Authors Note: Well we are going to ramp up this next chapter ladies and gentleman! It's about to leave level PG so here is your warning haha If you are at all squeamish about adult situations turn back now or forever hold your peace haha Thanks to Tammy, Keeper of Oz and niki 1981 again for the reviews and for all the follow/favourite love!

When Stephen woke up the next morning he looked across the bed at the alarm clock, the red numbers flashed back at him, 11:28AM. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept this late or this well. For years his bodies internal alarm clock had him up early; he'd head to the gym, take care of business then by noon he'd be free to do whatever he wanted. Needless to say today would be different; Jesus Christ himself couldn't get him out of this bed today. His body curled around her bringing her even closer to his chest. He was warm and comfortable and the curtains blocked out just enough light to make him forget it was almost noon. He looked down at Sophie's right hand rested against the mattress by her head, the bright purple polish sparkled back at him and he knew it matched her toes. Slowly he reached over and covered her hand with his; the soft skin of her hand felt like silk against his palm and he used his forefinger to outline the claddagh ring on her finger. The brilliant gold shone back at him and he noted that the point of the heart had been switched and now pointed towards her fingertips. It was designed to let people know that she was single and in his heart he hated seeing it. He didn't know if everyone knew what it meant but he was Irish and he knew what it meant. Generations of his family, of families around him passed those rings on through their families and when he'd asked her how she'd gotten hers she'd told him on a trip to Ireland a few years back her and Caroline had bought them for each other. He hadn't seen them as much in America as he had at home and when he'd seen it on her it was something else that had piqued his interest.

Slowly Sophie began to shift feeling his fingers dance around the back of her hand. His finger poked at her ring and when she turned around to meet him he froze. Those beautiful eyes stared up at him and he didn't know if she was going to be mad or happy. If she'd even remember asking him to stay with her last night but when her lips curved into a smile and she reached up to press them to his he was a goner. He felt her hands slide across his shoulders and into his hair, right above the back of his neck and he felt his skin explode into goose bumps. Slowly she combed her fingers through his hair as he deepened the kiss and when her finger brushed the spot right behind his ear his body betrayed him, he shuddered so hard he faltered. Pulling back he looked down at her and the mile wide smile on her face.

"Top o' the morning to you." She mocked sliding her hands down his chest, feeling his body harden against hers.

He pressed his lips to hers again, slowly and passionately as he slipped his hand under the worn fabric of her t-shirt. She shuddered and moaned as his thumb scrapped across her nipple, he know what to do if she wanted to play. His lips left hers and dragged down her neck as his hands continued to toy with her body.

"Ste…" she started shifting her hands down his hips and into the waistband of his boxers.

His hands paused but his mouth didn't.

"Make love to me."

The words came out in a rush, in one breathy moan as her fingertips brushed back and forth under the band of his boxers, against the sensitive skin of his hips. His lips came to a standstill and he shuddered again swinging his eyes up to look at her.

"Are yeah sure?"

She nodded looking up at him, she was so breathless she couldn't say the words if she wanted to. Slowly, at a painstaking rate, he stripped her down doing everything he could to avoid touching her foot. Every touch, every kiss, every scrape of his calloused skin against her skin drove her closer and closer to the edge. It had been months since anyone had touched her like this, since he had touched her like this and the reminder of what it felt like opened the floodgate on every emotion she'd built a wall around to protect.

Stephen looked down at her and the raw emotions that played across her face nearly knocked him down. He loved her, lover her more than anything he'd ever loved in his life and the need to tell her overwhelmed him. So instead of blurting it out like a bumbling teenager he reached down to touch her, he covered her body with his and paused.

"Did Ah ever tell yeh how beautiful yeh are?"

He watched her skin flush pink at the compliment. He'd promised himself the first time that had happened he'd compliment her so much it would fade with time but it never failed to happen. She'd flush at every compliment and he'd loved her all the more for it.

Sophie reached up cupping his face in her hands as she looked at him, really looked at him. This man had told her that they couldn't be together, that another time it would have worked but right here, right now, his eyes told her so much more. She saw that same loving glare she'd always seen, he had never needed to say the words for her to know what he was feeling, he'd always been such an open book to her and she loved him for that.

