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Every third Friday of the month Cor Leonis left his office at 2PM sharp, even though he always tried for noon, and went down to the Citadel garages. He passed by his company issued vehicle and the rows of luxury sports cars and high end SUVs that were also on his roster so that he could drive the King around when Regis was feeling antsy. Granted, Regis would let him take the vehicles whenever he wanted because they were good friends. But today was not a day for a high speed chase in the downtown circuit, or rolling around the beach with his gear so that he could pull to the side of the road and test the waters where no one else dared go.
No, today he had somewhere else to be. So he continued to move past the Caelum owned cars and stopped at the end of the row where a cherry red Chevy truck, that was nearly as old as he was, sat parked and waiting. She was a classic who had needed too much love for the time he had to give her when he first saw her, when you happened by and made a comment about how pretty she’d look all fixed up. That day he walked away with this truck and with your phone number. Ten years later, he was proud to say that he still had you both.
As he climbs into his car and steers out of the garage, the open road calls to Cor. Once he is out of the city and across the bridge into the Leidan countryside, he sighs in relief as the wind turns to that dry heat that settles into the creases of his face and pulls tight. Some people hate the humidity of being near the ocean, and he is one of them. But being out here, at the mercy of the sun and wind, is where Cor has always wanted to be.
Before he knows it, the journey is almost at its end as Hammerhead comes into view and the road to your house pops up at the first stop sign just coming into town. He hangs a right and lets the sound of the engine sing to him all the way home.
At the end of the dirt road there stands a ranch house that has a brand new coat of white paint for the main structure and bright red shutters and trim around the edges. Behind the house there is a large barn to the left nearing a small range of hills, and to the left the stables set out overlooking freedom. Your land expands several acres out toward the horizon where the fence posts can’t even be seen! It’s paradise here.
Paradise that he gets to experience once a month and every vacation he can get his hands on.
Pulling up beside your truck, he jumps out of the cab and shuts the door as he immediately starts looking for you.
You aren’t far either…
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“Is that my Cowboy just getting home?” He had promised to get out to the ranch before noon, but you had known better than to believe that favorite lie. It wasn’t that Cor wanted to be late, it was just that with the King and his duties, getting out early on a Friday was near to impossible even if he claimed, each time, that he would get out at noon. Thankfully he had gotten out somewhat early and was here at nearly 3PM.
Sauntering down off of the porch in your dusty chaps with wind swept hair, he doesn’t waste any time walking straight at you. The minute you are close enough he twirls you up into his arms and presses a demanding kiss to your lips. “Your ‘cowboy’ tried his best.” He grumphed into your throat, licking away the sweat dripping down your nape, along with a healthy dose of dust. You giggled and fisted your fingers into his short-cropped hair.
“Well better late than never. And you are just in time to help do your part of the chores.” It felt good to have him home. Too good. One day soon, you hoped he was going to retire so every day could be spent in his company.
Cor’s brows rose with naughty interest as he drawled, “Oh? What chores do I have this afternoon?” Waddling toward the door with you still wrapped in his arms and feet dangling in the air, he steals away another kiss and grins when you whisper,
“Getting me all washed up.”
“Now that,” His eyes gleam in the bright sunlight of the desert while his voice rolls like thunder across the planes, lighting you up with goosebumps filled with anticipation, “That I can do.”
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There’s no place he’d rather be than inside of you, and as he shifts your hips forward, his hands slick by the rushing water cascading down your body, to push and pull you across his length, Cor finally relaxes. “Gods… you always feel so perfect.”
“So do you.” You murmur as you brace against the wall, his thrusts growing quicker in pace as his patience bottoms out. You can just envision what he looks like behind you…
Head thrown back and those gorgeous eyes of his closed as he basks in the feel of your clenching heat swallowing him down. He’s a hungry man and you are his sustenance. Which is just fine by you. You’ve missed him as much as he’s missed you and it isn’t uncommon for the two of you to just be a tangle of limbs for hours after he first arrives.
