Well Damn, This Was Written Beautifully! The Way You Captured His Grief

Well damn, this was written beautifully! The way you captured his grief 😭

12:32 PM (Marcus Moreno Drabble)

Rating: PG

Summary: Marcus likes to think he's moved on with life.

Tags/Warnings: Grief, loss of a spouse (Wife), fluff

Notes: Written off the prompt "I've always wondered why it had to be you" as an exercise with with some friends where we were assigned a prompt and Pedro boy and given 30 minutes to write. Thanks to @saradika-graphics for the divider!

Words: 700

Author Master List | Daily Clicks for Palestine & Other Resources

Marcus goes every Thursday at 12:32 pm. Rain or Shine. Sleet or Snow. Sometimes when he was still the leader of The Heroics, he’d have to miss his standing date, but his watch would ding in reminder instead. 

Now that he’s retired, he never misses it. 

Every Thursday at 12:32 pm, Marcus visits Marissa Moreno’s grave with a bouquet of her favorite flowers and a tuna melt. The exact day and time he spotted her across the greasy spoon he frequented, favorite sandwich inches from his mouth. The exact moment his life changed forever. 

He’d been young and arrogant at the time, twenty-two and ready to take the world by storm as the dashing young superhero he was. Marcus is confident, always has been, but the moment she came over and asked him if he needed a refill, his mouth went dry and he stumbled over his words like a damn fool. It was two months of tuna melts before he finally pulled it together enough to ask her out. 

She had laughed, his favorite sound in the world, the prettiest music to his ears, and winked at him. “Took you long enough.”

Marcus never looked back after that. They got married a year to the day after he first saw her. They’d welcomed Missy into their lives a few years later, and life was perfect. A dream. Marcus knew he was the luckiest man in the world. He treasured his wife and daughter. He still does. 

He still feels the sharp jab of pain in his heart every time he thinks back to that rainy Tuesday night. 

“I’ll be back by 10.” She had smiled at him as she dropped her lipstick into her clutch. Mom’s night out. He’d made a good attempt to keep her home with sultry words and a kiss that required her to reapply her lipstick. Had he known it would be their last, he’d have never let her go. 

She’d kissed Missy’s head, declared her love for both of them, and rushed out of the house. At ten o’clock, she wasn’t home. Marcus hadn’t been concerned at first. Then, the clock hit eleven. At twelve, her phone had gone straight to voicemail. Before he could call Christine, there was a knock at the door. 

He caught the flash of police lights painting the walls of his home before he ever saw the police officers. He’d known. It felt like a dream sequence. He didn’t hear a word the officers said. 

The next year of Marcus’s life had been like that. A living dream that to this day, he can only recall in blurs and flashes. Finally, one day he’d walked into that diner, sat in the same booth, and sobbed. His poor waitress. Apparently, it had been her first day. That had only made him cry more. 

Marcus can’t tell you how long he cried in that diner. Only that it was daylight when he walked in and the black of night greeted him when he emerged. 

He’s done better since then. He’s been better since, now 20 years removed from the night that took his wife from him. 

He keeps her up to date on everything. His life, Missy’s life. He laughs over some trouble the twins got into and cries over the fact that she doesn’t get to be here for it. He tells her how much Missy reminds him of her in everything. Her mannerisms, her glow. She’s always been the bright shining, light leading him out of the darkness, just like her mother. 

He likes to think he’s gotten past it and moved on with life. He doesn’t tell her how he wakes up missing her each morning, the sheets cool on her side of the bed, or that he still sets her coffee mug out on the table each morning. He tells her he’s okay, when deep down he doesn’t know if he ever will be again. 

He sets a hand on top of the tombstone. The ache never dulls. Despite the countless times he’s said goodbye, the words always echo in his head with tears flicking in his eyes. 

Why did it have to be her?

Oh my god this is so good! Your descriptions of everything made me feel like I was truly there!

I couldn’t help but laugh at the ending 😅 Poor Kate and Madison rushing through 🤣😂

it’s hell on earth to be heavenly

pairing: security guard!Frankie x band leader!fem!reader

rating: E for Explicit

word count: 5.2k

warnings: 18+ content, reader has no physical description besides female anatomy and clothing, Frankie is able to lift reader, aggressive music festival crowds, mental health scare, Frankie is our pussy eating king, unprotected piv sex, creampie

a/n: my contribution to the Summer Lovin' challenge hosted by @pedgito, @chaotic-mystery, and @amanitacowboy!! i'm so excited to share this one, the story came to me immediately when i got the moodboard. i'm a huge concert girlie so i may have nerded out just a bit 😅 anyway, happy Frankie Friday, enjoy some filth 😘

You knew your lives were about to change the moment the festival was confirmed. You just weren’t prepared for how much.

The band had solidified by the end of your first year of college. You met Madison, the bassist, in your orientation group the week before classes began. She learned how to play in high school out of spite when an ex-boyfriend made a comment about how “girl bassists aren’t real” – her major was in English Lit. Tyler, the rhythm guitarist, was your biology lab partner in the second semester. He was a couple years older, already in his third year and still undecided on his major but like any other former teenage wannabe-fuckboi, he only learned how to play guitar as a party trick to pick up girls. Over Spring Break, he threw a party at the apartment he shared with his sister, Kate, who’d decided not to take the college route despite being the same age as you and Madison. You learned that she was on the drumline in her high school’s marching band, so you didn’t hesitate to snatch her up and round out the group as your drummer.

You had a bit more classical background. Your mom had put you in piano lessons almost as soon as you were tall enough to reach the keys. She tacked on voice lessons when you were in middle school. By the time you were 12, you had your heart set on being a composer and performing at concert halls around the country. Your uncle was the one to teach you how to play guitar; he had a side gig at a local sports bar playing crowd-requested covers and pulled some strings to book the restaurant for your 16th birthday. You were mesmerized by the way everyone would join in and sing along, would-be strangers bound by nothing but an invisible string of words and chords. You ached to know that feeling and suddenly your path was even clearer than before.

The four of you hadn’t intended to form a band. Your bond as friends came first, the music just came from goofing off at a frat party and earning some cheers from drunk bystanders. From there, you did campus events and open-mic nights at dive bars, all just for fun and a little extra pocket money. You even played a wedding for your roommate’s cousin. Your first original song was a by-product of a final poetry assignment for one of Madison’s classes. The four of you recorded yourselves, put it up on YouTube, and it went viral within 24 hours. So you spent that summer just writing music. Pooling together your money allowed you to rent out the campus music department’s recording studio and your first EP was born.

That’s also where you met Frankie.

He had just taken a job as overnight campus security, and it was his first graveyard shift. It had been expectedly uneventful, sweeping through each building and making sure they were empty. Until one wasn’t as empty as it was supposed to be.

He saw the light at the end of the hallway and his Army training kicked in. Soft, slow steps carried him to the occupied practice room. There you sat at the piano, plunking out experimental chords and scratching out notations on the sheet music in front of you. You were so focused that you didn’t even hear the very audible creak of the door as Frankie pushed his way in. He waited a moment for you to respond, assuming he had just caught you mid-thought but when you still didn’t acknowledge his presence, he cleared his throat a bit more aggressively than he intended. “Excuse me.”

You jumped and swiveled around the bench. Your eyes were wide and tinged red with fatigue. You’d been there for hours, insistent on getting the song right.

“Miss, this building is closed.”

You blinked, digesting his words. “Right. Sorry, um,” you squeezed your eyes shut and inhaled at the sting of their dryness, “what time is it?”

“Nearly 1am.” Frankie softened, sure you weren’t any threat, but still maintained his authoritative stance. “You’re not supposed to be here. Could I see some ID?”

After digging through your bag and showing him your driver’s license and student badge, the situation cleared itself up pretty quickly. You’d explained what you were doing there and even showed him the official email from the department head giving your band permission to access the building over the summer. This sparked Frankie’s interest and the two of you probably would’ve spent hours talking if it hadn’t already been so late.

Despite your band’s clear potential, you all agreed to finish out your degrees before pursuing the industry for real. While you were afraid of missing your opportunity, having achieved such a bright spotlight so early on, a part of you was grateful. For time. For structure. For Frankie.

The two of you grew close over those last three years of your undergrad. You exchanged numbers with the veiled excuse of being able to contact him if you needed to get in or out of a building late at night. This eventually became if you needed him for anything. And one night at the end of senior year, you needed him bad.

The university had a tradition of throwing an exclusive off-campus party for the seniors the night after final grades were due. Being the only two band members in school, it was just you and Madison. Classic story, she was invited out afterwards by a bunch of other English majors, leaving you with no ride. So you called Frankie, and he pulled up in the parking lot within minutes. Fueled by the sadness of leaving him behind post-graduation and a little bit of alcohol, you seized your moment as soon as he parked behind your dorm building. The two of you showed just how badly you were going to miss each other in the back of his pickup.

--

You’re pulled from your memories by the hotel room door opening. Madison and Kate come spilling in, all dressed for the festival. Kate bangs on the adjoining room door, signaling Tyler to come over, and flops onto the bed opposite from Madison. You do one last look over your hair and makeup and emerge from the bathroom to get dressed.

Madison ooh’s in admiration while Kate whistles. “Okay, baddie.”

You roll your eyes and start to strip. Your concert outfit is laid out across the armchair by the window. “Do you guys wanna go over the set one last time?”

“Yeah, as soon as Tyler gets his ass over here!” Kate raises her voice to be heard in the room next door.

“Is everyone decent?” Tyler’s muffled voice comes from behind the door just as you finish buttoning your jeans.

“Yeah,” you yell back and bunch up your top, pulling it over your head as the door opens. You adjust the hem of the cropped tank and sit on the armrest, and the final band meeting is in session.

Right on time 20 minutes later, there’s another knock on the door. Being the closest, Madison hops up to open it and returns with Frankie in tow. “Y’all ready?”

The four of you share nervous and excited glances and you turn to him. “Fuck yeah.”

You and Frankie had kept in close contact after the band moved to LA in pursuit of a record label. He became your security detail shortly after your first tour as an opening act two years ago, fitting into the position perfectly with his military background. You’ve never run into any real issues, still being a relatively obscure group, but you were certainly on the rise.

This music festival was proof. The first single from your second album had just dropped when you got the call: opening the third largest stage on the first day of the event. You were billed third on the promotional fliers. For a band so comparatively unknown, this opportunity would either make or break you.

Frankie drops you off backstage for soundcheck exactly on time. You’re all immediately swarmed by operators and technicians and Frankie disappears off to the sidelines. He listens intently as you all tune your instruments and warm up your fingers and voices. He even catches himself humming along as you play bits and pieces of your setlist to confirm everything is in order.

Frankie’s attention is yanked away by the growing sound of the crowd in front of the stage. The four of you catch on to it as well, Madison and Tyler giddy with excitement and Kate twirling her drumsticks to ground herself. Frankie watches as you fiddle with your hair for the hundredth time, tapping your guitar pick against your thigh. Squeezed perfectly into those jeans you know he loves. Cupping the roundness of your ass just right. The hem of your tank top ends just high enough to give a peek at your midsection that he knows will be on full display once you settle into yourself and start jumping around the stage.

He doesn’t realize he’s staring until you’re right in front of him. You laugh when he still gets flustered at being caught, despite being a confirmed couple ever since he joined your team. You hook your fingers into his belt loops and tug him closer, careful to maneuver around the instrument strung across your front.

Frankie tucks a stray hair behind your ear, brushing your cheek with his knuckle as he does. “You ready, rockstar?”

You take a deep breath and nod. “As I’ll ever be.”

On cue, a voice crackles in your in-ear monitor calling everyone to places. Frankie cups your face, pulling you in for a confident kiss. You flash him a wink as you pull away and line up to climb the stage.

