Monsters

“Damn, girl, you look good,” I smiled, tugging on a lock of her hair. She stopped mid-sentence and turned to me, her green eyes shadowed by an angry confusion. They locked with mine and I watched the flicker of recognition, the light taking over her face as a smile broke out across her cheeks, the dimple in her left cheek more prominent in the shadow the dim lighting cast.

“When did you get back?” she asked, standing and wrapping her arms around my waist.

“Last night.” I leaned into the hug and buried my face in her hair, my lips at her ear. “Miss me?” I whispered, quietly, so no one else would hear. She didn't need to speak, I felt her answer when she hugged me tighter and softly sighed.

“Alright, get offa me, ya leach!” I teased, pushing her away and instantly missing her body. She didn't miss a beat, laughing and calling me a foul name, but she gave me a small smile and her right eye dropped into a playful wink as she sat back down.

I pushed her down the bench and sat down next to her, giving her knee a quick squeeze before I clasped my hands on the table in front of me. She sat quietly at my side, the light from her cell phone lighting up her face as she typed a new text message, my name at the top of the screen. I waited a bit, I didn't want to seem to anxious, before I pulled my phone from my pocket.

“Didnt come to see me when you got in?”

“It was late. I thought about it.”

“Should have.”

“I regret it now.”

By now, my arrival back to London had made it through of eardrums of everyone in the pub. Old friends stopped by to say hey and the usual antics replayed. The waitress never let my pint get less than half full and I barely kept up with all the conversations going on. She sat next to me, her body curved away, not to lead anyone to think we had anything between us, chatting with her girlfriends and stealing sips from my beer when she didn't think I was looking. As the table grew rowdier, she softly tapped me on the shoulder so I stood up and let her out, watching her body sway out of the corner of my eye as she made her way to the bar. I checked my watch, smiling at her timing. Eleven o'clock, time for a side of chips.

The pub was beginning to clear out by midnight. The girls began rounding up their drunken mates and leading their swaying bodies to the car, welcoming me home as they left. The single guys used their last shot pick up attempts on pretty girls at the bar, a few leaving with a lady on their arm, but most of them returning home alone. Brady had taken over the sound system, playing a selection of everyone's favorite mellow songs, all of our ears ringing from earlier guitar riffs and heavy drum beats.

I made my way to the bar and sat down next to her, waiting for her to finish a round of Candy Crush before nudging my shoulder against hers, giving her a smirk. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

I had nothing to smile about, but the muscles in my cheeks pulled into a grin and I laughed, shaking my head. “Jesus.”

She smiled, her cheeks pink, running her hand through her long waves. “What are you grinning about?”

I shrugged, my cheeks reddening as I pulled a cold chip from the basket she'd pushed aside. “Plans for this evening?” I asked, knowing she'd say no, but still nervous for the unknown.

She shook her head, a shy smile across her lips. “Do you?”

I shook my head, dragging a chip through the ketchup. “Nope.”

She tugged a chip from the pile and I watched as she bit the end off, chewing slowly, a blush creeping to her cheeks just before she giggled, hiding her face behind her hands. I laughed too, shaking my head as I turned away, my fingers twitching to feel her skin.

I stretched across her and grabbed her water, dragging it across the scarred and abused bar top until it rested in front of me, dipping my head and wrapping my lips around the straw, tasting her there. She watched me, dragging her fingertips through the trail of condensation across the table.

“Hey, that's mine,” she whined with a grin once I pulled away from the straw, pulling the glass back. She shook the cup and tipped it up, slipping a cube of ice between her lips, setting the glass back down with a thud.

The tension between us was thick, the air between us vibrating, threatening to crack open. We sat in silence, not speaking, not touching, for another ten minutes, waiting. She drew designs in the water on the table as I fiddled with a napkin, impatient. Finally, we were the only people left in the pub besides the bartender, who had begun to wipe down tables and pick up stray pint glasses.

I cleared my throat as I pulled my wallet from my pocket and placed cash under her glass, more than enough to cover both of our tabs. I turned to her then, sitting with her head in her hand, her green eyes looking up expectedly at me. “You drive tonight?”

She shook her head, her free hand inching across the wood, bringing her fingertips to rest at the tips of mine.

“You need a ride?” I asked, pushing my fingers into the spaces between hers.

She shrugged, curling her wrist so her hand was placed in mine, our fingers interlocked across the tabletop. “Where are you going?”

“Wherever you lead,” I said softly, rubbing my thumb across her skin.

She smiled and nodded her head. She stood and I dropped her hand, watching as she went back to our table and retrieved her jacket and slung her purse over her shoulder. She turned to me and met my eyes. I smiled at her and she shrugged her shoulders, telling me she was ready.

