Who: Cate Adler and Kent Brightstar What: Worry and Comfort When: Thursday, April 18, 2019 | 2 AM-ish Where: The Crimson Kestrel, and then Kent's place Warnings: It's Kent, so obviously Language, but it's also Cate + Kent, so also Adult Times
The waiting had been interminable, but Kent had passed the necessary time by thoroughly plundering the Kestrel's wifi and generally anchoring the far corner of the bar. He made a forbidding figure, only glancing up occasionally from the small screen. Anyone but Cate received a scowl for their trouble, so he was left largely alone. This was for the best, since he was in deep research mode anyway. He might have hated them in general, but even he could concede that the human body was fascinating.
It sparked a thought that persisted well until Cate locked the front up, and Kent glanced up at her approach. "Should I become a doctor? It wouldn't be hard."
Cate put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at him, amused. "Maybe we should have a conversation about healthy hobbies," she teased lightly, crossing the last few steps. She gently shifted the table to make a little room, then sat down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You are not singularly responsible for solving all of the world's problems. Or even all of Tony's problems. And even you need to sleep sometimes." She brushed her fingers across his brow. "Besides, you'd hate it."
Having a lapful of gorgeous girlfriend was evidently all Kent needed to momentarily abandon the quest she'd just accused him of undertaking. She made him laugh at the very least. "Called out on all counts. Not gonna keep me from trying, but maybe I can be induced to leave it alone--at least for a little while." He leaned in and nudged the side of her nose with his. The worry was there, and wasn't going anywhere until he heard something more from Tony. But this was nice. This was good. Necessary. "Wanna get out of here?"
"I definitely want to get out of here." Cate kissed the corner of his mouth, because anything else would be too much of a distaction. Being this close to him very nearly was already. "But you'll have to give me a few more minutes to finish up. Paperwork can wait till tomorrow, but the clean-up can't."
She patted his cheek almost teasingly and slid off his lap in a definite tease, tossing a look over her shoulder before jumping straight into her nightly routine. Most of it was rune controlled, but there were a handful of manual tasks, mostly because of arrangements they'd changed since her grandfather had created the system. She kept meaning to ask Freddy to adjust them, but it hadn't been so crucial that it had mattered much. Even tonight it wasn't that big of a deal, because she managed to knock everything out in about fifteen minutes. She jotted a quick note to let her mom know she'd be back early tomorrow to do the till countdown and other administrative tasks she was skipping, and that was that.
Cate slid her arms around Kent's neck again, kissing him softly. "Where to, Dr. Brightstar?"
Even if it hadn't taken Cate long to finish up, Kent still got sucked back into the blackhole of his phone. There were fascinating articles on prenatal care, and he was sorely tempted to forward a few to Tony. Given the hour, he thought against it. Especially with his gorgeous girlfriend right there for him to think about instead. "Well, if it's yours, it's closer which is definitely a convenience factor. If mine, slightly less chance of running across your family in an awkward situation. So, mine?"
Cate snorted a laugh. "Convenient?" She poked his chest. "Are you a wizard or what? Of course we're going to yours. The whole 'making out in my childhood bedroom' was already old the first time I did it." She laughed again. "I really need to get my own place."
He caught her hand before it could get far, sending it a half-glare that wasn't the least bit believable, especially considering the fact that he raced it to his lips so that he could brush them against the heel of her palm. From there it was a simple matter to slip his other arm around her and step in close. "I'm starting to feel the same way. I mean, sure, I've got my own room and all, and I can just Apparate in and out as I choose, but outside of that is just Reserve bedlam." Kent paused, considering, and then made a face of disgust. "It just occurred to me that the entire Reserve could be construed as my childhood bedroom, and I'm just going to have to ignore that idea, while I actively start looking for places that are absolutely not there. Since that's not really an option at this point--" he affected an English accent--"would you care to take a turn with me, madam?"
