Blair sat at her desk contemplating the folly of what she was about to do. How did she end up in these situations?
"I'm just too good of a person." Blair mused to herself.
Maybe the other woman would forget? Or get lost? Or trip on her long golden hair, fall into a coma, and get carried off by bears?
"B!"
Damn. No luck.
"Serena." Blair greeted coolly in response as she stood up from her desk.
"This is going to be so much fun!"
"Bully for me." Blair said as she walked over to Chuck's open door. "I'm headed to lunch now… unless it's too busy? Then I could stay…" All three of them heard the edge of desperation in her voice. Two of them chose to ignore it.
In one of the first true smiles he'd flashed lately, Chuck failed at biting back the grin as he spoke. "Thank you, Mrs. Humphrey, no such sacrifice is required, so please… enjoy your lunch."
He grinned out right at the daggers her eyes shot at him as she turned around and headed for the elevator. Serena shot him a sparkling smile. "Bye, Chuck! Don't wait up." She chirped before running after her reluctant friend.
"And they were never heard from again…" He said under his breath, before leaning back in his chair to take in the faint waft of Blair's perfume that had been left in the air. The smile faded from his lips as the scent failed to linger long.
Over an hour, and 3 martinis later, Blair and Serena sat over their glasses.
"You know why we're meant to be best friends?" Serena asked as she sipped from her glass.
"I'm on the edge of my seat to know." Blair bit the olive off its pick, and then looked into her glass, suddenly heartbroken it was empty.
"We've been one degree apart for like a million years, and here we are." Serena declared.
"You mean how you spent you summers trying to sleep with my boyfriend?" Blair raised a mocking eyebrow at her new friend.
"But I didn't know it was you, and if I did-"
"You'd have screwed him on a bar stool during a wedding reception?" Blair interrupted innocently and signalled the waiter to bring her another drink.
"What?! Never!" Serena gasped and then laughed as she took a sip of her drink. "Okay, maybe I would have... but you'd have forgiven me eventually!"
"I find that hard to believe." Blair rolled her eyes, and tried to ignore how much she enjoyed talking to the blonde. Friends with a blonde? Who would have thought, Blair mused... then she realized she must be plastered if that's what was going on in her head at the moment.
"Well, since it's taken us three rounds to get caught up on my romantic history-"
"I sense there was an edit here and there." Blair smirked.
Serena just smiled back. "Admit you're my best friend, and I'll spill the more sordid beans."
"From what I gather... I can probably find out everything online..." Blair's mouth lifted up at one corner.
Serena stuck out her tongue, and then finished her drink. "Now that I'm mostly out on the table, how about you? You've dated Nate, and married the college sweetheart, right? Is that it? No other loves lurking in the wings?"
Blair's dark eyes narrowed on the innocent blue gaze blinking back at her. She didn't know how she knew this, but in this moment she knew that Serena knew about what had happened with Chuck. Her gaze went to steel, and she straightened in her chair. Serena may know, but Blair was not about to cop to anything.
"One or two. Every woman has to have her secrets." She said smoothly and lifted the drink that the waiter had just brought her.
Serena's eyes twinkled. "The secret ones are always the best ones... so good... that you wonder why you keep them a secret at all."
Blair blinked at her, her face a mask of indifference. Serena's smile widened, and the most mature laugh Blair had heard her give yet came out of the other woman.
"You're good." Serena nodded with admiration at how the brunette gave so little away in her demeanour and expression.
Blair still said nothing, just smoothly took a sip of her martini.
"Okay!" Serena declared as she threw her hands in the air. "Let's talk about something easy."
"You mean we haven't been doing just that?" Blair raised a brow innocently.
Serena ignored her and bridged a new topic. "Let's hear about your husband!" She leaned in a little. "You just don't strike me as the type."
"The type to what? Get married?"
Serena shook her head and waved a hand over Blair. "No, you've got 'committed relationship' written all over you. What I mean is… You don't seem like the type to end up with an artist."
"He's a writer." Blair clarified.
"And that's a person who uses words as their artistic medium. Don't mince words with me, B. I'm smarter than I look." Serena smiled, but the snap in her eyes that showed her innate intelligence communicated itself clearly.
"I gathered that." Blair nodded, having recognized a while ago that Serena was no airhead.
Blair was just about to say more when a text chime went off on Serena's phone, and she watched the other woman giddily snatch up her cell. Blair watched her new friend's eyes light up, and her whole face take on happiness. Blair didn't need to be psychic to know Serena had gotten a message from a new guy. Blair couldn't remember ever being that happy to hear from Dan. For a moment she thought about the feeling that electrified her belly when the intercom went off or she walked into a certain office, but she shoved those thoughts away, and amused herself scanning the room as she waited for Serena's attention to return.
