A/N: I had a hard time figuring out what to do with this chapter, so I went back to Perfect and expanded on it. Some of the dialogue was taken directly from that story, though not much. I think serves its purpose.

This chapter contains sexual content.

The Next Level

Dave shifted uncomfortably in his sleep, the pains in his arm and leg were excruciating. Not one week after he had returned to work from his week off with Britain and his kids did he get injured in the ring. It was a simple arm lock...he should have been able to get out of it, but somehow he turned wrong and pain shot through his entire body. He knew that pain well, he had felt it before. It wasn't until he was hardly able to lift his arm and had made it back to the trainer's office that his suspicions were confirmed; he had torn his triceps muscle, again. I don't fucking believe this.

When he received the news that he would indeed have to have another surgery to repair his arm and that his recovery would take months, Dave decided to wait to have it taken care of. After all, he was just given the push for the title; he couldn't just leave to rehab. His career was skyrocketing to a whole new level, he couldn't afford the down time. So he pushed and pushed, then during one of Hunter's extensive workouts, Dave dropped the weight bar when he actually heard something pop and the pain left him unable to move his right arm at all. It wasn't even his decision; Vince heard about it from Hunter and demanded that Dave get his injury tended to, suspending him pending release from the doctor. He had no choice; he had to have the surgery. Now he was in more pain than ever; in addition to the original injury to the triceps… his triceps, shoulder, back and thigh had all felt the effects of the operation.

All in all the surgery took four hours and an additional two hours in recovery before Britain could take Dave home. She didn't want to overstep her bounds, but she didn't want his children to have to harbor the responsibility of taking care of him while he rehabbed, nor did she trust that Emily or his friends could do it, since they were all working. There wasn't anyone else and truthfully, she wanted the job.

Dave's arm was immobile. It was secured to his body by heavy bandages to make sure he didn't move it and his thigh wasn't in much better shape. They had removed a tendon from his quad to place in his triceps, leaving him with a slight limp until that healed. Dave was still pretty much out of it, between the pain pills and Britain forcing him to watch soap operas during the day; he found sleep to be his only escape from the pain. Two weeks after surgery, being in constant pain, being alone with Britain and not being able to touch her, topped with watching soaps, Dave was sure that he was losing his fucking mind.

"Why are we watching this?" He had just opened his eyes to see Britain sitting on the bed next to him and looking at the TV as if it held the secrets to the universe. He still couldn't understand why she watched soaps; she really didn't seem like the type.

Britain never took her eyes off the TV, it was getting too good. "Because General Hospital is must see TV." She said dismissing him. For the last two weeks, they had been arguing over the television constantly. She could only watch so much ESPN before her mind went numb and she really wasn't in the mood for another fight; it was sweeps for crying out loud.

"This is crap; it's fucking stupid." He attempted to prop himself up on the bed and felt himself grow angry when Britain had to help him. He didn't want to be in the bed anymore, he didn't want to be out of work for four months. Dave was a guy that hated sitting in the house, being helpless; it pissed him off.

"Well aren't we Mr. Grumpy McGrumperton, the Mayor of Grumpytown." She rolled her eyes at him. "I can have just as big an attitude as you do."

He huffed and rolled his eyes back at her. "How can you watch this shit? Don't they have the same plot every week?"

"You only say that because you don't know what's going on. See look, that's Carly and she's married to…"

"Lance Bedrock. They all have those stupid fucking soap opera names." He snapped.

"I know you're not talking, Leviathan. The people you work with have some pretty stupid fucking names too. At least there's no Doink the Clown on GH." She grabbed the remote to turn up the volume over his whining. "Anyway…Carly's husband's name is Sonny Corinthos. Okay, so Carly got kidnapped by Sonny's enemy Lorenzo Alcazar…he's in love with her, but she's pregnant by Sonny. Anyway, she gave birth in Rick's, that's Sonny's brother, panic room. Only Sonny busted in and shot at Alcazar but really ended up shooting Carly in the head. So now Carly's got some brain thing and she's having dreams about being with Alcazar." She rattled off the story line like it made perfect sense. "Sonny's gonna kill Alcazar when he finds out that Carly's messing around with him. Or he's gonna get his mob enforcer, Jason Morgan, to do it. But then Courtney, that's Sonny sister and Jason's wife, is gonna find out and leave Jason for good this time."

