Rafael ran, sprinted even, along the rainy streets of New York. It was a Friday night, so there was no way he could use his car in the city. The pouring rain had soaked through both his suit and his coat, but none of that mattered. He just had to get to Kate.
He pushed past people, almost got hit by a cab and ploughed through a crowd of people waiting for a theatre opening. His mind ran just as fast as his feet. How could he be so stupid? How could he not have realised? Kate would never have said the things she said. No, she was just trying to protect him the entire time. And because of this, he had hated her, and ruined the best thing he had ever had in his life. Now, he was going to lose her forever.
This thought made his legs move faster. His lungs burnt, he puffed uncontrollably and his eyes were stinging from the rain, but he pushed through. He finally reached Kate's building, and he paused outside it, staring up. His chest huffed with his deep breaths. Go to her, his mind screamed. And so, he did.
He rammed his shoulder into the front door, sending it flinging open. Up the stairs he went, jumping two steps at a time until he reached her apartment. He knocked on the door so hard, he was surprised his fist didn't go through the wood.
The door opened, and he saw her – the love of his life. She blinked, confused, as she took in the sight of a dripping wet Rafael.
"Wha…"
She didn't even have a chance to say a word, before Rafael pushed into her apartment. "I know about Harris," he puffed.
Panic and confusion crossed Kate's face. "What? How…"
"Olivia told me, Kate. And I'm so sorry…" He stepped towards her, as if he was going to cup her face, but she stepped away from him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, dismissively.
Rafael sighed. "You don't have to protect me."
She stepped further away from him, towards the door and held it open. "I think you should go."
Rafael was slightly taken aback, but he quickly shook it off. "No."
"What?"
"You heard me," he replied, taking a deep breath. "Kate, you can stop pretending. You can stop carrying the world on your shoulders. You don't need to protect everyone, anymore."
Kate stared at him for a long time. Suddenly, she slammed the door shut. "Jesus Christ, Rafael…" she yelled. "I can't do this. I won't be the one who causes a mistrial! I can't have this conversation!"
"Well, we are going to!" he screamed back. "The trial is over. It's time to talk about this. You should have told me about Harris from the start!"
Kate gripped the sides of her head in frustration, and walked into the kitchen. "I was trying to protect you! Trying to protect the victims!"
Rafael powered after her. "You didn't need to shelter me, Kate! There was two people being threatened when Harris came to you. You and me. You should have told me!"
"I couldn't!"
"You could have. We could have worked something out. You don't have to protect everyone all the time!"
Kate slammed her fist on the kitchen bench. "That's what I do. That's all I've ever been able to do. I can never protect myself, I can never stop someone from hurting me, but I'll be damned if I let it happen to someone else."
Rafael's frustration died down, and a short silence came between them. He moved slowly over to her, so that his shoulder was touching hers. She didn't move away. "I know. But you don't have to protect me, Kate. We should have been protecting us…as a couple. I don't want to lose you…" He reached for her clenched fist which still sat on the bench top.
As soon as his fingertips touched her skin, she ripped herself away from him. "No!" She threw herself to the other side of the room, and put her back to him. "What I said…what I did…we can't move past that. I was a monster."
Rafael took slow steps until her stood behind her. "Kate. You are not a monster. I was an idiot who couldn't see that you cared so much for me that you sacrificed your happiness. You could never be a monster, bella alma."
Tears had welled in Kate's eyes. "It's too late. I'm leaving, Rafael. I'm moving. I won't be a part of this life anymore."
"Kate…" he sighed. "I don't want a life without you, and I can't stand the thought of you leaving."
"Don't make this harder than it has to be, Rafael!" she screamed, turning and pushing him away from her. "Don't make my heart break any more than it already is."
"Your heart cannot be breaking any more than mine."
The tears began to fall down her face. "No, my heart is broken because I love you. I love you so much, Rafael. And now, I have broken what was between us and I have to leave."
Rafael stared at her. "You love me?"
Shakily, she wiped the tears away from her cheeks. "Yes, Rafael, I love you more than anything and that's…"
Before she could finish, Rafael closed the distance between them in three steps and pressed his mouth to hers. His hands roughly pulled her into his chest. There was a moment as he kissed her, when everything in Kate's mind went blank except for the feeling of his lips against hers. All the troubles of Harris, of Bradley, of the move were gone, replaced with the feeling of pure passion, care and, most importantly, love. She kissed him back, and allowed her body to relax within his grasp. It felt like home.
The passion in their kiss was different from their kisses in the past. Normally, they moved slow and tenderly, but this was filled with urgency and need. They needed to be together, needed to feel their skin merge.
