal the graceful swoop of her shoulders. They're pearly against the darker sheets, her hair an ashy cloud around her lovely face, and Newt paces restlessly before settling against her vanity, his hands slung in his pockets as he considers her.
The previous evening had been unexpected, though in no way unwelcome. She had pulled him back into her orbit, held him close, and given of herself freely. He knows that the timbre of her blissful sighs, the texture of her skin beneath his fingers will stick with him for the rest of his days, no matter where his life brings him. But here, in the pastel light of dawn, he has no way of knowing what his reception will be, and doubt steals into his heart before he can banish it.
He's so focused on his own inner turmoil that he almost misses her awakening. There's a long, slow inhale from the bed, followed by the graceful line of her body going tense. She sighs and relaxes, magnificent dark eyes blinking open to hone unerringly on him, and all his nervousness and self-doubt is forgotten in the magnificence of her regard.
Tina is radiant in the milky light, even more so when she stretches languidly and the curve of her breast peeks out. Newt feels his face heat with a blush but can't tear his eyes away, watching dumbfoundedly as she lithely inspires blood into her limbs—and his blood to redirect itself southward—before rolling onto her stomach, tucking her chin in her hands, and smiling coyly.
He stumbles across the room to her, powerless to resist her sway.
She welcomes him with open arms, pressing her face against his shirt when he embraces her from above before climbing to her knees. She twines her arms around his shoulders to kiss him in greeting, before pressing her nose into his neck, inhaling the scent of his aftershave. "You've cleaned up," she murmurs approvingly in a sleep-husky voice, and Newt gulps as a slow, sensual tremor works through him.
"Yes," he manages, then, "I had to see to my creatures. They were none the worse for wear for missing their feeding last night, but I mustn't make a habit of it." She presses a meditative series of kisses to the shelf of his jaw, molding her naked curves to the worsted wool of his suit, and he squeezes his eyes shut around a small gasp.
Tina hums into his neck. "Did you sleep well?" Goosebumps prickle the skin beneath her lips, and his hands fall to span her waist while he musters enough coherence to answer.
"Yes," he finally husks out. Tina smiles with her eyes before circling the tip of his nose with her own. She pulls back enough to take his hand, climbing to stand beside him as his eyes drop of their own volition to take in every willowy inch of her. He swallows, throat suddenly tight, and Tina pops her hip saucily before crossing the room.
"Are you hungry?" she asks over her shoulder, and something predatory in his eyes or stance must give his thoughts away. She smiles, slow and speculative while reaching for a surprisingly modest nightgown. "Give me ten minutes to clean up," she murmurs, crossing the room to kiss him, speaking against his lips, "and then we'll see about...breakfast."
There's no mistaking her suggestive tone, and he only just manages to bite back an eager groan when her hands drift down his front. His arousal is obvious, and she teasingly slides her palm along the length of it before lifting her gaze to take him in. "Look like you need to be taken care of again," she murmurs in delight, and he catches her eye plaintively until she kisses him. "Be in bed waiting for me when I get back," Tina instructs, and she's across the room before he can think of a suitable reply.
Newt stares after her until she's gone, bemused and a little alarmed. Then, the worst of his anxieties having been appeased by her obvious enthusiasm, and his own long-ignored desires at the forefront of his mind, he fumbles for his bowtie.
Tina's back in less than ten minutes, and he can smell her soap when she reenters the room. She's brushed her hair and washed up, the lingering traces of last night's makeup swept from her features, and she's almost blindingly fresh-faced and youthful when she sheds her nightgown and crosses the room. There's nothing juvenile about the way she climbs into bed, however, where he's already naked and waiting, and her greeting kiss is all grown-up heat and hunger.
"Newt," she sighs into his mouth, and he makes an interrogative sound when she catches his bottom lip between her teeth before drawing back. He moves to follow, and she breathes out a laugh before placing her hands over his mouth. "No," she says with a small smile, and he pouts until her hand drifts down to ghost over the definition of his chest and abdomen. Then he can't focus on anything save her touch, which inspires prickling heat and goosebumps in turns.
"So strong," Tina murmurs appreciatively, much as she had the night before, and his face heats in a blush when she wraps her fingers around his bicep. "Is this all from your creatures?" she asks, and it's an effort to wrench his mind away from her and the promise of her sex to answer.
"Mmhm," he hums. "I spend much of my time, when I'm not writing or revising, either in the field or caring for the creatures in my case. There's a lot of physical labor involved. I could use magic for some things, I suppose, but it feels...it feels as if I'm not giving them my all." He shrugs a little awkwardly. "I'm not explaining it very well, but…" Newt leans forward to kiss her bare shoulder in lieu of continuing, and Tina flashes a shy smile.
