There's a First Time For Everything

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Hudson frowned, catching Neagley’s gaze at something considerably lower than the back of his head or back in the before-dawn darkened windows in the wall behind the kitchen sink. He twisted himself at the waist so as to not have to look back over his shoulder.

“What is it? Do I have something on my pants?" Neagley looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. “Shit. I thought these were clean…"

Still not finding her voice, Neagley shook her head, smiling as Hudson started pulling and patting at the fabric of his dress slacks, looking at his hand occasionally, trying to figure out what he’d missed. She chuckled quietly. “There’s nothing there.”

Momentarily confused, he dried his hands the rest of the way off on the tea towel. Understanding dawned on him. “Oh! Okay… you, uh… you…. wanna do something about that look on your face?” He sidled over slowly to stand near her at the kitchen table, close-fitting clothing moving on his body the way it only did in TV cop dramas. No one whose job involved any physicality actually dressed like that. Except California Dreamin’ over here, unlike most cops, could pull it off, and he knew it. So he did.

She swallowed her spoonful of Corn Pops hard. “Like what?"

Hudson shrugged, the corners of his lips turning downward for a split second. He showed her open-palmed hands gently dropping them back to his sides. His way of saying, "I’m here. Whatever you wanna do, do.” He waited a few seconds while she took a drink of milk she swished around her mouth a bit. “Unless I’m wrong…”

“You’re not."

"Okay,” he replied, his tone treading carefully. Neagley calmly ran a napkin over her lips, getting up to face him. “Am I gonna be kissed?" He could see her pinching the inside of her lower lip between her front teeth, her gaze definitely lingering on his mouth. She shook her head and gulped a propos of nothing but carnal need. “All right…” Hudson trailed off as she stepped closer.

Her hands came up, looking like they were gonna slip between his arms and his sides, reminding him of damn a forklift. Keeping a poker face on, he lifted his arms a bit to let her through. Her arms closed around him softly, as she laid the side of her face onto his jaw and the side of his neck. She was tense, through and through, then… the rest of her came to lean flush against him like some kind of magnet had done them up like a zipper from their groins all the way up to their chests. She’d relaxed, and was holding onto him tight.

Wide-eyed in shock, standing still, but not stone-still–tense–he leaned into her a little.

Sturdy. That’s what he’d made himself into. Soft, comfortable, but… solidly supportive. Neagley smiled. Gentle strength.

“Can I…?” Hudson trailed off like he was afraid saying, “hug you?" might scare her away.

Her smile widened, and she nodded enthusiastically.

He breathed, realizing he’d forgotten to lately, and only because he needed more breath in his lungs to keep talking. "I’ll keep my hands up high, all right? Nothing below your lower back. Anywhere I should know about?”

“I don’t think so… no.”

Hudson smiled, closing his eyes as he closed his arms around her and held on gentle but tight. Unthinking, his thumb started brushing soothingly over the dip where her spine lay between her shoulder blades, his other hand moving slowly up and down in the small of her back. His next breath came out shakily, his eyes watering.

"What is it?” Neagley murmured against his neck, like she might be falling asleep there. Her embrace was sure but her hands were still.

He chuffed out a laugh. “I’m having a hard time believing this. You did it!” She started genuinely laughing in his arms now. He kissed her on the hair, figuring that much was safe. She nuzzled in closer and held on tighter. How long they stayed that way, he had no idea.

When the thought occurred to him he started talking, low and quiet, beside her ear. "I know you liked what you saw. Wanna find out if you like what you feel?” Her breathing stuttered. He could feel it on his neck and in the way her chest moved against his. She didn’t say a word, just nodded. The enthusiasm was slightly less, but there all the same.

He slowly took his hand away from her lower back, sending it ‘round behind him, briefly and loosely intertwining fingers before he started moving their hands together down to rest on one side of his butt.

He wasn’t expecting anything but light, very probably awkward touch, if she even bothered to explore at all beyond where he set her hand down to rest. He left Neagley’s hand where he figured she could get a good handful of him if she wanted to and slowly slipped out from between her fingers, going back to holding her close with a hand on her loin, sending his higher hand to just below the base of her neck. He leaned his head onto hers in return, every nerve in his backside tingling hopefully.

