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asphaltcowgrrlTitle: A to Z Challenge Chapter 9: Intimate
Fandom: White Pine original fiction
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: NC-17-ish
Word Count: 1,445
Summary: After reaffirming that their relationship was on solid ground, Ethan poses a question to Travis.
Author’s Note: This catches me up with what I’ve actually written, now to catch up to the prompts (since I see Miss K has posted yet another…). Hopefully I haven’t bored you to death at this point. And if not, there’s still seventeen letters left… Also, thanks to H for the perfectly perfect icon...
Continued from here.
It had been too long. Even though they’d only just seen each other the weekend before, it felt like it had been months since they’d touched. Ethan curled his fingers into Travis’ caramel colored skin, holding him tightly. Their bodies crashed together, Travis’ cock filling Ethan with more pleasure than he’d ever experienced with any man.
Travis responded in kind, pulling Ethan’s hair and burying his teeth into a creamy white shoulder. Although he’d never been very good with words, he’d always been excellent with his body. Ethan had to pray that everything he was feeling – the love, the relief, the sorrow – was being communicated to the man holding him down on the couch, thrusting into him, making him rattle the walls with his joy.
When Murphy’s sweat-slicked body collapsed onto his, Ethan wrapped his arms around his husband, swearing he’d never let go. Work, manuscripts, and responsibilities could go to hell as far as he was concerned. Nothing mattered more than keeping this perfect moment from ever ending.
Ethan sighed and Travis kissed his cheek, his jaw, and that spot just behind his ear. “I love you,” Ehtan breathed.
“I love you, too,” Travis said, kissing the base of his throat. “Although I thought we’d at least make it into the bedroom before we got naked.”
Laughing, Ethan pulled Travis down for another kiss. “Don’t worry about it. The bed’s not going anywhere. We can move back that way next.”
Travis climbed off Ethan’s body and flopped onto an open spot at the end of the couch. “Just try not to lose your shit the next time your asshole ex decides to get comfortable on this couch.”
“What?” Ethan sat up and looked at Travis, searching his face for any sign of malice and finding none.
“What what? You’re the one who said he won’t leave you alone. I say next time, invite his ass in and put him on the couch. Would serve him right,” Travis laughed.
Unsure of whether he should join in with the laughter, Ethan settled for shaking his head. “I don’t know about you, you nut. But if I get any choice in the matter, he won’t be coming around here at all, Travis.”
Shrugging, Travis lifted Ethan’s feet into his lap and tugged on a big toe. “You love me, right?”
“Of course,” Ethan said, attempting to pull his foot out of Travis’ lap before the tickling began.
“Then don’t worry about it,” he said. Wrapping a dark hand around Ethan’s lily white foot, he gave it a squeeze. “I trust you, even when I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“I shouldn’t have kept this from you,” Ethan said, looking at the way Travis’ fingers caressed his foot.
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Travis agreed. “But I get it. I probably would have done the same thing, if I were in your position.”
Ethan flopped back against the arm of the couch and sighed. “Since we’re being so honest and forthright, can I ask you a personal question?”
“After what we just did,” Travis laughed. “Do you even need to ask?”
He shrugged. “I don’t want to upset you, Murph, but Reid said something that’s been bothering me.”
“So ask,” Travis said, moving Ethan’s feet out of his lap. “But come down here and cuddle with me first. I can answer anything if I’ve got you in my arms. Now fess up and tell me what that jackass said.”
Smiling, Ethan swapped ends of the couch and wrapped himself around his husband. Their skin was sticky with the memory of the sex they’d just shared, Travis’ heart still pounding in his chest. If he could only stay like this forever, he would. No questions asked. “I hate to even bring this up, but Reid insinuated that you’d had problems.”
“We’ve all got problems, baby,” Travis said, running his fingers through Ethan’s hair, causing it to stand up in short spikes. “Yours is that you are in desperate need of a haircut.”
“I know,” Ethan sighed, burrowing into the heat of Travis’ body. “I was planning on getting it cut this weekend when I came home. But Reid wasn’t referring to the usual things that we can all relate to dealing with.”
“Then what was he saying, E?”
Ethan could tell by the tone of Travis’ voice that he was on the verge of getting angry. This wasn’t what he’d wanted at all but, now that he’d started it, he had to finish it. “Reid told me you had serious issues. Like mental health issues, Murph. I told him he was off base, but he insisted.”
Underneath him, Travis went still. “You know I suffer from depression,” Travis ventured after a long, torturous silence.
“I do,” Ethan said, remembering the one really horrible bout his husband had experienced since they’d been together. There’d been several small incidents, but nothing harsher than a bad case of the blahs. “Is that all he meant? Because as much as it hurts me, I can deal with your nasties.”
Travis shook his head and played with a tuft of Ethan’s hair. “It was more than that,” Travis sighed. “What I didn’t tell you that time was that things were much worse than I let on. We were still so new and in love that I didn’t want to wreck it all by being too honest. I thought that what I did tell you was enough to scare anyone away. Even someone as loyal and wonderful as you.”
