#their life motto is free the nip

[hdmiports]

clover 🍀

[starsinthesky5]

the one || joe burrow x reader

description: once he found the one, he never planned on letting go

a/n: this is part 2 of down bad!!! thank you to the anon that wanted to see a part 2 and since she literally gave me the idea for a good chunk of this fic, a special shoutout to @joeys-babe! part 3 will be out soon!

also, i just wanted to say do the things that make you happy and not care about what anyone else says (as our boy has stated a few times). don’t let anyone’s opinions or words dictate what you can and can’t do, especially if they do not know you. do what makes you happy, ALWAYS! that has lowkey been my life motto for the longest time and those are my thoughts as I continue to write and enjoy my time on this app 💗 

okay back to the fic, this takes 2 years after the first part! so you and joe have been together for 2.5 years going on to 3 by now!

warnings: SMUT, language 

word count: 20 k

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“Fuck, you feel too good, baby,” you moaned as you closed your eyes and ran your nails along Joe’s muscular back, your pleasure rapidly building inside your sore body. 

“That’s it…that’s it, baby,” Joe moaned. “You’re doing so good,”. 

You and Joe had been wrapped up in bed for over an hour this evening, enjoying all this extra free time you two had together since it was off-season for Joe. You two were planning on spending the evening going through your shared closet and getting rid of things you didn’t need or use anymore, but that only lasted for about 10 minutes since Joe found a pair of new skimpy red lace panties you bought to surprise him later in the week. You could practically see the lust in his eyes as he pulled you right back to bed and you could feel it too because of the way he was going about it. 

“I’m gonna cum again,” you whined while opening your eyes and seeing Joe’s incredibly dark blue eyes filled with raw desire, his hand firmly placed on your waist as he rammed into your core, sending your body further up the bed and a prominent indent being visible in your lower belly because of him. You felt your orgasm building again for the 3rd time this evening and you were practically floating at this point. Joe's stamina was never to be questioned, but he was surprised that you could still keep going even after being so wrung out. 

“Shit..me too,” Joe panted as he dropped his head to the crook of your neck. “Fuck, you look so pretty under me like this…I can’t get enough of you, baby,” he moaned into your ear as he finished the sentence with a nip to your neck. He continued to moan and whimper in your ear, the sounds coming from his mouth literally making you lose all control and innocence. 

“J- Joe,” you whimpered as your legs started to shake, your eyes once again seeing stars. “Fuck..I need you harder,”.  

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he groaned as he felt your walls start to convulse around his thick shaft, your nails clawing at his back which was sure to leave a few red marks you’d take care of later. He started pounding into you with more intensity, making your moans come out in short gasps. 

“Baby, I-,” you hissed before you felt Joe crash his lips against yours, silencing your sounds of pleasure as he moved one of his hands down to your bundle of nerves. You placed a hand into his hair–lightly scratching his scalp in a way you knew he loved–and pulled him closer while his thumb fondled your aching clit. 

A few seconds later, you pulled away from his lips mid-kiss because you felt the imaginary band in your belly snap hard and another wave of pleasure washing over your tired body. “Ah, Joe,” you screamed for maybe the 100th time in the past hour. 

You felt your release soaking both of your lower halves as he kept pounding into your core, his rapid pace not slowing down even though you were experiencing the aftershocks of your orgasm and he was making it even more intense. 

“Joe…I C- Can’t…,” you whispered, your eyes screwing shut again as you arched up into him.

“I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered into your ear, his gentle hand sliding along your thigh and down to your calf as he pressed a few loving kisses to your flushed cheeks. A few seconds later, you heard him let out a soft grunt as he emptied himself inside of you, his warm cum coating your walls for the second time tonight yet the feeling was still so pleasing and fresh. 

After giving himself a few moments to regroup, he gently pulled out of you and crashed down right next to you on the bed, both of your bodies incredibly sweaty and covered in body fluids but still stuck to each other like glue. 

“That was hotttt,” Joe smiled as he pulled you into his chest and pulled a blanket over both your bodies after he noticed you shivering a bit because of the cold air hitting you. 

“Very. I don’t think I’ll be able to move for at least another hour,” you laughed as you kissed his chin. “I don’t know what we were thinking when we said we’d be productive this evening,”.

“I mean, we were pretty productive I would say,” Joe smirked. “If the task at hand was baby-making then we were definitely productive,”.

“Joe!” you shrieked, slapping his chest as he continued to laugh above you. 

“Kidding,” he added after he pressed a kiss to your forehead. “We can be productive another day. We deserve to have fun and do our thing without worrying about anything,”.

“Won’t argue with you about that one,” you breathed out while closing your eyes and snuggling up to him, his arm wrapping comfortably around you as you both just enjoy each other’s warmth. 

You both stayed like this for a little while longer, Joe tracing invisible shapes onto the soft skin of your back while you played with the wristbands on his other wrist, neither of you saying anything to the other.

Only when Joe spoke up.

“Soooo, earlier I may have booked us a trip to NYC for tomorrow night,” he so casually said to you, your head immediately lifting up from his chest as you were now face to face.

“What?” you asked, incredibly confused and surprised by what he said.

“Yeah,” he smiled at you while moving the falling hair out of your eyes. “We could use a little trip,”.

“To New York,” you said while raising an eyebrow. 

“Yes, to New York,” he slowly nodded.

“Any reason in particular? You didn’t even ask me about it like you usually do before planning a trip,” you said, slightly suspicious about the whole thing. Why did he want to go to New York for vacation out of all places? He could’ve picked Florida, Hawaii, or literally anywhere else to escape the coldish March weather. 

“Nope, no reason at all,” he lied while flashing you a smile.

Oh, there was a reason that’s for sure. Joe planned this spur-of-the-moment New York trip because he was going to propose to you this week, and you had no idea. He had known that you’d be his forever from the first time he laid his eyes on you, and your first conversation sealed the deal. From then on, every kiss, every date, every ‘I love you’, and every moment you spent together just made that ever more clear. Although you two hadn’t been together for a super long time, he knew that nothing could compare to the love you two shared–this was it. This is what many people spent years upon years searching for, some even being unable to find this type of connection. He was lucky enough to have found it so quickly and wasn’t planning on letting go of something so rare and priceless. You were the one for him and he had to make it official. 

He spent countless days trying to figure out when and where to do it since he had the ring made and in his safe for about a month and a half; he was growing restless by the minute because every idea he had was cliché or generic. He also hadn’t discussed this with any friends or family yet because he wanted this special moment to just be for you two, so he was completely on his own. He didn’t know what to do until yesterday, a photo popped up in his memories from your trip to New York–2 years ago to be specific–at your best friend Sophia’s Wedding. 

And that’s when it hit him.

This was the same place where Joe first mentioned your future together. 

This was the same place where he told you that he was going to marry you.

This is the same place where Joe was now going to propose to you and really make you the one. It all was going to come full circle. 

“I just thought to surprise you with the trip. I know you usually do the majority of the planning and stuff whenever we go somewhere but I wanted you to take the backseat this time,” he added.

“Okay,” you nodded. “But tomorrow night? What’s the rush?”.

The rush was that he physically could not wait any longer to put that beautiful ring on your finger and call you his fiancé. 

“No rush,” he lied again. “It’s just because we don’t have anything really going on this week so why wait,”.

You thought over it for a few seconds and felt that it would be nice to get away for a little bit and spend some time together outside of Ohio, and New York was one of your favorite spots to visit. And since Joe was planning it all, you could sit back and relax. You needed a break from life for a second and this was exactly what you craved. “I guess,” you giggled as you moved his tousled curls out of his eyes. 

“So, you down?” he asked, searching your tired eyes for a ‘yes’.

“You know I’m down for anything as long as I’m with you,” you lazily smiled before you leaned down to press a sweet kiss to his swollen lips. 

“I love you,” Joe smiled against your lips, your loving eyes staring deeply into his which were mirroring yours. It was finally going to happen, he was finally going to make you his forever. 

“I love you more,” you said while nuzzling your nose against his, his arms wrapping around your waist and his warm body cuddling you again. “I’m so excited,” you giggled as he smothered you with kisses. 

“Me too,” he grinned, internally laughing at how you had 0 idea how excited he really was. He had never been this excited to do something in his life. 

The Next Night - On the plane 

“I always love a good night flight,” you smiled as you got comfy in your seat after you and Joe shared a quick meal while the plane was taking off. 

“And that’s exactly why I called the Private Jet for this specific time,” he grinned as he brought over your wine glass and sat down next to you. 

“Thaank you,” you smiled as you took the glass from him, taking a small sip before handing it to him so he could take one as well. “Something about night flights is just so much more comforting and relaxing,”. 

“Mhm,” he nodded before swallowing the lush wine. “New York looks even better at night so I figured you’d like seeing the city from up here before we go further out and the lights are gone,”.

“Further out?” you asked as you turned your neck to look at him. “Are we not staying in the city?”. 

“Nope,” he grinned. “I got us an Airbnb in Winchester,”.

“...Winchester?” you asked, your brain struggling to remember why that sounded so familiar. You stayed quiet for a few seconds as you tried to recall where you’d heard that from, and Joe stayed quiet so you could figure it out on your own.“Wait, isn’t that the little town where Sophia got married?”.

“Yeah,” he laughed. “I remember you saying how much you liked it out there over the city because it was quieter and simpler,”.

“It’s soooo pretty,” you smiled as you closed your eyes and remembered how beautiful the town looked the last time you visited it. “It’s right by the lake, has tons of cute little shops but also all the luxury ones like the city does, and the energy is so romantic. Like rom-com romantic,” you blushed.

“Romantic?” Joe raised an eyebrow and asked. 

“Mhmmm,” you grinned while leaning your head on his shoulder. “Like the vibe is just so-,”.

“Romantic?” he smiled while finishing your sentence. 

“Yeah,” you shyly said. “I don’t know how to put it into words but it’s just so perfect and lovey. No wonder Sophia and Steven chose it as their wedding spot,”. 

“Mhm,” he hummed and hid his extremely big smile by wiping his mouth, trying very hard to not refer to it as your proposal spot. 

“Thanks for doing this, Joe,” you smiled up at him. “I feel like I needed this more than I thought,”.

“Of course, baby,” he said while kissing the side of your head and wrapping an arm around your shoulder. “It’s just you and me, just as it should be. No distractions, no outside noise, and definitely nothing around that can ruin this for us,”. 

“Our own little bubble of love. I loveeee it,” you said while leaning into him.

“Good, because I plan on staying in this bubble till I die,” he mumbled under his breath. 

“Hm?” you said because you heard him murmur something but couldn’t quite make it out. 

“Nothing,” he quickly shook his head and brushed off, his cheeks turning a little red since you almost heard what he said. You were about to say something because he was acting a little weird but before you could, he spoke up again. “I um..Do you remember our little yearly game challenge,” he quickly changed the topic so that you wouldn’t dig at the little moment that you just had.

“Listen, I know I lost last time, like really badly lost, but you don’t have to rub it in my face,” you scowled.

“I’m not rubbing it in your face, I just wanted to remind you that since I won, you have to do whatever I say for an entire day,” he smirked, this little condition a small part of tomorrow’s proposal plan. 

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” you groaned while stuffing your face in your hands. 

“By the way, I’m cashing in my ticket tomorrow so be prepared to do whatever I say,” he whispered in your ear. 

“Why tomorrow? We’re on vacation,” you groaned again. “I swear to god if you have me do some stupid shit-,”.

“Nothing stupid, I promise,” he grinned. “You’ll have fun and I’ll make it enjoyable,”.

“This game challenge was a bad idea. You always win and have too much power over me for 24 hours,” you shook your head. 

“Well, from what I remember, right now we’re pretty neck and neck,” he shrugged. “If you wanted to catch up, now is probably your chance. Unless, of course, you’re too lazy,” he teased. 

If there was one thing you hated being called, it was lazy. You never backed down from anything because you were too ‘lazy’ and Joe knew that which made this even more fun because he knew that being called ‘lazy’ woke something up inside of you. He found your competitive nature incredibly endearing, and he got to see it pretty early on in your relationship. He loved that he had someone who matched his competitive side, someone who didn’t mind silly shit-talking and was as goal-oriented as he was. 

You stared at him for a few moments, a fire building behind your eyes before you got up from your seat, “Where’s the Switch,” you grumbled while scrunching up your nose. 

“That’s my girl,” he grinned before he got up from his seat, dropped a loving kiss on your red cheeks, and grabbed his bag. You couldn’t help but smile even though you were getting your determined game face on, his sweet and soft attitude towards you always made you melt into a puddle of goo. 

The Next Day 

“Joe, where are we going?” you asked for the 3rd time as you looked over at him, but couldn’t see because of the blindfold around your eyes.

“It’s a secret, babe. You and your sexy self need to be patient” he grinned as he looked over at you, taking in how gorgeous you looked in the very expensive outfit he bought for you earlier. You both were doing some shopping earlier and Joe came in intending to find something for you to wear during the proposal but lied and said it was for tonight’s special dinner so you wouldn’t ask questions. He picked out a very gorgeous but very expensive vintage floral dress for you to wear, a matching pair of vintage Prada heels with a matching handbag, and even bought you another gold necklace from the jewelers next door to tie it all together. You refused to let him spend this much money on you, but he reminded you that you had to do anything he asked for 24 hours, so you had to comply with his wishes of buying you all this. 

After shopping your lives away, he made you go to the Spa with him. You were very confused as to why he made you both go to the Spa since that was never Joe’s scene, but this was his way of making you get a fresh set of nails and a nice facial treatment without it being too suspicious. Since this New York trip was super last minute, you didn’t have any time to get anything done and he knew that you’d be on his ass if you took engagement photos with a bad manicure and slightly dull skin, so he made sure you got everything done. You were going to go with light blue nails, but once again you had to do everything he said, and Joe wanted you to get white chrome nails. You didn’t ask why he wanted that specific color because you were too busy laughing at how silly he looked with a green mud mask on, but it was because it was the perfect color to mesh with the engagement ring he had made for you. 

Then once you got everything wrapped up at the Spa, you went back to the Air BnB and got ready for the ‘dinner’ Joe was taking you to. You were finishing your makeup before you felt Joe come up behind you in his baby blue sweater, wrapping his arms around you, swaying you from side to side, telling you how beautiful you looked. You spent a few moments like this, whispering little words of love to each other and passing typical flirtatious comments before Joe pulled out a blindfold from his pocket. 

“Why the blindfold?” you furrowed your eyebrows and asked. “You trying to kidnap me or something?” you joked. 

“Do you trust me?” he asked with a smile.

“Of course, I trust you, my to-be kidnapper,” you giggled as you leaned back into his arms. 

“Then let me put it on,” he whispered in your ear while running his hand along your arm, your body heating up from his electric touch. 

“Why?” you breathed out, his hand moving up to cup your shoulder, the pad of his thumb lightly brushing against the nape of your neck.

“It’s a surprise. Can’t say,” he smiled as he opened up the blindfold and met your eyes in the mirror, looking for some sort of response. You gave him a small nod and let him wrap the blindfold around your eyes. You didn’t really have a choice because you had to do whatever he said but you also didn’t ask too many questions, mostly because he wouldn’t answer any of them but also because you enjoyed a good surprise. 

“I know it’s a secret but I’m getting impatient,” you frowned as you snapped back to the present. You did enjoy a good surprise, but the anticipation was killing you. “You got me all dressed up and even took me to the Spa–which might I add–is the least Joe Burrow-like activity on the planet, and I’m a little suspicious right now truth be told,”.

“Am I not allowed to pamper my fian-..girlfriend?” Joe said, his eyes widening at the fact that he almost called you his fiancé. 

“You are,” you laughed, Joe letting out a relieved breath because it sounded like you didn’t hear him slip up. “I just thought you’d have me do other stuff and not stuff that was catered to me since I have to do whatever you say for the whole day,”

“Other stuff? Like what?” he snickered as he looked out onto the road, the Wedding Venue where Sophia got married and where Joe was proposing getting closer and closer. 

“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe giving you super sloppy world-class head or making you pumpkin pie while only wearing an apron and no clothes underneath,” you chuckled.

“Well, the day isn’t over yet,” he smirked. “Maybe I’ll ask for those two later tonight,”.

“Now that sounds more like you,” you laughed. “But seriously, where are you taking me that requires a blindfold,”.

“You’ll see, we’re almost there,” he smiled, his heart rate picking up once he realized that this was really happening and wasn’t just a dream. 

A few minutes later, you had made it to the Winchester Country Club. Joe had rented out the entire event space for the day so that you two could have all the privacy you needed for this special and intimate moment. He had the staff set up the same ballroom where Sophia had her reception–and where he first mentioned your future together–with various candles and flowers lining the dance floor while there were rose petals scattered around in the middle. He even made sure that they hooked up the sound system so that he could play a special song while all of this was going down. It was picture-perfect, all of it. He was going to make you the one where it all really started for you both, where you first got a taste of what the years to come would be like. 

Joe turned the car off and took a few deep breaths to calm his growing nerves before looking over at your clueless yet adorable face, a big smile on it as you unbuckled your seat belt and turned to face him. 

“Are we here?” you eagerly asked as you attempted to find his forearm but couldn’t see so you were doing a bad job.

“We are,” he smiled while grabbing your hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“So I can take this off?” you asked as you reached to untie the blindfold.

“No!” Joe quickly moved your hand down and said. “I need you to keep it on for a bit longer,”. 

“You’re so kidnapping me,” you giggled. 

“Would it be so bad though?” he teased as he opened his door and slid out of his seat, quickly closing it and jogging over to your side to let you out and finish your conversation.

“Not really,” you laughed as he opened your door and you struggled to find where he was standing since you couldn’t see a thing. “I would have the sexiest kidnapper in the world and probably receive the best treatment a hostage could get,”. 

“Exactly,” he shrugged as he grabbed your hand and carefully helped you out of the car. Being blindfolded was not easy because you were either one step away from falling on your face or one step away from going the wrong way. He made sure you got down carefully and closed your door for you before taking another deep breath and grabbing your hand. “You trust me, right?” he asked again, his nerves settling in now. 

“Where was this coming from?” you thought to yourself. This was now the second time he asked you this and it was adding to your suspicion along with the blindfold, expensive outfit, and spa treatments, that something was up. 

“More than anyone in the world,” you smiled as you pulled his hand up and pressed a soft kiss to it. 

“Okay,” he sighed. “Let’s go,” he said while leading you inside hand in hand. You let Joe lead you to what felt like a building of some sort, the whiff of warm air confirming that you weren’t outside anymore. 

You were walking for a little bit and felt that you were turning corners and entering other rooms. A few moments later, you stopped walking and you heard a few noises that sounded like a door opening, and then you were walking again.

You heard the door close behind you and Joe let go of your hand, his eyes scanning the room as he took in the fairytale-like set up which was just as he imagined. “Wow,” he mumbled to himself before he looked down at you, his heart rate picking up and his palms getting sweaty. 

“Come on, Joe. You got this. She loves you and she’s going to say yes,” Joe thought to himself, giving himself a mental pep talk. 

This was it. 

“You gonna let me see now or is there something else?” you laughed as you continued to look forward. Joe didn’t say anything in response, instead, he just untied the blindfold around your eyes and slipped the silky band off. 

Your eyes slowly adjusted to the dimly lit room, your heart stopping as you looked around and saw that you were standing at the foot of a ballroom floor that was lined with lit candles and flowers, a plethora of rose petals scattered across the middle. “Joe..where are we?” you said, your voice just short of a whisper as you looked up at him, taking note of his crinkled eyes and charming smile.

“The Country Club,” he said while he reached into his pocket and tapped the play button. A few seconds later, the starting tune of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley filled the ballroom. 

“Why are we-,” you began to say before he grabbed your hand and led you out to the middle of the dance floor.

“Dance with me first,” he said as he stopped you both in the center and placed his hands on your waist. “This is our song, it would be a shame to pass up on a chance to dance to it,” he said while pulling you closer to him.

“That is true,” you agreed while looping your arms around his neck, Joe began to sway you both back and forth while looking deeply into your soft eyes. “Whatever this is, I already love you for it,” you said while threading your fingers through his hair. 

“That’s really good to hear,” he smiled, as you placed your cheek against his chest and melted into him. Joe couldn’t believe that this was happening, he was just a few moments away from one of the most important moments in his life. He was a little nervous, to say the least, but he knew that you loved him more than anything in the world and there was a higher chance you would say ‘yes’ than ‘no’. You wanted this just as much as he did and if you didn’t, then you would show it. 

You spent a few quiet moments dancing around to the song that you both held incredibly close to your heart before Joe ended the dance by giving you a little twirl and pulling you right back into him after, a little gasp leaving your lips because of the strong movement from him.

“I can’t help falling in love with you,” he said, his face just inches from yours. “And that’s why I have to do this,”. 

“Do what?” you giggled.

“Do you know where we are right now?” Joe asked as he moved his hands from your waist to entwine your fingers, holding your hands as he started his little speech. 

“The Country Club,” you nodded, Joe staying quiet as he expected a more specific answer. “…The place where Sophia got married,” you added as you looked around and recognized the familiar surroundings. 

“Mhm,” he nodded, taking another deep breath to compose himself.

“Joe, why are we here?” you asked again, a little more serious this time as you noticed his tense body and felt his slightly sweaty palms. 

“Do you remember what we talked about at the Wedding? Specifically what we talked about on this dance floor while we danced to the same song?”.

Of course, you remembered what you talked about that night, you couldn’t forget it even if you tried. It was the first time he mentioned your future together, as more than just boyfriend/girlfriend. 

“Yeah,” you swallowed. “I do,” you said as you felt a warm feeling fill your body. 

“I wanted to bring you back here for that specific reason,” he began to say. “This was the first place where I told you how I felt about our future together. Where I told you I wanted to marry you. This was where I had to do this,”.

“Holy. Shit.” you thought to yourself. “Was he actually about to do this?”. 

“Y/N, I love you more than words can describe. These past two years have literally been the best years of my life because of you. You lit my world on fire when you first walked in, and from the first moment I saw you, I was already so down bad for you,”. 

Flashback to when you first met - Offseason 2.5 years ago 

“Y/N, we need you! He’s here,” your boss yelled as you were prepping the dressing room.

“Coming!” you yelled back as you finished setting up the room with snacks and the wardrobe for the shoot. This was just another part of your job working in PR–setting up the room for brand shoots for your guests. 

You looked everything over again to make sure that nothing was lacking, which obviously it wasn’t because you were amazing at your job. “I’m too good,” you grinned to yourself as you quickly turned around on your heels and walked out to the main area. 

Joe was talking to a few of the staff for the shoot today before he heard your boss speak up. “Ah, there she is,” he said while throwing his hands up. “Our miracle worker!”.

“I’m flattered,” you laughed as you walked over to everyone, Joe’s eyes darting toward the adorable laugh that echoed throughout the room. 

The first time Joe looked at you, it felt like the world shifted, just enough to make everything around him blur into the background. When you walked into the room, your presence commanded attention without even trying and the air around you shimmered with something magical. His heart skipped a beat, caught off guard by the sudden pull he felt toward you. 

His eyes met yours for a brief, electrifying moment, and in that instant, it was like a spell had been cast over him. All he could focus on was you, your smile, the way you moved with effortless grace and the way you lit up the entire room. It wasn’t just your beauty that captivated Joe; it was something deeper, something that resonated with his soul. 

The way you laughed and smiled, the way your hair bounced around while you moved, the way you just seemed so utterly yourself–it was all so enchanting. It didn’t take him long to realize that he didn’t want to break free from whatever spell you had unknowingly cast on him. He was completely and utterly mesmerized by you, and you were all he wanted to think about. 

“I’m Y/N,” you said to him, breaking him free from the trance he was in. 

He looked down and saw that you were now standing in front of him, his heart skipping another beat because of how close you were to him. “I’m- I’m Joe,” he nervously said.

“Oh, I know,” you smirked. “You’re pretty well known to say the least,”. 

“Y/N will be your best friend today, Joe. She’ll help you get ready, answer any questions, and basically be stuck by your side while we film today,”.

“I’m a lucky guy,” Joe laughed while rubbing his neck. 

“That you are,” you chimed in. “Follow me, I’ll show you your room for today,” you smiled as you turned around, your smile dropping once he couldn’t see your face anymore.

“Why was he looking at me like that?” you thought to yourself, his heated gaze incredibly noticeable. His beautiful blue eyes were stuck on you the entire time and that made a cloud of butterflies appear in your stomach. You shook your head and snapped out of it, “Focus, Y/N. That’s Joe Burrow. He probably looks at every girl that way for this exact reason–he likes to see them fawn over him,”.

“So, this is basically your house for today,” you awkwardly joked as you led him into the glamorous room. 

“Wow,” he said as his eyes scanned over everything. “And this was all done by you?”.

“Mhm,” you nodded while closing the door behind you. “Also, after the shoot, you can keep whatever you want in this room. Except for the furniture obviously, but the clothes, snacks, and accessories are all yours,”. 

“What about you? Do I get to keep you too?” he looked over at you with a cheeky grin and said. 

“Sorry, I’m off limits,” you winked.  

“Damn, that sucks because I think out of everything in this room, you’re the most appealing,” he flirted. 

You raised an eyebrow, amused at his boldness. “You’re trouble,” you laughed.

“Are you gonna arrest me?” he smirked while raising his hands. 

“We’ll see. I’ll give you the rest of the day before I make a decision,” you said as you felt yourself getting lost in his captivating baby-blue eyes. Something about his eyes was pulling you in, it was as if you wanted to get to know what was behind them and he was going to let you. 

“I’m gonna go back out there and look over the first set of shots we’re doing of you. The stylist and hair/makeup person should be coming in a few minutes,” you said as you felt his heated gaze traveling over your body, your breath hitching in your throat when you saw him lean in close to you, his arm brushing against yours. 

He reached to the side of you, twisting the doorknob and opening the door for you, “Thank you,” he whispered into your ear before pulling back and meeting your eyes again, seeing a spark behind them that you were trying to hide; but why were you trying to hide it?

You stared at him for a few quiet seconds before giving him a shy nod and quickly leaving the room, closing the door behind you as you pressed your back against the door. All it took was one look from him to leave you breathless. No man has ever been able to make you feel like this with just a look. 

“I’m so fucking screwed,” you whispered to yourself, a blush creeping up your face. 

About 20 minutes later, you walked back into Joe’s room and saw that he was getting ready for the shoot. Your eyes traveled down his body as you took in his outfit, “Mm, this is all wrong,” you shook your head, everyone in the room looking over at you.

“Why?” the stylist asked. 

You walked over to Joe, “The colors are clashing with his complexion. The tan just blends in with his skin and those necklaces aren’t popping either,” you said while touching his shoulder, your gentle touch sending shivers down his spine as he looked up at you from his chair. 

“I think I can fix this. Everyone, out. I’ll bring him out in a few minutes,” you ordered, everyone nodding and leaving the room. 

“Damn, they didn’t hesitate to leave,” he laughed. 

You walked over to the clothing racks and looked over the variety of available clothes, “I take my job very seriously and they all know that our boss calls me the miracle worker for a reason. I can’t have you going out there looking like a tan bandage,” you giggled as you pulled out a plain black tank top, baggy black jeans, and a white and black letterman jacket. 

Joe stood up from the chair and stood next to you, “Here, put these on,” you said while handing him the clothes. “I’ll look at the chains and necklaces and see what I can do,” you nodded as you moved around him and went back to the vanity. 

Joe took the clothes and moved to the middle of the room, slowly peeling his clothes off as you remained unbothered and looked down at the chains. There was no other room for him to go into and change as the bathroom was like a broom closet, so he had to get changed right there. 

“Oo, this one looks good,” you said as you picked up a chain and turned around, your body freezing once you saw him standing there with no shirt and just his boxers on. 

Your eyes were glued to his chest, a warm feeling taking over your body again as you looked at his perfectly crafted tan frame. “Fuck, why does he have to be so hot,” you thought to yourself. 

Your eyes widened at the thought you just had before Joe spoke up, “Uhh, my bad,” he said, still standing there half-naked.

“I..I..uh,” you stuttered. “You’re good, that’s on me,” you stuttered again as your eyes traveled down his body to his pelvis, your breath hitching in your throat as you saw something you’d never thought you’d see.

“Give me a few seconds,” Joe said as he quickly put everything on. 

“Take all the time you need,” you blushed as you kept your head down and turned around, Joe’s gaze stuck on you the entire time he was changing. He wanted to touch you so badly–feel your plump pink lips against his and your manicured hands scratching down his back. But equally, he wanted to get to know you. He wanted to peel off your clothes but also to peel you like an onion, peeling back each layer and getting to know you on a deeper level than what he saw on the surface. 

The rest of the shoot went like this as well, he just couldn’t take his eyes off of you. You stayed where he was the entire day as you said you would, so his eyes would instantly move over to you after every shot since you were right next to the camera. You even caught him staring at you a few times, each time thinking that he’d stop but he wouldn’t. You even found your gaze lingering on him when he wasn’t looking. You couldn’t help it, he looked insanely good. And he noticed, of course. Each time you stared at him for longer than normal, he could feel it. 

You wondered what about you made him so unfocused and distracted, unable to figure out if it was because there was something wrong with you or if he just wanted to get in your pants for a quick hookup and this was his way of drawing you in. You didn’t say anything to him about it because you tried to remain professional, but also because you thought that maybe the answer when you asked him wasn’t something you wanted to hear. 

Until the end of the shoot came around, delaying the inevitable wasn’t working anymore. If you weren’t going to say something, Joe sure was. 

“So…,” he cleared his throat and spoke up as you were looking through a few of the shots in his dressing room with him. “Thanks for helping me out today with everything. You’re really good at all this. Not just PR and work stuff, but also keeping me entertained,” he said as he looked over at you. 

In between shots and filming, you two actually had a few great conversations with each other. You talked about how you got involved in PR, and your thoughts on football–telling him that you lived and breathed football and had been since you were little so this was pretty fun for you, then talked about your favorite season which for both of you was fall which then led to you two bonding over your mutual fondness for pumpkin pie, and then talked a little about your likes and dislikes. 

Joe got to see your humorous side as well, he even lost count of how many times you had made him laugh. He also saw a little bit of your nerdy and brainy side, a dichotomy to the stupid jokes you made. You were quite literally perfect in every aspect, the most flawless person he had ever met. Each time you talked, Joe saw a little sparkle in your eyes; a sparkle that he wanted to never stop seeing now that he had been exposed to it. Every time you opened your mouth to talk, he got lost in your eyes, and that drove him crazy. 

“I’m a woman of many talents,” you grinned. “Also, I didn’t mind because you’re actually a pretty cool guy,”.

“You sound surprised?” Joe said, acting like he was offended. 

You were opening your mouth to say something, but all that came out was a soft laugh. “It’s just...the things I hear about you and how great and normal you are outside of football, I didn’t really believe it?”.

“Really?” Joe said, sitting up in his seat and rubbing his hands on his thighs out of nervousness. “Why is that?”.

“I just….you’re this millionaire quarterback who has the looks, the brains, the athletic ability, and all the money. That’s the formula for a Playboy douchebag but the way you portray yourself to the public doesn’t align with that. I just thought it was a front for your brand and image, but today’s showed me that it’s not,” you said. “You’re a pretty cool person,”.

While Joe got to see a bit of your personality, you got to see the same from him too; and the part you saw, you loved. He was funny, grounded, and legitimately a caring person. Whether it was him talking about his football journey or talking about his silly interests–he laid himself bare and was fully honest about himself. 

“Go on a date with me,” Joe blurted out, that being the only thought in his head for the past hour.  

You flinched when you heard him say that, your heart dropping from your chest all the way to your feet, “Woahh, I know I said you’re a cool person but I never said that I-,”.

“I know. And I’m probably being way too blunt right now but I want to go on a date with you. Like really bad,”.

“You don’t even know if I have a boyfriend or not,” you huffed, entertained by his confidence. 

“With the way you were looking at me during the shoot, either you don’t or you have a wandering eye,” he laughed. 

“Fuck, he saw me? This is so embarrassing,” you thought to yourself. 

“Don’t think I didn’t see the amount of times you were staring at me too. Way more than the times I looked at you,” you said, flipping it back onto him to hide your embarrassment. 