If nothing more came of it he was perfectly happy with that. Still, even though this was monumental and enough, he couldn’t help wanting.

The kitchen clock chimed the half hour, startling them both. He had to be at the station by seven. She could show up at the office whenever she wanted. Perks of being The Boss. He sighed loudly. Goddammit. They both knew what that sound meant. Trying to separate, at least for him, felt like trying to unstick himself from fly paper. Nothing pleasant about it. Pretty sure a piece of his heart had been ripped out of his chest and stayed stuck to her in the parting. If not for knowing he had to, so as not to undo all the good they’d done, he couldn’t have managed it.

“I gotta get going." He stepped backward, giving her one last soothing rub on the upper arms before he let her go. Neagley wasn’t going anywhere–she stood there staring down at her own body like she didn’t recognize it–so, it was on him to…

She seized his wrist as he started to walk past her with a strength that had him scared for a second, until he realized she didn’t want him to walk away, taking his touch with him. She hadn’t had enough, and by her grip on his arm, fiercely wanted more. He comfortingly put his hand over hers.

"Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere if you don’t want me to–!” Shock cut him off.

Quick as a striking snake, Neagley turned him by the arm, had them squared back up again and had him wrapped up in an embrace with surprising strength. So hard, it almost hurt. The next second, both her hands had a kneading hold of him, one for each butt cheek, holding their hips firmly together.

Hudson couldn’t help the high-pitched gasping sound he made. He’d been able to keep a bit of distance and spare her from the reality of his half-hard arousal before. Now, with them pressed so firmly together like this, no space between them for so much as a piece of paper, he became obviously stiffer by the second, while she nuzzled her face into the cleft behind his jaw, underneath his ear.

He dropped his head back and to one side, giving her the access she wanted. Keeping both hands off of her, he didn’t trust himself to not over-touch her somehow, he let her enjoy and explore him, barely touching her back. He felt a damp contact with his neck. His eyes flew open as he went rigid in shock. He wasn’t imagining it. Those had been her lips! She’d kissed him!

Neagley let go of him and jump-stepped back, the moment he went taut from head to toe. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t ha…”

“No, no! It’s not that. You just surprised the hell outta me! That’s all! Ha!” Hudson beamed, laughing. He swooped back in to close the distance between them, he planted another kiss on the side of her head, holding her close with two strong arms roped around her. Neagley was soft in his arms. Not at all scared or stressed, but neither did she continue exploring his body the way she had before. Her hands splayed open wide on his back and held onto him firmly.

He spoke quietly near her ear. “Do me a favour and hold that thought until after work tonight.”

He felt her small nods into the crook of his neck.

“Text me later this afternoon? Lemme know what you feel like?" He wrenched himself away for the second time. It was even harder this time around. Somehow, he didn’t think it was ever going to get easier.

Neagley smiled with an endearing vulnerable sweetness. Something he’d never seen her do before. "Yeah. I will.”

Hudson backed up, still holding onto her by one hand. His charming wink and smile as he let her go with a soothing stroke from his thumb sliding off the back of her hand, was his stand-in for a good-bye kiss.

She winked back, her smile growing as she watched him don his jacket and pull his keys off the hooks by the door. He sorted through them looking for his car key as he closed the door behind him. It didn't make it all the way closed before he stepped back inside, holding up a new-cut silver key.

"This isn’t my key.”

“I know. It’s mine." He stood there, open-mouth flabbergasted until he shook himself out of it with a twitch of the head and some hard blinks a few seconds later. He was looking down at the floor, looking for what to say, his gaze leaping back up to meet hers the moment he had it. He shrugged. “See you when I get home tonight."

Neagley nodded subtly, smiling as he closed the door behind him and locked it wearing his own gentle, permanently-on smile.

