An Utterance Of Pure Honesty

Who: Marlowe & Lucius
When: Late Evening
Where: Marlowe's house
Rating NC-17

Lucius pulled up in front of Marlowe's house and parked her car, leaning over the passenger seat to collect the food bags, drinks and book he'd sat there. He made sure to lock the car before heading to her front door. It wasn't his house and he felt bad about just walking in so he shifted the drinks, balancing them between his arm and chest, clutching the bags in a fist with the book tucked under his arm. He rapped on the door with his newly freed hand and awaited impatiently the turning of the knob. God let her be alright... he thought. He couldn't help but be angry with himself for leaving her alone to begin with.

Almost at the same instant the knock had been made the door opened to a smiling Marlowe on the other side of the door way. Having two dogs did have its benefits, like announcing arrivals before they actually were at the door. "Need some help there, Baby?" She asked. Not that he'd accept the offer, but with his hands being somewhat over burdened with stuff, Marlowe tossed the offer out none-the-less.

He smiled at the simple fact that she was still breathing and didn't look any more banged up than she'd been when he left. He shifted one of the soda's into the hand he'd used to knock. "Nah, babe. I got it." he said, kissing the top of her head before passing by her and heading into the kitchen where he sat the bags and drinks down on the table. He held up the book. "I stopped at the book store. Apparently the shadows might have something to do with 'realm guardians'." he told her. He tossed the book on the counter and pulled out some small white boxes. "I really hope you like Chinese." he said.

Marlowe entered the kitchen just after Lucius, the red head then wandered over to the table as the bags were set down. "As long as you got some Kung Pao Chicken in one of these bags, I'd say that you were safe." Marlowe grinned as she settled in at the table to begin unpacking the bags of food. "And you may have had more luck then I did trying to dig something up on the Internet. Found more about shadows in general, you know the kind that people cast and such, then anything else."

He smiled. "Kung Pao Chicken, check." he said, putting a box in front of her. He hadn't been gone long, but he'd worried about her the entire time that he was out of her sight. He walked up behind her chair, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder, turning it to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Was everything okay while I was gone?" he questioned.

"Everything was fine." She cast him a smile. "Nary a sign of the shadow things." Which was a relief. At least they were getting brief respute from the things attacking.

He squeezed his arms around her tightly for a moment before releasing her and taking a seat beside her. "Maybe we're getting a reprieve finally." he muttered. "All that bad luck we'll be getting for breaking those mirrors is definitely worth it if the attacks have stopped..." He grabbed a set of chopsticks from the bag and handed her a set. As he flipped open the box, his nose reminded him just how long it had been since the last time he'd eaten. He couldn't help but gobble down a few bites before looking at her and feeling a bit embarrassed that he was pigging out like that. He finished chewing and his face went red as he wiped his mouth. "Sorry... guess I didn't realize just how hungry I was."

"Well. Food kind of was the last thing on our minds for pretty much the whole day." Between battling the shadow creatures, and then trying to catch up on some sleep, which was done in shifts, their minds were too preoccupied to think of anything else. "You know if you eat slower, the food will last longer." Marlowe smiled as she opened her own small box of food.

He laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." he told her. He took a few more bites, being sure to keep a slow steady pace with his chewing. After a few moments of silence he looked up at her from his box, catching her eyes and holding them. "Until all of this is over, I think I'm going to have to stay within hearing distance of you at all times." he said with a grin forming across his lips. "The whole time I was gone, I worried about you..."

"I don't know, kind of have gotten used to having a whole bed to myself." She smiled back sweetly between small mouthfuls of her chicken. "Of course if you really need to do the nearness thing, I can throw a couple blankets and a pillow on the floor of my room, though you may end up having to share the space with Rogue and Roarke."

"Oh, is that how it's gonna be then?" he questioned. "I'll remember that when you're begging me to keep you warm tonight." he said teasingly.

"Baby. I don't beg." A grin curved as Marlowe leaned over to kiss his lips lightly. "And anyway, you'd give out before I would." The grin settling more firmly across the features of her face.

He nodded a little. "You're probably right, but if you really don't want me in your bed, I don't have to be..." he told her, mostly just wanting to hear her say that she did want him there. He closed his food box and looked up at her again. God he loved it when the girl smiled. Her whole face lit up underneath the grin.

"I know you don't have to be." She told him. Marlowe consumed a bit more of her food before she as well flipped the lid back in place. "But if you're in a different room whos gonna protect you from all that is evil." Her face lighting once more with a smile.

He smiled. "I see how it is, you're just using me for protection. How wrong is that?" he laughed a bit and stood, putting the remaining food back into the bag and walking over to place it in the fridge. "I don't know if I like being a body guard." he joked.

