"Singularity" Chapter 21: "Eighty-Nine Seconds" [21/49]

[lumy12]

Title: "Singularity" Chapter 21: "Eighty-Nine Seconds" [21/49]
Fandom: The Last of Us (first game only)
Characters: Ellie, Joel, Tommy, Maria, OCs
Pairings: Joel/Ellie
Warnings: Underage
Word Count for this chapter: 9,752
Rating (for fic as a whole): R

~


The recurring thought that refused to vacate Joel's head: She's so goddamn adorable.

He hadn't intended to get into this whole... weird role-play scenario with Ellie, but she was so obviously enjoying it that he had to keep it going. He kept expecting her to get tired of it and drop it at any moment, and she kept on... not dropping it. It's like a bad porno... only with way too much build-up. No one ever watched those for the plot... or the characters... ha. He didn't know if Ellie even knew about the existence of porn videos... or sex tapes, for that matter. Maybe she's heard them referenced in movies? But he felt like if she had, she would've asked him about them. Even before they were a couple, she had liked to ask him awkward things sometimes. Liked to make him squirm.

...Am I really gonna let her handcuff me to the bed?

Yes. If she wanted to, he would. Hopefully not for the entire night, but... well, it was her birthday, and whatever she wanted -- within reason -- he would abide.

He did want to get all their provisions secured first, though, and plant the horse close enough that he would know if something was going on outside. His ankle was still bothering him at times, but clearly nothing was broken down there, and he didn't feel like the pain was worsening, so he wasn't going to baby the thing. Ellie was far more worried about it than he was. At least that meant she wasn't jumping on him... begging him to carry her... shit like that. Not that he minded -- in fact, he usually liked it -- but it was one thing to risk further injury to himself, and quite another to risk injuring her should the ankle give out. This act he'd fallen into, being this sort of... reluctant pervy bellhop? He could do that. He probably only needed to do it until the sex was over. The first round, anyhow... the night was young. In fact, it was only afternoon.

Their room wasn't nearly as garish as the outside of the hotel, or even the office. For one thing, it had a fairly-normal-looking color scheme of chocolate brown and light blue, with punches of lime green. It was nicer than most of the motel rooms they'd seen in their journeys. No towels or toiletries, but this room still had bedding: a comforter, sheets, pillows, and even goddamn throw pillows. Ellie got a little distracted by the brochures in the nightstand (yep, those were also unstolen... until today, that is), but she mumbled something about reading them 'after.' Unfortunately, no one had made off with any of the tacky clown paintings gracing the walls. The one over the dresser was exceptionally obnoxious because the fucker's creepy yellow eyes would follow you around the room.

Presently, Ellie was frowning at the bed -- the nicest bed they'd seen since Monterey. Joel had already vetted it for creepy-crawlies... that's one nice thing about traveling in the cold, but you never know... not everything hibernated or died out or buried themselves in the ground when it was cold out. While searching for places to spend the night, he'd had to reject more than one for being rat-infested (and after the first one, Ellie was happy to let him check things out alone going forward). In their current room, he'd observed a lone spider hanging out in one of the corners up by the ceiling, and had knocked it down while Ellie was outside fussing with one of the bags. She wasn't overly squeamish like some girls, but after Those Two Days, the sensation of things crawling on her -- or just the idea getting in her head -- sometimes triggered a panic attack. This one had turned out to be dead, but that wouldn't have made any difference to her brain if it decided to go haywire.

"What's the matter, ma'am?" Joel asked pleasantly. Don't tell me I missed something... "Somethin' not to your likin'?"

"No... it looks great... super comfy and everything. Just... where am I supposed to chain you up?"

...Oh. "That does appear to be a problem, yes." In the movies, beds used for this purpose always had spindles to work with. Or if they didn't, they at least had a separation between the headboard part and the leg that was workably high. This one was solid, and went all the way down... nearly to the floor. "Guess I'll have to lay on the floor. It's all right, I don't mind--"

"No! That's dumb. You shouldn't have to. We'll have to figure something out. Maybe... if we move the other table over here... and put it like... er, no, you could just lift it up over the leg that way. Or under, if I stack it the other way. If we use this other table... that might work better, but you'd have to lay on it a little bit... no, I don't like that either... I guess we could just use the rope by itself, if it's long enough to reach... ugh, no, that's lame... it needs to be a solid thing you're attached to..."

She puzzled through a few scenarios out loud, and Joel tried to follow her train of thought... tried to conjure up some possible solutions himself. His suggestion that they could "just pretend" earned him a Look. Damn, she really wants to immobilize me. Should I be scared?

What they ended up doing was taking the shower curtain rod and wedging it between the headboard and the mattress so that it was sticking straight up. With his hands cuffed around the rod and over his head, he wouldn't be able to move much. Joel thought that was good enough, but Ellie went so far as to take their rope and tie the thing to the frame, beneath the bed, as if he might try to dislodge it. He didn't break character when he told her she shouldn't waste 'her' rope on this, but she said she wouldn't even cut it and she wasn't tying it super-duper tight. Joel had a feeling he would be the one down there trying to undo what she'd done later, and end up just cutting the damn thing, but a foot or two of rope was a small price to pay to make her happy.

She tested the set-up by trying to move the rod back and forth, to and fro... "I think it's in there pretty good," she said with satisfaction. "You'll just have to lay diagonally. And... uh... pretend you can't just stand up on the bed and slide your hands off the top? Or -- I know! If I tie something else on the top there -- or -- actually, I could just tie the rope to itself, right? As long as it's big and fat enough that you can't slip your hands over it? ...It'd have to be pretty fat for that, I guess -- so, if I tie something else--"

"That won't be necessary, ma'am. I promise I'll just lay there all helpless-like, like a good prisoner. Won't make no trouble."

She gave him a scrutinizing look. "I dunno... I don't even know you. How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't. You just have to take a leap of faith. But... if I may say so, I reckon you don't have much difficulty gettin' men to do what you want. Without the handcuffs, I mean. So you don't even need to bother cuffin' me, really."

