|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 27, 2017 11:20:24 GMT -7
She heard his voice as she walked out the door but if she turned and looked at him then she would make more mistakes and that was the last thing she needed to do, shutting the door behind her meant shutting the door on his words. It meant shutting the door on him.
Tessa leaned against the closed door and tried to control her pounding heart. If she was honest Jon was the first person in a long time she has connected with and all over books. It was amazing what those things to do. She closed her eyes and let her heart slow down before she finally could think straight and she slowly opened her eyes and walked away from the door. From Jon and from the kiss that felt good. It felt good to lose herself in someone again, she didn't want love or any of that but she wanted someone to lose themselves in her, she wanted to lose herself in them and maybe just maybe she wouldn't feel so lonely.
But it couldn't be Jon. No, he was off limits but maybe he needed someone like her for a little bit, someone to take away all of his pain just for a while and show him that he didn't have to carry around his problems all the time. That he could let go of those sometimes.
Tessa left Harvard and went back to her store. Thankfully the afternoon kept her quite busy.
-.-
She was putting the new books out when the bell jangled downstairs and she sighed. Tessa guessed that no one took notice of the closed sign or she needed to get a better lock. She put the book down and picked the cushion up from the floor as she went and put it on the small couch that she had. "We're closed" she said before she looked over the railing and down at the shop and standing down there was someone she hadn't thought about since she left the campus that morning. Mostly because she had been rushed off her feet, Tessa really did need to get some help or maybe she just loved the challenge of working herself exhausted.
"Oh, Jon" she said and bit on her lip. "What are you doing here?" she asks softly and watches him.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 12:27:18 GMT -7
The day passed slowly and restlessly, his mind occupied by the foolishness of his actions rather than the work spread before him. He tries to push the thoughts of Tessa deep into the recesses of his memory, tries to focus on his notes, on grading, on structuring tests for a class a part of him regrets teaching, but it is not as easy as he would have hoped. By the time he leaves his office, he feels as if he has gotten nothing done.
Jon drops his things down onto the couch in his apartment in the north of town, wishing he could unload the uncertainty riding his shoulders in much the same way. He takes a shower, turning the heat all the way up to warm his bones, and changes into new clothes, but even still that tightens remains. Tessa hadn't even let him apologize. She'd run so quickly from his office that he hadn't been able to get the words out. Hadn't been able to make up for his brashness. He tries to busy himself once more, but a single look at the folder of things left to do, and he can no longer bear it. He slaps the folder down on the table and grabs his jacket instead, leaving his apartment behind.
The walk is not long, and gives him a chance to figure out the right words for him to say. By the time he reaches the bookshop, night has already set in to the city, and the lights within are dimmed. He presses his mouth into a flat line as his eyes scan the hours beside the door, knowing he's already late, already no doubt missed his chance, but he tries the handle anyway -- and it gives.
The bell jingles as he steps through into the store for a second time, Jon swallowing the lump in his throat as he glances around for any sign of Tessa. It's only a second, the door still open and his hand still upon the handle, before he hears her voice coming from the stairs. He turns to glance towards her, seeing her there watching him.
He slowly pulls in a deep breath.
Taking a step in, he closes the door quietly behind himself. "I...wanted to apologize." Jon admits, looking back up to her.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 27, 2017 13:08:28 GMT -7
Tessa watched him for a moment when he gave the reason why he was there and she sighed before looking away and biting on her lip. Now she was starting to doubt whether or not keeping busy had really kept her mind off of everything that had happened or whether she refused to think about it. Not allowing her mind to dwell on what happened because of the fact that Jon came with someone and that someone she didn't want to hurt.
Slowly she moved her eyes back over at him and said "Don't worry about it, we all make idiot mistakes" she admitted and nodded but this was a mistake that neither of them could really do.
Her fingers tapped against the railing and she slowly moved to the stairs before she moved down them. "We talked about books and we had a laugh and even a flirt online but.. we can't do this" she said and shook her head. Tessa wasn't sure who she was really convincing here, herself or Jon. She remembered pulling him closer to herself and he pushed her up against the bookshelf behind her but she couldn't do anything else than that. "I finally found someone that I can talk about books with" she admitted and smiled as she came to the bottom of the stairs.
