Spirit - Part Two
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here. The episode below has some mild mature content.
I open my eyes and find myself gazing up into two deep, clear pools of blue. Like bathing in soft, warm waters, this shade of blue. I can almost feel the heat of sun-baked sand beneath my feet.
Aiden smiles when he realizes I’m awake.
He gives me exactly enough time to draw in a full, deep breath, then places his mouth against mine and locks me into a slow, thorough kiss. Still half asleep, still half in dreams of him, I exhale a soft little moan into his mouth, which only makes him deepen the kiss even more.
By the time I open my eyes again, I’m lost in some sexy, half-awake headspace that leaves a dazed smile turning up my lips and no thoughts whatsoever in my brain.
“Happy birthday, Linden,” Aiden murmurs against my lips, a hint of a rumbling laugh in his deep voice.
His every word seems to tumble gently down onto me, like the feather-light kisses of a soft rain.
I gaze up at him with smitten eyes, taking in his almost painfully handsome face, his warm, dilated eyes - and hear myself give the dumbest answer possible in this context. “Hey, thanks, dude.”
I blush instantly, wincing with my whole face. Aiden huffs out a full-sized laugh, nuzzling his nose into mine.
“How do you feel, twenty-seven-year-old Jamie?”
“Oh, no,” I groan, closing my eyes. “When you say it like that, it sounds like - kind of a lot of years? I know it’s really not, but still.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Aiden breathes out a sympathetic laugh, touching his fingertips to the fine lines at the corners of his eyes. “You know Floyd called me a ‘young buck’ when he was here last? And that felt pretty good.”
I let out a laugh of my own, stroking my fingertips over the lines by Aiden’s eyes. “If it makes you feel better, I have a feeling my young buck is gonna make one hell of a silver stag someday.”
Aiden blinks in warm surprise, then breaks into a little grin.
“Hey, thanks, dude,” he says, and I groan-laugh, rubbing my eyes.
“Shut up, I wasn’t awake yet!”
“Well, today is all about you.” He leans in close to start brushing kisses up the curve of my neck. “I assumed you’d just want to relax and not worry about anything, so I bought a lot of snacks if that’s the case, but - we’re just gonna do whatever you want.”
“Oh, really?” I work my fingers into his chestnut hair, biting my lip as he sucks softly on my neck. “What if I want to watch really scary movies all day?”
Aiden draws back, flinching visibly, but then tries for an enthusiastic nod. “Yeah, okay. Sure. I’m down.”
I can’t help but laugh at how hard he’s working to try to sound like he wants to. “Very gallant of you, but I was just kidding.”
Aiden tries his hardest not to look too relieved. “We can, though, I’m totally fine to marathon some scary movies-”
“No, no.” I twist my fingers through his hair, smiling up at him. “Well. Maybe one, later. But definitely not all day. I’ve got other stuff I want to do.”
I run my appreciative eyes up and down Aiden’s bare body, lingering on every little detail. I skate my fingertips over the soft darkness of the body hair on his forearms, then his chest. Admiring the beautiful bronze of his skin, dusky and sun-ripened and luminous in the shafts of morning sunlight. The slopes and lines and curves of muscle, the flex of his biceps as he leans over me. The sweet heaviness of his body resting on mine, the glossy strand of chestnut tumbling to his eyebrow.
“Wow, okay,” he rumbles, drawing my gaze back to his face. “I see how it is. That’s all I am to you, huh? Something to do? I think you just objectified me, Keane.”
My eyes widen in alarm, but before I can answer, Aiden eagerly starts kissing my neck again. I let out a burst of startled laughter, my fingers twisting into his hair.
“Doesn’t seem like that was a real complaint, Callahan!”
He lifts his head just in time for me to see his blue eyes glaze over with heat. He starts kissing his way down my body, then suddenly rolls me over onto my side, facing away from him. I let out a little startled yelp as he gives my ass a hard slap.