"And what's not to like about guarding this body?" Marlowe glanced over her shoulder at Lucius as he stored the leftover food into the fridge. He'd only been there, what? A day or two and already he was making himself right at home. It seemed like he was quite comfortable in his temporary surroundings. Marlowe couldn't help but let her mind wander with those thoughts.

Lucius smiled as he closed the fridge and walked back over to her, reaching for her arm extracting her from the chair only to pull her closer to him. "Maybe you're right. I mean it is a pretty nice body to be watching all the time." he said with a smirk as his hands traveled across her sides, gliding across her hips before wrapping around her back and hugging her tight to his body.

"You think so?" She grinned with the question as her eyes caught his. She enjoyed the way his arms felt around her, the way they seemed to fit with perfection around her waist. "Might be nice to have my very own personal guardian of my body." She continued as her arms snugged lightly around his neck, fingertips caressing lightly at the nape of his neck.

He nodded. "Oh, definitely." he grinned. "I'd be more than willing to keep my eyes on your body at all times..." he whispered, his lips moving to capture hers for a moment. "Mmm... might have to keep more than my eyes on your body..." he told her, his hands dipping underneath the back of her shirt, his hands warm against the small of her back. Fingertips trailing across her skin tantalizingly slow.

"Well. You do want to carry of your job to the best of your ability." She whispered back. Her lips catching his once more as a wave of warmth careened through her with the touch of his strong hands to the base of her back. "Keep me warm tonight." Marlowe kissed the corner of his mouth, then along his jawline to the lobe of his ear, her breath a warm caressing breeze against his neck as she whispered those words to him.

A heat shiver ran through his body, like lightning through his veins. He nodded slightly, a mere flick of his head up then down. "I'd keep you warm any night..." he breathed out, his voice barely above a whisper. It was happening again. The fire that always seemed to envelope him when he was in the presence of Marlowe. He could get lost in that fire, willingly would get lost in it, hell he yearned to get lost in it.

"My guardian." The words whispered softly as lips brushed lightly against the curve of his neck, lips wandering then in a back-trail along his jawline til they found his once more. Her mouth parted slightly as it moved against his, one arm snaking a bit tighter around his neck while her other hand slipped into his hair at the back of his head to draw Lucius deeper into her kiss.

Kissing. No, not just kissing... kissing Marlowe. If it had been possible for him to do nothing but kiss her, he would have spent each waking moment in a constant, fiery, passionate lip lock with the redhead. His hands slid down from her back, grazing her back side and traveling downward to the backs of her thighs. Almost effortlessly he lifted the girl, guiding her legs around his waist as he moved towards the counter. He didn't break the kiss, part of him feeling that if he did so his body may very well stop functioning. Once he'd reached his destination he let some of her weight rest on the counter, but his hands stayed on her thighs, keeping her legs wrapped firmly around him.

She moaned against the crushing impact of his mouth against her own. Her body seemed to wrap and twist around his when she felt her weight lifted from solid ground, held within the strong embrace of his arms. "Lucius." She breathed heavily with the need to break the kiss to get a brief intake of air. Her mouth then collapsed against his as the heat he sparked inside her flamed, threatening to consume the red head whole.

Intense. The time he spent with the girl was always intense. If they weren't touching or kissing he could still feel the fire smoldering between them, just below the surface ready to ignite at the slightest touch of skin on skin. When they were touching, or kissing like they were now, the flame burned bright, uncontrollable. Passion coupled with the excruciating need to feel her body against his forced his mouth harder against hers. His tongue begged entrance to her mouth as his head tilted and one hand ran up her body, coming to rest in a tangle of red hair against the back of her head.

Her lips parted to his at the encouragement. The flames ignited within her by his slightest touch now raged inside her. Burning with uncontrollable intensity as she clung to him. Her body pressed tightly to his, the heat they shared swirling around them, consuming them within the fires of their desires.

His tongue moved expertly against hers, chasing it through the depths of her mouth, pressing against it, swirling around it and gently sucking it into his mouth. A groan surged through him, transferring between their lips. The hand in her hair tightened around the tendrils, tugging her head back a bit as he broke the kiss and moved his lips to her neck, biting and sucking along the tender area beneath her chin.

Marlowe gasped at the feel of his mouth against the pulsating flesh of her neck. A soft moan slipped past her lips at the biting and suckling, her eyes clenching tightly closed. What he was doing to her now was sending the red head into a heated frenzy. She wanted to feel his flesh against her own. Wanted to drown in his love and desire. The build inside her was pure torment and a small whimper was emitted as her body started to move against his.

