Elaine Gregory (friggin_friday) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2010-09-24 13:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | frigg, odin |
Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry...
Who: Pierce and Elaine
What: Elaine's moved into Pax... just to the wrong floor and place.
Where: Starting in Lainey's new digs and ending in The Tower
When: The early afternoon after Lainey moved in
Warnings: Rated 'R': Some arguing, some sentimental endearing stuff, some not-so-subtle implied but not ridiculously explicit sexytimes.
Notes: Pierce definitely has some damn ridiculous determination.
There was not enough Excedrin in the world to deal with the headache Pierce had at this moment in time. He searched through the cabinets in vain but to no avail. Apparently, the last of the brain numbing medicine had been consumed the day before yesterday.
And now? She was here. Yes, her - his former wife, the mother of his only son, his partner in all ways, every single meaning that could be attached to that word. Elaine. There were many before her, but none after her. Except his work but, quite frankly, he was a little tired of being attached to that particular ball and chain on a nightly basis.
He knew she was moving in, and she had left a perfectly normal message - “Oh hi, I’m here, I’m going to be living on the tenth floor!”- and of course he went ballistic. But quietly. First he made sure the tower looked presentable but then again, maybe if it looked like Hell had exploded then she would feel like she would need to move in to fix it all? That was the goal. Elaine was not supposed to live on the tenth floor.
Eventually, Pierce just gave up and left the apartment the way it was and shoved the Blackberry back into its holster then stormed down to the tenth floor. Gravitating toward Elaine’s fancy new digs, he let himself in and shut the door behind him without exactly being quiet about it.
“Lainey!” he called, clearing his throat. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Yes, straight to the point. That was Pierce for you.
~`~
She had been unpacking a box in the kitchen when that unmistakable door slam and Pierce’s boom of a holler made her take pause, sigh, and look up. The silverware could wait. It wasn’t like she hadn’t told him she was moving in, but it seemed Elaine got to talk more with his secretary than she did him (she wasn’t entirely sure they weren’t having lunch sometime later in the week) and the first email must’ve gotten lost in the shuffle. Such was life.
Elaine rounded the corner with two spoons in her hand. “I’m in the kitchen unpacking my silverware, Pierce.” Terms of endearment between the two of them never seemed lost, even after being divorced for two years. He had been the love of her life, but his work ended up being the cruel mistress that everybody knows about and gets brushed under the rug more often than not. Oh, she had tried to go on a date every now and again, usually set up by various friends, but it always felt like someone was making her do something she just didn’t want to do.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Her tone was good-natured, though she had to admit his dramatic entrance was a teensy bit bothersome.
~`~
He winced, already knowing that he had walked in like a complete jackass - but at least he was self-aware? It wasn’t like he meant to but he had a goal in mind and was determined to get there. Sometimes it was difficult for him to separate the cutthroat world of business from real life, aka, he wasn’t entirely good at expressing his ‘feelings.’
“Didn’t I mention this to you?”
Well, no, probably not. Again, with the expression of the feelings. He may was well have a gigantic ‘FAILURE’ sign blinking and flashing right above his head.
“The tower’s big enough for both us us,” he said, ignoring the buzz of his Blackberry. He just reached down and shut it off entirely. “It would be a little silly for you to live three floors down from me, wouldn’t it?”
~`~
A slender eyebrow arched as Elaine folded her arms and leaned against the wall, spoons at the ready in case she needed to randomly beat Pierce with them. “Well, no, Fuzzy. It never came up and as far as I knew, I wasn’t sure you knew I was coming. Until my door slammed, anyway.”
She sighed, shaking her head with one of those smiles that happened when you knew you were going to let someone down but really, really didn’t want to. “I can’t do that, Pierce. It may be big enough for the both of us, but remember that our house was more than big enough for the three of us...and it always seemed to be occupied by just one.” Elaine knew that was going to sting. Hell--It stung her to say. It was the unfortunate reason that she sought their divorce. It was incredibly difficult to be in a marriage when only one seemed to have any heart in it. “I’m here in the same building with you in a place big enough for me. Isn’t that enough?”
~`~
“No,” Pierce answered immediately, acting very much the stubborn mule he was known to be. And he wasn’t even going to dwell on the fact that she had called him Fuzzy. At least they weren’t in public, though naturally she knew better than to use such a name when there were other ears present. It always made him turn red. “It’s not enough. God damnit, Lainey...this building....”
