The storm passed during the night and Taylor woke up to warm sunlight coming through her window. She closed her eyes again and readjusted herself on her pillow.

Her eyes opened when she realized that her pillow was Eric.

A sleepy smile formed on her lips as she recalled the previous night and how it exceeded all her expectations.

He had been so gentle and loving with her, and as the night progressed, so did their lovemaking. Eric had made love to her several more times that night and each time Taylor found that it wasn't nearly as scary as she thought it would be.

Her past experience with it was horrible and should never have happened, but Eric had showed her what sex was really about… love. Her body ached a little, but she welcomed the pain their activities had brought her.

Her injuries from the battle yesterday were still somewhat fresh, but he had been careful and mindful of them. She sighed as she laid her head against his broad chest again, and felt his hand embedded in her hair move slightly.

She kissed his tanned skin lightly and felt him jerk a bit. He let out a groan and squinted his eyes open.

The sight he saw made him smile. Taylor was looking at him with sleep filled eyes smiling. He lightly flexed his fingers in her hair and brought her to kiss him lightly.

"Good morning," he said softly.

"Morning," she replied.

"Ho do you feel?" he asked.

Taylor ran her finger long his chest. "I feel… free," she said at last. Eric pulled her to him and held her tight, still caressing her hair and back.

He smiled and kissed her crown. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently. Taylor knew what he was talking about and figured now was as good a time as any to tell him what happened.

She held him tighter. "My dad died when I was five in a car accident… mom and I moved out here when I was twelve and about a year later and she met Stan." Eric felt her tremble a little and he rubbed her back lovingly. "It was about four weeks later that he started abusing her… I caught him doing it one night and he… he turned on me."

"If you want to stop," Eric said gently. Taylor shook her head.

"No… I want you to know. I don't want to hide anything from you anymore… My mom fought him off and he knocked her out… after that he turned on me… then when he was done, he tossed me aside and went after my mom. I ran over to a neighbor's house and they called the cops, but by the time they got there… she was gone."

Eric thought he felt tears on his chest, but when Taylor propped herself up to look at him her eyes were empty.

"Did they ever catch him?"

Taylor let out a small smile. "Yeah… I had been in foster care for about a year before they caught him."

"Where is he now?"

"He's in a maximum security prison back east somewhere. They found out he killed four other women besides my mom…" she trailed off and Eric wasn't about to push it.

"I'm so sorry," he said as he rolled onto his side with her still somewhat on him.

"Me too," she said. Her tears wouldn't fall, and for the first time in many years, she truly felt safe.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You already did plenty," she said, kissing his lips. Eric took this as an invitation and kissed her deeper. They pulled away and Taylor looked into his brown eyes. "Thank you for being my first," she said shyly.

Eric tenderly stroked her face. "I always aim to please." He kissed her and rolled on top of her.

This time, Taylor wasn't afraid. She was more than willing to let him have her body. Eric kissed the scratch on her cheek and she smiled.

"I think I'll take today off," Eric said as he kissed her neck and made his way down her body.

Taylor laughed. "Well, I guess hell has frozen over at last." Eric just grinned and continued his sweet torture on her body.

"I plan on staying in this bed all day, working on you." He kissed her again and they didn't speak again for several hours…

It was evening when Eric finally emerged from bed, leaving a sleeping Taylor. He put his pants on and went to check his messages.

Just as he thought, there were several from Wes, wondering where he was. Sighing, he dialed his number.

"Eric? Are you alive or did she kill you?" Wes asked. Jen was by his side back at the Collins' mansion.

"Easy partner… she didn't kill me," he said. "I stayed over here last night and decided to take a day off."

"Wait. Hold on. You're still there?"

"Yes Wes I'm still here."

"Where's Taylor?"

"Sleeping," he said. He was sick of playing twenty questions with Wes.

"So is it safe to assume you guys made up?"

Eric sighed. "Yes Wes."

"Is it safe to say you made up more than once?" Eric heard Jen slap his arm and he smiled.

"That's none of your business… I'll be in tomorrow morning and that's the end of it. Got it?"

"Yes sir Commander," Wes said laughing. "Have fun man." Eric hung up and turned to see Taylor coming down the hallway wearing a robe.

"Hey," she said fixing her hair. "What time is it?" Her eyes widened when she saw him standing in nothing but his pants. She gulped a little and blushed.

"Around six I think," he said as he walked over to her and held her. Taylor put her arms around his neck.

"Wow… I guess time really does fly when you're having fun," she said. Her stomach growled and Eric grinned.

"Guess I wore you out." As he said that his stomach did the same.

"I could say the same thing," she replied.

She kissed his cheek and went to grab a takeout menu…

Several Chinese food containers and a few drinks later saw them on the couch sitting in each other's arms.

"You never told me how your mission went," she said.

"It went great. Cole actually saved the day I guess… He flew right into that thing's mouth and blew it up using its own weapon."

"Wow. The others must have been happy," she said. "How were they anyway? Besides you guys, we haven't met any other rangers."

Eric then told her about Jason, Tommy, Aurico, TJ, Andros, Leo, and Carter. He told her about their families and smiled.

"Oh yeah. Wes and Jen set a date for their wedding… they want to have it a month from next Friday."

Taylor sat up. "Isn't that a little soon? Is there… you know… any reason? Like is Jen…" she motioned with her hands forming a hump over her belly.

"Pregnant? Geeze I never even thought about that. I don't think so," he said nervously. Maybe he should ask Wes…

That got his mind thinking. "Do you want kids someday?"

Taylor took in a breath. "Yeah… I guess," she said as she took a sip of her drink.

Eric grinned. "I want four." Taylor nearly choked.

"Four?" she questioned. "Who the hell are you going to find that's going to go through childbirth four times with something of yours?" she asked grinning.

"Oh, I dunno. Probably some chick off the street who's looking for a good lay."

"Who said you were any good in bed?" She was testing him now and he knew it.

"Well, if you need convincing…" He leaned in, catching her lips with his and carried her back to the bedroom…