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Given that Shirley had so spectacularly dodged the question of why she kissed him, Knox decided the best course of action was to wait her out. She was snapping at everyone—the sheriff, especially—grumpy about the plan, frustrated by their lack of information from above the blockade, worried about how this ended. After knowing her for literally his entire life, Knox was keenly aware that there was no use pushing right now, no matter how much he wanted clarity. He wouldn't get anywhere, so it was best not to piss her off.
And that wasn't even cowardice talking; it was strategy. If Shirley didn't want to talk about it, they weren't gonna be talking about it. No use trying to force the issue. Knox could table it for a better time. He was a patient man. And she was worth waiting for.
So he waited as they planned Teddy's raid on Supply, both confused by Walk's sudden hostility. He waited as they got word that the raiders had been expecting them, someone in the Down Deep having ratted them out. He waited as they went around and around on it, trying to figure out who could have betrayed them. Shirley was present—in it with him—but cautious, keeping a careful distance and focusing on the rebellion.
But even that caution was a tell. By being so very careful, she gave away that she was thinking about it. Knox tried not to let that thought spiral him into distraction, but it was hard with the way she was wandering around in her red jacket, the cut of it drawing his eye to her waist, her ass, the sheer physical presence of her. And the way he suddenly wanted.
Knox had been good about not lusting after her before any of this because it was so clearly not even in the realm of possibility. He loved her, she was his family, they worked together, and fucking was something you did with other people, not your crew. Which was fine.
And then she'd gone and opened the door to something between them and now all he wanted was to kick it down. Except he couldn't until she'd worked through whatever was in her head, so he was waiting. Which was fine.
In the meantime, there was a fucking rebellion to lead because nothing could ever be simple. Randy sent word that some Up Topper had snuck down, claiming to know Jules, so Shirley went off to handle that while Knox stayed with Hank and worked the snitch.
And then he realized it was Walk.
***
Shirley was gone for a suspiciously long time, so when she showed up at his door after dinner, all cleaned up from the day, he opened it wide, inviting her in. "You all right?"
She walked in, nodding. "Had to escort the new IT shadow down to the digger."
Knox felt his eyebrows rise. "Well, now I have several more questions. Drink?" He headed to the sink and the bottles of hooch he kept on the counter there for just such occasions.
Shirley followed, leaning against the counter as he poured. "Don't get too invested, I doubt he makes it back."
"You left him down there?" he asked, hearing the incredulity in his own voice as he handed her the drink and leaned against the counter next to her. Sometimes her ruthless streak surprised even him.
"Hey, at least he has a light. More than you left with me," she pointed out, toasting him and taking a drink rather aggressively.
"For fuck's sake, you know that was Danny's fault. He said he woke you. You really think I would've left you alone down there?" he asked, kind of fucking offended, actually.
She leveled him with a look for a long moment...and then she flashed a mischievous smile. "You're so easy."
Knox blew out a breath. "Asshole," he grumbled, taking a sip of his own drink.
She waved her drink at him, seeming delighted. "So easy. All I have to do is imply you wronged me and you get all flustered."
"Well, yeah, you're kind of fucking important to me, Shirl, I can't imagine why."
She stilled at that, taking him in, gaze gone serious. Then she reached out and covered the hand he had on the counter. "Hey. I know you didn't leave me, Knox."
Knox stilled at the touch, the first time she'd put hands on him since she up and kissed him, days ago. It was entirely innocent and yet it still shot heat straight through him, reminding him of having her in his arms, Shirley pulling him closer, hungry for him. And all he wanted was to be back in that moment, burning with her.
It suddenly hit him that they were alone in his place. With nothing but time.
She seemed to read his reaction, tension rising in the air around them. She swallowed hard and pulled her hand back quickly, looking down at her drink. "Anyway, he's off on some fool's errand. He thinks there's a tunnel at the base of the digger."
Knox pulled himself out of the wanting and focused. "Where all the water is?" he asked in disbelief.
Shirley looked back to him, normal again, like that moment hadn't happened. She shrugged. "He says it's not that deep."
He scoffed. "Good luck to him."
"Yeah," she said, kind of like a farewell to the idiot. Then she continued: "But he did tell me something. The suits have a camera in the helmet. Before hers disconnected, Jules was still alive."
Knox's breath caught, that idea just...incomprehensible. He could also see the hope in Shirley, the desperate belief he knew she clung to. "It's been so long, Shirl," he said, gentle. "She would've had to find another air supply."
