This is where it gets steamy, so if that's not your thing, skip on by.

Mary paced her room. She was suddenly a bag of nerves. What if Carson was still wandering the halls and caught Tom at her door? What if Tom was all talk and no action? What if this turned out to be the biggest mistake of her life? What if-

Three soft knocks on her door stopped her in her tracks. He didn't wait for her to answer, coming in and shutting the door firmly behind him. They stood staring at each other for a minute before Tom crossed the floor to stand in front of her.

'I know you asked me this earlier, but now it's my turn to ask you. Are you sure you want to do this? I won't be angry if you say no. I want you to be absolutely sure.'

Mary gazed into his eyes, both touched and slightly irritated that he was asking her this now. She reached out and grabbed the lapels of his jacket, hauling him closer. 'Oh, shut up, Tom, and start scratching my itch.'

She felt his soft laugh explode against her lips and then he was kissing her, and she couldn't think anymore. This was no soft, fleeting kiss. This was on a whole different level: deep, passionate, searing.

Tom's arms went round her, pulling her tight against him, so they were pressed together from chest to thigh. He kissed her thoroughly, his tongue coaxing her mouth open. Mary slid her hands up to cup his face, losing herself in the kiss until her need for air forced her to pull back slightly.

'Goodness,' she said breathlessly as Tom peppered her face and neck with small kisses. 'That was already better than a week with Tony.'

Tom huffed out another laugh before focusing his attention where her shoulder met her neck. Mary's eyes rolled heavenwards as he mouthed his way up to just below her ear. She tipped her head back, giving him better access to what she was rapidly remembering was a most delightful erogenous zone.

Tom took his time, once again confounding Mary. She'd expected this to be a frantic rush, for him to tear her clothes off and take her straight to bed, but instead he was taking it slowly, setting her body alight before she'd even taken off any of her clothes. Speaking of which…

She slid her hands under his jacket, pushing it off his shoulders. Tom let go of her long enough to shrug out of it, letting it fall to the floor. Next, she pulled at his tie, tugging it free and dropping it heedlessly on the carpet. The top buttons of his shirt popped open under her fingers as Tom raised his head to smile at her.

'Are you trying to get me naked, Lady Mary?'

'Very much so. Strip.'

'You're so bossy,' he said, leaning in to kiss her again. Mary submitted to another searing kiss, amazed and slightly embarrassed to find herself panting at the end of it.

Tom released her and unbuttoned his waistcoat, sliding it off and dropping it on the floor with the rest of his evening wear. Mary swallowed as she focused her gaze on the triangle of skin showing at his throat where she'd started opening the buttons of his shirt. Except for the rare occasions he wore cricket whites, she'd only ever seen Tom properly buttoned up with a tie at his neck. To her surprise, she found this small, vulnerable patch of skin thrillingly erotic. She reached out to touch it, unable to take her eyes off it.

Tom watched her, his eyes crinkling at the corners with both arousal and amusement. 'Mary,' he said, softly.

She glanced up at him, slightly distracted.

'Can I take off your dress?'

'God, yes. You can rip it off if you like. I have plenty of others.'

'I think Anna might wonder why your evening dress is in tatters if I did that. Come here.'

Mary went to him, turning to let him get at the fastening of her dress. Thank God they didn't have to contend with corsets anymore.

She jumped slightly when Tom kissed her shoulder blades as he slowly undid the fastening. As the dress parted, he slipped his warm hands under the straps and pushed them off her shoulders. Mary shimmied slightly to let the dress fall. Still standing behind her, Tom lifted her hair to kiss the nape of her neck and Mary flashed back to her fantasy the night before of him kissing his way down her spine.

She let out a slight moan as his arm came around her, pulling her back against him, while he pressed kisses to the slope of her shoulder. She turned her head, seeking his lips, arousal shooting through her as he obliged, kissing her deeply again. She couldn't wait any longer.

She twisted in his arms, making quick work of the rest of the buttons on his shirt and impatiently yanking it from his trousers and shoving it down his arms.

'Take me to bed, Tom' she commanded, pushing him backwards until the back of his thighs hit the edge of her bed.

Tom fell back heavily, sprawling shirtless on her bed. He scooted further up the bed, propping himself up on his elbows. It was an image Mary was sure would come back to her at inopportune moments. He watched as she grabbed the hem of her slip and pulled it over her head.

'You're beautiful,' he told her as Mary stalked forward, climbing onto his lap.

'Yes, yes, I don't care about that,' she muttered, bending down to cup his face and kiss him again. Tom sat up straighter, and she felt him reach behind her to unclasp her brassiere. She shook the loosened garment off her without breaking their kiss.

'Beautiful,' she heard him murmur again as he pulled away from her lips and then he was kissing her breasts and all Mary could do was close her eyes and tighten her hands in his hair. He took one nipple into his mouth and began to suck on it, rubbing his thumb over the other one.

Mary groaned, desire spiking through her to pool between her legs. She rocked on his lap, feeling his hardness beneath her. 'Please, Tom, don't make me wait any longer.'

'I need to get the –'

'I told you; I've taken care of it.'

'You're sure?'

'Yes. Now, take your bloody trousers off,' Mary ordered as she lifted off him to shimmy out of her knickers.

Tom chuckled at her impatience, even as he raised his hips to push his trousers and underwear down. Mary was back before he could completely kick them off, eyes fixed on the beautiful, hard prize between his legs. She straddled him again, trapping him beneath her, not that he appeared to mind.

Mary reached down between them, wrapping her hand around his shaft. Thicker than Matthew, her brain supplied traitorously. Tom groaned as she touched him, then she was raising up to direct him inside her, sinking down each glorious inch until he filled her.

