Thanks for all the reviews/favorites/follows!

This part is rated M. See prior chapters for other relevant disclaimers.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

Rachel started going to Finn's house nearly every Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30. In between experiencing each other physically Finn made sure that they also, like, talked. At first she didn't say much, but he could tell that she liked being asked how her different activities were going. That got her to open up a bit & she started asking him about his stuff as well. One evening they even studied for their Health exam together, and when Finn mentioned that he was having trouble with Algebra, Rachel happily explained polynomial functions until the X's and Y's started to make a little more sense to him.

It was nice, the routine they seemed to fall into.

Meanwhile, at school, he made a point of talking to her whenever he could. Based on her promise that she wouldn't respond favorably, they were never really long conversations. Sometimes he just said "Hey, Berry" when he passed her in the hallway, complete with a cocky smirk. She was usually pretty quick to roll her eyes or respond with a dismissive, "Hello, Hudson."

Or, if he walked by her table at lunch when she was in the middle of an animated discussion with a friend, he said something like "Oooh, which one of you made Berry angry?" to which she'd usually just tell him to shut up and ignore him.

(She was the one who started with the last-names thing. "The impersonal nature of addressing one another that way lends itself to the appearance that our relationship is purely adversarial," she explained one afternoon, straddling his lap while he sat on the edge of his bed.)

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

A bonus to their "adversarial" public relationship, he learned, was that it seemed to fuel her appetite... for him. On the days when he teased her in the halls, she basically jumped him the second she arrived. Sometimes they didn't even make it up to his room... like when she simply got on her knees on the welcome mat in the front hallway while he leaned back against the door. (For the record, he sat her down on the stairs and returned the favor right away.)

One day, they managed to find their way upstairs, but things still got very heated very fast and Finn became overwhelmed by the feeling that he needed her completely. He had obviously enjoyed what they'd been doing so far, but they hadn't yet done everything and he wasn't sure how to bring that up. For a moment he wracked his brain over how to broach the topic (while also trying to concentrate on what he was doing to her) when she beat him to it.

"Do you... mmm... have a condom?"

He immediately lifted his head from between her legs and sat up.

"I, uh, yeah," he stammered, studying her heaving chest and lust-filled eyes as he scooted upwards on the bed and reached for his nightstand drawer. "You've... um... before?"

"Yes," she answered, biting her lip as if she was a little embarrassed before seductively her eyes narrowed at him. "But I'm assuming you'd rather do it with me now than talk about those other times, right?"

"Yeah. Yes. Definitely," he responded, worried that he sounded too eager. Luckily her only response to was grab the back of his neck and pull him in for a ridiculously hot kiss.

(Yeah, he didn't want to hear about Rachel doing it with that asshat Jesse... and she absolutely didn't need to hear about his awful first-time experience with Santana, he thought while she pushed down his boxers.)

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

Of course, the timing of their progression to sex was pretty bad considering they took that step right before Christmas break. Rachel went away on a cruise with her dads for 10 days, during which time Finn thought he was going to go insane thinking about her and re-living the mind-blowing experience in his head. Despite trying to keep up her tough exterior she'd seemed so dainty and vulnerable when he pushed into her for the first time. And when she tightened around him, her back arching and her eyes closing and her throat vibrating with a wordless moan... yeah, that was basically the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Aside from that, he also just missed being around her, the way she blushed when he complimented her or giggled when he made a pun about her boobs. Being apart only reminded him of how much he liked her and wanted to have a real relationship instead of just sneaking around.

(If Puck knew about all that he'd threaten to remove Finn's balls, he was sure.)

I'm back ;-) she texted him on the last day of vacation.

His jeans felt tight just from hearing that they were in the same zip code again.

Awesome, when can I see you? he wrote back, spelling out all the words because she once mentioned that she hated abbreviations in texts.

Mmm, how about at school tomorrow morning? There's a small, soundproof rehearsal room backstage in the auditorium...

Finn had been hoping for some way to see her that night, but the next morning would have to do since her dads were probably around and his mom was having her weekly book club meeting in their living room.

Getting up early was a small price to pay.

"Uhn, I missed you." The words flowed from his mouth instinctively as he pressed her against the wall of the small space, attacking her lips like he was drowning and she was his only available source of oxygen.

He felt her tense against him. "I missed you, too," she said with some hesitation, before slowly relaxing into the next kiss.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

January basically flew by as they tried to fit their secret meetings in amongst other activities – basketball practice and games for Finn, auditions and logistical planning for the spring musical for Rachel.

Before he knew it, Finn was printing out fliers for the team's annual Valentine's week bake sale.

Maybe he should have told Rachel about it a few nights before, when she mentioned that the drama club was also going to have a bake sale to boost its fundraising... but not telling her fit in nicely with the little game they were playing.

He put his signs up in the main hallway while Rachel and her friends were watching, making sure to wink at her from across the way. She crossed her arms and huffed.

In the cafeteria, he taped his flier directly over one of hers, causing her to storm out of the room entirely.

When she spun on the balls of her feet to walk away, Finn noticed that she was wearing skin-tight knee-high heeled boots.

He suddenly felt even better about his decision to egg her on.

"You know you've got some nerve," she said sharply when he opened the door for her that afternoon.

He shot her his best devilish smirk. "Good to see you too, Berry."

"The drama club put up fliers a week ago about our bake sale fundraiser. The basketball team can't just decide on a whim to have one at the same time! It isn't enough that sports get all the attention and glory and school-board funding? You have to step on my toes when it comes to student fundraising as well!?" She was livid.

