Niall Quigley (niallquigley) wrote in 20somethings, @ 2022-05-08 14:43:00 |
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Who: Niall, Skye
What: Not even rain can put a dampener on a picnic date
When: 8 May 2028
Where: Knocknahur, County Sligo
Warnings: Some adult content (fade to black)
Progress: Complete
Niall wasn’t the most outdoorsy wizard. He enjoyed a nice walk, especially in places like Hyde Park, but he was a bit out of depth anywhere properly rural. He wanted to push himself a little out of his comfort zone, especially after the last couple of months of quiet, lowkey dates with Skye.
A picnic near his grandparents’ home in Ireland seemed like a lovely idea for a spring day. He’d made all the food himself from scratch, even the bread for the sandwiches. Perhaps it was overkill, but Niall genuinely enjoyed cooking and sharing a meal with others. To accompany the meal, he’d also prepared cocktails and stored them in a bottle in the basket.
The only thing that Niall couldn’t plan for was the weather. As he offered her another treat, listening to her explain the plot of her book club’s latest novel, large drops of rain started to plop onto the blanket and splash into their drinks. The clouds had come out of nowhere, quickly darkening the sky.
Niall scooted closer to Skye, snatching up his wand from where it lay amid their tapas selection. He flicked it upward, a golden arc of light erupting from the tip to form a glimmering umbrella above their heads. The rain bounced off it melodically and Niall gave Skye a sheepish smile. “Sorry,” he said, though he knew there was nothing he could do about the weather. “It was all going so well.”
Skye, too, was not an outdoorsy sort of witch. No matter how many times her father had tried to get her into sport - any sport - or hiking or running, she just had never had that particular McLaggen obsession. She was lucky that Hunter - easily the sibling she was closest to, hands down - never seemed to mind their differences. She liked that about Niall, that he shared her affinity for the indoors sort of life. They’d been dating for a couple of months, but as the rain began to fall, she still felt butterflies take over her stomach at the close proximity.
She gave him a shy smile, “Honestly, I think it’s going quite perfectly,” and then she scooted just a bit closer to him, using the magical umbrella and the rain as an excuse.
That little scoot closer was extremely satisfying to Niall. He kept hoping that he hadn’t been taking things too slowly with Skye and that she wouldn’t get bored of him. The truth was, he had never been quick off the blocks when it came to romance. But now, after getting to know Skye better outside of work, he knew he was ready to start taking things further; it was already frustrating to be at the studio and not be able to casually touch her arm or back in the way that he’d become accustomed.
His smile grew wider, spreading across his face. “Well, I suppose this is rather cosy,” he agreed.
The spell cast a warm light over the pair and Niall could only admire the way it lit up Skye’s features. “You look so beautiful right now,” he told her honestly.
Oh Merlin, the way his eyes softened and the little crinkles at their corners just melted Skye. He was so sincere, in everything he did, at least that she had seen, and she just adored that earnestness. Without thinking, she replied, “You always do,” and then she blushed. It was true though - at work she found herself just watching him sometimes, as he ran meetings and directed their crew and spoke quietly with the director. She hoped no one had noticed, but no one had said anything, anyway.
“So, your grandparents live here? It’s beautiful,” she asked, not knowing what else to say after his complement and her fumble. The property - or at least, what she had seen of it - was vast and green and well-kept and the rolling hills had made her heart skip when they had arrived. She leaned her shoulder against his, hoping she wasn’t being too clingy, but she loved being near him, when they were alone like this she felt so comfortable with little intimacies like that.
Niall rather thought he’d bungled an opportunity to kiss her then. He tried not to dwell on that and instead focus on her smile.
“Yes, this place has been in the family for generations. They’re in their early hundreds, though, so my uncle takes care of most things. My dad was a later in life surprise for them.” Niall liked visiting the estate, but it had never been home. “Me and my sister grew up in London, though. So I’m much more of a city boy.”
Skye nodded and hummed, “Us kids spent a ton of time at my grandparents’ home in Scotland growing up. We’re all pretty city ourselves, though,” she thought maybe except for Hunter, who seemed to like being outside more than the rest of them. Hunter and her dad loved it for sport, of course, but less than Hunter. She and Scarlett were city through and through, and her mother was the sort who could be comfortable pretty much anywhere.
