Chapter Text
XVIII
Being a child of law enforcement meant that Stiles was well aware of how slow the wheels of justice could turn, knew even better how often bumpy roads meant that entire sets of wheels needed changing before something could come to an end. She had sort of been on this side of the justice system many times throughout her life, watching her dad prepare for and be deposed for case after case. Some of them more intense than others, some thrown out altogether due to someone else’s incompetence down the line. Those always put her dad in sour dispositions for a period, especially depending on how close he was to the victims or how long he’d waited for continuance after continuance to finally go to trial - only for it to not work out somehow.
This was truly the first time she was the defendant in a case - though victim was a more accurate representation at this stage of the game because defendants got to defend their case in court or at least in arbitration, they were no where near that point. Stiles still preferred defendant over victim though and since no one could really stop her, she kept calling herself that in her mind. It felt more powerful and it gave her a bit of the power that they all had in limbo back.
Not that any title mattered much in the days following her hospital visit, nor the week that turned into two. Her dad kept telling her to have faith, the start of cases was always the hardest for the victims because they often couldn’t give updates for fear of throwing a case. She could have an in, so to speak, but she wasn’t allowing her dad access to her case. He didn’t know it was her that was stopping him, but it didn’t piss him off any less or make him feel like he was a terrible dad/cop for not being able to help.
It almost made her tempted to confess why the officers were stonewalling him. Almost. At this point she would remind him to have faith, he would usually shoot her a glare but relent. She got more dad hugs in the last two weeks than she had in the last several years, it was a nice change of pace though she hated why it was happening. And she was giving herself a pass on that as well, she was pretty sure he could use the hugs as well and if this was a reason he would allow them then it was just going to happen.
Things had been mostly moving closer to normal though Stiles couldn’t help but feel like the other proverbial shoe was about to drop from the sky to her head, she was sure of it. Be it with her dad, the pack, Peter, this fucking case. Something was about to blow and she didn’t know how she was going to handle it.
When the call came about her case, she wished she could say she was surprised by the unpleasant results. It still hurt, so it wasn’t all that hard to muster an appropriate response. If she hadn’t responded with utter disappointment and frustration then she would have to explain how she knew the current state of the case, that Peter Hale was doing his own investigation and was far more informed than the police were.
“Hi Stiles, I’m not sure if you remember me, I’m Officer Callahan. Kelly.”
Duh, Stiles was pretty sure she would never be able to forget this woman. “Oh yeah, I remember you.”
“I just wanted to give you an update on the case, I apologize that it’s taken a couple of weeks to make this call. We just wanted to try and gather as much information as possible.”
“Alright, so did you arrest them yet?” Stiles already knew the answer would be no.
“Unfortunately we are still in pursuit of the men involved in your case.” Listening to the diplomatic way Kelly spoke annoyed Stiles, still she tried to remind herself that the officer was in her rookie year and she would be doing her best to stick to the letter of the law when speaking to a victim. The wrong word and the department could be sued and the officer could be fired. “The trouble is they don’t seem to exist.”
“Excuse me?” She definitely didn’t dream them up, Peter could smell them on her and he could smell them in the house when he went back.
“We are still looking, rest assured. The problem is that we don’t have last names and the DNA found on you was compromised and so there was no matches in our system. The house that you were attacked in wasn’t listed in their names, it was put in a shell corporation that we are still trying to get warrants for. With ownerships like this, sometimes it takes time to get enough evidence for names to be produced.”
“Can’t you get proof they were there or traces of the drug from the library?”
There was a pause before the officer answered her. “We only found traces of a cup in the fireplace.”
“They threw my drink in the fire. I forgot about that.” Stiles had been driving to the store and found herself pulling off to the side of the road when that bit of information came back to her. “There’s no more evidence is there?”
The silence was damning. “There is a bigger issue than the melted cup.”
This wasn’t going to be the revelation Kelly thought it was, this was something Peter already broke to her a few days ago.
“What else could there be?”
“The house is completely empty.”
