Be My Saving Grace

Thirty-five

Thirty-five

{ and as we own this night, I put your body to the test with mine }

"I uh, I love you Tony," I whispered, my eyes downcast, avoiding his stare.

"I love you too, Grace, so fucking much. You have no idea how much you mean to me," he replied, making my eyes snap up to meet his gaze. He smiled and leaned down to softly capture my lips in his own.

"Hey," I breathed as I pulled away, "come with me," I stood and pulled Tony to his feet. He followed quietly as I took his hand and lead him deeper into the woods. We walked in silence for a few minutes, until we reached a clearing, "look," I pointed.

"This was my favorite place to go when I was little... Me and my mom, before she moved to San Diego to be with her boyfriend, we would catch fireflies and use them as lanterns," I explained, finding one of my old jars laying under one of the trees.

I picked it up and quickly caught a few fireflies, "like this," I smiled, handing him the jar.

"This is so cool!" He laughed, holding the jar up by it's makeshift handle (a piece of wire wrapped around the neck of the jar).

I smiled and took the fireflies back, "there should be a whole bunch of jars somewhere around here," I mumbled, looking under bushes and behind trees, "I remember hiding a bunch when I was little."

"You mean these?" Tony asked, walking into the clearing with an armful of jars.

"Yeah!" I yelled, grabbing one and quickly capturing a few more bugs. "You try," I knocked all the jars from Tony's arms and handed him one.

Tony caught a few, but as he went to catch another, he let the first few escape. "I don't think that's how you're supposed to do that..." He mumbled, looking thoroughly disappointed and pitiful.

"It's really not," I laughed quietly, "this is how you do it," I successfully caught another jarful of bugs.

"I think I get it," he stuck the tip of his tongue out, pulled his eyebrows together, and concentrated so hard on catching more than two bugs without letting them go.

"You did it!" I cheered, wrapping my arms around his neck, and planting a quick kiss on his smiling lips.

"Mm," he chuckled, "what was that for?"

"You caught like five and none of them escaped!" I giggled, my sentence fading to nothing as Tony stared deeply into my eyes.

He leaned forward and softly pressed his lips over mine, his warm hands encircling my waist, pulling my hips against his. I pulled away a few breathless seconds later, and bit my lip. My stomach trying to tame the butterflies that erupted when Tony kissed me.

"Watch this," I whispered, taking the jar of fireflies Tony was still holding, and hung it from a tree branch.

He picked up another jar and hung it up as well. I smiled and watched him carefully place each jar, examine its placement, and then move it if it was wrong. I stuck my hands in my pockets, and watched Tony hang all but one of our firefly lanterns, "you do this one," he smiled shyly and handed me the jar.

I took it and stood on my tip toes, trying to reach a branch that was just out of my height range. I felt Tony's presence behind me, and his fingers slid through mine as he gently stretched my arms a little further, hooking the jar on the branch. Tony's hands gripped mine, and wrapped our arms around my waist. He softly nuzzled his nose against my neck, leaving feather light kisses on my shoulder.

I turned my head to ask what he was doing, but he pressed his lips to mine before I could speak. My eyes slid closed as Tony traced my lower lip with his tongue. He pried my lips open, and soon our tongues were battling for dominance. I unlaced my fingers from Tony's, and turned to face him, gasping quietly as his fingertips slid underneath my shirt.

Tony pushed my back against the tree, causing me to yelp in surprise. He smirked and gently kissed my neck, right where you'd check for a pulse, lightly nipping the soft skin. I cupped his neck in my hands and pulled his lips back up to mine as his hands slid up my sides, pulling my shirt up with them. Soon my shirt was tossed behind us, and Tony's followed not long after.

I let out a quiet whimper when Tony's fingers found their way to the clasp of my bra. "You ok?" He whispered, gently holding my face in his right hand, his thumb brushing across my cheek, his left hand holding my hip.

I nodded, and swallowed the tears that were threatening to fall. Tony wouldn't hurt me. Tony loves me. He loves Grace. Not the things he can make Grace do out of fear. Grace doesn't fear Tony. Grace loves Tony and Tony loves Grace.

"Hey," Tony said, making me look him in the eye, "I won't hurt you... I wouldn't dream of it, I love you, princess."

"I love you too," I smiled, kissing him as his hands pushed my pants over my hips.

Tony smiled back and softly kissed my forehead before pulling me to the ground. I laughed quietly as my tiny body landed on top of him. He quickly rolled over so he was straddling my hips. He undid my bra and tossed it over his shoulder, all the while smirking playfully at me. I giggled and used my feet to push his jeans off.

Tony reconnected our lips as he pushed into me. I leaned my head back in pure ecstasy, and Tony placed breathy kisses down my jaw and onto my neck. Our bodies moved in a sort of rhythm. The sweat forming on Tony's skin sparkled with the light of the moon and firefly lanterns hung above us.

A knot formed in my stomach and I knew I was close. Tony must've caught on to my short, quick breaths, and captured my lips in his own, stifling my scream to a quiet moan. "Fuck," Tony breathed as he released, his head falling into the crook of my neck.

"Don't say anything," I whispered, still trying to catch my breath. Tony's only response was a soft kiss on the base of my throat as I felt his heart rate start to even out, and his haggard breaths flutter across my chest.