Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/6758233. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: F/M Fandom: Parks_and_Recreation Relationship: Leslie_Knope/Ben_Wyatt Additional Tags: Romance, Smut, Alternate_Universe, Age_Difference Series: Part 4 of cradle_of_love Stats: Published: 2016-05-05 Updated: 2017-04-27 Chapters: 3/? Words: 1292 ****** Rock the Cradle of Love ****** by c00kie Summary drabbles related to the Love Cuts a Million Ways (cradle of love) verse. ***** first time aftermath ***** “Wow,” she says, when she finally catches her breath. “Wow.” “So it was good?” Ben asks, smiling against her shoulder. “Uh huh,” Leslie answers, trying to put into words how amazing-wonderful- awesome-spectacular that was She knew it would be, having heard all those women praise him and God, but finding out for herself- it’s amazingwonderfulawesomespectacular. And it’s not just about the way his dick feels perfect inside her. It’s the little things, like how his teeth scrape across her neck, or the way his chest hair tickles her breasts and how he keeps eye contact when she starts to climb. It’s how after he comes, he stays inside her, the words, “You’re beautiful, I love you,” repeated as he kisses her, slow and easy. “Yes,” she says, playing with the ends of his hair. Part of her is hungry, part of her is sleepy, but mostly she just wants him again. “When can we do that again?” “Twenty minutes or so,” Ben answers, eyes closed, fingers lazily dancing on her skin. “That long?” she asks, pouting but not caring. His eyes open and he sits up, a smirk forming on his face. “Don’t worry. I know how we can pass the time." ***** Chapter 2 ***** The power goes off sometime around nine. “Fuck!” All of his work is completely gone. There’s a meeting with a candidate tomorrow. He’s completely fucked. There’s a knock on his door. Ben takes a deep breath but it doesn’t help. He was on edge before the power went out. “It’s the whole block,” Leslie says, coming inside, “I brought you some candles.” “Thanks.” He follows her to the kitchen, watches as she digs through his drawers for a lighter. “Don’t bother,” he says, “candles aren’t going to help.” She turns, and he can see enough of her to know she’s frowning. “What’s wrong?” He combs his fingers through his hair. “Nothing. It’s just dumb work stuff. I have a thing tomorrow and this power outage isn’t helping.” Leslie nods, like she understands. “You know, not too long about I was in a very similar situation and a man I know helped me through it.” Ben closes his eyes. He remembers her coming over in near tears because her computer crashed and she lost a quarter of her midterm paper for her English class. “Yeah?” She wraps her arms around his neck, fingers playing with the ends of his hair. Her breasts are pressed against him. It’s almost enough to make him feel better. “I know I can’t make the power come back on, or make your work reappear, but I can do this,” she says, saying almost the exact same words he did before her lips slide against his “Better?” she asks. “Almost,” he answers, pulling Leslie closer and taking control. He might not have power, he might get in trouble tomorrow, but at least he has her. ***** Chapter 3 ***** Chapter Summary Some early relationship fluff “Call me when you get home,” the text says, with nothing else to tell Leslie what kind of mood Ben’s in. Is is he worried? Is something wrong? Does she need to leave immediately? Does he want to have sexy phone time? “Can’t I just come over?” she asks, adding a wink and kiss emoji before hitting send. The reply is immediate. “I’m at work,” the text says. “Will be gone most of the night.” Ohhh. Okay well that makes sense. She types that, then adds, I’ll call you, I promise, punctuated with four hearts and three kisses and a puppy, because it’s cute and Ben is cute, like a puppy. A tall, sexy puppy with big hands and- “Hey, Knope, wake up!” Leslie glares at Roger. “What?” “Are you even listening? Or are you two busy sexting with that secret boyfriend of yours?” “Of course I’m listening, Roger,” Leslie says, rolling her eyes. “And I don’t have a secret boyfriend.” There’s a snort that comes from somewhere else at the table. “Then what’s that hickey on your neck?” Leslie instantly puts her fingers to her neck, remembering that morning as Ben gave it to her while she rode his fingers. “It’s none of your business, Kim. Now let’s study so we can get out of this creepy place.” There’s a collective groan and someone says, “It’s just a library, Leslie,” but she knows evil when she sees it, and the librarians keep glaring at her like they want to ruin her life with fines and ritual sacrifice of her first born child. Still, the conversation returns to their next Chemistry test and Leslie’s able to concentrate on it, for the most part. She can’t help but think about Ben, stuck in his office, jacket off, sleeves rolled up to show his tight forearms. She wishes she could go there, climb into his lap and- “Okay, it’s time to go,” Julie announces. “I can’t miss the train.” They all hurry to leave. As they do though, Leslie hears Mark say, “Hey, Les, can I talk to you?” Mark. She actually forgot Mark was there. Ever since they fizzled and Ann rejected him, he’s been rather withdrawn. “Sure,” she says, but she continues walking. There’s no way she’s missing the train. “So what’s up?” “Uh, yeah, so the secret boyfriend-” “Mark.” “No, no, it’s cool. I’m not- I just want you to be happy.” She smiles, because she is happy. Leslie considers herself to be a pretty happy person to begin with, but this is a different kind of happiness. This is the kind of happiness that comes when you can imagine yourself waking up next to a person for the rest of your life. “I’m very happy.” “Cool. So like, who is he? Some guy you met at camp?” “No,” Leslie says, laughing. “He’s my pen pal from Canada.” Mark laughs and it’s a good sound. He was a lousy boyfriend but he is her friend. “Of course.” They talk on the train, mostly about school, but then the train stops and Mark gets off, allowing Leslie the freedom to text with Ann until her stop comes. And when she gets home, takes off her shoes and bra and collapses on her bed with an exhaustion that always comes after Thursday nights, she calls Ben. “Hey,” he says, “I mean, this is Ben Wyatt.” Leslie giggles, knowing that his businesslike demeanor means he’s not alone.”I’m home,” she says, not wanting to keep him from anything important. “Cool, well, I’ll have to look at the data- can you pardon me one sec-” she hears murmurs of agreement and then the click of a door shutting. “Hey. You home?” “Yeah. I’m home. I wish you were here.” “I wish I was there. Matthis’ team is driving me up the wall they want all these changes to his campaign strategy, like just run the damn thing yourselves.” He takes a deep breath and exhales. “Sorry. How was study group?” “Same.” “No librarians tried to eat you?” “Yet.” Ben laughs. “Yet,” he agrees before sighing. “Okay they’re looking antsy so I better go. I’m not sure what time I’ll be home and-” “I should sleep,” she finishes for him, only this time she agrees. “I’ll see you in the morning.” There’s a slight pause, and she knows that this is the time when couples say I love you before hanging up, and it’s there, right there, but she’s not sure how Ben will feel if she just blurts it out like that. The last guy she said it to ended up having his mom call her to break up with her for him. “Okay,” he says,his voice full of warm affection. Even though they haven’t said it yet, she feels it. “Goodnight.” “Goodnight.” She hangs up the phone and smiles. It is a good night. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!