Author's Note: Last warning; Sexual scenes in this chapter. Don't read if you don't want to.

She was standing by the edge of the water with her back to him, her arms crossed over her chest. As though she felt his presence, she turned around just as he came within a few feet of her. He felt as though the walk to her was so much longer than it was, and just to see her looking at him with a half smile made him feel lightheaded. He gripped the small blanket he brought from the campsite tight within his hands and he moved toward her.

"Hey," she said, her voice low and cool.

He could feel himself being drawn to her. He wanted to step in close, get within her, just to feel her, to smell her.

"Hey," he said. "You couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head, "No, it's…a little too hot out here. I just needed to cool off."

The way her eyes avoided his made his blood rush beneath his skin. He had seen that look before, just once. If he didn't desire her before, that look alone would have made him mad for her.

"The desert does that," he said, moving in closer, just a bit off her to side. He tossed the blanket behind him. "Feels different out here though, by the river."

"Away from Zedd's snoring," she grinned.

"And Cara's lovely comments about how pointless this was,"

She laughed. "Poor Cara. I honestly think she's just bored. No ones attacked us since we sealed the veil."

"Well, maybe if we're lucky, we will run into a baneling or two on our way to Aydindril,"

"Or we could just wait until we're in Aydindril and have her go up against the politicians."

Just the mental image of Cara in a room full of scheming, lying consulters' and politicians made them both laugh.

"She would kill them all," Kahlan said.

"Or just make them her pets." Richard replied.

They smiled and grinned at each other and let the lighthearted moment sink. But all too soon it ended, and Kahlan fidgeted with the strings on her sleeve. The string was so thin between her fingers, she thought. How easy and delicate it would be to give it one simple tug…

No. Don't do this, she thought, not now.. please.

Richard moved closer until he was standing right next to her. He could almost feel the heat radiating off her skin and his eyes were drawn to the line of her neck. He had already cataloged a few spots on her body that made her wither against him. She was so nervous, a virgin quality that oddly made her all the more desirable. Her body was still turned slightly away from his, and Richard held himself in check not to pull her toward him before she was ready.

He just hoped he could wait a little more.

"The world is back together again," he said.

"Yes…if barely,"

Richard breathed in and out through his mouth, the cool river air swelling his lungs up. "We did it, Kahlan."

She now fully turned to him, one hand reaching out for his. "I still can't believe…it's over. It was all so dark, you were dead, and still… you did it. You got the stone,"

"We did it." He took both her hands into his. "Together,"

"If Cara hadn't gotten to you in time-"

"If you hadn't made the stone," he titled her head up. "Kahlan, you never hurt me. You saved me, even when it seemed like we had failed. It was not your power but your own love that saved us all," He pulled her into a hug, his chin resting on her shoulder. "I don't know what it looked like when the sun passed through the stone and sealed the veil, and I don't care. Because the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes," his words whispered in her ear, making her feel lightheaded, "…was just as perfect."

Kahlan shuddered.

"How can it be that my tears did that?"

"Because your love and your power are not the same thing. One gives strength to the other, but love… our love, somehow made it greater than anything,"

She could feel the heat of his palms on her back, resting just above her hips. Her face was flushed, and all her body seemed to be pulled toward his.

"My power," she whispered, drawing back from his chest but not leaving his arms, "My power didn't work on you,"

"No," his eyes stared at hers, hopeful. "No, it didn't,"

Why? She wondered, but the question died when he licked his lips. Instead, it was replaced by something more brazen. Deep within her powers hummed, but she ignored them. All she could think was, What now?

Calm down, boy, Richard thought when he saw the a change from questioning to something else in her eyes, something more wicked. Please, Kahlan, please, he thought. Please let me… Instead, he filled his nostrils in with her scent, her strange but wonderful perfume that she only put on occasionally. With the scent in his lungs, his mind started wandering, trying to remember all the other times she wore it.

Kahlan felt a tingle at the base of her spine, she felt his large hands on her back, and she felt hotter in his arms then ever before. Richard had been staring at her lips, and she felt grateful that he hadn't moved, that in the end, the last second of their old lives would be left up to her. For the moment she opened her mouth or nodded her head, the years of innocence and wanting would be gone and replaced by a reality of a woman's fantasy.

The thing that surprised Kahlan was that the thought of having losing herself, finally giving in to her own desires, made her not so afraid as she thought it would. In fact, she wanted it. Her head felt lighter and with that Kahlan knew it was time.

The words stumbled out on their own. "I want you," she murmured, and she looked into his eyes. Richard look relieved, a hint of a smile before it vanished as his eyes turned from warm to heavy.

Richard closed the space between them and Kahlan wrapped her arms tight around his torso. It was rough the way he his hands pulled at her hips, rough and wonderful. Heat radiated from them and there was no air between them as Richard opened his mouth and slipped his tongued into hers. She pressed her chest against his, her hands found themselves in his hair.

