2305 ZULU
SARAH MACKENZIE'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN
WASHINGTON D.C.

Mac lost all track of time as she lost herself to the fire that Harm's kiss was lighting inside of her. This was not like their bittersweet kiss on the docks in Norfolk. This was raw and searing. God, if he could do this to her with just a kiss, she thought. Anxious to taste more, to feel more, her hands moved between them up the front of his shirt, grasping the top button. She started to undo it, but Harm placed one of his hands on top of hers, stilling them.

Reluctantly breaking off their kiss, Harm rested his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged as he put his hands on her shoulders to steady himself. How could he have denied himself, the two of them, this for the last four years? Just one kiss with Sarah Mackenzie had ignited an inferno within him that no other woman ever had. He wanted, needed her as he had wanted and needed nothing before in his life, but he also wanted, needed to give her everything that it was within him to give.

"Harm?" Mac asked, her own breathing harsh and unsteady. Why did he pull away from her? Had he suddenly decided that this, that they weren't a good idea? "Why. . . ?" she began before losing her nerve, afraid to hear his reply.

"God, Sarah, I. . . ." How could he possibly find the words, explain how she was creating all these new and exciting, yet terrifying feelings in him? How could he explain something that he couldn't yet comprehend himself? "I don't know. . . .how. . . .to say. . . ."

"Then don't tell me, just show me," Mac encouraged gently. "Please, just show me."

Harm pulled her against him again, covering her mouth with his again, his tongue probing and insistent as he drank in the sweet taste of her. Without breaking the kiss, he pulled her firm against him and began leading her back towards her bedroom, his hands moving over her, boldly caressing.

In the bedroom, Harm broke off the kiss and gently pushed Mac back onto the bed and stood over her at the foot of the bed, taking in the sight of her lithe frame sprawled on top of the covers. He stretched out on his side beside her, propped up on one elbow, his other hand caressing her stomach through her shirt.

"Harm," Mac pleaded, reaching for the button of his shorts. "I need you so much. Now. I need you now."

"We have all night, Sarah," he told her, slowly pulling her shirt out of the waistband of her shorts, his hand disappearing underneath to caress her bare skin. "We have the rest of our lives."

The rest of their lives. How sweet those words sounded coming from his lips, how she had longed to hear them for so long. How desperately she wanted to believe them. "Make love to me," she quietly pleaded, tears in her eyes.

Afterward, as they drifted off to sleep, their last conscious thought was to promise themselves silently that they would never let go – of each other.

-----

MONDAY, 29 MAY
0911 ZULU
SARAH MACKENZIE'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN
WASHINGTON D.C.

Mac, sprawled on her stomach, slowly drifted towards wakefulness, reluctant to leave the fantasy world that she was in. She had the most wonderful dream last night and wasn't ready to face the harsh reality of a new day. "I don't want to wake up," she murmured as she buried her face in her pillow.

"Why not?" a voice asked, a very familiar one that had spent the night in her heart and mind. She smiled at the sound.

"Wonderful dream," was the lazy reply as she tried to force herself back into a deep sleep and her world of dreams and fantasy. But she was shocked fully awake when she felt a hand moving slowly over her back and hips. That was no dream. She turned from the pillow and found herself looking up into a familiar pair of blue-green eyes.

"I don't know whether to be insulted that you thought last night was just a dream or flattered that you were dreaming of me," Harm teased, the grin she loved so much on his face, his hand moving in slow, lazy circles over her back.

"What time is is?" Mac asked without thinking about what she was saying.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" he shot back.

"You made my internal clock go all haywire," she pouted. Right now, she didn't think she could even pinpoint what day it was. Hell, after last night, who cares?

"Oh, really," Harm said, a gleam in his eyes. "I did that to you?"

Giggling, Mac turned suddenly and pulled her pillow out from under her head, playfully swatting him with it. "Just what I need," she retorted, "you with an even more swelled head than usual."

Harm laughed playfully as he grabbed his own pillow and hit her back. It quickly escalated into a full fledged pillow fight which came to an equally abrupt end when Mac found herself trapped under him. He was lowering his head to kiss her when they were both startled by a loud bark from the doorway. Jingo stood there, patiently waiting for some attention.

Mac glanced at the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was 0521. "Okay, okay," Mac told the dog, reluctantly climbing out from under Harm and out of bed. "I know. Time for breakfast."

Harm watched with an appreciative gleam as she walked over to her closet and grabbed the robe hanging on the door. As she fastened it around her, she saw his expression and, grabbing his shirt and shorts off the floor, she tossed them at him. "You may as well get dressed," she told him. "After breakfast comes the morning walk." Harm sighed with disappointment as she disappeared into the other room.

-----

0945 ZULU
GEORGETOWN
WASHINGTON D.C.

Harm and Mac walked with Jingo through Georgetown's streets, hand in hand in the pre-dawn hours, her head resting on his shoulder. They had said very little as they walked, instead revealing in the simple joy of each other's company. As they turned the corner back onto her street, she suddenly commented, "Today's Memorial Day. What time were you planning on going to the Wall?"

Harm shrugged. "I usually go about early, about 0800, 0900. Today tends to attract a lot of visitors, so I like to go early to beat the crowds."

"Spend some time alone with your Dad?" she asked quietly in understanding.

"Something like that," he answered as he stared off into the distance. He turned to her as inspiration struck. "Come with me today," he pleaded. "Come to the Wall with me."

"Oh, Harm," she said, squeezing his hand. She was thrilled that he would ask her to share this with him. "I'd be honored."

"We'll need to go back by my place so I can get into uniform," he told her.

"Harm?"

"Hmmm?" he replied, lost in thought.

Mac lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of his hand. "Thank you for asking me," she said, tears in her eyes.

-----

1225 ZULU
VIETNAM MEMORIAL
WASHINGTON D.C.

After a leisurely breakfast and a quick shower, Mac changed into her dress uniform then the two of them drove to Harm's place so he could change into his own uniform. They then drove to the Mall, parking near the Washington Monument and walking silently the length of the reflecting pool to the Vietnam Memorial.

Stopping in front of the black slab with his father's name, Mac gave his hand a quick squeeze then stepped back to the edge of the grass to give him some privacy.

"Hi, Dad," Harm said quietly, tracing his father's name with his fingers. "I have so much to tell you this time. I brought someone with me this time. You've heard me talk about her before. She's always been there for me, even going with me to Russia to find you. She's so special. I was so afraid to let her know, but now that I have, I can't believe we wasted so much time. She's a Marine, but she's my jarhead and I love her. Dad, did you hear me? I said I love her."

Mac, who couldn't hear Harm's whispered conversation with his father, was slightly surprised when he turned and motioned for her to join him. Not caring that they were in uniform or who might be watching, Harm slipped his arm around her waist. "Dad, this is Sarah, the woman I love."

Mac tilted her head up to look at him, shocked at the public declaration. If there had been one regret she had harbored about the previous twelve hours, it was that she had not once heard him utter the three words she most wanted to hear, the ones she needed to hear. Her vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears.

Harm looked down at her, brushing the tears from her cheeks. "That's right," he confirmed quietly. "I love you, Sarah Mackenzie."

Mac wrapped her arms around his waist and held him. "I love you, too, Harmon Rabb, Jr.," she replied softly through her tears.

After a long moment spent just holding each other, they let go and snapped to attention, saluting the name engraved on the Wall. As they turned to walk away, Mac brushed her fingers over the name of the father of the man she loved and whispered, "Thank you for the wonderful gift of your son."

-----

Continued in Can't Fight This Feeling Chapter III – Candle In The Window