Frankie finds a vantage point off to the side of the crowd, their cries echoing across the fairgrounds as you strike the first chords. He knows your pattern: you’ll linger behind the mic stand for the first song and a half or so, only venturing out to interact with Madison and Tyler during the instrumental breaks. Finally, you’ll walk out to the edge of the stage, playing directly to the fans but just out of their reach. By the third song, you’ve got the microphone in your hand and you’re frolicking around the stage unburdened.

He holds his breath as you approach one particular guitar solo that challenges your playing ability, then cheers along as you nail it with a dazzling smile, the crowd going wild at your fingertips.

The air is hazy with smoke as your set comes to a close, both from the festivalgoers and the machines blowing onto the stage. Tyler, Madison, and Kate play an extended outro of your last song as you address the crowd, thanking them for watching and introducing the band one last time before ending with a final flourish of chords and drumrolls. Frankie makes his way backstage once more as you take your bows, picking up your setlists taped to the stage and tossing them into the crowd as souvenirs. He watches the other three descend the stairs as you blow one last kiss to the fans and follow behind. The area springs to life as the workers hustle to prepare for the next band. Once unburdened from your instruments and in-ear monitors, the four of you flock to Frankie, as practiced. You surge ahead slightly faster than the others to fling your arms around his neck and plant an ecstatic kiss on his cheek, right in the bare patch of his beard, breathing him in as you ride your high from performing. Frankie sets you down and shares a smile and laugh before switching back to business and the five of you come up with a gameplan for the rest of the day.

Everything goes smoothly right up until the end. You all stick together for the most part, migrating to different stages together but not too worried about being attached at the hip. Unlike you and Frankie. You know he prefers to linger behind where he can see everyone and you have no problem staying with him. Every once in a while, people will recognize you and get a group photo.

Frankie should’ve never let you go off alone. He got complacent. Sloppy. Even though you weren’t entirely alone, Kate and Madison accompanying you to the bar booth, Frankie can’t help but feel like he failed you.

He thought he had you in view enough. He and Tyler were talking but it shouldn’t have been enough to pull his attention completely. It’s only when Kate’s yell breaks through the back of the crowd in front of them that they realize the situation. The two of them launch forward, Tyler throwing his arm around his sister and Frankie shouldering through the mass of people, his deep voice and broad stature parting the way.

He finds you towards the center. The three of you had been on the way back with your drinks when a group of overly excited and intoxicated fans crowded you. Their volume attracted the attention of other attendees around and pulled them in, everyone suddenly scrambling for pictures and autographs. Being the lead guitarist and vocalist, you were slammed with the brunt of the energy, Madison losing her grip on your arm and Kate being pushed out to the back entirely, where she managed to call Tyler and Frankie.

When he finally reaches you, Frankie doesn’t hesitate to throw his arm around you and secure you against his body, shielding you from any more prying fingers. He quickly scans and spots Madison not far off, veering to her rescue as well. He tucks her under his other arm and rushes back towards Tyler and Kate. Frankie passes Madison off to them as he feels you slipping from his grasp and fully lifts you into his arms, ensuring no one can take you from him. You just bury your face in his neck, gripping his black t-shirt for dear life, and let him carry you away.

Festival security arrives as your group emerges from the crowd and escorts all of you to the security tent. You detach from Frankie briefly so that the on-site medic can check for injuries, but you resume your position in his lap as soon as you’re given the all-clear.

The drive back to the hotel is a blur. You know Tyler takes over as driver so that Frankie can sit with you. He holds your hand the entire way up to your rooms and only lets go to unlock the door to yours. Kate, Madison, and Tyler collectively decide to hide out in the adjoining room to give you time to recover.

You feel yourself coming down from the adrenaline, the chaos starting to settle in your mind. You go through the motions of your post-show ritual. Take your clothes off. Gather your pajamas. Pull your hair back. Take your makeup off. Shower. Bedtime.

Frankie monitors from the corner by the door, watching with a tightly creased brow that he’s definitely going to get a headache from later. You don’t acknowledge him as you move around the room on autopilot. He does his best to stay out of sight of the bathroom mirror as you scrub your makeup off with a wipe.

You open your eyes as Frankie slips back around the corner, caught in the reflection. “I can still see you, you know?” you mutter. You toss the makeup wipe in the trash and splash some water on your face.

You hear him sigh as he gingerly steps back into view, staying half hidden by the edge of the mirror. His eyes are full of guilt and concern, and you feel bad for snapping at him. “I know.” He leans against the wall, face angled down and away from you as he takes off his trademark cap, runs his fingers through his curls, and replaces the cap on his head. “I don’t mean to hover, I know you need your space. I just…” He pauses to take a shaky breath. “What happened was really scary. I just wanna make sure you’re okay.”

You massage your face wash into your skin as you listen, letting it set for a minute before rinsing it off. “I’m fine. Promise.”

It all happens so fast. You hear the girls gasp, not unlike others had throughout the day. You’re more than happy to interact with them, just grateful to even be at the festival and be recognized by fans in the first place. Their squeals grate your ears as more people gather around. You’re suddenly blinded by a phone flashlight being shoved in your face and Madison’s hand leaves your elbow, her fingernails scratching slightly as she tries to hold on. You can hear her calling your name and Kate’s as the three of you are separated by pressing bodies. The roar is suffocating as you’re bombarded with phones and pens and papers and hands everywhere, screams everywhere, you can’t see, you can’t hear, you can't –

“Hey.” Frankie’s voice snaps you back into your body as you stare back at your reflection, tight and sticky as your face wash dries. You sniffle, shaking your head a little to loosen the memory’s grip, and bend down into the sink to rinse your face.

“I gotta shower, Frankie.” You turn and twist the knob in the shower, holding a hand under the spray until it reaches your preferred temperature. When you move to close the door and undress, Frankie is still there watching. Not just watching – observing. Taking in every minute detail and analyzing to determine the best approach. You start to slowly push the door closed, never breaking eye contact with your boyfriend. Just before the wood makes contact with his foot in the doorway, Frankie nods.

“Call if you need anything.” He disappears around the corner, and you hear his tired grunt as he sits in the armchair.

You try not to think. Try to focus on the steps. Shampoo. Lather. Rinse. Conditioner. Rinse. Feel the scratch of the washcloth on your skin. The burn of the hot water as it washes away any evidence of the madness.

But then it’s too hot, like the air as they all crushed you. It’s too scratchy, like their fingernails as they all tried to tear away pieces of you to keep as souvenirs. You’re blinded by soap in your eyes and you see spots that look too much like the endless sea of faces. You can’t see, you can’t breathe, and all you want is Frankie. Frankie can help. Frankie will save you.

Strong arms wrap around you and you snap, pushing and screaming and clawing to get away. You’re lifted out of the shower and collapse onto the cold tile, a familiar body under you.

“Alright, baby, I got you. It’s okay, just let it out.”

You let out a final cry of defeat and go limp in Frankie’s arms, letting him fill your senses. His smell, dirt and sweat and smoke with a hint of his cologne still underneath. His lips in your hair, the scratch of his beard against your temple. His chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm as he holds you in his lap, a warm hand encompassing your thigh and the other tracing feather-light circles on your bicep.

“How did you know?” you manage to choke out in between gasps, fighting to fill your lungs.

“You called me.”

“I did?”

Frankie just nods and sits with you in silence, the static of the running water underscoring the stillness. He doesn’t care that his clothes are now soaked from plucking you straight from the shower. He didn’t think when he heard your choking, he just acted. Like he should’ve done before.

You’re starting to regain control over your breathing when you feel Frankie’s chest stutter. You look up to see his eyes closed, silent tears streaking his face.

“Hey,” you whisper, reaching up to swipe them away. “I’m okay, Frankie. I’m okay now. You’re here-”

“But I wasn’t then.” He fights to keep his voice level as his heart threatens to force its way up his throat. “I was supposed to protect you and I didn’t- I-I couldn’t-”

You trace his lips with your fingertips, interrupting his words as you calm him with a hush. “This was not your fault, Frankie. It all just happened so fast, it could’ve happened to anyone.”

“But it didn’t happen to anyone. It happened to you.” Frankie’s voice has an edge to it now. Angry. “I failed you.”

You twist in his arms, moving to straddle his thighs. Cupping his jaw with both hands, forcing him to look at you, “You have never failed me.” Then, you press your lips to his and it feels like your first breath of fresh air through the smoke.

Frankie reacts immediately. His lips move against yours, hungry, as his hands pull you closer. He needs to know you’re there in his arms and no one will ever rip you away from him.

A shiver runs down your spine and you’re not sure if it’s the contrast of his heat and the cold bathroom floor, or the way his tongue expertly works its way into your mouth, exploring and claiming. You grind down against his hardening length and he detaches your lips, arms tightening to support you.

Frankie shifts and rises from the floor, never once letting you out of his grip as he moves into the bedroom. He groans as you nip at his neck, crawling up the bed with you clinging to his front.

You feel the cool sheets press against your damp bare back and you gasp. Frankie immediately flips the two of you over so you’re on top. His eyes are wild, scanning your face for any hint of distress. You nod, letting him know you’re okay, and slowly slip his cap off his head, dropping it to the floor and clutching fistfuls of his curls with both hands. Frankie moans in relief and turns his head to pepper your inner forearm with kisses.

His mouth works up your arm to your shoulder, across your collarbone. He pauses to nip at your pulse point and fill his lungs with your fresh scent and you rake your nails down his neck to his chest, then his belly. You tug his t-shirt up, forcing him to break contact to pull it over his head.

As soon as it’s off, Frankie scoots forward slightly down the bed and lays back, his curls splayed out on the pillow as he shifts into position. Once settled, he cups the backs of your thighs, nudging you forward. He turns his head to nip at your soft skin as you nestle your knees on the pillow, caging his head between them.

He gazes up at you, a haze growing in his eyes. Stroking your leg with one hand, he traces his fingers up the other before reaching your dripping center. He cups your core in his palm, heat surging through your veins, then travels down. Fingers forming a V, he spreads your lips and a growl vibrates through his body, resonating through you as well.

Your head falls back with a moan and you grip the headboard with both hands. “Fuck, please, Frankie.”

He continues tracing your folds with his calloused fingertips, catching at your leaking entrance. “Please what, baby?”

 You look down to see him staring up at you, pupils blown with desire. “Taste me.”

The hand on your thigh slides up to your hip and Frankie practically shoves you down onto his eager mouth. Your head falls back once more and you lace your fingers through his hair, your other hand still gripping the headboard for dear life.

Frankie’s thumb plays with your clit with practiced precision as his tongue explores every inch of your pussy. You lose yourself in the sensation of his digit applying just the right amount of pressure while he eats away at you like it’s his last meal, the scratch of his beard as his jaw works supplying extra friction against your thighs.

You gasp when Frankie finally plunges his tongue into your hole, twisting and sucking down your sweet juices. You can’t help but move your hips in tandem with his strokes and your moans rise in pitch whenever the tip of his nose brushes your bundle of nerves. Frankie removes his thumb, cupping your cheeks with both hands and pulling them apart. You bite back a squeal as his tongue ventures back to your asshole and prods at the tight ring.

He retreats before exploring any further, thirsty again for your arousal. You’re fully riding his tongue as your pleasure reaches its peak. You look down at him between your thighs and find his eyes wide open, drinking in your euphoria, like he’s intent on never letting you out of his sight again. His piercing stare is enough to send you over the edge and you lose your grip on the headboard. Searching blindly for a hold as your back arches, Frankie reaches for your arm, fingers wrapping around your elbow and holding you down on his face. His groans ripple through you, prolonging your high, as his hips rut up into the air, begging for relief.

Frankie releases you as you come down from your orgasm, immediately sliding down his body, placing kisses along his skin until you reach his jeans. Your hands shake as you rush to unbutton them and pull down the zipper. He lifts and shimmies his hips to help you yank them down his thighs, flinging them behind you without looking.

You lean forward to kiss along the waistband of his boxers, licking and nipping at the skin and nuzzling your nose in the coarse hairs trailing below the undergarment. Frankie’s hips buck and he almost whines as he grabs at you. You finally free his cock from the tightening fabric, mouth watering as if in a Pavlovian response. He’s thick and heavy, twitching from the lack of contact. You move to take his leaking head into your mouth as he took you into his, but Frankie’s hands are too fast, too desperate.

