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Ruby sighed as she heard Nicole's heels clacking on the floor from the hallway outside, she let out a contained smile and took their dinner out of the oven.
Nicole had to pull a double. Ruby had been enjoying her day off. It actually hurt her to watch Nicole leave that morning, her lips in a small pout and body slouched in displeasure. If she could have traded her day off with someone else, she would've, just to be able to stay in Nicole's general vicinity.
The front door opened and Ruby's chest clenched painfully at the exhaustion written all over Nicole's face. Her eyes dropping, lips frozen in a small snarl, uniform crumpled and even her headband wasn't centered as usual. The picture of sixteen hours in the restaurant.
Ruby knew that when Nicole got like this, as rare as it was for her to fully break, she couldn't handle much. Her body locked in position until she felt slightly less overstimulated.
She also knew that, on busy days like a Friday night on payday, Nicole was often too busy to even spare a single thought of herself, weirdly enough.
Ruby was slow in her approach, bare feet making no noise, and raised her hand towards her girlfriend just as languidly. Her fingertips ghosted over skin gently, dancing in the air above Nicole's face and brushing rouge locks of hair away from her cheeks, the headband was removed with the same care. Dazed brown eyes locked with hers and Nicole's body finally snapped, falling completely limp into Ruby's arms.
She was infinitely glad for her own workout regime as her hands found themselves on the back of Nicole's thigh and she managed to pick her up without batting a breath. Ruby carried her to the kitchen, leaving Nicole on a chair and kneeling to take her shoes off, a kiss on each of her knees before she raised up to put them away.
Ruby knew she would take a while to speak again, her throat probably sore from having to talk the entire day, she always hated shifts like these the most. She watched as Nicole banged her head on the table lightly, probably stopping herself from falling asleep just yet. A mix of familiar fondness and a strange ache filled her being.
Ruby made Nicole's plate and left it in front of her, manually straightening her posture and kissing the top of her head.
“Eat. I’ll be right back,” she whispered and kissed her again, hands tight on each of Nicole's shoulders – a parting squeeze before she left.
All her girlfriend did was hum but she did reach for the fork so it was more than Ruby could ask her for.
Long strides took Ruby to their bathroom, hands automatically working to fill the tub with Nicole's preferred scorching water. The temperature made her hesitant to put her hands in and she knew it was perfect, the time between then and managing to take Nicole there would be enough to cool it to a human favorable hot instead of something that would give her third degree burns.
She rummaged through the cupboards and almost cheered when the little basket of ‘self care products’ as Nicole called was easy enough to find. Ruby dropped a glittery purple bath bomb into the water and used some expensive relaxing lavender drops she got Nicole for their anniversary, noticing it was already half used and making a mental note to buy more.
Her eyes searched for the scent candles nearby, grabbing the vanilla and lavender ones, lord knew how sensitive Nicole got with smells when she was that tired. She placed them strategically, her old culinary school had mandatory fire hazard training and she took that shit seriously. Ruby dimmed the lights and nodded to herself.
She walked to their little dining room again and watched Nicole’s back as she ate, the lazy movement of her arms and the small sighs and hums she let out, no matter how tired she was she couldn’t not appreciate Ruby’s cooking and that was more than enough to almost send her into tears. Ruby didn’t know what made her so soft – maybe her period was about to start, she should check that.
Her trek was as slow as earlier, waiting for Nicole to finish the last bit of food before putting her hands on her shoulders again. Nicole threw her head back with a solemn breath, Ruby leaned down to kiss her forehead chastely, then both her eyes, her nose and lastly her lips.
“Good?” She hummed.
“Always,” Nicole whispered and Ruby couldn’t help but kiss her again.
Ruby felt the corner of her lips lifting and just leaned into it, there was nothing to do but that. Her very well crafted walls had been invaded a good while ago, Nicole was quite sneaky when she wanted to be, Ruby only noticed how different everything was with her when she tried to get away from the way her chest sizzled in Nicole’s absence and her skin craved her touch. It was pathetic, really, but then again, wasn’t love just that?
