A/N: Hello dear readers followers and reviewers!

First of all thanks for the reviews!

After so many amazing updates these days I felt I wanted to write something too!

So here we are, Rhett's first night at Tara!

I promise, a rational conversation is coming…in the next chapter!

The next morning

As the morning broke and the first rays of sun reached her eyes, Scarlett opened her eyes. She yawned and tried to stretch her arms and legs but she found out that she couldn't. Because the bed suddenly felt too narrow.

As the memories flooded her brain she sat up and turned her head.

Yes, she wasn't alone. Her husband was sleeping beside her. She half expected that he would vanish from her eyes by the morning, that the night before was nothing more than a dream. A wonderful dream to be exact.

She sighed and turned towards his side of the bed resting her head on her hand taking a better look on her sleeping husband.

That must had been a first in the seven years of their marriage, she mused. Even when they didn't share a bed she knew that he always used to wake up earlier than her. He must be really exhausted, Scarlett thought and absentmindedly she caressed the wisp that always tend to fall on his forehead.

He stirred, but he didn't wake up. Scarlett also noticed that this morning he looked a lot better than the night before. Some of the deep lines on his face seemed to be smother, his complexion looked healthier and he was sleeping peacefully.

Scarlett wished from the bottom of the heart that this wouldn't be the last time she saw her naked husband sleeping on their bed either, and she let her mind go back to the unbelievable events of the night before.

Rhett was warmly received by Tara's residents, as if all this time they did nothing but breathlessly waiting for him to show up. As anticipated, Melly and Beau were thrilled to see him again, and Mammy who had spent the majority of the last year in bed, suffering by rheumatisms ran with the rapidity and the light steps of a young girl to greet him. Will was his usual polite and welcoming self, but Scarlett was sincerely surprised to see her sore to everybody sister purring like a cat in front of Rhett's charming demeanor.

Fidlee dee dee! Scarlett mused and tried not to let herself getting over exited by his presence there.

Deep down she knew it was too late for that. Her heart was racing frantically in her chest since that breathtaking, magnificent kiss. How long had it been since the last time he kissed her on the mouth? Years… since that fateful night of Ashley's birthday party.

And if she dared to think how long it had been since the last time he kissed her like this…she chuckled. Had he ever kissed her like this before? She suddenly wandered. She seriously doubt that. There was that kiss the day he proposed… An equally breathtaking, knees-bending kiss which made her forget everything she knew and accept his marriage proposal… but this time it was even better.

Did that kiss meant anything to him too or was it all her own wishful thinking? Was he trying to show her with his actions that something had changed between them? That he had regretted his decision to leave? That there was still something salvageable from their marriage?

Or it was just a sign that he still wanted her? He had never bothered to hide the fact that he had wanted her more than every other woman. As he never bothered to hide the fact that he had wanted many women without loving them.

Of course even that was better than the polite indifference he had manifested the night he left. But it wasn't what Scarlett was craving for. His love.

During the dinner she desperately tried to read his expression, but it was as always impossible. His familiar impenetrable mask was in place. He was tender with the children and polite with everyone, including Scarlett, but he didn't reveal anything of his true intentions.

After dinner, Scarlett also didn't have the opportunity to ask any questions. Rhett appeared to be eager to give the children their gifts and he followed them to the nursery. But he didn't leave the dining room before gallantly kissing Melly's and Suellen's hands and Scarlett's forehead, as any decent husband would do. And not before whispering, truth be told not so decently, in her ear with his deep voice: later…

What was that supposed to mean? Scarlett wandered and let her panic take the best of her.

Later, she vehemently mused in her bedroom while waiting for her husband to show up. Surely later he would manage to crush her dream by informing her that he was at the South to attend to his business and that he came to Tara to visit with his children. She wasn't in a hurry to hear such news and really she would prefer not to hear them at all.

Deep down, she knew that this wasn't even the worst case scenario. There was an even greater danger. That he came to Tara just to bring the notorious divorce papers. The mere thought was making her blood freeze.