This bit of information broke Stiles a few days ago, she hated crying in front of anyone and she definitely didn’t want to cry in front of Peter. They were sex buddies, not comfort pals. But he pulled her into his lap and just let her cry for the longest time, he couldn’t seem to hold her tight enough and she soaked up every bit of it while she tried to cope with this news.
“How can it be empty? No one noticed an entire mansion being moved out in the shroud of darkness?” She didn’t actually know if it was done during the night but it seemed like that would be the best time to be sneaky and devious.
The officer gave a small huff of laughter, in times like this sometimes all a person could do was laugh. “I wish I could say someone did. We live in an age of cameras everywhere, but for some reason we are coming up short. But I promise we are still fully invested in your case.”
Stiles signed and rubbed her hands over her face as she leaned back against the headrest. “I appreciate the gesture but I grew up as a cop’s kid, I can hear a cold case coming from a mile away.”
Kelly made a small hum, clearly trying to come with something encouraging to say but Stiles wasn’t wrong. While her file might be on the top of the pile right now, with evidence either compromised or destroyed and an entire house emptied without a trace on top of a shell incorporation that has lawyers stalling left and right for information - this was quickly headed towards a cold case. It would get shifted lower and lower as higher risk cases with more evidence came in, it was just how it worked.
“I promise I’ll check in before the month is over, with good news or no news. I promise I’m not just going to let this case go.”
Stiles did appreciate the earnestness that came with the rookie classes, every case was taken so personally. It didn’t fix anything but it was a little bit comforting to think a stranger wanted to solve this for her as badly as someone who really did known Stiles would.
“I believe you. Thanks Kelly.”
“You’re welcome, Stiles. I’ll be in touch.”
“While I appreciate the whole checking in side of you and I don’t want to discourage it for future reference,” Stiles pressed in closer to Peter, her steps and the wall he was leaning against making it so that they were flush from chest to thighs.
He snorted, his hands firm on her hips as she went on her tiptoes and turned his head away as she started nosing along the column of his neck. She could feel the rumble of pleasure when she nipped and licked her way closer to his ear.
“Can’t help but hear the but coming.”
“But, if you don’t pick me up and fuck me like you’ve got something very serious to prove about your manhood, I’m going to be so pissed at you.”
The bark of laughter was not what she had intended to pull from Peter but the sound made her grin all the same, his hands gripping under her ass and lifting her off the ground as he stepped forward got her pulse thrumming. Right before he upended her, levering her over his shoulder like she weight nothing at all - the scream she made was not at all adorable or what she meant when she challenged his manhood.
“Hey you ox, what the hell?” Her next words were pushed out of her in a huff when her back hit the mattress with more force than was probably necessary. “Alright, no need to bruise the merchandise.”
He was grinning even as he pulled his shirt off and began peeling her too tight skinny jeans down her legs. “Are you wanting to rephrase the request?”
She knew he was manipulating her when he asked the question while getting on his knees and pulling her until her ass barely sat on the edge of the bed, pushing her legs wide open as he leaned in to breathe her most intimate scent while keeping some of the most intense eye contact they’ve ever shared before. The way he smirked as he rested his chin on her panties just above where she wanted him to put that annoying mouth said he knew she knew he was manipulating her. He even went so far as to toss her legs over his arms before lifting his chin so he could rest it over his folded hands, like he was just relaxing and garnering a bodily response just being between her legs like this.
“God I hate you.”
His grin said he either didn’t care or didn’t believe her. Who the hell was she kidding? Both were accurate descriptors of that stupidly attractive grin.
“Just don’t throw me around, that’s all I meant.” She huffed when he just shrugged, for some reason choosing this hill as the one he wanted to die on. “Damnit, no, I don’t want to rephrase.”
“Good.” It was all the warning she got before he pulled her underwear off and reburied his face between her spread thighs, her underwear landing somewhere in her kitchen from the sound of things hitting the floor off her counter or her cutting board - it really wasn’t important at this juncture.
She arched her back and dug her fingers into Peter’s hair as he delved deep inside of her with his incredibly talented tongue, two of his fingers sliding in beneath it before replacing it as he slid his mouth upward to suck on her clit. Peter wasn’t giving her any chance to acclimate or build up slowly, her challenge unlocking a fully feral side of him that was bent on breaking her before she could ask questions.