"The whole Reserve?" Cate asked as she pulled her hand from his grasp to slide it through the hair at his temple. She gave him a playfully inquisitive look. "Tell me the truth. Have you slept in the barn? Because now I'm imagining this whole Tarzan scenario where you were actually raised by the creatures, and it's not an entirely unappealing mental image. Though I'm sad you haven't modeled the loincloth yet."
Her hand dropped to his shoulder, and she giggled. "Mr. Darcy you are not, but luckily for you I do not have my mom's same obsessions. Ready when you are."
Inclining a brow, there was a hint of a smirk on his face. "You think I'm just gonna lead with the big guns? The loincloth isn't until the, I dunno, seventh or eighth date. If you're lucky. Maybe I'll give you and Tony both a show."
It was hard to say if he was kidding, but there was definite amusement dancing in his eyes as he pulled her even closer. "Darcy's a prick anyway. I'm way more Wentworth than Darcy."
And with that Austen knowledge dropped, he Disapparated.
Virtually the second they reappeared on the material plane, his fingers were in her hair, and he leaned down to kiss her slowly, deeply, just like he'd wanted to for hours now.
Cate sank into the kiss, because that tug had been building long before they'd popped between locations, and because it was so easy to kiss him even when it hadn't. She leaned into him, pushing him back toward his bed. She felt his legs hit the frame, and she broke the kiss long enough to say, "No way you're Wentworth. I take it back. You've got all the hallmarks of a Darcy, terrible accent or not. You can't deny your literary destiny."
She pushed at his chest just hard enough to send him back onto the bed, immediately crawling into his lap and reinitiating the kiss.
He was in no way shape or form upset at being so aggressively handled, although he did feel the need for a slight rejoinder while one hand slid up her back and the other toyed with her waist and the little patch of skin he'd managed to expose. "Just so long as I'm not Wickham. If I'm ever Wickham, I give you full permission to put me out of the world's misery."
The hand at her waist moved around to circle it, and he pulled her tight to him before turning and depositing her atop his pillows with him hovering just over her. His arms were extended on either side of her shoulders in some kind of subconscious display of self-control. "Weren't we supposed to be doing something tonight?"
Cate looked at him with a lazy smile, reaching up to skim her fingers over his cheek and down his jaw. "You mean this wasn't it?" she teased lightly, though without making any other overt moves to re-engage. For a moment, she only examined his face, cataloging the lines of it, looking for the signs of tension that had been driving him all evening. "Are you okay? There is plenty of time to pick this up later."
He shrugged a shoulder, which should have been impossible with his arms locked the way they were, but they didn't even give a slight tremble. "Just thinking about Tony and Nat and the baby. He's so gone on being an uncle. I'm not sure I've ever really seen him like this. It's--"
Kent let some of his own worry into his face, gaze growing distant as his brain flashed through some of the articles he'd been reading, before he was present again. He began lowering himself slowly, until he could press his lips--feather-soft--against her collarbone. "I want to pick this up now. Please."
Cate slid her hands into his hair, eyes automatically drifting closed. There was something unique and oh-so enticing about Kent's quiet intensity "You can kiss me like that all night, whenever you want." She stilled him with one hand on his shoulder. "But are you sure you don't want to talk first? I'm worried, too, even if it doesn't seem like it. It feels sort of...odd, being here like this when Tony's there. Even if, you know, we probably wouldn't all three be here anyway."
He'd managed to kiss her a little higher on her neck before she stopped him in deed and word. His gaze flickered up to her face and then back down again. Kent sighed as he eased himself down to her side instead of directly on top of her, suddenly tired in a way that had nothing to do with the hour or how long he'd been awake. He'd run longer off of less, but not usually with this level of personal stress. "We could be," he mumbled into her shoulder, having pressed his mouth there. "All three here at some point."
