Author's note: Alrighty, welcome back! I'm going to repeat most of my A/N from the other chapter 12 so you all know what's going on. In this chapter, I attempt to tie up Rachel's loose ends with Shelby, because I actually kind of liked her character and would have really liked to see more development of her character, especially involving Rachel. Besides, after all that's gone down in the show since my last chapter... Regardless of what Shelby said in the season one finale, Rachel does still need her, and I think this would be one of those perfect occasions where they could bond. And, Matt gets a proper goodbye.

Originally, I hadn't planned on going into detail for Rachel and Puck's first time together, but after one of my reviewers (you know who you are, lol) begged me to "go all the way", as it were, my overactive imagination couldn't not respond to the challenge. Unfortunately, my brain needed some downtime before it would produce even the slightest inkling of detail. I didn't want to change the rating from T to M for one (rather massive) chapter, so I didn't post anything at all until this version was written. I didn't want to post the "cut" version without the "uncut" version, so a reader could have the choice before reading the "cut" one I posted as chapter 12 of Protecting Berry, and the M-rated version. This is the gigantic, supersized version. I hope you all are satisfied with its results.

Music suggestions: 'True colors' by Glee Cast, 'Hysteria' by Def Leppard, 'I remain' by Alanis Morissette.

Disclaimer: Despite my lengthy "absence", I still don't own Glee. Besides, could you just imagine having to control all that drama? Personally, it kind of makes my head hurt.

Sex Talks and The Corresponding Consequences

Rachel could honestly admit that she was glad to know of her birth mother's existence, because a couple of days before she planned to take the next step with Noah, she had an off-the-charts panic attack.

She'd never had that mother/daughter sex talk. What if she truly didn't know what she was getting herself into? She was positive that Noah was the right guy and this was the right time, but what if it wasn't? Or worse... what if she regretted the decision after the fact? She was not progressing any further until she had the appropriate conversation with Shelby.

And that was how she ended up standing on her mother's doorstep on a balmy Saturday afternoon, ringing the doorbell.

Shelby answered the door approximately fifteen seconds later, cradling baby Beth in her right arm and beaming. Confusion minutely diluted her expression as she absorbed Rachel's presence at her front door. "Rachel?"

"May I come in?" Rachel asked diminutively, clasping her hands and glancing down at them for courage.

Sensing the insecurity in Rachel's tone, Shelby stepped back and held the door open wide for Rachel to enter.

"Just let me put Beth down for her nap, okay?" Shelby asked gently, gesturing toward the living room off to the left of the entrance once she shut the door behind Rachel.

Rachel nodded and went into the living room to wait. Rachel paced around the length of the room, taking in the pictures and trophies that lined the walls until Shelby returned less than five minutes later.

"Shelby?" Rachel asked tentatively. Rachel sat down on the loveseat. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, sweetie. What is it?" Shelby replied warmly, sitting in the high-backed chair across from Rachel.

"I didn't know who else to turn to about this. My dads would most likely think it's too soon and be extremely upset. I'm too embarrassed to bring it up again with any of my glee girlfriends, they mostly tease me about everything else anyway..." Rachel babbled, twisting her hands nervously in her lap.

Shelby interrupted. "Rachel?"

"I'm ready to have sex with my boyfriend." Rachel blurted as she sat up ramrod straight with a defiant gaze and posture, challenging Shelby to disapprove of her decision.

"Okay." Shelby drew out slowly, at a loss for what to counter with. "I don't know what you want from me, baby girl."

"I just wanted someone to talk to." Rachel confessed quietly. "I know I made the right decision not sleeping with Finn or Jesse, knowing somehow that it wouldn't be right if I went all the way with either of them. But Noah...I know he's the right one. I just...I don't know what to do, where to begin. He's got so much more experience than I do. What if I don't measure up? What if, after all this time, in his head, he's built me up into something I'm not and I disappoint him? I wouldn't be able to bear it."

"Rachel, baby, are you sure you're ready for this next step? It can be a doosie." Shelby asked gently, leaning forward with her hands clasped in her lap. "This Noah boy, have you known him a long time? How long have you been dating him?"

