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Post by mabs on Jan 23, 2011 13:06:16 GMT -5
Reed watched her, and suddenly not even the best wine would ate his thirst. Her bending forward completely made him forget all about his request for wine, and he was over to her in a few smooth steps. He pulled her back against him, her bottom nestled against his hips and his hands traveling to the more interesting parts of her anatomy. He kissed along her throat and nuzzled her skin, whispering heatedly and hoarsely against it.
"Oh, red is just fine," he crooned, but he wasn't talking about the wine anymore. Reed tugged her back towards what he assumed to be the bedroom, his hands impatiently and nimbly undoing the ties of her dress. Oh yes. Red as just fine with him.
________
The perk of being in charge of his own firm made it easy for Reed to be late to work and not care Not that he cared when he worked under his father either. This morning in particular, he felt lazy. If anything, the redhead had given him a run for his money, something he'd hardly been accustomed to before. Reed had stretched and gotten out of bed before Adrienne, though he wasn't inclined to skirt out on her before she woke up at least. He wasn't completely sure why. Sometimes he felt inclined to stay, sometimes not. Either way, he was in the kitchen, attempting to work her coffee pot and make them a pot of coffee.
After a few heady curses and a mashed finger, Reed succeeded in brewing the pot, and he stretched, looking about the little, eclectic apartment. The bear of a dog was snoring nearby, and Reed liked it that way. He wasn't afraid of the dog, but he wouldn't put it past the beast to chase him out. He was sure Adrienne had trained him so, or something equally ridiculous. Instead, Reed stood in his underwear and his unbuttoned shirt, groggily sipping at a cup of coffee and musing about the bet he would lose to Viven at work today.
He had slept with her.
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Post by rocky on Jan 23, 2011 14:08:20 GMT -5
Adrienne woke slowly, stretching. It was not an unfamiliar feeling, to awake with the sense of something missing after a night like last night. She wasn't surprised to find his side of the bed cold and empty. She didn't even bother to look for a note, just shrank a little, under the covers. She felt strange and hollow, and regretful, as well she knew she would be when she woke up the next morning and he was long gone, having robbed her of her dignity.
She didn't even look at the clock. She almost wished she was hungover, at least then there would be an excuse -- but she'd only had one glass of wine and it had been so early in the night that there was no excusing herself. She tried to work herself into a more ruthless state of mind. He had only been here to pleasure her, and that he was gone this morning only saved on awkward small talk and worthless pleasantries.
She struggled to try and reclaim her slumber, but was in too foul a mood to do so. She eventually kicked the comforter away and sat up blearily. She still had the stockings and the garter belt on, but nothing else. At some point she had lost her shoes, though not until they had gone for two rounds. She unhooked the garter belt and slid the stockings off. They felt strange and twisted out of shape now that she had slept in them.
She found her orange hoodie and pulled it over her head, electing not to bother with anything else. She only wanted base modesty in case the neighbours on the block opposite were awake -- that and the comfort of it, she wore it most when she felt the worst.
She stepped over George and moved into the kitchen, and then stopped in the doorway, stunned.
He was still here.
"Oh," Adrienne said, her heart skipping, then immediately sinking -- she was simultaneously excited and appalled to see him there. She watched him owlishly. She leaned on the door frame, uncertain now of what to say or do. Oh, what was he doing? She had felt terrible that he was gone, and now she was at a complete loss for how to feel that he wasn't.
"...morning." She rubbed her eye with the corner of her sleeve, and wrapped her other arm around the trunk of her body, feeling awkward and unsure of herself.
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Post by mabs on Jan 23, 2011 16:11:12 GMT -5
Reed heard the sounds of someone getting up and rustling about the other end of the apartment, and so he took to pouring a cup of coffee. He didn't know how she took it, so he set it on the bar for her. Reed smiled lazily and surveyed Adrienne, her sleepy look about her making her seem...far less intimidating than she been hours before. She seemed almost sweet, in the morning light, and Reed leaned back, drinking his own cup of black coffee.
"Good morning," he offered. He caught a glimpse of her bare behind, and raised his brow as he took to looking in his coffee and taking another drink. HE was never against a quickie in the morning before work, but to be honest, he wanted to recover a little from her. To say that she had been the passive lover last night would be a gross understatement. If he were being honest, she surprised him as much as he figured he had surprised her.