“Nope, ‘cause now I get to do it back to you.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works!” I laugh, then catch my lip between my teeth when his hand stays where it was, roughly rubbing and squeezing. My breath picks up in my chest as Aiden slowly licks his way up my neck, his stubble grazing my skin, his other arm wrapping around me to hold me back against his naked body. Suddenly I’m biting back another moan, pressing myself against him as his free hand wanders where it wants. A rush of electric fire sweeps my body in an overwhelming wave, making me shudder. “But it’s - it’s fine, actually.”
Aiden smiles against my neck, and I turn my head to look at him over my shoulder. Our eyes meet, two pairs of blown-out pupils with the finest ring of color around the edges.
We sink into a deep kiss, our mouths locked together with building, desperate intensity, mounting urgency. Aiden makes a soft, hoarse sound from deep in his heaving chest, then does something that makes my back arch like I just got struck with a bolt of electricity. I can’t fight down the moan that tears itself from my mouth. Aiden pounces on me, and after that, nothing can stop either of us.
Twenty-seven feels pretty damn good, actually.
~~~~
For a long time after we collapse onto the bedding, I’m a flame, a flame of pure ecstasy with no consciousness beyond the sensation flooding me. All I can do is tremble and pant for my breaths and hold tight to the sheets, letting Aiden ground me with the weight of his hard-breathing body.
Aiden kisses me softly everywhere, on my ears, my face, my back, my shoulders, my wrists, my hair - until I’ve drawn back into myself from where I was soaring. Until the last mind-melting shiver of torturously good pleasure flows into a quiet, humming bliss.
It takes me another minute to pull the scattered fragments of my thoughts back together. My mind is still half-submerged in intoxicating delirium, and all I have to do is think about what just happened to sink back into it completely. Aiden knotting his fist up tight in my hair and pulling my head back right before he threw his own head back with a sharp gasp of breath that fractured into a deep, stuttered, whimpering moan…
My toes curl at the end of the bed. I lift my hand and fold it around Aiden’s forearm, which ended up tucked beneath my chin.
He rolls off of me slowly, stares up at the ceiling, and lets out a soft, dazed sound.
“Goddamn, Jamie,” he laughs, struggling to catch his breath. “Is it your birthday, or mine?”
I let out a breathless laugh, too, blinking away the stars that had whited out my vision. “Mine, I think? God, that was…”
I look over at Aiden helplessly. There’s a deep crimson blush darkening his complexion, and I know the same thing is happening to me. We gaze at each other across the ravaged bed, panting hard, both of us shimmering with sweat, lips swollen from being bitten and locked together.
There’s a short silence.
“Hey, thanks, dude,” Aiden and I say in tandem, then both dissolve into laughter.
He rolls onto his side, draws me into his arms, and presses a much gentler kiss onto the tip of my nose. I curl up into him and tuck my thigh between both of his, my spirit singing with happiness.
“Oh, man,” Aiden sighs, stroking his fingertips over my tattoo, closing his eyes. “You sound… I wish you could hear it. Once you hear it, I swear to god, it feels fucking ridiculous to do anything else except listen to it.”
I bury my face into Aiden’s chest to hide my smile, running my hand up his muscled side.
“This is how I want you to sound all day,” he murmurs, working his fingertips into my hair.
“Well, we’re off to a good start,” I stammer, shivering as a residual ripple of pleasure rolls through me.
Aiden smiles into my hair, burying his nose in it. “Next thing should make you happy, too. A classic Keane favorite. A long, hot shower. And I’m not even gonna make any jokes about our water bill.”
“Oh, yes,” I sigh happily, and Aiden huffs out a quiet laugh.
He takes another moment to get his breath back, climbs out of the bed, and gently scoops me up into his arms. I wrap my legs around him as he carries me down the hallway, resting my head on his shoulder.
