So, it was awkward. It was really awkward.
Annie, being the little bubble of energy that she was, found herself in the middle of a mental storm of swinging 'what if's and 'when can we's. She felt like she was going out of her mind – suddenly on the brink of an explosion that had her on her toes, wavering at the edge. She loved that kiss. She loved it more than anything she had ever felt – ever tasted, ever smelt, ever wanted, ever dreamed of. That kiss just felt so right.
It was peaceful, but it was exciting – she wanted to crawl to the top of the highest canyon and shout it at all the unlucky people below her, but she also wanted to just take him home and wrap him up in a blanket and make sure he was okay. She wanted to talk about it for hours but also just sit and stare and take in the wonder that was him. It was a mess – but she was loving every damn minute of it. What was that? Was this how it was supposed to feel when you wanted to be with someone? It was more than lust – no, she'd never felt anything quite like this before.
For months she'd been feeling that tug towards him, and the warm embers that kept it chugging comforted her in even the worst moments. But this, what the fuck was this? It was like it had tripled, quadrupled – and if she thought she was suffering through this unrequited relationship before, now that she had tasted it, it was like she had been given the finest whiskey – and now every glass of the same old shit she was offered just wasn't going to cut it.
Boone, however, was going to cringe out of his skin every time Annie moved around him. Every time she went to touch him on the way home, hours and days of her just hovering around him sweetly, he pulled away. She was too far gone in her head to think anything of it, thank god, but inside Boone was tearing himself apart at the thought of her. He was so torn. He'd just grabbed her, just like that – and taken what he'd wanted and didn't really mind if she wanted it too. She'd always said she would, but he never even asked again, just to make sure it was really what she wanted.
He felt incredibly guilty about it. It was wrong, he told himself, to do that to her in a place they both had such strong memories of. She had kissed him right back, sure, but what had he done? He'd acted in the heat of the moment, and it a lot to process afterwards. He could barely look at her. What would come from all of this? Where did they stand?
Getting Carla to go on a date with him was hard enough; sleepless nights of planning each particular outcome and how he would get over it if she said no… but Annie – she just made him insane with the possibilities. There was nothing to weigh-out with her, because she was a wild card herself. She made him reckless. She made him not care so much. It absolutely terrified him. She absolutely fucking terrified him.
Years of hiding within himself – away from Carla and away from Manny and every shrink and every level off Brass that tried to fix him… it never worked. No one ever worked… But Annie did. Fuck, that was scary. When he met her he thought she was absolutely head-fucked, a lost cause, but here she was – having done more for him in the months she had been around, than anyone he had ever loved before. He hated it. He loved it. He hated it. What the fuck was it? Carla never made him feel like this, and he had never felt anything like he had felt for Carla before that. Fuck. What the fuck? What the actual fuck?
The gates of Freeside greeted them stoically. The Kings bodyguard, who had been lazily leaning on a pile of scrap smoking a cigarette, hopped up in surprise at their arrival. He slicked his hair back, flicking the butt into another pile of trash, before waving them down.
"Hello!" He called to them, striking what could be considered a tough-but-casual pose. "It's been a big week since youse've been gone."
"Oh god, why?" Annie said shortly, letting the vain hope of a clean, easy walk through Freeside slip from her mind. Boone barely stopped beside her, lost in his own thoughts.
"Big shoot-out at the Wrangler." The King told them, an excitement in his voice that seemed a bit unnecessary. "Come out on the street, started a bit of brawl – fuckin' big one at that. Then those robots started goin' off and lasers were everywhere! Followers had no beds for a few days."
Squeezing her own cheeks with a dirty hand, Annie sniffed impatiently. "Any reason why?"
"Somethin' about who's better – those fruity Legion dudes or those NCR dicks. No offence." He glanced at Boone.
"None taken." Annie waved it off. "Anyone die?"
"Nah, everyone's just angry."
"Oh, good." She looked up at Boone who was as indifferent as ever, too busy to pay attention because he was lost in the piece of maize kernel stuck in the man's teeth. He'd been out of it for a while. The closer they got to the 38, the closer he got to having to sort it out. He was starting to sweat. "That's fun. We're gonna go inside now."
