Only the Stars Know

Summary: Zoe and Beckett sneak away during her birthday party, but this time interruptions don’t deter their plans.

Note: This is an alternate ending for the Beckett diamond scene from Chapter 14. Much of the beginning dialogue and some near the end is copied from the chapter. 

Zoe closes her eyes and savors the feeling of Beckett’s mouth on hers, inhaling the alluring scent of his cologne, tasting the sugary traces of cupcake leftover on his lips. He kisses her slowly, deeply, like he’s determined to make sure each time is better than the last. She can’t help but grab his blazer labels, pulling him in as close as she can.

Beckett pauses for a breath, and rests his forehead against hers. The heat of his skin contrasting with the cool night air. “I can hardly believe this is real,” he rasps, and for Zoe, that’s a massive understatement. Here she is on her 19th birthday, underneath the star-lit sky, next to a magickal lake she portaled through just a couple months ago. The place she and Beckett met back when she had no clue what wonders and perils life had in store for her, and when she never could have imagined the surly and arrogant guy she encountered that day would end up meaning so much to her.

Zoe tilts her head up, whispering against his lips. “Maybe another kiss will help you wrap your head around it.” He returns the kiss, softly at first but it grows in intensity, and she nips at his lower lip.

“I liked that quite a bit.” A grin appears on his face which she imagines mirrors her own.

“Good, I’d like it quite a bit if you didn’t stop yet.” They are hardly anywhere secluded or private, but the quiet stillness of the night and dim glow of the moonlight allow her to forget that in the moment. It’s just the two of them seated on the old stone bench, longing for one another, and nothing else matters. She runs her hands through his hair and tugs, drawing him in again urgently, all earlier hesitation and tenderness cast side. He moans and wraps his strong arm around her waist. “Oh!” Zoe gasps when Beckett ducks down to lavish her neck with kisses, stoking the fire inside her.

Beckett moves back up to her lips to muffle their sounds, then fixes his gaze intently with a steely hunger in his eyes. “It’s maddening how you affect me, Zoe. I can barely think around you.” If he feels anything like she does, she doesn’t doubt his thoughts turn to mush around her, primal need and desire taking the place of all sense and logic.

“Beckett…don’t stop now….” she pleads, swinging a leg over and straddling him atop the bench. “….because I’m only just getting started.”

She grinds against him, but even that is not enough. Beckett grabs her hips, pressing her tighter with a groan. “Zoe!” She threads her hands in his hair, his mouth crashing down upon hers over and over again until they are both breathless. She throws her head back as his lips travel down her neck once more, leaving trail of goosebumps in their wake. “I must warn you I’m not certain I’ll be able to get enough of you tonight, Zoe.”

Zoe looks up at him with a smirk. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” His words still reverberating in her brain, she starts frantically undressing him, unable to hold back a minute longer. Only Beckett Harrington could make that proper prose sound so hot.

Beckett reciprocates, peeling away her black leather top, exploring each bit exposed with his lips, his tongue, his teeth. Zoe whimpers and moans at his touch, shivers running down her spine and they have nothing to do with the weather. He pulls her onto his lap, both of them now clad only in their underwear. She can almost read his thoughts as his eyes sweep over her from head to toe, telling her he wants to fuck her right here and now, although he’d say it much more politely. “You’re absolutely breathtaking” is what comes out of his mouth, confirming her assumption.

“You look pretty good yourself,” Zoe replies. “Please, never stop doing yoga.” Okay she knows that sounds shallow, but damn, it’s done wonders for his body, and she’ll never get tired of looking at him naked.

Beckett chuckles and sets her next to him on the bench. She flinches as her bare skin hits the cool stone, but she quickly acclimates as Beckett settles between her knees. His hand ghosts over the fabric of her bra while he blazes a trail of kisses from her chest on down. “Beckett!” Zoe cries out digging her fingers in his hair as he reaches the apex of her thighs, the anticipation sending a thrill through her. Just as she feels the warmth of his lips through the lace of her panties, a raucous group of students comes pouring out the foyer doors, stunning them both back to reality.

They remain frozen, awash with relief as the students run to the other side of the lake without taking notice of the nearly naked pair. Zoe smiles down sheepishly at Beckett. “On second thought, maybe this isn’t the place for…”

Beckett hurriedly hands Zoe her clothes and shields her with his blazer. “Of course. Apologies for getting carried away.”

“Oh, I’m not saying I minded.” Zoe bites her bottom lip, and Beckett’s expression shifts from concerned to pensive.

“Well there is something I could try,” Beckett muses. “If we’re quiet enough, nobody would know we’re here…but judging from your performance thus far, I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“Hey!” Zoe tosses her shirt at Beckett. “You weren’t exactly silent either. I bet I could be quieter than you if I tried.” She knows just how to get him.

Beckett quirks and eyebrow. “Is that a challenge? You know I can’t back down from a competition. Now come in closer. I’m going to put an illusion over us, so we can see each other, but nobody else can see us.”

