caustic

nc-17 | sexual content

She didn't question anything at first. There wasn't time to question anything. There was screaming and pushing, a random man's hand on her arm, Josh's on her back. People were yelling at her, giving her orders, and it was easier to go along with them than to think. It wasn't until the cold water hit her that she realized -

"Shit!"

- that Josh was right behind her.

"We weren't even that close to him," she said, ducking out of the spray. She pressed her body against the tile and tried to control her shivering.

"Better safe than sorry." And with that, she felt his hands on her hips, pulling her back. She screamed and he wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her in place as the water poured over her body. "If any got on you, you need to wash it off."

Again, too much to process. Freezing cold water was hitting her face, causing her to shake uncontrollably. His body was warm and naked and naked and ... dear God, naked.

Naked Josh.

Naked, naked, naked.

She could hear his teeth chattering right next to her ear, the sound almost deafening. She tried to wrench out of his grip, away from the water; that was when the spray suddenly cut out, leaving them huddled together in the middle of the small room. Before she could speak, though, it started again, the water warmer this time. Eventually, it eased the chill from her bones, but she was still shaking, largely, she thought, because he still had her in an embrace.

"Did you see what happened?" she said, her voice no louder than a whisper.

"No. Just ... no."

"How did he even get in - ?"

"I don't know, Donna," he grumbled. "I was standing right next to you. I know as much as you do."

"How long do you think we'll be stuck in here?"

"I don't know."

"Why did they put the two of us together in here?"

"I just told you I don't know anything!"

"Sorry." She flinched, turning her head away from his.

He rested his chin on her shoulder. "It's okay."

"I feel fine," she said a few moments later, when the silence had grown uncomfortable.

"You were closer to him than I was."

She met his eyes for the first time since he grabbed her. "I didn't ... I didn't feel anything."

"At least this time it wasn't some guys with guns," he whispered. He seemed to be staring at her temple, so she hastily wiped the side of her face, stopping only when he reached up to grasp her hand. She dropped her arm onto her chest, and he kept his hand over hers, his forearm now resting heavily on one breast.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." And then he touched her face, pushing away a strand of hair that had gotten plastered to her cheek. She was acutely aware of his naked body pressed up behind her, his lips inches from hers. She started trembling again, even though the water was almost painfully hot. He moved his hands to her arms, rubbing briskly. She suddenly felt uneasy.

"It's a little late to cover up now, isn't it? I've seen you naked before."

"You have not."

"I have. Remember that time in the hotel room in Ohio?"

She twisted around to glare at him. "You said you didn't see anything."

"You weren't that quick with the bed sheet."

"That's why civilized people knock." His eyes were down; he was staring unapologetically at her chest. His hands were still moving, but his touch had evolved from just trying to warm her up to something slower, more like a caress. She was having trouble breathing, and she tried to convince herself it was because of this, not whatever was sprayed at the ceremony. "I still don't understand why they put us in here together," she continued weakly.

"Everyone who was there probably needs to be ... decontaminated." She felt his hands tighten on her body. "I doubt we're equipped for that. They probably had to double or even triple up people. You should be glad we're not in one big communal shower. Do you really want to see Toby naked?"

"Why didn't they stick me in with CJ or Margaret?"

"Well, for one thing, Margaret wasn't there."

"You know what I mean." She turned to look at him again, the tips of their noses brushing.

"This is like a bad television show," he said after a moment.

"Except if this were a bad television show, we'd probably be ..."

"Yeah."

She wasn't sure who moved first. She was fairly certain it couldn't have been him, because hello, this was Josh, but it couldn't have been her, because she was quite sure she was frozen in place. She decided would chalk it up to gravity or magnetism or inertia or any of the other forces she didn't entirely understand.

"Okay, now it's like we're in a bad television show," he murmured when their lips parted.

"I don't care," she heard herself say. He might have replied, but her ears were buzzing, and she wasn't aware of anything except for the fact that the hands on her breasts were no longer hers. They were kissing again, the angle awkward, as he was still standing behind her, but it felt too good to stop. She could feel his erection now; her mind had been actively ignoring the bulge pressing into her back.

One hand abandoned her breast, slipping down her stomach. When it made contact with her sex, she arched her back, pressing her ass against his cock. She wasn't sure who groaned more loudly.

With her eyes closed, she blindly reached out for the wall, suddenly feeling light-headed and desperate to steady herself. He wrapped his free arm around her waist, holding her to him as he began to probe her, penetrate her, with his fingers. He was grinding his hips against her, and even though she knew unprotected sex wouldn't be smart, she squirmed in his embrace, waiting for him to push into her.

Instead, he tightened his grip, ceasing her movements. When he sucked on her earlobe, she lost it, spasming against his fingers, choking out his name. After a moment, he released her, and that was when she felt something sticky on her back. As she craned her neck to look at him, she felt him wiping down her skin. She turned towards the spray, letting the water take away whatever he missed.

"You're clean," he said, and no sooner had the words left his mouth than the shower clicked off. A voice told them to step outside, where fresh clothing would be available.

"I hope there aren't cameras ... what?"

He was staring at her face. "You've got some ... red there."

"Where?" Her hand flew to her cheek, fingers searching for any irregularity.

"Here," and he traced the hairline just outside of her temple. "Are you sure you didn't get hit with anything?"

"It's probably just from the water," she said, trying to convince herself as much as him.

(fin.)