The gates squealed open and they were greeted with the fresh smell of whatever the hell that weird man at the meat stall was cooking that week. Molerat, probably. Annie just wanted to go home and have a good shower and get out of her clothes, which were so drenched with sweat that they had begun to reek. Boone just wanted to go have a sad man nap and sort through his thoughts. Life was a lot easier to get through when he had compartmentalized everything. Now it was just chaos. It was like his brain was just burning to the ground.
On the outside though, he looked fine – it was normal for Boone to not talk and just watch. Annie thought nothing of it, putting it down to him just being himself. It was fine – he'd been through a lot in the past week, and she would give him the world if he asked her. So, waiting felt right. He would say something when he was ready.
Passing the Followers fort, Annie glanced in to make sure everything was okay. Julie Farkas was standing at the front gates, talking sternly to someone with a clipboard. Catching Annie's eye, the woman almost jumped out of her skin at the sight of the courier alone. Annie let a light groan slip from her chest. There was definitely no way she was getting home without greeting the entire neighbourhood.
"Annie!" She called. Julie wasn't too bad to talk to, but by the big man in the sky, Annie could hear that shower calling to her. "I need to talk to you when you have the time!"
"I have the time now!" She shouted back, shuffling over as quick as she could. Julie nodded to her companion and the short man wandered off back towards the tents. "What's up, Farkas? You good?"
"I need a big favor, Annie." The woman was shaking her head, palms turning up to the sky as if she had just given up. "I'm so low on supplies. I don't know what to do – the more we make, we just end up using straight away and we're so understaffed - one of my medics got shot and… there was a shoot-out, by the way."
"I heard." The courier laughed flatly. "What do you need? I'll figure something out."
"I need a loan." Julie said quietly, nodding awkwardly, full of an uncomfortable energy that burnt with shame. "I usually wouldn't ask, you know this, but Arcade mentioned you might be able to help us a little more. I know you've done so much for us, but no one's budging on prices at the moment, we just can't keep up—"
"Julie." Annie stopped her, fingers wrapping around the straps of her bag. "I can't. You're asking too much of me."
The Follower balked and nodded again, flushing red with embarrassment. "That's okay," She said quickly. "I'm sorry for asking. I'm just at a loss—"
"Oh Julie I'm kidding." Annie grinned at her weirdly through a grimace. Bad time to joke. "Of course. What's wrong? Is no one selling or are they jacking up the prices again?"
"I think everyone's out of stock, so what's available has gone up in price because of the demand." She breathed back, wringing her hands together. "I'm sorry. Thank you so much. I would never have asked if there were any other options I hadn't already tried."
"It's all good, Julie. You've helped me a lot too." Jostling her pack, she swung it from her shoulders and plonked it on the ground. Digging through a side pocket, Annie pulled out a little pouch of caps and weighed it with her hand. "This'll do for now, right? It's not much, but it'll get somewhere." She licked her lips, tongue catching on the dryness. Ugh, she tasted like dirt and old water. "Boone, could you go to the 38 and grab some more? I'll go see some shops, see what I can do."
"Thank you so much!" Julie took the bag. "We owe you big time. We can't pay you back right away but I promise, as soon as I can—"
"Julie," Annie whined. "Shut up. It's a donation. Just let me borrow Arcade every once in a while."
"Of course, oh wow, thank you." Julie let out a groan of relief, the embarrassment draining from her cheeks. "I wouldn't have asked if I—Oh Annie. You're an angel."
"Oh no," The courier sputtered a laugh at her, picking up her backpack – remembering how tired she felt as the weight hit her shoulders. "Please don't say that."
The radio was drawling on with some sad country song when Annie finally made it back to the 38. By the sound of it, Boone had made the caps delivery to Julie and headed right back – so by the time Annie had returned home, everything was quiet and packed away. The suite was silent, empty, with Cass gone with her new caravan and all. Veronica had left a note, detailing her and Raul's venture out into the wastes for some reason or another. Annie could barely read at the best of times, let alone when she was nearly asleep on her feet. She really needed that shower to zap the life back into her.
She took note of Boone's empty bag slumped at the end of one of the beds in the communal room, mouth twitching in surprise. Surely he would have moved his stuff back into the master by now? His travelling boots now sat neatly by his pack, having left dusty footprints along his track. She wandered out into the foyer, peeking into the kitchen and finding nothing. Where was he?
