Okay! Next chapter time! Alright, this chapter took longer to write than any other. Most people who read will figure out why pretty fast. Hope it's alright! And in the case of this chapter, it is a very clear M rating! You've been warned!

Standard disclaimer: I do not own Dragonlance or the characters found therein. I do own Valerie. Onward!

"I thought we were going to…um…ah…t-talk…" Well, she sort of got the sentence out.

Valerie was lying on the bed, naked. Raistlin, bared to the waist, sat next to her on the bed. But that was as far as he'd removed the robes from his body, and he had only done that when she wouldn't uncross her arms. The Staff of Magius was the only illumination in the room, leaning against the bed. Raistlin was now running his long fingered hands over her skin, following the lines of her arms, then feet, legs, hips, and now her stomach, moving higher. He was exploring every inch of her skin, his eyes lit up as though she was a new species he was dissecting in the lab.

In many ways it was very comforting to her. Although she didn't like to be touched by most people, she essentially craved touch from those she allowed. It was pretty much her favorite sense, and if she'd been a cat, she'd have been purring her little heart out. But aside from being comforting, the feather fine touches were making her want to tackle Raistlin. The only thing really stopping her was the look on his face while looking at her. True, he was looking at her like something new he was dissecting, but he also looked at her like she was precious…treasured. So she lay (mostly) still on the bed, the occasional noise popping out of her mouth. The small sentence was the first one she had managed since he had started.

"Hmm. Does that mean you wish me to stop?" He moved his eyes to hers, one finger idly tracing a circle around her belly button.

"No." She gave more a squeak than a word.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "My, such a strange sound. Maybe I should stop…" His finger slowed in its motion, not quite stopping.

"You evil bastard! If you stop I'll kill you!" She blinked a few times at him after her outburst, clearly surprised at herself. Needless to say, the light blush across her cheeks darkened in the extreme. This of course, made Raistlin smirk a bit and give out a low chuckle.

"Well, I am considered quite evil." He leaned down and blew air over her left nipple, making her bite her lip and whimper. "However, I don't feel much like dying tonight, so I'll oblige you." His hand flattened on her stomach, his gaze going to the skin there to examine it. Valerie made another little squeak like sound when his thumb glided over her skin just below her breasts.

Raistlin was not exactly as calm and collected as he pretended. If she'd paid better attention (or been able to), she'd have seen his own blush darken periodically. It had taken a fair amount of courage to even ask her to do this, and he had anticipated a number of different responses (her demand that he not be fully clothed having not been among them). Nevertheless, she lay still for him (mostly) and he went about studying her. He looked to every freckle and scar, and felt the texture of her skin, and how it changed, from one part of her body to another. He compared the cream color of her skin to the gold of his own. Of course he already knew mostly about her shape (breasts a pleasant handful, rounded hips and a slightly rounded stomach), but he hadn't had the nerve before now to just look at all of her.

Raistlin sat up a bit, and removed his hands from her, not having actually reached her breasts. Her eyes widened, but he was faster at speaking than her. "Could you flip over? I would like to look at your back now." She opened and closed her mouth twice, before simply nodding a little and moving to lie on her stomach, her arms at her sides and her head resting on a pillow. He had to compose and steady himself briefly. Watching her moving about, even a little, so that he, and only he could look at her was an interesting feeling, as well as rather pleasant. Even still, there was a slight tremor in his hands as he moved her hair, which he had unbraided earlier, from the back of her neck and shoulders completely. Then his hands were on her skin again, moving over the backs of her arms, her shoulders, and down the curve of her spine. Her whole body relaxed under his hands, and he filed away in his mind that rubbing her back made her very calm. Valerie made a low humming noise, and her eyes were closed when he glanced at her face.

The truth was, Raistlin was afraid, so much so that he'd had a full coughing fit shortly after she had left the study earlier. The Gods were going to give her the spell to travel back to her own world. Of course she missed her family, and of course she would want to go back. But could she return? More importantly, would she want to return? He believed her when she said she didn't know what to do; she was very honest with him. But there was still the little voice in him that said she would want someone else, that her attraction to him was a phase, a passing fancy. So to try and protect himself from his doubts, he was memorizing her, as much as possible.

His fingers trailed down over her rounded backside, and she let out a giggle. She had actually done this a few times before, and would then clamp her mouth shut and turn bright red; and she did just that once again. This time, however, he trailed his hands over her skin there again, getting another giggle. The third time over her skin and she had her face buried in the pillow laughing.

"Stop, stop, stop!" She turned on her side, his hand resting lazily on her hip while she smiled at him. "No tickling!" She shook her head slightly. "What are you really doing anyway?"