“C’mon,” Ruby sighed, stepping aside and offering Nicole her hand. She allowed herself to be pulled up without much trouble, though a groan did leave her lips. “Your legs hurting?”
Nicole nodded silently and Ruby held her close, relishing the warmth of her lover’s body for a moment before placing one hand on the back of her knees and the other on her upper torso, Nicole wrapped her arms around Ruby’s shoulders and did the tiniest jump to make it easier for Ruby to hold her in a bridal carry.
Ruby kissed Nicole’s temple, smiling at the way Nicole rubbed her nose on her neck, almost like a cat begging for affection. She walked slowly, a mix of not wanting to disturb Nicole with too much movement and wanting to keep living this moment for as long as possible. Ruby hoped the heavy thumps of her heart would be more of a lullaby than a disturbance to Nicole, every single one of them calling her name and herding her in.
Nicole gasped weakly when they walked into the bathroom, a deep breath and her body slackened in Ruby’s hold.
“For me?” She hummed and nuzzled Ruby’s neck again, the question more felt than heard.
“Who else?” Ruby mumbled, lips brushing a mop of blonde hair.
She dropped Nicole on the toilet, hands making quick work of disposing of her clothes. First, the uniform shirt, followed by a kiss on a soft stomach, then her bra, lips pressing over Nicole’s heart, her pants were a little harder but Ruby didn’t mind, a kiss on each of Nicole’s thighs and lastly her panties, a chaste peck on her pubic mound. Ruby helped her aching body into the tub, the water just hot enough to make a pleasured sigh hang in the air between them, Ruby mentally high fived herself for timing the necessary cooling period perfectly.
Ruby tied Nicole’s hair in a bun carefully, not wanting to tug too hard to make it too ugly. Her own hair had been short for long enough she had forgotten how to do something so simple.
She watched Nicole’s body relaxing on the water, a content smile growing on her lips and Ruby could only ever watch, could always watch her. She was quick to grab Nicole’s loofah and her preferred body wash, a flowery scented thing that often enough made Ruby’s mouth water. She sat at the edge of the tub and once again leaned down to kiss Nicole’s lips, taking a little longer this time to savor the taste of her tongue.
So indescribably sweet Ruby could feel her teeth aching in protest.
Yet, she didn’t lean away.
She could never.
To be apart from Nicole was to experience high level torture, as codependent as that made her sound. She felt ridiculous, jealous of the blood in Nicole’s veins, at the pump of her heart and the marrow in her bones; it wasn’t fair for them to be in Nicole for every second and beyond of her existence when she had to part ways with her so often. But Ruby didn’t mind the ridiculousness much, not when the end of her world came in the form of the most beautiful set of brown eyes she had ever seen paired up with the snarkiest personality possible. It was like Nicole was specifically created to be Ruby-bait.
She threw her head back, Ruby got lost for a second on the perfect curve of her neck, on the small bob of her throat as she dry swallowed and she almost caught herself leaning in to nip and suck at pale skin.
Ruby cleared her throat. “‘M gonna wash you, okay?”
Nicole hummed, then looked at her with those dazzling eyes before closing them. “Please.”
The sheer thrust put in her at that moment was almost enough to make her buzz. She knew, intimately, how hard Nicole found it to let herself relax and let all pretenses fall. Ruby understood, then, while watching Nicole breathe with her eyes closed and head thrown back, giving Ruby her entire body, why Romeo killed himself when he thought he was about to live a life without Juliet; why Orpheus didn’t hesitate to go all the way to the underworld to get Eurydice back; why Achilles mourned Patroclus the way he did; why all those stories and many more existed in the first place.
Maybe the sight itself explained why Ruby felt a thousand times more dramatic than usual.
She started with Nicole’s arms, pressing just enough to clean her of the day’s sweat and the residual restaurant grime, splashes of bubbles and white foam covered her skin and Nicole washed it all with a gentle hand and warm water. Not able to hold herself back, she kissed the crook of her elbows and her shoulders, Ruby wondered if in her lifelong involvement with food she had ever tasted something as good as Nicole.