Okay, so he was after more space. That was okay. It totally wasn't beginning to get a little weird by that point, not at all. It's not like the first thing Annie wanted to do when she got back to the casino was take a little alone time to show him how much she liked that kiss before. It wasn't as if it had been on the front of her mind the entire walk home. Of course not. Bah! Never. No.
Where the hell was he?
Forcing herself to take a shower instead of tearing the place apart in search for him, Annie shucked her armor off and threw it into a heap in the main bedroom. It needed to be seriously aired out after the walk they had just had. Padding across the soft carpet, the courier threw herself into the steaming water and relished the feel of the hot cleanliness spilling down her. Nothing could compare to the feeling of washing away a weeks' worth of grit, she noted as she watched the water turn an orangey-brown by her feet. Well, that kiss could – right? It was definitely just as good as a hot shower. Maybe even better. Maybe it was on the level of one thousand hot showers—
No. No more of that, she repeated to herself as a new mantra. It wasn't a good idea to be dwelling on those thoughts. She would build it up to be more than it was, right? She cranked the heat a little higher, a weird feeling turning in her stomach.
Was he going to shut her down again? Did he just kiss her out of thanks, because she was really laying it on thick before he did, wasn't she? Oh no, what had she done? Had she fucked it all up by expecting more? She thought through the few days they had spent together after – it was just Annie happily burbling conversations at him and him just sitting there and taking it.
Oh no. Oh no. She snapped herself out of it, squeezing a glob of age-old shampoo into the palm of her hand. Rubbing it through almost viciously, Annie fought the knots out of her hair in anguish. Her fingers kept coming back orange and foamy, rinsing them out under the scalding water. She felt so dirty, so confused, and maybe a little bit sick. He was mad at her, right? He hated her. He didn't want a thing to do with her so he just went off to do his own thing so he didn't have to look at her face. He'd made a mistake, hadn't he? Oh wow, and she'd gone and fucked things up royally, hadn't she? Thinking it more than it was... She was an idiot.
This is why people like her ended up with people like… Swank or something. At least he never made her feel so pent up and weird. At least with him she always knew where she stood. Boone was just in her head, causing a ruckus – flipping tables and shit, and they were important tables as well! They had all the good plates on them and everything!
Attempting to scrub off a layer of skin, Annie flogged herself with that soap. A wave of sadness rolled over her and she slowed to a stop, watching the water and bubbles wash around her feet.
She really liked Boone.
He was good to her. As good as he could be, anyway. He had put up with so much of her mess and still never expected too much in return. He stuck by her consistently, even when she had given him such a painful ultimatum. She hadn't fucked it up, at all. That's just who he was, wasn't he? Just as confused as she was. Probably even more. But of course he liked her just as much. He had to. For a man as quiet and stubborn as he was, why would he stick around if he didn't feel anything for her at all?
Finishing her shower after making sure she was free from all the weighted grime, she gathered herself up in a robe from the closet in the master – drowning in the folds of material. Eying off the bed and wondering how good it would be to fall face down into the pillow, Annie rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms above her head. As nice as it would be to have a nap, she knew that the silence would get to her head again. She just had to have faith that things would work themselves out. That's how things had worked for her for so long, why wouldn't they do the same this time around?
Leaving her pipboy on the nightstand to charge, she rubbed at her nose and gave a sniff of boredom. Perhaps she should go upstairs and talk to Yes Man – figure out her next game plan. He'd been bothering her to go and talk to the Great Khans for a while now, so maybe he would have some idea of how to go about it tactfully. Somehow, just turning up on the doorstep of your old family without any warning wasn't exactly the best plan – considering she had been promising to return for so long and just hadn't done it…
She sighed, rolling her eyes at the thought – toddling to the elevator.
"In other news, a Legion slaver party was wiped out in a failed raid of the Bitter Springs refugee camp, with two armed civilians inflicting heavy Legion casualties." The radio cooed at her as she pressed the button for the Penthouse. Her nose twitched. "A witness has been said to say, and quote 'God sent us two angels, and at least one of them had a .308 caliber flaming sword of justice with a telescopic sight.'"
Annie scoffed, rubbing at her eyes with a tired palm. "Angels, huh?" She said quietly, feeling the lift whir into motion. "What's with that word lately?"
