The journey to consciousness was a slow one for Mateo Santiago. It started with a feeling—a feeling of a dull ache that went all the way from his toes to the top of his head. Each and every muscle was sore (but like, in a good way?), and he could only think of a couple of things that led to such a gloriously painful feeling. It was quickly followed by a pounding in his head. Ah yes. The Vegas hangover.
Taking a moment, he slowly opened his eyes, groaning slightly at the invading light. Fucking hell, how much had he drank last night? Pushing himself up onto his elbows, he looked around his hotel room. There was only one problem—this wasn't his hotel room, and he was very, very naked.
"Shit," he muttered, squeezing his eyes closed. Breathing deeply, he turned his head slightly to the left and cracked one eye open slowly. There was definitely someone laying next to him. As he opened his other eye, and his vision focused, he realized that it wasn't just someone, it was Nora, and she was equally as naked as he was. "Fuck."
Running a hand over his face, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, going in search of his boxers. He found them on the other side of the room and pulled them on, ignoring the pounding in his head as he moved about Nora's hotel room until he found what he was looking for—the room service menu. There was no way that he was going to be able to function, let alone piece together the events of the night before if he didn't have some damn food. He knew that Nora was going to be hungry when she woke (when wasn't that girl hungry?) so he figured that it would be a good idea to acquire breakfast and coffee.
It was when he was reaching for a glass to fill with water that he noticed something that he had definitely not started the night before with; a purple unicorn ring had been squeezed onto his left-hand ring finger. No. No way. They didn't ... did they?
His eyes darted around until they landed on a white folder on the table, that was embossed with silver wedding bells. Oh fuck. They did. He glanced back over towards the bed, and then back at the folder. He approached the stationary like it was a bomb, opening the little folder slowly, reading the names on the marriage certificate with a groan. Yep. They definitely did. Freddy was going to murder him.
Sighing, he filled up two glasses of water, downing one for himself, before placing the other on the nightstand next to Nora's head. He was going to have to break this news to her, and he was really glad that he'd ordered food, though he was worried now that he was going to end up having those pancakes thrown at his head.
As he waited for the food, he watched her sleep, and he was reminded of all the reasons why he liked her so damn much. She was gorgeous,. Funny. Strong. Hell, if he'd had his way back then, she never would've met that asshole, Karl. He was startled from his thoughts by the delivery of the food, which he wheeled next to the bed. Now he had to wake her up.
Climbing back into the bed next to her, Mateo let his fingers trail up and down her side as he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder. He trailed kisses up her neck until his lips were right next to her ear. "Wake up, Elle. I have pancakes," he whispered, nipping her earlobe lightly with his teeth. "And bacon, and coffee."
Mmmmm... Nora Adler was far too familiar with this particular dream. The feel of Mateo's hands traveling along her skin, his lips on her shoulder, whispers in her ear. Even the words were almost the same. There had always been mention of food in the dream, but there was also mention of other things. Mentions of things he planned to do to the body he'd already used at least twice before if the pleasant soreness was any indication.
"You always say the sweetest thing in this dream," she murmured, still more than mostly asleep. "S'why it's my favorite." Yes... she'd had this dream so many times since her realization of her crush on him at WeCAME. Even when she'd been with Karl, there had been some nights she woke up with Mateo's name on her lips.
Of course, the smell of the foods that she could hear Mateo's lips speaking into her ear was slowly cajoling her from her slumber. Anyone who knew her knew she loved her food and breakfast was definitely some of the best kinds of food there were. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, Nora loved it all. And while there may not have been eggs this morning, she was smelling pancakes and bacon.
And coffee.
Moaning softly, Nora's blue eyes opened and blinked to focus. It was when she began to stretch that she noted the pleasant soreness in her muscles. That feeling that was familiar, but had only happened one other time in her life. That one other time led her to the realization that she was definitely not alone. That the hand on her body was very real and that the voice at her ear was definitely not a dream.
Immediately, she was turning her head to find one Mateo Santiago laying in bed beside her. Touching her. She was naked, but she noted that he was in his boxers. That didn't mean much if her body said anything about that. Teo was the only one who'd ever managed to make that pleasant soreness vibrate from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes. Karl hadn't even managed it in the years that they'd been together. And didn't it just suck that both times she'd been with the man she really wanted, she couldn't remember a damn thing about it?
"Mateo? What the hell did we—" She moved to sit up and immediately the world flashed hard against her vision and everything went left. Her hands went to her temples, over her eyes, and she groaned. "Oh... fuck. Ow..." She'd noticed the water bottle on the nightstand beside her—probably Mateo's doing—and reached for it. In moments, it was opened and drained.