He sits up and positions you above his lap, fingers massaging your hips as you grind your still dripping pussy along his length. “So wet for me, baby. I need to be inside you. Please,” he pants in your ear. He’s been apart from you for too long already. He needs to be close, as close as possible.

You nod and breathe out an “okay” and Frankie shifts up the bed to rest his back against the headboard. You lift up and reach behind you to grip his cock, taking a moment to massage his balls. Frankie lets out a strained moan and you guide him inside you, sinking down onto him.

You breathe deep and controlled as his tip parts your walls, practically sucking him in. You pause when your pelvises meet, his hair tickling your clit deliciously. He’s buried deep in your cunt, perfectly molded around him, warm and wet. Frankie mouths at your neck, leaving his mark, and massages your breasts with both hands as he gives you time to adjust. He rolls your nipples in his fingers and you clench around him, signaling that you’re ready.

You start slow, rocking your hips against his and feeling his tip nudge that perfect spot inside you. You start a slow pace, rising off his cock and dropping down. Inch by inch until only his tip is inside, then you speed up. Before long, you’re bouncing in Frankie’s lap with his hands on your hips guiding you. He loves to watch the way your tits move with each impact. Hypnotized, he leans forward and captures a nipple in his mouth, circling it with his tongue. You cry out unrestrained as he lightly bites down and your second orgasm of the night washes over you.

Frankie detaches when he feels your walls clamp down on him. He leans back and bends his knees, planting his feet on the bed. Grasping your arms as he did earlier, he braces you and begins thrusting at a fierce pace. You cry out again as his hips slam up into you, the clapping of skin on skin and his throaty groans filling the room.

You know he’s getting close by the way the veins in his neck pop with exertion. Frankie sucks air in through his teeth and drops one hand down to your clit, your freed hand flying down to latch onto his meaty stomach. Frankie chokes out a moan at the prick of your fingernails. “Come on. Come on, baby. One more. You can do it, give me one more.”

You mindlessly chant prayers of “yes” and “please” at the altar of his hips as you gush around him, soaking his cock and leaking out across his thighs and onto the bed.

“That’s it. Good fucking girl. That- fuck, that’s-” A subdued roar erupts from Frankie’s chest as he pulses inside you, coating your greedy walls with rope after rope of cum. The sensation triggers you to squeeze around him, milking him for all that he’s worth.

Frankie sits up and slides his hands up your back, gripping your shoulders from behind and locking you onto him. You seal your lips on his as your shared aftershocks subside.

Still holding you to him, Frankie leans back to rest against the headboard. He rubs your back with his palm as you both breathe heavily, heartbeats syncing and slowing.

“Frankie?” You murmur against his chest, peeking up through fluttering, sated eyelids. He looks down at you, humming in acknowledgement. “Tonight was not your fault.”

Frankie breaks eye contact, sighing and staring out at the hotel room. You reach up and pull his face back down to you.

“Don’t run away from me. Look at me.” You kiss him deeply again, then whisper against his lips. “I love you. I trust you. I-”

“I got you.”

You laugh softly. “You got me. But I got you too.”

The two of you stay curled into each other for a while. You’re just about to drift off when a knock on the adjoining room door startles you awake.

Frankie feels you jerk and squeezes his arms around you. “Yeah?” he calls.

Kate responds from the other side. “Hate to interrupt you guys but…can Mads and I just come grab our stuff real quick and we can camp out over here tonight?”

You bury your face in Frankie’s chest, still plugged with his cock and his cum, and chuckle. You move to get up and make yourself decent but Frankie keeps holding you. Raising an eyebrow at him, he flashes a mischievous smirk, untucks the sheets with one hand, and covers the two of you with a flourish.

“Make it quick!”

Kate and Madison fly through the room, grabbing their clothes and toiletries while dramatically shielding their eyes from you and Frankie. You can’t help but giggle against Frankie’s skin as you listen to their flurry of activity. Finally, you hear one of them exit the room and Kate calls from the bathroom.

“You guys know you left the shower running?”

Oh youuuu! ❤️❤️❤️ Wouldn’t have it any other way! ILY 🥰

Goober

Summary: On a stormy night, a dog makes a dash for the garage. Frankie is insistent, like all dad's, they are not keeping that damn dog.

Warnings: Cussing, fluff, puppy madness, Nora seems to need her own warning in this fic cause she is sassy!

A/N: Happy Frankie Friday!!! Another installment of the Parents to Lovers AU! Thank you so much @noxturnalpascal for betaing for me ❤️❤️ @jay-zzle, my side kick for all these stories, my personal moodboard maker, one of my best friends that I would have never even met without Pedro Pascal existing, once again thank you for making the moodboard AND the other thing(wait til y'all get to the end)

Masterlist||AO3||Parents to Lovers

divider provided by @saradika-graphics

The thunder was getting closer and closer. You can smell the incoming rain on the air as you close the kitchen window.

“Girls!” You shout, approaching the living room doorway “Did you remember to bring your bikes in the garage?”

“I did!” Missy says quickly, returning to the game on her tablet.

“Uhh…” Nora hesitates, fingers fidgeting against her own tablet, “I forgot.”

“Nora! How many times have we talked about this?”

“Sorry,” she shrugs, “I just forgot.”

You groan, putting your shoes on and making your way to the garage. Frankie won’t be home for another hour or else you’d send him outside to get the bike. Opening the garage door you see the rain already starting to come down in sheets. Thankfully, Nora’s bike isn’t that far from the open door, but running towards it you see something dash past you into the garage.

“Fuck,” you mutter, grabbing the bike and wheeling it into the garage, “Now I get to deal with whatever creature decided to run into here for shelter from the storm. Thanks Nora, you’re the best!”

A clap of thunder sounds just then, causing you to jump, and you hear a whimper at the edge of the room. You reach for the switch on the wall and when the overhead lights come on you see a dog huddled in the corner.

“Hey little baby,” you say sweetly, crouching down and stretching out your hand, “It’s just a little thunder, nothing to be scared about.”

The dog slowly begins to move closer to your outstretched hand. You notice the floppy ears, short legs and long body. Another clap of thunder and the thing darts over, shaking and whimpering.

“Hi there,” you coo, “Let's get you some place warm and dry, huh? That sound good?”

The dog’s tail starts to wag a little as you continue talking to it, grabbing a towel as you begin to attempt to dry the dog off.

“Are we a boy or a girl?” You ask, lifting a leg to check, “Congrats! It’s a girl!” You say to no one but yourself.

The dog begins licking your face as you wipe her paws more to get the mud off.

“Aww, you’re just a sweet girl, aren’t you?” You coo, as the dog continues to lick your face, “Yes, yes you are! Okay, I think we’re good to go inside now.”

You gently scoop the dog up in the towel and carry her inside, bringing her into the living room.

“Is that what I think it is?!” Nora shrieks, smacking Missy’s arm to get her attention from her tablet.

“Hey, calm down, she doesn’t like loud noises,” you explain, “This little girl ran into the garage because of the storm.”

“She’s so cute!” Missy excitedly whispers, “Does she have a name?”

“Well I don’t see a collar so I don’t know,” you say, placing the dog in the middle of the living room.

The dog’s tail begins to wag harder when the girls slowly slide off the couch to approach her, and you notice her peeing on the carpet. 

“Shit,” you hiss, quickly going to the laundry room for a towel, laying it on the carpet to soak up the mess. She’s much more enthusiastic seeing the girls than she was seeing you. You sit on the couch watching the girls interact with the puppy.

“Hi,” Missy whispers, reaching her hand out for the dog to sniff, “You’re very pretty.”

“Yes,” Nora agrees, stretching her arm out, “Pretty and smooshy!”

The dog eats up the attention stretching out on the floor to show her chest and belly. Missy and Nora begin petting her, taking turns rubbing her tummy and scratching behind her ears.

“Momma, what kind of dog is she?” Nora asks, looking at you.

“It looks like she’s what’s called a basset hound,” you grin. You’d always wanted one growing up and thought that whoever owned this girl was the luckiest person in the world. You needed to call Frankie before he got home, that way he could maybe stop somewhere to get a collar, leash, and dog food. You pull your phone from your pocket, tapping on his contact info.

“Hey babe,” he sighed, “Think we’re almost done here and then I’ll be home.”

“So,” you say, getting up and walking to the kitchen so the girls wouldn’t hear, “I need you to do something for me before you come home.”

“What kind of ice cream do you want now?” He laughs.

“It’s not a craving this time,” you whisper into the phone, hand rubbing across your barely there bump, that news you hadn’t shared yet with the girls, “Not a bad idea though, Ben and Jerry’s Salted Caramel.”

“Sure thing,” he says, “I’ll be sure to ge—“

“No babe,” you interrupt, “Seriously that’s not what I was calling about. I need you to get some puppy food, a leash, and a collar.”

“Do what now?”

“Puppy food, a leash and a collar,” you repeat, “and the Ben and Jerry’s! I’ll text you what I said, love you, bye!” You say quickly before hanging up and texting him the list. Your phone pings a second later.

Frankie: What the fuck?!

—

“Babe,” Frankie shouts, entering the kitchen, “I got the st—“

The dog ran into the kitchen, looking up at Frankie, giving a single bark.

“Well, hello,” he says, dropping the small bag of dog food on the table, hesitantly the dog inches closer to Frankie, tail tucked between her legs, sniffing his boot.

“Dad, look!” Missy says, pointing at the dog.

“I see,” Frankie says, eyebrows raised.

“Can we keep her?!” Nora asks, bouncing from foot to foot.

“Absolutely not!” Frankie says, putting his hands on his hips, “She looks pretty young, probably has a family around here somewhere.”

“Obviously they don’t care about her though,” Nora argues, “They left her out in a storm!”

“Yeah,” Missy agrees, nodding her head, “That’s just mean to do to a baby dog!”

“Now, now girls,” you say, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, “Sometimes dogs get loose when they’re scared and just run off.”

“We’ll make some flyers and post them around the neighborhood,” Frankie says, “Until we can find the owners we’ll make sure the little thing’s fed and taken care of.”

“She’s not just a thing, Frankie,” Nora grumbles, stomping past you to the living room, the dog and Missy following right behind her.

Frankie takes in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. You walk towards him, grabbing him around his waist and pulling him close, breathing him in.

“It’s gonna be okay,” you whisper into his neck, placing a small kiss there.

“Why’s she gotta be so damn stubborn like her momma?” Frankie hums, grabbing a handful of your ass.

“Everyone says she looks like her dad so guess that means she has to have my attitude,” you say, shrugging your shoulders with a laugh.

—

“Are you sure we can’t just keep her?” Missy asks while you’re stapling one of the flyers to a pole.

It’s been a couple days since the dog arrived. You’d gotten the flyers made and now you were all walking around the area with the dog and posting them up in numerous places. You’d already hit every business downtown that you could. Now it was time to hit the neighborhoods around you.

“I’m sure,” Frankie said in a stern tone, “We are not keeping her.”

“But I already picked out a name,” Nora pipes up, flicking the leash lightly in her hands like a whip, “Goober!”

“Nora don’t do that with the leash,” you say, “You could hurt her.”

“Don’t name her!” Frankie groans, “She’s not our dog!”

“Why Goober?” Missy laughs, as you all continue to walk.

“Well,” Nora says, looking down at the dog who cocks her head to the side like she was waiting for the answer as well, “Just look at her! Mom always says I’m a goober when I do something funny and she just looks funny!”

“I like it,” Missy says with a small smile.

“No,” Frankie said, “Her name is not Goober.”

The dog barks, ears perked up, wagging her tail, and looking directly at Frankie.

“Oh,” you laugh, “Babe, I think she just told you you’re wrong and that her name is, in fact, Goober.”

“Stop it,” he says, pointing at you before hanging up another one of the flyers.