Yes, he would.

~~~

Hey. Busy day? Three bouncing dots told him she was replying.

He prefaced his response with the "I see your mischief" face. Me either. Should I get take out?

So bad it’s good. It was the "tongue out” face for this message.

Neagley reacted with the "ROFL” face. True. Inexplicably rewatchable movie.

‘Kay. See you for dinner. He had no idea why he topped it off with a fucking chicken and spicy pepper emoji, but he did.

~~~

Hudson checked the clock on the car dash drumming his thumbs nervously against the steering wheel; 6:15 pm normal-people time. He brought up his text-to-speech. I’ll be at your place soon.

Neagley started writing back almost instantly. Just got in. See you when you get here. <3

He shook his head, chuckling, giving his eyes a roll. A less-than symbol and the number three like it was the fucking 2000s–twenty-six years ago. Fuck, he was getting old. They both were…

~~~

He fumbled for her apartment key in one hand, the brown paper bag toting dinner in the other. It smelled divine. It’d been torturing him all the way here. He was starving. He walked in to find Neagley sitting cross legged at the kitchen table, entertaining herself with work she’d brought home until he arrived.

It’d been a long time since he’d come home to anyone…

“Hey." There was a heck of a lot more than, " Honey, I’m home!” in his tone. It was the kind of tone that wondered if he could pick the threads of thought from this morning back up or not.

Her head snapped up straight, a smile replacing the focused, off-somewhere-else expression that’d been there staring at her screen. "Hey.”

He winked, a small, loving smile on his lips.

She winked right back, eyes going straight to the paper bag. “C’mon dishes and drinks are on the coffee table.” He stood there in shock yet again.

“What?" Neagley asked, frowning, freezing in place.

"Are you even fuckin’ real? Am I dreaming? Am I layin’ dead on the road somewhere between work and here and this is what my Heaven looks like?”

Neagley shook her head smiling and laughing. “If you are, I’ll hunt down the driver and even if I have to chase you into the afterlife, I’ll get your ass back,” she threatened, heavily implying it was an ass worth going to Hell and back for. She brought him to the couch with her, leading him on by his tie in one hand, holding their dinner bag in the other. He left his keys on the counter on the way by, relieving himself of his shoes and suit jacket, too. The BluRay menu was already on looping through the criminal roster of the fictional flight, chopsticks, fork, spoons, a lightly sweating bottle of Bourbon County, de-capped and fresh out of the fridge, still steaming, and a Smirnoff raspberry vodka cooler over on Neagley’s favourite side of the couch.

Hudson chuckled quietly. “Hungry?"

"Starving.”

“Heh, me too." He undid his cuffs, rolling up his sleeves and getting comfortable.

Neagley started cracking into the appetizers and entrees, splitting it between them. Her chicken, rice, vegetables, and peanut sauce in one bowl, his beef, veggies, and noodles in the other. She went on quickly divvying up the soups and spring rolls while he got the evening’s entertainment rolling, sorted out the system sound, setting it to the right source, as he loosened his tie and undid the top buttons on his dress shirt, finally letting himself relax.

He cast a loving look down at Neagley, carrying on about the business of setting dinner up, oblivious. He was home.

The military drumline of the Con Air theme came to life from the sound system speakers, as the lightning bolt flashed through the Touchstone Pictures logo circle on screen. He sat down on the couch close beside her, but not touching, getting settled, as she put her first morsel into her mouth with her chop sticks, moaning with pleasure both at the amazing taste, and relief from the clamour of hunger, she collapsed back into the couch’s plush cushions.

“Mmm! This is so good! Where is this place?”

He mixed the sauce pooling in the bottom of his bowl back into the noodles and meat as he answered. “Few blocks away from the station. Mom n’ pop spot. No big name recognition. If you know, you know. If you don’t, hard to find, but fantastic food.”

“From now on, when I order out at the office, this is the spot.” I haven’t had peanut chicken this good since I was in Thailand.” She wolfed down another mouthful, anything but ladylike and graceful but still, utterly adorable.

“Yeah? Wouldn’t surprise me if they’re from there, originally. Probably why it tastes so good, and why their English is pretty iffy. Sweet folks, though. They sent me home with these, free of charge.” He dug a smaller paper bag out of the bottom of the larger one with a soft plastic cold pack in it keeping two sweet mango and sticky rice deserts cold.

“That was nice of them. You must be a good customer.” Neagley leaned back onto the couch, tucking her other leg up under the leg nearest to him, leaning his way.

Hudson noticed and carefully scooched himself a little closer, leaning into her, their legs touching from thigh to knee now. “I, uh, I must be. Although, she didn’t offer them to me until I started talking about you.” There wasn't the slightest trace of, "don't touch me," in her face or body. He was exactly where she wanted him. Hudson relaxed into her.

“And she wanted to help you impress me! That was very sweet of her. They really like you!" She nudged him with her hip.

He shrugged ever so slightly, not wanting to jostle the arm she held her dinner bowl with too much. "I order lunch or dinner for delivery from there a couple days a week. She must’ve known my voice from the phone.”

Trisha Yearwood’s sweet, sultry crooning of, “How do I… get through one life without you…?” from the movie cut in and Neagley went quiet, snuggling in a little bit tighter and a little bit closer, head canted just slightly his way. Taking a napkin to his lips before he dared for it, he reached out across the space between them for a kiss on the side of her head again. “Couldn’t stop thinking about you, all day today," he murmured, his tone heavy with heated intention.

She called him out on that. "You mean, you couldn’t stop thinking about this morning, all day."

Hudson laughed quietly, leaning his forehead into the side of her head. For her part she seemed glad to lean in a little closer to help him reach. "Say it however you like, it’s true either way. You feel like picking up where we left off?”

“I feel like eating dinner and watching a movie, in peace.”

Hudson laughed. There was that mean streak again. He loved her, not in spite of it, but because of it. The directness and honesty. “No, definitely not now. I’m as hungry as you are. But…later. Or whenever. Or not tonight. Is the feeling not there?” His tone was absent any hint of disappointment as a consequence if it happened not to be; he only wanted to know.

She sighed, leaning into him just that little bit closer, taking stock of her head and heart. "It’s still there,” she said quietly.

“Okay. Let’s finish dinner and dessert. We’ll figure out if anything comes after, then." She looked his way and nodded. Smiling subtly, she went back to working on the contents of her plate-bowl hybrid when her stomach decided to protest no longer being fed right out loud. Neither of them could help giggling at the sound as Neagley's hand went up over her eyes momentarily in embarrassment. Hudson went back to his meal and the movie, part of him quietly lamenting the distance between them again. He particularly disliked it when either of them had to sit forward for their libation of choice.

“And tell me now… how do I live without you, if you ever go?” swelled in the background of the movie to overtake the dialogue again. When he’d suggested this film, he’d just been looking for something he knew was fun and not too serious. He hadn’t ever really thought of this as a date night movie, but goddamn, listening to this soundtrack again in this light had sure given him a change of mind…

