Topic: No Time To Waste

Elena

Date: 2013-10-14 10:15 EST
((Contains reference to adult activities.))

Some days are really good. You wake up in the morning, and feel great; everything you touch turns to gold; you go to bed feeling like a million dollars. Some days are okay. You get through with a mixture of laughter and boredom, and usually fall asleep with a smile. And then there are days that suck. That was the kind of day Elena was having. She'd woken up with a pounding headache, climbed out of bed, and immediately stubbed her toe hard against the as-yet-unpacked boxes crowding their new apartment in Luks Condos. Suffice it to say, that did not set a good tone for the rest of the day, and her mood ....had not improved since.

Unfortunately for Michael, he was the closest person, and sadly, that made him a bit of a punching bag for her bad temper. She wasn't intentionally being a bitch, but a full day of being snapped at for no reason wasn't exactly going to endear her to him in any way. So she'd made an attempt to put a little distance between them, taking herself into the kitchen to continue unpacking the various bits and pieces from the boxes in there, only for her efforts to be ended by an almighty clatter as one box gave up the ghost entirely and dropped its entire contents of pans directly onto her feet. "Son of a bitch!"

Michael, too, had his good and bad days. Sometimes those days were in sync with Elena, and sometimes they weren't. Sometimes her bad mood would set him off, sometimes it was the other way around. There were days when the desire for a drink was almost too much to bear. Days where it was so bad he could think of nothing else. Those were the worst days, and if she was feeling the same, it was a lethal combination. Today had started out well enough, but Elena's bad mood had finally sent his own mood spiraling downward, and before long he had retreated to the spare bedroom to busy himself setting up his office, leaving her to have her snit in private.

She knew how to find him if she needed him, but he saw no point in trying to talk to her when all she did was snap at him over every little thing. It was as if he could do nothing right, and though he knew it was just a mood, he thought it better to give her some space. It wasn't until he heard a crash in the kitchen that he found his way back out to check on her and make sure she wasn't hurt. "You all right?" he asked as he poked his head into the kitchen, his face etched with concern.

"Oh, yeah, it's all good," Elena's snippy response came back to him as the last gloing-gloing of a rolling pan lid came to a halt. "I was just having so much fun, I decided to throw the contents of the heaviest box in the kitchen on my own feet." She shifted, swearing as her foot caught on one of the fallen pans and slammed her knee into the cupboard opposite her. "Dammit!"

"Pardon me for being concerned. I'll just go hide in my office again so you can have your tantrum in private," he said, and without another word or look, he turned on a heel and retreated to his office, slamming the door behind him. He was angry at himself for doing so, thinking he should probably have tried to help her instead of taking the coward's way out, but she had been poking and prodding him all day, and he was tired of it.

"Oh, sure, I'm the one having a tantrum," she called after him, not even wincing when the door slammed between them. "At least I'm actually doing something to get us settled in here, you know! What did you unpack today, your pride or your I'm a delicate little flower complex?"

Even through the closed door, he could still hear her, and he winced, clenching his jaw, more hurt than angry. He thought she didn't really mean that, couldn't really mean that. He'd tried to help her unpack, was more than willing to help her, but he was no longer able to ignore her constant snapping and sniping. Michael pulled open a drawer, reaching inside to take out a small velvet box, rubbing his thumb against the soft velvety fabric before flicking it open. Inside lay the loveliest and most spectacular pink stone he'd ever seen. He'd bought it for her with the first royalty check from the sales of his book, but he had yet to find the right time to give it to her, keeping it safely hidden here in his office where she'd never dare to come looking for it. Her words wounded him, even knowing she didn't mean them, and he wondered if he was doing the right thing.

Unfortunately, the problem for Elena today was one they shared, and rather stupidly she hadn't told him that was the core of her bad temper. She didn't want to make him feel as though he had to be available to her whenever her cravings took hold, trying to deal with the aching desire for something she didn't dare have again by herself for once. The fact that she was failing spectacularly wasn't helping her temper one tiny bit. But despite the bad temper, she had gotten quite a lot done since getting up that morning, and it didn't take her long to finish with her box of runaway pans and move on to the next one. What she found in the next one, however, just made things worse, and the first Michael was aware of it was the sound of glass shattering against metal.

He heard the crash of glass and without another thought in his head, he was rushing back into the kitchen, the velvet box still clutched in his hand, heart racing worriedly that she might have gotten hurt this time. He came to a sudden halt once again in the doorway, pausing a moment to survey the scene. "Elena, are you all right?" he repeated for the second time in the last ten minutes, looking as worried as he had before, forgetting her harsh words in wake of his concern.

