Pam sighed as she trailed her fingers across the angled hipbone beneath her hand. “Wow,” she breathed. “That was…”
Jim laughed, a lazy smile stretching across his swollen lips. “I know.” He shifted slightly, dropped his hand to her side. “We work well together, Beesly.”
“Hmm…” Her head nuzzled the underside of his neck before she placed a soft kiss where his ear met his jaw. “Indeed we do.”
Their breathing evened out as Jim continued to slowly run his fingers along her side, his fingertips occasionally brushing her breast. The air was thick, and the room smelled of sex and the impending threat of a late August thunderstorm.
As the first drops of rain fell against the window pane, Jim stilled his hand against her hip. He breathed in the scent of her hair and tugged her closer. Things had been amazing since May. Since then—the night of their first date, first time—they had opened up to each other in ways they’d barely imagined before.
Before.
To Jim, the word had never seemed so thick with meaning. Because to say “before,” implied that there was a “now.” Now, Jim no longer held back. He didn’t have to. He could do the things he’d always wanted to do then, (his mouth clamping down on hers, his searching fingers trailing up her thigh as they road the elevator up to the office ), before. He repeated the words he’d uttered once before, but he now filled them with months of understanding and the promise of their future (“I’m so fucking—oh god, Pam!—in love with you,” whispered against her neck, her nails biting into his back as she pulled him deeper, deeper).
Before, he thought, and now, after.
Pam’s fingers stroked down his chest, prompting him to squeeze her hip in response.
With the frequency of long, sluggish nights filled with making up for lost time, reassuring each other that after was finally, blissfully here, came wild, beautiful, irresistible truths. Seemingly out of nowhere—and particularly from Pam, as Jim knew the relatively recent abandonment of her denial left her aching to tell him things—the bombs would drop.
Often, Jim mused, they fell after particularly satisfying sex, much like the kind they’d just had.
“I feel like I’ve been in love with you forever.”
“Forever?” he teased. “That’s a long time.”
She glared, but her eyes told a different story. “You know what I mean.”
“I do, but tell me anyway.”
And…
“You have no idea how sexy it is when you play basketball.” She caught his blush and was spurred on. “Seriously, Jim. That day in the warehouse…Well, let’s just say the mental image came in very handy that night.”
She reassured him before the thought of just who’d enjoyed her amorous mood that night fully formulated.
“Roy went out drinking with Darryl. Apparently an “impromptu” celebration for not having to work on Saturday.” The bitterness was dull, but it was there, and Jim laced their fingers together. “I stayed at home. It was just me, a bottle of wine, and the memory of how your hair fell into your eyes as you moved across the court. It became a regular thought of mine for a while. But then, I kissed you at the Dundies, and there were other, more detailed thoughts.”
He laughed.
And…
“The day I jinxed you, when I told you that you could tell me anything…” She trailed off as he nodded, his breath catching a little in his throat. “You wanted to tell me then, didn’t you?”
He nodded again, this time around the lump in his throat. The scars on his heart had been healed with each kiss, each touch, each ‘I love you’ he got from Pam, but sometimes the past was still painful.
“And on the Booze Cruise.”
Another nod, this one more painful still.
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
The combination shock and pain must have shown on his face, because she immediately found his hand, twined her fingers with his, grazed her lips across his palm.
“I wasn’t ready for you then, Jim. The past year has been…” she paused, searching fo the right words to say. “Lonely. And scary. But also so necessary. I needed to figure out who I was without Roy before I could be with you. I needed to know who I was. What it was that you saw in me I needed to see in myself. I never doubted that you’re where I wanted to end up. You were always the future for me, Jim, but I just needed to figure some things out first. Before.”
She let go of his hand, dragged her palm up his bare chest, and tangled her fingers in the soft hair she found at the nape of his neck. “Does that make sense?”
His lips hovered over hers, his words a breath against her mouth.
“It does.”
And it did.
So given the headiness of the night’s activities, it didn’t surprise Jim in the least when Pam spoke his name, a familiar inclination in the hitch of her voice telling him a confession, maybe an explanation of past behavior, was coming.
“Jim?”
A wandering hand met the top of his thigh.
“Yeah?” A small smile tugged at his lips; it felt so good to be so free, so open.
“Remember the time Ryan almost burned down the building with his cheesy pita?”
“Yeah.”
“I wanted to say you.”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean? Say me for what?”
She shifted and a soft leg snaked its way between his. “Who would you do.”
A full blown grin spread his lips and his white teeth stuck out in the darkness.
“I was standing with Phyllis, Kelly, and Meredith. They all said they’d do you,” he could feel her smirk as he blushed. “Quite enthusiastically, I should add.”
He sent a warning pinch against her side.
Undeterred, she went on. “I said Toby or Oscar. But I really meant you.”
“Even then?”
His voice was gravelly. They’d shared enough of these conversations for him to know just how long she’d harbored feelings for him, but it still sent a shiver of discovery down his spine each time she revealed more.
He felt her nodding. “Even then.”
“Well,” he started. “This is awkward.”
His head pushed back against the pillow as she moved to rest her chin on his chest, her eyes searching for the hint of a tease she knew she’d find in his eyes.
“Awkward?”
He nodded.
“How so?”
“When I said Kevin, I really meant it.”
She huffed out a laugh but refused to give him the last word.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Halpert, the next time you feel the need to get frisky at—“ she craned her head to the clock on her bedside table—“6:00 on a Wednesday.”
He chucked and her body delighted in the vibrations.
“Touché,” he said as he rolled over, pulling her beneath him. “This is much more enjoyable with you.”
His lips found hers soft and ready. They kissed slowly, languidly, and their tongues began the dance they’d perfected in the past three months.
Jim shifted his hips, and suddenly, he was right there. Her hips thrust upwards in response, and they moaned together. Jim dragged his lips away from hers, perused her jaw, and landed at the base of her ear.
“Jinx.”
Her eyes flew open. They were dark with desire, and Jim shot her a devastating look. He shifted slightly, and his hand moved up her thigh.
She gasped softly, and he pulled back.
“I said ‘jinx,’ Beesly. Not a sound until I make you come,” he paused to revel in the look of exquisite torture that fleeted across her face.
“Twice.”
In the end, Pam decided she didn’t really mind that he’d altered the rules to their beloved game on the spot.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Ok. So...I haven't written anything in a long, long time (for a variety of reasons), and I've never written anything for The Office. But...I could only resist for so long. I like to think of this piece as a warm up, a reminder, and an excercize to get my creative juices flowing.
Chapter End Notes:
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