Ruby leaned down to clean Nicole’s chest. Usually, in their rare shared showers she would take her time there, circle her nipples until they were hard and Nicole was gasping in her mouth, squeezing her breasts with the excuse of soaping it properly and smirking at the way her girlfriend always reacted to the touch on the sensitive skin. This time however, Ruby made sure to keep the loofah light, ignoring the small mewling sound Nicole made in favor of focusing on her task.
Nicole opened her eyes to look at her with nothing short of adoration and Ruby had to hold her breath. Oh, how Emily Dickinson was right, to see her was a picture indeed. It was a new thing, to be directed the full force of Nicole’s feelings, and it always left Ruby a little more than bewildered.
“Get in,” Nicole slurred, eyes heavy. Work of art.
Ruby managed to roll her eyes and shake her head fondly.
“Let me finish bathing you.”
Nicole whined, a small sound that fisted her heart and threatened to break it apart.
“Hold me.”
And who was Ruby to ever deny her of everything?
She got up quickly, her outfit consisting of cozy sweatpants and a gray tank top, on the floor without much preamble, boxer briefs and sports bra soon following. Nicole drank in the sight of her and Ruby stood for a moment so she could appreciate it, if this was any other moment she would maybe give her a cheeky remark, a little sass. But Nicole’s eyes smiled and she leaned forward to make space for Ruby, one she took without a second thought.
Nicole leaned her body back into hers and Ruby enveloped her stomach with her arms, a sigh from both their lips. Heaven. Nicole’s skin was so soft, her body so pliant and warm, the water making it the perfect place to be, Ruby was utterly in love and she didn’t know what to do but to bask in the feeling and let it drown her.
Ruby let out a shaky breath and a kiss on Nicole’s shoulder, a content hum dying on her throat when Nicole fully snuggled in, head thrown back on her shoulder for comfort.
“How was your day?” Ruby asked, more softly than anyone had ever heard her speak.
Nicole sighed. Ruby grabbed the body wash and coated her hands, bringing them to Nicole’s thighs and starting to gently massage them, the knots easily dissolving beneath strong fingertips in strategic spots, she knew damn well where Nicole stored her tension and liked to relieve her of every burdening feeling she could possibly have.
Nicole hummed and moaned at her ministrations, forgetting all about the initial question and the attempt to hold a conversation. Ruby bent down to drop kisses everywhere on her neck, little lines of affection invisibly drawn on well cared for skin. Ruby moved down as far as her arms allowed her to, massaging everywhere she could possibly reach. She rested her nose on the crook of Nicole’s neck and breathed in deeply, wanting to engrave the mix of flowery scent, vanilla and something so inherently ‘Nicole’ in her brain. Wanted to make it into perfume and spray it every place she might step.
“Lights went out today,” Nicole mumbled.
“Yeah? I bet it was hell,” she whispered back and kissed her cheek.
Nicole nodded.
“It was the worst shift ever,” her eyebrows scrunched almost painfully and Ruby would fight god to keep her away from anything that might ever cause her pain. “I missed you the whole time.”
It was something Nicole would never say. Would never bare herself in any way that might make it seem like she, too, is a human who experiences emotions in its full range – the reactions could be too unpredictable for her to just give in like this. But Ruby knew she was most likely using half her brain just to remain awake, the filter between thought and spoken words probably one of the things she deliberately discarded for the time being.
All that to say, Ruby felt her cheeks heating scarlet.
“I’m right here, my love,” a kiss on Nicole’s temple.
Her hands moved from her legs to her lips and Nicole whimpered so quietly Ruby almost questioned herself if she ever heard it at all. In the end, she just hummed in question.
Nicole, never one to beg too much for anything ever, grabbed one of her hands, the tattooed one of course, and dragged it up her leg, pausing at the apex of her thighs. Ruby could feel the moisture there, thicker and so different from the purplish water surrounding them, her fingers played with it for a few seconds, not touching too harshly, fingertips following along her slit, random touches on her lips and a complete avoidance of her clit. Obviously, Ruby knew what Nicole wanted, what she craved and needed so much, but she didn’t know if she truly had to have it at that moment, not when she was about thirty seconds of falling asleep.
