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"Desmond, no." Eloise tried to keep her voice firm and intimidating, but as she somewhat expected, it had absolutely no effect on the man.
Said man, a grown adult at this point, let out a loud, drawn out sigh and pathetically dropped his forehead onto her shoulder. Desmond's arms slowly lifted to wrap around Eloise's waist, pulling her closer.
He was borderline whining, and as much as Eloise didn't want to admit it, this side of him was as flattering as it was endearing. "Baaabe... please sit in my lap."
Eloise hates that she considers it. "I'm going to crush you. I-I don't know what you're expecting, b-but.."
Desmond pressed his face into her shoulder and mumbles, "If you crush me, I'll thank you." Eloise sputters, her face burning a bright crimson.
"Th-that's not even the slightest bit reassuring." Truth be told, Eloise was having a hard time keeping a straight face with Desmond's affections so blatantly being thrown her way. They're dating, sure, but they hadn't been for long. She thought that they had both agreed to take their relationship slow.
Turns out, their definitions of "slow" were a little different. Almost instantly, Desmond started constantly showering her in praise, hugging her and holding her hand, and other things typical couples usually did. She didn't dislike it though, not by a long shot, so she didn't see a reason to bring it up to him.
Embarrassingly though, Eloise isn't even close to being used to it after, what, two months?
She felt Desmond's lips form a pout against her shoulder. His arms tightened around her waist, and Eloise had to suppress a squeak. "Eloiiiiiise," he drawled out, and almost Eloise rolled her eyes, "You don't know how much I need this, baby." Eloise opened her mouth to retort, but her mind caught up to what her boyfriend had said. Pet names coming from Desmond weren't uncommon, but they set her heart ablaze every single time.
Eloise assumed Desmond knew that, because she could feel his pout almost instantly turn into an irritatingly smug smirk. She involuntarily shivered when he kissed her shoulder blade, and she dreadfully acknowledged that he was winning.
She shoved her face into her hands and groaned. Her cheeks were scorching hot, and for what? She dropped them back into her lap and looked back at her boyfriend hesitantly. "Only for a little while..?" His eyes lit up, and he held his hands up in a mock surrender. "Of course. If you get uncomfortable, we'll stop." Eloise paused, mulling it over, before she sighed again.
She pointed her eyes anywhere but his annoyingly handsome face, and quietly muttered, "...A-Alright." Looking back, she saw that despite his visible excitement, Desmond only looked at her with a patient smile, waiting for her to move of her own volition.
She turned her body fully toward him, moving back slightly so they both could have room to maneuver. Eloise paused. "How should I..?" Trailing off was probably a coward’s move, but she was honestly far too embarrassed to care right now.
Eloise watched as Desmond moved backwards so his back was against her headboard, and he could sit with his legs fully extended out in front of him. He patted his lap, smiling brightly as he answered, "Straddle me."
Eloise paused. Processed.
Her mouth opened, but no words came out, so she closed it.
She only opened her mouth to speak again when she saw her boyfriend looking at her expectantly, and squeaked out, "I-Isn't that.. um..." She searched for the words. Suggestive, embarrassing, too fast..
Before she can vocalize any of them, Desmond cuts her off, clearly embarrassed too. His arm reached up to sheepishly rub his neck, and for the first time in a little while, he couldn't meet her eyes. "I didn't mean it like that. Shit, I-"
Evening her breathing, Eloise thought about it. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Desmond... like that, or that she wasn’t ready for it. So why was she so hesitant?
Feeling uncharacteristically bold, Eloise decided to put her embarrassment, worries and insecurities aside and scoot over to where Desmond now sat a little ways away from her.
She only hesitated a little, Eloise thought with slight pride, as she shoved Desmond’s now rising knees down to where they were laid out before, lifted her left leg over his thighs and sat on his lap, albeit resting the majority of her weight on her knees so as to not hurt her boyfriend.
After what felt like hours, she looked Desmond in the eye to find him gaping up at her. After a few more seconds, she looked away, stuttering,, "Can you.. can y-you say something?"
This seemed to snap Desmond out of his daze, as he closed his mouth and looked to the side. "Sorry, sorry. You're... you're just,” he looked back into her eyes and lifted one hand to rest on her cheek and the other found its place on her hip, ”…so gorgeous." The hand that rested on her cheek was now deliberately gliding down her body, down her neck, shoulders, chest and down to meet his other at her hips.
Their position was definitely a little suggestive, but Eloise knew she was ready if what they were doing now came to that, so that part didn't worry her so much. She just felt so exposed, his blue eyes looking up at her like she was his entire world. His thumbs were rubbing circles into her hips. She has never felt this loved, and it was so overwhelming.
Eloise heard her boyfriend chuckle beneath her. Desmond took one of the hands on her back and ran it up and down her thigh. "You're so stiff, baby. Relax a bit for me?" Eloise hadn't noticed, but she assumed keeping all her weight off of Desmond wasn't making her feel any more comfortable. But she’d hurt him, right?
She looked down at his muscular thighs that were sandwiched between hers and almost forgot what she was thinking about.
He seemed to notice her inner struggle and snorted. "C'mon, I know you're holding back. Do you really think I'm that fragile?" The way he looked at her so fondly made it hard to say no to him. She sighed, and eased up the tension on her legs, just a bit, and looked to him for approval.
However, Desmond apparently wasn't satisfied with that. She felt his arms wrap around her waist once more, and let out a yelp as he pulled her so they were flush against one another.
They stayed still for a moment, until Eloise slowly brought her shaky hands up to his shoulders. Desmond tensed, and said, "Ah, I'm sorry! I.. I got excited." When he tried to pull her back up, her hands moved from his shoulders down his back, and she held on. She gently rested her head up against his throat, face turned away from him.
Eloise drew in a few slow breaths. Desmond was a comfortable warmth. She never liked getting too hot, but she felt like she could get lost in her boyfriend’s embrace forever. "I'm.. I'm fine." She exhaled. Her muscles gradually relaxed as Desmond remained tense and silent under her, almost a complete contrast to how they were minutes ago.
Face still turned away from him, in an admittedly poor attempt at hiding how red she still was, she smiled. "Yeah. This is.. I-It's nice."
Desmond breathed out a surprised chuckle. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into an almost impossibly tight hug. Eloise felt as his mouth pressed into the top of her head.
That's how they stayed for a while, which was more than alright with her. Desmond was such a comforting, enveloping presence. Eloise didn't know how much she wanted this, or maybe even needed this, until she sat in his lap, held firmly and safely in his arms.
There was a noticeable difference between holding someone and being held. It had an added vulnerability that she was very inexperienced in, but it didn't feel bad. In fact, it was nice. To feel safe in someone's arms, rather than being the one protecting someone else.
That wasn't all, though. Eloise wasn't the only one being held. She was holding Desmond back. She tightened her grip, maybe just to feel that this was still happening, and felt him squeeze in return, no questions asked.
That's really how their relationship worked, wasn't it? Mutual comfort, mutual affection, and mutual protection. Eloise sighed happily and let her eyes close on their own.
She felt herself melt even further into her boyfriend, their breaths in sync. She turned her head drowsily, now facing his neck.
Eloise brought up her opposite arm that was slung around Desmond's shoulder and cupped her hand to his neck. She leaned in, kissed him, and nuzzled into his throat. Her hand slowly ran down his back, returning to its previous position holding onto him.
She faintly hears Desmond say something to her, but she's being pulled into unconsciousness at record time. In an attempt to answer, but mumbles nonsense sleepily instead.
Eloise felt him kiss her head one last time before she fell asleep in their shared embrace.