It's the last time I'm gonna say it (I bet you're glad to hear that!) They. Are. Not. Mine.

A/N: In my opinion I write the dark stuff pretty well. Judging from the reviews I've gotten in the previous chapters, you all agree :) (Thanks!) But I thought I'd warn you, while I like the concept of this ending, it's not the genre in which I do my best writing…Thanks again for reading!

III.4. That Biting Metallic Taste

Her hands traveled up his back and grabbing his shirt on the way past, she pulled it over his head. Sliding it down his arms, she forced him to let go of her to remove his shirt. This movement had led his hands down and they ended up by her waist. He took the opportunity to remove her top as well.

Abruptly, she turned around and started to leave the bathroom, reaching back briefly to grab his arm. She had never been so happy her room was so close to the bathroom. She pulled him the several feet it took to get from the bathroom to her bed.

As they both collapsed onto the bed, Neela rolled so she was again lying on top of him. He leaned in to kiss her, but she shifted so he ended up getting her cheek instead of her lips as he had planned. She slowly trailed soft kisses across his cheek, down his neck and chest until she returned to the slices in his skin. She began kissing them again, starting on the left. As she moved to the right and approached less and less healed cuts she softened her touch, and dragged her tongue across. She could feel the roughness that normal skin shouldn't have, and she allowed the biting metallic taste of blood to fill her mouth.

Ray reached down and pulled her face up to his. It began as a gentle kiss, but quickly became more urgent. With every second that passed each wanted the other more. Ray quickly discovered the taste in Neela's mouth, and hoped that if he kissed her enough he could make that taste go away.

He wrapped his experienced hand around her back and unclipped her bra and threw it to the floor in one smooth motion. He flipped her over so she was pinned beneath him, never once breaking the kiss.

Her arms too short to accomplish what she was trying to do without breaking the kiss, he removed his pants before sliding hers down her legs. Eventually their hunger for each other was sated enough for him to temporarily fall on top of her, and catch his breath. She reached back to the bedside table and opened the drawer enough to pull out the little plastic package. He took it from her before she even realized he had looked up. Getting up on to his knees, he slid on the condom. Almost immediately, she pulled him back down to her.

He'd had plenty of sex before, but being with Neela made him realize that there really was a difference between 'having sex' and 'making love.' He liked this discovery and hoped he was conveying that to her through his movements.

I cannot believe how much I love this woman.

They continued until they had both been brought over the top, and then lay there breathless. He rolled onto his back and she pressed herself into his side. Her hand returned to the wounds that had brought this on, and she began drawing her fingers back and forth on them again.

"Neela…" She looked at him. "I am so in love with you." He pulled her on top of him, wanting to be in as much contact with her as possible.

She propped herself up on her elbows and said to him, "let's not go to work tonight…" He looked up at her and laughed.

"That's a great idea, but you know we have too. Knowing this is what we'll come home to will make it go faster." He added the second half with a wink.

"Or agonizingly slow."

"Well, maybe we'll just have to break up the shift with a quick trip to lock up." He tried to sound serious, but couldn't hold back a smile.

"A quick trip?"

"Or a few!"

---End part III---

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