Grasping his hand in hers, Ruth leads Harry down the same one-way lane he'd parked his car. She is about to turn into a portico when he stops.
"See that car there?" he says, pointing to the Lexus parked in front of the front door to Ruth's building. "That's my car."
"I guess you knew more than you thought you knew," she replies, putting the key in the lock, and turning it. "I'm on the second floor."
Once inside Ruth's flat, Harry takes her in his arms, and pulls her against him. He fights a desire to tear off his own clothes and hers, and to push himself into her as soon as he can, with no concern about where. But he knows he won't do that. This is their first time together, and if Ruth has anticipated this moment even half as much as he has, then she'll be wanting him to wait until they are in the bedroom. Ruth will want foreplay, and lots of it. Harry enjoys foreplay, but at this moment, as he is kissing and sucking and licking her neck, and her body is soft and pliable against him, her hands seeking his skin under his shirt, and he is as hard as he's ever been in his whole life, he desperately wants to plunge himself into her – right now, in the hallway of her flat.
With that thought still reverberating inside his head, he slides one knee between her thighs, and while one hand is moving over her back, his other hand slides up Ruth's inner thigh until he reaches her knickers. He glances his fingertip over the material, her juices having already soaked through them. He then begins sliding his fingers across the material – back and forth, first lightly, and then with more pressure. Then, he slips one finger inside the knickers, and briefly touches her folds. Ruth sighs, and then she lets him know what it is she wants.
Ruth pulls away from him enough to grab his belt and unbuckle it, before she rapidly opens the buttons on his trousers, and then pushes down the zipper. She reaches her hand inside his trousers, and grasps his erection though his trunks. "My God, Harry," she breathes, looking up at him as she squeezes him tightly until he again groans, leaning forward to rest his lips against her brow.
"We'll not make it to the bedroom, will we?" he whispers against her forehead.
"Not if I can help it."
Harry almost passes out as she moves her body close to his, and rests her stomach against his erection.
"Harry …... do you mind if our first time is a desperate fuck in the hallway?"
Does he mind? Does he mind? As much as he has harboured fantasies about what their first time might be like, he is just happy that there is about to be a first time. Hell, he'd do it in a cow yard in full view of the cows – and he'd even be happy for the farmer and his wife to watch as well, along with a few curious villagers – were that on offer. He'll do it anywhere, anyhow, so long as it's with Ruth, and that it happens very, very soon.
He can feel Ruth grappling with her dress, reaching around behind her back.
"Here, let me," he says, reaching behind her to lower the zipper which runs from the nape of her neck to her hips. He slides the dress off her shoulders, and she pulls her arms out of the long and elegant sleeves. The dress drops to the floor, and Ruth steps out of it, and then steps out of her shoes.
While she busies herself with disposing of her dress, and then pushing her shoes against the wall, Harry takes off his jacket, and drops it on top of Ruth's dress, creating a puddle of clothes on the hallway floor. Ruth then helps him undo the buttons on his shirt, and then pushes it from his shoulders. His trousers are already around his ankles, so Ruth again closes the space between them, and slides her fingers inside the waistband of his underwear. Harry again kisses her on the mouth, pushing his tongue inside, searching her mouth, her teeth, her tongue, while Ruth's fingers stroke him gently. He doesn't want gently, he wants hard and fast.
Things change suddenly when he feels her hands move around inside his underwear from the front to the back, and then in one quick manoeuvre, Ruth pushes his trunks down to his knees, releasing his erection, so that it bobs back against her stomach. His hands are inside her bra, pinching her nipples, and yet he can feel her pushing her stomach against his penis, grinding against it, and then pulling away. He can't wait any longer. Hard and fast it will be.
Harry bends his knees a little and places his hands under Ruth's bottom. He lifts her until he feels her grasp his penis and push it between her legs, so that he glides against her folds, moist and hot against his skin. He takes one of her legs and wraps it around his waist, and she follows his lead and wraps her other leg around him.
"Guide me in," he says against her ear, and so she does. The touch of her fingers on his most sensitive of skin is exquisite, so much so that he has to think of something distracting, like meeting time on the Grid.
