Love Is Only an Illusion

The next day, the team had decided to collectively take a break from their adventures as crime conductors. They awoke early the next morning to check out the tourist attractions in Paris despite Merritt’s pleas to sleep in an extra hour. They had traveled up the steps to the top of the Eifel Tower, admiring the views of Paris from each of its angles. After taking the elevator back down to the ground, the team divided. Danny and Sutton were exhausted from the walk, as they had very little to sleep from the amount of adrenaline running through their veins from the night before.

As they walked to the hotel, Sutton’s mind started to wander. She thought about all the moments Danny and her have shared since their meeting. As she thought about the night Tressler became their benefactor, she smiled.

“What are you smiling at?” Danny asked, knocking into her shoulder lightly.

“I’m just thinking about the night you tried to kiss me,” Sutton admitted.

“W-Why?” Danny blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sutton gave a small giggle. “I don’t know. Maybe I was just hoping you would try again.”

“Y-You were?” Danny stuttered.

Sutton nodded sheepishly. “I was just wondering what all the fuss is about. You know, why all those girls fall at your feet to sleep with you.”

“Maybe it’s because I’m irresistible,” Danny smirked, cockily strutting through the Paris streets.

Sutton rolled her eyes. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”

Danny opened the door to their hotel, holding it open for Sutton. “No, no. I think it is very healthy for your little secret to be out in the open.”

Sutton scoffed. “I highly doubt you mean that, Danny. You just enjoy knowing something that could help you get under my skin.”

“I never said I wouldn’t do it,” Danny winked as he slid the room card through the key reader.

“Oh, please,” Sutton mumbled, heading for her room. “You wouldn’t do it because you know the others would get a rise out of it.”

Danny sighed heavily as he kicked off his shoes. He watched as Sutton turned on her heel and the sound of her door closing erupted through the hotel room. Kissing Sutton was not on his “to do list,” but he certainly wouldn’t hate it. Did she mean what she said, that she really did just want to see what all the other girls enjoyed about kissing him? If he kissed her, would he be able to stop?

Behind her closed door, the same thoughts racked Sutton’s brain. She sat at the foot of her bed cross-legged, replaying their conversation in her mind. Had she just given J. Daniel Atlas the perfect opportunity to test her limits? Would he use her words to his advantage? After all, neither of them were drunk. They were each in complete control of their actions.

Despite each of their conflicted thoughts, Danny knocked on Sutton’s door. She granted him access. As he cracked the door open, Danny couldn’t believe the sight before him. Sutton had removed her tan jacket and was left in an olive green lacey bralette. Her long red hair flowed beautifully down her sides and back like ocean waves. Danny swallowed hard, his jaw opening and closing in an attempt to formulate a sentence.

“You okay?” Sutton asked him, biting her lip in an attempt to hide her smile.

Danny swallowed hard. He was at a great loss for words. Something inside him told Danny he didn’t need to use words to express how he was feeling in that moment, though. So, he didn’t.

“Danny, what are you do-“

But, Sutton had no time to finish. Danny had already gripped her face in his rough, card-flipping hands, his lips crashing onto her own. It took Sutton a bit to realize what was happening, her eyes wide in shock. Just when Danny thought his actions were wrong, Sutton had begun to kiss back, moving her lips slightly against his own as her hands snaked around her neck. The two pulled away after a minute, staring wide-eyed at one another.

“Well?” Danny cocked an eyebrow at a breathless Sutton, sitting down on the bed beside her.

Sutton reached her hand up to touch her lips. “I, um, think you’re not too bad of a kisser,” she breathed, biting her lip.

“Don’t do that to me,” Danny mumbled. Sutton looked at him in confusion. “When you, uh, bite your lip, it kind of drives me insane.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he felt a blush begin to creep up.

Sutton chuckled lightly. “Well, when you do that, it kind of drives me insane. It shows your innocent side. It’s quite attractive.”

Danny looked at her, the spark in Sutton’s eyes matching the one in his own. It was no longer a secret; they wanted each other, and neither would be satisfied until they were wrapped in the satin sheets. In a moment of heightened euphoria, the two lunged at one another, their lips continuing a dance which had only just begun.

As tongues battled for dominance, teeth clashed. Danny’s large hands roamed Sutton’s curvy form as her hands combed through his hair. In one quick movement, Danny had pulled Sutton onto his lap, bringing the couple’s bodies closer together. Sutton pulled at the hairs near the nape of Danny’s neck in a motion to force his lips to reconnect with hers. A low groan released itself from Danny’s throat. A sly smile spread across Sutton’s face.