“Oh fuck, yes.” Stiles dug her heels into Peter’s shoulder blades as as she tried to get even closer to him, his fingers and tongue switching rolls once again.
She knew the noises she started making were probably not all that sexy, but she couldn’t control it. Even covering her mouth with one hand didn’t keep the keening sounds at bay, her body responding so much quicker than she ever had before.
Her noise turned disappointed when Peter pulled away suddenly, his fingers teasing her clit at a much slower pace than before. She lifted her head from the bed to look down at him with frustration and confusion.
“I was so close, what the hell?”
“You’re covering your mouth, you know I want to hear you.” He leaned down and pushed her outer labia lips open so he could tease her clit with the tip of his tongue as he issued a warning with his eyes.
Her body flinched and twitched as he applied a little more and then a little less pressure to her clit, somehow frozen by the sight of his tongue teasing her this way. Slowly building her back up after hurtling her there to start and then abruptly stopping, playing her like a fucking fiddle. Damnit she was so fucking there for it.
“It wasn’t even a good noise I was making. I don’t know what you call it but that was not cute.”
He snorted and shook his head, his tactic changing to full on laving of her entire sex. It should not have been as hot to watch as it was, watching him lick and kiss over her entire cunt as he kept a keen eye on her responses. When he pushed his tongue back inside of her, she could feel him curling it tightly before pulling back. Evidence of how much she was enjoying his ministrations coating his tongue before it disappeared between his lips and he swallowed slowly.
“It might not sound like it to you, but it is sexy as hell to me. Hearing you loose control turns me on more than you’ll ever know. Knowing I’m the only one who makes you sound like that, who ever gets to hear you sound like that - fucking hot. I want to hear it.”
Stiles wasn’t sure if she was struggling to breathe because of the confession or because his fingers kept teasing her throughout it, either way she needed to ruin it. “Pretty sure my neighbors below me can hear me sounding like that.”
His fingers paused their delicious movements as he stared at her for several long seconds. “I really wish I could understand how your brain processes things. Every time I think I’m getting the hang of it, you somehow manage to surprise me.”
She was pretty sure his laughing at her was a good thing, but it wouldn’t shock her if one day it wasn’t. “My brain to mouth filter isn’t working right now.”
That made him snort again before shaking his head. “Don’t try to blame that on me, that’s fully a you problem always.”
“Peter, seriously, I’m dying here.” Only she could be seconds from a body wrecking orgasm and derail the entire thing, all with her mouth.
He looked like it was a struggle to get his mouth to stop smiling in order to get back to what he was doing, but she was choosing not to think about how that meant he was still laughing at her internally instead of thinking sexy ‘I need your pussy now’ thoughts. Once he did have his mouth back on her, he started a little slower than before and while she enjoyed it, she was a little bummed she had ruined whatever plan he originally started with.
“Oh- shit.” Peter surprised her by pushing three fingers inside of her this time, his mouth sealing over her clit once again using both suction and his tongue to start bringing her back.
He didn’t often go with three fingers, she suspected it was because he wanted her to deeply feel the stretch when he finally would get inside of her. She could clearly feel the way he pressed the three of them together and the way he kept changing the angle until she arched under him, the sensitive upper wall giving up the elusive spot that made all women go cross eyed. Then he just kept pushing it for all it was worth, her thighs mixing between squeezing his head tightly so he can’t move or trying to spread them wider to get her hips closer.
She didn’t even have time to feel self conscious about the noises she was making or if she might be suffocating Peter with her thighs and her pussy before she was coming hard against his face and fingers, her moan cutting off in an over sensitized silence.
“Holy fuck balls.” She melted into the comforter with a boneless sigh as she floated back from her orgasm, her body buzzing enough to distract her from whatever Peter was doing after he slipped from beneath her thighs.
His huff of laughter and the mattress moving around her as he wrestled to undress her body without offering an ounce of assistance, only coming back to reality when he essentially tossed her up the bed towards the headboard.
“Hey- we agreed no tossing the Stiles around.”
