"Jen - don't."

She was suddenly light-headed, feeling the breathless weight of the moment between them. The shadows danced across his features and the desire in his eyes was almost too much for her. The photographs slipped from her grasp as he lifted her wrist to his lips and when he pressed a feather-light kiss to the place where her pulse raced she let them go, heedless of where they fell.

They moved towards each other – pausing a split second away from the further contact that she knew would change everything.

"Kiss me," she breathed, looking up at him from beneath her lashes – smiling a little at how surprised he looked.

Her hand cupped his cheek, her touch as light and delicate as his, as though too much pressure would shatter this tremulous intensity. The first touch of their lips was so fleeting she could almost pretend she'd imagined it – except that her imagination had never been that good. But it wasn't enough, could never be enough; and in less than a heartbeat they were kissing again. She closed her eyes, sinking into the depths of him – letting him coax her into a deeper kiss, the brush of his tongue against her lips enough to make them part. And when she expected him to push forward, take the advantage she offered he backed away instead, pulling her closer, wrapping his arms around her, breathing her name over and over as he kissed her cheeks, her eyelids. She went willingly into his embrace – the careful chasteness of their kisses making her feel like a teenager again.

His lips found her earlobe, tugging it gently, his hold on her tightening as she gasped – intensity rocketing through her and reminding her that she definitely wasn't a teenager. She reached for his hand, cradling it for a moment, letting her fingers stroke gently over the calluses, before she pressed her lips to his palm. He bit back a groan as her mouth moved over his skin – she was only touching his palm but all he could think about was the same slow, lazy kisses covering his body. He pulled her mouth back to his, hungry to taste her now – though still he wanted to soak up every second of this, to luxuriate in that hunger and push the anticipation as far as he could. He let his fingers trace the opening of her shirt, admiring the slight flush that covered her cleavage – knowing that this was just the start of the way her pale skin could respond to pleasure and arousal. Her head arched back and he didn't even try to resist the long line of her throat, kissing his way down to the place where the flush started.

"God, Jen" he murmured as he pushed her into an armchair and knelt in front of her.

His fingers trembled as he undid just enough buttons to allow him to slide the fabric off her shoulders, and as he ran his mouth along the side of her neck he felt the rumble of laughter reverberate through it.

"What?"

"I feel like I'm sixteen" she whispered in amusement.

"Uh-huh" he replied, no less amused.

"I like it" she said as she dragged her fingers experimentally down his neck.

She felt the involuntary reaction and smiled – remembering how and where he had always loved being kissed. She placed careful kisses right below his earlobe and looked at him - feeling a wave of tenderness in his regard as she saw his eyes close. She placed more kisses along long his jawbone, rubbing his back gently as she did so; and when she sucked gently on his neck, his arms tightened around her and his body pressed closer to hers. She travelled up again, returning the earlier favour by nibbling on his earlobe. Loving the way he wasn't co-ordinated enough to do anything beyond hold onto her. She kissed back down again, pausing at his adam's apple for a while, and then moved up over his chin and back to his mouth as her fingers traced the contours of his face.

She moaned into his mouth and his hands automatically rounded her behind and pulled her into him. Reeling from the intensity he brought brought one hand up over hers on his face and stilled her fingers. She disengaged and ran them through his hair, kissing him slowly and deeply. Biting his bottom lip, then sucking on it before kissing him again.

 And this time he was the one who moaned.

He thrust his hips up slightly, dragging her to the edge of the seat; trying to get closer to her.

"This is torture, Jen" he groaned.

"Maybe we should stop" she said. And she wasn't sure which one of them she surprised more – him or herself.

"Is that what you want?" he asked as he rested his forehead against hers.

"I don't know" she said, cupping his face and placing a few more feathery kisses on his mouth.

He pulled back, but there was no anger in his eyes. Only understanding. And she knew he was as unsure as she was.

"I just don't want either of us to regret this tomorrow."

He didn't want to let go – but on the other hand he could understand why she needed to be certain. This had come out of nowhere – he'd been sitting in his basement, reliving some memories less than two hours ago, and now here they were. The past had come back to life – blindsiding them both. And while he knew this was real and alive he could see that she might need some time to reach the same conclusion.

"There's no hurry," he told her, rubbing her back as she shifted against him; and the embrace that, moments before, had been hungry, effortlessly transformed into something tender.

Jen nodded.

"Walk me out?" he asked.

She rested her head against his chest, one hand curled into material of his shirt. The words, 'don't leave' were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite say them aloud. Surely it wouldn't hurt if they took a step back; made sure this was the right thing for both of them. She wasn't interested in a fling, didn't think he was either. But, if this didn't work, the fall out would be immense – and this time she wouldn't be able to run away.

"Thank you."

He took her face in his hands – his gaze piercing as he looked at her. She realised he knew exactly what she was worried about.