She didn't feel better, but the smell of the food was still calling to her. Nora needed food as much as she needed to breathe right now. So, in true Nora fashion, she put everything else on hold to reach for the blankets and pull them away from her nude body...
Or rather, she would have. Had a flash of something else not caught her attention.
Blinking, she held up her hand and looked at her left ring finger. Her eyes widened. Had they?...
Her attention went right back to the man beside her, the surprise evident on her face. "Mateo, what the fuck did we do?"
There was no stopping the amused grin that broke out on Mateo's face as she muttered in her sleep. She'd had this dream before, huh? Now that he was going to have to get more information on later. Maybe when his head wasn't pounding. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea.
He watched as she slowly started to make her way back to consciousness. It was a gradual process. The slow, full body stretch, the eyes that blinked into focus. It was a beautiful thing to witness, and he took in every little bit of it. Each flex and soft noise. Mateo never wanted to forget that sight.
Finally, she turned to look at him, and he watched as her brain caught up with what her eyes were seeing. "Quite a lot, apparently," He answered in amusement, one hand moving to her shoulder to steady her as she attempted to sit up. Her head was probably spinning. His certainly had when he'd first attempted to move. "Take it easy there, Elle. I don't need you puking on me."
Still, he wasn't surprised that the moment the water was gone, she was starting to move towards the food. The look of realization hit her face, and Mateo ran a hand over his head, sighing. "Well, I had hoped to get you fed before I brought it up, but apparently we got married."
His touch was calming, but she still was trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was married. Not just married, but married to her brother's best friend. The same man she'd had feelings for since she was a teenager. Early morning was a disaster in itself, but this particular morning trumped any and all Mondays that she'd been through so far.
"We got... married. Okay. Okay." Taking a breath, she closed her eyes and ran her hands over her face. She smoothed back her hair, trying like hell to find her center. To try to and figure out how to calm herself before she completely lost her shit. Mateo didn't deserve this and she didn't want to center her freak out on him.
His nickname for her probably didn't serve to help things in the matter, but she knew that if she focused on something else, that would be easier. So she focused on the food. She needed to make herself a plate and she needed to eat and she needed to figure out what to do next. The certainty that he didn't want to be married to her was cemented in her mind, she just needed to find a way past that.
She made her plate in an alarmingly calm way, one that belied the storm running through her mind. She even made him a plate and brought it to him.
He'd already had his moment to internally freak out, but she'd slept through it. It was her turn, now. Mateo didn't blame her in the slightest—this was not exactly the best news to wake up to, especially if you didn't remember it. As she got up to get herself a plate of food, his eyes following her every move.
Jesus, she was distracting, especially naked. He wasn't going to be able to think with her like that, let alone focus on eating. How could he, when something so beautifully delicious was in front of him? Groaning, he ran his hands over his face. Reaching down off the side of the bed, he picked up his shirt off the floor.
"Here," He handed the shirt to her, adjusting as he took the plate of food she handed him. "I can't focus on a damn thing when you're so gloriously naked."
His voice broke her out of her internal overload. She finally looked up and locked eyes with him as he held out his shirt to her. His shirt. He wanted her to wear his shirt? Blinking, she realized that she was, indeed, quite nude. The fact that he'd seen it before briefly crossed her mind, but was discarded just as fast.
Setting down her plate, she took his shirt and pulled it over her head. It fell to her knees and she had to say, it was soothing the way it smelled like him.
"Gloriously naked, huh? Something tells me that I look more like 'disaster' than 'glorious'." Her plate was picked up as soon as she was "dressed" and she took her place back on the bed in order to put the food away. It took a moment after she was done before she spoke again, but it was soft. "Okay, so... we got married last night."
He chuckled a little, leaning back against the headboard of the bed as he plucked a piece of bacon from his plate. "You've heard the phrase 'beautiful disaster', haven't you?" While, yes, she looked like hell (he probably did, too), she was still damn beautiful in his eyes.
"We got married last night." It still sounded so weird to say. "I mean, I vaguely remember buying a ring out of a gumball machine, so that we could get free lava cake..." Shaking his head, he sighed. "But not much beyond that. He couldn't even remember eating the cake. He wondered if it had been worth it?
Glancing over at her as he finished off his food, he took a deep, slow breath. "So ... what do you want to do about it? I mean, I'm cool to leave things how they are, but if you want to get it dissolved, I'd understand."
