Kimber's Daughter - Tommy Shelby x Reader Fan Fic

Chapter 33

It was a tense moment as Polly and I waited. I could feel her concerns thick in the air, mingling with my own — was everyone alive? Had anyone been hurt? Had things gone well? I wondered how Polly had endured a lifetime of nights like these. Sat here alone. Drinking herself into oblivion until her nephews returned. I wondered how much worse it had been when they were off at war.

But rambunctious laughter rang through the house to precede them. Arthur's voice was loudest. Polly and I released a collective sigh before they burst into the room, Arthur and John high on the adrenaline of whatever feat they'd just pulled off. Tommy strolled through behind them, calmer, though the same feeling was obvious in his gaze, the relaxed way he held his jaw. He lit a cigarette.

"I take it all went well then?" Polly asked, fussing at John's coat and putting the kettle on to boil.

"No tea, Pol," said Arthur. "Whiskey only for us tonight!"

Tommy walked to where I stood and wrapped an arm around me. "Alright, Kimber?" he asked quietly.

"Your stitches better all be intact," I warned him, leaning against him. But truthfully, I was just glad he'd come back safe.

"Might need you to check them for me, eh?"

I didn't miss John's smirk, clearly eavesdropping as Arthur recounted to Polly some policeman who waved them straight through a blockade.

"Later," I murmured to Tommy.

"I'm afraid my health's important, Kimber. I'm going to need you to undress me now," he said softly against my ear.

I tried to ignore the blood pooling in my abdomen.

"I know what you're trying to do," I told him.

He tilted his head slightly. "And what's that?"

"You're trying to distract me and keep me away so I don't find out what you got up to." I raised my eyebrows. "Am I wrong?"

He considered me for a moment. "You ever think I might have my reasons?"

"I'm sure you do. But I don't agree with them." I leaned in closer to him. "Marriage is about compromise. Remember?"

He drew on his cigarette, his gaze unrelenting. But I could see I'd won this one.

I sat back and drank my wine, listening intently as Arthur recounted the way they'd moved goods across town. He re-enacted certain scenes, John graciously pretending to be a policeman or gangster, while Polly smiled and laughed and chastised. In a strange way, it felt like family. The closest thing to a family environment I'd ever known, at least. I felt quite peaceful as I listened, Tommy's hand resting on my thigh.

"It's all in place for the sale now," Arthur concluded. "We're gonna meet with—"

"That's enough," Tommy cut him off. "We're all tired and in need of sleep. You've got to meet with the bookies in just a few hours, Arthur, and I think we'd all appreciate the rest."

Arthur quieted at once. He nodded in agreement and finished his drink. We all sat in silence.

"Well, I'm off," John announced. "I'll see you at the arena, Tom, yeah?"

Tommy nodded. Polly sighed and began to clear the table. I stood to my feet, ready to help, but she waved me away.

"You go on to bed," she said to me. "It's been a long night for us all."

***

I peeled back the bandage wrapped around Tommy's chest. He was lying in bed, wearing only the white shorts that comprised his underwear. Each lean muscle of his torso, each tensed line in his legs, reflected the first light of morning beneath my fingers.

I held my breath. I didn't mind blood — I'd grown up surrounded by corpses and bullet wounds, after all. But this was different. I cared about Tommy.

I pulled back the bandage. The stitches were still intact — thank goodness. I released a breath and dipped a washcloth in the bowl of water I'd prepared.

"Told you I behaved," Tommy murmured.

"I think our ideas of behaving are very different."

I gently cleaned the site. His face betrayed no pain, but even so I was careful, touching only when absolutely necessary. I rinsed dried blood from the cloth.

"I suppose I'll be doing this a fair bit if we do marry," I said.

"Among other things."

"Thomas Shelby." I couldn't help smiling. "Are you always so insatiable?"

"No." He ran his hand through my hair, swinging across my shoulder. "The feeling's new."

I patted him dry and began to dress his wound with a fresh bandage. Tommy continued to play with my hair, occasionally running this thumb across my jaw.

"Polly showed me the books," I said as I worked.

"How did that go?"

"Good. I know all your secrets and business dealings now."

"I bet you do." He paused. "I think Polly would have enjoyed the company. She must be lonely now Ada's gone."

His words reminded me of Ada's own, asking if I would speak to her brother and implore him to see reason. I gulped quietly as I finished bandaging Tommy, trying to figure out what I would say.

"What's on your mind?" he asked me.

"I'm just wondering..." I trailed off for a moment. "Is it wise to push Ada away?"

"I haven't pushed anyone. She's done that to herself."

"You know what I mean." I gathered all the materials and put them away in the table. "Is this Freddie man really so bad?"

"Perhaps not, if he'd done the thing properly."

"And are we doing the thing properly?"

His eyes raked me over as I came back to the bed. "That's different."

"Tell me how."

I lay on my stomach beside Tommy, lying on his back. He reached for my hand and linked his fingers between my own. His touch was warm, strong. His thumb moved against the back of my hand as he spoke.

"I intend to marry you, for one thing. And we've agreed not to have children. Wouldn't you say that's different?"

"So..." my cheeks turned red. "Are we just not going to... consummate our marriage?"

"There are ways I can fuck you without making a child, Kimber." His gaze darkened. "If you like, I could show you."