But if that was the case, why he was so warm and tender towards her earlier in the afternoon? Not that Rhett hadn't tried to disorient her in order to have his way with her in the past, but Scarlett was adamant that he wouldn't be deliberately so cruel. Even if he didn't love her, he wouldn't hurt her on purpose. Or at least that was what she hoped.

She sighed and in order to avoid all those black thoughts she turned her mind to a more practical matter. Pansy, Tara's only maid since Mammy's illness and retirement, was unaware of the Butler's sleeping arrangements and as a result she put Rhett's luggage in Scarlett's bedroom without thinking more of it. This is how Scarlett found herself waiting for her husband in her bedroom the first night he returned home.

Once she entered the bedroom she stormed towards her closet searching for her nightdresses. Despair overwhelmed her. She had packed with her nothing other than practical simple cotton nightdresses! Nothing beautiful, nothing becoming!

Her mind flew to the wonderful negligees Rhett used to bring to her from Paris or New Orleans during the first years of their marriage, which were stacked in her huge wardrobe in her mansion in Atlanta, unused for years. She sighed once more.

Rhett couldn't see her in any of these! It was impossible! Her vanity couldn't bear him laughing on her face or throwing one of his usual barbs about his luck to be married to a "decent countryside girl"!

Not that she expected him to care enough to tease her, she vehemently mused and instantly she felt furious with herself.

Not that she would allow him see her in her undergarments in the first place! She strictly scolded herself. She wasn't that easy!

The kiss was nothing more than a momentary slip! She got overwhelmed by emotion! But now there was no excuse! She would keep her dignity, as the lady her mother taught her to become and she always had been!

She wouldn't let him take any liberties, at least until he made his intentions towards her and their marriage known. She wouldn't let him touch her again and she wouldn't make any love confessions until he would declare that he was ready to return to her side as a proper gentleman and husband.

Scarlett fought an urge to run and hide in Melly's bedroom. But she was sure that her friend would sent her back to her husband and wouldn't take no for an answer. It was no use! She had to face her husband and have a proper conversation with him.

When Rhett entered Scarlett's childhood room, he found his wife, still dressed, in the middle of the room holding a rather large bundle in her arms which he could see that included a simple white cotton nightdress, a pillow and white cotton sheets.

"Good evening Rhett" she said and she felt her knees bending once more. Why had he to be so handsome! It was unfair! She silently thought. She coughed in order to hide her nervousness.

"You will sleep here. I hope you will find it satisfactory. It's not the National's suite but it will have to do. I put fresh sheets on the bed, your luggage is in the closet. Goodnight!" She said all that with one breath and she eagerly grabbed the bundle and took her leave.

"Where are you going Scarlett?" he asked, barely concealing a chuckle.

"At the nursery! Oh I am sorry about this Rhett (she pointed out the room), but there is no free room in the house with Melly staying with us and all the children and Pansy didn't know…well never mind, I will sleep with Ella, it won't be a problem, Goodnight!"

"It's too late, Scarlett," he said with his light charlestonian drawl.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. That your…Pansy- Is it?- she will be sleeping by now. How are you going to get out of that beautiful dress of yours?" he leered.

"I will manage," she hissed with as much nonchalance as she could muster.

"Why bother since I am here and as you surely remember you used to admit I was quite efficient in getting you out of your clothes?" he chuckled.

"Rhett, please! There is no need…" she scolded and tried to avoid him but he had already gently grabbed her by the arm and turned her with her back facing him. It took him less than a minute to unfasten the numerous buttons.

Several heartbeats later Scarlett was still standing in the same position, unable to move or breathe for the matter. His hands hadn't touched her body for ages and now his hands on her body, even above her chemise… ohhh! it felt heavenly.

Rhett coughed to conceal his chuckles. "You must be alright now. Free from all the cages!" he leered and his innuendo about her lack of corsets wasn't lost on Scarlett. She turned crimson and she ran behind the folded screen to put on her nightdress.

Back to the main room a few minutes later she noticed that her husband had already made himself comfortable. His jacket was off, he had already loosen his cravat and he was casually standing by the window smoking a cigar. Memories of the first year of their marriage flooded her mind but she made a real effort to remain calm and as indifferent as possible.