He ran his hands over his face, obviously frustrated. Yes, what she said had stung - because he knew she was right and it was his own damn fault. How could he just let her slip away like he had? It was quite possibly the stupidest thing he had ever done. Seeing her here now only proved that to him even more, it twisted the knife deeper and deeper. They say time heals all wounds, and that may be true, but this one left a scar. Pierce had never gotten over her and he probably never would, even if she was living in a tent in Uzbekistan.
“This building, it’s like a fucking fun house, people seeing reflections who aren’t even them in the mirror. I saw a wizard, Lainey. With a long blue cloak and one eye and a beard that midgets could get lost in. For a week, it was like that, and then it just disappeared.” Pierce was aware he wasn’t making any sense but he didn’t know how else to put this. “I can’t deal with you being down here.”
The heel of his hands went into both eyes; he still hadn’t caught up on sleep yet. Maybe that’s why he was rambling, because all of his senses were on overdrive and seeing her here was the icing on the cake of his mental breakdown.
~`~
Well. Elaine definitely didn’t expect to hear that.
Any of that.
She blinked a few times and moved towards Pierce with spoons still in hand. Her arms went around him easily, as they always had, and she pulled him against her in a hug. She wasn’t entirely sure what else to do. Even when he was exhausted, he’d never quite rambled on like a madman before. “Hey,” she hushed softly, resting her hand at the back of his neck. It fit there so well that the sensation of it almost made her want to cry. “Breathe, darling.”
They’d loved so easily and so much. Why had it all gone wrong? She couldn’t move in with him, though. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them.
Lainey’s brain ran through the ticker tape of the things Pierce rambled off. “What do you mean?” She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know who spiked the tap water with LSD. “When’s the last time you ate? Or slept, for that matter?” She pulled away enough to rest her hand on his arm and attempted to nudge him toward the sofa. Talking always seemed easier sitting down.
~`~
He didn’t want her to pull away because the second he had her in his arms, the familiar feeling he would never grow tired of, everything came rushing back to him - not just the way she felt, but the way she made him feel, the scent of her shampoo mixed with her perfume, the softness of her skin...
And then it was back to discussions of the warlock in the mirror.
Pierce willingly went to the sofa, plopping down onto the cushions and tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. “I ate this morning but as for sleeping, it’s been awhile,” he confessed, reaching for her and tugging her hand so she’d sit by him. “I haven’t completely lost my mind, you’ll just have to trust me about the odd reflections. “ Swiftly, Pierce moved on.
“How have your dreams been?” he asked. Had she seen any of this, this building full of skeletons and poltergeists?
~`~
Spoons were placed on the table before she settled down next to him, a leg tucked underneath her as was customary, her elbow resting on the back of the furniture as she turned to face him. Elaine allowed him to talk about mirrors as he wanted, still incredibly bewildered about what, exactly, was going on. She made a mental note that more often than not, Pierce was far easier to talk to when he wasn’t running on empty.
“My dreams?” It had been a while since she’d really considered them, not that she readily remembered much, if anything, about them and he knew that. “Same as ever. I’ve only been here a day and a half, so I haven’t noticed anything different. Should I be? Considering that you’re telling me things here are rather odd, I’m thinking so.”
“Pierce,” she sighed, taking a moment to rub his shoulder. “This conversation might be best if you at least took a nap. And when you wake up, I’ll make lunch and we can figure out what’s going on.” As soon as Elaine said it, she had the feeling he was going to argue with her, one way or another. Either about the nap, about what’s going on, or about her moving in. It was just a matter of picking one. “You look exhausted. I’m worried about you.”
~`~
A nap? No, Pierce was not taking a nap. Naps were for preschoolers and eighty-year-olds. He was neither. Of course he was going to argue.
“Lainey, look...” He took her hand and held it between his own. “I’m shit at this. And obviously I’m not doing well trying to juggle work and all of this madness. So I need you, okay? I admit it.” But he felt no shame in admitting that - they were a team. Or, well, they had been. But if recent events were any indication of what was to come, then he really wanted them both back in the game together.
~`~
”So I need you, okay?” That one phrase made Lainey completely melt any wall she might have even remotely put up in regards to Pierce. When was the last time someone--no, not someone--Pierce had said that to her? She mentally went weak at the knees and suddenly there was a lot that didn’t seem to matter quite as much anymore. But the question remained at the back of her mind: Where was he when she had needed him?