Dave looked at Britain utterly confused. "How can you actually watch this shit on a regular basis?" It reminded him of how his daughters never missed an episode of The Real World. He couldn't figure out how adults watched soap operas; sure his mom did, but she was old.

"I never miss an episode and neither will you. See…" She pointed the VCR, "got the timer set for a week. Plus, there's this new station, Soapnet…they show marathons."

"I'm not watching this." Dave struggled to lean over and grab the remote.

"What are you doing?"

"I told you…I don't wanna watch this."

Britain leaned over and snatched the remote back. "Did I complain when you wanted to watch fucking golf?"

"Yes."

"Well that's different. Golf's boring; besides, there are no hot guys on there." She flipped the station back to her soap.

"Golf's not boring."

"So is that why you fell asleep on it?"

He clinched his jaw to keep his mouth shut. He knew he needed her and he really liked having her there. But he was in a pissy mood and she just happened to be the only one he could vent on. "You've already made me sit through Days of Our Lives and One Life to Live. Are you really going to make me watch this fucking shit too? Are you trying to torture me because I can't do anything about it right now?"

"Yes." She could feel herself getting pissed. "That's exactly my plan, Dave. I figured, why not come all the way back to Tampa just so I could piss you off. I figured this week it's soaps, next week, it's American Idol."

Dave huffed. "God…is this what the next four months are gonna be like? Because this bullshit."

Britain stood up and shook her head. "No…this is what the next four months are going to be like. You keep this shit up and you're gonna be here all by yourself and then you can watch whatever the hell you want." She put the remote on the television and walked out the bedroom, but called over her shoulder to him. "You wanna watch something else… get your complaining ass out of the bed and change the channel your damn self."

Dave had never seen Britain's full temper before and unbeknownst to him, it could match his any day. "Britain…" It was too late. He could hear her going downstairs and the TV in the living room turn on.

He would never admit it, but he found himself watching the rest of General Hospital with great interest. He was intrigued that it had a mafia story line. Plus, the guys on that show were way more manly then that fucking Beau Brady guy on Days of Our Lives. He closed his eyes when he heard the handle to his bedroom door being turned. He didn't want her to know that he actually enjoyed the show and really couldn't wait until tomorrow to see how it all panned out.

"Dave…" She whispered quietly. "It's time to get washed off and take your medicine." Britain touched her hand to the side of his face and smiled when he opened his eyes. She felt bad about blowing up at him, but in all fairness, he didn't have the right to be all shitty with her either. She knew that he was upset about the news that he would off of work for four months, but he didn't have to take it out on her; she was just trying to help.

With his left arm he reached over and touched her hand. "I always wanted a hot chick to give me a sponge bath." He smiled lazily. "I'm sorry I was being a dick."

She flashed that smile that he loved and handed him his pills as she started undressing him for his bath. "You're always a dick…a really big dick." She ran her hand down his stomach and let it land between his legs. "See…that's one of the things I like about you." She smiled seductively and was glad that she could get him to smile back at her. "Seriously, I can handle you being a Snippy Pippy, what I can't handle is this feeling sorry for yourself shit. If you would've just taken care of this when it first happened, it wouldn't be this bad now. You wanna be pissed with somebody? Be pissed at yourself, not me."

That was one of the things he liked about her. She didn't make excuses for him. She told him when he messed up; she didn't hold his hand or coddle him when he was wrong. "I know. I just hate lying around, doing nothing."

"I thought you liked to lay around with me."

"That's different. I could actually do something, if I wanted to. But this…I can't stand looking at this room anymore."

She bathed him, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Well, Maddy's coming over and Ric called. He said he'll try to stop by. Maybe they can convince you that it's not the end of the world. You only have to be off your leg for a few more days so stop whining. Besides, your getting a fucking sponge bath…do you know how many guys would kill to be in your position?" She laughed and never once made him feel like her burden. Let's be realistic, she was giving Dave Batista a sponge bath, there wasn't much to complain about.

"Thanks." He could feel himself drifting off when she was done. He tried to fight the medication, but he was losing that battle.

Britain reached over the side of the bed to grab her ringing cell phone. Noticing the number right away, she took the call in the hallway. She tried to keep her voice low, so she wouldn't wake him. "Hey… yeah I know…about that, I'm not going. That's right...I don't care, they can get someone else to do it...I know, but it's only 3 weeks. I know, Pierre'll be pissed, but I'm sure Heidi or someone else can fit it in...No, I'm taking three weeks; someone needs me."