"Thank you again, Rhett, goodnight" she said and lifted the bundle.

But he stopped her once more. "You forgot these" he said and he put her brush and mirror on top of her things. "We both know you can't sleep unless you brush your hair a hundred times. I may be wrong but I didn't notice any vanity in the nursery."

He was too close to her once more, his deep soothing voice mumbling in her ear. Scarlett knew she was in dangerous territory, that she had to put some distance between them, but her body didn't obey the orders of the mind. Without knowing exactly what she was doing she sat on the bed once more, her eyes never leaving the bundle, as if it was the most interesting object in the room.

Rhett didn't hesitate a bit. He took the brush and started combing her hair.

No one talked for a while and Scarlett, unwittingly started to relax. Her mind went back to their honeymoon in New Orleans when Rhett used to comb her hair, with that same brush, every night before going to sleep. It was his first gift after their wedding!

How could she have been such a blind fool? She chastened herself once more. Only a complete moral would turn down caresses like these. And for what? For a childish dream, something that didn't matter to anyone, not even to herself.

How was she going to live without those caresses for the rest of her life? She wandered and without realizing her mind started working again.

She preferred not to think much about it but it was the truth! She had been that blind moral and Rhett had left her.

So why was he in her room that night? Why was he so tender and caring towards her? Was that his wicked way of saying goodbye?

She was afraid of his answer but she knew she couldn't postpone it any longer. She raised her hand and rested it on his. "Stop it Rhett please" she simply said and she found out that she was crying.

Rhett let the brush down and knelled in front of her. "What's the matter darling?" he asked and cupped her face in his large hands forcing her to look at him.

Scarlett now was furious. "Don't darling me Rhett Butler! What kind of a cruel joke is that? Just a few months ago you declared you didn't give a damn about me and I believed you, and now you are back as if nothing had happened. I can't take it any longer" she said among sobs.

"Darling, you are thinking too much. And amazingly enough in your case is almost as bad as not thinking at all had been all these years,"

"This is all you have to say to me Rhett? Answer me why are you here?" she pleaded, "I said I loved you but I won't tolerate such a behavior anymore" she fiercely declared.

Rhett let his hands drop down and stood up. "If you don't want me here Scarlett all you have to do is telling me so. I would never force myself to you. Never again!" he said and returned to his spot next to the window.

Once he left her side Scarlett the darkness of the room swallowing her. Even though it was the middle of the summer she was frozen. She shivered.

No, she didn't want Rhett to leave her side tonight, she decided. Even if he was to leave the next morning as he always tend to do, it still worth the trouble. And the pain that she knew that would follow. Just like the last time he left, after Ashley's birthday party. But Scarlett refused to think more of the past. Today only mattered, she decided.

With a new found determination she went near her husband. "I don't want you to leave," she declared, "Stay if that's what you want too."

She stood on tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

That was all the encouragement Rhett needed. He lift her in his arms and carried her to her bed.

That was the last conscious memory Scarlett could recall. She had only scattered images of what followed, his kisses, his caresses, but she was absolutely sure she had heard his voice whispering a number of times in her ear "I love you" as she remembered her own equally passionate response.

That's mostly why she was sure that last night was a hallucination. She could never believe that getting Rhett back would be so easy. He could never abandon the woman he loved, she mused and suddenly a thought made her blood freeze.

He had admitted he loved her once more in the past under very similar circumstances but it hadn't stopped him from leaving.

Maybe those words didn't really mean anything to him. Maybe that was how every proper night of passion ended for him. Probably he used the same words with every woman that satisfied his needs. Maybe it was something like "thank you" to him.

Suddenly Scarlett felt furious with her husband. She felt as if he had taken advantage of her, as if he had trapped her. She wanted so much to throw a vase on his head but then she thought better of it. She couldn't do it now because that would wake him up. And really she wasn't ready to face him just yet. Or better if that was possible she would prefer not to lay eyes on him ever again.

She took a dress from her closet, without really paying any attention and as quietly as possible she left the room.