Chapter Text
The next day was a rainy one, with many of the diner attendees standing inside just to keep from getting soaked. The floor was slick, the air muggy, and people were starting to complain.
That is, until Kate went through the masses, offering water, a sit down while they waited for the rain to let up, and wiping down the chairs and booths to keep them comfortable. She’d put on one of the worker’s spare outfits so she didn’t seem like a complete stranger, and it helped to put them at ease.
It was driving Bob nuts.
Her golden hair tied up in a ponytail and under a red cap, her eyes with a touch of green, the way she filled in the uniform was making his possessiveness crawl on the walls. The dark blue shirt and red apron followed her curves, and the way she smiled . .
It should only be for him.
Slam. He slapped the patty down a little too hard, making him feel minutely better. Why did he agree to this?
She’d wanted to help, and today was a day he actually needed it. But seeing her smile at others in his diner’s uniform that she looked absolutely gorgeous in was straining his patience. Especially since the last few days had been so . . calm.
He’d open the diner like he needed to, and once the coffee was brewing, he’d heard her come up the stairs, awake way too early for how tired she should’ve been. But it was like she needed to be awake.
She’d smiled at him, and though he’d just smile back, his insides would be floating in the sky out of joy that she’d smiled at him again. He was a goner, he thought, thinking on the way she’d grab the cup he’d poured for her, cradle it before she started sipping it, and her whole body would melt with the heat, oh he was gone.
And during the night, his heart hammered in his chest as she’d watch him, eyes saying everything without words — I need you.
And he obliged every time, lying down before stretching his arm out for her to lay on, and she’d curl into him like old times before rest took her quickly.
He knew the black in her eyes wasn’t gone yet, but he was selfish — he wasn’t going to lose those moments for anything. And perhaps, it’d wear down that shame, the way he ruined her just by existing in her mind.
“Tsk,” he burnt his finger, not paying attention to the meat he was cooking. Just plain, boring cow meat. The rest of the “specials” were his backup foods, but his stash was starting to dwindle.
“Ow ow ow!” A male’s voice from the diner floor sliced through his thoughts, and he glanced up to see Kate gripping a teenager boy’s ear and twisting it, and he was crying out, “Stop stop I won’t do it again!”
“It’s a bad idea to pinch any girl,” Kate said sternly, and he felt his teal eyes center on the boy. “Let alone trying to pinch my behind. You get me?”
“No no, yeah, I won’t do it again,” he whined, before Kate finally let go of his ear, making him stumble back into the wall. Everyone was staring at her, incredulously, though the women’s eyes were more proud than anything.
Breathe, breathe, she handled it, breathe . .
It was taking everything not to mark the boy for his next night time snack. He shoved the image of her asserting her authority to block him out, and for some reason . . it made him feel even hungrier. Bob blinked his eyes open, shook his head, then sent the next batch of patties out.
It was nice feeling useful again. Although that kid put a bit of a damper on her shift, she was enjoying helping the others. They didn’t give her a real job — they continued to serve the customers while she assisted with the people hiding from the rain, or bussed the tables. Which was totally fine.
Bob was in the kitchen today, having to help the line cook, and although she missed actually getting to spend time with him, she kept her mind busy with the work.
It wasn’t until late afternoon that the rain let up enough for those that were stuck in it to leave, and they were all smiles and thank you’s when they left, and she exhaled deeply. She was not used to this.
“Thanks, Kate, that was real sweet of you,” Terry patted her shoulder on the way out, and she smiled in relief.
“I’m glad it helped,” she replied, then turned to thank the employee for letting her borrow the uniform, but they were already gone. She shrugged, then grabbed a bucket and mop to clean the floor.
It was a nice change of pace, something domestic, something normal. She felt bad about not going back to the candy store for her job yet, but she wanted to take a swing at working here, helping Bob out.
Her eyes were on the wet floor, dim diner lights above her, so she didn’t see the movement behind her.
“Gotcha,” Bob rumbled as he snatched her up, bridal style, and she yelped in surprise as he spun her. His smile was infectious, and her eyes lit up a bright green, making his own smile bigger.
“Your eyes are just so goddamn beautiful,” he blurted out, and she blushed hard as she fake-punched his shoulder.
“Put me down, you brute,” she said as she laughed, and he obliged. She grabbed the mop, and started cleaning it to put it away. “Just gimme a sec.”
He grumbled, but waited patiently as she went and put the supplies away. She was about to close the broom closet when she felt his presence behind her.
“What is—,” she turned half-jokingly, but then froze, realizing that his eyes were looking at her with want.
“Kate,” he rasped, and she suddenly realized how little control he’d been holding on to. “Please let me kiss you.”
Her eyes swirled pure pink, and she blushed hard knowing exactly what her eyes did. She gripped her arm for a second, before placing her hand on his chest. With that, his arms wrapped around her as he gripped her head and kissed, like he’d been drowning without her lips on his. She had forgotten how it’d felt, and her mind was swimming, spiraling out of control as his tongue played with hers.
