A/N : Alright y'all. NSFW chapter... enjoy! 

"Here this one is his favorite." Marco pulled out a black labeled bottle of pearl sake.

"Hmm I dunno it looks expensive." You eyed the gold leaf kanji on the label, "How much?"

"On the house." He winked, "Just this once."

"I can't just take from your inventory." You started to argue.

"I'm trying to help you get laid woman. Just take the damn bottle." He shoved the bottle into a bag and forced you to take it.

"The goal isn't to get laid dumbass." You smirked.

"Suure~" He cooed.

"You guys talking about doin' it?" Ace plopped down beside you with a plate full of fried food.

"This guy." You pointed at the raven with your thumb, "Do you have some kind of sonar?"

"Shut up." He chuckled with a mouth full.

"I keep telling you not to take your break out here yoi." Marco chided.

"But F/N is here." Ace whined tugging your arm.

"Hey don't use me as an excuse to break your brother's rules."

Luckily for Ace an actual customer pulled Marco away from the conversation.

"So you guys haven't done it." Ace shoveled more food into his freckled maw.

"Sounds more like you're confirming rather than asking." You rested your chin in your palm.

"Well, you guys get all fidgety around each other... It's pretty obvious." He commented.

"That's ridiculous."

"But true." He shrugged, "He hasn't been with very many women he's probably afraid to make a move."

"I'm not sure what that's supposed to say about me." You narrowed your eyes.

"I mean... You used to bang my brother. I've heard it." He wiggled his brows.

"You little shit." You slugged his shoulder, "Besides...moves have been made. Things just got interrupted."

"What are you guys talking about?" Zoro walked up on the other side of you.

"You guys doin-" You slapped your hand over Ace's big mouth.

"Nothing. He's being an ass." You smiled.

"Alright." He peered around you at Ace who was sulking and eating at the same time.

"How was work?" You asked rubbing a smudge of soot off his cheek.

"It sucked. You wanna just go home?" His face morphed into an adorable frown.

"Sure. I thought you'd want to grab some food." He was already tugging you off the barstool," Bye Ace, I guess."

You crammed the bag Marco'd forced on you into your purse and trailed behind Zoro as he stalked outside.

"What's wrong?" You asked unlocking the car.

"I spent 5 hours working on the coal forge. Something got lodged in the piping that draws the air in."

That explained the soot; even patches of his hair were stained.

"Did you get it fixed?" You drove out of the parking lot.

"No." He growled, "It needs a part, but Joni wants me to make it because he says it's cheaper. I said we should just toss the whole thing its old and I always get stuck fixing it. The gas forge works much better anyway."

You smiled as he prattled on about the pros and cons of each forge.

He stopped and looked at you for a moment.

"What are you smiling about?" He grumbled as if you were about to add to his shitty day.

You blinked at him out of the corner of your eye. He was pouting, arms crossed and brows knit, only making your smile grow.

"You're so cute when you're all worked up." You chuckled patting his knee.

"I'll show you worked up." He mumbled shifting toward the window.

"Ho ho, is that a promise or a threat?" You nudged him watching a flash of red light up the tip of his ear as he turned further away.

"You're impossible." He grumbled.

"So, do you have plans tomorrow?" You changed the subject.

"No. Should I?" He countered.

"Is there anything you want to do? I have to go to West Bank for a meeting in the morning but I should be back by lunch time."

You pulled into your complex and parked.

"Not really." He shrugged, "We can just hang out."

"Sounds good." You chimed unlocking the door.

He continued to be cranky all evening. When you finally went to bed he turned to face the wall. You frowned snuggling into his back snaking your arm around his ribcage. He hummed rubbing his thumb over your knuckles while you gripped his shirt.

"What's wrong Mossy?"

"Just had a frustrating day." He sighed, "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Everybody has bad days."

He shifted to face you, "But I didn't mean to take it out on you."

You let out a soft laugh pressing your face into his chest.

"I'm being serious you know." He rumbled a little offended.

"I know. I was just thinking how a few months ago this conversation would have seemed absurd to me."

He nuzzled your scalp, "Yeah. Were we really that bad?"

You shrugged and kissed his neck, "Doesn't really matter anymore."

______________

You entered the apartment returning from your meeting/shopping trip in West Bank. Zoro wasn't in the living room which meant he was most likely napping. You slipped into your room setting the green gift bag at the foot of the bed and stripping down to just your bra and panties before changing into a tee you snatched off the dresser.

"That's mine." He said eye still closed.

"You left it out so it's fair game." You crawled under the blankets, "Have you been up at all?"

"Walked the dog forty-five minutes ago." He grunted, "What's in the bag?"

"Do you want to take a look?" You asked crawling to the foot of the bed.

He watched amused as you fumbled around to reach the bag before pulling it up and clumsily making your way back to the head of the bed. You plopped the gift down between you while he sat up to peer inside.

First he pulled out the bottle of sake glancing at you to confirm it was meant for him.

