Title: Love Game
Author: htbthomas
Fandom: Psych, set after Season 3 finale
Pairing: Shawn/Juliet
Prompt: test
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 2,057 words
Summary: Juliet hasn't had a chance to really test Shawn's abilities yet... Shawn/Juliet, adult.

Author’s Note: For the Porn Battle VIII at Dreamwidth

They keep it low-key at first, having coffee, eating lunch, driving to the scene of the crime together, especially if Gus is busy with his pharmaceuticals job. Shawn wants to crow the fact that they’re dating to the rooftops, but Juliet manages to convince him to wait... just until they can see how it goes.

Of course, Gus knows. Gus knows everything because Shawn tells him everything. Yes, everything, even if that thought really weirds her out. And Mr. Spencer knows, too. He knows things before you even tell him, she’s noticed.

So, she’s glad they’re taking it slow. They’ve never done more than make-out on the couch in her apartment at the end of a movie (always one of Shawn’s impressive collection of 80s DVDs).

Shawn finally comes clean with her about a month into their relationship. He isn’t really ‘psychic,’ he tells her, complete with air quotes, he’s just ‘hyper-aware.’ It’s something that he’s been trained to do since childhood by his father. That, combined with a near-perfect memory, is how he can solve so many mysteries.

The revelation slams their relationship, starting to roll along, right into the wall.

She’s upset -- he’s been tricking the department for three years now. Her first instinct, as an honest detective, is to go directly to the chief and tell her the truth. But Shawn seems so sincere, and so regretful... she decides to wait. He promises solemnly, as solemnly as Shawn Spencer knows how to promise anything, that he will tell them the truth someday soon.

Once she gets over her hurt, and really watches him work, she realizes something. He’s good. Damn good. His cartoonish behavior and theatrics mask a brilliant mind. But no one can really take him seriously. And strange as it seems, he likes it that way.

So one day, when he and Gus walk in to consult on a case, she casually gives Shawn’s arm a squeeze and kisses him on the cheek, right in front of Carlton and Chief Vick. “Hi, sweetie. Missed you this morning.”

Shawn stands there, speechless. Carlton is frowning thunderously. The chief is surprised, but not disapproving.

Gus just looks smug.

Shawn unfreezes then. “I missed you, too, pumpkin,” he coos in retaliation and gives her rear a pat. She tries not to jump. “I even saved a muffin for you. Your favorite. Lemon poppy seed.”

“Aw, thanks.” Even though this is a total sham, she’s impressed. She can never remember telling anyone that she loves lemon poppy seed muffins, let alone ever eaten one anywhere near Shawn or the police station. But somehow he knows.

“Okay,” the chief says brusquely. “I doubt you’re going to find this crime any more shocking than this little... display...”

“I know I won’t,” Carlton adds, still frowning.

Juliet rolls her eyes at her partner. He’ll get over it in time.

The chief hands Shawn the file. “Do you get anything from these photos?”

Juliet watches Shawn’s face carefully as he scans the file, filled with grisly photos of a female murder victim. His eyes rapidly bounce from place to place on the photos, then he closes his eyes. Uh oh, here it comes...

He faints backward into her arms, the photos scattering everywhere on the floor. Gus and Juliet exchange a quick look of understanding. She’s part of the charade now. Gus hurries to gather the photos from the floor. Juliet fans Shawn’s face with the file folder. “Are you okay? What do you see?”

“I see high ceilings...” he moans. “Murals on the walls...”

“Is it a museum?” Juliet asks.

“A mansion?” Gus adds.

“No, no,” Shawn says, rubbing at his eyes, but staying pressed up against her, the scamp. “Not that... I also see triangles of cloth, and many chairs...”

“A restaurant?” Carlton puts in.

“Yes! That’s it! Did she work at an Italian restaurant?”

The chief frowns. “No, she worked at a bookstore. The Book Den.”

Gus gets a considering look on his face. “That is just around the corner from Aldo’s.”

“That must be the key...” Shawn whispers hoarsely. He snaps out of his fake-trance suddenly, and tilts his head to the side. “That makes me hungry for pasta. I think I’ll go right now.” He heads for the door and Gus follows in his wake. Then he pops his head back in the doorframe. “Jules, hon, you coming?”

Juliet looks at the chief, who waves her permission with an exasperated sigh. Juliet smiles and goes to grab her purse. She catches up to Shawn in a few strides and asks in a low voice, “Is there really a connection to Aldo’s... or are you just trying to get me to go to lunch with you?”

“Why, Detective O’Hara! Yes, there is a connection. I would never try to deceive you that way!” Then the corner of his mouth turns up in a cocky smirk. “The lunch is just a fringe benefit. Seriously, have you tried the Linguini Bolognese?”

As they leave, Shawn calls back. “Don’t worry, Lassie! We’ll get you a doggie bag!”

~o~o~o~

He solves the case in less than a day -- amazingly, the sight of take-out bags from Aldo’s in the background of one of the photos is enough to put him on the trail of the killer. And they do get a nice lunch out of it, too.

