Thanks for the reviews, you guys rock. I was a little slack with posting my last 2 chapters here so I've put them together - that's why this one is so long.

Please let me know what you think, especially if you want me to keep going with this story.

Thanks!!

Tony woke up cold. He opened his eyes to find that he had none of the covers at all, no wonder he was freezing laying there in just his boxer shorts. He lad to laugh when he looked over at Michelle who had herself completely wrapped up in the blanket. It was so big and she was so small that she was almost lost in it. He slid his hand underneath and found her back, he rubbed it gently. She stirred a little. "Hey Almeida."

"You stole the entire covers woman!"

Michelle rolled over and looked at Tony lying there with nothing. She laughed. "Mmm it's so nice and toasty in here."

"You never warned me you were a blanket hog Chelle!"

Michelle laughed again. "I am use to sleeping on my own, I didn't know. If you are nice, I might let you come back under with me…"

Tony sat up with a cheeky grin. "If I'm nice huh?! I'm coming in and there is nothing you can do about it." He picked up the end of the blanket and crawled inside. Michelle tried to push him out but he overpowered her easily and pinned her body underneath his. He pulled the covers up over his own back, she was still struggling but he simply held both her arms down above her head with just one of his. He used his body to keep the rest of her pinned to the one spot. "You have no hope against me Chelle….you might as well give up."

"This isn't fair, you are way too strong for me."

Tony went to speak but changed his mind at the last minute and instead pressed his lips hard against hers kissing her passionately. She welcomed his tongue into her mouth. Minutes flew by whilst they did nothing but kiss. Tony kept her pinned underneath him.

"You are such a good kisser Tony…"

He blushed a little and a shy smile crept across his face. "I could kiss you forever Chelle….I love your kisses." He giggled as he mumbled something into her ear before beginning to suck on her neck.

Michelle titled her head as much as she could to the side so he could reach all of her neck. "What did you say Tony?"

He kept kissing, "don't worry."

Michelle could tell he was laughing a little as he began licking her ear. "I can tell you are laughing at yourself Tony, you have to tell me what you said!"

He stopped for a moment. "Ok, all I said was that…. you are a damn fine lover as well." He loved watching a huge nervous smile spread across her face. "Look at you going all shy Chelle….you are so adorable."

"I can't help it….I can't even believe you think that!!"

Tony was in such a playful mood. He released her hands and supported himself above her by his elbows. He kissed her cheek a few times over. "Are you kidding me? You are amazing honey. I spend most of my time replaying the times we have been together over in my head or thinking about what I want to do with you next."

Michelle was biting her lower lip. Although he was making her blush, she absolutely loved hearing him say all this. "I didn't think it was possible to feel as good as you make me feel Tony."

He rubbed his stubbly face across her cheek as he used his tongue to kiss her ear and then he pulled back a little bit and asked her shyly. "Do you ever think about us like that?"

She felt just as shy about all this as he looked. "All the time baby. What sort of stuff do you think?"

He laughed. He felt Michelle firmly lift her lower body into his. He closed his eyes and moaned. "I think everything. How incredibly sexy you are and how happy I am because of you. I think about what it feels like to be with you Chelle – how good your body feels in my hands." She moved her body underneath him a little and they smiled seductively at each other. I just want to be able to lock you up in this room for a week and have my way with you all day everyday!"

"You wouldn't need to lock me up honey."

They laughed and kissed for a few moments. Tony pushed himself against her making her groan loudly. He nibbled on her neck and then whispered into her ear. "It feels like I fit perfectly inside you Chelle, like you were made just for me."

"Tony….wow…"

The looked into each other's eyes as they began to sway their hips from side to side. Tony lifted his upper body a little. "Let's get rid of your top sweetie."

Michelle pulled it off for him, he had taken her in his hands and mouth before her body was even pressed back into the bed again. Things were heating up very quickly. "Do we have time for this Tony?"

Tony stopped and looked at his watch. "Fuck, I almost forgot. We have just over an hour before we need to leave for the airport…"

Michelle's eyes just about popped out of her head. "But we haven't even packed, oh my God Tony I have to shower and everything…"

Tony put his finger to her mouth to stop her. "Hey hey, don't stress we will be fine. We only need stuff for a few days. We can easily be ready
in time…in fact we don't need to rush…"

Michelle smiled and shook her head. "Are you trying to convince me that we still have time to have sex?"

Tony kissed her chest and firmly ran his hand right down her stomach, inside her boxer shorts and circled the tops of her thighs before making his way back up again to repeat it all over. "Well I am pretty riled up…" He pulled her boxers and underwear off all the while keeping eye contact. "And I know you want this Chelle…"

There wasn't a chance in hell Michelle could have said no now. He had her so turned on she could care less about anything in the world right now except for Tony. She played along with him. "And how do you know that?"

