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"You know, I think this is my favourite place," Root said, murmuring the words onto Shaw’s skin, after pressing a delicate kiss on her neck.
"What, my bed?" Shaw asked, her voice sounding groggy. Root wasn’t sure yet if it was from Shaw being half asleep or from the attention being lavished upon her neck. Maybe the second one she thought as she saw goosebumps appear on the skin on Shaw’s neck and listened to her breathing.
"No...-"
"Someone else’s bed?" Shaw interrupted, a note of anger in her tone. Root couldn't see her face as she was currently playing the big spoon, one arm wrapped around the smaller woman and one arm underneath Shaw’s head.
"That's not what I meant." Root sounded slightly panicked.
Shaw laughed, "Relax Root, I know. I'm kidding." She received a dunt to her ribs from Root’s elbow for that.
"I mean right here.” Root hummed, as she traced her finger over the spot she had been kissing moments ago. “This is my favourite place."
Without Root’s arm holding her in position, Shaw turned slightly so she was almost lying on her back. "I see.” Root shifted to allow Shaw to lie flat, arm still under her head, and then she moulded herself along Shaw’s side, sliding on leg over Shaw’s. “Why is that?"
“Hmm, well…” Root buried her head into the crook of Shaw’s neck and kissed her again before breathing in deeply through her nose, "here I can smell your hair and your skin...
She held her lips just above the skin on Shaw’s neck, feeling her own breath reflect back off Shaw’s skin. "... and when I breathe here, I can see the hairs on the back of your neck stand and sometimes you get goosebumps too. I love seeing how your body reacts to mine."
Root was waiting for a sign of Shaw becoming uncomfortable. She knew she was probably pushing it. She still couldn't believe that the three night rule had been broken, along with the gradual progression to staying the whole night and seemingly being more than okay with… whatever this was called. Cuddling, holding, snuggling - Root wasn't sure but she liked this almost as much as what preceded it.
When Shaw ran her fingers up the arm that Root had snaked across her stomach she took this as a sign to keep going and kissed her neck again, sucking on her pulse point. She let her tongue taste the skin that she just couldn't get enough of, bringing out a hint of a groan from Shaw.
"I love the way you almost purr when I kiss you here..." She said, breathing the words up towards Shaw’s ear before tipping her head back down and nipping at her neck with her teeth. She felt Shaw’s grip on her arm tighten.
"... and the way you dig nails in when I bite you here." She bit down harder and as predicted she felt nails dig into the skin of her forearm. She stopped and smiled, tilting her head up again so she could whisper into Shaw’s ear.
"And from here, I can whisper sweet nothings in your ear."
Shaw chuckled - this was not the response Root had been expecting.
"Sweet nothings?” Shaw sounded incredulous. “No offence Root, but you have never even come close to whispering sweet nothings before now. Dirty talk, sure. No, scratch that - most of the time it's pure filth!" Root could only just see the grin on Shaw’s face in the dim light. “But I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Should I stop, then? Telling you…. ‘this’…" Root said with uncertainty making her voice shake slightly.
"No, that's not what I meant, I meant I like the filth." Shaw’s voice was low, husky, and it made Root smile.
"Oh, I know you do.” Root was back to her playful best. “Usually it gets you nice and..."
"Root!” Shaw interrupted. “C’mon, are you gonna finish or what?"
Root blinked. She felt like her heart had stopped for a moment. Shaw actually wanted her to continue – with the feelings stuff. Not the usually kind of pillow talk they shared. The heartbeat she thought had stopped a moment before now raced away from her as she realised what Shaw was showing.
"Okay, okay. Yeah, I did have one more..." She wondered if Shaw could hear her heart thumping inside her chest. She removed her arm from under Shaw’s head and bent it up to prop her own head up. She looked down at Shaw who looked expectantly up at her.
"Yeah, what’s that then?"
Root swallowed, taking a deep breath before saying softly, "I think I like here most because if I'm here, then you're here. You know, with me."
She let that thought sit there for a moment. She felt lighter for saying it but worried it would weigh heavily on Shaw.
"Was that ... too much?"
The wait for an answer was longer than Root could bear. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
Eventually Shaw spoke, "No," she said softly, before pausing again. "I was just thinking… wondering, if I had a favourite spot".
Root had to work hard as not letting the breath she had been holding out in one loud burst. When she had forced it out slowly she forced herself to speak, breaking this latest period of silence.
"And?"
"And I hadn't really thought about it before. I'm....I'm not very good at this type of thing."
“I know.” Root moved her arm, laying her head back down and burrowing back into Shaw’s neck. “I don’t need you to be good at it… I just need you to…. not freak out when I let my guard down.”
“But, that’s the thing.”
“What”
“I’m not freaking out.” Shaw shifted so she was facing Root. Root could feel those big brown eyes searching her face, reaching into her eyes and consuming her.
Shaw reached her hand up and touched Root’s lips, running her finger over them.
"Here.” She said it gruffly, before clearing her throat slightly. Despite this, her next words still sounded hoarse. “Particularly the bottom one."
"Why's that?"
"Well apart from the obvious... That thing you do."
Oh, so that was why her voice was sounding like that. Root smirked, " 'That thing I do'? Which would be...?" The teasing came so easily to her.
"Look this is hard enough for me - don't ruin the moment." Grumpy Shaw was back.
Root chuckled, "Sorry, I can't help myself sometimes."
"I know. And I can't believe I'm saying this but I usually like it when you do that." Shaw shook her head, still not quite believing what she was sharing. But she knew Root needed to hear this because she needed Root to know that she did feel. She looked at Root’s face and saw that the smirk had given way to a genuine smile.
In for a penny, in for a pound. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"And the way you pout, because you even though it never does, you still do it as if it's miraculously going to start working on me one day. Although maybe the best bit about *that* is the way it makes your nose crinkle, which is really cute."
Root opened her mouth to say something, a glint in her eye hinting at what she was about to say, but Shaw quickly cut her off, "If you ever tell anyone I said that I will kill you." She sounded like she meant it.
"My lips are sealed, Sameen." She couldn't have sounded more triumphant if she tried.
Shaw could not help but roll her eyes. "Very funny. But I'm not done.” The ridiculous smirk on Root’s face gave way to curiosity.
Shaw ran her finger over Root’s bottom lip. “I like the way you bite it when you're nervous. And I really like the way you bite it when you're thinking those filthy thoughts because that definitely does it for me..." Shaw paused to look at the expression on Root’s face which was half way between stunned and turned on. She smiled and continued, closing the distance between them, almost whispering now, "..but I think I like it best when I get to bite it though. Maybe because it usually shuts you up. Well, more or less, 'cause there's usually some moaning. I definitely don't mind hearing that."
Root’s hitched breath and dilated pupils gave her current state of mind away and she had to blink a few times and swallow before she could speak.
"That's probably the most you have ever said to me that wasn't about work. And even then..." As she listened to Root, Shaw let her finger traces along Root’s jaw and down her neck.
"So maybe I'm not as bad at this as I thought,” Shaw murmured as her fingers made their way over Root’s collarbone.
“No, you’re not. But I think we’re done talking for now.” Root had brought her lips so close to Shaw’s and the sensation almost made Shaw gasp as she felt Root’s words vibrating against her.
“I’m so glad you said that,” Shaw said breathlessly, “I do too.”