Dave listened from his bed as Britain rearranged her work schedule. He knew that she had been asked to do a shoot for Guess, which meant tons of exposure for her. But there she was turning them down; and for him, the ungrateful whining asshole, no less. He felt like shit. He didn't want to her rearrange her life to take care of him; especially since he was the one that always rearranged his life to take care of everybody else. But there was a side of him that liked the fact that she cared. His last girlfriend wouldn't have done it and his second wife damn sure wouldn't have.

Britain returned to the room and smirked at his glassy eyes. "So…I guess you're stuck with me for the next three weeks."

"Babe…you didn't have to do that." His voice dragged out every word as he tried to stay awake.

"I know I didn't have to; I wanted to." She kissed him softly. "Get some sleep."

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"Hey, Pumpkin." Dave turned over to see Maddy sitting next to his bed reading a magazine. "How long you been here?"

Maddy shrugged. "Not long. Mom dropped me off so I wouldn't have to go to Alli's softball game. How you feeling?"

"I'm okay." He looked around the room at the TV which was blasting some Brittney Spears video. "Where's Britain?"

"Oh, she went shopping. She said she'll be back soon." Maddy started to bob her head to the song and kept flipping through her book.

Dave couldn't place why he was angry. First she said she was staying with him, but when he woke up she was gone. I'm sitting here, with my arm tied to my body and she's shopping? He didn't know what he expected her to do. In all fairness he hadn't exactly been the ideal patient. Was he really being that much of a prick that she needed to escape and have a shopping spree? She didn't seem upset anymore before he went to sleep. What the hell happened in that time?

"Daddy…you okay?" Maddy put down her book as she regarded her father's face.

"I'm fine. I'm just thirsty. Can you get me some water?"

"Sure." Maddy jumped up to do his bidding. She liked the fact that he was depending on her. Chase was out with her friends and Alli was off playing ball; finally, Maddy had time alone with her father since she was the only child that cared to stay with him. She would have repainted the garage if he asked her to.

Dave thought he heard voices downstairs, but it's not like he could have gotten up to see who it was. He laid there helplessly listening to footsteps before the door to his room opened.

"Hey, Champ." Ric Flair stuck his head in Dave's room and smiled. "Maddy let me in. You up for a visitor?"

Dave smiled. "Yeah man, come in." He tried to sit himself up and cursed because he couldn't. "I fucking hate this. It's my arm, not my whole body but every time I try to move I feel it all over. This is bullshit."

"It takes time to rehab an injury. You'll be as good as new in no time."

"I hate this lying around shit." Dave ran his hand through his hair. "I'm fucking snapping at my girl, I'm horny as fuck and can't do shit about it. I'm bored out of my fucking mind." He turned to Ric and made a serious face. "Did you know she's got me watching fucking soap operas?"

Ric laughed. "Could be worse. She could have left your ass here to fend for yourself." He looked around then back at Dave. "Where is she anyway?"

Dave waved his hand in disgust. "I don't know…she went shopping. I'm fucking bored to tears and she's off on a shopping spree." He knew he had no right to be angry with her, but he needed to be angry with something. "So what's going on at work?"

"Some old shit. What's going on with you? What are the doctors saying?"

"Four months. I can't do this shit for four months." He let out a sigh and looked at his friend sincerely. "I'll be lucky if I can keep my girl another week before she leaves my ass, the way I'm handling this shit."

"So, you're getting pretty serious?" Ric knew he was about to overstep his bounds, but he needed to know what Dave knew about her. The tricky part was asking him without telling him anything, just in case he didn't know.

Dave shrugged as best as he could. "I guess."

"What do you know about her?"

"What do you mean?"

Ric searched his brain for a tactful way to ask him. "Well, you've been seeing her for what, six months now? You two seem pretty close. She's spending time at your house with your kids…I know you don't let people around your kids. You told me you met her family. What do know about her? Where do you see this going?"

Dave never thought about it before. He knew he was in love with her, but he hadn't told her, mainly because she was always hesitant to tell him how she felt. "I don't know…she's amazing, ya know. And I have so much fun with her. I can talk to her about anything and I can be myself around her. But, it's like every time we get close to moving forward, she clams up. She's scared of something, but I don't have a clue what it is." He stopped talking and raised his hand. "Maddy!"

Maddy came bolting in the room with a glass of water. "Sorry…I had a phone call. I'll be downstairs if you need me."

Dave sipped his water and rested his head back against the headboard. "She told me about some of the fucked up relationships she's had. I think she's afraid getting too close."