A sudden bolt of memory had him curling against her, shame mixing with want as he thought about what had happened in this very bed just two days (now) previous. He wished he'd kept his mouth shut about what he wanted, but there was something about Tony… There was just something about him. Just like there was something about Cate. "I keep turning it over in my head. It's like some sadistic intellectual loop. Tony-Nat-the baby, Tony-Nat-the baby. Is there a study out there I haven't found? Some way I can make her better? You said I don't have to save the world, but don't I? Why do I have this giant brain if not to help people--even if I hate them?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, I think Tony's right on this one. It's not a thing to be rushed." That, and Cate couldn't help thinking that there was some magical evening out point when they'd all be ready for it—or maybe they wouldn't, but better to wait than to ruin it.
She turned toward him, further entwining her legs with his and running one hand up his chest. "You do help. But seriously, Kent, leave some jobs for everyone else." There was a hint of tease in the statement, but that didn't make the sentiment any less serious. "There are people whose job it literally is to fix things like this. At least give them a chance to do it before you start studying for another degree. I'm pretty sure that would take you more than a few days, at least." Her hand reached his neck, and she brushed her fingers lightly over his pulse. "You are quite literally the smartest person I know...but you deserve to reserve some of that brain power to not think so hard and just be happy, too."
His eyes shut briefly at her touch against his throat, and he hummed his approval before opening them again to give her a faint smile and a raised brow. "I'm trying to decide if that's a challenge, and also if I should point out that you wanted us to talk about it instead of distracting each other like we'd originally intended." Kent dipped his head to kiss her, fingers trailing through the ends of her hair. "Or is that a sure-fire way to ensure a one way trip out of your good graces?"
"Are you trying to say that you're only happy when we're not talking, Dr. Brightstar?" Cate asked, narrowing her eyes playfully at him. "Because I'm trying to decide if that's an insult to my conversation skills or a wishful compliment to other things I might be able to do with my mouth. But then, with an attitude like that, you might never find out." She raised one eyebrow.
Kent stared for a moment, and then he laughed. It just kind of exploded out of him, even though he muffled the worst of that initial burst of sound against his own upper arm. He was helpless with it, all of the tension from the day, the constant yammering of his thoughts, it poured out into giggles that shook him all over. There were actually tears in his eyes when he managed to regain some semblance of control, and he grinned at her. "God, I love you."
Cate grinned back at him, because any time she could get a laugh like that out of Kent was a moment to be cherished. She cupped his cheek in one hand, running her thumb along the corner of his mouth, following the shape of his amusement even as it faded into something calmer. From there, she traced his lips, her touch featherlight and almost reverential. "I don't think you'll have any trouble with my good graces if you keep saying things like that," she said softly, pressing her body closer to his. "But maybe that's enough talking."
She kissed him, slowly, but with lips immediately parting to taste every part of that smile, following the path her fingers had taken only moments before.
He went very still, barely moving, barely breathing as she touched his face. His heart ached from the tenderness, and Kent had a very real moment where he felt wretchedly undeserving. But she was here. Because she wanted to be. Because she wanted him. And maybe he could make a valiant effort to shut his head up for long enough just to appreciate it. It should have been impossible to pull her even closer, but he managed it.
A quiet moan left him as he matched her, like for like, touch for touch. His hand moved up her spine, then across her shoulder, to the neckline of her top. Hooking a finger in, he pulled it gently aside and laid a kiss against the exposed skin. "Cate…"
The thing that continued to surprise Cate about being with Kent, like this, was the emotion that he put behind every kiss. They'd been close enough before this turn in their relationship that she'd seen both his intellectual and emotional sides, but he did it with a gentleness now that made it seem new. That, and she couldn't forget how many times now that he'd said he loved her, and the way those words seemed to accentuate every touch and resonate to her core.
She gently pushed him toward his back and shifted accordingly, in one fluid motion pulling off her shirt and encouraging him to do the same with a quick tug at the hem. She barely waited for him to finish and settle back before she had straddled him and started following a path up his abdomen and chest with her lips.
His skin jumped and his muscles flexed of their own accord as Cate made that lovely trip northward. He'd had a scant second or two to take in the smooth lines of her body before she'd evidently gotten him right back where she wanted. A token complaint for the brevity of that vision was summarily tossed aside in favor of reaching for the gorgeous expanse of her back. His hands moved down as she moved up, fingers finding and digging lightly into the little instances of tensed muscle he felt.
