A/N: Thanks to everyone for your kind comments and reviews for the last chapter, and I do hope you'll enjoy this … and I hope you're not offended by the naughty bits … have done my best with euphemisms … as usual my huge thanks go to Flossy for her encouragement to go for it… and if anyone is cringing I was going to say blame her, but that wouldn't be fair

Welcome Home – Part 2

His towel was slung round his hips as he stood in front of the basin rubbing away the steam on the mirror to get a better look at himself and he did look a lot better than he had earlier. Looking at him standing there he didn't look very much different now than he had when she'd first met him, okay a bit older maybe and she could see that he'd lost a little bit of weight, but it was a bit hard to tell when he'd always been quite slim. There were these fine laughter lines at the corners of his eyes that hadn't used to be there, but nothing else. He still had the same impressive muscles and his hair was still as thick and dark as it always had been, he wasn't growing another forehead or a Friar Tuck or anything or going grey, and he definitely hadn't got saggy balls or grey pubes like so many men of his age. Apparently that was what happened, or so she'd been told. And he had no flabby bits, none at all, not like her, and his bum was still the most toned she'd ever seen on any bloke anywhere. She still fancied him something rotten.

Admittedly it hadn't always been like that, not at first. To be honest she hadn't noticed any of it when he was the boss and she'd been far too busy hating him, as well as trying not to die when he kept yelling at her to run faster and she was already dripping with sweat and desperately trying not to puke. When her legs had already gone, it was hard to notice anything about him, like how bloody sexy he was or what a nice bum he'd got, that only happened after she stopped needing oxygen at the end of the run. Or maybe it had been when he took his top off and she clapped eyes on those muscles.

He looked round to give her one of his best lazy sexy smiles and then jerked his head to tell her it was okay to come In as she grinned and threw her dirty stuff in the laundry bin, or at least bunged it on top. As usual it was a bit full, something else she'd been meaning to sort before he got back. He shook his head as if he despaired and then grinned and lifted the corner of the towel to wipe away the drips of water that were running down his face from his hair.

"Be'ter?"

"Yup … much" He leaned forward to get a closer look at himself in the mirror and rubbed his hand over the stubble on his chin, ruffling it upwards.

"Grub's up when you're ready …"

"Lovely… just let me get rid of this"

"Why? I mean, unless it's bothering you, don't bother if it's for me … you're alright as you are"

She didn't mind the feel of his stubble on her skin, in fact she quite liked it, it was soft and not a bit like some blokes she'd known in the past where you felt like your skin was being given a good going over with barbed wire, his didn't leave you sore and with bright red with stubble rash, it just tickled a bit when he rubbed it against her.

He chuckled over his shoulder, and leered at her before raising one eyebrow "Don't you indeed?" He pretended to be a bit confused "Hang on … I thought you weren't going to kiss me?"

"I lied"

"I know"

He was still chuckling as he went back to looking at himself and rubbing his chin, but in spite of all his efforts to look relaxed and carefree, she could see there was something not right. He was putting on a bit of an act and it was a good one, there was no doubt about that, no-one could say he wasn't shit-hot at masking his feelings, but it wasn't good enough to fool someone who'd spent as many hours watching him as she had. She knew him too well for any of that. Something was bothering him, the muscles in his back were rigid with tension which was always a dead giveaway, and although she didn't know what was upsetting him, something was and that scared her.

She ran her index finger slowly up his back and traced the path of a bead of water where it ran down between his shoulder blades and he immediately straightened up and leaned back against her.

"What's up?"

Molly didn't actually hold out any hope of him telling her, but the words were out of her mouth before she stopped and thought about them. But knew there wasn't any point in waiting out for an answer, instead she slid her arms round him and then ran her fingers down to his sides to his hips.

"What's wrong? Come on … Charlie, tell me …" Christ, where did that come from? She needed to shut the fuck up because she could hear herself sounding like Millie on a mission and since when did being a nag do anything to help? "Sorry … don't mean to go on, but … I'm a bit worried, I know there's something?"