Tessa put her hands into her pockets and she watched him but if she was honest the feeling was still there, the feeling that maybe he could make the world feel a little less lonely.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 13:53:32 GMT -7
He gives a faint smile at her comment, her words summing up the situation in only a few words. Idiot mistakes. He's made plenty of them in his life. Plenty of knee-jerk decisions that have landed in him in worse situations, or even dead. He's lost count of the number of times he's felt the life drain from his veins like ice spreading across the surface of a lake after a moment of impulse, a brash choice, a poorly timed reaction. Only to wake moments later -- whole, alive, and breathing.
But this is different. This is not making a stupid call on the battlefield or overestimating his own ability. This was letting a feeling run away from him. This was throwing caution to the wind on the whim of a lonely heart.
He's done this only once before. A long time ago. But that story had a much different ending.
"I know," Jon says, nodding a little when Tessa tells him they can't do this. It isn't fair to her or Katherine. Even if for a moment it had felt right. His smile fades slightly as he looks to the ground, remembering what he had planned to say. "I think I just...am not used to finding someone that is like me that still has a positive outlook on the world." He admits, lifting his eyes once more. He glances around the bookstore for a brief moment, sighing out a short breath. "I think I am a little envious, to tell the truth. A little...drawn to the idea of falling into a story where my place and purpose is set out for me. And you seem so..." he pauses for a moment, finally looking back to her, "I don't know if happy is the right word. Content, maybe. At home. And I haven't known what that's like for seven hundred years."
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 27, 2017 14:08:52 GMT -7
Tessa listened to what he was saying and all that time she watched him, watched as he looked down and then she sighed under her own breath before he continued on. Saying how he envied her, envied that she felt contentment and she swallowed hard and looked up at him when he finally finished. She looked over at the doorway and then slowly moved her eyes back to look at him.
"It took me a very long time to find anything" she admitted and watched him. "The only thing I have left is this bookshop and the loneliness that the death of my loved ones left behind and sure I have family, my children's bloodline is still around but sometimes I swear they look at me as if I'm weird but this," she said motioning to the bookshop "this is the reason why I feel content, books made me feel less alone and it's been hard" she took a step forward towards him and finally stopped when she was infront of him.
Tessa looked up at him and bit on her lip and closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm not looking for love" she admitted and then finally looked up at him once more "I don't want any of that and yes okay maybe Katherine will kill me but I can try to fix you for just a little while" she said and nodded. "But that's all it can really be if you want something between us" she was being honest and she wasn't sure if that's what he wanted to hear but it's the only thing she could offer him.
Maybe he will decide that's not what he wants but it's the only thing she could offer, Tessa wasn't looking for another love, but she was looking for companionship and if it was with him then so be it and maybe they could heal each other for just a little bit before the world tears them apart again.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 14:32:11 GMT -7
"It's not your responsibility to fix me," Jon replies, eyes settling upon her as she comes to stand right before him, her words kind but not what he intended, "And I don't know if there is anyone in the world who could." He admits, a slight mirthless smile tugging at a single corner of his mouth. Seven hundred years loss and war and tragedy is not something a single person can bear the weight of, let alone something a single person could solve. He knows its something he will carry for the rest of his long, long life, no matter how hard he tries to move on, how hard he tries to distract himself, how hard he fights to find something good. Tessa does not need to carry any of it for him.
"Honestly, just being around you is...enough." He says, feeling strange saying this all aloud to her when he has barely said it to anyone else. "A glimmer of light in an otherwise dark world. And I'm not...I don't think...I can love anyone else. So I'm not asking for that either. But maybe...for a moment...we can make each other feel not so alone. Companionship. In whatever way makes you comfortable." He adds on with a breathless, coy laugh, knowing that perhaps kissing her the way he had before talking about any of this was not the way to approach the situation.
He does not want to push her into anything, does not want to take advantage of her kindness.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 27, 2017 14:52:39 GMT -7
Tessa smiled when he said that being around her is enough and honestly she feels the same. She had heard a little bit about him when she first met Katherine but it had all sort of disappeared from her head because she had her own worries to deal with and it wasn't until she got a Facebook account and was online that she really realised that she could connect with the world a little better. Sounds silly for an immortal but who really cared.
He spoke about companionship in whatever way that made her feel comfortable and she knew that making him feel less alone, making both of themselves feel less alone was the most important for both of them. She watched him for a moment before she then moved around him and locked the door up. Tessa really didn't want to be interrupted anymore tonight especially when she wanted to spend some time with him. They had finally sorted it out and they both were lonely and they would make sure that they put that loneliness aside and make each other feel something.
