Cherish had been wandering the mall for some time, nursing a coffee and window shopping, stopping only if something caught her eye. One such item being the pair of black T-strap pumps that were swinging from her elbow. Her eyes flitted over the lingerie store and she smiled lightly, taking in the scandalous goodies in the window.
She changed course for the store, wondering if Ari would have said the same thing about her being a good girl if she'd seen her secret underwear drawer. Or if she knew what had happened the last time she'd been in the very same store.
"Alright, Len, work your magic," she said to herself for old time's sake. The newest collection was all lace, with bras that, while sexy, left something to the imagination. One day, when she would have the guts to wear lingerie in front of someone, it would be this kind. The kind that was alluring because it didn't give too much away. As she perused, she grabbed a few things off the racks, and made her way to the change rooms. Overhead, the announcement that the mall was closing in 10 minutes blared.
"I won't be long," she assured the clerk, who didn't look too happy as she let her into a room.
Holding a few of the items in front of herself, Cherish made a face, figuring they wouldn't suit her. The deep green one, which had caught her attention the minute she'd walk in was the one she decided to try on. It was an entirely lace, high necked halter, and backless, which she loved. Her front was completely covered, except for the small keyhole which was cut out of the middle, right above the band, to show skin, but not overt cleavage.
She shimmied into it and the matching lace shorts, loving the way it looked sexy, but not in an over the top way. It could even be worn as a top under a buttoned cardigan like the one she wore today.
"You okay in there? Need any sizes?"
"No. I'm fine," Cherish dismissed the clerk and began redressing.
She had only managed to pull her pants on when she heard the clerk grumble, "Not you again," and another knock sounded at her door.
Without a thought, Cherish yanked the door open and popped her head out, "I said, I'm fine!"
"That you are!" she flushed at his words, finding that his surprised expression mirrored her own. "We need to stop meeting like this."
He had the nerve to joke about it? If she wasn't only half dressed she might have opened the door all the way, so she could smack him. She slammed the door shut, and without even bothering to take the bra off, pulled her still buttoned cardigan over her head, threw her scarf on and stuffed the rest of her things into her purse.
"Seriously, Sev?" She shoved him out of the change rooms and towards the checkout counter.
"I was taking the garbage out and I saw you coming in," he said in explanation, motioning to the pile of garbage bags he'd left outside the store.
"So you followed me? Really good idea, Sev, it worked so well for you last time!"
"I didn't think you'd open the door! I was just going to tell you I'd meet you out here!" He threw his hands up in defense, though his laughter did not help his case. Shrugging, he headed back to his garbage bags, "I'll be back in a couple minutes. I'm done work in ten."
Watching him leave, she slammed the shorts onto the counter and handed the girl the tag off the bra. "I'm wearing it."
The girl raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow, but said nothing about it as she rang Cherish up. With a smirk, she rounded the counter and waved a wand over Cherish's back, eliciting an electronic beep.
"Have a good night!" she winked, as she handed Cherish her bag. Great! Cherish rolled her eyes at the cashier's suggestive tone, and crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for Seven to return. When he emerged from the "Staff Only" door tucked between the two stores opposite the one she'd left, she scowled at him.
"Sorry, Cherish!" he tucked her under his arm, easily dissolving her annoyance. "I didn't mean to ambush you. I saw you and thought I'd see how you were doing, if you maybe wanted to hang out? I've got a couple more things to get done, but after..."
She couldn't help the fact that she glanced automatically at the time. 8:57 pm, but it was a Friday and her father wasn't around to nag her about being out late.
"Sure... Pervy McPerverson!" she joked.
Seven laughed and pulled her phone from her hand, sending a text she could only assume was to Ian, before disappearing into his now closed store. She pondered the meaning of his words as she waited. He certainly hadn't meant they would stay here, in the mall that was now turning its lights down for the night. She glanced at her phone and the text he'd sent to Ian, and realised he hadn't meant hanging out at Ian's place either.
Don't worry about me, hanging out with Rish tonight.
Cherish didn't have too much time to dwell on it, as Seven and his co-workers slipped out the door. One of the guys gave her a lingering once over as Seven locked the door, saying something to the others that she couldn't hear despite how close they were to her. She assumed it was something about her looks, because Seven's turned to look at her. Then he smiled, that dazzling real smile of his, and sliding a lazy slightly cocky gaze back to his coworkers, he sauntered the two steps to her.
He didn't say anything as he placed his arms on either side of her and leaned down, pressing his mouth to hers. Her stomach leapt as it usually did. It was a little prideful and the tiniest bit possessive, and while that would normally bother her, she couldn't help feeling pleased at his reaction to the boys words. She grinned and pulled him closer, causing his eyes to flick open in surprise.
He broke away, pulling her bags from the ground where she'd dropped them. "So what are we doing?"