“That’s because I want you,” he blurted out again, this newfound confidence coming out of nowhere. He had never been this straightforward with a girl, especially a girl he had just met. You were special. 

Your eyebrows felt like they shot up to the roof, “You’re very forward, aren’t you?” you laughed. 

“Only when I’m serious about something,” he nodded. 

He’s just trying to get in your pants right? No way he was really interested in you. “Joe, you’re sweet, super flirty, but sweet. But I don’t think this is a good idea,” you sighed. 

“Not a good idea? Who were you trying to please? You’re not some angel saint, this Greek god-like man literally said he wants you. What the fuck are you doing? Jump his bones already!” your subconscious said. 

“Why not?” Joe crossed his arms and asked. 

“I mean, I don’t even know you and-,”.

“That’s what first dates are for,” he interrupted.

“Okay, but I’m just a normal girl and you’re this hotshot Quarterback. You could have anyone you wanted so why-,”.

“You’re perfect, like insanely perfect in every aspect and not just your looks. I don’t want anyone else,” he interrupted again. 

“How do I know you’re not just looking for a quick hookup? You are an athlete after all and-,”.

“Don’t judge a book by its flashy cover,” he interrupted, again. “Get to know me. The real me. You got a sneak peek of the real me today. He wasn’t so bad, was he?”. 

You were speechless. He had an answer for every doubt you had and he was oh-so persistent. 

You looked down at your hands, fidgeting with the rings on your fingers because you didn’t know what to say. You wanted to peel his onion and get to know him, but you were scared that if you did, it would leave you in tears–and not the good kind. Even though you’d only spent a few hours with him, he made it memorable and special. The conversations you two had were as if you were just two old friends catching up, not as if you were two strangers who had just met. He had this aura around him that was pulling you in even though you were trying to hold back. 

Joe saw your uncertain facial expression and scooted closer to you, lifting your chin with his hand to meet his eyes. “Listen, go on one date with me. Just one. If you don’t leave with a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your heart, I’ll leave you alone. We can pretend like it never happened,”.  

“....Really? You’d do that, leave me alone? You’re pretty stubborn so…,” you giggled. 

“Very funny, Y/N,” he rolled his eyes. “But yeah, I would. I hope I don’t have to because there’s something about you that just draws me in and it’s not just how beautiful you are. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like a magnetic pull and I felt it the first time I looked at you,”.

“You have a way with words,” you smiled. 

“I’m serious though. I want to get to know you, if you’ll let me,” he added, the seriousness in his voice making you feel less nervous about the situation. 

You bit your lip and thought over his offer for a few seconds. “It can’t be that bad? He seems really sweet, respectful (but flirty as fuck), and is acting like he genuinely likes you. Not every guy is looking for a quick fuck and he was right, don’t judge a book by its flashy cover. You peeled a layer of his onion so far and you liked what you saw, you should keep peeling because it probably gets better and not worse. Right?” your subconscious said. “This could be different. You never know unless you try,”.

“Fine. I’ll go on a date with you,” you said while you looked back up at him, his eyes filled with desire and curiosity. 

“Perfect,” he beamed, mentally doing a little dance because he got you to agree. “I’ll swing by tomorrow after you’re wrapped up here and take you out to the best first–maybe last–date possible,”.

“I’m counting on it,” you nodded. You weren’t sure why you were giving him a chance, but it felt right for some reason. This was either the worst decision you’ve ever made in your life or the best decision you’ve ever made in your life. 

Oh, and Joe made sure that it was the best decision you’d ever made in your life. The date was quite literally perfect. He was quite literally perfect. 

And given how well it went, it wasn’t your last date. It was the first of many, many exciting and special dates. 

You left that first date just as he thought you would–with a smile and a warm feeling radiating throughout your body; but also with another feeling.

A feeling of intrigue. 

You wanted to get to know him just as much as he wanted to get to know you. You wanted to get to know him more than you already had during your date. 

You wanted to get to know Joe in every single way possible.  

End of flashback 

“I was stubborn as fuck and even though you were hesitant, you still agreed to go on one date with me. I came into that date nervous and awkward as hell because I was scared that you wouldn’t enjoy it and that you didn’t feel the same spark that I did, but I was wrong. We left that date hand in hand, laughing until our stomachs hurt, with your head on my shoulder, and with your name carved in on my heart. You peeled my whole onion in one date and nobody has ever been able to do that. That was the moment I knew that you’d be the one. I swear I fell in love with you the moment I saw you and that date made me double down on those feelings. You’re kind, compassionate, and the most stunning woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on. You never fail to make me laugh, you’re always finding new ways to make me fall even more in love with you, and you’re exactly what I picture when I think about my forever person. You’re exactly what I needed in my life; with you, there are no empty spaces. My entire world is complete because of you,”.

You felt tears pool in your eyes as he continued talking, “Joe-,” you sobbed.

“I’m not done, yet,” he laughed. “I’ve thought about this moment every day since that Wedding. The thought of you being the one makes my heart hurt, in a good way obviously. I physically can’t live without you, everything I do is for you. I live for you, I love for you, I burn for you, Y/N. It’s all for you,”.

“He’s perfect. He literally cannot get more perfect. I love him so much,” you thought to yourself.

“I brought you back here to this special spot so I could do this,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a red velvet box. He got down on one knee in front of you, the sobs getting harder as he opened the box and showed you the gorgeous princess-cut diamond ring. 

“Princess Cut. He remembered,” you thought to yourself, tears streaming down your cheeks like a river breaking through a dam, fast and uncontrollable. 

Your heart was about to beat out of your chest, he was actually about to do it. He was about to do the one thing that you had dreamed about for as long as you could remember. “You’re the one, Y/N. You always have been, and you always will be. Will you marry me and let me be the one for you?” he said as he opened the box and looked up into your eyes, his glossy with a few tears.

“You already are, Joe. You’ve always been the one,” you choked out as you cupped his face. “You’ve been the one since the day we met. Yes, I’ll marry you,” you smiled through your sobs.

Joe’s entire soul lit up when you said that, fireworks set off inside his body as he took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto your ring finger. “I love you, Y/N,” he choked out as you crouched down and pulled him in close for a tight hug, tucking his head into your neck and rubbing his neck as you felt a few tears from him drip down onto your shoulder. 

“I love you, Joe. I love you so fucking much,” you smiled as tears slid down your face. You moved his head out from your neck, cupping his adorable face and pulling him in for a kiss, a kiss that quickly became heated. 

“Whew, gotta hit the brakes, we’re still in public,” you giggled as you ran your thumb under his eye. 

“Who cares,” he smiled as he moved his hands down to cup your ass and chased your lips for another kiss, planting a few around your cheek before ending at your lips.  “Wait,” he said as he pulled away. “You didn’t just say ‘yes’ because of the fact that you have to do whatever I say for a whole day, right?”. 

“Are you kidding?” you broke out laughing. “I would say ‘yes’ solely because of that condition even if I didn’t actually want to willingly marry you. I said ‘yes’ because I wanted to, not because I was forced to. However, I wouldn’t complain if I was forced? Being married to you either way sounds like the best thing ever,”. 

“Mmm, I love you,” Joe mumbled as he pulled you in for another kiss. 

“So,” he said as he pulled away and kissed your right cheek. “Fucking,” he said as he kissed your left cheek. “Much,” he said as he kissed your nose. “Mrs. Burrow,” he said as he ended the sentence with another kiss on your soft lips. 

“Ooo, I like that name,” you giggled. 

“Yeah?” he asked with a laugh.

“Mhm, and I love you, Mr. Burrow,” you smiled against his lips. 

One month later - Las Vegas, Nevada 

 “Woo, we had a little too much to drink tonight,” you giggled as you and Joe stumbled into your hotel suite. 

“What do you mean? I feel amaaaazing,” Joe drunkenly laughed as he let go of your hip and set you down on the couch before plopping down next to you. 

“Leave it to us to get fucked up within 5 hours of being in Vegas,” you rolled your eyes while slipping your heels off. 

You and Joe had been in LA for the past week for some of Joe’s offseason training & brand sponsorships and decided to end your visit to the West Coast with a trip to Las Vegas for a few days. You had gotten to your hotel around mid-afternoon and immediately got changed and went out, first attending a classic Vegas magic show but not before you tricked Joe into thinking you bought Magic Mike tickets instead and his reaction was priceless. 

Flashback to earlier 

“What the fuck do you mean you got Magic Mike tickets,” Joe said, his jaw practically on the floor. 

“That means, I got us Magic Mike tickets,” you smirked as you slipped on a sparkly black skintight short dress. “Front Row too,”. 

You could practically see the steam coming off of Joe’s face, his cheeks turning a shade of red you had only seen a few times; times when he got jealous. “Absolutely not,” Joe grumbled as he grabbed your wrist and spun you around so that you were facing him and not the mirror. 

“Why not?” you said with a furtive grin, his grip on your wrist sending chills down your spine. 

“Because,” Joe said while motioning at you with his free hand. 

“Words, baby. I can’t read minds,” you laughed.

“Because I don’t want half-naked men ogling at my sexy fiance right in front of me,” he snarled. “Especially when she’s wearing a dress that’s showing off too much cleavage for public view,”.

“So it’s okay if they do it not in front of you,” you said, perking up and flashing him a full tooth smile. “Because I can go alone,” you shrugged. 

“What? No,” Joe chirped. “I don’t want any half-naked men ogling at you, not in front of me or behind my back,”.

“But Joeee,” you whined. “It’ll be fun,”.

“Please, I cannot believe he actually thinks I want to go to a Magic Mike show,” you thought to yourself. 

“Y/N, no man needs to be giving you a lap dance in front of your to-be husband. No man needs to be giving you a lap dance period,” he said, his voice laced with sternness. 

“What if I want them to,” you said while crossing your arms from displeasure. 

“What,” Joe said, his jaw falling to the ground again as his eyebrows shot up. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. “You can get eye-fucked by every girl that’s in your vicinity and I never say anything. Maybe I want a few guys to do the same to me without your objection,”. 

When the words left your mouth, you saw his jaw clench and the veins on his arm pop, “Oh fuck, he’s mad mad,” you thought to yourself.  

“Am I not enough?” Joe asked, the tension in the room now so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

“Joe, I-” you began to say. 

“No, seriously. Is my attention not enough that you need random sweaty men in skimpy outfits to make you feel good?” he said while crossing his arms at his chest, a pose that signaled that he was upset. “If you want that kind of attention, why are we even engaged? Why are you even with me? Being single and being as gorgeous as you are can get you all of that kind of attention you so clearly want,”. 

Your smile dropped as you could practically feel in your soul how this joke didn’t sit well with him through his voice. Joe was a pretty sensitive guy even if he didn’t show it and this joke clearly made him feel pretty awful because he was saying these things he normally would never say.  

You looked up and walked closer to him, cupping his face with your hands as he refused to look at you in the eyes. “Hey, Hey, look at me,” you softly said as you tilted his head back to look at you. “I’m just kidding, Joey,” you said, your softened eyes telling him that you were being truthful. 

“W- What?” he choked out.

“It’s a prank…a really dumb prank, but a prank. There are no Magic Mike tickets and there are no men that I want eye-fucking me, other than you obviously,” you laughed. “I was just messing with you. I got us the David Copperfield tickets at MGM like we talked about,”. 

“You’re serious?” he hesitantly asked. 

“So serious. I’m sorry I made you feel like you weren’t enough. You are more than enough for me, more than I can honestly handle,” you winked, earning a soft chuckle from him.

“Sorry I got so worked up over that,” he shook his head as he placed his hands on your hips, the pad of his thumb rubbing the sparkly fabric. “I just don’t want anything ruining this, even if it’s some rando Vegas stripper getting too close to you because it’s part of the show,”. 

“Nothing is ruining this,” you said while looping your arms around his neck. “I’m here with you, and only you. My to-be husband, my favorite person in the world, my bestest friend–don’t tell Sophia I said that, and the sexiest person alive. I don’t need random men to make me feel good when I have you,” you said while scratching his scalp. 

“You make me feel good,” you smiled. “In every,” you whispered as you pressed a wet kiss to the corner of his lips. “Single,” you whispered as you planted a few kisses on his cheek. “Way,” you whispered as you pulled away and looked him in the eyes. “Possible,” you whispered before you crashed your lips against his. 

End of flashback 

After a quick makeout sesh, you both went to the magic show and then hit up a few clubs along The Strip, which was the reason you were both completely out of your senses. The alcohol and hint of weed in both your systems were really pushing you both onto a different planet. 

“It was worth it though,” Joe shrugged. “I had the time of my life watching you struggle to drink all the Jello Shots by yourself,”.

“And that is the last time I make a bet against you,” you sighed.

“Let this be a reminder to never make a bet about anything sports-related against an actual athlete,” he slurred as he got up from the couch to walk over to the mini-kitchen and grab you both some water. 

You got up right after him, following him into the kitchen as you started fiddling with the fabric of your dress which was scratching against your skin and making you incredibly uncomfortable. You hopped up onto the counter as Joe opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles, his eyes navigating towards you as you were pulling down the straps of your dress.

“What’re you doing?” he laughed as he set the bottles next to you.

“Trying to get the hell out of this dress,” you whined, an idea popping up into your head when you glanced over at him. You reached out for his hand and pulled him over to you, spreading your legs open to accommodate his large body, allowing him to step in between them. “Maybe you could help me?” you smirked as you pulled him down for a kiss.

His veiny hands settled on your waist as you leaned back, your hands cupping his cheeks as your lips moved against each other in a sensual tango. You both had so much pent-up energy from your activities earlier and going out tonight made it even worse. Joe’s eyes were glued to you the entire time at the clubs you went to, even though you two were stuck to each other’s side the whole time anyway. You just looked so insanely good that the only thoughts in his brain were ones he would get slapped for if he said them in public. 

Everything about you was sending him into overdrive tonight; the way your dress hugged your body in all the right spots, the way your hair bounced each time you laughed, the way your beautiful eyes would look into his, the way your soft pink lips were curled into a smile the entire night, and the way you were stuck to him like glue–reminding everyone in the room that he was all yours. 

His eyes were also glued to the massive diamond ring on your ring finger, a constant reminder that you were all his. 

But that ring being a reminder wasn’t enough. He couldn’t wait to make you all his. 

“Mm, Joe,” you moaned into the kiss, the taste of alcohol lingering on his tongue which made the kiss more intoxicating. “Fuck, I need you,” you whispered against his lips as he pulled away. Those words usually ignited a fire within Joe that couldn’t be burned out until you two ended up naked in bed after spending a good amount of time partaking in certain activities, but this time those words seemingly didn’t do anything. 

“Let’s get married tomorrow night,” Joe blurted out as he looked into your eyes with nothing but a look of raw desire and excitement.

You stared at him like he had two heads, breaking out into a fit of laughter a few seconds later. “Oh my god, you’re funny,” you laughed while pulling him back to you using the collar of his shirt, attaching your lips to his for another kiss before he abruptly pulled away.

“Y/N, I’m not kidding,” he said.

“Joe, you’re drunk. We’re both very drunk,” you giggled as you rubbed his cheek. 

“I know, but I’m sober enough to know that I want to marry you tomorrow,” he said, turning serious as he pulled away from you. 

You hopped off of the counter and stood in front of him, still not being able to take him seriously. “Can we talk about this later? Why don’t we go to bed and finish talking about some other things first,” you said while running your hands up his chest and cupping his big shoulders. 

“Nope. We’re getting married tomorrow night which means we have to abstain from having sex so that the first time we do as a married couple is special,” he said, stepping back from you. 

You think he’s just messing with you like you were earlier, so you decide to play along and tease him to hopefully break his front. Since you were out of your mind drunk, there was no logic available in your brain to stop you. You quickly yank off your dress and are left standing in front of him in your matching bra and black lace panties, his breath hitching in his throat as the tent in his pants grows at the sight of your gorgeous body.

“You sure about that?” you said while raising an eyebrow, knowing that he could never resist putting his hands on you when you were half-naked in front of him. 

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat and said, “I’m sure,”. 

“Okay, but you can’t be so sure when you’re sitting next to me in that big bed…all alone…just the two of us…with nobody in sight that could interrupt us,” you teased while giving him a slow once-over. 

“Fuck, why does she have to make this harder than it already is,” Joe thought to himself, an idea quickly popping up into his head that would solve this problem.

“But that’s just the thing. I won’t be sitting next to you in bed,” he smirked.

“What?” you asked.

“I’m sleeping in the second bedroom,” Joe wiggled his eyebrows and said as he walked around you towards the bedroom. 

Your jaw dropped to the floor, “Joe!” you yelled as you followed him through the large suite. “You wouldn’t dare,”. 

“Ohhh, but I would,” he laughed as he glanced back at you, watching as you quickly matched his pace and walked up next to him. 

“Joe, we haven’t had sex in 2 days,” you complained. “I can’t take it anymore,”.

“And that’s exactly why tomorrow night will be better,” he smirked as he made it to the little hallway where the bedrooms were, opening the door of the second one and flipping around on the doorstep so you couldn’t come in. “Nope. Your room is over there,” he pointed across the little hallway as you bumped into his chest, then backed up because of the stubborn smile on his adorable face.  

“You’re not serious,” you said while placing your hands on your hips.

“I’m very serious,” he slurred and nodded. “We can’t be in the same bed before we get married,”. 

“Fine,” you huffed, seeing that he wasn’t going to budge so you shouldn’t waste your breath trying to get him to cave. Whenever Joe set his mind on doing something, he always did it.

“You’re going to wake up and regret this, Burrow. And stop with the marriage thing. Our wedding is in July, not tomorrow,” you shook your head and turned around to go into the bedroom you’d been sleeping in alone tonight. 

“I loveeee youuuu,” he grinned as you opened the door to the room.

You turned around and couldn’t help but giggle at the scene, “You make me crazy, but I love you too. But also, I’m still mad at you for this,” you said as you turned your smile back into a pout, earning a throaty laugh for him before he closed his door. 

A few minutes later, you were lying on your back and staring up at the ceiling, absolutely bored out of your mind as the ache between your thighs got stronger and stronger and the only person who could fix it refused to come near you. 

“Fuck,” you whispered to yourself as you ran your hands along your neck. You still couldn’t quite understand how Joe could still get you like this years later. Back then, getting turned on by him was a given because you hadn’t gotten a taste of what this was like with him consistently. But now, you had gotten plenty of tastes and he still got you like this. Either you were insatiable as hell or he was just too damn good. Or maybe it was a bit of both. 

Flashback to your 4th date 

“Tonight was really fun,” you smiled over at Joe, who was walking you to the front step of your house. He had taken you out on your 4th date tonight, taking you to glow-in-the-dark Mini Golf and treating you to dinner at a retro diner nearby. Every date with Joe just got better and better; you couldn’t get enough of him. You couldn’t get enough of his contagious laugh, silly stories, and his constant looks of admiration for you. That pull he talked about feeling from you, yeah, you were feeling it for him too. Everything about him made you happy. He was a walking ray of sunshine in your life which was something you desperately needed. 

“I’m glad you had fun,” he smiled as he led you over to your door. “I hope this isn’t getting too boring for you,” he said while scratching his neck. Although everything was going smoothly between the two of you, he couldn’t help the few doubts that crept through. 

“Boring?” you laughed. “Joe, please. Our first date solidified that you are physically incapable of ever boring me. I mean, we were in that restaurant for 4 and a half hours,”. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” he chuckled. “You managed to get my entire life story out of me in those 4 ish hours, even shit I’ve never told anyone,”.

“I peeled your onion pretty quickly, didn’t I?” you smiled as you played with the rings on your fingers. “I didn’t even cry,”.

Joe’s heart skipped a beat and his eyes instantly moved from the ground to your eyes. “Onion? Peeling my onion? She compares people to onions too? Like me?” Joe thought to himself. 

“You- you compare people to onions too?” he swallowed. 

“Yeah,” you giggled. “I know it’s silly, but people are like onions just less smelly–they both have layers. There is more to what is seen on the surface, you know? Like each layer represents different parts of your personality,  experiences, emotions, and thoughts. As you get to know someone better, you peel back these layers, discovering deeper and more complex parts about them,” you smiled. “But doing so can also make you cry, because well, onions can make you cry just like people can,”.

“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted,” Joe whispered out loud, his cheeks turning red once he realized he just said that to you. 

“….I am?” you blushed as you rocked back and forth on your feet.

“I..uh…yeah,” he stuttered, feeling a spark inside of his heart. “I compare people to onions too but I’ve never met anyone who does the same,” he nervously smiled, hoping that he didn’t just weird you out by saying you were everything he’s ever wanted—even though it was 100% truthful. 

“Look at us being on the same wavelength,” you smiled as you grabbed his hand and entwined your fingers. 

“That’s really cool,” he shyly smiled, the blush on his cheeks now matching the blush on yours and his eyes staring deeply into yours as you held onto his hand. You both continued to stare at each other in silence, not exactly sure why but it felt right. You didn’t want to let go of his hand and quite frankly, you didn’t want to let go of him either. Tonight was amazing, and you didn’t want it to end. You didn’t want him to leave. 

“I should get going,” Joe said as he broke eye contact and looked down at his watch, letting go of your hand which startled you. 

“Or you could stay?” You quickly said as you looked back up at him with hopeful eyes. You and Joe hadn’t spent the night together yet so this would be the first time you’d ever stayed over at each other's house. The first time it would be just the two of you, together, in a quiet house, with a bed, for hours. 

Specifically with a bed. 

You’d be lying if you said there wasn’t a single unholy thought in your head about the man standing in front of you. You had managed to keep it PG between you both—except for the occasional wandering hands during a little make-out session—but you wanted nothing more than for him to touch you everywhere, to kiss you everywhere, and to make you feel like the most special girl on the planet. 

You wanted Joe so bad. You tried to fight it when you first met, but you couldn’t stay away and his extraordinary personality made it even harder. He was the epitome of sexiness, the textbook definition of perfection. From his gorgeous dirty blonde curls to his adorable ski slope nose, to his killer jawline, down to his plump pink lips, and then to his crafted-from-gold chest that you wanted to run your fingers along, he was the hottest man you’d ever come across. And he was all yours. 

But were you all his? Did he want you as bad as you wanted him? 

“Are you sure?” Joe said while anxiously playing with his wristbands. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. “I had a lot of fun tonight and I don’t want it to end. We could go inside and watch a movie or something,” you said while turning around to unlock the door. “If you want to, obviously,”.

“I’d love to,” Joe contently sighed, a feeling of excitement sparking inside of him as he followed you inside your house.  

It was just the two of you, in this house, alone, at night. Nothing bad could happen, right? 

But what if you wanted something bad to happen? 

What if you both wanted something bad to happen? 

A half-hour passed by and you and Joe were sitting on your couch, watching “The Proposal”. You would think since you put on a classic & incredibly sweet romantic comedy, you and Joe would be curled up in each other's arms and glued to each other as you laughed your hearts out. 

But you weren’t.

Instead, you two were awkwardly sitting next to each other with none of your body parts touching each other and with both of your hearts beating out of your chests because of how nervous you felt. 

By saying that you both kept your relationship PG so far, you really meant PG. Yeah, you two kissed a lot and even had a few spicy make-outs, but oddly enough—cuddling wasn’t common. Hell, you barely even cuddled with each other. Cuddling was so intimate and special, the feeling of your bodies pressed against each other out of pure love and comfort was unmatchable.

That’s why you both are so nervous right now. This was a prime cuddle moment. You wanted to scooch over and lay your head down on his chest while he wrapped his arm around your waist, but you were too scared he wouldn’t want to. How could you go there if you couldn’t even cuddle him without getting anxious and nervous? The fact that you even wanted to cuddle with him was enough to scare you. Since when did you get so comfy around a guy so quickly? 

“Snap out of it, Y/N. Stop getting in your head over this,” you thought to yourself. 

Joe was nervous because you made him nervous. He’d been pretty vocal about how badly he wanted you—your first meeting clearly giving that away—and those feelings were heightened right now because of the situation you were in. You were coming off of a really good date night and were all alone in your house; the situation couldn’t be more perfect for things to happen. Things Joe literally spent hours thinking about. 

He was so down bad for you and he hadn’t even gotten a full taste of what you had to offer. It was insane. “Come on, Joe. Pull her over. Why are you sitting like you don’t know each other? She’s literally made out with you in your lap so why are you being so awkward?” he thought to himself. “Wake the fuck up, Joe. This is your girl,”. 

“My girl,” he mumbled under his breath, causing you to look over at him.

“Did you say something?” you breathed out, your palms getting sweaty as your brain wouldn’t shut up about how awkward this situation was.

“Hm? Oh…no,” Joe said, his cheeks turning red again once he realized he said that out loud. “I’m gonna go get a glass of water, you want one?” He quickly changed the subject and got up.

“Oh, I’m good,” you swallowed, letting out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in once he walked around the couch and back to the kitchen. 

“A glass of water. That’s what I need,” Joe thought to himself as he grabbed a glass from your cabinet and poured himself some water, looking up a few times and seeing you laughing adorably on the couch in front of him. “When you go back, sit down closer to her. Put your arm around her, girls love that,” Joe’s subconscious said.

Joe took a final sip of the icy cold water—a much needed refresher—before he walked back over to the couch, your eyes following him as he sat down next to you. As he sat down closer to you. 

You froze as you felt his arm touching your arm, and then suddenly felt him move his arm and place it around your shoulder, then felt him pull you into his warm chest. “Oh my god,” you thought to yourself as you heard his heartbeat through his chest. “Wait, is he nervous too?”.

You stayed quiet and frozen for a few seconds before literally melting against him. The feeling of his thumb rubbing your skin and his head leaning against yours was something you craved, and now you finally had it. You felt like a piece of melting chocolate on a warm tongue. 

Joe smiled as he felt you relax against him, planting a sweet kiss on your forehead as you got comfy on him. This calmed all of his doubts and nerves, you felt comfortable with him and that’s all that mattered. 

“This is nice,” you smiled up at him a few moments later, showing your appreciation for his actions. 

“It’s very nice,” Joe chuckled, his laugh vibrating through your body. “I’m glad you feel comfortable around me, I got a bit nervous there,”.

“Feel my palms, Joey. They’re sweaty as hell. I feel nervous around you,” you giggled.

“Nervous? Why are you nervous?” He questioned.

“…Because,” you said while taking a deep breath and turning serious. “I’ve never felt this way about a guy before. Especially this fast,”.

“Really?” He said while looking down at you.

“Yeahhhh,” you sighed. “It takes me a minute to get comfortable around a guy like this. I usually have all my walls up early on because I’m scared that if I don’t, they’ll see the most vulnerable parts of me and then they’ll know exactly what my achilles heel is. I’ve made the stupid mistake of letting my walls down early on a few times, and that’s exactly what happened. They used it against me, and that really fucked me up for a while,”.

Joe's heart broke when he saw your eyes slowly getting glossier as you talked. “I’m- I’m sorry,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“No, don’t be,” you smiled up at him. “You haven’t done anything wrong and that’s why I’m nervous. Usually by now, a guy does something that ticks me off and leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But you? You haven’t done a single thing,” you beamed. 

“So that’s good?” he nervously asked

“It’s great,” you said while leaning up to plant a big kiss on his lips. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I don’t feel the need to put my walls up. I have really, really strong feelings about you. I haven’t even known you for that long, but I know you won’t ever do anything to hurt me,”. 

He wouldn’t. Joe would never do anything to hurt you, never in a million years. He wouldn’t hurt someone that he loved. 

Yeah, he loved you. Was it too early to say it? Absolutely. But he couldn’t help the powerful feelings he felt about you. He’d never fell this fast and hard for a girl, you were clearly unique. “I wouldn’t ever dream of hurting someone so precious and extraordinary,” Joe smiled as he pecked your lips. 

“I knew I liked you for a reason,” you smiled as you buried your face in his chest, his arm tightly wrapping around your waist, his hand slipping a little under your shirt. The feeling of his warm hand against your bare skin sends jolts of electricity throughout your body. 

“Tell me about your exes. I want to know what things they did that ticked you off early on so I know what not to do,” Joe said while he squeezed the soft plush skin of your waist. 

“I don’t think you’ll make the same mistakes they did, trust me. But okay, if you really want to know I won’t stop you,” you laughed. You spent a few minutes ranting to Joe about your exes, his jaw-dropping each time you said something they did—each ex progressively getting worse each time. 

“Where are you finding these guys? Like this is insane,” he said with a wide-eyed stare. 

“Tell me about it,” you rolled your eyes. “And my most recent ex, please,” you scoffed. “You can’t be an incompetent boyfriend and be bad in bed at the same time,”. 

“No way,” Joe gasped.

“Mhmmm. Only cared about getting himself off; never once thought about me and how I felt. I should’ve known, if you can’t take care of a girl in bed then you definitely can’t take care of a girl in a relationship,” you shook your head.

“I’d take care of you,” Joe mumbled under his breath, but just loud enough for you to hear.

“You would?” you smirked as you looked up and said, a gush of wetness instantly pooling at your core. 

“Did I seriously say that out loud AGAIN? Can I not keep anything in my head?” Joe thought to himself. 

He stayed quiet for a few seconds before speaking up, “Yeah, I would,” he boldly said. “Fuck it. This is my girl. She should know how I feel about her straight up, no beating around the bush,”.

You felt a pang of arousal shoot up your body, his alluring words waking up another side of you that you hadn’t seen in a while. “Really?” you asked as you shifted next to him, slowly moving up and placing your legs on each side of him, settling down in his lap. His hands moved down to cup your thighs as you moved his hair out of his eyes, your face just inches from his.

“Yeah,” he nodded as his eyes darkened with lust. “I don’t think I’ll have any issue getting you off before I get off,”.

You felt your breathing stop for a second, “Fuck,” you thought to yourself. “I need him, bad,”. Any and all nervousness and anxiety left your brain at this moment. You couldn’t care less about things that happened in your previous relationships, all you wanted to focus on was Joe. “You sound so sure,” you whispered as you leaned down and peppered kisses along his jaw, his hands moving to your back but slowly inching down to your ass.

“Because I am. I’ll make you scream my name so loudly that you’ll forget about all those other guys. I’ll be the only thing you remember,” he whispered into your ear, his voice thick with lust. 

A switch turned on when he said that and you immediately lifted your head from his jaw and crashed your lips down onto his, your hands cupping his cheeks as you pushed yourself closer to him, his lips fighting for dominance against yours as you ran your hands along his thick chest. 

You wanted him so badly. 

His lips were so addictive, the way they were so soft just felt like you were kissing a cloud. He moved his hands back up to your waist, his fingers tugging on the fabric of your t-shirt, “Bedroom?” he breathlessly asked you as he pulled away.

“Yes,” you panted as he quickly pulled your face back to his and got up from the couch, your legs wrapping tightly around his while he carried you up to your room. 

Once you got inside, he gently threw you down on the bed before ripping his clothes off, both of you moving with a sense of urgency.  When he was completely bare in front of you, that’s when you truly lost it. Your eyes traveled along his body, noticing each and every vein that you would so easily travel along, noticing every muscle and every spot that you deemed kissable. Your eyes then dipped down to the V in his abdomen, your breath stopping again when you saw his prominent erection, the tip of his cock pooling with precum.

“Fuck me. Literally and figuratively,” you thought to yourself. You looked back up at him and ripped your shirt and shorts off, quickly making yourself bare just like he was. Normally, you’d feel insecure and shy with a guy when it got to this point. But with Joe, all you felt was comfort and confidence, it was amazing. 

Joe looked down at you, taking in every part of your body for the first time; your perfect thighs, your soft belly, your perfect & gorgeous breasts. You were all his, and you were so beautiful. You felt a dip in the bed as he moved on top of you, “You’re gorgeous, Y/N,” he whispered as he peppered kisses along your chest. “So insanely gorgeous,”.

“Joe, I need you,” you whispered as you felt your core throb and your body relax underneath him. 

“Before we actually, you know, do it..you’re good, right? I don’t want you to feel any pressure or stress to do anything if you don’t really want to,” Joe said while tucking your hair behind your ear. 

You grabbed his hand and shoved it down to your core, his eyes looking down as you ran his fingers through your wetness. “You feel that? That’s all for you, Joe,” you blubbered, the way his fingers were sliding along your folds was teasing yet so satisfying. “Please, fuck me. Make me forget about them,” you said while intensely staring into his eyes, his eyes turning a shade of blue you’d never seen before. 