She laughed at that. "Ohhhh no you don't, mister. You agreed to do it! No weaseling out of it now!"

"I wasn't... weaselin'."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

"To be honest... there is one thing that makes me a little nervous..."

"There is? What is it?" Ellie asked eagerly, clearly relishing the prospect of making him uncomfortable.

"Well, what if your boyfriend comes back? Don't think he'd be too happy to find me here with you... like this..."

"I just told you, he doesn't even love me anymore!"

Joel could tell she was trying not to laugh. So cute. "Bet he'd still get awful jealous, though. Assholes are assholes -- pardon my French."

She giggled a little. "That wasn't French!"

Knew she'd get a kick out of that... sometimes Joel didn't even realize how dumb some old expressions were until he started trying to explain them to Ellie. I don't remember who said this one to her... kinda sounds like something Sophie would say but I don't think it was her... "All the same, it might be better if I wasn't... completely incapacitated."

"So... what, you think if you have a way to get free... or, away from the bed, at least? You think you'll be safe?"

"I'd have a fightin' chance, sure."

"HA! No you wouldn't. You'd be dead before you could even sit your ass up."

Joel swallowed nervously. "I, uh... might be havin' second thoughts after all..."

She grinned. "Don't worry -- I'll protect you!" She made a move like she was going to drape herself on him, but he stepped back.

"I don' know, ma'am... he sounds like a scary dude..." He stepped back again...

...and she kept advancing. She backed him up against the door, and he acted like he had no choice but to let her press up against him. Acted like he didn't like it. She's just eating this up!

"Relax!" She fumbled for the bolt on the door (which they already knew didn't open from the outside anyhow, but since they were playing...)(hell, Joel planned on bolting and chaining it that night anyhow. Just in case). "I won't let him in. Besides, he's never coming back anyway! You can be my boyfriend now." She kissed him lightly. "I mean, if you wanna be."

Joel snaked his arms slowly around her back, trying to appear hesitant or apprehensive. "You're awfully cute, but..."

"BUT?!"

She does make it hard to contain my amusement sometimes... the outraged look on her face was adorable as hell. "You could do better than me, is all. You're way out of my league."

That brought her smile back. "Is that all? That's a dumb reason not to be with someone, you know. If I'm choosing you, I'm not... out of your league? What does that even mean?"

"Means you'll dump me the second someone better comes along. As well you should. I'd just rather not--"

"Pffffff. Are you serious? That's insulting. I'm... very loyal. My boyfriend -- my ex-boyfriend -- has been gone for ages. I never would've left him. Even though he was a dick. You're much sweeter."

Joel chuckled. "So far all I've done is argue with you. That's hardly sweet."

"No, you've been very helpful -- and we kissed! I could tell just from that."

"You could?"

"Yep. Plus you've said tons of nice things to me. Much more than-- you know he didn't even tell me he loved me for a whole year? Can you believe that?"

Joel shook his head. "He's a damn fool. If you were my girl, I'd tell you every day."

She smiled up at him adoringly. "Does that mean you love me already? Like... was it ~love at first sight~?"

"I guess it was, yeah."

"Aww!" She kissed him sweetly for a moment, then grinned. "Okay so get naked!"

"...Right now?"

"Yep!" She started unbuttoning his shirt, as he'd already shed his holster belts.

"Yes ma'am. Or... I s'pose I should call you by your name, if--"

"No, I like ma'am. And I don't need to know your name. You're just... sir. Yeah. I called you that before."

Ha! "All right. Pretty strange if we're gonna be a couple and all, but..."

"I like it that way. And... since it's my birthday today, we should do what I want."

Joel gasped dramatically -- like it was the most shocking thing he’d ever heard. "Today is your birthday?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, shoot, why didn't you say so before? We don't gotta go through all this rigamarole to fool my boss then."

"We don't?"

"No! You qualify for the complimentary birthday package."

She giggle-snorted. "I see. Okay, but... can we still do the, um... rigamarole... anyway? The handcuffs part, at least. After going to all that trouble with the shower pole thing and the bed..."

He kissed her forehead. "Whatever you want, birthday girl."

She pushed his shirt back over his shoulders and down his arms. "Aren't you even gonna ask me how old I am?"

"How old?" he asked dutifully.

She was lifting up his undershirt before he'd even finished shedding his top layer. "I'm eighteen!"

That's cute. "Are you really? I would've guessed... sixteen."

She smirked. "You really thought that? And you were gonna fuck me anyway? I thought -- I mean, my ex-boyfriend always said eighteen was the minimum age for that. But I see you're smarter than him, cuz it turns out it's actually not."

"Oh now who said anythin' about fuckin'?" Joel asked casually while he proceeded to strip.

"Sorry, my bad -- making love."

"Didn't say nothin' about that either."

She seemed a little taken aback by that, but amused nonetheless. "Uhhhh... well, I guess you didn't say it, exactly, but... it's implied when you... you know... agree to be handcuffed to a bed? ...like, naked and everything?"

"Huh. I can see why you might get that impression, I s'pose." He was down to just his boxers and socks. "What about you? You gettin' naked, too?"

She glowered at him. "Isn't sex part of the birthday package?" she huffed, completely ignoring his question.

"Well... no, not usually." He yanked his socks off and flung them aside. In the interest of making his character somewhat different from himself, Joel was being far less particular than usual about where his clothing landed, although Ellie didn't seem to notice. "Usually we just... take our clothes off, and let the birthday guests... do what they will."

"Haha... what the fuck? This is the most fucked up hotel I've ever stayed at. What do you mean do what they will? Don't they wanna have sex with you?"

He kicked off his boxers. "Naw. Some of 'em just look at us an' have themselves a good laugh. Rather humiliatin', truth be told."

Ellie had herself a big old giggle fit over that one.

Joel sighed. "See? Just like you are now. But, makin' folks laugh on their birthday is a good thing, so... I don't mind. Laugh all you want."