She slid her hands down his face, across his shoulders and around the muscles of his back. He was such a contradiction; skin like the finest ivory, it looked delicate to the touch but the body under it was built as solid as a house. The weight of him against her body, sinking them both into the mattress made her sigh audibly. It was like a missing limb had been restored.

"I can't even tell you how much I've missed you." She stated.

He understood; God did he ever.

He moved down her body pressing kisses from her nose to her collarbone. Every spot he could think that she loved before removing the last piece of clothing the separated them. He paused again giving her a moment to change her mind but when she reached for him he moved between her body and slid home. She felt all the breath leave her as she reached up and wrapped her good leg around his waist bringing him in deeper. His hand drifted up her leg, resting against her thigh as he set an agonizing pace.

"Slow love."

He pressed his lips to hers as he shifted again.

"We've got all day and Ah don't wanna hurt yeh."

He was sure they probably shouldn't even be doing this but he was going to make sure he didn't hurt her.

"I'm fine but if you keep moving this slow you're gonna kill me babe."

She moved her hands across his lower back, feeling his hips shift with ever movement. The power in his body was always so impressive, he could crush her in a heartbeat but he'd always been so gentle, so incredibly soft to her. His body shifted again, a slow, long withdraw followed by a return home. She wouldn't last long, not at this pace but she assumed he knew that. The evil glint in his eyes when she looked up told her he knew exactly what he was doing to her. She snaked her hand down her body and just as she was about to reach the spot she was looking for he snatched her hand and pressed it above her head.

"Ah don't recall asking yeh for help."

He emphasized his point, slamming home a little rougher.

"Well it's been a while…" she laughed sliding her foot down his thigh then back up again. "I just wanna make sure you remember where everything is."

She could see it in his face, when not only had she hit that nerve she was looking for, but when he accepted her challenge. She wasn't surprised, it had worked exactly like she'd hoped, she knew him better then she knew herself. He began to move faster, pressing in and out of her at a more feverish pace and the momentum in his body began to build.

"God, that's better." She encouraged him, shifting her body so he could slip his arm up underneath her hips. The new angle of her body brought her closer to what she wanted. To a release she craved more than her next breath.

"Are yeh okay?"

The question cleared the fog in her mind.

"As long as you don't stop what you're doing right now I've never been better."

That was all he needed to hear. The tension between them was building, he could feel it at the base of his spine and when he felt her fingers dug deep into the muscles of his shoulders what little control he still possessed snapped. He doubled his efforts pushed on by every throaty breath and moan she threw at him and when her eyes slammed shut he knew she was there.

"Oh God Ste, right there…"

She saw stars, like their bodies had never missed a beat and when she exploded she felt him follow soon after. For a few seconds her body went numb from the effort then turned hypersensitive. She could feel every last inch of him in and around her and when he collapsed against her she felt right again, whole again. Her breath evened out, as did his, while she stroked her fingers through his sweat soaked hair. A million thoughts ran through her mind, an extreme amount of untapped emotions and when he moved to roll off her she squeezed her thighs keeping him in place.

"Don't."

It was all she had to say to keep him still; she cocked her knee moving her foot further out as he shifted up her body resting his head against her chest. She pressed her lips to the top of his head and continued tunnelling her fingers through his hair. It was silent and satisfying and everything she'd ever remembered, maybe more after so long apart.

After a few minutes he shifted around, taking her with him, pressing her back to his chest. It was the best way to feel as much of her skin on his as he could without doing damaged to her foot. She tucked her good leg between his as he reached down and pulled the crisp white sheet over their bodies trapping in the warmth and shielding them from the world. Between these four walls there was never a problem, the outside world didn't exist and no one could touch them.

"I wish we could stay like this forever." She confessed into the midday sun.

It was the closest she could come to telling him she loved him without risking rejection again. His hands squeezed her tighter and he rested his face in the hollow of her neck.

So could he, he thought as his eyes drifted closed.

They may not have forever but for right now this was more than enough.