As he came rushing into the kitchen, she was backing away from the sink, brushing roughly at her arms to get rid of the clinging splinters of glass that had erupted toward her when she'd thrown the bottle of wine her sister, Tess, had packed for them to share against the metal. "Bitch," Elena hissed, ignoring the tiny nicks that were bloodying her shaking arms as she thumped against the wall at her back. "That bitch packed us wine!"

"Wine?" Michael echoed, only then realizing he was still holding the little velvet box and shoving it into a pocket of his jeans before snagging a dish towel and gently taking hold of her arm to brush the fragments of glass into the sink. "Why would she do that' She knows we're both on the wagon."

"Because she's a stuck up cow and she's not allowed to poke at 'Taya any more," she snarled, hatred for her eldest sister very evident in her eyes as she let him clean the tiny fragments of glass from her bare arms. "That was the last thing I needed to see today." As she let this slip, her voice shook, angry with herself and feeling stupidly tearful for the way she'd been treating Michael all day. "And I know I'm being a bitch, okay' It's ....it's just one of those days."

Elena

Date: 2013-10-14 10:15 EST
He clenched his jaw again, irritated with her sister and annoyed at the way Elena had been treating him, but understanding her reasons behind it now that she had explained. He knew better than most what those days were like and had his own share of trouble dealing with them. "Do you want me to talk to her?" he asked, already knowing what her answer would be to that suggestion. He made no comment regarding her mood, neither accepting or rejecting the apology that was not quite an apology, but more of an explanation. Whether she had meant it or not, her words had stung.

"Only if you brain her with a bottle of wine and let me watch," she grumbled, quieter now as his closeness eased her tension. She let out a deep sigh, twisting to curl into his arms, closing her eyes as she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. He was the one thing that could make her feel better, and she'd been treating him like a puppy to be kicked all day. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean any of it."

He was surprised to find her suddenly pressed against him, his arms going around her automatically to hold her close, her apology easing the pain of her insults a little bit. He knew she hadn't meant anything she'd said. He knew it had been the craving for a drink that had done it, but pushing him away had solved nothing. In the end, it had only made things harder. "You can talk to me you know, El. I won't break." Really talk, he meant. Not just fling insults his way because he was the easier target for her frustration. He rubbed her back and kissed her cheek, wondering where this over-abundance of patience was coming from, but she'd been patient with him when he'd needed it most, and the least he could do was return the favor.

She hugged him tightly, relieved that not even a few hours of her bitchiness had made him leave her for someone who was infinitely less trouble. "I don't want you to feel used," she confessed uncomfortably. "I mean ....well, you know what I'm like when I'm feeling it. I'm all over you - I use our intimacy to satisfy myself, and I'm ....I'm frightened you'll start resenting me for it. So I didn't say anything. I thought maybe I could handle it myself. Obviously I'm wrong."

Hugged close, she couldn't see his face and the surprised expression he wore at her confession. "Wait..." He pulled back from her so that he could meet her gaze and see if he could get this straight. "You're apologizing for substituting sex for booze?" He actually laughed, finding that amusing. "Are you saying all of this could have been avoided if we'd only had sex?" he asked, a little incredulously. "I don't mind if you use me, Elena. Hell, I enjoy it!"

She held his gaze as he laughed, sighing softly. "Yeah, well, no one said you were living with a genius," she said quietly, feeling very foolish for the way she had been behaving. "It just doesn't seem right to use you like that. I love you, I don't ever want you to think you mean anything less than everything to me."

"Okay, if you hump the first guy you meet on the street because you need a drink, I'll be offended, but um, you're perfectly free to hump me whenever you want. I give you free humping rights." Not to be confused with squatter's rights, unless she was squatting over him.

She eyed him thoughtfully for a long moment, the desperate glint for alcohol fading away to be replaced with something he knew far better from her gaze. "Well, then ..." she murmured, stepping close against him. "I hope you pressed Save, because you're not going back to that computer for at least another four hours. Maybe more."

He laughed again, his bad mood lifting, along with hers. "I wasn't writing, just trying to get things in order. I'm sorry. I should have been out here helping you." He frowned a little at his own apology, wishing he'd known what to do to help her. This was a learning experience as they continued to adjust to each other and learn more about the other.