"Learning."

"Learning?"

He smiled at her, allowing his hand to brush back and forth over her hip. "Of course. I need to know what places on my Lady's body make her giggle, or moan, or…squeak." His head tilted a little. "You sound like some mice I've had." Valerie stuck her tongue out at him, but couldn't pull off a glare with his hand caressing her hip. He let his gaze drift from her face down her body. She seemed more comfortable now, lying naked before him; she wasn't trying to cover herself while self-consciously looking down as she had earlier.

Watching his hand move back and forth, he missed when her smile changed to a slightly wicked one. She sat up suddenly grabbing his arm and making him lie back. Now, she was the one sitting next to him. She wondered if she had looked like a frightened animal when it had been her lying on her back. She smiled at him in what she hoped was a reassuring manner, and grabbed his robe around his waist, looking for the catches he could find in the dark. She was not nearly as good at finding them.

"Where are the little claspy things?" When she received no answer from him she looked at his face; he still looked ready to bolt. "Oh come now. Aren't I allowed to learn like you?"

"No."

Valerie sighed. "What did I say at the Inn? 'Nothing unpleasing to me'. That means that what I have seen has been pleasing. So I want to see more." He still looked unconvinced. "Please?" The question was asked softly, not whining. So, with a little trepidation, he helped in removing the robe completely.

Valerie sucked in her breath, looking at him in the staff's light. 'How does he fit?' It seemed a valid thing to wonder. But she forced herself to look away, and moved to his arms, as he had done with her. He was tensed up like a watch spring, so as she looked and felt her way down his arm, she also massaged the muscles a bit. He had some interesting scars, likely from his mercenary days. She traced over those gently, noting the slight change in color between the skin and scar tissue. Down his forearm to his wrist, both finely boned. His hands, likewise fine boned, with his long fingers; she slid her two hands along his one, trapping it between them. There were very small calluses at the tips of his fingers, from turning pages all day, to gathering and mixing ingredients for his spells. She brought his hand up and felt the calluses with her lips, a smile forming while she did so.

Raistlin had mostly un-tensed. He watched her while she looked him over, noting the curiosity and fascination in her eyes. When she brought his fingers to her lips, he saw a look of delight on her face, and how she smiled sweetly. He let his body relax as she reached over and grabbed his other arm to explore, a briefly hitched breath coming from both of them when her breasts brushed against his chest. Then she was looking at his other arm, finding the scars there. Another delighted smile lit her face when she found matching calluses on his other hand.

She moved to his chest, poking him a couple of times to get a mock glare from him. In part, though, she was working on not letting her eyes wander farther down. You'd think she had metal eyes and he had a magnet down there. The third time it happened, she closed her eyes and did a mental count to five. When she opened her eyes and looked to his face, Raistlin has a decidedly smug little smirk on his face (proving he had a perfectly normal male ego).

"Alright smartass, flip over so I can play…err….look at your back." Although he narrowed his eyes at her, he did as she asked, resting his head on his arms instead of a pillow. "Speaking of asses…" The tip of her tongue poked out from her mouth as she moved to poke his posterior. "Are you ticklish?"

He snorted. "No. So don't bother trying."

She huffed, but kept her eyes on him. "You do have a nice ass though."

"Not as rounded as yours, however." He was just watching her through slit eyes.

She drudged up a look of indignation. It was a little difficult, given the situation. "Are you saying I have a fat ass?"

He let out a brief chuckle. "No, I rather like it myself." Then, of course, he smirked as she blushed.

After a final light pat on one butt cheek, she moved up to his back. She traced down his spine, feeling the vertebrae. While she could count his ribs, the back was rarely given a high cushioning layer of fat. But as she had told him, there was muscle under the skin, and she could feel it move and flex as he breathed. He had a few scars here as well, and she traced them gently with just the tips of her fingers. She loved his skin, with its gold color. His eyes had closed fully while she was tracing the scars. On an impulse, she leaned down quickly and licked the space between his shoulder blades. His whole body jerked at that sensation.

"Did you just lick me?" His eyes were very wide open now, and starring at her.

Valerie laughed and nodded. "It reminds me of a 9 volt battery. Not as sharp, but kind of electric." He gave her a look that said 'I don't know what that is.' So she shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Maybe I can conjure one for you to lick."

Raistlin gave her a rather deadpan look and muttered, "Great. Crazy woman." She rolled her eyes at him, and went back to tracing her hands over his back. He was settling back down a bit when the movements of her hands changes. There were four light sweeps of her forefinger. M. One line. I. Another three swipes. N. Then four swipes. E. Then one last sweep, right under where she had 'written' the word on the back of his ribs.