On the sidewalk, we walked close to one another in silence, our hands brushing as our arms swayed. She climbed in as I unlocked the door and I could feel her eyes on me as I crossed in front of the car. I sat down and started up the engine and pulled onto the street, fiddling with the heat and scanning through a few songs before I found something soft and slow. I reached into her lap and grabbed her hand, liking the feel of her skin on mine. She rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, sighing contentedly. We rode through the streets in silence, the only indicator of her being awake was the constant brushing of her thumb against my skin.

I closely followed her through my dark house, through the kitchen and up the stairs and down the hall and into my bedroom where she pulled her jacket from her shoulders and dropped it at the foot of the bed. She turned to me and the giggly girl I met at the bar was long gone. She gave me a knowing smile and closed her eyes as I stepped closer, raising my hand to run my fingertips across her face, my free hand wrapping around her waist and pulling her to me. I came nearer, chest to chest, and tilted her head up, her lips meeting with mine in a slow urgence. I held my lips to hers for a moment, feeling their pillowy texture and the warmth that surged through my body. I dragged my lips across her face and kissed just below her ear, her hair tickling my cheek. “I missed you,” I whispered.

She sighed, her eyes closing. “I missed you, too.” She wrapped her arms around me and tugged me closer, burying her face into my neck. “You smell good,” she mumbled.

I didn't answer, I just held her for a second. It always seemed to lead to this, this awkward first meeting after being away for awhile. We both knew what we wanted, to end the night with her legs wrapped around my waist. After being away from her for awhile, it felt wrong to push her against the sheets, but it felt wrong to romance her into them, too.

She giggled softly, shaking her head.

“What?!” I asked, pulling away, knowing. We always did this.

“This is always so awkward! Jesus, just take off my shirt!”

I rolled my eyes and turned away laughing, walking back toward the door, her fingers slipping between mine just before I was out of reach. “I need a drink,” I exclaimed.

“Need to loosen up first, huh?” she teased, bumping me with her shoulder.

I shook my head, not wanting to admit she was right, but she knew.

I flipped on the kitchen light and followed her to the liquor cabinet, which was filled with various bottles she had brought over. I'm content with a beer, but she likes to experiment.

“Ya know, this used to be my tea cabinet,” I muttered, stepping up behind her and bracing my hands on her hips.

She shrugged, pulling a particularly strong whiskey from the back of the cabinet. “Yeah, well, tea is boring.”

“It's relaxing!” I protested, moving out of her way.

“So is whiskey, and it works faster,” she muttered, pouring the amber liquid into the shot glass, expertly filling it to the brim. She picked it up and handed it to me without spilling a drop. “One for the road?”

I cocked an eyebrow as I pulled it from her manicured fingertips. “Going somewhere?”

She tipped the shot back and I smirked as she winced, her eyes watering. She smiled. “I plan on going to Pleasuretown, unless you'd rather take a detour to Boringsville.”

My jaw dropped and I pressed a hand to my chest, mocking offense. “Excuse me?”

She winked, screwing the cap back onto the bottle. “So, where are we going?”

I reached out and pulled the bottle from her hand, pointing a finger back towards the staircase. “Up.”

We got comfortable on our backs on my big bed in the dark. It was still awkward, an uncomfortable tension between us. All I wanted was her skin against mine, but she was too stubborn to make the first move, and I was too chicken to do it sober. We passed the bottle back and forth as we talked. My jokes got worse as I sipped, but her laugh grew louder. Her speech slurred and she pulled her body closer to mine. My eyelids grew heavy and we whispered in the darkness about nothing, our stories nonsensical, our jokes not funny, but she giggled until tears leaked from her eyes. She rolled over onto her side and her voice fell to a whisper as she mumbled jumbled sentences into my ear.

“Why are you whispering?” I asked, turning my head to face her, our noses brushing.

“Shhh!” she scolded, pressing her finger to my lips. “You'll wake it up!”

“Wake what up?” I whispered back, kissing the tip of her finger.

“The monster.”

“What monster?”

She snorted, fighting to keep a straight face. “The one that lives in your pants.” She errupted into noisy giggles, rolling away and covering her face with her hands.

“I thought the whole point of this was to wake him up?!” I asked, pulling the bottle away as she reached for it. “No, I think you've sufficently drank yourself into an idiot.”

Her smile fell a few degrees until it was just a soft curve of her lips. “I like your accent.”

“I know you do,” I muttered, rolling my eyes as I collapsed back onto the pillow.

“Say it.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “No.”

“Say it!” she demanded, attemtping to punch me in the shoulder, but she missed, her arm falling limply onto my chest.

“No!”

“Niall!”

“One Direction has the best fans in the world!” I yelled, rolling my eyes as she roared next to me, trying her best to mimic my accent. “Wrong, you sound like a drunken Scottish girl.”

She snickered, her voice falling back to a whisper. “I am a drunken Scottish girl.”