~~~

By the, “put the bunny back in the box,” mark, dinner and dessert were done and their drinks were both long empty. “Another one?" Hudson asked sweetly, standing to go for another one of his beers, taking hold of her bottle round the neck with two fingers of the hand already holding his empty.

"Please.” For a split second she looked like she wanted to say something but didn't so he started toward the kitchen. The instant his back was turned, she caught him by his trailing hand.

“I want to lay with you on the couch.”

He whipped back around to face her, shocked and uncertain. There was more than one way to take that, and one of them seemed like a leap he was pretty certain she wasn’t ready for. “You… mean…?”

“I don’t mean… sex. Just laying down, resting. Clothes on."

Hudson smiled. Laughing quietly, he gave her a small wink. “Snuggling. I gotcha. Be right back,” he promised, giving her fingers a reassuring squeeze. The gentleness with which her fingers slid off his hand was in stark contrast to the slightly intimidating strength with which she’d held onto him when she first stopped him.

He came back, drinks in hand, setting hers down on the coffee table. She was sitting there, eyes forward, hands clasped, not reaching for it, and he didn’t figure this was quite the time to be demanding she respond to him.

"Frances…”

“Don’t call me that. Only my Dad or my childhood friends ever called me Frances. Everyone else calls me Neagley." She'd said it like that was something reserved for her father, and her father alone.