"Mom, I know I'm ready. You know him already. I've known Noah practically my whole life. We're both Jewish. It would be physically impossible to not know him. Not to mention, he's probably one of the most infamous boys at McKinley high. Before we dated, he used to throw slushies in my face on a daily basis. We were on opposite sides of the popularity line before New Directions. He could have, and most likely has had, any girl he desires. Yet, for some reason I still can't fathom, now he wants me. He looks at me, and I feel like he's really seeing me, unlike Finn and Jesse, both of which looked at me and wanted something else. Now instead of slushie facials, Noah stands up for me. It's actually quite chivalrous how he looks out for my well being. It says a lot about his true moral character." Rachel explained proudly, her eyes sparking as she talked about her boyfriend.

"When you say Noah, do you mean...?" Shelby began to ask, already knowing as she waved her hand for Rachel to finish her thought.

Rachel didn't disappoint. "Noah Puckerman. Otherwise known to everyone else as Puck. You probably met him at the hospital."

"Isn't he the father of Beth?" Shelby asked, her tone leaning towards chiding.

"I understand that he isn't perfect, that he's made a few mistakes. But what happened with Quinn will not happen to me. I've already taken numerous avenues of intercourse precautions. My daddies consented to my wearing a birth control patch a few months after I turned sixteen. I made Noah go to a pharmacy while I'm visiting with you to buy his own box of condoms. I even ordered a few other things that I couldn't purchase in person from a catalog, just in case. I even know that Noah's considering having a vasectomy this summer. I'm very well prepared." Rachel explained almost clinically.

"Wow." Shelby said in a dumbstruck fashion, proud of her daughter's forethought, but slightly fearful of Rachel's enthusiasm for overkill. She should have known better, if the short amount of time they'd already spent together was anything to go by. "It sounds as if you've covered all your bases. And how exactly did you find out about Noah considering a vasectomy? Did he talk to you about it?"

"No, he hasn't actually physically told me about it yet. He was checking it out on my laptop last week and didn't erase his internet history. I came across it, totally by accident, mind you, as I was posting a new song on my MySpace page a couple days ago." Rachel replied matter-of-factly.

"I wish I'd had more time with you. You don't really need me at all." Shelby admitted in a remorseful tone, out of the blue.

"Mom?" Rachel ventured tentatively, reaching out a hand to place over Shelby's. "I do need you. No one else listens to me. Noah's the first real friend I've ever had, but now he's also my boyfriend, and he's a guy. I need a best girl friend. I really needed another woman's advice and reassurance about this. So you're wrong, I do need you. For a lot of things."

Shelby pulled one of her hands free and clasped Rachel's hand between hers, her smile and eyes watery. "Okay."

ooosooooco*ooooaoooo*oooeooooo

Pulling Santana into his room, Matt kicked the door shut with one foot and gathered her in close.

"Do you really have to go?" Santana asked in a sullen tone, her gaze focused on her fingers twisting a button on Matt's shirt. Her eyes then swept up to meet his forlornly.

"I'm lucky I got to finish out the school year." Matt replied in a hushed tone as he nodded affirmatively. "My dad's being transferred out to South Carolina. He doesn't know if or when we can come back." Matt fingers ghosted along the hemline of Santana's cheerleader top, the tactile contact soothing for both of them. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. He was finally getting somewhere with Santana, and then this unfair and unexpected kink happened. Now he was moving thousands of miles away from everything he knew, and the only girl he'd really ever cared about.

"When do you have to leave?" Santana questioned, sliding the buttons free one by one from Matt's button-up short-sleeve shirt.

"Next Friday." Matt supplied regretfully, his fingers itching to pull the top over her head and feel her warm skin underneath his fingertips. But he respected her more than that, and he didn't want their first time together to be like this. As if it were the last time they'd ever see each other.

Lunging forward unexpectedly, Santana wrapped her arms around Matt tightly, pressing her face into his chest. "I don't want you to go. I...I really kind of like you." Santana admitted in a muffled voice, squeezing even tighter.

"I really kind of like you, too. And I wouldn't go if I had any other choice." Matt said after a short pause. That was probably the most honest Santana had ever been with him about her feelings.