To say she was surprised was an understatement. Did he really just... 'Cool to leave things how they are'? What exactly did that mean? He wanted to stay married to her? How did that even compute? And why was he willing to risk Freddy's wrath to do so? This was a little too confusing to the redhead.
Setting her plate aside, she turned to sit indian style facing the man who apparently became her husband last night. The little blue ring on her finger was a reminder of that. It was cute, so at least there was that. And the thought of him sliding it on her finger had her smiling the tiniest bit.
But still...
With a sigh, she looked back at the man across from her and asked the question that had an answer she was absolutely terrified of. "Mateo, why would you be 'cool with leaving things how they are' exactly?" It was a dangerous trek to take, but she was taking it.
There was that question. He had known that it would be asked, and he'd put a bit of thought into how he was going to answer it. He'd had a plan or at least a vague idea, but the moment she actually asked the question, it was gone, and he was left to think on his feet.
"Because—" Sighing, he rubbed his face again, in an attempt to get his brain to function. Get it together, Teo. Tell the girl how you feel. "Elle, I've had feelings for you for years." Well. That was a start, wasn't it? The hardest part was over.
Thankfully, the words seemed to keep coming, once he'd started. "I never got the chance to do anything about it, though. By the time I figured it out, I was dealing with dad passing, and you'd met Karl," The name rolled off his tongue with disgust. "And then he went and broke your heart, and the last thing you probably needed was me trying to hit on you."
Okay... shocked was quite the understatement when it came to the words that were leaving Mateo's mouth. Since when did he have feelings for her? And why the hell hadn't he said anything before now?! Why had it taken them getting married for him to open his mouth and tell her how he'd felt for, apparently, years?!
Running a hand through her hair, Nora listened as the man practically poured out his heart to her. Right there in her bed in a hotel in Vegas. This was the most surreal experience she'd ever had in her life... and she dealt with magical creatures every day.
"So... you've had feelings for me this entire time?" she asked, slowly, as if the wrong tone of voice could derail everything and cause her own train of thought to go spinning off the rails and colliding with a steel wall that had no give. "How long, Teo? And God... why didn't you ever say anything?" Her eyes were practically pleading for an answer that made sense. Any kind of sense.
"I realized it when we slept together that first time, but honestly? I think the feelings were there, even before that." It had taken their first drunken romp to knock them into place, though. "School was so off the rails, that I didn't really get a chance to process it all, and then dad passed..."
A look of sadness washed over Mateo, and he dropped his gaze to the bed in front of him. Losing his dad had thrown everything into turmoil. "By the time I got my head on straight, you were with Karl, and I hated him for it, but you ... you seemed so damn happy, so I sucked it up. Its why I stopped coming around so much—why I threw myself so hard in school. Seeing him with you made me fucking sick."
Shaking his head, Teo looked up at her as he continued. "If things had been different that summer, Elle, you would've been wearing my ring, not his, and I never would've done what he did."
The mention of their first time followed pretty quickly with the passing of his father had Nora turning her eyes down to the bed as well. She hadn't been there at the funeral, but that was because she'd never done well with death. It scared the hell out of her. And it made her sad. Sad wasn't an emotion that she fared well with. Nora hadn't wanted to put that on him whenever he was dealing with so much. The guilt of not being there for him in that time still weighed heavy with her.
And then there was Karl. He'd taught her a lot over their time together, but he'd never really had her whole heart. She should be guilty over that, as well, but the revelation that she'd never had his either pretty much canceled that out. Knowing that Mateo had feelings for her even then, however... it showed her just how much Karl Windsor had actually cost her. His mere presence in her life had cost her one of her best friends in the entire world. That hadn't been something that sat well with her either.
But that last statement... that was what had her head snapping up to lock her eyes with his. What had her heart beating out a rapid staccato rhythm in her chest. His ring? Had he felt so strongly about her for that long?
Nora was completely unable to respond to that in any other way except physically. In what seemed like slow motion to her, but was actually only seconds, her eyes closed, her hands shot out to frame his face, and she pulled him to her in a kiss so damn heated that she wasn't certain she could stand it if she remembered what they'd done before. If a kiss could be this good, just how good had the sex been?
Mateo had expected a lot of things after that statement. Shock. Confusion. Maybe a little bit of anger, even? (Though he wasn't entirely sure why, or who that anger would've been directed at) He did not, however, expect that. The kiss, so full of passion, had caught him completely off guard.