Leaning against the handrail, she took a big breath of air and rested her head against the wall. Even if travelling to Bitter Springs was eventful, it held no candle to the runnings of the Strip. She'd not even been home a day and already had a pile of errands to complete. Plus, she was sure she had meeting scheduled with the casino owners coming up again sometime too – especially with that shoot-out happening so close to home. It would be seeping through their own front door very soon, no doubt.
The elevator ding'd and she stepped out, welcomed by the freezing air-conditioning and the spinning pincers of Jane the Securitron.
"Got any snowglobes for me, honey?" She asked in her usual sultry voice, her single leg bent seductively.
"Uhh, no." Annie stepped back in surprise, still not used to the robots that wheeled around the place. "Sorry Jane."
"That's okay, sugar. You come to me when you do."
Annie clomped down the stairs, eyeing off the view of the outside world. The sun was beginning to set on another day, and this time the horizon was tickled pink with all the opportunities it faced for the next day. The lights of the other casinos were flashing merrily below, and Annie felt a wash of something comfortable. After all, this was her home now.
She slunk through the tattered curtain that blocked off the lobby from Yes Man's gigantic computer base, getting a mouth of dust. She gagged, flinging her arms and shaking her head free of whatever had fallen on her. Yes Man's unnaturally chipper face gazed down at her, flickering slightly at her arrival.
"Hello Annie!" It called. "I'm so excited to see you! How was your trip!"
"Good." She said flatly, lazily resting her palms either side of the keyboard. Let's get straight down to business, she thought. "What's new?"
"Oh, well crime has risen by 38% since the last time you checked in!" Yes Man burbled enthusiastically. Annie blanched, letting out a long, slow whine. "But patrons have reported a 53% rise in fun!"
"Yeah, no doubt." She spat at the computer. "How can we fix this?"
"Well, increasing securitron presence should lower the crime rate," He continued happily, face flashing. "But doing that will also lower the fun rate! What a conundrum!"
"For fuck's sake." She threw her head back to glance at the faded yellow ceiling. Why was everything so fucking hard in the Strip? It was almost as if running a little city was actually very complicated. Annie groaned, finally realizing how tired she really was. "What can I do then?"
"Can I suggest going in and seeking out the source of the trouble out face-to-face?"
"But what's the source of trouble – do we know?"
"Of course not!"
"… Fuck!"
The elevator ding'd in the other room, Annie shutting her eyes – exhausted at all the fun surprises she had received that day. She hoped it was Boone, she really did. At least he would know what to do… he had a nose for sniffing out trouble. That's how he had found her, right?
She heard his footsteps down the stairs, turning to see him pull the curtain aside before slipping through. He looked good – fresh and relaxed, shoeless and freshly shaven.
"You good?" He asked, the look on her face not having diluted yet.
"Yeah, fine. Just the same old shit, ya know?" Annie smiled at him halfheartedly, noting the bottle of vodka in his hands. "Where've you been?"
"Basement." He told her coolly, twisting his wrist to show her his spoils. "Think Cass raided the cupboards before she left."
"Figured." The courier grinned at him as he took a few steps forward, avoiding eye contact with the super computer that loomed over them. Handing her the bottle, he watched as she held it to her chest. "Thanks. I think I need it."
"Yeah? What's going on?" He asked, digging through his pockets for his smokes. Annie watched as the muscles moved in his arms, the skin on his shoulders a stark contrast from his tanned forearms. Any other day she would have leaned in on him to rest her head, but she thought better of it. He would come to her when he was ready.
"Just… Crime. And more things… to do." Annie wheezed, flashing a look at him when he fished out a cigarette. Holding it out for her, he watched as she took it straight in her mouth – stray hand only reaching up to grab it when he struck a match. "You know how it is." She mumbled back through a rush of smoke. "I'm over it. You wanna run away with me? We can build a shack in the middle of nowhere and get old and ugly together."
He huffed a laugh at her and she smiled tiredly. "I'm sorry." Boone told her after a moment of silence, taking in the sight of her as the smoke from her cigarette frame her face. She blinked at him, drained dinner-plate eyes filled with something he hadn't seen from her in a long time. "I've been weird."
"Have you?" She tittered gently, placing the bottle down on the control panel. "I hadn't noticed."