At the end of the day, as she is shutting down her computer to go home, he appears at her desk. “Are you busy tonight?” He holds up a bag of microwave popcorn and a DVD copy of Hot Dog... The Movie. “I’ve got this seminal 80s classic I’ve been dying to take for a spin...” He bounces on his toes like a little boy.

“That sounds perfect.”

Only halfway into the bowl of popcorn, and less than twenty minutes into the movie she grabs the remote and shuts off the TV. “What’s wrong? Too much sk--?”

She cuts him off with a kiss. Immediately, she knows there’s something different this time. His lips move slowly against hers, and his hands trace a slow path toward her lower back. She shivers in response and opens her mouth to him.

This is the first time they’ve made out since the day he told her the truth. Who knew, after watching him on the case today, that his real ability would be twice as sexy? Juliet likes men who have skills. She feels hyper-aware of him right now.

His mouth moves to the corner of her jaw, and she gasps at the feeling. “You like that?” he murmurs.

“Can’t you tell?” she teases back.

“There are...” His lips move now toward the hollow of her throat. “... certain signs.”

She arches her head back, inviting him to explore more of the tender skin of her neck. And he obliges willingly, kissing downward toward her collarbone. She is wearing a V-neck top tonight, and there’s more for him to taste.

“If I didn’t know better...” She gasps as he approaches the hollow of her breasts. “...I would think you were reading my mind.”

He lifts his head to look her in the eye. Then he gives her his trademark cocky smirk. “I don’t have to be able to read your mind to know what you like.”

“Is that so?” she challenges.

“Absolutely.” He lowers his head again to continue his slow perusal of her skin.

She stops him with a hand to his chin. “I’ve never really gotten to test the full range of your skills. Care for a challenge?”

His eyes flash. “I’m always up for a challenge.”

“Well, then.” She smoothes her fingers through his hair. “Show me you know what turns me on... and you can move to the next level.”

His smirk widens into a real smile and he takes one of her hands into his own. He lifts it to his lips. “I accept your challenge, milady.” Then he gently and deftly kisses each finger, before placing her pinky in his mouth and sucking it gently.

“Ohhh...” She didn’t know before just now that she likes that, but she definitely does.

He kisses the rest of the way up her arm, settling light kisses on her wrist, inside her elbow, and then her shoulder at the edge of her neckline. “How’m I doing?”

She kisses him as answer, a little more forcefully than before and then pulls her shirt over her head. “Level up, Mr. Spencer.”

He only pauses for a moment, surprised but pleased, and then he’s wrapping his arms around her to lean her back against the cushions of the couch. He studies her for a moment as she lies there, his eyes flickering over her bra (mostly practical, but edged with lace) and her bare midriff. He nods after a moment, and begins to brush a hand lightly over the cotton covering her breasts...

Then he stops. “No, not that.” He instead kisses everywhere else -- the rise of her breasts, across the plane of her stomach. He’s right, she wants his mouth on her skin, not his hands. When he swirls his tongue lightly in her belly button, she groans. “Shawn...”

She raises herself to a half-sitting position, and he frowns slightly, an adorable pout. “Aw. Game over?”

But she unhooks her bra instead, and drops it on the floor. “No. Extra life,” she says with a smile to urge him on.

He practically attacks her breasts then, palming one and lifting the other nipple into his mouth. He suckles it hard, drawing an uncontrollable cry of pleasure from her. The heat is building inside her, fast.

Suddenly, she doesn’t care about the game any more. He’s shown her, without a doubt, that he knows how to turn her on. She reaches up to desperately unbutton his pineapple-printed shirt and shove it from his shoulders. She needs to touch him now, to scrape her nails across his back, to grab his cute butt under the waistband of his jeans.

He releases her breast from his mouth with a groan. “Jules, oh my god...”

They might have been taking this slow up until tonight, but now they can’t get out of the rest of their clothes fast enough. She’s already wet and ready for him, oh, so ready -- but before she can think, he’s parting her folds with his tongue. Once again, he knows what she wants before she does.

It’s exquisite, making her toes curl, and her breathing fast. She grabs fistfuls of his hair in her fingers to hold him there until she’s almost over the edge. Then she releases his hair and pulls him toward her to kiss him thoroughly. “Shawn,” she pleads when she takes a breath. “Now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he answers with a sly grin, and then slides inside her with one push.

She clenches around him and he starts to thrust, in long, controlled strokes. She can’t believe how good this feels, how right. Why did she fight her attraction to this man for so long? And why did he hide his true nature from her? Didn’t he know that she would find him irresistible just as he is, once the dog and pony show was stripped away?

But he isn’t psychic. He couldn’t know. It’s hard to remember that when he’s hitting her right there, right where she’s going to explode if he goes any faster...

Her world shatters and he joins her a few seconds later, a guttural sound erupting from his throat. When they both come down, they curl up side by side on the couch, Juliet nuzzling his neck. “Now, it’s game over,” she says with a chuckle.

He raises his head to look at her, loving amusement in his face. “Oh? I have a lot more tokens left. Let’s play again.”

With a heave of effort, he lifts her into his arms and carries her into the bedroom, Juliet giggling all the way.