Nirvana

Harley was wiping down the bar top when the door chimed and she called out, “We’re closed.”

“I know.” Her head snapped up at the sound of James’ voice, and she instantly felt guilty. She had spent the past 3 nights in her own apartment, she hadn’t touched her phone in just as long, and all her time had been spent at the bar or in the back. She was avoiding him on purpose, and now that she was face to face with him she realized it had an effect on him that she didn’t expect. He looked like he hadn’t slept well, he hadn’t shaved in a while and he had the same guilty look on his face that she knew was present on her face.

Quietly she told him, “You’re not the one that should be coming in with their tail between their legs you know.”

James smiled very gently at her comment and asked her softly, “Can we sit and talk?”

She nodded slowly and tossed the rag into the sink, before she came out from behind the bar and lead him to a booth against the wall. He slid in across from her and placed his hands on the table, and Harley simply stared at them as she knocked her foot against the table leg a few times in nervousness. Eventually she told him, “I’m sorry.”

James looked at her and laughed gently, “What for? I should be apologizing.”

“No you shouldn’t, there’s nothing wrong with saying how you feel. I shouldn’t have ran off, and I definitely shouldn’t have avoided you.” She told him, watching as he cracked a smile. The longer she stared at him in confusion the wider his smile grew, before she finally asked, “What are you smiling at?”

“Look at us, having a grown up conversation.” James stated, making Harley let out a laugh. He was glad to hear it, James was sure that he missed that sound the most in the short time they’d spent apart. He reached across the table to grab one of her hands before telling her, “I meant what I said, all of it.”

“I know.” Harley told him, giving his hand a squeeze. She let out a breath of air and told him, “And I appreciate you saying you’ll wait. I think I could say it back, but it might be a while and you should know that.”

“That’s more than okay. Whenever you’re ready to say it.” James told her, his voice gentle. She was always taken back by how gentle he could be. That a 6 foot 2 hockey player who had a career that involved taking a beating and sometimes giving one could smile the way he does, touch the way he did and speak to her the way he was right now.

Curiously Harley asked, “So are we good now?”

James nodded, “We’re good.”

“Oh thank god, I got so sick of not having a live in alarm clock.” Harley stated, hand on her chest for good measure. James let out a loud laugh at that, and Harley simply watched him laugh with a smile on her face.

When he stopped laughing James told her, “Yeah I’ve kind of missed the back rubs.”

“You’re such a baby.” Harley told him, and when James kicked her foot as gently as he could Harley tilted her head back and laughed at him.

“Can’t say I’ve missed that mouth of yours.” He muttered, making Harley grin wickedly.

“Oh really now?” Harley asked him with a raised eyebrow, and when he nodded she got up and pushed him over to the far end of his side of the booth before sitting down beside him. She leaned into him, her nose touching the side of his face. With her lips only centimetres away from his ear she whispered, "Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"Why don't you try and convince me otherwise?" James asked with a smirk. In any other situation Harley would have rolled her eyes, but it seemed like lately as much as she liked being in control she also liked this new side of James that wanted to tell her what to do even knowing she liked being the one giving orders.

She pulled away from him only long enough to press her lips against his softly. She knew she was torturing him, which made it so much better. She pushed his hands away when they went to grab her hips, forcing them to sit at his sides as she very slowly began moving her lips against his. It was no longer than a minute before James grabbed her hips and pulled her onto him, ran his tongue across her bottom lip and took control of the situation.

"Are we really gonna do this here?" James asked after pulling back from her lips.

Harley smirked at him, "Wouldn't be the first time."

When he smiled Harley leaned down and kissed him again quickly before she pulled back and moved off of him to get more comfortable. The table pressed into her butt was not how she wanted to continue their make out session. James however had other ideas for their time and informed her, "You know, I missed your back rubs so much I got a hot tub."

"You bought a hot tub?" Harley asked incredulously.

"Yeah it was set up yesterday." James stated, making Harley jump up from the booth and hold her hands out.

He laughed when she asked him, "What the hell are we doing here then?"

An hour later Harley and James found themselves sitting in the hot tub off the deck of his bedroom with a glass of wine for each of them. She was glad he didn't have neighbors too close to him as his hand slid up her side and he took the string at the neck of her bikini top between his fingers, playing with it for a few seconds before he very slowly pulled it and undid the knot she had previously tied. He kept his eyes on her as he reached around and pulled the one at her back loose, and Harley tossed the top out onto the deck.

Before she could say anything James wrapped his arms around her and moved back to his side of the hot tub, pulling her with him. Once they were both comfortable, Harley sitting with her legs on either side of James', he passed her a glass of red wine.

Harley smiled and asked, "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

"So what if I am?" James asked with a light smile on his face.