Your fingertips slip and slide against the tile, but eventually he firms up his grip on your hips so that your head isn’t connecting into the wall and then he begins to move with even more gusto. “Ah! Cor… yes! Please…”
“Gonna give you all you need.” He growls low in his chest, pounding into you from behind like a madman until the two of you face a shocked end, pleasure overtaking your senses until your vision whites out.
For some men this would be the end…
For Cor… he’s just getting started with you.
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Waking up beside you was the easiest thing in the world for Cor. Despite being a bachelor for most of his adult life, and finding it near to impossible to even try and share anything with the Lucian women who tried their hand at snagging his attention, with you nothing felt stilted or fake.
There was no rush to hurry up and ‘be’ with you. All you ever wanted was his company and time. He didn’t have to fit a mold that others expected him to fit into. With you he could be that grumpy old man who’s bones hurt a little bit in the morning, and he could be silent with his emotions and yet you never failed to understand them.
With the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders, he crawled out of bed and gave his old, tired body a good stretch or two, fighting off the stiffness in his hips, to get out to the kitchen where his famous egg dish was just waiting to be made. It called for whatever veggies, meat and cheese were left over in your fridge, and then a generous portion of eggs whipped up to bind it all together.
Thankfully you always had a healthy bounty of leftovers, mostly because you knew he would make his dish when he was home, and also because you cooked for armies when you only had yourself to feed. In no time at all, the meal was prepared and tossed into the oven to bake, while the next necessity for an early morning was made. Coffee.
While he pittered about, he pondered back to the night before and all of the locations the two of you made love, one being the very counter he was standing at, but the memory that stuck was how you sighed in his arms once the two of you had climbed into bed. That single sound, so precious in what it said without using any words, filled his heart with hope for the future.
“Whatcha thinking about?” He hears you before you ask the question, but he maintains a few moments to revel in the knowledge that even though your relationship is far from ‘normal’ you are truly happy with him. Sometimes, in the dark of night, he worries that one day you will want more than what he is able to give…
“Just you.” He leans down and kisses the tops of your fingers draped over his shoulder and quickly pours you a cup of coffee. “Did you sleep well?”
“Too well. I always do with you in my bed…” You turn toward the stove and grin, “Are those my eggs?”
He chuckles and nods, “Do you think I’d forget your favorite meal?”
“Well I know you know better than to forget. Lest you want to get kicked out to the barn.” You kiss his cheek and linger just a touch too long for it to be chaste, but eventually release him so that you can set the outdoor table with plates, utensils, glasses and juice.
Cor knows that your threat holds no merit. Oh, no, you would absolutely kick him out to the barn, but you would also follow because when he is around you can’t not sleep with him. Instead of bickering back and forth he changes the topic for something else that is of interest to him. “So… we taking out the chocobo’s today?”
“Don’t we always? Gaia would be furious if you didn’t ride her. I had to tell her all week that you were coming just so she would let me exercise her a bit. Stubborn old bird.” Gaia was a fifteen year old chocobo who was still going strong despite her advanced age, with white plumage and sharp black eyes that would make Death himself hesitate. And Cor was one of the only one’s she would be docile for.
Cor grins at the thought of his bird waiting for him, and finds himself thankful that she also misses him. Taking a step toward the oven, he opens up the door and quickly retrieves the cast iron skillet with the egg bake inside. It looks like a bubbling cheesy mess with just the right amount of color on top to confirm that it is ready to eat. He takes it immediately to the table and lets you serve up two heaping portionsl. “She’s definitely my bird.” He kisses you tenderly and then takes his spot before he can even think to derail this meal with more kisses and touches…
There’s plenty of time for that… after a ride.
But first there is breakfast and then as soon as that is over, the two of you head out to the barns to take care of the other animals.
Then… the two of you are able to get the chocobos out to run.
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Gaia is moving at a good clip for a bird her age and when you glance over your shoulder to get a look at Cor, a smile lights up your face. His head is tilted back (much like he does when the two of you make love) with the wind tearing over his rugged features and a smile so big it could rival the length of the line of the horizon. He’s free like this and so are you…
Free to dream that this could be your lives soon enough. He’s nearing his fifties and is well within retirement age for a military official, and each time he comes out to the ranch, you’re positive that he is seriously considering telling the King the date of his last day. Maybe that day will come in a few short years, and maybe you will never see it, but you do know that he wants more time on the ranch and in your arms.