—

“Would it be such a bad idea to keep her?” You ask while filling the dog’s food and water dish. The dog is patiently waiting for you to place them on the floor for her.

“Yes it would.”

“Frankie,” you groan, hand on your stomach, and bending down to set them on the floor, “She’s so cute though!”

“Doesn’t matter how cute she is,” Frankie shakes his head, “We shouldn’t keep her.”

“Babe,” you say flatly, “It’s been a week and a half and we haven’t heard a single thing from anyone!”

“Good morning, Mom!” Nora beams, coming into the kitchen, “And good morning Princess Goober!”

“Morning,” Missy grumbles, “Goober!” She says perking up a little and petting the dog on the head.

“Stop calling her that!” Frankie says sternly, “She’s not our dog. End of discussion.”

“Oh,” Nora says, glaring at him, “Morning Frank.”

“Are you guys ready for school?” He asks, ignoring Nora’s glare.

“Yeah,” Missy yawns. Nora just grumbles still glaring at him.

“Alrighty then,” you hum, “Come here. Hugs!”

Both girls embrace you one either side, giving them both a tight squeeze before letting them go.

“Have a good day and Nora,” you smile, “Please behave.”

She rolls her eyes, following Missy into the garage with a huff. Frankie shakes his head, walking towards you, wrapping his arms around you.

“That girl’s gonna give me more gray hairs than the baby,” Frankie mutters into your temple.

“That makes the both of us,” you laugh, giving him a chaste kiss before he’s off to take the girls to school and go to work.

—

“Goober!” The girls shriek, bursting into the house through the garage. Goober’s tail starts wagging like crazy and she pees all over the floor.

“Goober Goo!” You groan, “Not again!”

Goober just looks at you, panting, tongue hanging out to the side.

“Can we take her to the backyard?” Missy asks, putting her backpack on the hook.

“Sure,” Frankie grunts, bending down to clean up the pee. Goober pokes her head under his armpit, while he wipes the pee up and begins licking his face, “Okay, okay. Yes, I see you.”

“Think she likes the way your beard tastes, Dad,” Missy giggles.

“Must be leftovers in there,” he grumbles, rubbing Goober’s ears.

“Oh! Watch this!” Nora exclaims, “Come here Goober! Come here!”

Goober pushes past Frankie’s arm, walking in her pee to get to Nora.

“Damn dog,” Frankie mumbles, motioning for you to hand him the Clorox wipes.

Goober plops down in front of Nora. She grabs one of Goober’s ears and begins to scratch the inside of it, causing Goober’s back leg to violently shake. 

“What is she doing?!” Missy asks, starting to giggle.

“You found her puppy spot!” You exclaim with a laugh.

Frankie looks up to see what you are all laughing at, watching the saggy dog’s body jiggle and starts laughing.

“What the hell?” Frankie laughs, shaking his head, “Think she is a Goober afterall. Go on, take her outside now, I’m sure she’s got more pee in her. Don’t want her pissin’ in the house more than she already has.”

The girls take her outside, taking turns throwing the floppy stuffed animal they gave her that she had ripped the stuffing out of.

“Babe,” You smile watching the girls play with Goober outside, “I think we have a dog now.”

“I think you’re right,” Frankie groans, standing up, throwing away the Clorox wipes and throwing the towel into the hamper in the laundry room.

“We can’t get rid of her,” you pout, “The girls love her too much. Frankie, I love her too much and no one’s claimed her!”

Frankie finishes washing his hands at the sink, turning around, crossing his arms with a big sigh.

“Fine,” he sighs, “We’ll keep the damn dog.”

—

“What ya making, babe?” Frankie asks, coming up behind you to wrap his arms around your waist, “Smells really fucking good.”

“Spaghetti,” you grumble, “Only thing the girls seem to want to eat right now.”

Nora rushes into the kitchen, observing the fridge, rearranging some of the pictures on it.

“What are ya doin’ kid?” Frankie asks, looking behind his shoulder.

“Moving some stuff around,” she says snarkily, “This coupon is expired. Can I throw it away?”

“Yes,” you and Frankie say at the same time.

“Cool,” she says, throwing it away and running out of the kitchen.

You continue stirring the sauce, trying not to let the smell get to you.

“Need me to take over?” Frankie asks, kissing your temple.

“Oh my god,” you huff, “Please.”

Frankie laughs softly, kissing the spot on your neck that meets your shoulder. Then moves you to the side when Nora and Missy come rushing back in. Goober following closely behind them.

“I think we should put it here,” Nora says, pointing to the empty spot she made.

“What if though,” Missy says, rearranging different pictures, creating a new empty space, “We put it here?”

“Hmm, yeah, I like that better,” Nora agrees.

Missy grabs one of the magnets off the fridge, placing a new picture on the fridge, right alongside the picture of the four of you together, underneath the picture of Missy and Nora, and above the picture of Frankie with the guys.

“There!” Nora beams, “Goober is on the fridge, that means she’s family!”

“No take backs!” Missy says, pointing at Frankie.

Yessss!!!!! I loved this so much!!!!

Tommy Miller's Stall feat. Marcus Pike & f!Reader

Prompt: Marcus Pike + BBQ + "It's a Surprise. Close your eyes."

a @pedgito challenge fic | Rated: 18+ | word count: 2,852 warnings: swearing, talk of drinking beer, eating, bathroom stalls becoming shrines, Barbequed meats (consumed), broken AC, lack of air circulation, sweating, oral (m receiving), pork steeple in ham wallet (unprotected), bathroom shenanigans, pre-term ejaculation, cumming undone too soon, grey t-shirts

A/N: I know I am a day late with this and I know bc of that, it's probably not going to be included in the challenge, but I needed to release this! Apologies to @pedgito for my tardiness. This is not the previously met Marcus - he's a Marcus all of his own.

Thank you to @strang3lov3, @noxturnalpascal & @bitchesuntitled for their love and support.

Traveling for work meant Marcus got to know all the random hole-in-the-wall eateries and Miller Bro’s Boy Howdy BBQ in Austin was one of his favourites. He loved the laid-back atmosphere and the story of why Joel & his brother Tommy bought the place from the previous owner – Tommy lost his virginity in the bathroom to a line cook named Rhonda and begged his brother to help him buy this drive of a restaurant and save it from demolition. There was even a plaque in the stall where Tommy ‘became a man in Summer ’89’.

Over the years, he’d gotten to know the menu and the Miller brothers. Joel was more aloof, preferring to stay in the kitchen or at the BBQ pit out back, while Tommy was happy to sit out with the customers like they were old friends, playing cards or sharing a few stories and laughs with them. The few times that Marcus had interacted with Joel were mainly to compliment him on the menu and tell him how much he liked the place; Joel would grunt and nod in thanks and head back into the kitchen.

There was another reason he liked coming to this place – you. From the first time he laid eyes on you as he darkened this place’s doorway six years ago, he knew he was hooked. You’d flashed your smile at him, flipped your hair and told him to, “Take any available seat, handsome. I’ll be right wit’cha!”

He’d learned that your nickname was ‘Peaches’ on account of your penchant to recommend the peach and bourbon barbeque sauce that was house made. He also learned that Joel kept an eye on him when you were around - he would catch Joel narrowing his eyes at him through the kitchen service window when you were at his table taking his order. It used to make Marcus nervous, thinking he might get something extra hidden in his food, but he decided that it was too delicious to care.

He'd taken a temporary position in the Austin office and for the last six months, he’d eaten at Miller’s every night and it was apparent. Marcus had assumed you were being kind when you called him handsome, especially now that he was barely fitting into the oversized summer attire he’d packed in late December before he’d come out to Austin and discovered that eating large portions of charbroiled meats at least once a day would alter your waistline so drastically.

His middle had filled out enough that the suits he wore throughout the day had to be tailored repeatedly before being fully replaced to accommodate his new weight. And the summer clothing he was wearing, formally loose-fitting for the heat, were anything but. So, when you winked at him when he entered today and said that you’d be with him in a minute, he internally reminded himself that you were just doing your job.

Marcus sat heavily down and slid into the booth, then waited for you to come over to his table. As he sat, he noticed how warm the dining area’s temperature was and took in the slight sweat ring and patches that were forming on your grey Miller Bro’s Boy Howdy BBQ branded shirt. He also realized he didn’t hear the tell-tale whirling and churning sounds of the too-old AC unit that normally filled the vacant spaces between conversations. He looked up to the vent in the corner, and the streamers that normally danced in the airflow hung limp, and he wiped the back of his hand over his damp forehead. He was getting hot.

“Hey handsome.”, you smiled, a slight weariness in your eyes but your smile shone bright. “Usual or you wanna see the menu?”

Marcus smiled back, and not wanting to make you work any harder, nodded and responded, “The usual please, Peaches.”

His eyes trailed down your body, landing on your butt as you walked back to the service window, then smiled to himself. He looked up, then made direct eye contact with Joel who only offered a scowl followed by a judgemental head shake before he disappeared back into the depths of the kitchen.

*****

Marcus was sweating. After finishing his meal, Tommy had come around and sat with him, ordering more barbequed goodness and beers, telling him the beer was ‘on the house, ‘cause the fuckin’ AC shit the bed.’ This exclamation was followed by you reminding Tommy that the AC was broken because he spent the repair funds on a ridiculous crystal duck as a gift to impress a woman – a woman who happened to be the AC repair tech’s wife.

Even with the cool beer, Marcus felt overly hot. A belly stuffed to the brim with smoked and charbroiled meats while sitting in a hot, stuffy room with still air was getting to him. As Tommy stood, slightly wavering on his feet from all the beer he was consuming to match the beer he was giving away to customers, he heavily patted Marcus on the shoulder and muttered, “Take it easy, big guy… I’ll be back ‘round soon.”

*****

You were hovering around Marcus’ table, checking in on him and Tommy, and every time you moved towards the kitchen with another order, Joel would shake his head at you, much like he would at Marcus.

“One of y’all better make a move soon… fuckin’ pathetic.”

You huffed in response, cheeks heating up. “Shove it, Joel. Mind your business.”

“Jesus, Peaches! It’s my fuckin’ business if I’m payin’ you by the hour and have’ta watch this horse shit pussy footin’ between you and fat boy over there. Just go sit on his lap an’ get it over with.”

You gave him a warning glare and a smug grin tugged at one side of Joel’s mouth. He nodded to you, signaling to look and you saw Tommy leaving Marcus’ table.

“Gonna close early on account of the heat and the fact that I’m fuckin’ done roastin’ myself in this kitchen.” You heard Joel chuckle behind you. “Get’er done, Peaches.”

*****

Marcus stood and stretched after he finished his beer, feeling the weight he'd consumed in his stomach, and looking down, he could see the bulk of it, too. You watched his stand and stretch, exposing a sliver of his rounded-out middle between his shirt and shorts.

Tommy tsk’d, startling you. Turning around, you were met by his slightly drunk, glazed eyes, and a dopey smile. “Joel’s right, Peaches. Just bite the bullet and take that man for a ride in my stall.”

“Oh my god, Tommy!”, you exclaimed with a frown a little too loudly, shoving him back.

Tommy laughed and handed you a shot of bourbon. You rolled your eyes and slammed it alongside him. He then grabbed your shoulders, turned you to face Marcus’ direction and said in your ear quietly. “No harm, no foul in helpin’ him take in the sights Austin has to offer, Peaches.”, then shoved you towards his table.

You caught yourself from stumbling and cleared your throat as you approached him. Marcus turned and looked at you; a small smile spread on his face before a pink blush crept up his cheeks as he tugged his shirt down, closing the slight gap his stretch had caused.

You could feel the energy, electrifying and crackling like a late July thunderstorm, raging in the space between your bodies, pulling you together with a gravitational field that would rival the one caused by Jupiter’s giant spot. Marcus opened his mouth to speak but any words he was going to say were lost in his throat as you moved forward and kissed him. The soft exhale that came after his surprised gasp tasted like beer and barbeque sauce on your tongue that pushed against the seam of his lips. His hands, sticky and smoky, were tethered up in your hair, holding your face against his as he deepened the kiss, granting your tongue entrance in your tongue’s long anticipated dance.

