The Crow & The Ghost: A Dystopian AU Simon Ghost Riley x Reader

Chapter Fifteen: Sleepover

Keegan leaves soon after and without much ceremony, slipping into your dark hallway like a creature that belongs to the night. You close the door behind him and then turn around to see Riley standing with only his mask and boxers on, and Circe cradled in his arms.
You roll your eyes. "You're both pathetic."
"She very graciously hid away while we were fucking," Riley says, snuggling the cat to his chest. "She deserves to be rewarded."
You bite your cheek to stop a smile from forming. You walk back over to the couch and pull your shirt back on, forgoing the leggings since you're still quite... sticky.
"I'm going to take shower," You say. "Are you... are you staying?"
Riley looks at you, his eyes unreadable. "Do you want me to stay?"
You shrug, unsure. "I don't mind you staying, but it's also fine if you want to leave. Why don't you decide while I'm showering? I won't be offended if I come out and you're gone."
And you wouldn't be. You would almost be relieved—you had work in the morning and you very much wanted to take some time to process what the fuck just happened, and get some good sleep.
Must get tiring being such a fucking slut. Riley's words from your first experience zing through your head as he shrugs. "All right," He says, his fingers running across Circe's fur.
"All right," You reply, and move past him to go into your bathroom. You close the door behind you and immediately turn the shower on, letting out a whoosh of breath as you run your hands through your hair.
You prop your hands on the edge of your sink and lean forward, looking deep into your own eyes through the mirror. Your eyes are a bit bloodshot and your mouth looks swollen, your cheeks flushed red. Your hair is a disaster.
How had you gotten here? How had you been sexual with Lieutenant Riley so many times in such a short period? How had you not only gotten with him, but also Captain MacTavish and Sergeant Russ?
It was insane. Absolutely fucking insane, and unexpected, and ridiculous, and probably more inappropriate than you were willing to realize, but... you were having fun. You felt alive. You felt wanted and desired and you wanted and desired back, and it was something so glorious that you couldn't even find it in you to be bewildered enough to want to stop.
If anything... you just couldn't wait to tell Kieran about it.
A wicked smile grows on your face as the steam from the hot water fogs up the mirror, rendering you a blur on the glass.
You push away from the sink and take your shirt off again, stepping into the shower and hissing at how hot the water is. You turn it down significantly and take the shower head off its perch, immediately bringing it down to help wash off your pussy, which is already sore.
God, you had been fucked. Well and truly fucked, by two men.
Two weeks ago you couldn't remember the last time you had been kissed.
After a few moments, you put the showerhead back up on its perch and go on with washing the rest of your body and your hair, letting your skin blotch red as you make the water hot again.
You stay there longer than you probably should, but you want to make sure you give Riley plenty of time to leave—if he even wants to.
You turn the water off and step out of the shower, drying yourself as best as you can before you have to leave the bathroom to go to your room. You wrap the towel around your body and put your hand on the doorknob, taking a breath as you twist it open.
You step forward and look around the apartment, seeing nothing in the dim lighting. You step out even further and still see no one. The couch is empty.
You had wanted Riley to go—you wanted time to yourself to process. And yet... him actually leaving causes a pang in your heart. You almost feel hurt, even though you know you have no right to.
You let out a sigh and walk to your bedroom, crossing over the threshold and dropping the towel as you walk to your drawer.
You hear the floor creak behind you, someone taking a step from your bed, and you feel warm skin on your back as two large hands place themselves lightly on your arms.
"All that clean up just to be ready for another round?" Riley cooes in your ear, his deep voice so rough and seductive that you can already feel it in the pit of your stomach. His hands trail up your arms, his feather light touch giving you goosebumps.
"I thought you had left," You say quietly, your voice practically trembling.
You feel Riley's mask brush against your neck. "Come on, little Crow," He says, his hands traveling down your arms until he intertwines all of his fingers with yours. "You know I wouldn't miss an opportunity to get you all to myself."
You let out a breath. "We have to work tomorrow." You say, steadying your voice.
Riley squeezes your fingers. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that my pussy is gonna start screaming bloody murder if I put another large object in it."
Riley laughs, releasing your hands and stepping away. You hear his large body sit on your bed, the bedsprings creaking with his weight. Your fingers twitch with the absence of him, and you quickly open your drawer to take out pajama shorts and a tank top.