You wanted this just as bad as he did and he wanted this just as bad as you did. 

He leaned down and captured your lips in another heated kiss before sliding his hand up your belly to cup your breast, playing with the sensitive bud at the same time as he lined himself up with your dripping core and thrusted all the way into you, wasting no second to get straight to it. The intensity of the first thrust caught you completely off guard, the feeling of fullness and being stretched out by him for the first time making you abruptly pull away and let out a throaty moan. “Oh, fuck,” you moaned as he set a relentless pace. “Fuck, Joe,”.

“Fuck,” he whimpered above you, his hair falling down and acting as a curtain. “Jesus, you feel so good,” he groaned as the warm feeling of your walls felt like a tight hug around his cock. 

You placed your hands on his back, digging your nails into his muscular body as he continued to fuck you in the most delicious way possible; each thrust laced with need and infatuation. He grabbed your leg, cupping the back of your knee and pushing it up which opened you up even more, allowing him to hit new spots as he explored you in the most intimate way imaginable. “Does it feel…good,” Joe wailed as he pounded into your wet heat.

“It feels amazing,” you whimpered while throwing your head to the side, his lips instantly attacking your neck with little nips and sucks. The feeling of him inside you was sending electricity throughout your body, he was so good at this. Each thrust hit the right spot inside your core, each kiss landed on the right spot, and each word that left his mouth made you lose any and all control you had. He definitely was better than your exes, and he was definitely taking care of you. 

“F- fuck, Joe. P- please, fuck me forever,” the filthy words leaving your mouth surprised both you and Joe. 

“You’re so needy, baby,” he smirked as he peppered kisses along your jaw. “Were they that bad?” he asked, referring to your exes.

“Mmph,” you whimpered as you moved your head back to look at him. “S- so bad,” you moaned as his thick cock was grazing your g-spot. “Oh, right there,” you practically screamed. 

“What? Right here?” he smirked as he gave you an extra hard thrust, this one sending you up the bed.

“Joe,” you moaned again as your back arched off the bed, but he pushed you back down with his hand and continued to snap his hips into you. He dropped your leg and moved his hand to your abdomen, rubbing the soft skin of your belly and gently pushing down as he inched towards your breasts. He leaned down and took your nipple in his mouth, his tongue swirling around the sensitive peak as you threaded your hands through his hair. 

You lost track of the amount of times you moaned his name just like how you lost track of how much time had passed. There were no real thoughts in your head, all you could think about was how good this felt and how it was all because of Joe. Your chemistry was insane. It was like pure fire between you both.

You felt your arousal building in your stomach as he continued to send you over the edge, both of you moving with pure lust and desire. “You’re doing so well, Y/N…that’s it,” he whimpered as he dropped his head to the crook of your neck. “Fuck, you’re perfect,” he moaned.

You couldn’t help but smile, he was praising you and making you feel good at the same time. He was truly the perfect guy; he lacked in no area. Each time your name fell from his lips, you found yourself yearning for more and more. You deserved this, you deserved him, his love, his touch, his everything. 

“Joe, I’m so close,” you moaned, your chest heaving as the band in your stomach tightened with each thrust, the room filling with sounds of your pleasure and the wetness below. 

“Mmph, me too,” he whimpered, trying to hold back his release because he wanted to make sure that you felt your high first, just as how it should be. 

You looked down and saw his thick shaft moving in and out of your core, that sight alone made you let go. “Oh- oh,” you croaked as you felt him lift his head and move his hand down to your clit. 

“Come on, baby,” he panted as his fingers toyed with your sensitive clit. “Come for me,” he said as he leaned down to kiss you again. You lifted your legs and wrapped them around his waist, pulling his head closer to you at the same time as you moaned into the kiss. Your hips started jerking and bucking up into him, your body starting to tremble under him as you felt your walls spasm and contract around his cock. 

“Joe!” you screamed against his lips after one well-placed thrust, the tension snapping as you came around his cock. You were seeing stars at this point as your release soaked both your lower halves, Joe feeling his cock twitch inside of you. Your reaction, your rolling eyes, and the sounds leaving your lips were pushing him straight toward the finish line. 

“My girl…that’s my girl…,” he rasped as his hips stuttered and his thrusts became erratic, his high practically knocking at the door. “You’re so fucking hot,” he groaned as he watched you feel your high below him, your breathy moans that were filling the room being one of the greatest and prettiest things he had ever heard.

You let out a few more sounds of pleasure as you felt shockwaves throughout your body from your intense orgasm, your body fully limp as he dropped his head and bit down on your shoulder. “Oh, fuck..Y/N,” he moaned as he felt the band in his stomach tighten. He wanted to let go so bad, but he wasn’t going to make this “just good enough” for you. He was going to make this better than anything you’d ever felt before. 

“F- fuck, Joe,” you whispered, coming down from your high just to feel another one building as you felt your walls tightening around his cock again. Before you knew it, his hands were on your waist and he flipped you over so that you were on top. 

“W- what?” you panted as you placed your hands on his beautifully crafted chest, his cock still seated deeply inside of you. Your brain was so fogged up with arousal that you couldn’t comprehend what was going on. 

“Fuck, keep going,” he whimpered, his hands grabbing your waist again as you continued to stare down at him–a frisky grin appearing on your face as you leaned down to give him a passion-filled kiss. 

“You’re the best,” you whispered as you got back up, your hips starting to rock back and forth against his. He looked so right underneath you with his tousled curls and open mouth that was repeating your name over and over, this was meant to happen. Not only was your sexual chemistry on fire, but your emotional chemistry was too. He knew exactly what you wanted, how you wanted it, and knew how to give it to you without you having to say a single thing to him. 

He reached up to cup your breast with one hand, the pad of his thumb rubbing your nipple as you closed your eyes and quickened your pace against him, his arousal just begging to be released. The restraint he had was insane and quite frankly, it was killing him. But this was about you, not him.

“Just like that,” he whimpered, bucking his hips up into your core slowly, helping you reach your second orgasm faster. 

“Joe, I can’t…it’s too- you’re too…,” you said while letting out a shaky breath, this time your climax feeling stronger than the previous one. 

“Yes, you can,” he said as he slid his hand up your back, pushing you down to him and cupping the nape of your neck. “I’m right here,” he softly said against your lips.

“J- Joe,” you whimpered as you hid your face in his neck, his hips snapping into yours as you felt your thighs starting to burn.

“You make me crazy, Y/N,” he groaned as he moved his hand back down to your clit, his voice laced with pure need. “You make me so fucking crazy,”.

“Oh, Joe,” you moaned into his ear, placing a hand on the side of his neck as you opened your mouth to bite his earlobe. A thin layer of sweat was forming on both of you as your movements became more frantic like you were both chasing something you couldn’t get enough of. It was like an insatiable desire for more.

Joe started rubbing circles around your clit, your body reacting with a slight tremble as jolts of pleasure started vibrating through it. Your breathing was getting deeper and deeper and a few breathless seconds later, you felt him pinch your sensitive bud which ultimately set off your release. 

“Joe!” you screamed again as the strength of your orgasm made you sit back up, your movements stilling as you came around his still-moving cock again. “Oh my fucking god. You are not real,” you whimpered while your high washed over you.

“F- fuck. I’m,” Joe choked out, not being able to hold it in any longer. 

You looked down through your messy hair that was falling in front of your eyes and saw his face—specifically his scrunched up nose—and knew that now it was your turn to make him feel good. 

Although you were about two seconds away from passing out and still dealing with the aftershocks of your second high, you leaned down and smashed your lips against his while cupping his face, allowing him to do whatever he needed to feel as good as you did right now. A few more hip snaps later, he emptied himself inside of you—endless ropes of his warm cum filling your already—soaked core. This was the first time you’d ever felt him like this, and it was everything you’d dreamed of and more. Joe was everything you dreamed of and more.

A few minutes later, your body was lethargic as you lay on top of him, his arms tightly wrapped around your tired frame. You felt his hand rubbing the back of your head and playing with the strands of your hair, words of love and affection filling your ears as he went on and on about how perfect you were. 

Joe was truly the man of your dreams. Not only did he do what your ex couldn’t do, he did it twice, and he did it better than anyone else could. All while making you feel safe, comfortable, and in control. He was truly perfect for you in every way possible, emotionally and physically. 

“So?” Joe spoke up, his hand now rubbing slow circles around your back. “How was it?”.

You shifted your head on his chest to look up at him, “Are you god? I think I’ve been sent to heaven,” you giggled. 

“You liked it?” He softly asked again, a shy smile on his face.

“I loved it,” you grinned as you leaned up to peck his lips. “I loved all of it. You’re amazing,”. 

“No, you’re amazing. Seriously. I was already obsessed with you and your personality, but now I’m also obsessed with your body. You’re insanely beautiful and insanely sexy,” he blushed. 

“Awww, stop,” you blushed while patting his bare chest, pressing a few kisses along his pec. 

“Do you still remember their names?” Joe smirked, referring to how he told you he’d make you scream his name so loudly that you’d forget the others. 

Of course, you didn’t, Joe made sure you didn’t. He worshiped your body tonight and his name left your lips like you were chanting a sacred prayer. He was unlike anyone you’d ever been with before, he was special. 

“Whose names?” you grinned up at him. “I only know one name,” you added as you scooted up so that you were by his ear. 

“What name?” Joe said while biting his swollen bottom lip. 

“Joe,” you whispered into his ear, the sultry tone of your voice making Joe instantly pull you right back underneath the covers.

“Joeeee,” you giggled as he flipped you over and the white covers created a cocoon around you two. 

“What?” he grinned down at you. “You thought I was done?”.

“Maybe,” you teasingly shrugged. 

“Well, I’m not. That was just the beginning,” he winked as he leaned down and peppered wet kisses down your abdomen, his head eventually disappearing in between your thighs. 

You looked back up, not knowing what to expect since seemingly you were doing everything with him in one night—not that you were complaining. You hadn’t even mentally prepared yourself for him to go down on you, this position was so incredibly intimate and raw. 

But he didn’t give you a chance to overthink because suddenly, you felt his warm mouth latch onto your swollen clit and a finger thrust into your core, another shock of pleasure vibrating through your body. “Joe,” you moaned loudly, your brain turning off as he threw your leg over his shoulder. The only coherent thought in your head was that he was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to you. 

End of flashback 

“Holy fuck,” you whispered to yourself as you snapped back to the present. The spicy memory made you feel even more needier than before and you had absolutely no idea what to do. You knew he wasn’t going to budge but you definitely were not going to be able to fall asleep like this. “Of course, the universe gave me the sexiest guy known to mankind,” you grumbled as you stuffed your face in your hands, “I can’t stand being away from him,”. You still couldn’t quite believe that he was all yours and would be forever. He was truly one of the most special people you’d ever met in your life and he changed your world in a way you thought was impossible. You were going to marry him in a few short months (or tomorrow based on Joe’s silly drunken thoughts that he would most likely forget about) and get to spend the rest of your life with him. You couldn’t ask for anything better, your life was perfect. 

You sat on the bed for a few more minutes, thinking of a way to cool yourself down because you could just feel your body getting hotter and hotter as the minutes passed by. All you could think about was Joe.

Your eyes traveled around the room, looking for anything that could calm you down. There was a bottle of wine, but that would just make your hormones skyrocket more than they already were since you were still as drunk as ever from earlier. There was Joe’s stash of edibles, but that would probably make you even more horny. You let out a shaky breath as your eyes moved to the bathroom, an obvious reliever right in front of you the whole time.

“Cold shower, obviously,” you sighed as you quickly got up and walked into the bathroom. 

Meanwhile, Joe was struggling too. Even though it was his idea, it wasn’t being executed successfully. The tent in his pants and the need to feel your lips around him were strong. He refused to get off on his own, so now he was stuck sitting on the bed and staring up at the blank ceiling, wondering if he should cave and go back to your shared room and finish what you started.

“Nope. Not happening,” Joe said as he sat up and shook his head. “I’m marrying her tomorrow, I can wait,” he assured himself.   

Joe was so serious about marrying you tomorrow even if you didn’t believe him, he could wait any longer to fully make you his even though you had only been engaged for a month. He didn’t care that it was going to happen in Vegas or that no family would be here. It would be much more special and intimate if it was just the two of you and truthfully, that was all he wanted. He was down for a big ceremony and party, but as someone who didn’t enjoy big crowds and all eyes being on him (even though he played football in front of 50,000+ fans every week), he would rather do something like this. Plus, something about getting married secretly in Las Vegas at a small chapel was giving him an adrenaline rush; it sounded like much more fun than standing in a big hall in front of hundreds of people who had their eyes glued on him. This way, it was just the two of you.  

You were his dream girl and were finally about to be his forever girl. He couldn’t wait to stand across from his girl at the altar and recite the vows, say the things he needed to say and kiss his wife for the first time. 

He laid back down on the bed, smiling as he imagined what your married life would look like. First, he needed to plan your honeymoon with you. You both had 2 places in mind–Porotifno, Italy, and St. Barths–and since you were having 2 weddings you’d also have 2 honeymoons which meant you could go to both places instead of having to pick one. He couldn’t wait to travel with you more, especially around the world now that he had moved on from his whole ‘I hate traveling’ shtick. There was a whole lot of world out there to see and he couldn’t have asked for a better person to see it with him. Another thing he couldn’t wait to do with you was have kids. Although that was still a few years down the road, he was so excited to watch you grow his child inside your belly. He was so excited to grow his family with you. 

Another thing he was looking forward to was all of your ‘firsts’ as a married couple. The first time you have sex as a married couple, your first vacation, your first big purchase together, your first husband/wife date, your first anniversary, your first Christmas, your first Valentine’s Day, and your first baby together. 

It was all he could think about as he drifted off to sleep with a huge smile plastered on his face. He thought his life up until he met you had been perfect and like a dream–a solid college football career and successful NFL career plus the fame and attention that came with it–but his future with you was even more promising and fulfilling than all of it. 

You were more fulfilling than anything he had in his life. 

The Next Night – STK Steakhouse – Las Vegas, Nevada 

“Ooo, Joe you have to try this Crab Cake,” you chewed as you covered your mouth and handed him a crab cake. “I feel like I’m eating gold right now,”.

“Considering this is one of the most expensive and highly rated restaurants in Vegas, I would expect no less,” he smiled as he took the crab cake and took a big bite, a groan leaving his lips as the bundle of flavors exploded in his mouth. “Holy shit, this is actually amazing,”. 

“I told you,” you giggled while you bumped his leg with yours, then reached for your wine and took a small sip to wash down your food as you were wrapping up dinner. He had brought you out on a date tonight to one of the best restaurants in Vegas, even going so far as renting a private room for you both so you could enjoy the night in private. You weren’t exactly sure why since eating in public was never an issue before, but you decided to let it go. 

The day had passed by pretty quickly up until now as you both kept yourselves busy by relaxing by the pool together and soaking up the sun, Joe didn’t mention his marriage idea at all the entire time which wasn’t surprising for you. You knew that was just one of his drunken words that had no real meaning behind them, so him forgetting about what he said last night wasn’t a big deal. Although it was weird he wasn’t confused when he woke up in a different bedroom in the morning since he seemingly forgot the marriage talk which is how he ended up in that room because of how drunk he was, but you also let that go. 

“You think we’re all done? Or did you want to stay for a little longer,” Joe asked, praying you said that you were good to go so he wouldn’t be late for the time he booked your wedding for. 

Yeah, wedding. 

He didn’t forget. He just decided to keep quiet the whole day so that this moment would be way more memorable. While you were taking a dip in the pool, he found a little classic Vegas chapel down the street from the restaurant he was taking you for dinner and booked a little private ceremony for tonight. All while you were blissfully unaware that this was your last few hours as his fiancee. 

“Uhh, I think so,” you nodded as you looked around. “I’m stuffed and probably would throw up if we ordered dessert,” you laughed. 

“Okay, cool,” he nodded, rubbing his sweaty palms on his thighs as he took a deep breath.

“But don’t you think it’s a little early to head back? Or did you have something else planned for our little date night since you think absolutely everything through ahead of time,” you said while putting your elbows on the table resting your chin on your knuckles, and looking at him with pure love.

“We’re not heading back,” Joe said matter-of-factly.

“Where are we going then?” you said while raising an eyebrow. 

Joe let out a little laugh as a song lyric from The Dixie Cups entered his head, “Because we're, going to the chapel, and we're gonna get married,” he sing-songed while moving his shoulders back and forth as he pretended to dance around. 

You stared at him for a few seconds, your face not changing as you expected him to say he was just kidding since you two were not that drunk like you were last night for him to be talking like this. 

“W- wait, you’re serious?” you said as you sat up after he didn’t say anything else.

“Run away with me, Y/N,” Joe blurted out as he lost the lighthearted tone in his voice and became serious. “Marry me, right here, right now,”.

Your heart was pounding in your chest and a wave of reality hit you like a brick. He wanted to marry you right now. Like right now. 

“I know it’s not what we planned, but I can’t wait anymore. I know you’re the one and I need to make it officially official, the ring is a great reminder but I want to make you the one for real,” he said as he grabbed your hand, his thumb grazing over your engagement ring. “I booked us a time slot at that chapel down the street. We can go right now, just say the word,”.

You felt your eyes well with tears, he was serious about it. You knew that you were getting married to him now that you were engaged, but the fact that it was this close to actually happening was making your heart stop. You didn’t realize you were really crying until you felt his thumb wiping the falling tears. 

“I didn’t mean to make you cry, baby,” he softly said while cupping your cheek. “If this is too much too fast, I can cancel. I can wait,” he lied. He couldn’t wait, who was he kidding? But if this was too much for you, he could make himself wait. He would do anything for you. 

“I- I thought you were drunk last night and that’s why you said that,” you sniffled. 

“Drunken words are sober thoughts,” he smiled. “I was being serious,”. 

“Y- you really want to marry me right now?” you said while meeting his gentle eyes.

“I’ve never wanted to do something so bad in my entire life,” he said.

“But what about our friends and family? Shouldn’t we wait for our parents? Shouldn’t we talk to them?” you said while placing a hand on top of his.

“Actually, I want it to just be you and me as cliche as it sounds. It’s always been you and me and it’s always going to be you and me, Y/N. You are the most important person in the world to me, I just need you there. I want this moment just for us,” he said while picking up your hand and planting a gentle kiss on it. “We can still have our big wedding in July with everyone like we thought about, but I want this to just be for us. But only if you want that too,” he said while looking down at your ring.

You stayed silent while you thought over it, “He’s thought it all through. He’s thought everything through from the first time we met, to our first date, to our first time, to the proposal, and now this. Whenever Joe set his mind on doing something, he always did it. Whether that was convincing me to go out with him or wanting to make me his forever, he did it. He wanted this with me. He’s always wanted this with me,”. 

“Okay,” you breathed out, a thrill shooting up your spine at the thought of marrying Joe in secret.  

“What?” Joe said while he looked back up.

“Okay,” you smiled again. “I don’t care how we get married, Joey. I’ll marry you in secret, I’ll marry you in front of a thousand people, I’ll marry you on top of the Empire State Building, I’ll marry you drunk, high, naked, you name it. I’ll run away with you,”.

“You’re serious?” Joe asked, his body perking up. “Because if this is a joke, it’s not funny…like I will not forgive you if this is a jo-....,”.

“I’m serious, Joe,” you said as you interrupted his nervous rambling. “Let’s go get married,” you said while pulling his head closer to yours by the nape of his neck. 

Joe bit his bottom lip as a blush grew on his face, “I love you, Y/N. You have no idea how happy you make me,” he said while he rested his forehead against yours.

“I love you endlessly, Joe,” you smiled before you tilted your head to press an expressive kiss to his lips. 

“Let’s go get married,” you said against his lips when you pulled away. 

“Let’s go get married,” he softly chuckled, quickly sliding out of the booth and pulling you out with him, his hand holding onto yours tightly. 

He pulled you out of the private room with speed, both of you flying through the crowded dining room while you quickly dodged the waiters and servers. “Joe,” you laughed. “Slow down,”.

“Nope. I have to get us there before you change your mind,” he joked while he glanced back at you.

“Well if that’s the case, then the clock is ticking, Burrow,” you teased as you made it to the front door of the restaurant. 

“Fuck, I didn’t call an Uber,” he realized as he stopped you both before you walked out onto the street. 

“You said it’s down the street right? We can walk,��� you suggested. 

“Are you sure? Won’t your feet hurt?” he asked as he inspected your burgundy heel boots. 

“Probably, but it’ll all be worth it in the end,” you said while opening the door and pulling him out onto the street, the fresh breeze taking all of your worries away.

“Okay,” he laughed, the adorable crinkles around his eyes showing up as he tightly held onto your hand again and pulled you down the street. You felt like it was the early days in your relationship again with the way you were sneaking around. In the past, it was sneaking around together to keep your relationship on the low for a little, but now it was sneaking around to get married without anyone knowing. It’s funny how everything had changed in the blink of a crinkling eye.

You were only a few more blocks away from the little chapel before you stopped in your tracks, Joe feeling a tug on his hand and looking back at you. “What’s wrong?”.

“I don’t have a white dress on,” you said while looking down at your black mini-dress. “I can’t get married without a white dress,”.

“Well, I don’t think we’re going to have time to go dress shopping,” Joe laughed. 

“Mmm,” you hummed while looking around the street. “Oh, look,” you said while pointing over at the boutique across the street. “I could find a basic white mini dress in there,” you looked over at him and said. 

Joe looked down at his watch, seeing that you had a few minutes to spare. “I think we have time,”. 

“Okay, good,” you breathed out. “I’ll go, you stay here,”.

“Okay,” he eagerly nodded, feeling you let go of his hand before quickly walking across the street, your sense of urgency making him feel like he was on top of the world. You really wanted this just as bad as he did. 

When you walked into the store, you quickly glanced around to spot a white dress, the store owner noticed your frantic state and spoke up. “Can I help you, young lady?” she asked. 

“Yes, actually,” you said while walking over to the front desk. “I need a white dress,”. 

Her eyes landed on the massive rock on your ringer finger, then broke out into a huge fit of laughter after you said that. “Ohhhh, Stacy owes me $20,” she laughed.

“Excuse me?” you questioned her strange behavior.

“Oh, sorry sweetie. It’s just comical,” she said while getting up and motioning for you to follow her.

“What’s funny?” you asked as you followed her to the back of the store, your eyes widening once you got closer to the wall of white mini-dresses, white heels, and veils. “Holy shit,” you mumbled. 

“You’re surprised? You can’t expect a boutique to be this close to the little chapel and not be stocked up with wedding wear,” she laughed. “You aren’t the first girl to run in here in search of a white dress,”. 

“Clearly,” you said as you walked closer to the display, your eyes looking over the variety of dresses and heels. 

“Stacy, my employee, owes me $20 because she said we weren’t going to get a bride-to-be in the store today,” she said.

“And then I walked in,” you blushed as your eyes instantly landed on the perfect, simple yet glamorous, white mini dress. 

“You sure did,” she smiled as she walked over next to you. “You like this one?” she asked after she saw the spark in your eyes.

“I love it,” you whispered. 

“Oh, here honey,” she said as she spotted a pair of heels that went with the dress. “These go great together,”. 

You looked over at the beautiful pair of white jeweled heels which had flimsy soft white bows tied to the clasps. “This is perfect,” you smiled over at her. 

“Oh my goodness, it has a matching veil too!” she clapped her hands together and grinned before she brought over a delicate shoulder-length veil. 

“Thank you, so so so much,” you smiled as you grabbed the simple yet flawless veil. 

“My pleasure,” she nodded. “Now hurry, let’s get you checked out so that the groom isn’t kept waiting too long,” she laughed as you scurried back over to the front desk. 

“Good idea,” you giggled. “I think if I made him wait any longer, he’d drag me out of the store himself,”.

“Tell me about him,” she said while she quickly started scanning everything. 

“Where do I even start,” you grinned as you looked out the store window and saw Joe rocking back and forth on his feet, the biggest smile you had ever seen on his face.

“He’s my everything. My whole world in the form of a person. He’s the biggest sweetheart I’ve ever met and has shown me a kind of love I never thought I’d ever have. I don’t think I really knew what love felt like until I met Joe. I honestly don’t think I even knew what truly living life felt like before I met him. He keeps me on my toes, acts like my safety net when things get too chaotic, and is the one thing I physically can’t live without,” you blushed as you looked back over at the lady, who was holding a bag with all your things in it. “Oh, you’re fast with it,” you giggled while handing her your card. 

“Well, as I said, you’re not the first bride to run into the store for wedding wear,” she winked, noticing the spark behind your eyes after you finished talking about Joe.

“Yeah,” you laughed as you took the bag. 

“But he sounds like a wonderful man, sweetie. A word of advice, hold onto that love for as long as you can and never let it fade no matter what happens. That spark behind your eyes only comes around so often, it’s rare,” she told you. 

“Thank you, I will,” you nodded. “I appreciate your help tonight,”.

“It’s my pleasure, dear. Enjoy your married life, I wish you the best,” she waved over at Joe through the window before looking back at you. “He looks and sounds like a keeper, hold onto him forever,”. 

“Oh trust me, I will,” you said before thanking her again, then swiftly exiting the boutique and joining Joe back across the street. 

“We good now?” he asked as he grabbed your hand and entwined your fingers again. 

“Yes, Mr. Burrow,” you giggled while leaning up to kiss his cheek.

“Okay, Ms. Y/LN, I think we have a wedding to get to,” he grinned before pulling you down the street again, another soft laugh falling from your lips as another wave of reality came over you. Your whole future was in front of you, right at your fingertips. 

About an hour later

You both were inside the chapel and had finished filling out the paperwork that they needed to approve the marriage license–which apparently needed 90 days to be approved but one mention of Joe’s status changed that pretty quickly. 

Joe was already wearing a black dress shirt and formal-ish pants, so they just gave him a bowtie to finish it off. You two had also decided to keep the custom, special vows for your big wedding so you’d be sticking to the classic ones for tonight. 

After slipping on your dress, heels, and veil, you were standing in front of the mirror and holding your bouquet of white roses. You were thinking about how your life was about to change in a matter of minutes and you still couldn’t quite believe it, you were about to become his wife. 

Joe was about to become your husband. 

You felt your nerves settling in when you looked down at the ring on your finger, inhaling a few deep breaths to compose yourself. “It’s okay, I’m okay,” you told yourself out loud. “This is my wedding. That’s my husband. This is it,” you continued. 

“Y/N, we’re ready,” Vanessa, one of the chapel’s bridal assistants smiled as she entered the room which snapped you out of your daze. 

You took a few more seconds to collect yourself, “Okay,” you breathed out. “Here we go, Y/N. This is what you’ve been waiting for since the day you met Joe,” you thought to yourself before turning around, hearing the soft tune of the music fill the air as you walked through the curtain and made it to the aisle. 

Your breath hitched in your throat as you saw Joe standing at the altar with the officiant, his eyes widening once he saw you in your white dress–you looked like an angel. “Oh shit,” he whispered to himself. 

“Fuck,” you mumbled under your breath as you started to walk down the aisle, all your nerves disappearing once you see Joe mouth ‘I love you’ to you. 

You finished walking down the aisle and placed the bouquet down on one of the benches in front of you before you took your place across from Joe. 

“You look beautiful, Y/N,” Joe mouthed to you, his heart soaring at the sight of you in a veil and a white dress, only imagining how he’d feel when you’re in your real wedding dress in a few months.

“Not too bad yourself, Burrow,” you mouthed back before you heard the officiant clear his throat. 

“Welcome, everyone. We are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Y/N and Joe, two hearts and souls in marriage. This is a day of great joy, for we have come together to recognize the tremendous love and commitment these two share,” he said. 

“Today, we stand together to witness a love story that has been written in the stars, a story that has brought us all here to celebrate the union of two souls who have found their forever in each other. As we gather in this moment, we are reminded that love is not just a feeling but a journey—one filled with laughter, challenges, and countless memories that shape who we are. Today is the beginning of a new chapter, one where two hearts, once separate, now beat as one. It’s a day when promises are made, not just with words but with the deepest parts of our hearts. May this day be a reflection of the love and commitment you share, and may it be the foundation of a marriage filled with joy, compassion, and endless adventures. So, let us celebrate this momentous occasion, as you embark on this incredible journey of life together. Here's to love, laughter, and a lifetime of happiness," he added, the sweet opening remarks making you and Joe both get a little misty-eyed.

“Joe, Y/N, do you stand here today with the intention to be each other’s partner, rock, and best friend for all the days of your lives?” he asked.

You and Joe both looked back at each other, joining your hands together and saying, “We Do,” in unison. 

“Will you love and honor each other as husband and wife for the rest of your lives?” he asked.

“We will,” you both smiled in unison again, Joe giving you a gentle squeeze in return. 

“Joe, do you take Y/N to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, For better, for worse, For richer, for poorer, In sickness and in health, To love and to cherish, Till death do you part?” he asked, both your hearts about to beat out of your chest. 

“I, do,” Joe nods as he tries to hold back his tears, giving you another squeeze as you feel your heart explode.

“Y/N, do you take Joe to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, For better, for worse, For richer, for poorer, In sickness and in health, To love and to cherish, Till death do you part?”.

“I, do,” you answer, goosebumps rising on your skin as you feel the room get 10 times brighter. 

“It is my great pleasure to now pronounce you both husband and wife. Joe, you may kiss the bride,” he said. 

Joe quickly pulled you into him and captured your lips in a passion-filled, needy kiss; one that said everything without saying anything. 

You were finally his. You were finally the one. 

His hands settled on your waist before one slowly slid up your back while you looped your arms around his neck and pulled his face closer to deepen the kiss, your lips moving against each other in a familiar dance. After a few heated seconds, you felt him bite down on your bottom lip when you threaded your fingers through his curls, a sound leaving your lips that immediately made you pull away out of sheer embarrassment. 

“Oh my god,” you giggled as he rested his forehead against yours. 

“Damn, wait till we’re back at the hotel, Mrs. Burrow,” he grinned, watching a blush rise on your face after referring to you as his wife.

“Sorry, I can’t help myself, Mr. Burrow,” you teased while nuzzling your nose against his. 

“I can’t believe we did that,” Joe laughed. “We’re crazy,”.

“The craziest,” you agreed. “But I’m glad we did. It was just you and me like it was supposed to be,”.

It was just the two of you, and that made Joe the happiest man on the planet. Nobody could ruin this moment. 

“I love you, Y/N,” he choked out—high on emotions—before pulling you in for a hug. “I love you so much and I can’t wait to show you how much I do for the rest of our lives,”.

You felt the tears coming back when he squeezed you, the tone of his voice enough to make you want to break down into tears. “I love you, Joe. Thank you for being the one,”. 

“No, thank you,” he corrected before pulling away. “Your name was unwillingly carved into my heart since the moment I saw you. Thank you for letting me carve mine into yours,”.

“I didn’t need to let you, Joe. You won my heart over the moment you asked me out on a date” you grinned. 

“I didn’t, but we could go back and forth on this for hours,” he laughed as he grabbed your hand. 

“That’s debatable, babe, but I’ll let it go for tonight,” you chuckled while dropping your head on your shoulder.

God, Joe could never get tired of hearing that adorable laughter. And now he’d get to hear it for the rest of his life. “You ready to be a Wife?” he asked as you felt him press a kiss to your hair.

“Mhmmmm,” you grinned while turning your head to look up at him.

“You ready to be a Husband?” you asked while kissing his neck.

“Mhmmmm,” he hummed while dropping his hands to your ass, giving it a gentle squeeze that made a twinge of arousal shoot up your spine. “You wanna get out of here?” he whispered in your ears. “I think it’s time for us to consummate the marriage, my lovely and sexy Wife”.

“You’ve been watching way too much Bridgerton with me,” you shook your head as you pulled away and looked up at him, his heated gaze making you feel naked even though you were fully clothed. 

“But yeah, let’s go, my handsome and precious Husband,”.

–To Be Continued–

[nightlovechild]

Table Manners - Deceit’s Week. (Day 5: Moceit)

Warnings: Arguing, male character using feminine terms & feminine nicknames, BDSM Themes, Manhandling, Food (involved in play), Anal fingering, Bondage, CBT, Masturbation, Light knife play, Swinger lifestyle mentioned briefly, Alcohol, Object insertion (could be not safe in real life), anal penetration, ruined orgasm. 