You barely heard Tommy spit his beer out and sputter out choked coughs as Joel grunted then nodded in approval at what you and Marcus were up to. After depriving yourselves of full breaths for long enough, you parted, panting, staring at one another. Marcus’ shoulders and chest were heaving and his lips, parted and pouted, were wet from your combined saliva.  His face was flushed, glistening in the low glow of all the tacky neon lighting adorning the walls, one side of his face pink from flamingos with sunglasses on, the other side flickering orange and yellow from the broken Corona promotional neon sign. He was beautiful.

At that moment, you didn’t think what you looked like, completely enraptured by the huffing and panting man sweating in front of you.

“Peaches…”, Marcus murmured, eyes wide and pleading. “I wanna do this right. I-”

You couldn’t let him finish, not if his next words could dampen the fire that had erupted in your core, making your hole twitch hard enough that you felt it in behind your belly button. You shook your head and shushed him, pressing your index finger against his lips. You grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the men’s washroom, directly into Tommy’s stall.

Thinking back, you would wonder how differently things would have gone if you’d pulled Marcus into a private area that wasn’t designed for single occupancy. The stalls in this restaurant were small, given that the original design of the washrooms did not include stalls at all, and Marcus was no longer a small man. But good god, the feeling of your body pushed up against his as he was backed against the stall door, mashing your mouths together.

You were still taking the lead in this dance, setting the pace and motions, while Marcus finally allowed his hands to touch more than anywhere above your collarbone. He gripped your waist with one hand and the other pushed its way between your bodies to clumsily try and shove it down the front of your pants. You both awkwardly tried to undress one another as you kept your lips and tongues attached, panting and grunting. If someone walked into the bathroom, they might assume there were two dogs quietly fighting over a piece of beef in the stall.

Once your jean shorts were open, Marcus wasted no time in shoving them down enough to shove his barbeque-tinged fingers into them. He eventually found what he was looking for when the tip of his finger grazed your sensitive and twitching nub, eliciting a gasping moan from you as you involuntarily bucked your hips. It was what tipped you over the edge, prompting you to swing him around and fumble with his button fly. He pulled back and his hands gently held yours, halting your mission to get his pants off.

“Marcus…”, you panted against his mouth.

“I haven’t… it’s been a while since…”, he stumbled through his words.

It seemed like time was slowing and you smiled softly at him. “Close your eyes.”

He hesitated, sucking in a breath nervously. “Why?”

“It’s a surprise. Close your eyes.”

His brows twitched and did as he was told and you sank to your knees, sliding your hands down his torso and thighs, and he let out a soft whimper once he realized where you were headed. Once on your knees, you pushed up his shirt and pressed a kiss right below his belly button and steadied yourself with your forehead against his full and rounded out stomach, your hands now free to get his shorts opened and down. His cock was pushing an impressive bulge in his grey boxer briefs, and you could see where the tip was pressing, a dark, damp patch at its peak.

Pulling down his underwear, his cock popped out and slapped up against his heavy underbelly, and without any hesitation, you grabbed it and sucked the tip into your mouth.

Marcus moaned out a surprised gasp and his hand gently rested on the crown of your head.

“I-oh fuck! I won’t… I wont last long. Peaches, please, honey.”, he whined, his fingers curling into your hair ever so gently.

He wasn’t kidding when he said he wouldn’t last long. His balls had just started to lift and tighten as you pulled off, and you looked up at him, marveling at the sight above you. Marcus was leaning back against the stall door, and you could only see his tented brows above his closed eyes before his belly obstructed the view.

Standing up, you smoothed your hands over his middle and leaned in to kiss him. He smiled against your mouth, and took a chance in moving away from the door and his arms wrapped around your body, pulling you into him. He maneuvered the both of you, now facing the stall door, ready to push you against it, to get on his knees for you, and pulled your shorts and underwear off completely.

But you stopped him, shoving his shorts and boxer briefs down his thighs, and pushed him back to sit on the toilet.

He fell back on to the lowered seat with a grunt, and you straddled his lap.

“Marcus,”, you breathe out as you start to seat yourself upon his cock. “I’ve wanted this for -oh god! for so long…”

He nodded frantically, and his fingers dug into your hips once your hips were finally flush with his.

“Oh…oh fudge…”, he moaned, clenching his eyes closed.

His breathing was quick and staggered, and his hips twitched and bucked under you. All you had done was allow your pussy to swallow his cock whole. He wasn’t kidding when he said that he wouldn’t last long, and the strain that reddened his face and the sounds leaving his mouth as you began to rock your hips slowly, trying to give him some time to adjust, but you needed to move.

“P-Peaches -”

You shushed him, and gripped his shoulder, starting to pick up the pace. His cock felt amazing - not too big or thick, but absolutely a perfect fit for you - just like him.

“Peaches - please, baby!”

Marcus tried to slow you down, tried to hold you down, tried to gain leverage by grabbing anything he could, tried shifting underneath you, but you were determined. You hushed him again, reveling in the harsh way he finally gripped your waist and hip with his large hands, and the rhythm you’d found bouncing on his cock. It was hitting just the right spot at just the right angle, and you could feel the early stirring of your climax.

But the sound of the toilet flushing from him sitting forward enough to set the sensors off and the loud, long groan that Marcus let out, followed by the feeling of warm cum shooting into you made you still in his lap.

He gripped you tighter, panting ‘Peaches!’ over and over, and pushed his face into your t-shirt covered chest, and his belly contracted and relaxed at an alarming pace. 

“Oh god… oh no. I’m-I’m so sorry!”, he whined and whimpered into your cleavage, still unloading spurt after spurt into your pussy. “Oooooh! oh my go-I’m sorry…”

He panted out grunts and groans, and his face twisted against the front of your t-shirt in blissful agony with his brows furrowed and his mouth open. Wet, hot breaths and saliva heated up your chest, and his hips bucked a few times, the final drops of cum finally spitting out.

“P-Peaches - I’m sorry.”, he murmured, weak and breathless. “I-I couldn’t - it’s been a-a while… for me.”

You sat silently, feeling his cum leaking out of you. You’d never had a man cum that quickly before. Sure, you’d had guys finish first, but this was a record, and yet, you weren’t mad. You couldn’t be.

“Marcus – “

“Just too pretty... I-I tried… I-“

“Marcus – “

“I didn’t mean to… just so pretty and I-“

“Marcus!”

He finally pulled back and looked up at you, his big brown eyes pleading for mercy. “I really like you and I wanted to do this right; ask you out properly, and - “

“Take me home and finish me, Marcus.”

“I just - wait, what? You want me to-”

“Take me back to your place. Make me cum.”

His eyes widened in disbelief, and his mouth moved slightly, but no words came out, only small, confused breaths.

“I like you, too, and-”

“I want to take you for dinner first.”

You smiled and huffed out a laugh. “You just ate!”

He nodded, raising his brows and offered a small shrug. “Well, yeah, but you- uh, well you got me working up an appetite. And I -”, he looked a little bashful as he continued. “I want to - uh - perform well and I can do that after we get some food in and the beer out of my system.”

You pressed a sweet kiss onto his lips and both of you couldn’t help the giggles that started. 

The door to the bathroom opened and slammed against the wall; Tommy’s slurred voice boomed out, “You two done? I wanna piss’n my stall.”

no more taglist! to get fic notification, follow @beefnotes

AHH! Tattooed Frankie?! 🫠 Did not expect that cliffhanger at all! Holy shit!

Punto De Perder

Prisoner!Frankie Morales x Plus Size Reader

word count: 1k

warnings: DDDNE (some topics in this fic might be triggering for some, please be advised), talks of gang affiliation (kinda-ish), special guest 👀. that's all the warnings i'm going to give to not spoil anything. read at your own risk.

note: i'm slowly getting back into the grove of writing my friends so i hope you enjoy and YES there's gonna be a part 2!

“How did you even meet this mystery man?”

“Pen Pals.”

“Oh? Where's he from then?”

“He's in prison…” you muttered under your breath.

She gave you the most judgmental look you'd ever seen on your mother’s face. Something changed only a few seconds later, and she started laughing.

“That was a good joke,” she laughed. You scoffed, tossing down money for your half of lunch and walked out. Everyone had laughed at you when you mentioned Frankie. Said he was either a figment of your imagination or that all you did was tell them a joke. But he wasn't. He wasn't an imaginary man or a joke, he was real - he was just someone who had made a bad decision and was paying the consequences.

You brushed it all off as you pulled into the parking lot of the correction center. You flipped down your visor, fixing your lip gloss before getting out and fixing your dress. It may have sounded and looked silly, but you loved dressing up when you came for visitation.

It always looked the same. You and a group of people sat in a boring beige room filled with plastic chairs and steel tables bolted to the floor, with guards posted at each corner in the room. The door alarm went off, grabbing everyone's attention. As the door opened, a small sea of dark teal jumpsuits filled the room. Everyone stood up, hugging their loved ones before sitting down and talking. You looked up towards the door, and just like always, he was the last one to walk in. Tattoos on display and his dark curls being somewhat tamed by his cap.

“Conejita…” he whispered before wrapping his arms around you.

“Hi, baby,” you smiled, placing a small kiss on his cheek. “How are you?”

He let out a small sigh as he sat down in the chair, placing his hands on the table. “You know. Same old, same old. How about you, amor? How's the outside life?”

“Good. Just got settled into my new apartment.”

“That's good…” his lips turned into a smile as his eyes scanned your body, admiring how your dress defined your curves. “Te ves hermosa…” (You look beautiful.)

“Gracias, amor. Wanted to look nice for you. I know looking at men all day isn't really your style,” you joked, pulling a laugh from his lips.

Your heart swelled at the sound of his laughter, something that couldn't be expressed through pen and paper.

As visitation came to an end, you wanted nothing more than to walk out with Frankie by your side. But you couldn't. You said your goodbyes and shared a sweet kiss. One that you'll cherish until the next time you visit.

—

Frankie sat in his cell, reading over the letters and looking at the pictures you've sent him over the past few years. As his release date got closer and closer, he missed you more and more. Knowing that any day now, he'd get released, and you'd be there to pick him up. A tap on the steel door grabbed his attention.

“Fish.” His close friend and one of his crew members, Benny walked in. “Santiago wants to see you.”

Frankie rolled his eyes at Santiago's name, tucking the letters and pictures back in their safe spot. “What for?”

Benny shrugged. “He came to me personally. Didn't send one of his minions.”

“Shit… Fine. Where?”

“Laundry room.”

Frankie nodded, patting Benny on the back as he walked out of his cell. When Frankie first got here he had quickly gained the respect of most of the men in here, except for Santiago's team. Santiago had connections from the outside that helped him while he was on the inside, and one of those connections was someone serious, which then made some men look up to Santiago as a leader. Just how some looked up to Frankie.

Frankie walked into the laundry room, looking around and noticing he was surrounded by Santiago's crew.

“Fish.” Santiago chuckled as he walked to the center of the room. “Great to see you.”

“This another meeting? I told you I'm not-”

“No, not like that. Wouldn't want you to ruin your chances of getting out of this dump. Which is soon, right?”

Frankie nodded. “Yeah…”

“Pleasure working with you, Fish. Won't be the same without you.” Santiago got closer, handing Frankie an envelope. He shook Frankie's hand and pulled him close, whispering in his ear, “Don't open it ‘til you get back to your cell.”

Frankie tucked the envelope into his jumpsuit, wondering what the hell it could be. Knowing Santiago, it was probably just heroin. Frankie would just flush it when he got back to his cell.

“Anything else?”

“Nope.” Santiago smirked. “Have fun on the outside.”

—

Avoiding the guards at all cost, Frankie walked back into his cell. If Santiago had given him drugs and the guards were to have found it, Frankie's chances of getting out would quickly disappear. He closed the cell door and pulled the envelope out, quickly tearing it open. Thankfully none of his cell mates were there, so no one would see what's in the envelope.

