A/N: Anything you recognize from MG, I do not own.

Chapter 7: on the fifth day of Christmas...

Ximen had never had as much fun with a girl as he had with her. It was now their fifth day together and contrary to her claim and his demand that they ignore her schedule and go horizontal whenever and wherever they felt like it, they had yet to do it. He found he liked her schedule and so had stuck to it. They didn't kiss until the second day. Hug on the third. Last night they'd gone to see a drive-in movie, the plot of which escaped them. They'd been too busy fogging up the windows, the popcorn and soda they'd bought all but forgotten and stick shift be damned. He'd pulled her over to the driver's seat and had her straddle him as they explored each other through their clothes. It hadn't mattered that she wore jeans.

And he had not minded that he had to spend the rest of the night tossing and turning in his bed in physical pain despite standing inside the shower for more than an hour under freezing water.

They had spent the drive to his private, and quite secluded, beach house off the city in relative comfort. Although he knew that she knew that today was THE day according to her schedule, there hadn't been any awkwardness between them. They'd gone about the whole day like they had in the last four before it, just laughing and having fun and touching each other quite often.

The sun was setting quite beautifully when she asked him to take a walk with her along the beach. They had both freshened up after swimming. She was wearing a thin cotton dress that molded her body whenever the wind blew on her. She'd tied her hair back with a scarf and wore no makeup, her cheeks rosy from spending the day out in the sun. She looked breathtaking. He'd opted to wear shorts and an ordinary white T-shirt. He'd also tied his hair back and wore his contacts.

It was already dark by the time they got back to the house. She was about to go inside when he'd decided he'd had enough. He needed to kiss her. Badly. So he pulled at her arm until she slammed into him.

"What are you doing?" she asked in an exasperated voice although she was smiling.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he answered as he kept her pressed against him with his right arm and raised her face up to him with his left hand.

"Are you going to kiss me?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yes." he whispered back just before he pressed his lips against hers.

"Are you going to hug me?" she asked again when he lifted his lips off hers briefly.

"Yes," he answered as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Are we going to make-out?" she whispered again.

"Uhmm…and more…" he murmured while running his hands up and down her back.

"Good." was all she answered.

He felt her smile on his lips as one of his hands found its way down to her backside.

The next couple of minutes were spent without speaking. Only the sounds of the waves rolling onto the shore and the rustle of clothing could be heard.

"Maybe we should take this inside…" she gasped as his tongue found its way inside her left ear.

They were now lying on the sand, with him underneath. Although they still had their clothes on, there were noticeable bumps that could be seen and felt through them. Their hair had long since been let out of their confines.

"I thought you wanted to do it on the beach?" he teased her, quite sure that she wouldn't take offense.

"We…need…something…to…lie…on…" she interspersed each word with little kisses and nibbles from his lips to the side of his neck.

He gasped when she sucked on the skin over his carotid. "Your wish is my command," he whispered just before he rolled her over and nearly stumbled in his haste to get up to get them one.

She was lying provocatively on her side with her dress hiked up, exposing the length of her left thigh and giving him a peek at the French-cut satin number she was wearing underneath, when he came back.

Like a zombie he moved towards her and dropped the comforter he'd pulled off one of the beds onto the sand as she crooked her finger at him. He barely had the thing spread out before he quickly picked her up so they could both lie down on it. Only the light from the lanterns outside the house and the moon above could be seen for miles around as darkness fell on the beach completely.

He turned them so she was lying underneath him and proceeded to drop little kisses all over her face…

…her neck…

…lower.

She gasped as one of his hands traveled slowly…

from her knee…

to her thigh…

…higher…

taking the hem of her dress with him.

She in turn busied herself by running her hands all over his chest…

…under his shirt.

He moaned when her fingers moved from his chest…

…down to his tummy…

…lower…

…until they met the waistband of his boxers.

Their lips met again and when his tongue sought entrance, she let him in. He tasted her fully…

…completely

…drinking in her essence as she did the same to him.

Until neither of them knew where his lips ended and hers began.

"Does this thing come with a zipper or do I need to rip it off?" he muttered inelegantly as he sought to remove her dress.

She pushed him off her to do the honors herself and whispered, "Take your shirt off…" when they both came up for air.

"God you're so beautiful…" he couldn't help but marvel as he looked at her bared figure. She really did look beautiful. And sexy. And quite possibly edible.

She answered by pulling him into her embrace once again. They both gasped at the contact of bare skin against bare skin and he couldn't stop himself from kissing her again. This time, it was a kiss meant to sear her to her very toes and more. It worked.

But she'd given back as good as she got and he found himself turning the two of them over so she ended up draped over him…straddling him…her hair forming a mysterious curtain over their faces as they continued kissing.

His eyes closed helplessly as her lips left his to travel downwards…

from his chin…

to that hollow in his neck…

lower…

to his chest.

If he hadn't already been lying down, he swore he would have fallen at that exact moment when she darted her tongue out to trace patterns on his tummy…

moving ever lower…

"What…" she started to complain when he grasped her hair to pull her up for another kiss. One that was almost punishing in its intensity. A kiss meant to burn. A kiss meant to brand.

"It's my turn now…" he whispered just before he too dropped little kisses from her chin…

towards her neck …

coupling each one with little nips that made her gasp and moan at every turn.

He looked up to see her eyes closed in ecstasy before his tongue started to trace patterns on her neck…

lower…

and lower still…

***