Chapter Text
He used to roll his eyes when his mother would tell him to wait to do it with someone special. Never fully got the idea of sex being taken to some sacred, higher level when it’s with the “right person.”
And it’s not like he hasn’t had great sex. Lots of it. He’s never particularly struggled to get laid. And he obviously knows that sex is better with some people than others. He’s had enough just fine sex on lonely nights with strangers from bars to understand that.
Still, he thought the idea of this next level where every feeling was heightened and everything else faded away to create this intense intimacy was some cheesy shit from the romance novels his abuela used to read. A habit she’d passed onto his mother.
He also thought his mom was just spewing that crap at him because of the Catholic guilt she felt once she realized abstinence until marriage probably wasn’t in her son’s future. Catholic guilt that didn’t seem to stop her from reading those smutty-ass books.
So, yeah. He never really got the whole next level thing.
But, right now, with Elizabeth underneath him moaning and writhing, him trying and failing to choke back his own moans, her hand laced with his against the dusty blue sheets, this whole thing just feels inevitable. The slide of her body against his own moving perfectly in sync. And he ain’t some sentimental fool believing in fate and shit, but, fuck, if this moment right here doesn’t feel right. Feels like that next level.
They’ve been fucking regularly for months now, but neither of them dared to truly label anything past exclusivity, despite the fact that Elizabeth had kicked Car Man out a long while ago and that they’d been spending more and more of their time together doing things other than working or fucking. Talking about their days, cooking each other dinner, curling up together on the couch watching whatever movies and TV shows she tells him he has to see in order to be a “functioning member of society.”
The squawk of outrage she’d released when he’d casually mentioned he hadn’t seen Forrest Gump still makes him chuckle thinking about it.
But even that exclusivity conversation had been stilted and bare-bones. After tip-toeing around it for weeks, Rio had been the one to bring it up in the post-sex afterglow when suddenly the idea of her having this with someone else became unbearable. He couldn’t stomach the idea that she might think he had this with anyone other than her. He wasn’t trying to scare her off by moving too quickly right as she was getting out of a long marriage so he just left it at that.
Her divorce had just gone through a little over a week ago while Rio had been away for meetings in Canada for a new business opportunity and he hadn’t been able to help her celebrate properly. With Rio having Marcus before the trip, he hadn’t seen her for a couple weeks.
And he’d missed her. A lot. His mind kept drifting to her. He hadn't realized just how much of his limited free time he was spending with her. Hadn’t realized how used to that he’d gotten and how much she lifted his mood in a way only spending time with his son normally did.
And that realization was a little unsettling for him because he ain’t one to have people that he misses like that. His work doesn’t really allow for it. Doesn’t really allow for letting people in so that he’s able to miss them either. That’s the excuse he gives himself for why his flings never get past surface level and why him and Rhea didn’t give it a real go and why Marcus only could have been a surprise.
But his solitude isn’t all because of work. Part of it is that he doesn’t want to have more people to miss. People to lose. Because missing them reminds him of the people he misses that won't come back. Reminds him of all the people he grew up with that he’s outlived. Reminds him of the fact that his mother is never gonna meet his son. That Marcus is never gonna get a chance to miss her because he’ll never know her.
But he didn’t know how to address all of that. All of the grief and loss and loneliness of the life he leads. How all of it impedes every relationship he has or could ever possibly have. Doesn’t know how to address the fear he feels at the idea of finally letting someone in and losing them.
So, he focused on something he knew how to solve, which was that he hadn’t been inside Elizabeth in two weeks and he wasn’t sure he could take much longer.
So as soon as he’d gotten home, he’d driven right to Elizabeth’s, ignoring the speed limit and the late-night hour, and climbed into her bed for a celebratory/welcome back fuck. It was one of those long drawn-out fucks that Rio likes when they have the time. Every time he’d been about to come, he’d pulled out and changed positions. Rio likes to think he’s got pretty good stamina, but even he was worn out after the night before.
He had woken up half hard against Elizabeth’s ass and kissed up her neck while pushing up his t-shirt she was wearing, still not satiated. Never seems to be with her.
In the early morning light, they’re still sleepy and it’s cozy and soft and slow. Haze-inducing affection dripping off of every languid movement and touch. If he’s being real honest, he’s not sure he’d call what they’re doing right now “fucking.”
And, yeah, this whole thing may have started with a quick fuck, but it’s evolved and gotten better. So much better as they’ve gotten to know each other’s bodies. Don’t get him wrong. Fucking Elizabeth in that bar bathroom had been the hottest experience he’d had in a long damn time, but it was just lust really. The culmination of months of attraction. But this. This isn’t that. At least not entirely.
This is—this is emotional. This is vulnerable. This is him telling her that he missed her, letting his actions speak the words he's unable to voice. This is everything he normally avoids. This is—fuck. This is feelings. This is—god she feels so good wrapped around him. Hot and tight and his.