“You think you’re winning, don’t you?” Danny asked between kisses.

“Of course,” Sutton told him, taking his bottom lip between her teeth and biting lightly. A groan erupted once more from Danny as his lip slowly released from her teeth.

“Like I said,” Sutton said, pushing on Danny’s shoulders to make him lie back on the bed. “I’m winning.”

With a smile spread across his face, Danny pulled at the girl’s hips to force her against his chest. Sutton ground her hips to Danny’s as they kissed, a moan releasing from her own lips this time.

Danny smiled, taking a hold of Sutton’s hips and forcing her back against the soft duvet. He stood, admiring how Sutton’s red hair splayed across the duvet in soft waves. Danny breathed in heavily, wanting to do everything that his mind has thought about doing to her since their night at the Met Gala.

“What are you thinking about?” Sutton asked him, scrunching her eyebrows together. She grabbed a strand of her hair and spun it around a finger.

“Everything,” Danny admitted with a smirk before removing his black T-Shirt with more confidence than he ever had.

Sutton looked at him, now realizing that Danny didn’t have a “Ryan Gosling body.” Even so, she found herself smiling, finding his not-so-toned body more attractive than a toned one. She sat up, placing a hand to his chest, just to feel his heart beat, just to make sure that he was real.

Danny ran his hands up and down Sutton’s sides, causing her to shiver. Sutton snaked her hands around Danny’s neck, bringing their foreheads together. The two stared at one another in disbelief. Neither could deny their attraction for one another, but neither could believe they were here in this position.

“Hey, you guys home?” Henley’s voice erupted throughout the large hotel complex.

“Shit,” Danny and Sutton whispered in each other’s’ face. Quickly, Danny grabbed his shirt and Sutton threw on a hoodie she found lying on the ground.

They breathed in heavily as they stared at one another. Danny gave Sutton a quick side smirk before flinging open Sutton’s hotel room door and sliding out.

“Hey, back already?” Sutton heard Danny call to the others.

Sutton slowly sat down on her bed, touching her fingers to her lips once more. She felt herself smiling, a warm, fuzzy feeling building in her stomach. Suddenly, Sutton had a realization; if the others hadn’t returned to the hotel when they did, would she and Danny have had sex? Would she have regretted it?

“Sutters,” Jack’s voice accompanied with a knock sounded. The door opened slowly. “Hey, you okay? You look kind of pale. Well, you know, paler than usual.”

Sutton gave him a small smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
~~

The Horsemen were on their way to return to their New York apartment. On the plane ride home, the team slept except Danny and Sutton who sat across the aisle from one another near the front of the plane. They faced one another, not a single word spoken for the past three hours. As soon as Sutton’s mouth would open, she thought better of her words and closed it. As soon as Danny’s mouth would open, he quickly diverted his words and said something inaudible to Sutton’s ears.

“Sutton,” Danny finally spoke, causing Sutton to jump in her seat.

“Y-Yeah?” Sutton stuttered, regretting responding at all.

Danny flashed his eyes back to the others who were still sleeping soundly. He made his way across the aisle, lifting Sutton’s feet off the seat and sitting beside her. “We should really talk.”

“Y-Yeah,” she said again, clearing her throat and sitting up in her seat.

“I’m not sure how to start this,” Danny began, his blue eyes flickering from Sutton’s face to the floor.

“Danny,” Sutton breathed, placing a hand on Danny’s shoulder. Danny’s eyes fixated on the physical touch. Sutton realized her action may be conflicting in this situation, slowly removing her touch which left a warm sensation on Danny.

“Let’s not complicate things,” Sutton continued with a nervous smile. “Um, I think we were both kind of…”

“Frustrated?” Danny thought aloud, cracking a smile.

“That’s one way of putting it,” she answered.

The two sat in silence for a moment, gathering their thoughts. Neither one wanted to call their encounter a mistake, in fear of ruining a future that may pan out one day. However, neither wanted to admit their true feelings now.

“You know, studies have proven that romantic places can heighten a person’s sexual activity,” Danny rambled. “So, basically being in Paris-“

“Turns a person on?” Sutton smirked, raising an eyebrow.

“Y-Yeah.”

Sutton let out a long and painful sigh. “Danny, I’m not sure whether or not that was the case last night, but I think it would be for the best if we just blamed it on the romanticism of Paris.”

“I agree,” Danny quickly added. Sutton cocked an eyebrow at his quick answer. “I mean, it’s the best for the team, right?”

Sutton gave him a side smile before turning to look out the window. “Yeah, for the team,” she whispered as Danny stood and returned to his seat.