-.-
Dumb. Foolish. Stupid, idiotic, moronic, and plain and simply put, mindless. That's what she'd been when she suggested they watch a movie at her place. Just the two of them. Clearly his kiss had clouded her judgement and she'd momentarily forgotten that there was no one home. Even Seven had given her an incredulous look when she'd meekly replied that no, no one was home, and they wouldn't be tonight.
They were only watching the movie, but if you asked Cherish what the plot was, she wouldn't know. She was busy mentally berating herself and feeling hyper aware of the fact that Seven was beside her on the couch. Both sat ram-rod straight, like 14 year olds on a chaperoned date, like they knew her dad would walk in any second. Something had to give, something had to turn this terrible blunder of a night around. Mumbling an unintelligible excuse, she stood and abruptly left the room.
Without him sitting beside her, she was at least able to think. In the kitchen, she tossed a bunch of snacks up onto the counter. But they couldn't very well stuff themselves full. What after that? She pulled her phone out twice, her finger hovering over Ian's name, to turn the night into a group thing, but both times she chickened out.
No, not chickened out, more like realised that calling Ian would be chickening out. With a sigh she headed upstairs, planning on finding a game to play. Flicking the lamp on in her room, she perused the board games on the top shelf of her closet with disinterest; most of them needed more than two players anyways.
"So, this is stupid." Seven's voice coming from her doorway made her jump.
"I know," she acknowledged with a frown. "I was just looking for something to do."
He sauntered to the dresser beside her and fidgeted with her laptop. "No," he said carefully as music blared out of the speakers. "I mean us. We're being stupid. It's not like we haven't been here alone before."
"Yeah... and it's not like you had you mouth all over me then, so..." Cherish retorted before she even registered what she'd said. Oh Good Heavens, No! That smirk, that slow smirk that said he was going to be naughty and enjoy it!
"It hasn't been all over," he drawled innocently, taking his time emphasizing all. Cherish knew, without a hint of doubt, that she was the colour of a beet. She wasn't going to be able to play it off. "Only joking, Pumpkin," his voice lowered, becoming husky and losing its teasing edge as he kissed the top of her head. Joking she could do, joking was okay, joking was... Wait, what was he doing?
Seven tipped her face upwards, his fingers running along her jawline gently, sending shivers racing along her spine. Cherish could only hope she didn't look like a deer caught in headlights, or worse, completely vapid. The mind melting kiss she expected didn't happen. Instead she suddenly felt herself being lifted off the floor and plunked down onto the dresser.
"Seven! A little warning next time!" Cherish squawked in surprise. With a chuckle and a shrug Seven braced his arms against the dresser. He wore an expression on his face, mischief and mirth, his smile daring her to make the next move. Tilting her head down, she closed her eyes for a split second, inwardly willing her nerves to behave, calm down and allow her to function. Peering up at him, Cherish felt her heartbeat quicken when she saw his jaw tighten as he swallowed, his arms flexing almost involuntarily on either side of her.
With a hesitant smile, she bought her hands up to his neck, her thumbs tracing lightly over the sensitive skin behind his ears. Before she had the chance to lose nerve, she pulled his face closer, and trailed soft kisses along his jaw, slowly making her way to his mouth. Her gaze flickered to his for only a split second and the fire that burned in his eyes sent her emotions into a frenzy.
That little look, that tiny flick of her eyes was all it took, like a safety latch being released and Seven lost hold of the control he'd been trying to keep. He leaned into the dresser, his mouth pushing back against hers feverishly. Trying to get closer to the edge of the dresser, closer to his body, Cherish squirmed, inching forward with small shuffles. She laughed when he yanked her forward and then grunted when their bodies collided forcefully. Seven was surprised when she hooked her legs around him. Her mind was racing, what was happening?
He had never let it get this far before, always putting space between them before Cherish had time to even register he was kissing her. Part of her mind was screaming at her, Stop! Stop this now! This is only happening because he knows there's no one here to stop him. Another part of her mind, the part that was clearly winning out, was telling her to nibble his lip because it had driven her nuts when he did it the very first time they had kissed. The groan that shuddered out of his mouth when she softly bit his bottom lip sent a warm fuzzy rush through her. She gasped when he mimicked her, pulling her lip into his mouth, drawing the action out slowly.
Cherish found the war between their lips exhilarating and dizzying all at once. The kisses were soft, then hard, then harder still, building and building till she thought her lips would explode from the pressure. Then the stupid boy would all but lift away from her, his lips like whispers against hers once more. She was breathless and her pulse raced frantically away from her. She pushed against his shoulders slightly, desperate for a moments space between them; how did people not pass out from lack of air?
Seven stepped back, breaking their contact, his eyes muddled and chest heaving and, as if to give her breathing space, he moved across the room and lowered himself into her chair. She eyed the way he splayed himself out, his long limbs stretching out of the small nook he sat in and right to the foot her bed. Despite the space, Cherish found it hard to catch her breath as she watched his chest rise and fall.
He eyed her with a smoldering smile, and opened his mouth, "You bought new shoes?"
