AN: Sorry for the wait, I had a little difficulty with this chapter once again, but after I closed the Word document and got out a pen and paper, the writer's block went bye-bye!

Chapter 9

The second they were outside, Chuck slipped off his jacket and placed it over Blair's shoulders.

"I'm not cold" she said.

"Humor me" Chuck told her, wrapping his arm around her and holding her close as he hailed a cab.

"Public transportation Bass?" Blair teased as she nudged him slightly, loving any excuse to press her body even closer to his.

"How do you think I got here?"

"By limo, of course" she said.

Chuck smirked before kissing the side of her mouth.

"Well, I was in a bit of a rush and had already given Arthur the night off" he explained.

"Since when has that stopped you before?" she asked.

"Between you and me, I think Arthur was meeting a lady friend tonight" he said as he opened the door to the cab and ushered her in.

"Really? Oh that's so sweet" Blair cooed.

Chuck shrugged.

"I didn't want to ruin his night; I figured at least one of us deserved to get laid tonight" he told her with a wink.

Before Blair had a chance to respond, the cabbie called over his shoulder to them:

"Where you heading?"

Chuck turned to her.

"What do you say: your place or mine?" he joked for the benefit of their audience.

"Our rooms are down the hall from each other, I think we can figure it out later" she told him.

As Chuck addressed the cab driver, Blair found her mind racing with the possibilities of what could happen when they got back to the house. This was a chance—another chance for them to be together without games and deception. It was bound to be familiar grounds, yet altogether new at the same time. In some ways, what tonight represented had the potential to be even more terrifying and intimate than their first time together so many moons ago.

When Chuck turned back to her, he must have noticed the serious expression she wore.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, turning her head towards his.

Instead of answering, Blair cradled his face in her hands and kissed him deeply with all the pent up sexual desire she felt for him. She kissed him with a type of desperation meant to show him exactly how bad she wanted to be with him.

"That" she whispered as she pulled back.

Without thinking, Chuck wound his hand in Blair's recently highlighted locks and fused their lips back together. After a few moments of devouring her mouth hungrily, Chuck felt his arousal surge at the sound of Blair's quiet moan.

However shortly after, the cabbie sneezed and reminded both of them that while they were in a moving vehicle, their current mode of transportation lacked the privacy and class of his limo.

Chuck reluctantly pulled away from Blair, frustrated as hell.

"Don't worry" she whispered as her hand wandered up his thigh "We can finish this later."

The implication was anything but lost on him.

"Blair, you know how much I want to…but I don't want to rush into anything and screw this up. We can take it slow, I mean it" he said, a conflict of lust and sincerity blazing in his eyes. He wanted her so much he could barely think straight, but he refused to let his libido overpower his will to do right by her.

Chuck already made it clear to Blair that he was undeserving of her affections, but since she was willing to overlook his flaws, he had no choice but to make sure she never regretted her decision to be with him again. And if that meant no sex…then God him help, it meant no sex.

"Chuck" she said before leaning in close to his ear "I've spent a majority of my nights this summer fantasizing about all the ways you could make me yours again. Remember what I said about having every inch of my body kissed and being taken from behind out on the balcony?"

She felt Chuck nod his head and Blair smiled against his ear.

"You know by now that James never did any of those things. And that's because he could never touch me like you do—no man ever could—which is why tonight when I spoke those words to torment you, I could not help but imagine you doing those things to me.

You understand the fire in me like no one else; you inspire it, and you make me feel alive."

She nipped at his ear playfully and was rewarded with a muffled groan.

"So, you're right, Chuck, I do want to take it slow tonight. I want you to make slow, tantalizing love to me for hours until I forget my own name. And then I want you to fuck me into complete oblivion…because you're Chuck Bass, I'm Blair Waldorf, and we have a lot of lost time to make up for."

She pulled back and looked into Chuck's hooded eyes, darkened with lust.

Blair idly played with the collar of his shirt as she continued to smirk at him. She knew she had shocked him with her words—but that was the whole point. She needed him tonight in every sense of the word and had to make her intentions perfectly clear for him. They were apart all summer long and she couldn't wait any longer. They had finally arrived.

"We're here" the cabbie called to them.

Chuck wordlessly handed the driver money without taking his eyes off of Blair. He opened the door to the cab and extended his hand out to her.

Blair accepted his hand graciously and allowed him to help her to her feet. As she did so, Chuck caught sight of her licking her lips nervously—a bad habit which Chuck happened to adore. He bent down and began to nibble on her newly moistened bottom lip while Blair, too long deprived of receiving this type of attention—save for the preview in the hot-tub earlier that night—left her panting hard against his mouth.

"Please" she whispered.

Understanding perfectly, Chuck took hold of her hand once more before leading her into the house and to the stairwell. Upon arrival to which, they made a pit-stop for a short make out and heavy petting session while cloaked in darkness. Fumbling up the stairs, Chuck had just found the door knob to his bedroom when Blair stopped him.

"Wait" she said quietly.

"What's wrong?" Chuck asked as his heart dropped to his toes "Did you change your mind?"

Blair shook her head.

"No, I've had my mind made up about you for a very long time, Chuck. I know what I want. But you…" she paused.

"Blair…" he said.

"You already backed out of this once before" she told him.

"So did you at Cotillion, or do you not remember?" Chuck asked her, trying to keep his temper in check.

Blair shuttered to remember that night when she pathetically threw herself into Nate's lifeless arms and had to live the nightmare that was their one and only coupling experience.

"But that was before…" I fell in love with you Blair desperately wanted to say, but the words died on her tongue.

"And so was my mistake" Chuck said "It was before I fully understood how much you meant to me, before tonight. Starting now, let's leave everything that's happened before in the past."

He held both of her hands in his as he said this, urging her to believe him.

"I just need you to be sure before I give myself away again. I can't afford the price of having my heart broken again" Blair told him.

"How can I prove to you that I'm serious this time?" Chuck asked.

Blair slid his coat off her body and handed it to him. Chuck looked down at her offering with a grimace; to him, it was a symbol of her throwing in the towel.

"By meeting me in my room in fifteen minutes. You kept me waiting in a hotel room once, Chuck, but if you come tonight, I promise to never hold it against you again. I'm willing to accept a fresh start for both of us, but not until you take some time to think it over. If you're absolutely sure you still want to be with me—after weighing in both the pros and the cons—then come knock on my door in fifteen minutes and we'll spend the night together as I described it and we'll figure out what comes next in the morning" she said.

"But Chuck" she began, averting her eyes to some place just over his shoulder "If you're just looking for a way to get laid or have even an inkling of doubt left about me, then I'm begging you to leave me be. Let me take what's left of my dignity back to Manhattan and you'll never be bothered by me again. I'm tapping out of the game for good."

With a deep sigh, she brought her gaze back to meet his intense one. She stuck out her hand for him to shake.

"Deal?" she asked.

Chuck looked down at her small hand and each individual finger of hers that he was hopelessly wrapped around. He would take the bait and agree to this last test to prove to her once and for all that she was it for him—his beginning, his end and everything that came in between. He would never lose her again.

"Deal" Chuck said, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing her knuckles gently.

"Fifteen minutes" she repeated.

Chuck nodded in understanding.

With a glimmer of hope in her eyes, Blair turned and walked down the hall to her bedroom. With one final glance back at Chuck, she closed the door behind her—not knowing for sure whether the next time she saw him he'd be her savior or her executioner.

TBC!!!!