The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[thatsfascinating]

She turned her head to press her lips softly to his, then smiled, tenderly brushing his hair back from his face

"Not at all! It was just right. But, in the future, it's okay if you finish before me. You can use your fingers to get me off."

[abrightboy]

He lifted his head to look at her, his hand shifting to rest beside her head, his thumb stroking her cheekbone while his fingers curled gently into her hair.

"Really? That's not... cheating or something?"

[thatsfascinating]

She leaned into that touch to her cheek, closing her eyes for a moment, then opened them to gaze at him, smiling warmly.

"Not at all! Don't get me wrong, simultaneous orgasms are great, but it's not a disaster if you come first." Her smile widened. "I love it when you come."

[abrightboy]

He ducked his head a moment, but he was definitely smiling. And maybe blushing a tiny bit.

"Can I suggest that movies and television do not give people an accurate understanding of the expectations of them in bed," he noted with a wry smile. "It's almost dangerously irresponsible," he added, leaning in to give her a gentle but lingering kiss.

[thatsfascinating]

"Totally irresponsible," she agreed with a laugh, then kissed him back, taking her time.

When their lips parted she tilted her head. "Didn't one of your previous girlfriends ever tell you that, though?"

They had never broached the subject of exes, but she figured it was a fair question. He must have had at least some former lovers. He was sweet and charming and so good looking.

[abrightboy]

He huffed a small, self-deprecating laugh.

"You'd think so, right? You'd think if you started dating a man in his thirties that he'd know things that everyone knows." He took a breath and shifted his weight so less of it was, as he was concerned, crushing her. "When I went out to D.C., I didn't really know how to... reconcile my anonymous new name with.... the secrets I was hiding with it. There was one girl I dated really early on. I decided to tell her... everything. She said she was fine with it. With all of it. But after... about six months she said she couldn't live like that forever." He shrugged faintly. "Who can blame her? It's... hard. You know what it's like. Anyway, logistics is not what any of those conversations centred on. And after her, I didn't tell anyone about... anything. So you can imagine that those... encounters lasted one or maybe two nights. I'd only go to their place, I'd never stay over... I guess I preferred them thinking I was a little bit of a jerk over them knowing that I was a lot of a freak. The Bureau was pretty competitive, so it was easy to keep people at work from getting too close. ...But then I met this woman. She transferred from the west coast. She was a profiler too. We went out a handful of times. I was interested in her but... I was still protecting myself. She called me out on it. ...I thought she could understand. I told her the truth. I took her to my apartment. I didn't... hide anything. I told her about my nightmares and the Surgeon..." He pressed his lips together. "She said...with the medication I was on, there was no way I was mentally stable enough to work in law enforcement. By the end of the week, everyone in the office knew who I was. In three months I was fired. So yeah. You're the first person I've been with who's been interested in talking about it and.... felt like a safe place to talk about it," he confessed. He smiled a little sadly. "And I still try to deflect with humour when we do."

[thatsfascinating]

She listened, holding him tightly and stroking his hair to soothe and reassure him. Her expression showed the heartache she felt for him, someone so sweet and kind who wanted, needed, so badly to be loved, being shoved away when he tried to show who he really was. There were elements to his story she could identify with, but she'd never have her life's work threatened, never had to obscure her very identity. She was so glad that he could be himself with her, reveal himself to her. It helped that she knew from the beginning who he was, and knew about all his difficulties before she signed on.

When he was done, she pulled him close "I'm so sorry," she said, the sorrow clear in her voice. "You didn't deserve any of that. Especially not the woman to betrayed you to the Bureau."

[abrightboy]

"She was actually mad that I didn't get fired right away," he told her, sliding his arm down to wrap around her ribs. "But I closed a lot of cases and I guess they felt like they needed a reason. I mean. More of a reason. Or... support for her reason," he said, working through the semantics of it with a faint frown. He shook it off and looked at her. "I don't know if you met her when she was at the station. Did Colette actually consult you about Watkins' victims or just read your reports?"

[thatsfascinating]

"Colette? Oh...the woman from the FBI? No. I saw her, but no, she never...she was your ex? I mean, I heard all about her, about how she really didn't like you. It's probably a good thing she never visited me. I would have given her one hell of a piece of my mind."

Possibly gotten herself disciplined or fired in the process.

[abrightboy]

He huffed a laugh and kissed her.

"Not to suggest that I don't enjoy you going off on someone who deserves it, but please don't get fired for me," he told her, pressing his forehead to hers. "I'd just hate it if I couldn't solve cases with you." He kissed her again. "Besides," he pointed out with a small smile, "if it had worked out with her, I wouldn't be here with you."

His hand splayed and slid down over her spine and back up over her ribs.

"And you're much better."

[thatsfascinating]

She sighed happily, closing her eyes as her forehead rested against his.

"You're right, you're extremely lucky," she said with a teasing smile. She cupped his cheek and gave him a gentle kiss. "So am I," she added softly. "I wish you hadn't had to go through all those terrible things, but I'm grateful that road brought you to me. My life would be so much poorer without you."

[abrightboy]

That made him duck his head as he smiled again.

"Still. I'm sorry you're stuck having to teach me... everything. I'm sure there are days when you'd love to have someone around who could just... sweep you off your feet and make your toes curl."

[thatsfascinating]

"I really don't mind," she said with a smile. "It's actually kinda fun to explore things with you. And I'm not teaching you everything. The things you already know how to do, you do very well. Like I said. No complaints."

She kissed him.

[abrightboy]

He smiled with relief when the kiss broke.

"I just don't want you to get bored of me," he admitted. "Did your previous partners talk about these things as easily as you do?" he asked.

[thatsfascinating]

"You are never boring," she assured him with a smile. "And I think we both know that very few people talk about things as easily as I do." She sighed, gently running her fingers through his hair. "A couple did. Others didn't. No one really stuck around much."

[abrightboy]

"Their loss, my gain. But..." His eyes roamed her face for a moment. "I don't get it. I really don't. You're so patient and kind and loving. So smart and fun and beautiful. What is there to not stick around for?"

[thatsfascinating]

She ducked her own head at that, with a smile and a touch of blush. Then she looked back up at him, with love and gratitude in her eyes, tinged with a touch of sadness. "Not everyone's like you," she said, softly and simply.

[abrightboy]

"Well, that is definitely true," he replied archly. Not that anyone really wanted to be like him. Unless maybe, maybe they were talking about his professional skills. "I mean, I have eyes... ears... a brain..." He smiled at her and stroked his thumb over her cheekbone. "And apparently a completely different set of mental illnesses than they had."

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa smiled back, caressing his cheek. "I'm so glad we found each other," she murmured. "We're so clearly made to be together."

[abrightboy]

He took her hand from his face and pressed a kiss to her wrist, where her injuries were still healing.

"How would you feel about comfortable clothing and some more cheese?" he asked.

[thatsfascinating]

She did her best to ignore those marks. The scabs were gone, but there were still red groves in her skin. She smiled a little at that kiss. It was sweet and protective. She drew his hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss to the back.

"Sounds perfect."

[abrightboy]

He untangled himself from her carefully and offered his hand to help her up, heading towards the bedrooms. He should probably pick up those damp swimsuits... later.

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa took his hand with a smile and followed him to the bedrooms, kissing him at the door to her room before letting go and heading for her bags.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm got dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants and padded over to Edrisa's room, poking his head around the doorway again.

"Hi."

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa pulled on a tshirt and sweats, then fell back on the bed, arms open wide. It was incredibly comfortable. When Malcolm peeked in, Edrisa turned her head and grinned.

"Hi there." She patted the mattress next to her. "Come join me."