"Who do you think you are" Carla snapped, her bright green eyes flashing in anger. And many other things she was loathe to admit. This office was suffocating. If she ever found the money to fix the roof, she was clearly going to increase the size of the office. Peter was stood just inside the door, where he had stormed in. As if he still owned half the place. As if he completely owned her. He hadn't moved from the spot. Frustratingly. And worse yet, it wasn't that he wasn't moving outside the door that had her so distraught. He hadn't moved closer to her. But it was as if she could nearly feel his touch on her enflamed skin. How could he crawl under her skin like that so easily. His beard had filled in. Carla was certain he hadn't shaved it as an act of rebellion. And enticement. He knew the things that happened to her when she ran her fingers over it. The way it felt to have it pressed into her neck. When he moved slowly up the inside of her thigh. When he made her scream. She hadn't fogotten any of it. And those thoughts were making her so weak, she didn't dare stand up and move around her desk like she was yearning to do. There was something so magnetic about that man. It was like she was drawn to him, and she had nothing to say about it. How dare he come here and ask if she was really going to close up this place. As if he cared. As if he hadn't been unable to get out of here, away from her, fast enough.

Peter watched her getting worked up now. With those eyes. The ones that saw straight into her. That cut through every barrier she threw up. The ones that flicked from dark and intense to soft and seductive. Making her brain reflect on which option she desired the most. To fling herself across the space into his arms, where she truly longed to be. To drag him toward her until their bodies curved into each other the way they were meant to be, in a hot tangle of limbs . Or to pitch that stapler right at his stupid but gorgeous head. As if her body had made the decision for her, Carla found herself moving from her chair and around the desk. Closing the distance between them. Until their proximity was too much. And not enough.

"I am", Peter spoke slowly and evenly, his voice deepening, which was doing nothing for the edginess coursing through Carla's body. But it was doing delicious things to her insides regardless. "The person that will always stand in your corner and be on your side. Against anyone. Even if you're wrong", he continued. It all happened in seconds. All of her defenses came crashing down. Her eyes went soft and unlocked her soul. She saw him, the man she fell so in love with. The man who healed everything in her when it was broken. The man who made her feel utterly loved, and the safest place to be. The man, many called a car crash, but she didn't know what she would ever do without. In an instant, Carla fought against the weakness. Lifted her chin defiantly and fixed him with a fierce glare and a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. But he had seen it all. And she knew it.

A smirk tugged at her lips. "I am never wrong" Carla insisted. "Of course not" Peter smirked back. "I want to help" he told her softly. He watched her struggle to hold it together. Her grip faltering on keeping control of all the plates spinning wildly in the air, so close to shattering on the ground. So close to giving in, and crashing into his arms, asking him to take over. But she held tightly to the taut string holding her together. The same one that seemed to have an invisible connection to the man across the room, tugging at her with an overwhelming desire to move closer. Peter was unaware of what was tearing her apart, but he could see the weight looming over her just the same. He still wanted nothing more than to offer her shelter from whatever demons held her captive. He still wanted to look after her. The love of his life.

"Help? You want to HELP? Did you not help enough by lumbering me with Nick in the first place. Given mine and Nick's history, how you could you DO that to me" Carla cried out. "You couldn't get out a here fast enough," she trailed off quietly, her eyes downcast uneasily, as she hadn't really meant to say it aloud.

"I'm sorry, I thought it was the right thing at the time. YOU wanted me gone. Do you really think that's what I wanted? Him. Here with you. HIM of all people" Peter's voice rose in anguish, making Carla raise her eyes, to look at him, questioning. Mixed messages. Crossed signals. Misunderstandings. This was them all over. She deeply regretted making him think she didn't want him there. But she didn't say that. All she could think about was how he left her. And how he was going to be walking out of here again. So she pushed him, to be the one to make him go. First. "HELP, like when you had an affair with Tina", she spat out, watching him flinch. "HELP like when you abandoned your son, gave your dad a stroke". Carla watched as she hit her mark. Made Peter feel lower than low. Regret etched on his face. And it bubbled in the pit of her stomach. "Get out. Get OUT", she screamed, steeling herself to watch him walk away. And then closed her eyes because she couldn't bare it.

But he didn't. Yes, Peter was filled with the urge to run away. Even darker urges to drown out the guilt and loathing her words brought to the surface. But he knew this woman inside and out. Knew how hard she pushed. And this time he wasn't going to let her. He watched as her eyes fluttered open, filled with emotion before she realized he was still stood there. And then he moved toward her. Removing his coat and flinging it onto the floor as he stepped forward. She sucked in a breath, as her chest felt like it was on fire. Their eyes never left one another, as he watched her chest rising and falling rapidly. Carla was nearly panting by the time he got to her. Stepping into her personal space, like no one else could, until their bodies were literally touching. Carla took a step back, not realizing she was now backed into her desk. Peter paused, never wanting to push anything on Carla she didn't want. He watched her lips part, and saw the craving in her green eyes, that said anything but stop.