She just set her jaw and glared at him for a moment. "You think I don't know that? But it's Jules. If anyone could do it..."
"Yeah," he said, one thing he could completely agree with. "If anyone could survive, it'd be Jules." He toasted that idea, taking a sip and savoring the burn.
That softened Shirley. She nodded and took her own sip, something lost in her, like her hope drained her, rather than energized her. He had a theory that a lot of her short temper these days was grief she was ignoring—for Coop, yeah, but Jules, too. He wanted nothing more than to pull her close and rub his thumb over the lines between her eyes, comforting.
But he didn't think she'd welcome it, so he just cleared his throat. "Randy said the guy claimed he knew Jules. What was his name?"
"Lukas Kyle and yeah, but not really. They talked a few times in the cafeteria up top. He even tried to kiss her," she said, the can you believe it all over her tone.
"And he's still breathing?" Knox asked.
She smiled a little. "Right? He's all soft, too. Jules would eat him alive."
"Poor bastard. Wanting prickly Mechanical women is not for the faint of heart," he muttered.
Next to him, Shirley stilled, eyes gone piercing. "Yeah?" she asked, maddeningly inscrutable.
Knox just lifted his chin and held her eyes, not backing down. "Worth it, though."
She stared at him for a silent moment...and then slammed back the rest of her drink, setting her cup aside, shaking it off. "So that was my day. What about you? Did you and Hank make progress?"
He regretted the loss of that moment, but went with it, finishing his own drink. "Unfortunately." Off her questioning look, he continued: "Our snitch? It's Walk," he said, sorry that he had to be the one to tell her.
Shirley blinked and stilled, resisting the idea for a moment...and then she just sagged. "McLain."
"Yeah," he said, low.
She just looked down, going so unbearably sad that Knox didn't even think; he took the two steps to get to her and pulled her into a hug. Shirley sagged into him, pressing her face to his chest, her breath warm even through his shirt.
Knox just wrapped his arms around her and held her close, marveling that she was letting him. She fit perfectly against him, her head tucked just under his chin, and it was just...right.
Fuck, he wanted her. He would wait, because he was a patient man, but it slammed into his chest then, how much he wanted this to just be how they were. Catching up on their days at night before going to bed. Just...together. It made it hard to breathe, how much he wanted it.
He held her like that for long moments, until Shirley shifted and sighed. "It's not right to punish her."
"Yeah," he said, telling her with his tone that he'd already handled that side of things.
She nodded against him, getting it. "How's she supposed to contact them?"
Fuck, he loved that she went there, her mind so quick. "Walk got the camera in her shop working."
Shirley went absolutely rigid. She pulled back to look up at him. "We can use that to set a trap."
Knox grinned. "Like you're reading my mind."
***
Setting that trap would take all night. Mark and his guys needed to build both the fake bombs and the real one without blowing themselves up, so they'd be working until the early hours on that. Knox and Shirley put the word out to the crews that tomorrow would be the day and everyone needed to rest up. The anticipation of it tingled through him. Tomorrow, this would be over.
After they'd talked to everyone they needed to, Knox and Shirley walked the main 144 corridor, nodding to those they passed. It was almost curfew, but people were out and about; it wasn't like Hank would be arresting anyone, after all. The relaxed feeling of that was almost nice.
"I think it's the right time," Knox said, thoughtful. "Everyone wants it to be done."
"Yeah," Shirley said, a kind of clipped agreement. "People don't like the uncertainty."
"It'll be nice to know," he agreed. One way or the other.
They cleared the corridor and turned into the housing quarter...and then Shirley kind of paused in the alcove there.
He slowed and raised an eyebrow at her. "Shirl?"
She turned to him fully and tipped her head. "Okay," she said in the way that meant we can talk about it now.
Knox's brain stuttered. She wanted to talk here, now, in public? "Yeah?" he asked dumbly.
"Yeah," she confirmed, regarding him so calmly that it meant she'd decided something. She took a steeling breath. "I think it should be you and me."
Surprise swept Knox. The words were general, but the way she looked at him held intent; it felt like Shirley defining them as a them. But...maybe he was misreading it? "It already is you and me."
Shirley narrowed her eyes. "Are you gonna be a dick about this?"
Okay, not misreading it. "Odds are good," he drawled with a tiny apologetic smile.
