Beautiful Release
by Tina

Gotta say... This chapter is kinda hot. Have changed the rating to M. Enough said. Not as long as the others. But hopefully still worth it.

Ross paced around outside Central Perk. Unquiet, confused. Excited. Thoughts of Carol and Ben were farther away by the second, as his mind filled with thoughts exclusively of her.

"Hey"

He turned around and faced her. She wore a defiant look and, even though she was still shorter than him, he could somehow feel her looking down at him from her long fine heels. And he liked it.

"Hey" He looked up and matched her posture. "There's a bar just a couple of blocks from here. You wanna walk?"

"Sure."

---

The bar wasn't very full. After all, it was only six thirty of a dull April monday. Ross and Rachel stood by the door for a second, untill they noticed a row of empty tables on the back. With a hand on the small of her back, Ross led the way.

"Can I take your orders now?" an attractive twenty something waitress asked as soon as they took their seats across from each other.

"Ah..." Rachel thought quickly. "A glass of the Chardoney." she tought "If you have it. If not, any wine is fine."

The waitress rolled her eyes.

"And for you, Sir?"

"I'll have the same."

"I'll be right back"

The waitress left them and they finally turned their atention to each other. Their looks didn't search for meanings. It didn't question the kiss earlier that afternoon. It didn't ask for romance or any thing else that would require words. It simply was.

"What are you thinking?"

For some reason she wasn't surprised by his question. Nobody had ever asked her that before.

"I'm thinking the Village isn't as wild as I thought it would be."

He chuckled and she finally smiled.

"You?"

He looked at her and held her eyes for a moment, delaying his reply.

"I'm thinking even though you don't belong here, the lightning says the contrary."

She looked at him for a while, serious. Belong was a serious therm.

"So tell me, where do I belong?" she leaned back on her chair.

"Somewhere more glamorous, I bet."

She looked away and crossed her arms.

"You'd think."

He looked confused and was about to speak again when their waitress approached.

"Here you go. Can I get you anything else?"

"Thanks, we're good" Ross replied, while Rachel took a generous sip on her drink.

"Hm, good wine" she commented on an already better mood. Ross wondered if he should expect more mood swings.

"Yeah?" He smiled and sipped it himself. "Oh yeah, the kind that leaves a really bad hangover to tell the story."

She giggled.

"I guess we'll have to control ourselves then."

"I can't promise anything" he said with a ambiguous smile. Rachel smiled and couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Shs sipped her wine again, feeling the drink swimming freely on her empty stomach. She really would have to control herself, she thought. Without much else to digest, she knew her body would very soon be intoxicated with the least bit of alcohol she consumed. And a lady like herself didn't get drunk. She couldn't afford the damage it might bring.

"So..." he started, but never finished.

She looked at him and smiled, playing with the edges of her glass. She leaned foward and kissed him.

"It's just sex" she thought to herself.

Ross kissed her back, softly. Again, it was a simple kiss. Or she would think. She pulled away a little disturbed.

"Ross..." she began. "We both know why we're here."

He looked at her and nodded, seriously. After a second, he leaned closer and kissed her again, this time deeper. She brought her hand to his cheek, her heart pounding inside her chest like she had never felt it before. She felt butterflies in her stomach when his tongue slided between her lips and failed to hold a quiet moan.

After a good minute, they relutanctly pulled away. They looked at each other. She sighed softly and drank the rest of her wine while he watched her.

"You wanna get out of here?"

She lowered her glass and couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or the kiss that had left her that dizzy.

"Yeah."

---

As cliché demanded, Ross picked up the key to their hotel room. However, there was nothing cliché about their actions. Both walked silently to the elevator. No "are you sure about this", "I've never done this before" or, what would be more suitable for them, questioning looks. There was no room for that, or need for it. The feeling on the pit of their stomach was reassuring enough, and just somehow they knew the other was just as determined to go through it.

He opened the door and switched on the lights for her. She stepped inside and looked around. It was nice. Not five stars, but stars enough to have someone like Rachel comfortable. She threw her purse on the dark colored couch and turned around to look at Ross. He closed the door and, with no need for words, crossed the room and kissed her.

She felt a little silly. As one of her friends had once put it, she now had a boyfriend for life and yet wasn't used to kissing anymore. It was almost as if she was a teenager, learning it all over again. With Barry it was never this personal, no matter how deep it was, no matter how he chose to explore her lips.