And you want to give him that time, even if you are far from retiring and have plenty of chores to keep you occupied. A ranch is a lifetime job, it’s a commitment, and its not something you could just give up to run off on adventures even if you are fortunate to have family all around to help you with your animals so you can go into the city a few times a month to see Cor. Either way, spending time with him in Insomnia cannot compare to how he is when he is out of the city. Out here he actually smiles…
Giving a light tug on the reins for your chocobo to slow down, you turn him in the direction of home and wait for Cor to wrangle in Gaia. Once the old girl gets going its hard to get her to stop. “How you doing?”
Cor opens his eyes and looks right into yours, his excitement free flowing as he calls out over the wind, “Could do this all day.”
“Not sure Gaia would love that.” You tease, trotting up beside the white bird to feed her a handful of greens from your pouch. Cor takes out a generous handful from his own and feeds them to Buster, your light brown chocobo who is barely three. He’s been fairly easy to get trained, but he won’t be a racer. You had thought about selling him, but he’s a bird that holds great awareness out in the open, and it's probably that specific trait that keeps you from putting him up at auction. “Ready to head home?”
The sun is high in the sky and vicious for this time of year. While the birds could handle a bit more of a ride, it would be best for the two of you to get out of the heat. Especially Cor, since he refuses to wear a hat! “Already…” His face falls into a frown of disappointment and you are very quick to remind him,
“If you wore your hat we could stay out longer…”
“I’m not wearing that damn hat woman!” Whirling Gaia around, he huffs at you over his shoulder and gives her a gentle nudge with his heels to get her going.
By the time the two of you arrive home, he’s got a good sunburn going (because he also doesn’t believe in sunscreen) and is more than ready for an afternoon nap. Your city man is country at heart, but he hasn’t fully adapted to life in a rural town.
Not that you mind. You always like how he wakes you from a nap anyway.
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Soft licks through the folds of your slit draw you from the realm of sleep, setting you to wakefulness in a heavy daze that makes you tingle all over. Cor’s whiskers nudge apart the tender flesh of your thighs further, chaffing the sensitive skin down there, so that he can get a deeper taste of your core.
He drinks from you lazily, indulging in the way your hips begin to rise and fall in a languid dance as his tongue reaches all of those glorious spots hidden away from the rest of the world. He takes his time to push up your skirt so that you can have an unobstructed view of his gorgeous face as he devours your pussy.
With a flick across your clit, you are pulled out of your slow wakeup on a shocked gasp and you feel him grin into you. A few more licks across the engorged nub causes your muscles to tighten, and before you can ask him to stop, he suckles your clitorous into his mouth and sends you hurtling over the edge.
A few weak thrusts up against his face are all he gives you to help you through your orgasm, before he shifts fluidly up you and sinks into your pulsing core without preamble. “Ohhhh… Cor…” Your legs go around his waist automatically and your arms are tossed across his shoulders in a bid to stay tethered to this realm as he begins to take you with a deliciously hard but slow rhythm that sends you to arching and screaming out more cries of bliss into the early evening air.
Only after you have come twice more does he let himself go to find his own pleasure, slamming you into the couch with all of his might before he chokes out a shocked shout and collapses into your arms so that you can hold him the way you both dream of when his duty keeps you apart.
These Saturdays are always the best part of your month…
And neither of you ever have to express it in words because you share the honest sentiments with gentle caresses and tongue-tangled kisses that will sustain both of you through the lonely nights and hard days of work.
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“Well well, Cowboy… that doesn’t smell like beans.” He heard you call from the hallway, fresh from the shower. Glancing up he caught sight of you towel drying your hair and felt his heart clench as you drew nearer.
“I can make more than eggs and beans…” Most of the time, Cor wouldn’t take being teased very well. Maybe he’s just too on edge most of the time to catch the humor, but whenever he’s away from the Citadel, all of those little nuances are so easy to read. “I am making you…” He paused as you stepped up and kissed his cheek, and then his mind went completely blank. What was it that Ignis called this meal again?
