*somehow gets a bit 'M' towards the end again*

Part 2 of 2

She sniffs and nods and gladly follows him as he leads her by back ways and by ways to his little shack on the beach. She stands happily as he undresses her then himself. She surrenders completely as he lowers her onto his bed... then bursts into flame… an all-consuming firestorm!

He gasps, holds her off like she is a starving beast, "Why so fierce? Are you still angry?"

She strains against his hands, wanting more, seeking absolution, "No, I just want to show you how much I love you, how much I need you. I don't want you to forget me when we're apart."

He gives her a blank look and shoves her away another millimeter, "Forget you? Impossible. Please, let up just a tiny bit. We can be soft and gentle and still show our passion for one another."

She scoffs, "Oh, can we? Really? And if I make boring love to you, won't you notice? Won't you think I'm losing interest? Won't you turn to someone else for excitement?"

He gives her a little shake, "Camille, dearest, you provide all the excitement I can handle. Trust me, you are my alpha and my omega, my zenith and my nadir. My day begins and ends with you, you fill my nights like a tidal wave. There is no way I will ever need anyone else. Ever." He sees her still uncertain glare and adds gently, "Jealousy is a most unlovely companion. It doth feed upon thee and me."

She stops struggling in his grasp, stares at him in wonder then flips over to lie at his side and covers her eyes, "Oh, Richard! You're right! Why am I so insecure? How can I doubt you when you are the most honest, kindest, sweetest, truest… "

He settles a firm hand onto her shoulder, "It's not me you doubt. Not really. It is my considered opinion that you're remembering echoes of your father."

She freezes then cries into her hands, "Oh! Oh! You're right! It's not you. It's never you. It's me! I blamed myself for his abandonment and now I'm punishing you! Why would I do that? Why… "

He turns her to face him, "Easy, easy, I'm not him, I will never be him. You can let the past go, Camille. You taught me that. You've helped me let go of my pain and fears, to put it all behind me… because now I have you. You've given me a new life, do you see?"

She listens and sniffs, nodding.

He kisses her nose, "Well then, can't you do the same? Can't you fling all your bad memories into the sea right now and begin fresh? With me?"

She sits bolt upright in bed, almost smacking him right on the nose. Wide eyes stare into his startled ones for long moments then she leaps away. "I will!" she shouts. "I'm going to do it right now!" She strides across the room and throws open a veranda door.

He sits up, the sheet puddling in his lap, "What? Right now?"

She shoots him a determined look over her shoulder, "Yes! Right now!" and she steps out the door.

"But you're…" he sputters, sees she's gone, sweeps the sheet away and vaults after her, "… naked!"

He makes it to the doorway, grabs hold of the jamb on both sides, and gazes out wildly. There she is, naked as a Spring robin, dashing down to the sea. Thank god it's high tide! Otherwise she'd have a further 20 meters of beach to cross!

He casts desperate glances east and west. It's early dusk but not yet full dark. Tourists are all away. Locals are all at table. The moon isn't up yet. Thank god for small mercies! The horrible enormity of what he is about to do washes over him like ice. As he tenses up and grips the door jamb in preparation, the ice is replaced by hot fire, and he rockets out the door! He leaps the steps, lands running, and kicks up sand as he races after her.

The sheer impossibility of what he is doing roars through his blood and it only intensifies the thrill. The cool evening breeze slipstreams over his naked body and he feels sensations he's never felt before. Before he has time to do more than codify and log what his nerve endings are telling him, he catches her in thigh-deep waters as she shouts and throws her hands into the air. The ocean's force almost knocks them down. It would have knocked her down for sure but for his sturdy support. He throws his arms around her just as her feet are swept out from under her.

As he steadies her, she whoops with laughter and throws an arm around his shoulders as she gestures with her free hand to the sky, "Here's for you, Dad! I release you! I don't need you! I'm done with you! I got a new man, a real man, a good man, and he's a thousand times better than you could ever hope to be! He loves me and he'll never leave me so you're HISTORY! Be gone!"

All through this, he'd been clutching her and laughing like a loon. It's enthralling; the feel of warm waves lapping at his groin, the cool skirl of the evening breeze on his wet skin, the slippery hot female body rubbing against him. He doesn't know why his head doesn't explode… but he adds his voice to hers, "Yeah! Begone! She's mine now and I aim to keep her! I want to make her happy, which is something I can do and you couldn't, you tosser!" This last insult is flung with relish.

She whirls in his arms, sees his blazing eyes and feral smile aimed at the heavens, and finally believes it.

She believes it all.

She stills and nestles into him, her safe harbour. He stills, braces himself against the undertow and curls himself around her, creating the safe harbour that is hers at last. Together they shut out the world. Which is a good thing in one way, a bad thing in another way. It isn't until a bright moonbeam lances into his eyes that he looks up and realizes they are on a (semi) public beach, in full view of the world at large, naked as new-born babes, and the moon has just crested the hill to the west.

His new-found confidence trembles on the cusp of folding up into a cringe of propriety but then he takes a deep breath and says, "Come on, we'd better get off this beach before reports of more than one full moon is called in to the station. I can just imagine Dwayne's laughter!" She nods and they turn towards the beach, leaving the reluctant embrace of the ocean.

As they climb up out of the water, he glances down at himself and groans, "We'd better hurry. I need to cover up in the worst way!"

She glances down at him and grins, "Oh, no worries there!" Her hand dips. He falters and groans but keeps moving. "There, problem solved!" she chirps.

"No, it isn't," he growls and speeds up. The veranda is drawing near but it still seems so far away!

She breaks into a run the same instant he does and laughs, "Oh! You're right! We've got a runaway reactor here! However will we contain it?"

He leaps back up the steps, carrying her with him like she weighs nothing. Her squeal of surprise is muffled as soon as he has her through the door. He slams it behind them then thrusts her up against it and shoulders himself onto her.

Her laughing eyes slip closed as she reaches up to accept his claiming kiss and he rumbles, "The same way we contain all our runaways. Bury it deep into tight containment and let the reaction complete itself in relative safety."

"You call this safe?" she teases, her feet barely touching the floor.

He manages a rough, "As safe as it ever gets with you," before he is subsumed into a single-minded masculine rut that drowns whatever else is on his mind. She knows better than to speak to him when he is deep in the blood-lust. He can't hear her and he won't answer.

She doesn't need him to answer. He is telling her everything she needs to know right now. And right now… she is being told everything she wants to hear for the rest of her life.

Her life with him.

END