Kissing wasn't a big deal in their marriage, anymore. Huh, what was it, those days? Not even sex, anymore. More like something they did for the hell of it, for it was what they were supposed to do. She couldn't even remember when was the last time she'd had an orgasm. Actually, she couldn't remember the last time she had even craved one.

He lightly pulled them back towards the bed. She caught the drift and walked with him, still liplocked. Before they could fall onto the soft matress, his hands got bolder and she almost felt herself shivering when they brushed slightly on her butt.

His body weightened on top of hers. They kicked off their shoes. While one of his arm reached the side for some support to ease it, the other travelled down and reached the botton of her dress. Without hesitation, it slid under the soft fabric, grazing her tigh. Again, Rachel failed to hold a moan, this time louder.

He was kissing Rachel Green. He was kissing her, touching her and figuring out how to work her dress. Her perfect dress that covered her perfect body. It did feel like fantasy.

He removed his lips from hers and gazed at her neck. She opened her eyes and captured the look of desire he wore when he used his fingertips to caress it. She closed her eyes again and felt every pore of her body rise in graceful goosebumps. He lowered his lips to it and kissed it once. Twice. He caught a bit of her skin in between his teeth and sucked on it. Rachel dug her nails onto his back and realized she had possibly never been this turned on when both of them were still fully dressed.

So she undid his tie and reached for the buttons on his shirt, undoing them as he still planted fire kisses on her neck. He moved lower. His fingers found the straps of her dress and his thumbs slid around them, teasing her and he moved them down to her sides.

Fear suddenly filled her. She might still somehow had a sex life with her husband, but she never found herself vulnerable during the act. For the past year or so, she never even took off her clothes for him. And now there was this semi-stranger, undressing her, kissing her, touching her. She felt the left strap sliding down and held her breath partly to supress the fear, partly to supress a moan.

He kissed the valley between her breasts, uncovered by her cleavage. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away, rising with him to a sitting position. She raised her right arm to show him her zipper. He slowly undid it. She rearranged herself on the bed so he could pull the dress up and over her head.

He stared at her and she fought the urge to cover herself again. The female body in all it's beauty. Ross moved closer to her, showering her with kisses to show his apreciation. Rachel bit her botton lip and continued to undo his buttons.

She stared at his uncovered chest and moved on top of him. He laid back and watched as she threw his shirt away and lowered herself to him. He breathed lowder as her tongue replaced her lips, as she sucked harder and harder on his skin, sure enough leaving a wet and dark trail.

They held each other's eyes again when she undid his belt. His pants too went flying across the room and she felt herself getting a fresh bash of lust when she realized just how excited he was. Ross noticed it and smiled. It was good to be with someone who apreciated it, for once.

"Ah, hold on" he whispered, realizing there was something they couldn't forget.

He hopped off the bed and raced to his pants, fumbling through his pockets. He came back a couple of seconds later, tearing open a condom.

He rolled on top of her again. He kissed her while his right hand travelled lower and played with her. Rachel opened her eyes, gasping into his mouth. He smiled and continued, as she closed her eyes and moaned.

"Hmmm, now" she moaned into his ear.

He tore off his boxers himself, wearing the condom and carefully entering Rachel. She arched her back and sighed. He looked down at her as he began to slide in and out. She had her eyes closed, her head turned to a side as she savoured every bit of it. He kissed her neck and began to pick up speed, her increasing moans being his encouragement.

He didn't understand how he lasted so long. After going so much time without being with a woman, he was afraid he wouldn't take the challenge. Then Rachel climaxed, digging her nails almost painfully on his back. The combination, her final moan, her nails, her walls caressing him, set him too off the edge and he came.

Their bodies lost strenght. He rolled off of her and she looked at the ceiling, trying to catch her breath. He looked at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it. She turned to the other side and closed her eyes. She felt it as he took a deep breath and left to the bathroom. She wrapped the blanket around herself and closed her eyes again.

After a minute, Ross stepped out of the bathroom. She turned to look at him, blank.

"So, I better go home. Bet your wife's waiting for you." she hissed.

She left the bed wrapped in sheets, picked up her dress from the floor and entered the bathroom, slamming the door. Ross stared after her, guilt slowly tearing him apart. Rachel sobbed once she was alone. She sat down on the toilet and cried. For what she now knew more than ever she had never had.

Hmm. I'm not gonna say anything. You probably do have something to tell me though, don't you? I know you do :) So leave me a review, please :D See ya!