She read that in him and softened. "I just—I got ahead of myself and needed to think."
He'd suspected, but it was somewhat reassuring to know for certain that he wasn't the only one thrown for a loop by the kiss. "Yeah?" he asked, light, kind of prompting her to continue.
She took that cue, shrugging a little. "I was feeling good, you know? Like together, we could do anything."
Knox nodded. "Together we can do anything."
There was something so worried and vulnerable in her eyes when she looked up at him. "You think?"
"Yeah," he said, reassuring. "They're not even gonna know what hit 'em." She just needed to trust that.
She stared at him for a long moment—
And then stepped in, close enough to lean against him, pressing a hand over his heart. "I think it should be you and me," she said again, the meaning of it really sinking in. She was saying yes, they could do this, she wanted him back. It sent a giddy kind of delight clear through him, nothing he could control.
She wanted him.
Knox took some of her weight as she leaned against him, slinging an arm around her waist. He clocked Randy walking by, smirking at them, and then moving on. Everyone would know about this within hours. Doing this here was as good as jumping up on one of the cafeteria tables and shouting about it. It was a public announcement. "Fuck, Shirl, I haven't even got you in bed yet."
She mmmed mockingly. "Better not suck," she drawled.
Knox felt himself bristle. "I do not—"
But she was laughing at him. "Really? You gonna be that easy to rile?"
The lightness in her expression stopped him cold, her laughter so rare these days, and precious. His offense drained away, leaving him with only a helpless fondness. He sighed, leaning down to rest his forehead to hers, holding her close. "Yeah," he said, agreeing with her. "It's you and me."
"Finally, he sees the wisdom," she teased.
Knox pulled back to look down at her. "Agreeing with you is wisdom?"
"Yeah," she said, like wasn't it cute that he'd joined the conversation.
He huffed a laugh, then leaned down to kiss her. If she was going to do this in public, he might as well go all in.
Shirley kissed him back, tilting her face up to him and opening her mouth. Unlike in the control room, Knox eased into it, a kind of exploratory kiss, dipping his tongue in to brush against hers, a slow hello. Desire slipped through him, the reality of Shirley in his arms and kissing him back fully registering in his body. She made some turned-on noise into the kiss and gripped his jaw, tangling her tongue with his, the kiss going sharper, sending heat spiraling through him.
A wolf whistle pierced the din in his head, Knox breaking the kiss to glare—
Only to find a steady stream of people passing by and no clear indication who'd done the heckling. So Knox just glared generally and called, "Really?"
Everyone just shot him knowing looks and walked on by, completely uncowed.
Against him, Shirley laughed and leaned in to nuzzle his throat, her hot breath against his skin surging the desire in his blood. "I think you should take me home and show me how much you don't suck."
***
It took Knox as long as the walk to his place to get really fucking nervous about taking Shirley to bed. He knew he was good—he'd spent years dedicating himself to making a woman fall apart in pleasure—so it wasn't that, but what if he and Shirley just weren't like that? After all, they'd known each other their whole lives and never walked up to this line. What if there had been a reason for that?
When he'd closed the door behind them, Shirley took one look at his face and rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop." Then she grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her.
Her kiss was more reassuring than he expected, soft but open, her tongue brushing against his almost like a reminder. They were good together; there was no reason to worry.
Knox broke the kiss and just held her close. "Okay. You're right."
"Your problem is you think too much," she said, which was hilarious.
"Says the one who spent days trying to work this out."
"Hey, you should approve. I'm trying to be more deliberate about things," she murmured, leaning in to kiss him again.
He fell into it, slowly exploring her mouth, tingling sliding through him at how she tasted, at the way she kissed him back, leaning into him, no hesitance to her now. He shuffled her back as they kissed, all the way to his table. She startled when she bumped into it, looking down—
But he was already picking her up and setting her onto it, stepping between her legs and leaning down for her mouth again. She met him, open and responsive, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck to hold him to her, which somehow made it hotter, like a reminder of how much she wanted this, too.
After more long kisses, he pulled back, breathless, his heart going. She just watched him from the table, mouth a little puffy, gaze glittering with want.
Knox held her eyes as he leaned down and tugged at her boot laces. When she didn't protest, he carefully untied the knot, so he could tug her boot off. He did the same to the other boot, Shirley watching all the while, nothing but welcome in her.
