Just So You Know

[brian_campo]

Nimble fingers popped quarters into a payphone. The segmented cord creaked as Maddy propped the receiver against her cheek. She leaned as far into the stall as possible, plugging her open ear. The club was crowded and noisy; she could barely hear the dial tone or the voice on the other end, a distracted ‘hello?’

“Brian! It’s Maddy!” she shouted.

His eardrum vibrated under the sonic assault and he asked, “Yeah, where the fuck are you?”

“The Funhouse.” She touched a piece of chewed gum and recoiled, wiping her palm on her jeans.

Brian frowned. “Really? Why?” It didn’t seem like her kind of place; Maddy was into the kind of punk-rock dump where a girl could take off her top and nobody got arrested. “Is it dollar shots or something?”

“No, I’m meeting Melody. We just got off work. This is probably the only place on the planet where her vocal talents can be appreciated. Listen, I just saw Valerie. I thought you might wanna know. Didn't you say you tanked your phone message?” Maddy craned her neck and saw the blonde was still near the bar. The silence has stretched on too long, so she said, “Brian?”

He was pacing his cramped living room. There was a potato chip on the floor and he crushed it under his shoe by accident. Shit. “Did you talk to her?”

Maddy snorted. “No, she’d probably punch me.”

“What? Why?” Brian had that feeling he often got with Maddy, like there was an inside joke he was too dense to get.

“Nothing, never mind. Just come out, okay?” Maddy turned back into the pay phone, her fingers tracing the buttons. “You know you want to. So sack up.” Maybe it was concern for Brian making her push the issue, or maybe it was guilt: in her opinion, that relationship was a casualty of the domino effect. If she’d handled the conversation with Valerie better, then maybe the blonde wouldn’t have been so upset when she landed on Brian’s doorstep, and maybe Brian would’ve seen the situation more clearly.

“Yeah, okay.” He was already stalking the room in search of a clean shirt.

“Atta boy, little bro.” Maddy hung up. The quarter plunked into the depths and she squeezed into the crowd, hoping to find Melody before she got felt up by a body builder or propositioned by a sleazy investment banker.

Brian frowned and hung up. Little brother, another of those inside jokes he didn’t get. He tore through his apartment looking for keys, his wallet, a folded piece of paper, cursing under his breath when he tripped on an extension cord. He was out the door in three minutes.

[Thread]

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[valerie_vause]

The second she stepped inside the hotel lobby Valerie felt different. Exhilarated yet anxious, as if she were at the top of a roller-coaster, mere moments from plummeting. She didn’t want to escape the ride but there was a terrifying second where she wondered if she’d enjoy it as much as she had thought she would. Then Brian’s hands were around her waist like the safety bar. Lips on her neck tingled like the wind caressing her skin and his whispered words made her stomach flip like the cart had just begun it’s speedy descent. She had the ridiculous urge to throw her hands in the air. Scream if you want to go faster. The breath in her lungs was released slowly as she leaned back against him. One small hand splayed across his in consent, her thumb lightly tracing patterns of nothing, while her other hand slipped into her pocket to retrieve her wallet.

Valerie smiled at the woman behind the desk, exchanged pleasantries, and ignored her knowing look by wiping away her smirk as she slid her bank card across with a happy little, “We want a room with a wonderful view of the city.” The blonde might not look like she had any sort of wealth but even she knew those sort of rooms came with a hefty fee. Then she paused, glanced up at Brian with a cheeky smile and bit her lip. “Better make it two nights.” She said to the receptionist, yet kept his gaze. When the key card and her bank card were slid across the counter she slipped one back into it’s place in her wallet and the other into Brian’s hand with a soft murmur of, “Let’s go find our room.”

She might have danced towards the elevator had she not preferred to keep his arms around her. The blonde had had enough space between them to last a lifetime, she didn’t want anymore. Not even for a few minutes. Though she did manage to keep her hands mostly to herself as other people walked in and out on various floors, and then they reached theirs. Valerie slipped her hand back into Brian’s and waited until he had the door open before practically running inside to spin around, taking it all in. “Holy crap!” She exclaimed, mouth open, “This room is huge!” And damn, it was decadent. Art hung on the walls, the bed had been dipped in luxury and the bathroom was the size of her dorm room. Valerie took it all in as she ran from place to place like an excited puppy allowed in a park for the first time. There was a table and chairs with what she assumed was an ice bucket containing a bottle of complimentary champagne and it made her laugh, there was an actual couch in front of a television that she was sure they had no use for and a fridge probably stocked with things that cost a fortune but all of that paled in comparison to the floor to ceiling windows that took up an entire wall.

