I'm so happy you've all enjoyed part I! Hope part II lives up to the hype. Enjoy!
October 28, 1997
They waved farewell to the last of their guests as the cab disappeared from view. Jack and Teagan had taken Tally with them, much to his surprise. Teagan had only mentioned that he'd "have his hands full", which he didn't completely understand, but didn't question, either. Who knew what else Sarah had up her sleeve?
Harm turned to her, his Flyboy-grin in place, as it had most of the night. "Did I thank you for all this, yet?"
"You didn't."
Putting a finger under her chin, he pressed a long, lingering kiss to her warm mouth. "Thank you."
Her eyes twinkled. "You're very welcome. You enjoy yourself?"
"I did. Best birthday in a long time."
"Better than last Tuesday?"
"Different." Being able to joke with the guys was great, but the small celebration with the three of them had meant the world.
"Ah."
He pushed hair behind her ear before his eyes flicked back to hers. "You have more rabbits in your hat?"
Her finger trailed his chin, down his Adam's apple, down to where the third button of his shirt was closed. "Well, Mr. Rabb, you have two options."
"Do I now?" His arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her a little closer. The air between them felt heady, electric. Had all night. Maybe he did understand what Teagan had been talking about, after all. The outside air did little to cool him down. He was dizzy from the intoxicating smell of her perfume that seemed to follow him around wherever he turned. There was something different about her tonight. She'd been openly flirty, funny, teasing. Whatever it was, it had him hooked. "What are they?"
She came even closer, slipping one of her legs between his, shifting her weight so that she was leaning against him. "You can take me dancing, sway me around, enjoy the rest of the night."
Her breath tickled his ear. His hand moved to the small of her back and he could feel her smile. He cleared his throat in order to utter the single syllable. "Or?"
"Or…" The tip of her nose brushed his earlobe. "Or you can take me home and unwrap your last present."
The hand that was resting on his chest slipped around his back, effectively wrapping her around him.
Harm swallowed. His body was starting to respond to her again. "My last present?"
"It is your birthday celebration, after all."
"It is." He struggled to form the words.
Sarah bit her lip, looking up at him expectantly. "Home, then?"
Her eyes darkened and Harm felt his trousers tightening. If this was only foreplay, he wasn't going to last long, if at all. "Why can't you be my birthday present?" he blurted out.
She pressed a light kiss to the pulse point in his neck, before stepping back and pulling on his hand, smiling seductively.
"Who ever said I'm not?"
The short walk back to their apartment was silent, if Harm didn't count the heartbeat pulsating in his ears. He was hyper aware of her presence: the way her hips swayed from side to side with every step, how her lips quirked into that slight smile, how her fingers tightened around his every other moment.
Desire pooled in his groin, as it had done so many times before, but the knowledge he would actually be able to follow up on it, almost made him lose it. He was going to make love with her. She trusted him and what they had enough to make love with him.
As always, it held a dual sensation: he was equal parts proud and terrified. He couldn't screw this up. If anything, it needed to be memorable for her. This night, no matter how much he wanted her, was about her. Her comfort. Her wants and needs. Her pleasure. Her release.
As the door softly closed behind them, Harm leaned against it, reaching for her, tugging her against him, untying the belt of her coat. Would this urge to touch her ever disappear again? It was so overpowering.
"Are you absolutely sure?" he asked, tangling his hands in her hair, searching for her eyes.
The kiss she answered him with made him grunt and even madder with desire for her than he already was. Pulling back, he found her eyes were filled with as much arousal as he was sure his own reflected. But he needed to be sure. If he started, there would be no way back.
"Sarah, please… Are you certain? I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to do this unless you are absolutely sure you're ready."
The only answer she gave him, was stepping back, pulling her coat over her shoulders, throwing it in the direction of a chair. He stopped her with a shake of his head, tugging her back to him.
"I need the words," he whispered. "Tell me what you want." It was going to drive him crazy. "Please."
Slipping her leg back between his, she pressed her body into his. Again. "I want you to come unwrap your birthday present," she breathed just below his mouth. "And I want you to make love with me."
Tantalizingly slowly, she bridged the last quarter of an inch and kissed him. His senses went into overdrive. His tongue sought and gained access to her mouth, and with an animalistic growl, he reached for the zipper of her dress and yanked it down. Nice and tender had left the building. This was going to be hard and fast and there was nothing he could do to stop it. It had been building for a while. Silently, he swore he'd worship every single inch of her before the night turned to morning.
"This won't last long," he warned.
"I hope not," she whispered back, stripping away his jacket.
Nuzzling that sensitive spot below her ear, he slid her dress down her arms, letting it fall down to her hips. He wasn't sure if he heard her whimpers or his own. His fingertips left goosebumps in their wake, on their way back up her spine. "Are you on anything? Do we need protection?"