It meant something, taking off your boots. Knox had had lots of sex with his boots on, ready to get the fuck out at a moment's notice if need be. Taking them off meant you intended to stay a while.
When he dropped the second boot to the floor, she tilted her head. "Are you gonna keep testing me?"
"For a little while," he said because it was probably true. He still didn't quite believe this was real.
She shrugged. "Suit yourself."
He tugged her sock off, dropping it to the floor, then trailing one finger along the bottom of her foot.
Shirley laughed, instinctively pulling her foot away. "No no no," she said, a smile there.
Knox grinned, delighted. "You ticklish?" he asked, tugging at the other sock. He leaned in, kissing her softly, realizing there were all sorts of things he got to discover about her now. And what an idea that was; he'd known her his whole life and still there was more to learn. What a gift.
"Don't start something you can't finish," she warned, light, wrapping her legs loosely around his hips, a kind of goad in it that sent a frisson of lust through him.
"No, I'd never do that," he agreed, voice gone low, totally against his will.
She raked thoughtful fingers through his beard, studying him. "What's your problem?" she asked, soft. Any other time, that would be aggressive, but now she just seemed curious.
He frowned and looked down at her, trying to put it in words. "We were never like this, before. So why now? Is it just the danger of everything?"
She blinked. "Oh, you haven't really thought about it," she realized, taking him in. Then she went piercing. "What the hell have you been doing? Were you just focused on how much you want to fuck me?"
He ran a hand down the thigh she had around him, pointed. "I've been trying not to think about that."
Shirley shot him an unimpressed look. "Doing a good job of it, are you?" she asked, dry.
Knox couldn't help his laugh. It was somewhat inconvenient how much he enjoyed her calling him on his shit. "I mean, can you blame me?"
But she wasn't done making fun of him yet. "You're the one who thinks things through. That's your whole thing. And now you get waylaid by your dick?"
"You should be honored," he drawled.
Shirley huffed a laugh. "What do you know? You're still just a man," she mused, eyes dancing. "Witness my power."
"It's different that it's you," he said, going serious. "It means more."
Shirley's eyes went so full, something weighty there. She nodded. "Yeah," she said, then pulled him back to her, bringing their mouths together, kissing him long and deep. "Take me to bed," she whispered against his lips, nothing he could ever refuse.
Knox got his hands under her ass and scooped her up, carrying her, liking how she laughed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He set her down on the bed, crawling in after her when she scooted back, leaning against her side.
Shirley ran her hands down his arms, tugging his shirt up. "It's annoying how hot that is."
He let her strip his shirt off, smirking a little. "Yeah?"
Her eyes roamed over him, light fingers tracing the tattoos on his arms, sending heat through him. "Like you're some big strong man that makes me swoon. It's embarrassing."
Knox huffed a laugh, pushing her green jacket off her shoulders. "I'm okay with you thinking I'm hot," he murmured, tossing the jacket aside. He leaned down to kiss her shoulder. "The feeling is mutual."
She sucked in a soft breath at the kiss, leaning into his mouth, so he continued kissing along her shoulder, running soft hands over her pink tank, considering.
Shirley's eyes tracked him, a curious glint there. "You've been noticing my clothes for a while now. What?"
Knox hadn't realized she'd clocked that, but then, she did know him. He shrugged. "Normally you're in tan and black and gray, but you started wearing pink and red after we teamed up." Specifically, when they went up top to talk to the judge, that was when it had started. Knox kind of wondered if that was when everything had started.
"Okay..." she said obviously, like she didn't get it.
He fingered her pink tank, pointed. "Well, they're passionate colors, is all."
Shirley stared at him, taking that in for a silent beat. "Huh," she finally said in the way that meant he'd given her something to think about. "Yeah, maybe."
He smiled a little and tugged her tank up, Shirley lifting her arms to let him strip it off, leaving her in one of those black stretchy bras she wore. He ran his hand down her arm, but then realized—
"Ah, shit," he muttered, taking in hands that were too dirty for this. He looked over to find Shirley frowning at him. "Just—stay right there," he said, sliding off the bed and moving to the bathroom, his cock trapped uncomfortably in his pants.
When he turned on the water, he heard her laugh, at him, he was sure. But whatever, Shirley mocking him was nothing new. He quickly soaped and scrubbed his hands clean, taking the towel with him to dry them as he moved back to the bed—
Where Shirley had emphatically not followed directions. She'd lost her pants, lounging on her side in just her black underwear, all curves and smooth dark skin and scattered tattoos, like something out of a fantasy he'd never let himself have. His cock actually twitched at sight of her. Fuck.