She looked at him, again just enjoying the fact that she could look so unabashedly here. “I like this,” she admitted, unsure if he’d know what she’d mean, but her voice was soft and happy and had a romantic lilt to it.
“Me too,” Niall agreed, somehow feeling as soft and pillowy as the bao buns he’d packed in the picnic. The rain above them was steady, thrumming steadily against his spell. So many people were used to seeing the sharper edges that he’d cultivated in his rise to his current position at work and through worrying about other people’s feelings instead of his own. But with Skye he felt as though he could be a little more vulnerable. That was new and perhaps a little scary.
Inclining his head, his lips met hers gently, savouring every moment of the kiss while trying to keep his wand upright to protect them from the rain.
As he softly kissed her, Skye felt... gentle. Like soft winds and cloud soft pillows and a warmth spread through her until she was blushing straight to her blonde hair. When they parted, she gave him a large, radiant smile and moved the smallest bit closer to him under the golden light, again. “It’s so nice not to have to worry about who’s seeing what or noticing the way I look at you,” she couldn’t help her little chuckle of self-deprecation. “I hope I haven’t been too obvious at work, then again,” she said, thinking for a moment, “if no one noticed while I was just pining away, I don’t know that I have anything to worry about now,” she gave him an embarrassed look.
Goodness, she really did have it bad for him. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not yet, but she hoped she hadn’t embarrassed him at work, at least. How cliched, the ‘star’ and the producer...
“No one’s said anything to me,” Niall mused, sure that some people on set might have noticed the subtle shift in the way they interacted - and perhaps the not-so-subtle way that he looked at Skye sometimes. That gorgeous smile of hers aimed in his direction was worth every moment that he had to pretend he wasn’t utterly enraptured by her.
“I suppose,” he said slowly, “we won’t be able to hide this forever. Or, rather, I don’t want to.” Niall didn’t have plans on going public just yet, but the way things were with Skye made it feel like something that would inevitably happen. He wouldn’t give up those smiles or her kisses for anything.
She cackled, “I doubt anyone from the office would! You’re the boss!” She exclaimed, giddy at the silly idea. When he continued though, she settled and listened intently, trying to keep her surprise and excitement off of her face. “Yeah?” She asked, she wasn’t worried about herself - she still worked for The Prophet, after all, and if they ever decided to replace her on the show (if the show got picked up for more than this year, anyway), she could fall back on that - but she knew how seriously he took his job, and how hard he’d worked and how much he loved it. He’d hate for him to lose even a millimetre of his reputation over her.
“If we can’t, or don’t want to, I want you to know that’s okay with me. I mean, I’d love to, but I’d hate for it to come back against you,” she wasn’t sure if that made sense, but she took his free hand in hers tightly.
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Niall shook his head in amusement. “I might be the boss, but they’re not all brown-nosers.” He’d worked with many of the crew before and while his recent promotion meant they were no longer getting drinks after work their relationship was still such that they could joke around and tease each other. Still, no comments had yet come his way about Skye and he was glad that his sister was busy with her own show and couldn’t pry too much.
Her concern over his career warmed his heart. “That makes sense. But I don’t want you to feel like I’m keeping you a secret.” Niall kissed her again, a lingering press of his lips. “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Maybe they’d find the right time to share this with the world or maybe people would find out some other way. Perhaps, like the rain, it was something he couldn’t plan for.
She nodded in agreement after his kiss, “When we come to it,” she repeated. Skye was usually more impulsive, like signing on to the show, and taking on The Birdie role at work (a role she would not allow to announce her relationship), but with this, for Niall she could be patient and understanding and all of those things.
Sighing with her whole body, she said, “You know, I might get used to being able to be this close to you. It’s honestly so hard at work,” she said with wide eyes of amusement. “You’re quite, quite attractive when you’re running a meeting,” she said with a waggle of her eyebrows, very cheeky.
Niall chuckled, wholly in agreement with that sentiment. “Same. It’s a little frustrating to be at work and not be able to say hello or goodbye the way I want.” He didn’t consider himself a touchy-feely sort of man, yet he found himself actively seeking out ways to express affection after knowing that he had taken so long to make a move in the first place.