She was a strong, independent woman, dammit! She had always been and even more so when she and Pierce had gone their separate ways. Why in the name of all things holy did one stupid, simple phrase suddenly shake her to the core?
Because, silly girl, you know how hard this is for him--you can see it. And because, against all odds, you always have and always will love him to depths of your soul.
Elaine bit her bottom lip and squeezed Pierce’s hand with the one tucked between both of his. Her darkened tawny gaze met his with a heavy sigh. “Okay,” she finally said. “I don’t know why this is right, but ... okay.” It might be lonely from time to time, but it was what it was.
He needed her.
~`~
And there it was, the sigh of relief - like an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. But Pierce knew it wasn’t as simple as this. He couldn’t just have Elaine at his beck and call, and demand that she be by his side because the stress of being CEO of the World was too great to bear alone sometimes.
An apology. That was what was necessary.
Admitting that you made a mistake? Especially for a person like Pierce? It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. But he was human and he did make mistakes. Now was the time to pay for them, even if he felt like he already had or was currently paying for them. When he sat by his son’s hospital bed after the accident, watching his face, waiting for him to open his eyes, it was times like that when he took back every stupid thing he had ever done.
He leaned in, his forehead touching hers, conceding defeat. “It’s not right,” he said at last. “It’s not right yet. It will be right when I finally make things right, when I stop trying to force more than twenty-four hours in a day. I should have done that years ago and if it took all of this - “ He gestured around them, referring to the events he had just mentioned. “To show me that I need to do that, then so be it. In hindsight, Lainey, it shouldn’t have taken you leaving for me to see that my life just isn’t right but it did and I’m glad I had it in me to pay that price because you’re here now and goddamnit, I’m not going to let you slip away again.”
~`~
Lainey took a deep breath, and released it slowly as her ex-husband spoke of missed opportunity and figurative blindness. “Pierce,” she finally said, sitting up a little straighter from his gentle headbutt of sorts. “I don’t know what’s going on in this place, but if it’s bothering you enough to want me to stay with you, I can do that. Things just...” She waved a hand, trying to figure out the right word. “don’t seem to bother you, and it’s not something I can readily ignore. Everything after that... I can’t guarantee anything. We’ve been living alone for a while now. It’s not that easy.”
That was just it, though: Everything always seemed easier when the two of them were together. What was he thinking? The way he spoke made her wonder if there were more to his proposition than a roommate or just a shoulder to lean on when shit hit the fan. There had been plenty of times when she wondered ‘What if’? Especially when the accident happened. They had teamed up for their only son when he needed them most, as it should have been. ’What if, Lainey?’
She cleared her throat and composed herself a little more mentally. “I’m assuming the upstairs has two bedrooms, then?”
~`~
Honestly, this was about as frustrating as riding a unicycle in circles - into a brick wall. He really didn’t expect anything otherwise, however, because they didn’t live in some romantic movie and everything wouldn’t magically be resolved in ninety minutes. It just did not work out like that on most occasions.
“Lainey...” Pierce pinched the bridge of his nose. How to put this, exactly? Being blunt was probably the best course of action. After all, he didn’t have anything to hide from her - she knew him better than anyone did, and he was always honest with her no matter what.
He glanced at her, eyebrow raised like she had just asked a rather silly question.
“The tower has two bedrooms, yes. Why do you ask? Do you want to put a stamp collection in the spare room?”
Pause. Reflect. Observe the patronizing sarcasm of his statement. She would pick up on it; he had faith in her.
~`~
She had to fight with herself to keep from planting her face into her hand. Was he serious? Of course he was. He didn’t bullshit on things with her. He never had. “No. Pierce--I’m taking the spare bedroom. We’re not in a position to share a bed or bedroom.” Oh, but the positions they had shared in another life in another house... ’Snap out of it Elaine,’ she thought. Being so close to him and his holding her hand just really didn’t help matters. Old memories-- possible new ones...
“We can’t do that, Pierce. Not right now.” Was it ‘we’ or ‘I’, Lainey? “I told you that I wasn’t going to promise anything, only that I’ll be there for you if you need me to be.” It pained her to gently pull her hand away from his, but she was trying to prove a point.
Whatever that point may be.
~`~
Odin was displeased. Pierce was too - they were both displeased, although Pierce was unaware of Odin’s existence but if he had known, they both would have come together in a show of solidarity and masculinity, cursing the day they even decided to intermingle in the tricky business of women in the first place.
