Chapter 12

A/N You can probably guess what happens in this chapter, seeing as how the last chapter ended :P

She gave up.

She didn't want to fight him anymore. Wasn't sure she even could.

He was here with her now, even if it was only for one night. For this remainder of a night. Even if, when the morning came, he would turn back around and walk away.

Even if he changed his mind at sun-up...she was pretty sure it would all be worth it.

To just have this...it was more than she'd ever have bargained for. More than she'd dared to ever hope for.

This was it.

If she let this happen, she might regret it at some point in the future. Maybe.

But if she walked away now, she'd regret it for the rest of her life. Without a doubt.

As she felt that knowledge settle in her mind, she felt the decision she'd made without making it wind its way around her body, and it made her fist her hands in the sleeves of his Gale Force jacket, that horrible Gale Force jacket that she loathed. It made her press her body against his and revel in the feeling of his hands on her back, still fisted in her hair, pulling her with him as he walked backwards and came to a stop with his back against the bark of a tree.

His one hand went up, to cup her cheek, slide down her neck, his lips following in its wake and lingering just by her ear, as his hand traveled further down and joined his other hand that slid lower and lower down her back.

He grabbed hold of her and turned them around, her back against the rough bark of the tree and his body pressing her against it even harder.

He wasn't being gentle any more. He wasn't careful. He was losing control and she loved every second of it. Even until now, a part of her had believed he was...not lying really...but...fooling himself into believing he wanted her, for whatever reason. But now, as she wound her arms around his neck, let her fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck, and she felt him moan into the kiss, she knew he hadn't been lying.

He really wanted her.

Her.

Fiyero Tiggular. Without a shadow of a doubt, the single most beautiful man she'd ever met. And he wanted her.

She smiled into the kiss and jumped up a little to wrap both her legs around his waist, her dress riding up as she did so and she watched as he pulled back, shocked, his eyes clouded with something she'd never seen in anyone's eyes before but recognized nonetheless.

She fought the urge to look away, the intensity in his eyes almost to much to bear, and felt the smile, a small but a real one, a genuine one, play at her lips.

She almost expected him to kiss her again but his eyes became a little clearer then and he smiled back at her. He leaned into her, his hands moving to support her as her legs wound around him a little tighter and he pressed his lips to hers softly.

"I love you, you know."

He didn't whisper the words, but spoke clearly. She looked back at him, eyes wide. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to those words, even if he stayed by her side to tell her every day for the next fifty years.

Fiyero.

Her voice was hoarse as she spoke, forcing herself to not hide her face. She wanted to say it. She so wanted to say it back.

"Fiyero..."

He couldn't move.

He watched her face as she said his name and he knew that she wanted to say it back. She wanted to, but she couldn't.

It hurt, but only a little. He knew her too well.

"I know."

And he saved her by kissing her again. She'd get there, on her own, in the end.

He tried to be gentle, to not rush her into anything but she wouldn't have it. He didn't think she knew what she was doing to him or she wouldn't be doing it. When she'd wrapped her legs around his waist, he'd nearly stopped breathing.

If they kept this up, he wouldn't be able to stop and even though he wanted to continue this, more than anything (And really, more than he had ever wanted anything), he also knew that they should probably slow down.

He wanted to keep her for longer than this one night and if they did anything she might regret...she was like a shim sometimes, she could pull away so fast and he didn't want to lose what they could have.

He forced himself to pull back and he worked towards lowering her feet back to the floor. She wouldn't have it. She let her hands come back down his front, grabbed his lapels and pulled his face back to hers, her lips finding his.

He wasn't going to make it. He was never going to be able to say no again.

Especially when she let her hands work at the buttons of his shirt and slip inside.

"Elphaba." He was actually panting. He felt like a high school boy all over again. A high school boy with zero experience and the prettiest girl of the school in his arms.

"Elphaba. Stop. Wait."

He looked at her, imploring her to stop and listen.

"We...I can't..."

The look on her face changed and he knew immediately that she'd taken his hesitation the wrong way.

How on earth could she still have doubts?

He stepped back and she let him, confusion, anger and humiliation clear on her face.

"Don't go there. I want you. Okay? Let it be painfully, obviously clear that I want you. Which is why I am doing this."

She cocked her head but didn't say anything. He stepped forward again and tilted her face towards his.

"Please don't doubt that I want you. I love you. There is nothing I want more than to finish what we just started. I just...I want you to be sure...when we do...that it is what you want too."

"And who are you to decide I don't want it now?"

She slipped away, and took a few steps. Great. She was angry. Why couldn't he have kept his mouth shut. If he only knew when to shut up...then they'd still be up against that damn tree...

He felt his body respond to the memory alone and shook his head to clear it.

"I can't...I just don't want to pressure you..."

"Pressure me? Ha. As if you could." She whirled around and was back in front of him in seconds.

"Did you forget who I am? I am the Wicked Witch of the West. You can't pressure me into anything!"