“Cute, too,” I mumbled, pulling her closer, her head on my chest. “Shhh. Gotta be quiet.”

“Why?” she asked, pressing a soft kiss to my ribs.

“I don't wanna wake up the monster in my bed.”

“She's sleeping,” she mumbled, her fingers crawling up my torso and resting softly at my shoulder, her breathing deep and slow.

“Good,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead, but she was long gone. I closed my eyes, sending the fuzzy room into a calm darkness. Weeks without her and I only managed to get her out of her shoes.

I woke up a few hours later, cold. She had rolled away, her back to me, curled into a ball, sleeping soundly. She had awoken earlier and removed her jeans and now the moonlight filtered in between the blinds and cast a warm glow across her long legs. I followed her lead and kicked my jeans into the floor before I pulled the blanket from the foot of the bed and draped it over her, where she stirred, raising up. “What's wrong?” I shook my head and pulled her in close, burying my nose into her hair, internally groaning when she arched her hips into me. I rested a hand on her hip beneath the blanket, her skin warm, knowing I was teasing myself.

I thought she had gone back to sleep until she rolled over and faced me. “Ni?”

“Hmm? I hummed, cracking open an eye.

“Thanks for not...”

I smiled sleepily, shaking my head. “Drunk sex is overrated.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, closing her eyes.

I relaxed into the pillow again, pulling my hand away from her hip and interlocking my fingers with the hand that lay next to my pillow. She gave my fingers a gentle squeeze and I smiled into my pillow.

“Ni?” she whispered.

“Mmhmm?”

“I'm not drunk anymore.”

I opened my eyes to find her staring back at me. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, giving me a shy smile before leaning in and softly pressing her lips to mine.

And this wasn't awkward. My skin was tingling, her fingertips trembling as they skated across my skin. Without breaking contact, she pulled herself over me, her long legs on either side of my hips. She pulled away, her lips finding the soft skin of my neck and traveling across my collarbones. I gathered her hair in my hand and gave it a gentle tug, capturing her lips with mine again once she looked up. She wasted no time, her warm fingertips pulling back the elastic band of my boxer briefs and dipping her hand in, wrapping her hand around me.

She smiled against my lips. “You woke up the monster,” she whispered, gliding her tongue across my bottom lip.

I shook my head, pushing her panties to the side and sliding a finger against her folds. “So did you.”

She smiled and pulled away, returning her lips to my chest, inching her body lower and lower. Using her hips as leverage, I scooted myself under her, pulling her up the rest of the way, only stopping when her already trembling thighs were perched on both sides of my head. “Ni!”

“Shh,” I scolded, twisting my head to leave a heavy, wet kiss to her inner thigh.

Knowing she wouldn't win, she just sighed and rested her palms against the headboard, her long hair cascading down her back as she threw her head onto her shoulders at the first touch of my tongue tracing the hem of the lace. She cursed under her breath and tried to sit up, but I dragged her back down, pressing the whole of my tongue to the lace. She rocked her hips once, timidly, before trying to pull away again.

“Stop,” I growled, pulling the lace to the side and running my thumb against her. She groaned above me, an almost irritated sound, and I smirked, knowing she had given up. She was warm and soaked through as I buried one finger deep inside her, the air in her lungs catching in her throat and her thighs tightening around my ears. I slowly massaged her, feeling her muscles tightening around my finger before I leaned in and softly flicked her pulsating bud once, the sound of her moan and the taste of her sending me into a euphoric trance. The only thing on my mind was getting her to make that sound again.

I removed my finger from her and wrapped my fingers into the waistband of her panties and tugged them down as far as her crouching position would allow before I held her hips firmly in my hands and gave her one long, slow, gentle lick from the bottom to the top. Again, she rocked her hips once before stopping herself, cursing under her breath again.”C'mon, babe,” I coaxed, licking into her her. “Ride it.”

After a few more languid strokes, she arched her hips and glided them along my lips, a gentle moan slipping from her mouth. “Mmm, now you've got it, that's it,” I said softly, pressing a soft kiss to her clit.

She was shy at first, barely skimming across my face, but slowly she craved more friction, grinding herself against my open mouth until she stilled, her hips trembling on either side of me, her breath caught in her throat, completely silent. I smiled softly, firming my grip on her hips before flicking her swollen clit once. She hissed in a breath, pulling on my hair, trying to pull from my grip. I had barely pressed my tongue to her again when she ground herself down onto me, losing control of the muscles she was desperately trying to keep calm. She was stunned in place, my tongue finishing her off until her breathing slowed. I placed one last gentle kiss to her before I tilted my head back and looked up at her, her eyes flashing, even in the darkness. I smiled and winked up at her.

She crawled off of me and pulled her panties from her legs and pushed them aside, tossing her shirt across the room before crawling back over me, her lips inching further south.

I shook my head. “Uh-uh. Spin around.”