Raistlin rolled a bit and looked at her. "Did you just write 'MINE' on my back?"

She sat back, her hands folded in her lap; then she nodded, decisively, once. "I have a right to lay a claim on you." She pouted at him. "Don't I?"

She had clearly learned how to manipulate him to some extent. He couldn't glare at her when she pouted. So he decided to change tactics. "Lie back down." Valerie blinked at him. He had given her a very clear command. His head tilted slightly, a small smirk curving one side of his mouth. "I wasn't finished studying you when you forced me to switch places." Valerie closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, the smile on her face saying 'The things I do.' She went to lie on her stomach again, "No. Lay on your back, if you would." With a raised eyebrow, she did as he asked. Lying flat on her back, two pillows behind her head, she rested her hands on her stomach. He reached forward and removed one pillow, making it that she looked more at the ceiling than the rest of the room, which made her frown. "Be still. There's nothing much to see for the moment." Valerie accepted this, and closed her eyes, feeling fairly relaxed.

Her eyes opened with a gasp when she felt a very warm tongue swipe over her nipple. She lifted her head to look at Raistlin, who had a (without any question) evil smirk on his face. Never taking his eyes from hers, he let his tongue brush across the erect nipple again. Valerie let her head fall back on the pillow with a small whimpering sound. While still exploring around her breast with his mouth, Raistlin pushed her hands from her stomach to rest on her sides, then he let his fingers trace patters on her skin where her hands had rested; the movement made the muscles in her stomach twitch. He watched her hands clench in the sheets under her when he traced lower on her stomach, the muscles there jumping. One leg bent up at the knee, the foot sliding repeatedly against the bed; it was her only sign of fidgeting.

"Try to relax my dear." He kept his voice quiet and pitched low, the gold eyes gleaming like a predator. "I have no intention of hurting you." He moved himself so his right arm was next to her head, making it possible to look straight down on her. "You do trust me, don't you?" She managed one nod before gasping as one of his fingers brushed just above her curls. "Good girl."

Valerie closed her eyes, feeling her face heat up. She had no doubt it was a rather fiery red (it was). She gave a small cry when his fingers slipped lower, exploring. Raistlin carefully watched every expression on Valerie's face, seeing which movements caused the biggest reactions, and sped up the rate of her breathing best. One spot made her eyes pop open, her right arm flying up to grab a bit at his shoulder. Not to stop him, he noticed, just to give her something more solid to hold than the sheets. Raistlin quickly learned which movements seemed to give the most pleasure, with Valerie crying out softly on and off. It wasn't long before her back was arched off the bed, and the single finger he had slipped inside her felt the muscles there clench tightly.

As she came down from her high, her breath short and shuddering, she let her hand slip from his shoulder to rest back on her stomach. When she was able to get her vision to focus, she saw Raistlin studying the finger her muscles had done their damnedest to crush. Her face went dark red when he stuck it in his mouth, getting a taste of her. She grabbed a pillow and covered her face with it when he chuckled slightly.

"Sweet." She didn't see his look turn contemplative. "With an interesting touch of saltiness." Her other arm came up to keep the pillow over her face. He moved to sit back up beside her. "Come now, it was all for the purpose of learning." She made a noise beneath the pillow, which sounded like some kind of profanity. "You said I was yours. Doesn't that mean that you are mine as well then?"

She threw the pillow off the bed in surprise and sat up. "Of course!" She smiled, her entire body a bit flushed. "Only yours, and no other." Raistlin looked at her in surprise at how quickly and simply she answered him.

"What if you were back on your own world, with no way to return here?" Once the words were out, he wished he had not spoken them.

As if knowing this fact, Valerie's smile softened. "I would spend the rest of my life trying to get back, even if I came back here a little old lady."

Raistlin suddenly looked younger, and more vulnerable. "What about a husband, a family?" 'Why couldn't he stop asking these questions?!' His gaze fell to her hands, once more resting in her lap. "Would you really forgo those for a place, and a person, people told was a dream…or a hallucination?"

Now Valerie understood. She moved from where she was, and crawled into his lap. She just sat there, straddling him, her chest pressed against his, arms wrapped around his neck, giving him little choice but to look at her. "Raistlin. I know what I know. No one can change that for me." She kissed him, lightly, on the nose. "And I have already been thinking. If I can't come and go from my world, I would stay here." He looked at her with no small amount of astonishment; and with that, his fear faded. She had made her choice, and it was him.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head against hers. And with the relief from the fear came the awareness of her position on him…again. To say nothing of the fact that he had gone without any physical relief of his own yet.

