Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ I Sense You Here ❯ Taste ( Chapter 4 )

Taste

 

Winry paced back and forth, her automail manuals untouched, her sketches scattered and her thoughts jumbled as she desperately sought relief from her anxiousness. She had tripped over the same wrench six times and rather than pick it up and put it somewhere safe, the sixteen year old had merely cursed softly before throwing her beloved tool one of the most hateful glares she could muster.

This was ridiculous!

It had been five hours since the almost kiss in the workshop. Five hours since Al and Granny had returned from their night out. Five hours of Ed completely avoiding his one-time mechanic and acting as if he hadn't put the moves on her. How could that jackass act as if nothing had almost happened?

***

After bandaging her burn, Winry had calmed herself enough to enter the living room and join her family as if her heart was not thudding against her chest as rapidly as a hummingbird's wing. Pinako was standing in the centre of the room, smoking her pipe and barking orders at Ed to move this box here and that box there. The boy in question grumbled, cursed and whined as he followed the old woman's orders, hefting the boxes to wherever Pinako demanded. Realizing that now was not the time to confront Ed about their almost kiss, Winry made her way to the kitchen for glass of water. She was a little surprised to find Al sitting at the table and browsing through a newspaper. Upon hearing Winry enter, the fifteen year old looked up and greeted her.

“Brother doesn't sound too happy.” the boy remarked.

“Neither does Granny.” Winry retorted. “Do you want some water, Al?”

“Sure.”

Winry made quick work of filling two glasses with fresh cold water before joining Al at the table.

“What are reading?” she asked.

“Look at this!” Al declared delightfully as he shifted the paper so that Winry could read the article that had her friend so excited. “It's an ad for Central University. They're getting ready to take early applications for the next semester.”

“Are you going to apply that soon?” Winry wondered.

“Yep! I won't be able to stay in Xing as long as I'd like, and I'll have to reschedule my travel plans, but I really want to go, Winry.”

“But Al, aren't you a little…um, too young.” Winry said delicately. Now, if she had made that remark to Ed, the elder Elric would have gone on a tirade on discrimination against the youth of Amestris and been insulted in the lack of faith Winry had shown by daring to make such a statement. Al, however, was very, very different from his older brother. The younger Elric just grinned softly as he folded the paper.

“I'll have to take a test to prove I have the aptitude to take university courses, and I'll need a few recommendations, too. But I'm sure that a reference from Amestris's President should be enough to get me in.”

“And what about money?” Winry asked, intrigued that Al had seriously given thought on how to go about gaining access to Central University.

“Well…I'm sure brother will help. You think Ed will help with my tuition, don't you?” Al asked, his demeanor suddenly overcome with worry.

“ `Course I'll help.” Ed said, startling the pair at the kitchen table. He was reclined against the wall, his arms crossed and eyes focused solely on his brother. “So, when does the school year start?” Ed asked.

“Uh…um, in three months.” Al stuttered, surprised himself that Ed wasn't putting up more of a fight.

“Well, that doesn't give you much time to study. And if you want to see the Bean Girl you'll have to leave a little sooner than planned…two weeks I think. You'll have to call President Shithead tomorrow and tell him you want the reference…no, better call Hawkeye instead. She'll make sure that the paperwork actually gets done. And then we'll have to go to the campus and check it out. You'll need somewhere to stay too…”

“That…that sounds like a lot of work.” Al said, his tone soft and a little frightened.

“It's no big deal.” Ed replied flippantly with a wave of his hand. “Come on, we need to go over everything. Up to our room!”

Al didn't dare question his brother. Moving smoothly and walking with only a slight limp, Al took his cane and made his way out of the kitchen and up to the Elric's bedroom. Ed didn't move from his place against the wall, his eyes focused completely on Winry as she fidgeted under his gaze. Her fingers brushed against the bandage on her left hand as she waited with baited breath for Ed to say something.

“How's your hand?” he asked.

It wasn't the remark she had been expecting and that really irked the young woman. Still, Winry couldn't control the churning unease that was rolling in her lower stomach so she opted out of yelling at Ed and instead decided to be civil.

“It's better now.” she replied lamely. “Um…Ed…about before…”

“Can't talk now, Winry.” Ed said casually as he took an apple from the fruit bowl on the table. “Gotta get Al ready for school.”