"Stay with me. Stay with one of the other football players. Hell, hit up Mercedes. Quinn just moved out and the brother's room is free again. Just stay. I'll sleep with you if you stay." Santana suggested fiercely, pulling back far enough to look Matt in the eye.

"Come on, Santana. Don't be like that. It's not that easy. I'd miss my family and I know it's not my dad's fault that we're moving. Moving in with one of my friends would be more trouble than it's worth and I don't want to be a burden on someone else's parents. And, lastly, I don't want you to feel like you have to do it with me to make me stay. I wanna sleep with you, but now's not the right time." Matt explained logically, cupping his hands around her face and kissing her gently at the end of his speech.

"I shouldn't have held out, I'm sorry. I was just waiting for the right time. I should have known this would happen if I didn't follow my own damned advice." Santana confessed, the bitterness in her tone directing itself inward as her gaze skittered away from his to a spot on the wall behind him.

"Hey, it's alright. If it's meant to happen, my dad will get transferred back here, and we'll move back. And if you still want me, then we'll get together then." Matt suggested in a reassuring tone. "So...is it a date?" Matt asked tentatively, hopefully.

"You bet your ass it is." Santana replied resolutely without hesitation, yanking his head down for a passionate kiss.

ooonooo*oosoooeoo*oouoooooo*

Different thoughts were swimming around in Rachel's brain as she stood in front of her bathroom mirror. Different concerns.

Noah sat waiting on the other side of that door for her. And she was going to have sex with him.

As soon as she could work up the courage to open the door.

She wasn't thinking about twirling around the room with him in a tasteful nightgown singing "Like a Virgin" to each other. She was worried about what he'd think of the extra effort she put into trimming certain areas and if he'd like the way she looked naked.

She had priorities and she knew that Noah must have a few as well. The last two girls he'd been with (that she knew of) had been top of the line cheerleaders. How must she measure up compared to them?

She was putting an extra-concentrated amount of effort into making sure that this would be a night neither one of them would forget. She'd resisted the room full of candles in leeway of just one on her dresser and nightstand, and her overhead light on the dimmest setting possible. She had a feeling he'd appreciate the effect, seeing as they almost always made out with the lights on bright. She also covertly and discreetly queried about the appropriate attire to the only three girls she hoped didn't have any previous attachments to Noah. Mercedes hadn't been much help suggesting something in line with Beyonce involving a corset-like swimsuit, glittery stockings, and knee high boots. Tina's suggestion of a black nightie with fishnets and heels hadn't been much better. She didn't know if they were being serious.

She also got the distinct feeling that she could pull off neither. Not the first go-around, anyway.

If Noah wanted to try something like that later on, if there even was a later on, she might be willing to try.

Her third and final option had been Brittany. God only knew what would've happened if she'd have went to Santana, who would have been her first choice if it'd had been pertaining to anyone other than Noah. She had a feeling though, that Santana would know immediately and the resulting confrontation would not have been pretty, especially with Matt transferring and everything. Quinn was out of the question. She figured it couldn't hurt to ask Brittany her advice, she might even provide something she could actually use. In the end, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know how Brittany knew Noah would like ice blue satin and lace, preferably the shorts and camisole variety, but she accepted the advice amicably. She wanted to put on her best possible face for Noah. She figured he deserved it, staying with a high-maintenance girl such as herself.

And maybe she deserved the feeling of empowerment it gave her when his demeanor, along with his jaw, slipped out of place for a moment when she opened the bathroom door and posed in the doorway.

Coincidentally enough, "Like a prayer" by Madonna began playing in the background as Noah stood from the foot of the bed and held his arms out for her. That brought back memories of the last time she'd been in this situation.

But this time, there was no hesitation, no doubts as she stepped into his open embrace and let him kiss her. In real time.

She may still be shy and more than a little nervous about her upcoming premiere performance, but she had a feeling Noah would show her the proper way and wouldn't hold it against her if she stumbled a few times.

She was actually ready this time.

Rachel took his hand and led him towards her bed.

Tugging Rachel back before she could so much as sit on her bed, Puck twirled her around so they were facing each other.

"Are you sure this is what you want? You don't have to feel like this is something you have to do to keep me around. You should know by now that it's gonna be pretty damn hard to get rid of me whether you sleep with me or not." Puck questioned seriously, cupping her chin with the hand that wasn't holding tightly onto hers as his eyes searched hers.

