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All of Raritan has fallen into an exhausted, uneasy slumber, and the hum-buzz of The Machine reverberates through the splinter room. Sometimes after their planning meetings adjourn, Cassie returns to the watch room just to observe, to be...well, witness--though she hates that word now--to a machine so powerful, so ultimately unbelievable, that it was relegated to science-fiction in her time. The power that Jones has harnessed is frightening, the stuff of gods and fairytales. Cole seems to be able to find a home no matter what time he’s in, but the future still seems strange to Cassie. Here, at Raritan, those who lived in the present-future timeline seem to take it as fact that they have created such a thing. But Cassie? She never forgets. Never forgets that they’re playing with the nature of the universe. A bunch of moths eating at the fabric of time itself. It’s unsettling, but there are just two things in her life that have given her a sense of wonder, of awe, the presence of something other, that must be better and higher than their existence. Especially now when everything seems so fruitless and bleak. One of them is The Machine, ironically enough, both the cause of her fear and in the end, the cure for it. She thinks, anyway. She hopes. The other? It’s the only thing that stops time for her, that grounds her in the now. She feels him in the room before he speaks. There was a time when she would want to roll her eyes at present-self for how she feels about Cole--if she felt that way about any person, at all. Aaron was the closet she came to committing to a partner, to finding an equal in someway. Her past was littered with broken relationships, wisps of might have beens. But the work had always, always come first. That person seems like a ghost to her now. Was the Cassie of before happy? Truly? The work had been satisfying and challenging, Aaron had been lovely and supportive. She had comforts and luxuries, she was successful, she could help. Happiness, though. Hard to say. Now? She lives in a broken down military base. Any luxuries they have are brought in from the past, the human comforts beyond the (thank god) solar-generator heated showers are slim. As for helping? Who’s to say? Cassie can feel the cosmic end nearing in her bones, the futility of it all, the frustration at a puzzle they just can’t solve. But here, in this time, there’s Jennifer, Jones, Hannah, Deacon, Adler, and Laskey. Her family. Cole slides his arms around her waist, and Cassie sinks against him. She closes her eyes, and they stand silently for several long moments. “So this is where you go?” he murmurs into her ear. Cassie turns her cheek against his chest. “Were you worried?”“No.” Cole smoothes a kiss on the top of her head. “Just missing you.” Just missing you.
The words echo in her head. Cassie pushes down the hot, bitter thoughts threatening to bubble up. Pushing away the inevitabilities of loss, of their loss, of her loss.That there might not be a James Cole to miss in the first place if any one of their plans succeed. But right now James Cole is here. He’s now. And Cassie wants nothing more than to feel his skin on hers, the burn of his beard on her thighs, his cock fucking her, making all of her worry, sadness, guilt, evaporate. Cassie grabs his hand and drags him through the double doors and down the corridor to their bunk. She hears him laugh behind her. “Got ideas, Cass?”Cassie rounds on him, pushing him into the wall. Her hands fist into his hair, tugs him down to her. “I want you to fuck me,” she growls, not caring to hide the desperation plain in her voice. With any other partner she couldn’t imagine being so nakedly wanting, but Cole has always been different. He knew her from the first glance, as much as she tried to deny it, and he could always bring her back. She needs that tonight. The teasing grins shifts, he taps into a need that matches her own. There’s an edge of the same anger she has to his voice now. They both know what fate, time, will do to them. “Yeah, Cassie? Need my cock inside you?” She moans against his mouth, takes his bottom lip between her teeth and bites down as an answer. But he’s not having it. “No, babe. I want to hear it. You need my cock inside you?”