You took a quick inventory of the ingredients on the stove and said, “Chicken cordon bleu with oven roasted asparagus and white wine sauce?”
He jumped when you swatted his butt and snorted indelicately. “Yes, that.” Alright, so he was not a chef, but he could take instruction well, and Ignis had spent the whole past week teaching him how to cook each part of this meal. “I hope you like it.”
“Baby…” His eyes drifted closed to soak in your presence, enjoying how you felt pressed tightly against his back while he continued to stir his sauce. “I’m happy with anything you make. Hell, I’m happy with beans!”
“Well… I have perfected that recipe.”
“Yes you have.” You stated with absolute devotion before stepping over to the countertop to pour yourself a glass of wine. Afterwards, you put some music on the old record player your grandfather gave you on your 15th birthday. It had been your grandmother’s and she had listened to it every single day, wearing out record after record.
Cor knows the story because he has spent nights, just as he will spend this one, dancing the night away with you tucked tight in his arms while you whisper old stories about seeing your grandparents dance late into the night until you fell asleep just beside your door where you had laid watching them.
He didn’t have those kinds of memories from his family considering they had been dedicated to the Crown just as he was now, but he did enjoy making them with you. Once the chicken is in the oven to finish, just beside the asparagus, he steps over to you and whisks you easily into his arms.
The two of you fit together like a hand in a glove, heartbeats finding the same rhythm, while Cor guides each step the two of you take. He leads and with the utmost of ease, you follow with your head against his shoulder and one smaller hand in his broad palm. “I could stay like this all night,” Cor admits as he lays his head down onto the top of yours, letting the haunted melody fill him up with promise and dreams of your future.
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Full, warm and nowhere near capable of dancing any longer, the end of the evening sees you pulling Cor toward the couch where the current book the two of you have been reading lays waiting for perusal on the coffee table.
He chuckles lightly and gathers up the small paperback in his hand, spreading it open with his pinky and ring finger gripping one side, while his thumb handles the other. You have always loved the sound of his deep voice, and the way his rough fingers gloss across the thin pages as he rubs his thumb in time to the rhythm of his reading.
“Ready?” He kisses the top of your head, and only when you are comfortable do you nod to his question. When his voice picks up the story, your eyes begin to drift closed so that they can rest while you listen to Cor’s soothing voice. It’s a deep, gritty timbre that tickles your senses and sets you into a far too relaxed state. What you wouldn’t give to remain awake all night, spending every possible moment with him before Sunday was upon you…
And he would leave again.
That night he tells the tale of a wild cowboy who goes on crazy adventures across the wild prairies with the love of his life. They rush across the land while facing impossible situations and reveling in the love they feel for one another. For some people, these are just cheesy romance novels that are a dime a dozen, but when Cor reads them, they feel like grand adventures that the two of you may someday be able to partake in.
One day…
“I love you, Cor…” You murmur happily with your face pressed upward against his neck now that you are fighting sleep. Your beloved doesn’t help you one little bit as he draws you closer to him and continues to read with a low, steady pitch that sings you right to sleep in no time.
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Out in the country it’s quiet at night save for the chirping of insects and a few wild animals that state their presence with the utmost clarity. Early today you had brought up concerns about monsters and their numbers, and like a good boyfriend, he had promised to call Dave and see to the problem. Not that he would have ever told you no, because anything that threatened you or your way of life was not acceptable in his eyes.
He couldn’t protect you from a cold bed, or from missing him, but he could ensure your physical safety. Tonight in particular, as he lifted you off of the couch to take you to bed where you would surely rest easier, he is quick to get you tucked in and then himself so that he won't waste a single minute getting to hold you.
It always takes Cor a little longer to get to sleep than you due to being used to the sounds of the city, but he doesn’t mind. These are his own private moments where he can watch you slumber while you dream about what will be…
Once upon a time he had dreamt about what could be, but no longer.
This life with you would never just be a ‘maybe’ because he couldn’t afford for it to be.
It had taken forty long years for him to find this kind of peace in his messy life, and he would not allow another forty years to pass so that he could start living.
Life was going to start…
Tomorrow.
He was ready.
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