Kahlan thought she had come to know Richard's kisses. He was soft and kind, urgent but never dominating. They could pretend to be surprising, expect that Kahlan always knew when they were coming, hoping for one more before her powers whispered inside her. Richard was a good kisser, and she knew that he wanted more, the more he gave the less she could resist.

Nothing, nothing before could have prepared her for the way he was kissing her now. It was rough and his lips were pressed firm against hers, his tongue slick and hot inside her mouth and there was no restraint. Kahlan couldn't help a moan, and to her thrill, it only seemed to push Richard further. Her powers responded in kind, but that didn't matter, no spirits no, not yet…

She felt her heart pound inside her chest as his hands moved from her lower back to slid down over the curve of her bottom. His fingers had found the edges of her clothes and were tugging at them and still he pressed on with the kiss, more passionate than ever.

"Kahlan, spirits…" he whispered into her skin as he finally let his mouth move from her lips to her jaw and began sucking at the soft skin. Kahlan instinctively drew her head up, exposing her neck. Meanwhile, her hands roamed over his body, shaking with need to feel him. She grasped his shirt and pulled at it, frustrated when he didn't move from her neck. In a matter of seconds, her heart beat faster and Kahlan had to remind herself to breathe deep, but oh, it felt so good and please don't stop and let me touch you.

"Richard…please," She tugged at his shirt, and at last he allowed her to remove it, before he was atop her once more, his mouth moving down her neck while Kahlan's hands explored his back.

Hot. It was so hot, there was already a bit of sweat on him. It wasn't unpleasant, though, it only added more to her heightened senses.

He was pushing her, his hips flush against hers as he moved them away from the edge of the water to a patch of soft grass on the bank. Richard managed to not thrust this time, but it was a losing battle. He buried his face in the nape of her neck as one hand swept up from her hips to her breast, clumsily running his palm over one again and again. His hand managed to slip under the leather of her bodice and he was touching the soft mound, finding the nipple with his fingertips as she cried out.

Thank the spirit's the river was far away from the camp site, he thought. It wasn't a thought that had anything to do with their modesty. It had a selfish reason behind it.

I'm the only one who will make you cry like that, he licked at her collarbone as he descended.

There was lightening between them, and it only served to ignite their passion. Kahlan's head was swimming as her powers began to roar up as he removed her bodice, her breasts swaying free in the heat. He stared at them a moment before he kissed her roughly, briefly, and then continued downward. She barely noticed it when he lowered her to the ground, as his hands were on her, his mouth hot and wet as he ran his tongue down between the valley of her breasts.

His teased her nipples with his teeth before he sucked on them and Kahlan buried her hands in his hair, pressing him to her. The heat swelled up within her, and her powers, her powers had reached the point of Confession. In panic, she wanted to warn him, push him away but the words died when she felt his hand underneath her skirt, pushing it aside and running upwards. He groaned in frustration.

"Richard, my…powers," she whispered into the night, uncertain that he heard her, uncertain that she had even spoken the words aloud for the sound of her heart beating and the blood rushing in her veins and the nights sounds seemed to drown out everything. He bite at her nipples, more sensitive then when she had touched them when she was alone in those small moments and her back arched up.

He paused and looked up at her, the sheer intensity of his glaze made her squirm underneath him. He moved up against her, his chest brushing up against hers and he traced his mouth over her cheek, gentle and soft. She turned her head and opened her mouth and returned soft kiss, long and gentle than before. Her lips were swollen and wet and wonderful, and Richard had to remind himself that she hadn't done this before, at least, not remembered this much.

But she was so good, so soft underneath his hands. She was wild with lust, but unsure in her actions. She didn't know how much her touch affected him, how hard it made him to see her in the moon light on her back staring up at him. Spirits, he couldn't hold back…

She made a soft noise when he rocked back on his knees, and she quickly pushed herself up to met him. They came together again, no words only the raging need to feel each other, to feel the slick skin and nothing else. He pushed down her skirt as she deftly undid the buckle of his pants, letting her fingers brush against his erection.

He pulled away from her suddenly, and stood up and whipped the pants downward while Kahlan watched, her power raging at the sight of him. She swallowed hard, the sweat on her body making her skin slightly cooler.

He was bigger than she had thought, and the feeling of fear crept back into her mind. Seeing him, in the glory of the night, made it all very real. The nudity of their bodies made her tremble.

But then he was on her once more, pushing her down and Kahlan had to remember to breathe, that all this was normal, but the wetness between her thighs never seemed more apparent then it did right now, when she had nothing else on.

His caresses continued, more urgent than ever. He wanted to go slower, but Richard didn't think he could. It had been so long since he had last been with her, and the kindness of the first time wasn't here now. Still, he was determined to last, just a little longer.