Unable to stop staring, the man drank in her appearance in the soft pink afternoon. She was still the same woman he had met in the mouth of that cursed dinosaur, but she felt different to him now. Annie was that blessing of excitement, as she usually was, but now it felt like Boone had opened another chapter. She was soft with him. He wanted to be soft with her too.
The time they had spent apart while she was running her errands for Julie, Boone had taken the time to shower and have a ponder. The idea of being with her completely, solely and open with her, had scared him. Why did he deserve such a woman in his life? Everything he threw at her, she had caught and placed down gently for safe keeping - coddling him, making sure he was alright. Nothing scared her about him. She knew damn near everything about him that he wanted to keep hidden, and she hadn't run away.
Maybe she tried that one time, but she came back. After everything, every hurt he had ever given her, she had come back to him. He was lucky. How? He had no idea. Everything before her was just a mess of retribution and hostility, yet she'd kicked down his door and pulled him out of that room he was set to die in.
She took a drag in silence, glancing up at him quickly before returning her gaze to the floor below. He'd thought of every moment she'd touched him – the catalogue a heavy book stacked in the corner of his mind. Every brush, every little tamper, those little kisses she'd place around his body to show him that she cared. How he had managed to coax her in anyway, even if all he did was push her away? She wanted him. All of him. Every square inch of him was hers. He knew that.
It didn't stop it from being any less scary, however. Everyone who had ever gotten close to him had perished one way or another, and every breeze of happiness that swirled around him was always snuffed out quickly by the wretched hands of karma. The thought of touching her with his afflicted limbs always drew him back. It had been easy at the Springs because everything was loose – floating to chance. Now feelings had to be reigned in. They were back to reality now, faced with all the tasks they had left behind.
He'd stitched himself back together on the walk home. The high he had been riding had sloped back down into regularity and suddenly he felt as if he hit a brick wall. Was this what he wanted every day – to know she was beside him, even if that meant the chance of her death? She was already in enough danger without his curse following them around, his reckoning. But that's what she wanted, right? She'd told him a thousand times before, and then a thousand times again.
Catching his stare, Annie watched as his bottom lip pursed – trying to speak but failing miserably. She smiled up at him, gaze weary, reaching out her smoke hand to pat him on the bicep. "It'll be okay." Annie told him, reaching back to take a draw. "Things'll fall into place when they're ready, Boone."
He… rolled his eyes at her? Annie blinked at him incredulously, scoffing.
"Okay then, things won't fall into place and nothing will ever be okay. How's that sound?"
"I just—" He bit back at her, frustrated with himself. How hard was it to show her? It was like his brain wanted one thing, but the reigns pulled slack. Boone looked at her, her sweet face glowing with the setting sun. She was beautiful to him in that moment, and his heart did something weird where it gripped itself tighter. His mouth wasn't going to work, was it? His throat had seized, and his search for words fell blank, once again.
Begrudgingly, he put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at it dumbly.
"Thank you." She patted the top of his hand gently. "Very nice." She went to pull away, frustrated in the moment herself. "Would you like a drink?"
He said nothing and she sighed, reaching up to grab his hand.
"What's wrong?" Annie asked – scarred fingers running over his. He frowned, shrugging, caught up in his own thoughts again. Her shoulders sagged and she reached across to put her smoke out in an old ashtray left by the keyboard, returning to face him. "Boone." She said, rubbing at his wrist softly. "Hey, sweetheart. We don't have to talk about it."
"We do." He answered pointblank. "I just don't know how to say it without—"
"Okay, that's alright. We'll get there." She smiled, going to pull herself into him before she stopped. "Can I—?"
He didn't hesitate, tugging on her shoulder. "Yeah. Please."
Annie fell into his chest lightly, savoring the feeling of his warmth dipping into her. Her arms wound around his back, and his returned the favor while her hands dragged his tank top up with every inch they crawled. She gave him a big squeeze, burying her face into his shirt.
"This is nice, huh?" Her words were muffled, a hand sliding up the base of her neck to rest gently in her hair. Boone grunted in response. He was trembling, and he hated it, but the feeling of her held so close to him outweighed any shame it brought. "I'm happy with this." She told him, her fingers sneaking a touch of the soft skin of his lower back. "We could do this forever – I wouldn't mind. I just want you to be okay with it."