Frank had drilled it into him from before he was sixteen. Enough to make it through his foggy, lust-filled brain now. He'd never known what it actually felt like to want someone before this. Before her.
She reached for his shirt, pulling it out of his pants, fumbling with the remaining buttons. "I have an IUD."
Finally, she jerked his shirt over his shoulders, letting it fall somewhere on the floor. His T-shirt came over his head next. With half-closed eyes, he pushed her dress over her hips and drank in the sight of her, dressed in nothing but teal lace, hold ups and high heels. The reality that she was giving herself to him, finally sank in. She was giving all of herself to him. A night would never be enough to worship her. But it would be a start.
Blindly, he pushed them in the direction of their bedroom. It was going to be hard and fast, maybe, but it could at least be comfortable.
"Azizam, please…"
Harm decided there were few words in the world sexier than those she had just uttered, her voice thick with need and want. Agreeing this was going too slow, he scooped her up, hands under her thighs, her legs wrapped around his waist, adding pressure where he least needed it. He groaned and found her mouth: hot, hungry, waiting.
"I love you."
She was panting. Sexier than he'd ever seen her, with her hair tousled, literally wrapped around him, her lips parted, her eyes almost black with desire.
"Come show me how much."
October 29, 1997
The mid-morning light filtered through the curtains and Sarah was lying on her side, silently studying his face.
He had been such a gentleman throughout the night. The two of them together, had been… more. More intense, more passionate, more fun, more extraordinary than she could have imagined. The fact that they'd had to redirect and adjust had made it all the more real, somehow.
She did believe in magic, now.
Slowly, careful not to wake him, she trailed his nose, down his lips and chin and back up again. She would never get enough of him.
He made her feel so loved. Cherished. The most important person in the world and then some.
Trish had been right. You'll know because it'll feel different from anything you've ever felt before.
She'd known. She'd felt it with every fiber of her being. There weren't even words.
If his kisses were mind-blowing, making love with him had been… otherworldly. If his reactions to her were anything to go by, he'd felt the same. Had that first time been quick, he'd more than made up for it during the rest of the night. She'd lost count. She'd lost her sense of timing, which had never happened before. This had been unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Her eyes shot up to his expressive ones and she blushed right up to her hairline, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "Last night was incredible."
His eyes twinkled as he took her hand in his and kissed her fingertips. "Pretty sure that's an understatement."
"I think you've spoiled me for every other man."
"Did I now?"
"You did. No going back from this. At least, for me."
Harm arched an eyebrow. "What makes you thing there would be for me?"
"Wouldn't there?"
He pulled her close, trailing his fingers down her spine. His answer was simple. "No. If you decide this was a one night only occurrence, then back to celibacy it is."
"Why?" Her voice sounded small in her own ears, too.
Harm shifted to look at her. "Because this is more than just physical attraction. This, what happened between us last night, has so much more to do with an emotional connection, than any physical connection could ever make happen."
Was that what the difference had been?
"How do you know that?" She swallowed, unsure if she wanted to voice the thought. "Wasn't it like this with her?"
"Was it like this for you with Chris?" he countered.
She shook her head. "No. No, it wasn't."
"It wasn't like this for me with Di, either," he said, searching for her eyes. "Sarah, look at me."
Taking a deep breath, she lifted her eyes to his again.
"This, with us, is us. It's so much more than what I ever had with her. Sure, you two look alike on the outside, but that's where the comparison ends." Harm brushed his thumb over her cheek. "And hard as it may be to believe, I love you just for you. For the way you fight me when you don't agree with me, when you think I'm being an arrogant jerk, for the way you look at Tally and step up to share responsibility for her, like it's the most natural thing in the world. For the way you fight for yourself, to tackle all your demons, for trying to trust me with your heart, when I know that it's the scariest thing in the world for you. I love you for putting me first, too, for wanting to make my birthday special." He paused, pressing a light kiss to her lips. "And thank you, for trusting me enough to give me the privilege of making love with you."
A single tear slipped down her cheek. "You think all that of me?"
"Hey, I promised you that one day you'd be able to recite and believe all the reasons I had for asking you out on a date. There will be no reasons to recite if I don't tell you."
Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she knew he meant every single word. "I don't deserve you."
Harm shook his head. "Sweetheart, if you could see yourself the way that I see you, I'm pretty sure you'd say I don't deserve you."
Leaning in, she pressed her lips to his and felt the fire they'd started hours before ignite again. Would she ever get enough of him? What was this connection between them? She'd probably spend the rest of her life trying to find out. She broke the kiss.
"Harm?"
"Mmm?"
"Tell me without words?"
He smiled, rolled her on her back and lazily, tenderly, did exactly that.