Ethan felt his heart leap into his throat. “So, what didn’t you tell me?”
“That my parents made me get help. At first, they were willing to let me ride it out because I’d been on this roller coaster all my life. I hadn’t crashed yet, so they were willing to give me a chance to sort it out.” Travis kissed the top of Ethan’s head and looked around the room. “When it became apparent that I might never leave the house ever again, they staged an intervention. Dragged me out of my home, out of White Pine and into a therapist’s office. I was pissed, to say the least, but they did the right thing.”
He smoothed a hand along the ridges of Travis’ abdomen, soothing, comforting, hoping that this wasn’t going to stir up bad memories for his husband. “It’s never easy to make an unpopular choice, no matter how right it might be. They love you.”
“They do,” he agreed, nodding. “And I love them for not letting my bad attitude sway them. They got me the help I needed and I’ve been mostly okay ever since.”
“What happened?”
Travis shrugged. “An inpatient stay until they could get my mood stabilized and my depression under control. After that, drugs and then therapy. Even though I did manage to convince the doc to wean me off my meds, I haven’t been able to get out of our twice monthly appointments.”
This was news. “You see your therapist twice a week? How is it I don’t know about this?”
Sheepish, Travis grinned. “We talk via Skype after you go to work in the evenings. He’s good about it since he knows I have you. Oh, and he talks to my parents at least once a month to make sure my ass is getting out of the house.”
Suddenly, it all made sense why Aracely was always so insistent that they show up for her Sunday night dinners. It went beyond just wanting to have her son near her as often as possible. “Oh Travis,” Ethan murmured, burying his face in Travis’ chest hair. “I wish I’d known.”
“There’s nothing you could have done about it,” he said. “And the things that you could have done? You’re already doing by being with me and playing the good husband.”
If only he believed that were true. But, if there was one thing he’d learned that evening it was that he could trust in Travis. “I think I can continue to do that,” Ethan said before wincing at the memory of why Travis was there. “Or, I’m going to make my best effort to do just that.” They lay in the quiet stillness of the room for several heartbeats before Ethan broke the silence again. “Think you could stay here, with me, until Friday? Or will that put you too far off schedule?”
Travis’ rumbling laughter vibrated against his cheek. “I brought my laptop, baby. It’s down in the truck. I can stay for as long as you need me to stay.”
For what had been an extremely crappy day, it was having one hell of a beautiful finish.
Continues here.
Fandom: White Pine original fiction
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: NC-17-ish
Word Count: 1,445
Summary: After reaffirming that their relationship was on solid ground, Ethan poses a question to Travis.
Author’s Note: This catches me up with what I’ve actually written, now to catch up to the prompts (since I see Miss K has posted yet another…). Hopefully I haven’t bored you to death at this point. And if not, there’s still seventeen letters left… Also, thanks to H for the perfectly perfect icon...
Continued from here.
It had been too long. Even though they’d only just seen each other the weekend before, it felt like it had been months since they’d touched. Ethan curled his fingers into Travis’ caramel colored skin, holding him tightly. Their bodies crashed together, Travis’ cock filling Ethan with more pleasure than he’d ever experienced with any man.
Travis responded in kind, pulling Ethan’s hair and burying his teeth into a creamy white shoulder. Although he’d never been very good with words, he’d always been excellent with his body. Ethan had to pray that everything he was feeling – the love, the relief, the sorrow – was being communicated to the man holding him down on the couch, thrusting into him, making him rattle the walls with his joy.
When Murphy’s sweat-slicked body collapsed onto his, Ethan wrapped his arms around his husband, swearing he’d never let go. Work, manuscripts, and responsibilities could go to hell as far as he was concerned. Nothing mattered more than keeping this perfect moment from ever ending.
Ethan sighed and Travis kissed his cheek, his jaw, and that spot just behind his ear. “I love you,” Ehtan breathed.
“I love you, too,” Travis said, kissing the base of his throat. “Although I thought we’d at least make it into the bedroom before we got naked.”
Laughing, Ethan pulled Travis down for another kiss. “Don’t worry about it. The bed’s not going anywhere. We can move back that way next.”
Travis climbed off Ethan’s body and flopped onto an open spot at the end of the couch. “Just try not to lose your shit the next time your asshole ex decides to get comfortable on this couch.”
“What?” Ethan sat up and looked at Travis, searching his face for any sign of malice and finding none.
“What what? You’re the one who said he won’t leave you alone. I say next time, invite his ass in and put him on the couch. Would serve him right,” Travis laughed.
Unsure of whether he should join in with the laughter, Ethan settled for shaking his head. “I don’t know about you, you nut. But if I get any choice in the matter, he won’t be coming around here at all, Travis.”
Shrugging, Travis lifted Ethan’s feet into his lap and tugged on a big toe. “You love me, right?”
“Of course,” Ethan said, attempting to pull his foot out of Travis’ lap before the tickling began.
