Chapter: The sensual world

The front door thudding shut causes Kate to stir. Thomas exhales deeply, muttering something in Romani. She has no idea what he's saying, but damn, does it sound seductive.

She inhales and opens her eyes. To her delight, his face is but a few inches away from hers. "Hi."

"Sorry about that." He explains. "The storm ended, so Charlie and ruby wanted to go play outside and they slammed the door on the way out."

"Hmm, it's alright, I like this," she states as he runs his hand down her bare shoulder. "waking up to you holding me."

"You don't feel too bad either." he says as he smirks down at her.

"Merry Christmas." She breathes against his skin.

A soft light entered in his eyes and he nods. "Aye. Merry Christmas."A strand of his hair hung down in his face, she reached to shove it back at the same moment he reached for it. His hand covered hers, causing her heart to pound in her chest.

She inhaled deeply as he studied her face carefully. "Kiss me."

"Believe me, I intend to." Her heart flutters in her chest as he lowers his head towards her mouth. She lets out a quiet whimper as he kisses; his kisses were gentle and tentative, she could feel his restraint.

She ran her hands through his hair at the nape of his neck. His arms curled under her shoulders as he rolled on top of her causing her to inhale as she felt him against her. He kept kissing her, the kisses growing more and more frantic. She parted her legs, allowing him to get closer to her. He began moving against her, causing her to shiver in anticipation. She ran her hands under his undershirt, running her hands along his muscular back. Oh, how she wanted him.

She slipped her hands downwards, hooking her thumb around the waistline of his pants and running her thumb towards his stomach. He let out a groan and Kate bucked her hips against him. That little gesture caused Thomas's resistance to snap and he finally surrendered.

With a curse, Thomas breaks the kiss to drag her tap pants down around her ankles. "I've gotta be in you." He tosses her pants somewhere to the side as he divests himself of his pants. "Sod, New Year's Eve."

Kate nods as she reaches for him as he gets between her legs, capturing her mouth with a passionate kiss. She let out a moan, arching under him as he presses a firm kiss to her lips while cradling her head with his arm. She inhales as Thomas thrusts inside of her, causing her hands to still on his sides for a moment. It didn't hurt like the first time, he was gentler, but it had been several months since she'd felt this, so, it was an unusual feeling for her.

Thomas sensed her discomfort and instantly breaks the kiss to study her face. "You alright, Kate?"

"Yes." She gasped out with a nod. "Don't stop, please."

He kissed her forehead as he began moving inside her, while gently showering her face with kisses. "God." He growled as she gripped his shoulders tightly as he continued to lay claim to her. "You feel good Kate."

Kate places her hand atop his head, bringing his mouth down to hers. It wasn't perfect, it was desperate and filled with pure need on both their parts. At the same time, there was such a strong connection of a mutual desire and affection between them, which couldn't be denied any longer. She can't believe that she's actually experiencing the overwhelming feelings running through her body.

That strange tension was building up inside her again, causing her cling tighter to him. She bit his lip lightly, she felt surprise run through him, but he responded by locking a strong arm around her waist, lifting her slightly off the mattress. He let out a groan as she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist.

"God!" she cried out as she squirmed, desperate for some release as he continued to pound inside her.

"That's it Kate." he encouraged. "Come for me."

He had a way about him; she'd have to admit that. Who else but him would order someone else's body to do his bidding? She bit her lip, stifling a cry as her muscles clenched tightly inside her before spasming in release. Thomas came inside of her, letting out another curse before collapsing gently atop of her, his breathing ragged.

Kate exhaled deeply as her mind reeled. She could barely believe how they'd actually just had sex, without discussing anything together. They just knew that this was something they needed. No, it was more than that. It was something that they'd been fighting for a long time and they finally just gave in.

He lets out an exhale, which sounds like a laugh. She's without words as she runs her fingers through his hair. She smiles as he lifts himself up and looks down at her, a strange, yet familiar look in his eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the mouth. She sighed trailed a finger down behind his ear. The kiss was brief and he broke it, his gaze intense as he studied her. "Kate, I l-

And that's when they hear the door open. Kate moaned in embarrassment as Thomas quickly exited her and rolled off onto his side, pulling his pants back up around his waist. "My underwear." She hisses.

He leans over and grabs them from the floor. "Here." She reached under the covers to pull them back up to her waist.

Lucky for them, Charlie must have tripped on the final step and fell down, taking Ruby down with him. Both let out an irritated sound as they got off the floor. Thomas grabs the blanket and pulls it over her. "Stay down." He whispers before turning towards his quarreling children. "Shut the door." he ordered, over their quarreling. "It's cold out there."

"You two ok?" she asked as Charlie got up.

"Fine." Ruby huffed. "Charlie tripped again."

"Stupid step." He slammed the door in irritation. "I hate it."

"Right. Charlie and Ruby, go wait in the bedroom for a minute."

"Why?" Ruby asks. Thomas just shoots her a look and she huffs. "Fine." they both head towards the bedroom.