"Uh- Marco said it was your favorite." You sat cross legged hands resting on your ankles.

He simply nodded noticing there was still something else in the bag. Confusion briefly played across his face until he saw the kanji branded on the top of the pale wooden box. He sat up straighter placing the box in his lap.

"I know you don't really use those old swords, but I'm sure they need a good cleaning." You rubbed your neck.

He opened the lid revealing a complete traditional katana cleaning set. Quietly he lidded the box and placed it on the night stand. You felt awkward in the silence. Maybe giving him gifts on a day he didn't like to celebrate was a mistake.

"I-I know you don't really like to celebrate your birthday, but I thought maybe it'd be OK if I did?" You stammered nervously, "Only because...I'm really happy you're here."

Ugh. What did you just say?

You looked away embarrassed by your weirdly selfish statement. His fingers wound around your wrist before he jerked you into him.

"Thank you." He murmured tipping your chin up to kiss you.

A rush of nerves and excitement spiked in your chest as his tongue slipped passed your lips. His hands gripped your hips pulling you into his lap. You stayed like this for a while lips moving gently over each other until your lungs began to burn begging you to break away. As you did his right arm roamed up your back, hand cradling your neck and his lips moved down your jaw line to your décolletage. You huffed softly running your fingers through his already messy hair. His left arm slipped under the oversized shirt and in a single tug your bosom spilled out of your unclasped bra. You gave him an impressed chuckle.

So much for Ace's 'he doesn't have experience' theory.

You sat back tugging the bra through the sleeve of your shirt. Once it was tossed to the floor Zoro pulled you forward capturing your lips once again. This time less gentle and a bit urgent.

His heart sputtered every time you hummed or yipped under his touch. It was exciting to see and hear your reactions as his hands roamed over your curves. Slowly he began to lean forward gently pushing you down into the center of the mattress. He slid his hands under the shirt scooting it up to the swell of your breast. You panted covering your face while he gently kissed the yellowing bruises that still stained your stomach. Each kiss sent a shock wave down your spine making you shiver and mewl beneath him. You felt him shift still covering your face to shield him from the blushing panting mess he'd turned you into.

Suddenly he was close again, breath fanning over the back of your hands.

"Oi." He whispered, "Look at me."

Slowly you obliged, sheepishly meeting the greenette's hungry gaze. In the seconds you'd been hiding he'd managed to strip. You reached up to caress his flushed cheek. He closed his eye leaning into your touch and planting a soft kiss on your palm.

Your lips met again before he moved down to your chest leaving small red marks against your skin until he reached his desired destination. He pressed his length against the thin cotton panties that separated you as he rolled your right nipple gently between his lips. You mewled again raising your hips before his right hand pushed you back down to the mattress slipping into the now damp garment that he remained pinned to. With his index finger he began to trace small tight circles around your clitoris causing a loud gasp to rake against the back of your throat.

He chuckled proudly, lips and tongue still occupied at your chest. You felt like you were on fire. Sweat beaded up and dripped down your thighs as he fought to keep you still. Your body tensed, nails digging into his broad shoulders, taking abnormally deep breaths between moans.

"I - I'm -" Before you could finish your shaky sentence or ride the wave of pleasure that was about to crash over you he pulled his hand away and eased back leaving you breathless and flustered.

He smiled mischievously at your flushed pouting face.

When he was sure you'd calmed down enough he tugged the hem of the panties down slipping them off and tossing them aside with all of the other discarded garments. He slid you closer to him and pulled your hips into a more comfortable angle.

You held your breath as he slowly pushed through your entrance allowing a few seconds for you to adjust to his size before he moved. His arms tensed in your grasp while he tried to control himself and maintain some sort of rhythm only to fail; pumping faster and harder with every breathy sound you made. You didn't have much patience left either, bucking into him every chance you got almost snickering at the oddly sexy way he muttered curse words under his breath. The time for being sweet and gentle had passed and you were completely fine with it. You'd waited far longer than you wanted for this moment.

He leaned forward huffing into the crook of your neck. The familiar pooling of electricity flowed into your abdomen spreading warmth through your body while your legs quaked and muscles tightened around him. You managed to rasp his name pressing your face into his shoulder riding out the wave of your orgasm. He shuddered and pulled back releasing on your thigh before slumping into the mattress next to you. The two of you lay breathless a few moments longer trying to steady your hearts and fill your deprived lungs.

After cleaning off your leg he bundled you in the comforter and pulled you into his side. You flushed not quite certain what to do next. He surprised you, suddenly cupping your cheeks with both hands and playfully planting smooches all over.

"S-stop." You giggled mashing his face.

He chuckled cuddling into you with a sigh, "I ... love you."

You couldn't contain the grin that stretched across your face, "I love you too, Mossy. So much." 

A/N - Welp! That's as lemony as I could get. My husband frequently asked what I was blushing about. Hah! Once a shy nerdy girl always a shy nerdy girl. 

Also... 1k reads?! I love you guys.