Appreciating the his thoughtful and obvious distraction attempt, Cherish nodded and propelled herself downstairs to get them off the bench by the door. She was happy for the time to clear the lusty clouds from her mind. Popping her feet into her new shoes, she headed back up, determined for things to stay easy and not get weird. She modeled the pumps for him jokingly, knowing he could really care less about them.
"Nice!" he said as she settled on the edge of the bed in front of him. He pulled the chair closer to her bed and propped his feet up beside her. Chuckling, Cherish reached for his face, wiping the smudge of her lipstick from his mouth. But she found herself unable to return to her perch on the edge of the bed, held in place by Seven's sudden grip on her hands. Cherish looked down at him questioningly, unsure of what he would do next.
Running his fingers along the neckline of her buttoned up cardigan, Seven offered her and almost smile. His eyes never left her face as he fiddled with the top button, and then slowly undid it. Then the next, and the next, stopping when she pulled her lip into her mouth and began chewing on it. He couldn't tell if it was nervousness or something else altogether.
Cherish held perfectly still as Seven moved, tucking his face against the crook of her neck, sliding the cardigan aside to expose her shoulder. She was acutely aware that his other hand still had a tentative grasp on the next button.
He took a deep breath, calming his jittery nerves and released her cardigan, flattening his palm against her side. "Cherish," his lips hovered just shy of her skin, grazing her collarbone in a way that was almost torturous.
"Yes?" she tried to say and found that her voice was hoarse and whispered.
"I would never hurt you, Cherish." He needed her to know that with all of his being, he hoped she could hear how much he meant it. Pressing his lips to her bare collarbone, he continued, his voice strangled with feeling, "I'm not going to push... You can tell me to stop and... we can go back downstairs... I don't expect anything... I don't want any more than this... You."
Every few words, every miniscule sentence, was accented with a kiss dropped onto her collarbone and shoulder. Cherish felt him pause after he uttered the last word, everything about him taut as he waited for her dismissal or approval. He'd had to say that, hadn't he?
Even in his implication that he wanted to know her more, he'd had to say the words she needed to hear. That he would wait, and that she- and only as much of herself as she was willing to share with him- was enough. The words, the way he breathed them out to her and his racing heartbeat thumping against her body sent a rush of heat coursing through her body. She realised she'd been holding her breath this whole time and let out a shaky sigh. She wanted... she wanted... but could she?
Seven's hand squeezed her side so gently, conveying an acceptance that nothing was going to happen. She'd waited too long, the moment had passed. She felt his body shift as if to move away and she latched onto his hands before he could remove them from her. Her face came level with his as she let herself slowly sit back against the edge of the bed. He wore a pensive almost guilty expression, like he thought he'd gone too far, done exactly what he said he wouldn't.
"Sev."
His eyes snapped to hers just as she brought her mouth against his, kissing him hard and sliding his hand back to the front of her cardigan. He raised an eyebrow in question, are you sure?
Cherish broke the kiss, sat back and undid the buttons herself, leveling him with a look similar to the one he'd given her earlier, your move. Surprised by her sudden boldness, he pulled his own shirt off, evening the amount of clothing casualties. He brushed her cardigan aside carefully, just in case she changed her mind.
Skin was skin, nakedness was just that, nakedness. He had seen both before; and for the most part, they didn't influence his idea of how beautiful someone was. That was another thing altogether. If he were going to be honest, he'd seen Cherish, and her flawless body in far more scandalous tops than the one she wore now. The low cut top at the barn party being one of them, only that had covered more of her torso than what she wore now.
Seeing her skin wasn't going to turn him on suddenly, it wasn't even going to make him want her any more than he already did. Being a guy, he wanted her all the time. All. The. Time. Skin wasn't going to have much of an effect on that. Her skin- her body- was hers, it belonged to her and she could do what she wanted with it, and the fact that she was sharing it with him bolstered a breathless feeling within him.
His eyes flitted over the lacy fabric of her halter top bra and landed on the bit of skin visible in the keyhole cutout between her breasts. He pressed a kiss into the space and smiled when Cherish let out the tiniest sigh.
"It's, uh, sexy..." he said of her top, leaning away and locking eyes with her. "You're gorgeous." He didn't watch her blush, but let his eyes travel over the rest of her bare torso, catching on the ink, delicately scrawled along her left side, love me tender. He traced the letters and looked at her in question. "Is that..."
"Because of him? Not really. And kind of. I like the song, and I will never allow myself to be treated like that again."
She pulled herself away from him, moving from the edge of the bed to the middle. Seven frowned, unsure if bringing it up had hurt
her, of whether or not her moving away was final. Her expression didn't seem to shut him out though, and he moved to join her on the bed, tracing her tattoo again. He caught her eyes with his and held them for a moment, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the words.
"You won't ever be treated like that again. I won't let it happen," the anger in his voice startled her, but it softened as he closed his eyes. "You're everything, Cherish."
Her stomach soared, did a flip and soared again. She grabbed a hold of his shoulder and pulled him down onto the bed with her, "Stop talking and fucking kiss me, Bunny."
* Title song by Elvis