"Okay. Sorry. I won’t do it again. It just… feels a little strange to call you by your last name at a time like this," he explained sitting down facing her, one leg folded in front of him on the couch. It occurred to him he’d know in the next few seconds if his feet smelled bad or not. Thankfully, there turned out to be nothing offensive there to worry about.

“Yeah. I get that. I’ve just never had time like this, with anyone, so I’ve never had to figure out something else…” She was wringing her hands hard, a physical manifestation of her nervousness.

“How about… Francey? Or Frankey? Portmanteaus of your first and last name.” He took his phone out of his pocket and wrote the variations on the lock screen note. He tried them out for her again. “Francey…" She grimaced, shaking her head emphatically. Whatever the name recalled must’ve been unpleasant; her expression turned a little sad, if he wasn’t mistaken. He chuckled warmly. “Okay, no. How about Frankey?" She hesitated, a slight smile appearing on her lips but disappearing just as quickly. He reached out, resting a soothing hand on her thigh, intentionally avoiding touching her skin. He started from the top. “Frankey…? How do you wanna do this?”

Neagley smiled, nodding, still not quite looking Hudson in the eye, her hands loosening their grasp on one another. Yeah. That was it. That was the one. She turned toward him, the heat in her eyes blazing hot. “Lay all the way back. Put your leg out of the way." She damn near shoved him backward onto the couch’s side cushion. Taking hold of his ankle and knee and almost all by herself, she moved his leg for him.

"Whoa, easy. Just gimme a sec, here. I’m not saying I’m not all right with being handled like this…” He was right. Without thinking she’d just spread his legs wide open, putting his groin on full display. She backed away apologetically, looking away bashfully. He reached out for her, stopping her from recoiling any further. “Hey! If it makes you feel any better, I kinda have to get used to this, too. And please, take it easy on giving orders. I’m beginning to think I may have a bit of a kink, but this is definitely not the time to be figuring that out.”

Neagley started smiling and laughing, her expression incredulous. "Are you serious?”

"Yeah… yeah, I am,” he replied, shifting himself carefully, laying in a much more comfortable position.

“And you’re only just figuring that out? Don’t take this the wrong way, but I would've thought this is something you’d know about yourself before now.”

Hudson snickered, kneading at couch cushions beside and behind him. “Yeah, me too. Not like I haven’t tried it out before, but I dunno, I guess no other dame I’ve been with actually sounded like they had any kind of authority. Sure they could tell me what to do, but there was no force behind it. You have it or you don’t, and, heh, you actually do.” He was as surprised as she was by this realization. Hudson stopped squirming and laid back, one leg up on the couch, less severely bent than where she’d first stationed it, his other foot still planted on the floor, arms wide open. Giving her this little, “Where do we go from here?” flare out to the side with his hands, eyebrows hopping up to emphasize the question.

Neagley looked him over. His cheeks were flushed from one hell of a lot more than the ethanol in one beer, his chest–his breathing–coming and going in unsteady jolts. Where his slacks usually kept the shape and size of his genitals tastefully obscured, there was now the obvious heft of his balls and well-defined swell of his penis straining his seams.

“Frankey…”

Neagley cleared her throat, reaching for her cooler and taking a long drink, setting it down where she could reach it while laid down on his chest. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. It’s okay. But if looking is what you wanna do, maybe… warn me. Just so I know.” He could only comfortably take so much of bein' left hangin'.

Neagley nodded, starting to take her belt off as she stood up. He realized that yeah, if she planned to lay down on him in any way, whether it was her stomach or the small of her back, maybe having a hard bundle of metal and leather between them wouldn’t be terribly comfortable. So, he followed suit, laying his belt over the back of the couch. He watched as Neagley got to her knees on the couch and started walking over him on all fours.

His breath caught. There was probably an eighty-five percent chance she wasn’t gonna kiss him, but that fifteen percent was enough to have blood burning in his cheeks. Neagley smiled coyly at the sight.

By God, she was awe-strikingly beautiful.