“Alright, Elaine,” he scowled, the frown on his face deepening when she pulled her hand away. “Do you want to start moving your things up now, then?” he asked, standing up and purposely looking away from her. This was ridiculous. He’d be in the same fucking apartment with his ex-wife, but in different bedrooms - as if they were shy or hadn’t already exchanged bodily fluids countless times before. After that happened, he really didn’t see the point in playing coy but if she wanted to, then by all means.
~`~
Odin may be displeased, but Frigg wasn’t exactly doing cartwheels herself. Somewhere in the cosmos they knew what was meant to be. Too bad the mortal bodies weren’t getting it through their thick skulls (well, one of them wasn’t, anyway). Lainey frowned herself and stood up as he walked away from her. “Don’t start with me, Pierce. There’s a reason we separated. Can you put yourself in my shoes for a minute? Forgive me for not jumping in head-first between the sheets.” She was terrified of the results for a variety of reasons. She’d have to see a lot more of him on a daily basis before she crossed that line again.
No matter how badly she wanted to right this second for all the world.
“And don’t get pissy. I hate it when you pout about not getting what you want. We can start moving stuff up now or we can wait until I can call some movers. Take your pick.” No matter how cross she might get with him, it never usually lasted for very long. Lainey would likely be right as rain within the next fifteen minutes, as she generally was with him, unless he really dug something in.
~`~
“I’m not pissy,” Pierce argued but, oh, alright - perhaps he was. And perhaps it was because he was a stubborn mule of a man and wanted to bone his woman right fucking now, but she was being resistant. Chalk it up to caveman instincts. “I never said you had to jump head-first between the sheets.” She could always sink in slowly, or dive in backwards? Either way, he wouldn’t complain.
Biting his tongue so he wouldn’t actually say that out loud, he stalked off to the kitchen and grabbed the entire drawer of silverware, all of the knives and forks and spoons placed so nicely in their respective compartments.
“I’ve got your silverware, darling, shall we head up now?” He never said he wasn’t a smartass.
~`~
“Pierce!” came out of her rather sharply, but what else was she to say? Stop acting like a teenager might sum it up. But for some reason, Lainey had to admit that she found this mildly amusing, even though he was huffing about. A brush of a chuckle escaped her as she shook her head. “You know what? You go on ahead and you take that silverware upstairs. I’ll be behind you with the dolly stacked with boxes. You’re lucky I unpack reasonably slowly and that I only moved yesterday.”
Oh, she would never in a million years deny that she loved this man with all of her being. She would also never deny that he could be such a pain in her ass from time to time. Elaine brushed aside some stray hair that had escaped her pony tail and sighed. God help her, what the hell was she doing?
~`~
Upstairs to the tower the silverware went, with Pierce grumbling all the while. He knew he was acting like a cunt, but what else could he do? He was frustrated. In a number of ways. And it wasn’t fair that Elaine had to look so fantastic too. Maybe if she had let herself turn frumpy and unattractive after the divorce then he wouldn’t be ready to put a hole through the nearest wall with his fist just to release the sexual tension.
With an angry slam, the silverware ended up on the kitchen counter, everything rattling together. When Elaine entered the picture, he strode over to her - as bold as ever, since he was the King of this castle - and stepped in between her and the dolly. The boxes could wait to be unpacked for now.
“Let me carry you over the threshold, Laineybug,” he insisted, and picked her up in his arms before she could protest. Two steps into the place, he posed a very important question. “Are you going to stop me if I kiss you?”
~`~
She was about ten steps behind him down the hall when the unmistakable clatter of silverware gave her eyebrows a lift while narrowing simultaneously. Elaine, much as she cared, was becoming more than heavily frustrated with her ex-husband. This stomping, huffing, three-year-old tantrum was beginning to grate her nerves (and make her want to take him over her knee) and some teeny part of her was beginning to regret having agreed to move in since she explained her intention to move into the spare bedroom.
So, the question in Elaine’s mind begging to be asked was this: Was this about not wanting to immediately resume wifely ‘duties’ as it were, his being frustrated at, well, everything, the painfully obvious (love? sexual? yes) tension between them or all of the above? If she were a betting girl, the answer would be D. Imagine the immense confusion and realization of a wrong answer at Pierce scooping her up into his arms.