"I'm okay with it." He said into her hair, enjoying the soft burn of her touch – blood pumping warmer the longer he held her. His head was quiet for the first time that day, his focus stolen by the sweet feeling that was brewing in his gut. "I'm okay with all of it."
Was it happiness? Maybe.
She pulled her head back to look up at him, beaming like an idiot. She would take that answer, probably run with it – trip a few yards down the track, maybe, but get back up again and continue to run. Because why not? It felt right.
He smiled back, although small and not available to the casual human eye, but Annie caught it. Being with him just felt so right.
Pushing herself in a little closer, her eyes felt heavy – scanning his for any form of rejection. She found none, putting all of her chips into the pile, tugging him that last inch before kissing him.
Boone didn't react at first – brain clutching ahold of his muscles that all had suddenly seized up. But then he kissed her back, a fist forming in the back of her robe. Her hands slid up his neck and through his short hair, freshly groomed and soft, fingers slipping down to grab at his face. He let out this noise that made her stomach warm, breaking away for air to catch her dumb stare. Breathless, barely taking another heaving gulp of air, he went in again.
They stumbled back, world spinning, Annie's legs barely keeping her upright. He held her as close as he could physically manage, the robe straining over her back as her fingernails dug into the soft flesh of his cheeks. Snaking up, feeling almost rabid, he tucked his fingers into her collar and tugged it down, lips falling from hers to creep below her ear – planting small, sharp wet bites at the delicate skin.
The noise that escaped her throat felt good under his lips, palms searching the raw skin of her shoulders and back. He'd seen her body a hundred times before but never had he let himself touch. Each moment of teasing she had given him was pumped into his actions, letting himself have the moment to himself – greedily sucking at the sensitive skin of her neck.
Her nails were digging into his scalp by now, her mind absolutely blown by his movements. She'd done this before with a few people, but it had never felt like this. Annie felt like she was on fire beside him, each quick peck left her shuddering – the muscles in her thighs beginning to twitch in anticipation. Head thrown back, small noises left her mouth in patterns he wanted to commit to his memory.
His grip slunk down her back and across her hip, slipping down behind her thigh and tugging her into him. It was too far gone now, he would have her exactly how he wanted her – and he knew just what he wanted to give her. He wanted to show her what she had shown him, and give her just a taste of what she had caused to brew inside him for so long.
She wasn't sure what to do, frozen, a willing victim to the passion that was suddenly leaking from every pore. It felt amazing, taking control of her mind, her hands scrabbling around his back and balling into his top – pulling him in, as if she wanted to mesh with him right there and then. He made her so hot, hotter than anyone else ever had – and she wasn't sure if it was because it had taken them so long to do it, or if this is how he just made her feel… but it felt so good, her entire body throbbing with the possibilities, his kisses turning to bites that made her shiver.
"Go upstairs." He grumbled beneath her ear, hand squeezing her thigh. His words sent chills down her body, limbs just giving up on attempting to stay still – trembling against him. Almost unable to let her go, Boone gave her one last squeeze and pulled away from her, forcing her forward with the bump of his chest.
She remained wrapped around him, taking advantage of his short break, curling back into him like a creeper vine – running her mouth up from his collar bone to the tip of his chin. She nibbled at it lightly, stealing up further, catching his mouth with her wet lips. He grunted at her, tugging her back, but this time he took steps towards the stairs with her still attached. They pulled against each other, swapping noises they'd never given each other before.
The bed was up there, she reminded herself giddily as a throb of arousal rushed over it. It was almost pleasurable to just walk with him, taking cautious backward steps with him guided by his strong arms.
The backs of her feet hit the stairs and she stumbled up, hands falling to the rails to keep herself steady. He urged her on, face buried in her neck, breath rapacious and staggered. He felt like he was going to lose his mind, legs forcing him further up the stairs as his fingers tucked back into her robe – pulling it down further. She shook her arms free of the silken sleeves, grabbing at the tie around her waist, stopped when she stumbled at a new step.
Making the brave decision to just turn around and walk up the stairs like a normal person, she pulled away from him – his hands trailing down the small of her back to caress down her ass. She made a happy noise, laced with a giggle, reaching the top in the finest victory she had ever taken. Annie turned to catch his arrival, holding out her arm to welcome him back.