“Yes.” “My mouth on you?” She tries to kiss him but he pulls away, grinds into her hard for her effort. The metal of the corridor wall is cold and hard. She bucks up against the ridge of his erection, almost petulant. “Answer me, Cassie.” “Yes, Cole.” A hot flush crawls up her neck as she says it. Wills herself to say more. “I want to come with your mouth on me. Then…” She pushes her hips hard against him, grips his hips so he can’t tease away his hips. “Then,” she whispers bites his earlobe and tugs so hard he groans. “Then I want you to fuck me.” Cole presses her all the way against the wall, and Cassie jumps so she can lock her ankles around his hips. Cole rocks into her and she pushes back, arms twined around his neck, kissing and undulating against each other. This is exactly what she wanted. There’s nothing else but the unforgiving metal against her back, and Cole biting, tugging, and kissing her. His hands move all over her body, skimming over the bare skin of her belly, tugging down her bra and pinching her nipples so hard she gasps. Cassie is so wrapped up in him that she’s startled when he lets her down. She blinks, dazed. “Our room,” he manages. He tries to grin. “It would be here but Jones surprising us--”Cassie shakes her head, banishing the thought even as she wants to laugh. “Not tonight.” The stumble into their bunk, slamming the door to hard and giggling as it reverberates through the quarters. Cole pops open a bottle of the rye they keep and takes a slug, passes it to Cassie, and she gulps, letting the spicy liquid burn a trail down her throat. The atmosphere has taken a turn again, from the needy-desperate to the needy-desperate-filthy-fuckit. Arousal tingles up Cassie’s neck, and she’s heady with it. Wants to not just fuck Cole, but leave a memory of this night so deep that they’ll never be able to forget it. She’ll never be able to forget it. No matter what happens. Cole is watching her watching him. He takes the bottle back and sips on it, the only sign that he’s not as cool and collected as he seems is the slight jump in his jaw. He wipes a hand across his mouth, and she wants nothing more than to bite the fleshy area between his thumb and index finger. Mark it. Make it exist. Cole takes another sip, his eyes dark. He wants to give her a command--she can feel it in the air between them--but is hesitating. Wondering if it’s okay. Sometimes she forgets that they’ve only really been together for a couple of months, total, not long enough for a natural, casual intimacy to bloom between them. “What?” Cassie adds a little smile, a little coy to the question. “You’re practically thinking out loud.” “Am I?’ Cole muses, mouth flicking up into a grin, but Cassie can tell he’s still a little unsure of himself. So much of this they’re discovering together. “Musing about how to tell you that I want to watch you get off. On the bed.” There’s a blush of embarrassment at the image, at the thought of that much vulnerability. But her thighs clench at the same time and she can see it, so fully in her mind, and she’s instantly, irrevocably turned on. “By myself?” Cole hums, steps forward and traces his fingers along the hem of her shirt. “I just want you to feel good, Cassie. I want you to make yourself come,” he starts nipping at the base of her neck, making her shiver. “Then I want to taste you.” Further up her neck as she sighs against him. “Then I’ll give you want you want.” “And what’s that?” Cole doesn’t answer, still playing coy, enjoying the power play. But he bites at the sweet-silver spot behind her ear, the one that makes tension melt away at the same time arousal feathers up her spine.“Take your clothes off, Cassie, and get on the bed.” She does as he says, almost perfunctory, as he pulls a chair up next to the bed. Not close enough to touch, just to watch. The silence breathes around them, amplifying the swish of fabric as Cassie pulls her shirt off, the click of her belt buckle and slide of her jeans against her skin. Cassie scoots back on the bed, props herself up on a couple of pillows, and lets her legs fall open. The cool air hits her wet cunt, sends goosebumps up her flesh. Whatever nerves or shyness she thought she would feel...just simply aren’t there. Cole looks at her with such open hunger, eyes dark in the moon-blue light, hand restless over his crotch, and Cassie’s stomach fips, and all she wants is him. Them. She smooths one hand slowly down her stomach, grounding herself as much as teasing him. Over her soft skin, lingering a little on her belly that’s now striped with silver stretch marks, down down down, until she’s brushing over the soft blonde curls. The first swipe of her finger over her clit, and Cassie sighs quietly, the warm-good feeling of pleasure starting to spread over her body. Cole shifts in his seat, palming his erection lightly as Cassie lazily circles her clit with her index finger, finding what feels good. She wonders when the last time she actually masturbated was--it feels like forever since she found the time. Spare moments now were spent with Cole, and those were rare enough. “You like that, Cassie?” Cole’s voice is gravelly and soft and Cassie keens to it. Without even thinking