Kahlan felt him press up against her thigh, his hard erection, and she thought, "Now, now this is it,", only to forget when his hand made a fire trail up to the curve where her hip met her thigh. She didn't feel the coolness of the ground underneath her, the only thing in the world that mattered was where his hand was going.

He lowered his hand and slipped his fingers between her legs, forcing himself to be patient for just a moment longer. She was dripping wet, and when he moved his fingers along her slit, Kahlan shut her eyes and moaned, making tiny thrusts with her hips against his hand. He put one leg between hers to open her more. She resisted, but only for a second as he found her clit and began to tease it.

Kahlan opened her legs wider, wondering how much more of this she could take. Already, small spasms made her arch and move her hips naturally. He fingered her, sliding them in and out, in and out, and she moved her head side to side, feeling her power flow like lava around her, feeling the hot wetness increase and build. His fingers started going in faster and faster, his thumb making circles around her clit, and she could hear him, his breath uneven as he watched her lose herself to him. Her thighs trembled, the tension was so high and she knew that she was so close, almost there when he buried three fingers as far as they would go and she let out a scream as everything came to a point. Her whole body shivered as she rode the quick spasms and nothing, nothing had ever felt this good.

More, she wanted more, and she jerked her hips upward. As she came down from the high of her first orgasm, Richard had moved between her legs and he was pushing her thighs apart and looking down at where his fingers had just been.

"Now, Richard, spirits, please," Kahlan's voice was breathless, as she saw the hunger in his eyes. In one move, she grabbed his cock, feeling its smoothness and the heat of it. Richard trembled and shook and grabbed at her hand and moved it away. "Spirits, Kahlan," he crushed her underneath him, and Kahlan felt him move his cock to her opening, he barely gave her once last look before he slid so deep within her she let out cry.

In one moment it was gone, her virginity removed, and Kahlan had no time to reflect on it as he had started thrusting in her, moving in and out covered in her slick wetness. He was so strong, it hurt at first, but after the first few thrusts, the tension returned and Kahlan started to match him by moving her hips in time with his. He was relentless, and Kahlan knew the orgasm that was building was going to be so much greater than the one before.

He bit into her shoulder as he fucked her, telling himself to be careful, to not hurt her, but he knew he was doing it anyways. She was to damn tight and hot, her body trembling with each push against her that he knew she was coming close. He kept going, sliding smoothly in and out and hoping that he could make it a moment longer. He moved on hand down between their moving bodies and to where they were joined and found her clit, twisting it just as he slip into her.

That pushed Kahlan over. "Oh, Richard, Richard…don't' stop," His shoulders tensed as he moved above her, and nothing mattered but the feeling between her legs, the pleasure it was making throughout her body, and that it was building up so much it was unbearable. "So…close"

He slammed into her with such force, and Kahlan's toes stretched out as she bucked against him. It was amazing and raw, the feeling of them as one as they moved and groaned. The tension was so high, they were shaking from it. Then, one last thrust sent them both over the edge. Richard's back arched as he released himself deep within her, looking down at the last moment to catch his lover eyes blue eyes flood over with black.

The tremors of the orgasm seemed to last forever, mere seconds turned into a time unknown, as for the first time in her memory Kahlan unleashed the full force of her power. The hairs on Richard stood up as he watched her, feeling her power around them, the sense of it making his skin tingle. She held onto him as though her life depended on it, and only after the final spasm did she blink, and the blue returned.

He pulled himself out before the exhaustion overtook him and he collapsed on the soft ground next to her. They were both still panting as he moved so that he held her, and kissed the corner of her mouth. It took her a moment to notice and then she turned to face him.

"You're shaking," she said, bring up one hand to caress his cheek.

"I know, it's normal," he smiled at her, "it just means…"

"I know," she smiled at him. She moved her head into the crook of his neck, putting one hand on his chest. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close.

"Did I hurt you?" He whispered, afraid of the answer. He knew he hadn't been kind.

She lifted her head and looked at him, shaking it. "You just made love to me," she whispered, as though the words were holy scripture. "No one has ever made me feel what you just did," Tears started forming at her eyes, making them shiny and beautiful, "I love you,"

He kissed her, slow and with more intimacy then he had ever shown. "I love you,"

Tomorrow the reality of what happened would hit her, but for now, all Kahlan could feel was the warmth of Richard's body against hers and the cool night breeze. The heat was gone, for now, as was the need, and the only thing that remained was fatigue from a long day. She felt Richard moving slightly, and then a soft, thin blanket covering them. Funny, she hadn't even noticed it when he first came.

Richard held onto her as placed the blanket over her shoulders, remembering why they had stopped in the first place. And as Kahlan fell asleep, curled up to him, Richard closed his eyes, thinking of her tears, and wondering if they would make a stone.

Fin-

Disclaimer: I do not own LOTS characters.