Boone pulled at the tie, free hand slipping around her waist to feel the soft skin of her back prickle under his fingers. He felt the welts of her scars, enjoying the landscape that warmed his touch, sliding up to grab at her breast. She watched his face, chewing her bottom lip, shuddering with a ravenous hunger that was trembling between her legs. The robe spilt to the floor, pooling at their feet.
Annie felt vulnerable, standing there as the only one without clothes on. Her hands began for the hem of his shirt, slipping her fingers into the waistband of his pants and swiping at the hot, hairy skin that hid below them. He jerked her closer in response, body pressing into him, keeping her away from her prize. She didn't mind – the way his mouth glued to the tender skin below her ear was more than okay for now.
Grasping at the sweet flesh of her ass, Boone felt like he couldn't get her close enough. She was grinding at him now, the saccharine sounds coming from her driving him further into insanity. He squeezed her tighter, feeling the warmth from between her legs flutter over his fingers. "On the bed." He told her, in a vain attempt of getting her to listen.
Prying her off of him, her limbs fumbling for him, he backed her into the bed and made her sit down. Looking up at her, those eyes burning with the same fire she held for him back at that night at the Wrangler, Annie reached for his waistband again. He stopped her, swatting her hand away, falling to his knees to push her further up the bed.
Her legs, toffee and shivering, drove through the velveteen blankets – her eyes widening in delight as he crawled over her to give her a hard kiss on the mouth once she reached the pillow. Bracing himself with one arm, the other slid down her side, stopping at a breast quickly before reaching for his main goal. Stealing through a brush of hair, he found her – warm, wet, her breath catching in her throat as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.
His lips slowly sucked the skin below her jaw, fingers dipping in – brushing at the honeyed flesh to earn himself a winning yelp from his prey. He rubbed, fighting down her legs that had started to shudder, circles forming between her legs as she began to writhe. Sliding between the slippery folds, caressed softly, wetly by the skin around his fingers, he dipped a finger into her.
Boone pulled back to watch her face, cheeks flushed, an awful pain forming in his pants at the sight of her bottom lip bit between her teeth.
Annie's eyes fluttered open, startling him with the fire that was burning out of control. It was so hard for her to lay there like he wanted, her fists balled in the sheets beside her as the friction he gave her was rolling across her body – building, swelling, hoping to burst. Was that a small grin on his face? Eyes alight with something she had never quite seen in him before, he licked his lips, diving back in for another sweet kiss.
And then he pulled away, much to her discomfort – fingers drawing away to rest on the sheets by her legs. He began to shift himself down the bed, Annie laying in confusion – waiting for him to jump up and unbuckle himself. But it never came, feeling him hovering around her stomach, jumping when his tongue drew pictures around her belly button. A rough hand flew up to grab at her breasts again, fingers pinching at a nipple – her hips pushing up at him in response. He loved it.
Sucking on the gentle flesh of her stomach, he kept on with his journey below. Annie was starting to get scared now – why was he going down there? Not that she was complaining, because she'd never felt such a buzz before in her entire life, but what was he doing? She'd never… What?
Her eyes almost rolled into the back of her skull when he pulled her legs apart; his hot mouth nipping at the soft skin between her thighs. Breathing heavy, she was trembling like a wounded animal, missing the moment he dipped a finger into his mouth before returning it to her core. He sunk it into her gently, insides churning at how good she felt around just his finger. Leaning in, his tongue ran over the velvety skin where her leg met her center, dragging it around but making sure to miss his mark – showing her the anxiety that came hand-in-hand with it.
Another finger slipped in and she rolled against them; breathy, fingers muddling the sheets in a blissful agony. He was teasing her, of course he would, he was going to blown her up before he would give her release. She deserved it, she told herself - the voice in her head skittering like it was caught in a firestorm, after all she had done to him.
He reached down to adjust himself, settling in comfortably for the long haul – resting on his elbows to build his foundation. She took the moment to sit up on her own, looking down at him – flustered, half-dry hair already looking like she'd been to hell and back.
"What are you doing?" She asked him quietly, confused as to why he'd never come back up to her. He blinked, a slight frown tugging at his brows. Her chest was heaving, her small breasts pointed and blushed with his handprints. He ran a finger down the back of her thigh, planting a gentle kiss on the soft skin that followed.