A demure smile lit up her face just as bright as one of her full-fledged ones, her eyes twinkling happily. "Yes, Noah. I'm absolutely positive about this. I appreciate your concern, though, as well as your thoughtfulness to ask." Rachel replied, placing one hand on his shoulder for a boost up to peck him lightly on the lips.

Stepping back, Rachel's legs bumped into the side of her bed. Rotating her head around, she stared down at the comforter, as if confused about why it was suddenly there.

"Would you like it if I took the reins on this one?" Puck asked in a hushed tone, placing both hands over hers and clasping them.

After a brief pause, Rachel ducked her head down and nodded reluctantly.

Bringing her hands to his hips, he released them and pulled her in close and enveloped her in his arms as he bent to kiss her. It started out gentle enough, building up into their "warm-up" make-out speed.

Yeah, he'd assigned work-out terms to their kissing sessions.

Shifting towards the next level, he let his hands roam over her body, teasing all the sensitive spots he'd discovered over the course of their relationship; like the strip of skin right between the waist of her shorts and the hemline of her camisole, and along her left hipbone. As his fingers moved along her satiny skin, he encouraged her to explore his as well, leading one of her hands underneath the back of his t-shirt.

"The skin all around my spine is really sensitive, especially here." Puck explained quietly, guiding her fingertips to the back of his jeans, pushing them underneath minutely, at about level with his sacrum.

Rachel tensed up slightly, and a flush crept up her face, but she didn't resist the movement or pull away when he released her hand.

"It's alright, Caroline, we'll take it slow." Puck reassured her, mirroring the hand he'd just positioned at his back. "Just do what I do, okay?"

"Okay." Rachel agreed quietly.

Tucking her into his chest with her head under his chin, Puck ghosted his fingertips up her spine slowly. As Rachel mirrored his actions, a shiver of pleasure traveled along in its wake. In a swirling motion, he pressed his index finger in a little more firmly, outlining her backbone on the trip back down. Again, she mirrored what he did, with a variation at the end, making a vee with her index and middle fingers as her fingertips reached the waist of his jeans. Pressing beneath, she brought her fingers together and apart in a side-by-side circular motion.

A subdued groan escaped his lips, and his eyes closed in pleasure.

"That felt really good, Rach." Puck commented encouragingly, pulling back so he could lean down to attach his mouth to her neck. He felt her smile against his forehead, and her fingers beginning to play all along his spine in a very positive way.

He realized with a jolt, that after all the time they'd been together, Rachel had never really touched him like this. Sure, she didn't mind rolling around with him, and she sure as hell didn't mind hugging him like some kind of psycho barnacle, but nothing like this. She didn't caress or get grabby. Her hands would reside in safe zones, such as his shoulders or face, which he did happen to like. It did something real crazy, almost tingly, and felt super-amazing whenever she cupped his cheeks between her hands. Other than that, though, she mostly let him be the touchy-feely one.

Maybe after tonight, that would change.

To say it felt odd for his Caroline to be insistently tugging his t-shirt upward would be stating it mildly as he held his arms up long enough for her to completely pull the garment completely off.

"Getting impatient to see me naked, Caroline?" Puck asked teasingly once the shirt was off and thrown somewhere behind him.

"I've never seen you up close without a shirt on before." Rachel commented musingly, trailing one finger down the center of his chest. Her eyes followed the motion, absorbing all the intel her eyes were collecting and transferring it directly to the pleasure center of her brain. Her finger arced along the bottom of his left pec, circling inward towards the gold hoop through his left nipple.

Another low moan passed his lips as he gazed down at her with heavy lids. "You've never felt me before either."

"What does it feel like?" Rachel mused aloud curiously, closing the distance between them. Her lips then made contact, a light brush of her mouth right over his heart. Looking up, her gaze met his and held.

Puck sucked in a breath, curling his fingers into fists as he restrained himself from seizing her up and touching her all over. He had never before felt anything as excruciatingly gentle as her lips touching his bare chest, and he had the feeling that her innocent petting was only going to get more torturous.

"Do you want to lay down now?" Puck asked after a moment, his voice coming out low and gravelly.