"Leave it Moll…. it's nothing … honestly, trust me, there's nothing you need worry about" Molly watched his face in the mirror as he lied. He wasn't a shit liar like she was, nowhere near, but somehow she knew, even if she didn't know what it was "It wasn't the easiest trip, that's all … now can we leave it … please?"

"Don't shut me out …"

"I'm not …"

But they both knew that he was.

"Okay … if you say so"

What else could she say? Nagging and badgering and demanding answers wasn't going to make any odds, he wasn't going to tell her. He'd always been bloody good at hiding behind some sodding mask, and this time wasn't going to be any different, it wasn't as if he was suddenly going to get all emotional and tell her what was wrong no matter what she said. Or did. The mask was firmly in place. So she gave up trying and pressed her face against his back before moving her fingers to slide them inside the towel and rest them on the warm skin by his hipbones. He took a deep shuddery breath as she lightly traced her fingertips over his abs and then let them drift down the line of fine dark hairs that disappeared beneath the towel. It was obvious that whatever was wrong had nothing to do with him not wanting to be with her. His breathing had speeded up and got more and more ragged, hitching in his throat as his erection tented the towel and then he was desperately trying to control it as she lightly touched him with her fingertips. She circled her fingers round the thick length of him and began dropping barely there kisses on his back where the droplets of water beaded on his muscles.

"Bed?"

It wasn't really a question, his voice was suddenly a low growl, all harsh and husky as he gulped and swallowed hard then turned round to face her.

"Nice negligee"

He chuckled, trying to sound normal, as he hooked his fingers in the hem of her 't' shirt and pulled it over her head, using both hands to smooth her hair where it got tangled and caught up before he stopped to look at her without moving or saying anything at all. He was just drinking her in with eyes that were full of raw heat, the pupil's huge and almost black with desire as he ran his tongue over lips that were suddenly bone dry. He dropped her shirt on the floor to join his towel that appeared to have fallen off all on its own.

"Thought you'd be too tired"

"Funny … I'm not a bit tired anymore"

Molly giggled as he bent to kiss her. She didn't make any move at all towards going anywhere, she wanted to keep on doing exactly what they were doing without anything getting in the way, didn't want to be distracted by moving to the bed or anything else. Just for him to keep on kissing her with kisses that were getting harder and deeper and more and more full of passionate promise. He seemed to have forgotten all about going anywhere as he started running his hands over every inch of her body, his long sensitive fingers touching and stroking and turning her into a pool of lust at the same time as wiping away all those sleepless night worries about cellulite and a less than perfect figure.

Her green eyes were luminous and slightly unfocussed as they gazed up at him, swamping him with a massive tidal wave of desire and an overwhelming need to bury the memory of everything that had haunted him across that fucking basement for the last three days. The person he'd hoped never to even think about again, let alone see, had been almost the first person he'd bumped into on his arrival in the Yemen. Sasha. And he'd had no choice but to treat her with civility, as if she was a respected colleague, and not someone he hated with a passion for everything she'd tried to do to him. To Molly. To his family. He knew it shouldn't have come as any sort of surprise that she'd blagged her way into another job with another NGO, the world of aid is a very small one, almost as bad, and in some ways worse, than the army. And that was saying something.

And much as he hated to admit it, didn't even want to acknowledge it, there was no question that she was bloody good at the job, it was just that being so wrong about her was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to come to terms with. He'd spent most of the trip in what amounted to a bunker forced to sit on his arse filled with frustration at not being able to get on and do the job he was there for, in an atmosphere that had been poisonous. It had quickly become apparent, not least from the smug look on her face and the sideways looks he was attracting, that she'd been playing the victim and that people were waiting to see what he was going to do. That she'd been portraying herself as the innocent who had been unfairly treated by a predatory male in a position of authority, and he had no doubts she'd been happily repeating a version of the lie to anyone who cared to listen. And as Charles knew, there were plenty of people working for other aid organisations who resented him, deeply resented his appointment, and who would be only too happy to lap it up. And there had been fuck all he could do about it. Even Lucy had begun giving him little sideways glances when she thought he wasn't looking in her direction.