It took a moment for his brain to catch up (he blamed the hangover, really), but the moment that he did, his arms were going around her, and he was pulling her up into his lap. Her kiss was returned—met with the same kind of fire that she had put forth. Years of pent up emotions were finally getting released (and sober, to boot) that it was overwhelming—shirt circuiting his already slightly haywire senses.
"Elle," He whispered her name softly against her lips, one hand coming up to tangle in those luscious, red waves.
Logical!Nora would have put the brakes on things. Would have never even kissed him in the first place. She'd have been guarded and wary, focused on the way she needed to be shielded because of what Karl did so long ago.
Instead, and probably for the better, Emotional!Nora was in control.
Emotional!Nora was taking what was hers, damn it. She was giving as good as she got when it came to the man she'd wanted for so damn long it hurt. What she'd wanted to take since before she even lived with him.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as he responded to the kiss and pulled her into his lap. Strong legs wrapped around his waist, oblivious to the fact that the only thing that separated them was the thin fabric of his boxers. Boxers that did nothing to hide his reaction to her firm position in his lap.
She let herself indulge, let herself give in to the overwhelming wave of need and want and fuck it all. This man had basically just poured his heart out to her and it was almost a perfect reflection of her own. That was what mattered at this moment.
He was not about to complain that it was not Logical!Nora who was steering this ship. He didn't want Logical!Nora putting the brakes on their moment. He liked the way Emotional!Nora was thinking. Not thinking? Whatever the case may be, Mateo was here for it.
Even though his poor body was probably dehydrated as hell, the way she seemed to fit perfectly against him most definitely was getting a rise out of him. If it had been anyone else, he highly doubted that would've happened. This wasn't just anyone, however. This was Nora. His Nora.
The hand that was on her back slipped beneath the shirt she wore, desperate to feel her skin against his. His lips left hers, instead trailing kisses down her neck. Teeth nipped lightly at the soft flesh.
"You're an idiot," she whispered against his lip, never breaking the kiss. "All you ever had to do was say something, Teo." The kiss was deepened, her tongue drinking in the taste of early morning, stale alcohol, who-the-hell-cared-because-it-was Mateo Santiago.
Nora pressed down against him, a small whimper sounding from her throat. The feel of his hands at her back, his lips trailing from her own to slide along her neck. His teeth at her pulse had a disjointed flash of his mouth elsewhere, but Nora couldn't pinpoint whether it was a hazy memory from the night before or from the night he took her virginity.
Her own hands traveled, sliding down his back and finding the edge of his boxers. She needed to be closer to him. To let this need work it's way through. "It was always you."
He chuckled against her lips. She wasn't wrong—he was an idiot. He should've said something. Knowing now what he didn't know then, he cursed himself for staying silent all these years. Who knew how different his life could've been.
However, this was not the time to dwell on that. Not when the girl he had been pining over all these years was right there in front of him, telling him she wanted him too. He pulled his shirt off of her, tossing it off the side of the bed. Right now was all about the two of them. It was raw emotion—everything that they only ever seemed to be able to act on when they were drunk, until now.
Rational!Mateo knew that they should be having a conversation, and not tearing off what little clothes they were both wearing. Rational!Mateo, however, had been knocked out and stuffed into a closet by Emotional!Mateo in favor of showing his girl exactly what it was she couldn't remember from the night before.
All too soon, Nora was naked in his arms. And this time, she was going to remember all of it. Every last breath, every touch, every sensation. Her hand slid into his boxers as another flash danced just beyond her memory of both of their hands in various places.
She shifted in his lap, moving so that she could spread him on the bed and stretch out over him. Titian hair fell in a curtain around their faces, blanketing them from the rest of the world in a red hue. But her focus was lost in big brown eyes and soft lips as her own found them again. More flashes danced just beyond her reach as she straddled him, already well on her way on her journey of getting lost.
There was nothing that could deter her. Nothing that could dissuade her from this line of decision she'd put herself on with one kiss. If this was really was Mateo wanted, he was getting it. He was getting her. She only hoped he understood—really understood—what he was getting into in the process.
There were certain things he remembered about their first time together, all those years ago. He remembered being careful with her—taking his time and making damn sure that her first time was exactly what it should be, even if they were more than a little drunk. This? This was definitely not like that.
This was all raw need—years of suppressed desires finally being consciously unleashed from the boxes they'd been hidden away in. It probably wasn't the best use of their time, but damn if it wasn't exactly what they both needed. That much he knew as he held her close to him, as they basked in the afterglow. His fingers idly played with the ends of her hair, which was now damp with sweat.
