A/N Rose is finally remembering her Doctor, but there's still a little more rediscovering to do, and they get a decent start on it here. ;)

Chapter 33

"I...I do need something."

He nodded. "Anything, Rose. What is it?"

"I need you."

The air in the space between them was electric, crackling with tension and potent potential as both stood silent, eyes locked. The Doctor took three slow steps closer.

"You have me, Rose," he replied in a soft, gentle voice, yet with a slight strain on those last words that showed the intensity he felt within was just barely contained.

Her rush of boldness temporarily fled beneath the power of this force suddenly between them that stole her ability to breathe. Rose found herself ducking her eyes from ones that were almost burning into hers, then turned back towards the mirror, her arms crossing over her exposed midsection. "I...I was just wondering if you would stay with me tonight...as I slept."

Rose heard his footsteps draw nearer from behind, then quivered with a small start as his hands came to rest gently on her bare shoulders, thumbs softly stroking. She lifted her eyes to meet his deep, intense gaze in the mirror as he stood behind her, so close his body was now brushing against hers. The wool of his suit created delicious friction across her back as he leaned in closer.

A shiver ran down her spine as his hot breath danced across her ear. "Always," he whispered. "Tonight and every night for as long as you'll have me, Rose. Never doubt that."

Rose tried to form a reply, but then his hands began traveling over her skin and any words she had vanished, lost to his touch.

His open palms slowly moved from her shoulders, smoothed down her upper arms, to her elbows, then back up to rest on her shoulders. Rose had never quite thought of her arms as erogenous zones, but she imagined there wasn't a place on her body he could touch without creating a fire inside her. His voice was low, still hovering near her ear. "You're shivering. You should finish getting undressed and then put on something warm."

With his firm body pressed against hers and his hands on her skin, being cold was suddenly not an issue. Rose managed to speak, despite the blood now rushing in her ears. "I'm not shivering from being cold."

This time it wasn't just his breath that ghosted across her ear, but his lips, his voice the caress of a lover. "From this, Rose?" His hands followed the same path down again, then slowly back up with just the tips of his fingers. "From me?"

Rose nodded, her hair brushing the side of his face, her reply breathless. "Yes."

"Is it okay that I touch you?" His voice rumbled low in his chest, but his words were infinitely gentle.

Oh, yes! Rose inwardly cried, but her voice had momentarily fled. Inhaling deeply, her words managed to come out as she then released her breath. "I want you to touch me."

She could feel his lips curve into a smile against her ear. She dared to meet his eyes again in the mirror, and he was indeed smiling faintly, though it wasn't smug, but brimming with love.

The Doctor closed his eyes briefly. He wasn't trying to seduce her. If all Rose wanted from him tonight was for him to hold her as she slept then he was more than happy to again have that bit of intimacy between them, but he couldn't stop from voicing his honesty over how just this alone made him feel. "Ohhh, and I want to touch you, Rose. So, so much. You don't know how I've missed you...missed feeling your skin beneath mine like this."

She bit her lip to hold back a whimper as her head slightly tipped to the side against his. His smooth palms roamed once again down her arms until he met her hands that were crossed over her elbows. She still held her arms wrapped around herself in absent covering, more now to steady herself by gripping something than to close herself off from him.

Lacing his fingers through hers, he gently lifted her hands away, uncrossing her arms. He brought her hands up to his lips, brushed a kiss across the knuckles of each, then gently placed them down at her sides. His lips then pressed to her shoulder, cool and scorching at the same time. Rose shuddered from the feel of his moist lips on her flesh, barely swallowing down a moan in response. With his left hand trailing up and cupping her shoulder, Rose felt her skin tingle beneath his fingers as his right hand then stroked down the plane of her belly. Their eyes locked in the mirror. He inched his hand lower and caressed back and forth below her navel, his smallest finger grazing just below the edge of her waistband as goosebumps rose and scattered across her rapidly-heating flesh. His hand stilled, long fingers splaying wide.

"Right here," he whispered in reverence, "is our miracle."

Rose lifted her right hand to cover his. Her voice was hushed, filled with awe. "We created this."

His tone was thick with emotion. "Yes, we did."

Seeing his reflection was no longer enough. She needed to see directly into those eyes. Rose turned in his arms, her hands floating up to rest on his chest as his settled on the small of her back, cradling her body to his. She thought back to the conversation of their near-kiss. His words, "If you ever decide you'd like to do it again, I won't stop you," were repeating through her mind until they were all she could hear.

Her eyes fell to his lips and lingered, but then roved the features of his face, taking him in. Rose lifted her hand, and with a single finger traced his features, recommitting him to memory. She now remembered his face, but she was relearning how it felt to touch him, to be allowed this. Rose wanted to touch, to feel all of him. But this gorgeous face she adored was a welcome starting point. She swept across his forehead, down the bridge of his nose, followed a scattering of freckles on the pale skin of his cheek, over to his left sideburn, then scratched lightly across the slight stubble of his jaw. This time it was the Doctor's turn to shiver as his eyes momentarily fell shut. Finally, Rose's fingers found his mouth, her thumb following the pink curve of his bottom lip.