"I'm sorry!" she sputtered. "I'm not laughing at you! That's just-- such a weird thing to do as part of a deal-- a birthday-- um, never mind. Just... wow... don't people know what to do with a naked man -- a sexy naked man -- when they see one?"

He shrugged. "Maybe I just ain't their type. But I thank you kindly, ma'am. You... seem like you know what to do with 'em." ...Er, don't take that the wrong way--

"I do," she grinned. Stepped right back into his arms... no mock offense taken.

"That boyfriend... he corrupted you, did he?" Joel leaned in to nip at her neck.

She giggled softly. "No -- I corrupted him, actually. Mmm... that's nice..."

"He younger than you?"

"Hey, that tickles... um... no... but he was... really innocent and stuff."

Ha! "I find that hard to believe."

"It's true! You don't even know him, remember? So -- how old are you?"

He flicked his tongue over her earlobe. "Old," he whispered. "You can't corrupt me."

"I bet I can... how old?"

Joel almost started undressing her, out of habit (or perhaps muscle memory)... but he kept his hands near her waist, just under her shirt. All right, how old should I be... "Twenty-five."

"What?" she nearly shrieked.

He pulled back to smile at her. "I know. I look damn good for my age, don't I? People are always tellin' me I don't look a day over twenty."

"That's... not what I was thinking," she giggled.

"No?"

"No. Sorry, but... I don't know any twenty-year-olds with gray hair."

"It ain't all gray." Not yet, anyway.

She plunged both hands into his hair and started massaging his scalp with her fingertips. "It suits you. I like it."

"Mm. That feels nice. You've got a gentle touch."

She smiled. "I can make you feel really nice... -hey, why are we still standing over here?"

He was wondering that himself -- not because he minded, but because Ellie wasn't exactly the most patient person in this regard, and he'd been kind of teasing her for a while already (mentally more than physically, but still). "I'm at your disposal, ma'am."

"Don't say that! That makes it sound like I need to dispose of you."

"You're free to do so, after you have your way with me," he offered. "It's your prerogative."

"No way! You're my new boyfriend. Don't argue -- we're in the same fucking league. And you already told me you love me!" She tugged him over to the bed -- the shower rod side. "Okay -- lay down there and I'll get the... where did they go..."

Joel did as instructed... and was surprised to find that he was feeling a little apprehensive -- for real. Shit... it's just Ellie, asshole. What's she gonna do that's so bad?

"Okay! Arms up!" Ellie was scurrying back over to him with the means to completely-- well, mostly immobilize him.

I could twist around and get up pretty easily... just stand up and lift my arms up and over this thing... he could probably do it with Ellie on top of him, if he had to ...probably not if I'm INSIDE her, though? -and either way, he couldn't do it without knocking her off, since he couldn't hold her. Unless I have her hold onto me real good... There were two guns within reach if he needed them -- within reach after he took care of the shower rod, anyway -- but Joel wasn't even worried about that. Not about outside threats.

...OR inside ones -- Ellie ain't a threat, for Chrissakes!

He watched as she clicked each cuff in place. She looked absolutely delighted at the sight of him now. "There we go... you cozy?" she asked merrily. "You want a pillow? Oh -- one of those little green pillows would fit nicely under your head -- hang on a sec --"

He almost told her not to bother, but elevating his head a little would increase visibility... and that wouldn't be a bad thing. He was suddenly glad he hadn't suggested a blindfold when the thought had occurred to him earlier. ...Except that means I can see that weirdo clown watching me... He tried to avoid making eye contact with the bastard.

She stuffed a pillow under his head -- and she turned it downward, so that his head rested on the cleaner side. She's very thoughtful, my Ellie... nothing to worry about...

She looked him over and giggled. "It's okay. You can relax. I'm not gonna do anything weird to you, sir. Even though your hotel... the customs or whatever you have here... are very weird."

Joel was grateful he could pass off the nerves as playing his character. "I trust you, ma'am." He concentrated on looking extra shifty. "I... I know I'm safe in your hands."

She leaned over and gave him a giggly little kiss. "Liar," she whispered. "But you'll find out soon enough that I'm totally not scary."

He smiled. "I ain't scared of you."

"Good. Okay... I'm wearing way too many clothes." She stepped back and started to lift up her shirts, then stopped. "Oh! I've got a better idea! Hold on." She dashed over to their pile of bags.

"I'll just wait here then," he quipped.

"Haha. Oh, actually--" She turned and looked at him. "Don't look over here, 'kay? Look out the window. Yeah. Just for a minute."

"Whatever you say." He gazed out at the bright blue sky (as opposed to the ugly clown billboard)... listened to her rummaging through their stuff. Better idea? ...Better than taking her clothes off? What is she up to?

When she disappeared around the corner (yes, Joel was still sort of watching... only in his peripheral vision) -- it dawned on him. The nightie! She hadn't worn it in a while. It was a satiny black thing that she'd swiped from Sophie back in Jackson; he idly wondered if she'd ever 'fessed up to the theft, now that the two of them were close. Ellie generally didn't steal from people she liked.

"Okay, you can look now!" she called while still out of sight.

He turned to watch her come back into the room... and she was indeed wearing the sexy gown, her hair now loose about her shoulders. She walked over to him slowly... only it was more of a... strut? Swinging her hips, making the little ruffly skirt thing around her hips flare a little -- for about two seconds. Then she broke into giggles and just bounced over to him in a more Ellie-like fashion. Adorable and sexy at the same time. She came around to his side of the bed, but stopped short to do a twirl for him.

"Do you like it, sir?" she cooed, flashing him her patented adorable-yet-sexy smile.

"I do. It's beautiful. You're beautiful," he amended. "And your hair... it's so pretty like that."

She promptly blushed and ducked her head (because Joel still didn't compliment her often enough, clearly). "Um, thanks. I brushed my hair a little but it kinda needs to be washed... good thing you can't touch it, I guess!"

Joel chuckle-groaned softly. "It's torture already, not bein' able to touch you."