“Oh god have I missed this,” he murmured against her lips before lifting her against the closet door, his mouth adjusted to go deeper, and she almost keened at how good it felt.
He suddenly picked her up completely, adjusted so he could keep devouring her mouth, and started walking. Her mind wasn’t coherent enough to pay attention until she heard the latch.
She’d heard that latch before.
She pulled back, and realized that they were in his office again, and memories of their last alone-time in there made her blush even harder.
“Bob?” She turned her head to ask why they were there when his mouth covered hers again, and she forgot words entirely. His large hands were holding her head and her waist against him, and she moaned into his mouth as she forgot everything for the moment.
“You,” he started to growl as he pulled back, his eyes teal, “are impossible to not look at,” he set her on the desk, arms on each side of her caging, gripping the table in need, “when you’re wearing my diner’s uniform.” He trembled as he kept standing like that, his eyes moving up and down her body, and the yellow popped up in her eyes.
He gripped her chin, and she gasped in heat. “Please . . . let me touch you.”
She couldn’t move, her mind barely comprehending what he was asking of her. She closed her eyes for a moment, before the tiniest of nods.
He exhaled, like he’d been holding his breath for her answer, and she felt his arms go around her neck. When the apron fell, she realized then what he was doing.
He was unwrapping her.
The buttoned navy blue shirt underneath he undid each button, before pulling it off her, and she kept her eyes closed, knowing that if she actually opened them, she’d melt or lose her mind. Then her bra fell and the cold air brushed against her breasts, and she exhaled, not realizing that she’d been holding her breath too.
“Let me warm those up for you,” he murmured before his mouth was on one, and she arched, the moan involuntarily pulled out of her as he sucked and tasted.
“Ah, Bob . .” She couldn’t form words, and he then switched sides, making sure to give equal attention to both. She moaned, biting her lip. “Oh, Bob,” she said in a soft whine, and then he’d unbuttoned her pants and stuck a single finger in her, and she fell back onto the desk, the sensation not one she’d felt in a long time.
“Bob,” she whined, arching as he slid another finger and pumped them in her, all while his mouth continued to taste her breasts. Another moan as her nails dug into his arms, and she went over the edge, the combination of claim and need overwhelming her. He didn’t stop, and she tried so hard not to moan any louder.
But she lost control.
“Bob!! Oh god, Bob, I can’t, ah!!I” she started to scream in unbidden pleasure, unable to stifle the sounds as she broke apart again and again.
“You don’t need me inside to break for me, do you, lamb? Just my hand. Just my voice. That’s all it takes.” She opened her eyes to see him looking down at her, almost reverently, as she arched in the lightning that was his fingers pulling every single sound of hers out. Her hands tried to grip the hand owning her, but the other one pinned her hands above her head.
“Mine. Even like this — especially like this. Every breath, every sound, it’s mine.”
“Bob,” she keened, unable to function, unable to think, but only his name.
“Say it again, sweetheart,” he growled as he changed angles and added more, making her twist in overwhelmed nerves. “I need to hear who you belong to.”
“You,” she gasped, and the blood in his ears thundered. “I . . belong only . . to you . . “
She felt his hand slide out, and she could finally breathe, his hand splayed on her stomach as he trembled from her words. The blood was ringing in her ears, and she almost didn’t hear him, she was still in the high.
“Every sound you make is a gift, you hear me? Every damn one.” he lowered his head to the crook of her neck, softening everything that was him, his hold on her other wrists. She curled into what she could, as his own unraveling surrounded her, and her hand lightly raised to run the back of her knuckles along his cheek. She could feel the tension in his shoulders — how every muscle was braced like he was the one trying not to come undone.
“You’re ruining me, lamb,” he whispered, his touch now gentle, soft like she was something that could vanish any second. “Don’t you see you’ve done?”
His jaw tightened, and his fingers still trembled as she wrapped her arms around his head, running slow, steady strokes through his hair.. “I could’ve taken. Instead I’m here — giving.” He didn’t pull back, or speak more. Just pressed his mouth to her collarbone like he needed something to anchor him back down. For a while, that was all there was, his breath ghosting against her skin, him leaning down as she lay on the desk still, him still clothed, but shaking.
“C’mon,” she whispered, brushing her thumb over his jaw. “Let’s go to our bed.”
His eyes flicked up, like he was surprised by the offer.
“I mean it,” she said. “Are you really going to make me sleep alone after that?”
For a second, he didn’t breathe. Then wordlessly, he shifted to stand, helping her off the desk and draping the open shirt around her shoulders, and guided her down to the den without a word. The weight of what had just passed between them hung thick in the air — but so did the warmth. At the edge of the bed he hesitated.
She climbed in first, then turned and held out a hand. This time, his fingers didn’t tremble when they took hers, though his eyes couldn’t say the same. When he settled beside her, still dressed, she tucked herself in close and smiled contented.
“You’re mine too, you know,” she whispered, and in answer, he wrapped her close, tucked his face into her hair, and breathed her in like all the dark in him had been waiting for a reason not to swallow the light.