Summary: When Dimitri forgets to act like a proper hostess, Patton turns him into a four course punishment instead. (Human AU!)

Notes: This story was written before the release of Deceit’s real name. Deceit's name is Dimitri. 

Hearing the door close, Dimitri prepared himself for a H-E- double hockey sticks of an argument. Patton's leather shoes sounded off of the hallway tile as he stepped quickly into the dining room.

"Dimitri Alexander Sanders, I would like to say that was impressive. But that would be an understatement. The absolute extent you will go to… and risking my job like that!" Patton scolded.

"Your Boss is scum. He was pressuring that girl into his charade, just like he pressures you into staying in your tiny cubicle everyday. I was fucking sick of it. Plus you know My motto: If you are going to lie, do it with style and grace. That floundering fool had neither; so he got what he deserved!" Dimitri said with venom. Setting the dirty dishes down and turning with a fiery flare of his long silk skirt. The high split sliding up to show off his bare leg down to his fuck me pumps.

Patton was looming in the doorway, loosening his tie and biting his bottom lip at the lustful sight. He wanted to stay mad at Dee's risky behavior at the dinner party. But the growing tent in his pants was detracting from his intimidating stance. What was a good man to do with such a hot, tempting, dirty...

Dimitri rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Well, could we get the speech about morals and being a good hostess under way? Let me see if I can get you going…Something, something...lying is wrong, but being disrespectful is worse. That in reality nice guys come...in first." Dimitri drew out his words with devious purpose. While letting his polished nails tap against his hips in a striking pose.

"No. I think this lesson will need to be more physical." Patton shook his head in disbelief as Dee made a challenging gesture by waving his hand.

"Bring it on."

Within seconds Patton had Dimitri face down, ass up in the air. Forced into spreading his legs to gain some type of balance at the sharp angle of laying against the tabletop. The struggle was always over quickly in the face of Patton's true strength.

He let Dee enjoy the pinned sensation by letting him struggle and wiggle. Because Dee was never able to get away when Patton’s hand was in the middle of his back. Patton's free hand flipped up his skirt. Making the beauty fight not to whine out loud as his ass cheek was cupped and squeezed. The grip making his panties pull tight against his sensitive cock.

"Come on, Pat. I know you want to spank me. Do it. Smack my ass. Punish me. I outed your boss with one phrase and a Facebook photo. The Mistress almost cried." Dimitri circled his hips, grinding against the tabletop. "I'm getting hard thinking about all the fabrications he is going to have to weave to fix what I picked apart in seconds. You have to punish me, please?"

"Believe me, beauty. You're going to get it again and again. Once here on the table, once in the limo, and once again in my new corner office." Patton smirked as he flipped Dimitri over.

Dee's high pitched squeal and astonished face saying it all.

"We did it? You're a partner now?" Pulling Patton in for a kiss.

"Yeah, Mr. Axer and I had a talk. Finished straightening him out. Told him to get his house in order before it ruined the business. Then he said if I could handle you all these years and remain such a saint being a partner should be easy." Patton said as he ground his throbbing bulge against Dee panties. Sealing their lips together in love and excitement.

Dimitri blindly grabbed behind himself as the kiss grew more heated. His rings clicking against the long glass vial as he gripped the extra virgin olive oil. Thrusting the bottle against Patton’s chest.

"Use it to fuck me, right now, or eat me up like your appetizer. God, just fucking need you. My big business man. My money maker." Dimitri demanded with a moan. Rolling his hips to enjoy the friction of his lace panties against Patton's hard pressed slacks..

"Awe, my dirty girl. So cute when he wants this breadwinner cock, huh?" Patton purred as he stripped his husband bare. The dress going over one shoulder and the panties going over the other.

Dee's cock slapped against his own abs from being so turned on. Patton's words were always his undoing. Losing patience, Dee leaned back pouring the olive oil all over his own cock and thighs. The slippery oil running down his balls then coating the cleft of his ass cheeks. Setting the bottle down, Dee hooked his hands behind his knees to spread himself even wider as Patton watched, entranced.

"Now don’t you look like a feast? But, pretty girl, you know this isn’t the position for taking a punishment. This looks more like you’re begging for a reward.” Patton stepped close, his finger tips running around Dimitri's rim.

"Punish later, fill me up now. I already set the mood to be stuffed. So jump to it." Dee mouthed off with a mischievous smirk.

Patton shook his head and slowly worked his fingers deep into Dee’s body. Getting his dirty girl worked up into a moaning mess in a matter of moments then dead stopped and pulled out.

“You are a slick one. I'll give you that.” Patton said as he wiped his hands clean on a discarded napkin.

Dimitri groaned loudly at the pun. Starting to sit up, only to be held in place.

“You always say the rule in making the deepest longest lasting impact is to set the mood, right? Right. So, how about setting the mood for your punishment? Your four course punishment." Patton growled. Gripping Dimitri's waist and pushing him into the middle of the table.

‘Oh god, yes. Let’s see how creative his self righteous fury gets us this time.’ Dimitri thought to himself as Patton stalked around him.

Patton began gathering things up while removing other items to give Dimitri room to relax back onto his elbows, legs spreading to offer a succulent view.

“What are your conditions for setting the perfect dining mood?” Patton asked as he laid out the items.

“A wonderful hostess knows the power of a glorious centerpiece, fine china serving up delicious food, glasses of high priced drinks and good guests.”

“Well, since you don't make for even a nice hostess, let's see this if this suits you better.” Patton plucked the brightly colored fresh flowers from their vase, “Are you a glorious centerpiece?”

Soft flower petals danced a path down Dee’s body. Water droplets, from the stems, fell across his skin as Patton worked the flowers over his stomach and down between his thighs. Flipping the flowers over Patton picked up the silk ribbon he had in his newly acquired pile of goodies.

Dimitri watched as his rock hard cock was bound to the bouquet. Grunting when the bow tightly cinched around his balls. Patton continued to tease and stroke the silk ribbon making Dimitri add his own dew to the flowers.

“Knees closed. Legs flat.” Patton ordered. Unzipping his pants to easily reach in and stroke his own aching need before moving to Dee’s other side.

Dimitri bit his lower lip as his gaze shifted from his masturbating lover to the flowers that were standing straight up due to the special position. Rolling his hips as Patton continued to survey his handwork. His normally calm face is suddenly full of speculation. Buttoning up his pants again, regaining his composure. The seconds dragging on until Dee couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“Well? Am I glorious, my love?” Dimitri asked as he ran his hands over the length of his body.

“Yes, the best centerpiece I’ve ever seen, My little China doll. But your fine body makes me hunger for more. Let's see if you could make a better plate with delicious food all over you?" Patton said as he began placing tiny bite sized treats on Dimitri’s body.

The placement of the last snack at the base of his neck forced Dee to lean his head back keeping the treat in place. But it also made Dee blind to Patton’s actions since he couldn’t move his head. Dee let out a shocked breath as cold metal points slid over his exposed nipples while an ice cold flat metal followed.

Patton chuckled as he placed a fork, with its tines pointed down, on Dee’s hard nipple and a clean butter knife, flat side down, on his other nipple. Picking up a spoon, Patton smirked as he watched the body underneath him shake with desire.

"Stop trembling, my plate. You're making the flowers shake." Patton smirked.

He fought to lay still as his ravenous husband tucked into the first treat at his naval. Slowly, Dimitri took in the sounds of lip licking and humming about how good each sweet tasted. Dee growled at the familiarity of the sounds. Flashes of Patton sucking him or their swinger friends off made him want to break the punishment and force his husband…

Then his mind blanked out as Pat picked up the fork and knife. Slowly dragging the utensils over his skin, tracing hearts and stars all around the last two delicate sweets. Pushing the silverware in, making pink marks show as Dee moaned and panted.

"Hubby, don't play with your food. It's not good manners." Dimitri scolded with a breathless voice.

“Of course my darling.” Patton answered sweetly. Tossing the silverware over his shoulder, leaning down, and eating the treats off of Dimitri’s bare flesh. Patton's hot lips and sharp teeth gently nipping his skin. Dimitri was gasping, leaking onto the flowers as he could feel the hickeys blooming under his skin as Patton pulled back.

"Your sounds are making me thirsty, dirty girl. Are you thirsty? Do you want champagne or a tall clean glass of water?" Patton paused, brushing the stray locks from Dee’s face.

Dimitri smiled at the check in, “water” being their code word for being done. Snaking his hand out to Pat’s, Dee gave him reassuring squeeze.

"Champagne sounds lovely. What g-glasss.." Dimitri stuttered then hissed as the ice cold liquid hit his stomach.

Patton took the champagne like a body shot. Once, twice, by the third time Dmitri was shaking so bad it was making the bubbly liquid spill.

"Be a good cup now. Let me drink you down." Patton scolded as he poured the alcohol down the flowers so it would flow over Dmitri's cock. Sucking, slurping, and licking as his dirty girl got closer to the edge. Patton pulled back when the champagne’s taste became salty.

“F-Fuck don’t.. N-no don’t stop.” Dee begged and squirmed. The flowers flicking the alcohol this way and that with his desperation.

“Are you my good girl?” Patton whispered.

In Dee’s current state he didn’t hear. So, Patton bent down next to his ear. “Are you my good girl? My beautiful Medusa? My awful wonderful hostess?”

“Yes! God, Patton, need you. Feel so empty. Please!” Dimitri whimpered, spreading his legs even more.

“How about I give you a small goody to curb your gnawing hunger?” Patton reached into his pile of items gripping a clean soup ladle with a very phallic shaped handle.

“Yes! Give it to me. Want it! F-fffuck.” Dimitri whined as Patton kissed his forehead while sliding a thick long cold shaft into his oil slicked hole.

“This is how you make our guests feel when you question and charm them to your wiles. So invaded and so deliciously full…,” Patton fucked the smooth ladle handle faster into Dimitri’s body, “of your devious motives.”

Dee couldn’t answer but take everything Patton was giving. Patton climbed up on the table, unzipped his pants, freeing his hard cock from it’s clothed prison.

“Bet you want me to reward you? Take this long cold metal shaft out of you and put my warm loving thick cock in your ass don’t you?” Patton started fucking the ladle into his whimpering lover even faster.

Dimitri nodded as his cock jerked and leaked on the flowers and ribbon. When he was right at the edge, his whimpers turning into groans, Patton undid the ribbon around Dee’s cock, all pressure was gone. Then the ladle pressed against his prostate on the out stroke. Dee keened as his orgasm tore through him with nothing touching him. No sexual gratification, just a ruined orgasm. Opening his eyes, blinking up with a teary look Patton was stroking himself, fast and firm.

“Oh god baby. Took your punishment so well. Came all over yourself just for me..” Patton’s words were lost to moans as he came. Marking Dee’s stomach and chest as he stroked himself through his orgasm. Fully enjoying himself as his husband watched from below.

"Water, Pat, water, please." Dee held up his shaky arms.

Patton switched completely, tucking himself away. He easily picked up his love, cuddling Dee close as he sat down in the head chair of the table. Pouring real water, the ice clinking into the glass then held it up to Dimitri's lips. Taking a deep drink then hiding his face in Patton's neck.

"What's your color sweetness?" Patton tried to keep his voice level to combat the fear they had gone too far this time.

"I'm green. Just feel tiny and.. and…"

"Vulnerable?"

"Yeah. No guards, no lies. Want this with you."

"But you're okay?" Patton gently guided Dee to look at him.

"Yes, Patty." Dimitri smiled demurely then he hid his face again.

"I think a dip in the hot tub then a massage sounds like a good start to our aftercare what do you think?" Patton asked as he stood up, letting Dee wrap his arms and legs around Patton as he walked them out onto the patio.

The setting sun and hot water always grounded Dimitri while the bird's fading songs and bubbles grounded Patton.

"I can't wait for the next dinner party." Patton sighed happily.

"I can't wait for the next after party romp about my horrible table manners." Dimitri giggled as Patton growled.

[mdzs-english]

Chapter 3: Wild and Free 2 (Making a Scene)

Wei Wuxian wanted to wash up and see his host’s face, but there was no water in the room, neither for drinking nor for bathing. The only basin-shaped object, he surmised, was used as a toilet, and thus completely unsuitable. He pushed on the door, but it was bolted from the outside, presumably to prevent him from running amok.

Wei Wuxian had finally been reborn, and he wasn’t able to enjoy it one bit!

He might as well sit a while, adapt to his host. He wound up meditating the whole day. When he opened his eyes, sunlight was leaking into the room through the cracks in the door and shutters. Though he could stand up and walk around, he was still dizzy, his condition not much improved. It was strange. “Mo Xuanyu’s spiritual energy is negligible. Why can’t I control his body? What’s causing this?”

Then his stomach rumbled, and he realized it had nothing to do with spiritual energy. This body wasn’t used to fasting. It was hunger, nothing more. If he didn’t find food soon, he might be the first evil spirit to be brought back to life, only to starve to death immediately.

Wei Wuxian had taken a deep breath and raised his foot, prepared to kick the door down, when suddenly the sound of footsteps approached. Someone kicked at the door, impatiently yelling, “Mealtime!”

That didn’t mean the door was going to open. Wei Wuxian looked down and saw that the main door had a smaller door that opened below it. A small bowl had been placed before it.

“Quickly!” the servant outside called. “Quit dawdling, eat up and give the bowl back.”

The door was smaller than a dog flap, large enough for a bowl but too small for a person to pass through. There were two dishes and one serving of strange-looking rice. Wei Wuxian prodded at it with the chopsticks and thought sadly:

When the Yiling Patriarch returned, he was kicked down, chewed out, and given cold leftovers for his first meal. What carnage should result? Not even the chickens and the dogs left alive? The whole family extinguished? Tell anyone who would believe it. He was a tiger in Pingyang nipped at by dogs, a dragon in the shallow waters of Longyou harassed by shrimp. A plucked phoenix is less than a chicken.

This time, when the servants outside the door called, they sounded like they were grinning. “A’ding! Get over here!”

A crisp female voice replied from far away, “A’tong, are you giving the guy in there some food?”

“What else would I be doing in this wretched courtyard?” A’tong spit back.

A’ding’s voice appeared closer, like she was right in front of the door. “You only feed him once a day. When you’re goofing off no one calls you out, yet you say it’s wretched? Look at me. There’s too much to do for me to go out and have fun. ”

“I don’t just have to feed him,” A’tong complained. “Besides, would you dare go out these days? With this many walking dead, what family doesn’t have their doors sealed up tight.”

Wei Wuxian crouched by the door, tossing aside his two different-length chopsticks, and listened as he ate.

It seemed Mo Manor had had little peace of late. The walking dead, as their name implied, were corpses that walked, a relatively minor and common type of corpse transformation. They were generally dead-eyed, slow-moving, and of limited destructive power, but they alarmed the common people, and their stench alone was enough to induce vomiting.

However, to Wei Wuxian, they were the easiest to control, most obedient puppets. He felt a sense of fond familiarity at hearing them discussed.

“If you want to go out, bring me. I’ll protect you,” A’tong flirted.

“You’ll protect me? You talk a big game. You really think you can hold those things off?”

“If I can’t hold them off, no one can,” A’tong retorted.

A’ding laughed. “How do you know? I’m telling you, cultivators have already arrived at Mo Manor. I heard they’re from an illustrious clan! Mo-furen is greeting them in the hall, and everyone crowded in for the occasion. Didn’t you hear the racket? I don’t have time for you, they’ll probably send me on an errand any second.”

Wei Wuxian listened raptly. To the east, a faint clamor of voices could indeed be heard. He thought for a moment, then rose. He kicked the door and the bolt gave with a loud crack.

The two servants, who had been giggling and making eyes at one another, were startled into a screech when the doors flung open to either side of them. Wei Wuxian tossed his dishes aside and made a break for it, eyes burning in the sudden glare of the sunlight. His skin prickled, and he shaded his eyes with his hand, closing his eyes briefly.

A’tong’s screech was sharper than A’ding’s. Composing himself, he saw the headcase everyone bullied and regained his courage. Trying to save face, he jumped over and shouted, “Get back in there! What are you doing out here?” waving like Wei Wuxian was a misbehaving dog.

A beggar or a housefly wouldn’t have been treated worse. Mo Xuanyu had never resisted, giving them free rein. Wei Wuxian kicked A’tong lightly and laughed, “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

Wei Wuxian followed the noise east to a courtyard full of people, with more crammed into the hall. As soon as he set foot in the courtyard, a woman’s voice called out over the din, “One of our clan’s youths was a cultivator...”

That must be Mo-furen, scrambling to build a bridge between herself and the cultivation world. Without waiting for her to finish, Wei Wuxian forced his way through the crowd into the hall, waving enthusiastically and shouting, “I’m coming, I’m coming! Don’t worry, I made it.”

In the hall sat a middle-aged woman, well put-together, in fine clothes: Mo-furen. Her husband was seated before her. Facing them sat a number of white-clad youths with swords strapped across their backs. At the emergence of a disheveled weirdo from the crowd, the hall fell silent. Wei Wuxian pretended not to notice the frozen scene around him and continued, unabashed: “You called? The cultivator you mentioned, that could only be me.”

The powder was too thick, and it cracked when he smiled, fluttering to the ground. One of the youths in white snorted, stifling a laugh. The one next to him, who seemed to be in charge, glared disapprovingly, and he schooled his face back into a neutral expression.

Wei Wuxian surveyed the scene, startled. He thought the visitors had been exaggerated by naive servants, but they really were young cultivators from an “illustrious clan.”

Magic seemed to float from those graceful robes and flowing belts. One only had to glance at that uniform to recognize the Lan clan of Gusu. And these disciples were blood relatives of the Lan family—thin white ribbons circled their foreheads, decorated with wisps of cloud.

The Lan clan’s motto was “Stand Upright.” The ribbons represented self-restraint, and the cloud was the symbol of the Lan family itself. When visiting disciples from other families wore the ribbon, the cloud was not present. Seeing Lans made Wei Wuxian’s teeth ache. In a past life, he had always joked that the uniform looked like funeral garb. He would recognize it anywhere.

Mo-furen hadn’t seen her nephew in some time, and it took a while for her to recover from the shock. Upon recognizing the painted man, her rage mounted. Still in control of herself, she murmured to her husband, “Whoever let him out, put him back again.”

Her husband smiled apologetically, but when the unlucky bastard got up to grab him, Wei Wuxian threw himself down, hugging the floor. He couldn’t be dragged away, and calling in more servants didn’t help, other than to prevent other people from seeing him kick. Watching the look on Mo-furen’s face turn ugly, her husband snapped, “You lunatic! If you don’t get out of here, you wait and see what I’ll do to you.”

Although everyone in Mo Manor knew one of the Mos was a dangerous madman, Mo Xuanyu had been secluded in his dingy room for years, not daring to show his face. When people saw his ghoulish makeup and behavior, whispers sprung up. They were afraid only of missing a good show.

“If you want me to go back,” Wei Wuxian said, extending a finger towards Mo Ziyuan, “tell him to return my stuff he stole.”

Mo Ziyuan, shocked that this lunatic had the nerve first to scold him and then to show up here, turned blotchy and yelled, “Bullshit! When did I steal from you? I don’t need your stuff.”

“Right, right,” Wei Wuxian said. “You didn’t steal from me, you robbed me.”

Mo-furen could see clearly now. Mo Xuanyu wasn’t crazy: he had planned this. He was trying to ruin them. Vitriolically, she said, “You came here to cause trouble, didn’t you?”

“He stole from me, and I came to get my stuff back,” Wei Wuxian said blankly. “You call that causing trouble?”

Mo-furen was silent. Mo Ziyuan was beginning to get nervous, and he wound up to deliver a kick. One of the white-clad disciples twitched a finger, and Mo Ziyuan wobbled, kicking the air, and ended up knocking himself over. Wei Wuxian rolled over as if he really had been kicked, tearing open his lapels to reveal the mark Mo Ziyuan’s shoe had left the day before.

The denizens of Mo Manor, who had been watching eagerly, became excited: it would have been impossible for Mo Xuanyu to leave the footprint himself. The Mo family must be cruel even to their own blood. Mo Xuanyu didn’t return to Mo Manor insane—he was most likely driven to madness. Any excitement was okay with the assembled crowd, and this was even more entertaining than the arrival of the cultivators!

With this many witnesses, Mo-furen could neither strike him nor leave. She was forced to hold her nose and compromise. Faintly, she said, “Theft? Robbery? This accusation is difficult to process—between friends, that’s just borrowing. A’yuan is your little brother, so what if he borrows your things? How can a big brother be so stingy? Acting like a child over such a small matter is foolish. It’s not like he won’t return them.”

Several of the white-clad youths looked at each other in dismay, and one who had just taken a sip of tea nearly choked. Children raised in the Lan clan of Gusu were pure as the fresh-driven snow, and had probably never seen such a farce, or heard such wisdom. This was a learning experience for them. Wei Wuxian, cackling on the inside, held out a hand and asked, “Then you’ll give it back?”

Mo Ziyuan, of course, did not. What was gone was gone, and what was destroyed was destroyed. Even if he could return it, he wouldn’t. Looking pale, he yelled, “A’niang!” His glare said, Are you going to let him humiliate me like this? 

Mo-furen glared back, silently ordering him not to cause an even uglier scene. Wei Wuxian interjected, “While we’re at it, not only should he not steal from me, he especially shouldn’t do it in the middle of the night. Everyone knows I like men. Even if he doesn’t have the sense to be ashamed, I know how to stay under the radar.”

Mo-furen took a shocked breath and shouted, “How dare you say this in front of the villagers and your elders? You really are shameless! A’yuan is your cousin!”

Wei Wuxian was an expert at bad behavior. Long ago, he had minded his manners here and there so that no one could accuse him of lacking good breeding. Now he was a madman, with no reputation to lose. He was expected to make a scene, so he could do what he pleased. He ducked his chin and said righteously, “He knows full well he’s my cousin, and yet he still can’t avoid suspicion! Who is shameless here? You won’t admit it, but don’t impugn my innocence! I’m still searching for a good man.”

Mo Ziyuan shouted and swung a chair. Wei Wuxian had finally gotten him to explode. In one motion, he sat up and dodged, and the chair smashed against the ground. The throngs of people milling about the East Hall had originally delighted in seeing the Mo clan lose face big time, but scattered as soon as the chair broke apart, afraid they’d be next if they weren’t careful. Wei Wuxian dodged behind the Lan disciples, who were sitting agape, and said reproachfully, “Did you see that? Did you see? He steals things and hits people, utterly heartless!”

Mo Ziyuan came after him, flailing, but his path was blocked by the head disciple. “This, uh, gongzi has something to say.”

Mo-furen saw that the disciples intended to protect this lunatic. Holding back fear, she forced out a smile. “This is my sister’s boy. Here, it’s complicated. Everyone in Mo Manor knows he’s insane. He says a lot of things you can’t take seriously. Cultivators, you must…” She trailed off, and Wei Wuxian poked his head out from behind the disciples.

“Who says you can’t take me seriously? The next time someone tries to steal from me, I’ll chop their hand off.”

Mo Ziyuan, who had been restrained by his father, broke loose upon hearing this. Wei Wuxian shrieked and leapt like a fish out the door. The disciples rushed to block his re-entrance, and, changing the topic, one earnestly declared, “Then… then tonight we will borrow the West Courtyard. Please bear in mind what I said before. After dusk, close your doors tightly and do not wander, and especially do not go near that courtyard.”

Mo-furen breathed shakily and did not object, just said, “Yes, we won’t, thank you for your help.”

Incredulously, Mo Ziyuan said, “Ma! That madman slandered me in front of everyone, and you let it go? You said, you said he was just a…”

Mo-furen cut him off. “Shut up! What do you have to say that you can’t say later?”

Mo Ziyuan had never experienced this treatment, been embarrassed this way. His mother had never scolded him like this. Full of hatred, he roared, “Tonight, this lunatic is going to die!”

The show over, Wei Wuxian slipped away from Mo Manor. He did a loop around town, taking pleasure in startling passersby and beginning to understand the joys of being a madman. The hanged-ghost makeup was a factor, and he was loathe to wash it off. He couldn’t bathe without water anyway. He fixed his hair and glanced at his wrists. The gashes there were unchanged. Clearly, bringing Mo Xuanyu’s struggles to light was far from adequate retaliation. 

Would he really have to exterminate the Mo clan?

...Honestly, that wouldn’t be difficult.

Wei Wuxian pondered this as he wandered back to Mo Manor. When he tiptoed over to the West Courtyard, he saw Lan disciples standing atop the roof and walls, engaged in serious discussion. He retreated quietly—they would definitely notice him.

Although the Gusu Lan clan had headed the siege against him, this generation of cultivators either weren’t born then, or were toddlers. He didn’t need to worry about them. Wei Wuxian stopped and circled back to see what they were doing. As he watched, he suddenly felt strange.

The black flags, planted on the roof and walls and fluttering in the wind—why were they so familiar?

These flags were called “Yin Summoning Flags.” When stuck into the body of a living person, they would attract all manner of beings of Yin energy, like vengeful ghosts, fierce corpses, and evil spirits, which would then only attack the victim. Being stabbed with such a flag would turn a person into a target, so they were also called “Target Flags.” They could also be used on a house, in which case their range would extend to all its living occupants. Because Yin energy would linger wherever the flags were used, swirling around in the form of a black wind, they were also known as “Black Wind Flags.” The disciples had arranged the flags in the West Courtyard and warned bystanders to keep away. They must have planned to draw the walking dead here, catching them all in one net. 

As for why they were familiar… how could they not be? Yin-Summoning Flags were invented by the Yiling Patriarch!

Though the cultivation clans raged against him, fought and killed him, it was alright for them to use what he made…

A disciple on the roof spotted him, calling, “Go back, please! You shouldn’t be here.”

Although he was shooing him away, he did it kindly, his tone very different from that of the servants. Taking advantage of his unguardedness, Wei Wuxian leapt up and snatched one of the flags.

The disciple startled. He jumped down from the wall to give chase. “Don’t mess with that! You shouldn’t take this stuff!”

Wei Wuxian shouted as he ran, disheveled and flailing like a real madman, “No, I won’t! I want it! It’s mine!”

The disciple got within two steps of him and grabbed his arm, saying “Will you give it back? If you don’t, I’ll hit you!”

Wei Wuxian held the flag in a deathgrip. The head disciple, who had been arranging the flags, heard the disturbance and leapt lightly down from the roof. “Jingyi, let it go. We’ll get it back nicely. There’s no need to bicker.”

“Sizhui, I didn’t really hit him,” Lan Jingyi said. “Look, he’s made a mess of the flags!”

In this time, Wei Wuxian rapidly finished inspecting the Yin Summoning Flag in his hand. The figures were drawn correctly, the spellwork wasn’t bad, and there were no careless mistakes. It was usable. The flag’s maker was just inexperienced, and the markings would only be able to attract a handful of evil spirits and walking dead. That was good enough.

Lan Sizhui smiled at him and said, “Mo-gongzi, it’s getting dark. The corpses will be drawn here soon. It would be best if you hurried home.”

Wei Wuxian sized up the disciple. He was polite and refined, with an impressive bearing and a small smile at the corner of his mouth. He was a young sapling worthy of praise. He had arranged the flags in perfect order, and his upbringing was clearly acceptable. Wei Wuxian didn’t know who in Gusu, that dreadful, old-fashioned place, could have raised a kid like this.

Lan Sizhui said, “This flag…”

Before he could finish, Wei Wuxian threw the Yin Summoning flag to the ground, hurrumping. “Just a lousy flag! What’s so special about it? I could draw one better than you all!” Then he ran off.

The disciples still on the roof watching the scene heard him boasting, and they laughed so hard they almost fell to the ground. Lan Jingyi huffed a laugh as well, gathering the Yin Summoning Flag and shaking out the dirt. “He really is a lunatic.”

“Don’t say that. Here, come help me,” Lan Sizhui responded.

Wei Wuxian headed off to do a couple more circuits of the manor, not returning to Mo Xuanyu’s little courtyard until nightfall. The bolt was already broken, and no one had tidied up the mess inside. Ignoring this, he looked around, choosing a clear spot on the ground to sit and meditate.

Before dawn broke, a wave of noise from outside pulled him from his meditative state. He could hear footsteps, crying, and panicked yells heading his direction. People were shouting over each other, “Get in there! Drag him out!” “Report him!” “What do you mean, report him? Beat him to death!” 

He opened his eyes to see a group of servants had rushed in. The courtyard was ablaze, and someone was shouting, “Drag the crazy murderer to the Main Hall! He’ll pay with his life!”

[manuelmueller]

pls... do ALL OF IT FOR NUELE

oof fam ooof (jk i LOVE THEM) (i crossed out a few that i had no idea how to answer or wasn’t bothered but OTHER THAN THAT) (yes all those 300 word questions kinda became a short fic you can read on ao3 here)

–––––– I tried to put this under a cut but it kept fucking up so HERE I GUESS

1. What are things they both find funny?

Little things. Weird tweets from their teammates. Leon stumbling over his shoelaces. The way Sven gets exasperated with them so quickly. A leaf blowing straight into someone’s face. Everything can make them giggle, pretty much, cause they make each other gleeful, giggly, bubbling AHHHHHH

2. If they could each describe each other in one sentence, what would it be? “Nikki is … he’s my person.” – “Alex made me realize that love can be wonderful, and kind, and fulfilling, and everything, and I love him.”

3. If they complimented each other, what would they say? Alex would talk about Nikki’s wide smile, his enthusiasm and his unbroken optimism despite going through some shit, his kinda heart and his sunshine personality. Nikki would mention Alex’ resilience, the way how he rises above the shit people talk about him and how he came out being a great person still. Also, the way his chuckles sound in the morning and the way his hair looks like spun copper in sunlight and the freckles on his cheeks and shoulders.

4. What would be their ship name? NÜLE we did a great job pairing up two of the very few dudes who have an ü in their last name huh

5. What activities do they enjoy together? Football (duh), watching dumb TV shows they can laugh at together. Cuddling on the couch. Cooking. Accompanying the other on his respective hobby and whining about how silly it is (Alex goes fishing, Nikki plays golf) but yet loving every second they get to spend with their s/o doing what they love. Also actually another couple they’re friends with kinda drags them hiking sometimes and they actually kinda like it, too.

6. What is/are their love language(s)? Actually probably it’s Quality Time for them both tbh (you could change my mind, tho)

7. Write a ~300 word love scene for them.

READ HERE

8. What were their first impressions of each other? ‘Yeah he’s a talented goalie, I wouldn’t mind to play in his defense .... oh shit is he smiling? He’s smiling. Oh fuck he’s so cute, I’m so gay, help. heLP’ – ‘Süle? Oh yeah, I’ve heard a lot about him. I mean, how could I have not? It’s in my job description to know about the best defenders. Can’t believe it took us so long to meet in person, tho. Nikki it is, okay. Wow, I’m .... is that a spark that I’m feeling? Sure, great idea, develop a crush on your first day on a new team, well done. Is it a crush? (a month later) yep, definitely a crush’

9. Have they made each other cry? with HAPPINESS, yeah

10. Write a ~300 word argument scene for them.

READ HERE

11. What causes them to fight? Genuinely can’t picture them fighting, but probably more like jokingly arguing about chores like who should take out the trash. Also football can cause a strain too, I mean, sometimes they lose games and either of them or both are partially to blame and while they’d never blame each other even if it’s true, the unspoken dissatisfaction hovering in the air between them can cause things to be quite awkward for a few hours and one night.

12. Do they have differing political opinions?

13. Name something they would never do for the other person. Lose any kind of game – as athletes they’re quite competitive, even when it comes to board games and the like. Tho they’re not above conceding when it’s obvious they loose.