“But that won't be for…”

“No time!”

And with that flippant remark, Ed walked out of the kitchen, his annoying crunching as he at the apple pounding in Winry's ears. Furious, Winry took a long gulp of water, the cold liquid tasting like lead in her mouth.

***

The very thought of Ed's disregard made Winry's belly churn and her heart ache. As if that scene in the kitchen wasn't bad enough, the rest of the evening saw Ed continuing to avoid Winry and only encouraging her anger. He and Al had holed themselves up in their bedroom and when they were called down for tea and cookies while they listened to their favorite radio serial, Ed not only didn't speak a word to Winry, but he also rejected his normal spot beside the young woman and instead sat on the floor. Throughout the hour, Winry kept shooting Ed anxious glances, distracting herself so much that she burned her tongue with her tea more than once. When the program was over and Ed began to chat incessantly about the believability of the plot and characters from the serial, Winry finally cracked.

She slammed her teacup down, stood suddenly from the couch, shot Ed a look so lethal that the young man actually appeared to have frozen in a death grip, and stomped upstairs to her bedroom, making sure that each of her steps resounded through the house and that her slamming door shook the foundation.

That had been an hour ago.

Since making her grand exit, Winry had tried to work on her automail blueprints, tired reading one of her automail manuals, even tried to distract herself by polishing some of her tools. Everything failed and so the sixteen year old had started pacing, thinking of all the ways she would make Ed pay for acting like an inconsiderate jerk.

Winry had just tripped over the wrench for the seventh time when there was a knock at her door. Startled, and suspecting that it was her grandmother come to see why she was acting like a child, Winry grumbled under her breath as she made her way towards her bedroom door and opened it with unenthusiastic grace.

She didn't expect to find Ed on the other side of the door.

She didn't expect his eyes to be dark pools of molten gold as they stared at her with raw, unmasked intensity.

She didn't expect Ed to march into her room, close the door behind him and take her by her upper arms so that he could pull their bodies together.

She didn't expect him to kiss her.

The kiss was harsh and fast and, to be perfectly honest, very clumsy. When Ed had entered the room his lips had been pressed in a grim line and he hadn't relaxed his mouth enough when he took Winry's lips against his own. Winry, who had been taken completely by surprise, had her mouth half open in a protest when Ed kissed her, leaving her so shocked that she didn't respond at all.

Ed held her arms captive in his tight grip and his whole body was tense with panic and Winry simply didn't know how to react. Both teens were on edge, their bodies hard and unrelenting, unable to relax and enjoy the moment as their lips found each other.

Ed broke away first, licking his lips as he realized that he hadn't puckered, and steeled his nerves to keep his eyes focused on Winry so that he might gauge her reaction. As for Winry, the young woman needed a moment to collect her thoughts. Her lips felt as if they had been kissed, but the kiss was certainly not what she had imagined it would be.

The feeling was strangely…anticlimactic.

“Wow.” Winry commented as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, as if inspecting her lips for changes after that rushed, surprising kiss. “As far as first kisses go, Ed…that kinda sucked.”

“Well fuck, it was my first try!” Ed argued with righteous ire as a blush colored his nose.

“And what the hell makes you think you'll get another try?” Winry asked. She had her answer when Ed leaned forward again, his lips pursed and ready for the kiss. Winry, who still wasn't prepared for Ed's sudden interest in kissing, hadn't prepared herself for another of Ed's advances and so her lips were firmly closed as the alchemist initiated their second kiss. The fact that Ed's lips were a little more relaxed certainly heightened the experience, and when he took a moment to softly take his lips off hers, just enough so that Winry could purse her own lips and actually receive Ed as he kissed her a third time.

When Winry finally returned Ed's kiss, the young man's entire body fell lax. His grip on her arms loosened and instead of holding her to him as if she might run away, Ed now used his touch to coax her closer. Winry's arms rose and she lightly cupped Ed's sides, her fingers spread wide to feel his warm, firm body through his shirt.

Winry's lips began to respond eagerly to Ed's timid yet persistent exploration. She was just beginning to find a comfortable, and tingly, rhythm when Ed took her completely by surprise and sucked her upper lip between his own, ending that delightful little surprise with a shy brush of his tongue to the corner of her mouth.

