Page 22 of Mender

He croaked out an affirmation. I moved forward a little, touching his right arm. His muscles were strained under my hand, skin pleasantly warm. I slid my hand up, past his elbow, resting it on his wrist, feeling his pulse. Such a rapid beat, as treacherous in its revelations as his body was at this point. I kissed the little prodding spot, continuing with the palm of his hand, likely the most relaxed part of him.

“I can get the key,” I agreed, “or…” I moved my lips up a little, taking two fingers into my mouth, sucking a moment, tongue swirling before I let go, and moved back.

I saw actual desperation in his eyes now his options had been made clear. He wasn’t exactly desperate to leave the bed. The point had not been lost on him. “Come now,” I whispered softly in his ear. “We both know you could have kicked me out of this bed if you really wanted to.” I looked pointedly at him, saw realization dawn on his face. His hands might be stuck, but not the rest of him.

He sighed and looked up at me. “Okay,” he said softly. “You’ve made your point.”

I smiled then, in relief. For once seeing him not react to my smile with disdain.

“All you had to do was ask,” I said, equally softly, and moved back along his body. I noted the surprise in his eyes but didn’t pester him about it. Not with a word, nor with a look. Instead, I took hold of him, and finally, took him into me. The sensation of pleasure and fulfillment welled through me as I moved down his shaft, his hips instantly pushing against me. The sight of the relief on his face filled me with joy, and I pulled back, ready to ride us both to the crossing this time.

* * *

I lay on top of him, ear against his chest, listening to his slowing heartbeat. We remained like that a while, both exhausted from the prolonged “torture” as he’d called it. His breathing was becoming steadier as well, a soothing sound, which I could feel against my hair. I must have fallen asleep, though it didn’t feel like it. One moment I was simply lying still, and the next not so much. Like when you nod off and your neck jerking tells you it has happened.

I was moving forward on top of him, as he’d drawn his knees up a little while pulling himself up into a seated position by the headboard. He made a grimace at this effort and sighed as he sat back, his arms fastened to his right now.

“You fell asleep,” he said. He seemed calm, but then, he always did.

We were at eye level now and I rested my hands on his shoulders and shrugged. “It’s hard work to keep you from…uh…manhandling me.” I smiled at the thought and instantly felt a pang of want, my hips moving a little without my say-so. That’s when I noticed his returned readiness. I arched a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Why do you think I woke you?” he teased, leaning in, his mouth finding my neck.

“We have a meeting remember?” I said, making him freeze.

“What?”

“A meeting. To help us find the attacker.”

“Now?You want to go now? Are you serious?” There was incredulity in his voice as well as his eyes. This close, and with the daylight coming in from the window, I could see his light blue eyes had gray flecks. I made a mock move to get off him, the clink of the handcuffs making themselves known as he tried to get hold of me. “Oh, comeon,” he exclaimed with a look of pure malice toward them.

I laughed with delight then. I couldn’t quite help tormenting him, it seemed, but not now. I eased back to my former position, grabbing the headboard with one hand, feeling his breath on my neck as this time, I did not torment either one of us. The only sound in the room besides us was the metallic clink of the handcuffs every time his hands extended toward me, but couldn’t reach.

* * *

“We really do have that meeting, though,” I said afterward while breathing against his shoulder, my forehead pressed against the headboard as I’d caught my breath. I straightened up, ready to leave the bed, when on a whim, I kissed him, tentatively, this slow and gentle slide with his answering lips. Tender and gentle. Not like the intense kisses we’d shared so far. I couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes when I pulled back, and I didn’t stay to figure it out.

“Where’re you going?” he asked as I headed for the door.

“Shower.”

“Cuffs?”

“Yeah?”

“Hey!”

I smiled as I headed for the bathroom, not hearing whatever else he shouted.

I took a quick shower and found some clean clothes. I was tired, not only from the morning's activities, but from not sleeping all night. As I came back to the living room, I stopped as I noticed the plates and cups from the meal he’d made.

“Evans, key.”

I looked toward the open bedroom door, and nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me.

“Yeah,” I said, grabbing the plates and cups, moving them to the sink. No point in placing them in the dishwasher as it was full of clean crockery from the last time I’d been home.

“This isn’t funny,” he shouted.

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