“Oh! I know what that is!” Zoe responds excitedly. “Professor Swan put one Atlas that night before you all saw her and thought it was me.”

Beckett shakes his head, still probably in disbelief of the whole situation. “Then you are likely aware it lasts thirty minutes tops, maybe even less since I haven’t practiced it much.”

“I’d say I was impressed that you know even more advanced magick, but at this point, nothing surprises me. Is there anything in the curriculum you don’t know yet?” Zoe asks.

There’s still a few things, but ask me at the end of the year,” Beckett teases, but she gets the impression he’s only half joking. She wouldn’t put it past him to learn four years of material in just one at the pace he’s going. “Now hang onto me.” Zoe wraps her arms around Beckett’s waist, and he does the same type of pinching motions around them that professor swan had done, and Zoe sees the rainbow lights appear, just as they did then.

Zoe picks up her phone and attempts to take a selfie but sees nothing but the lake behind them. “It worked!”

Beckett scoffs, but a smile plays on his lips. “Did you ever doubt me?”

Zoe captures his mouth in a brief but passionate kiss. “Not for a second.”

“Now, that’s enough talking. I want as much time with you as I can get.” Beckett backs her up against the bench and guides her to a seated position. “Let’s begin where we left off, shall we?”

Zoe nods in agreement and Beckett slides her panties off. He positions himself on the ground in front of her once again and pushes her knees apart to gain full access. He connects with her inner thigh, kissing, licking, and nibbling his way towards where she wants him the most. She shudders as electric pulses travel across her skin, each touch seemingly felt from her head to her toes.

Beckett looks up at Zoe smugly like he knows what she wants, and also what he wants, but he’s going to make her wait for it. She can’t tell him what to do, but she can show him. She grabs the hair at the back of his head and guides his mouth to her sex. He grips her thighs and doesn’t hold back, working his tongue through her folds and around her clit like a starved man. “Mmm,” he hums sending vibrations through her core that she thoroughly enjoys, but he’s already failed at keeping quiet. She pulls on his hair just hard enough to remind him, even though there’s nobody else around at the moment.

He continues to work his non-magickal magic and Zoe starts to lose all sense of time and place. She throws her head back as Beckett insert two fingers deep inside her and a guttural moan escapes and echoes across the lake. He stops abruptly and in an instant he’s up on the bench and has her straddling his hips. He leans in to whisper in her ear. “I think I need to be up here to keep you under control. Bracing her her with one arm, he shifts and shimmies out of his boxer briefs with the other. “You ready for me?”

She nods yes once again and centers herself over him. They haven’t had sex without a condom yet, but she’s been on birth control for quite some time now and knows they’re both clean. She gets a twinge of excitement thinking of his bare cock inside her with no barrier between them. She grabs hold of him and lowers herself down, and it feels even better this way if that’s even possible. Her hands against his chest, she can feel his heart pounding as she rocks and writhes against him. The only sounds their panted breaths and the sliding and slapping of her wet lips against his skin.

Beckett caresses her breasts in both hands, taking one nipple in his mouth, and she bites down on his shoulder to stifle the sounds she cannot fully contain. He sucks hard on the side of her neck, and she’s about to come undone.

Voices emerge in the distance, and knowing she’s close, Beckett clamps a hand over her mouth. She grinds against him harder and faster, his hard length hitting deeper and deeper until the pressure building inside her explodes, sending roaring waves of pleasure coursing throughout her body again and again. She looks up to the sky as she whimpers against his hand and can’t tell if the shooting stars she sees are real or just her orgasmic hallucination.

Beckett coaxes Zoe to wrap her legs around him, using his muscular arms to help her bounce atop him with a rhythmic pace as he thrusts up into her. She squeezes her walls around him, and he grunts just once as he finds his release.

He lowers them both to the grass. and they lie on their backs gazing at the stars in silence as their remaining minutes pass. Beckett gathers their clothes and they clean themselves up as best they can. Zoe hasn’t checked to see if they are visible again, but now that they’re dressed the danger has passed.

“I do believe I won,” Beckett boasts.

Zoe narrows her eyes. “Is that seriously what you thought should be the first thing out of your mouth?”

“I, uh, mean that I won because I have the hottest and most incredible girlfriend.” He encircles her in his arms and kisses her softly on the lips.

Zoe laughs. “I’m just going to pretend that’s what you really meant…but in all seriousness, thank you. Not just for the sex, but for everything. This is the most memorable birthday I’ve ever had, and you are a big part of that.”

Beckett tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks deep into her eyes. “Happy Birthday, Zoe. I hope that my company was satisfactory tonight.”

God, she loves him but she can’t say that yet. “I couldn’t think of a better person to spend tonight with.” Zoe intertwines her fingers with his and they amble unhurriedly back to the party, the details of their secret rendezvous only between them and the stars.