"What is it with you and sitting on me?" He asked this with a wry smile.

"It's comfortable." Her face turned a bit red again as she looked down at where they were pressed together. "Ah, could you help me?" He looked at her in confusion, until she raised herself up so he could fit them together properly. While she lowered herself onto him carefully, she once more wondered how he fit. But after another moment, that really didn't matter.

It took a few minutes to work out the best rhythm for them both. Raistlin had one arm braced behind him, his other hand on her hip. Her hands were resting on his shoulders, trying not to put too much weight on his upper half, and thus his arm. The other two times they had been together it had been dark around them, or mostly dark. With the staff continuing to shed its light, they were able to really see the others' expressions. Raistlin watched Valerie bite her lip to stifle some of her moans, while at other moments she didn't bother. When the arm bracing him began to shake, she pulled him closer to her and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck again, lightly biting at the skin where his shoulder and neck met. He let out a deep groan, almost a growl, and that finished things for her.

"Raistlin." She said his name with barely any breath, as she shuddered in his arms, and that sent him over the edge right after her.

They sat there together while their breathing calmed, neither in a hurry to separate just yet. Valerie licked Raistlin where she had bitten him, a small bruise already forming. Raistlin chuckled, the vibrations sending a shiver down Valerie's spine. Finally Valerie pulled back from Raistlin, gasping as her nerves were still on overdrive. She pulled Raistlin down to lay beside her, snuggling into the warmth of his body. He had the good sense to grab a blanket and pull it over them.

"So do you feel better now?" She asked this after he had fully settled.

Raistlin glanced down at the top of her head. "Better about what?"

She tilted her head up to look him in the eye. "I may be able to act like a child, but I'm not an idiot." The two stared at each other for a minute before Raistlin finally looked away and sighed.

"Fine. Yes, I am feeling better." He looked back at her to see her smiling at him again. Then she burrowed her head back under his chin. She was a little surprised at his next words. "Thank you for indulging me tonight."

Valerie laughed softly. "No, thank you!" A finger traced circles on his chest. "It was…wonderful to really get to see you. You know, in detail." She laid her hand flat, over his heart. She could feel it beating steadily. "I have to ask. Why were you worried?"

Raistlin considered trying to distract her from this conversation, but had a sneaking suspicion that she would come back to it in no time. "Over the years, I have learned that your enemies can only do so much to you. You get hurt the worst by those you love, so-" He stopped, just went completely still, as what he said reached his brain. Valerie tilted her head up slowly, her eyes wide as saucers. He looked her in the eyes, seeing tears starting to form. "I…I-"

Valerie practically leapt up to kiss him, stopping anymore words from leaving his mouth. He could taste her tears when he kissed her, but when he pulled back she was smiling brightly, even with the tears falling. She laughed at his confused look. "Haven't you ever heard of happy crying?" She laughed again, her forehead touching his briefly. "Don't try to say something before you are ready. What you said before, it's enough. It's wonderful!" The tears had stopped, but the smile stayed on her face. She kissed him again, as sweetly as she could. She curled up under his head again, the smile plastered to her face. "Thank you."

Raistlin nodded even though she couldn't see the motion. Even with the light from the staff, her breathing evened out into sleep within a few minutes. Raistlin lay there staring at nothing. He remembered the first night he had kissed her, when they had spoken afterward. 'Yes, that you told him you couldn't love anyone since you'd done too many terrible things and blah, blah, blah. Personally, I think that's a load of crap. I'm not really asking for more right now. If I love you completely and you don't hate me, I can always work on you, right?' She had been right. She had asked for nothing, aside from being around him; and it had worked. He loved her. He loved her.

The idea was still staggering him. He still couldn't quite say the three words, and she had not said them either. Which he believed was likely for his sake (given how fast she had moved to stop him from trying to get the words out). He took a deep, shuddering breath, careful not to wake her. He had not wanted love at all. He had truly believed he wasn't capable of it. However, if someone tried to take her away, or tell him to give her up, he'd tell them to go to the Abyss; with his compliments and assistance for good measure. She was his, she had said so herself! Her claim that he was hers didn't mean as much (ignoring the fact that he could already feel the bruise on his neck). He looked at her, curled tight against him, his gaze moving rather possessively over her features; a decidedly wicked smile curving his lips.

Raistlin extinguished the staff's light, settling himself more comfortably. Right before he drifted off to sleep, a thought popped into his head.

Should he let her tell Dalamar about them?