"Sorry!" Serena said as she slipped her phone into her purse, and signalled the waiter. "I've got to run, but this has been fun! Please say it won't be pulling teeth to get you to come out with me next time?"
"No promises." Blair said, but they both knew she wouldn't be that hard to convince again.
She didn't go back to the office that day, and Thursday passed with little drama other than Jenny showing up at their house that night in a fit because she thought Nate was being distant. She fell asleep on their couch and had still been there when Blair left for work in the morning.
Friday she sat at her desk organizing and reorganizing her personal schedule for the next six months. There wasn't a lot going on.
Her current future seemed to echo the pace of the office this morning. They were waiting on some important contracts, and until they we're in and signed, a great deal of their other work was in a holding pattern. And so Blair looked at her schedule. And her cuticles. And contemplated if her hair needed more product at the ends. She came to the conclusion that she was perfect.
"Enough." Chuck's voice reverberated out from his office, which was hard since the door was closed for once. Vanessa had shut it when she'd come in about a half hour ago.
Blair's ears perked up at Chuck's harsh tone. Keeping one foot touching her desk, she edge her chair closer to the door to try to hear what was going on.
"I don't understand why you're being like this? It's not even as much as what you gave me for the Haiti mission!"
"I said enough, Vanessa! I've sponsored endless causes and missions for you. I've made a generous donation to your current cause, but I'm not picking up the whole bill this time."
Blair nearly fell off her chair at his tone, but she righted herself and scooched a little closer to the door.
"I do not want to have this conversation again." He bit out.
"Well, I do, because you're being ridiculous! It's not like you don't have the money!" His girlfriend yelled.
Blair spun her chair so that her ear was aimed into the office, and she wished she could see what was going on. At this moment there was steely silence, and Blair's took a moment to reflect on the knowledge that a part of Chuck's relationship's continuity was because he bankrolled Vanessa's hippy, save the world lifestyle. Blair, who naturally didn't like the other woman, was now overwhelmed with complete disdain for her. Chuck deserved to be with someone who wanted more than just money from him.
"I am done funding your whims, and I am done with you." He said coldly.
"This is it this time! Chuck, if I leave now, it's over! For good!"
Her words were met with silence, and then Blair heard the stomp of Birkenstock clad feet thunder to the door.
Blair's eyes widened, and she quickly pushed off the wall to send her chair rolling quickly back to her desk. Her hair was still whipping around her face as Vanessa stormed out in a cloud of patchouli.
A few minutes later, Chuck calmly walked out of his office. "I'm leaving for the day. You'll have to wait for the papers and bring them by my apartment, so that I can sign them."
"Of course." She wanted to ask him if everything was alright, but she knew that would be crossing a line that they'd skirted since the hurricane. Nothing too personal.
She watched him go, and then she waited for the courier. Unfortunately the courier was not the next person who entered the office.
"Dan? What are you doing here?" She asked as she rose to her feet.
He looked frazzled, but that was something she was familiar with. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. She didn't have to wait long.
"Jenny is really upset-"
"I noticed. I imagine we're out of wine too."
Dan ignored her comment and went on. "She's hardly seen Nate in the last week or so, and when she does he's distant... vague."
Blair didn't say anything about this, because she was familiar with that from Nate. She loved Nate and he really was one of her oldest and best friends, but when they were dating he'd been something of a nightmare towards the end.
"She thinks there's someone else."
Again Blair held her tongue, because when she'd dated Nate it had ended in infidelity as well.
"It's really messing with her head, so I suggested we head down to Florida for the next week, until the wedding, and stay with my Grandma. Jenny thinks it's a great idea."
Blair kept her face still, but she smirked in her head. She could easily read Jenny's thought process, which now seemed to be to avoid Nate until the wedding so that he couldn't call the whole thing off.
"Well, there's a plan." Blair finally spoke. "Are you driving down or flying?"
"...Blair, I want you to come too."
"What?" She knew she sounded appalled, and she was okay with that. She hated Florida. And Jenny. And, come to think of it, his grandmother too. So she pointed out a truth. "I have to work."
"This is really important for us as a family right now." Dan said firmly.
"And, for our family, it's really important I don't lose my job, Dan." Blair said pointedly.
"So you're not coming to Florida?"
She held firm. "No, I'm not."
A look of consternation came over his face. "Fine. Can you at least leave now, and come to the airport with Jenny and I?"
She shook her head. "Chuck's left for the day, and I have to wait for a courier."
"Fine." Dan sighed. "I'll text you when we land."