Now desire was chasing everything else out of his head as he buried his hands in the silky waterfall of Molly's hair and stroked her smooth skin, running his hands over her soft curves and full breasts, dragging her closer against his straining erection as her mouth opened under the fierce pressure of his. A shiver ran through her as, without words, her kisses told him that she wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her. And he wanted her very badly. It seemed a lifetime since they'd made love, far longer than the couple of weeks it actually was and he knew only too well that he'd be wise to try and slow things down a tad. That he was in danger of having precisely zero self-control.

She was holding onto his biceps and looking up at him with eyes that were full of promise and, without saying a word he lifted her to perch her bum on the edge of the vanity unit before he hesitated, suddenly reluctant to move. They were both naked and he was standing between her legs which made it very easy for her to wind them round his waist and to get as close to him as she possibly could. And he was so aroused it was all he wanted.

"Moll … wait out, hey just wait … a second … we need … I need … a condom …"

"Yeah … in a minute … "

The sensible part of his brain was telling him he had to insist, that being careful was not only not an option, it would probably be next to impossible but instead of doing anything about unwinding her legs from his waist or moving them to the bedroom, he was kissing her neck. And then the sensitive spot behind her ear, and across her throat until kissing her was all he could think about. As he kissed across swell of her breasts and heard her soft moan he drew one of her nipples into the heat of his mouth and flicked the hardened tip with his tongue as he rolled the other between his thumb and forefinger, the nipples that were much bigger and darker than the pale pearly pink they had been before she'd had his children. Then it was his turn to groan as she arched her back and lifted her hips towards him then locked her hands in the curls on the back of his neck and despite knowing what a bad idea it was, the need to bury himself deep in her body rapidly became overwhelming. He was lost as she tightened her legs round his waist to get even closer, extending an unmistakeable invitation and he simply stopped listening as the voice of reason was drowned by the one telling him she was everything he wanted. She was silken and soft and tight and despite wanting desperately to take his time and savour every taste and touch of being skin to skin with her after so long, his blood was pounding and shutting out the small voice telling him there was a need for him to keep some sort of control. He stopped trying to resist and was surrounded by her, absorbed by her as she whispered words as intimate as the touches they were sharing and every move he made deepened the connection between them. Until it became a race. His swollen balls were heavy and tightened up against her, aching with need, making all his senses scream that the explosion of pleasure was imminent. But he couldn't stop. He ignored the voice of control and common sense and all the rest and carried on moving harder and faster and deeper as she writhed and clenched round him, murmuring words he couldn't interpret. Her breathing got more and more ragged until the first unmistakeable tremors of her orgasm swept through her and he kissed her all the way through it, stifling her shout of pleasure with his lips.

But instead of obeying every promise he'd made to himself about control and moving away as he knew he should, he buried himself as deeply as he could as her muscles tightened round him and sensation began ripping through him. Every explosively powerful spasm was sending wave after wave of intense pleasure pulsing through him, driving the breath from his lungs as he put his head back and shouted.

"Hey …" He rested his forehead against hers and chuckled softly, sounding full of breathless affection as he slowly calmed down it had taken a while but his heart rate was back to something approaching normal "You okay?"

"Yeah…well, think so anyway … bloody hell Charlie"

"Bloody hell, indeed …" He picked up her hand and kissed across her knuckles and then turned it over to kiss her palm, the whole time keeping his eyes firmly on hers "That was some welcome home Mrs James … but, Moll … ummm … "

"Don't …"

"Don't what?"

"Don't say you're sorry … just bloody don't, okay?"

"I wasn't going to" That was exactly what he'd been going to say "And I'm not sorry…of course I'm not" He paused and kissed her palm again "Shit, Moll, yes, I am … I mean I'm not sorry about … it's just I know that sometimes my brain is the size of a pea and I keep it between my legs … but should we be worried? …the very last thing I wanted was to fuck up those plans of yours"

"Did you pick them words special?"