He didn't know why and he was properly ashamed of it but he felt a rush of excitement at her words. How could anyone even believe for a minute that she had an evil bone in her body? And yet, the fact that everyone did...made her...more enticing...more...ridiculously sexy. She was all woman now and that dumb title only heightened the effect.

He forgot any response he might have had and captured her lips again.

She made to slap him away but her hands ended up fisting his shirt instead.

He moved back towards the tree, but she wouldn't let him. She pulled him back against her body now and sank to her knees, taking him with her.

He was going to lose this fight.

He was going to stop fighting.

His hands were pulling her into his lap, even as his brain tried to talk to him.

He would give her one last chance. One last out, before he gave in.

"Elph..."

She sat straddling him, her hands working on his belt while his fumbled with the buttons on the back of her dress.

"Don't."

She kissed him, almost aggressively, then pulled back and looked him straight in the eye.

"I know you're trying to do the right thing here, and I appreciate it. But if this is all we get...all I get..."

She didn't finish her sentence. She didn't have to.

His lips found hers and his teeth pulled at her bottom lip, scratched against hers.

He all but growled as she shoved his shirt off his shoulders. His hands had won the fight with the million buttons of her dress and were now sliding up her legs, pushing up her dress higher and higher, as he pushed her back onto the ground, pulling her dress off her completely.

She held her breath for a moment, as he threw the garment aside and looked at her, but the look of lust in his eyes was so clear that she didn't give herself the chance to worry over what he would think. She simply wound her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

She felt his arm slide underneath her neck, his hand coming to rest underneath her shoulder blade, but the other was all over her body, caressing what seemed like every single inch of her green green flesh, slowly but surely going lower and lower until it reached what she wanted but feared the most. But he didn't stop, he didn't stop kissing her and he didn't stop...doing what he was doing. She wasn't sure how she'd never wanted this, but knew in the back of her hazy mind that no one could have brought her this pleasure but him. She would never have let anyone else. She would never have wanted anyone else. But she wanted him.

Oh, she really wanted him. And she wanted this. She couldn't control her own body anymore, not even her mind. She'd never been without control of her mind before but she couldn't bring herself to care, because she had no idea what was happening to her, to her body, but every nerve seemed to be on edge, every muscle coiled, the tension in her body getting tighter and tighter, until...until...she whispered his name, over and over again as she let herself fall.

He didn't know how to do this. He tried, he tried with everything he had to calm down, to stay in control. It wasn't working. He'd known it would be good. He'd known she was what he wanted. He hadn't doubted that. Not ever.

But now that he was here, now that she was here, now that this was happening...

Now that she was naked, beneath him, pressing her body against his every time he tried to pull back a little, he realized that even the best of his fantasies had not prepared him properly for the real thing. He would never have been able to accurately imagine what went through him when he felt her give in, when he felt her body relax and heard his name spill from her lips. It could have been enough, but it wasn't. He'd tried to be a gentleman. He'd tried to put this off. Now he couldn't for the life of him remember why.

She raised her head a little and smiled at him, a look of wonder and awe in her eyes and it felt like...he couldn't describe what it felt like. He slid his arm back from underneath her and used the other to move her legs a little, to settle his body between them. She pulled her legs up a little, giving him better access and he wasn't sure whether that made him want to laugh or cry. He let his arms rest on the floor, on either side of her head, let his lips touch her forehead again, her cheeks, her neck and then her lips. His teeth pulled at her bottom lip and laughed and growled at the same time when that only seemed to encourage her. He pulled back a little, trying to ask her, to prepare her, to see if she was really sure, but she only pulled her legs up more, her knees brushing his hips and he moved. He sank into her and knew immediately there would be no going back from this. He was in way over his head.

He'd had sex, a lot of it and with too many women, but nothing compared to this. Nothing. Not one of them came close. Even if he hadn't been dreaming and fantasizing about this for more than three years, even if they'd gotten to this point back at Shiz, he was sure, absolutely sure, it would have been exactly like this. It wasn't the years-long wait, the dire situation, the surroundings, or the desperation of the moment that made him want to bury his face in her hair and cry, that made him want to pledge himself to her over and over and over again. It was her.

And he couldn't come back from that. He was losing control and he was losing it fast. At this pace and with all this...blasted emotion, even if he wouldn't trade it for the world, it wouldn't last much longer. And it wasn't supposed to be like that.

In a last attempt to gain control, he flipped them around, settling her on top of him, and used the time she needed to get used to her new position to take a deep breath, but then she moved her hips, leaning forward to kiss him again and she was everywhere. Her scent all around him, her hair falling forward, past her face and into his and he loved that hair, and her body was moving, taking control of his and he couldn't fight it any longer. He was outmatched in every way.

He lost.

He flipped them once more, felt her legs wrap around his waist, buried his face in her neck and let go.

He heard her whisper his name, in a sigh more than anything else, and he thought, for a fleeting moment, that if he had to die, if he had to, then at least he'd had this.

I hope you'll review...

This was a scary thing to write, but I didn't want to skip it. It had to happen, after all. They deserved it :P