Dear, God. The noises she made drove him insane, only fueling the fire more so as he moved his hands to the hem of her shirt, slowly dipping his fingertips beneath the material and tracing a path across her sides as he urged the cloth upward.

Her eyes caught and held his. The chocolate brown pools swirled with pure desire for the man before her. Her arms raised slowly above her head to make it less a hindrance for Lucius to remove the article of clothing that was slowly being guided upward. The bareness of her flesh shivered from the coolness of the air that caressed it, and from the grazing touch of the hands that moved against it.

He discarded her shirt on the counter and moved his mouth back to her skin, kissing down her neck and along her collarbone as his fingertips trailed around her back and up to the fastenings of her bra. He undid each clasp slowly, teasing her with each movement. His lips moved down her chest as he continued with the hooks. Once they'd all been undone he moved his lips to her shoulder, kissing down it slowly as he slid her bra down her arms.

Her chest heaved beneath those lips, Marlowe found it hard to control each breath taken. In fact the red head found it hard to breath all together. Her head tilt back to rest against a high cabinet as her gaze dipped to watch Lucius beneath a light veil of lashes. Slowly, and gently, her hands found the sides of his head, and without taking her eyes from him Marlowe tilted his head upward as she lowered her lips to his. She breathed him in with the kiss drenched with passion and desire. He could feel the heat inside her in those soft, pouty lips of hers.

He groaned out against her lips, the pleasure so intense that it almost bordered on pain. He pulled away from her lips after a moment, his eyes catching hers. "Bedroom?" he questioned. He would have taken her there, in the kitchen atop the counter in a flurry of sweat and discarded clothing, but he wanted softness for Marlowe. It wasn't just about the sex, it was more about the desire to be as close as humanly possible. So close that the lines between them blurred and they became one functioning organism, moving in synchronization.

With a slight nod Marlowe reached for him. The breaking of the kiss made it seem like he was miles away from her. A distance that stretched too far between them, even though the were less then a foot a part. She drew him back in, wanting to feel the closeness of his body to hers. Feel the sweet taste of his lips to hers. She wanted to consume him almost as badly as she wanted to feel his consumption of her.

He hoisted her from the counter, unwilling to break their kiss. One arm held her firmly against her body easily, the other felt in the direction of the stairs. He manged to climb them, breaking the kiss only once between the first step and the landing at the top. Once inside her bedroom, door shut behind them, he laid her on the bed, pulling his lips from hers reluctantly. His fingertips found the hem of his shirt and he pulled it up and over his head, discarding it on the floor as he kicked off his shoes. He moved to the bed now, hovering above her as his lips found hers again. He pressed his chest against hers, needing to feel the contrast of his skin against hers.

She kept her eyes locked to his as Lucius joined her on the bed, his body covering hers as hands caressed tenderly in a downward motion along his arms. Finding his hands she caught them within her own, fingers lacing through, and then holding tight, to his. Feeling the strength of his body pressed to hers Marlowe's body started reacting to the extreme closeness of their two bodies.

One hand pulled from her grip and dipped between them, searching out the button on her jeans, flicking it undone easily. He inched the zipper down slowly as he pressed his lips hard against hers. There was an urgency to his movements, but at the same time a gentleness, a slowness. He wasn't about to rush this. The moment of intensity grew all the more tantalizing with each second of tension that passed.

While one hand left hers, Marlowe clenched the other to keep it locked within her grasp. She hungered against the crush of his lips once more felt against her own. And feeling the hand at the waistband of her jeans was met with a gentle roll of her hips. An intense fire now burned inside her threatening to consume her within their flames.

Lucius could feel himself harden more so than he already was at the movement of her hips. He broke the kiss, moving downward, kissing between her breasts and along her stomach. He moved down to remove her shoes and socks, then slowly pulled her jeans and panties off simultaneously. His fingertips fumbled with his own button and zipper as he slid his pants off, and tugged his socks from his feet, his state of arousal clearly visible in the bulge of his boxers. He reached for her chin, pulling her forward from the bed and crushing his lips against hers.

For the rest of her undressing Marlowe kept her eyes shut to just let the feel of everything completely wash over her. And it wasn't until she felt that gentle touch to her chin did Marlowe allow her eyes to open and fixate on Lucius. The red head practically dove into that crushing kiss, arms winding around the naked form. Her chest pressing hard and wanting into his.

