Redefining Redemption (Joan H Watson and GJLestrade)

Arousal shot through him again as she pressed close, warm skin against his. Greg couldn't believe this was happening, considering this morning he had gone to work with less than his usual enthusiasm, slogged through a hard day and then been texted by an anxious Mrs Hudson, all but begging him to check on Joan. How had they got to this? Did it even matter?

He buried his face in Joan's neck and inhaled her scent, warm and enticing, dropping kisses along her collar bone, up her neck to her ear. His hands smoothed over her skin, mapping the rise and fall of ribs and scars and the softness of her breasts. He ruthlessly shoved every other consideration out of his mind. What mattered was the here and now, her heat and closeness, the feel of her skin against his, the soft panting breaths, tiny moans and whimpers, it was all intoxicating and amazing and right.

Abruptly, Greg slid an arm under her knees and the other under her arms and lifted her onto the bed, following quickly after, settling beside her, letting his hands stroke down her body, across her stomach, down... His eyes met hers again as his hand pressed between her thighs, watching her reaction, gaging her response. He dipped his head to take her nipple in his mouth again, suckling, teasing with his teeth, hearing her moan. Oh, yes, she had been right about one thing. She was wet, wet and hot and wanting. It just about took his breath away that she was like this for him, because of him.

Joan inhaled sharply as Greg buried his face in her neck. She murmured quietly as his lips met her collarbone, neck and ear. She shuddered as his warm hands ran up and down her sides and over her scars softly. Joan's breath was labored and her chest rose and fell rapidly at the feel of Greg's hands all over her.

"Ah." Joan yelped a little once Greg slid his arms under her knees and arms and lifted her up until they fell on the bed together. She murmured softly as Greg's hands roamed over her skin, drifting down between her thighs. She shifted her position as she felt his long fingers press between her thighs and narrowly miss her core. Joan moaned softly in response, shifting continually against his hand, her core delightfully wet. Once his mouth met her nipple, her head arched to press against the pillow and she sighed, "Greg...." She whined softly, swallowing thickly after that. "I...I told you that I'd be wet for you...."

"Oh yes, you are. You're lovely..." he murmured against her skin. He raised himself up and moved down the bed, shifting to kneel between her legs. He slid a hand under her ankle and lifted her foot, pressing a kiss to her instep. He left a trail of kisses along her calf and the inside of her knee, down the soft skin on the inside of her thigh, gently coaxing her legs apart as he went.

He dipped his head and pressed a kiss to soft warm curls, and looked up at her, eyes darkened with desire. "I want you too," he admitted. "Going to have you, in a little while...want to see just how wet you are first." His head dipped again and he tasted her, tongue lapping along her soft folds, finding the sensitive bud of flesh hidden within, hearing her come apart under his touch.

Every word Greg spoke shot straight to Joan's core, making her legs already tremble in anticipation as the man shifted down the bed, sliding his hands under the assistant's ankle as he kissed her instep which made her squirm with laughter.

"T-ticklish." She giggled as he kissed up at calf until he reached the sensitive skin of her thigh and she felt her core pulse with longing. "I want you so much." She murmured, eyes catching has his he looked up at her.

She was wet. She could feel it emanating from her. Joan squirmed with anticipation once more until she felt his warm tongue graze her folds, running along the damp flesh. "Nngg.." She pursed her lips but let out a strangled sigh. "Greg...." She whispered, her back beginning to arch already. It had been a while since she kissed and even longer since she had sex. This felt so overwhelming that she was sure she wouldn't last long. The ex- army doctor let her hands burrow their way into his hair, massaging his scalp gently as he continued his ministrations.

Encouraged, especially by her fingers in his hair, he dipped his tongue deeper. Flexing almost painfully, her grip sent pinpricks of sensation through his scalp as she tugged. Greg revelled in the smell and the taste of her, smiled at her gasps and giggles and moans, the slick texture of her under his tongue. Abruptly, he dragged his tongue up again, teasing her mecilessly, sucking her folds into his mouth hard.

He was hard, harder than he'd been in a long time. He worried that he wouldn't last, that this might be over embarrassingly quickly but then, they had all night, and tomorrow. The way she was reacting, it might not be long for her either. He released her and surged up, covering her body with his, taking his weight on his hands to avoid crushing her. He settled carefully between her thighs and thrust against her carefully, wanting to go slow. Hell, he didn't even know if she was a virgin or not. He assumed not but knew it was dangerous to assume anything.

He reached for the packet on the night stand and tore into it, offering it to her to do the honours, waiting for her to recover enough to be able to do anything, dipping to kiss her softly.