Nodding, Rachel then climbed onto the bed and sat with her legs tucked to one side, her gaze slowly rising to meet his expectantly. Puck climbed in behind her, coaxing her towards the head of the bed. Her legs unfolded and stretched out as he eased them both into a more horizontal position.

"How we doing? Feeling comfy?" Puck asked, his head propped up on one hand as the other lay loosely over Rachel's midsection. "Ready for the next step?"

"Depends on what the next step is." Rachel countered in a cheeky tone, the corners of her mouth twitching upward.

"You'll like it, trust me." Puck said confidently, a smirk accompanying the words. He then nudged her legs apart with one knee, making enough room for him to settle his entire frame between her thighs.

She'd never been purposefully aware of doing that before, and it sent a thrill of excitement down from her brain to other centrally focused body parts.

Moments later, his mouth was on her neck, trailing open mouthed kisses down, down past her collarbone, teasing the silky material of her camisole. Then he kept going. Her nipples tightened into taut little peaks as his breath teased her sensitized skin, and his lips edged further south. Her eyes watched in avid fascination and she temporarily forgot how to breathe as he closed his mouth around one peak through the material and sucked, tugging gently with his teeth. Letting go, he looked up at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Well?" Puck asked, unable to completely mask the smugness that oozed from his every pore.

"I'm afraid I'm going to require a balanced demonstration before I make any kind of informed decision." Rachel replied after breathing out raggedly through her mouth, her tone full of forced impartiality, meeting his gaze challengingly.

"Okay." Puck returned without recourse, eagerly dipping his head back down to repeat his actions on her other breast.

A long, breathy sigh eased its way out of Rachel, and her hand rose of its own volition to the nape of Noah's neck.

"Could we try it without my top?" Rachel asked shyly, sucking in a breath for courage as Puck met her gaze once again.

This time, Puck was at a loss for words as he nodded mutely. Reaching down, Rachel grabbed the hem of her camisole and slowly started to inch it upwards. Puck chivalrously kept his eyes locked on hers as the top crested over her breasts, and gently eased the top over her head and threw it towards the growing pile of clothes beside her bed.

Without glancing down, Puck closed the space between them and kissed her reverently, letting his chest rub against hers. Rachel's arms banded around his back, and her fingertips dug in underneath his shoulder blades, clutching him to her as tightly as she could.

"Best thing... that's... ever happened... to me." Puck mumbled out enthusiastically between kisses, pushing her hair out of her face, the temperature between their bodies rising as his breaths came out in harsh pants.

Humming out an agreement, Rachel pressed her lips back to his soundly before releasing them just as quickly and pushing down on his shoulders impatiently.

"Thank you, God." Puck said in praise, turning his head quickly towards the ceiling long enough to say the prayer before he dove back in headfirst into Rachel's pert breasts.

Incoherent sounds of pleasure erupted from Rachel as all the sensations swirled around inside her like a whirlpool. The scent of his skin, something sweet yet manly, the rough feel of his fingers mixing with the indescribable feeling of his tongue as it swirled and his teeth nipped at the small amount of flesh that made up her breasts...her bones turned to mush at the same time every muscle in her body tightened in anticipation.

Rachel released a sound, something between a sigh and a cry of ecstasy, the first time Puck's hips rocked up into her, and she bit down on her lower lip to contain any further loud sounds.

"No, baby, let them out. It's natural." Puck reassured her, pressing a deep, sensual kiss to her lips as he repeated the rocking motion.

Rachel vaguely registered that he was, in fact, right about that. Never before had she felt more comfortable with someone of the opposite sex. Granted, she didn't have much to compare him to, but it felt...right. She'd noted a long time ago how well they fit together, as if God had custom made them for one another. He didn't smother her whenever he laid on top of her, even though he outweighed her by a good eighty pounds. His face wasn't over a foot above hers. He had muscles in all the right places, just as she had the corresponding curves. If the erection she cradled between her thighs was of any indication, he'd fit there perfectly as well.

As far as she was concerned, they were going to have sex before the night was through, and the only emotion coursing through her veins at the moment wasn't fear, but exhilaration.