Taking advantage of their solitude, Niall dipped his head to kiss her jaw, then her neck. She smelled so good, her skin so soft beneath his lips, that it brought up a whole other sort of frustration. He hoped that Skye would be interested in coming back to his flat later.
“I always see you watching me,” he murmured. “It gets me rather hot under the collar.”
She gave him a soft, warm look and said, “I love it even when you just say goodbye and hello in a totally normal colleagues way, to be honest. Before I... admitted things...” She hadn’t been bold, that was sure, “those were my favourite parts of the day.” She had loved the little moments she got to see him, spend with him, talk with him - even if it hadn't been in the way she’d wanted to see him. And now she got both. And yes, it was frustrating at the office - to have to hide her feelings and their status - but it was more than worth it to have moments like this.
She sighed as his lips explored her skin, her head stretching back to give him more space to roam. And then he said that and she definitely got hot under the collar. Did Niall have any idea the effect he had on women? On her? Her voice came out nearly in a whine as she sighed his name.
Goodness, how did she make his name sound so good? It was incredibly distracting, evidenced by the way his hand tried to move to touch her and he forgot about the magical umbrella. The golden dome tipped to the side, rain sprinkling down onto his feet. He broke away, laughing, and straightened his wand again.
“I was thinking,” he suggested, though it was hard to actually think of anything that wasn’t Skye, “that when the rain stops we could decamp back to my place?” His dark eyes sparked with something that might have been described as mischief. It would be his absolute honour to finally explore more of that delightfully flushed skin.
Laughing with him, Skye pulled her feet up to her body to keep from getting wet and it only served to have her curled up even closer to him as he adjusted their magical cover. Her cheeks warmed when he asked about going back to his flat and she nodded, words sticking in her throat for a moment. Was this the moment? The day? Wouldn’t that be perfect.
“That sounds nice,” she got out, her voice small and fragile - like she was afraid of breaking the spell they were under. She didn’t want him to change his mind. If he did, that would be fine of course, but she really didn’t want him to. He was so hot, and she was so into him - even before they’d started seeing each other she had spent more than one night at home wondering what it might be like to be with him. More than once his name had been the one falling from her lips as she had taken the edge off on her own.
“Good,” Niall said, feeling as though he’d been swept under a spell too. He could almost be grateful to the rain for the way it had prompted Skye to curl up against him like this. It was entirely delightful and entirely not enough.
Niall had always taken his time to get to know the women he dated before taking the next step of being physically intimate. Judging by the quiet, wondrous tone of her voice, Skye wanted that too and didn’t resent him for being circumspect in his advances. When they were in the privacy of his flat, he didn’t intend to hurry either and wanted to savour every moment.
“Your sundress,” he told her as he kissed her bare shoulder, “has been giving me all sorts of ideas this afternoon.”
Skye’s eyebrows shot up a bit in surprise, even in the spell his lips and his words had her under. “Has it?” Maybe she needed to wear sundresses way more often, like all the time... Especially at the office, she thought. Oh, wouldn’t that be fun! She chuckled, low in her throat, “You wouldn’t want to tell me any of those ideas, would you?” She wondered - she knew he took things slow, and had accepted that and gone with the flow - what he thought about talking less slow than they were actually moving... Goodness, she could do with his voice giving her some new material for her private moments at home.
Niall’s ears started to turn pink. Now, there was something new that he’d just learned about Skye. He thought she might be a bit disappointed if she expected real dirty talk from him, but he might be able to give her a little something.
“Well, you see, this dress leaves just the right amount to the imagination.” He kissed the thin strap. “Makes me wonder what sort of thing you might be wearing under it.” Niall could barely bring himself to pull his lips away from her warm skin. “And all of the places I could kiss you.”
Above them, the spring shower started to ease off, the gentle patter against Niall’s spell getting quieter.
Skye smiled softly at his ‘ideas’ and then gave him a coy look, “I guess you’ll just have to keep wondering,” she paused, and then added a little more softly, “for now,” until we get back to your place? Please? she thought.
She did make a mental note, though, that he seemed to like her in little sundresses, and she knew she would have to use that knowledge to her advantage going forward. Maybe less ripped jeans and old, worn tee shirts at the office from now on. As his lips continued exploring her skin softly, she sighed again, doing her best not to fidget and squirm, still not wanting to break the spell that seemed to have come over them. Maybe it was the slowing rain, the privacy, the golden glow. Whatever it was, part of her didn’t want it to end, even as they headed to his flat, she wanted this feeling - warm and hazy and yet charged - to come with them.