He continued to kiss her as he slid his boxers off. Once all the barriers were gone he moved her back on the bed, his body atop hers once more. The softness of her skin an exact opposite of the hardness in his. His mouth moved to the edge of hers, leaving small kisses in it's wake all along her jawline and down to his ear. Whether it be the rush of the moment or the newness of all the feelings he felt for the girl he breathed out three simple words against her ear. "I love you..." He'd never uttered those words aloud to anyone, not since his mother had died. Part of his mind couldn't fathom that he'd actually said them. The words seemed almost like a foreign phrase as they passed through his lips. He didn't move, instead he froze, unsure of how she'd react to his utterance. His breathing was uneven and he swallowed air as he listened to the silence.

Hands moved in slow exploration of the outline of his body once Lucius resettled on top of her. Fingertips memorizing each line, each curve and bump of his body to their touch. With the parting of their lips, his brushing lightly along her jawline toward her ear, hers kissed and nipped lightly at his shoulder. Everything though seemed to stop with his utterance of those three small, yet very powerful words. The words that seemed to echo in her head. Marlowe let her head tilt back just enough so she could catch his eyes. He had whispered what she had been denying herself. To feel fully the depths of what she felt for him. And now here it was all out in the open in quite an unexpected manner.

"You are my hearts desire." She finally whispered. And as she kept his gaze locked to hers a hand lifted to his cheek. "The one thing that completes me." Her hand moved slowly away from his cheek to the back of his head to draw it forward. "I love you." She whispered as her mouth found his once more. She could feel her eyes becoming moist with tears at the embrace of their lips. Against all caution she had allowed herself to fall. To fall hard and deep.

He pulled away slightly, resting his forehead against hers so he could look into her eyes. The traces of tears were clearly visible around the edges. His thumbs brushed the dampness away and he moved his lips to hers once more. He wanted her now more than ever and after a moment he broke their kiss again flicking his attention at the wallet on her night stand, summoning it to him with a mere thought. He pulled a condom out of it and tossed the wallet to the floor, ripping the wrapper open between his teeth. Once the wrapper was flicked away he moved his lips to hers again, sliding the latex into place.

She felt a tear stream slow from the edge of her eye when their lips met once more. One hand moved to run slowly the slight curve of his back, and then the swell of his ass while the other slipped within his hair, clenching at it near the nape as she pulled him into the depths of her kiss.

He slid himself against her, slowly entering her. His body surging through so many emotions that his brain had trouble keeping up with the thoughts that flooded through it. Love. He'd just told this girl that he loved her... the first girl he'd ever uttered those words too. The fact that he meant every syllable was all the more unbelievable. He slid in farther until he couldn't move his hips any closer to her body. He let out a low moan against her lips and brushed his fingers through her hair.

Marlowe moaned against his lips with the first push he made into her, her body swelling with heat and passion. She found herself drowning within the emotions that swirled with great intensity within her. Her body slowly moved against his. Each pleasurable thrust she caught drove her deeper into a state of pure ecstasy. She was riding the edge of her climax, the intensity of it all was becoming unbearable. Sweat encased the petiteness of her body, her heart pulsated with quick, rapid beats as he entered her to the fullest depths of her being.

Lucius moved his mouth down her jawline, kissing each centimeter along the girls face as he moved his lips closer to her ear. Each kiss was met with a slow thrust of his hips against hers. This was different. This wasn't just sex. It was never 'just sex' with Marlowe. It was making love, becoming one, getting as close to the girl as he could possibly manage. When his mouth hovered above her ear, he breathed the words again. "I love you." Three words. All flowing together, coming out easily now. His head slid back enough to catch her gaze and he spoke again. "I've never said that to anyone..." he told her. His fingertips trailed away from her hair, back down to caress the curve of her cheek and he told her again. "I love you."

This was all beyond her imagination. The intensity of their lovemaking, the words he had spoken to her, the words she had said in return. Marlowe found it all so overwhelming that the only release she could find for all the emotions soaring through her were the trickling of tears from the edges of her eyes. She was giving herself body and soul to this man, something she had never done before in her life. Give herself totally. Completely to another person. She brinked her climax now, but she held it. Wanting to ride the waves of passion with him.

He kissed her cheek, the combination of sweat and tears salt against his lips. He was getting closer, clearly visible in his face as he pulled back again to lock eyes with the girl, his mouth slightly agape. The groans his brain was trying to compute came out soundless. He kept his slow pace with her, each thrust getting a brief pause between.

There was a slight arch of her back as their eyes locked to each other. She was primed. Each additional thrust he pushed into her only added to her pleasurable torment. Her body racked with waves of surging passion. "Oh god!" Her moan and cries filling the room as a wave of release crashed forth. Her sweated form rocked and shuddered beneath him.

