One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 147

"Ouch! You fucking dog!!!"

Sirius bites back a laugh at Gwen's disgruntled cry, instead focusing on the task at hand. He glances up and sees that the Veela has one arm cast across her eyes, shading the pale blues from the harsh sun. Her other arm is held by one of his hands, turned so he can see what it is he's doing.

"Yours didn't seem to hurt this bad, Black. Probably because I knew what the hell I was doing!!!"

He snorts at her cutting tone, finding it far to amusing for his own good. He smirks before offering, "Maybe I just have a higher pain tolerance."

Gwen sits up halfway from her spot in the sand and pins him with a deadly stare, her hand coming up and smacking him upside the head. She quirks a brow when he winces dramatically, her voice dull as she drawls, "Yes, Gryffindors are certainly known for that, not for being the biggest wimps at Hogwarts."

Gwen jumps when she feels his free hand slap the side of her thigh, her eyes narrowing at his faux angry face. His lips twitching gives him away too easily. Sirius finally sighs and asks patiently, "May I get back to work now, Inferi?"

"If you must," Gwen sighs, flinging back into the warm sand. Her heart warms when he sits up further, shading her from the sun and giving her a perfect view of his sculpted chest.

His sculpted and tattooed chest.

Gwen can't help her smile when her fingers reach up and caress the inked skin in front of her. She doesn't miss the way his breathing hitches, nor his warning tone when he mutters, "Gwen."

The Veela shoots him a mischievous look, her fingertips just barely gracing the outline of the symbol that lay in the center of his chest. Amalgamation. A rune that hadn't seemed to mean much when she first learned it. It meant a great deal now. Everything meant a great deal since him.

Gwen feels a flare of pain in her arm, disturbing her sappy thoughts and causing another sassy spurt of words to fly from her mouth.

"You fucking dolt, I should've just done it—"

She's interrupted by soft lips covering her own, her heart freezing for a moment before firing back into action at a rapid pace. Gwen reaches up and cups his cheeks with her hand, pulling him in closer. His kiss washes away the ache in her forearm, replacing it with a warm glow that Gwen would volunteer to drown in.

He doesn't pull back very far, his lips still caressing hers when he whispers, "Would you shut up, you infuriating being?"

She wishes she could stop her smile, wishes it didn't make her heart flutter when he called her a being. Not a creature. A living, breathing, feeling being that was just as human as he was.

"If you kiss me again," She replies, her cheeks warming at the way his smile grows wider. She liked being direct with him. She liked taking him by surprise. There was no greater joy, no better riddle than that of Sirius Black.

He does as she asks, pressing a few slow and soft kisses to her parted lips. Gwen swears that she's floating, the warm sand pressed into her back no longer existent. Not while Sirius is pulling her up into the clouds with his glorious kisses. She can't help but frown when he sits back, his eyes glinting with amusement when he says, "Alright, love. It's finished."

Gwen's eyes grow round and she quickly sits up, nearly knocking their heads together. She brushes off his disgruntled eye roll, instead her eyes instantly looking down to where her forearm no longer aches. Her heart grows warm in her chest, eyes tracing the black lines that form the same symbol that Sirius has scrawled on his chest. She loves it. She loves him.

Her eyes glance up to where he is watching her reaction, a pleased look on his face when she murmurs, "I suppose we can't get rid of each other now."

"No," He chuckles, reaching down to run his thumb across her tattoo. He pauses, a small smile playing at his lips when he whispers, "You look good, Ninnie. Like this I mean."

"With a tattoo?" She questions, her smile growing when he nods quickly, his grey eyes locked onto her arm. Her stomach erupts in butterflies. She only felt this good when he looked at her like that.

"So do you," Gwen mumbles, hand reaching up to rest over the ink on his muscular chest. When he sucks in a quick breath at the contact Gwen swears she could die and go to heaven. This boy.

Her fingers trace the gentle curves and lines of the symbol they now permanently share, her breathing hitching when he quickly snatched up her hand and gives it a squeeze, his voice low and husky as he warns, "Gwenyth, don't."

Maybe it's the way he says her name, or how they are connected now in a way she never thought she would be connected to someone. Not in this lifetime. Whatever it is, it has a flurry of emotions she can't ignore swirling in her gut. She runs her tongue over her suddenly dry lips before asking quietly, "Why not?"

Sirius stares at her silently, eyes a guarded look into his soul. She can't resist her urge to be honest, her urge to cement this moment as one that she will look back on when she is old and grey.

"I want to touch you," Gwen murmurs, her hand trying to pull free from his iron grip. She doesn't miss the way his eyes flash, the way his tongue flicks out to wet his lower lip. Her whole body tingles at his broody look, the tension of his shoulders and the aura of slipping control surrounding him. Her lips curve into a faint smile when he rasps, "Where?"

A chance for her to be in control. As much as it made her nervous, to lead things the way she wanted them to go...it also made her thighs clench together. She decides to be brave instead of witty, her voice growing firmer as she says, "Wherever I want."

Gwen wonders briefly if she's emitting her charm when Sirius lets out a strained sigh, his mouth tight at the corners as he decides whether to take charge or to let her go. She can't resist reaching out with her other hand and grabbing onto her shoulder to steady herself as she throws one leg over his lap. Perhaps it's her charm, or the fact that she's now straddling him that makes Sirius offer her a nearly imperceptible nod. Maybe he just wanted a taste of what she was like in charge. She wanted to know too.

Gwen strokes her palms down his muscled shoulders, her mouth practically watering at the feeling of him under her hands. She leans in and caresses his cheek with her lips, her heart thumping wildly in her chest when his eyelids flutter shut. A little more charm, a little more touch, and he's growing relaxed underneath her, his voice hoarse as he whispers, "Gwen."

"Sirius," she replies simply, her smile growing when his hands clamp down on her hips and guide them closer to his own. She hesitates, some of her boldness fading. She can't help but ask quietly, "Where can I touch you?"

Sirius blinks up at her, his lips twitching in amusement at her sudden shyness. He wanted her to feel brave too. Wanted her to know that he is hers, just as much as she is his.

"Wherever you want."

{{sorry this took me so long! I rewrote this like five times. Hopefully you enjoyed ;) next one will be steamy}}