For a moment, her eyes flashed at my denial, but my words sunk in and she gave me a delicious grin and a devilish wink. I raised my hands and beckoned her closer with my fingers, my stomach clenching in anticipation as she turned away and took her position in front of me. As I opened my mouth to take her again, I felt the back of her throat against the tip of my cock and my eyes rolled back into my head as a groan sounded from deep in my stomach. She pulled away from me and swirled her tongue against my tip before sinking back on, sucking hard as I rested against the warm wall of her throat.

I sucked in a deep breath and gripped her hips roughly in my hands before thrusting my tongue deep into her. She moaned around my cock, her hips arching back into my mouth. We found a delicious rhythm, her hips rocking back onto my tongue roughly as I thrusted my hips into her mouth. Her mouth was hot and wet and she sucked harder and harder until my vision was flashing and my body was fighting for consciousness.

“Jesus Christ,” I groaned, pulling her off of me and throwing her onto the bed. With no inclination from me, she rolled over onto all fours and looked over her shoulder at me, waiting. I groaned and crawled to her, biting, licking, and kissing my way up her spine. I sat up on my knees behind her and ran my hands over her hips, arching at my touch. “That's it,” I muttered, admiring the arch in her back. She glanced over her shoulder again and looked up at me, a smirk on her lips. “Yeah?” I asked, cocking up my brow.

She bit her lip and nodded once, spreading her legs further and pushing her hips into me. She placed her open palms on the mattress and braced herself as I gathered her hair loosely into my hand. I slid in easily and she gasped, her elbows bending, her hands sliding up toward the pillows, pressing her chest into the blankets. “Oh, my god,” she said breathlessly into the pillows, pressing her weight into me. I withdrew and hesistated at her entrance before pushing back in, my movement reassured by the low groan muffled by my blankets.

She was tight and hot around me, almost like her body was pulling me in. She sat back up on her hands and turned her head to me. I leaned over and kissed her hard, brushing my tongue against hers as I rocked slowly into her, her breath coming out in heavy pants. “Harder, Ni,” she muttered, biting down on my bottom lip.

I quickened my pace, pushed forward by the breathless groans spilling from her red lips. I had long ago lost sensation in my limbs, a white light flashing in my vision. “Babe, I-”

She pulled away, stunning me in place, a heat spreading through my body, almost angry. She turned and pushed me down, crawling over me and sinking herself back onto my throbbing dick, pinning me down beneath her. She gave a satisfied groan, a euphoric smile of her lips as she threw her head back, her long hair brushing the backs of her knees. I reached for her hips and thrust up into her, but she shook her head, pinning my arms next to my head. “Uh-uh, just me. Close your eyes,” she whispered, biting down on my jaw, her hips rotating wildly.

I sank into the mattress, my body exhausted and quaking and my lungs fighting for the air her body was pulling from me. I closed my eyes as she had instructed and focused on the movements of her hips, slowly drawing me in and riding against me before she withdrew and teased at her entrance, sucking in a hissing breath everytime my tip brushed against the bundle of nerves buried inside her. My name spilled from her lips over and over again, louder and louder, until it fell to a whimper. I opened my eyes and reached out, rolling my thumb in tight circles over her clit. She grew tighter and tighter around me, her hips stilling with me at the very hilt of her, her head falling further and further back onto her shoulders until her whole body shook violently and she picked up the pace, the tightness of her orgasm rolling over my dick and the strength in her voice as she called out my name again. I sat up and wrapped my arms around her hips and thrust wildly into her, sucking her nipple into my mouth and biting down sharply when I finally burst, yelling into her stomach, pulling her body closer and closer until it was over.

She pulled herself from me, whining at the emptiness she felt and collapsed next to me, her chest heaving as she breathed deeply. I collapsed onto my back and closed my eyes to catch my breath, my body shaking and already missing her, the blood already surging back to my dick. “Jesus fuck,” I muttered, turning my head toward her. She nodded, agreeing, her breasts rising and falling as she breathed.

“I'm glad you live alone,” she said with a giggle, turning her head back to the ceiling.

I closed my eyes and turned back towards the ceiling, relaxing and giving my lungs the break they needed. She sighed once she caught her breath and I turned toward her. The sun was beginning to come up, early morning light replacing the moonlight that had lit up her body earlier. Her skin was slick with sweat and golden in the sun. I leaned in closer and softly kissed her stomach, pleased to see her body jerk away at my touch, glad the events were still playing throughout her bones.

I crawled back over her, dropping my lips to the curve of her breasts, softly trailing them across her chest, swirling my tongue around her nipples and sucking purple marks onto her neck, softly kissing the pain away until I reached her ear. “Going anywhere today?” I whispered, my fingers dipping back into the warmth between her legs.

She smiled against my lips and shook her head. “No, but shh, you'll wake the monsters.”