Joan's fingernails scraped against Greg's scalp urging him on. Moans and giggles, unheard of until know, tumbled out of her mouth and echoed around the room. It had been a very long time since someone went down on her and she felt her body convulsing in tremors at the overwhelming feelings. She felt herself getting wetter and wetter with each lap and lick of Greg's tongue against her. Her fingers tightened their hold as she sucked hard and she arched her back high, her hips rotating against his mouth in free abandon. "S-shit, sorry." She mumbled, trying to calm her body down but it was of no use.

She was close, so very close. She almost reached her peak but felt Greg scoot further up, his body pressing down on hers teasingly. Joan shakily sighed as she felt his hard length press against her hip and she returned the soft kiss. Her right hand trailed down to firmly grasp his length, her blue-gray eyes teasingly glanced up at him, "So hard." She murmured, the strange feel of his pulsing length in her hand exciting her. She swallowed thickly, leaning forward to switch their positions so he was laying down. She took the condom wrapper in her hands and put it aside for a minute. Slowly, she leaned down to kiss the head of his length. "Sometimes, when you called me into work, I thought of walking into your office, closing the door and doing this." She murmured lowly. "Though...."She pulled away from his length and grinned, taking the condom and rolling it onto his muscle. "We can wait till later to do that."

Greg watched her take control, allowing her to change places, moving so he was on his back. He couldn't complain, he was able to see her, to watch as she deftly slid the condom on. He found himself watching her hands, small and delicate but strong-surgeon's hands, he reminded himself-teasing him as she did so. So she had fantasised about him, hm? "We'll have to see if I can call you to my office more, meet me for dinner, eh?" he suggested with a cheeky grin.

He gasped as she stroked him, then he tugged her arm to bring her up the bed, encouraging her to straddle his hips. He slid his hands down, grasping the firm flesh of her bottom and guiding her down onto him. His breath came in gasps as she sank down, his hands making sure she found her mark and he slid deep inside her. He grabbed her hips before she could start to move and stilled her for a moment, while his breathing returned to normal and it no longer felt like he might tip over the edge too soon. Once he was calmer, he let her go, allowing her to set the pace and take what she wanted.

"Yeah, I could surprise you in your office too, just randomly stop by." Joan grinned at Lestrade as he tugged Joan up so she was now straddling his hips, teasingly moving her slick core against his. She shakily gasped as his hands held the flesh of her bottom and she sank down on his length. She closed her eyes, murmuring for a moment as she felt his pulsing length filling her depths. Joan felt her hips want to shudder against his body immediately, but his hands were on her hips and she watched him lustfully, a little wide-eyed at the anticipation. Joan swallowed thickly at the look of Greg.

"Greg..."She breathed his name, biting her lower lip, "Do you know how much I've wanted this?"

Greg shook his head, nearly unable to reply against the dryness of his throat. "About as much as me, probably. You are gorgeous, never let anyone tell you otherwise. Now, move? Please? I'm as ready as I'll ever be...advance apologies, darling, but I don't think I'm gonna last...This is...it's been too longunghh..." the word deteriorated into a groan as she began to move.

Joan's lustful expression appeared to soften as she looked at Greg fondly. "It's fine, Greg."She murmured, feeling the warmth shot through her stomach once more. She knew she wouldn't last soon either. Joan began to move, rocking her hips steadily against Greg's, letting his length hit her inner walls. Her voice began to crack and dissolve into soft moans and long groans as she felt the heat rise in her abdomen. "Fuck, greg." She hissed through her teeth, picking up her speed, eventually bouncing up and down for a moment before rocking slowly.

Greg's worldview tunnelled, focused, until there was nobody else but her. Everything narrowed down to just the two of them, nothing and nobody existed in the world around them. His senses focused on the soft noises she was making, the feel of her around him, hot and tight. She was all silky skin and dark eyes.

Had sex with his ex-wife ever been this good? He felt a momentary pang of guilt and then threw it out. Of course he would compare...damn it, this was no time for regrets, and he didn't regret this. This was good, this was real, this was...bloody fantastic, actually. If this was the direction their lives were taking, he was making no complaints. He moaned and thrust up into her as she moved, pressure building in his gut, the familiar feeling of fullness rising inside him. Oh...fuck, this was coming too fast...Abandoning trying to hold it off, Greg grabbed her waist and thrust up with a growl, pumping his hips harder.

Joan's vision tunneled as well, focusing only on this moment, the pleasurable expressions and noises Greg was making. He groaned, his hands held her bottom in place and dug into her flesh (which made her yelp)and his length pulsed within her deep inner walls which clamped around his muscle. Her breath was labored and short mostly dissolving into groans and moans.