Blair nodded, and was surprised when he stepped in and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her goodbye. Her body stiffened, and she had to force herself not to recoil from her husband. It felt wrong to kiss him there.
When he was gone she sat at her desk, and waited for the courier. Chuck lived in the penthouse of one of his hotels, the Empire, and after the courier arrived she headed over there. Since he was expecting her, Chuck had left her name and so she was let passed security and rode up the private elevator to his suite.
The doors opened and she stepped off, walking into the living room as she looked around. She'd never been in his home before. It was stylish, grey, and impersonal. About what Blair had expected.
And then she saw him, and all she saw was Chuck. He stood at the floor to ceiling window, his back to her, as he looked out over the city as the sun set. He'd discarded his suit jacket, and was in just his dress shirt. She watched him finish his drink and then set it on a low cabinet next to the window.
Neither said anything as her five-inch heels clacked across the hardwood floors. The sound echoed around the minimalist space, and emphasized the loaded silence between the couple. She stood next to him and looked up at his profile in last of the sun's rays.
Blair couldn't help it, she had to ask. "Are you alright?" Her hand reached out, as if it had a will of its own, and touched his arm.
A shock ran through her, and it seemed to have the same affect on him. His head snapped around and their gazes collided. For a long moment they were both held in its electricity.
He nodded as his eyes slid to her mouth, causing them to tingle, and she ran her tongue over the bottom lip. If possible his gaze intensified, and it sent a jolt down to her groin. She felt her body wetly flood in response.
On a gasp Blair turned away from the intensity of his gaze, and looked out the window as the setting sun turned the sky a riot of pink, orange and yellow. Chuck moved so he stood directly behind her, and he was so close that she could feel the heat of his body, and feel his breath move her hair.
Chuck lifted the fall of her hair off her now damp neck, his breath was on her skin, and it felt like a caress.
She pressed the tips of her fingers against the glass, and felt the coolness that emanated from the world outside. It did nothing to cool the heat inside her that was growing with every second she stood so close to this man.
He pressed his lips to her skin just as the sun dipped and sent a wild spray of orange and yellow across the sky, and Blair cried out in desire.
Her fingers slid to press her now sweat damp palms against the glass, trying to hold herself up. Her weak knees would have none of it, and soon her arms collapsed and she pressed her forehead against the cold glass. Meant to quench, it ended up only highlighting the heat of his lips working magic on her neck.
WIth a gasp, she pressed herself away from the window and back into Chuck, craving greater contact with him. One of his arms wrapped around her stomach, pulling her tighter to him, while he used his other hand to lift her willing chin into an angle that gave him greater access. Her eyes rolled back as her head lay against his shoulder.
His tongue pressed a hot stroke up to the sensitive skin behind her ear, and the vibrations of want traveled down to swirl in her belly and on to her pussy. Desperately one of her hands covered the one of his that held her to him, while the other reached back to clutch his shirt, inadvertently pulling it from his pants.
"Chuck, please!" She cried, and she spun in his arms. Grabbing his neck she pulled his lips down to hers to kiss him passionately, pressing her tongue past his lips to taste him.
His tongue rubbed against hers, had her knees giving out again. His hands found her ass and he caught her to him as he squeezed her flesh hard. And still they kissed.
They stumbled as he backed them towards the wall beside the window, and he only pulled away to use one arm to sweep his glass and the contract off the low cabinet. The sound of glass shattering, wafting paper and their heaving breaths were the only thing they heard. A second later he hoisted her into his arms, taking the hem of her skirt up as he went, and her legs came up to grip his hips.
Chuck deposited her firmly on the polished surface, and his hands slid from her ass, to her hips, up her sides, skimming her breasts, before desperately seeking the zipper at the back of her dress. He nearly tore the zipper in his haste to pull it down, but she didn't notice.
She was too busy ripping his shirt open and sending all the buttons pinging around the room. She pressed wet, sucking kisses to the skin that she exposed, and she loved the gasps he gave with each one.
In between her getting his shirt off of him, and undoing his belt and pants, Chuck got her dress up and over her head.
Chuck looked away from her for a moment, and spotted his wallet hovering on the edge of the cabinet. Not wanting to let go of her he reached with all his agility, and managed to grasp it. He quickly pulled a condom from inside and turned back to her.
They were both gasping and hot as they looked at each other. Chuck was shirtless, his pants undone, and his hair disheveled from her fingers. She was spread out before him in nothing but her bra and scrap of panties, her lips parted and swollen.
He swallowed. She swallowed.
She sat up and her hot hands slid across his moist belly to push his pants down his hips. His pulsing cock sprang up against his stomach, and she longed to have it deep inside her, fucking her.
