A/N: I don't usually write M-related stuff…not exactly my cup of tea, however, in my quest for Anna/Bates happiness (because I need something to cling onto during S2!), I kept coming back to this idea….and so, I wrote it! I'm not proud of myself for it, but, it had to be done! Whatever happens in S2, at least in my world, they are happily married and enjoying themselves…. :p It's M for a good reason, fair warning methinks! And all usual disclaimers apply…. xx

Warm Enough

The cold December wind rattled at the window pane and the fire in the grate crackled and snapped as the remains of the last log died away, taking with it the warmth it had given the room. It was bitterly cold and outside the first few flakes of snow began to fall as winter bit down hard upon the village.

John rose out of his chair with a groan, reaching for his cane as he did so, and cast a soft smile at his wife as she knitted quietly in the opposite chair. She was focussed upon her work, offering it the dedication she gave to everything she did and she only looked up when he spoke.

"I think I'll go up."

She smiled softly at him, "I'll be up shortly, I just want to finish this."

He walked past her, resting his hand lightly upon her shoulder, "Don't be too long," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her hair.

He checked the door as he passed; making sure it was locked for the night and sighed with weariness as he climbed up the steep stairs to the bedroom. The bottom step creaked, as it always did, a sign of the age of the cottage, but neither John nor Anna minded. It was theirs. Their own little home, nothing much, but it was theirs. Nobody to tell them what to do, it was their own little kingdom and though money was tight and once the bills were paid there was little left for luxuries, it didn't matter to either of them. They were happy together and the world couldn't do a thing about it.

The upstairs rooms were cold, bitterly cold, and John had to hurry to get himself ready for bed before he froze. The small fire in the parlour did little to warm upstairs, but again, it didn't matter. Winter may come and the cold would too, but their love was enough to warm them, even if their bodies didn't always agree.

He settled himself firmly beneath the blankets and covers and shivered a little, waiting for his body to warm back up. They may not have a fire up here, but they had warm blankets and Anna made sure they were always in good condition and soon, John was more than warm. He was settling himself down to sleep when he heard Anna's approach; he peered over the blankets as she bustled into the room, shivering at the cold. She seemed to rush about in the small space, quickly removing her clothing and kicking off her shoes, rapidly flinging her nightgown over her shivering body.

"Oh, it's freezing tonight!" she exclaimed as she hurriedly grabbed at the blankets, slipping beneath them. "I'm perished!"

To prove her point, she placed her ice cold hands onto his warm chest causing him to laughingly exclaim and try to move away from her. She giggled and wrapped herself around him, pressing her cold legs against his.

"So, you're going to make me cold again, are you?" he laughed, feigning indignation.

"Oh, come on, warm me! It's so cold!" she pleaded with another laugh, running her hands across the thin shirt of his pyjamas and letting her legs rub provocatively against his. She buried her face against his neck, the cold tip of her nose resting against the lobe of his ear.

"If you'd come upstairs with me, you'd be nice and warm by now," he stated teasingly. He gave a half-hearted attempt at disentangling himself from her as he continued, "Instead, I'm all warm and cosy and you are all cold. That's your own fault!"

"John Bates!" she exclaimed, pulling back to look at him, her eyes full of mischief. "When did you become so unkind?"

"Since I was nice and warm," he answered with a smug smile.

She paused, eyes narrowing slightly and a mischievous grin spreading across her face. Before he knew what was happening, she'd grabbed the blankets and flung them back from him causing him to exclaim at the sudden blast of cold air that hit his body. Anna laughed unrepentantly.

He joined her laugh as she pulled the blankets back over them and caught hold of her, pushing her quickly onto her back so that she gave a small surprised shriek. Her hands came up to her chest in mock defence and she laughed as he moved himself half over her. He grinned down at her, taking a few moments to drink in her beauty, he was certain he would never tire of gazing upon her face and seeing the depth of love for him that lived permanently in her eyes.

"Now who's being unkind?" he murmured softly, drowning in the beauty of her eyes.

"I'm still cold," she said, eyes dancing as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, we'll have to do something about that," he answered, his voice becoming husky with desire.

She was smiling widely up at him and he couldn't resist dropping his head, his nose rubbing softly against hers, and catching her smile with his mouth. He caught her top lip in a slow, lingering kiss and heard her soft sigh, felt her relax beneath him, her clenched hands relaxing and resting themselves against his chest. He needed no encouragement and so, moved his mouth softly to catch her lips again and she moved her head slightly, tilting it to deepen the kiss.