She bit her lip and grinned at him, it wasn't often she could be the one to pick him up on anything to do with words. It was more usually the other way round.

"What?" He frowned and then closed his eyes as the penny dropped "Shit … No of course not … but it's not a joke, I'm not joking Moll"

"What plans?"

"Your plans for world domination of course …" He laughed a bit tentatively "What plans do you think I'm talking about?"

"Oh them ones … nah, look …. don't worry … it'll be fine"

"If you say so …" He couldn't have sounded more dubious if he'd tried.

When everything in her life had started falling to bits, when all the things she'd taken for granted suddenly became uncertain and meant she couldn't trust anything, all she'd kept thinking was that it was her fault. That her life, the one she'd chosen was all wrong, and it was her who wasn't doing things right. For some reason she'd begun to feel as if she was making a bloody awful mess of everything and had spent a lot of time worrying at how it was all falling to shit. Ever since the army she'd been doing her very best to be the way other people thought was right, the ones that were smarter than her so had to know better than her. Then he'd left army and had seemed to change and the more things around her changed, the more she'd been convinced it was down to her, that she had to put them right and to do that she had to look at her life and do things different, starting with getting herself back to work. Everyone said it was the right thing.

But all the rest of the stupid shit she'd dredged up, like wanting to wear bikinis and feeling fat when Rebecca was around and all that, well, that was just so much bollocks, part of the hard done by she'd felt, the fed up and far from home as Nan would say. Even all that stuff in her head about turning into her mum was just that, in her head. And another load of cobblers. But telling herself that going back to work was the answer to everything was just pretty bloody stupid as well, nothing would change that it was going to be years before Livvie was old enough to be left unless she put her in nursery or something or let bloody Penny look after her. Which would happen over her dead body. And going back to work with a sleazely scuzzball who only ever talked to her tits couldn't really be the answer to everything that was worrying her.

Suddenly she didn't know what to say about what had just happened, didn't even know how she felt about it, it wasn't like it was something she'd actually planned, and he didn't have to tell her that he hadn't either. All she'd wanted was to make everything better and at least she was pretty sure she'd done that. Big time.

It was hard for her to think now about the first time it had happened, now that the memories were slowly fading. She still remembered it as the worst pain ever, not physical, although it hadn't exactly been a walk in the park, but even though she remembered it, she'd stopped actually feeling it. She hadn't talked about it, not the gut wrenching feeling of loss, of emptiness, of having failed, not to him or to anyone, she'd been too afraid that if she started crying she'd never be able to stop. So she'd locked it away in that cupboard under the stairs and promised herself that that was it, she was done and then avoided looking at pregnant women or babies, even though they suddenly seemed to pop up everywhere. She'd made up her mind, it was never going to happen again, and she'd meant every word, until she got pissed at that party they'd had and let herself feel. The result was Livvie. Her gorgeous chubby little monkey with her chocolate brown eyes and long sweeping eyelashes and the dark ringlets, Livvie with her chuckles and the heart-breaking smile she gave everyone.

Italy had been a whole different ball bag. She known she was pregnant, even though she'd been trying to persuade herself that her missing period was just one of those blips that happen sometimes and that panic can cause all sorts of mayhem. And knowing it was her fault, down to her. She was the one had been so churned up with all that stuff with bloody Sasha she'd been a bit stupid. If you were being nice you'd call it being careless, but the truth that she hadn't wanted to admit even to herself was that it was more an accidental on purpose as Marcus would say and she'd had no idea what the fuck she'd actually been thinking. Then before she had to come to terms with anything or say anything to anyone, the problem sorted itself. She wasn't pregnant anymore. When it happened she'd kept telling herself over and over that what she felt was relief, that it was for the best, and it was. Of course it was. But then as time had gone on she couldn't get rid of the feeling that she was being punished for not wanting him or her. Logically she knew it was total crap, but knowing that didn't stop the feeling and now she didn't know about any of it. How she felt or what she wanted or anything. All she did know was that her belly had swooped with an incredible feeling of satisfaction and a frisson an excited anticipation when those pulsing waves of his orgasm flooded her with feelings deep inside her, feelings she didn't want to think about let alone try to explain.