Then, somewhat unexpectedly, she turned her hands and the underside of her forearms up, sliding them underneath his back, then underneath the plush couch cushion under his back as she came to rest with the softness of her stomach resting directly on his cock and balls, her breasts underneath his, her cheek using the upper slope of his chest for a pillow, the crown of her head coming to rest under his chin so that he had to strain his chin just a little higher to accomodate her and still be able to turn his head to see the TV screen.

Her little shimmy to get herself perfectly in place massaged his dick and sack in a way that had him taking in a small gasp of breath.

“Did I hurt–?” you? He didn’t let her finish.

“No. Anything but. It felt good. Just, take it easy, or I’m not gonna last the movie.”

Neagley smiled subtly and took a deep breath, nodding and nuzzling into his chest. He laid a long, long, I-love-you-so-much kiss on the back of her head, alongside her braid…

~~~

Within twenty minutes she was shivering on top of him. It wasn’t that cold in the room, but her back was to the open air… "You cold?" She shook her head. If it wasn't that, then… his stomach sank. "Is this, too much? Hey, don't force yourself…!" He started trying to gently wriggle out from under her, but that only had her holding onto him tighter.

"Don't... don't go." she said quietly into his chest.

He went limp and settled back down. "I won't, but, are you okay?"

Neagley took in a shivering breath. This wasn't fear or cold. It was a carnal desire so potent it had her shuddering like she'd been tossed out naked into the freezing cold. Something way beyond her experience, and utterly out of her control. As the seconds ticked by, Hudson seemed to realize it, something pinging in his memory. A bygone partner so turned on, she'd convulsed underneath him like she was in the grips of some kind of seizure. He began slowly working the blanket over the back of the couch free from under his side. She buried her feet under the arm cushion on the far end as he threw the blanket over them. She pulled it close around her shoulders and snuggled in tight. He wrapped his arms and legs around her, soothing out tremors when they cropped up in places he could reach. "You're okay, Frankey. I've got you…"

The force and frequency of her shaking fits slowly wound down, eventually coming to a stop. They'd managed to get through. Hudson put one hand back where it’d come from, resting on her tricep, the other caressing the back of her head. “Better?"

"Mmm hmm.” She sounded happily groggy. The violent shivering had taken a lot out of her. He planted a kiss on her hair nearing the crown of her head and shimmied himself into a slightly better place before settling in to let the rest of the movie play through.

~~~

At first, he thought she was just trying to get comfortable. Maybe that had been the case the first time… even the second… but when it happened a third time, and with a definite, slow, up-and-down then side-to-side squirm that weighed heavily on his cock, sending fiery jolts of pleasure shooting through his nerves, he knew beyond any doubt she was mimicking thrusting down onto him, whether there was clothing between them or not. He slipped his arm down into an embrace over her shoulder blades, holding her close, answering her squirming thrust with one of his own, scratching an itch in his nerves that had him growing stiffer, his riotous flesh demanding even more.

Neagley went still in his embrace.