“Ruby,” Nicole whimpered. The sweetest of melodies, a tune she was sure not even the most accomplished musicians could come close.
“Aren’t you too tired?”
“Not for you. No.”
Ruby smiled, teeth touching the skin on Nicole’s shoulders. Someone should’ve warned her that to love and to be loved was to find redemption and resurrection in the simplest of words.
She hummed in affirmation and moved her fingers a little more firmly, other arm immediately holding Nicole’s hips in place. The light from the candles fell upon them and Ruby wished she had the talent to paint the picture of them like this, in their bubble of calmness and desire and love and love and love.
A shaky breath left Nicole’s lips, her fingers intertwining with the ones on her hip and the other moving behind her to cup the back of Ruby’s neck and pull her impossibly closer, they were one at that very moment.
Nicole opened her legs a little more, resting them above Ruby’s on the far edge of the tub, almost glued to the walls of it. Ruby’s fingers found Nicole’s clit in a single motion, slow circles being lightly drawn in the water just above flesh, Nicole writhed and moaned in her touch, not asking for more or trying to take it for herself but letting Ruby play with her body with the same expertise she did when handling her knives.
Each movement drew in a new sound.
Small figure eights with the very tip of her fingers made Nicole mewl and keen, back arched and head pressing on Ruby’s chest, eyes closed and eyebrows scrunched in blissful agony.
Larger circles made her sigh and hum in contentment, contained and heavy, her body moving like a wave to accompany the pleasure so freely given to her and eyes looking up to ask for kisses Ruby so mindlessly gave her.
Harder direct pressure made her moan and whimper, mouth hanging open and demands for more, cries of being close and eyes completely dazed, vision for sure blurry.
A small hint of nails scratching her clit and Nicole was done, a single sob of Ruby’s name on her lips, hips bucking weakly to prolong her orgasm and Ruby letting her do as she pleased, her own mouth entirely too married to marking Nicole’s collarbone with faint love bites to care much about feeble things such as control.
Ruby felt her body relaxing, a content lull in all movement and activity, nothing at all mattered outside of that tub and Nicole turned around to curl on her lap. One of her hands awkwardly tried to make its way towards Ruby’s nether curls before being stopped, a gentle kiss on her temple to go with the motion.
“Honey, you can barely keep your eyes open,” she chuckled.
“Don’t flatter yourself too much,” Nicole yawned. “‘You didn’t tire me out.”
“I know…wanna go to bed?”
“Before midnight on a Friday? We’re getting old.”
“We?” Ruby laughed, another kiss on Nicole’s head. “You’re already sleeping on me.”
“‘M not,” Nicole mumbled and Ruby took it as her cue.
She got up with Nicole in her arms, dropping her on a towel she placed on the counter for this exact moment. Her hands were tender as she dried her lover up, knowing the stars in her eyes were as tangible as the ones in the sky, wondering if she put her arms up she could reach them and bring one down just for Nicole to name it after herself.
She kissed Nicole’s knees, her knuckles and her lips before making quick work of drying herself. Their night routine was finished in a silence so light but so full of something she didn’t feel like naming, it was amazing that despite dating Nicole for almost two years, living together and working together, these were the moments she would never get tired of. Both naked, she carried Nicole to bed, dropping her there with so much care it was like she was made out of glass.
“Clothes?” She asked in something that was almost a whisper.
Nicole shook her head and Ruby just shrugged before following her beneath the covers. She almost laughed at the way Nicole could barely keep herself awake, only enough to lie her head on her chest and poke her dimple weakly.
“Love you,” Nicole mumbled. A Thank Heavens I Have You, dead on her tongue.
“Love you,” Ruby breathed out. A I Will Do Everything For You, dripping from every letter.
Ruby ran her hands over Nicole’s back just the way she liked it and got ready to fall asleep thinking of ways to save up enough for a ring without Nicole noticing.