Tessa flicked the switch of the light off, the upstairs and Jon was covered by the lights up there. She moved away from the door frame and then over to him and smiled at him, slipping her hand into his and then pulling him gently with her up the stairs. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest and she was okay with that. When they reached the loft area. It was lit and the window where there was a seat had the small curtains shut and floor was sound big that there was enough room for a small couch that could double for a bed too. In fact she's actually curled up on this thing with a book when she has been here for a few hours after closing.
She stopped and looked up at him, letting her hand slip from his and up to his jacket and she slowly started pushing it off before her lips met his. The kiss soft against his lips.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 15:22:21 GMT -7
Tessa leads him upstairs without a word, her hand holding onto his and the lights turning off around him. Her answer is clear, even before she pushes his jacket from his shoulders and finds his lips with hers, pulling him into a soft kiss as she pulls him towards the loft. He had left their options open, had left the possibility for them to just remain friends who talk about books over coffee and leave the kiss in the past, but her smile and her guiding hand choose another path. One that leads them towards the quiet space hidden among the books.
Jon does not speak either, instead letting himself sink in to the solution she gives him, lips pressing back against her. He lets his jacket slip from his arms and fall to the floor around their feet, forgotten, before his hands set upon the curve of her jaw and upon her waist. Drawing her closer, he slants his mouth against hers, deepening the kiss with a careful patience.
All the antagonizing thoughts he'd had earlier, the guilt that had plagued him since the kiss in his office, fade away to the back of his mind as they stand there together, a small smile curving at his mouth as they kiss.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 27, 2017 15:37:41 GMT -7
Jon doesn't protest, doesn't stop her and definitely doesn't pull away. In fact he pulls her closer to him and kisses her back, deepening the kiss between them. While this was just companionship that didn't mean they couldn't do this, even if it was for just a little bit. They could talk about books over coffee at lunch time and then spend whatever time they wanted too together. She pulls away from the kiss and looks up at him. Her grey eyes on his dark ones.
He had his glasses on and she reached up and gently took them off his face and put them onto the bookshelf behind him before settling her eyes on his face once more. Jon had scars and she was a little bit shorter than him so she had to stand up on tip-toes before her lips kissed the ones under his eyes. There was just something about scars and she knew that some people had them and it proved that they made it through and Jon did make it through, he made it through everything that had been thrown at him.
Tessa made it through everything too but that didn't stop the loneliness from settling into her.
She grabbed him by his shirt and with a smile she pulled him in for a kiss, her fingers sinking to the bottom and pulling it up and over his head and then letting it drop from her fingers while the kiss got a bit more heated between them. This definitely hadn't been what she thought would happen between the two of them but they were hear and god it felt good to have some skin against her own again.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 16:04:53 GMT -7
She pulls away for a moment, her eyes meeting his as she tugs the glasses from their perch upon the bridge of his nose. Without them, the scar that runs down over his eye and around the curve of his brow become clear, the very reason he wears them in the first place. It's not as if he is embarrassed, or ashamed. He has far too many scars covering the expanse from body from several lifetimes of battle to worry about their attractiveness. Especially after this time. But they draw attention. Create questions. Ones he has gotten tired of answering with lies and jokes and excuses.
Tessa looks at them for a moment, but she says nothing, knowing better than anyone in this city the cost of immortality.
She grabs at his shirt instead, tugging it up his chest. His hands fall from her waist to help pull it over his head, letting her toss it away before their lips find each other's again. The scars on his chest are laid bare as well, but he does not let them even enter his mind. He kisses her a little harder, a little hungrier, his fingers finding the waistband of her dark jeans and tugging the button loose. But his palms skim upwards away from them, catching the hem of her purple top and dragging it up her stomach. He breaks from the kiss only to pull it completely off of her, dropping it aside with the rest of his discarded clothes.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 27, 2017 16:21:32 GMT -7
Tessa lets her fingers move over his scars when he kisses her, it's hotter and harder and hungrier and both of them are pretty much eager to just lose themselves in each other. In skin and kisses and even touches. She feels him undo her button loose on her jeans and the smile pulls at her lips before pulling away when he drags her shirt up her skin, she's sure his fingers are moving against her skin and for a moment she's so shocked that his skin is warm. She honestly thought a vampire's skin was cold, like Katherine's.
She didn't let herself dwell on that for a moment before she let her lips move over his skin, strands of her dark hair falling out of it's bun and tickling against the back of her neck and even his skin. Her lips kiss his scars and then she stands up straight so that he can look at her. There was just something beautiful about his scars, they were sad too but more beautiful.