Tony used his tongue to kiss her stomach and then the top of her thigh. He looked back up at her. "By the look in your eyes, the way you are ever so slowly swaying your hips, the way you groan when I kiss your chest…" He kissed her thigh again. "And when I do that, you slightly lift your lower body up for me…"

Michelle couldn't believe it. As his hands roamed her naked body she became very conscious how much she did physically respond to his touch. "I didn't even know I was doing all that…"

Tony laughed a little and then tightened his grip on her. "Can you tell how much I want you?"

"I've noticed that when you want to fool around, you get a certain 'look' in your eyes – a look that is just for me. I can certainly tell when you push yourself against me….like you are doing now…"

Tony slid his boxer shorts off and then lifted himself back on top of her covering her entire body. "Wrap your legs around me honey." She did as he asked and the result made them both breathe each others names loudly. They were still and Tony was holding her gaze. "Can you see….do you want to see the 'look' in my eyes?"

"Yes I see it and you have no idea how much I want to see it…"

Tony loved that she could see a certain look in his eyes – something he had no idea about. It made him feel so good because it showed how much she cared about all the little things about him. He pushed himself inside her and then told her how much he loved her.

Michelle kept as tight grip on him with her legs as possible and did the same with her arms around his neck. He was so gentle and sweet with her. He was slowly pushing himself a little deeper inside her, which made her groan loudly. She felt so good to him, he kept his eyes open so he could watch her. He pushed himself deeper again, and this time she said his name desperately. He wanted to hear her say it again so he grunted himself before begging her. "Talk to me, God I love it when you tell me what you are feeling." He slipped one hand under the back of her head and the other on the middle of her back, and then as he pushed himself inside her as deeply as possible he pulled her head and body into his firmly at the same time. Michelle couldn't help but give him exactly what he wanted. "God Tony….I'm yours, you feel amazing." They couldn't take their eyes off each other, Michelle whispered into his ear in between shallow pants. "I can't believe how sexy you are, I love you so much – more than anything in this world." Her words left him completely choked up. "hmmm Chelle…" Their hips swayed together and Tony spent the entire time nuzzling into her neck using his tongue to kiss her and then he nibbled on her ear as he whispered. "We are as close as possible baby and I don't think I've ever felt so content and happy. Being wrapped up in your love is everything to me. You feel so good."

Happy tears flowed down Michelle's cheeks the entire time they made love. She didn't try wiping them – she didn't seem to mind when they were for something good. Tony stopped instantly when he saw her tears. "What have I done? Shit, am I hurting you?"

Michelle smiled and clutched on to him even harder. "No no, they are good tears – because I'm so happy."

Tony stroked the side of her face. "For real? Are you sure?"

"For real, I promise."

Tony stayed just stroking her face for a moment before starting to move again. He was so touched by her tears he almost felt close to them himself. It was the greatest feeling in the world to Tony to be shown how much he meant to her. She gave him so much confidence in himself and for the first time in a very long time he truly felt like he was important and special. Over the years many people had done such a good job of slowly tearing Tony down, Nina had really just been the icing on the cake. He had believed in his work ability but when it came down to just 'him', he had very strong doubts. Now though, Michelle was helping him build it all back up.

He was still trying to get use to being in such a good relationship. He noticed how with Michelle nothing was an effort, yet with any of his ex-girlfriends everything always seemed to be an effort. He loved that there were no mind games and that he didn't have to constantly worry over what she thought of him – Michelle made it very clear how much she cared for him.

After they had made love, they both wished they could stay holding each other for a while but they knew they absolutely had to completely rush to be ready in time. Before she let him climb off her Michelle kissed him again sweetly. "I know we don't have time now but once we are ready do you think you could keep me close to you? After that, I need you Tony."

Tony felt guilty that they couldn't just stay lying there with each other now. He knew how important it was for her to feel safe and secure after they had been so intimate. If he was honest, he needed that too! He sat up, pulled her out of bed and straight into his arms where he held her so tightly. "Sweetheart of course. I need you as close as well. Here, we will save time if we shower together…"

They jumped in and out of the shower as quickly as possible and then scrambled to get dressed and pack up their things. Tony called them a taxi and to their surprise they were actually ready in time. They held hands the entire way and then once in the airport Tony kept his arm around her shoulders the whole time.

