I was not intending to openly sequel "You Think I'm Pretty". I figured "Complicated Situation" could exist in the same universe but apparently I wasn't done with this story. So...this is what happened between the two. And once I'm done here I'll be able to finish "Complicated Situation", I promise. And that's enough author talk, below the asterisks is what you want (hopefully).

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"I'm still worried about you," Adina's voice cut through the blackness of the room. Her fingers curled in the quilt as she sat gingerly on the side of the bed.

"I know," he shut the apartment door behind them, leaning his shoulder into it so he could throw the deadbolt. They didn't bother with the lights. He didn't bother to patronize her by saying her worries weren't necessary. He walked over to her, stopping just short of the bed. His hands traced her jaw in the darkness.

"You can't just disappear like that," she said fiercely, her fingers curling around his wrists. Her voice cracked and she was glad he couldn't see her face. Thinking about the days in New Orleans, when she knew something was wrong but there was no response to her messages made her stomach twist in knots.

"You knew where I was," he murmured, her hands slid past his arms to graze over his abdomen.

She leaned forward to rest her forehead against his belly and sighed. "Knowing where you are and knowing you're alright are two different things, Mathias." She made a noise that was pure frustration, "Not to mention the sheer fucking size of this place."

He snorted, a few hundred square miles was a lot of ground to cover to be sure. But sometimes this place felt so small and he felt like a cornered dog. "I don't want to fight."

"Neither do I," she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against him. "You really scared me," she whispered finally. Hating that she felt like she should apologize for caring about him. The ends of his hair tickled her and she slid a hand further up his back to curl them around her fingers. His fingers tightened reflexively against her skin but he said nothing.

The silence stretched between them, tense and painful. Finally he leaned down, his lips finding her forehead. He feathered soft kisses over her nose, her eyelids, he tasted a tear, his knuckles traced down the column of her neck and when his lips found hers they were scorching. Adina moaned low in her throat and her fingers curled in his shirt. He was remembering another time in this bed. When he'd been the one to desperately cling to her in the dark. It was interesting to him that they were rarely vulnerable like this to each other in daylight.

"Please," she murmured when he lifted his head to pull the shirt off. She dipped her head and her lips found his abdomen. She wasn't even sure what she was asking for. Her knees pricked in her jeans, scraped and still bloody from the epic fucking that they had done on the mountainside. She felt dusty and raw and she was so, so tired, but also she wanted to be naked with him in the bed and get back to that easy, safe space they shared that fortified her against the darkness.

His fingers slid over her shoulders, skimming her breasts and then her sides, taking the hem of the sweatshirt and she let him draw it over her head. She rose from the bed, her own hands going to the tank top she wore underneath, it followed the sweatshirt and she flung it somewhere over his shoulder. His hands played over her breasts, thumbs hooking under the band of her bra. Adina's lips closed over the pulse at his throat and he groaned low as he jerked the bra straps over her shoulders. Mathias's fingers tangled in the hair at the base of her neck and he pulled her head back from his skin. Her eyes glittered in the darkness. "Please, what?"

Adina's fingers were working his belt and jeans closures. She bit her lip and arched her neck, perhaps trying to kiss him again. His fingers tightened in her hair and she whimpered. This was different than on the mountain. His desire was no longer desperate and punishing. She wasn't sure what it was now. The intensity still made her skin tingle. She gasped when he nipped her neck with his teeth. Her body jerked against him and she squirmed as his lips blazed a trail down her neck. Her fingers spasmed against her jeans as she struggled to undo them and think at the same time.

His own fingers were making short work of his jeans and his feet were kicking out of his boots. She toed out of the Chucks and jerked the denim over her hips. She was aware of her ragged breathing, the sound of his clothes sliding away from his skin in the dark. Adina was aware of him sitting on the bed and she caught his fingers as he curled them around her hips. "I need you," she said against his forehead, her lips resting there.

His lips found her breast and he bit the underside gently. She groaned, her head falling back, her fingers holding his head against her. Mathias guided her to stand more firmly against the edge of the bed. He was kneeling on the bed, his lips traveling from her breast to her collarbones. Adina pressed her breasts against him and her fingers tangled in his hair and she curled her arms around him. "I'm here," he murmured against her skin, his hand drifting down her side, fingers tickling her hip as he found her knee, urging her silently to climb onto the bed.

Adina complied, fingers digging into his shoulders as she climbed onto the mattress. The quilt pressed into her abraded knees and she winced, but the feel of his fingers on her skin distracted her. His hand slid between her thighs and she sighed, swaying against him. Her lips found his and she kissed him, her desperation making the kiss sharp, more intense.

"Here?" His lips blazed a path along her jaw as his fingers played against her. She was warm, wet, almost ready for him. She bit back a moan and her nails dug briefly into his back. He held back a grin. "Adina?"

"That's not fair," she said, breathless, her hips pressing herself more firmly into his hand.

"No?" His other hand played with her nipple. His lips closed over her pulse and her hips jerked again. His erection throbbed. "Tell me, sweet girl," he said, low, coaxing.

"I need you," she said again, more firmly. She wasn't just talking about right now, she knew that, the feel of his fingers, of his lips, the press of his arousal against her thigh, it was distracting. She needed him. It was one of the things she realized in New Orleans. Telling him she loved him, flinging the words like an accusation on a mountain top, it wasn't enough. Even though she knew he loved her. She pressed a hand into his chest. "Mathias."

He lifted his head, he could make out more than just the glitter of her eyes in the dark. He could see the wet curve of her lip, her hair in a cloud around her shoulders. He knew what she was really saying. He felt it in her desperate kisses. His hand left her core and he found her fingers, lifting her hand to his lips to graze the palm. "I'm right here," he said softly, guiding her hand to his erection. Her fingers curled around him and he rocked gently into her.

Adina's eyes found his in the darkness. He sat back on his haunches, fingers going to her hips, urging her. She bit her lip as she rose over him, wanting to ask him for more but feeling as though she were asking too much. Wasn't he the one who waited for her all that time? The one who calmly supported her until she was strong enough to say the words? Was it so terrible to trust him, to allow him the time he needed to cross this last bridge? She guided him to her core, letting out a sharp sound as she slid onto him. The quilt dug harder into her knees but she clenched her jaw, rotating her hips to accommodate him fully.

"Here," he said, fingers molding her ass, urging her into him. She moved with him and gasped, the feel of him this way was sharper, somehow. She rocked into his thrusts, her fingers digging into his shoulder. She reached between their bodies, fingers finding the places she needed to create her own pleasure. Mathias kissed her hard, swallowing her sounds of pleasure.

She could feel a light sheen of sweat on her skin. She was close to her own climax, she could feel it. She pressed herself against him, her hand between their two bodies, fingers sliding. His fingers clutched her, helping her to ride him. She bit back a cry and then threw herself forward, cheek falling to his shoulder as the orgasm took her. He slid his hands up her back, holding her upright as she came, continuing his thrusting. Adina cried out in earnest, turning her head to press her forehead into his neck. Her lips pressed to his collarbone and her teeth bit gently as she shook with it. He thrust harder, his rhythm going erratic. "Now," she said, her lips finding his ear, her teeth tugging gently on the lobe. "I need this."

He fell forward onto the quilt. Adina felt the fabric against her back and closed her eyes against the feel of him inside her. Her knees stung with the cool air and she let her thighs fall wide as he thrust into her. Mathias's teeth scraped her neck and he came with a long, low moan. She tightened her arms around him as he collapsed on top of her.

In the quiet she felt him relaxing, the tension in his back leaving him slowly. She loved this feeling, this quiet. She wondered how long this would be enough. How long before she needed more?