To Frankie's surprise, it wasn't drugs. It was a polaroid. He pulled it out, heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. His hands started to shake as panic and anger flooded his system.

It was you. Curled up on a dirty mattress with what looked like shackles around your ankles. His eyes scanned the background, hoping to see some kind of hint on where you were, but the room was dark. All he could point out were cement walls. He felt handwriting on the back of the polaroid, which made him quickly flip it over.

“Shouldn't have fucked me over.”

His eyes scanned down to the signature scribbled at the bottom.

Dave York.

beta'd: @nerdieforpedro @kilamonster @ak-vintage @80ssong

divider: @saradika-graphics

Masterlist — Frankie Masterlist

I absolutely loved this! Their relationship, the tension between them as time went on, then finally getting together?! Ugh! Beautiful!!!!

Girl Next Door

Summary: Javi and his roommate. That's it.

Pairing: Javier Peña x f!reader

Rating: Explicit (18+ only please)

Warnings: explicit sexual content, brief mention of blood/injuries resulting from a physical altercation, brief mentions of violence

Word Count: 7.4K

Author's Note: Thanks to @undercoverpena for feverishly brainstorming with me one afternoon and then generously handing over all the ideas, and another thanks to @legendary-pink-dot for teaching me what a granadilla is.

The coffee pot isn’t quite done brewing but Javi’s tired of waiting. He grabs the carafe and pours his cup to brimming, ignoring the bitter-scented sizzling of the last few drips hitting the burner. He’s barely had one sip before the shirtless man waltzes into the kitchen.

Tall. Lean. Prettier than he would have expected.  Javi squints at him over the rim of his coffee cup.

“Morning.” The man smiles affably until he meets Javi’s narrowed eyes. He swallows the wide grin and points at the cabinets. “She said to grab her coffee?”

“Cups are there.” Javi angles his chin towards the cabinet by the sink and watches the man extract a chunky blue ceramic mug. You hate that one, but Javi’s not in the mood to help out Pretty Boy, especially now that he can see the fine lines scratched down the man’s back.

You like to leave a mark.

“So –” the man replaces the carafe and lifts the mug, trying another tentative smile in Javi’s direction – “you her roommate?”

“Husband.” Javi tips the rest of his coffee into the sink and leaves the cup on the counter, letting himself enjoy one brief glance at the man’s shocked face before he turns toward the door. “Tell her we leave in twenty.”

“Javier Peña is a fucking comedian.” You slide into the passenger seat of Javi’s car, fingers flying over the buttons of your blouse. “He believed you.”

Javi smirks, pulling away from the curb as you buckle your seatbelt. “Stop sending your boytoys out to the kitchen for your coffee and I’ll stop fucking with them.”

“Stop lurking in the kitchen every morning.”

“It’s my fucking kitchen.”

“Our fucking kitchen.”

Javi had thought the two-bedroom apartment had been a stroke of luck when he’d been assigned it – well, luck or an oversight. But either way, for two years, he’d savored the extra space and the privacy. That is, until you showed up – the new Intelligence Research Specialist, on a three-month detail – and McClintock in Mission Support decided that Javier Peña’s second bedroom was just the place to temporarily house you.

Which would have been tolerable, if that three-month detail hadn’t been extended twice already. You’d been living with him for ten months, and neither of you pretended the arrangement wasn’t indefinite now.

“And I need my coffee, Jav.” You grin at him, pushing your hair away from your forehead and securing it with a bobby pin you fish from the cupholder. “I had a late night.”

“I heard.” He always hears. The walls in the apartment must be fucking cardboard. He swears he can hear every breath you take, every murmured word, every goddamned moan.

You flip down the visor and smooth on lipstick – a flushed deep pink. Javi can’t help but glance at you – the widened eyes, the mouth parted in an O – and he wishes he couldn’t still hear your last-night sounds echoing through his head.

“You know –” you snap the cap back on the tube with a decisive click – “if they bother you, you could always just have your coffee at the office.”

He flashes you a dirty look, and you laugh, shrugging. “I’m just saying, Javi: it’s a choice.”

---

“A choice.” Javi rubs the heel of his hand against his forehead as he takes a long draw on his cigarette. “Says it’s a fuckin’ choice.”

“What’s a choice?” Steve looks up from the desk across from Javi’s, his eyebrows lifted.

Javi shakes his head at his partner, hearing the click-click of your heels coming across the tiled floor.

“I told him it’s a choice to hover around our kitchen every morning and harass my company.” You drop a file on Steve’s desk, flipping it open to a blank form. “You and Grumpy have to fill this out. I need it back this afternoon.”

You sashay away, the scent of your coconut shampoo lingering in the air despite Javi’s haze of smoke.

“Trouble in paradise?” Steve lifts the paper from the file, grinning broadly.

“Give me the fuckin’ form.”

---

“First dibs on the shower.” You hurry past Javi as he unlocks the door of the apartment, lightly shouldering him into the door frame.

You dump your bag and coat on the couch, kick off your shoes as you cross the living room, and he hears your skirt hit the floor in the hallway.

“It’s not a fuckin’ race,” he calls out after you, but the only answer is the slam of the bathroom door.

He closes the front door, locking the deadbolt, but it’s just clicked into place when a tentative knock rattles it. He twists the lock and jerks the door open.

“Yeah?” Shit. It’s the delivery kid from his laundry service. The startled boy thrusts the bag and an armful of pressed shirts at Javi with a look of terror widening his eyes.

“Lo siento, Matias.” Javi takes the bag and digs into his front pocket, extracting a few folded bills. “Gracias.”

The teenager takes the money with a quick nod and bolts down the hallway, and Javi locks the door a second time. He carries the laundry to his bedroom. The bathroom door is right across the hall from his door and he can hear you singing as he hangs the shirts up in his closet. His jeans are folded in neat stacks at the top of the laundry bag; he puts those away next, then tips out the jumble of socks and underclothes.

“Fucking hell.”

Amidst his undershirts and a handful of boxers are tiny scraps of lace and silk and cotton – barely enough fabric to cover anything. Every color of the rainbow in solids and flowers and polka dots – there must be a dozen pairs of panties here. This isn’t the first time you’ve snuck your laundry into his, but usually it’s a few blouses or a couple of skirts – not this. He gathers them in his hands – tries not to think about how soft they are or how seeing them on his bed is making his jeans feel tighter – and carries them to your room. It’s just next to his – practically identical, except yours looks somehow messier and more inviting at the same time. Bottles of perfume vie for space with jewelry on your dresser top; your perpetually-open closet spills out a dozen pairs of the high-heeled pumps you seem to love. And your bed is never made. When he mentions it, you always laugh.

“I’m just going to use it again tonight, Jav.”

He dumps the panties into a heap on the center of your rumpled coverlet and stalks out. He’s just finished putting his laundry away when he hears the shower turn off – finally his turn.

He lurks in the hallway, and at last the bathroom door opens. You’re wrapped in a dark blue towel that barely overlaps and just grazes the tops of your thighs. You’re scrunching another against your hair, head tilted to the side. Drops of water still sparkle along the tops of your shoulders and in the hollow of your throat, and the thick cloud of coconut- scented steam that rolls out behind you is sweet and familiar.

“You leave me any hot water?” He tries to scowl, but you squeeze past him, your damp, warm skin brushing his arm, and he can’t. Fuck, you smell good.

You disappear into your room, but your voice carries out to him. “If you want hot water, you’ve gotta move faster or join me.”

He thinks about that the whole time he’s showering – thinks about you, here moments ago, your body bare and sleek and wet. Your razor is perched on the edge of the tub, a smear of shaving cream still on the handle. Just looking at it makes him hard. He’s picturing his hands on you finding everywhere you’re silky-smooth when he comes, his face tilted into the barely-tepid spray.

---

Javi downs the last swig of his coffee and drops the cup on the kitchen table, then grabs his jacket from the back of the chair. It feels heavy as he slides it on, the pocket landing on his hip with a weighted thud. He digs his hand in – extracts a bright orange fruit.

“Jav!” For once you’ve beaten him to the front door. “C’mon!”

He strides to the entryway, holding up the granadilla with two fingers and a thumb. “The fuck is this?”

“It’s called food, Peña.” You grin and pull the door wide. “You should try it some time.”

---

Javi’s on his second glass of whiskey and a fourth cigarette; the air is turning faintly blue with the hazy smoke as he rests his still-booted feet on the coffee table.

“Good God, Javi.” You wave your hands in front of your face as you walk into the room, adding a few coughs for dramatic effect. “Open a window.”

He tips back the whiskey and lets the last mouthful burn its way down his throat, then stands up. He crosses the room and yanks open one of the windows. The humid breeze stirs the curtains, carrying with it the noise of Medellín after dark. “New dress?”

You lean into one hand on the wall, your fingers buckling the strap of your high-heeled sandal around your ankle. “Why? You wanna borrow it? Not your size.”

He feels wobbly for a minute when you begin to slide on the next shoe. Must be the whiskey on an empty stomach. That’s what he tells himself at least, even as his eyes stay locked on the supple weight of your breasts straining against the fabric as you bend over to fasten the tiny buckle.

You narrow your eyes at him. “You have dinner?”

He takes a drag on his cigarette by way of an answer.

Your head shake is reproachful. “Those are going to kill you.”

There’s a knock at the door and he watches you grab your small clutch off the table. He allows himself the fleeting thought: he doesn’t want you to leave. But you’re already halfway to the door.

“You coming back tonight?”

You glance back at him, the expression on your face curious. “Why?”

He points to the array of deadbolts and chains that line the edge of the door – the only things that let him close his eyes at night. “Don’t wanna lock you out.”

“Oh.” Your fingers brush the slide chain; its cheerful musical jangle belies how much the two of you depend it. “No, go ahead and lock up. I’ll see you tomorrow. I mean, it’s the weekend, right?”

Javi wants to retort that it must be nice to get a weekend, but you’re already sliding your arm through the elbow of the man on the other side of the door, your voice pitching low and sweet to him.

 The man laughs, then startles briefly when he catches Javi’s glare turned on him. “‘Night, Peña.”

Javi thinks he might recognize the man from the Embassy but couldn’t even guess his name. So he just gives a tight nod and closes the door a little harder than he means to. He moves through the locks one by one, trying not to hear the sound of your heels moving away.

---

He’d only meant to spend his Saturday morning catching up on paperwork, but by the time he fields nine phone calls and a thick file marked ‘Official’, it’s nearly four in the afternoon. He stops at the little market on the corner – picks up two packs of cigarettes – then hoofs it up the stairs to the apartment, already thinking of the hot shower he’s going to take. Before he even reaches the landing, he hears it: the thumping drums and swinging trumpets of the porro music you love. He isn’t surprised you don’t hear the door open over the cacophony, but he’s glad of it. It means he gets to stand there in the doorway, the tension of his day ebbing away as he watches you.

You’re stretching high in front of the window, a spray bottle in one hand and a rag in the other, wiping the glass to a brilliant shine, but he only sees the way your hips swing from side to side, only sees the flex of your calves as you lift onto your toes to reach even higher.

“Looks good.” His voice startles you and you spin, a grin breaking over your face.

“I cleaned.”

He doesn’t tell you he didn’t mean the windows, because at that moment he realizes you’re wearing one of his undershirts over a pair of cutoff jean shorts; the nearly-sheer ribbed fabric clings to you, makes his tongue feel too thick to speak. He swallows hard. “What can I do to help?”

Your smile gets wider. “Stop being so messy.”

He rolls his eyes at you and you laugh. Most mornings he has to dodge at least 4 pairs of your shoes to even make it to the front door; there is one messy person in this apartment and it isn’t him.

“Smells good in here.” The air is lemon-bright; a handful of pretty flowers stand tall in a water glass on the coffee table. “But why?”