"I'm stepping on your toes? Please. Everyone knows that the basketball team has had a Valentine's bake sale every year since, like, forever. If anyone's overstepping, it's you and your band of singing, dancing… diva-freaks!"

He saw Rachel stifling a giggle, clearly amused at his lame choice of words.

"Well, how are we gonna to settle this?" he asked, eyes narrowing at her.

She quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching them. "I'm going to teach you a lesson about how 'diva-freaks' always get what they want."

With that she forced him backwards and pushed her way into the house. As soon as the door closed behind them her lips latched onto his, tongue instantly probing his mouth. He groaned and squeezed her ass roughly through her puffy winter coat, which she unzipped and shrugged off of her shoulders without relenting her oral assault.

"You think you can just barge in here and teach me a lesson, huh?" he said huskily between kisses, fueled by the intensity of their "fight". "Maybe I have a few things to school you about."

Rachel moaned as his lips traveled roughly down her neck, her hands wildly grasping at his back through his thin t-shirt. He felt an odd sense of pride that his muted aggression always got her going like this. He turned his back towards the stairs, their actions growing sloppier while they maneuvered up the steps before arriving at the top landing.

After a few more paces they stumbled into his room more or less entwined, tongues frantically dueling and hands groping wildly. When they reached the bed Rachel sat down on its edge while Finn deftly whisked off his t-shirt.

Meanwhile, she reached down to the zipper of her right boot, but before she could make any progress with it Finn abruptly grasped her wrist. Then he pushed her back so she was laying sprawled out on the bed, and pinned both of her arms above her head with one of his hands. After a beat of intense eye contact he kissed her hard on the mouth, snaking his free hand up under her dress. She gasped as his long fingers stroked the smooth skin of her flat stomach before slipping under her bra and squeezing a breast, working her nipple into a taut peak while his mouth roamed downward to lave at her neck.

With her arms immobilized above her head she was powerless to do anything other than writhe and arch up into Finn's touch. Obviously quite pleased with her state of wantonness he directed his attention lower, palming her core through her thin panties.

"Mmm… Hudson…" she moaned, eyes fluttering closed as she squirmed against his strong hand.

He laughed a little to himself at the fact that she was still "in character" from their argument even though they were alone.

Not wanting to waste any time, he practically ripped her panties off of her, shucking the scrap of material down and hurriedly pulling it off of her boot-clad feet.

He leaned over to his nightstand to grab a condom, releasing her arms out of necessity. Within seconds her hands found the fly of his jeans and tore them down along with his boxers. Once he was naked he quickly sheathed his rock-hard member and hovered over her again, sliding a finger along her slick folds before positioning himself at her entrance.

"Ohh!" she exclaimed as he pushed all the way into her slick channel with a single smooth thrust. She wrapped her legs around his thighs, the heels of her boots pressing into his naked flesh as he quickly established a rhythm.

When she started clawing at his back and moaning in time with his thrusts he knew that she was close. Reaching between them he swiped his thumb against her small bundle of nerves, moving it in a steady circle until she seized in pleasure underneath him. The feeling of her walls fluttering around his cock and her heels digging into his legs sent him over the edge immediately thereafter.

Afraid of crushing her small frame he did his best to collapse in a heap next to her as opposed to directly on top of her.

"'Singing, dancing diva-freaks?'" Rachel asked after she caught her breath, situating herself on her side and raising her eyebrows at him.

"That's not what you and your friends are?" he asked snidely as he turned to face her directly.

"Fair point," she conceded, exhaling loudly before putting her underwear back on and straightening out the rest of her clothes.

"And what about you, huh? That was quite the performance," he teased, brushing a stray hair out of her eyes. "'I'm gonna teach you a lesson'? All I could imagine was you tying me up and punishing me. Especially with these boots you're wearing. I mean… fuck." He flopped over onto his back as if admitting defeat in the face of her attire.

Rachel laughed heartily at the sentiment. "So that's why you were so eager today. I'll keep that in mind for the future," she teased him as she sat up and then stood from the bed.

"You're going so soon?" he asked sadly.

"Yes." She wrinkled her brow. "I need to start being more careful. Last week I ran into Tina and had to make up some story about a random errand that brought me to this part of the neighborhood. The longer I stay, the greater the risk of someone catching us."

Finn gently rolled his eyes. "I'm still not sure why 'us' has to be a secret."

It was the first time he'd mentioned that issue in months, and he immediately felt bad for being semi-obnoxious about it instead of bringing it up in a more heartfelt way.

Rachel seemed to get it, sitting back down on the edge of the bed next to where his large body was still stretched out. "As I've explained before, I exert influence at school based largely on disdain for jocks like yourself… not to mention youin particular. If anyone finds out that I'd succumbed to this animalistic attraction we seem to share, I'll never be taken seriously in my bids for class president and lead theatrical roles and whatever other obstacles I decide to conquer. Besides, you know that everyone else at school would look at you differently if you and I were openly dating. It's just... easier this way."

"I guess," he conceded, sitting up on his elbows. "But… that's all you think this is? 'Animalistic attraction?'" He sighed, his mind flashing back to the rehearsal room several weeks prior. "I really do care about you."

"I care about you too, but there are other things to consider. For now I need to get out of here. We'll talk soon."

With that she scampered out of the room, leaving him naked on his bed to stare at the ceiling and contemplate the dilemma that their secret relationship presented.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

One more part left! ;-)