14. What would be a dealbreaker? Sharing the other’s secrets to someone the other doesn’t trust enough, and also not liking pets (luckily they do)

15. What are traits they dislike in one another? Nikki gets a bit reckless sometimes. Drinking too much, doing vaguely dangerous things cause he’s excited and hyped with his friends (why the heck would you climb on that shed when it’s too high to jump down and you don’t have a ladder?? you already have bad knees, Nikki!) and Alex Worries, ok? Alex on the other hand can get quite broody and taciturn when he’s not okay, not sharing what bothers him even when Nikki asks. Nikki just wants to help, but being stubborn is a goalkeeper thing

16. If they broke up, what would be their opinions of each other?

17. What senses (sights, smells, feelings, etc). remind them of each other? Nikki thinks of Alex on windy but bright spring days, and whenever he smells his shower gel. Alex’ rumbling laugh causes the butterflies on his stomach to flutter their wings, and his bare hands when he just pulls his glove on seem to be made to be settled on Nikki’s arms, his shoulder, his waist. Nikki to Alex is a freshly cut pitch, petrichor raising from the streets in summer, warm coca cola from a bottle left outside and forgotten. He’s a sunrise, a smile flashed over the shoulder, a laugh shared with Leon, Jo, Serge, Thomas …

18. What would be their love motto?

19. If they could each write a single line in their marriage vows, what would they be? “Alex, you taught me everything I know about love. You taught to forgive, to move on and I found a forever home in you.” – “I feel the sun rise every time I hear your laugh, bean, I feel born anew every time I reach for your hand and you take it. I would still be adrift without it.”

20. What is a promise they have made to each other? That they will never let get football between them. No jealousy if one is called up for the NT and one isn’t. If they ever played for rival clubs, they wouldn’t let it get between them. If something happens during a game, it in the end won’t be a factor in their private life. It’s hard sometimes, cause they’re only human, but a vow to try and to resolve things is the best they can do, and they always do

21. How have they changed each other for the better/for the worse? They’re each other’s first boyfriend – Nikki especially has been disappointed/rejected when confessing his feelings before, so he’s really a bit reluctant when opening up to Alex, and Alex does everything he can to make him open up more again on that level and succeeds at it too. Nikki is just a constant sunshine in Alex’ life, who after announcing his transfer didn’t have the easiest time, so it’s really great to have someone who makes him remember the light-heartedness life can have when you spend it with the right people. And well, they both grow quite chatty around each other, and have been shushed by quite a few people who just want to sleep on the bus ride … (from here)

22. If their lives were what was originally intended at birth, would they have still fallen in love? Who can even tell? Who knows if they were both supposed to end up at Bayern. Who knows if they wouldn’t have had someone else from the beginning. When they were born, neither of their families probably expected to have a son-in-law instead of a daughter in law. But they’re happy with the life they got. Happy they got each other. Cause they won’t have it any other way anymore

23. Write a ~300 scene between them with no dialogue, only body language.

READ HERE

24. What is something they have each had to forgive the other for? Again, football, when either of them fucks up during a get. pride is a difficult thing to best, sometimes, but they’re learning

25. What moves do they know work on the other? Alex knows exactly how to let his voice dip, knows how to touch Nikki’s waist to make him know, knows what to say and when only uses his voice with deliberation. Nikki is a bit more thoughtless in his approach, often just communicating his appeal unbeknownst to him, because Alex loves him most in those moments when he’s just free, simply himself, laughing and smiling and so beautiful. He doesn’t need to do anything, really, tho if he does, a look is enough.

26. What are their favorite parts about physical affection/sex? Literally just being close and warm and at home and ofc the thrill of sharing that all not with a stranger you barely know but with someone who knows you inside and out :3 (pun fully intended, in this case)

27. Do they have any kinks/fetishes that they share? Nikki is really into Alex’ voice. Like really into it. That deep yet soft voice always makes his spine tingle and his stomach hop and other …. areas interested, as well :3c He also likes Alex’ back especially when it arches so delicately Alex really like Nikki’s tattoos, he’s absolutely fascinated by them and sometimes maybe even wishes Nikki had a few more – tho that’s not a kink really, is it. But they just complete the perfect package that is his boyfriend :’3 But no, in general they keep it pretty vanilla for now, just getting comfortable with each other, learning each other, studying with eyes, hands, lips

28. Write a ~300 fantasy one of them has about the other.

READ HERE

29. What are each of their signature foreplay moves? Alex whispers hushed words into Nikki’s neck, kisses his jawline, lets his hands ran up and down Nikki’s side, skilled, gentle yet insistent and talking of what’s yet to come, teasing and nipping before finally reaching down, creating the contact that Nikki wanted for so long. Nikki lets his hands simply rest on Alex’ hips, his shoulders, his heck, warm and familiar and hot and hotter with every second as he steals kiss after kiss before sliding down, sitting before him, leaning in …

30. Write a short exchange of dirty talk between them. “Alex?” “Bean?” “You look so good. Do you have any idea how good you look?” laughs “Bean, you’re drunk” frowns “Ok, maybe a little. But I love you, you know? I wanna lick you all over.” blushes a bit “Nikki, everyone’s looking.” “Nah, they’re all busy drinking. Dancing. Probably fucking in the storage closet, in some cases” he giggles. they both know who he’s talking about. he puts his chin on Alex’ shoulder “Wanna get out of here?” “Now?” “Hmm.” he kisses his neck, licks gently behind his ear “no one will care. please. let me.” “Yeah? Well, bean, then who am I to deny you” THIS SUCKS!!!

31. What do they love to do after sex? They often just lay there face to face, noses almost touching, eyes almost falling close as they exchange light, playful pecks, hands entwined, legs a tangled mess. It’s all really cute and mushy but they wouldn’t have it any other way – also! laughing!! There’s a lot of cheerful, content giggling especially in the afterglow as they are still entangled in the sleepiness and the amazing feeling of just being together. (from here)

32. Do they enjoy morning or night sex? They both quickly wake up in the morning, ready to face the day, but yet … there’s nothing better than half-sleepy morning sex, smiling and tasting the fresh air and each other’s morning breath because of the familiarity, the comfort of gazing upon each other drenched in the first sunlight, not hidden away by shadows. This is real. This is them.

[psychicmedium14]

Your 2019 October Horoscope

Today is the beginning of the tenth month of 2019. The only problem? It does not feel like Autumn at all. Regardless of the temperature outside, October starts in a calm Libran manner and closes with a passionate Scorpio vibe. A lot will happen within the 31-day period. Pay attention to the small things, stay on the look out for signs, and listen to your subconscious. What else should you focus on? Find out what Libra season has in store for your sign.

♈

Aries:

For the past few months, your desire has been to breathe freely, and October is finally giving you the chance to feel independent. No trouble at work will bother you, plus you are very likely to get things going smoothly in the relationship department. What you shouldn’t do in October is to go heavy on food and drinks.

The second half of October will drive you to dig deeper and get a better understanding of the meaningful things. After October 24, it may be a good idea to reconsider your friendships and decide which are worth your while. It’s high time you found a like-minded companion. At the end of the month, shift your focus to financial matters.

♉

Taurus:

October is putting your inborn abilities to test by a workload increase. However, you are sure to cope with everything, thanks to improved health and a number of unexpected lucky chances. By the end of the month, you’ll get a spell of especially successful cooperation with superiors and maybe even a salary boost!

From the third week of the month, you may dip a toe in the water in terms of starting new projects at work. In the last week of the month, you may feel an urge to change your vocation. However, by the 27th of October, things will clear up and you will get all the pros and cons you need to make the final decision.

♊

Gemini:

“Game on!” might be your October motto, Gemini! You effectively juggle all sorts of activities from taking extra hours at work to dating and pursuing your creative impulses. Your home is likely to become a social place, and you will not be against it. After all, it will give you a chance to improve your décor and show off your communication skills!

The second half of October will shift your focus to detail. You’ll be more actively involved in communication at work, reconsidering your health habits, adopting a better eating regimen. Nearing the end of the month, you will find some unexpected and unexplainable answers to emotional issues you’ve been trying to resolve.

♋

Cancer:

Your activities are now being relocated to your home! Many rows and misunderstandings that have been going on in your family for a while now will begin to settle. You’ll receive guests, communicate with relatives, engage in minor and major repair works, and what not! Be careful, though, not to give too much attention to your refrigerator and pantry!

In mid-October, you may even start a work-related project that involves your family! The final week of the month will drive you to explore the area you haven’t given too much thought to before. On the 27th of October, you will get an unexpected piece of insight into the way of achieving your goals and dreams or finally find an answer to a pressing question.

♌

Leo:

Leos like to express themselves in numerous creative ways. October 2019 will give you plenty of chances to do so. However, the speed of life will also be on the increase, and so will be the scale of your goal-setting! A need for watching and obtaining things of beauty is overwhelming now, so don’t deny yourself some shopping – it will make your outlook on life so much more positive!

In the middle of the month, you will be more drawn to a quieter home and family matters, looking for a more secure foundation. October 24th will give you objective insight into your relationships, both professional and personal. The final four days of the month will help you see a clearer picture of where you would like to be in 5 years!

♍

Virgo:

If you are a Virgo, October will be the prime month of 2019 for making money and resolving financial issues. You’ll find a dozen new ways to be more productive and maybe even discover a completely new income source. Your inborn qualities, as well as the positioning of the celestial bodies, literally make you a financial and social magnet this October!

Every conversation you have after October 15 will resolve or open your eyes to a certain issue. During the final week of the month, you will become exceptionally aware of your physical senses and needs. However, people at work may at the very same time misinterpret the actions you are taking. So, as the end of the month is auspicious, retreat from everyday routines and have some alone time or do something completely unexpected.

♎

Libra:

It’s your month, dearest diplomat of the Zodiac! This is actually your prime time, too! You will come across endless opportunities and use them wisely to achieve success, so it would be especially great if you have started a new promising project by now. Your energy will be on the rise, and you will propel yourself forward along any path you have chosen!

Starting mid-October, you may feel an urge to reconsider your values and determine what material, spiritual and intellectual things matter to you at the moment. Are you making money to cater to your needs or are you sweating your guts out to make money? Finally, the end of the month will encourage you to change your style, so if you feel adventurous, go for it!

♏

Scorpio:

On the inside, you are a pool of bubbling lava that is just about to erupt. Libran energy is so unlike yours, Scorpio, and it is messing with you this October. You may become irritable finding it hard to understand certain things that are going on around you. To avoid stressing out, you should go in for intensive physical exercise or engage in a straining mental activity.

Another method you can rely on is spending more time with friends. Mid-October will finally help you open up and share the thoughts you were mulling over in September. Be patient – your time is just around the corner! When it finally comes at the end of October, you’ll successfully resolve a conflict within your family and maybe even find out you have a secret admirer!

♐

Sagittarius:

You always are goal-driven, Sag, but this October is especially auspicious in terms of ticking items off your to-do list. It is also a good time to gather with friends and for you – to take the lead. If you have a dream – go for it, as October 2019 offers you enough chance to achieve success!

Starting mid-October, you will feel a stronger connection to the spiritual world and your subconscious. You may even succeed in finding answers to the questions that have been bothering you for months. The final days of the month will be eye-opening in terms of how things are going at work. It will also be useful to focus on your health at this time, as the Universe may hint at the issues that could be nipped in the bud.

♑

Capricorn:

There is hardly a more diligent sign than Capricorn, and this October, all of your diligence will pay off. The Universe will send you enough energy to complete what you have started and to achieve whatever you want. The trick is that the time will also be auspicious to finally take a look at your wishes and goals and discard the ones that are not worth pursuing.

Don’t shy away from extra work, as it is sure to come your way this month. The additional effort you put in will not remain unnoticed by superiors. Mid-October will give you the right vibe to improve your social or professional image. Feel free to speak up and express your ideas as well – the month is favorable for this sort of straightforwardness.

♒

Aquarius:

October 2019 highlights the area of education for you, Aquarius. It does not necessarily mean you will actually study (of course, if you want to, feel free to do it), but rather to get new experiences, to give your life enough thought up to the point when thinking turns into philosophizing. You can also feel an urge to make new acquaintances and spread your social connections.

For the better part of the month, you will feel a non-stop need to get thrilled, to stir up your emotions, to be impressed. One of the easiest ways to satisfy this need is to travel. Breathtaking views will replenish your adrenaline and endorphin stock. During the second half of the month, focus on work-related matters. Closer to the end of October, shift your attention to what’s going on at home to prevent any arising issues.

♓

Pisces:

October will be a very favorable month for Pisces representatives. You will feel eager – and what’s more important powerful enough – to make the world a better place for you and your loved ones and work for the common good. It’s as if October helps you shake off the gloom and slumber and finally act!

If you have any lingering issues, start looking for a solution this month, and you are sure to find one! Starting mid-October, you will reconsider your outlook on life. During the final week of October, you might even get as far as to reevaluate your life values, principles, and ideals. Hopefully, the last days of the month will help you come to an enlightening conclusion.

[kee-writestrashh]

Guns for Hire

Ramsay Bolton x Reader

ao3

Summary:  You are the wife to the Heir of the Red Kings, Ramsay Bolton. living the undercover life of a mob wife has its perks, and you love your husband. But you find out something that seems to unfold a series of unwanted events…

Chapter 23: Our Blades are Sharp

You fell into the couch with a sigh as Ramsay pulled his helmet from the closet and slipped his gloves on.

"I don't know how long this will take. Stay here. If you need anything call someone to bring it to you. I'll fuck you when I get home." He said, kissing you on the cheek, as if he knew you were about to whine about him leaving.

"Please be careful. Bring me home some cheesecake." You smiled, kissing him again.

"Only if I get to eat it off these tits." Your husband replied, groping your breasts before heading to the garage door.

"I love you baby!" You said, blowing him a kiss.

"Love you too, baby girl." He said with a wink, disappearing through the dark door.

You sighed, ran your hand over your belly, and rose from your seat.

"What do ya say, little one? Eat something healthy? Maybe we should go do yoga or something on days your daddy works." you said, rubbing your belly and opening the refrigerator to check you dinner options.

"Should of grabbed eggs from mom's." You sighed, looking at the single, lonely egg in a bowl.

You used the last egg and have a small dinner. You had decided to start eating smaller meals. The last thing you wanted was to gain a bunch of weight that would make harder for you to lose once you had this child.

×××

You awoke to the soft touch of warm fingertips along your back. Slowly you rolled over and opened your eyes to see Ramsay wearing that trademark smirk.

"Did you get my cheesecake?" You asked rubbing your eye and scooting into him.

"Mhm. Every flavor you can think of baby girl. And I got you a little something else too." He said, turning away from you to turn on the bedside table lamp.

You squinted against the dim light as Ramsay sat up and pulled a tiny box free of his discarded pants.

He leaned back into you and opened the box to reveal pretty, flashy diamond earrings that matched the necklace he had gotten you just before Christmas.

"Oh baby, they are beautiful! What did I do to deserve these?" You said, gingerly taking the box from him.

He gave a small shrug, "accept it as a generous token of my love, little pet. Now, I have a little under two hours before I have to go finish this shit, and I would do my job better if a certain pair of tits and the thoughts of a certain warm, wet pussy quit hounding me."

You set the box on your table and pulled the blankets back as you fell into the bed. The cold air giving you chills as your nipples hardened.

"Already ready?" He chuckled, sitting up to pull his shirt off and strip from his briefs.

"I could never not be ready for you baby. You make me so wet by just touching me." you whispered, grabbing his arm and pulling him into you.

"What do you want baby girl?" He asked gently, kissing down your neck.

"It's not about wanting. It's about needing. Give me what I need baby." You purred, dragging your nails down his back and wrapping your fingers of your other hand in the hair at the nape of his neck as he climbed up on you.

"Well if that is so my angel, you still need punished for your outbursts recently." He said, kissing down your body.

"Yes sir, I understand." You said with a sigh, afraid of what he would do.

"How angry do you think you've made me in the last week?" He asked, nipping at your breasts.

"I... I don't know baby." You admitted quietly.

"Go on. Take a guess." He replied, taking a nipple between his teeth and swirling his tongue firmly.

"Very? But I have made you very happy too." You said, hopefully.

Ramsay pulled away from you with a loud plop and eyed you curiously, a grin forming.

"Yes. Yes, I suppose that is true. You have made me incredibly happy."

You glanced up at him, "really?"

"Of course baby girl. You're growing my child in here," he ran his hand firmly over your stomach, "you killed a man because I asked you to. It took everything in me not to get off right then and there."

He pushed himself further down your body, "but, you still have to be punished so you remember that I'm your master and I take care of you."

"Yes, master." You said, biting your lip and closing your eyes tight, bracing for the worst.

But no pain came. Only warm, sensual movements from your husband's tongue as he slowly slid his tongue inside you.

You drew a sharp gasp, opening your eyes quickly to watch him. He was playing a game. What kind of game were you about to lose?

"Recite your crimes, doll. Judgement needs to be served." He hummed.

"I... I called you a bastard." You said, as it was the first time you remember making him mad in the last week.

"And why did you call me a bastard?"

"I didn't mean to. Honest. I was just upset."

"Just upset." He mocked with a wicked grin. "Should you be punished for that?"

You looked at him as he ran his tongue sloppily over your folds. No. You didn't deserve to be punished for that. But you knew No was the wrong answer.

"Yes sir. I do." You said with a swallow.

He held up a finger.

"Next offensive baby girl." He breathed against you, his breathing making you shiver and your high begin to mount.

You raked your brains trying to remember. It was hard. You were never sure what really made him mad and what didn't.

"I... I asked you questions when you told me not to." You panted, trying to pull away from him.

He hummed in amusement, holding up his second finger, "Yes, you did baby girl. Do you have an argument for your defense?"

You tried to pull away again, but he pushed his elbow into your thigh until it became uncomfortable, hosting a new wave of assaults with his tongue on you.

"Yes. I do." You said through a choked gasp.

He brought his eyes up to yours and raised a brow, "go on."

"You let me. You wanted me to. You could have stopped me or ignored me, but you kept answering. There's something you want me to know, I just haven't found it yet. What do you want for me to know, baby boy?"

"Alright baby girl, I will let you off on that one for a strong defense. Now, let's talk about one more to pass judgement on." He said, running his finger tips over your breasts.

The warmth and desire was becoming hard to ignore as he buried his face between your legs again, nipping at your folds.

"Those things I said on the way to my parents. And there's no need to ask, because what I did was wrong, and I accept whatever punishment you deem worthy, daddy." You panted, grabbing at his shoulder as the knots in your stomach began to coil tightly.

"Good girl. For that I will take the first punishment away. Would you like to know what I'm going to do to you?" He asked, pulling himself gently up your body, placing his lips on yours.

You closed your eyes and gave a small nod, drawing a sharp gasp as he slowly slid himself inside of you.

You relaxed with a small moan as he rolled his hips deeply into yours, setting and achingly slow pace.

Your breathing became shallow and rapid as you clawed at his back, feeling your high mount.

You dug your nails into him as you found rhythm with him, every breath escaping you with a moan, as he panted heavily in your ear.

You drew a sharp breath as your high was moments away, preparing for release, when suddenly he pulled away from you completely wearing that wicked grin.

You pouted, "baby, I was so close."

He laughed at the whine in your voice as he gripped himself and began to run his hand along his dick and rub his tip into your abdomen.

You bit your lip, watching him, the ache between your legs almost painful. You made to move your hand but he fixed you with a cold, malicious glare.

"No." He panted, continuing to jerk himself.

You pouted with a whimper, "Please daddy."

He gave a laugh, "no."

He brought his other hand to cup under him as he met his release and you watched the thick, white cum pool in his hand as he let out a satisfied sigh.

"Lick it clean." He said, holding out his hand.

You sat up, pressing your tongue to his hand as you lapped up his spent cum. It was warm and salty. You licked and kissed every part of his hand until he finally pulled his hand back.

He climbed out of bed and redressed, glancing at his watch. He gave you a quick kiss and turned to leave.

"You're just gunna leave me like this?" You asked, unamused.

"I told you, baby doll. You had to be punished. Now, I have eighty million dollars to steal. Dinner?" He said, standing in the doorway.

"Wouldn't miss it. Please be safe." You said with a weak smile.

"Who are we, baby girl?"

"Bolton's."

"And what is our motto?"

"Our blades are sharp."

He pointed at you with a wink, "bingo."

×××

"So why you come back a day early?" Olyvar asked, standing beside you as you looked over the bare lot that was about to be the newest, best bar in the city.

"Rams had some shit to do. He didn't really elaborate. I'm sorry I've been quiet recently." You said, smiling at up at your friend.

Olyvar pulled you into a hug, "don't be. I know life has been crazy. How's the baby?"

"Great! I can finally eat without puking. My headaches are dispersing. I'm feeling better. What have you been up to?" You said, watching the trucks unload lumber and mix concrete.

"Oh, you know. The usual. Been trying to get close with Loras Tyrell and Renly Baratheon. They are pretty handsome devils." Olyvar said with a grin and a wink.

"I need to get with Margaery Tyrell. But I'm not sure how." You said with a sigh.

Truth be told, you didn't want to. What did she really matter to You?

"Watch the news the morning? Ramsay was on there." Olyvar said, taking in the look on your face and changing the subject.

"Oh god, why?" You asked, feeling panicked. You hadn't spoken to him since he left at four this morning.

"Well, no one knows it's him. But... hold on..." Olyvar said pulling out his phone. "Here." He said with a chuckle, handing you his phone.

"Good morning folks. This morning we start out with a rather interesting story that happened around two a.m. Apparently a man broke into a jewelry store, mocked the camera, broke into a glass cabinet, took only one pair of earrings, then calls the cops, salutes the camera, and shoots it on his way out! How crazy is that?!" The anchorwoman exclaimed, doing her best to hide her amusement as her partner did the same before he spoke.

"Police are hoping the video will help apprehend the thief. But it's looking to be difficult as he was completely covered, and left nothing behind. Here's a look at the video."

You watched your husband in his Darth Vader mask wave at the camera with his gloved hand and motion to the glass counter he had propped his elbow up on, before smashing it with his gun. He then carefully brushed aside the glass, picked up the tiny velvet box, waved it at the camera again, placed it in his pocket and pulled out his phone. You saw him hold it up to his ear, walk towards the door, put the phone away, flipped his middle finger at the camera, before finally shooting it as he gave a small salute.

You shook your head, handing Olyvar his phone back with a sigh.

"Why is he like this?" You huffed.

"You like it. Those diamonds really bring out your eyes, dear." Olyvar chuckled.

You blushed, bringing your hand up to brush your ear and feel the cold stone.

"Lunch? I'm starving." You said, rubbing your stomach.

"Pasta?"

"You know me so well." You laughed, walking to your car. Driving the car was so different than the jeep.

You turned down the radio as Olyvar climbed in.

"The contractor promised they would be done in no more than sixty five days." Olyvar said, adjusting his seat.

"Gah. That sounds so long when you say it like that." You whined.

"Oh come on, that's roughly middle of March."

You sat there downing pasta and listening to Olyvar talk about his most recent exploits when your phone vibrated in your lap. You picked it up.

[Rams: you can get the sad look off your face. It's done and we are safe. I'm going to the garage. Dinner. 7. I'll pick you up. Semi-formal.]

You glanced around quickly but didn't see Ramsay or anyone you knew. Must of been a street soldier around keeping tabs on you.

[You: okay baby. I guess I will see you at 7.]

×××

"You ever gonna let one of these damn dogs have pups?" Olyvar asked, scratching both dogs behind the ears.

You shrugged eating a twizzler, "That's Rams' thing. Not mine."

There came a knock on the door. You glanced at the clock. It was only 4:17. And Ramsay wouldn't knock.

You exchanged a look with Olyvar as you rose from the couch to cross to the door.

You gave a quick look at your purse beside you, thinking of the gun tucked away safely. You took a deep breath and opened the door.

There stood the tallest man you had ever seen, accompanied by a much shorter man, or maybe it was just he seemed that way, he was still taller than you.

"May I help you gentlemen?" You asked, gripping the door handle.

"Yes ma'am. I'm Agent Bronn and this is my partner Agent Gregor. We need to ask you a few questions." The shorter man said, flashing a badge.

No. This wasn't right. Something felt off. They were not local PD, and they were very unlikely to be Federal Agents. You saw a flash of gold on Agent Bronn's tie.

"Of course, but if we could make it quick. I have an appointment at five." You said with a swallow.

"We have information you have been close with Tyene Sand." Bronn said, rolling his shoulders and bouncing on his heels.

"And? She's my employee. What's the point of this?" You snapped.

"Thank you for your time ma'am." Bronn said, abruptly leaving.

You stood there dumbfounded. What the hell just happened?

"Oly, call Ty and tell her to meet me with her family at Ramsay's shop in an hour. I'm afraid I just played into a trap." You said, panicked, closing the door, and turning to Olyvar.

[maevefiction]

Your Light in the Mist - Chapter 20

Hot fudge ran down my chin as I slurped up another bite of my Sky Scraper sundae. Cookies & cream, chocolate and vanilla ice cream with layers of caramel, hot fudge and crushed Oreos topped with whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry. The wafer that had been jammed into it had been snapped up by Tom before the waitress even managed to set it on the table.

“This. THIS is ice cream.” My eyes closed as I licked the spoon clean for the umpteenth time. We were seated in the rear of the Creole Creamery, at a round table behind a row of booths. It was two miles or so from the hotel, and we’d decided to try something local instead of yet another chain…totally the right call. On the walls around us were photos of previous guests, pinned to corkboard with the motto ‘Eat Ice Cream. Be Happy.’ painted above them. Words to live by, according to the book of Maude.

Tom offered me a spoonful of his Cookie Monster sundae, which consisted of cookie monster ice cream, crushed Oreos, chocolate chip cookies and a generous helping of hot fudge, all topped with whipped cream, cookie crumbles, a cherry, and a wafer. He’d eaten that one, too. I’d taken a picture for him to post as he posed looming over the sundae, head down, spoon in his hand and mouth open wide. He’d uploaded it everywhere.

The Cookie Monster Sundae. Eating it RIGHT NOW. #delayedgratification, #idon’thinkso, #settingabadexample, #sorrynotsorry

I opened my mouth and stuck out my tongue to receive the spoon. He slid it along the center until I closed my lips around it, and I wasn’t sure if the moan that followed was because the ice cream was so delicious or if it was due to the fact that I wished it was his cock instead. I shut my eyes as he pulled the utensil free, ever so slowly. When I opened them he was staring at me, licking his lips.

I kicked him under the table. “Stop that right now, young man. I am finishing this ice cream. Finishing. It.”

He leaned all the way across the table, up off his seat and bent at the waist, in order to whisper in my ear. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the dress you were wearing, sans panties, when I fucked you up against the wall of the bathroom at Talk Story?”

I was up out of my chair before he finished his question, grabbing my bag off the floor. “You know what? I think I’m full. Yep. Full. Time to go.”

He followed me out to the car, chuckling when I got in the driver’s side and sat behind the wheel.

I glared at him. “Shut up. Get in. Move it.” He’d barely buckled his belt when I pulled out onto the street.

I made it back to the hotel in record time, and as soon as I put it park Tom’s mouth was on mine, one hand working its way up my thigh to the promised land. I slid my hand down the back of his pants, cupping one ass cheek and pulling it to the side. He grunted and broke the kiss.

“In. Side. Inside. Room. Now.”

We booked up the steps to the second floor, and Tom had to swipe the keycard three times because he was doing it so quickly it wouldn’t register. He pushed me in before him, closed the door with his foot and pinned me up against it, grinding his rock-hard cock into me, circling his hips and intermittently thrusting forward, eyes on mine the entire time.

I looked down as I reached to unbutton his jeans, then unzipped them carefully and took him in hand, stroking up and down, using the fluid drooling from the tip as lubricant.

He whimpered, a long, drawn out sound that made me so wet I was certain I’d leak through my cotton undies and start dripping on the floor. He began pawing at my dress, unzipping the back and working it over my shoulders, and I was forced to let him go in order to pull my arms out. It hung up at my hips, and he gave it a pull and it fell to a heap on the floor. He caught sight of the giant wet spot that my crotch had become and sank to his knees, breathing me in before pulling the fabric into his mouth and sucking on it, continuing to do so as he slid them down my legs with his hands. I stepped out of them, and my dress, leaving me clad only in my bra. I shed it instantly on my own as he removed his clothing, nearly falling as he tried to take his boots off without sitting down. He steadied himself and kissed me, and I could taste myself on him, though only faintly. He pulled away and flopped on his back in the middle of the bed, legs hanging off the bottom, a space of a foot or more between him and the headboard.

I raised a brow, unmoving. “Whatcha doin’ there, Thomas?”

He patted his upper chest. “I need to taste you. Sit.”

I looked at the headboard, sizing it up to see if I could get a good enough grip so I could hold myself up and not crush him. I shook my head as I climbed into the space between him and the headboard, high on my knees, spread wide as I raised my arms and latched onto the wooden frame in front of me.

“Nuh-uh. If I sit I’m going to ride you so hard I’m afraid I’ll wind up breaking your nose or something.”

“Maude, don’t be ridiculous. You won’t…”

“Thomas. Trust me.  Now slide up under me and get to work, won’t you?”

He wrapped his arms around my thighs and pushed himself into position, using his hands to spread my lips open.

“Mmm, the view from here rivals a Hawaiian sunset. Endless shades of pink and purple, glistening as if it were the sky reflecting on the water.”

I was about to tell him to shut the fuck up when I felt his tongue start at my taint and drag painstakingly slowly up to my clit, pausing to flick, then circle it. When he stopped I whined, until I felt it enter me.

“Fucking hell, Tom.” Something began rubbing my clit…I wasn’t certain what, but it didn’t matter. Not one single bit. His tongue delved deeper, and I began to swivel my hips and rise up and down, fucking it. He held still, and I came in what seemed like seconds, screaming his name, head hanging between my arms as I held onto the headboard for dear life. I tried to lift a knee, but he held me in place, laughing.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

I panted. “Off.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. That was just the appetizer, love. Main course is up next, and I’m famished.”

He gorged himself on me, licking, slurping, tongue inside me again and swirling against my walls, tugging my clit gently between his teeth and then sucking it into his mouth, pulling harder and harder until I came again, and then again when he worked two fingers inside me and rubbed my G-spot furiously as he continued his relentless sucking. I hadn’t even realized that he’d stopped until I felt him behind me, feverish and sweaty, nipples hard against my back, cock nudging at my entrance. I pushed my hips back, and we groaned in unison as the head slipped in.

He growled in my ear. “Is there room for dessert?”

I nodded emphatically. “Always.”

His arms wrapped around me, hands on my breasts, lifting them, squeezing the nipples firmly. I felt his cock moving forward, dragging against my oversensitive flesh until he was fully seated and breathing raggedly.

“Maude, let go of the headboard. I’ll hold you up.”

I let my arms fall, then reached behind me and grabbed him, thumbs on his hips, fingers on his ass, pulling him closer. He keened and began thrusting as I straightened my torso and rested my ass lightly on his thighs, gyrating as I clamped down on him.

He moaned, long and low, making me shiver. “Ohgodohgodohgod…love, please keep doing that. Please.”

I squeezed in time with his movements, appreciating the angle of his cock that resulted from this particular position. He felt…bigger. And deeper. I would have sworn I could discern the ridge of his head as it pressed against my walls, and every time it hit my G-spot I whimpered. His mouth was on my neck, then my shoulder. I felt him sucking, then nipping, then applying his teeth and abruptly stopping and licking instead. He lowered one hand and tugged at my clit, holding it between his index and middle finger as his cock pounded into me mercilessly.

“That’s it, Thomas. Fuck me hard. Don’t hold back, baby. Just like that. Ungh. Oh god. Don’t stop. Do. Not. Stop.”

He began repeating my name, moving faster and faster, like a jack rabbit, then becoming irregular, his entire body spasming as he neared his peak. I commenced riding him like it was the final stretch of the Belmont stakes, my fourth orgasm rendering me both breathless and voiceless as I leaned back, applying my full weight to his thighs as he filled me with his come. He pulled me down to the bed with him, cock still inside me as we spooned.

Several minutes passed before I could speak again. “Good golly Miss Molly that was fucking incredible. Holy shit.”

He kissed my neck. “I concur. Fully.”

His gesture reminded me that he’d refrained from biting me. I pulled away and rolled to face him, up on one elbow, head in my hand.

“Can I talk to you about something?”

He sat up, concern in his eyes. “Of course. What’s wrong?”

I sat up as well, come running out of me and onto the bedspread. I rolled my eyes. “Shit. Sorry, housekeeping. Again.” I reached out and put my hand on his knee, finding myself unsure of how to proceed. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just…you were…my shoulder…”

He frowned slightly but didn’t speak as he placed his hand on top of mine.