“First of all, don’t refer to yourself as an object-“ He paused above her, hands on either side of her head as he looked down at her with a growing sly grin. “That’s my job.”
It was her turn to snort as she reached up to grab his sides and pulled him down over her.
“Secondly, I would never agree to not toss you around. It’s something we both deeply enjoy, even if you want to squawk about it.”
She gaped at him but couldn’t really dent it, even the ‘squawking’ reference was kind of spot on to a sound she’s made when he has tossed her around.
“Nothing? Shocking.” He kissed her before she could protest to that, his tongue sliding against hers before she could begin to resist.
Not that her body was going to defend itself anyway, moaning into his kisses and wrapping her legs around his waist to bring him even closer. She couldn’t quite be mad at herself for it, the man did know how to wind her up until she just had to give in.
On the upside, he was somehow always turned on by her filterless words and overeager body. She couldn’t say she fully understood why he was, but it made a balance between her open need for him and his inability to stay away from her. Clearly they were both hella specific in their desires, she just wasn’t sure what kind of specific that would fall into.
“Peter,” she whined against his lips, her hips lifting and easily connecting the his hard cock that floated between them.
“Fuck, I wish I could make you understand what it does when you say my name like that.” It seemed the closest way he could begin to show her was to pull back just enough so that he could thrust fully inside of her, pulling a deep needy moan from both of them.
Even if she never got to understand why it made him crazy, if she could just get the exact tone correctly so she could say it just like that every second of everyday - she’d push that button until they both died of sexual satisfaction.
“Show me, then. Ugn- show me how much you like it when I say your name.” Not that he was at all slouching in that department to start with, as soon as he had pushed fully inside of her he had started thrusting immediately.
“You’re so damn bossy.” He didn’t sound like he minded, though she had long started to find all of his feral growling sexy so maybe he was annoyed and she just couldn’t tell anymore.
He reached around and pulled one of her legs in front of him, essentially folding her in half as he positioned himself to get even deeper of an angle. With her leg locked against his chest, he reached around to squeeze and toy with her breast as he kept thrusting with more and more focused energy.
“Fuck, I love your fucking throat but nothing beats the feel of your pussy clinging to me like this.” He pushed himself upright as he held on to her thigh with one hand and his other hand gripped her asscheek, her hands going above her to push back against the headboard she was being fucked towards.
It took a couple of pathetic whines to get the words out, but the result was worth the effort. “You haven’t fucked my ass yet.”
Peter grunted and leaned forward to catch himself with one hand on her headboard, look of shock on his face. She was pretty sure he almost nutted right then and there, which made her grin immensely despite once again throwing off his perfect rhythm to give her an amazing orgasm.
“That was so fucked up.” Still he was huffing a laugh before he claimed her mouth, thrusts turning into deep rolls of his hips that had her whining against his lips and digging her nails into his shoulders.
He switched from those quick hard jabs into deep bass soul shattering ones that she knew were just some sort of punishment for almost making him come, each one made her think she was about to herself but it wasn’t quite enough friction or force. She whined again before pushing him hard and rolling them both onto his back with her over him.
“You’re such a poor sport, Peter.” She gripped his cock in her hand as she held it steady so she could sink down on him once again, a happy sigh escaping her just feeling him stretch her.
“Yet, you keep trying to fuck with me while trying to fuck me.” He put his hands on her hips as he pulled her forward, her hands falling on the pillow beside his head.
He planted his feet on the bed before he started fucking up into her once again, the surprise force and speed cutting off anything she was going to say as a rebuttal.
“Yes, so good. You make me feel so fucking good, Peter.” Stiles tilted her hips more so that every thrust would hit her clit with his pelvis as he got as deep as possible, her head whipped back toward the ceiling as she got lost in the full body ecstasy he created.
“Fit me so perfectly. Keep saying my name, sweetheart. Fuck I’m so close.”
She bit her lip and nodded as she felt herself getting even closer too, when she bent her head down her hair fell like a curtain around the two of them. It was just the two of them in her apartment but it made it that much easier to imagine they were the only two in Beacon Hills, his eyes glowing but focused on hers. She felt herself get emotional staring at those bright blue eyes, feeling orgasm creeping up on her and she could see the moment he noticed the change in her too as his brow twitched towards a frown.