"Really?" she asked happily.

"Of course." His gaze was drawn to the tantalizing 'V' of black lace adorning her chest.

She perched on the bed and slowly draped her hand on his abdomen... like she was trying to be nonchalant, just idly placing it there. "I can touch you," she said, rather impishly, and the hand inched lower...

Right-- "Uh... about that. We need to... establish a couple ground rules." ...Bit late for that, seeing as how you're already at her mercy! Good going, asshole.

"What kind of ground rules?" she asked skeptically. She was toying with his pubic hair; she hadn't even touched him yet, but his dick stirred in anticipation.

"You can touch with your hands only. No... uh... nothin' else." The hand was distracting, but he also found himself watching the nightie shift around her hips as she moved a little... as she crossed her legs. Damn, I don't think she's got any panties on... I can't see for sure, though...

Smirking a little, she uncrossed her legs, lifted her left leg just a bit higher than she needed to, and crossed them in the other direction. She did it slowly enough that Joel was treated to a nice view that answered his question. "No I'm not wearing any," she whispered as if she hadn't just shown him that. It was obvious that she had just read his mind -- and that she had paid attention to some of his previous musings on the subject of sexiness. "But what do you mean by 'nothing else' can touch you? What if I--"

"No, Ellie," he said firmly. Gotta make that clear while I still have resolve.

"Ma'am," she corrected him, grazing his dick with her fingertips.

"No, ma'am. I'm... puttin' my trust... in you... to... respect my... ...damn, girl..."

She grinned. "Does that feel good, sir?"

Ellie had gotten pretty good at manipulating his dick with her sweet little hands. It was almost always either foreplay or... afterplay? (whatever it was called when he pulled out), not just a straight-up hand job start to finish. And it always felt better to come at her hands -- in her hands -- rather than his own. It felt better in general, regardless of how proficient she was, because it was far less mechanical. Hell, he liked it when she just rolled it around in her hand lazily, or traced circles on it (like she did to his arm sometimes). He liked the light, playful touching she was doing now. It really does all feel new again with her... partly because plenty of it was new. He couldn't remember anyone ever touching him the way that she did. And he hadn't coached her in this regard... at least, not directly. She took cues from the way he'd been touching her all these months, and it wasn't like he was following a script -- he just enjoyed touching her. Tenderly... lovingly... not just perfunctorily, as a means to an end. Simply loving her as much as he did had undoubtedly made him a better lover.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said.

Joel didn't think he'd made any noise... but maybe he had. Maybe she saw it in my face...

She leaned in to kiss him. If barely brushing her lips across his counted as a kiss, anyway. He lifted his head in an effort to make better contact, but she pulled back juuuuust out of his reach. "These handcuffs are fun!" she chirped. "If you had your hands free right now, you wouldn't've let me do that. -I'm assuming. Yeah. I mean... we've never messed around before so how would I know..."

He snorted. "Yeah, now you can be evil." ...But as long as you keep stroking me... She had a firmer grasp on him now...

"Evil? Ha! I like that. Yes, I'm eeeeevil. You want me to kiss you?"

He just grunted.

"What was that? Didn't quite catch it."

"Yes," he muttered.

"Yes what?" Her hand froze.

"...Yes ma'am."

"Oh! Good answer. But what I was actually going for was... ? Yes... what?"

Damn... is she really gonna make me BEG?

She giggled. "The look on your face... I think you're too pissed off to be kissed right now."

"I ain't pissed off. That's just... how I look." He looked pointedly at his crotch, willing her hand to resume its former activity.

If she noticed, she ignored it; her thumb started idly stroking the shaft, which was nice, but nothing else was moving down there. "Pfff. I don't think so. I've seen you smile. Maybe if you smile at me, I'll be a little nicer to you," she suggested sweetly.

He plastered on the biggest, fakest smile possible.

"Haha! That's more like it! But you still need to be polite. Now -- do you want me to kiss you?"

He dropped the phony smile. "Yes please. Ma'am."

"Okay!" She licked her lips... leaned in again...

The kiss was soft and sweet... definitely more pleasurable than the last one... but when Joel parted his lips, she didn't part hers. His tongue met a wall.

She pulled back again, giggling. "Oh you're getting greedy now!"

Joel was far from upset, and he knew Ellie could tell, but he dialed up a deathglare just to amuse her. "Your evil laugh needs some work," he grumbled.

"That wasn't-- you wanna hear my evil laugh? This is--" She paused and cleared her throat. "Muwahahahahahaaaaaa!-hahaaaa! ...That's my evil laugh!"

Utterly adorable. "Might help if you... weren't laughin' while you're laughin'," he suggested unhelpfully.

"Whatever -- you don't actually want me to be evil to you, do you?" She gave him a dubious look.

"If that's your pleasure, you go right on ahead, ma'am." Joel was pretty sure that once she got seriously aroused, she'd quit toying with him and move things along at a brisker pace.

"Aww, that's very generous of you. What I actually wanted to kiss..." She scooted back a little.

"No. Ellie--"

"Just a little bit! Not all the way. What if I start, and if you absolutely hate it, you can tell me to stop?" Basically the same offer she'd made when she was trying to persuade him into letting her drive -- and he'd taken it. She was sort of... half-stroking him now. Fondling him playfully.

"I'm tellin' you to stop now," he growled. Christ, if she--

"You're that sure you won't like it?" she asked poutily.

"You know damn well that ain't why I don't want you to do it."

"I know no such thing -- sir." The mischievous look on her face now meant trouble, Joel was sure. "I was thinking..." She lowered her voice to a stage whisper. "This isn't really you and me -- it's pretend! So your weird Joel logic doesn't apply here! We can do anything we want!"

He had to admit, it was a nice try. But it wasn't enough to sway him. "I don't think so. It's bad enough I'm havin' sex with a teenage--"

"There's nothing bad about it!"

"--girl, but at least if you're feelin' good, then--"

"I would feel amazing if I got to make you feel like-- how you make me feel!"

