"How did it go?" Harry asked, sitting up in bed as she came in.
"Good," Ruth replied. "I am not going to be killed by Russians, at least not anytime soon."
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "This was my fault. It was my history that put you in danger. I'm so sorry."
"I know," she said. She smiled at him for a second. "By the way, I'd like my job back. Now that I'm unemployed."
"I think I can stretch to that," Harry said "I wish I could have given him a piece of my mind rather than being stuck here," Harry said in a slightly menacing voice.
"Don't worry," Ruth said lightly. "I took care of it. He was slightly speechless by the end of it actually."
"Oh, I'd have liked to have seen that," Harry said with smile.
"Dimitri's got the tape if you really want to hear it," Ruth said trying to hide her blush.
"I will," he promised. "Oh, and I'm being discharged tonight. Can you take me home?"
"Well you took three bullets for me, which, while being incredibly dangerous and stupid was also slightly romantic," Ruth said lightly with a smile. "I think I can manage taking you home."
"Good," he said. "I'm dying to get out of here."
"Don't use that word," Ruth said firmly. "Dying. Its too close to the truth. Its… just don't."
"Okay," he said firmly, covering her hand with his own. "Sorry, I didn't think."
"So when are you leaving?" Ruth asked in the silence.
"Now," a doctor said coming into the room. "If you want to go home that is," he said.
"Yes," Harry and Ruth said at exactly the same moment. They looked at each other and smiled. The doctor handed Harry the discharge forms and Harry reluctantly let go of her hand to sign the papers. The moment between them was broken but she kept seeing his eyes twinkling towards her in a way that made her heart skip a beat.
Ruth opened his front door and reset the alarm before Harry could even blink. "How on earth did you get the number?" Harry asked amazed.
"Yeah, I'm not answering that one," Ruth said with a small smile, pushing the lock on the door down. She walked through to the kitchen and Harry watched her in silence. She looked so at home here that he lost himself in dreams of her living with him for a moment. "You don't mind do you?" she asked, her hand pausing by the kettle as she caught him watching her.
"No," he said with a slightly sad smile. "I don't mind."
"You want one?"
"Tea, one sugar," he said nodding. He moved through to the living room, absolutely loving that she was taking care of him like this. The chest wound was still throbbing painfully, even with the painkillers he was on, but he wouldn't tell her that. She was worried enough. Ruth came back in with the tea and handed him his silently.
"Will you…" Harry tailed off, too scared to carry on.
"Go on," she urged.
"Will you stay here tonight? I don't want to be alone and there's no one else I would rather be with me."
"Yes." Ruth agreed quickly. "I'm glad you want me here." Ruth leant back on the sofa and shut her eyes.
"When's the last time you slept?" he asked her. She shrugged without opening her eyes.
"I never sleep the whole night through anyway," she said honestly.
"Go up to bed," he said firmly. Then realised how that sounded. "Oh God Ruth, I didn't mean anything by that, I meant in the spare room," he said quickly. "I didn't mean…"
"Harry, stop babbling," she said quickly, her hand covering his. "I know what you meant. I just… I wondered…. Forget it," she said blushing.
"No go on," he said smiling. And intensely curious about what she was suggesting.
"I was going to say that I wondered if you wanted me to stay with you tonight... Just to have someone there… Its stupid. Forget it."
"If you're sure," Harry said quickly. "I'd hate for you to think I was taking advantage of you." That sentence coupled with Harry's evil smile had created some rather vivid images in her mind which she tried to push aside with great difficulty.
"Well with three bullet wounds from just a few days ago, I'm not too worried," she said trying to hide her racing heart. "Have you got something I can sleep in?"
They had made it up to Harry's bedroom with several blushes and Ruth was helping him get out of his shirt. He was too stiff and in too much pain to do it properly himself. He let out a pained sigh as her hand accidentally brushed against the bullet wound that had glanced off his ribs. "Sorry," she said sincerely. "I don't mean to hurt you."
"Its fine," he said. His hand touched her face lightly, fingers trailing to her collarbone and she felt a shiver deep inside her. She closed her eyes, trying not to react and felt his touch vanish. "Sorry," he said. "I won't touch you if you don't want me to."