You put down your spray bottle, and half-flop onto the couch, your arms stretching over your head as you sigh. You cut your eyes sideways. “Maybe I want to be a better roommate.”

“Couldn’t be worse.”

You laugh and toss the cleaning cloth at him. It bounces off his chest and lands on the floor with soft thump. “Fuck you.”

He bends to pick up the wadded fabric and drops it on the table, then falls back onto the sofa. He’s not next to you – there is a full cushion between you, a no-man’s-land of Naugahyde – but the intimacy of sitting here with you isn’t lost on him. Most of the time you two only pass through rooms, circling at a distance. This feels different. Feels nice.

He stretches his arm along the back of the couch, then wrinkles his forehead. “Where’s my afghan?”

You frown. “That was yours? It didn’t come with the place?”

He shakes his head. “Where is it?”

Your eyes are wide and worried. “It was so itchy, Javi. And it smelled like old goats. I threw it out.”

“My abuela made that.”

“Oh, fuck.” Your hands fly to your mouth. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”

“Can’t believe you threw it away.” He makes his face sorrowful, keeps the corners of his mouth still to not give anything away.

“Shit.” You fly off the couch and down the hallway. He can hear you in your room – the frantic slamming of drawers, the creak of your closet door being yanked wide open. You’re back in a moment, holding out a fuzzy heap of fluffy pink. “Here.”

He takes the blanket – it’s silky-soft, a thousand times nicer than that cheap acrylic throw he’d picked up at a market his first month in town.

You reach a hand out to pet it fondly. “I know it’s not the same, but it’s really nice and it’ll make me feel better if you just take it. I’m so sorry, Javi.”

He can’t stand how worried you look. “I’m fucking with you. That afghan was a piece of shit.”

“Oh, thank God.” You try to yank the blanket away as you grin, relief easing the creases around your eyes. “‘Cause I really didn’t want to give you my blanket.”

He doesn’t let go – holds the soft fabric in his hands and tugs it until you are forced to step closer, practically into the space between his legs. He looks up at you, letting his voice drop low. “But what if I get cold?”

You catch your lip between your teeth, then give the blanket a firm pull until he finally releases it. You lean past him, over him, your arms stretching along his shoulder, your body so close he can smell the heat of your skin. Slowly, you drape the blanket over the back of the couch: smoothing it with deliberate fingers. Taking all the time in the world.

Letting him breathe you in.

“We’ll share it.” You stroke the fabric one more time, then straighten. He watches a little shiver roll through you, and then you take a deep breath and step back. “Since I cleaned, you order dinner. How about that place off the plaza?”

---

You sidle up next to Javi at the bar, signaling the bartender for another drink. “If you don’t go home with her, I will.”

Javi glances towards the pretty brunette he’d been talking to. She said she just needed to tell her friends she was going to stay for another drink; he’d done this enough to know what that meant.

“Thought you’d already found your company for tonight?” Javi looks past you to the man who is watching you with an expression of bewildered good fortune. “Harrison? Again?”

“Some performances deserve an encore.”

He rolls his eyes and you smile, your eyebrows lifting. “Have fun with your girl. Don’t come home tonight.”

---

Javi’s still waiting for sleep to come when he hears your key in the front door and the dulcet lilt of your voice echoed by the deeper tones of a man’s. His ears track the two of you as you move through the dark apartment; he hears the click of your bedroom door closing.

He’d kissed the pretty brunette against his car outside the bar, but he couldn’t muster up the energy the rest of the night would take. He’d driven her home, made up some bullshit about an early morning, and then had come back here to this fucking empty apartment and tried to sleep. But he realizes now why he couldn’t. He’d been waiting for this: for you coming home with fucking Harrison from the ambassador’s office.

Music creeps through the wall, tinny and up tempo, guitar and percussion and harmonizing voices. He’s glad. The sound gives him something to focus on: something other than the hum of you and Harrison, your low conversation punctuated by the sparkle of your laughter.

Time passes. Javi pulls his extra pillow over his head, and squeezes his eyes shut, and thinks maybe – maybe – he can sleep like this. At least until the door creaks open and small bare feet shuffle across the wooden floor. He can see you silhouetted in the darkness – stays still and watches you slide open his nightstand. Your hand rifles around inside and he hears the crinkle of the condom as you slip one from the box.

“The fuck you doin’?” He snaps on the bedside light and almost smiles when you jump back with a startled squeak. Eyes wide, hair mussed, lipstick kiss-faded – you clutch the crisp gray dress shirt closed with your free hand, pulling it tight into your body.

He watches the look on your face shift from shock to annoyance. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“In my bed?”

You push the drawer shut with a definitive thud, the silver condom wrapper bright between your fingers. “Here. Don’t tell me she turned you down.”

Javi pushes himself up in the bed to lean against the headboard with a smirk. The sheet is barely at his waist, the washed-soft cotton molding to his cock – which is getting harder by the second as he lets his eyes move up your bare thighs. This sheet and Harrison’s fucking shirt: that’s all that stands between your skin and his.

Your eyes drift from his face to the expanse of his chest, and then lower – the fine edges of your teeth settle into the plump of your lip.

“You always steal from me?” He taps the top of the nightstand and you jerk your gaze back to his face, eyes wide and a little wild.

“Borrowing.”

“Don’t want it back.”

You wrinkle your nose. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“I don’t.”

“Okay, then.” You stand up straighter. “Thanks.”

He watches you turn – you nearly reach the door before you spin on your heel and march back towards him. You drop the condom on his nightstand.

“You ruined the mood, Grumpy.” You lift your chin, your expression dismissive, but he can see your pulse racing in the side of your throat. “I’d just be over there thinking about you in here. Listening.”

“If you’re in there thinking about me –” Javi flits his tongue over his lip, his eyes never leaving yours – “then he’s not doing his job.”

The air sparks for a moment. You tilt your head, start to speak. But then a huffed exhale and you’re gone, slipping back out his door and closing it soundly behind you. He can hear the rumble of conversation through the wall, but not the words. It’s not hard to figure out, though, when the heavy tread of a man’s dress shoes follow your bare feet to the front door. There are a few more words and then the sounds of the locks clicking back into place.

He hears you pass his room – wonders for a moment what would happen if he met you there in the hallway, wonders what you might be wearing now that Harrison and his shirt were gone. But he stays in his bed and listens – the hushed thump of your door, the creak of your bed, the sudden quiet of the radio snapping off.

It’s silent then. Until it’s not.

At first he thinks he’s imagining it and he holds his breath, straining to hear. Fuck. He’s definitely not imagining it. It’s a moan, breathy and high, and he fucking knows: it’s for him. It has to be, after what you’d just said about thinking of him in here. About thinking of him listening.

His hand is already on his cock – he smears the leaking precum over the head with the palm of his hand, then wraps his fist around the length, but the rest of him stays still. He doesn’t want to miss a single sound that’s passing through the wall. He squeezes his eyes shut – lets the whimpers and whines surround him, listens to them shift to louder, faster, needier.

He knows when you come. He’s heard it before. But this time is different: this time you’re coming for him. When he hears your hoarse cry – hears it twist into a throaty moan – he tries to picture what you look like. He can just see it: legs spread, fingers buried in your pussy, pretty mouth open wide. It’s enough: he comes then, too, spilling onto his hand and stomach. And he lets you hear him – hear the groan that almost becomes your name.

You’re quiet after. He is, too. He falls asleep wondering: what would have happened if he had knocked on your door?

In the morning he finds a note by the coffee pot: ‘Early start. Caught a ride in with Williams. Don’t worry about me after. Have plans.’

The coffee pot is full. His favorite cup is next to it. He leaves without touching either.

---

By the time he makes it home, you’ve come and gone, though the scent of your perfume hangs sweet in the air. Javi sags onto the couch, his fingers already rolling the spark wheel of his lighter as he holds it to the cigarette between his lips. While he smokes it and a second one, he absent-mindedly strokes the throw blanket on the back of the couch.

It still smells like you.

---

Four days of avoiding each other must be enough. When he walks into the kitchen before work, you’re finally there – no early starts, no tiptoeing in after he’s gone to bed. He’d barely even seen you at the office – just your back, shoulders set, always moving away. But at last: here you are, smiling at him.

“What’s that?” Javi narrows his eyes at the small paper sack you’re holding out to him. The top is folded down and he can just make out your scrawl across the brown paper: ‘Grumpy.’

“Lunch.” You shake the bag at him until he takes it, then turn and pick up an identical one from the counter.

“You made me lunch?” He’s surprised. More than surprised, he realizes – pleased.

“You need to eat more.” You reach out a hand. Two fingers brush the buckle of his belt, and the intimacy of the gesture freezes him. “Last hole on this belt, Jav. Can’t just live on cigarettes and fury.”

Even after you withdraw your hand, he can feel the pressure of those slender fingertips. “I can try.”

You laugh. He likes that, making you laugh – likes it more than he should. You walk past him, your shoulder just brushing his. “C’mon. Can’t be late.”

At the office, Javi drops the bag on his desk and picks up a file, pointedly ignoring Steve’s smirk.

His partner persists. “How’d you convince her to do that?”

Javi doesn’t respond, his eyes trained on the report in front of him.

Steve snorts and slides another file across the space between them. “Better tell the little lady she’ll need a ride home tonight. We got a lead.”

---

You must have heard his key in the lock.

Because somehow you’re already there, your fingers turning the doorknob from the other side, and when he sees your face – all worried lines and shadows – he’s momentarily confused.

But then he remembers: because of your job, you always know what’s coming, even before he does. You knew what tonight might turn into.

“You’re okay.” You say it once. Then again, lifting it into a question. “You’re okay?”

He nods. The lead had felt like nothing – just another fucking goose chase in eighteen months of goose chases. But on the darkened street the energy had suddenly shifted: the radios crackled to life with warnings made useless by the fact the bullets arrived first. He still isn’t sure what it was exactly. Maybe they were set up. Maybe they were spotted. But the night ended with three bodies turning cold on the sidewalk and all Javi could feel was relief that it wasn’t him or Murphy.

“Come on.” Your fingers are feather-light on his shoulder as you guide him past you, locking the door behind him. You keep your hand on him, pushing him ahead of you into the living room. “Do you need a drink?”

He shakes his head. “Need a shower.”

His shirt is stuck to his skin: wet with sweat from the hot Colombian night, sharp with adrenaline and fear. He can smell it, can still feel it pulsing in his veins. He needs it gone.

“Okay.” You keep guiding him, palms flat to his shoulder blades, to the small bathroom. The smile you give him is careful. Soft. “Saved the hot water for you. Thought you might need it tonight.”

You reach past him, pushing open the shower curtain and turning the taps. The sleeve of your robe – a short silky thing, all bright flowers and lush leaves – grazes his arm and he closes his eyes for a moment. He lets the cool slip of it pull him back from that hazy, choking street and into this bright, clean room.

Javi lifts his hands to the buttons of his shirt and you wince. His knuckles are scraped, bleeding a little – there had been scrabbling, punches thrown when everyone collided in the humid darkness – and you bring your gentle fingertips to hover over the backs of his hands.

“Let me.” Your whisper is mostly breath as your fingers move to his buttons. You work them open, top to bottom, slipping his shirt hem free of his waistband. The buttons undone, you push the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms, gathering it into a neat bundle you place on the counter.

There is a bruise darkening his shoulder – he remembers the thud of his body hitting the side of the car as he dove towards it at the pop-pop of gunfire. Your bottom lip is caught between your teeth as you frown at it. “That doesn’t look good.”

He manages a half-smile. “Not what I want to hear when my shirt comes off.”

Your eyes flash back to his face, relief lifting at your cheeks. “There he is.” You raise your hand, the curve of your palm shaping itself to his shoulder. The heat of your skin radiates against the bruise, soothes the ache. “Does it hurt?”

“Not much.”

“Good.” You glance at the shower, where steam is starting to thicken and twist, then flick your eyes towards his belt. “I think it’s hot now.”

