Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/3677859. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: F/M Fandom: From_Dusk_Till_Dawn:_The_Series Relationship: Kate_Fuller/Seth_Gecko, Kate_Fuller/Richard_Gecko Character: Kate_Fuller, Seth_Gecko Additional Tags: thoughts, Worries, Lazy_Mornings, Lazy_Sex, Richie_is_only_mentioned_in this_part, Kissing, Cuddling_&_Snuggling Series: Part 5 of Touched Stats: Published: 2015-04-04 Words: 2409 ****** Sweet Innocence (Gentle Sin) ****** by DarlingNikki Summary Seth and Kate are on the road back to the Titty Twister, they stay at a motel the night before they arrive and find comfort. Notes Hey, I'm alive! Next part of the series is finally here. It'd kinda been languishing on my harddrive for a while partially wrote. I don't have an ETA on the next part though, so even if this is kinda slow to update, I promise I'm still thinking of it. Title is from Hozier's song "Take Me To Church" but I actually listened to Arctic Monkey's "Do I Wanna Know?" to write this. I just couldn't find a lyric fragment I really liked to use as the title. See the end of the work for more notes Richie needs her. The thought burns through Kate's mind, waking her up from the numb existence she'd been allowing herself. She has a purpose, and that purpose is more than just surviving. She'd almost forgotten that. She'd let herself sleepwalk for a time, numb from grief and pain, but it's gone on for long enough. It's time for her to wake up. Metaphorically speaking that is. It's maybe four a.m. and she should probably go back to sleep for now. It's too early to wake up Seth. He's all about sleeping late, and won't appreciate being woke up before he's damn well ready to get up, as he usually blusters when she wakes him up too early. He's still not sleeping well, sometimes when Kate wakes up in the middle of the night, like now, she hears him tossing and turning in his bed. Right now, he's still, and he needs the rest. Kate has a lot to discuss with him in the morning, and she knows he won't appreciate what she has to say.   ===============================================================================   Kate waits until Seth has had breakfast and is stretching contentedly in his chair before she ambushes him. “I think Richie's in trouble,” she states confidently. Seth stops stretching and looks at Kate in surprise. “What?” “I dreamed of Richie last night.” Kate tries to come across as seriously as she can. “I think,” she pauses, “I think he's in trouble.” “So you dreamed this? You do remember dreams are in your head, princess?” “It was different. It felt real. It felt like he was there.” Seth looks at her incredulously. Kate knows it sounds crazy, but considering that vampires are real, she's willing to be open minded. Besides, Richie had known things that there was no logical explanation for him knowing. This really isn't that far outside of the realm of possibility considering the brave new world they woke up in two months ago, a lot of crazy ideas seem entirely all too real to Kate now. “Seth, I'm not going crazy, I swear. Richie needs us.” “Okay then, princess, convince me.” He's still skeptical, but he's at least willing to listen to her. “We were back at the pool, then Santanico appeared, and he was just so scared of her. I could see it in his eyes. He didn't want to be there. He just looked like he was screaming inside.” Kate looks down and harshly sobs. “She was taunting me. That was the worst part of it. She just acted like he was a piece of furniture or something!” She looks back up into Seth's eyes. “He looked into my eyes, and it was like he was pleading for me to save him.” Seth just watches her for a second, to see if she's got anything else to say. Kate's silent though, other than soft hitching breaths escaping. Seth's hard expression softens, and he reaches out for Kate. He puts his hand on the back of her neck, and leans forward, pulling her towards him. He rests his forehead against hers, and looks into her eyes. “I believe you.” Kate's hitching breaths quieten, and Seth can see the fragile hope in her eyes. “Let's try to find him.” He pulls back, “We can't let that bitch cause too much trouble anyway. I set her free, maybe I should be the one to put her down like the mad dog she is.”   ===============================================================================   Finding her, finding Richie, is easier said than done. Any trail they might have left after leaving the Titty Twister has long grown cold in the intervening time, and Kate and Seth hadn't really thought of where they could've been going, more concerned with just leaving the scene of the horrors and heartbreaks they had endured. Their aimless wandering had taken them fairly far away, and since they had no better ideas, eventually they settled on making their way back. Going back there, it's not something that Kate is looking forward to, and the closer they get the more her hands start twisting the ends of her shirt restlessly. She looks out the window, and watches the desert scenery speed pass, Seth really doesn't know how to drive carefully. He's just as reckless driving, as he is with drinking, as he is with the pills that he thinks that Kate doesn't notice him furtively popping. She knows she should worry about it more, but strangely she feels safe with him. They didn't meet in the best circumstances, or even in remotely good circumstances, but she knows deep in her bones that he will not let anything bad happen to her. Bad things might happen, and probably will, but she knows he will do everything to protect her. Kate swallows, looking over at Seth as he drives. His jaw is clenched and his eyes are hard and shuttered, and she can't tell what he's thinking. Nothing good, she'd bet. Kate swallows again, and asks, “How much longer?” Seth tenses and glances over at her, focusing on her hands anxiously tugging the end of her shirt. “Not far, baby girl, not far at all.” Kate looks out at the rapidly darkening sky. “Maybe we should find a place to stay?” She looks down again, slightly embarrassed by how scared she actually is to go back there. “We can go in the morning. Seems safer.” “Not a bad plan. That way we'll be fresh as daisies for whatever we happen to find.”   ===============================================================================   The motel they find is remarkably similar to every other motel they've stayed at so far. Same dingy carpet with random stains, heavy curtains that end up drawn closed to hide them from the outside, same layout of a table and chairs by the window with two beds with threadbare comforters separated by a flimsy nightstand, the motel rooms all blur together in Kate's mind. Kate carefully sets Richie's broken glasses on the nightstand, it's almost become a small ritual for her, something to remind her of him. She turns the TV on and sits down on the bed farthest away from the door. The holster she's wearing shifts, and her gun is digging into her side. She pulls it off and sits it down on the nightstand, within easy reach, and it's another safety blanket for her. It's a reminder that she's not the same helpless weak girl that she used to be. Not now, not ever again. She made sure of that. She's begged and cajoled Seth for every scrap of knowledge he would share with her. She can steal cars, shoot guns, hold her own. She's not the same at all. Seth taught her a lot, and while they've not done anything like the stories he's told her of times with Richie robbing banks, she knows more about that life than she'd ever even realized that there was to know. She keeps telling herself that she's not the same. She keeps telling herself that she's ready for tomorrow, and that the little voice in the back of her head saying she's not can just shut up.   ===============================================================================   Kate tosses and turns in her sleep that night. She dreams not of Richie, but of the past. She dreams of darkness and blood and being so helpless tied on that altar begging for someone to come save her before the knife came down. She sits up gasping, and glances over at Seth in his bed. He's laying on his side facing away from her, and she's just so tired, and it would help to curl up against him, like they did the first night after. Her life falls into two categories now, before and after, and what happened there defined her. She is scared to go back, but she's sure that the only way forward is back there. So she's just going to have to suck it up and deal, but sleeping through the rest of the night would help her. That makes up her mind. She pushes the blankets off her bare legs, and gets off her bed, and crawls in behind Seth sighing happily at the warmth of his skin when she's under the blanket beside him. He stirs and groans, not really awake and turns to wrap his arms around her, pulling her flush against his chest, with her face nestled in the crook of his neck. She breathes him in, his skins smells like sweat and cheap soap, and she's melting. The tension from her nightmares falls out of her muscles. She wiggles a little, and Seth hands stroke her skin. The one under her reaches and tangles in her hair, and the one wrapped over her slides up the back of her loose shirt to rest against her bare back. Kate breathes in again, and finds herself sliding seamlessly back into sleep. She doesn't dream.   ===============================================================================   The morning light streaming through the cracks of the curtains makes Seth groan and clutch whoever is in bed with him closer. He doesn't open his eyes, he's comfortable and warm, and he's not really awake yet, so he clutches the slim body entangled with his closer. He can feel soft curves pressing against his chest, and soft breaths against his neck, and his cock is aching. He rolls his hips, and groans at the sweet friction against him. It feels so good, so he does it again. The woman in his bed sighs, and one of her legs is slung over his thigh. He doesn't remember picking up a woman last night. His hand rubs absent circles on her bare back, and she groans against him, sleepily murmuring his name, and then Seth fully awakes. He knows that voice, he knows this woman, this girl tangled up in him. It's Kate. He starts to pull away, but she clutches at him tighter, making it hard to let her go. It was already hard to pull away, Kate's beautiful, but she's not his, and he's much too old for her. His hips roll against her again, unconsciously, against his will, against his better judgment. This girl is too innocent for him to touch; this girl is Richie's. She moves, and her head tilts away from his neck, to look at his face blearily. “Seth?” She asks trailing off, with her eyes not completely focusing on him. “What is it?” “Hey, princess, let me up.” He tries to pull away from her again, but her hands are bands wrapped around him, and she's not letting go, and he's not willing to hurt her by breaking her grip. She blinks her eyes, and looks much more aware. Her fingers wander down his spine, and she looks pensive for a second. “Stay?” She pouts. “Please?” She doesn't know what she does to him, pouting like that. He knows he's a goner now. Any chance of getting away, has evaporated, because he can't say no to her. Seth shudders, and relaxes against her. “Yeah. . . okay.” He can't look away from her. Her hair's a rats nest, but she looks so beautiful illuminated by the dim rays of the sun. She glows, and he wonders if this is what Richie saw when he looked at her. His hand is entwined in her hair, and he tugs her face up more, tilting it to a better angle, and then his lips are pressing against hers. He's lost. He presses his lips against hers dryly, but then her mouth opens sighing against him. He is surprised to feel her tongue running tentatively against his lips, taking the initiative of the kiss from him. She gently slides her tongue into his mouth, finding his and stroking. It's sweet and amazingly innocent, for all that they're half naked in bed together with his erection pressing against her leg. He's lost, and his hips roll against her again. Her warm glow seems as if it's seeping into him. Her foot hooks behind his knee and pulls him closer to her core, and he can feel dampness through the thin fabric of her panties on his thigh. They don't stop kissing. Her hands are still moving on his back, and there's a fire in his gut. Each gentle touch only seems to bank the fire. Seth grips her back, and his hips don't stop moving against her. He doesn't want this the end. He flips them and rolls above her on the bed, breaking the soft kiss momentarily, looking down at Kate, “You sure about this?” She doesn't speak, instead she reaches up and drags his face back down to her to catch his lower lip between her teeth. Her legs spread open and he settles between them, bracing himself up on one elbow, so the other hand is free to roam. He slips it back up her shirt, finding a nipple to roll between two fingers. She moans against his lips, and then they're kissing again. This time it's a different kiss. Less innocent. She sucks on his tongue, and he's moving against her, feeling the heat between her legs against his member only separated by a thin barrier of fabric. They kiss. Her hands stroke his back, and he presses against her, drawing a louder moan against his mouth, and the sting of her little nails scratching down his back. They never make it any farther, they just seem to lose time, lost in each other, kissing and moving, exploring each other carefully. The fire in Seth's gut tenses in his spine, and the slow roving movement of his hips turns erratic, and he can feel release building in his spine. He grinds against her harder, insistently against her clit, because if he's going to cum like a teenager in his underwear, well he's gentleman enough to make sure she enjoys it too. Her breathy moans turn to hitching gasps and she sinks her nails into his back, holding him tightly against her, and then Seth stills and falls off the edge with her. Seth comes back to himself, and looks down at Kate. He should regret this, he should hate himself, but all he feels is relief. She beams up at him, and pulls him down to rest against her fully. “You're thinking too much.” She says this to him matter of factly. “Don't worry.” He shifts so he's not laying directly on top of her, and pulls her close. They both drift back to sleep again. What they need to do can wait another hour or two. End Notes You can find me on pinkglitterygoth.tumblr.com but I've not been on it much? Sorry. I'm a terrible person. But send me asks and I will get them. Poke me. Seriously, encouragement helps. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!