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Their eyes lock for a brief, fleeting moment and then they are both spurring into motion.
The force of Anna’s back being slammed against the wall, pushed back by hands on her hips, knocks a jagged breath out of her chest. The gasp is quickly swallowed by Ari’s lips.
Anna arches into the kiss as Ari rucks up her shirt, fingers cool against her spine. Dizzying kiss after dizzying kiss is pressed against her lips, and Anna is sure that if Ari wasn’t holding her in place against the wall, her legs would’ve gone out from beneath her by now.
Anna’s lips part, allowing Ari’s tongue to slip inside. Their breaths mix, and heat blossoms in Anna’s chest at their closeness, at the warmth of Ari’s body, pressed against hers, at the smell of her perfume.
Anna finds her hands moving over the flat, hard plane of Ari’s stomach, the swell of her breasts, her muscled shoulders, and all the way up to the base of her neck where she threads her fingers into Ari’s hair and tugs sharply, pulling a gasp from Ari’s lips.
A thigh presses between her legs and hands appear on her waist, leading Anna to drag her hips forward and down. Anna’s stomach drops; it’s not a swooping motion of a leaf falling from a tree, but a plummet right off a cliff into a chasm of desire.
Pretty soon, Anna’s taking control of the motion, hips twitching desperately as she rocks. It’s a delightful sensation that causes sparks to form behind her closed eyes, but it isn’t nearly enough. She wants to feel this without all the layers of close that separate them from becoming one.
“Ari,” Anna sighs, shuddering with a bone-deep longing that still shocks her even after all the time they’ve spent together. It kind of scares her, the strength of her feelings, but she hopes it never changes, never dwindles. She hopes it always feels like an adventure to partake in.
“Anna,” Ari whispers back, reaching up a shaky hand to brush away the hair that’s fallen into Anna’s face.
That one word accompanied by that one small movement is enough.
In one fluid movement, Anna pushes Ari away from her, pushes herself away from the wall, fully intending on leading Ari to their bed, but it seems Ari has other plans. Flipping their positions, Ari takes the lead. Usually, Anna would put up more of a fight, but, this time, she lets herself be led backward.
They stumble towards the bed, kissing clumsily as they shed their clothes, not wanting to separate for even a moment. Ari laughs, low and deep, against her mouth when they nearly trip in their haste, and Anna finds herself falling just a little bit more in love with the sound.
Anna’s knees hit the corner of the bed and she lets herself be pushed back against the sheets, Ari’s naked body pressed against hers, their lips still mashed together in a deep, burning kiss. The thud of their combined heartbeats pound between their chests.
Ari’s lips press against Anna’s and she pushes her deeper into the mattress. Ari’s hands run over Anna’s biceps and slip down her forearms, gathering her wrists and urging them against the mattress above her head.
Anna arches up into the kiss. The feeling of Ari’s lithe warrior body writhing above her has her making embarrassing noises in the back of her throat, noises that would have others flustered. Anna, despite lacking this embarrassment, is sure her face is flushed for other reasons.
With their bodies pressed flush together, it feels as though they’ve merged together. Anna finds herself quickly becoming overwhelmed at the contact, and she can’t tell if the short, gasping breaths are coming from her or Ari.
Ari abruptly pulls away.
And, okay, they’re definitely coming from her.
Anna, feeling disoriented at the sudden distance, stares up at Ari, lips swollen and breathing heavily. Blood roars in her ears.
Ari, with her knees on either side of Anna’s hips, looks down at her, head tilted in consideration. Her body is haloed by the light they forgot to turn off, and the only thought that fully registers in Anna’s mind is beautiful . It doesn’t matter how many times Anna sees her like this, the reaction is always the same.
After a moment more of silence with Ari staring down at her as if deciding what to do to her, she begins to speak. “Do you want—”
“Yes,” Anna says without hesitation, without giving her a chance to fully finish asking her question. Her heart pounds with anticipation at the way Ari’s eyes darken.
Ari leans forward, capturing Anna’s lips once more. Her teeth graze over her bottom lip. Her warm hands swoop and slide across the expanse of Anna’s bare skin, tracing her muscles in delicate, practiced movements. They slide over her runes, over her scars. Her hands are rough and calloused and press against all the right places, but, still, she doesn’t find it to be nearly enough.
Ari, as if sending the direction of Anna’s thoughts, moves back up her body, tracing patterns as she goes, working her body into a pliable mess of burning desire. Ari’s mouth, teeth, and lips follow suit, traveling the same trail as her exploring fingers, and gooseflesh erupts across Anna’s body.
It’s a strange thing, Anna thinks, to feel this vulnerable and yet not uncomfortable in the slightest. With no one else she’s ever brought into her bedroom has she felt like this, with no one else has she ever felt so completely undone. She doesn’t mind is as much as she thought she would. Not with Ari.
“Ari,” Anna finds herself pleading as she cants her hips upward. “Ari, I need—” she breaks off, a desperate noise erupting from the back of her throat as Ari finally, finally, takes mercy on her and rearranges her hips, shifting them atop a pillow.
“Spread your legs, love,” Ari whispers, staring up at Anna with adoration clear in her dark, hooded eyes.
Anna complies, letting out a breathy whimpering noise as featherlight kisses are pressed against her trembling thighs. She threads her fingers through Ari’s now unkempt hair, tugging roughly and pulling a started gasp from her mouth.
Ari’s hands creep further down Anna’s body, brushing against all her overly sensitive spaces. It takes a few seconds for Anna to come back after the intrusion, but, when she can finally focus again, the first thing she hears is Ari murmuring sweet praises.
Her fingers glide inside Anna in a scissoring motion, ruthless as they apply pressure against all the spots that have her mewling desperately in wordless cries and pleas. Anna’s hips buck of their own accord and she can’t decide if she wants to chase the constant onslaught of pleasure or flee from it.
Grasping at Ari’s shoulders, Anna feels more like a broken mess of incoherent phrases than anything else, but she doesn’t mind. Nor, it seems, does Ari, if the way she grins down at Anna is any indicator.
Distantly, Anna realizes that she’s chanting Ari’s name reverently, like a prayer. She’s nothing but a quivering jumble beneath her. It’s not just what Ari’s doing to her, though that’s a big part of it, but the fact that it’s her ; the fact that Anna gets to have her this way and be had back.
That thought is the final nail in the coffin. With a sharp cry, the roller coaster begins its quick descent after a slow rise.
Ari collapses on the bed beside Anna, careful not to land on top of her. For a brief, fleeting moment, Anna’s disappointed by the distance, but then Ari’s shifting closer to her again. Their bodies press together; chest to chest, face to face, heart to heart.
Anna can still see sparks behind her eyes when she blinks, but, once again, something that seems to be common in Ari’s presence, she can’t quite find it in herself to mind, too preoccupied with the beauty of the woman laying next to her.
“Beautiful,” Anna voices aloud in an awed whisper, still breathless from their activities. “You unravel me, my dear.”
Ari’s lips twist into a smile. A sheen of sweat covers her forehead. Her hair is a mess, but it’s a pretty mess.
“I love you.”
Ari says it like it’s the easiest thing in the world. She leans forward and pecks the corner of Anna’s mouth, and she finds her heart swelling with more love than she’d ever would’ve thought possible.
Anna reaches out to cup Ari’s face as if it’s the most precious thing she’s ever held. The way she presses her lips against Ari’s delicately is all of an answer that is needed. Nevertheless:
Anna’s lips curl into a slow, almost cat-like grin. “Your turn?”