“Stop?” he whispered into her sweet-smelling hair. She shook her head emphatically. “Okay. Take it real slow, only every now and then. I might scratch an itch once in a while, too, so you know…”

~~~

The sound of Trisha Yearwood’s, “How do I live without you…?” swelled over the moment when Poe and his wife found each other in the chaotic aftermath of the crashed plane for the first time in years. She hadn’t meant this one the way she had all the others, but when Neagley–Frankey–cinched her embrace tighter around him, drawing herself up against him in a way that thrust her hips down against his body but only because she trying to get as close as she physically could, the spark of something inevitable lit in his nerves and he couldn’t shut it down. Not this time. He went rigid with fright and ecstasy. To make matters worse, one only seemed to feed the other.

“Get off–” He caught himself. The words landed utterly wrong and he saw it the same instant they left his mouth. “You gotta let me up. I can’t… shit!” he winced and folded protectively over his groin. She mistook the urgency with which he sat her up off him for violence and recoiled. “I’m sorry,” he emphasized, his touch going perfectly gentle again, “I can’t…” Hudson tumbled gracelessly off the couch, almost knocking their drinks over as he found his feet and swaying, limped to the bathroom with an urgency that sent her heart to live in her stomach.

Had she hurt him and he was just sparing her feelings?

He kept himself from falling over forward with a hand landing heavily on the corner of the wall as he rounded it, half falling, half lunging down the hallway when a spike of orgasmic pleasure nearly took his legs out from under him. The bathroom light went on almost the self-same instant the bathroom tap flipped on, then the door slammed behind him and the light was gone, the movie paused, the room silent except for the muffled sound of running water…

When he walked back into view he was moving languidly, like he was dazed. The silence in the room was ringing loud in her ears. He leaned against the wall corner, his thumbs hooked into his slacks’ pockets. The flush in his cheeks was anything but gone, though nowhere near as deep as it was when he’d beelined for the bathroom. There was a loving smile on his lips, and a heat in his eyes, despite the overwhelming impression of relief he also seemed to give off.

“I hurt you, didn't I…?”

Hudson chuckled, dropping his head and leaning even harder into the wall. “Far from it.” He ran a hand back through his hair, trying to figure out how to explain himself. "You caught me by surprise. Just… hit the right spot and I couldn’t stop myself. Didn’t figure you’d appreciate me doing that without warning, and soaking us both with it. Maybe even the couch," he explained, more than a little embarrassed. “I, uh… tidied up the bathroom, too," he was quick to add, pointing a thumb back that direction.

Neagley’s expression had gone from concerned, to relieved, soft, and caring. "Thank you.”

Hudson smiled, laughing. “You don’t have to thank me for it. I’m a lot of things, but that kind of asshole ain’t one of them. That’s basic courtesy.” Neagley’s shoulders fell, the worry and tension leaving her in an instant. “Look, I didn’t mean… I wasn’t telling you to ‘get off me’, not like that. It just happened so fast…" He crossed the room back to the couch. “Can I…?” he checked, pointing to where he wanted to sit on the couch.

Neagley scoffed, all traces of uncertainty or defensiveness evaporated. “Of course you can.”

“Okay. Are you still okay to let me touch you?"

Smiling subtly, she nodded. He sighed in relief. Thank Christ he hadn’t scared her too badly or handled her so roughly he’d fucked this all up. He sat down close beside Neagley, gently guiding her as she fell into his embrace. “I’m sorry I worried you. I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me, or do anything wrong. I promise. I just… had no time. I had to get to the bathroom before… you know.” He started gently swaying them, holding her close, laying his cheek on the crown of her head. "Are we okay?” Hudson asked quietly, fear finding its way into his voice.

Neagley smiled, sagging completely into his embrace. “We’re okay." She put her arms around his waist and held on.

“Wanna lay back down? I’m good for it. Just no more foolin’ around. Gonna be a little tender after being that hard for that long.”

He could feel her smile against his chest and nod. He smiled, planting a kiss on her hair, relieved. Right on. Hudson laid back, legs splayed and arms wide open once again. He winked, beckoning her closer with an up and backward nod, wearing an impish grin. “Bring it on home."

Neagley smiled and laughed quietly as she slid carefully back into place, gingerly careful once her stomach came close to resting where it had been and coming down to land without moving in the slightest thereafter. They sorted the blanket situation and settled in for the brief remainder of the movie…

With the credits rolling by, Hudson rubbed the drowsiness out of his eyes and checked his watch. Nineish. Not early but not exactly time for bed, either. "You wanna watch another one?”

Neagley made no reply other than to shake her head.

“Should we go to bed?" Nope. Not interested in that either. Bed meant going to separate rooms. “Stay here?"

