Simon Basset One Shots

evening endeavors

The atmosphere of the vast gym, that echoed with the sound of your clicking heels as they made slow strides past the threshold, was rather thick with a humidity tainted with a musty scent. The air smelled of the rain from the long dreary London days gone by, as though puddles of the fallen afternoon rain lingered within the confines of the tall and bare walls. A faint mildew scent mixing with the rich earthy tones that seeped in from the open door, the nighttime sky behind you dousing the streets in a strong scent of saturated soil, from the relentless precipitation washing over the square. Slowing to a drizzle as night fell over the city, a steady trickling of lingering raindrops that seeped into the forgotten crevices of the street and nearby buildings, as though to erase the stain of the day away before the break of the new dawn. Your breaths were deep, as the air held a heat that the outside evening air lacked, replacing the brisk chill of the blowing September winds with the thick nature that engulfed the dimly lit gym.

Your short cream colored heels clicked softly against the concrete flooring, listening to the patter bouncing off of the walls, but their echo became hidden in the harsher sound coming only a few mere feet from where your steps finally began to slow. It was a heavy sound, a repetitive thump that reverberated through the air, overpowering the noise of your entrance. Your feet stilled a few steps away from the large boxing ring, the corner tall and nearly casting a shadow down upon your frame, from the flickering light that swung above the center of the square.

You knew he hadn't noticed your presence, for the sound of your feet were far from where his focus was in that very moment. Because you watched as Simon Basset swung his fists towards the punching bag dangling down from the hook on the ceiling, the pressure of his bare knuckles colliding with the worn upholstery with a strong conviction, as you listened to the chain rattle from the shaking force in which he sent it swaying. 

Simon's muscles flexed and flared from his actions, the warmth of his flesh bare to your eyes as sweat glistened up and down his heaving chest. The veins in his hands swelled a beating blue as you could see even in the slight distance in which you stood from him, the redness gathering against the cuts ripping through his skin over the bones of his knuckles. His biceps were taut and the muscle that bulged beneath the confines of his perfectly tailored attire during the day, was released and revealed in the dim glow of the light. The chiseled sculpt of his chest, the one your fingers had run down just that very morning, shimmered with the sweat that slid down his smooth skin. Down the valley where his heart laid beating rapidly below the surface, and into the very crevices of his defined and emboldened abs that pushed against his warm skin. Your husband was a beautiful man, as though he'd been shaped out of a slab of pure marble from the hands of God himself. 

Feeling the soft growth of a smile stretching against the very edges of your lightly painted lips, the sight of his body doing things to your heart and parts of your body that you were still trying your best to understand completely, you took a step closer. 

"I thought I might find you here." 

Your words felt thrown through the air, as though they tore through the humidity like a bullet and ricocheted off the walls in a boisterous boom. Simon's fists were lifted in a stance readied for another punch against the poor bag, that was bound to give out soon enough. His head snapping to the left to witness your sudden presence, his shoulders straightening as you watched the heavy rise and fall of his chest with each racing breath he took. His deep brown eyes settling over your frame that felt even smaller in the vast environment of the nearly empty gymnasium.

You studied him, with the same tight lipped smile toying at the edges of your lips, as the surprise of your voice echoing in the space slowly faded. His brows arching in a faint motion before furrowing softly, his full lips parting as the corners twitched with a semblance of his own hidden smile.