Title: The L Word
Pairing: Pathfinder Sara Ryder/Reyes Vidal
Wordcount: 2,060
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Smut. And love confessions.
Warnings: Explicit sexual content.
"I love you."
He'd said it. Against his better judgement and everything he'd considered, Reyes had gone in opposition to all he'd decided and not only said it to Sara, but he'd said it first.
He'd been laughing, overwhelmed with appreciation for how delightful she was, all she did to brighten his life, the Universe, and everything in it, and he'd said it.
She'd been beaming up at him, but the smile slipped from her beautiful face at his words.
The sky above them was overcast, the steam from the planet's geothermal emissions mixing with the vapor within the atmosphere to create numerous fluffy white clouds. A picnic lunch was spread before them, or the remnants of it, anyway. They'd already eaten their fill, and he'd planned to pack their leftovers up when they finally decided to quit the blanket they were on.
Sara and her team were planetside after their investigations into a missing angaran woman for a krogan friend she'd made on Elaaden had pointed them in Kadara's direction. They'd left her team at the outpost, again, promising to return after a quick meal shared under the sun, in a secluded spot they'd scouted out before spreading their makeshift carpet over the ground. He'd rolled her beneath him and had been tickling her on either side of her ribcage through the soft cotton fabric of her shirt.
A cool wind blew across a nearby reflective hot pool, and the temperature of the day was mild and perfect.
He had a plan for everything, but not for her. He'd never dared map what would happen, since before she'd found out the truth about him, and the plan then had only been to remain strong as he watched her walk away from him. He'd never imagined that she'd know everything and stay. So now, the plan was just a loose path he wanted to follow all the way to the end, and not think about a future without her, merely enjoying the time they had before it was all used up.
Although, admittedly, he had spent a little time trying to decide how he'd respond if she said it first. A tactful change of subject, a distracting kiss, hugging her, just a little tighter, if it was brought on by alcohol or during sex.
Now the entire mood had changed, and a terrifying tension filled the air. They didn't talk about the future, or what it meant for a woman in her situation to be with a man like him, they simply took each and every moment that came to them, knowing that for the present, they were all each other wanted.
"What did you just say to me?" she asked, but Reyes knew the question was rhetorical, and that there was absolutely no way she hadn't heard him.
There were things he didn't know about her yet, and things he was only just discovering. She sang like an angel. She had a fondness for the color purple. She did her best not to swear and appear professional in public, but with those she cared about, she was open, passionate, and made all of her decisions from the heart and not necessarily from the head, which was probably the only reason she was with him.
She was still so young. He doubted she'd ever said those words to a man, outside of family, and from what little she'd told him of Alec Ryder, her father had most certainly not been one of them.
It couldn't have been that big of a surprise to her, really. After all, his feelings where she was concerned were becoming increasingly obvious with every moment he spent in her company. Her apparent dismay contradicted this theory, however, and Reyes began to wonder if maybe his actions had been as subtle as he'd initially intended.
He felt a cold chill move along his veins and settle in his gut. He considered, briefly, mumbling his way past an excuse, an adamant "I was kidding, I didn't mean it!", but that would be a lie, and maybe, deep down, he just didn't want the weight of it anymore.
Cold calculation had a place in his life, but not between him and this particular woman. He refused to allow himself the safety of taking it back. He wouldn't play it off as a ruse. But he would downplay the importance, if only to stave his embarrassment at her reaction and her obvious reluctance to say it back.
Turning her over onto her belly so she no longer faced him, he encouraged her to move up on her knees, positioning her so he could press into her from behind, his breath blowing across the back of her neck before moving toward her ear. "You heard me," he whispered, a deep rumbling growl against her.
He heard her gasp, her body tensing beneath him even as she arched to fit herself back into the cradle of his hips.
Taking her out in the open posed a certain amount of risk, but at the moment, Reyes just couldn't bring himself to care. He needed to find relief from everything that pressed down upon him, filling up his head and tightening chest, making it difficult to breathe or think.
He'd turned her away so she couldn't see him, but that meant he couldn't see the emotion in her face, either, couldn't see the flash in her eyes, or if she felt the pull as he did, or even if, at this very moment, she was laughing at him and his confession.
His hands moved from her hips to meet in front of her stomach, pulling his gloves off. With bare skin, he pressed into her soft body, sliding up to squeeze the weight of her breasts through her shirt. He felt the tight muscles of her belly before he moved to trace her flanks, returning to the span of her hips, then running his hands down over the backs of her thighs.