Tessa kicks her shoes off to one side before she slides one hand into hers and feels the rough skin. She then bit on her lip gently and kisses his shoulder before she slowly moves around the back of him and kissed the skin on his back. Her lips leaving wet kisses and she even dragged her teeth over his skin before she moved back to the front and kissed him again, the kiss even harder this time. Her fingers dropped to his jeans and she undone his belt and then the button on his own jeans before she pushed them down his thighs.
Once he got them off she then found herself up against the bookshelf and he was standing in front of her.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 16:50:15 GMT -7
They tug and pull at each other's last remaining pieces of clothes, removing them in between kisses and touches in the close confines of the loft. For a moment, her lips find the scars marking his chest as if they had been dealt to him a year ago and not seven hundred, a permanent reminder of the cost he paid to save the lives of only a few. He's paid for it several more times over the centuries. More time than he can count. But her lips find his again and those thoughts are chased away by the warmth of her mouth, the want in the way she presses against him.
When they're down to their skin, he catches her by the curve of her thighs and effortlessly lifts her, forcing her legs to lock around his hips as he cradles her in his arms. He presses her back against the bookshelf, his mouth finding her neck and leaving a wet kiss against the curve of her skin. Her pulse thrums against his lips and tongue, something he has not felt for years. Brushing his lips back to hers, he hovers just a breath from her mouth, his dark eyes skimming over her face.
He guides himself into her, rolling his hips against hers in slow motions at first, holding her tight against him.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 27, 2017 17:06:08 GMT -7
When their clothes disappear he lifts her up and her legs lock around his hips. Her back hits the bookshelf and honestly she has never done this before. She's done it before in a cave and that was mostly out of grief that she couldn't help herself but never has she done it up against a bookshelf and now she can cross that off of her list. His mouth finds her neck and she closes her eyes because his lips against her skin was making her feel that much more hotter.
He brushed his lips against her mouth and she opens her eyes and looks back at him. There was a look of passion and pleasure on her face and a smile pulled at her lips. He then moved inside of her and she moaned softly and closed her eyes. Tessa put her lips against his shoulder and gently bit his skin. Of course unlike a vampire she wasn't going to drink his blood but she really hadn't done this in a very long time. Not really finding anyone to connect with until now.
Tessa opened her eyes and pulled him in for a kiss as he moved against her. Her heart was already thrumming in her chest and she was sure that he could feel it. Her breathing was definitely getting a little bit harder.
Oh god this felt so good.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 22:24:46 GMT -7
Her moan is soft, quiet, barely filling the space of the loft, but it sends a trickle of electricity down his spine just to hear her. The bite that follows is gentle, a light nip at his shoulder that leaves a warm wetness upon his skin -- far unlike the ones he's gotten in the past, which bit deep, halting only just before it could tear his throat. Halting just before the river of molten blood could spill free. But everything about Tessa seems soft. Her skin, her lips, her touch. And he is not used to it. Not used to this delicateness.
But her breathing gets harder, her kiss a little rougher, and he can feel her heartbeat thrum against his rib-cage as he fills his palm with her breast.
Jon, feeling the heat building at the base of his gut, finds a quicker rhythm as he moves with her. The fingers of his hand still gripping onto her thigh dig in a little deeper, pressing into the milky white skin wrapped around him with more fervent want. He kisses her back, hot breath mingling upon their lips, air stolen from lungs.
He tugs upon her lower lip, letting his teeth catch it for a moment, before his mouth wraps back around hers and he presses himself a little harder into her.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 28, 2017 9:23:52 GMT -7
It had been a long time since she has had sex mostly because she couldn't bring herself to share a bed with another man. Her heart ached over her greatest love and she knows she won't ever find anything like that again. That's why she's so glad that Jon doesn't want her heart. That he doesn't want her to love him because she can't. So she's more than happy to offer him comfort this way.
His fingers dig a little deeper at her thigh and she bites on the inside of her lip. He kisses her back and their breath mingles. Then he tugs on her lower lip before kissing her again as he moves a little harder into her. Tessa could feel her skin start to prickle, her heart pounding hard in her chest and she reaches her hands up and gently grabs hold of his head, her fingers sinking into his dark hair. Her bottom lip trembles as she looks into his dark eyes.
She leans her forehead against his and this time she lets out a louder moan. She closes her eyes but keeps her forehead against his and her lips near his but not kissing him as her breath came out shorter.
As Jon had moved in her more harder Tessa wrapped her legs tighter around him. There was no words said between them, they just used their bodies to push away a small part of loneliness that they both felt.
|
|