"Unless your idea of helping was to pin me against a wall and hump me until I stopped being a bitch, you were probably safer in your office," Elena conceded with a faint smirk. It was the closest she'd come to a smile all day, offering the hope that maybe that craving wasn't quite as bad as it might have seemed. Or perhaps it was just Michael's proximity that was bringing her out of her bad mood finally. Her lips pressed to his tenderly as her palm curled to his cheek, breathing him in with a soft moan as she rose on her toes to deepen that kiss. "Maybe I should have just kept you in bed this morning."

"I thought you were mad at me or that maybe you don't really want to live here," he admitted with a small shrug, arms sliding around her waist as she kissed him once, twice, each kiss deepening and stirring the desire for her that was never far from the surface.

"I'm mad at me," she promised him between kisses, smoothing her own arms around his neck, ignoring the sting of tiny cuts on her arms in favor of drowning that hateful voice that wanted her to have a drink in the very best drug she'd ever been addicted to - Michael Donnelly. "I'd suggest you bend me over the counter and give it to me good, but I kinda want to get away from the smell of wine."

"Kind of like a spanking, but better," he teased with a small smile. They'd been through so much together, and he couldn't imagine his life without her, but he was realistic enough to know their life story wasn't a fairy tale. It wasn't one of his novels. They still had a long way to go, but they didn't have to go it alone anymore, not so long as they had each other. He shoved a hand in his pocket, his fingers closing on the velvet box he'd hidden there. He'd wanted the timing to be perfect. He'd been hoping for the perfect romantic moment to give it to her, but their lives were anything but ordinary, and he thought maybe she needed it more now than if he waited for the perfect moment. "I've been waiting for the perfect moment to give you this..." he started, as he pulled his hand from his pocket, fingers tightly closed around something he held in his palm.

His tease had the desired effect - for the first time all day, Elena smiled, letting a little of her tension go with a soft laugh against his lips. "Hey, you can spank me if you really want to," she offered through that smile. "I can be kinky if you get me in the right mood." As he knew very well indeed. She felt his hand leave her back, glancing down as he pulled that same hand from his pocket, clenched around something she couldn't identify. Green eyes lifted to his with amused suspicion. "I thought you said you have to make your own perfect moments."

Elena

Date: 2013-10-14 10:16 EST
"I was hoping to make this a Christmas present," he mused quietly to himself. "But I'm not sure I can wait that long," he added, unwrapping his fingers from around the velvet box to push it open and carefully pluck something from inside before snapping the box closed and setting it on the counter. He looked back at her, his mouth twitching nervously as he reached for her left hand. He didn't bother to get down on one knee, remaining standing in front of her as he slid the ring onto her finger. They were already as good as engaged, the ring a minor detail, but it was a detail that was important to Michael. The ring proclaimed to the world that her heart was taken and that it belonged to him.

Her arms unwound from about him as he manipulated the little box, a faintly confused frown on her face as she waited to see what it was he was talking about. "Wait that long for what?" she asked curiously, a vague suspicion touching her expression as he took her hand in his. As the light glinted off pink sapphire and diamond, Elena's jaw dropped. "Oh, my God," she breathed, unsurprised to find that the ring he had chosen for her fitted perfectly about her finger. A pink sapphire heart set on a band of white-gold embedded with diamonds. "Michael, this is beautiful. God, it's perfect!" She surged up on her toes, her hands reaching to cradle his face as she kissed him, her bad mood forgotten in the sudden acknowledgement that she was his girl, she was always going to be his girl, and he knew her well enough to pick a ring that suited her better than anything she had ever owned before.

It should have said a lot that despite her badgering and snapping at him, he loved her enough to overlook it, to forget it, and to seal his promises of ever-lasting love with an engagement ring that probably cost as much as a new car. He was on his way back up the ladder of literary renown, and though he really didn't care that much about money, it made life that much easier. He smiled at her reaction to his gift, pleased that she liked it and even happier that it seemed to dispel her bad mood, at least for the time being. "Do you like it?" he asked, a little nervously.

"Do I like it' Are you kidding?" Laughing, she drew away, still leaning into him even as she admired the new rock that glittered on her finger. "Baby, I love it. It must have cost you a fortune ....can you really afford it?" Immodest she might have been, but Elena did retain a modicum of her mother's good sense when it came to finances. Rosita had made sure her children knew the value of a dollar. "It's absolutely beautiful. And how did you know my size" Have you been measuring me when I'm asleep again?"