Lainey squeaked softly and couldn’t help but laugh, wrapping her arms behind Pierce’s neck as he proceeded to carry her into their home. His question, though, made her pause, the smile falling away into an expression of reasonable surprise. “I...don’t really have an answer for that.” Would she try to stop him, or even want to for that matter? Would it be like before when everything melted together in a perfect form? She had just finished telling him how she didn’t want to go forth like a charging rhino into something so stupidly familiar and yet largely unknown to her and now here he was, working some weird juju on her and completely bulldozing over everything that had been talked about in the last half hour. Fuck it all--why was she some hapless doofus when it came to him?
Elaine’s eyes met Pierce’s and her heart began to pound madly like some teenage girl anticipating her first real kiss. She was beginning to have a love/hate relationship with the way the fingers resting at the nape of his neck felt. “Why do you ask?” Hypothetical? Maybe. Did she need to know? Absolutely.
~`~
He scowled then, and not because he was irritated at her - but more like he was angry at himself for acting so childish. Yes, he wanted her to move in with him, he wanted them to share the same living space, and he wanted her in other ways too - but he wasn’t about to force her into anything. Never, ever would he even consider doing something like that, no matter how much he desired to be close to her.
“Because I want to but only if you wouldn’t smack me,” he said, the blue flames in his eyes dying down a bit since his silverware-wielding temper tantrum had ceased. “I’m sorry, Lainey. I know this is difficult for you. I’ll do whatever you want me to do, I just need you here with me.”
No matter how much he attempted to throw his masculinity and power around, she had always held the cards in their relationship - because he was completely and utterly in love with her, and it would never would cease to be that way.
~`~
Someplace in the back of Lainey’s head, a sudden tickle of the familiarity of this moment made her take a deep breath and contemplate whether or not this had been one of her dreams or if they’d ever been in this situation before. She couldn’t recall any particular moment in time after their divorce when this had happened--her boxes on a dolly in a place she’d never seen before, scooped up in Pierce’s arms. No, this hadn’t happened. They’d both been so busy getting on with their lives after the papers were signed and trying to take care of their son when they had feared the worst, there was no time nor circumstance that would have given way to her being held in Pierce’s arms with him wanting to kiss her and apologizing for wanting to kiss her (and being a butt-head, too).
This? All this was meant to be. They were meant to be. It was written in the stars. She’d known it from the day she met him when he almost put a pencil through his hand. All the logic that she had going through her head was trumped by her heart and soul crying out for him. She wasn’t uncomfortable with him--never had been. The worst part of their relationship, other than the accident, was when she made the decision to separate from him. And Elaine knew if that hadn’t happened, they surely would not be in the position they were right now. For better or worse, a step had to be made in this moment, else they probably wouldn’t make it through the end of the night.
“You just answered your own question.” And with that, Lainey leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Chills ran through her body, hot and cold. There were proverbial fireworks and unicorns and she knew that for some inexplicable reason, this was the right decision.
~`~
Maybe there weren’t unicorns for Pierce per se (and if there were, that may have been a wee tad worrying) but the fireworks, those he definitely saw when his eyes closed and their lips met. He kissed her again, his grip tightening so he wouldn’t drop her, because the relief and the serenity and the desire all flooded through him at the same time.
It was a mixture of the three emotions and probably more he couldn’t even begin to process right now, but because he was a man ‘lust’ definitely took the driver’s seat. Elaine was carried off into the bedroom, complete with the classic ‘kick the door shut’ maneuver executed right after. She was delicately tossed onto the bed, the Blackberry was also ripped from its holster and the battery torn out - because Pierce was serious business about this ‘I think I’ll cut back on work so I don’t fall into an early grave and completely push my wife away again’ thing.
Once that was taken care of, he joined her on the king-size bed that probably would have all the space taken up at some point. When sexual tension was released, people tended to move around a lot. Staying in one position was for nuns and the English.
~`~
Lainey grinned a little at the Blackberry dismantling, stretching her lean body along the covers. So, Pierce just might be taking this far more seriously than just a roll in the hay. Blackberry batteries didn’t come out just because certain events were about to take place. And the fact that they had made it to this point (was the front door still open?) after all the whys and hows they couldn’t do this yet made her all the more determined to make sure he wouldn’t even think about work. Not right now, not even a little.
