After “The”

As he kissed her, pushing her against the stone wall in the shower, he couldn’t help but remember the first time he met her. The first time he experienced her passion for science that would later lead him to fall in love with her.

His knee nudged her legs apart and he greedily sat her on his thigh, her hot core making him moan in utter delight.

His memory played on in the back of his mind.

He had gone down to the labs, displeased by the delay in the products he had been promised weeks ago. His head scientist hadn’t even been there, not since last Saturday. While he had left instructions for his employees, they couldn’t access half the material needed without his specific codes.

They had attempted to contact the man in question but he wouldn’t answer. Instead, unaware of the deadline, they had split themselves into teams based on experience and interest to focus on secondary tasks.

Taking it as is, he chose to speak with each group about three things: one, their current manager who was notably absent; secondly, their progress on the main objective and the likelihood of finishing within the next week with access to what they needed; and lastly, their progress on the current, secondary tasks.

Most agreed on not liking their boss, and that the results he had desired hadn’t gone through weeks ago purely for the man’s laziness. He later dealt with the issue in a permanent matter. At least, their progress on other tasks was almost complete.

It was during this time he had met her. While not the group leader, she had been noted as the most knowledgeable.

She lit up as she told him about their work, often veering off track to end up shaking her head and apologizing as she returned back to the main focus. He had no idea about half of what she talked about but she spoke with such a bright vigor he never wanted her to stop.

Suddenly, the light in her eyes became snuffed out as an embarrassing blush coated her neck and face. She apologized about it, noting out loud how nothing she said made sense or mattered.

He encouraged her to continue, bringing that beautiful light back. He didn’t know anything about what she said and he figured she knew, but he didn’t have the heart to admit it aloud when he knew she would probably stop talking.

He liked her work, her passion, and within a year, had carefully and calculatedly moved her into head scientist of the labs.

She was nervous about leadership roles – it was really too easy to see.

At first, she had declined every single new position he offered her. Being perfectly honest, he had to insist on them discussing it over dinner several times before she’d accept any new job. He would have been annoyed had she not been so adorably awkward every time they met.

The first time she had been in a private meeting with him in her new role, he could barely focus on anything else except the way her lips moved. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how much he liked her.

He made sure she always had private meetings with him before, purely because he hated the thought of her being embarrassed by how she loses her train of thought when discussing work. Privately, she could talk all she wanted without the judgment of others. He certainly didn’t mind.

It was during this meeting he stood from his seat, breaking at the seams as he rounded his desk to face her. Without warning, he bent down and put her in the hottest lip lock of her life. It lasted about three seconds before the clipboard fell from her grasp, her head snapped back and an echo of a smack resounded through the room.

He pulled back from that, partially offended by her response. His cheek stung viciously.

She had jumped from her chair, a mixture of horror and fright at the new handprint across his face. Apologies poured from her mouth as she inspected the damage.

She admitted that she had been scared by his sudden demeanor. She thought he had been upset by something she had said, but when he kissed her, it caught her off guard.

It took a minute but he managed to calm her down, not in the least insulted. He gave her a peck to her lips, cherishing the sudden pink on her cheeks from the affection. It did lead to a much more enjoyable kiss afterward.

He chuckled, pulling back from her lips as he grinned down at her.

“Should I ask?”

“Remember the first time I kissed you?” She groaned, embarrassed, knocking the back of her head against the wall.

“You know I never really meant-“ He silenced her worry with a peck to her lips, his grin never leaving.

“I know.” He pulled back, placing her on her feet and cherished the look of disappointment she couldn’t hide.

“Did I ruin it?” He kissed her, reaching for the shampoo.

“No, babe. I know your scalp is probably bruised. You hate putting your hair up like that and you’ve had a really stressful night.” He pulled her in close, letting her head rest on his chest as the warm water beat on her back and his hands soaped and massaged her head.

After a little while, he spoke up, “don’t think I’m going to leave you hanging. I just gotta make sure you’re taking care of first and you know I don’t like drunk sex. I know you, and after half a bottle of that wine, I know you’re passed buzzed.”

He kissed her forehead before he leaned her back to rinse her hair. She kissed him one last time before stepping out of his arms to finish washing.