A/N: I know as much as this is set somewhere in the middle for River and the Doctor, this might be half a dream I had because I woke up in the middle of the night to write it, still at least I'm getting a little closer to writing smut again.


The Night Falls Into Shadows

River sighed into waking as a firm hand slowly slid up her thigh and the TARDIS hummed contently, reassuring her all was safe.

How long - she wondered - had he stood alone in the shadows of her room watching her sleep? Long enough for the sweat to dry?

River curled her hand under her pillow, murmuring softly to herself as the density of the mattress shifted. Soft skin gliding against soft skin as he crawled between her easily parted legs, his weight on her thigh preventing her from rolling over to meet him in a 'hello' kiss made her languid heart-beat quicken.

The tails of his shirt tickled against her bare skin as he draped himself across her back, the buttons of his shirt biting into her spine. Gravity pulled them closer, anchoring her in the ever-changing sea of his affection.

She lay peacefully and submissively and trapped beneath him, knowing her compliance under his control, her trust, no longer frightened him, but made his twin-hearts thump with exhilaration at the contradiction of freedom and responsibility that transpired between them.

She could feel that he was half-dressed against her. He must have been watching her for hours, teasing himself with his own touch until his resolve broke, until he could no longer be without her.

He urged her to lay flat, her stomach lurching on unsteady waves of sensation as his fingers crawled at a leisurely pace across the bare landscape of her exposed skin in a calm that was betrayed by the hard tension holding him like a statue of cool marble at her back.

His hands that never quite manage to stay still slid in opposite directions under her, over her stomach, wrapping her up.

He held her tight, waiting, always waiting for time to pull them apart, again.