"We'll figure it out," he promised.

He slipped his arm around her waist and together they walked to the front door.

"Night, Jen."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, but she sighed and clung to him; returning the kiss with an urgency that made him question the decision to take this slowly. Still, he pulled away. Smiling just a little when she looked sheepishly up at him.

"Goodnight Jethro."

She leaned back against the closed door, her body trembling at the thought that even now they could be upstairs, in her bed. But they'd made the right decision, she was sure of it. Waiting was the mature, the sensible thing to do. Their situation was far more complicated than it had been last time around – there was a lot more at stake. And they'd both changed, both got older – taking time to explore the differences was a good idea. She quieted the small voice in her head that was whispering that just maybe she was afraid of how he'd react when he saw her body now – almost ten years after they'd last been lovers.

She retraced their steps and paused at her desk when her eyes fell on the glass he'd been drinking from not half an hour before. If she'd needed distraction before he showed up, that need was magnified a thousandfold now. She picked it up, restlessness coursing through her - running her index finger round the rim of the glass before rolling the edge against her lower lip as though she thought she could conjure up the sensation of his owndragging across her skin again.

As she walked across to the cabinet to refill it she felt the crunch of something underfoot, and realised that some of the photos had travelled quite a distance from where she'd dropped them. She crouched and picked them up before moving to the spot where the others lay scattered – making a neat little pile and tapping it against her hand as she tried to decide what to do. Nothing had changed. Not really. In the grand scheme of things they were still a liability. She moved over to the cabinet – having determined that if she was going to follow through with the original plan she might need the fortification of alcohol. Her movements were deliberate as she poured herself a large measure of bourbon and came back to sit in front of the fireplace – taking some small comfort from the fact that she was drinking from his glass. As though that meant she wasn't alone in this obliteration of a moment in time when they'd been exactly where they'd wanted to be and there was nothing to stop them from. She looked at the photos one by one as she consigned them to the flames and didn't even bother to keep a check on the emotions the action brought to the surface.

She looked at the people in the photos and relived the intensity of what they'd had. It wasn't so much the way their younger selves looked, but rather the somewhat blurred photos of them together that did her in. She looked at their bodies and remembered the intoxicating sensation of him sliding into her every time they'd made love. Remembered the look on his face as he did so. She rested her head against the armchair and let the visuals of their past come. She remembered feeling him all over her, hearing his voice whisper what effect she was having on him, seeing his expressive eyes tell her what his mouth could or would not, sensing the juncture in the narrative of their intimacy when he was close to the edge, smelling the pungent evidence of their lovemaking once they'd given all they had to give. She felt herself smile as she realised that she was throbbing. For a moment she wondered if doing something about it would make her feel less unsettled, but she dismissed the thought immediately; almost amused by the little voice that made itself heard again – this time telling her it would be a betrayal. Of everything this evening had brought flooding back. Which was odd – because it wasn't as though she hadn't fantasised about him before on lonely nights. But the hunger for him was very real now, and she knew it wouldn't be assuaged that easily. She knew she'd merely take the edge off and want him more, and the longing was killing her already. She looked down at the few remaining photos in her hands and saw the one that she'd seen him look at more than once when he'd been with her.

She looked back at herself from the middle of the bed – desire for him radiating from every fibre of her being. And that's when she remembered that this photo had been on top of the pile the first time she'd tried to toss it into the flames and he'd stopped her. She wondered suddenly if she had a right to burn it without his consent. He'd taken these photos and they were his as surely as she'd been his on the day they'd been taken. Suddenly she wasn't so sure she cared anymore how much of a liability this particular one was. Knew she needed his permission to let it go.

As she got to her feet she was vaguely aware that she was going to be giving him a very mixed message the moment she showed up at his door, but she found she didn't care about that either. She only knew she had to see him. To give him back his photo and see what that brought with it. Fuelled by the intensity of what she was feeling she got to her feet before sanity re-asserted itself, and hurried out of her study. She grabbed her car keys off the table in the hall and pulled the door open – almost colliding with the man that stood on her front steps.

He stared at her in silence, the moment stretching. She didn't need to ask whether he'd ever left because it was all in his eyes as they searched hers. He came into her arms without a word, and she felt him shake as she pressed her mouth to his. As she pulled him inside she became aware of fingers sliding down her side. She shivered slightly as she felt urgent press of the palm that came to rest on her hip. His lips followed the path of his fingers' original route - kissing the side of her neck for a while before continuing on to the edge of her ear.
 Her head fell back when the hand on her hip moved to the inseam of her pants and applied gentle pressure there.

"I want you, Jen" he murmured against her skin.

--

Authors' note:

The rating is changing for the last chapter. The story is actually complete, but we will be posting the last part tomorrow. You will just have to look for it in the M section if you don't have it on alert.