"Believe me that is not the problem," she said heavily.
"Then what is?" he asked, delighting in seeing her face blush.
"When you touch me all I want to do is wrap my arms around you," she said. "But you've been shot and I really don't want to hurt you."
"I could live with a bit of pain," he said, pushing his luck slightly. Ruth smiled briefly.
"Maybe, but I'm not going to be the one to inflict it." Ruth picked up an old shirt of Harry's that he had given her to sleep in and she went through to the bathroom while he watched her go. He could tell she was finding this awkward but he loved her for trying to help him and he loved her for not running, no matter how uncomfortable she was. He suddenly felt exhausted and collapsed into bed, grunting as his chest wound throbbed again. He was so tired he'd almost drifted off to sleep by the time Ruth came back into the bedroom. But the sight of her in one of his old shirts instantly had his attention and sleep suddenly felt a million miles away. She smiled, noting his reaction and slid under the duvet on the other side of the bed.
He carefully rolled closer to her and stroked her hair. She was so reserved with him, even more than usual and he knew it was because he was injured. He tilted her chin up and kissed her. A light, chaste kiss which was very enjoyable. "Goodnight Harry," she whispered when they broke apart.
"Goodnight Ruth," he replied heavily, watching her eyes close almost instantly. She was clearly incredibly tired. He watched her for countless minutes until his own eyes started to drift shut.
Harry woke up from the rain battering against the bedroom window and it took a moment to remember the events of the night before. He looked at Ruth and saw her look completely relaxed in sleep. And so beautiful. Her hand was resting on his chest, directly over his heart and one of his was resting on her hip. It was so nice to wake up with her that he barely even felt his gunshot wounds. He also realised happily that their legs were tangled and entwined together. It was wonderful. After a minute or two his eyes had had their fill and his fingertips begged to feel her curves.
The hand on her hip slowly rose to caress her waist. It wasn't enough to wake her. He shifted so he could kiss her lips softly. He kept increasing the pressure until he felt her jerk awake. Then she reacted to his touch, kissing more deeply and wrapping her arms around him to pull him closer. She still had her eyes closed but sighed happily as his hand rose to feel the curve of her left breast. As he continued to touch her she lay halfway between waking and sleeping, and he knew she was still unaware as to whether this was actually reality or just a dream.
Harry kissed the corner of her lips as his hands undid the buttons of the shirt she was wearing, ever so slowly. As every button revealed new flesh he made sure he kissed it tenderly and with so much love. He knew she wasn't fully awake but he was still going to enjoy every second. He had wanted to hold her and touch her like this for so long. Eventually the shirt was completely undone and he brushed it away from her body, the material just hanging off her arms. His eyes drunk in her figure, wanting to remember this forever as his fingers traced the shape of her body so softly. She moaned quietly and shuffled closer to him.
He pulled her in for a deep kiss, pressing her naked chest against his own, ignoring his wounds. This pleasure was definitely worth the pain, a hundred times over. As the kiss continued he could feel her waking fully and she pulled away from him but only marginally.
"What are you doing?" she whispered against his lips, her eyes finally opening.
"I thought it was obvious," he said in a low voice. He kissed her again and she encouraged him eagerly, her fingertips exploring his skin the way he'd had the pleasure of doing to hers just minutes ago. She found the rough skin of a scar, years old and drew back, remembering his injuries.
"We shouldn't," she said, her meaning clear. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Let me love you," he whispered. "Don't worry about me, only say no if you don't want to."
"Of course I want to, Harry," she started. "I've wanted to for years." So he kissed her firmly and happily. She had given him permission and he continued to touch her and tease her, delighting in her small moans and sighs. He made love to her for the very first time on that grey rainy morning, where every touch was magnified. Every kiss was electric. Neither could have imagined it being more perfect than it was.
When she came back to herself she worried slightly about him. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"
"Sh, don't worry," he told her. "You don't hurt me, you heal me," he replied quickly, kissing the tip of her nose before she collapsed into a realm of sleep and happy dreams. He looked at her for a few more seconds before joining her. He didn't even feel the pain anymore. Emotional or physical. His heart was overflowing with love for this amazing woman, who, after years of waiting, had somehow, incredibly become his.
The End
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