Your Hands in Mine P3

Sarah woke from her post lunch nap to the reassuring feel of Chuck's even breath against the back of her neck. She shimmied out of the bed without waking him and wandered around the cottage they were enjoying for the next 2 weeks. The kitchenette revealed several nice bottles of wine and she opened one without even thinking about what time it was, pouring a nice cold glass of Chardonnay.

She moved out to the large patio and curled up on a chaise lounge with her wine. The beach was such a full sensory experience as she smelled the salt, heard the waves crash, watched the birds swoop, felt the breeze and tasted the tinge of salt in the air when he licked her lips. This truly was a little piece of paradise they had here and she was so glad she was experiencing it. A chill ran through her body when she remembered just a couple weeks ago holding a gun to Chuck, feeling this awful conflict between her orders from Quinn and her heart. The look on his face as he was just going to let her shoot him, she had to shake it off, it was over, another thing they had survived together.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Chuck asked as he scratched his head and stretched his long body.

"Based on the accommodations I think you can spring for a lot more than a penny," she smirked over her shoulder as she admired her husband's body.

"Keep looking at me like that and we might not need all those clothes you insisted on packing," he smiled shyly, which was ridiculously cute considering how much time they had spent naked recently.

"Sit with me," Sarah offered as she scooted forward on the chaise and allowed Chuck to slide in behind her.

Sarah handed Chuck her glass of wine and he sipped happily as she reclined back against him.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Don't know, don't care," she took the wine back.

"Do you need anything?"

"Very soon I will need more of this wine, but for right now just sit here with me," she found his left hand and pulled his arm around her, their wedding rings side by side glinted in the sunlight.

"We could do this forever, maybe not this lavishly, but we have enough money to never have to work again," he said quietly.

"Just relaxing today, not talking about work," Sarah corrected him.

"Technically I am talking about not working which is different than talking about work," he babbled and she laughed in his arms.

"Still too much thought required, let's just enjoy this moment right now," she turned halfway in his arms and burrowed her face in his neck, inhaling the very perfect essence of him.

"OK," he relented.

She handed him the end of the wine which he finished with one long swallow.

"Want more?" he asked as he stroked her hair.

"Not yet," she held him tighter, not wanting him to leave yet.

"OK," he said again as he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

***555***

When Chuck returned to their chaise lounge he had a blanket draped over his arm, the rest of the wine and a plate with what looked like cheese and crackers on it. He had also slipped on a pair of jeans and a shirt.

"Sam stocked us up well, but I ordered some dinner for an hour from now," he mentioned as he handed the plate to Sarah, placed the bottle of wine on the ground by the glass and draped the blanket over Sarah's bare legs.

"Thanks, baby," she smiled as he moved over to the gas fireplace on the patio and began fiddling with it.

"I wonder if this place has a User's manual," Chuck pondered.

"Like Castle?"

"It was a good thing I read that manual," Chuck smiled.

"Well just be careful, I really like it here and it would be a shame if you blew us up on our first day of vacation," Sarah teased as she ate a grape off the plate.

"I'll do my best," he shrugged.

Soon enough a nice fire was going, radiating just enough heat to counter the cooler air coming off the ocean, between that and the blanket and the wine and the mingled body heat Chuck & Sarah were plenty toasty.

"Tell me something I don't remember," Sarah said as Chuck rejoined her on the chaise and they awaited dinner.

"We went to your 10th high school reunion and you were reunion queen," Chuck grinned.

"No way. It is not cool to lie to the amnesiac, Chuck," Sarah replied in horror.

"Not lying and you have a slight memory problem, you are not an amnesiac," he shuddered at the word.

"I must have suffered a serious head trauma if I agreed to go to my high school reunion. Wait, what high school?" Sarah asked wondering if it was just a cover.

"James Buchanan Class of '98, go Cougars!" Chuck threw in an arm punch for good measure.

"I saw a file on Heather Chandler, were we there because of her?"

"Ultimately, although we didn't know that until you two got in a fight in the girls' locker room that made Carrie look like a children's story. "

"Was Casey the DJ?"

"Yes," Chuck laughed as he poured more wine into their shared glass.

"You brought me a cheeseburger, in my hotel room," Sarah realized.

"Yep, we shared a cheeseburger or two in that green & white room over the years."

"And chocolate croissants!"

"On many occasions," Chuck nodded.

"Mostly when I was sad over something, you brought them to cheer me up. You claimed the shop downstairs was out of fruit so you were…"

"…forced to get the chocolate croissants, you never believed me but always ate them."

"I loved you then," she admitted now both knowing it from the video logs and knowing it in her heart.

"I know."

"Did you know then?" she asked really not sure.

"I hoped. "

"I hurt you."

"I hurt you too, we've both come a long way."

"I'm seeing that, we don't have to go through it again," Sarah promised.

"Good, it was hard. It was hard to see you and work with you every day and want you so badly."

"And after we got together?"

"Everything just flowed. Sure we had our moments, we still made a few stupid decisions, mostly to protect the other one, but we were so much happier and it showed. Those years of denial were hard," Chuck sighed.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said earnestly.

"It's all in the past. We've apologized for it plenty. And there were good times in all of that, moments of fun, like your reunion and moments of romance. It shaped who we are, this is shaping who we are too, Sarah."

"I know," she nodded.