Ric shook his head. If only Dave knew what she was trying to keep from him. "We're all afraid of something. Maybe she found out that you aren't the most forgiving person in the world." He laughed, but there was truth to his joke. "You're in love with that girl. Everybody can see that. Just tell her, let her know that you're not going anywhere. Maybe she'll let you know what she's scared of."

Britain opened the door with a big smile on her face. "Hey…look what I got…" She stopped mid sentence when she saw Ric sitting there and Dave with this intense look on his face.

"We were just talking about you." Ric smiled at her. "I was just telling him to stop being such a grumpy asshole or he was going to lose the prettiest nurse I've ever seen."

She could feel her heart start to beat again. For a split second she thought Ric had said something to Dave about remembering her. "I can be just as bitchy as he is. You should see me when I'm on the rag...not pretty." She smiled and turned her attention back to Dave. "So, I got some stuff for dinner and I got us some Action movies, since you don't want to watch Soapnet with me."

"I thought you went shopping." Dave said confused.

"I did. I went grocery shopping." She shook her head at him. "I'm going to start dinner."

Dave felt like an asshole. Here he had an attitude about her out having a shopping spree and she was only buying food to feed him. He had to get over this anger about his situation before he pushed the one woman that he ever loved away.

"Don't fuck this up." Ric said patting his good arm. "I'll check in on you later."

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Britain sat outside on the front steps waiting for Ric. She heard him saying goodbye to Maddy and she knew that now was probably the only time that she would have to talk to him. She didn't want to come off sounding guilty, especially if he really didn't remember her, but she had to know for sure. She had to let him know that Dave couldn't know. She held her breath as he opened the screen and stepped out on the porch.

"I'll see you later." Ric smiled as he walked past her.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She stood up and walked him to his car. "I don't know how to say this…you remember me don't you? I mean, you have to."

Ric lowered his eyes and nodded. "I remember you."

Britain Weis was never the type to beg, but she would have if she had to. "You're not gonna tell him are you? I don't want him to know. I really like him and I don't think he'd feel the same if he knew."

Ric was concerned for her. From what he remembered, she wasn't the only one involved. "You gotta give him more credit than that. It was a long time ago. Bagwell was an asshole, you shouldn't have been there, you were drunk and things got out of hand. There were a lot of people at fault that night. You shouldn't take all the blame."

"I left, you know. Jericho and Eddie could only do so much. I stopped associating with everyone because I didn't want them to remember me. But as soon as I walked backstage with Dave and I recognized some of the faces, I heard the whispers…then Hunter…he called me that stupid fucking name. I don't know he found out, I think Rey said something to him." Britain nervously worried the ends of her hair as she talked to Ric. "I mean, you know what kind of guy Bagwell was…that's the kind of guy I always end up with. Dave's so different. I really like him; I don't want to fuck this up."

All Ric could do was hug her. "You don't have to worry about me saying anything. As far as I'm concerned, I never met you before that day Dave introduced us. And don't worry about Hunter. He talked to Scott Hall…that's how he knows. I'll talk to him." He rounded his car to the driver's door and paused. "But if you really feel about Dave what you say you do, talk to him." He offered a smile and got in his car.

Britain stood there thinking. Maybe Ric was right. Maybe she should just tell him. Jericho told her the same thing. But she couldn't, not now, not with him recovering from surgery. It would have to wait. She would enjoy this time with him and be there for him, even if he wouldn't be there for her when she finally got the nerve to say something.

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Dave cursed every step in his house and wondered why he didn't buy a rancher. The sounds of music and laughter filled the kitchen; he had to know what was going on downstairs, while he was upstairs alone. He stood in the entrance way of the kitchen watching Britain spin Maddy around the kitchen in an attempt to teach her how to dance.

"No, no, no…you can't freak to Otis Reading. You gotta move slow, like this...and your hips let 'em sway. You can only dance like this to Otis, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gay." Britain showed Maddy how to move with the music with a big smile on her face. "Just wait…one day you'll meet a guy…"

"Randy…" Maddy smiled.

Britain nodded. She had forgotten that Maddy was determined to marry Randy. "You and Randy are going to dance off of this and you'll want to hold him really close and move really slow to the music. Then you'll close your eyes and just listen to every word Otis is saying. This is good stuff."

"But it's old."