"I think I can understand why," she teases, and he hides his suddenly hot face against the side of her neck. Tina continues to map him with her hands, gentle fingers tracing over the ridges of his scars, connecting the constellation of freckles dotting his hide, and making small, hungry sounds with every swell of muscle she brushes. Newt shivers when she rakes her fingernails along his abdomen before, at last, allowing himself to touch her.
Tina sighs raggedly when his fingers cradle the curve of her breast, his thumb circling her nipple. She arches into the contact, her fingernails digging bloodless crescents into his skin until she smoothes her palms lower. It's his turn to make a broken sound when slender fingers wrap around his length to stroke teasingly, before abandoning it to pet his hip.
He makes a bereft sound with the loss of contact, and her smile is both challenging and cheeky when she meets his eyes. "You said last night that you had very little practical experience," she purrs while walking her fingers around his waist to pinch his behind. He grunts slightly at the brief flare of pain, and she grins before slinging her arms over his shoulder. "Tell me, Newt: how much exactly is 'very little'?"
Newt kisses her tentatively before pressing their cheeks together, his hands stroking her back in long, slow swipes as he recalls his unsatisfactory past. His tone is somber when he finally answers, and she goes stiff in his arms before leaning back to look at him. "I was only with a woman once, before you," he mumbles, refusing to meet her eyes. "It was an unsatisfactory experience all around, one which I've done my best to forget, and you'll forgive me if I don't wish to elaborate."
"Okay," Tina says quietly while running her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner. "Okay, Newt, that's fine. That's just fine," she murmurs, and he nods and closes his eyes to pull himself back into the present. It takes a moment, but soon the echoes of the past recede and she's once again commanding his senses, her scent in his nose and her skin beneath his hands, and he exhales shakily before hugging her tight, tight, tight.
Tina endures the clinging embrace until his trembling passes. His kiss is all hunger and all for her when he presses their mouths together, and it's her taste on his lips when he closes his eyes. She makes a delighted sound and meets him halfway, the rough velvet of her tongue twining around his own. They're both panting when he tips their foreheads together to take in her eyes. "Tina," he implores, unable to articulate anything beyond her name, and she nods while framing his face with her hands.
"It's okay," she whispers. "I can show you. I can teach you. If you'll let me."
"Yes," he sighs, thinking that perhaps he's agreeing to more than just sex, and instantly decides he's okay with that.
Tina kisses him once more before draping herself artfully across the mattress. She beckons him with a crooked finger and he obeys without question or thought, kneeling between her thighs while she gets comfortable before pulling him close. He settles over her with a breathless wheeze, and she brushes his forehead with her mouth after pushing the spill of hair away from his eyes.
"You can touch me," she whispers with a nod, and he hesitates, bottom lip caught firmly between his teeth. She uses her thumb to pry it away, brushing his mouth before smiling gently. "I want you to touch me like last night," she says into his eyes, "but I don't want you to go straight there. Touch me all over. I promise I'll tell you if I don't like it." She rolls her shoulders against the pillows in clear invitation. "Please, Newt."
It's the please that breaks through his indecision and allows him to move. His shaky hands fall to her skin without conscious direction, tracing her shoulders before ghosting over the plane of her chest. He avoids the globe of her breasts in favor of charting the creamy, slightly rounded curve of her stomach, where she sighs blissfully and arches into the contact. Emboldened, eyes never leaving her face, Newt explores her hips and outer thigh before jumping the gap to press their palms together, lacing their fingers before dragging his calloused fingertips up her shapely arm.
Tina rolls her head to watch his every movement while he palms her collarbone and shoulders before fanning his fingers delicately over her jaw. He cups her face and leans in to kiss her, massaging her lips with his own before blazing a wet trail over her chin and neck. Tina's eyes smolder when they find him, and she doesn't look away as she breathes, "that's good," before swallowing audibly.
Newt tastes his way to the swell of her breast, hovering uncertainly until her voice firmly encourages him to claim it. He blinks slowly when he kisses up the gentle slope to the dusty peak, hesitating only a moment before drawing it between his lips. Tina gasps and sighs raggedly, her back bowing off the mattress as she clings to his head, desperately keeping him in place when he sucks and licks before releasing her with a wet sound.
"Like that?" Newt asks, billywigs flitting nervously around his stomach. Tina laughs breathlessly while embracing his shoulders.
"Yes," she gasps, and he dips his head to take another pull at her before she recovers her breath. The experimental scrape of his teeth causes her to mewl and shiver. He loses himself in the pull and press of his mouth, the sounds he wrings from her before moving to the other side. Her nipples are red, swollen, and undeniably lavished when he pulls away to critique his work. Tina purrs happily as she strokes his head and the nape of his neck.