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, opened them, then met his gaze. “Limits. I think we should talk about limits. Sexual limits. Because I don’t want either of us to be afraid to do the things we enjoy, or try things we think we’d enjoy, for fear of the other person being uncomfortable.”

He exhaled, relief in his eyes. “Thank you. After everything I told you last night…it crossed my mind that you might assume I have a proclivity for certain things that you’d rather not participate in, and I wanted to discuss it but with everything else that’s going on…”

I interrupted him. “My ‘no thanks’ list is pretty short. No bondage, no punishment, no subjugation, no shaming, no submission and no sharing. Other than that, I’m open to anything. Wait…actually, I’m not into serious pain, either, but love bites are fine, and you’re more than welcome to heartily slap my ass because you want to watch it jiggle.”

He snickered. “Maude, you wouldn’t revel in being submissive? I’m shocked, I say. Shocked.”

I feigned surprise, opening my eyes wide. “I know. Completely unexpected, right? I’m aware that some people who are very dominant in their everyday lives find letting themselves go in such a fashion to be a welcome release, but…no. If I can’t be in charge, the playing field has to be nothing less than equal. It’s how I’m wired.” I paused. “I think I was most apprehensive about the whole swinger thing. I don’t even like to share my food, never mind my partner. Prior to being in a committed relationship I might have been persuaded to consider…fuck. Sorry. Let’s try that again. Monogamous, maybe? Though by definition that excludes other parties…oy. Didn’t mean to imply that we’re…but it feels like…son of a bitch…here, Thomas, have some extra pressure you don’t need. Good god, will you please say something so I shut the fuck up?”

He leaned in and put his hand on my face, thumb tracing my cheekbone. “It’s not an implication. It’s the truth. For me, at least. I’m aware it seems ridiculous on the surface because we’ve known each other for such a short time, but…I am committed. In my heart, and in my soul. To you.”

I sighed contentedly.  “Well, that shut me up. Nicely done. And, you know, me too. Committed.”  

He embraced me. “Good.” I felt him shudder before he let go in order to face me. “In no way, shape or form do I wish to share myself with anyone else but you. And just thinking about you with…right in front of me…no. I can’t allow myself to visualize it. I’ll go off the rails.”

I rolled my eyes again. “I hear that, dude. Though I’ve been battling with myself all day, trying to resist Googling Claudia. I have no idea why. It’s weird. I guess I see her as the competition. Even if she’s not. Or maybe I just want to know what she looks like in case we run into her. Or maybe I just like torturing myself.”

He kissed me, tender and soft. “I think that’s normal. I was curious to know what your partners looked like as well. But Maude, Claudia…she was…she wasn’t really anything. She was just…there. Which makes me feel like a horrible person when I say it out loud. Anyway, my point was that there is no competition. It’s not even the same sport.” He shook his head. “Fuck, that sounds…ugh…your turn to say something to shut ME the fuck up, please.”  

“No problem. So, what’s on your ‘no thanks’ list?”

“Same as you. Though I’m not averse to having my hands tied together or to an inanimate object, but it’s not something I…”

“Nope. No can do. I read Gerald’s Game. I’d be fine with using my hands to restrain you, though. Or pretending to restrain you, I should say. Because you’re just a smidge more powerful than I am. Anything else?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Well, it’s not on the ‘no’ list, actually, but since we’re already chatting about such incredibly awkward matters perhaps it’s a good time to bring it up…”

“Lay it on me, baby.”

He covered his eyes and said a mumbled a single word. “Anal.”

I pulled his hand away so I could see him. “We don’t have to do that ever again if you don’t want to. It’s…”

“No, no, NO. I love the way it feels when my cock is buried in your ass. I was talking about…me. Anal.”

I sat for a moment until the light bulb switched on. “Ohhhhhh…NOW I get it. Totally fine with me. What do you usually like? Tongue? Fingers? Plugs? Prostate massagers? All of the above?”

He put his face in his hands, mumbling again. “I don’t know.”

“I…what do you mean you don’t…oh. OH. Wow. Do you mean you don’t know because you’ve never tried it with someone?”

He nodded from behind his hands. “Correct. And because your next question will be why…while it’s something I’ve always fantasized about, I never trusted or felt comfortable enough with anyone to reveal my interest. Even when I was so drunk that I could hardly see, I’d pretend it was out of the question if propositioned.”

I moved behind him and put my arms around his torso, leaning forward to kiss his neck. “Please don’t be embarrassed. Your face is still covered in my pussy juice and your come is dripping down my thigh. I can’t think of a more opportune time to discuss what you’d like me to stick up your ass.” I could feel him chuckling. “Have you ever, erm…done…anything to yourself?”

He lifted his head from his hands and sat up, twisting so he could see me. “I have. Just a finger.” I raised a brow and he turned back around. “Fine. Two fingers. God, this is mortifying.”

I ran my thumbs over his nipples and whispered in his ear. “Actually, I think it’s ridiculously fucking hot. I can just see you…” They were still hard, like little pebbles, so I pinched them. “And now…though it’s not quite the same…I get to take your cherry. Mmmhmm. So very, very, very hot.”

He turned to the side, and I knee-walked down the bed to sit next to him. I yawned.

He laughed. “Not so hot after all?”

I shook my head. “Still hot. But all of a sudden I’m exhausted.” I looked at the clock. It was ten after five. Plenty of time before we had to meet Anne at eight. “Thomas, can I interest you in a naked nap?”

“Yes, please. Let’s.” He rested his forehead on mine, his voice barely audible. “I love you, Maude.”

I patted him on the back. “I love you too, Thomas.”

We used the bathroom, cleaned up, took the coverlet off the bed and conked out on the sheets, my head on his chest, one of his hands in my hair and the other in the dip of my lower back.

**************************************** It was six-thirty when I opened my eyes, the sound of Tom in the shower having woken me. My first thought was of what he’d said about Will, and curiosity got the best of me. I grabbed my phone out of my purse, as well as the picture of the dress Barty had written his cell number on. There was a message for me from the Reverend Thompson at the Christ Church Cathedral requesting a call back. I typed in the number and hit call. It rang twice before someone answered.

“Reverend Thompson, how may I help you?”

Nothing like talking to a member of the clergy while you’re sitting naked on a bed in the hotel room where you were currently shacking up with your boyfriend. Religious guilt. It lingers on even if you were never officially one of the flock. I cleared my throat. “Hello, Reverend Thompson. Maude Gallagher returning your call.”

“Miss Gallagher, thank you kindly for getting back to me so quickly. I am terribly sorry for your loss. While I believe I have all of the standard information for your mother’s service on Thursday, I was wondering if there was anything special you wanted to add. Will there be a eulogy? Would you like me to pause for folks to state remembrances? Things like that.”

“Well, there won’t be a eulogy as far as I know, and I very much appreciate your asking, but let’s just stick with the type of service you normally conduct without attendee involvement.”

“You’re quite welcome. In that case, everything is in order. How would you like to handle things if comments arise spontaneously?”

I smirked to myself as I considered the sort of remarks I’d let fly if I had the opportunity. “If they do, we’ll just roll with it. If that works for you.”

“It does. May I phone if anything else comes up?”

“Of course. Thank you, Reverend Thompson. I look forward to meeting you.”

“And you as well, Miss Gallagher.”

Tom wandered out of the bathroom, naked and toweling his hair dry. “Everything all right with the service?”

I nodded, giggling. “He called to find out if I wanted him to pause during it so people could say things…remembrances, he called them. As much fun as that has the potential to be, I said no. And he asked about a eulogy. Which I am not giving. So, that’s settled. Now I’m going to call Barty.”

“Barty?”

I tapped my index finger on my lips. “Yep. I have a question for him.”

Tom returned to the bathroom as I dialed. Barty picked up on the first ring.

“Howdy do ya, Barty here.”

I smiled, picturing him in his giant seersucker suit. “Hello, Barty. It’s Maude Gallagher. Terribly sorry to bother you so late in the day…”

“Well hello, Maude. It’s not so late…well, it may be but I’m still at the office so pay no mind to the time. What can I do for you?”

“Let me start by saying you may feel free to say no to what I’m about to ask if you believe it compromises your principles or integrity in any way.”

All I heard for ten seconds was his booming laughter. “Young lady, I cannot WAIT to hear what you have to say.”

“I’m looking for information on Will Bonaventura’s current wife. Is that something you can assist me with? Even if it’s just her name…then I can investigate further on my own.”

He was still laughing but managed to speak through it. “I must confess I had high hopes that you were going to ask me to step out for a drink, an invitation I’d be regrettably forced to decline due to my marital status. My ego is disappointed, but my mind is intrigued. Yes, I can provide you with her name, as well as her circumstances. All a matter of public record, and I had no skin in that game so my principles and integrity shall remain intact. May I be so bold as to ask why?”

“Tit for tat, eh, Barty? So be it. Though I’m relatively certain you’re privy to these two particular tidbits of information, I’ll tell them to you anyway. I was married to Will for a little over a year. I discovered he was sleeping with my mother right after my father killed himself. The why of it, to make a long story short, is that as I look back on things myself combined with the benefit of a fresh pair of eyes peering in from the outside, I’ve begun to wonder if he seeks out women with a significantly higher financial station than his own. Looking for a pattern, I guess.”

He cleared his throat. “You are correct, Maude. I did know about you, and your mother. But it never occurred to me that it was about anything other than him having a roving eye for lovely women. Pray tell, what made you think it might have been the money?”

I snorted. “I didn’t think it. Tom did. When he mentioned it, everything clicked. And I’m willing to bet the farm that the new wife is quite well off.”

“Tell your fella I’m impressed with his deductive reasoning skills. Because yes, she is. Or, she was.”

My heart skipped a beat, overactive imagination immediately thinking he’d done something to her. “Was?”

He must have heard something in my tone, because he addressed my concern immediately. “I was only referring to her economic circumstances there, Maude. Let me elaborate and clear things up. First off, her name is Anna Beth, former surname Dailey. When she was sixteen, back in 2005, she was involved in a car accident wherein both her parents were killed. They were at a railway crossing and hit by an oncoming train. She survived with only minor injuries. After an investigation was conducted, the authorities determined that the signal was not only broken, but it had been for quite some time. They offered her a seven-figure settlement…a number which started with a two…and it was placed in trust for her until she was no longer a minor by her guardian, an aunt. Belinda, if I’m not mistaken. She and my wife belong to the same garden club. No matter. What does matter is that it was big news ‘round these parts, and Anna Beth was a rather gifted pianist who wound up taking guitar lessons from Mr. Bonaventura at the start of her senior year of high school. As soon as she turned eighteen, he left your mother to marry her and they relocated to Los Angeles. Last I heard through the grapevine that is my wife’s social circle, the ostentatious house they bought was in the final stages of foreclosure and they were flat broke.”

An unattractive sneer adorned my face as I realized he’d almost certainly show up looking for a payout before the week was out. Barty continued.

“That’s really all I know at this point in time, but if anything else turns up I’ll ring you. And if he comes sniffing around, you just call me and I’ll take care of everything. All righty?”

“I shall…as long as you promise to bill me for your time.”

He laughed again. “I will indeed, young lady. I’ve got mouths to feed just like everyone else.”

As we said our goodbyes Tom sat next to me on the bed, still naked. I filled him in on all the details, watching his jaw clench when I mentioned that I anticipated not only a visit but a confrontation.

I kissed his cheek. “I’m not worried about it, at all. You don’t need to be, either. I have insider information. I’m almost hoping it happens so I can trip him up and make him look like the loser he is. He’d hate that. SO much.” I ran my fingers down the center of his chest and stomach, starting at his collarbones, not stopping until I reached his belly button. “Why are you still naked? You need to not be naked.”

He grinned at me. “I’ve no idea where we’re going. Nor what the dress code is.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s your excuse?”

His teeth gripped my earlobe and tugged. “Yes. What’s yours?”

“I was waiting for you to stop bogarting the bathroom.” He tickled my ribs. “No, no. Nope. Cease and desist. I have to pee.”

He let me go and I bolted to the toilet, speaking as I gratefully relieved myself. “Oh. Right. We’re going to the Court of Two Sisters. Business casual, I’d think. Check their website, will you?”

“Doing it already.” A pause. “It says ‘nice casual’.”

I flushed, turned the shower on and got in. “Um, that’s an oxymoron as far as I’m concerned. All I know is I’m wearing my black tank dress. And some sort of shoes. Probably.”

His voice was closer, and when I peeked out he was standing in the doorway. Still naked. “The one with the grommets? That you wore the day we met?”

I nodded. “That’s the one. I know, totally lame that I’m repeating myself already. Twice in one day, even. All the stuff I bought for Comic-Con is way too heavy for this weather. Which reminds me…tomorrow I need to go find acceptable viewing and funeral attire. So exciting!” I closed the curtain and put my head under the spray to wet my hair. I heard it open and turned my head to look at him.

He smiled. “Hi.”

I smiled back and reached for the shampoo. “Hi.”

“Do you mind if I hang about?”

I shook my head. “I’d love some company, actually.”

He remained, watching me rinse my hair, soap up, then rinse. Neither of us spoke. When I was finished, he held a towel open and wrapped it around me as soon as I stepped out, kissed me, then went into the main room as I dried myself off.

He’d gotten dressed, in dark blue jeans and a light-blue button down shirt, said buttons working way too hard to contain him as per usual. His feet were still bare, and I stared, marveling at how exquisitely elegant yet unmistakably masculine they were. I lifted my gaze to find him smirking.

I stuck out my tongue. “Yes, Thomas, even your feet are gorgeous. Bastard.”

He shrugged. “I find myself incapable of deciding which shoes to wear. The boots are my favorite, but good Christ they’re hot.”

“If you’re asking for permission to wear your white Vans…I have no comment.”

He laughed. “I have navy blue ones. Do those fit into the ‘nice casual’ category, do you think?”

“I’m going to say…yes.” I dug around in my luggage for some clean underwear and came up empty. I hadn’t done laundry at the beach house because I had plenty of things to see me through until we got to New York, and never gave it a second thought in the midst of all that had gone awry. “Shit. It appears that I’m out of underwear. Add laundry to the list of ‘adulting we need to do tomorrow’. I’d ask to borrow a pair of yours, but that would most likely be an exercise in futility. Do correct me if I’m wrong.”

He shook his head. “All I have are my swim trunks. Sorry.” His tongue ran over his lips, tortuously slow. “Guess you’re just going to have to go without.”

I rolled my eyes as I hooked my black bra and spun it around, slipping my arms through the straps and tucking my boobs into the cups one at a time. “No undies in a dress that barely hangs to my knees. What could possibly go wrong?”

He grinned, tongue between his teeth. “I’ll be spending the entire evening wishing for a good, strong breeze to descend upon us at just the right moment.”

The dress was in my garment bag, and I removed its hanger and pulled it over my head. “Yeah. Don’t bother. Not necessary. I’m totally going to drop something, bend right the fuck over at the waist and boom…HELLO NEW ORLEANS! Maude’s ‘a coochie for every city’ tour continues.”

He guffawed, laugh cycling through all of its gears in seconds.

“Sure. Laugh. See if you’re still laughing when you have to bail me out after I’m arrested for flashing an entire restaurant. And on the front page of TMZ.”

Tears were running down his cheeks. “Oh…MAUDE…you are…fucking…HILARIOUS.”

“Mmm hmm. I speak the truth, Hiddleston. THE TRUTH.”

He was still snickering after I applied my makeup and put my hair in a bun at the base of my neck. I tied on my gladiator sandals, then remembered the black tourmaline necklace my father had given me. I went back into the bathroom, as my jewelry was in its own bag, nested in with my makeup. I took it out and held it in one hand, running the index finger of the other over it. Tom’s laughter quickly faded when he saw it, and when he reached to take it from me I could see in the image reflected by the mirror that his eyes were damp and full of reverence.

He spoke quietly. “May I put this on for you?”

I nodded. He took it from my hand, held it to my neck and fastened the clasp. His hands came to rest on my shoulders. I turned my head to the side and kissed the left one.

“Thank you.”

He kissed the top of my head. “You’re welcome, my love. Ready to go?”

“Yep.” I grabbed my phone, shoved it in my bag and slung the works over my shoulder as we headed out the door. “Oh, and by the way…don’t be surprised if Anne tries to rope you into playing Lestat over dinner.”

**************************************** The Court of Two Sisters, located at 613-615 Royal, was built in 1832 for Jean Baptiste Zenon Cavelie, president of the Bank of New Orleans. In 1886 it was purchased by an aristocratic Creole family…the Anguads. Shortly thereafter Bertha Angaud set up shop with her sister, Emma Camors, selling notions in what they dubbed ‘The Shop of Two Sisters.’ Over the years, they provided Mardi Gras costumes to the city’s wealthiest women, along with formal gowns and imported perfumes from Paris. The large courtyard was used by the sisters to serve tea and cakes to their very favorite customers from time to time.

In 1904, the sisters closed the shop as the Creole population was replaced with Italian immigrants, interest in their wares waning with the implementation of the traditions they brought with them. The property passed through many hands until 1963, when it was purchased by the Fein family, who toiled to preserve and restore it while in the process providing New Orleans with an unparalled dining experience that embodies the spirit of the city. Anne had grown up poor, but always had a deep appreciation for the rich architectural history that surrounded her, and her mentions of The Court of Two Sisters in her novels added to the magic and helped make it a tourist ‘must see’ destination. I’d eaten there at least once a month when I was growing up, my mother dressed to the nines and refusing to buy me desert. When I went with Anne it was a different story…always seated at her favorite table in the courtyard, right near the wishing well fountain, also known as the Devil’s Wishing Well due to the fact that legendary Voodo practitioner Marie Laveau lived nearby and was assumed to have practiced her craft in what was then the city’s largest open area whenever she got the chance.

I relayed all I knew, as well as my experiences, to Tom on the car ride over. We parked two blocks away, and as we walked up the street I once again found myself staring at him as he took in everything around us. When we reached the front of the building, he turned to me, gaping.

“Maude, look at this architecture…the brick building, the balcony, the dark wooden façade on the main floor, the plantation shutters…” He whipped out his phone and began taking photos, which I wasn’t sure would turn out well as all the outside lights were on since the sun had just set.

I put my hand on his back. “Wait until you see the courtyard. You’re going to lose you shit.”

He put his phone away and linked his arm with mine, pulling me forward. “Let’s go, let’s go, LET’S GO!”

The hostess advised us that Anne had already arrived and escorted us to our table. When we stepped into the courtyard I realized once more how many memories I’d had to suppress in order to survive…I’d made myself forget that it even existed, and it was so incredibly beautiful that I nearly burst into tears. For the bazillionth time in twenty-four hours.

The flooring was comprised entirely of brick pavers, all weathered smooth from years and years of traffic. Above, the wrought iron pergola was nearly invisible, hidden by a variety of climbing vines as they weaved throughout the structure and around each other. White lights were strung amongst them, casting an ethereal glow and drawing me in to look closely at the greenery, fully expecting a fairy or two to peek out and say hello. All the tables and chairs were wrought iron as well, with white tablecloths and napkins, and a lighted candle as a centerpiece. The fountain’s circular brick base was painted blue on the inside, the second tier displayed a rainbow of colors, and all other components were made of metal and darkened with age so their composition, though likely iron, couldn’t be accurately determined with only a glance. I heard Anne before I saw her.

“Maudie! There you are!” She was standing, clad in a high neck white blouse and black slacks, and as we reached the table she threw her arms around me, then pulled back. “Honey, it’s been far too long…let me look at you.”

I stood stock still as she sized me up like a blue ribbon heifer at a county fair. She let out a low whistle.

“You look downright ravishing, kiddo. Wowza.”

Tom laughed, and she turned to him. He sobered and held out his hand. “Hello, Mrs. Rice. I’m Tom. Tom Hiddleston.”

She ignored his hand, snorted and hugged him instead, then stepped back and stared at him. “Hmpf. As if I don’t know who you are. Please, call me Anne. And, what’s so funny? Inquiring minds want to know.”

Tom blushed and turned to me, eyes pleading. I decided to rescue him, pointing my thumb in his direction. “What’s funny is that the first time he saw me in this dress he said the same exact thing, more or less.”

He recovered quickly, pulling out Anne’s chair. “Imagine my delight when she found hearing it so gratifying that she requested I repeat it immediately while employing my Loki voice.”

It was Anne’s turn to laugh, sitting as Tom pushed her in. “Who could blame her?”

I pulled out my own chair before Tom could scramble to my side, began to plop down and remembered that I was pantyless just in the nick of time, slowing my descent to a dainty crawl, tucking the dress underneath me. “Damn right. And I’m still not over it. So, what’s for dinner? I’m starving.” I picked up a menu and began perusing.

The waitress came over, her blonde hair tied back neatly in a braid, dressed in brown pants, green jacket, white shirt and black bow-tie.

“Good evening, all. What can I get you to drink?”

Anne and Tom opted for iced tea, and I asked for a Coke. We were ready to order by the time she brought them to the table. For an appetizer, we decided we’d split a serving of the jalapeno stuffed bacon wrapped duck. For dinner, Anne chose shrimp and grits, served with Andouille sausage. Tom decided on the corn fried Louisiana catfish, served with jumbo lump crabmeat, Napa slaw and cayenne tartare sauce. After debating whether to have chicken or pork, I settled on the grilled double cut pork chop with a potato mash and roasted baby carrots, topped with a bacon and red wine reduction. As soon as the waitress collected our menus Anne bent and reached under the table, fumbling in her giant purse that more closely resembled a small suitcase. She handed me a framed photograph.

“Here. I’ve had this on the wall of my study for years, but I thought you might like it. I wasn’t sure if you had any of your own, and in case your mother didn’t save…”

I didn’t hear the rest of her sentence, captivated by what I held in my hands. It was from when I was around ten or eleven years old, my father and I at Mardi Gras, beads around our necks, smiling and waving at the camera. He was wearing a black windbreaker over a white T-shirt, his red hair a mess of curls and hanging over his forehead, eyes an impossible shade of blue. I’d forgotten about his dimples, and the crinkles that would appear around his eyes when he smiled. I was in floral print leggings and a yellow sweater tunic, turquoise Converse Hi-tops on my feet and a black jacket tied around my waist. My hair was in a side ponytail, and my glasses were huge, with purple frames. Tom leaned closer to see what I was looking at as I fought back tears. I handed it to him and turned to Anne.

“Thank you, Anne. I have no pictures of myself, or of him. When did you take that?”

“1989, I believe.”

I shook my head. “So he was about to turn thirty. And now I’m almost eight years older than that. Life is fucking insane.”

She chuckled. “I’m not going to argue with that. This year I turn seventy-four. Still feel thirty on the inside, though. And sometimes ten.”

Tom had been silent during our exchange, studying the photo. He looked up at me, smiling softly, and took my hand. “You have his smile. And his lips. And his dimples, his jaw, and his hair, though yours is a different color. I have a feeling that you laugh like him as well.”

Anne nodded emphatically. “You know what, Tom? She does. And she sings like him, too.”

He squeezed my hand. “He sang?”

I shrugged. “He did, when I was little. All the time. I didn’t see him often then, but when I did, he was always singing. Pop hits, folk songs, you name it.” I frowned. “The singing just…stopped. So did the smiling. I guess he was unhappy for a really long time. I mean, how could he not be?”

He set the picture down carefully, put his arm around me and kissed my check. “I’m sorry, love. You all right?”

I kissed him back. “Yep. Thank you.”

I looked at Anne. She was smiling, eyes filled with tears. I raised a brow. “And are YOU all right?”

She waved a hand at me. “I’m fine, I’m fine.  Just having a moment.”

I knew that meant she was missing Stan and that I should let it go. A moment later she perked up, pointed her finger back and forth between Tom and me and inquired as to how we met. We’d just finished telling her about our Talk Story adventure and our surprise afternoon meeting when our appetizer arrived. It was amazing, and we were all so focused on eating that the conversation was minimal. Ten minutes later the waitress returned with dinner.

I cut into my pork chop and stuffed a piece into my mouth. “Yum freaking O. Meat.” Tom snickered and I stuck my tongue out at him.

He offered me a bite of his catfish. I shook my head. “No thank you. You know the deal. It swam once. I’ll pass.” He started at me, pleading with his best puppy dog eyes until I shared my pork with him.

I ignored all rules of etiquette and spoke with my mouth full. “So, Anne…how’s my book coming?”

She chewed the bite of sausage she’d been eating, then swallowed. “Still just the initial draft. Haven’t had any time to look at it over the past few weeks. Another project keeps getting in the way.”

I raised a brow. “More Mayfair Witches? Or Beautry, perhaps? Lord knows the world could use some well written erotica after…”

She shook her head and picked up a shrimp. “No. The Vampire Lestat screenplay.” She popped the entire thing into her mouth, grinning fiendishly.

“Why would that be getting in the…wait…are you, like, writing it?”

She nodded. “Wrote it would be more accurate. With Christopher. We finished it last week. Universal worked with three other writing teams but got nowhere, so they called to see if I’d jump in. I didn’t even make them beg or anything before saying yes.”

I glanced at Tom, who had inhaled his catfish as well as the crabmeat that topped it and was now using his finger to get the last bits of sauce off his otherwise empty plate. He shrugged and smiled slyly. “What? I was in desperate need of sustenance. It was such a busy day…have to replace all those lost calories, you know.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Anne, who winked at me. I put my head in my hands, sighed and returned to the remaining bites of my pork chop. “So, they’re skipping Interview and going right to Lestat?”

She nodded again, taking another bite of sausage and held up a finger until she was done. “That was their intent, to combine The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned into one movie. I told them if they were going to do it right, they needed at least some of the elements from Interview and that Queen should stand alone as its own picture, replacing that god awful…whoops…oh, screw it, it was awful, wasn’t it?”

I laughed. “Yeah. I like Stuart Townsend, and he looked fine with his shirt off, but…he’s just not…Lestat. Plus they left out the vast majority of the actual story.”

Tom was watching us as if her were at a tennis match, waiting to see where the ball would go next.

Anne threw her hands up in the air. “Exactly, Maude.” She turned to Tom. “Have you seen it?”

He shook his head. “I’d say I was embarrassed to have missed it, but based on what I’m hearing I shouldn’t be. I did see Interview with the Vampire though, back in the day.”

I looked at him, brows raised. “And?”

He grinned. “I was thirteen. I’m not sure my opinion should count.”

“Point taken. I was seventeen and Brad Pitt had long hair and cool contacts, so I could almost ignore Tom Cruise. But it wasn’t all it could have been, mainly because they chose him, that I’m certain of. Though that may be bias talking because I have my own vision of Lestat in my head, always have since I read the books, and…yeah. Not sure anyone could compare with it, really.” I could feel the flush creeping across my chest and up my neck as I swallowed the last piece of pork.

Upon spotting my blush, his grin grew ever wider. The waitress returned, collected our dirty dishes and asked if we’d like dessert. Anne passed but ordered a cup of coffee, Tom opted for the same and some chocolate mousse, and I asked for a cup of Earl Grey and a slice of German chocolate cake.

Tom edged his chair closer to mine, rested his chin in his hand, elbow on the table, gazing pointedly into my eyes as his grin transitioned into a smirk. “Surely there must be someone you’d deem appropriate for the role, Maude.”

Anne’s smile lit up her face. “Yes, Maudie. Who would you choose, if you had carte blanche?”

My eyes narrowed, then I tapped my lips with my index finger. “Hmm, well, I know I’d want Lee Pace to play Louis. His eyebrows are epic.”

They both stared at me, silently amused.

I pointed at Anne. “This isn’t fair and you know it. If you want to ask him, just ask. I already told him you might. But there is no way I’m saying those words, people. No way. I’m just the social media manager. Not my place.”  

She pointed back. “Stop hiding behind your work, kid. You didn’t give me your opinion when I first mentioned it to you…though you did pause for an inordinate amount of time to consider it, didn’t you? And I want your opinion. But not your opinion as his social media manager, or his girlfriend. I want your opinion as a fan. You love Lestat. You’re told me more times than I can count that he’s your favorite fictional character…”

Tom put a hand over his heart, mockingly crestfallen. His face shifted, and I knew I was in for a dose of Loki before he even opened his mouth to speak. He leaned in, face ridiculously close to mine. “I was under the assumption that I am your favorite fictional character. How…disappointing.” He sneered. “Is this love, Maude Gallagher? Perhaps I need to pay this Lestat fellow a visit…”

Anne roared with laughter, and I put my head in my hands and breathed deeply, my hormones galloping along and making it almost impossible for me to be rational. Picturing him as Lestat, followed by Loki’s cameo…nope. No. Nuh-uh. Too fucking much. I focused my attention on the slice of cake that would be arriving soon in an attempt to distract myself. Layers of chocolate, caramel, pecan and coconut filling and topping. I repeated it eight times before I felt capable of semi-coherent speech again.  

I lifted my head and rolled my eyes. “Fine. Here you go. My opinion from a purely fan-based perspective.” I aimed my thumb at Tom. “He’s fucking perfect for the role. Happy now?”

A different server brought our dessert and drinks. I scarfed up a giant forkful of cake, closing my eyes and groaning as it hit my tongue. I felt Tom’s hand first on my knee, then slip under the hem of my dress and onto my bare thigh. My eyes flew open and I put my hand over his before he got carried away.

Anne reached into her purse again and pulled out what appeared to be a draft of the screenplay, dropping it on the table with a thud.

Her smile was cherubic. “I think he is too.” She pushed it in his direction. “No pressure, Tom. If you feel like giving it a read, great. If you’re not interested, I understand. You’ve already done the vampire thing…I enjoyed Only Lovers Left Alive immensely, by the way…and I wouldn’t want you to feel as if you’re repeating yourself…”

He reached out and put his hand over hers. “Of course I’ll read it, Anne. I’m honored that you’d consider me for such an iconic character that so many hold dear. I’d like to read the books as well, and I’ll see if I can find them when we’re out tomorrow…”

She pulled her hand out from under his, fished around in her bag some more and came up with dog-eared copies of Interview, Vampire and Queen. “Here you go. There are more, if you want to really get into it. Maude can fill you in on the details. Obviously, the final casting choices aren’t up to me, but I’d like to think they’ll be open to my suggestions this time around. We don’t have a director yet, either, but I saw a screener of Crimson Peak that Christopher was given and now Mr. Del Toro is at the top of my list.”

Tom’s face lit up. “Well, I’d love the opportunity to work with him again, that’s a certainty. He’s brilliant, and has such a unique methodology.” He pointed at the screenplay. “Have you sent him a copy?”

She shook her head.

Tom tilted his to the side, pondering, then nodded. “If you email one to me I’d be happy to pass it along if you’d like.”

Anne beamed. “That would be fantastic, Tom. Thank you. I hope you’ll forgive me for springing it on you like this.” She looked at me. “And you too, especially. I had everything with me, just in case, but I hadn’t planned on bringing it up until later on in the week. After meeting him, though, I just couldn’t help myself.”

I was still trying to get his hand out from under my dress. I snorted. “Yeah. Welcome to my world.”

**************************************** We chatted for a while after dessert until we’d each finished our fourth cup of coffee and tea. Tom had started in on the screenplay after the second round, and Anne and I discussed my new job, the possibility of Will showing up, and what I’d do with the house. As we parted ways Anne said she’s see us at the viewing, and we arrived back at the hotel at ten after eleven. I’d barely even put my bag down, but Tom was already sitting on the side of the bed, screenplay in his lap, continuing from where he’d left off. I sat next to him, watching him read.

I put my hand on his arm. “So…you’re, like, into this, maybe?”

He turned and smiled at me, face full of excitement. “Yes.” He gestured to the page he was on. “This is amazingly well done.” He turned back to the beginning. “And look, they even created a biography for him. He’s multi-faceted, conflicted…I can’t wait to learn everything about him.”

I changed into a T-shirt and washed out a pair of underwear in the sink, using my body wash as soap, then hung them on the towel rack to dry. He was still in the same spot when I came out of the bathroom.

I kissed him on top of his head. “You’re not going to stop until you’ve finished that, are you?”

He looked up at me, grinning abashedly. “Probably not, no. Do you mind?”