Her hands moved softly up his chest and onto his shoulders, holding him in place. Beneath him, her mouth opened lightly, inviting him in for a more passionate kiss. His tongue caressed her bottom lip, and then her top before softly entering, meeting her tongue as old lovers. This new development caused Anna's hands to move around his neck, her fingers caressing the soft area where skin met hair and she moved slightly beneath him, encouraging him to move even closer to her.

His hand moved softly down to her waist, pulling her firmly against him as they continued to slowly let their mouths make love. He relished the feel of her body beneath his hands and as they kissed he lets his fingers softly stroke and caress at her waist, all the while, his hips brushing against hers. Finally, he pulled gently away, not too far; their noses still practically touched and his mouth still hovered tantalisingly over hers, ready for another meeting at any point.

Her eyes fluttered open as the kiss broke and his heart flipped at the expression within them. Teasing and mirth had disappeared to be replaced with desire and love and he knew his own expression reflected the same. The darkness in her eyes made him catch her mouth once more in another long, slow kiss that took both their breaths away.

He moved slowly from her mouth, first catching the corner of it with his, then placing a kiss upon her jaw before slowly moving his way down her neck until he settled at that soft hollow of her collarbone. His hand had softly caressed its way from her waist, across her stomach, gathering the material of her nightdress as it went and suddenly its mere presence was irritating. Using both hands he began to pull her nightdress up, her hands, needing no encouragement, moved from his neck to aid him and they both dragged the offending article out of the way, tossing it to the bedroom floor.

She gazed at him again as he settled himself back over her, her hands sliding back to his chest, she swallowed hard, heart thumping rapidly beneath her chest. He stopped to study her again, lying beneath him, that soft, adoring look so plain across her face. It made his heart ache for her. He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek tenderly, smiling as her eyes fluttered gently at his touch.

He lowered his head once more, his lips finding hers easily and slowly let his hand slide down, grazing her breast until it settled low on her stomach. He began to softly draw circles across the soft, smooth skin of her stomach, trailing his hand slowly back up towards her chest, running lightly between her breasts, grazing the soft mounds ever so slightly before slowly moving lower once more. He pulled out of the kiss gently, choosing instead to watch the progress of his hand as it moved back over her stomach and then down, weaving its way onto her thigh. Anna quivered, every nerve awakened by his touch.

He was still clothed in his pyjamas, much to Anna's annoyance, and despite the growing haze in her mind she was still coherent enough to do something about it. Her fingers nimbly took to work on the buttons on his top, increasing into a frenzy as some of them refused to yield. She offered a soft growl of frustration, fingers dragging at them until finally the shirt was open. Her hands pushed at the material and he helped her slide it off him. She placed her hands against his skin, running them up and over his shoulder so that they rested on his back, she squeezed and pulled, relishing the warmth she found there.

Her hands moved down his back, circling his waist and then moving lower once more until they rested at the waistband of his pyjama bottoms. She slid her hands beneath, pushing the material as she did so and he responded by turning slightly onto his side, helping her to remove them from his body. He kicked them away but before he could return his attentions to her, her hand had moved to him, stroking against him, causing him to elicit a deep groan of pleasure. She continued to stroke his hardness, her hand sliding around him and moving slowly up and down the shaft. His eyes closed to the pleasure, his breathing beginning to catch in his throat as she drove him to the very edge of pleasure.

He quickly took hold of her hand, moving her away before he completely lost himself and took a few deep breaths. Curling his fingers in hers he softly kissed her knuckles, then her wrist, nibbling the skin lightly. He moved up her arm to her shoulder and then to her neck, his mouth caressing and nipping as it went. Releasing her hand, he slid his back onto her stomach to continue its previous assignment, but this time, he followed with his mouth. Trailing kisses down to her stomach, he heard her sigh with pleasure, felt her hand move to his neck and up into his hair, tightening its grip as he kissed her.

His fingers moved to one of her breasts, cupping it in his hand, admiring the texture and feel of it beneath his fingers. He moved his fingers in circles, drawing them quickly over her nipple, admiring the soft peak of pleasure that erupted there. He watched her face, delighted at the expressions playing across her soft features and couldn't help himself. Dropping his head he took her nipple into his mouth, flicking his tongue across it. Anna moaned softly in response, her hand moving from his hair to his shoulder where she gripped on, bracing herself against the pleasure. He began to suck lightly, tongue darting across the soft skin in a gentle rhythmic motion, he heard her breathing heavily, heard the soft moans that escaped and now turned his attentions lower.

His hand moved down until it reached that soft area, allowed his fingers to glide through the hairs that grew there and delighted in the feel of her trembling in anticipation beneath him. His desire was crying out for attention, becoming harder to ignore and it took a lot of effort to not rise up and enter her there and then.