"You're so fucking gorgeous," Kent breathed into the tenuous stillness that had come up between them. There was definitely this feeling like they were teetering on the edge of something. The question was, would they fall together?
Cate smiled at the compliment even as she closed her eyes and arched her back into the kneading of his fingers. "That feels amazing," she said, the words fading into a pleased little noise and a sigh. She continued her quest for more places to kiss, though his hands were enough of a distraction that she kept lingering in the same spot and letting his fingers direct the sensations for stretches of seconds instead. "Kent...."
She reached his mouth again and put all of that building heat into the kiss, intense rather than urgent. When she broke for air, she was breathing hard, and rested her forehead against his. "Kent...do you remember when we started this, and we said we didn't want any boundaries? Do you think we've unintentionally put a boundary on this?" She caressed his cheek. "I feel like we've been waiting for this perfect moment, but...what if I don't want to wait for perfect?"
Desire flared hot inside of him, occluding any doubt and uncertainty, and he moved to settle his hands against the enticing curve of her bared waist. He struggled for words momentarily, coming down from that heated kiss, and a flash of frustration made him cut his gaze to one side briefly so Cate wouldn't think the expression was for her. "I don't… want perfect. For once in my life, it doesn't have to be perfect. I…" He took in a deep breath, because he needed it, and looked back up at her. "I just want right. I just want you."
Cate's eyes went a little watery as he looked away from her. It wasn't that she doubted him, but rather she hated that he doubted himself. She could see it in the tug of lines around his mouth, feel it in the rise and fall of his chest as he caught his breath. "Me too," she said softly, thumb still trailing lightly over his jaw. "I wanna stay tonight and wake up next to you." Then, to break a bit of the tension, she added with a tiny hint of a wicked smile, "Preferably naked?"
She kissed him, and this time when her hands trailed over his abdomen, it was with intent, not just to feel the planes of smooth skin, but to find the waistband of his jeans and start working at the button.
While he moved his hips up to facilitate the removal of his jeans, Kent reached around to deftly unclasp her bra. There was no fumbling here, even if his heart was about to pound its way out of his chest. He lifted his face up to taste her grin, that mischievous curve that lingered just at the edges. She tasted like a warm summer's day. Felt like one too. "That's a really good idea. Just all around. I'm fully on board. Especially that last bit."
He slipped the loosened strap off her shoulder and caressed his lips across the skin at her shoulder. Easing himself down, he played his fingertips over the curve of her breasts while his mouth moved over her. The heat that pooled low in his stomach was flowing out to every part of him, molten and scorching. In getting his jeans off, his boxer briefs went with them, and Kent groaned to feel her against him, pressed close, but still with that layer between them. He didn't have words anymore, just feeling and her name, which he whispered brokenly.
Once again, Cate's eyes drifted closed as she pressed into his touch. Awareness of where they were heading had sent her heart pounding a million beats per minute, and her breath was getting shallower by the second as she remembered to draw air between the soft sounds that passed through her lips every time his hands brushed over her bare skin. Her fingers explored their own path, shifting her position over him just enough that she could skim them down his hips, and, with something halfway toward a giggle, between them to see just how speechless she could make him.
The feeling of Cate's soft and warm hand on him--anticipated and craved in equal measure--still had his back arching and a moan dropping from lips parted in stunned wonder. He'd wondered, imagined, but reality? Kent was now convinced that reality would probably kill him. It would be a fantastic way to go, and he'd do it again and again just to be with her like this. Just to be with her in any way. Desire crashed through him, spurring him back to action, and it was his turn to reach down so he could return the favor with her jeans as he sat up so he could kiss her again.
It didn't matter if parts of it were awkward, or he couldn't keep the grin off his face as she laughed. She'd said she didn't want to wait for perfect, but as far as Kent was concerned this particular moment in time was sheer perfection.