"And shut the door!" he orders.

Kate blinks in surprise as the door shuts. "Well, you handled that smoothly."

He reaches for her and pulls her up from the bed with one move. Kate blushes as he kisses her deeply. She moans and trails a finger behind his ear as he breaks the kiss. "And how was that, Mrs. Shelby."

"God," she pulls away and reaches for her skirt and shirt. "I love the way you say that to me."

"I'll remember that." he states as he reaches past her to grab his trousers.

Somehow, they managed to get dressed quickly without anything happening. Well, Kate could feel Thomas's gaze on her, intense and probing, but she kept her gaze downwards. The feeling alone caused her heart to start bubbling in her chest.

He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. "Come on out you two."

Charlie and ruby hurried out, looking very perturbed. "Good morning you two. Your father said you were out playing in the snow."

"Yes." Ruby sneezed. "It wasn't very deep."

"Did you get to throw snowballs?"

"Too cold." Charlie heads towards the fire. "So, we came in."

Thomas stepped past her, his arm brushing against her, causing her to tremble. "Gonna check on the horse." Thomas muttered as he grabbed his coat.

"Alright." Her voice came out as a croak. "We'll be right out."

"It's cold out there." Charlie states.

"I know, but, we're going home. It'll be a quick walk and then you can eat breakfast, ok?" neither looks convinced. "And don't forget, today's Christmas." With that, they both hurried towards the door, causing her to chuckle. "All too easy."

She puts out the fire and reaches for her thick wool coat. When she comes out onto the cottage porch, Thomas as put Charlie and ruby on the horse. He glances towards her and holds out his hand. "Come on, you're light enough to hop on up behind them."

"I'd rather walk with you." she stated, holding his gaze.

He stood there, digesting her words for a moment before beckoning her close. "Then come here."

They said nothing to each other as they walked through the snow, but Thomas held onto her tightly for the entire walk.

When the house came insight, she exhaled in relief. Polly must have instructed the staff to finish her decorating because the wreaths were hung on the doors and windows. She could hear shouting from inside the house.

"Everyone sounds busy."

On cue, the front door whips open and Finn hollers. "Tommy's back! He's got Kate and the children!"

That's when the shouting grows louder as most of the staff and Shelby family pours out onto the front stairs. Kate grabs ruby as Thomas grabs Charlie from the horse's back. They hurry up onto the stairs where everyone mobs them in hugs. Well, everyone except Michael and Gina that is.

"Where's Arthur?" Thomas asks.

"With that woman, Noni." Michael states. "Should have heard them-

"Children are present," Kate cuts him off. "watch your tongue."

Thomas nods. "You heard my wife."

"Everyone, inside. It's freezing out here." Polly smacked his arm as he passed by. "Next time, you idiot tell us where you're going!" she turns to Kate. "He heard you were missing, just hopped on his horse ad took off without a word."

"You know how impetuous and headstrong he is. We'd have called, but the phone was disconnected." She hands Elton her coat, hat and gloves. "I'm going to go get myself and the children cleaned up. We're all hungry."

"And cold." Charlie tacks on.

"How does a hot bath sound?"

"Yes!" they both cheer, actually excited

"Kate," she turns towards Thomas as he steps forward, catching her elbow and whispers into her ear. "I want to talk to you."

Kate bites her lip before shaking her head. "Thomas, it's Christmas." She whispers back "I've got so much to do before tonight."

"Kate, I need to talk to you about this morning."

She hesitates and sighs. "You're sure it can't wait till until tomorrow?"

"Thomas," Polly answers for him. "I'm not sure what you're saying to her, but Kate's got a ton of things she needs to concentrate on. It's almost 110:00 and company is arriving at 6:00. Whatever is going on between you two, it can wait till tomorrow."

He's silent for a moment before nodding his head. "Right."

"Or, maybe," she adds to give him some encouragement. "we'll find a moment to talk tonight? If not, you know you'll have my full attention after the party….when it's just the two of us."

He nods at her. "Right Kate."

Polly ushers her and the children up the stairs. "I'm not sure what happened between you two this morning," she adds. "but I hope you resolve it easy."

Kate smiles. "Trust me, it's easily resolved."

She knew what he wanted to talk about, but she knew if they talked about this morning, she would wind upstairs in their room with him. Not that it was a bad idea, but not when they had company planning to descend on them within eight hours! Once they were alone tonight, she'd be his forever without any strings attached. She was partly glad that ruby and Charlie had interrupted him before he could finish saying he loved her. Because if he said he loved her, she'd cave and tell him she was pregnant. She'd spent so much time planning the perfect way to tell him that she didn't want to deviate. However, with the way she felt about him, she knew that if he but laid a finger on him that she'd be under him and his spell.

This was their first Christmas and it had to be the most memorable Christmas.

Angel029: Care to guess?

Idcam: Well, Tommy gave her a pretty good birthday gift, rather belated though!