“Brian...” His name was a breathy sigh as she held her hand out to him, “Look.” She whispered, drawing them close enough to press her hand against the cool glass. Vegas was alive before them. The streets filled with cars that looked small enough to be toys, the sky line stretched for miles and the stars… They were so close to stars that Valerie felt like she twinkled.

The only thing missing, she realised belatedly, was a camera.

“When you hold me…” Finger tips traced the cool glass as Valerie tried to burn the image into her mind. “This is how you make me feel.” On top of the world. Untouchable. Free. She turned then to gaze up at him. Valerie’s hands gently found his waist to clutch while her finger tips hooked around his waistband to tug him closer. "Tell me what you're thinking?" She requested softly, as if knowing his thoughts were the oxygen her blood needed.

[brian_campo]

The view was incredible. He’d seen the city from lots of windows and rooftops, but none like this. The sky was midnight blue, and they were above most of the neon lights so he could see a patchwork quilt of stars between clouds. Overlaid on it was Valerie’s reflection. His, too. She turned around and he dragged his eyes away. She was an even better sight.

“I’m thinking…” he hesitated. He wanted to get the words right, not just blurt out things that might ruin the moment, but he craved honesty, too. “I’m nervous as hell,” he said and laughed at himself. But his eyes were wide and dark when he looked at her and even though he was tense, he looked happy. The room was great. She was gorgeous. Brian ran the backs of his fingers down her temple and cheek. “We can do or not do anything you want. It’s okay with me. I’m just stoked that you’re here.”

Of course he wanted all of it. All of her. Yeah he was a guy, but he was also a person who had a load of emotions he could never figure out how to expend, and he wanted to show her what he thought of her. How much he wanted her. But if that wasn’t in the cards right now, he’d be okay with it. His hormones would deal.

He leaned in and briefly kissed her. Breathed against her mouth, “Hang on,” and went to pull the dripping bottle of champagne out of the bucket. They could both use something to take the edge off. Brian unwound the metal bindings and popped the cork. When the fizz died down, he poured then both a glass and handed one to Valerie. “Okay, to…” he searched her face.

[valerie_vause]

Valerie joined in with the nervous laughter and it felt like a weight had been lifted. A weight she hadn’t even really been aware of until it vanished from the pit of her stomach. The gentle reassurance made her heart flutter and though being around Brian made her feel out of control, his words managed to make her gain some all at the same time. “I am too.” She confessed, then cast her eyes towards the ceiling as her shoulders moved along imperceptibly. When she breathed it was gentle. Valerie’s eyes found his again and she couldn’t stop her smile. She couldn’t deny the desire she held for him, in some ways she’d even made peace with it, because it felt so indelible. To resist would lead to madness, she was sure of it.

“I wanted a room like this because…” She paused, frowned slightly and used her fingers to tug him closer. “I don’t need opulence, I never have, but I wanted our first time together to be magical, so we can look back and just remember that we had this, the view, the space, the stars… Untainted by anything else.” She paused, swallowed thickly, and added with a cautious smile. “By anyone else.” Though she knew Brian had obviously had lovers before she had no way to know if any had been in his bed, and she certainly didn’t want to think of it while in it herself. This was common ground, a place to carve memories with each other that would never be smudged. It felt so very important to Valerie, to have something that would stay intact, no matter what. Only for them. “Something just for us.”

The feel of his lips quelled her anxiety and she blinked slowly as he dashed off. It took Valerie a moment to find her legs and she followed him with a grin and accepted the glass feeling ridiculously lucky. Like she’d just won the lottery. Maybe I have, he’s one in a billion. When she raised her glass to toast with him and Brian faltered, she raised her eyebrows and supplied warmly, “New experiences together? And to re-living the ones we like with each other.” Whether it be playing darts, rolling down a hill or simply watching a movie. Valerie didn‘t care as long as it was with him.

She waited a second then took a sip, a surprised little noise escaped her frame and she smiled. “Well that tastes nice…” Valerie captured her lower lip and let her teeth drag across it as she looked up at Brian through her lashes. The glass got placed on the table as she slid her palm up his chest and twisted the material around her fingers to pull him closer. “Just not as nice as you.” She murmured against his lips, then captured them completely.

[brian_campo]

Just for them.