She nodded and went still, wrapping herself around him a little tighter and wedging herself so that she had to put no muscle effort into staying that way.

Grinning and chuckling, he strained for the remotes, turning off the TV and sound system. "All right.” Inhaling deeply and exhaling completely, he wrapped himself around her better, settling in with his cheek resting on top of her head for the long haul.

Mere minutes went by before he worked up his nerve and took the plunge. "Something’s been on my mind…”

“Hm?" Neagley was half-passed out, barely listening.

“Eh, wake up. This is… important.” He gave her a gentle nudge with his leg.

"What’s on your mind?” she mildly groused, sighing.

“It kinda feels like we managed to open a flood gate this morning, but… I know full-on sex is gonna be way too much any time soon.” He could feel Neagley tensing up. Somehow he even thought he could feel her closing herself off in ways she’d hadn’t been, emotionally, just seconds earlier. "I’m not trying to ask you when, or put any pressure on you…”

“Sort of feels like you might be…”

“Okay. Uh, just… let me get this out. I don’t know how to put it, exactly, but I know it’s too much, and it occurred to me there are gonna be steps between here and there. If you even want to get there, at all. I’m not asking you to tell me one way or the other. If it’s too early to know, or you don’t know… do you feel like that’s something you want?" Neagley stayed quiet. “Listen, no matter what you tell me, I’m never gonna regret or resent the time we spend together. There isn’t anyone alive I’d trade a single minute of it for. You’re a once-in-a-lifetime woman, Frankey." He’d expected her to reject it when he put his arms around her and gently squeezed her closer, planting a kiss on the top of her head. She melted into the embrace instead. “If you don’t wanna talk about it, just tell me to shut up and I’ll doze off–"

"I think I can get there. I haven’t been abstinent, just never been with anyone. I… do feel that way about you.” Her reply was so quiet it was almost hard to hear. She nuzzled deeper into his chest.

"I feel that way about you, too.” He felt her smile against his chest. "I, uh, I saw your toy collection the other day. Impressive."

She scoffed. “You try getting through your adult life without sex…"

Hudson chuckled quietly. “I’d rather not, if I can help it. You don’t have to explain anything to me, Frankey. Maybe, if you’re… comfortable with toys, there are… kits we can get that make a silicone replica of a partner. All of me is way too much right now–we haven’t even kissed–but something like that might get us a little closer without going too far. Something you can try, even if the urge takes you when I’m not around. Or, without the pressure of me being there.” He’d been absentmindedly rubbing a soothing hand over her shoulder blade the whole time. "You still awake?” She gave him a few tiny nods against his chest. “You don’t have to say anything right now. It’s just something to think about. If you even want–"

“We should get one made. A really nice one."

Hudson shimmied himself to the side underneath her so he could look her in the eyes when he asked her to repeat herself so he knew she meant it and wasn’t just telling him what he wanted to hear. He helped her prop her head up on his hand. "Really?”

Frankey nodded, smiling gently, affectionately, laying her cheek heavily on his palm. “Yeah, really. I mean it.”

Hudson laughed, smiling lovingly. “You have no idea how badly I wanna kiss you right now–I won’t–but I want to."

She smiled a little wider, giving him a slow wink, affection plain on her face. He winked back, laying his hand over hers, stroking his thumb over her skin, holding her hand over his hammering heartbeat. "I know a place that does custom work. The Hell with ordering something cheap off some stag shop site or Amazon, if we’re doing this, we’re gonna do it right. Wanna sleep on it over the weekend and if you’re still excited about it, I’ll get it started next week?”

“Take me there this weekend."

His eyes were watering so badly he had to wipe them clear. "All right.” He gave her another wink, with this adorable dopey-happy grin on, sinking back down onto the couch, all tension and nervousness leaving him. “It’s a date."

Neagley dropped her head back down, planting a kiss on his chest through his dress shirt, determined to sleep this time. Smiling, she snuggled firmly into his solid chest and within minutes left the waking world behind.

Chapter 2 | Strange Animals

Well they say I should approach you with caution
But not to let you be aware of my fear
Never know what you'll find
Don't understand your kind 'round here

Watching your moves, they look so radical
Hearing your words, they sound fanatical
Something inside reveals you're magical
How can I get enough

You're a strange animal, that's what I know
But you're a strange animal, I've got to follow

They've been trying to stick a line in your system
Analyzing the defenses you hold
Trying to open wide, hoping to step inside
Your soul

But everything here is unfamiliar
Nothing they've seen remotely similar
How can it be you're so peculiar
How can I get enough

Gowan's
Strange Animal

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