She just shook her head and kissed him fiercely, pulling moans out of them both before she came hard in his arms. His deep groan and his final hard thrust pushing firmly inside of her proof he came movements later. She groaned in pleasure as she collapsed against him, relishing the few moments of him still hard inside of her.
“Did I pass your challenge?” Hearing him try to speak while even the tiniest bit winded would always get her hot and bothered, it was a two-in-one badge she wished she could brag about to the whole world: Stiles Stilinski made Peter Hale the Werewolf man-slut winded with her pussy. Fucking brag worthy.
“Oh yeah, you passed. Good job.” She patted his arm much the same as she had the first time they had sex and she was pretty sure by his snort that he caught the connection too.
“Want to tell me what just happened then?”
“Well when two people like each other very much- ow!” Stiles pushed up and glared at Peter as she rubbed her hand over her now stinging ass cheek, it wasn’t like he slapped it hard but usually there was some kind of kink negotiation required before something like spanking.
“You were the one being the smart ass, I was just making sure you felt like one too.” He grinned at her eye roll before pushing her hand out of the way and pulling what little pain had been created by the slap away.
“I was just kidding, it didn’t really hurt.” She felt her face cheeks pink as much as her recently tapped cheek did.
“I know, just gives me a reason to touch your ass.” Like he needed an excuse to do that, but it made her strangely blush to have him say it. “So, the look on your face? That you’re pretending not to have gotten?”
They probably got along so well because they were both stubborn mules at times, of course he wouldn’t just let it go. “I need to use the bathroom first.”
He made a noncommittal noise but released her so that she could slip away, his hands going behind his head and crossing his ankles with a content sigh. It was hard not to feel something ridiculous as she walked around the bed, seeing him look so comfortable in her bed with his eyes closed and fully naked. Not that his being naked had any unique meaning to do with her per-say but she liked to think how comfortable he was had a bit to do with her.
She used the time in the bathroom to decide what to say to him, she couldn’t lie obviously but technically she could tell a partial truth as long as she was super focused on the truth. It was an easier trick with Scott or one of the other pups who hadn’t been born a wolf, but it was possible. And she also really wasn’t sure how a partial truth would make the situation better, if anything it would probably make it worse. Her best bet was to lay it out there and if he hated what she said, that would be it. It would crush her, but with everything else going on, maybe it would be better to be fully crushed instead of doing it in layers.
When she went back out to the main room, Peter was walking back from the kitchen with a new bottle of water in one hand and her underwear swinging from one finger. “Those got some distance.”
He grinned as he discarding the underwear on the floor before taking a long drink and climbing back into the bed, somehow without spilling any of the water like she would have. He followed her movements and got under the covers, offering her a drink before setting it back on the nightstand and laying back against the pillows.
He opened an arm to her, pulling her tight against his side before putting one hand behind his head and giving her a look that was clearly waiting for her to tell him what was going on in her head.
“Alright, so it’s not a big deal or anything.”
“Well, let’s not start off by lying.” He grinned when she glared at him. “Even if I couldn’t hear the lie, I saw your face. So, just say it.”
Stiles sighed before taking a deep breath and letting it out, resting her forearm on him and drawing nonsense on his chest with her finger. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks. Obviously.”
He gave a half smile and nodded. “Obviously.”
“I have been going through a lot of thoughts and feelings and something that I just keep going back to is - I’m grateful. That you’re my friend and that I can count on you. I care about you a lot, Peter.”
She could see he was trying to keep his face impassive as she listed things about him, his brows flickering to a frown and back to nothing again. He was feeling suspicious of all these feelings but didn’t know why yet. She couldn’t really blame him after the last time.
“The night of the party is still pretty blurry but certain thoughts and feelings keep coming back to me.”
That had his attention more, his previous suspicions pushed down for concern over her blurry memory and trauma.
“I kept thinking how unfair it had been to push you to feel things and admit things you weren’t ready to or didn’t want to.”