He dropped the towel and crawled back to her, trailing his fingers up her thigh, along the curve of her hip to her waist, tracing the black tattoos along her ribcage, something only an intimate would see. He was that now, he realized. The thought sent more heat surging through him, his cock half hard and trapped in pants that he should really get rid of.
She arched into his touch and smirked at him. "What, I'm so precious, must have clean hands to touch me?" she mocked, light.
"For one," he agreed, settling by her side and tracing his fingers along the tattoo on her inner forearm, her skin so soft. "For another, no use putting dirty hands inside you and getting you sick."
She stilled, staring at him for a beat. "Fuck," she said, in the way that meant damn you. "Okay." Then she got a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss.
He smiled as he kissed her back, over and over. "What's that?" he teased between kisses. "Finally, she sees the wisdom," he drawled, deliberately using her phrasing, just to poke at her.
She broke the kiss to look at him evenly. "This is going to be infuriating," she decided, then pulled his mouth back to hers.
Knox laughed into the kiss, the humor draining away when she bit his lip. It sent a spark through him, straight to his cock. He really needed to get rid of his pants, but her mouth was glorious, her kisses too addictive to break away from.
She kissed down over his shoulder to the tattoo on his arm, tracing the swirling lines with her mouth in a way that made him groan, soft heat pulsing through him at the feeling of her lips and tongue on his skin. "What you said before," he panted, cupping the back of her neck, "that I hadn't thought about it. What'd you mean?"
Shirley pushed at his chest lightly, Knox sprawling onto his back so she could crawl over him. She settled heavy on his thighs, tracing light fingers over the line of his abs, up to his chest, thoughtful. She was exquisite like this—nearly bare, skin starting to glow, her expression so open. "The reason it can happen now is we're not the same people who walked up the stairs," she said, like she'd deeply considered this.
He settled light hands on her hips, liking the contrast of their skin tones. "You think?"
She watched him, challenge in her brown eyes. "You don't? Are you the same person you were when you left to meet the judge?"
Knox marveled a little; he'd never had sex like this. Normally, when clothes started coming off, there wasn't much more talking to be done. And here Shirley was, making him think, even as her weight bore him down, as his cock pressed against his pants, thoroughly distracting.
"No," he finally admitted. "I was trying to play by the book."
She nodded. "I saw you snap. When you realized they set us up. And that should have been me—that was my kind of move—but it got so real in that moment. And I suddenly understood why you had always been careful."
"You pulled me back," he admitted, the memory of her physically stopping him suddenly so close. The heat of her there overlaid by the heat of her here, different, but echoes of each other. Both transformative.
Shirley let her hand rest over his heart, her brow furrowed. "Going on the run, jumping over the rail—I think little pieces of us died up top. And when we got back down, we were something new. We could step outside what was and be something new to each other."
He reached up and covered her hand with his, lacing their fingers together and squeezing tight. "Yeah. We can," he said, something like a promise in it.
She nodded and leaned down, a deliberate press of mouths that made him groan, her body solid over his, making him want. She leaned up a breath and smiled at him. "I think you should get out of your pants."
"Fuck, yes," he said, emphatic, making her laugh.
Shirley rolled off him and watched as he got out of bed and carefully shucked the lot of it, freeing his cock—thank fuck—and then kicking his clothes aside to move back to her. She made a sexy kind of hmming noise as her eyes swept over him and truly, there was nothing more arousing than your bedmate so clearly wanting you. It sizzled through him, Knox grinning and dropping his mouth to her shin, deciding to take the scenic route back up.
He kissed and nipped his way up her leg, Shirley shifting underneath him, obviously turned on, her hand drifting to his hair as he reached mid-thigh. He detoured between her legs, burying his face there, breathing her in—panties soaked with her desire, Shirley bucking up against him, trying to get more. He teased her a little, running light fingers over her entrance through her panties, getting a delicious little moan for it. Then he kept going, kissing his way up her stomach, though he kept his fingers between her legs, slipping one under her panties to toy with hot, slick skin. She made a high, desperate noise even as Knox nibbled at her bellybutton, sucking wet kisses up her ribcage. His cock pulsed between his legs, heavy and wanting, the smell and taste and feel of her slipping heat through him.