The Doctor's eyes opened and fixed on hers. Rose leaned in closer, and true to his word the Doctor didn't stop her, would have been incapable of stopping her as he whispered her name in the space between them, dipped his head and met her halfway. Their lips melded as perfectly together as Rose had always imagined they would. Rose nearly forgot how to breathe as his tongue slipped out to test the seal of her lips and his arms drew her flush against him. She opened to him as he swallowed her moan that followed. As the kiss deepened, it was a level of perfection she had never known, yet at the same time never lost. The memories of their love may have been hidden but never wiped away.

Her tongue met his as they drank each other in. Anchoring her to him with one hand pressed to her back, the other came up to her hair, his fingers sweeping through the silken strands and grasping the back of her head. The Doctor had told Rose he held back from allowing himself to kiss her before because the remnant of their bond would be difficult to suppress. That became vibrantly true now as their shared passion caused their all but severed link to pulse and flare into life.

Managing to hold on to some form of coherence before he lost himself completely, the Doctor focused down their rapidly-surging link, and through that touch with Rose's mind he sought their child's essence, protectively shielding the baby's link to Rose while placing boundaries around the bond he and Rose shared. With the safety measures in place he was unable to refrain from intensifying their connection, driven by instinct. Rose gasped into the kiss as the power between them surged, but he didn't let up, only grew more intense and urgent.

Rose could feel his love for her and it was nearly overwhelming. She finally broke free for half a second to pull in air before his mouth was on hers again, reclaiming his bond mate with an almost feral growl. Rose's hands went to his head, threading through his hair and tugging as their tongues stroked, tasted and rediscovered, the flame within burning hotter and all-consuming.

Finally, they withdrew simply to pull oxygen into their burning, deprived lungs, the Doctor having lost control of his respiratory bypass. Rose had never seen anything more gorgeous than the Doctor as she opened her eyes and took in the sight of him. His glistening lips were parted and swollen, his breathing erratic, darkened eyes half-closed, and his hair even more sexily mussed than usual from her untamed, exploratory fingers. She decided he should always look like this.

Oh, how she loved him. She needed him to know. He did, but she needed to say it – needed to hear herself as the words were spoken to him. Rose stroked down his cheek with her fingers as she gazed into his deep, fathomless eyes, her own beginning to shine as crystal tears gathered on her lashes. "I love you, Doctor. I love you so much. Even when I woke up and didn't know who you were, I could feel it. Even when I thought you were just a doctor and I was just your patient, I could feel that love – so strong it sometimes scared me. I still can hardly believe that I'm able to say this to you now, but I have always loved you, and I always will."

He let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob as he drew her against his chest and held her tight. "I wish I had the words, Rose," he spoke against the top of her head. "I wish there was a way for me to say exactly what you are to me, but I just..." He shook his head slightly.

Rose pulled back enough to look up into his eyes. The Doctor raked one hand roughly through his hair and growled in frustration. "Words are usually so easy for me. I can talk my way out of a life or death situation, or talk myself into one, and even talk the spots off a Lixiform. But when it comes to saying how I feel about you, Rose, I don't say it enough because the words often just...fail me. Words just aren't enough."

Rose linked her hands together behind his neck. "I already know. I know because you have told me." A slow smile began to curve her lips. "But you're more a man of action, yeah? More about showing."

His eyes darkened noticeably. "Yes."

Rose leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "Then show me."

A low groan rumbled through his chest, the sound tugging deep within her as he took her face in his hands and brought his lips to hers once more. This time it was even more raw and hungry, filled with pent-up emotions that came rushing out like the breaking of a dam, teeth clacking and tongues battling as the pain, conflict, fear and joy of the past tumultuous weeks broke free and found release.

Their pace gradually slowed and mouths finally separated a fraction. The Doctor pressed his forehead to hers, their breath mingling in the intimate space between them as he spoke. "Rose, if I don't stop now..."

Rose cut short his words, pressing her open mouth to his. She pulled back long enough to whisper. "Don't stop. Don't ever stop." Half-lidded eyes rose to his, her voice barely perceivable over the sound of their heavy breathing combined with the ocean's surf echoing through the room. "I know you'd wait a lifetime for me, but I don't want us to wait any longer. It's been too long already. Make love to me, Doctor."

The intensity in his dark and dilated eyes pulled the breath right out of her lungs. Yet when he dipped his head and kissed her, it was so tender, filled with such engulfing love that it brought fresh tears to her eyes. He whispered into her mouth between kisses. "Our bond...if we give ourselves over to each other like this...completely...," his mouth descended to her neck as his hands skimmed up her ribcage and she trembled, "it will be fully re-established. I wouldn't be able to stop it."

Rose's hands went to his head to hold him in place as he sucked at her pulse point. "Is it dangerous?" she asked breathily, her voice catching as he laved the flesh he'd been suckling with his tongue.

He pulled back just enough to lock his eyes onto hers, his voice low. "It's very dangerous. It's always been dangerous." His open palms rose higher and skimmed up over her chest, the only barrier between them a scrap of white satin and lace, and Rose felt her legs quiver as a shot of electricity pulsed through her body. His hands moved up to frame her face. "It means you own a part of my soul."

"Just as you own mine," Rose rasped, drawing his head down and crashing her lips to his.