"Yes..."She moaned, not sure why she was saying it but she her mind was in a sort of delirium. She didn't regret this, even if they were moving fast, she had these feelings for two years and she had repressed them thinking that Greg would never even look her way. But now, it was just the two of them in this moment and she wanted to soak up all that was happening.

"Ah...Ah...." She moaned with each rock of her hips, moaning louder once he thrust up into her and she bounced up and down over his length repeatedly to hit her back walls. Fuck, she could feel the familiar tug in her stomach as the coil wound tighter and tighter within her. At the change in tempo, his hips hitting up into her with a fierce force, Joan shakily moaned with each slap against her skin. "Yes...Yes..Greg." She arched her neck and hissed through her teeth. "H-harder." She breathed.

Happy to oblige at her muttered 'harder', Greg gave up all pretense at holding back. He pulled her down onto his chest and rolled them both, so she ended up beneath him, then he thrust home again, planting his hands either side of her, feeling her legs slide around him, ankles digging in to urge him on. He lost track of time and the world around him shrank again. Being the one on top gave him more leverage and Greg let go, thrusting harder, his own orgasm crashing through him moments later.

Joan felt the coil wound tighter in her stomach. Yes. She was close. She yelped softly in surprise as Greg switched their positions, pinning her underneath him. She wrapped her legs around him, ankles digging against his flesh as she thrust against him feeling the world dissolve away. Stars blinked in front of her, a white light flashing as she closed her eyes. Her inner walls clamped around his length as their orgasms rushed through them, making her body arch and thrust against his in a sweaty combination. "Greg..."She whined, rotating and grinding her hips against his. Even though it was short lived, her orgasm still rushed over her in delight. She fell back into the mattress with a contented sigh, trying to regain her normal breathing.

It was only when Greg collapsed in a dazed heap beside Joan and he registered her blissed out expression that he realised she had obviously tipped over the edge with him. He was glad of that. However explosive and intense it had been, he usually prided himself on satisfying his partner even if they didn't manage it simultaneously. He gathered her into his arms and cuddled her close, tucking her sweat-damp head beneath his chin and dropping kisses on her hair. This, he thought, was far more than he could have hoped for. He wanted more than anything to stay where he was, to share her bed every damn night, to wake to her sweet face every morning.

"You okay?" he asked, gently, stroking a hand along her arm. "Does this mean you'll stay?" He had been nine tenths sure she might try (if not succeed) to top herself after Sherlock's death. It had been a supreme effort on his part to give her space, to content himself with updates from Mrs Hudson and noting the odd entry on her blog, but at the end of the day she would do what she wanted regardless of anybody else. Joan Watson was nothing of not stubborn. "Can I stay? Was it...was it enough?"

Joan curled up into Greg, breathing normally now as they lay together. She was blissfully content with this moment, having been sated and satisfied. "Okay?" She furrowed her brow, as Greg trying to elude to something else? "I'm more than okay." She reassured him, shifting against him and turning to look at him, "I want you to stay, I wouldn't have asked you to stay if I didn't want you too..."She told him honestly, "Was it enough?" She chuckled, "Greg..."She ran a hand over his chest slowly, "I....this was more than I could ever ask for.I just hope....it was what you expected, or enough."

"Joan, you are amazing. It was perfect. Just tell me, honestly, how you feel about it all, about us?" Greg was a little anxious about the newness of it all. Would it be too much when she had time to think? "I guess what I'm trying to say is, are you comfortable with us?"

"About it all? I think...I think we needed this, where we go from here is only indicative of the strength of our relationships." She whispered, "I....I want to be with you and I hope you want the same. I...I really appreciate this today and not just what happened but...I think I'm beginning to heal."

Greg smiled and hugged Joan a little harder. "Good, but five weeks isn't very long. We've both got a ways to go yet, I suspect," he cautioned. "We're here for each other though, which is a whole hell of a lot better than being alone, and if...well, if after we're through it, if we ever will be, and we find we don't need each other, well, then we'll deal with that when we come to it. I cannot imagine ever not needing you though. Look," Greg hesitated, not quite sure how to put what he wanted to say. "With my ex-...I made mistakes. I know I did. It was...never smooth sailing with her, but I did make mistakes I could have avoided. I was never there, I spent too much time at work. I don't feel like I put her first, like I thought about her feelings. If ever I do that to you, call me out on it, make me see, okay? Tell me, please. Don't do what she did and clam up on me. She used to do this thing where she'd resent what I'd done but she never told me what it was I had done until it was too late to correct it. So...I'm not perfect but you deserve the best. Talk to me, yeah?" Greg smiled a slightly crooked grin. "And while we're on the subject, I think...I think we should talk about him, sometime. The daft git was worth loving, and I still believe in him, even if I have to take care these days who I admit it to. Nobody will ever make me believe he was a fraud. He killed himself for a reason, and it bloody kills me that now I'll never know what that reason was."