Michelle sat on the end of the bed in Tony's parent's spare bedroom. She needed a couple of minutes to take everything in. The plane ride had been painfully long, every minute felt like an hour as the butterflies in her stomach got stronger and stronger. Tony, of course, had been so good at trying to reassure her over and over that everything would be fine but it hadn't managed to take them away.

Tony's parents, Karen and David met them both at the gate when they arrived. Michelle had gone to shake their hands but they had both pulled her in for a hug which helped her relax a little immediately. Conversation had flowed easily the entire way back to their apartment, actually Michelle didn't think things could have gotten off to a better start. Once inside they had sat chatting over a drink for close to 2 hours. Now she was suppose to be getting freshened up to go out to dinner. David was taking them all out to a nice restaurant in time square for dinner.

As well as everything was going, Michelle was still finding it hard. Since her mother had left her when she was just 4 she wasn't use to any kind of a mother figure. She wanted Karen to accept her so much, she hoped she was everything a mother looked for in partner for her son. David reminded her a little of her own Dad and watching the closeness between Tony and his parents made her heart ache for her own father. It was so hard to accept that he wasn't around to be a part of all this.

Tony knocked on the door and slipped inside. "You almost ready sweetheart?"

Michelle stood and grabbed her purse. "I'm ready."

He watched as her eyes flickered around the room and she fumbled with her bag. "You ok Chelle? You are not still nervous are you? Mom and Dad love you…"

Michelle shook her head. "No no, I'm ok. Your parents are great Tony…..really really great."

As she approached him at the door he slipped his hand around her waist. He could see pain in her eyes no matter how much she was trying to hide it. "You thinking about your Dad Chelle?"

Michelle wondered how Tony knew that, his ability to read her was touching. "How did you know?"

"When you are thinking or talking about your Dad you have a certain look on your face and pain in your eyes. Is it making things harder on you being around my parents?"

Michelle rested her head on his chest. "I little I guess, but it's not bad Tony. I'm so excited to be here meeting them and I love seeing what a great relationship you have with your parents. I'm fine, I just needed a moment but I'm ready for a great night."

Tony knew Michelle was putting on a brave face for him. He never knew how much he should push this topic with her though and so he chose to let her handle it how she wanted to. He just planned on keeping a really close eye on her so he was ready whenever she needed him. He kissed the top of her head. "If you want to talk I am here for you…..you know that right?"

Michelle smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I know. Come on, let's not keep your parents waiting."

They made it through dinner with things going perfectly. They were all laughing so much other patrons kept looking over at their table. Michelle asked Karen and David lots of questions to get to know them better and Tony was touched at how much interest she was showing in them. It was as desert arrived at the table that things started to take a downhill turn.

After explaining to Michelle about his job, David inquired about her father, completely unaware of her situation. "And what does your father do Michelle?"

Michelle took a quick gulp of air. "I….he….ummm…"

Tony placed his hand over Michelle's on the table. He was kicking himself for not finding the time to tell his parents before so that exactly this did not happen. He only let Michelle stumbled with words for a moment before he jumped in for her. "Michelle's father actually passed away just a few years ago…"

Both Karen and David let out a loud sigh of despair. David gently touched Michelle's shoulder. "I am so sorry. Aaahh Michelle, I am very sorry."

Michelle offered him a smile. "Not to worry, you had no idea. Really it's ok."

Everything felt awkward as Karen and David wanted to ask what had happened but didn't want to make things worse. Michelle knew she should be offering more information but she just couldn't seem to find the words. Eventually Karen spoke up. "I can't imagine how hard it must be on your brother, you and your mother Michelle. We are so sorry to hear…"

Tony's stomach turned listening to his mother put her foot into it again. He squeezed Michelle's hand. He was all ready to jump in again and was surprised when she began to talk before he had a chance.

"It is just my brother Danny and I. My mom left when I was 4 and I haven't seen her since. Dad raised us…"

Michelle was so scared of the silence that might envelope the table that she decided to avoid it. She barely finished her sentence when she stood from the table and forced a smile. "Can you please excuse me? I just need to run to the ladies room. I won't be a moment." She slid out of the table and out of their sight.

Karen and David began to apologise to Tony but he didn't let them. "It's ok, I should have told you before, and I just didn't get a chance."

Karen slowly started to stand. "Maybe I should go and check how she is?"

"Ok, but maybe just give her a moment. I don't want to push her, it is all still really raw to her. She only just told me the story when we were packing up her place."