"I can stop if you're uncomfortable," he told himself – disappointed in the idea but not willing to scare her away. She shook her head indignantly, reaching down between her legs to rub a palm on through his hair. He rolled his head to meet her wrist, giving it a little kiss. Her face softened.
"Don't you wanna—?"
"No." He said. "This."
"Oh." She replied, puzzled. "Okay. Continue on then."
Slowly this time, he tucked his hands beneath her and pulled her in closer, her head flopping back onto the pillow. Her thighs were jiggling, shivering under his touch, and he found himself chewing at his lip as he thought over the plan. She was beautiful, everything about it was beautiful. "You're gonna enjoy this. I promise."
The irony was lost on her.
He leant in and gave her a kiss, overwhelmed suddenly by the moment. The gasp she let out sent something through him, and without warning he wrapped his arms around her thighs and tucked in. Her hips flexed up to meet his mouth, tongue diving wetly across her clit, rounding, rolling and swiping at her before allowing for a quick suck.
Annie struggled, arms slamming into the bed, unable to control herself. No one had ever—no one had ever done this before. He dropped down and drank from her, finger crawling to brush at the nub – trying to finish the job he hadn't quite abandoned yet. He kissed her, dipping his tongue into her, trying to taste her the best he could – thumb stroking rough circles to keep her interested.
She was never going to feel uninterested, fingers flexing and toes curling. Her breathing, harsh and rough, rattled through her. Her knees were twitching, loving how he held her there – pinned her down, her eyes rolling again at the thought. God he was hot, her brain screamed at her, her back rising from the bed in a muscle spasm. This was so hot.
Her hands groped at her own chest, pulling at them – guttural noises springing from her that just made him try harder, pull her closer, his fingers burning into her thighs as she writhed against him. Forcing herself onto her elbows, she looked down at him – calling his name gently until he payed her attention. His eyes, blue and clouded with something, glanced up at her – tongue sliding up to greet her clit again, lips sucking as his arm slipped free from her.
She went cross-eyed when his fingers found her again, his arm cramping at the idea but he fought through it, sliding in, coaxing her gently, searching for that spot he knew was lurking close. He never took his eyes from Annie, his wet tongue leaving large, fat strikes against her – her body almost convulsing out of her control at the intenseness of it all.
"Oh shit," she breathed, feeling the tingling blooming when his fingers found that spot. "Oh my god," her voice wavered, barely coming out – the muscles in her legs beginning to tense. He went harder, fingers arching, eye contact burning into her until it all just focused. White. Body rigid, tight.
Legs straightened, toes curling – a noise, was that her? The waves rushing over her, breaking her stillness, every muscle shuddering as her hips bounced into his face. He wrangled her in, never faltering, keeping her close and relishing the small rush against his chin. Was she dithering his name? Probably. He could barely hear anything over the squish of her thighs gripping the sides of his head.
She was almost off the bed, possessed, but he caught her, following her moves, fighting with her body to keep control until she slowed down – a long breath released from her lungs while her body still continued to twitch against him. "Boone," She sniveled at him. "What the fuck was that all about?"
He gave her one last kiss for good luck, lowering her back to the mattress. She twitched out of his way, reaching down to pull his head out of the fray. He hovered above her, enamored by the way she splay out in front of him – rough palms running up her thighs in obsession.
Crawling up beside her, he flopped down onto his side – asking her only one question with his eyes.
"I can't feel my legs." She told him pitifully, her eyes wet with annihilation. "I can't even move… did you just kill me? What the fuck was that?"
He let a little laugh fall from his mouth, tongue swiping his bottom lip before he pulled himself up onto an elbow. "That was good." He told her.
Annie blinked at him, having just been torn down and rebuilt by an absolute mad man. "Right." She shook her head, blindsided by how blasé he was. "Can you—" She stopped herself, a weak arm flinging up to catch his face – shaky fingers tracing his jaw. He looked down at her, eyes ablaze, feeding off of the energy she was putting out. "Can you just kiss me now?"
i didn't fully edit this because i edited it as i went so any mistakes, just let me know.
also voila, here's why this story has an M rating. hope u enjoyed ;)