You step into the shorts and pull on the tank top facing away from Riley, knowing he's probably staring at your ass. You turn around when you're done, and you see him sitting back on your bed, his long legs reaching towards the floor while his toned stomach is stretched, his muscular arms leaning on his elbows. He looks at you from the tops of his eyes. Though he has boxers on, his hard on is evident.
You lick your lips.
"Thirsty, Crow?" Riley asks.
You shake your head. "I need to go to bed. For work tomorrow. I'm already behind on my sleep schedule."
Riley pushes off his elbows, sitting up. "You told me I could stay..."
"And you can," You say quickly. "But I just don't think there's enough time in the night to do all the things you want to do."
Riley stares at you. "There's not a long enough lifetime for all the things I want to do with you."
You let out an exasperated sigh, masking how incredibly turned on you're becoming once again. You walk towards your bed, climbing onto it and moving past Riley. He adjusts himself, turning so he can face you.
"Do you have to say the most erotic shit to me all the time?" You whine.
Riley lowers himself onto his elbows again, though now his chest is on the blankets rather than his back. "Yes."
You give him a long look. "So," You say after a moment, moving yourself under the covers. "Did you have fun?"
Riley drops his head and lets it hang. "Yes," He says, his voice muffled.
"Are you... blushing?" You ask, your voice growing giddy despite yourself.
"No."
"You are totally blushing!" You laugh. "You know I can't see you with the mask on, right? You don't have to be so shy."
"I'll be whatever I want to be." Riley says flatly, still keeping his head down.
You poke his hands with your foot through the blanket. "Don't be shy, little boy."
He picks up his head, his eyes blazing with a playful anger. "I'm not a little boy," He says. "I'm a gigantic fucking man."
You raise your eyebrows, a goofy smile plastered on your face. "I know."
You both laugh then, stupid and a little giddy.
Then, suddenly, you're reminded of what he said against your shoulder as he came, the words he uttered and then demanded you not ask him to repeat.
Crow... I think I love you.
You wonder if Riley suddenly remembers it too, at the same moment, because you both stop laughing and your eyes meet. You stare at each other for a few moments, as if daring each other to speak.
"Did you mean what you said?" You ask, your voice quiet.
Circe jumps up onto the bed, lazily laying herself in front of Riley. He looks away from you and places a hand on her, his fingers digging into her fur as she starts to purr.
He doesn't answer for several moments, and you wonder if he's going to answer at all. He still doesn't look at you, and his hands keep repeating the same movements on Circe's fur.
You grimace, suddenly feeling bad. He told you not to ask him to repeat it, and he's clearly uncomfortable now. There I go, ruining the fucking moment.
You open your mouth to speak, to change the subject, to stomp over the mess you're quickly making, when suddenly Riley says: "In those moments, yes."
You freeze. You don't even breathe, as if taking oxygen into your lungs will steal the air he needs to continue speaking on this subject.
"I think I could love you," He says, his voice so quiet you almost wonder if he's speaking the words only to Circe, knowing she can't repeat them. "But when we're touching each other, it feels like I already do."
You feel tears prick in the back of your eyes. You aren't quite sure why. But you stay silent, your eyes glued to him. He looks up at you, his sad eyes looking helpless.
"Riley," You whisper. "You don't—"
"I know," He says gruffly. "And I don't expect you to say anything back. I know we haven't been doing this all that long. We barely know each other, really. I just—" He pauses, looks away. He suddenly lays his head down onto Circe's torso, hiding his masked face in her fur. "I don't get close to many people. So I feel more intensely than I should."
"You're feeling the right amount of intense," You say softly. "We've... we've already done a lot together."
"Soap is going to be pissed." Riley mutters, his voice muffled by Circe's small body.
You furrow your brow. "Soap?"
Riley lifts his head off Circe but still doesn't look at you. Your eyes flick to his arms, taking in how gorgeously large they are, especially as they flex from holding him up.
"Soap is the closest person in my life," He says. "And I've been unintentionally distancing myself from him for the last few days."
Of course it's to do with Ghost, John. Isn't it always?
Yes, it is.
You think of the last time you spoke to Soap, in the stairwell. How defeated he seemed. You think of how he tried comforting you in the meeting, how he tried to give you a voice when no one else would. You had pretty much blown him off entirely.
I do care, Crow. Look at me.
"Are you and Soap...?" You let the question linger.