I shook my head. “Of course not. It’s the first time I’m seeing you in your element…it’s fascinating. And adorable. But I’m going to crash out, I think. Cool?”

He pulled me down and kissed me, biting my bottom lip gently, and I explored his mouth with my tongue. We both whimpered as I backed away. He reached up under my T-shirt and cupped my breasts, resting his head on my stomach.

“Maybe I’ll finish this tomorrow.”

I ran my hands through his hair. “Or you could just wake me up when you’re done.” He lifted his head and I giggled at his expression. “What? Sex is one of the few things I LIKE being woken up for. Are there really people who feel differently?” I shook my head. “Scratch that. I don’t want to know.”

He giggled as well, then spoke, his voice low and obscenely erotic as he slid his hands down my belly and out of my shirt. “As soon as I’ve finished the last word, I’ll be coming for you.”

I put a hand on my hip and raised an eyebrow. “Well I’d fucking hope so.”

We laughed, and I pulled back the covers as far as I could and crawled into bed. He turned around, puzzled. “I thought you’d want to go upstairs…you’re going to be able to sleep here, with me up and about and the light on?”

I yawned. “Yep. And this way all you have to do when you’re done is roll over.” I held up my hand. “No, no, don’t thank me. I enjoy accommodating your every need.”

It was his turn to raise a brow as he snickered. “Oh, of course. Not a bit of selfishness in your motivation, is there?”

I held my index finger to my lips. “Shh. Maude is sleeping now.”

He grinned, patted my thigh and returned to his task. I watched him from behind, the muscles in his back rippling as he turned the pages, hearing him inhale when something surprised him, laughing softly at Lestat’s antics, the peaceful silence while he was absorbing Anne and Christopher’s words. He reached behind him at some point to rest his hand on my ankle, then began to rub it gently. It was better than any lullaby, and I felt my eyelids growing heavy, falling asleep within minutes and dreaming of him dressed as Lestat during his rock star phase, leather pants and no shirt, his white-blonde hair gleaming in the stage lights as the entire world was bewitched by his majestic charisma.  

[talabib]

Simple Stress-Busting Strategies That Deliver.

It’s often said that the past is a foreign country. That certainly applies to the world of work. From the perspective of our relentless 24/7 business culture today, the old days of nine-to-five shifts and three-martini lunches look about as mysterious and decadent as the lives of the late Roman emperors. Today, it’s hard enough switching off in your free time, never mind during office hours!

That’s hardly surprising. After all, the mid-twentieth century and the present are, technologically speaking, light-years apart. Innovations like the internet, email and smartphones have made it harder than ever before to get away from work. If you have an iPhone, your boss is always right there in your pocket waiting for you to open that email she sent at 10:00 p.m.

And that’s starting to take its toll. Professionals have never been so stressed and sleep-deprived. They’re unhappier, less productive and staring down the barrel of burnout. So it’s high time to make some changes! This post walks you through a series of simple, stress-busting strategies and explains the science behind them. Start integrating them into your professional life today, and you’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll soon feel.

Life is becoming increasingly hectic, and stress levels are on the rise.

There’s no sugarcoating it – life has become more stressful. Getting up at six, grinding out a grueling shift at the metaphorical coalface and collapsing into bed at eleven in the evening is the new normal. But it wasn’t always like this. In fact, things have gotten a whole lot crazier over the last decade.

So, what’s behind our increasingly hectic work lives? Well, let’s rewind to 2008. The economy was in freefall, and companies were scrambling to adjust to the harsh new realities. Lots of companies only managed to survive by downsizing their staff and restructuring workloads. The result was fewer people shouldering a whole lot more than their fair share of responsibilities.

Then there’s the smartphone. Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007. Soon enough, it had taken over the world. According to a 2012 study in the MIT Technology Review, the iPhone conquered 40 percent of the American mobile phone market within just a couple of years. That’s pretty astonishing when you consider the fact that it took computers fourteen years to achieve anything close to that level of market penetration.

The problem, however, is that smartphones don’t just make life more convenient and fun. Sure, you can check Instagram and send tweets, but this also means you’re always on standby mode. Your work is never more than a click away. A 2013 study carried out by the Center for Creative Leadership highlighted this trend. The surveyed executives and managers with smartphones spent an astonishing 72 hours every week engaged in work-related activities!

That’s not sustainable. When work gets too hectic, our stress levels shoot through the roof. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, 33 percent of all Americans suffered acute work-related stress in 2013, while 48 percent claimed that their stress levels had increased over the previous five years.

A full 83 percent of interviewees in the study believed that stress was negatively affecting their health. They’re not wrong! When the Benson-Henry Institute in Massachusetts looked into the matter, they found that between 60 and 90 percent of all trips to the doctor were stress-related.

Practicing mindfulness counteracts the natural fight-or-flight response triggered by stress.

Have you ever had the urge to jump out of your office chair, run right out the door and never come back? That’s a pretty good sign you might be suffering from work-related stress. The desire to flee is one of the body’s natural responses to stress. That’s part of the “fight-or-flight” response, a cerebral and hormonal reaction to life-endangering events. Here’s how it works.

Imagine someone jumps out from behind a corner with a weapon. Your brain – or, more precisely, the command center of your brain known as the thalamus – is the first to react. This, in turn, triggers the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for processing emotions. This then activates the hypothalamus, the area in charge of regulating the autonomic nervous system, which transmits a message to your adrenal glands. These start pumping out adrenaline – a hormone that prepares your body to react quickly and, if need be, violently. Once it runs out of adrenaline, your body switches to cortisol, another hormone with a similar effect.

This reaction makes you more alert and prepares you to fight or flee. Strange as it may sound, a difficult boss or impossible deadlines are just as likely to trigger this response as a knife-wielding maniac. That’s a problem. If you’re sitting in your office producing adrenaline and cortisol for hours on end, this creates a hormonal imbalance that can be damaging to your health.

So here’s a great tip: learn to beat the fight-or-flight reaction by practicing mindfulness. A quick and dirty mindfulness routine involves nothing more than focusing on your breathing. Take ten deep breaths followed by a pause, and you’ll already feel a lot better.

The second option requires a bit more practice, but it’s an invaluable anti-stress tool: meditation. That’s not just good for your mental well-being – it’s also good for your physical health. That’s the conclusion of a 2000 study by Herbert Benson, a professor at Harvard Medical School. It showed that regular meditation could actually shrink the size of the amygdala and thus counteract that unwanted stress response!

The best way to minimize stress is to develop a supportive daily work rhythm.

You’ve probably heard the old Chinese proverb that says giving a man a fish feeds him for a day, but teaching him to fish feeds him for a lifetime. That’s also a good motto when it comes to stress reduction. Quick fixes like nipping out for a coffee have their uses, especially when you’re in a pinch, but the best way to minimize stress is to develop a long-term anti-stress plan.

Here’s an idea: start by trying to work out a supportive daily work rhythm. That’s precisely what Hilton Hotels CEO Chris Nassetta did. In his case, that involved getting up earlier to free up time to mull over his day’s responsibilities. Nassetta gets up at five every morning and aims to be in the office by six at the latest. Since his work officially only starts somewhere between eight and nine, that gives him at least two hours to prepare for the day ahead. The upshot? He can think through his tasks without losing focus or worrying about what’s coming up later. Rather than drifting off in the middle of a conversation because he’s worried about what he’ll say in an upcoming meeting, he can be fully present and engage with the people he’s talking to.

 It’s worth noting at the outset that you won’t always pull off your ideal work rhythm. In practice, you’ll have to be flexible and roll with the punches. Take it from Crystal Cooper, the vice president for public representation at global IT company Unisys. She initially resented the demands her work placed on her schedule. No wonder – being on call 24/7 is pretty intense! But after a while, she decided to go with the flow and adapt her expectations. Rather than planning to spend two hours of quality time with her family between seven and nine in the evening, she made sure she fit those hours in whenever the chance presented itself throughout the day.

Having clear routines and feedback systems supports you both personally and professionally.

Imagine you had to summon all your willpower to do even the most mundane tasks, like brushing your teeth or tying your shoelaces. Life would be unbearably exhausting, right? Luckily the human mind has an autopilot function that helps you do these things without wasting too much brainpower. And here’s the thing – you can get the most out of that nifty cerebral technology by cultivating routines. That’s good news for your personal life.

So, how can you start putting that into practice? Well, there are three words you need to remember: cue, routine and reward.

Let’s take Patricia as an example to see how it works. Jeff met Patricia at a workshop, where she told him about a routine she’d developed. When she got home from work, she entered her house through a side door that leads to a small washroom. That was her cue to take out her phone and plug it into the charger attached to a socket above the washing machine – that’s the routine part. Once she’d done that, she could spend the evening with her family, free from all distractions – that’s the reward. Because the reward was something she genuinely enjoyed, the routine was quickly established.

What about work, though? Well, if you want to improve your professional life, you might want to think about establishing feedback systems. Take Doug, a man struggling with his role as a project leader. The issue was simple: Doug’s colleagues weren’t happy with the way he always focused on the negatives.

Rather than ignoring the problem, Doug took this feedback to heart and resolved to change his ways. He developed a feedback mechanism. Every time he started getting too negative, his colleagues gave him a signal by raising three fingers. It was an informal and friendly gesture that allowed him to directly and effectively address an uncomfortable issue. The result? A happier, more efficient and satisfied team!

Exercise is a highly effective stress remedy.

Lots of people accept stress as a fact of life and try to put a brave face on it. It’s only when they finally burn out or get seriously ill that they start considering changes. But that’s not the right approach. In fact, you can spare yourself no end of suffering by taking action today. And here’s the good news: you don’t even need to make particularly radical changes to boost your well-being.

Sometimes all it takes to beat work-related stress is exercise. That doesn’t necessarily mean taking out a gym membership, though. Simple rhythmic and repetitive movements like walking, jogging, cycling, dancing or even going through some yoga poses can significantly reduce stress.

Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First off, movement helps your body eliminate those stress hormones that were mentioned earlier. Nothing purges them from your system like a spot of exercise. Then there are the psychological effects of movement. Focusing on your body for a few minutes is an excellent way of getting out of your head and interrupting those obsessive thoughts that go hand-in-hand with stress.

That’s not just a theory, either. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal reporting on the results of a one-year study of professionals, workers who regularly used a treadmill experienced less stress, interacted more with their colleagues and were more productive than their peers who didn’t exercise.

That said, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Your best bet is to try out different types of exercise and see what works for you. The most important point to remember is that if you choose something you enjoy, you’re much more likely to stick with it. If you like taking walks around the park, do that. If you prefer jogging with a friend, well, do that. What you opt for will also depend on your commitments. If you need to be super-flexible, developing an exercise routine you can do in your office might be a good idea. If you’re the organized type, weekly swimming lessons might be the way to go.

Visualizing stress-free success and savoring the moment are also useful stress-busters.

As we’ve seen, physical movement is an excellent way of relieving stress. Unfortunately, that’s not something we can do whenever we need a bit of relief. After all, you can’t just leave your office to go for a jog whenever you feel like it! That means it’s also a good idea to develop some cognitive strategies to quiet your mind. Lets look at two top techniques that’ll help you do just that.

Let’s start with being in the moment. Stress is all about worrying about the past or the future. Learning to appreciate the present pushes those anxiety-inducing thoughts to the back of your mind. Best of all? You can start practicing this kind of mindfulness without making any changes to your routine. The reason for that is simple. Remember those autopilot activities like brushing your teeth we talked about earlier? Well, those are the kinds of things you can focus on to become more present!

All you have to do is make a conscious effort not to zone out and instead direct your attention to what you’re doing. That’s about learning how to appreciate, say, the way the water is running down your body or feels on your skin when you take a shower. Whenever you find your mind wandering, make an effort to refocus it on those sensations.

The second technique involves visualizing stress-free success. Start by asking yourself what you want to achieve and then concentrate on what it is you’d need to do to pull that off. If you’ve got an important presentation coming up, for example, and you really want to impress the audience, what would that take? Well, you’d need to be well-rested, prepared and punctual. Visualize those steps and work backward from there. What do you need to do to make sure you’re well-rested, for example? This is a great way of pushing vague anxieties out of your mind and really honing in on the things that are in your control – a guaranteed stress-reliever.

Cultivating new friendships and staying in contact with old friends is great for your mental health.

What’s worse than those endless shifts that bite into your evening? Getting off work and not having anything to do or anyone to do it with. The simple truth is that isolation just isn’t good for your mental health. Friends matter – a lot!

That means it’s in your best interest to make an effort to stay in touch with old friends. How you do that depends on your personality type. As Susan Cain points out in her book Quiet, introverts will generally prefer seeing more of fewer people. Cain, a self-professed introvert, says she spends 80 percent of her free time with just 10 percent of the people she knows. That means it’s important for her to regularly reach out and give a select number of old friends a call or invite them out for a drink.  

Extroverts are the opposite. They generally prefer seeing more people less often. Take psychologist and author Adam Grant. He goes out of his way to reconnect with someone he hasn’t seen in a while once a month. That’s a great way of reactivating old contacts and keeping the connection alive.

Then there are new friendships. Few things can help you beat stress more effectively than cultivating new friends in your workplace. Why? Well, as a 2006 Gallup study showed, having just one good friend at work increases your morale and engagement levels up to seven times more than the normal amount. That’s easier said than done, of course, so let’s take a look at a couple of tips you can use to help you get to know your colleagues.

The simplest option is to respond enthusiastically when colleagues reach out to ask for help or invite you to take part in some after-work activity. If you’re pressed for time, you can be more strategic. Position yourself outside the main exit at lunchtime and pretend you’re waiting for someone and you’ll have a great opportunity to exchange a couple of words with your colleagues.

Being grateful can help you beat stress.

We’ve talked a lot about stress and how to overcome it. As we’ve seen, stress is inherently harmful. That’s why one of the simplest and most effective ways of getting it out of your system is to stay positive.

That means learning to be genuinely grateful for the things that are going well. Take Kaye Foster-Cheek, a senior executive at the Boston Consulting Group. She’s found that making time to experience gratitude has boosted her well-being significantly. So it’s the first thing she does when she wakes up. Rather than jumping out of bed, she takes a moment to reflect on how grateful she feels to simply be lying there with a new day ahead of her.

Alanson Van Fleet, an executive in the financial sector, takes a similar approach. His moment of gratitude comes when he walks through his office door and sees the small statue of the Buddha he keeps next to his computer, which reminds him how grateful he is that his company pays for his personal office space.

Those are great examples of how paying attention to those little details we all too often take for granted can help you beat stress. Here’s another tip: use visual cues in your workplace to reconnect with your core values.

When you’re under intense pressure and feeling adrift, catching sight of something familiar and loved can be a real lifesaver. Personal manager Tracy Columbus, for example, keeps Native American art in her office. Whenever she’s feeling blue, she turns to the images and their joyful colors. Peter Block does something similar. When he looks at the artwork in his office, he thinks of the time, patience and dedication the artists put into their creations – a reminder that that’s also something he seeks to do.

That goes to show that stress isn’t inevitable or inescapable. So, if you’re feeling under pressure, try out some of these stress-relieving strategies. You’ll be amazed at what a difference a couple of minutes of mindfulness or a quick walk around the park can make to your personal and professional life!

Increased workloads, demanding bosses, increasingly intrusive tech and a 24/7 business culture – no wonder today’s workforce is more stressed than ever. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Follow the simple stress-busting strategies in this post and you’ll be well on your way to beating burnout!

 Action plan: Get a coaching partner. Building a new routine is hard work, especially in the early stages. That’s why it’s a good idea to find a coaching partner who’s embarked on the same path as you. Together, you can support each other on your journey. Whether that’s just a phone call to check in now and again or a gym buddy, having a partner who’s got your back is the best way to make sure you follow through on your resolutions.

[stunudo]

BAU Prep School AU

A Criminal Minds Fan-fiction

Competition

Welcome to the Frederick Buchanan Institute located in scenic Quantico, Virginia, a senior high academy that shapes the best and brightest minds. Its motto is “Behavior, Analysis, Unity,” the mascot the Submariners, colloquially “the Unsubs”. The small school supports the most accomplished faculty from across the country. 

Feb. 11, 2017 8:49pm Winter Formal

The entire room had frozen around her, the music a distant throbbing as her eyes fell on the pair. Lizzie didn’t know what to do, she wanted to scream at him, call him out in front of everyone. She needed to run. The traitorous tears had started falling before time returned to her. Her corsage scratched against her cheek as she tried to brush away the downpour. She wrenched it from her wrist and dropped it as if it had grown arms and legs that had somehow offended her.

“Typical, Lizzie, of course no one is your friend for you,” She berated herself. “He just wanted to get into the fancy school dance, wanted to flirt with all the rich girls.” She didn’t know where she was going, but she was marching out of the gymnasium with a zeal that would have impressed the Speed Walking team, if the school had such a thing. She was muttering under her breath when Nurse Callahan stopped her.

“Whoa there, where’s the fire?” She asked jokingly, until she saw the state of the young woman. “Lizzie, is everything alright?”

“Yep, fine, Nurse Callahan,” Lizzie sniffed back the tears and postured her bare shoulders. Kate couldn’t remember the last time Lizzie had worn makeup, this was a special night for her and something had wrecked that.

“Do you need an escape plan?” She asked knowingly, tossing her arm over the girl’s shoulder, conspiratorially. “Because, I will have you know, that my office is a perfect place to hide from life or, bad dates?” She guessed.

“It wasn’t even supposed to be a date, the only way I got him to come was in a group.” Lizzie admitted. “Why are boys so shallow, Ka- Mrs. Callahan?”

“They’re not all that way,” Kate squeezed her arm, despite the height difference Lizzie felt protected. “I know it’s hard, but everyone is so confused on what they want at your age. Find a guy who likes your fire more than he likes your body.”

“But what if I want him to like my body too?” Lizzie mumbled.

“In order for that to work, there’s gotta be trust. Don’t waste your time on people who can’t see all of you.” She grabbed the lanyard from her neck and unlocked the door. She held the door open for the burdened teenager and flipped the light switch.

“Take your time, I’ll check on you when the dance is wrapping up.” Kate made sure Lizzie was situated before turning to leave. “I’m serious, just yesterday Coach Jareau needed a break. That couch does wonders.”

“Thanks, Nurse Callahan.” Lizzie fell sideways and stared at the wall of quotes and baby animals.

Kate returned to chaperoning, letting Penelope know that Lizzie was in her office. Women understood the devastation of dance drama best. After a good, solid cry, Lizzie sat herself back up. She headed into the private bathroom to straighten out her face.

February 24, 2017 4:02pm Charlottesville, VA

The caravan of SUVs and minivans pulled into the assigned parking lot on the college campus. Zachary had fallen asleep, but one of his earbuds had fallen out allowing the rest of the car to listen to James Earl Jones’ voice reading from the Bible. Ms. Blake was appreciating the cadence and gusto as she clicked open her seat belt.

“We’re here,” Alex rolled her shoulders and started opening doors before ending at the rear hatch where the coolers were stored.

The teen-aged participants grumbled in their seats as they woke from their short naps. Six students had progressed to reach the State competition, blowing everyone away was little Zachary Henkle. Kimi Dalton, Sacha Kane, Trevor Malcolm, Amelia Turner and Jake Hernandez rounded out the little troupe.

Ms. Garcia bubbled over to their coordinator, leaving Dr. Reid in the passenger seat of her massive car. “Are we settling in or just taking a knee?” The be-dangled counselor asked, clearly picking up some sports lingo from her boyfriend.

“Well, er,” Alex started, scratching the back of her neck. “I think we have allotted tables inside the Center. They will be our base of operations for the weekend.”

“I brought signs and name tags,” Penelope explained. “This way we can keep track of everyone.” She opened her canvas bag showing off her eye-numbing neon signs.

“If you can get anyone to wear those, sure, Penelope.” Alex placated. “Didn’t Reid ride with you?”

“He’s finishing up the rule book, only had like fifty pages to go,” Penelope waved towards her car.

“Well, at least someone read it,” Alex muttered, shoving her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “Un-subs! We will drop off our bags at the hotel later, for now let’s get situated outside the auditorium.”

The students tossed their luggage back in the trunks as they listened. The few parents that came along also respected the teacher’s authority and listened intently. The winter chill nipped at the poorly dressed students, hoodies and letter jackets hiding bunched fists.

“Dr. Reid and I are required to attend a supervisory orientation this evening. I trust you all, will listen to Ms. Garcia and the parents who came down early, while we are away. After that, you will have free time at the hotel until lights out at ten o’clock.”

“Ms. Blake?” Zachary’s hand caught her eye first. “If our parents aren’t here, do we have a shared room?”

“Yes, Zach,” Alex answered in her same booming voice. “Students may stay with their family members. Dr. Reid will supervise the boys’ room and Ms. Garcia will stay with the girls.”

“Good thing, Michel didn’t come.” Jake muttered to Kimi as the group started making their way across the parking lot.

“I’m pretty sure Ms. Garcia would have made sure they had their own room, Jake.”

“That’d be nice.” The boy admitted.

“Creating safe spaces isn’t easy, loves.” Ms. Garcia whispered to the pondering competitors. “Are you excited for tomorrow? I love a good debate, well, not really. I like winning debates. Does that count?”

The teens laughed, their guidance counselor loved to keep them entertained.

March 7, 2017 3:45pm

The pitch was still damp with the late winter rains, naked of chalk, gleaming in the fading light. JJ held her clipboard in front of her as she paced, waiting for the girls to change and meet her outside. A new season of soccer was underway, tryouts lasted two weeks, starting this afternoon. With her mind on the pool of players, JJ lined up the school’s balls in a daunting row. Thirty seven names were on the sign up sheet from outside her office, three were boys and four were mildly comedic and terribly immature imposters. She put out thirty three navy and white balls, to be safe.

She didn’t start the tryouts with a heated inspirational speech. She just explained her expectations for the day and kept the students moving. Twelve of the team from last spring had returned and another seven that had been cut had put themselves back out there for another round of scrutiny. The rest were new faces, freshman and sophomores that hadn’t tried out last year. JJ was impressed and slightly apprehensive about the large numbers. Cuts were hard, but necessary.

After an hour of warm ups, drills and sprints, JJ was ready to get down to business. She evenly divided the returning players with the new recruits, preparing them to scrimmage.

“Hannah, I want you to lead the Blue Squad and Camille I want you to lead the White Squad.” Coach JJ explained. “You have five minutes to set your line ups and I will whistle when we are set to start.”

The girls broke off into excited huddles as JJ sauntered over to her bag and camping chair. Seltzer water had become her best friend over the past month and she downed half a bottle while the players organized. Her features were pink in the late afternoon chill, she seemed to have lost what little meat there was on her face. She checked her watch, time to release the hounds.

“Un-subs!” Her voice sliced across the field. “To your positions. We will have a quick scrimmage. All players must be subbed in if they are not starting. Fifteen minute quarters, to ensure your captains are able to make those substitutions.”

She hiked to the center of the field, lined with orange cones as Anderson wouldn’t lay down the paint for a few more weeks. The whistle hovered over her lips, she eyed the forewords, nodding to the White Squad that they could call the coin in the air.

“Heads!” A chirping voice called out.

“Its tails, Blue Squad, choice?”

“Blue Squad will receive, Coach.” Little Cissy Howard parroted Hannah’s instructions.

“Very well, line up.” The whistle finally peeled into the gloaming.

March 8, 2017 7:22am

Coach Morgan was running behind, having left Penelope’s house later than normal. She was quite distracting in the morning and as she didn’t have a class full of students waiting on her first period; a terrible influence. He by-passed his usual stop in the main office and jogged down the corridor towards the gym and eventually, the weight room. Lifting in the morning was his favorite class, the students were too tired to be chatty and it got the bulk of the supervising out of the way. It didn’t hurt that he practically dictated his own schedule each year.

He slipped inside the locker room to change for class, always ready with a “go-bag”. As he rounded the corner he caught the hulking form of Andrew Heathridge bending over the bench. But he wasn’t tying up his trainers, his foot was bare and he had a syringe in his hand. Derek did a double take as the door finally closed, signalling his arrival.

The muscular boy stood up quickly tossing the needle into a corner of the lockers.

“Heathridge?” Coach reprimanded.

“Coach?” His voice startled, shame clouding his features for a moment before he reset his eyebrows.

“Do you want to tell me what I just saw?”

“No, sir.”

“You and I are going to have a talk after school, man.” The other weightlifters had started filing in behind the awestruck Coach. Andrew remained silent, but he rolled his eyes and went back to his sock and shoes. Derek Morgan was heartbroken.

March 10, 2017 9:37pm

“Alright, but remember that one time you tried to serve him store bought gelato and he nearly threw it back at you?” Alex was laughing so hard that the tears were collecting in her crow’s feet.

David Rossi nodded solemnly then shook his head, “I mean, I probably spent more on the stuff in the package than I do on ingredients, but Jason knew!”

Haley was laughing just as hard as Alex and Stan, Jordan’s husband. Aaron smirked as he sipped his bourbon. Chef Rossi had some of the old timers and the headmaster over for a dinner, letting the memories of Jason soothe over the rough way he was sent off.

“I remember him telling us, once, that his great uncle was an executive for some movie production company in Chicago?” Hotch asked Rossi for verification.

“Believe it or not, that wasn’t a lie. He has some old reels of Chaplin that he puts on sometimes.” Dave admitted. “God, what is he going to do with himself now?” Instinctively, his eyes wandered to Allie for an answer.

“Don’t look at me,” Alex teased. “I lost Jason and the house, remember.”

“You hated this house,” Dave shrugged.

Haley sensed some wine-fulled nostalgia changing the topic. “So what was Jason like, before, when he was married?”

“Night and day,” Jordan piped in. “He smiled, he was courteous. Still impulsive and perhaps even more reckless.”

“Before his wife left him, Jason was a decent guy, thriving on knowledge and sharing those discoveries.” Stan explained in a broad baritone.

“Has anyone heard from Stephen?” Hotch asked, cautiously.

“I get semi-regular updates. But nothing since,” Dave finished his glass. He stood making his way to the beverage cart he had in the sitting room. “Can I get anyone anything? I’m up.”

“Actually,” Aaron eyed his beautiful wife. “We should probably get going. The babysitter is waiting.”

Dave and Jordan shared a knowing smirk. “Uh-huh, sure.”

“Thank you so much for having us!” Haley stood enthusiastically hugging the old chef. “You really do have a nice house.”

“Mansion, but thank you, my dear.” Rossi teased. He shook Hotch’s hand at the door.

Jordan and Stan helped Alex clear the glasses before heading home. Alex sighed as she looked back at the circular drive illuminated like a beacon, a lonely castle in the night sky. She never really hated the house, it just held too many memories to live in it any longer. It was better to visit, rarely.

March 13, 2017 7:18am

Dr. Reid found Coach Morgan in the Main Office before school, his shoulders hunched in his FBI windbreaker. The inquisitive man didn’t know how he was going to explain his impulse to offer to help with an athlete, but something had put his feet in motion. Perhaps it was everything that had happened to students this school year, perhaps it was a distraction. Whatever it was, it wasn’t leaving Spencer Reid to sit by the wayside.

“Coach?” Spencer said, despite his croaking voice.

“Hey, Reid. What’s up?” Morgan’s full attention was now on Spencer.

“Listen, I heard, about young Mr. Heathridge,” Spencer began as Derek nodded. “I was wondering, maybe, if I could talk to him?”

“Uh, sure, I guess. But Reid, what exactly do you know about the situation that I don’t?”

“Though I am sure you are versed in the lasting effects of such doses, I may be able to appeal to him on a different level.”

“And what level is that?” Derek straightened his posture, eyeing the science teacher now.

“As an addict.” Spencer let it sink in. “Now, obviously I wasn’t taking steroids or performance enhancers, if, we are being generous. I have a problem with Dilaudid, which is like heroin. I know what its like to take something to make life easier.”

“Wow, man. How long have you been clean?”

“Three years, seven months and eighteen days.” Spencer said instantly.

“So right before you started teaching?” Derek said after a few moments of heavy silence.

“Pretty much.” Spencer waited.

“Does anybody know about this?” Derek asked gently.

“Hotch does, President Strauss, uh, found out, and I am sure some of the students do, or have guessed.”

“Let me think about it?” Derek answered finally. “I want to help Andrew, but I don’t want to leave you vulnerable, if it backfires.”

“Derek,” Spencer said, was this the first time he had used the coach’s first name? “I need to help. I can’t let another student falter, not when I could have done something.”

“Okay, man.” Derek smirked in admiration, patting Spencer robustly on the back.

Very Special Thanks to Cassie @mentallydatingspencerreid,

Meg @imagicana , and Loki @ay-nako!!!

@ddreammcatcher @ultrarebelheart @lightbluelester @criminal-anatomy   @captainreid  @thebadyears @amarislestrange @shaelyn102 @badasprentiss @fl0werb0nes18 @inestava @sam-carter-in-training @wonderboygenius @fortheloveofpearlet @valentina-pendragon-blog @imarockstar45 @chocok22 @cynbx @fairymega @madamredwrites @doctorspencerreidrp @mindsunleashed @dontshootmespence @bookofreid @marvelfanlife @welp-there-it-is @ilikeitwhenyousleepforyouareso   @remember-me-forever-silent-angel @original-criminal-fanfics @derpyprentiss @olicia-leeshy @lookwhatyoumademequeue @veroinnumera @sarahkay-19 @sammles27 @lesbian-asajj @teatimewithtiya @braziliangirlonasharkcity @alienlynz @janam03 @nobravery @clockworkballerina

@whymesswperfection  @hagridsmumhasgotitgoingon @brooke0297 @xxmaddhatter39xx  @gurliest @handpaintedgalaxy @kxlley

@krazykendraisnotinsane @bat-crazydoll8 @hownottobeaheartbreaker @captainreid @beereadsthings @prettyboysjello @megsi98 @criminal-prentiss @eternaldarknessiscool​                                 

@loadingdelete

[ofmymuses]

✍

BASED ON THIS POST

thank you for sending this, my sunbeam !

introducing… …. KYRA ROBSINSON.

General Information

Name:  Kyra Bleu RobinsonOther Names: KyTitle: the activist

Sex: femaleGender: femaleAge: 29

Birth Date: July 19thBirth Place: California

Species: humanHome-Planet: earthNationality: AmericanOccupation: pastry chef for her girlfriend’s business

Dominant Hand: right handAstrological Sign: Cancer

Appearance

Main Appearance: medium, dark brown hair, beautiful brown eyes and soft skin. 5′6″.

Image

Wardrobe: mainly professional things - pencil skirts, turtle necks, blazers n shit but when she’s not going out, just comfy clothes

Accessories: a promise ring Musical Instruments: n/aPiercings: she has her nip nips piercedHygiene: SQUEAKY CLEANMakeup: typically just mascara and some matte lipstickPerfume / Cologne: whatever perfume smells like flowersScent: ^^^^Tattoos: n/a but she wants one so bad

Health

Exercise: does yoga for half an hour every morningFitness: although she’s plus sized, her health is goodPosture: good AF

Aids: n/aAllergies: animal fur, pollenDiseases: n/aIllnesses: n/aDisorders: minor ocdBroken Bones: n/aReason for Health: she eats very well and does yoga

Voice

Accent / Dialect: american accentVoice: she has the softed speaking voice but is so terrifying when she yellsLaughter: loud and bubblyImpediments: n/a

Psychology

Languages: english, spanishPersonality: Kyra is a very kind person with very strong beliefs. She grew up in a harsh family who always got into fights about opinions. she learned to speak her mind at a very young age which sometimes gets her into trouble but she really sincerely doesn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings

Philosophy

Outlook on Life: optimistic - she loves not knowing what life has in storePhilosophy / Motto: “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”

Character

Priorities: make a mark on the world, make people happy and make changeSelf Confidence: 9/10Self Control: 8/10Self Esteem: 10/10 

Quirks: is never seen with her hair up & is a TERRIBLE liarHobbies: baking, playing video / board games with her girlfriendCloset Hobbies: feel free to borrow her stuff but tell her firstGuilty Pleasures: SPOILING HER GIRL

Habits: drinks too much tea tbh, Nervous Tics: cannot stop playing with her hair omfgfdhg

Most Prized Possession: the necklace her mother passed down to herCollections: n/a

Regrets: not coming out soonerSecrets: she has a brother who is being hospitalizedDarkest Secret: she has experimented with drugsPet Peeves: TWO-FACED PEOPLE 

Phobias: n/a

Preferences

Likes: cooking / baking, spending time with her girlfriend, going rollerskatingDislikes: people who lie, having to stay up super late

Favorites: great danes, vanilla ice cream, rom comsLeast Favorites: death metal music, the colour green, horror movies

Home, Work, and Education

Abode: lives in a nice apartment

Pets: a lil hamster named PeebeeRoommates: her best friend Sonny

Sleep Patterns: super steady - bed by 10pm, up by 7amEating Habits: also super good 

Social

Father: Taye RobinsonMother: Aisha RobinsonSiblings: n/aChildren: n/aBest Friend: Sonny & her girlfriend, FinleyClose Friends: her group of friendsFriends: a nice lil group of friendsEnemies: she doesn’t really have any tbh

Romance

First Love: a girl named FrankieLove Interests: n/aSignificant Other: Finley *sighs longingly*Sexual and Romantic Orientation(s): lesbian, biromantic

[lifeandlemonsandme-blog]

How GIRLS Taught Me to Love My Body 

When I was fourteen I developed an eating disorder, it was so silent that I had no idea what was truly happening. It began with small hints of unnatural thoughts about fat thighs and chubby arms, leading to late nights of crying on the bedroom floor, holding my tummy in pure hatred. I’d scream in my mind, “Why do you have to be so FAT!?” I began eating less and less until I was only eating once a day. When I did manage to consume some sort of solid food, it was straight to the bathroom. Laxatives became my ultimate best friend and my index finger a close lover. They were my serenity a safe security blanket that I wrapped around me whenever the world turned icy cold. As this self-destructive routine unfolded my body was desperately trying to combat the side effects. I did everything I could to stop the symptoms, mostly to keep everyone in the dark including myself.