He reaches for his buckle just as you do, and your eyes go wide and flustered as you stammer. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have –”

“I got it.” He watches you turn, your back to him now. In the mirror he sees your lashes resting against your cheeks, your eyes cast down. He toes off his boots and kicks them to the corner, then pushes his jeans to the floor. Your gaze flicks up for a moment at the sound of his belt buckle hitting the tile, almost meeting his in the mirror before sliding away again.

He runs his hand under the cascade of droplets – just hot enough – and steps into the shower, pulling the curtain almost closed behind him. He tips his face into the spray.

Waits.

It’s not long.

“Javi.” The shadowed silhouette of you on the shower curtain is close enough to touch. “Javi, can I…”

He doesn’t need you to finish that sentence. “Yes.”

There’s the silken swish of your robe falling and then here you are: warm skin along the length of his back, your hands moving over his ribs to rest on his chest. Your cheek is on his shoulder, and he feels your lips move as you speak. “I was worried.”

He brings his hands to cover yours – lets his body lean into you. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I was afraid…” You let your words trail off, your arms tightening around him. He feels your inhale, then the rush of words. “I was afraid you wouldn’t come back. And I needed you to come back.”

He wants to turn around – wants to slide his hands up your arms and cradle your face between them and kiss you – but he’s afraid the spell of this will be broken if he moves. So he just glides his fingers over yours, tracing the edges of them where they rest against his chest. He feels your breath rock him gently, the swells of your breasts pressed into his skin, the heat of you reminding him: he is here. He is alive.

And you needed him to come back.

“Javi.” Your mouth shapes his name in the water coursing over his shoulders. “I think I’m going to kiss you now.”

He lets you turn him in the small shower. Your hands move slowly up his arms, over the tops of his shoulders, to his throat. Your fingertips skate along his jaw; your thumbs sweep droplets of water from his eyebrows, his lashes, his mustache, before you cradle the point of his chin and tilt his mouth to yours.

The spark of it: it feels like electricity firing through his nerve endings, waking him out of his stupor. In barely a breath he’s kissing you back, his hands spread wide on your hips to pull you tight into him. You exhale fills his mouth as you mold yourself into his body, fitting like a perfect puzzle piece. Your tongue parts his lips, seeking his; he groans at how sweet you taste.

He hadn’t let himself think how much he wanted this. How much he wanted you. But now that you’re here in his arms – he squeezes you tighter, lets his teeth find the tender point of your tongue – he can’t imagine letting you go.

“Javi, can we –” You swallow your words, eyes wide as you seek his. Your hands are moving again: down the plane of his chest, along the ridges of his ribs, skating back up his back to finally tangle your fingers into his wet hair. You try again. “Come to my room. Will you? Come with me?”

He nods. He doesn’t trust himself to speak right now, doesn’t trust that the truth of how he feels about you won’t tumble out in a wild rush. So instead he simply lets you lead him. From the shower – a quick haphazard swipe with a towel – to your room, both of you leaving wet footprints amid scattered drops that look like rain.

Your room is dark, curtains drawn. When you peel yourself away from him to click on the dim lamp in the corner, he finally sees you: all of you, bare and still wet and here for him. You turn to face him – the lamplight throws shadows along the edges of your curves, and his eyes devour you. The set of your shoulders, the lush weight of your breasts. The slope of your belly, the flare of your hips. And your face: chin lifted, eyes flashing and dark, looking at him like you’ve never wanted anything more.

You’re fucking beautiful.

“Baby.” He didn’t mean to say that as he moves towards you. You didn’t expect it either – he sees that in the way your eyes go wide – but then you smile. No, you fucking glow, lifting your arms to slide them around his neck, face tilted up, letting him walk you back to the bed. He eases you down, and bends over you: presses his face into the softness of your stomach, and says it again. “Wanted this, baby.”

You arch into him, your nails scratching against his scalp as he kisses a meandering path across your belly. “I wanted this, too, Javi. For so long.”

He groans into your skin, stretching over you. Cradling your tits in his hands, he moves his mouth up, up, up, until he finds your nipple – sweeps his tongue against the pebbled tip, sucks it against the edges of his teeth. Goosebumps chatter over your skin, still shower-damp, and you whimper, writhing beneath him on the wrinkled sheets.

“Sweet.” He drags his tongue across the shallow valley of your chest to capture your other nipple. “Taste so sweet.”

You bend your knee, sliding it from beneath his body, hooking your calf around his hips. Then your other leg shifts, too, moving until he is secured in the space between your thighs. He chokes back a grunt when he feels his cock brush against the velvet of your inner thigh, but then you wiggle – a gasp falls from you as the length of him settles against your soaked pussy.

“Oh, fuck.” You rock your hips, sliding slick and hot along the underside of his cock, and he has to squint his eyes shut against how the sensation pulls at him. “Need you to fuck me, Javi.”

“Let me taste you, baby.” He tries to stay in control, but he can’t help letting his hips press you down into the mattress, pushing you open even wider beneath him. “Know you taste so fucking good.”

Your response is all breath. “You don’t have to.”

He jerks his face up to look at you – your lip is caught between your teeth again – and you repeat it. “It’s okay. You don’t have to.”

He narrows his eyes at you and lets go of your breast to slide his hand down the smooth curve of your belly and push it between your bodies. The scattering of hair over your mound is soft and then his fingers are sliding into your folds: so goddamned wet it nearly makes his eyes roll. “Don’t have to, baby. Want to.” Your hand flies to your mouth, your teeth settling into the back of it, when he gently nudges the tip of his finger into your opening. “Can I?”

Your nod is quick.

“Tell me, baby.” He pushes the finger deeper – watches your head rock back on your pillow as your brows knit together with a whine. “Tell me.”

“You can.” Your hand still muffles your mouth, but your voice is certain. “Please.”

He smiles at you, easing down your body, letting his finger slip from the heat of you. He slides his hands down the backs of your thighs then pushes them beneath your hips, tugging you towards the end of the bed. Satisfied he has you where he wants you, he drops to his knees. You spread out before him like this, him kneeling in front of you: it feels like worship.

He wants to look at you: pretty and swollen and slick, blooming like a flower. But you smell so goddamned good. He leans in and kisses your inner thigh – lets the stubble of his jaw scrape you and feels the shiver race through your body. Another kiss, another shiver, and then he lets his tongue map the terrain of you: slide slow through your folds, sweep soft against your bundle of nerves, then lower, to dip into your entrance. You whine, your hips rocking toward his mouth.

“Knew it, baby.” He eases two fingers into you then – feels you clutch them, all silken heat. “Knew you’d taste good.”

And you do. Sweet and tangy – he feels drunk on you, his mouth open wide, his groans muted by your wet warmth. His cock is aching, leaking, and he wants so badly to feel you around him, but the sounds falling from your lips keep him hungry for you. His tongue circles your clit as your slick gathers thick at the base of his fingers where he’s fucking them deep inside you.

“Oh.” The word sounds dragged from your throat, etched with need. “Just like that.”

He isn’t sure which feels better when you come – the way you clench down on his fingers or how you flood his mouth – but he knows what he’ll always remember: his name, again and again, carried on the wave of your moans.

“So perfect, baby.” His lips are wet with you – chin and nose, too, but he likes it, likes being covered in you. “So good for me.”

Your fingers are pulling at his hair, seeking the edge of his jaw, and you’re halfway sitting up as you try to drag him onto the bed with you.

“Javi, please.” Your eyes are wild and unfocused as you tug at him. “Please.”

He rises from his knees and stretches over you, but your hands flatten on his chest and push him down onto the mattress next to you. “Stay.”

You bolt from the room, feet thudding on the floor and he hears you next door: hears his nightstand drawer opening and then slamming shut. Then you’re back, with a smile approaching bashful as you hold up one of his condoms. “Borrowing again.”

He returns your smile. “Anytime for this, baby.”

Javi takes it from your fingers as you climb onto the bed, tearing the foil wrapper as your mouth slides against his throat. He moves quickly, unrolling it down his length. He starts to shift onto his side to ease on top of you, but your hand is on his chest again, holding him down.

“Let me.” You straddle him, and he holds his breath as you move your hand down his stomach to grip his cock. You lift your hips, dragging the tip of him through you until he’s slick and wet, and then you angle him just right: a tiny wriggle of your hips, your hands flat on his chest, and then you’re slipping down him, down, down, down, until he’s buried inside you.

“Fuck, baby.” He grits his teeth, his head spinning at how tight you are around him. “Hold still a minute.”

You do. Or you try, but your brow is furrowed as you barely rock against him – little shifts that clutch and squeeze. “Feels so good. Feels so good, Javi.”

“I know, baby.” His eyes move fast between your face, mouth parted and eyes half-closed, and the spread of your legs across his hips. “Look so pretty like this.”

His words loosen a smile from you, your sly eyes dropping to meet his.  “You like how I look fucking you? So surprised.”

He smiles back. “Yeah. Wanna see it a lot more.”

You start to move then, rising and falling on him, your face tilting down to watch his cock disappear inside you over and over. “So do I.”

He watches, too – watches how you stretch around him, watches the flex of your thighs as you lift yourself, watches your tits sway, watches sweat gather on your skin as you ride him. Your hand slides down your stomach and he feels your fingers split around him, capturing the slick that is soaking you both.

He watches you settle those fingers against your clit and nearly groans at the sight. “Gonna make yourself come on me, baby? Gonna let me feel it?”

You nod, hips moving faster over him. “Uh-huh.”

He plants his feet and bends his knees, fucking up into you now, the rhythmic slap of your bodies barely audible over your moans. Those goddamned moans – he’s heard you so many times, but Jesus Christ, it’s nothing compared to seeing you. He reaches to palm your tit – lets it spill through his fingers, pinches your nipple between his thumb and pointer. You whine, your fingers moving faster against your clit.

“You’re gonna make me come, baby.” He forces the words through his clenched jaw, fighting to keep control. He doesn’t want to come before you. He needs to feel you first.

“Oh, fuck.” Your eyes squint and your head falls back – he can see your pulse racing in the hollow of your throat. “Right there. Right there, Javi.”

He keeps fucking you, just the same, trying to give you what you need, and then you cry out: a wordless sound that shatters around him. And he fucking feels you then, squeezing him, making you so tight he can barely move inside you.

“Fuck, baby.” He is right behind you – two more thrusts as deep as he can, and then a third, holding himself buried inside you as he comes, his hips lifted flush against you. “Goddamnit.”

Your breath is panting, fast and shallow, and you collapse into his chest, your face nuzzling into his neck. You kiss him there – the hollow beneath his ear, the thrum of his pulse, the line of corded tension that is easing now. He wraps his arms around you, his hands smoothing over the damp skin of your back. He feels your heartbeat slow down. Feels it rein in his.

“I better—” he doesn’t want to leave you yet, but his cock is softening inside you – “get rid of this.” He grips the base of the condom and gently slips from your heat, then eases you onto your side. He pushes himself off the bed, uncertain what is next.

You bend your arm, tucking it beneath your head, and give him a careful smile. “Come back. If you want.”

He nods, moving quickly to the bathroom, and then just as quickly back. Your smile widens and you pat the bed. He stretches out next to you, and you fit yourself into his side, your fingers moving gingerly over his tender knuckles.

“I didn’t mean to—" You stop, then take a breath and try again. “This wasn’t because of tonight.”

He glances down at you. “Wasn’t?”

“No.” Your voice is soft. “I think tonight just…gave me a reason.”

He strokes his fingertips down the valley of your spine. “Didn’t mean to make you think you needed a reason.”

You laugh. He feels it in his chest. “Wish I’d known that before.”

“How long before?”

You press a kiss to his shoulder – a loud smack – and then grin up at him. “Months, Javi. Months and months and months.”

He rests his lips against the top of your head. “Fucking glad to know now.”

You sigh and slip your arm across his body to tuck your fingers beneath his ribs. “I think you should sleep in here.”

“Yeah, baby.” He lets his eyes ease closed – lets the warmth of your body pull him toward rest. “I think I should, too.”