This chapter is longer than the last week's, but not by much. I hope you all aren't too disappointed with its lack of length. Thanks again for reading and reviewing!

Chapter Twenty- two

"...And I would be the one, to hold you down,

kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away,

and after I, wipe away the tears,

just close your eyes dear..." – Sarah McLachlan, Possession

-------

Marita returned to the room, feeling settled and composed, but halted when she noticed a more relaxed Sean. He was now standing in front of the fireplace gazing down at the roaring fire, his back to the door. He'd removed his coat revealing a physique that was smaller than the one he'd borne when she'd left Lexington, but he still looked strong. His body clad in a dark pair of slacks that fitted him well, and a crisp beige shirt that enhanced the color of his beautifully tanned skin. Marita deeply inhaled, attempting to quell her body, her soul's response to his nearness. She then folded her arms about her waist and slowly proceeded forward.

"Sean?" she uttered softly, tensely, unable to disguise the affect he was having upon her.

Sean turned from the fire, his eyes falling upon her, further weakening her resolve. Marita wanted to assert more, to proceed with the words she'd planned to say, but found her voice had vanished, leaving her helplessly mute, paralyzed by his amorous stare.

"Mr. Holmes is an audacious man." He stated seriously, breaking the quiet, but preserving the mood with his intense gaze.

Silence –

"That he is..." Marita quietly concurred "But he's a good man."

"So I've heard" Sean replied solemnly

"So you've heard?" she questioned, clearly confused

"From your father" Sean said as he continued to study her, struggling to restrain his mounting desires.

"It's not what you think..." Marita explained softly "I mean I have, granted him a call or two, but he's not..." she then stopped herself before uttering 'you.' Realizing that if she said it, if she revealed that only he could move her beyond words and stir within her a passion more powerful than she'd ever known, it would hurt him, by creating hope of what could never be.

"But he's not what?" Sean asked quietly, knowing exactly why she'd ceased to speak, but wanting her to say it, to admit what was clearly shining in her eyes.

Marita stared across the way holding his piercing gaze, wanting desperately to declare to him her truth, but she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to risk possibly his life, his future, by admitting or surrendering to the burning in her heart.

"Why...why have you come?" she forced herself to say, breaking inside at her words, and the dejection, the pain she instantly saw in Sean's eyes.

Lowering his gaze, Sean sighed at the grief that tore through his heart. Then reclaiming his strength, he again found her eyes and spoke. "Because you asked me to" he stated quietly

"What...I never..."

"In your letter" he interjected "You said... 'I need you... and want you in my life'." He finished shakily

Marita nervously swallowed, struggling to maintain her senses against his eyes, her words, which he was using to steadily wear her down. "That letter ...was about friendship" She managed to state, fighting to hold his gaze. "Not about this...not about us..."

"I beg to differ" Sean replied softly, impassionedly as he slowly moved forward

"Don't do this." Marita sighed faintly, clearly failing her logic by feebly conveying her thoughts.

"Don't do what?" Sean asked earnestly, his voice cracking with emotion. "Don't tell you that I need you. That you move me in a way words can never define. That my heart, adores you..."

"Sean..."

"And that my soul, aches to feel your touch" He continued passionately, now steps from where she stood "You are everything I've ever wanted, and no matter what society says or does I'm not giving up on you."

"You have to" Marita sighed brokenly, as she moved to broaden the distance between them, knowing that if he got any closer, if he managed to lay one hand upon her, she'd be lost. But Sean saw what she was attempting to do and in turn moved to stop her. Swiftly catching her, he drew her to him, then passionately kissed her, fulfilling the yearning that had haunted him for months. Marita helplessly moaned in pleasurable anguish. Her resolve instantly gone, shattered into a thousand pieces. She melted beneath his lips, giving him full access to her mouth causing him to groan from the heat, the immense hunger her gesture brought on. Pulling her closer, tighter within his grasp he kissed her more deeply, savoring her taste, the sweetness of her tongue. Needing more of her, to experience that which he'd long been denied, Sean relinquished her mouth, grazing his lips across her cheek as she languidly tilted her head, encouraging his fervent path. Arriving at her ear, he nip at it lightly, then slowly progressed beneath it's lobe, hotly kissing the spot he knew was sensitive to his mouth, his touch.

"Sean!" Marita gasped, as she helplessly weakened in his arms.

Feeling her crumble, her knees yielding to his ardent touch, Sean instinctively lowered her to the floor, again taking her mouth as her head came to rest upon the carpet beneath them. He then moved to her neck, cherishing it's delicacy, it's beauty, as he carefully proceeded to unfasten her blouse. Marita uttered soft sighs of ecstasy, lost in the tenderness Sean planted upon that which had been obscured. Now fully unclasped, he slowly slid the blouse from her shoulders, steamily kissing one, as Marita aided him, gracefully slipping the covering off.

"You are so beautiful" Sean whispered, as his eyes tenderly roamed her sensuous state of partial undress.

He then returned to her lips, taking her mouth in a burning kiss, as Marita eagerly accessed his shirt, exploring his taut muscles, savoring his warmth. Besieged by hunger, they kissed on and on. Then slowly removed the remnants of their clothing. Passionately caressing, nuzzling, and kissing, they explored every inch of their bodies exposed...

"Sean!" Marita breathed, now writhing to his erotic touch, which was spiking the need, the longing within her.

Responding to her desire, Sean once more found her mouth, deeply taking it in a fervent kiss, before brushing his lips over her nose, her eyes, her beautiful brow.

"I love you." He croaked passionately, softly sweeping a loose hair from her face "And I want you, so much. But I don't want to hurt..."

Suspending his words, Marita abruptly took his mouth, heatedly asserting her want, her need to surrender. Groaning in sensuous pleasure, Sean fully unleashed his swelling desire by drawing her closer, deepening their kiss, heightening the sensations that were flowing between them. Then suddenly, gently, he took her – binding their souls with his powerful thrust. Marita cried out in pain, but was instantly overcome with a pleasure that rushed intensely through her veins.

"Are you okay?" Sean asked feverishly, as he lightly brushed a tear from her cheek.

"Yes" she sighed, as another tear came forth, expressing the heavenly state her yielding had caused. "I love you" she whispered emotionally, now overwhelmed with adoration and increased yearning in her heart.

Further ignited by her words, her touch, the way in which she felt around him, Sean adoringly kissed her tears away. Before slowly, passionately, taking her mouth...then tenderly beginning to move within her. Sean groaned in delicious pleasure, as Marita gasped, overcome by the intense feelings now surging her core.

Consumed by the love, the incredible sensations that were blazing within them they continued to lose themselves in each other. Their spirits ascending the realms of time to find a world free of doubts, free of pain, free of everything that had formerly divided their fates. They were now stronger, submerged in the amorous bliss of their union. Continuously loving one another, through the setting of the sun, and beyond, the rise of the moon.