Peter took another step forward, and was peeling her leather jacket from her body as their lips crashed frantically into each other, their tongues tangled as if they would never be parted again. Immediately, he had two hands in her hair, grabbing as much of it as he could within his fingers, leaving Carla to finish wriggling out of her jacket. It could not be known who moved first. If Peter shoved her down on the desk, flinging as much off it with his arm as possible. Or if it was Carla clenching the front of his shirt and dragging him down on her. But soon he had crawled on top of her, and her legs wound around him, until he felt the heel of her boots digging into his ass.

Peter reached for her legs wrapped around him, and pushed her knees up to her chest. Carla opened her eyes in surprise, trying to focus on him as need swirled in her green eyes, her heart beating uncontrollably out of her chest. Peter began removing the boots and tossed them toward the ground. This got Carla's attention. "Pe-er" she exclaimed it was really only a whisper. Leaving out the t as she sometimes did, when she was in a hurry. Or excited. Or out of her mind. "Those are expensive" she huffed.

"Don't I know it" Peter grinned down at her. Getting a wide grin from her in return, as she reached for the bottom of his shirt and moved her hands down his torso after pulling it over his head. Once her shirt had met his on the floor, Peter had her jeans unbuttoned and pulled them down her legs. Carla had her hands on his belt, tugging him closer to her, stroking him through his jeans, as he left slow messy kisses on her neck, letting his beard scrape against her skin. Carla let out a loud moan and tried to squeeze him. "Car" he groaned, her ministrations and the sound of her nearly doing him in. His desperation making Carla even more excited and aching than she already was. Eagerly releasing his belt and pulling down his jeans and boxers, she used her hands and legs to urge them down his legs. Peter kicked the restraining garments aside and leaned over Carla.

After a moment, she let out a frustrated "What you doin' Peeeter"

"Just looking," he responded with a smile, "You're beautiful." She closed her eyes to hide the joy held in her eyes. But she couldn't hide the way her lips lifted into a sly smile. She opened her eyes again when she felt him sliding both palms up the back of her thighs and hooking a finger in her knickers to pull them aside. And tugging.

"Pe-er" she breathed, as his hand grazed against her. "Ya don't go rippin' my knickers in my knicker factory" she told him sternly. With a rueful smile, he slid his fingers under the material, making sure they pressed into her flesh, massaging her in a circular motion. "Oh God, Peter," she was moaning and he had barely touched her yet. He hooked his fingers under the material dragged them down her legs, joining the pile on the floor. And brushed his lips across her lower stomach, as the muscles clenched. Her hands were running over him now, squeezing, glorifying in the warm feel of him pulsing in her hands. Guiding him toward her, as she raised her legs to rest against his shoulders. Hitching her breath at the feel of him moving against her slit, sliding along her folds, and pushing into her. When Peter dove into her, he sent up a silent thank you that she was so very wet and ready and that he didn't need to slow it down. Far be it, her body was greedily pulling him in as deep as possible. His silent thank you was the only silence in the room, as they cried out in unison at the feeling of being connected once more.

Carla gripped the sides of the desk as she pushed her hips up to meet his thrusts. Filling and being filled. Feeling him nearly pull out of her was torture, but his pounding returning thrust was bliss. Carla had given up on holding onto the desk and brought her hands up to trail down the back of his head, and slid her legs down just above his hips. She decided her name was the sexiest thing she had ever heard, the way Peter was moaning it against her lips. But if he didn't stop ALMOST kissing her, she was going to kill him. Her hips bucked against him, as he rammed into her, making sure he ground against her clit. Her moans increased at the contact, and she wrapped her legs tighter around him. Peter was buried deep in her, and was unable to pull out, but he didn't mind given the delicious pressure as she squeezed around him. Instead he stayed there, delivering a succession of short hard ramming thrusts, as deep inside her as he could get. "Peet—er" was all she could manage to get out now, as their breaths came out in harsh pants. He finally brought his mouth down on hers, burrowing his tongue into her mouth, stroking and sucking as he kept crashing his hips into hers. Their deep needy kisses muffled most of the sounds coming from them, as Carla quivered around him. Peter let his fingers dig deep into her hair as he moved roughly against her clit. Writhing against him, her hands now digging into his muscled back, her hips jerked and Carla let her teeth sink into Peter's lower lip. The action making him swell and jerk inside her. Flinging her over her desperate edge, she cried out like he had not heard in five long years. Her release ripping through her and gushing all around him. As her limbs went limp, Peter pulled back, and then slammed back into her. His movements quickened, going faster and deeper, as Carla began moving her hips against him with a breathy whimper. "Oh God Car," he cried out, his hips buckling as he went rigid, and pumped his release into her. Feeling her shaking against him as the force took her over the edge again.

After he stood up, Peter looked down at Carla, with her dark hair fanned out around her. Her lips parted in a pout, her chest rising and falling as her breathing was still heightened. He knew it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, so much it made his heart ache. As he bent down to where his pants had been dropped, Carla finally spoke. "And where do you think you're goin' I'm not done with you yet"