He laughed at her flurry of questions, not because he was laughing at her or found her amusing, but because he felt relieved to know that she liked the ring. He shrugged, unsure how to answer her questions. He wasn't sure how he knew her ring size. When it had come time to order it, he'd just known. Just like he'd known what to write, though he wasn't sure how. Whether it was divinely inspired or something else, he wasn't sure, but he sure as hell wasn't going to question it or take it for granted. "I don't know!" he replied. "I just knew."

"Baby, I love you so much." Her lips found his once again, warm and gentle and not at all shy about the fact that his presenting her with a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring had just increased her desire to have him naked for the next several hours considerably. So eager, in fact, that she began to back toward the bedroom still kissing him, her hands curled into his shirt to pull him along with her. "You realize," she murmured between kisses, "that we have to elope now, right?"

Both pleased and relieved by her reaction to his impromptu proposal, he made resistance as he was pulled along toward the bedroom, drawn by her kisses as much as by the tug against his shirt. "I love you," he replied, returning her kisses with equal fervor. He knew he was going to be rewarded for his efforts in the way of getting laid, but that wasn't why he'd proposed or why he wanted to marry her. The reason for that was simple enough - he loved her and always had since the first moment he'd laid eyes on her. "Hmm?" he murmured back between kisses, his body betraying his desire. It may not have been the most romantic of proposals, but it was certainly just as heart-felt.

"Elope," she repeated, thumping against the door to the bedroom and staying there for a long moment to indulge in a few more kisses as her hands began to roam. Patience had never been a virtue anyone could have accused her of, but Michael didn't seem to mind. Even when it got him embarrassed exiting an elevator. "Us," was added before her lips took his once again. "Soon."

"You don't..." His own words were cut off by her kisses, which were becoming more heated, more demanding as each moment passed. No, she had never been very patient, but he didn't mind. He'd waited a long time for her, and now that she was his, he welcomed every second of her attention. "Don't want a wedding?" The question somehow managed to tumble out between kisses, his hands fumbling with the hem of her shirt as he pressed her back against the bedroom door.

She moaned softly as he kissed her, arching from the door to press close as she felt his hands locate the hem of her shirt. "Want you," she breathed between those kisses, happy to let him steal her breath so long as she could steal his. Her own hands were bunching in his shirt at his back, pulling it upward without much care whether she tore it or not. She'd buy him another one. "Is ..." Another kiss got in the way as she forced his shirt upward and over his head, pulling away only so long as it took to get him topless. "Is tomorrow ....too soon?"

He was perfectly happy to go along with the sex play, love and desire mingled in his kisses. There was often a fine line between love and lust, but with her he had both. Sex with her was amazing, mind-blowing even, better than he could have ever imagined it, but it wasn't just the sex that moved him - it was a deep abiding love for her and a connection he couldn't explain. He flung his shirt half-way across the room as she tore it over his head, distracted for a moment her next question. He froze, pulling away to stare dumbly down at her before his mouth found words. "Tomorrow?"

He was met with her sweetest smile as she drew her own shirt over her head, tossing it aside with his own. "Or the day after," she offered lovingly, one hand smoothing down his chest to tuck her fingers into the waistband of his pants as the other turned the handle of her door at her back. "Depends if you wanna get married here, or on a beach somewhere warm."

Elena

Date: 2013-10-14 10:18 EST
Tomorrow was not too soon for him. He'd been waiting most of his adult life for her, waiting and hoping and pining. Now that she was his, there was no real rush. They had the rest of their lives together, and yet he was in as much a hurry to make it official as she was. "What about your family?" he asked, blinking a moment as her shirt went flying past his head.

"They'll understand." Tugging on his pants, she pulled him into the bedroom with her, closing the door behind them. It wasn't really necessary to close the door, of course, but Elena liked feeling enclosed with Michael, as she had proved on numerous occasions. "Besides ....there's Tony's big wedding in January, and 'Taya's having a baby in February," she pointed out, easing her arms about his waist as she drew herself close once again. "I don't need a fuss or frills. I'm tired of being the center of attention." Her lips brushed against the thudding beat of his pulse in his neck. "I just want to be your wife. I wanna be Mrs Donnelly, sooner rather than later."

He got tugged further into the room as she shut the door behind him, and he felt the blood rush through his veins, pulse pounding. It wouldn't be long before he'd be putty in her hands, unable to offer an intelligent response. He was already feeling the heat of arousal, his ability to think straight lost to his aching need for her. She'd have her answer, but not until both their desires were entirely satiated.