Rafael pressed her up against the kitchen bench. Her hands feverishly ran through his wet hair and down his neck where she pulled him even closer to her. His fingers grasped the hem of her shirt and tore it up, making them break the kiss for only a moment. Kate needed to feel her chest against his; her skin against his. She yanked the soaking coat and suit jacket from his body, then ripped the tie from his neck within seconds. Her fingers opened four buttons and that's all she could manage before urgency took over. She pushed the shirt over his shoulders so it bunched at his elbows and hung around his back, then pressed herself against him.
The feeling was incredible and thrust both of them into overdrive. Rafael ripped Kate's pants and panties from her body in one swoop. They couldn't stand undressing each other any longer. Kate jumped up onto the counter, unzipped his pants and pulled him free. His body pressed in between her legs, and both of them moaned as he entered her. This brief moment of pure relief didn't last long as the passion overtook them again. His arm wrapped around her waist and began to thrust into her. She moved in motion with him. Both of them huffed as pressure began to build inside them.
As their bodies wrapped together, it was if they were two pieces of a puzzle that had come together in their rightful places. The weeks they had been apart were suddenly a distant memory as they moved in perfect rhythm.
Kate gently bit Rafael's collarbone, and gripped onto his hair. This sensation drove him wild and he moved faster and faster into her. They both groaned as the sudden speed caused more and more pressure to build inside of them. It built and built and built, until suddenly… the pressure exploded in to pure ecstasy. Rafael's fingers pressed into Kate's skin as feeling overtook him. She gripped onto him as she rode the waves of pleasure inside of her.
As the aftershocks of the earthquake that had just occurred inside their body began to subside, they didn't move, instead, enjoying the touch of each other's puffing bodies.
Finally, Rafael and Kate untangled their upper halves and looked each other in the eyes. Slowly, Kate raised a hand and traced her thumb along his jaw line, then pressed it to his thin lips. It was so sensual and delicate the way she did this. She moved that hand and cupped his face, and kissed him tenderly. But, the tender kiss suddenly turned passionate It was if every touch, every kiss, every climax they had missed in the last few weeks needed to be made up for.
With lips still interlocked, they moved to Kate's bedroom. Rafael shed the rest of his clothes as did Kate, then he delicately lowered her onto the blanket. His hands grasped her waist, but one began to travel down. He broke the kiss and shuffled down in between her legs. His fingers traced her inner thighs where he began to tease her. His mouth pressed against her firmly.
Her head lolled backwards, and her hands grasped the blankets as his mouth moved in at just the right tempo. As he continued, she could feel the climax inside of her building. Her body began to clench and tense as she was close to the edge, then he tipped her over as he hit just the right spot. She groaned, arching her spine a little, then collapsing back onto the bed.
Rafael placed ticklish kisses up to her neck, then laid on the bed next to her. Still feeling her body tingling, she straddled his hips and pushed herself down onto him. Her body began to roll to an inaudible rhythm. Rafael held her waist, then began to run his hands over her body as if he wanted to consume every bit of it. Her rhythm began to increase, and she leant over him, putting a hand at each side of his head. Her small, sharp breaths brushed against his neck, and this small sensation caused an explosion of ecstasy inside of him. He moaned, and held Kate close to him.
They both puffed. Kate pulled herself up, but not off him. She ran her hands down his chest, enjoying the familiar feel of his skin and chest hair. Eventually, they pulled away from each other, only to once again curl around each other. They lay on Kate's bed facing each other with their hands and calves tangled together. They didn't break each other's gaze.
"I love you, Kate." Rafael cooed.
A small smile appeared on her face. "I love you too, Rafael."
Tiredness overtook them very quickly, and they feel asleep in that exact position. That night both of them slept better than they had since they broke up. There was something natural about sleeping next to each other.
The next morning, Rafael was the first to wake. A sleepy grin appeared on his face when he saw Kate nestled in his arm. Kate roused soon after him as if she sensed his stare.
"What are you looking at?" she asked.
Rafael sighed happily. "The love of my life."
Kate's body flooded with happiness, and she blushed.
"Did you just blush?" laughed Rafael.
Kate's hand's flung up to her cheeks. "No!"
"You did!" Rafael pulled her body into his and began to tickle her.
She squirmed and they laughed. Neither of them had felt so happy in a long time. As this joy washed over them both, Rafael paused.
"Don't go to San Francisco."
Kate's laughed stopped suddenly as the real world came crashing down. "I…I've already rented out this apartment to new tenants."
"Get a new apartment," he said. "Wait, no, don't get a new apartment."
Kate's face fell.
"Move in with me."
"What?" Kate yelled, an ecstatic grin coming over her face.
Rafael leaned his face close to hers. "I don't want to spend another moment away from you, bella alama."
"Are…are you sure?"
"Well, I might have to move some ties around, but other than that, I'm sure. So, what do you say?"
Kate looked at him, deep into his eyes, and knew what he was saying was the truth. "Yes."
Rafael's face lit up. "So you're staying?"
Kate pressed her lips to his for a moment, before pulling away and whispering, "I'm staying, my love."