"I don't want you to feel rushed or anything, babe, and it's not like I don't enjoy what we're doing, but we kind of need to move things along here." Puck said, interrupting her meandering thoughts.

"Right." Rachel agreed with an assertive nod. Nudging him back, Rachel reached forward and grasped the front of his jeans, tugging the button loose.

Blowing out a deep breath, Puck looked heavenward once more before glancing back towards the sight of Rachel's tiny hands unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans. Feeling her fingers that close to his package strained one too many boundaries. His ETA was quickly approaching, yet as much as he wanted to rush to completion, he wanted Rachel there first.

Regrettably, Rachel wasn't one of those girls that got off just from fondling her boobs.

Sitting up long enough to shuck off his pants, he made the mistake of glancing back at Rachel in all her topless glory, resting back on her elbows with her knees together, swaying them from one side to the other listlessly as she waited with her lips pursed and her disheveled hair hanging down her back.

"You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Puck blurted out, crawling back up to her, clad only in his grey boxer-briefs.

Her legs paused their hypnotic swaying as she stared at him with a doubtful, blank expression, as if not sure how to respond to such a comment.

"Really." Puck said assertively with a genuine half-smile, just in case she truly doubted him. "And if you wouldn't mind, I'd really like to touch you. Down here." Puck finished in a hushed tone, touching his left hand to the lace trim of her otherwise silky shorts just above the crease in her right leg. He kept his eyes locked on hers until she nodded hesitantly a few moments later.

Leaning in almost imperceptibly, his lips captured hers at the same moment he eased his hand underneath the waistband of the barely-there shorts, touching her intimately. Her fingers clenched around his biceps and a cry of surprise was dulled by his mouth as her eyes shot open, her body stiffening up defensively.

"It'll be alright, Rach, just try to relax. I'm trying to make you feel good here." Puck commented with a hint of petulance beneath all the patience. He'd only been with one other virgin before, and he'd never really considered how foreign all these foreplay tactics would be to Rachel. With Quinn, foreplay hadn't really been an issue. Her idea of foreplay had been him constantly reassuring her she wasn't fat. They'd just progressed from making out to the final act.

He wasn't making that mistake again. All bases would be covered, in every respect. Besides, it wasn't as if he didn't have a wealth of past experience to pull from.

Rachel began emitting little gasping pants as his fingertips massaged her clitoris, her eyes slightly scrunched shut and the corners of her mouth tilted upward in an undeniably sexy way as he stared intently at her and her every reaction. His fingers moved at a steady pace, stroking her with a moderate pressure, until her knees began to rise and her legs fell open to give him complete access. It was then he deftly opened her and penetrated her with one finger. She struggled briefly against the unfamiliar sensation, sitting up slightly for a moment, then collapsed back onto her pillow with one hand shielding her embarrassment.

"Am I hurting you?" Puck asked in a husky tone.

Shaking her head no, Rachel let her arm flop back down onto the mattress and met Noah's probing gaze. She had never even imagined her body was capable of feeling like this, as if she was going to spontaneously combust from pleasure.

Then he pushed another finger into her, and she felt something primal stirring to life inside of her, and her hips started to move of their own accord. Her eyes closed, and she let her mind focus only on what her body was feeling. A pulse began to throb between her legs, and something like a chill surged through her, a painful-like pleasure encouraging her hips to quicken their pace against his skillful fingers.

Edging closer, Puck bent in and brushed feather-light kisses along her neck until he felt Rachel's hips retaliating, moving against his hand. He knew she was close as her eyes shot open and sought his, glorious sounds beginning to accompany the gasping sighs. He smiled.

"Come for me, Rachel." Puck commanded seductively, staring down at her avidly.

Moments later, she cried out as her first climax struck her, something akin to pure fire consuming all her nerve-endings. She shook with uncontrollable spasms, like thousands of tiny shock waves ricocheting and rebounding into one another. Puck muffled the cries by slanting his mouth over hers.

Sighing loudly, almost with relief, Rachel felt as if she could barely move as Puck slowly pulled his hand away from the most tender part of her body. She could hear her blood pounding through her ears as her head fell to one side, her eyes closed in blissed contentment.

