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Tim has grown used to coming home to a quiet house. The cold, emptiness of a place that feels too big for him. The hollowness of a space yearning to be filled.
Today the quiet he comes home to is different. It’s not lonely. It’s still. Peaceful.
There’s differences in his routine when he comes home, too—not major ones, but significant nonetheless. When he kicks off his sneakers, he aligns them side-by-side with a pair of (less neatly aligned) ankle boots. He hangs up his coat next to a cropped leather jacket. He pours himself water in a glass patterned with tiny daisies.
Little pieces of her that were once artifacts of a time long lost have returned as evidence of a new beginning.
Tim sets his now-empty glass down in the sink next to a pink polka-dotted mug and then heads off in search of Lucy, mindful of the hardwood creaking under his bare feet. The transition from night shift to day shift hasn’t been easy on her, so he’s not surprised to find her sprawled out on his—their—bed, eyes closed and chest rising and falling steadily in sleep. Her hair is splayed out in all directions, her black locks a stark contrast against the lavender sheets she insisted they get to replace his gray ones. She’s wearing one of his shirts, an old, faded one from his academy days. Tim knows she had to go hunting for it; its presence in his dresser had been a stark reminder of the fact that he would never see her in it again. At the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to toss it, so he’d buried it deep in the back of a random drawer.
His eyes travel downwards. One of the many, many throw blankets she brought in the move is tossed haphazardly over her lap, her right leg sticking out while her left is covered. And unsurprisingly, Kojo is curled up against her side.
Tim frowns (mentally, at least—he’s been having a lot of trouble frowning these days) at the snoring canine. Kojo being allowed on the furniture has always been a point of contention in their relationship, even before they were together at all. Lucy would come over for a hike with the two of them, he’d find some excuse to invite her in afterwards, and she’d end up on his couch, legs outstretched, Kojo’s head in her lap, while Tim watched them with a feeling he couldn’t quite name at the time.
Of course back then, she wasn’t actually living with him, so “Kojo couch cuddles” as Lucy had dubbed them were a rare treat for the canine—not a regular occurrence that went against his training.
“Kojo, down,” Tim says, trying to keep his voice stern yet quiet enough to not wake Lucy.
Kojo raises his head, blinks at him once, and then lowers it again.
A week ago, all it would have taken was a look from him and that dog would be off the bed and out of the room, tail between his legs. But now that Lucy’s back, any sort of control Tim had over his own damn dog—the one he’s fed and housed and cared for for years—seems to have gone out the window.
“Kojo. Down,” he tries again, a bit louder this time. Kojo lets out an indignant huff, but stays put.
“Jealous that I have a new cuddle buddy?” Lucy’s voice is thick with the remnants of sleep as she gazes up at him through bleary eyes. The corners of her lips are quirked up into an amused smirk and her hair is adorably mussed in a way that makes Tim yearn to comb his fingers through it.
“No,” Tim scoffs, “just worried about you undoing years of training in a single day.”
Lucy giggles and pats the space next to her that’s not currently occupied by a snoring dog. “Ah-ah-ah, don’t forget the rule about outside clothes on the bed,” she reprimands him as he starts to climb in. Tim raises his eyebrows at her. Lucy just blinks back at him innocently, but he recognizes the mischievous twinkle in her honey-brown eyes. He holds eye contact with her as he rids himself of his shirt and pants so he’s left in just his boxers.
“Better?”
Lucy’s eyes travel down his body appreciatively, already looking more awake than she did thirty seconds ago. She nods her approval, and Tim crawls in next to her, lying on his side and scooching in as close to her as possible.
Though they were always a tactile couple—Tim especially—personal space has been virtually non-existent between them since Lucy moved in. Lucy teases him for his clinginess, while Tim remains adamant that he’s just making up for lost time. Whatever the reason, neither of them mind the closeness.
Lucy turns her head towards him so Tim can kiss her, once, twice, three times. “Speaking of rules,” he murmurs, slipping a hand under her shirt to rest on her lower belly, “what happened to ‘no dogs on the bed’?” He tries to make his voice sound firm, but it’s impossible to do when he can’t stop smiling.
“That was when it was your bed,” Lucy says, squirming as he runs his palm up and down her side, “it’s our bed now.” As if on cue, Kojo moves to rest his head on Lucy’s thighs, and Tim wonders how it’s possible for a dog to look so damn smug.
“Uh huh,” he kisses her cheek, “our bed. As in yours and mine—not yours, mine, and Kojo’s.”
She grins. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“I am not jealous.”
Lucy giggles and Tim’s heart stutters at the sound. She scoots a little closer to him—if that’s even possible—and kisses the tip of his nose. “Jealous.”
Tim hums and kisses her again, simply because he can do that now. “It’s not about jealousy, it's about his training.” He reaches under the blanket to play with her waistband, pleased to discover she’s not wearing anything other than panties. “It’s also about my ability to do…things.”
“Things.”
“Yeah. Things like this.” Tim dips his hand under the elastic and quickly swipes a finger through her folds.