"Well," Leaning in, he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Now that we got that out of the way." Smirking slightly, he adjusted so that he could look down at her. "I suppose we should talk about what we're going to do."
It was mind-blowing, really. Absolutely perfect. She may not have any memory of her first time or last night, but this? This she was going to remember for quite possibly the rest of her life. It made her breathless, had her heart beating rapidly in her chest, her body soaked in sweat... it was definitely not what she'd expected.
It had been better.
And now, laying in his arms, curled against his side, she was more comfortable than she had been in a long time. It figured that it would be with him. Seemed Fate had a funny way of operating. But she wasn't exactly cursing the way he'd made her feel—physically and emotionally.
It only took one sentence to bring reality crashing down on her.
They did have to talk about this. It was important. So, with a sigh, Nora closed her eyes and buried her face into Teo's neck. "I know. I don't... I'm not sure I know how to do this after what happened with, well, you know. I want to, but I'm not sure how to even begin." Though, to be fair, the two of them had shot right past the beginning and into the mid-stretch if the rings on their fingers were anything to go by.
He gave her a gentle squeeze, trying not to let the anger he still held at Karl show. He never understood people who could be unfaithful. Just thinking about how hurt she had looked when she'd showed up at his place... Mateo took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down again.
He knew that this wasn't easy for her, after being hurt as she had been. "We can take our time. I mean, we already got the big stuff out of the way," he chuckled a little. "I want this, too, and I know that this isn't going to be easy, especially after what happened." Mateo kissed the top of her head again.
"We'll take it as slow, or as fast, as you want we'll do the whole thing—dates, dinners, whatever." He wanted to do things right with her, even if they had skipped a few steps to start.
Mateo's hugs had always been comforting. She'd found that she'd linger in his arms before, and she knew why. She just never guessed at why he allowed it. Now that she knew, it was like a weight off her shoulders and waiting for the other shoe to drop at the same time.
However, he was always finding new ways to surprise her. Even though they were already married, even though they'd already slept together more than once (though, only one time she would be able to remember), he was still offering to take things completely slow. To start things the way they should have been started so many years ago.
"I think I'd like that," she answered, honestly, her fingertips drawing invisible images along the flesh of his chest. "I can't promise things will be easy. And... I'd really like to keep this whole thing between us for now. Just you and me. There's too much baggage to try to deal with this and have other people involved. I need this to be just us for a while. Are you okay with that?"
His fingers trailed up and down her arm, unable to stop the grin on his face. "Nothing worth doing is ever easy, Elle, but I know what you mean. We can keep this quiet for now. Just us." He had a feeling that it was a good idea, at least for the moment.
"We can figure this out, without anyone butting in," He wanted this time with just her. While they had been friends for years, they had never exactly explored a romantic relationship before. This was entirely uncharted territory.
Without anyone butting in. She liked the sound of that, too. Just the two of them. She also liked the way his fingers felt running along her arm. Even as sufficiently spent as she was, his touch was tempting. It always had been. There had never been any doubt of that for her.
Biting her bottom lip, she sighed softly as she locked eyes with him. "Are you sure you want to do this? You know how I can be. I'm not the easiest person to be around a lot of the time." And that was an understatement whenever she was angry. She needed that reassurance.
Brushing her hair back from her face, Mateo leaned down to brush his lips against hers. "I'm very sure, Elle. I've seen you angry, and sad, happy ... I know how you get during that time of the month, as well. Hell, I'm probably the most prepared person you could ever date." He'd experienced it all, over the years.
"I'm sure we'll have our share of fights, but it also means we get to enjoy awesome makeup sex."
It seemed like the man who held her knew exactly what to say and when to say it. It was so reminiscent of Karl that she honestly feared the worst for a moment. But this wasn't Karl. This was Mateo. Mateo had proven himself time and time again whenever he was around her. He'd always taken care of her. Always made sure she had what she needed whenever he was around. Hell, he'd given her a place to live at one point.
Sighing against his lips, Nora smiled softly. "You know what they say. A relationship with no arguments has no passion. I uh... I don't think we'll be lacking there."
Mateo was nothing like Karl—something that he prided himself on, really. He wasn't a cheater. He rarely lied, and the last thing he would ever do was hurt her. Quite the opposite, actually. He wanted to take care of her.
Chuckling slightly, he kissed the tip of her nose. "I highly doubt we will."
Smiling softly, Nora sighed and leaned in, pressing her lips to his in a soft kiss that spoke of hope. When she pulled back, she laid her forehead against his cheek and ran her fingertips along his chest again. She only hoped that it went as well as she wanted it to.