"That's good," she breathes and shows a wanton smile when he meets her eyes. "Would you be willing to take that...lower?"
Newt gasps and shudders at the heady suggestion, breathing roughly against her skin. Tina voices a husky laugh—until his fingers boldly drift below her waist to touch where she's already wet and willing. She mewls brokenly when he brushes through the nest of curls. He hums contentedly, and perhaps a little smugly, while he frigs her before wiggling down her body. He's careful to kiss every inch of skin he encounters along the way until he's prone between her thighs and she's staring down at him with something akin to wonder.
"Like this?" he asks uncertainty, and Tina chokes out a laugh while raking her fingers through his hair.
"Mercy Lewis, yes," she moans. Newt plants a wet kiss on her inner thigh, carefully averting his eyes from her core until, breathless, she pleads for him to look. Which he does, and something dark and primal washes over him at the sight, curling around his heart and spine, banishing his lingering nerves and causing his tongue to feel suddenly too thick for his mouth.
Tina is small and fair down here, all snug, glistening folds and dark curls. Newt exhales shakily while, operating almost entirely on instinct, brushing his fingers over her to gauge her reaction. She mewls, thighs tensing beneath his hand before going slack, and he has to squeeze his eyes shut to contain his own responses. She breathlessly implores him to do it again so he does, feeling her hips twitch beneath his hand before using his thumbs to gently pry her open.
He is reminded of a small, pink flower when he examines her, delicate outer petals snug around hidden inner folds, with her silky stigma nested atop. He superimposes his newly obtained visual knowledge with what his fingers learned last night, before flicking the pink bud curiously with the side of his thumb while watching her face. Her hands fist his hair as her legs quiver. "Newt," she bites out, and he smirks while using the tip of his finger to trace through her moisture before drawing teasing shapes on her inner thigh.
Tina hisses his name through clenched teeth until he nuzzles her while moving closer. She's already molten, and he inhales through his nose while dipping his chin, committing her musky, somehow visceral scent to memory before shifting to hold her open with one hand. The other fans soothingly over her hip while he waits for the thrum of her muscles to calm before opening his mouth and experimentally running his tongue over her.
She reacts as if galvanized, slim thighs tensing around his head while her hips jerk and her kiss-swollen lips part to produce the most sensual sound he's ever heard. There's no mistaking her ardor, and Newt huffs a relieved sigh while using his mouth to explore the intricacies of her folds, one corner of his mind absently cataloguing her flavor—salty, a little sweet, and with a bitter undertone that he recognizes as the lingering remnants of himself—but mostly focused on her.
Tina keens and moans with each increasingly confident sweep of his tongue, until she's wound tight and shivering when he abandons her petals for the swollen plumule atop them. He treats it much like her nipples after a moment of consideration, plucking at it with his lips before circling it with his tongue. It's the work of only a few indirect brushes before she's writhing against his face, her heels digging into his back while she tugs at his roots. She cries out ringingly at the peak before shuddering into the mattress, and he flattens and lengthens his swipes to taste the evidence of her release until she calms.
"Mercy," Tina pants, and he can hear the smile in her voice. Newt wears its twin, the expression sitting awkwardly on his face but no less genuine, while he suckles purple marks on her thigh and hip. She affectionately ruffles his hair and pets the nape of his neck before squeezing his shoulder and pulling him close. Color rides high on her cheeks when he settles over her, dark eyes sparkling up at him when she kisses him without heed to the nectar coating his lips. If anything, she seems intrigued by it, and she licks it away thoughtfully before touching the tip of his nose with her own.
"Yours probably tastes better," Tina purrs, and his face heats in a blush while he ducks his head.
"I think—that is, I'd really rather, um…" He shakes his head briskly in an attempt to clear it, and Tina smirks as he organizes his thoughts, a task made infinitely more difficult when she drags clever fingernails down his front to grasp where he is throbbing. Newt chokes when she strokes him before pressing his face into her neck. "Mutual," he manages raggedly. She hums agreement in the back of her throat before dragging her thumb through the pearly bead of moisture dressing his tip, a shudder twisting his back and shoulders as he pants into her skin.
Tina squeezes him and smirks before relinquishing his length. He breathes a stuttering sigh of relief before returning his attention to her. Newt leans over to support himself on one arm while tracing the outline of her curves, watching her face grow intent and serious as he brushes her edges. She makes an eager sound when he squeezes her breast and rasps his thumbs over her nipple, and moans happily when he drags his knuckles over her core before spreading his fingers across her hip.