The rain did, indeed, come to an end, though it took Niall a couple of minutes to notice, so engrossed was he in kissing Skye. When they had started working together, he hadn’t anticipated her working her way into his heart like this, but he was very glad she had.
He lowered his wand, the spell dissipating quickly. The remainder of the picnic was easy to pack away with a few spells, a few sweet items still tucked away in the blanket. Was it too much to hope that Skye would be interested in having dessert in bed later? Much later.
His flat was, he suspected, exactly what Skye would expect from him. Neat, well-appointed, masculine. But a tour was the last thing on his mind, especially with real privacy now at hand. Setting down the picnic basket, his hands curled around Skye’s slim waist and he tugged her close as his smile grew almost possessive. “You really are breathtaking,” he murmured.
Skye tried to help with the picking up - but she was somewhat dazed and useless, she couldn’t help laughing at herself as he finished up. When they arrived at his flat she looked around - it was indeed exactly what she’d imagined for him - but her gaze was cut off when he took her into his arms like that, so abruptly that she gasped in a smile up at him.
Blushing at his compliment - and his proximity - she breathed his name, “Niall,” in a bit of an admonishment, not fully accepting his compliment. He was the breathtaking one - he was perfect, and hell she hadn’t even seen him shirtless yet! But she knew he was. And Skye had never been insecure in her life until she met him - not even meeting with Silviya Capper Queen of Media had made her nervous or doubt herself. And then she’d met Niall, and it felt like since that very moment she hadn’t been able to catch her breath. She had been (heated...) worked up and motivated and trying to show her absolute best in everything since she’d met him. Constantly wanting to impress him, to get compliments from him, his small smiles.
And here she was, in his arms, in his flat, with him looking at her nearly like something he wanted to savour, devour. It was all going to her head in an airy, almost-dizzy way, like when you can’t quite breath deeply enough. He was the breathtaking one. Clearly.
Her hands came up to rest on his chest, wanting to feel his muscles, his skin, loving the feeling of his strong arms around her, his eyes on her.
Something about this witch in his embrace was bringing out a side of Niall that he rarely saw in himself. It was longing and instinct, the way she was looking at him eliciting a sort of pride that soothed the more primal part of his brain. She smelled like sunshine and petrichor and Niall wanted nothing more than to bury himself in the scent of her.
His dark eyes flashed with interest as she chided him, stirring a desire to shower her with compliments until she believed them. He kissed her lightly to prevent further complaints. In the privacy of his flat, Niall felt empowered. Never one for public displays of affection, he relished the opportunity to have Skye all to himself.
He purposely dislodged one of her sundress’s thin straps with his thumb, lowering his head to kiss the spot of skin on her shoulder where it had rested. “Is it too early to ask you to stay the night?” he murmured, hope sparking somewhere in his chest.
She sighed again when his lips connected with her skin - skin he hadn’t fully explored yet and her toes curled at the thought of him doing that; fully exploring her skin with his perfect lips.
She didn’t quite hear his question, but she did her something about “stay” and so she murmured and hummed an agreement in response, unconsciously mirroring his tone, hoping that was the right answer. She wanted to stay. It had been months - she’d been so patient, and going slow was not her style (just like her little sister had said) and it was all going to pay off. She was so sure it would pay off, if the way his arms felt around her had anything to say about it. She hadn’t seen him disrobed, but she had felt from the beginning that he must have a great body. There was no way he didn’t. It was that thought - back when they’d all been in meetings about whether or not the show would ever even happen - that had started her crush. Well, that and his smile. And his lovely voice and how thoughtful he was when he spoke. And his hands. Okay, so it had been everything, but she had definitely thought about how incredible his body must be more than once over the months they had worked together, and even more since they’d been dating.
And now she might finally get to find out, the thought had her breaths coming in a little bit shallow in anticipation.
Her hands came up to his shoulders, gripping him probably more tightly than she should, but under his soft and insistent explorations, her knees were feeling a little weak.