Moving his palms up and over her ass, he caressed the rounded flesh, memorizing the shape of her. He reached around her for the zip of her pants, working it loose before grabbing the waistband of both garments she wore, pulling them down over her hips. She moved to turn as he met the resistance at her knees, and he stopped her with a curt, "No," holding her down with a hand at the small of her back.
She adjusted, lifting first one leg, and then the other for him so he could get her boots, socks, trousers, and panties off, leaving her naked below the waist.
His large hand smoothed over the pale skin of her ass, running over what was, arguably, his favorite part of her anatomy. He moved closer so his thighs bumped up against her soft curves, his hand sliding around to flatten over her belly before it sought the heat between her legs. He brushed his thumb roughly over her clit and was rewarded with the sound of a sharp cry, her hips canting forward into his fingers.
He groaned in satisfaction, loving her response and her delectable sensitivity. He traced the soft swollen tissue of her labia with two fingers before sinking them deep. He held inside her for just a moment, allowing her to adjust to his possession before circling inside and stroking back out, curling his fingertips to scrape against the walls of her passage. He fucked her with his fingers, the angle pushing him against the sweetest places within her. He rubbed her hard and quickly, pulling the pleasure from her in firm caresses, working her with his hand until she came, flooding his fingers with moisture.
Growling, he took just enough time to free his aching shaft before he was there, his thighs pushing against the backs of hers, widening her stance to ease his entry. His hands dug into the soft flesh of her bottom, pulling it up until he could see her pink slit. Taking himself in hand, he rubbed against the length of her, slipping through her responsiveness and coating himself with everything she offered. He bore down, watching just long enough for her to take the tip of him inside before his eyes fell shut. His hands slid around her again, meeting under her diaphragm as he covered her body with his. He rocked his hips against her, moving deeper with every inward shove.
She was like a tight silken fist, constricting him with all her internal muscles as he pushed his way in, the wet heat a toe-curling slide of perfection as she took him as deep as he could go. His breath hitched as he sank to his base, and he marveled at how well she fit him, like they were made for each other, and nobody else.
He held her, his hands against the soft fabric of the shirt he'd left her in, pausing to catch his breath and allow her body to feel everything he felt before permitting himself to move and overwhelm them both with added stimulation. After waiting only a couple of beats, he heard her gasp his name, impatient for it. His grip on her tightened, and he eased himself back before slamming into her, a grunt escaping his chest at the wash of pleasure that played over his senses.
He set a brisk pace, rolling his hips against her ass as he thrust himself into her with deep lunges, taking her like an animal would, their position seeming primal but appropriate. Ripples of blissful electricity traveled along his nerve endings, spreading over every inch of him and pooling in his belly and at the base of his spine.
He strained to reach deeper, hearing her cries pick up as his movements gained speed. He felt her ass pushing back into him, her hips tilting toward him to aid his efforts and he hugged her tighter in appreciation, desperate, now, to move her toward ecstasy.
He felt her build up to a powerful peak, her body gripping his cock with intense tremors. Driving through her contractions, he resolved to push her over again, working to imprint himself on her so she'd never forget him.
He felt a tingling pulse build in his groin and moved one hand down, brushing his thumb over her clit to hurry her along.
She was so sweet and responsive that she broke apart after only a few seconds of manipulation, her tight body milking him, drawing everything from within him and taking it into herself, his pleasure, his fears, his life force, his hopes, and his dreams. His climax rolled over him in an intense wave, pulling a deep groan from his body and draining him completely. The world went dark, before tipping on its axis, making him feel a subtle form of vertigo.
He pulled free of her body, giving her one last squeeze before rolling onto the blanket, his eyes blinking in an attempt to regain his vision. He took several deep breaths until his respiration returned to normal.
Laying on his back, he looked up at the sky, his mind blessedly free of anything of meaningful consequence.
He wondered how long it would be before they had fresh fruit again, Earth fruit, like strawberries and peaches. He knew the Initiative scientists had seeds, it was only a matter of waiting it out before they adapted healthy growing things from the Milky Way and spread them over Heleus. Even if the plants remained on the Nexus, there had to be credits in growing and exporting them to the outposts.
"I love you, too, you ridiculous man."
Turning his head, he saw her move from lying flat on her belly up onto both elbows, her cheeks tinging red with her admission as she looked over at him. Her smile warmed him like nothing else ever could.
Sliding one arm under her, he pulled her against him, giving her an ardent hug. Resolving to tickle her harder when he finished holding her, he allowed himself to really believe, for the very first time, that maybe, ultimately, they'd be all right.