“Then don’t worry about it,” he said. Wrapping a dark hand around Ethan’s lily white foot, he gave it a squeeze. “I trust you, even when I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“I shouldn’t have kept this from you,” Ethan said, looking at the way Travis’ fingers caressed his foot.
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Travis agreed. “But I get it. I probably would have done the same thing, if I were in your position.”
Ethan flopped back against the arm of the couch and sighed. “Since we’re being so honest and forthright, can I ask you a personal question?”
“After what we just did,” Travis laughed. “Do you even need to ask?”
He shrugged. “I don’t want to upset you, Murph, but Reid said something that’s been bothering me.”
“So ask,” Travis said, moving Ethan’s feet out of his lap. “But come down here and cuddle with me first. I can answer anything if I’ve got you in my arms. Now fess up and tell me what that jackass said.”
Smiling, Ethan swapped ends of the couch and wrapped himself around his husband. Their skin was sticky with the memory of the sex they’d just shared, Travis’ heart still pounding in his chest. If he could only stay like this forever, he would. No questions asked. “I hate to even bring this up, but Reid insinuated that you’d had problems.”
“We’ve all got problems, baby,” Travis said, running his fingers through Ethan’s hair, causing it to stand up in short spikes. “Yours is that you are in desperate need of a haircut.”
“I know,” Ethan sighed, burrowing into the heat of Travis’ body. “I was planning on getting it cut this weekend when I came home. But Reid wasn’t referring to the usual things that we can all relate to dealing with.”
“Then what was he saying, E?”
Ethan could tell by the tone of Travis’ voice that he was on the verge of getting angry. This wasn’t what he’d wanted at all but, now that he’d started it, he had to finish it. “Reid told me you had serious issues. Like mental health issues, Murph. I told him he was off base, but he insisted.”
Underneath him, Travis went still. “You know I suffer from depression,” Travis ventured after a long, torturous silence.
“I do,” Ethan said, remembering the one really horrible bout his husband had experienced since they’d been together. There’d been several small incidents, but nothing harsher than a bad case of the blahs. “Is that all he meant? Because as much as it hurts me, I can deal with your nasties.”
Travis shook his head and played with a tuft of Ethan’s hair. “It was more than that,” Travis sighed. “What I didn’t tell you that time was that things were much worse than I let on. We were still so new and in love that I didn’t want to wreck it all by being too honest. I thought that what I did tell you was enough to scare anyone away. Even someone as loyal and wonderful as you.”
Ethan felt his heart leap into his throat. “So, what didn’t you tell me?”
“That my parents made me get help. At first, they were willing to let me ride it out because I’d been on this roller coaster all my life. I hadn’t crashed yet, so they were willing to give me a chance to sort it out.” Travis kissed the top of Ethan’s head and looked around the room. “When it became apparent that I might never leave the house ever again, they staged an intervention. Dragged me out of my home, out of White Pine and into a therapist’s office. I was pissed, to say the least, but they did the right thing.”
He smoothed a hand along the ridges of Travis’ abdomen, soothing, comforting, hoping that this wasn’t going to stir up bad memories for his husband. “It’s never easy to make an unpopular choice, no matter how right it might be. They love you.”
“They do,” he agreed, nodding. “And I love them for not letting my bad attitude sway them. They got me the help I needed and I’ve been mostly okay ever since.”
“What happened?”
Travis shrugged. “An inpatient stay until they could get my mood stabilized and my depression under control. After that, drugs and then therapy. Even though I did manage to convince the doc to wean me off my meds, I haven’t been able to get out of our twice monthly appointments.”
This was news. “You see your therapist twice a week? How is it I don’t know about this?”
Sheepish, Travis grinned. “We talk via Skype after you go to work in the evenings. He’s good about it since he knows I have you. Oh, and he talks to my parents at least once a month to make sure my ass is getting out of the house.”
Suddenly, it all made sense why Aracely was always so insistent that they show up for her Sunday night dinners. It went beyond just wanting to have her son near her as often as possible. “Oh Travis,” Ethan murmured, burying his face in Travis’ chest hair. “I wish I’d known.”
“There’s nothing you could have done about it,” he said. “And the things that you could have done? You’re already doing by being with me and playing the good husband.”
If only he believed that were true. But, if there was one thing he’d learned that evening it was that he could trust in Travis. “I think I can continue to do that,” Ethan said before wincing at the memory of why Travis was there. “Or, I’m going to make my best effort to do just that.” They lay in the quiet stillness of the room for several heartbeats before Ethan broke the silence again. “Think you could stay here, with me, until Friday? Or will that put you too far off schedule?”
Travis’ rumbling laughter vibrated against his cheek. “I brought my laptop, baby. It’s down in the truck. I can stay for as long as you need me to stay.”
For what had been an extremely crappy day, it was having one hell of a beautiful finish.
Continues here.
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no subject
Date: 2016-06-28 04:06 am (UTC)And thinking of them sitting there without putting any clothes on while they had this conversation was actually quite hot!
Thank you! (and I do like that you like that icon! It did turn out very well!)
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