From underneath a dark framing of lashes, her brown eyes fixated on him as her left hand began to slowly unbutton her lavender- striped shirt that she generally only wore for household chores. Her hair was up, but ever so slightly disheveled before he’d even gotten to her. “Pierce,” she said in a tone strained slightly with want and need. “Only you can bring me to my knees. I still haven’t figured out how you do it.” A fourth button. “But know this. That I adore you.” A fifth and final button. “That I love you. I never stopped. I just don’t know how.”
The fabric parted easily to expose her smooth skin, a rather ample set of breasts (not that she outwardly bragged about them, but inwardly, she was quite proud of them--”real and spectacular,” she would joke) quasi-hidden beneath a brassiere of white lace and ribbon.
~`~
“I don’t know how either and I don’t care to learn. I’m glad to be only yours, Elaine,” he said, hypnotized by her hands - it wasn’t difficult for her to do that to him. “I’ll always be yours. So I’m afraid you’re stuck with me...” A half smirk, half smile present on his face as he informed her of this dire situation. “You’ll just have to get used to it.”
And while he liked the underclothing, he liked what was hidden more so the lacy article of femininity was unfastened and tossed - probably landing on a lampshade somewhere. It was reminiscent of so many other nights he had spent with her, clothes flying everywhere because they were both impatient and needy. There was a time to go slow and a time to hump like rabbits on crack, and now it was definitely time for the latter. He briefly thought of the front door (it was shut, yes - or more like slammed in one of his temper tantrums) and other things like, how perhaps life would not resemble a steaming pile of cow shit now that Lainey was here, but quickly got back to snapping his belt from the loops. Pants be gone.
~`~
Her bra was gone... somewhere. She had since come up just enough to grasp his shirt at the hem and lift. “You’re far too overdressed,” she muttered, pressing her lips against his shoulder as the shirt, too, went flying somewhere to her left. She would have also helped with his pants, but those, too were gone so she decided to help him with her own.
Fingertips slid across bare skin that she’d craved and missed so desperately as her lips trailed kisses along Pierce’s strong jaw to meet his lips in much the same fervor. Two years, probably longer since they’d shared a moment like this; all hands and heat, hearts pounding and fingers tangled in hair and limbs in sheets. Elaine could equate it to food: You could live without it for a time, but the body begins to starve. In this case, it was truly her soul starving for itself because, if they were being completely honest, they were one--two sides of the same coin.
Whether or not she wanted to admit it, Lainey had waited for him and only him after everything was said and done. Once, she’d had an errant thought of becoming a crazy cat lady, old and alone. On a subconscious level, she knew there could never be another. Even on those couple dates that were absolutely disastrous because her friends thought they were doing her a favor to get her away from her own work and taking a break from trying to take care of her son, nothing about those men came within miles of Pierce. She had compared them to him and there was no way in the nine hells they were going to get close enough to try to touch her in any fashion that would get her in an embrace like this.
The soft skin of her foot traveled up the length of Pierce’s leg, agonizingly slow, considering the pace they seemed to be getting at. The tease, if nothing else, was a delicious torture. Elaine’s pretty teeth bit at his earlobe before she whispered, “I want you. Now.” No real preamble. Better and longer foreplay would come later. There was a time to pace oneself and a time to sprint and Lainey’s shoes were definitely tied.
~`~
Pierce wasn’t going to object to her commands in any way, shape, or form. Not after that tornado of clothes ripping and the subsequent tossing of materials standing in the way of the intended goal. But for him, there hadn’t been anyone else either. Burying himself in his work and ensuring that his son would live to see another day had taken up all of his time, and he didn’t have much of a chance to think about what he was lacking. But now with Elaine here? There was a very good chance she wouldn’t be able to walk straight for awhile after this.
He smiled - a Cheshire cat grin - shivering slightly as he felt the bite, and registered the ‘want’ and ‘need’ in her voice. Well, he had no choice, did he? Not that he would choose anything else. His hands slid down her sides, caressing her entire body because he had missed the feel of her under his fingertips and he told her just that before parting her thighs, kneeling in between. Balancing his weight evenly so he wouldn’t crush her, he slid up over her, giving in to her demand but only slightly, not going in all the way, pulling back out and repeating the process. Like the snake he was often accused of being, the tip of his tongue darted out and touched the spot just underneath her ear. Delicious torture? He could do that too.