When he got to her bra, he pulled his fingers from between her legs—to great protest—and slipped them underneath the band, licking over the edge just lightly. Shirley moved restlessly underneath him, her grip firming in his hair. "Yeah," she said, short, leaning up.
And hell, Knox was not turning down breasts, thank you, so he slid both hands underneath her bra and rolled it up and off. It promptly ceased to exist as he descended back to her, sucking a nipple into his mouth while rolling the other one, Shirley actually laughing at him, her chest shaking with it. "You really are just a man," she said, repeating herself from earlier.
Knox sat up and grinned. "Never claimed otherwise," he agreed, leaning up to kiss her, slow and thorough, still teasing her breast with light fingers. "And especially not when I've got you so pretty and perfect underneath me."
She rolled her eyes at him, but he didn't take it back, just kissed his way down her chin to her neck to her chest, scraping his teeth gently over a nipple, liking how she shivered underneath him. She shifted over, getting a thigh up against his cock and Knox hissed in surprise, sudden fire racing through him, his body going demanding.
Shirley laughed, deliberately rubbing against his now very hard cock and okay, that needed to stop before things got desperate. He brought a hand to her thigh and held her still, meeting her eyes. "Yeah, okay. How do you want me?" he asked, trailing his hand from her thigh to between her legs again, teasing her, so very wet for him.
She made a soft noise and pressed against his fingers, wanting. "Up against the pillows," she said, pulling herself away from his hand like it hurt her to do.
He swallowed against the heat of that, focusing. "You got it," he said, moving to stack the pillows against the headboard, then half-reclining back against them. After he situated himself, he turned back to find Shirley crawling over to him, naked now, dark hair between her legs that he wanted to explore.
But she had other ideas, kneeling beside him and scratching blunt fingers up his thigh in a way that shivered sensation through him, then tracing feather-light over the cut of his hip. Knox barely had time to steel himself before she wrapped her hand around cock, the fire of it catching his breath. She fisted him, loose and slow, rotating her wrist on the upstroke, the absolute tease.
"Tormenting me," he muttered, forcing himself still when every instinct screamed to fuck into her skilled, talented, strong hand.
"Oh, did you want me to stop?" she asked, innocent, her hand actually stopping.
Knox gritted his teeth against the sob of frustration that wanted to come out, sucking in lungfuls of air to get some damn control. He was not a fucking teenager, for fuck's sake.
So he focused his attention outward, on Shirley, watching him with glittering, amused eyes, kneeling naked and stunning next to him. He pressed a hand between her legs, carding through the hair there and slipping down to where she was wet, open for him. "I want to be inside you," he murmured, pressing a finger inside her to make the point. She was gloriously slippery and warm, her inner walls pressing around him, and fuck, he really did want to be inside her, as soon as humanly possible.
Shirley made a hot wanting sort of noise deep in her throat, then let go of his neglected cock and brushed his hand from between her legs. She swung a leg over him and settled on his thighs, the scent of her arousal getting stronger, Knox's whole body tingling in anticipation.
She took hold of his cock again, Knox sucking in a sharp breath, helpless with lust at the sight of her kneeling up and positioning him at her entrance. He looked up at her face just as she sank onto him in a rush of heat and wet and yes. "Fuck," he muttered, drinking in her blissed-out expression as she settled onto him with a satisfied groan, rotating her hips a little and shorting out his brain for endless euphoric seconds.
Knox came back to himself and realized he was panting—and so was she—her hands on his chest as she adjusted to the feel of him inside her. He curved his hands around her hips, leaning in to nuzzle at her mouth. "You okay?" he asked, kissing her lightly.
She opened her mouth and deepened the kiss, one hand cupping his jaw, pressing to the soft spot under his ear. Too much feeling pulsed through him, from the way her body gripped him to the kiss to the delicate touch of her hand.
Then she broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his, breathing out, "Yeah," as she levered herself up and then sank back down onto him, both of them moaning at the feel. Fire raced up Knox's spine, his hands firming on her hips—not controlling her movements, just feeling her.
Shirley sped up, adjusting the angle minutely until she found one that made her gasp, her expression going blank with bliss. That was the benefit of this position—she could control the speed and figure out what worked for her, which she did, finding her rhythm and hitting that angle every time. Knox moved a hand from her hip to her thigh, taking some of her weight, Shirley moaning and leaning in to kiss him as she fucked herself onto him over and over again, relentless.