Same old tired argument. "I ain't explainin' it right. Please... ma'am... I don't wanna fight with you, especially on your birthday. I would prefer if you just-- just use my body for your own pleasure. That's the point of the handcuffs, ain't it?" Please, baby girl, don't make this a big deal...

"Well... I mean... yeah? I guess? It means I get to do what I want. And if what I want is to..." She'd stopped fondling him, and was hovering dangerously close... she licked her lips...

Part of him hoped she'd just go ahead and do it. The sick part of him that fantasized about feeling her mouth on his cock (...unbeknownst to Ellie, of course -- because no way in hell would she respect his verbalized wishes on the subject if she knew about that particular fantasy).

...The part whose very existence he already beat himself up over, so... why the hell not?

-NO. That ain't the right way to look at it.

"I let you do it to me on your birthday," she switched tactics.

Another good try, but-- "We didn't even know each other on my birthday. We just met today."

She sighed. "So which is it -- we're us, or we're not?"

"It don't matter, when it comes to this," Joel chuckled.

"Whatever... you're totally powerless here," she mused. "You can't get away from me or make me stop. I could just do it."

Oh, he could stop her if he had to. He could escape the bed. Not the handcuffs, but freeing himself from the bed would be all he needed. He could still maneuver himself a bit, too, the way that he was now. He could push her back with his good foot. Granted, maneuverability (as well as the desire to escape) would decrease substantially if his dick found its way into her sweet little mouth... and then there was the fact that he just plain wasn't going to kick her. Even in play. "You could," he agreed... with an air of defeat.

She looked at him for a long moment. "But... I can't. Cuz you asked me not to. And you've always stopped when I said no, so it's only fair."

Joel chuckled. "When have you said no?" She was definitely the more aggressive of the two of them. Backwards as that is, with her being the innocent one...

"You don't remember? One time in particular... you have to remember."

He racked his brain for a moment... but clearly it would require longer than a moment to unearth the memory. "I really don't. I'm old, kiddo. Unless you're talkin' about... sometimes when we're just playin'--"

"No no no, those don't count. Never mind. And ugh, we're fucking this up--" She donned the affected tone she'd used earlier. "Well. Sir. I'll have you know, my... ex-boyfriend? He said I gave the most spectacular blow jobs he's ever had in his whole life."

Ha! "Did he now?"

"Yes. Every morning. I woke him up like that. Bet the asshole is missing those now."

"Bet he is. He's a damn fool," Joel repeated. "But quit thinkin' about that, ma'am. Think about you... you, an' what you can use me for."

She smiled wickedly and straddled him -- only she was too far up, over his midsection. Then she leaned in to kiss him, flattening herself against him... or... not really. She only scooted her lower half down a smidge-- not nearly far enough. He tried to inch himself up a little, to line things up a little better, but she moved with him. She smiled and cupped his face in her hands, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. "You're cute."

He refrained from telling her she was stealing his line again; it was a Joel line, after all, not this... whoever-he-was. "You're a little... scrunched up. Thought maybe you'd be more comfortable if you stretched--"

"Liar!" she giggled. "Anyways, you said I could only touch you with my hands, so..."

It figures she decided to take that one literally! "Did I say that? I meant... anythin' from the neck down, is fine." He smiled a little as an image popped into his head. "I have an idea..."

"Oh you do, huh? What might that be?" she purred, returning the smile.

"I was thinkin'... maybe instead of stretchin' out... you stretch up. And scoot up so your legs are... here." He nodded to his left, then his right.

She gasped (adorably) -- and she did sit up... on his stomach. "You mean... oh, now, that is evil, sir!"

"What? Why?"

"You'd suffocate!"

"I promise I won't, ma'am." Although, if ever there was a good way to go...

"But-- fuck, that's just-- I mean, when you can't even move--"

"I can move plenty. Try me." The scandalized look on her face was priceless. "If I may break character for a moment -- it ain't like we've never done it before."

"Not like this! Not when you're like... helpless... and your hands are always-- I mean, you use them, when you're..."

He supposed he did 'use' them at times, but the only times he used them to push her up were when he was trying to tease her or play with her. Sparingly, at that. "I don' need 'em, though. C'mon... it'll be fun."

"Yeah -- for me! Not for you!"

"You kiddin' me? It'd be hot as-- no, hotter than hell."

She shook her head. "Even when you can defend yourself, we--"

"Defend myself?" he laughed.

"Yes! Even when you can move, you know I don't like to do it that way for long. I always make you finish it when-- with me on my back."

Not always... "Well, that's off the table this time."

"Still -- just -- no. I'd come too fast. And I wanna have sex!"

He chuckled. "It ain't a either/or thing. For you."

She groaned. "Yeah, I have more than one sometimes--"

"Try most of the time."

"Well, that's your fault!" she cried. Like it was a bad thing.

"Uh... you're welcome?"

She swatted him lightly. "It's not fair, when you won't even--"

He waited, but she didn't finish the thought; it felt like she was shifting gears. "Won't even what?"

"I know what we should do! I'll sit-- up there... if you let me... kiss you... for like, thirty seconds."

"You can kiss me all you want. ...Except I get the feelin' you ain't talkin' about regular kissin'." Does she think if she packages it differently she can sell it better?

"Okay, twenty seconds. You can count out loud if you want. Please, Joel?"

Again, Joel was struck by how backwards they were. Instead of begging for favors, like normal folks, we beg to... do favors for each other? Not that he could even say what was ~normal~ anymore. He sighed. "All right. Twenty seconds. But just... little kisses. Not... not..."

"I won't swallow your dick," she finished for him, looking quite pleased with herself. "Okay! Who goes first?"

"You. Er... me. You... kiss me first, I mean. Safer that way." She PROBABLY knows what I mean by that...

"Okay. But we're each only doing twenty seconds, so maybe it wouldn't make that much difference?"