about it she was dipping lower into her cunt, spreading her lips apart, a definite thrum starting as she massages her vulva. She nods and bites her lip, slowly pressing her teeth into the flesh until it stings. That feels good, too, in a new way. She’s never really mixed pleasure and pain before, beyond the sting of a good hair tug, but this feels different. More deliberate, more potent, just more. Especially with Cole giving orders to her now, telling her to spread her arousal out over her thighs, to go back and pay attention to her clit, to pinch and tug her nipples until she gasps. Her thoughts begin to diffuse, and Cassie knows she’s close. She rubs her clit in tight circles, her other hand rolling her nipple between her thumb and index finger at the same pace.“You close, babe?” Without her noticing he’s moved from his chair to sitting on the edge of the bed. Cole bends his head down and draws her nipple into his mouth, sucks hard enough to make her whimper. He pulls off, smooths the tender skin with his thumb. “Come for me, Cassie.” His voice is soft, barely above a whisper, but firm. He catches her gaze. “Now, Cassie. Come for me, babe.”Cassie’s hips arc off the bed, finding that last bit of needed friction, rubbing furiously, no thought but to finding that release, giving herself fully to the moment. Cassie cries out as her body releases, white-hot heat spreading over her skin as she presses her palm against her clit to keep the sensation going. After a few moments, she relaxes against the bed, body tingling with awakened sensation.“Shit, Cassie,” Cole murmurs, kissing up her side until he lands on her mouth, cradling her face in his hands. “You’re so beautiful.” Of all the things to make her blush, that’s it. She wants to tell him not to say it, but he wouldn’t hear that anyway. And besides, he’s already busy, gently alternating between kissing and nipping and biting as he works his way down her body. “Cole, you don’t have to--”“Cassie.” The way he says it is final, and she wants to snark back at him but something inside her also likes it and that’s confusing, erotic, and erotically confusing. Instead she smiles to herself and gives in. She wants to be bossed a bit, fine. She can trust Cole with this. Cole settles himself on his knees at the edge of the bed. He pushes her legs up, and then roughly drags her hips to the edge. Shit, she thinks, then she’s not thinking anymore. He licks a broad, filthy stripe, from her cunt all the way to her clit on her already sensitive, swollen cunt. “Fuck,” Cassie moans, voice caught on the vowel, dragging it out as her head falls back on the pillows. Every other person who has given Cassie head in her life ranges from timid to competent, but Cole fucking loves it and it shows. He’s filthy and commanding and also just takes his time exploring her, making her react, giving her what she wants and pulling back, giving her what she wants and then giving her more, more, more, until she levels off at the pre-come stage so long she aches. “Cole, please,” Cassie pleads. She’s up on both hands now, watching as Cole’s tongue alternates between licking and pressing against her clit, giving her the pressure she fucking needs then taking it away, diffusing it around her hood and vulva. “Please what, Cassie?” Cole looks up at her, his face smeared with her come. She’s momentarily at a loss for words at the site, and teasing asshole he is, he knows what she’s thinking so he runs his tongue slowly over his lips, tasting her. “Fuck,” she whispers, dazed. “Not yet.” “Bastard.”“I’ve been called worse,” he grins and bites her thigh, hard enough to make her yelp. “Now what did you want with that ‘please’?”Cassie licks her lips, watches as Cole, without taking his eyes off her, slowly runs his tongue over the lips of her cunt. “Your fingers, Cole.” “So bossy. Not without a please.” “Please,” she says, hips jumping as he lashed her sensitive clit with his tongue. Cole, fingers already slick with her cum, thrust two into her at once. Cassie groans at the stretch, the combination now of fullness on the inside and mouth on the outside, but she still wants more. “Another,” she begs “Please.” Cole moans a, “Shit, Cassie,” at that. But he does it, working a third finger in slowly as she whimpers and fucks down on his hand. Then, she’s lost in the sensation, in the feeling, in the moment. Cole sucks hard on her clit, and as his three fingers fuck her pussy, she fucks his mouth, grabs his head with both of her hands and holds him there as her hips, his mouth, his fingers, move in ceaseless motion. The orgasm hits her like a bolt of lightning. One moment she’s there, the next, she distantly hears her own voice yelling out as she comes, hips bucking, head thrown