He eventually rocks back onto his haunches to wrap calloused fingers around her ankle. She smiles when he extends her leg to drag his mouth over the curve of her calf before pressing his lips into the crease of her knee. Tina sets her ankle on his shoulder while arching a curious eyebrow, and Newt breathes carefully as he takes in the expanse of her beneath him before pulling her closer by the hips. He kisses her calf, then nibbles it while stroking her opposite thigh thoughtfully.
"Mutual," he repeats as he fingers her skin, and Tina makes an encouraging sound, twitching her hips in invitation. "Do you think..." he begins haltingly, and she nods when he trails off, catching her bottom lip between her teeth as her fingers curl into the sheets in anticipation.
"Anything you want," Tina promises, and her eyes are dark with lust when they find his. He nods in acceptance of this while leaning forward to kiss her neck and chest before latching onto a pert nipple. Tina wriggles down the mattress to better align their hips, wrapping one leg around his shanks while he hooks the other in the bend of his elbow. She guides him to her center with a slender hand, and they sigh together when he sinks home.
Newt carefully settles over her, Tina's welcoming arms pulling him in for a grounding kiss. He rests his weight on his free elbow while they tangle together, getting lost in each other's eyes until remaining still costs them both. Tina's mouth falls open when he withdraws slowly only to push back in, quickly learning that the oblique angle of her hips allows him to sink deeply into her. They pass a heated moan between them with the discovery of their rhythm, and she undulates sensuously beneath him as they rock together, her fingernails curling like claw against his skin in tacit encouragement.
Newt examines the details of her face when she voices a series of low moans, falling into her gaze when she smiles at him sweetly before lifting her chin for a kiss. He drinks from her giving mouth with a hungry groan until Tina angles her pelvis to better meet his thrusts, fisting the sheets when he releases her trapped leg to drag his hand over her breasts and stomach before rhythmically kneading her hip.
The hard points of her nipple stab his skin when she tenses, and he can feel the heated flush that climbs her chest and neck as he urges her closer to the edge. Newt groans his approval when her back bows off the mattress with a series of breathy pants before catching on a moan, and a volley of gentle pulses work through where they are connected. Her well-trained voice musically caresses the individual syllables of his name, and he watches her face adoringly as she scales the peak before slowly coming back down.
A warning tension curls around his belly and thighs, and he growls throatily while hiding his face in her neck. She's still squeezing around him when he quits his steady rhythm in favor of hunger, and sheer animal lust takes him as he scrapes her skin with his teeth. He adds a circuitous grinding motion to the apex of his thrusts that causes her to gasp raggedly, before silencing her with a fervent kiss in hard contrast to the tender ones of earlier.
He tenses in her arms, simultaneously drawn in and pulled out as he strains toward completion. Tina says his name, and he chokes against her lips when his hips stutter desperately. "I've got you," she promises, catching his eye while tenderly pushing his hair off his sweaty brow. His eyes drift closed with a hitching gasp at the chaste brush of her hand, until the tension breaks and he surrenders to the inevitable. She is there to catch him when he falters, when he dissolves into moans and cannot articulate, before steadying him as he fumbles to a halt while sagging into her skin.
It takes a while for his forebrain and hindbrain to switch places, and longer still before he has the energy to lift his head. She's beaming at him when he finally manages it, pasting on a bleary, rather goofy smile as she cradles his head to kiss the scar adorning the bridge of his nose before sighing happily.
"Some breakfast," she mumbles into his hair, and he wheezes out a breath of laughter against her cheek. His stomach chooses that moment to chime in, growling like a caged beast, and they laugh together as he rolls to flop bonelessly onto the sheets. Tina turns onto her side to face him, and Newt threads their fingers together while basking in her warm and sated expression.
"We should eat," he says after a time when the room has warmed and the pitch and yammer of the city are at full volume outside the window. Tina hums agreement while lazily tracing the contours of his chin and jaw with her finger, before sitting up to stretch lithely. His brain catalogs the sinuous flex of her muscles beneath her skin as he watches, his mouth going dry with simple want. She smirks knowingly at him over her shoulder and kisses the corner of his mouth before batting her eyelashes.
"I want a hot dog," Tina declares apropos of nothing and climbs out of bed with an unmistakable bounce. She pulls a spring-colored dress from her wardrobe before turning, her expression open and bright and all for him. "I'm going to get cleaned up," she declares, "and then we'll go eat. My treat." She grins. "Can you be ready in ten minutes?"
"I believe I can," he agrees, deciding to let the subtext of my treat go for the nonce. She drops a saucy wink as she pulls on her robe before leaving the room. The door swings shut on silent hinges, and he watches after her in amazement before allowing a slow, slow smile to pull at his cheeks.
"A hot dog," he breathes with an amused snort and, still grinning, rolls out of her bed to cast about for his clothes.