His thrust continued through the beginning of her release and as her muscles tightened around him he found his voice, heaving a guttural groan that seemed to come from deep within. He too found his release, bucking hard against her hips, letting himself feel the intensity that they'd made together wash over him, drown him. His head leaned forward, his forehead propped against hers, sweaty stickiness between them as his body twitched atop hers. His breath came out in short gusts against her face and his heart pounded against his chest.

"Oh god." She breathed heavily, her heart beating uncontrollably as she collapsed back on the bed. This had been the most incredible union she had ever had. It had been beyond incredible, there were no words to be found that could accurately describe the moment she had just had with the guy. "I love you." She returned with a fluttering of lashes as her eyes closed briefly. She wasn't afraid to say the words, was no longer afraid to admit what feelings she had harbored deep within her, feelings and emotions she had tried keeping locked away for fear if they got out they would shatter the illusion. Make all this turn out to simply have been a dream.

Though he could feel her body against his, he couldn't help but wonder if this was all just a dream that he'd wake up from. Shadows, brawls, and then an utterance of pure honesty from his lips declaring his intense feelings for another person. It was unbelievable. Unfathomable. He collapsed beside her, his lips moving to the curve of her neck. His body tingled and he could still feel the aftershocks running through him.

Snuggling into his side, Marlowe rested her head on his shoulder, an arm draped lightly over his waist. "What are you thinking." She asked quietly.

Honesty was always the best policy right? "I'm thinking that sooner or later I'm going to wake up and this will all be some dream that I won't want to arise from." he told her, his hands brushing her tangled and sweaty hair over her shoulder.

She grinned wicked with the movement of her hand as fingertips grazed lightly along his side before she gave it a nice semi-hard pinch. Marlowe couldn't help but giggle at that, though she tried desperately to halt her amusement by kissing his shoulder.

"Ouch!" he yelped, rubbing the spot she'd pinched. "That's just mean, I pour my inner most thoughts out to you and you abuse me." he teased, feigning annoyance and rolling away from her, laying against her pillow now with his back to the redhead. "See if I tell you what I'm thinking anymore." he joked.

"Awww, now Baby," Marlowe snuggling up against him from behind, an arm wrapping around him as soft kisses trailed along his shoulder blade, "was just proving to you that this wasn't any dream you had, that what we just did was the real deal. Forgive me?"

He shifted again, this time facing towards her, his fingers brushing along her jawline and capturing her chin between them, urging her mouth towards his. "Uh huh..." he said softly before stealing a kiss.

"Mmmm." She purred as she leaned a little bit into the kiss that had been stolen. "I take it I've been forgiven." She smiled softly as her eyes rested on the handsome features of his face.

He nodded slightly. "Yeah... I guess so..." he teased. He reached for her hand, linking his fingers through hers and pulling them up to his mouth, placing kisses across her knuckles. "I know this is all... lightning speed and totally a blur and I know a lot of people may think that we're both crazy... But I meant what I said tonight..."

"Baby, when all this is over I am so taking you away for a weekend." She told him with a light resting of her head on his chest. "I meant what I said too." She murmured softly. Her eyes closed briefly as fingertips brushed lightly in small circles on his chest.

He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth before finally speaking. "This feels so... different..." he said softly, letting her continue the slow movements across his chest. "A month ago I wouldn't let anyone see my scars let alone touch them..."

"They're nothing to be ashamed of." And as if to accentuate that point Marlowe leaned down to kiss a soft trail across his chest and the scars that marred it. "I love you....I love you..." The words spoken between the kisses she gave.

The touch of her lips against his skin sent a shiver coursing through his body. He smiled as she spoke those three simple yet amazingly powerful words. Once she'd moved her face back to it's original position, he caught her eyes with his and slid his hand across her cheek, fingertips slowly brushing against the flesh. "I love you, too..." he told her.

That gained him a soft smile, her head tipping lightly to the feel of his touch against her cheek. "I'll never tire of hearing that." The words a soft murmur as Marlowe resettled herself to lay beside him. She snuggled against the warmth of his body once more and draped an arm loosely across his waist.

He pulled her body close to his, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "We should probably get some sleep... There's no telling what might happen at dawn..." he frowned. "And sleeping means we should probably put some clothes on because I don't think I'm up for battling in the nude after all. I mean... I might need my body parts... some of them more than others." he chuckled.

"I'm kind of liking the way you feel now." Enjoying the feel of his warm skin against her own. But he did have a point about being fully dressed just in case, but that didn't mean she was in any hurry to change her current state of dress, or in this case, undress.

He smiled softly. "I like the way you feel now too..." he told her, his fingers trailing down her back. "We don't have to get dressed... just yet..." he said. "I think I'd rather just lay here with you for a while..."