"No, you can go longer. Sit longer, up here," he clarified. But maybe not too much longer, if you don't want me to shoot my load before you-- -Shit. "Speakin' of safe... if you do wanna have sex--"

"I do!" She leaned down to give him a quick kiss, then lingered there.

He yearned to put his arms around her... hold her against him... "If you do, then you gotta promise me you'll pull up when I say. 'Cause you know sometimes you really don't wanna do that... I have to make you."

She chuckled. "Yeah... the perils of me being on top..."

"I'm serious. Maybe we oughta save the sex part 'til later."

"No! No way -- you'll say you're too tired later!"

"Tch. Would I ever--"

"Yes! You do it all the time!" she pouted. "And don't say it's cuz you're old -- you're not that old."

There were times he may have been able to get it up again when he said he was too tired, but he figured they were both better off not knowing. He smiled. "I'm sorry. I would never do that to you on your birthday, is what I was gonna say," he teased. "Not if I can help it, anyhow."

"Yeah, right -- we didn't have sex on my last birthday," she snickered.

He just gave her a Look.

"Yeah yeah, I know... if you had only known what day it was--"

Joel cut her off with a laugh. "You would've flipped your shit."

"You would have!"

Last March... they would've been more or less on their way to Salt Lake City. He was certain she'd only thought of him as a father in those days; in his mind, she had definitely been his daughter. ...And no, don't think about how things should've STAYED that way -- things are what they are-- "You promise me you'll do that?" he pressed. "I'll try to let you come first." Hell -- if she doesn't, there's no WAY she'll get off of me when she needs to!

"I'm prob'ly gonna come on your face," she whisper-giggled.

He smiled; he loved that even though they'd been sexual for a while now, she still had her shy moments. Maybe it makes me feel like less of a pervert somehow, if she still has SOME of that left? "Good. Except that's why I can't guarantee how long I'll last."

"I know. 'You don' know what that does to me, Ellie'," she said in her piss-poor (yet adorable as hell) imitation of his voice.

"That's right."

"But I do know! Okay, so let's--" She sat up again and twisted around. "Fuck. We're talking too much."

He chuckled; it was hardly an unusual occurrence for them. "It's still about halfway," he informed her.

"Okay... I'll just --" She turned back to him. "Can I ask you to tell me what to do or is that cheating?"

"...Cheatin' how?"

"I mean... that prob'ly goes against your weird moral code or something. Right?"

He considered suggesting they sixty-nine, but quickly dismissed the idea, as he might not be able to tell her to stop if she decided to just keep going. ...And so what if she does? Is it that big a-- YES. It is. Don't listen to her. You know it's wrong. "I actually have never done it myself, so I couldn't give you pointers even if I were so inclined," he smirked. "But all you're doin'-- you don't gotta--" He sighed. "You're just kissin'. Like it's any other part of me. Don't try to..."

"Okay. Well, where should I sit? Next to you? Between your legs?"

"Wherever you feel comfortable."

She snorted. "Typical."

"What?"

"That's one of your just-be-natural answers that doesn't tell me jack shit! Okay, I'm gonna try it like... ...this." She straddled his legs. "So I can see your face. Is that okay? Wait -- but you have to close your eyes."

"I do? Why?"

"I don't want you watching me! I might look stupid."

Joel sighed again. "Someday you'll stop carin' about that. Didn't we agree long ago that I'm the silly-lookin' one? It don't bother me none."

She snickered. "That's different. You can't change what your dick looks like. I can change what my face looks like."

"Trust me, you won't look stupid. You'll look... ...hot." I really oughta expand my vocabulary in this arena...

"Well, I don't wanna be thinking about how it looks. And-- and it'll prob'ly be easier for you to let me, if you don't see. Right?"

She might have a point there. "All right. Eyes are closed." He would even resist the urge to peek from beneath his lashes. ...Maybe. "Ten seconds."

"Twenty!" she laughed. "I'm gonna count to make sure you don't cheat! And if it feels soooooo good that you don't want me to stop, I'll just keep going."

"Oh no. A deal's a deal. Stoppin' you at twenty don't mean I don't like it, either. Don't make it a-- a-- unhh..." He shut the hell up when he felt her soft wet lips on his dick. It did feel like she was behaving, just pressing her lips to the head slowly... peppering the shaft, slightly faster... but then her tongue... Christ... when she dragged it up one side, lapped at the head an extra moment, then down the other... up another side... slower this time, like she knew the anticipation was building-- He made some kind of strangled grunty noise when she took the whole head in her mouth. Felt her tongue caressing it... the gentle sucking sensation...

God help me, I don't want her to stop--

Not watching, not seeing what she was about to do the moment before she did it, made it all the more exciting. He resisted the urge to take a peek. Just laid there and enjoyed the slice of heaven.

I can't let her keep at it, though... she was going slow enough that he wasn't about to come in her mouth, and she seemed content to keep just the head in her mouth... although he could easily have started thrusting-- No, no, not gonna do that to her-- He had completely failed to count the seconds, and he reckoned it was a bit longer than twenty when he finally summoned the wherewithal to speak. "Ellie... stop, now... been a long... long..." ... ...She ain't stopping. Well, damn -- I tried! I guess I'll just have to--

"Okay!" Much to his disappointment, she stopped. "That was eighty-nine seconds. Eighty-five, I guess, cuz I just gave you some free bonus seconds at the end. Aaaaand I was kind of busy so I might not've counted them all evenly. Like at the same speed, or... interval, or whatever. But it's pretty close!"

He opened his eyes and found that she looked extremely pleased with herself. "You happy now?" he chuckled.

"I am! Thank you for letting me do that. Seriously." She started crawling up his body, lingering with her crotch grazing his. "I'm really happy because you actually made noise!"

"I always make--"

"No you don't! Not really! You might pant and grunt and stuff but this... this counts as actual moaning. More like me!" She continued upward.

"I wouldn't go that far," he teased. "But to be honest, it felt so damn good I mighta screamed an' not even noticed."

"Ha! Did it really?" she laughed delightedly at this exaggeration.