When they released themselves from their second kiss, the pair was a little surprised to discover that they had locked themselves in an unyielding embrace, Winry's arms clasped firmly around Ed's waist while he held her against his chest by her arms. Both were breathing rapidly, stunned by what they had just done for the second time in a matter of moments.

Winry found herself drowning in Ed's golden gaze, but she wouldn't allow her hormones to get the better of her when she was still furious with Ed. And so, doing her best to ignore the fact that each of her breaths caused her breasts to rub against Ed chest and her nipples to press painfully against her bra, Winry took one small step back.

“I'm mad at you.” she announced.

“Then let me do one more thing before you start yelling at me.” Ed requested, not even bothering to wait for Winry's permission before he was kissing her again, one hand reaching up to cup the back of her head so that she was unable to escape. Winry didn't even think of protesting, returning Ed's kiss with all of the passion and anger that she had welling up within her. When Ed's tongue traced her lips without a trace of timidity, Winry opened her mouth and welcomed him, determined to show Ed that he wasn't the only one who could kiss with ardent fervor.

Ed was momentarily surprised when Winry opened her mouth for him, urging his tongue to discover the secrets she kept. Being a child prodigy, Ed didn't argue. He had his chance to taste her and he took it, sweeping his tongue eagerly into Winry's mouth.

She tasted of cinnamon and lemon, reminding Ed of apple pie and lemonade on hot summer days.

He hadn't come to her room with the sole intention of kissing her. After she had stormed off to her room Ed stayed downstairs with Pinako and Al as long as he felt was discrete before clomping upstairs himself. He had only meant to talk to her, to explain why he had been avoiding her since their encounter in the workshop…but when she had opened the door all of Ed's higher thought process shut down and he simply acted on instinct and his instinct was insisting that he kiss Winry.

As for the young mechanic, she found herself lost in Ed's kiss. What had started as a way of showing the arrogant alchemist that she could stand toe-to-toe against him, even in a kiss, had quickly become a needy embrace, her mouth molding and head tilting to perfectly accommodate Ed and his fabulous tongue. As he kissed her, Winry could taste the refreshing wash of mint that Ed always put in his tea and just a tang of cinnamon from the cookies that he'd all but inhaled.

He was delicious.

It wasn't until Ed moaned with great delight that Winry realized what she had done.

Getting completely lost in the moment, in his kiss and his smell and his taste, Winry's hands had wandered from Ed's sides to completely wrap around his back to fall lower and lower…and lower…until she was firmly grasping Ed's ass, squeezing him and pulling him closer.

Gasping at her actions, Winry pulled her mouth away from Ed, hoping to gather her thoughts. Instead, Ed's lips found her throat, kissing her neck with just as much passion as he had kissed her mouth.

“Mmm…Winry you taste so good.” Ed ground out, his lips finding her earlobe and sucking it between his teeth. The action caused Winry to squeeze Ed's buttocks again and she was surprised to find that she had yet to release Ed's rather delectable bottom from her hold.

Her hands fell to her sides.

“Aw, Win…” Ed drawled as his own hands left her arms to slink around her back and rest comfortably on her rear end. “Why'd you let go?”

“Ed, we can't do this.”

“I think we can.”

“But Ed…” Winry never got the chance to finish her sentence because Ed was kissing her again, savagely and yet gently, coaxing her to forget every word she had ever known. While Winry was trying to decide if she should be mad at Ed for ignoring her, kissing her, groping her ass or all three, Ed decided to take a few steps forward causing Winry to trip, for the eighth time, over her wrench and fall haphazardly onto her bed, Ed following her down.

The jostle of the fall caused the teenagers' lips to smack apart, but Ed was soon kissing her again, each kiss gaining in confidence and passion. He couldn't get enough of her fabulous taste or grasp enough of her warm, soft body. His hands continued to mold her bottom, and when Winry continued to moan in delight, he decided to push his luck and take things a step further. After all, Edward Elric always took the risky way.

At first he laid his hands on her hips, his fingers spreading wide to appreciate their lush fullness before slowly dragging them upwards, appraising her narrow waist until one daring hand, his right hand, reached out and hovered for only a moment before cupping one of Winry's heaving breasts.