Niall could feel Skye’s agreement more than he could hear it, blood pumping loudly in his ears. His touches became less teasing now, more purposeful. There was a bump as her back met the doorframe to his bedroom, kissing her with a heat that he had let simmer for far too long. With her permission, he was going to take her to bed and stoke that heat as high as they could bear.
His hands slid down her delightful body to grasp at her pert arse, pulling their bodies as close as they could get while still clothed. Skye’s tight grip on him only served to encourage him, a turn on in itself. The knowledge that his bed was mere feet away meant that his desire to take things slow was well and truly dissolving. In testament to that, one hand moved lower to the back of her thigh, drawing her leg up as he pressed his growing need against her. There was no mistaking Niall’s intentions now and he didn’t want there to be any confusion about how much he wanted her.
“My bedroom is right here,” he told her in a breathy tone, his words a promise rather than a suggestion.
Skye couldn’t stop the moan that escaped her lips when his hands grabbed her arse, good lord his hands were strong in the exactly right way.
She nodded at what he said, feeling half delirious that he’d even said it - his bedroom? His bedroom! She didn’t even want to look around, despite that being her nature, she just wanted his bed, his body, to be out of her freaking sundress and finally feel his hands - his hands! - all over her skin. She added an enthusiastic, “Mmhmm,” to her nod and allowed him to lead her body as he knew where he was going and she had no clue what was even up or down, the anticipation and excitement leading her nearly to madness. “Niall,” she whispered into the skin at his neck, giving him a slow, sensuous kiss there, too.
Half carrying Skye to the bed, Niall broke away from her kisses only long enough to tug off the neat navy henley he’d worn for the picnic. As soon as he could, though, he was embracing her again. Perhaps it was her enthusiasm stirring his own or maybe they were feeding off each other, but Niall didn’t want his hands to leave her for any longer than they had to.
The way she touched him gave him a pang of regret that he had waited so long for this. Yet he always wanted to be sure of a woman before taking the next step and he hoped that she knew at this point that he wanted to be with her for more than a gorgeous face and perfect body.
His fingers pulled at the hem of her dress, tugging gently at the soft ditzy print in his grip. If Skye was like this over kisses and gentle touches, Niall had to wonder how she would react to his mouth on places other than her face and neck.
Oh damn. She only got a brief glance before he was kissing her again but his body. Holy shit. Her mouth went a little dry. His skin was smooth and his muscles defined and it was all perfect without being too ‘beefcake’ or anything like that. He was an Adonis.
Now she needed his hands on her and needed to feel that incredible body under her own fingertips, too. She whined as he played with the hem of her dress, her hands moving to his to start to push it up her thighs - trying to make her point without rushing him but damn did he know how to tease a witch! And over months at that!
When her hands covered his, Niall felt a thrill go through him. Heat rushed through him and he eased her against the bed. Niall’s fingers slid up warm, soft skin under her dress and for a man who liked plans it was hard to decide exactly where to continue with such wonderful options at his fingertips.
He couldn’t decide whether to divest Skye of the dress or get a taste of her half-dressed and needy. Niall was increasingly needy himself, pouring himself into heated kisses and less cautious, intimate touches.
“If you ever want to stop,” he murmured, curling his grip into the edges of her underwear, “you just have to say.” Niall hoped she wouldn’t.
Skye couldn’t help the laugh that puffed out of her lips, “Same, but please don’t. Please don’t stop,” she thought she might die if he stopped.
She kissed him fervently, deeply, pouring her need and want and desperation for him into the kiss. When she ripped her lips from his she did whisper, knowing it wasn’t the sexiest topic, “I’m on the potion and clean, by the way,” she wanted him to know and figured he’d want to know - Niall was cautious and patient and smart. She knew he’d want to know.
Niall’s heart warmed at her attention to detail; he found the consideration that she gave in telling him that extremely sexy, as it happened, though he already trusted her before taking this next leap in their relationship. He kissed her lightly, assuring her that he was clean too, certain that he could feel the need radiating from her.
He shifted down the bed, drawing her underwear with him. Now that he had her like this, Niall had an entirely different idea for dessert in mind. He kissed the side of her knee, flashing Skye a smile that was full of desire and hunger. Though he’d never intended to tease her over the course of months, he was going to put the teasing well and truly in the past.