"Mm. But sex feels good, too. ...You can kiss me still, you know," he added, because she seemed like she was going to but then hesitated.

"Just making sure." She kissed him only briefly, though; it seemed she still wanted to talk. "Sex feels good, yeah, but it's different, right? Except like -- it really shouldn't be for you, I guess? I mean, I have inside and outside. You just have outside. So it should feel the same to you."

"...I don't follow. But my brain ain't exactly thinkin' straight right now. It's still different 'cause... it's different. But it's all good."

She giggled. "Yes, that's brilliant. And it's my turn now! Oh, this is awesome -- I don't even have to feel guilty! Cuz you--"

"You never have to feel guilty."

"Shut up, of course I do. Okay so if you... maybe scoot, like... this way?"

"Or if I... go up an' over a little... you could pretty much be standin' up all the way. Whichever way you wanna try it."

"Hmm... that's true... that's kinda more weird, though? I think just... on the bed, all the way..."

"Suit yourself. We can always do things different next time, if you want."

"Next time?"

"Well, sure. Unless it's a one'n'done for you."

"No! No -- next time. Yeah! Except... next time it's my turn to be handcuffed," she said coyly.

"I don' know about that..."

"Whatever, Joel -- I wanna see what it's like, too. And you can sit on my face!"

"Oh hell no."

She giggled. "Maybe when I'm eighteen -- for real, I mean? Right?" She kissed him before he could answer. And this time, she let the kiss blossom instead of cutting it off abruptly. -At least not totally abruptly... she pulled away after a few seconds and smirked. "I wanna feel that mouth somewhere else now!" she declared wickedly.

He returned the devilish smile. "Go ahead, you naughty little girl. Kiss me with your... other lips."

She blushed... giggled... but sobered almost immediately. "Okay but Joel -- seriously. If you really can't breathe..."

"I'll be fine."

She sat straight up again. "But if you're not! I might not hear you if you talk cuz-- you know. Being smothered and all. Plus I'm kinda loud. You have to signal me somehow!"

He chuckled. "If I completely stop movin', then maybe I'm dead. If not--"

"It's not funny! You know I can't always even tell when you're moving cuz I start moving so much!"

And those times are the BEST times... She had a point, though. If they were going to be role-playing and such, they really ought to establish a safe word. They should've done it from the start, even though this was like 'role-play lite'... but he didn't want to get into all that right now (assuming he'd have to explain the concept to Ellie). "I'll... flex my hand or somethin'."

"Okay, good -- show me. Do it now."

He complied.

"That's... okay, but if you're starting to pass out so you can't-- Joel, you have to do it if you start feeling like you can't breathe, okay?"

Ha -- why the hell is she so worried about this? "Ain't gonna happen, but... will do."

"Actually -- signal me after it's been eighty-nine seconds. Cuz I'm not even gonna try to keep count."

He chuckled. "Me neither. You just go until you... feel like you wanna slide on down an' finish things."

"Right... yeah, okay -- I'll do that before I come. Which... might not even be eighty-nine seconds, considering."

He wasn't sure what she meant by 'considering,' but didn't question it; they'd been talking too much as it was. "You do whatever you want, baby girl."

She snorted. "You say that, but then you don't let-- so did you really like it? I mean, I could tell you did -- or, your dick told me you did -- and that awesome little moan -- but the whole... tongue bit? Cuz I was just thinking about stuff you do to me that feels good and trying to do the same thing. Er, not the same thing, of course, cuz -- ha! -- different parts. I mean like with the timing and stuff... or different ways to like... I dunno... but you really did like it, right? I know you did, overall, but like... specifically..."

If Joel had had the use of his hands (or the ability to align his mouth with hers), he would've cut her off... oh, maybe five seconds in. "Ellie... I love you. I do. But sometimes you talk too damn much."

"Well, if you would just answer the fucking question!" She tried to convey outrage, but he could tell there were giggles behind it.

"Yes. If I was unclear before: I enjoyed the hell out of it. Thank you."

Satisfied with that answer, she started scooting forward. "Okay... ummmm..."

Joel scooted down a little, abandoning the pillow, stretching his arms out a little more but not all the way. "Should be room for your knees on either side of me here." Her cheeks are redder than hell... so goddamn adorable! He smiled. "Don't be shy. We've done this before."

"No we haven't! What happens is I'll be laying on my stomach and you like... sneak your head under there. I don't just..." She gestured vaguely.

"You ain't 'just.' I invited you to," he reminded her. "Though, to be honest, you don' need an invitation. -Except when I'm drivin'. But any other time, if you ever get the urge to--"

"Stop!" she giggled. "You're bad. Okay... if I go slow..."

Again, Joel lamented that he lacked the use of hands... that he couldn't help her out by just pulling her down into position. But... maybe there was a lesson there: Let her do things in her own time? It took a bit of coaxing... a couple of starts and stops... before she even made contact with his face. And after that, a couple of "are you sure you're okay?"s before she relaxed enough to even begin to get into it, just barely pulsing against his mouth. 'Pulsing' wasn't even the right word for what she was doing; she was hovering above him far more than she was pressing her 'lips' to his. The skirt part of the little nightie flared when she moved, obscuring his view of her face, and although the garment was a little big on her, it wasn't quite loose enough -- or she was leaning too much -- for him to see up to her chest, so he just kept his eyes closed. Eyes closed... mouth open... tongue ready to strike when the target's in range...

Maybe he could still help her out a little... he craned his neck so he could reach her clit, curling his tongue into a little point to stab at it when she--

THERE-- there she goes...

Once she started moaning and "oh FUCK"ing, Joel felt confident her body would fully take charge over her brain. Her movements felt far more natural. Not so much up-and-down as... back and forth, more or less, in sort of a swooping motion over his mouth and nose. He inhaled her musky sweetness... lapped at her folds... lamented that he couldn't use his hand to surreptitiously remove the pubic hair from his mouth... Christ, she's so WET already...