"I didn't know how you took your coffee, babe," he spoke in a musing tone. "And your coffee maker is a bitch. Mashed my finger. But it's the thought that counts?" Reed was avoiding the awkward questions and misplaced pleasantries that he tended for when he stayed, mostly because he was totally as a loss.
He had begun to feel a thread of affection in himself, but it was buried so deep he would hardly even admit it was logically in there. He was a cold hearted lawyer, a corporate shark as she had affectionately put it once. And that was it.
"I would have made breakfast, but I'm a terrible cook. I lived on Chef Boyardee and Ramen in college." The admittance was a little slip, a little revealing detail of the man behind the Ken-doll mask, but he left it there to hang. No taking it back now.
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Post by rocky on Jan 23, 2011 17:08:23 GMT -5
Babe? Ade raised her eyebrows at him, wondering if he had woken up and started on the wine. He couldn't have, it was sitting untouched where she'd left it the night before. Reed Armstrong was in her kitchen, mangling her coffee maker, and calling her babe. Suddenly the whole morning seemed terribly surreal.
"Milk, two sugars," she said, and tugged at the bottom of her hoodie, realising suddenly just how little it covered her. Pants. Pants were necessary. She edged backwards into the bedroom and then looked around desperately. She had cleaned up a little too well, and it took a minute of raking around before she found a pair of shorts and jumped into them.
"I would have made breakfast, but I'm a terrible cook. I lived on Chef Boyardee and Ramen in college."
"You say that as though I have anything but wine and dog food in the house," she replied wryly, and reappeared in the doorway feeling a little less exposed. "If you want to give me breakfast, you'll need to buy it."
Oh, God. He'd stayed. Adrienne wanted to ask him why. She wanted to ask him what his angle was, because he wasn't playing by the rules she thought he'd been playing by at all. She wanted to invent some sort of solution whereby she could have insanely loud, passionate sex with him any time she wanted and he wasn't allowed to speak or otherwise remind her of who he was.
There was something in there, though. Something he had been very carefully grooming himself to avoid showing. Adrienne recognised it because she was the same way.
It didn't mean she was going to give him a free pass to her fragile centre, though. She watched him warily, enjoying the sight of him much more now that he was dishevelled and stripped of his hair gel and his tailored suit.
Fuck.
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Post by mabs on Jan 23, 2011 17:24:02 GMT -5
Reed began fixing her coffee, fumbling about for a moment to find the sugar and the milk, but he laughed as she returned, shorts on her person now (that was a shame, as he enjoyed the occasional peek show) and teasing him about the state of her kitchen.
"Something I would do, if I wasn't already almost an hour late for work," he offered with a peal of low laughter. But he was still lazy in his movements. He paid people to take care of headaches like this for him at work, so he didn't have to. And honestly, he had no pressing meetings to tend to that morning. A liason with his father's firm, about something pressing, but nothing else that was hardly important. And talking to even a representative of his father was low on his list of priorities. Lower than dealing with criminal lawyers and the low class public defenders.
Reed offered her the cup of coffee, reaching to tuck a loose strand of the red hair behind her ear impulsively. He paused for a moment and frowned in a thinking manner before turning to set down his cup on the counter and saunter back in the bedroom.
Reed took to clothing himself quickly, and once he got to the lobby he'd call his secretary to find him something to change into once he made it to the office, so he absently buttoned himself up and hung his bowtie about his neck, he groaned and rubbed his face, that was decidedly more stubbled up than earlier, and despite what Miss Heart thought, he didn't have a designer stubble razor. He normally shaved every other day, and it happened that he grew a bear like an Amish man.
Reed returned to the kitchen, impulsively coming up behind her and breathing on her neck before placing a kiss on her neck. "Will I be looking for an article about my beside manner in the next issue of Plush?" he teased lightheartedly, even though he was affectionately pressed against her.
What the hell was he saying? What the hell was he doing? Reed needed to leave before he offered her something ludicrous like dinner and a movie. An honest to God date. Reed didn't do dates. He did casual outings and rolls in the sheets. Nothing...with a remote amount of meaning. He stepped away from her and took his coffee, drinking from it the last dregs of caffiene to help wake him up for the day coming. He looked carefree and decidedly masculine, in his partly unbuttoned shirt and undone bowtie, the dark look of his face softened by the lighter green of his eyes that morning.
But he couldn't help but glance at Adrienne again.