~`~
A whimper was followed by something of a growl. Wait. Lainey growled? Lainey did, indeed, her nicely manicured nails dragged down Pierce’s back from his shoulders slowly, almost calculating. Tease her like that, would he? Not that she was complaining in the slightest. The moment he pressed against her, she swore she saw stars. Her hips lifted automatically to meet his, but Pierce, being ever the opportunistic sadist, pulled away from her just enough to bring forth another whimper--this time of protest.
Her hands went to his face as she leaned up to kiss him. Teeth found his bottom lip and she bit just hard enough to prove a point: If he didn’t give in soon, she really was going to throw him down and just do it herself. Elaine trailed kisses to the spot at Pierce’s neck where it met the shoulder. She bit there, too, as a leg hooked around his and hands returned to his backside. She’d forgotten how much she missed the way he felt, his scent, his breath against her neck, and the nights that were so much like this before CEO life had stepped in.
~`~
Elaine was a biter. Pierce hadn’t forgotten, really, but instead pushed it back into the ‘best memories’ section of his mind because he just figured he wouldn’t ever get to experience her vampire tendencies in bed again - how wrong he was! And a bit surprised, the sound he made indicated as much. His lips trailed down her neck, toward her collarbone, and finally he gave in and gave her what she - well, what they both - wanted, not bothering to hide the groan that slipped out too.
“Darling, what on earth is the matter?” he asked, though he was being slightly facetious and it didn’t take long to find the perfect rhythm for this mambo either. It was his turn to growl next, rolling them over and letting her ‘do it herself,’ as she likely would have done anyway. But he was still an active participant, his hands roaming all up and down her body, settling on her hips as he - well, the colloquial phrase would be ‘hit that rather hard’ or something similar, but it was all with love and devotion.
~`~
Pierce’s groan found a willing partner in Elaine’s throaty, but ever so soft cry. As much as it frustrated her in the moment in time whenever he would tease (or vice versa), in hindsight it really was that much better after the fact. The buildup to that incredible moment of finally getting exactly what it is you both want and need. There really was nothing like it.
With her taking the lead, as it were, Lainey leaned down and trailed kisses along Pierce’s chest as they found the rhythm that was so natural and still insanely erotic. She straightened herself in an upright position, her spine long, her ponytail long forgotten and allowing her hair to reach her shoulders. Her entirety was exposed to him--whatever he wanted would be his. Her hands rested on his at her hips as they rocked back and forth, at first slowly, but with a steady and gradual speed that propelled them closer to what it was they were both needing. And it was, without a doubt, a need. Elaine whispered his name, the sound of it making her shiver slightly from the anticipation. Every single one of her nerves on the edge...
~`~
The good Catholic girl really knew what she was doing - practice pays off, apparently. Not to mention that, even when they were married, they never once fell into the routine of ‘boring wedded couple who only have sex once a week in the missionary position with the lights off.’ No, he enjoyed views and experiences like this far too much to fall into that horrible trap.
He was mostly entranced with how beautiful she was, and he told her - along with how much he loved her, murmuring the words before another groan slipped out. One hand still stayed on her hip but the other went further down, fingertips moving on their own accord and knowing exactly where to go. He had everything about her memorized, including what buttons to push and how she liked them being pushed, in order to enhance the experience for all parties involved. It was an acquired skill, again, one perfected through years of practice. She was his, just as much as he was hers.
~`~
If she had been standing up when Pierce’s fingers found that particular spot, Elaine would have hit the floor without being able to do a damn thing about it. Her legs would have given out on her in a heartbeat, but that might’ve given her an excuse to hold onto Pierce for dear life and be that much closer to him. It was clear he had not forgotten how he made her feel and just how to do it. Even their first time, though it was slightly awkward for the virgin Catholic girl, was unbelievable. Her romance novels at the time, cheesy as they could be, were not completely wrong.
Her back arched, her moaning and whimpering was far more pronounced and amplified because, let’s face it, she hadn’t had a moment like this in a long time without her own fingers doing the walking. After a few short moments of Pierce’s intervention, those nerves that were on edge jumped ship as her muscles went tight everywhere, her hands and body clenched in all the right places and her cry of release was unmistakable in announcing just what had been accomplished. Imagine the difficulties they had when they stayed with her parents from time to time back home in South Bend at their insistence. Never had a pair of panties been so useful...
~`~
When he felt her clench around him, that did him in - and he was out for the count too. Groaning, grunting, and squinting were the themes for what happened next, as was standard procedure for the Alpha male during times of sweet, delicious release. Then the shudder ripped through him, and his muscles all disintegrated into loose dust particles.