And then she was crab-walking backwards, over his chest... "Uhhh... no way was that even eighty-nine seconds, and you're s'posed to go longer than that," he complained.

"It was long enough, okay? And... it was for you, too -- you're totally good to go down here now..." She was just rubbing herself against him... rather playful-like.

Tendrils of pleasure rippled through him. "Not that... I mind you doin' it that way... what you're doin' now..."

She grinned like the little devil that she was. "So it's all good, see? I'm gonna... just... ohhh yeah, that's..."

"You ready?" Joel couldn't help worrying a little when it felt... a bit fast to him (basically, if it was before she came). He didn't trust that Ellie would tell him if it hurt.

"Couldn't you tell?!"

Sure, she was wet, but-- "Not really. You haven't had your warm-up one yet... seemed like you were still gettin' lubed up... mmm..."

She ignored his opinion on the matter and eased herself onto his dick slowly. "Fuck... yeah... mmmm, see? Isn't this better?"

"No." He tried -- and likely failed -- to give her a stern look.

"Bullshit!" she giggled. "You just-- I felt you-- ahhhh yeahhh, that's good... fuck... oh my God, Joel, I wanted to fuck the shit out of your face just now..."

"Yeah?" Perv that he was, he loved it when she talked dirty.

"Yeah. Like... I wanted to squeeze your head between my legs really hard and just flatten my pussy on your-- sorry... um... flatten myself?... on your... ohhh fuck..."

Classy-dirty, he supposed, because he wasn't fond of the 'p word.' But he almost didn't mind, this time.

"I was gonna... smother you... if I kept..."

He really wished she hadn't stopped! "You know how hot that is, right? Next time--"

"Noooo this is better! Cuz now I can kiss you, see? Real kisses." She leaned in to demonstrate.

He kissed her hungrily, fed up with being teased (and he'd long since swallowed the hair). As he suspected, now that Ellie was going full speed herself, she'd lost interest in toying with him. She was generally a good sport about having to taste herself, claiming it might be a little gross for a second but that she would quickly forget. However, if she had allowed him to make her come that way, she might've found it... "a bit much," is how she had put it one time. If he teased her about it, she'd shut him up by saying something revolting like "How would you like to lick your jizz off of MY face?"

It was definitely different, having sex this way. When she wasn't kissing him, Ellie was running her hands over his chest... up his arms... it wasn't unnatural, exactly, but he was more accustomed to her being underneath him, hugging him close. Raking her nails down his back sometimes, if he could coax her to. He thought about trying to scoot back and sit up so it would be more like when she straddled his lap... but she didn't want to move with him. He was very much enjoying it -- he just couldn't help wanting to touch her. To slide his hands over that nice silky garment... then under it... ultimately tugging it off of her to feel only the exquisite softness of her skin. All he could do was watch her... and surrender to the pleasurable sensations coursing through him...

Ellie never had to announce when she was going to come -- as in, she didn't need to, yes, but also, her body made it obvious. The rapid movements... the way she clenched her thighs... clenched his dick... dug her fingernails into whatever part of him was in her grip... the moans and whimpers and "oh God"s. The whole affair was so goddamn hot that it was a wonder, truly, that Joel didn't just come along with her every single time. No way can she FAKE all that...

He hated that the possibility even occurred to him, but it still did. Maybe that would go away in time.

"Oh God... Joel... fuck... oh my GOD! ...I'm gonna-- ohhh! Oh! Ohhh! Omigod, Joel! Ohhhh -- ahhh -- OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHnnnnnnhhhhhhgggghghghghghg!"

Whoa... that one's new...

She flopped on his chest, and he kissed the only part of her his lips could reach -- the top of her head. "That was intense," she breathed.

"That was a good one," Joel agreed.

"I need a sec."

Normally Joel would roll her over right about now and finish up as quick as he could, unless she felt like she might have another one on the horizon... within reach. Then he'd slow things down and try to get her through that one without having to 'downgrade' to using fingers (which had happened a time or two). "Take your time. Maybe you could unlock these, and I could--"

"Ohhh no. Not necessary! I'll make you come, don't worry." She kissed his cheek and pushed herself off his chest, back to a sitting position.

"I ain't worried 'bout that. I do have a question, though."

"Oh! Okay...?"

"Who is this Joel fellow, ma'am? If that's your ex-boyfriend... I daresay you ain't over him yet."

She gasped in surprise. "What? We weren't even-- we stopped that!" she shrieked, laughing... pushing on his chest to express her mock indignation.

He chuckled. "We kinda did, didn't we. I guess it's a little awkward to call out 'sir' when you're... in the throes of passion?"

"I guess!" And then she smiled... his favorite smile, the "I love you" one. "But you're right, sir. I'm not over him."

"Damn. All right... I'll settle for sloppy seconds. You're worth it."

She looked confused. "Sloppy...? Like... is that something gross?"

He chuckled. "I reckon it's meant to sound that way, yes. But really it means..." Guess I'll go with the sweet version-- "-It means he gets the best of you. He has your heart. I get... whatever's left over."

"Aww! Well, he'll always have my heart. Sorry about that. But you can have everything else... ?"

"Deal."

Joel was so crazy in love with her that he would've accepted far less than that and still counted himself lucky. I have ALL of her, though... how can I ever walk away from that? -I can't. I WON'T.

Internal declarations like that -- even the most resolute or vehement of them -- were far from comforting, though. Quite the opposite, really: they were painful. They pierced his heart... slicing their way through, razor-sharp... burrowing deep down in there to fester until he was of a mind to ruminate on them properly.

Not today... not on Ellie's birthday. He was allowed to consider only her short-term happiness today.

He figured she would proceed to wear him out physically, and when they were both sated and drained, happily spent and cozy in each other's arms, sleep would come easily and quickly in this cushy bed (too easy, given that they were Outside, but he did have an ear auto-cocked to pick up trouble). No time to ponder anything unpleasant.

If only that creepy-ass clown would stop staring at him, everything would be damn near perfect.


~Continue to Chapter 22~