Aiden and I must have slept in late. It’s a morning of sun showers, glittering rain flecking the windows through the streams of sunlight. It makes everything outside look cold, but the whole house feels warm. Not because of anything magical Aiden is doing, I don’t think. There’s just a richness to our odd little house that gives it an inherent, deep coziness. Even the palest sunlight comes into warm color through the multicolored glass of the windows.
My body is sore, but it’s a good kind of ache. In fact, I’m lost in a peaceful, comfy haze all the way through the shower, and through the stumble to find my clothes afterwards. I pull on a soft black shirt and the grey knit shorts I know that Aiden likes on me, then give the bed a glance like I’ll see you again soon hopefully as I turn to head for the stairs.
I check on Jumble before I go, but Aiden’s already given him some food and fresh water. His eyes are more open today, and he’s hopping around his box with more energy than he had before.
The pleased smile sticks on my face the whole way down the stairs.
Aiden didn’t shower for as long as I did. He comes out of the kitchen right as I step into the living room. He’s put on only his sweatpants and his backwards snapback, a discovery that instantly fills me with delight. I fix him with a disappointed frown when I realize he’s got a shirt in his hands that he’s busy turning the right way out.
“Jamie, do you want-?” He breaks off with a laugh when I quickly snag the shirt from his hands and weave around him to the kitchen. “Really, man? Give it back! I’ll take it off again later, if you want, but I don’t want to get avocado all over myself-”
“Mmm, avocado.”
“-or burn myself with bacon grease, or butter from the eggs and hash browns-”
“Oh, yes, hash browns. Is all that stuff what I’m smelling, right now?”
“I only just got it started, but yeah, man, you’ll get a whole entire breakfast of your dreams if you just give me my shirt back.”
I hesitate, looking at Aiden standing there in the sunlight, then glance down at his shirt, torn.
“Seriously?” he laughs, snagging the shirt out of my hands. “Would’ve thought that one would be a no-brainer.”
“You’d be surprised,” I answer, watching regretfully as he tugs it on over his head, then fixes his snapback. “You said later, though-?”
“Yes, alright?” Aiden looks at me with laughing eyes, with a smile that deepens those fine lines that I love so much. “Little Demon. Should’ve known this would be a birthday request.”
“To be fair, I really don’t have that many.” I wind my arms around his neck, then let out a little laugh. “You did all this without me asking.”
“All this? All I’ve really done so far is start breakfast. The first part felt equally like a gift for me, so that doesn’t count.”
“Well - yeah, maybe, but… I don’t know. It’s already felt like a perfect birthday, somehow.”
Aiden blinks in surprise, his smile responding to the one he sees in my eyes.
“Good,” he murmurs. “That’s - okay, cool. Good.”
Seems like that’s an understatement about how he feels, but he quickly turns away, clearing his throat. I let him lead me into the kitchen, where a few frying pans already have things sizzling in them. The air smells like melting butter and hot coffee and toasting bread. Aiden makes me a cup of coffee, ruffles my hair, then nods at the coffee room.
“Why don’t you have it in there? You haven’t seen Raj or Ripley’s gift yet.”
“Oh, right!” I flash him an excited smile before I set off. “Finally! I know you liked it, so I’ve been dying to-”
I freeze in the doorway and let out a soft gasp, staring with very wide eyes. I can see both Raj and Ripley’s hand in what’s happened to our coffee room.
I’d been wondering why the hell Raj dragged a tree stump into this room so long ago. He’d told me it was our coffee table, with no further explanation. Now I finally see what he was talking about.
The stump has been fitted with a heavy tabletop, formed from wood of the same color and texture. It’s roughly in the shape of a circle to fill the little coffee room, but it seems almost naturally formed, imperfect in a few places. Like a slice of a much larger tree trunk.
A piece of glass has been fitted over that. Perfectly clear glass, so that all the details of the natural wood are visible. The tree-trunk base itself has been left mostly untouched, complete with moss and little bursts of growth and its coating of rough bark. But Raj created everything else, and put it all together. Only he could have made something like this, with so much care and attention to detail.
