Work Text:
Lucie had never noticed before, but it wasn’t her fault.
But now she paid attention to the smooth curves of Jesse’s neck. The way his Adam apple moved when he talked. The gentle line of his shoulders. The freckles that dotted his skin where his shirt was innocently left open at the top. The rise and fall of his chest, and how he sometimes whispered her name in his sleep. She thought it must be unusual for him, to rest. Rest as the living did. Getting a wisp of fresh air when the weather is nice. Getting tired because of a long walk, hand in hand. Falling asleep while reading a book together, which was what had just occurred.
She couldn’t help but widen her smile. He was on his side of the bed, the one toward the window, with his head reclined lazily on the pillow behind him. She imagined he had left her. Not in the literal sense, of course, as he would have had long ago. She thought he was at peace. His mouth was half open, and he wore a serene expression. She didn’t care that he had decided to doze off right before the main heroine was about to face her enemy.
She truly didn’t want to wake him – they had spent the whole day outside enjoying a trip around museums and old things. Not that he hadn’t seen them before, but it hit different to watch the statues and the paintings with someone. He looked like a painting himself, in that moment. His dark lashes fanned on his cheeks; she thought he was handsome. She had never believed otherwise, although beauty didn’t matter to her. Sure, it is good. He is good. Alluring. Mysterious. He looked like a character straight from one of her novels, but what attracted Lucie to him was that they were on the same page. Right now, also on the same bed.
She blushed. Unbelievable that they were married. Yet, the evidence lay on her hand, on her finger, which held the very reason of Jesse’s demise. It was time to rest, anyway. She put the book on the nightstand, and leaned closer, as close as she could get. His chest was still rising, then settling. Rising and settling like waves meeting the shoreline. She placed her cheek over there, careful not to wake him, and listened to the steady beat, which was now her favorite tune. And then she gazed up at him, taking in other pieces of Jesse that she had forgotten earlier, like his sharp jaw and his pointed nose. The way his dark hair grazed the side of his neck. Again, the light trail of freckles.
She angled her body towards his, and pushed herself up until her lips collided with his delicate skin. She kissed him there, birthmark after birthmark, careful not to wake him. He whispered her name, then, urgently. Perhaps he was dreaming about her. Perhaps –
His eyes flitted open, and she halted. “Do not stop on my account.”
“I didn’t mean to wake you, sorry.”
“Who said I was sleeping?” he raised his eyebrows.
“You’re so smug,” she rolled her eyes. “Do you know that you have freckles on your neck?”
“Do I? I don’t usually look at my neck, when I stare at my reflection in the mirror, Lucie.”
“I barely noticed them earlier,” she replied, setting herself in the crook of his shoulder. She was lying, of course. “They are nice.”
“They don’t measure up to your dimples,” he said, and she looked up at him, frowning. “You have dimples when you smile.”
“I had no idea,” she told him. It was true. “But then again I don’t smile like an idiot when I look at myself in the mirror, Jesse,” she retorted.
“What a pity,” he said. “Can you smile right now, for me?”
“What?” she glanced at him.
“If you do it, I can see your dimples and kiss them,” he replied quietly with a shy grin. “And return the favor.”
Lucie’s cheeks warmed, and she offered him a wide smile without even trying too much. He leaned down to do what he had just promised her. His kisses sent jolts through her. She was happy. She felt loved. She was ecstatic.
And nothing else mattered.