"Go 'n eat … 'n put sone clothes on, you're distracting me"

"Am I indeed?" He snorted a laugh and bent to pick up the towel and her damp 't' shirt "Talking of which, where are you going dressed like that?"

"Nowhere … gonna brush me teeth, 'n sort meself out while you 'ave that minging bloody sandwich and cold coffee" She giggled

"You make it sound so appetising"

"I know, I'm good like that, then I'm gonna find a dry shirt 'n go to bed, why, where you going?"

"Bed" He stopped on his way out of the bathroom and looked over his shoulder to grin at her "Don't be long, will you?"

-OG-

"Christ, I've scrubbed them so bloody hard my gums are bleeding, please tell me you can't still smell EPoisses?" He leaned forward and huffed a breath in her direction "I don't know, the things I do for you"

"It's a privilege, cos I'm worth It" Molly giggled "Nah, you're alright … well done, you done a good job there, mate"

She giggled again as he pretended to huff and then pulled her onto his side of the bed until her head was resting under his chin and he was stroking her hair, twirling it round his fingers into ringlets. He pulled the duvet up over them.

"Moll … tell me, these plans of yours … do I take it you've changed your mind?"

"What 'bout?"

"Any of it … going back to work … or I don't know … anything?"

"Nah … well yeah some of it … I still wanna go back to work, just not yet … I know I can't for a bit anyhow, not till Livvie's old enough … and not sure what I wanna do when I do go back, thought I'd look around for something else, you know, see what there is, do a course, learn to build chicken sheds or something"

"Lovely … you'll have a head start on that one …you know that's a really good idea Moll, there's no rush is there?"

"Nah …s'pose not"

Neither of them mentioned the added bonus of her not being anywhere near the pervert, Charles because he knew she'd get all arsey and up in arms about him insinuating she couldn't look after herself and Molly because it was a bit of a red rag subject.

"Umm … I take it nothing else has changed?"

"Like what?" Molly shrugged.

"I couldn't help … wondering … whether you might have changed your mind that's all …whether you were thinking of … trying again?"

"Trying what?"

"Come off it Moll, you know exactly what I'm talking about …"

"Not sure I do … but okay … just for interest' sake, what would you say if I said I 'ad?"

"Have you?"

"Nah … okay … might 'ave thought 'bout it, but answer the question, what 'bout you?"

"Me? Oh I'm more than happy to oblige …" She heard his laugh rumbling deep in his chest.

"Oblige? Did you just say oblige? That's bloody sexy innit? Almost as bleeding roman'ic as ditto"

"That didn't quite come out the way I intended … " He was still shaking with laughter "I meant to say I am more than happy to give you all the babies you want"

"Oh … really? Is that you meant? And who said it was what I wanted? Or is that cos it'd mean you don't 'ave to go to the vet?"

"Well there is that … but what I meant to say was that as far as I'm concerned it's got fuck all to do with anyone except us … you and me … no-one else's business … just as long as the school fees don't bankrupt us"

"Local primary is free"

"There we go … problem solved … but there is one thing, I think it would be a really good idea to wait out for a few weeks, maybe till after Christmas, just to make sure it's what you really want and also check with the medics that everything is okay before …"

"Hang on … that's a bit bloody previous innit? … I mean … I 'aven't said it's what I want, 'ave I?"

"How can you possibly resist me?"

"Easy … watch"

"You're cruel … Oh fuck, are you telling me you're not going to turn into a raging sex beast like last time? That's disappointing"

"I never …"

"Couldn't keep your hands off me … bloody exhausting"

"You should be so lucky …"

"I was … and I am … and I loved every minute of it" He laughed and then his voice suddenly went quiet and sounded as if he was being serious "Moll … there's something I really do need to tell you …"

"Go on then … you better 'ad"

Oh Fuck. She almost held her breath, ever instinct was telling her she wasn't going to like it and really didn't want to hear it whatever it was, not after everything. Not now.

-OG-