Note: My first Revenge fic, Madeline Stowe and Henry Czerny have so much chemistry together that I just had to write this. I seriously ship them so much, and after illusion and penance no one can deny that they still have hidden feelings for each other, well at least Conrad does ;) Also this takes place after episode 6. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Revenge. This is written for entertainment purposes only.

Love Again

Victoria Grayson reached for her pearls and gently weaved it between her fingertips, studying the necklace.

"I think I'll go pearls," she murmured, tilting her head to the side and peering into the mirror.

Her raven-black curls tumbled down around her shoulders like curving, ocean waves, softening her frame. Her blood-red lips pressed together disapprovingly in a small line, complimenting her red, taffeta, cocktail dress and smoky eye shadow.

Still…Victoria wasn't satisfied; perhaps it was the pearls? But the Matriarch knew that it was the very thought of stepping down those stairs and greeting everyone with a plastered, warm smile and soft kiss that was the cause of her displeasure. Right now she knew she would rather swallow hot coal than attend another one of her soirees. But unfortunately after the stunt at the wedding that left her husband-who was now accused of murdering Gordon Murphy-under the burning scrutiny of every Hampton citizen, Victoria knew another 'show' was needed to reinforce everyone that Victoria and Conrad Grayson, the quintessential, fairy tale couple were still strong, happy and very much in love. The very thought could make her stomach churn.

"Victoria, may I say you look positively radiant in that dress."

Victoria's hardened eyes flickered to her mirror, staring at Conrad through the glass.

"Conrad," she replied coyly, her tone dripping like honey. "Your gall never ceases to repulse me."

She returned her attention to her pearls as if he wasn't there and unhooked the silver latch.

He made his way towards his wife and placed his hands on he arch of her mahogany chair, his lips curling into a small smile. Irritation passed Victoria's features and she turned to face him, arching a perfect eyebrow.

"What is it Conrad? I'm participating in this ludicrous show you insisted on throwing, must I now suffer your insolence too?"

Her sharp words lashed out at him and caught him off guard. Conrad's eyes widened slightly when Victoria stood up to her full height and met his eyes, her chair screeching in protest.

Conrad was always amazed at her beauty, yes her dark allure seemed to take his breath away every night, but it was a reaction he had always tried to hide, knowing it would only give Victoria power over him if she knew just how much control her beauty still held over him. Tonight in her stunning, red dress that clung onto her figure and accentuated every curve, and her crimson, six-inch heeled pumps, she truly captivated him. Conrad recovered quickly.

"I came to give you this."

Conrad revealed a robin egg blue, Tiffney box. Victoria repressed a gasp that jumped in her chest, clearly taken back at the gift. She remained silent as she accepted the gift and delicately unlaced the silky ribbons so the lid fell off. Now she truly did gasp at the extravagant, golden necklace, decorated with glittering ruby tears.

"I thought they would bring out the colour of your dress, since you've always been fond of red."

Confusion crossed her eyes. Sure Victoria was used to extravagant jewels, it was one of the many luxurious she received when marrying Conrad. However, over the past few weeks since receiving the Mercedes she hadn't been given any lavish gifts, nor did Victoria expect any since the past few events. No…his gift surely held some purpose, a dark intention behind his actions.

Victoria snapped the lid shut and handed it back to him, her eyes narrowing coldly. "What do you want Conrad? I find it hard to believe that you've walked in here to give me this."

Conrad's eyes hardened at her response. "I came here to give you these, because unlike you Victoria, not everything I do has some despicable, dark intention behind it."

Victoria stifled a bitter laugh and shook her head incredulously. "Forgive me if I find that hard to believe Conrad, after you tried to murder me on that plane."

Conrad wanted to grab the goddamn woman by the shoulders and shake her. Couldn't she simply accept the gift graciously? No of course not, he thought bitterly. It was Victoria Grayson after all.

"For God's sake Victoria!" he yelled, taking her by surprise. "I wanted to give you this as an apology."

Her eyes widened with disbelief and she took a small step back, tucking back a curl that had fallen out of place. "What?"

"Well not an apology," Conrad continued, carefully choosing his words. "What happened yesterday with Kara-"

"I thought we agreed not to discuss yesterday's events," she interrupted curtly.

"You may have Victoria, but I didn't," he responded firmly. "What happened to you yesterday…"Conrad paused again and lowered his gaze, trying to collect his thoughts. "I never asked you last night if you were okay, but I know you are. You're strong, and always have been. And," he paused and met her gaze. "I know this isn't the life I promised you, nor is this what I ever expected, but the truth is we are here, and I wanted to give you this."

Conrad offered her the gift again and Victoria accepted it, taking out the precious jewel. His voice rang with sincerity that left Victoria speechless. It was foreign to her, conversing with Conrad without speaking to him spitefully and receiving a snide comment in return.

She carefully unhooked the latch and went to hook it around her neck when she felt his cool fingers lift up her hair so she could put it on. Victoria clipped the latch together and glanced at the mirror, looking at the ruby fondly.

"It is beautiful," she finally whispered.

A small smile touched his lips and he placed a soft kiss onto her cheek. "I'm glad you like it darling, I'll see you out there."