He wanted to tell her he’d never brought a girl to his apartment, but the implication – that he had screwed around at parties, and, worse, in public – wasn’t one that looked favorably on him, so he let it go. Besides, it was a long time ago. He gulped his entire glass of champagne and felt the bubbles do a pleasant burn down his throat. He tried not to stare at her teeth. Then she kissed him. Blindly he felt for the table because he didn’t want to have to stop and clean up broken glass. The flutes clinked together and he thought, close enough. As soon as his hands were empty, they were on Valerie.

Keeping his mouth on hers, he reached into the open sides of her button-down blouse and plucked at the tighter shirt underneath. Brian lifted it up. When his hands touched her bare abdomen and ribcage, they were surer. Valerie was petite but curvy, round in the best places. His thumb fit into her navel. “You’re soft,” he said. He breathed harder against her and opened his mouth to taste her tongue. The sound of their kiss was like music to his ears.

He knew this was the last piece of rational thought. In a minute they’d get swept up in racing pulses and short, hot breaths. The uncertainty would be over. He peeled her blouse away from her shoulders and dropped it on the floor. Slowly he ran his fingertips down the backs of her arms. Any part of the body could be sensual, if it was unaccustomed to touch.

"I've been picturing what you look like for a long time," he murmured, skimming back up to her shoulders.

[valerie_vause]

Valerie hummed against Brian’s lips as he spoke and felt herself smile into the kiss. His hands on her body felt right, natural, and she knew without a doubt that she didn’t want the sensation to stop. Once her shirt met its demise on the floor she felt vaguely empowered. This was really happening. The blonde caught the hem of his shirt and pushed it upward as if trying to free him from restraints. “You’re hard.” She whispered back, the tip of her tongue flicked against his lips as her hands splayed against his warm chest, short nails lightly scraped against his skin, and then she almost inhaled her saliva. “I-I mean your body. Muscles!” Valerie felt her skin warm with a mixture of embarrassment and arousal as she buried her face against his clavicle.

It wouldn’t take much effort, any effort actually, to rip Brian’s shirt right off him but they had to leave the room eventually and so clothes had to be painstakingly peeled away. Like wrapping paper. The thought brought another grin to Valerie’s lips and they paused against his collarbone with a lingering kiss. “Well, I hope I live up to your imagination.” She said lightly, nerves fluttering within her stomach as she forced herself to take a step back. When she met his gaze her hands went to the bottom of her tank top and she very slowly removed it to toss aside without any care as to where it landed.

Despite all the space around them the air felt thick as her fingers trailed down her abdomen. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm her pulse. “I think about that night…” Valerie didn’t have to specify as she worked the button of her jeans free. “About you, when I’m alone…” She tugged the zipper down then parted the fabric so that her thumbs could hook inside the denim. Belatedly she wished she’d worn something else, something sexy, but her simple white bra and matching panties would have to do unless she ran into the bathroom to shed them in shame. She kicked off her boots and shimmed the restricting fabric down her thighs until she stood only in her underwear, her eyes locked on him.

“How do I compare so far?” The tone was light, meant as a teasing quip, but the way she chewed on her lower lip said she felt self conscious. Whether due to the scars that littered her body or the fact that she was barely clothed in front of him was hard to say.

[brian_campo]

It might have come out wrong, but Valerie’s description made him break into a grin, partly because she frantically corrected herself, and partly because she wasn’t wrong. It was a miracle his arms and legs were getting any blood flow at all, especially after the ‘when I’m alone’ comment. Man, to be a fly on the wall…

Brian pulled his t-shirt over his head and dropped it next to her clothes. His hair got into his eyes. He pushed it out of the way to look at her standing there. If a girl was beautiful, and if he was seriously into her, it didn’t matter what she wore. Valerie was the prettiest he’d ever been with. “I could stare at you for days.” He let her feel the weight of his heavy-lidded look.

He wanted to pull her close, but he stopped to unbuckle his belt and jeans. Brian bent down to pull off his doc martens and step out of the clothes. He didn’t have body shame; he was a self-conscious wreck about a million other things, but not that. He was long and lean, muscled from lifting heavy equipment and having the kind of frenetic energy that made him move all the time. He made his skin match his thoughts in pictures and words, and the more it did, the more at home in it he felt.

Brian moved into her space. His hands were loose on her back as they stood toe-to-toe and he closed his eyes and breathed out. The fabric of her bra tickled his chest. A few achingly long seconds passed and then he slowly got down on his knees on front of her, stroking her lower back and hips. On the way down, his mouth lit on the dip between her breasts, a scar on her stomach, the hollow inside her hip bone.