Britain looked at the teenage girl and shook her head. "Madison Avenue… just because it's old doesn't mean it's not good. They don't make music like this anymore. That crap today, that 'do me baby' music…that won't last. But this…this is baby making music. When you're older and you fall in love, you'll know exactly what I mean by that."

Dave couldn't stop smiling. He was impressed that Britain even knew who those guys were. "She's never getting older or falling in love...and she will never know the meaning of baby making music!" He laughed when he looked at their startled expressions.

"What the hell are you doing out of bed? Get your ass back upstairs." Britain pointed her finger toward the stairs and tried to be strict, but the smile on her face prohibited it.

Dave shook his head defiantly and pulled out a stool at the counter. "It smells great in here." He looked over at Maddy and poked out his tongue because she was laughing at him. "What's for dinner?"

"Fried chicken, string beans, candied yams, and corn bread." She smiled, knowing that he would have a fit because nothing on that menu was healthy. She never understood why a man that big ate the healthy crap he did when she was more inclined to have a feast at McDonalds. "You won't be able to work out for awhile, so why the hell not indulge? You need some food that'll stick to your ribs."

"Why don't you measure anything? My mom always does. She has all these cookbooks too." Maddy said munching on a chicken wing.

Because your mom can't cook. "When you cook from the heart, you just know how much to add. Besides, I've been cooking this stuff for years. I don't need to measure anything." Britain looked up when she heard a horn blowing. "That's your mom."

Maddy nodded and hugged Britain. "I'll see you tomorrow." She made her way around the island and kissed Dave. "I hope you feel better Daddy." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "She's so cool."

He smiled in agreement. Britain was cool. Everything she did was cool and she always looked great doing it. Even the way she cooked a calorie laden, artery clogging meal was breathtaking. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her hands moved gracefully and expertly over the pots as she stirred the food. Her long hair, which was hanging in a low pony tail, looked like ebony waves curtaining down her back, stopping just a few inches from her tail bone. The tank top she was wearing, stopped about two inches before her jeans, giving him just the slightest hint of the small of her back. Her was waist so small... and even lower, a round, firm backside that he had to resist the urge to run his hand over as her hips swayed to "Try a Little Tenderness" on the radio. She stood barefoot, cooking; she looked comfortable, she looked at home in his home. He couldn't stop smiling at the back of her.

Britain turned around; she could feel his eyes on her. "What's that goofy grin for?" She smiled back at him mocking how silly he looked.

He couldn't deny it anymore...he loved her. It was something in that moment, just watching her not doing anything seductive or remotely sexual, just simply cooking him dinner; he realized that he wanted her, he needed her… he loved her. Before he noticed what he was doing, the words were already out of his mouth. "I love you."

Britain felt like her heart was stopping. He couldn't love her, not before she had a chance to tell him everything. The smile she previously had on her face slowly faded and her posture stiffened. She turned her back to him and threw down the towel in her hand. "Don't say things you don't mean." Every time she had been told that before, the guy lied. They used those words to get her to do anything for them. She wanted him to be different, but she refused to be stupid again.

Painfully, he stood up and cursed his body because wouldn't move like he wanted it to. If he had it his way, he would have placed her on the counter and made love to her until she admitted how she felt about him, but he couldn't. Instead he slowly walked over to her and stood behind her. He breathed in her hair...coconut. "I love you. I love everything about you." His voice held a gentle whisper as he wondered to himself what the hell she was so afraid of. With his left arm, he moved her hair over to one shoulder and gently placed a kiss just below her ear. "I love your hair, the color of your eyes, your smile...I love the way you are with my girls, the way you take care of me." He turned her around to face him. He noticed the glassy color her eyes took on; that's when he knew. "And I love the fact that you're in love with me too." He gave her a tender smile, before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"I think you've had too much pain medicine." She tried to laugh and managed to wiggle away from him. "Come on…dinner's ready."

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Britain took forever to finally come upstairs. She had hoped that by the time she got in his bed, he would have already fallen asleep. No such luck. He was lying there pretending to sleep, waiting for her. He was going to get her to tell him how she felt about him. He watched quietly as she moved around the room and waited patiently for her to take the longest shower in the history of showers. And then when she finally got in the bed and draped her arm across his chest he turned his head toward her.

"I love you." He titled her face toward him and felt her tense up again. "What are you afraid of?"

What wasn't she afraid of would have been a better question. She could have told him right then, but what would that do? Get him to change his mind probably. She had been feeling it for so long. Finally, somebody told her they loved her first. She didn't have to jump through hoops for them to say it either. He didn't ask her for something in return.