Tony went to explain a little more to his parents but his attention was diverted by a couple of woman walking over to his table. His stomach dropped as he realised it was an ex-girlfriend, Donna. He hadn't seen her in close to 2 years now. They had dated only briefly because Tony knew early on she just wasn't right for him. She was the type that needed attention from every man in the room all the time, whether she was in a relationship or not. Tony was sure he wasn't the only one she was seeing at the time and by the 3rd or 4th date he was sick of watching her flirt with other men right in front of him. She was grinning at him from ear to ear as she rushed over to their table and sat herself right down in Michelle's seat.

"Oh my God Tony, I can't believe it's you. What are you doing here?"

Tony tried to be polite but he was so focused on the look of confusion on his parents face and trying to watch out for Michelle. "I'm in town visiting my parents. Donna, this is Karen and David."

Sending shivers down his spine, she basically lunged over the table to shake their hands. He almost felt embarrassed for the way she was dressed. She had on tiny mini skirt with something that was barely a tube top. Her cleavage dropped all over the table. His parents asked how they knew each other.

Donna put her hand on Tony's forearm. "We dated a couple years back. Wow….we had a great time together…"

Tony shifted his body so he could move his arm away from her hand. As he looked up he saw Michelle standing next to the table, able to hear everything coming out of Donna's mouth. Her friend had started to wonder off talking on her cell phone.

At first Michelle wondered if she had walked back to the right table. It certainly was her Tony sitting at the table but she didn't recognise the woman basically draped all over him. Then she heard the woman say she had dated Tony and how great they were together and her stomach dropped to the ground. Michelle didn't know what to do, or think, and so she just stood there staring at them blankly.

Tony was trying to get eye contact with her but she didn't want to give it to him. She didn't know how she was supposed to look at him, she wasn't even sure how she was feeling. He stood and motioned at Michelle. "Chelle……ummm this is Donna, Donna this is my girlfriend Michelle."

Donna didn't stand, instead turned around in the seat and then looked Michelle up and down. "Michelle huh? It is nice to meet you."

Michelle had forced out her hand to Donna but when she didn't take it Michelle let it drop back to her side. She felt her heart pound as she watched this woman so obviously look her up and down and then disapprove of her. "It's nice to meet you too."

Tony couldn't believe it when Donna didn't get out of Michelle's chair and offer it back. He didn't want to be rude but he really had no idea what to do. Was he meant to just tell this woman to piss off? When Donna turned her back on Michelle Tony offered her his seat. "Here Chelle, come sit down."

There was no way Michelle was going to sit there and put herself in that position. She didn't want to make things difficult on Tony or make a fuss in front of his parents. "That's ok, I can give you a guys a few minutes to catch up if you want?"

Both Tony and his parents shook their heads straight away. Fortunately before anything else had to be said Donna stood. "No no. I need to catch up with my friend." She brushed her body up against Tony's as she pushed past him. "Nice to meet you all, give me a call sometime Tony."

Tony just waved his hand at her and then turned straight back to Michelle who was taking her seat. "Sorry about that…..are you ok?"

Michelle didn't want anyone to know she had felt a little jealous seeing Donna act like that with Tony. There was nothing more she wanted than for this dinner to just run smoothly so she swallowed everything she was feeling about her Dad and Donna and smiled at Tony. "I'm fine sweetie. Ready to finish my dessert!"

"Chelle….I'm sorry that happened…"

She touched his forearm and cut him off. "Really, don't worry about it." She turned to his parents, "I'm sure there are a million stories you both have to tell me about Tony!"

Just like that everything was dropped and they all continued the night like normal. Karen and David were both very impressed with Michelle, especially after the way she had handled the situation. They stayed at the restaurant for another couple of hours talking. It was well after midnight by the time they got home and they were all ready for bed.

Michelle was the first to be washed up and in bed, Tony was right behind her. She was lying on her side and so he slid in behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Although Michelle had put on a great show for everyone, Tony could see straight through it. He knew she had been upset and he didn't want to just forget about it, he wanted to talk to her about it. "Baby….tell me what you are thinking."

"Nothing, just zoning out."

"I am sorry about Donna tonight, I couldn't believe she was there."

Michelle closed her eyes. "It's ok."

Tony gently tried to pull her body back but she wasn't moving with him. "Chelle…come on. Don't you want ask me about her? How could you not want to talk about this?"

"I don't know what to say Tony. Obviously she is an ex girlfriend, obviously you guys were great together, obviously she still wants you and obviously she didn't like me."

Tony sighed. "I only dated her like 3 or 4 times. As you could probably tell she wasn't exactly my type. We were not great together, that is why I ended it. She had no right to be rude to you like that Michelle."

"Yeah maybe…" Michelle couldn't work out why she was having so much trouble talking to Tony about how she felt. She really did want to know all the details, all she could think was that it would hurt hearing them so she struggled to know what to say.