“Stiles-“
She put her finger over his lips and gave him a weak smile. “I haven’t even said anything worth stressing about yet, so hold onto your warnings about my confused feelings.”
He frowned but tried to relax back onto the pillow, her hand moving back to his chest.
“I just kept thinking it wasn’t fair that I was pushing you to feel something you’re not ready to- or won’t feel for me. And as the days have gone on, I think I’ve made peace with that. I’m just grateful to have you with me.”
This time when he said her name, it almost sounded sadder and she shook her head with a smile that felt more genuine this time.
“I really mean that and I know you can hear it. I kept thinking out there and over the last few days, what if the last thing I’d ever said to you was shitty? Was selfish and demanding? I just wanted to be able to see you again. I didn’t want the last person to kiss me to be those fuckers.”
Almost like he needed to be sure they weren’t the last ones, Peter pushed up of the bed and with a hand in her hair he pressed their lips together. She found herself smiling against his lips, she was pretty sure she would never get tired of the feeling.
“I will kill them.” It was a promise he already made her and she didn’t have any reason not to believe him.
“That’s a different discussion, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
He snorted but leaned back a little to let her continue.
“So, I realized that it would be wrong for me to try and make you feel something you don’t feel you can. But I also realized it is wrong for me to deny how I feel about you.”
Peter’s brow raising was her only clue that he heard what she said, clearly trying to give her the chance to explain herself before he reacted.
“I like you Peter, a lot. As my friend. As more. I get that we aren’t together, but I could have died without telling you honestly how I feel. I don’t want to pretend I don’t have feelings for you, or hold back when I want to say how you make me feel. I’m not saying them to get you to reciprocate or make you feel guilty - I hope it’ll make you feel the opposite in fact.”
“The opposite of guilty?”
She could feel how rigid he had gone beside her but he wasn’t pushing away from her and he wasn’t leaving yet, so that was something. “Yes, I hope it makes you feel good. Knowing that someone cares and wants to tell you so. Not just during sex, but just because I feel like it.”
“This seems like a terrible idea that is just going to get you hurt.” Peter groaned and rubbed his hand over his face.
“Possibly but it would be my own fault then. And I would be able to walk away knowing that I wasn’t trying to lie to myself about how I feel.”
“Sweetheart, I just told you that I plan on murdering two men. Like I’ve been considering which of the many ways I know how to kill a person might I find the most gratifying for these two men. I’m not someone you should be feeling these things about.”
“I can’t really argue that, but I can’t deny that I feel them all the same. I don’t love murder but I also don’t love the idea they wanted to tag team rape me.” She paused and held up a surrendering hand when he growled deeply and flashed his eyes. “My bad, I didn’t need to get so graphic about. We both know what they planned on doing.”
Peter huffed out a sigh and fell back on the bed. “You haven’t done anything bad, Stiles. You were the one they attacked, you can describe it however you want without having to stop and consider how I feel about it.”
Stiles grinned and leaned into his space, hovering over his face and she pressed a hand to his cheek. “I know, but I appreciate that it upsets you to describe it so casually. I like that someone gets that upset on my behalf.”
The look he gave her said he thought she might be crazy. “That’s not a healthy rationale.”
“But I am standing by it.”
“Sweetheart, this is so fucked up.” His hand came up and mirrored her own, tips of his fingers brushing through the hair at the nape of her neck.
“Maybe, but I have never felt this safe or comfortable or wanted or - so many other things that you make me feel. I hate when this gets overly used but I feel like you actually see me and it’s something I don’t want to ignore anymore.”
Peter snorted at her impassioned expression but his own softened despite his efforts. “I want you to feel good things, Stiles. You deserve them. You deserve a hell of a lot more than I can give you.”
“Then believe I deserve the right to decide how I want to spend our time together.”
Peter rolled his eyes but she couldn’t help but feel giddy inside when he pulled her tighter to his side, lifting his head to slide his nose along hers. “Someday you’re going to regret giving so much of yourself to me, but I’m going to enjoy it until you do.”
Peter kissed her until her head buzzed with feel good endorphins and the words took root in her mind. She was pretty sure he didn’t mean that promise to sound as full as it came across, but she would enjoy it until he realized it.