It was everything Ed had imagined!

The mound was soft and pliable with the nipple hardening under his palm and Winry groaning as he took his time lovingly caressing her. If he had been paying more attention instead of loosing himself in his victory of finally touching a female's breast, Ed might have noticed that Winry's own hands were trialing up Ed's back, momentarily feeling the planes of his muscles, gently tickling the nape of his neck before her fingers became lost in his hair…

“OUCH!” Ed hollered when Winry pulled mercilessly on his braid, succeeding in pulling out several blond hairs. Ed completely disengaged himself from Winry, falling beside her one the bed as he cradled his stinging scalp. “What the fuck was that for, woman?!” he demanded through grit teeth.

“Just who the hell do you think you are?” Winry demanded, her tone full of just as much irritation as Ed's.

“What are you on about?”

“This!” Winry cried, gesturing between herself and Ed as she sat up to loom over the boy beside her. “You come home after getting your arm and leg back, act all nice to me, give me the odd touch or hug, almost kiss me and then for the rest of the night you avoid me like the plague and then you jump me in my room and act as if I should be grateful. What the hell?!”

“Win…”

“Why have you been avoiding me all night?” Winry interrupted, wanting to know more than anything why Ed had acted like such a jerk one minute and a hormonal teenager the next.

“And how did you want me to act?” Ed asked.

“Like something happened.”

“But that's just it. Nothing happened! I almost kissed you in the workshop, but I never actually did it. There was no reason to act any differently because I didn't kiss you.”

“But…”

“I'm not gonna act awkward around my brother and your grandmother for something that almost happened.” Ed explained as he sat up on his elbows. Their faces were so close. “Now, at least I have a reason to act guilty.”

Ed kissed her again, only this kiss was less raunchy and more romantic. There was no devilish tongue or groping hands, just a firm pressing of lips that express more feeling between the two teenagers than words ever could.

When they broke apart, Winry licked her lips, tasting Ed on her and finding him looking up at her with intense golden eyes. Her heart melted and Winry couldn't find the strength to stay mad at Ed. She did, however, have one more question for the boy beside on her.

“So…are you gonna say it?” she asked with a teasing tone.

“Say what?” Ed asked with genuine confusion.

“Come on, Ed, say that you love me.” Winry instructed, her voice still light and teasing, but tinged with a seriousness that made Ed's palms sweat.

“Do you really want me to say that?” Ed asked, his voice quiet and frightened. Winry knew that making such an admission would be difficult for Ed. Love always was difficult for the young alchemist, and Winry was willing to be patient with him, but she felt that, at this moment, when they were alone and had no worry of being interrupted, that he should have the courage to tell her how he felt.

“Come on, Ed, just say it.”

“Do I have to?”

“Ed! Do you honestly think I'd let you get to second base with me without expecting something in return? Equivalent exchange, alchemy freak.”

Ed looked up at Winry, surprised that she had actually used his own alchemy theories against him. However, she had also mentioned that he had, indeed, got to second base with her, touching her ass and breast, and the thought caused the sixteen year old to do a very sixteen year old thing.

He smiled with gloating pride.

“And get that shit-eating grin off your face.” Winry ordered, although she was mirroring that same grin.

“Why don't you make me?” Ed challenged. The hot look in his eyes made Winry's breasts ache and before she had time to question herself, she leaned down and took Ed's mouth with hers, initiating a kiss for the first time since Ed had charged into her room. Ed fell down, his arms wrapping around Winry's shoulders so that she was nestled nicely on top of him, her finger tips tracing his jawbone. The embrace, just as before, quickly became heated and before either teenager knew it, Winry's hands were squeezing Ed's bottom and both of Ed's hands were delightfully occupied with caressing Winry's breasts.

They broke apart and Winry began to kiss Ed's neck, taking her time as she left stark red marks that would brand him as hers just as effectively as automail.

She couldn't get enough of his taste.

“I love you, Winry.” Ed sighed, his voice a muddled tone of desire and sincerity. Winry looked up from Ed's neck and kissed his nose, delighting in the way his face scrunched up and his eyes narrowed.

“I love you, too.”