And Ripley… he must’ve done the windows.
They were all clear glass the last time I was in here, but now the topmost panes are feathered with different colors, with the visible soft texture of a paintbrush. One color to each window. The different shades go beautifully together, staining the sunshine with their respective tints.
The painted window panes give texture and color to the light as it reflects off of the glass top of the coffee table. The effect is gorgeous, casting a subtle, colorful glow over the walls that seems to ripple and move with the droplets of rain.
All I can do is stand there gaping at it in disbelief.
Aiden stops behind me, bends down to kiss my cheek. “I know. It’s amazing, right?”
“Jesus Christ!” I sputter, trying to pull myself back together before I can drop my coffee. “God! Holy fuck!”
“Good thing your mom isn’t here,” Aiden snickers. “That was three different kinds of taking the Lord’s name in vain, wasn’t it?”
I turn around to make a face at him, then pause when I see he’s got the sofreh in his hands. I look up at him with a surprised question in my eyes, and he shrugs his broad shoulders.
“Thought we could eat breakfast in here. And it’s a special occasion, so…”
He holds out the sofreh.
I set down my coffee so I can take it, biting down on my smile. “Yeah, okay.”
“Sweet. I’ll go get some cushions for us to sit on.”
I spread the sofreh out on our new coffee table, warm affection for Raj and Ripley welling up in my chest. I can’t stop staring at what they did. The effect is beautiful with the sofreh in place, too.
“Their work is incredible, dude,” I tell Aiden, when he comes back to drop two cushions onto the rug. “They’re gonna sell a lot of boards once they open their showroom, I think.”
“I think so, too.” Aiden leads the way back into the kitchen. I follow him, looking over my shoulder at the transformed coffee room. “And I’m saying that looking at a coffee table and some windows.”
“Yeah, because they’re fucking beautiful! This really has been one hell of a birthday, already.” I lean one hand against the kitchen counter, take a steadying sip from my coffee, and reach over to scratch Luna where she’s sleeping on the windowsill. “Hey - where’s my gift from you? You said there was one, right? Besides all the - everything you’re doing?”
Aiden ruffles my hair before he turns back to his cooking. “Later, yeah?”
“Uh oh. Did you forget to actually go buy it, or whatever?”
“Nah, I went and got it from the Ghost Office this morning. Don’t go in the coat closet, by the way. I put it in there so Luna wouldn’t knock it over in the meantime. Already had a close call.”
I narrow my eyes at Aiden curiously, searchingly, but he pretends not to notice.
“So, like I said, we can do anything you want to do today.” Aiden gives something on the stove a stir, glancing at me over his shoulder. “But I have offers, if you want to hear them.”
“Yes, please.”
“We can stay in all day and just do nothing. Cuddle up, watch your favorite movies, play a lot of video games, have some snacks, be lazy. Noah left a joint for you, if you want to do that plan, and I can give you a nice long back massage. Or we can go for a walk, maybe through the plum trees behind the house? They go on further than you’d think. I’ve done it on my jog, they lead right down to the river. I’ve also got the materials to cook a nice dinner, thought we could eat it out in the garden, but no pressure, if you don’t want - or if none of that sounds good, we can-”
“Babe, all of that sounds perfect.” I fold my arms around Aiden’s back, snuggling up close to him. “It also sounds like you - maybe thought really hard about all of this, even though I said I’d be fine to just chill and do whatever, and that it’s not a big deal?”
“It’s - a big deal to some of us,” Aiden rumbles slowly, anxiously, turning the wooden cooking spoon in his hand. “The first birthday of yours that you’ve spent with me, you know?”
I smile to myself, pressing my cheek a little harder against Aiden’s back. “Just listen, Aiden.”
He does, then lets out a slow breath of relief. But even if he hadn’t, I know exactly what he must be hearing.
If what Aiden wanted was to hear my note singing happily all day long on my birthday, then he’s in for a perfect time, too.
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