“God...Lainey....fuck...”
Well, those were all words but they probably didn’t make much sense in the context. Pierce didn’t really care, however. There was the unmistakable scent of sex in the room, and he was pretty Jello-fied, but he reached for her to pull her close to him. Secret fan of cuddling, that was what he was.
~`~
Lainey willingly, but gently, collapsed against Pierce, moving only enough to lay at his side with her head on his chest. Their hearts were pounding simultaneously and she secretly adored that warmth and heat betwixt her thighs in that moment. He had laid claim to her, privately owned her in one deft move. Or several, depending on how one viewed it.
She felt adored. She felt worshipped, even though the offering was older than time itself, it was never without want or value. Lainey found it necessary to prop herself on an elbow, high enough to kiss Pierce tenderly despite the fire that had just raged through the both of them. “Mm,” came her reply to his feral grunting language. “I concur, love.” Her head returned to its place on his shoulder with her hand resting on his chest, just over his heart.
~`~
He crinkled his nose at the response, because he was well aware how stupid he sounded - as in, English motherfucker! Do you speak it? But who was actually eloquent during that? No one, really. Not even the CEO of the World.
The kiss was returned, a ghost of a smile crossing his features as he tucked her hair back. “Don’t move, darling,” he said, albeit jokingly - because where would she go. Shifting slightly, as little as possible because he didn’t want to disturb her too much, he leaned over and opened one of the drawers in the bedside table.
A small box was in his hand and there was a flash of gold as he removed what was nestled within the velvet. “I think you should put it back on me,” Pierce encouraged Elaine, handing her the wedding band she had slid onto the ring finger of his left hand thirty years ago. “Because honestly, I felt naked without it this whole time.”
~`~
Lainey watched him as he got into the drawer, curious as to what he was up to. It was a little late for condoms, so it couldn’t be that. Her ‘life change’ hadn’t started yet, but she’d taken precautions long ago to prevent any new pitter-patters of little feet. No, not condoms but the glint of his gold band caused her to gasp ever so slightly. She had to admit--her band was in her own bedside table as well. Her fingers turned it over, this way and that.
“I... have a better idea,” she said, biting her lip gently and meeting his gaze. “A new life together shouldn’t be without new rings. Not that they mean any less, but maybe have ours melted down and created into something new...” Her brain was facepalming itself and wondering how they’d gone from fighting about her moving in, which room she was going to be living in, Pierce seeing a one-eyed wizard that wasn’t his willy to making love (which was awesome; her brain couldn’t contest with that) and wanting to remarry? Lainey didn’t know, either, but the wave of deja vu hit like a ton of bricks as she thumbed the smoothed gold. She smiled knowingly. “What say you?”
~`~
“Oh, are you proposing?” Pierce asked casually, reaching over and brushing his thumb across her cheek, the lazy smile having returned to his face by now. He didn’t have to think about it, really. There was someone out there for everyone, someone that could be found if you played your cards right, and if you didn’t mind a few falls and scratches along the way. Elaine was definitely the one for him. There was no question about that.
He sighed, pretending to deeply ponder the question. “I suppose I say yes.”
~`~
Now, she laughed at his comment with a poke at his side. “Hey. You were the one who started it by pulling out your ring.” The ring that she had since slid over her index finger. “Then I suppose we’re engaged. Again.”
How was it that one afternoon, a box of silverware and a lack of sleep could bring about such an event? Tack on about twenty-eight years of marriage between two soul mates in the most literal form of the term, add two years of separation, a dash of tragedy and a pinch of love and need and this, folks, is how you get to this point. It doesn’t work for everyone, but sometimes the Universe has a sense of balance. Some people were just not meant to be one without the other.
Lainey’s fingers caressed Pierce’s stomach lazily and she allowed for a soft sigh to escape. “So, now what do we do, Fuzzy?”
~`~
“I suppose we’ll just have to have sex again, Laineybug.”
Oh, Pierce! He was such a character. Snickering right away - she would know he was only teasing - he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her gently, leaving a kiss in her hair.
“Figure it out as we go, I suppose,” he said, more serious this time. “But as long as the ‘we’ is there, then that’s all that matters.”
[We'll assume at this point they didn't do a damn thing the rest of the day except doze, scavenge some lunch, forage for dinner and decide to worry about Lainey's stuff tomorrow. Oh-- and make moar sexytimes.]