He slid his fingers gently between the folds of skin and closed his eyes to the sensations she elicited. She was so soft and warm and deliciously wet already. He began to move his fingers over her, rubbing and caressing in slow, firm, movements.

She gasped and moaned at his touch, her hips moving to meet his hand, desperate for more contact and friction. He lifted his head and watched her face, head back, eyes closed, mouth slightly open, her breathing jagged and sharp, soft cries escaping as he pleasured her. He let his index finger enter her before withdrawing quickly, her hands grabbed at him as the pleasure mounted and she bit her lip to stop from crying out.

His fingers continued to meet her hips and he could sense she was getting close, he could take it no longer, his own desire begging for attention. He withdrew his hand completely and grinned at her disappointed gasp. He moved himself so that he was fully between her legs and she shifted beneath him, readying herself to receive him entirely. She cradled him with her hips and moaned softly as his desire grazed against her.

The touch ignited him and, positioning himself, he entered her easily, engulfing himself in her warmth, pushing until he was fully inside her. They both groaned at the sensation. They had made love many times since they had married in the summer and in many different ways, yet that feeling of completion when they joined together still felt unique and special, still almost took them by surprise.

He paused a moment, taking time to savour her, he loved every inch of her body and still found it hard to believe she would marry him let alone make love to him. He began to rock his hips slightly, withdrawing slowly until he was almost out of her before thrusting fully in once more. He repeated the action, moving into her more firmly each time, building up into a steady rhythm. His mind began to haze over at the sensation of her surrounding him, the feeling almost undoing him completely.

Her hands moved to his shoulder as he settled into a rhythm, she met his hips with hers, her breathing becoming laboured and deep as he drove them to ecstasy. One hand grabbed at his shoulder, bracing herself, whilst the other seemed lost in the haze of pleasure. She gripped at the bed and then his waist, gasping and crying out as she felt every nerve begin to build.

His breathing was hot and heavy; he shifted his position slightly, slowing his movements as he did so, he dropped his head, breathing hard, and managed to kiss her roughly, catching her groan with his mouth. Her grip tightened on him and she squirmed beneath him, desperate to find that release his body was teasing her with.

Any earlier thoughts of being cold were long since banished, the room was now hot with their love, the blankets long since discarded, and as they moved together, a soft sheen of sweat on their impassioned bodies, desire became king with love as his queen.

He shifted again and continued to thrust deeply into her, rolling his hips against hers as they met, occasionally groaning her name, slowly building up a rhythm that had her writhing beneath him, she gasped and moaned, begged him not to stop. She was so close to release now, she met his thrusts as best she could, trying to match his rhythm, soft cries of pleasure escaping from her mouth until finally she tensed, her body exploding into waves of ecstasy that rocketed out across her body. She cried out, fingers digging into him as wave after wave engulfed her. His name escaped her lips as she gasped and moaned, body trembling with the heightened pleasure her release left behind.

He was close too, her release spurring him on and he thrust fast and hard into her, he felt her tighten herself around him as she lifted her legs, wrapping herself around him, driving him entirely over the edge. He thrust again and groaned loudly, ecstatic release coming for him and he offered a few more erratic thrusts, emptying himself deep inside her.

He stilled for a moment before dropping himself onto her, burying his face into the pillow with a satisfied groan. He remained inside her as he tried to regulate his breathing once more, he could feel her breath tickling his neck as her own breathing began to slowly return to normal. Her hands, once tight and hard upon his shoulder and waist, were now soft and gentle; she stroked his shoulder and gave a soft, satisfied sigh.

He lifted himself back up and met her gaze, smiling warmly. Her face was soft with love and satisfaction and he dipped his head to kiss her, they remained that way a few moments before she giggled softly beneath him and he used this as sign to move off her. He left her warmth and moved onto his side of the bed, she followed him, curling herself against him, hooking her leg over his and draping her arm across his chest. She pressed a few kisses to his neck and he softly moved his head to kiss her hair, inhaling her scent and enjoying the warmth that radiated out from her.

"Are you warm enough now?" he asked softly, a satisfied smile spreading across his lips.

She lifted her head and grinned warmly, her face glowing with love in the dim light. "Oh, yes, you've warmed me up nicely!"

He chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to her lips. "I thought so! That will teach you for trying to make me cold!"

"If that's the response I get," she murmured, "maybe I'll try it more often!"

"Maybe you should!"

And with that, he went back to kissing his wife, making sure she didn't feel cold again.