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Post by rocky on Jan 23, 2011 18:11:18 GMT -5
Adrienne wrapped her hands around the hot coffee mug, allowing the warmth to seep into her for a long moment before she took a sip. She was sluggish in the morning, her guard down. She squirmed ticklishly as he pressed against her and kissed her neck, and shrugged.
"And what if there is?" she asked tartly, raising an eyebrow. She turned to look up at him, her expression unreadable. There was a reason she never really had a long term relationship, it was because most men started to get tired of her writing about them. Frank enjoyed it, but Adrienne had been guilty of using the column to try to draw his attention from his wife, and she walked the line of impropriety more than once on that score.
She'd done a lot of things for Frank that were humiliating. Still, it had to be clear that she would use any material she had for the magazine, that was why it was so successful -- it was completely raw and truthful in a publication that was otherwise comprised of utter filler.
"I won't find you pouting in my office, will I?" she asked, and turned properly, to face him fully.
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Post by mabs on Jan 23, 2011 18:21:33 GMT -5
Reed laughed heartily, forgetting for the moment that his mind was knocking himself fro thinking with his nuts yet again. And acting on the thoughts. And getting in far deeper than he already should have. Well, as least he might have a nice, hot woman to turn to in times of need, like Vivien. But for some reason, grouping Vivien and Adrienne together felt wrong and distasteful in his head.
"Undoubtedly," he teased slightly. "Though if all my endeavors with you are bound to end up in print, I suppose that is inspiring enough to step up my game." Reed gave her a smirk and a wink. Would there be other encounters? He'd be a liar to say he hoped not. Reed didn't do conventional, closed relationships, but if Adrienne was the type to be into being his fuck buddy.... Well. He could handle that.
Reed pulled on his suit jacket and gave Adrienne a raised brow look. "I'll warn you Miss Heart. I have all the typical male problems. No follow through." Though he had followed through with her last night...every single time...oh but he couldn't take her back to bed now, so the thoughts were cruel and pointless. "But if I did have follow through, and I was inclined, where do you like to eat dinner?" He was edging towards the door and tucked his hands in his pockets now. Now he was in uncharted waters.
Reed felt silly for asking then, and he rushed over in a silly whirlwind, pressing his hand to her lips. "Actually, hold that thought. I told you to make the calls boss. You know where to find me." He dipped in for another turbulent kiss before he turned away and headed to the door before he did something else stupid. He was certainly out of his element with this one. And it was almost thrilling.
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Post by rocky on Jan 23, 2011 18:57:33 GMT -5
"Encounters?"
Adrienne's eyes widened, her expression startled -- she didn't know what she thought of that.
"I'll warn you Miss Heart. I have all the typical male problems. No follow through. But if I did have follow through, and I was inclined, where do you like to eat dinner?"
Adrienne was speechless. She almost asked him if he honestly wanted to sit opposite her and have a conversation.
"Actually, hold that thought. I told you to make the calls boss. You know where to find me."
"Um --" she began, but was halted before she could respond by his mouth over hers. After a beat she closed her eyes and reciprocated, although it was a confused sort of participation; she was reeling. He was manic! She hadn't managed to get a sentence out, really, and he was darting around as though he was having an episode. This was him, though, she realised. He was fighting to keep his cover story. Was he nervous? Was she nervous?
He was making her nervous, she decided.
He was giving her such a mixed bag of signals, she needed the chance to think about him when he wasn't there, being distracting, kissing her and -- wandering around half dressed in her apartment.
Take the day off, she thought impulsively, but she wouldn't allow herself to say it. Instead she bit her fingernails and watched him go, her stomach lurching.
Encounters.
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Post by mabs on Jan 24, 2011 0:02:25 GMT -5
If he were honest, Reed was restless and out of sorts, and he knew he was acting like a madman. But he was a coward when it came to things like this if he were really honest. He cast another look at Adrienne and gave her a wink before he slipped out the door. He opted for the stairs most certainly, remembering the terror of the night before, though only vaguely. Much had happened between then and there.
Reed shook his head at himself though. He was Reed Armstrong, casual lover and unattached whirlwind. And that's how he liked it. He had just gotten his freedom again, and he would hardly sacrifice it for a slight woman. Even if she was as intriguing and oddly beautiful as Adrienne was.
Regardless, Reed wore that devilish smirk and devil-may-care attitude like it was an old hat. He was back and better than ever. Though deep down, something unsettling tugged at him, though he was too threaded in ignorant bliss to take note of it.
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