He looked up as he moved his hands inside the back of her panties. Was it just his imagination or was her ass meant to fit in his hands? He was momentarily distracted by it, but the whole reason he’d gotten on his knees was to press a kiss to the sweetly curved inside of her thigh. As soon as she’d taken off her pants, he knew he was going down. He used his teeth once, carefully, nipping at the soft skin.

“I think about this.”

He shifted and let her feel the bridge of his nose and the heat of his mouth through her underwear.

[valerie_vause]

If she were honest with herself, Valerie would admit that once his shirt came off her eyes devoured the scene before her. And she was, which explained why her jaw dropped as her gaze took Brian in. Skin stretched across muscles and displayed tattoo’s that she’d never tire of looking at. Whether he knew it or not she considered the sight the eighth wonder of the world. He was, and forever would be, everything that meant anything to her. Heaven help her, because she really couldn’t help herself right then. A shaky breath was exhaled as she gazed at him, and it took more strength than she would ever admit to look into his eyes.

“I know the feeling.” Mumbled the blonde, absently brushing her fingers through her hair as she resisted the urge to fan herself. God, but if he wasn’t like a Greek statue carved from marble. Hunger took over as Valerie watched avidly as his fingers worked his belt and she felt her pulse quicken when his pants dropped around his ankles. The restraint she exercised in letting him undress was almost more than she could bare but she managed none the less. Barely, really, if her clenched hands were anything to go by.

Valerie would have sworn she felt electricity pass through her body when his toes brushed against hers but her breath caught in her throat when he sank to his knees and she whimpered before she could stop herself. The soft, warm, sensation of his lips against her hip only caused them to jut forward an inch or two without her consent and she realised slowly that her mouth was hanging open. Despite her short size she felt so incredibly tall with Brian on his knees before her, and the way his hands played across her skin made her knees weak. How could he make her feel so strong and yet so boneless all at once?

The blood in her veins could have been lava and Valerie wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Then he did something she’d fantasised about for so long that an actual, guttural moan, escaped her parted lips. Brian’s hands molded to the soft flesh of her rear and the blonde’s eyes fluttered shut for a few seconds as she basked in the feel of him. It was the kiss to her inner thigh that forced them open again and she gazed down at him longingly. The confession caught her by surprise but before she could form words she felt his nose press against her in such a way that she trembled. The breath in her lungs caught and her hands involuntarily reached out to grip his shoulders for balance. The noise she made didn’t even sound human.

“You...” She began, breathless as her fingers kneaded the flesh beneath them in a restless massage. “Have no idea what that just did to me,” Then again, maybe he did, considering his face was so close to her intimate areas. Arousal coursed through her body and seemed to settle between her legs. Wet, warm, and pulsing. Valerie clenched her teeth to keep her hips from moving. Every cell in her body screamed for her to rock against him but she managed to behave herself long enough to run her fingers through his hair. “You want to know what I think about?”

The words were whispered softly as she watched him. Half of her wanted to stay silent but the other half urged her to talk. She wanted to tantalize him as much as he did her. Okay, sure, it could be wildly embarrassing but she had to trust herself in the moment and so with a deep, slow, breath she went with it. “I think about what it’ll feel like to have you inside me. How I’ll stretch and grip you… The only man to become a part of me... Because I want to be able to feel exactly where you’ve been the next day…” And oh, how she meant every word.

[brian_campo]

He breathed out roughly. Her words drove him crazy. He actually felt high, dizzy and winded and unable to channel a clear thought. Man, he loved the way she looked, her unique scent. It made him hard to the point of physical pain. Brian’s fingers squeezed and pulled her nearer to his face. The bridge of his nose chaffed at her through the fabric, causing a pleasant friction.

It was almost impossible to believe Valerie hadn’t slept with another guy. He didn’t doubt her word, but how could she walk through the world looking like that and no guy had gotten close enough, even if he had to lie and cheat to do it? The knowledge that he’d be first was a lot of responsibility -- Jesus, don’t fuck this up for her -- but it was incredible, too, because she had picked him, out of all the men she could have. Better men. Smarter men.

He wanted to say something, tell her how bad he wanted to bury himself inside her, and that he wanted her legs wrapped so tight he couldn’t breathe, that he wouldn’t stop until her knees gave out, but his brain was on vacation. Instead, he managed, “I want to taste you,” and with two fingers, he moved the fabric of her panties aside, just enough room for his mouth to latch onto her. Brian kissed the delicate folds of her body, seeking the place where her nerves were at their most sensitive. He groaned, God, the heat, the velvet feel of her… One of his hands eased between her thighs. He curled his fingers up to stroke inside of her body, gently stretching.

[brian_campo]

* Fade to Black *