Lucy makes a noise somewhere between a gasp and a moan and shuts her eyes. “Kojo, down.”
Kojo lets out a huff, but rises and hops off the bed. He trots out of the room, likely in search of one of the many chew toys he’s been given in the past few days to keep him occupied during moments like this.
“Of course he listens to you,” Tim grumbles.
Lucy giggles. “I’ve always held special influence over the boys in the Bradford household.”
Tim rolls on top of her, bracing his weight on his forearms. “Bradford-Chen household now,” he corrects.
Lucy smiles up at him, big and impossibly bright, and loops her arms around his neck so she can pull him in for a kiss. It’s sweet and slow and when they break apart for air Tim peppers kisses all over her face while her laugh fills the room.
It’s not long before Tim’s kisses become a little less innocent. His pace slows as he moves his lips to her neck, nipping at the skin, gentle enough that he won’t leave a mark. Lucy’s head tilts to the side and her eyes flutter shut as he explores the exposed skin, the feel of his stubble causing her to shiver. She’s squirming a bit now, and he knows his earlier teasing lit a need inside her she’s desperate for him to satisfy.
Tim moves his lips back to hers, licking his tongue inside to lazily explore her mouth. He slips a hand under her t-shirt once more, sliding it up her belly to knead at her breast. She whimpers into his mouth as he tugs at one of her nipples, rolling it between his fingers until it hardens into a stiff peak. He catches her lower lip between his teeth and then releases it, pulling away to grab the hemline of her shirt. Lucy understands immediately, raising her arms so he can push it up over her head before tossing it to the side while she kicks off the blanket. He hooks his thumbs into the waistband of her panties, dragging them down her legs torturously slowly while she wiggles her hips impatiently. Tim tosses those to the side too, before taking a moment to drink her in as she lies bare beneath him.
She’s a sight to behold, as always, from her flushed chest to her kiss-swollen lips. But what really gets Tim is the way she’s looking at him.
It’s how she looked at him before. It’s a look he never saw during their “ex-sex,” when he’d pull away from a kiss and he’d catch a flash of pain in her eyes (or, worse yet, when she’d look away entirely).
Now there’s no pain there. Only trust. Complete and utter trust.
“I love you,” he says, because in no world will he ever be able to say it enough times but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try.
A smile blooms across Lucy’s face and she reaches up to cup his jaw. “I love you too,” she whispers, running her thumb over his cheekbone, “but Tim…”
“Yeah?”
“That’s subject to change if you don’t stop teasing me.”
Tim laughs, then leans back down to nuzzle her neck, and she squeals as his stubble tickles the sensitive skin. “Not teasing, baby,” he murmurs, “just enjoying the moment.”
Lucy opens her mouth to offer some sort of retort, but all that comes out is a sharp gasp as Tim moves his face from her neck in favor of taking her nipple in his mouth and sucking hard. He scrapes it with his teeth and Lucy keens at the delicious mix of pleasure and pain, arching her back off the mattress to press herself further into his mouth. He releases her nipple with a wet pop, blows on it, and then moves his mouth to lave the same attention upon its twin. At the same time, Tim reaches down a hand to trace the sensitive crease of her thigh from hip to crotch, chuckling at the way she shudders all over.
After minutes of worshiping her breasts, Tim pulls back to admire his handiwork. Her abused nipples have turned from their usual shade of raspberry to a deep plum, her pupils are blown wide, and the rosy flush of her cheeks has spread all the way down to her heaving chest.
“Okay,” she says between stuttering breaths, “now you’re teasing.”
Tim grins wickedly and sits back on his haunches. “Spread your legs.”
Lucy’s hips snap open so quickly it borders on comical. Tim takes her left leg and hoists it over his shoulder, giving him a full view of her core, swollen and glistening with arousal.
“God, Luce, you’re soaked.” He presses a kiss to her inner thigh and Lucy whimpers, trying to push her hips closer to his mouth.
“Was having a pretty good dream before you got home,” she breathes, eyes squeezed shut.
Tim raises his eyebrows. “Oh? We’re going to have to revisit that later.” He bites down on her thigh.
“Ti-i-im,” she whines as he digs his teeth into her skin, working a mark into the soft flesh.
“Hmm?” Tim swipes his tongue over the already-purpling bruise.
“Don’t be such a—” whatever name Lucy was about to call him dissolves into a loud moan as Tim spreads her open with a thumb on either side of her entrance before plunging his tongue into her dripping core.
Lucy’s hips jolt into the air and Tim slings an arm across her waist to hold her in place while he fucks her with his tongue. The noises his mouth makes against her pussy are obscene, and he drinks from her like a man dying of thirst. He pulls his tongue out, circles her clit with it, and then dives back in. One of Lucy’s hands fists in the short strands of his hair while the other grasps the bedsheets like she’s holding on for dear life.