"Well then I would tell you that you don't need to get me drunk to take advantage of me."

"And here I thought you were a lady." James joked, making Harley let out a laugh.

"Where in the hell would you have ever gotten that idea?" Harley asked him with a smirk. James shook his head in amusement and wrapped his arms around her, and both his hands cupped her butt, making her roll her eyes at him and warn, "Watch it Mr."

"What are you gonna do about it?" James asked, giving her butt a tight squeeze for good measure.

Harley let out a surprised squeal and jumped slightly before telling him, "I'm gonna spill my wine."

James took the glass from her and Harley raised her eyebrow when he tipped it over and spilt a few droplets of wine onto her shoulder, before he leaned in and kissed her shoulder, his tongue felt like fire against her skin as it swiped across her shoulder wiping the wine off her skin. It wasn't long before both wine and his lips were slowly going further down to her chest, just above her breasts, and then he switched to the other side.

Harley simply ran her hand through his hair and let out a content sigh that made James smirk against her skin. He knew exactly what he was doing to her, and he wasn't planning on stopping any time soon.

- - -

It was pitch black out when Harley woke up, she glanced at the clock and sighed gently when it said 3:17 AM. She knew she wasn't getting back to sleep tonight so she glanced over at James, who was deep asleep beside her. She carefully pried herself out of his grasp and quietly made her way into the bathroom, her feet padding against the hardwood floor softly. She closed the door before turning on the light so not to wake James up, and grabbed her knee length robe from the hook on the back of the door.

She inspected herself in the mirror, James hadn't branded her with teeth marks this time. She pulled her hair out of her face and into a bun at the top of her head and noticed a dribble of dried wine going down the back of her shoulder that hadn't been washed away. She let out a quiet chuckle at the fact that in the middle of it was a thumb print in wine from where James had been holding her. Figures.

Harley cleaned the wine off her shoulder with a damp face cloth before she splashed water on her face and tied the robe around her waist. She opened the door a crack and flicked off the light, only to find the nightstand light on and the bed empty.

When she heard feet on the floor she turned to the bedroom door to find James walking in with a plate of fruit. She raised her eyebrows at him and he shrugged, "I was hungry."

Harley pulled the covers over her legs and sat with her back against the headboard as James got comfortable beside her. Once he was he surprised her by pulling her between his legs and back into his chest. He placed the plate of fruit in her lap, laughing when Harley instantly grabbed the biggest strawberry on the plate and bit into it.

James pressed a gentle kiss to her temple and with his voice low he asked her, "Are you happy?"

"What do you mean?" Harley asked him, turning her head to face him. Her eyebrow was raised in the slightest way, she was free of any makeup, and in the little bit of light they had in the room he noticed the fact that her green eyes had the tiniest flecks of amber in them. It seemed that every time he really looked at her James was reminded of how truly beautiful she was.

He kept his eyes on her as he explained, "Here, with me."

Harley smiled and leaned into him, her nose was against his jaw and she kissed his neck softly and she stayed tucked into him when she told him, "More than I have been in a long time."

After a few seconds of silence James told her, "I have something for you."

Harley raised her eyebrow, she was expecting him to make a move sexually or make a comment of some sort but when he didn't she asked, "What is it?"

James nodded his head toward the barn door that kept his closet, which was rather messy at the moment, on the wall to the left of the bathroom, "Some closet space, bathroom counter space, a parking spot in the garage. If you want it. It would be nice to share this place."

"You want to give me closet space? Are you sure your clothes can handle that?" Harley joked, lightening the mood so James relaxed some. She knew what he was asking, and while she knew he was worried it might be too soon for them she wasn't worried at all.

He smiled at her and nodded, "Yeah I had a nice long talk with them, they're okay with some girl clothes moving in."

Harley shook her head in amusement and told him, "Well I suppose it would be nice to not always have to bring things back and forth."

"That's the spirit." James said with a laugh before he told her, "But if that closet gets taken over by shoes I might have to do something about it."

"Oh I'm so scared." Harley told him, shaking her body for good measure which only made James wrap his arms around her tight and press his beard into her neck. Harley let our a squeal and tried to wiggle out of his grasp but it didn't work so she turned to face him and told him, "You know, we were having such a nice moment before."

"Were we?" James asked, eyeing her with a look of interest.

She nodded and told him, "Yeah, I like this version of you."

"And what version is that?"

When he loosened his grip on her Harley got comfortable in his arms again, rested her head on his shoulder and told him, "The relaxed version. The softer version of yourself, the version that likes cuddling his girlfriend and kissing her and making her feel like there's not a single place you'd rather be but with her."

"That's because there isn't anywhere I'd rather be than right here with you." James told her, kissing her forehead gently.

Harley decided then that if there was such a thing as heaven it was right here in this bed with him.