"I told you before, I don't fall in love."

"Why?" He studied her face in the darkness. "Talk to me."

"Because, I don't want to get hurt." She said quietly.

Dave couldn't believe it. Britain had managed to tame the Animal, and she was afraid that he was going to hurt her. Dave Batista didn't fall in love. He had been married twice and not been in love with either wife. In the soon to be 37 years of his life, the only women he had ever loved that deeply were his mother and his children. He was giving her a place in his heart and she was afraid, how the hell did she think he was feeling? He couldn't stop smiling about it. "I would never hurt you." He whispered to her.

Britain fought with herself if she should tell him how she felt. He could use it to his advantage if she did, but wasn't it worth the risk? She had enjoyed being with him so much. In the six months that they had dated she found herself happier than she had ever been. What she did in the past or what people thought about her didn't matter when he looked at her. Only, she couldn't say it because if she did, she knew how badly he would hurt her when he left; because they always left.

Dave felt her hand travel past the bandages on his chest over his stomach. He wasn't quite sure where she was going with this. It wasn't like he could make love to her, not with his body bandaged the way it was and most certainly not with the amount of pain he had in his arm or his thigh. But when he felt her weight shift and saw her crawl down and kneel in between his legs, then gently pull his pajamas down past his hips and off his legs, he had a pretty good idea. Post surgery instructions be damned! His body responded to her touch on its own and if he ended up in traction because of it, it would be worth it.

She paused, thinking about if she could really do this. This was the last rule that she held on to. She knew she had broken the falling in love rule the first time she came to his house. She was in love with him; there was nothing she could do to stop that. But this…this would be deciding factor. This would tell her if she could trust him or not. Guys in the past had proven to her that they didn't respect her; they had pulled her hair or made it cheap. She had done it a number of times, but because she was asked or it was expected. Never once did she do it because she wanted to and with Dave, she did. She closed her eyes as she kissed his leg over the bandage covering his incision. She felt him flinch as her tongue traveled up his inner thigh. Slowly, she let her mouth touch his body and felt him respond instantaneously.

Dave closed his eyes against the soft warmth of her mouth. He remembered that she didn't like to be watched and he didn't want to make this anymore uncomfortable for her than it was. He knew how hard it was for her to let down her guard and deal with breaking her own rules. He never meant to break them all, but he had and the rewards had been tremendous. She was perfect for him. She was everything he wanted. But he still didn't know if she wanted him as much.

Britain might not have done it in years, but if nothing else, she knew she was damn good at it. The sounds that Dave tried to stifle only proved that point. She had him vulnerable; she had him feeling as crazy as he made her feel just by looking at her. This wasn't a game anymore of who could one-up the other; this was about her expressing how she felt without having to tell him.

"I love you…" He managed to say in between his panting. She was going to break him and he didn't mind. Everything about this woman was incredible. He couldn't resist opening his eyes if only for a brief moment. When he happened to look down, he noticed her grey orbs staring back at him.

"I love you, too." She whispered to him before taking him again.

He wasn't sure if it was her words or what she was doing, but he couldn't stop his body from reacting. "Britain…oh God…stop baby…please…" There was no force of nature strong enough to stop it. And he couldn't pull her off of him with only one arm. He tried to warn her, in all fairness, he tried.

But she didn't move; she didn't want to. She wanted him to feel how he made her feel. She took him...all of him, his very essence...his soul. She listened as he gasped and felt his body give over to her. And she stayed there and let him feel unbridled pleasure. She crawled back up to his lips and kissed him softly.

"Now you're mine forever." He smiled at her shy smile and touched his hand to her face. He wanted to make love to her. He wanted to show her how much he loved her, but that couldn't happen. He watched curiously as she let her hands trail down her body until they found that part of her that needed them the most. He watched her, only taking his eyes off hers for an instant so that he could watch her hands. He saw her face explode with pleasure as she neared release. He kissed her, trying to soak up as much of her impending climax as he could. He rolled sorely on his bad arm so that he could take her breast into his mouth...adding to her state of urgency. It was the most beautiful thing he had experienced with her so far. "I love you." He whispered in her ear as she found her release, saying his name as she came.

Even though he was sore and still pissed that he couldn't do the things he wanted to do, Dave slept peacefully next to Britain. He was comforted by her soft hair on his arm, the warmth of her body next to his and the knowledge that she was as in love with him as he was with her.