One Step Ahead

Wanna Shake Your Tree (smut)

      They gazed wordlessly at each other for a long moment, then a small smile curved Briar's lips, and she moved her head slightly, brushing her lips along his jawline before catching his earlobe lightly between her teeth. His breath came out in a hiss, and his hands slid from her shoulders and down her back, before coming to rest at her waist, toying with the hem of her T-shirt.

      "Are you teasing me, Tink?" he murmured, as he brushed his thumbs lightly along her sides, causing her to shudder.

      "Uh-huh," she whispered, as she continued to nibble at his ear. "Would you like me to stop?"

      His response was to wrap his arms around her and pull her from the couch, so that she was straddling his lap, He kissed her again, flicking the tip of his tongue along the roof of her mouth, causing her to moan and tighten her grip on his shoulders. But as she moved her hands to begin working on the buttons of his shirt, he suddenly gripped her wrists and growled, "Fuck!"

      "What?" she questioned, looking at him in confusion. "Ash, what's wrong?"

      "Think about it, hon. What didn't make it onto our shopping list the other night?"

      After a moment, she understood the reason for his frustration, and offered him a small chuckle. "Ash, tell me something. Have you been tested recently?"

      "Yeah, just a couple of weeks before we went into lockdown," he replied. "I always make sure to use protection, but I still get checked out every couple of months or so, just in case I might've gotten a bit too hammered at some point to follow protocol."

      "I'm glad to hear that. I had myself checked every other month for the first six months after I dumped my ex, and since I'd basically sworn off of men for awhile, I didn't have to worry about it after that. So it sounds like we're good."

      He cocked an eyebrow at her, and said, "Yeah, as far as that goes. But there are other considerations, y'know. Unless you've got a stash of pills in your purse or something."

      "Nope. After I got them confiscated by some over-enthusiastic customs guy the first time I traveled overseas, I decided not to chance having it happen again, so I got an IUD. So, is there anything else we need to cover?"

      "Just one thing," he stated, as a devilish grin crossed his face. "Couch or bed?"

      "I suppose that depends on how much room you think we're gonna need," she responded, answering his smile with one of her own.

      He gently slid her off of his lap, so that she was standing in front of him, then he rose from the couch and once again took her in his arms. "In that case, definitely bed," he almost purred as he lifted her off of her feet. She scissored her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bedroom and set her down next to his bed, then lifted her long-sleeved T-shirt over her head, exposing small, pink-tipped breasts, with an unusual fairy tattoo above the left one. He then hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her sweatpants, sliding them down her legs until she could step out of them.

      As she did, he saw a second tattoo on her abdomen, extending from the right side of her navel to just above her groin. It depicted a pair of stylized theatre masks done in green and purple ink, seemingly connected by tangled golden-yellow ribbons. For some reason, this sight excited him even more, and he bent down and placed a feathery kiss on first one mask, then the other, causing the muscles of her stomach to quiver. He then eased her back onto the bed, before undressing himself, standing fully exposed to her gaze for the first time. She propped herself on her elbows and let her eyes travel over his tightly muscled frame, but when she stayed silent, he felt a slight pang of uncertainty.