She forced her reluctant eyelids open when she felt the bed shifting back and forth. Rachel watched with a semi-catatonic feeling as a completely bare Noah sat on the edge of the bed, both of his hands concealed from her view. She heard a wrapper tearing and then an impatient sigh, and assumed he was applying a condom.

What felt like forever, but was merely a few seconds later, Noah was crawling back over her, his muscular thighs pushing hers open wide. Waiting for some sort of response from her, he held himself perfectly still until she hooked her thumbs over the waistband of her shorts and pushed them down enough for him to take the hint. Taking over the task, Puck quickly eased the garment down her smooth legs and tossed them aside.

"Last chance to back out. I might have to go into the bathroom and jerk one out, but I'll stop if you really want me to." Puck offered painfully, wishing like hell she'd let him in at the same time he wondered when he'd decided to man up and be so responsible.

"Noah Puckerman...you talk too much." Rachel stated definitively, a gentle smile pulling at her lips.

Puck followed her coaxing as one of her hands grasped his and pulled his naked body on top of hers. A loud groan escaped his lips as he felt her hand reach between them, fisting around his shaft to guide him to her entrance. Biting her lower lip between her teeth, Rachel reflexively began to squirm away as the head of his penis entered her. Releasing him, both of her hands squeezed his flexed shoulders as he pressed into her virgin tissues. Rachel unconsciously began whimpering from the inexorable pressure, consciously attempting to relax as he filled her completely.

Other than a moderately painful pinch, and feeling stretched past otherwise normal capacity, Rachel felt no lingering, unbearable pain. She'd been worried over nothing.

Zeroing in on Noah and how he was fairing on his end, she noticed that he was already sweating and his arms were trembling as he held himself commendably still above her. She could feel him throbbing inside of her, and the sensation made her breath hitch in her lungs.

"I'm alright, Noah. It doesn't hurt." Rachel supplied in a barely audible voice, her tone almost bemused.

"Really?" Puck asked in a disbelieving tone. It was always supposed to hurt, wasn't it?

Nodding her head yes, she experimentally flexed her pelvis into his.

"Oh, God." Puck said in a strangled tone, his eyes scrunching shut as he struggled to retain a semblance of control.

That is, until he felt Rachel's legs lock around his backside, and she gazed up at him with nothing short of adoration shining in her eyes, and perhaps a touch of wickedness as well.

"Well, Noah? Are you going to start moving, or am I going to have to take matters into my own hands?" Rachel queried teasingly.

And, like a shot, he was moving, pulling almost completely out of her before surging back into her like a man possessed. Leaning down, he kissed her, hot and deep. The helpless sounds that passed from his mouth to hers made her feel full of womanly power as the speed of his thrusting intensified, forcing her to put her hands over her head to keep from crashing into the headrest.

"Are you close, Noah?" Rachel whispered in his ear huskily, reaching out with one hand and tickling her nails up and down his spine.

He didn't speak vocally, but she felt him shiver in her arms, and if she wasn't mistaken, he grew bigger inside of her. A few moments later, an extended groan escaped his lips, and he began to shudder convulsively.

Grinning widely, Rachel stared at the top of Noah's head until he met her eyes sleepily and returned a small smile of his own. Patting her chest, she beckoned him to rest his head. Weakly, he followed through with her coaxing and settled in on top of her, laying his face in the crook of her neck to kiss absentmindedly.

She couldn't describe the feeling coursing through her as Noah cocooned his body around hers, surrounding her with his heat and security. Both of them were sweaty, an odd smell enveloped them, and her limbs all felt heavy and weak...it was probably one of the best memories she'd ever have.

She'd just had sex with Noah Puckerman, one of the most notorious ladies' men in all of Ohio, and she didn't regret one nanosecond of it.

oosooosoo*ooaoooxoo*oonooomooo

Well...I hope you all enjoyed that! I wasn't going to half-ass Rachel and Puck's first time together, so I took my time with it. And, as I have stated before, Linda Howard helps me through troubled times of writer's block. Just reading a few chapters from any number of her fantastic novels, and my mind is fresh and revitalized. Somehow, even though there are only so many ways one can write a love scene, she never sounds repetative. I hope I'm not starting to sound repetative...am I? Anyhoo, have a great Thanksgiving weekend!