Joan nuzzled into Greg's neck, kissing his collarbone for a minute. "No, I know. Five weeks isn't very long but it feels like forever, honestly." She nodded in agreement, "I can't imagine ever not not needing you either." She reassured the detective inspector, "After all that's happened with him, what happened now, what's going to happen, I want to be with you. I know we can weather this together, that we can work together, they we'll be there when the other person is feeling shitty."

She pursed her lips when Greg hesitated. What was he going to say? Ah, there it was. The ex-wife and his follies. "If you never made mistakes, I'd be worried." She admitted honestly. "Sometimes one needs to get wrapped up in their work but I'll make sure that you don't get too stuck on things." She paused, "If I feel worried that you're isolating yourself too much, I'll tell you and you do the same for me, okay?" She glanced at him and gave him a crooked grin in return, "We should. We need to acknowledge our grief. If we don't, it'll just get worse." She paused "But, I don't want our relationship to be based on him, you know? We love...loved him and we put up with him but both our relationships with him were very different. I...I don't want to talk to you about him all the time, it'll hurt too much." She looked sad but tried to neutralize her expression. "I do think he faked his own death or at the very least wasn't a fraud. I think Moriarty was up to something, I....as much as Sherlock said he hated people, that he hated the ignorance of society, he cared for a select few and he wouldn't want our view of him to be tainted by rumors."

She glanced over at the clock. It was one in the morning. She was glad Greg had decided to stay. "I'm glad you stayed." She whispered this in his ear, "Even if none of this had transcribed, I'm just glad you would have stayed." She turned over in his arms to cuddle, "Did you ever.....when we were working together....did you ever think about me?" She whispered self-consciously.

"Don't worry, I don't aim to define this relationship using him. This is ours and yes, there were times..." he smiled. "When you two turned up on crime scenes, did you never notice? I used to hope you'd be there with him. Used to watch you, and wish that you'd see me. You know, properly see me, not just the stupid copper Sherlock would mock on a semi-regular basis." Greg stroked her arm and smiled, a soft wistful smile. "Of course I stayed. You needed me. Not about to abandon you, you know. Now, maybe we should get some rest. New day tomorrow. How about we go to lunch somewhere, then go to Angelo's for dinner? We should stay in touch with our friends. First things first though. We need to see Mrs Hudson. We should tell her we're okay. She was concerned about you enough to call me and if she hadn't...well, we wouldn't be having this chat now."

"Of course, I just want to make sure." Joan told Greg with a wan smile, "Really? I just, I thought you may have looked my way once or twice but I wasn't sure if you actually...thought about me a certain way." She admitted with a sheepish smile, "You watched me? You creep!I might have had one or two dirty thoughts about you..." She teased, nudging his shoulder before shaking her head, "No, I didn't think we were stupid." She paused as the detective said he would never leave her. Sherlock had promised that as well. "Yeah, going out to dinner tomorrow sounds fantastic. Of course, let's thanks Mrs. Hudson tomorrow? Tell her what's happening? Do you think she'll be proud?"

"I have no idea what she'll think to this, if we tell her. I've a feeling she might know already though. Astute, that one." Greg moved to get comfortable. "Turn over," he instructed her and spooned up against her back, sliding an arm around her middle and curling protectively around her. He dropped a few lazy kisses on the nape of Joan's neck and relaxed into the comfort of her bed. "Goodnight, love," he whispered.

"She probably does know already." Joan chuckled, turning over as Greg instructed her and sighing quietly. She murmured as Greg placed a few lazy kisses to her neck. She couldn't believe her luck with tonight. She felt more alive than she had did in a few weeks.

[Do we want to go to the next day then? ]

(okay then)

Greg woke with the morning sun streaming under the curtains. He yawned mightily...then paused, realising that the window was in the wrong place. Where the hell was he? He opened his eyes on the sight of Joan Watson in his arms. Everything about the previous night flooded back and he realised it wasn't a pleasant dream but honest to God reality. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face and he pressed closer to her. Neither of them had moved, or woken, all through the night, which was a wonder, considering the emotional upheaval. Probably the fantastic sex was to blame. He dropped light kisses along her neck and wondered about the possibility of a repeat performance?