For years, I struggled with my body shaming. I projected stress, misery, depression, and hatred onto my body. It was a dumping ground for everything wrong inside my mind and life. “Maybe you would be happy if you weren’t so fat”, “maybe life would be easier if your thighs wouldn’t rub together”. I spoke to myself in such a language that I mentally broke myself down. Everything that people said to me about my body, I had already said to myself ten times over and much worse. I don’t want to get into all the specifics of my eating disorder and the recovery process. It was a number of factors that lead to such an extreme measure, not just a singular moment. It was a number of factors that lead me to seek treatment, however, there was one shining statue of liberty that guided me through the exhausting recovery road.

GIRLS is a TV show that can dance the fine line of absolute glory and dismay. Either viewers fall in love with the series or hate it some much they throw their TV out every time someone mentions the name. My personally opinion on the show is slightly bias, so, I won’t get into the politics. The center of this piece is to illustrate how GIRLS taught me to love my body. Whilst watching the first season on a perpetual loop, something in my psyche shifted. A question, long lost inside my uprooted brain. Are bodies beautiful even with all their flaws? For me, the aspect of bodies had always been black and white, fat and thin. There was no in between, no room for any of these so called flaws. The way Hannah [Lena Dunham] freely expressed her sexuality and her body, so confidently, not in spite of but because she truly felt free. Left an impression deep within me that allowed for the seed of growth to be planted. She once said to Marnie that [everything mean she had to say, she (Hannah) has already said it to herself.] Boom! I knew in that moment I was divinely being intervened to watch these twenty-something-year old’s lives as they intertwined with mine. Each girl wore her skin as if it was brand new, ready to step into anything whether they were truly ready or not. Fake it till you make it should be the motto because although it seems counter intuitive, in the end, you find that you have learned a lot just by faking it.

Over the years, as the seasons progressed I became fully aware of the character’s bodies. There was such a range of shapes, sizes, cellulite, tight, and flowy parts. I’ve never seen such a diverse group of women bodies in all my life. Not one was praised more than the other, not one was valued more, and not one was shown more than the others. It seemed like an equal partnership among the sea of bodies, it was so beautiful it still brings tears to my eyes. The show has its flaws no doubt, however, one aspect that is pure perfection is the embrace of imperfections. In fact, that is what is celebrated the most on the show. Imperfections in life, mind, and body. For someone like me it means opening up to a world of acceptance and self- love. I don’t like to say that GIRLS is my only source of body positive and recovery… that would be foolish. It literally took a team and then some to help me make a full recovery and even then I still struggle with the aftermath. However, GIRLS opened a door to all new possibilities. Whether it was learning about my sexuality or learning to love myself, GIRLS was there for me every step of the way. It even sometimes felt that my life was parallel to those of the characters, especially Hannah. Now with only two episodes left in the entire series. I look back at where I was when the series first started and can’t help but feel pride. Pride that I made it through those dark corners and empty corridors but most importantly, I have pride that I did not let myself fall victim to the deathly illness that is self-hate.

GIRLS in Numbers:

All bodies are not created equal but they are still beautiful and uniquely made.

We need to support each other in realizing that all bodies are beautiful.

Loving yourself is the purest love you will ever find. It is necessary before loving others.

Being naked= freedom

Sex should be enjoyable regardless of your body type. Own it!

Scars, bruises, nips, tucks, and all of the above are beautiful.

Embrace all that you are.

Learn when change is needed but stick to your guns when necessary.

Confidence is the perfect makeup.

Finally, love others as they are but never let them treat you like a doormat. You are not a doormat.

Visit iamthefoxes.com for more post like this! 

[jal856]

Original Character Q’a & A’s

I hardly ever post, decided to try this out, mostly for my own benefit to keep track of everything. 

Rain Dragomir:

1: What’s your OCs favorite color?

Blue and Silver without a doubt, sometimes Red.

2: Where does your OC work?

At a company responsible for global communication and shipping.

3: What’s your OCs favorite food?

Mexican food all the way. Tamales mostly.

4: Does your OC prefer paper or plastic?

No preference other than both are annoying.

5: How old is your OC?

Late 20’s to mid 30’s or so, depending on the RP.

6: Does your OC have any supernatural powers?

Yes. Rain is a Vampire afterall, aside from the usual supernatural strength and senses, there are a few here and there one must find out via RP.

7: Is your OC in a relationship?

Nope, which means he won’t have to share his food.

8: What are some of your OCs strengths?

Jumping straight into something despite the given situation.

9: What are some of your OCs weaknesses?

Curiosity being one of many.

10: What is your OCs favorite outfit?

When not out at work, either Pj’s or tight fitting under armor like clothing.

11: What animal does your OC relate to?

Haven’t figured this one out yet.

12: Is your OC sexually active?

Yes and no, He’s not out making his way through every man he comes across. Generally Rain waits until there is some sort of connection between them, even then it may take a while before that step is reached.

13: What is your OCs earliest memory?

Probably playing with his grandfather along the lake, watching the fish swim around.

14: Does your OC have a cell phone? If so, what kind?

A typical touch screen phone, though generally Rain doesn’t use it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

15: What makes your OC angry?

People using their status or power to abuse and mistreat others.

16: When is your OCs favorite time of year?

Summer, and Winter. Summer because it’s warm enough to spend time outside and play at the beach. Winter being able to curl up by a fire and read a book with a mug of apple cider.

17: How long can your OC hold their breath?

Longer than the average human.

18: What kind of underwear does your OC wear?

Generally goes commando, if not then it’s just boxer briefs.

19: Does your OC prefer plaid or polka dots?

Neither. Stripes.

20: What’s your OCs favorite kind of pizza?

Hawaiian pizza WITH pineapple and mushroom. Nothing too greasy. Oh and Thin Crust.

21: Who is your OCs best friend?

Probably Ezold, he’s been around since “Rains” creation as a character.

22: Has your OC ever killed someone?

Unfortunately yes, quite a few times. Never really a great thing for him though.

23: Whats your OCs biggest secret?

Well since it’s a secret, I can’t really say.

24: What does your OC smell like?

Unless he’s working out, he’ll mostly smell like a fresh rain shower.

25: What time of year does your OC prefer?

Summer and Winter as stated earlier.

26: Is your OC a human or an animal? (or something else idk)

An ancient kind of Vampire. One fully capable of walking out in the sun without turning into a living bon fire, granted the sun weakens him greatly.

27: What languages does your OC speak?

Rain is fully versed in English, Latin, Spanish, French, and German.

28: Does your OC like anime?

Rain doesn’t watch tv much, but if he did I’m sure he wouldn’t mind anime so long as fan service is minimal.

29: Can your OC swim?

Absolutely, and he loves playing in the water too.

30: What does your OC choose to do about the, er, hair down there?

Things. . .

31: Does your OC believe in fairies?

Well he’s a Vampire, so he assumes there are other myths and legends that have some truth in them.

32: Did your OC go to college? What did they major in?

Nope, Rain dropped out after high school to roam around the world for personal reasons.

33: Are your OCs parents dead?

They’re very much alive. Just old. :P

34: Is your OC religious?

Not really, while he believes there might possibly be some higher power, but that’s only the extent of his belief.

35: How flexible is your OC?

As flexible as needed.

36: What turns your OC on?

Seeing someone fresh out of the shower, damp, hair messy. The feeling of hot breath and scruff against a neck. Teeth teasingly nipping at skin. The sound of gruff ‘I love you’s’ and so on. Cheesey stuff.

37: What was your OCs first word?

It happened to be “Cat!”

38: Does your OC have any pets?

Not really, other than a mutant sentient Cactus. But that’s magic gone horribly wrong.

39: Who is your OCs biggest enemy?

Currently it would probably be some ex members of an old clan unhappy about Rain’s position and them being expelled.

40: What is the craziest thing your OC has done?

Bursting into a high security Alchemist compound all in order to free fellow Vampire’s that’d been captured.

41: What is your OCs motto about life?

Do what you need to, Do what you want.

42: Does your OC drink coffee or tea?

Depends on the company. Sometimes coffee, sometimes tea.

43: Who is your OCs biggest hero?

The blurry figure that had helped him escape from an institution / facility.

44: What color eyes does your OC have?

Originally Rain had Ice colored hues, upon joining a clan he’d been given the opportunity to partake in their form of visual prowess. Since then he sports one Crimson and one Ice colored optic.

45: Does your OC like reading?

Absolutely, At times when Rain needs to calm down or space of his own, he’ll sit down with a good book. He’ll always try and seek out an actual book of what he wants to read since he doesn’t care for electronic readers. Loves the smell of books.

46: Is your OC loyal?

Absolutely, sometimes to a fault. There are times given the situation he’ll kill for his friends and he’ll be by their side for as long as they’ll want him there.

47: Does your OC tolerate violence?

Generally no, but there are times when simply conversing just doesn’t do the trick.

48: What social class is your OC from?

Rain is of royal blood, but that’s never stopped him befriending others from different styles of life. In fact there are even times where one wouldn’t know his status by his actions.

49: What country was your OC born in?

Born in the states, but was raised out in Europe.

50: Does your OC cry easily?

Nope.

51: What is your OCs favorite genre of music?

Surprisingly he’s got a love for both classical and techno.

52: How does your OC feel about insects?

He’s not really phased by them. They don’t gross him out, but he doesn’t love them either.

53: What is your OCs sexual orientation?

Gay, but he doesn’t broadcast it everywhere. Sometimes he’ll flirt for the sake of flirting.

54: Does your OC smoke?

Nope, he doesn’t want to constantly smell like a cigarette.

55: What gender is your OC?

Male.

56: What kind of clothes does your OC wear?

Generally relaxed casual clothing. Then something nicer for certain events and parties.

57: Would you call your OC adventurous?

At times.

58: Is your OC introverted or extroverted?

A little bit of both. It takes him a bit to willingly strike up a conversation with a complete stranger, sometimes preferring to just mind his own business. On the other hand there are times when he’s a tad more outgoing.

59: What is the first thing that someone would notice about your OC?

Either his large stature being more built than an average human, his luminous mixed hues. Or the equally strange luminous markings on his body.

60: Does your OC enjoy nature?

Yep, one of the few places he can completely decompress himself is a small clearing in the forest where he can sit and listen to the birds and other animals around him.

[rain-a-dragomir]

Original Character Q’s & A’s

Original Character Q’a & A’s

Rain Dragomir:

1: What’s your OCs favorite color?

Blue and Silver without a doubt, sometimes Red.

2: Where does your OC work?

At a company responsible for global communication and shipping.

3: What’s your OCs favorite food?

Mexican food all the way. Tamales mostly.

4: Does your OC prefer paper or plastic?

No preference other than both are annoying.

5: How old is your OC?

Late 20’s to mid 30’s or so, depending on the RP.

6: Does your OC have any supernatural powers?

Yes. Rain is a Vampire afterall, aside from the usual supernatural strength and senses, there are a few here and there one must find out via RP.

7: Is your OC in a relationship?

Nope, which means he won’t have to share his food. Though he isn’t opposed to something starting up, but it’s not the main focus. 

8: What are some of your OCs strengths?

Jumping straight into something despite the given situation.

9: What are some of your OCs weaknesses?

Curiosity being one of many.

10: What is your OCs favorite outfit?

When not out at work, either Pj’s or tight fitting under armor like clothing.

11: What animal does your OC relate to?

Haven’t figured this one out yet.

12: Is your OC sexually active?

Yes and no, He’s not out making his way through every man he comes across. Generally Rain waits until there is some sort of connection between them, even then it may take a while before that step is reached.

13: What is your OCs earliest memory?

Probably playing with his grandfather along the lake, watching the fish swim around.

14: Does your OC have a cell phone? If so, what kind?

A typical touch screen phone, though generally Rain doesn’t use it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

15: What makes your OC angry?

People using their status or power to abuse and mistreat others.

16: When is your OCs favorite time of year?

Summer, and Winter. Summer because it’s warm enough to spend time outside and play at the beach. Winter being able to curl up by a fire and read a book with a mug of apple cider.

17: How long can your OC hold their breath?

Longer than the average human.

18: What kind of underwear does your OC wear?

Generally goes commando, if not then it’s just boxer briefs. If feeling particularly naughty, maybe jockstraps.

19: Does your OC prefer plaid or polka dots?

Neither. Stripes.

20: What’s your OCs favorite kind of pizza?

Hawaiian pizza WITH pineapple and mushroom. Nothing too greasy. Oh and Thin Crust.

21: Who is your OCs best friend?

Probably Ezold, he’s been around since “Rains” creation as a character.

22: Has your OC ever killed someone?

Unfortunately yes, quite a few times. Never really a great thing for him though.

23: Whats your OCs biggest secret?

Well since it’s a secret, I can’t really say.

24: What does your OC smell like?

Unless he’s working out, he’ll mostly smell like a fresh rain shower.

25: What time of year does your OC prefer?

Summer and Winter as stated earlier.

26: Is your OC a human or an animal? (or something else idk)

An ancient kind of Vampire. One fully capable of walking out in the sun without turning into a living bon fire, granted the sun weakens him greatly.

27: What languages does your OC speak?

Rain is fully versed in English, Latin, Spanish, French, and German.

28: Does your OC like anime?

Rain doesn’t watch tv much, but if he did I’m sure he wouldn’t mind anime so long as fan service is minimal.

29: Can your OC swim?

Absolutely, and he loves playing in the water too.

30: What does your OC choose to do about the, er, hair down there?

Things…

31: Does your OC believe in fairies?

Well he’s a Vampire, so he assumes there are other myths and legends that have some truth in them.

32: Did your OC go to college? What did they major in?

Nope, Rain dropped out after high school to roam around the world for personal reasons.

33: Are your OCs parents dead?

They’re very much alive. Just old. :P

34: Is your OC religious?

Not really, while he believes there might possibly be some higher power, but that’s only the extent of his belief.

35: How flexible is your OC?

As flexible as needed.

36: What turns your OC on?

Seeing someone fresh out of the shower, damp, hair messy. The feeling of hot breath and scruff against a neck. Teeth teasingly nipping at skin. The sound of gruff ‘I love you’s’ and so on. Cheesey stuff.

37: What was your OCs first word?

It happened to be “Cat!”

38: Does your OC have any pets?

Not really, other than a mutant sentient Cactus. But that’s magic gone horribly wrong.

39: Who is your OCs biggest enemy?

Currently it would probably be some ex members of an old clan unhappy about Rain’s position and them being expelled.

40: What is the craziest thing your OC has done?

Bursting into a high security Alchemist compound all in order to free fellow Vampire’s that’d been captured.

41: What is your OCs motto about life?

Do what you need to, Do what you want.

42: Does your OC drink coffee or tea?

Depends on the company. Sometimes coffee, sometimes tea.

43: Who is your OCs biggest hero?

The blurry figure that had helped him escape from an institution / facility.

44: What color eyes does your OC have?

Originally Rain had Ice colored hues, upon joining a clan he’d been given the opportunity to partake in their form of visual prowess. Since then he sports one Crimson and one Ice colored optic.

45: Does your OC like reading?

Absolutely, At times when Rain needs to calm down or space of his own, he’ll sit down with a good book. He’ll always try and seek out an actual book of what he wants to read since he doesn’t care for electronic readers. Loves the smell of books.

46: Is your OC loyal?

Absolutely, sometimes to a fault. There are times given the situation he’ll kill for his friends and he’ll be by their side for as long as they’ll want him there.

47: Does your OC tolerate violence?

Generally no, but there are times when simply conversing just doesn’t do the trick.

48: What social class is your OC from?

Rain is of royal blood, but that’s never stopped him befriending others from different styles of life. In fact there are even times where one wouldn’t know his status by his actions.

49: What country was your OC born in?

Born in the states, but was raised out in Europe.

50: Does your OC cry easily?

Nope.

51: What is your OCs favorite genre of music?

Surprisingly he’s got a love for both classical and techno.

52: How does your OC feel about insects?

He’s not really phased by them. They don’t gross him out, but he doesn’t love them either.

53: What is your OCs sexual orientation?

Gay, but he doesn’t broadcast it everywhere. Sometimes he’ll flirt for the sake of flirting.

54: Does your OC smoke?

Nope, he doesn’t want to constantly smell like a cigarette.

55: What gender is your OC?

Male.

56: What kind of clothes does your OC wear?

Generally relaxed casual clothing. Then something nicer for certain events and parties.

57: Would you call your OC adventurous?

At times.

58: Is your OC introverted or extroverted?

A little bit of both. It takes him a bit to willingly strike up a conversation with a complete stranger, sometimes preferring to just mind his own business. On the other hand there are times when he’s a tad more outgoing.

59: What is the first thing that someone would notice about your OC?

Either his large stature being more built than an average human, his luminous mixed hues. Or the equally strange luminous markings on his body.

60: Does your OC enjoy nature?

Yep, one of the few places he can completely decompress himself is a small clearing in the forest where he can sit and listen to the birds and other animals around him.

[talabib]

Simple Stress-Busting Strategies That Deliver.

It’s often said that the past is a foreign country. That certainly applies to the world of work. From the perspective of our relentless 24/7 business culture today, the old days of nine-to-five shifts and three-martini lunches look about as mysterious and decadent as the lives of the late Roman emperors. Today, it’s hard enough switching off in your free time, never mind during office hours!

That’s hardly surprising. After all, the mid-twentieth century and the present are, technologically speaking, light-years apart. Innovations like the internet, email and smartphones have made it harder than ever before to get away from work. If you have an iPhone, your boss is always right there in your pocket waiting for you to open that email she sent at 10:00 p.m.

And that’s starting to take its toll. Professionals have never been so stressed and sleep-deprived. They’re unhappier, less productive and staring down the barrel of burnout. So it’s high time to make some changes! This post walks you through a series of simple, stress-busting strategies and explains the science behind them. Start integrating them into your professional life today, and you’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll soon feel.

Life is becoming increasingly hectic, and stress levels are on the rise.

There’s no sugarcoating it – life has become more stressful. Getting up at six, grinding out a grueling shift at the metaphorical coalface and collapsing into bed at eleven in the evening is the new normal. But it wasn’t always like this. In fact, things have gotten a whole lot crazier over the last decade.

So, what’s behind our increasingly hectic work lives? Well, let’s rewind to 2008. The economy was in freefall, and companies were scrambling to adjust to the harsh new realities. Lots of companies only managed to survive by downsizing their staff and restructuring workloads. The result was fewer people shouldering a whole lot more than their fair share of responsibilities.

Then there’s the smartphone. Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007. Soon enough, it had taken over the world. According to a 2012 study in the MIT Technology Review, the iPhone conquered 40 percent of the American mobile phone market within just a couple of years. That’s pretty astonishing when you consider the fact that it took computers fourteen years to achieve anything close to that level of market penetration.

The problem, however, is that smartphones don’t just make life more convenient and fun. Sure, you can check Instagram and send tweets, but this also means you’re always on standby mode. Your work is never more than a click away. A 2013 study carried out by the Center for Creative Leadership highlighted this trend. The surveyed executives and managers with smartphones spent an astonishing 72 hours every week engaged in work-related activities!

That’s not sustainable. When work gets too hectic, our stress levels shoot through the roof. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, 33 percent of all Americans suffered acute work-related stress in 2013, while 48 percent claimed that their stress levels had increased over the previous five years.

A full 83 percent of interviewees in the study believed that stress was negatively affecting their health. They’re not wrong! When the Benson-Henry Institute in Massachusetts looked into the matter, they found that between 60 and 90 percent of all trips to the doctor were stress-related.

Practicing mindfulness counteracts the natural fight-or-flight response triggered by stress.

Have you ever had the urge to jump out of your office chair, run right out the door and never come back? That’s a pretty good sign you might be suffering from work-related stress. The desire to flee is one of the body’s natural responses to stress. That’s part of the “fight-or-flight” response, a cerebral and hormonal reaction to life-endangering events. Here’s how it works.

Imagine someone jumps out from behind a corner with a weapon. Your brain – or, more precisely, the command center of your brain known as the thalamus – is the first to react. This, in turn, triggers the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for processing emotions. This then activates the hypothalamus, the area in charge of regulating the autonomic nervous system, which transmits a message to your adrenal glands. These start pumping out adrenaline – a hormone that prepares your body to react quickly and, if need be, violently. Once it runs out of adrenaline, your body switches to cortisol, another hormone with a similar effect.

This reaction makes you more alert and prepares you to fight or flee. Strange as it may sound, a difficult boss or impossible deadlines are just as likely to trigger this response as a knife-wielding maniac. That’s a problem. If you’re sitting in your office producing adrenaline and cortisol for hours on end, this creates a hormonal imbalance that can be damaging to your health.

So here’s a great tip: learn to beat the fight-or-flight reaction by practicing mindfulness. A quick and dirty mindfulness routine involves nothing more than focusing on your breathing. Take ten deep breaths followed by a pause, and you’ll already feel a lot better.

The second option requires a bit more practice, but it’s an invaluable anti-stress tool: meditation. That’s not just good for your mental well-being – it’s also good for your physical health. That’s the conclusion of a 2000 study by Herbert Benson, a professor at Harvard Medical School. It showed that regular meditation could actually shrink the size of the amygdala and thus counteract that unwanted stress response!

The best way to minimize stress is to develop a supportive daily work rhythm.

You’ve probably heard the old Chinese proverb that says giving a man a fish feeds him for a day, but teaching him to fish feeds him for a lifetime. That’s also a good motto when it comes to stress reduction. Quick fixes like nipping out for a coffee have their uses, especially when you’re in a pinch, but the best way to minimize stress is to develop a long-term anti-stress plan.

Here’s an idea: start by trying to work out a supportive daily work rhythm. That’s precisely what Hilton Hotels CEO Chris Nassetta did. In his case, that involved getting up earlier to free up time to mull over his day’s responsibilities. Nassetta gets up at five every morning and aims to be in the office by six at the latest. Since his work officially only starts somewhere between eight and nine, that gives him at least two hours to prepare for the day ahead. The upshot? He can think through his tasks without losing focus or worrying about what’s coming up later. Rather than drifting off in the middle of a conversation because he’s worried about what he’ll say in an upcoming meeting, he can be fully present and engage with the people he’s talking to.

 It’s worth noting at the outset that you won’t always pull off your ideal work rhythm. In practice, you’ll have to be flexible and roll with the punches. Take it from Crystal Cooper, the vice president for public representation at global IT company Unisys. She initially resented the demands her work placed on her schedule. No wonder – being on call 24/7 is pretty intense! But after a while, she decided to go with the flow and adapt her expectations. Rather than planning to spend two hours of quality time with her family between seven and nine in the evening, she made sure she fit those hours in whenever the chance presented itself throughout the day.

Having clear routines and feedback systems supports you both personally and professionally.

Imagine you had to summon all your willpower to do even the most mundane tasks, like brushing your teeth or tying your shoelaces. Life would be unbearably exhausting, right? Luckily the human mind has an autopilot function that helps you do these things without wasting too much brainpower. And here’s the thing – you can get the most out of that nifty cerebral technology by cultivating routines. That’s good news for your personal life.

So, how can you start putting that into practice? Well, there are three words you need to remember: cue, routine and reward.

Let’s take Patricia as an example to see how it works. Jeff met Patricia at a workshop, where she told him about a routine she’d developed. When she got home from work, she entered her house through a side door that leads to a small washroom. That was her cue to take out her phone and plug it into the charger attached to a socket above the washing machine – that’s the routine part. Once she’d done that, she could spend the evening with her family, free from all distractions – that’s the reward. Because the reward was something she genuinely enjoyed, the routine was quickly established.

What about work, though? Well, if you want to improve your professional life, you might want to think about establishing feedback systems. Take Doug, a man struggling with his role as a project leader. The issue was simple: Doug’s colleagues weren’t happy with the way he always focused on the negatives.

Rather than ignoring the problem, Doug took this feedback to heart and resolved to change his ways. He developed a feedback mechanism. Every time he started getting too negative, his colleagues gave him a signal by raising three fingers. It was an informal and friendly gesture that allowed him to directly and effectively address an uncomfortable issue. The result? A happier, more efficient and satisfied team!

Exercise is a highly effective stress remedy.

Lots of people accept stress as a fact of life and try to put a brave face on it. It’s only when they finally burn out or get seriously ill that they start considering changes. But that’s not the right approach. In fact, you can spare yourself no end of suffering by taking action today. And here’s the good news: you don’t even need to make particularly radical changes to boost your well-being.

Sometimes all it takes to beat work-related stress is exercise. That doesn’t necessarily mean taking out a gym membership, though. Simple rhythmic and repetitive movements like walking, jogging, cycling, dancing or even going through some yoga poses can significantly reduce stress.

Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First off, movement helps your body eliminate those stress hormones that were mentioned earlier. Nothing purges them from your system like a spot of exercise. Then there are the psychological effects of movement. Focusing on your body for a few minutes is an excellent way of getting out of your head and interrupting those obsessive thoughts that go hand-in-hand with stress.

That’s not just a theory, either. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal reporting on the results of a one-year study of professionals, workers who regularly used a treadmill experienced less stress, interacted more with their colleagues and were more productive than their peers who didn’t exercise.

That said, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Your best bet is to try out different types of exercise and see what works for you. The most important point to remember is that if you choose something you enjoy, you’re much more likely to stick with it. If you like taking walks around the park, do that. If you prefer jogging with a friend, well, do that. What you opt for will also depend on your commitments. If you need to be super-flexible, developing an exercise routine you can do in your office might be a good idea. If you’re the organized type, weekly swimming lessons might be the way to go.

Visualizing stress-free success and savoring the moment are also useful stress-busters.

As we’ve seen, physical movement is an excellent way of relieving stress. Unfortunately, that’s not something we can do whenever we need a bit of relief. After all, you can’t just leave your office to go for a jog whenever you feel like it! That means it’s also a good idea to develop some cognitive strategies to quiet your mind. Lets look at two top techniques that’ll help you do just that.

Let’s start with being in the moment. Stress is all about worrying about the past or the future. Learning to appreciate the present pushes those anxiety-inducing thoughts to the back of your mind. Best of all? You can start practicing this kind of mindfulness without making any changes to your routine. The reason for that is simple. Remember those autopilot activities like brushing your teeth we talked about earlier? Well, those are the kinds of things you can focus on to become more present!

All you have to do is make a conscious effort not to zone out and instead direct your attention to what you’re doing. That’s about learning how to appreciate, say, the way the water is running down your body or feels on your skin when you take a shower. Whenever you find your mind wandering, make an effort to refocus it on those sensations.

The second technique involves visualizing stress-free success. Start by asking yourself what you want to achieve and then concentrate on what it is you’d need to do to pull that off. If you’ve got an important presentation coming up, for example, and you really want to impress the audience, what would that take? Well, you’d need to be well-rested, prepared and punctual. Visualize those steps and work backward from there. What do you need to do to make sure you’re well-rested, for example? This is a great way of pushing vague anxieties out of your mind and really honing in on the things that are in your control – a guaranteed stress-reliever.

Cultivating new friendships and staying in contact with old friends is great for your mental health.

What’s worse than those endless shifts that bite into your evening? Getting off work and not having anything to do or anyone to do it with. The simple truth is that isolation just isn’t good for your mental health. Friends matter – a lot!

That means it’s in your best interest to make an effort to stay in touch with old friends. How you do that depends on your personality type. As Susan Cain points out in her book Quiet, introverts will generally prefer seeing more of fewer people. Cain, a self-professed introvert, says she spends 80 percent of her free time with just 10 percent of the people she knows. That means it’s important for her to regularly reach out and give a select number of old friends a call or invite them out for a drink.  

Extroverts are the opposite. They generally prefer seeing more people less often. Take psychologist and author Adam Grant. He goes out of his way to reconnect with someone he hasn’t seen in a while once a month. That’s a great way of reactivating old contacts and keeping the connection alive.

Then there are new friendships. Few things can help you beat stress more effectively than cultivating new friends in your workplace. Why? Well, as a 2006 Gallup study showed, having just one good friend at work increases your morale and engagement levels up to seven times more than the normal amount. That’s easier said than done, of course, so let’s take a look at a couple of tips you can use to help you get to know your colleagues.

The simplest option is to respond enthusiastically when colleagues reach out to ask for help or invite you to take part in some after-work activity. If you’re pressed for time, you can be more strategic. Position yourself outside the main exit at lunchtime and pretend you’re waiting for someone and you’ll have a great opportunity to exchange a couple of words with your colleagues.

Being grateful can help you beat stress.

We’ve talked a lot about stress and how to overcome it. As we’ve seen, stress is inherently harmful. That’s why one of the simplest and most effective ways of getting it out of your system is to stay positive.

That means learning to be genuinely grateful for the things that are going well. Take Kaye Foster-Cheek, a senior executive at the Boston Consulting Group. She’s found that making time to experience gratitude has boosted her well-being significantly. So it’s the first thing she does when she wakes up. Rather than jumping out of bed, she takes a moment to reflect on how grateful she feels to simply be lying there with a new day ahead of her.

Alanson Van Fleet, an executive in the financial sector, takes a similar approach. His moment of gratitude comes when he walks through his office door and sees the small statue of the Buddha he keeps next to his computer, which reminds him how grateful he is that his company pays for his personal office space.

Those are great examples of how paying attention to those little details we all too often take for granted can help you beat stress. Here’s another tip: use visual cues in your workplace to reconnect with your core values.

When you’re under intense pressure and feeling adrift, catching sight of something familiar and loved can be a real lifesaver. Personal manager Tracy Columbus, for example, keeps Native American art in her office. Whenever she’s feeling blue, she turns to the images and their joyful colors. Peter Block does something similar. When he looks at the artwork in his office, he thinks of the time, patience and dedication the artists put into their creations – a reminder that that’s also something he seeks to do.

That goes to show that stress isn’t inevitable or inescapable. So, if you’re feeling under pressure, try out some of these stress-relieving strategies. You’ll be amazed at what a difference a couple of minutes of mindfulness or a quick walk around the park can make to your personal and professional life!

Increased workloads, demanding bosses, increasingly intrusive tech and a 24/7 business culture – no wonder today’s workforce is more stressed than ever. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Follow the simple stress-busting strategies in this post and you’ll be well on your way to beating burnout!

 Action plan: Get a coaching partner. Building a new routine is hard work, especially in the early stages. That’s why it’s a good idea to find a coaching partner who’s embarked on the same path as you. Together, you can support each other on your journey. Whether that’s just a phone call to check in now and again or a gym buddy, having a partner who’s got your back is the best way to make sure you follow through on your resolutions.