"Conrad."

Victoria's words slipped out and stopped him, taking her by surprise. He slowly turned around, raising his eyebrows. Why the hell did she say anything? She always thought that she detested him being in the same room as her, yet she was stopping him from leaving?

She couldn't deny that she was taken back at his sincere, kind words. And as he had said them, something ignited inside of her and for the first time she saw the man who stood at the aisle waiting for her, the man who loved and cared for her unconditionally and who she believed she would one day grow to love. She suddenly felt that she couldn't just let him walk away, that she had to say something to him. A burning feeling was pestering her inside to say something, anything, and the feelings scared her.

Victoria struggled to remain composed as he made his way back towards her.

"The necklace," she finally spoke, gesturing to the jewel. "Why did you really give it to me?"

Her dark eyes seemed to search his for an answer; and the question had been burning in the back of her mind and itching behind her lips. She knew he wasn't simply given it to her as an apology and needed to know his true reasons for giving her the necklace. And in that moment when Victoria met his piercing, blue eyes, she knew.

"Contrary to what you believe Victoria, I do-" His voice caught in his throat and died on his tongue. I do love you. Conrad swallowed and tried again. "I do care about you, since the day I first saw you at the alter until today. Our relationship has faced its ups and downs, but these feelings towards you have never changed."

Victoria was speechless. Conrad gave her one final look before he headed towards the door and paused, turning around. His eyes slid down her frame before they met her eyes once more.

"You look beautiful tonight sweetheart."

Victoria felt herself fighting as she watched him leave, overcome with a wave of emotions. She felt her heart melt like a hot, dripping candle at his last words before freeze when she met his despondent gaze, and she couldn't let him walk away.

"Conrad, wait!"

Puzzlement creased his features as he turned around to face her and Victoria took a few steps forward, finding the right words.

"You once asked me if I ever loved you," Victoria began softly as he made his way towards her. "And I did, on our wedding night, and believed I too would grow to love you unconditionally."

Why was she telling him this? Victoria mentally screamed at herself, after all these were thoughts she had kept buried for years since their marriage.

Conrad stopped before her, repressing a sigh. "Then what happened?"

Victoria's eyes drifted off to the distance, struggling to find an explanation. "We changed."

Conrad just shook his head. "No Victoria, you changed, I never stopped loving you."

Victoria's face softened as his words, her heart breaking. And in that moment she saw the pain through his eyes, the same look he had when he discovered her affair with David Clarke. She saw the undying feelings he still held for her after all these years, even after what she had done to him. Deep inside her chest, a fire began to flicker.

Victoria traced the side of his face with the back of her finger and felt her heart pound. She felt an aching pain for causing him this sorrow and wanted desperately to take it away, but more than anything she saw the man she fell in love with years ago and wanted to love him again. Not the man who had grown cold and ambitious and angry, but this man. She was feeling something tonight, it wasn't love but it was something else, something else that had once grown into love. And perhaps it would again.

"Victoria," he murmured, catching her attention.

Her fingers slide down his frame and down his shoulders, her eyes mesmerized on the path they made. He quickly caught her hands and found her eyes, and Victoria's gaze softened when they met his.

"I'm sorry I gave up on us," she whispered, her hands still in his.

Conrad remained silence, unsure of how to respond.

Victoria lowered her eyes and took another small step forward and Conrad lightly touched her curls, his eyes searching hers. "I can't quite understand why I'm suddenly telling you this," she continued, her gaze flicking back to his. Conrad took another step closer and leaned forward, his face merely centimeters from hers, his breath skimming her jaw. "But you're just like the man I married that night, and I just assumed-"

And she was silenced with a kiss that took her breath away. His lips brushed against hers and instinctively Victoria wanted to push him away, scream some vicious comment at him and storm out. For it had been years since he had last showed her a shred of intimacy.

Yet Victoria found her lips responding, kneading and moving with his. And in that moment a thousand thoughts ran through her mind, but she brushed them aside and cupped the side of his face, pulling him in closer. Her hands slid down his skin and she wrapped her arms around her neck, his fingers threading through her dark curls.

Conrad could feel her heart galloping against his chest as his lips tore through her wine drenched lips, his hands sliding down her frame and to her hips. Desire crackled and stirred in his stomach and suddenly he was pushing her against the wall, narrowly missing her mirror.

Victoria gasped in his mouth when her back hit the wall but soon felt herself melting into his embrace, giving into his demanding kisses. Her lips parted to grant him deeper access, which he hungrily accepted, their tongues colliding together in a heated dance. Her taste was intoxicating, the spicy, acidic tasted coated his tongue as he drank in her lavender, aromatic scent. An erotic groan rose in Conrad's throat when she pressed herself closer to him, her thigh deliciously grazing against his. She teasingly nibbled his lower lip, dragging and rolling it between her teeth.

Victoria's lips curled into a small, triumphant smirk at his reaction, and Conrad wanted more than anything to wipe that smirk off her face. In a flash he pinned her arms above her head, his eyes glinting when pure and utter shock shone in her eyes, her chest rising and falling with her heavy breaths.