The sky turned an inky blue color over the water and they relaxed and listened to the waves they could no longer see. A tinkling doorbell roused them from their reverie and Chuck hopped up to retrieve dinner.

Sam wheeled the cart right out to the patio and turned on some gas torches to light the space better, he set the table quickly and quietly.

"I'll put the dessert in the refrigerator," he smiled and was gone.

"Thanks, Sam," Chuck called after him and he waved, stopping by the kitchen before leaving the cottage.

"I feel under-dressed," Sarah admitted as she stood from the chaise and the blanket dropped to reveal her bare legs.

"You look gorgeous," Chuck smiled.

Sarah smiled back and picked up the blanket, bringing it with her to the table and laying it over her lap. Chuck kissed her cheek before taking his place next to her and uncovering plates of delicious looking fish and vegetables and a crock of cheesy potatoes.

"Yum," Sarah's eyes got wide as Chuck uncorked yet another bottle of wine.

"Dig in," he encouraged as he poured.

***555***

"I am stuffed," Sarah announced as she pushed her plate away and leaned back to admire the stars.

"Me too, it was good though," Chuck reached over and took her hand in his and he too looked to the stars.

"Chuck?"

"Yeah?"

"You know how you aren't supposed to swim for 30 minutes after you eat?"

"Yeah?" he replied wondering where she was going with this.

"Do you think that is true for bathing as well?" she grinned and he could see a glint of her white teeth.

"I'm no expert, but I think it would be OK as long as you had adequate supervision."

"Like a buddy?"

"Yes, a bath buddy to make sure you didn't get a cramp or anything," Chuck clarified as he stood and began clearing the dishes and wheeling the cart back into the cottage.

Sarah extinguished the torches and fireplace and brought the wine and glasses into the cottage and directly to the bathroom. She fiddled with the control panel to get proper mood lighting, soft music and heated tile floors. She started the water in the giant soaking tub and began sniffing the various bubble options from the shelf behind the tub, she found one that was cedar and eucalyptus that smelled refreshing and not too girlie.

Chuck locked up the cottage soundly and turned off lights as he retraced his steps back to their bathroom. He walked towards the open door where Sarah stood next to the tub, one foot crossed in front of the other in some sort of ballet pose. She looked up and saw him, locked her eyes with his before she reached down and stripped the tee shirt up and off her body, leaving her completely naked in the soft dim light.

The air in the bathroom was getting damp from the steam off the tub, the scent of the bubble bath thick and heady, Sarah's beautiful body reacted to the stare of her husband.

"Come here," she said quietly and he was beside her in two long strides.

His clothes joined her tee shirt quickly and soon they were melting into the hot water together. The tub was actually big enough for Chuck's legs and they each claimed an end, facing each other across a pile of bubbles.

"I am not a man known for taking bubble baths, but I could get used to this," Chuck sighed.

"We just need a tub that is big enough for you and your very very long legs," she emphasized the repeated adjective by raking her nails over said legs under the water and watching as his eyes rolled back in his head. "You like that?" she asked.

"I like every way you touch me," he said honestly, bringing his eyes back into focus and looking at her intently.

Sarah had to force herself to break the gaze as she felt herself well up with emotion. She turned and retrieved the wine and their glasses and managed to pour them each a fresh glass of wine, handing Chuck his with a few bubbles stuck to the stem.

"I could get used to this," Sarah leaned back sipping her wine and running her toes along Chuck's ribs.

"Me too," he agreed, capturing one of her feet in his hand, rubbing her thumb along the instep.

"Nice," she stuttered and flexed her foot in his hands, encouraging his ministrations.

Chuck continued to hold his wine with one hand while massaging her foot with his other hand.

"Did your bachelor party involve a bubble bath?' Sarah asked as she remembered pieces of an odd conversation.

"You were in a bubble bath while I was getting ready for my bachelor party," Chuck corrected as he moved his hand from her foot to her calf.

"And you still went?" Sarah asked with a crooked smile.

"It was a difficult choice. In hindsight I should have stayed with you. So many things in my life would have been better if I had chosen to stay with you," Chuck placed the now empty wine glass on the shelf behind the tub and used both hands to massage Sarah's legs.

"Well, we're here now, in this beautiful place," she grinned and moved closer to him.

His wet hands found her hips under the bubbles and pulled her in tight, flush to his warm wet chest as his lips found hers.

***555***

"I think it is time for dessert," Chuck said as he padded across the cool floor of the master bedroom wrapped only in a towel.

"That wasn't dessert?" Sarah arched an eyebrow and hooked her thumb back towards the tub where they just had to clean up all the water they sloshed over the side.

Chuck blushed, but let his eyes roam over his wife who was wearing a lovely hotel robe and nothing else. The robe was barely tied shut and as she moved he was privy to various sexy peeks.

"There is actual dessert," Chuck clarified although his eyes were locked on Sarah's belly button which was visible just below the tie of her robe.

"I'd like some dessert," she said shyly and her tone of voice shocked him out of his haze.

"Sorry," he blushed again.

"It's OK, you get to stare, you're my husband."

"Thank God."

It was Sarah's turn to blush, he said the words with such sincerity, such adoration. She was amazed by how easy they telegraphed their feelings to each other, how blatant their love and lust were for each other.

"How did we ever survive before we were able to do this?" she asked as she closed the gap between them and pulled his face close to kiss him deeply.

TBC…