"God Michelle, if that happened with one of your ex boyfriends I'd need to talk about it."

"Fine…ok fine. Is she someone you want to call again?"

Tony sat up leaning over her. "No. I'd never want to talk to or see her again ever."

Finally Michelle rolled on to her back and looked up at Tony. "She still wants you Tony. Did you see the way she looked at you and then how she greased me off?"

Tony lowered his body over hers a little. He supported himself up by his elbows and used his fingers to stroke her hair. "That's just the way she is with every guy, trust me, I was no one special to her."

Michelle surprised Tony. "Either way it was hard to see another woman all over you like that…"

"I'm sorry. I just about jumped out of my skin when she put her hand on my arm. I moved straight away though…."

Michelle nodded her head. She had seen that and she couldn't have expected Tony to act any better in the situation than he had, there was no way she wanted him to feel guilty. "I know baby."

Although he didn't want to bring it up, he really wanted Michelle to know. "I never slept with her Chelle."

Michelle couldn't believe how much it helped her to know that. She looked into Tony's eyes that were concentrating so intently on her. She loved the way he looked at her, it was like he was consuming all of her. He cared so much about making sure she felt ok and that meant the world. She felt so strange, on so many levels she felt amazing but yet in so many ways she felt insecure or sad, she wasn't really sure. She had spent so long with no real love or support in her life other than Danny that all of this was so hard to get use to. She was close with Danny, but most of the time it felt like she just looked after him – she had never had the kind of closeness she and Tony were developing with anyone. She realised she hadn't answered him, she had just been stroking his hair staring deep into his eyes. "Thanks Tony. I feel a lot better knowing that."
Tony began tracing his thumb along the side of her cheek. "Been a bit of a rough night huh?"

"Tony I loved meeting your parents. They are so nice and I had so much fun with them."

"That's not what I mean, you put on a good cover Michelle but I know you have been upset."

Michelle closed her eyes and turned her head to the side. "Yeah so…"

"Chelle…"

Michelle moved her body so that he would have to move off her. She surprised herself at just how defensive she had become with him. He looked so hurt as he moved next to her. "Sorry. I just….I'm just not use to all this."

Tony supported himself up by his elbow. "What do you mean? Use to all what?"

Michelle sat up. "You, how good you are at knowing if I am upset even if I don't tell you. How good you are at making me feel better…"

Tony sat up next to her and rubbed his hand up and down her back. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a moment as Michelle tried to make sense of her feelings and Tony gave her space to work through them. "What if things change?"

"What's going to change Chelle? Are you worried I'm going to change?"

Michelle closed her eyes, it was easier to talk about these things with her eyes closed, that way she didn't have to deal with her surroundings at the same time. "After my Dad died I swore to myself I wasn't going to let myself get close to anyone again, it just hurts too much. With Mark, I got pretty use to keeping my feelings too myself but at the time he was the closest person to me and as you know he was good at hurting me. I don't know….so much of tonight just made me think about how much I need you. How close I have let you in lately. I swore to myself I'd never put myself in a position to get hurt like that again and yet it's exactly what I've done."

Tony was so happy to have Michelle open up to him. He pulled her body into his. "Honey, I'm not going anywhere. Nothing is going to change – you can't let losing your dad stand in the way of feeling truly happy and secure again. I'm here now and I love being close to you." He ran his hands through her hair and then kissed her on the forehead. "It's ok to let me love you Chelle, its ok to let me in."

Michelle's eyes were a little watery. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you Tony."

He had to stop himself from proposing to her right then and there. He kissed her cheek firmly. "Sweetheart you are not going to lose me. You are my world." He pressed his lips against hers and slowly pushed her body down on the bed with his on top. "Let me love you Chelle."

Michelle let Tony's body sink into hers, she wrapped her arms up around his neck and pulled him in even closer. Her eyes closed as he began to slide his mouth over her neck to her shoulder. After a few moments he pulled her body back up so he could pull her shirt over her head. Instead of saying anything they just watched each other and let their eyes do the talking. His hands gently traced across her body taking in every curve.

She loved how he touched her, how he cared about every inch of her. She flinched as his tongue trailed down her stomach and his hands explored her chest. She had never felt so safe or loved in her life. She wanted to give Tony everything, she wanted to let herself go and not be afraid anymore. He said he wasn't going anywhere and she believed more in 'them' now than she did anything.

He pulled his body back up hers to check on her. His lips kissed her cheek and neck as he whispered in her ear. "You ok baby?"

Michelle ran her hands through his hair. "Will you make love to me Tony?"

"Yes….oh God yes!"