Tom flopped back on the bed, gazing up at her, his eyes shining with lust. For a few delicious seconds, she simply sat there, staring back at him, adjusting to the feel of him inside her, revelling in the feeling of finally getting what she'd been craving. But then it wasn't enough, and she began to move. She leant forward, bracing her hands against Tom's chest, and started to glide up and down on his cock, setting the pace she wanted.

'Dear God, Mary,' Tom whispered, watching himself disappear in and out of her. He thrust his hips up to meet her downstroke and Mary moaned as it suddenly got even better.

Tom sucked the pad of his thumb into his mouth then reached between her legs to stroke her. Mary closed her eyes, a low moan falling out of her. The sensation was extraordinary, stealing her breath away. She faltered for a moment as an exquisite jolt of pure pleasure raced through her body, fogging her mind.

Just as she got her rhythm back, Tom took his thumb away and Mary thought she might cry if he didn't keep touching her there. Then a powerful wave of lust swept through her as she felt his hand where their bodies joined, and she realised he was lubricating his thumb with her own wetness before going back to caressing her.

Mary could feel the pressure building, her arousal spiralling higher and higher, Tom's hand and Tom's hips and Tom's cock combining to push her to the edge. Her legs shook, and she barely knew whether she was panting or groaning anymore. 'Oh, oh, Tom. Tom!'

'Let go for me, Mary,' she heard him say, his voice rough with desire.

And suddenly Mary was shaking apart, every nerve in her body singing as her climax hit her. She heard Tom swear as she clenched repeatedly around him. He surged up to kiss her through it, stifling her cries, and Mary sagged against him, her heart pounding, her body trembling.

Before she could gather her wits, Tom flipped her onto her back, picking up her leg and hitching it over his hip as he pounded into her, seeking his own relief. At first, Mary just lay there, panting, content to let him do whatever he needed, but then his hand was back between her legs and, to her shock, it was game on again.

New darts of pleasure shot through her body, gathering intensity, until she was desperate to peak again. She wrapped her legs around Tom's waist, sliding her hands down his back and over the swell of his backside, grasping his buttocks, urging him on. He dropped his head to mouth at her neck and Mary groaned in delight as the sensations overwhelmed her again and she rode the wave through a second orgasm just as powerful as the first.

'Oh, Jesus, Mary, I'm going to come,' Tom whispered desperately in her ear. 'Do you want me to pull out?'

She shook her head, locking her legs around him and pulling him as close as possible. Tom stiffened then shuddered in her arms, grunting as he spilled inside her. He collapsed against her, burying his face in the crook of her neck, his chest heaving.

Mary slackened her hold on him, dropping her shaky legs back to the bed as she tried to catch her breath. She ran a hand up his back to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. He turned his face to her and kissed her again, tenderly this time instead of the passion of earlier.

'All right?' he asked, softly.

'Oh, yes. Consider my itch well and truly scratched.'

Tom chuckled, pulling out of her and rolling onto his back. 'That was…'

'Yes.' Mary agreed, fervently. 'It was rather.'

They lay in silence for a while, waiting for their breathing to return to normal until Mary shivered and Tom turned his head to look at her.

'Are you cold?'

'A bit. We should get under the covers.'

'Do you want me to stay a while or go?'

Mary rolled her eyes at him as she slid off the bed. 'Tom, you've just made love to me in rather spectacular fashion. I'm hardly going to insist you leave before my heart rate has even returned to normal.'

Tom grinned, kicking off the trousers and underwear still tangled around one foot, then hopped off the bed to pull the covers back and slip in alongside her.

'Spectacular, eh? That's quite the review.'

Mary pursed her lips, trying not to grin. 'You know it was. Stop fishing. It's a most unattractive trait.'

Tom held his arm out to allow Mary to tuck in next to him, her head pillowed on his shoulder.

'You can't blame me for being relieved I wasn't a disappointment.'

'No, I suppose not. I must say if I'd known it would be like that, I would never have given Tony the time of day.'

'You've no regrets then?'

Mary tilted her head up to look at him. 'Were you worried I might have?'

'A little.'

'You never said.'

'No, I know what you're like. If I'd pushed you on the subject, you'd have dug your heels in the other way. I didn't want you to sleep with me simply to prove a point to yourself.'

'I wouldn't have done that!'

Tom arched a disbelieving eyebrow at her.

'Well, all right, maybe I would have, but that wouldn't have been the only reason. Anyway, it's all beside the point now because the only regret I have is going to Liverpool with Tony when quite clearly I should have taken you instead.'

Tom laughed, squeezing her tighter against him. 'I think I might need to buy Tony a drink the next time I see him.'

'Why on earth would you want to do that?'

'Because I don't think tonight would have happened without him messing up his chance in Liverpool.'

Mary gave that some thought. 'Perhaps you're right. But the itch was there before Tony. That's why Liverpool happened in the first place. I just never thought to look closer to home for someone to scratch it.'

Tom was quiet for a moment and when he spoke there was a hesitant note in his voice. 'Do you think they'd mind? Matthew and Sybil.'

Mary raised herself up on her elbow to look at him properly, seeing the uncertainty in his eyes. 'If they were both alive and we were doing this, yes, they would mind. But they're not here, Tom. And they loved us both. They wouldn't want us to be miserable. If we choose to take our comfort with each other, I think they'd understand. I really do.'

Tom reached a hand up to stroke her cheek. 'For all you have a knack of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, Mary Crawley, sometimes you know exactly the right thing to say at exactly the right time.'

He pulled her down into a kiss that turned from tender to playful to passionate, and as he rolled her onto her back, Mary began to think maybe she owed Tony a drink too.