Harry pushes himself into her body, where she is warm, wet and welcoming. As he fully fills her, he sighs heavily. He knows he is close to shedding tears, and when he looks at the face of his loved one, he sees tears on her cheeks. He kisses her tears as he begins moving inside her. As he pushes into her harder and faster, her back reaches the wall, and that gives him some purchase, some stability. Ruth's face nestles in the curve between his shoulder and neck, while he rests his cheek against her ear. He knows he won't be able to hold her up for long, so he begins to thrust deeply, and rapidly.
He can feel his climax building, but he can't slow down. There is no way he can hold back. This is Ruth, and he loves her, and he believes his feelings are returned. As he pushes into her hard just before he ejaculates, he hears her sobbing into his shoulder, and her body tightens around him. They hold on to one another as their bodies pulse together.
Harry is aware of his own heartbeat – dangerously fast – and his breathing – heavy and laboured.
He is then aware of his loved one, as her tears moisten the skin of his shoulder, and her fingers loosen on his back. He thinks she may have scratched him, but he feels no pain.
Somehow, they make it to her bedroom, and she pulls back the duvet, and invites him into her bed. By the time they nestle under the duvet together, they are both naked. Neither can remember where Ruth left her bra, and Harry has no memory of removing his socks and shoes.
Facing one another, their arms loosely around the other, they sleep until just before dawn.
Harry wakes first, and kisses Ruth awake. They spend a long moment just watching the face of the other before Ruth has to follow the needs of her body.
"I really need to pee," she says.
"Me, too."
"I said it first," says Ruth, as she tumbles out of bed, and grabbing her bathrobe from behind the door, she disappears from the room.
Once he hears the toilet flush, Harry leaves the bedroom naked, and follows the sound of the toilet flushing. As he stands over the toilet urinating, Ruth has stepped into the shower, and while standing under the water, she watches him. She finds everything he does enormously fascinating ….. she always has. Harry, noticing her watching him, fights off embarrassment. He's never allowed any of his previous lovers to watch him pee. It is not, after all, the most dignified of activities.
Harry joins Ruth under the shower, and they each wash the body of the other, their hands slippery from the shower gel. They towel one another dry, and again climb into Ruth's bed together, both smelling of peaches and mango. They lie beside one another while the sun rises, taking in everything they see.
He has to run his finger from her lips, down her chin to her neck, while she is fascinated by the hollow between his neck and his collarbone.
He pulls down the duvet to expose her breasts, at which he gazes in awe, while she draws a line from his neck down to where the light brown down on his belly leads to his pubic hair.
He rests one hand on one of her breasts, his thumb grazing slowly over the nipple, while she explores the dip beneath his hip bone, rubbing her thumb over the sensitive skin, while he again slowly hardens.
This time, when they make love it is a gentle and delicate act. While the previous night they'd popped the cork of the champagne, in the dimness of this autumn morning, they savour the wine within. They lie side-by-side, her leg over his hip bringing them closer. Their body movements are slow and deliberate, and they each watch the face of the other, something the explosive passion of the night before had not allowed. As they come, one after the other, they each smile at the other. It is a moment of triumph for them. As Ruth had left London that cold morning two years earlier, neither could have imagined their reunion would be like this. Neither were confident there would ever be a reunion.
They have been lying together in one another's arms for over half an hour, when Harry begins to pull away a little.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Ruth says, her voice flat with withheld emotion.
"There's something on at the moment, Ruth, and the only way I could get away last night was by Ros promising to take my place until I return today. I'll probably be on the Grid for the remainder of the weekend."
When Ruth doesn't say anything in reply, this worries him.
"I know that this sounds like an excuse for leaving you -"
"That's not what I'm thinking at all, Harry. I can feel that you'd rather stay here with me."
"Yes, I would. I hadn't expected to stay overnight, although I suspect Malcolm has warned Ros that I may be into work a little late today." Harry looks down at her, a smile on his face, and sees her serious expression. "What's wrong, Ruth? You know how my job is."
"I do, and I'm not blaming you, or anything. I was just thinking …..."
He waits until she has her words all sorted, watching her face as she formulates her thoughts.
"It's just occurred to me," she begins, "and it's something I'd never have expected …... I envy you …. going back to the Grid …... where it's all happening."
If Harry is surprised, then he doesn't show it. "Would you like to rejoin the Brotherhood, Ruth?"
She frowns at him, but her mouth is smiling. "Only if you call it something other than a brotherhood."
Harry dips his head to kiss her. "I'll see what I can do."