He feels every flutter of her cunt right down his spine. Hears the reverberations of the headboard gently rocking into the wall. Smells the intoxicating scent of her that lingers on his pillows and sheets when he gets to have her in his bed. Feels her silky, smooth skin underneath his calloused fingers. Feels her nails gently scratching his shaved head. Feels her gushing around him every time his hips meet hers.
“Oh my god...so fucking wet,” slips out of his mouth in a breathy voice he barely recognizes as his eyelids go heavy, his mouth open and panting into her neck.
He’s wrecked.
“Mmmm uh—I’m close...don’t stop,” Elizabeth moans out shakily.
Slipping his hand from hers and down between their bodies, he runs slow circles around her clit as he continues thrusting his cock deep inside of her. He lifts his head from her neck and they lock eyes. The emotions in her eyes are overwhelming and he knows his match hers.
This feels big. Feels like the consummation of something, which he knows sounds ridiculous. It’s not like they’re man and wife or whatever outdated Catholic phrasing he’d heard in homilies at mass growing up. He’d been fucking her while she was still married to someone else until last week.
But maybe that’s part of it. Part of what’s making this feel different. She’s officially, legally not tied to Deansie anymore. This can’t be belittled as some sordid affair. There’s no one else lurking in this bed with them. The strings attached are only between the two of them. No one else. Just them.
And he knows that he’s getting ahead of himself and this thing between them is still so delicate. It’s just—God, it just—she just feels perfect.
Jesus. Is he fuckin’ falling in love with her?
Lowering his head so their lips touch, they steal a few kisses, but mostly just pant and moan into each other’s mouths as they get lost in this ecstasy.
“Oh god...uuh—fuuuck,” she whimpers.
“Fuck, you feel so good, baby,” Rio stutters into her mouth in response.
A few more flicks of her clit and her whimpers turn into a shuddering moan as she’s pushed over the edge, her shaking thighs locking around his hips as she throws her head back in a silent scream and bows her back. He thinks he hears his name slipped in amongst her babbling as she comes, contracting around him in a way that makes him curse.
He thrusts once then twice more and he’s right there with her. Pushing his hips against hers, he goes as deep as he can one last time as he starts to come inside of her. He makes a strained sound almost like he’s in pain before letting out a choked off “‘Lizabeth” and openly moaning into her neck, his body trembling as he collapses on top of hers, his arms and legs going numb as a tingling sensation spreads up his spine.
Normally, he’d be embarrassed by the sounds leaving him, but right now he’s so far gone he doesn’t care.
Her quiet mewling and whimpering are tapering off as reality comes back to him. He lays there with his full weight on top of her as their panting breaths slowly return to normal.
“Fuck,” Rio breathes out as a long drawn-out syllable into her neck before chuckling a little bit.
What the fuck is going on? He’s giddy.
“Hmm,” Beth hums out in agreement before giggling a little too.
Running his nose and lips along her neck, he sighs out a contented noise as she runs her fingers up and down his back. God he just wants to stay here. In this room with her. In this bubble of just them where nothing else matters. In this moment where everything that sometimes seems so complicated becomes so simple. Any obstacles seem so stupid when this is between them.
He lifts up onto his forearms and looks into her eyes and sees something almost like awe. Leaning forward, he presses a kiss onto her nose as her eyes flutter shut. Presses a soft kiss to each eyelid as she starts to giggle underneath him. Smiling into it, he continues on and kisses her forehead, and each cheek before finally returning to her mouth. Softly kissing her and suckling on her bottom lip with a moan. He pecks her once more before slipping out of her with a grunt and laying down next to her.
Already missing her warmth, he moves their bodies so he’s spooning her and readjusts the covers over them. Slotting himself into her curves like a puzzle piece, he pulls her body flush against his.
Suddenly, he feels a strong sense of possession as he thinks of his cum slipping out of her cunt. Wants to lift up the covers and spread her legs to take a peek, but he’s too cozy to move right now.
He buries his nose into her neck and breathes in the scent of her as the significance of what that felt like settles over them.
“You smell good,” he purrs instead of confessing something else like that he’d missed her so much it scared him or that he's terrified of losing this.
Losing her.
“Thank you,” she whispers back as she laces her fingers with his hand that’s spread across her bare stomach.
And he knows they’ll have to get up and clean up in a moment. And that sometime soon they’ll have to address all the feelings that were just screaming and jumping out of their actions like a flashing speed limit sign telling them that they may be out of their depth here. All the conversations they’ve had with their bodies that they haven’t been able to speak out loud are gonna catch up to them no matter how fast they speed by them.
But for now, he wants to enjoy this bliss where he doesn’t have to miss her because she’s right here. So he burrows in closer to her, tightens his arm around her, places a kiss to her shoulder, and savors this moment with her. With this right person in the aftermath of this next level.