Conrad crashed his lips onto hers once more, his lips travelling to her jaw and tracing a path down her skin. Victoria's eyes fluttered and she tilted her head back, letting him pepper a path of kisses down her neck. Conrad's lips met her pulse and he sucked and grazed his teeth against her sensitive skin, parting a breathless moan from her lips.

Warmth exploded in Victoria's chest with each of his kisses and crackled across her skin, desire stirring in the pit of her stomach. A shiver rippled up her spine as his hands travelled up the skirts of her dress, and she thanked god that the wall was there to support her trembling legs. Victoria wrapped her free leg around his waist and pulled him in closer, her lethal heel digging into his lower back as his fingers teasingly explored every inch of her skin.

"We shouldn't keep them waiting," he murmured in the shell of her ear, knowing that Daniel or Ashley would soon be looking for them.

"Let them wait," she whispered breathlessly, before yanking his collar and pulling him in for another intoxicating kiss.

His hands still resting on her hips and her lips never leaving his she drove him backwards, pushing him onto the bed.

Conrad's eyes were transfixed on her as she took a step back and slowly and agonizingly unzipped her dress, shimmying out of the material and dropping it to a red, silky pool beneath her. His breath caught in his throat as he drank in the Dark Beauty who stood before him in her stiletto heels; the heavy breaths that escaped her parted, swollen lips, her tousled, dark curls that fell lusciously around her frame, her creamy skin, her naked curves and her dark allure.

"Enjoying the view Conrad?" She placed a hand on her hip and met his gaze, a smirk dancing on her lips.

His eyes had darkened with lust and Victoria knew she couldn't make him wait any longer. She sauntered over to the bed and crawled onto him, possessing his lips once more. Victoria straddled his hips as her fingers fumbled with the material of his shirt, frantically undoing the buttons of his shirt before they hungrily roamed his skin. Conrad groaned into her mouth when her hips rolled into his, his fingers weaving through her thick curls.

Victoria's lips tugged into a satisfied smirk as she dipped her head down, her lips brushing against his ear. Her tongue slid down the shell of his ear and her teeth teasingly nibbled his ear lobe, sending waves of shivers up his spine.

Desperation and impatience crackled in the pit of his stomach like an erupting volcano, his fingers exploring and squeezing every curve and inch of skin. Releasing a growl he reached for her shoulders and flipped her onto her back, satisfied at the astonished gasp that escaped her lips. Straddling her hips Conrad rolled his hips into hers, releasing a moan from her bruised lips and her fingernails dug deeper into his back. Back arching, hips rocking against his and head throwing back Victoria moaned his name. Her arms entangled around his neck as she desperately pulled him towards her and embraced him for what felt like the first time since their wedding day.

"OH MY GOD!"

The married couple jolted at the noise and immediately rolled over and scrambled underneath the covers, pulling the duvets up. There eyes shot towards the door where Ashley stood, a bundle of paperwork lying at her feet and her hands shielding her eyes from the indecent sight.

They had left the door ajar.

"What is it Ashley?" Conrad roughly asked, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

"Everyone's out there waiting for you," Ashley managed to respond shakily, lowering her hands.

Victoria pursed her lips and nodded curtly. "Tell them we'll be out shortly, and shut the door."

Ashley scrambled for her dropped items, shut the door and hurriedly left. Victoria took a deep breath to calm down her thundering heart, before she slipped out of bed and back into her dress. Conrad raised an eyebrow as he watched her reapply another coat of lipstick.

"Leaving so soon?"

Victoria whirled around to face him. "Well you heard Ashley," she replied swiftly, as if nothing had happened. "We've kept them waiting long enough."

Conrad stepped out of bed and buttoned up his shirt, shrugged on his formal jacket and did up his tie. "You know darling," he said softly, turning to her. "We don't have to go out there, I know you never wanted to."

Victoria met his gaze, taken back at his sincere, caring words. "No," she replied softly, straightening down her hair. "But I hardly think we can postpone this now, not when all the guests have arrived."

Conrad nodded, knowing she was right.

"And Conrad," Victoria spoke again, meeting his gaze.

She knew neither of them would bring up their earlier escapade, yet Victoria knew she couldn't forget it, and she didn't want to either. Because it wasn't just simple, lustful sex, but it wasn't love either. All Victoria knew was that in that moment with Conrad, she felt something.

"I-" Victoria stopped, the words freezing on her tongue. I do still care for you, and tonight when I was with you I felt something that I hadn't felt in years. Tell me you felt it too. "Thank you for the rubies, I love them."

Victoria made her way towards him and she brushed her lips against his, her fingers gently lacing through his as she kissed him tenderly. Yet just as his lips began to respond she released his hand and slipped out the door, lightly touching her jewels.

Conrad watched her depart, a fond smile touching his lips.

He could barely believe tonight's events, but more than anything he couldn't believe that after all these years, he still loved his wife. And tonight he saw the passion in her, the fire that lit her eyes and knew it was more than lust. It wasn't love but something else, and perhaps it would grow to be love again.

Please leave a review and tell me what you think! How did I go with keeping them in character and grammar? Should I write more? Leave your thoughts below! Thanks for reading.

Lydia :)