Just as slowly he pulled her panties down her legs and she lifted them to ease the job. Her hands found his shoulders as she looked into his scorching eyes.
"I want you." She gasped.
The passion in them, that had slowed in the last few seconds, exploded into action again. He shoved her strapless bra down to her waist and squeezed her breasts, catching her nipples in a pinch.
"Chuck!" She cried, and she could barely focus as her hands found the condom, tore it open and rolled it down his thick erection. He panted as she stroked him, and she loved the feel of him, so powerful, in her hand.
He couldn't wait another second and pulled her hand away. Chuck grabbed her hips and jerked her ass to the edge of the wood. Eagerly Blair wrapped her legs around his hips, her heels digging into him, and lined his tip up with her core.
With their arms wrapped around each other, he slammed his cock into her pussy, sinking to the hilt.
"Fuck!" He cried out as he felt her body squeeze him.
"Chuck!" Blair half scream as she felt his hard dick fill and stretch her pussy in a way only his had ever done.
They barely had time to register how good that felt, because the desire to feel more was raging in them. Chuck started thrusting into her, and Blair eagerly accepted him, more than that, she released one arm from around him to reach back onto the cabinet. She used this to brace herself and lift her hips and slammed against him, causing greater shots of pleasure to jerk through both of them.
Her shoulders still slammed against the painted brick with every urgent thrust of their bodies, and still they moved faster, harder, more desperate. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, and his grunts added yet another vibration to her core.
Needing to be closer to him, her arms came around him, and up his back, digging into his shoulders. As he rammed his cock harder into her soaking, clenching core, rivets of ecstasy chased along her nerve ending and she moaned harshly and dragged her nails down his back, leaving red tracks as she went.
The building, thrusting, wanting pleasure was almost too much and if felt like she would die if she didn't come soon. Then, like the shattering of a glass, she did. Her orgasm exploded out from her pussy, like a shockwave of erupting magma. Near painful pleasure rolled up through her belly before it whipped down her limbs, and her body jerked and contorted. The arch of her back that sent her body into his, also had her head banging back against the wall, and still she didn't care. All she cared about was the feelings that were quaking through her entire body and the man who had caused them.
Her vagina spasming around his cock had sent him over the edge into an equally powerful, near blinding orgasm. He choked and gasped into her shoulder. They held each other tighter as they rode it out. Finally she collapsed back against the wall, the muscles in her legs finally gave out, and they slid down his sides. He fell against her and she marveled at how good his weight felt on her as the sweat on their bodies cooled in the air conditioned suite.
Finally Chuck managed to lift his head, and he looked down at her with eyes as dazed as her own. He lifted his hand and caught a lock of the dark wet hair that clung to her cheek, and he gently swept it back over her ear. The gesture was so tender, and almost more intimate than the wild, passion filled sex they'd just had. Blair felt her eyes fill with tears.
This feeling was furthered as she moved to softly caress his jaw with her hand. She moaned as she felt him pull out of her, and knew she needed to have him again. Chuck must have felt the same way, because he swooped her up in his arms and carried her off to his bedroom.
It was after midnight when Blair woke up with his heartbeat under her ear. She felt the heat from his body. Felt the weight of his arm that rested over her back and down to the hand on her naked hip. She opened her eyes and followed the dark hair on his chest, down over his stomach, that rose with each even breath he took, to where it disappeared under the low slung sheet.
She knew it was late. She knew she had to go. She knew she didn't want to. But she also knew, very well, that you don't always get everything you want.
Carefully she pushed herself to up to sitting, and she let her hand slide across his belly as she moved away. After tonight she should have been done wanting to touch him, but she couldn't seem to quench the desire.
Her eyes filled with regret, not because of what she had done, but because she couldn't stay with him.
She slid to the side of the bed and quietly slung her legs over the side. Her hands rested on the mattress as she prepared to push herself to her feet, when a strong hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist.
Blair's dark, tussled hair flew around her face as her head swung to look over her shoulder at him. Her eyes were wide with surprise as she met the intensity of his gaze.
"Stay." His voice was dark and husky with desire and sleep and she felt held in place.
She could feel his hand on her wrist, but it was not the grasp that held her there. It was her desire and want of him. As Blair looked into his eyes she knew she wanted him so desperately, and had wanted him that way since they met.
"Okay." She whispered as she gave into the desire to be close to him.
She slid back into his arms, back into the holding and held position she'd left just minutes before, and it felt right. He felt right.
They both know it couldn't last, but for now they gave in.
A/N: Hopefully that made up for the tease of the last chapter being fantasies?