Knox kissed her as she moved on him, Shirley making tiny satisfied noises into the kiss, which did not help his control at all. She was wet and tight and perfect—fuck—and every time she sank onto him it sent a white-hot streak of bliss clear through him.
She broke the kiss to gasp in a breath, still moving. "Fuck, Knox," she called out and shit, he wanted to hear that every day for the rest of his life.
He kissed his way over her jaw to find her mouth again, pulling her down onto him a little harder. She moaned, so he did it again, their pace speeding up. They were sweating now, everything slick between them, the scent of sex heavy in the air.
She gripped the back of his neck and broke out of the kiss to make some helpless noise. "Knox, I'm—"
Close, he translated, even as she broke off and made a high noise when she sank onto him again.
"Yeah," he muttered, prying the hand from her hip and slipping it between them to touch her. Her slickness was everywhere and Knox moaned as he pressed his fingers between her legs, finding her clit and touching her so lightly, even as she kept moving on him.
Shirley gasped her pleasure, her hands digging in at the back of his neck, his shoulder, something like ecstasy in her face. He could feel her body clenching around him as she got close, Knox gritting his teeth against the feel of it. He was not going to lose it before he got to see her come, that was for damn sure, he didn't care how glorious this was.
"C'mon, Shirl," he rumbled against her jaw, encouraging, as he pulled her down onto him and slid his fingers over her clit the tiniest bit firmer.
Her choked-off, desperate groan as she came was a thing of beauty, her whole body shuddering as she clamped down on him and called out, "Knox," like it was some kind of prayer.
It slammed into him, not just the feel of her going so tight around him, but the breathy, keening pleasure in her voice as she cried out his name. All of it combined to white out his brain, an ecstatic rush that dimmed everything else in the world, outside of her. "Fuck," he muttered as he fucked up into her, coming on a rush of blind heat, too good.
He tried to keep touching her, urging her on, but it was haphazard given how they were both shaking. After long moments, she made a quelling kind of noise, so he pulled his hand away, moving it to stroke over her back, sweat droplets sliding down her skin. She rested against him, panting hard against his cheek, so he turned his head and found her mouth, kissing her open and lush, coming down from the high.
Shirley kissed him back, hands going to cup his face as they kissed, pulled back to pant against each other's mouths, then kissed again. All too soon, he started to soften, so he nudged her, Shirley gathering herself to slide off him and slump over onto the bed.
Knox made a regretful noise and followed her down, sprawling by her side, kissing her shoulder softly, one hand slung over her stomach. They stayed like that, their breaths loud in the room as their bodies calmed, Knox letting himself sink into the mindless pleasure of the moment, the buzz of good sex. Nothing like it.
Eventually, she swallowed audibly. "Okay, you don't suck," she said, her voice low and used in a way that made him want to shiver.
He snorted. "Glad my rep is safe."
She breathed out something amused, then shifted her body closer to his. Knox curled on his side and pulled her against him, her back to his chest, arm going over to cradle her. She sighed and relaxed into him, curling her hand around his forearm just for the sake of the touch, everything warm and lovely. He rested his mouth at the back of her neck, marveling at this moment, where he had everything he wanted.
After they lazed for a while, she took a careful breath. "Thanks for not pushing," she said, quiet in the stillness of the room.
He squeezed her a little. "You needed to think."
"I was kind of a dick about it," she admitted, grudging.
He smiled against the back of her neck. "Yeah, but I like that."
She snorted, amused. "Prickly Mechanical women."
"Not for the faint of heart," he agreed.
She eased forward a bit, so she could roll onto her back and look at him, something so vulnerable in her eyes. "This—you and me—it's good, right? Even though we're not the same as we were, we...fit."
He smiled, feeling that land in his chest. "Yeah, Shirl, it's good. I loved you before all this and now it's like it's just...bigger. More. We can fucking do anything together."
She reached out to cup his cheek, her expression going softer than he'd ever seen. "Yeah. It's you and me."
"Forever," he promised, feeling the truth of it. "And tomorrow, I'm gonna wake up and fuck you and then we're gonna go take over the silo."
Shirley huffed a laugh, like she couldn't not, brown eyes sparkling. "Sure about that, are you?"
"Just you wait," Knox said, happy and wanting to share it with her. "It's gonna be a good day."
***
Fin. Feedback is adored.