Riley and Soap were extremely close—you had picked up on that within the first few months of your mandatory year. It was well known in the Defense that they were partners, that they worked together as often as they could. It was easier to just assign them to the same schedules, shifts, assignments, and so on—they were better together than they were apart. They were attached at the hip in a similar way to you and Kieran, but they had worked together for even longer. And when you had that experience with both of them, you had just assumed they had hooked up previously. It would have made complete sense.
But... Riley hadn't kissed or touched Soap the way he had Keegan.
Yet... he hadn't touched you like that during the first time, either.
"Hm," Riley sounds thoughtful. "That's... hard to explain."
"You don't have to explain," You say quickly. "It's not any of my business."
"Soap was my everything when I had nothing." Riley says, keeping his head down. "He's my best friend. He's not used to me caring about anyone besides him."
"Is he jealous?" You ask.
"I wouldn't say that," Riley says. "Maybe hurt. I'm not sure. He acts like nothing's wrong, as if we don't know each other like the backs of our hands. I'm waiting for him to bring it up first."
You lean forward, stretching over your legs to put a hand on Riley's shoulder. He looks up at you.
"I will not," You say firmly, looking right into his eyes. "Get in between you and Soap. I refuse. So if that means you pull back a little bit so you can see him more, do that. Do not ruin your friendship for my sake."
Riley says nothing.
You pull away, taking your hand off his shoulder and sitting back into the position you were in before. "You should also communicate with him if you can tell he's upset. Save him the stress."
"I didn't know you were such a staunch defender of MacTavish," Riley says, and you can tell he has one eyebrow raised beneath the mask.
You shrug. "He's my friend. I defend my friends."
"And I don't?"
"Well," You say slowly. "You have been ditching your lifelong best friend for some pussy, so—"
Riley laughs, taking his hand off Circe and rolling onto his back. He puts his hands over his eyes. "You can't go even an hour without being a fucking cunt."
"It's just not my nature."
"Clearly."
There's a few moments of quiet, and Circe shuffles over so her head rubs against Riley's. He takes one hand off his eye to rest on her stomach, and he drapes his other arm across both of his eyes. He breathes slowly, his perfect stomach rising and falling slightly. You watch him for a few moments, taking in his perfect body, trying to make out his tattoos.
"And I mean," You say after a few moments. "If Soap ever wanted to get back on the roster..."
Riley barks out a laugh. "You're fucking insatiable, aren't you? Two at once isn't enough?"
"Not when you can have three." You sing, smiling wickedly to yourself.
Riley sits up suddenly, turning around and climbing onto the bed so fast that you don't even have time to react. His massive body is over you in an instant, and you squeal as he flattens himself on you, making you lay down completely, your head pushed into your pillows. There's only the blanket between you, and you look up into his eyes, which are hooded and full of mischief.
"You like to boss me around, Crow," He says roughly. "But you like being manhandled, don't you?"
You roll your eyes. "Riley, are you slow?"
"God. You're such a bitch," Riley whispers before burying his face in your shoulder. He doesn't kiss you or grope you or try to grind his hips on you, he just lays there, nestling his head into the spot where your shoulder meets your neck.
You bring your arms up and wrap them around his neck, leaning your head against the side of his.
"I like you a lot," You whisper. "And I'd like to know you more."
"Are you being nice?" Riley asks, his voice muffled like it was when his head was on Circe.
"I'm trying," You say. "Don't push it by asking stupid questions."
Riley lets out an exaggerated sigh. "I can never win with you."
You smile, hugging him tighter against you. "No, but I like that you keep trying."
You lay together in silence for a few moments before you tilt your head to whisper in Riley's ear. "Go turn the lamp off and then come back."
Riley gets up immediately, his muscular body bending to turn the light off. You feel his weight back on the bed again within seconds, and you move the blankets so that he can slip under them. He lays right back on top of you once more, his nearly naked body so warm on yours. He buries his head in the crook of your neck again.
You feel his hard-on against you, but he doesn't make any sort of move.
Neither do you.
"Are you going to sleep with the mask?" You ask.
"Hmph," Riley mumbles.
"How the fuck do you sleep with that thing on?"
"Soundly."
You wrap your arms around his neck again, and you place one hand on the back of his head, stroking his skull with the pads of your fingers.
You close your eyes, and all you remember before falling asleep is how, despite Riley being a massive man, his weight on you is nothing other than reassuring.