back. Cole keeps his mouth on her, fingers fucking her slowly as he brings her down from her peak. Cassie’s body shudders, and she giggles as she swats him away. “Too sensitive.” But before he can go far, Cassie grabs him, hauls him up to her. She wraps her legs around his hips, leans up so she can kiss him, so she can taste her on him. They make out lazily for awhile. Cassie loves the weight of him on her, how real he is when he is between her thighs; when she can press against him, kiss him, run her hands through his hair. Even though he has just given her two amazing orgasms, she still wants him inside her. Wants to fuck his cock, feel the full-stretch that only comes with him. Cole is on the same wavelength, because he catches both her wrists above her head and holds her there, stretched out, naked. “Keep them there.” He sits back on his knees. “Palms against the headboard.” Cassie complies without a murmur, happy at the moment just to watch Cole take off his shirt, unbutton and push down his pants. His cock is gorgeous, thick and long. She lets her thighs fall apart, nakedly wanting, meeting his gaze with a cocked eyebrow. “Yeah?” He asks with a smirk, stroking his cock. “Greedy.” Cassie doesn’t dispute it. “Fuck me, Cole. Please.” “Since you’re being so polite.” She starts to roll her eyes, but doesn’t get far. Cole presses the head of his cock into her pussy, fucking the tip in and out over and over again. Cassie’s dips her fingers down to where she and Cole are joined, bracketing her fingers around his cock so she can feel as he slides in and out of her. He grunts his approval, taking one hand to spread her even further. “Fuck, you look so good.” Her body shivers as he snaps his hips into her, harder this time. She moans and lifts her hips to meet his thrusts. Soon it’s not enough though. They both want more, need more. Cole pulls almost all the way out, then thrusts until he’s buried to the hilt; does this over and over until Cassie is almost delirious with it. She rocks her hips up to meet his, the fleshy, sweaty sounds of their bodies filling the room. Then Cole switches it up, flips over and pulls her with him until she’s on top of him, her cunt nestled snug over his cock. He grabs her ass, digs his fingers in until she hisses. But he doesn’t pull away and she doesn’t want him to. Cassie rolls her hips over his dick, rocking up and sinking down, luxuriating in the feel of him inside of her. Cole’s hands push her faster now, setting a relentless pace. He moves to sit up, scoot them both back to the headboard. She curls her hands around the iron, steadies herself, then matches the punishing pace that he wants. Foreheads touch, they lock eyes, not looking away from each other as they pant and fuck. Everything is hard now--the soft touches and teasing commands and banter are gone--and now what is left is edgy and dangerous and without pretense. The knowledge that this might be one of the last--if not the last time--can’t be denied any longer. Cole pushes them both forward so Cassie lands with an oomph on her side. Cole straddles one thigh and holds the other against himself as he drives into her. He grabs one of her hands and intertwines it with his. It’s hot and intimate and makes Cassie want to think thoughts that she has banished. Instead she refocuses on their hands, linked together. On the feel of his cock, grounding her, exactly what she wanted earlier this evening. Of the way Cole looks at her, like a man in love. Cole comes quietly, body tensing and eyes squeezing shut, shuddering with each wave. Cassie is close behind, her cunt fluttering on his cock. He pulls out and slides beside her. Something opened up between them in those last few moments--the newness of what they tried, the fun. Cassie thinks--maybe a little wired from the sex who knows--that they touched a life they could have had. Then immediately realized that this was the life that they did have. This was what they got. Cassie rests her head on his shoulder. Waits. It takes several minutes but Cole finally drops a kiss on the top of her head, wraps his arm all the way around her back to pull her in closer. “I love you, Cassie,” he whispers quietly, even later. Both of them are awake, watching the ceiling as the late night/early morning moonshadows march across. Neither one, Cassie knows, wants to lose any time. Cassie waits a beat, to see if he’ll say anything else. But really, what else is there to say that hasn’t been said? All they have is this: cooling sweat and crumpled sheets and warm skin and bodies still tingling from amazing sex. They have this moment. And for one night, maybe just for one second, Cassie won’t let herself think about anything else. “I love you too, Cole,” Cassie says.