“Oh god, Tim, please baby, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck—”
She’s close, so fucking close, and Tim knows he’s kept her on the edge long enough. He flattens his tongue against her entrance and licks a stripe up to her clit before taking the swollen bud in his mouth and giving it a firm suck.
Lucy clamps her legs around his head and comes undone with a scream.
Tim licks her through her orgasm, guiding her through the waves of pleasure until she releases him with her legs. Pressing one last kiss to her clit, Tim lifts his head and Lucy nearly comes again just at the sight of him grinning up at her, mouth and chin soaked in her arousal. She groans and drops her head back against the pillows and Tim chuckles, lowering her legs back onto the bed. He moves up her body so he can kiss the corner of her jaw and she shivers.
“You okay, baby? Need a break? Water?” he asks, thumb rubbing slow circles into her hipbone.
Lucy shakes her head. She reaches a hand down to palm his erection through his underwear and Tim lets out a low groan. “Just—just get inside me.”
Tim laughs and presses a quick kiss to her lips. “Yes, Sergeant.” He sheds his boxers and exhales in relief as his cock springs free. Lucy reaches for him again, bringing his lips down to hers as she runs her hands over the taut muscles of his back and if he wasn’t so fucking hard he’d be inclined to stay like this forever. His erection is pressed between them, leaking precum onto her belly, and Lucy wraps her legs around him to bring him down even closer so that her breasts push up against his chest.
Lucy reaches down between them and swipes her thumb over his tip, giggling as Tim groans into her mouth. She grips him firmly in her palm and begins to pump him, not quite able to reach the base.
“Keep doing that and I’ll finish before I’m even inside you,” he pants into her mouth.
Lucy increases the pace of her strokes. “Guess you should hurry up and get inside me then.”
Tim pulls away so he’s out of her reach and narrows his eyes. The impish grin on Lucy’s face disappears as he suddenly pinches her clit and she shrieks.
“You’re impatient today,” he scolds.
“And you’re a tease,” she fires back.
Tim shrugs as he begins to line himself up. “Fair,” he concedes, then pushes into her without warning.
He’s still for a minute, both to let her adjust and so that he can relish the feeling of her, wet and warm and tight around him. She hasn’t completely come down from her first orgasm, if the sensation of her pussy fluttering around him is anything to go off of. He knows that means it won’t take much to push her over the edge, which is good given that Tim has been just about ready since the moment she all but demanded he strip.
“Ready?” he asks.
Lucy nods. “Please.”
His pace is slow, at first, pulling out nearly all the way and then revelling in the delicious noise she makes when he plunges back in. With each thrust she digs his nails deeper into his back, and Tim can already envision the crescent-shaped indentations she’s leaving behind. He hisses at the delicious sting, beginning to increase his speed and intensity while reaching a hand down in between them to play with her clit.
Lucy cries out and begins to writhe underneath him, seeking more friction. Tim begins to rub furious circles over her clit while he plunges in and out of her, hard and rough. He removes his hand and she whines, but gasps when he uses it to lift up her hips. The change in angle means he’s hitting just the spot he needs to in order to send her over the edge.
Lucy screams, wave after wave of pleasure rolling over her while her pussy clenches around his cock. Tim fucks her through it, allowing himself to chase his own release now that she’s reached hers. He feels the tell-tale tightness in his abdomen and then all at once he’s spilling into her while she clings to his shoulders and guides him through his orgasm just as he did for her.
Tim empties himself completely and then rolls off of her. They lie side-by-side, panting and boneless and spent.
Tim turns his head to look at Lucy. She’s still breathing heavily, eyes closed, chest soaked with sweat. Tim takes her hand and squeezes it so that she turns to look at him through half-lidded eyes.
“See why we can’t have Kojo on the bed?”
Lucy laughs and rolls her eyes. “Obviously I don’t want him on the bed while we’re having sex, Tim.”
Tim raises an eyebrow at her, knowing she’s gearing up to make her case.
“I just don’t see why he can’t sleep up here with us.”
“Luce…”
“He’s going to feel left out.”
“He’s a dog.”
“He’s family!”
Oh.
Tim’s chest clenches in the best way when she says that.
Family.
Dinners every night where everyone has “their” seat. A refrigerator covered in drawings and report cards and photos. Weekend hikes where Tim ends up having to carry the littlest one when she gets too tired while her siblings run ahead.
Tim and Lucy and Kojo and someday soon another two or three voices filling every corner of a house that once felt so haunted.
Tim clears his throat, but makes no effort to hide the fact that tears have sprung to his eyes.
“Okay,” he whispers.
“Yeah?” She’s smiling at him softly. Her eyes are a little wet too and he can tell that the word hit her the same way it did him.
“Yeah,” he nods, “he can sleep with us on the bed.” He leans in and kisses her, slow and tender.
Lucy’s eyes don’t leave his lips once they break apart. “I mean,” she says, tracing his bicep with her fingers, “I think he’ll be okay out there for a little longer.”
Tim grins widely. “Good,” he says, “because I’d love to hear about that dream you were having before I got here.”