Elena certainly wasn't above teasing him until he couldn't take anymore, loving the way he responded to her, the fact that it was for her and no one else. But this time, she didn't tease or torment, flicking his pants open with a gentle nip to his throat before she pulled away, shedding her own clothes with swift ease. A moment or two later, she lay back on the bed, wearing only that sparkling ring and her familiar come-hither smile. "So ..." she murmured, her eyes on his, "wedding plans, or do we rocket to the moons together first?"

She should have already known the answer to that without having to ask. Sex first, always. There would be plenty of time for talk later, if they were still conscious enough to talk. He shed what remained of his own clothes - pants and shorts and socks, his arousal obvious now that he was undressed, the very appealing sight of her lying there only adding to his desire. A playful smirk appeared on his face and he pounced atop the bed and her, hands wandering over her while lips smothered her in kisses.

Her laughter greeted him, all trace of that appalling bad mood melted away under the soothing comfort of his closeness. Perhaps it wasn't quite so soothing right now as it was exhilarating, but only Michael had the power to draw her out of herself. And she loved it. Lips and hands traded kisses and caresses, a playful wrestling match that would have only one conclusion and declare them both the victor in their own way. Loving desire mingled with affectionate sensation, and as the last vestiges of coherent thought burned into nothing under the fierce glow of their shared passion, his name was called to the four walls around them. With any luck, the soundproofing here at Luks Condos was much better than it had been at their last apartment, or someone would be 'round to complain shortly.

Each time they made love, it seemed, was more intense, more amazing than the last, and it seemed to only draw them closer, to strengthen the bond between them. It was during times like this that he felt most alive, that he felt all the fear and the anxiety stripped away, naked and vulnerable, and completely belonging to her and her alone. He loved her slowly and tenderly, but with a shared urgency and passion that spoke of his need and desire, echoing his name with that of her own as they spiraled upward and outward and it seemed in that moment that they did indeed rocket together to the moons, exploding in the sky like the fireworks that were exploding between them.

As they came down from their shared heights, it was to find themselves tangled up in each other, skin to skin, heart to heart, a sparkling pink sapphire adorning the loving hand that caressed against Michael's cheek as Elena smiled for him and him alone. "I love you," she whispered softly to him, inching closer to let her nose brush his, nuzzling to him with almost innocent affection despite their less than innocent situation. "Do you think you can wait a couple of days? That's all it would take to arrange something just for us." And warn her mother and siblings that they were eloping in person. Elena might want to shock her family, but she wasn't cruel enough to just disappear for a couple of weeks on them.

"I've waited most of my life for you," he replied, lazily and even a little bit sleepily as he held her close, brushing a loving kiss against her brow. "I think I can wait a few more days." He sighed as he adjusted his hold on her, wrapping her in his arms, protectively, tenderly. "I love you," he told her quietly, the harsh words they'd shared earlier completely forgiven and forgotten. "I wonder if we should share our remedy with A.A.," he remarked sleepily.

She giggled at that suggestion, happy to be cuddled close in the absolute privacy of their own bedroom, in their own apartment, glad that everything that had happened since waking that morning had been forgiven. "I'm not going to offer myself to a room full of recovering alcoholics," she objected, her voice gentle as she sensed that she'd tired him out yet again. "And neither are you."

"No," he admitted with a groggy smile on his face. "I'm gonna get married to the girl of my dreams," he said with a contented sigh. "El," he started, "We shouldn't fight anymore. I don't wanna argue. I love you too much." He nuzzled himself against hers, his body curling into hers.

She curled to him easily, touched by how easy he seemed to find it to relax in her arms. But then, he'd always relaxed in her arms, even when he had been in the midst of his first attack of cold turkey, months before. "I can't promise we won't fight," she murmured, his sleepiness rubbing off on her as she nestled against him. "But I won't be an idiot again. I promise."

He smiled at her promise, peaceful and content. The day had started out badly, but all that was over now. Something he'd once heard came to his groggy mind. "Today is the first day of the rest of our lives." It meant, he thought, that it was never too late to start over, never too late for forgiveness and healing and renewal. There had been a time when he'd lost all hope, when he'd asked for divine intervention, and it was that desire that had somehow brought him here to her. She had saved his life, he'd thought then, but maybe it wasn't just about him. Maybe he had saved her life, too. Maybe they had saved each other, after all.

((Marry in haste, no time to waste! At this rate, there's only going to be one unmarried De Luca on Rhy'Din, and she's pregnant! Many big throbbing thanks to Michael's player for letting these two spring that little surprise on us!))