A/N Basically, an entire chapter of the Doctor and Rose doing...what they should have been doing all along. ;) This was originally going to be combined with the chapter that follows, but that one is still a work in progress since I'm essentially writing it twice to provide two options for the rating. The next chapter will be heavily edited down here, but the unedited Mature version will be posted on Teaspoon.

Chapter 24

Though they came out as a hushed whisper, they were of the most powerful words ever uttered from one to another. "Doctor, I love you."

If Rose could have planned the perfect moment to finally speak those three words to the Doctor, this would not have been it. Not because she wasn't more than ready to open her heart to him fully without holding back, but because their current positions didn't allow her to even see his response, and all she had to go by as a guide was the deafening silence accompanying her words as they continued to echo back loudly in her ears.

The Doctor's fingers on the laces of her gown had instantly stilled, and there was no sound, no movement from him. Rose suddenly felt as if her chest was constricting inward, tighter and tighter until she could barely breathe. She wanted, needed to turn and look into his eyes – those eyes which had the ability to communicate more than mere words ever could; but at the same time she was so afraid of what she might see. They had shared so much more between them in the span of this one night than they ever had yet, but maybe this was just too much – these words far too much and meant to remain as they had been, carried within but never uttered, never spoken.

And for the Doctor the words were too much. Too much for him to now bury and continue on as if he had not been affected, not been shaken to the core that these words could come at such a time, on the heels of allowing Rose to glimpse the darkness buried within him. The Doctor's threads of control had been snapping one by one, and that final thread began to fray and give way.

The intense silence following her potent declaration was too much for Rose to bear. She had to see into the Doctor's eyes, to either quell her fears of rejection or to magnify them, but she had to see. Nearly trembling, Rose moved to turn, to face him, but his hands stilled her. Abandoning any attempt or thought to re-lace her gown, his left hand moved up to cup her shoulder as his right hand slid down her arm, then around her waist, drawing her closer and holding her to him in an embrace that made her soul ache for him, to be allowed closer still.

His words then came low and hushed, the vibration of his chest passing through her back as he all but whispered, "You shouldn't."

Rose shook her head faintly. Would this man ever learn how to simply stop fighting this – stop fighting himself? If she had to be his teacher, so be it. Rose gathered her resolve and managed to form a reply. "Do you know just how late...how much too late it is for that?"

His reply, voice deep and emotional, was both predictably vague and astonishingly honest. "I think I do."

Rose paused for a breath and tried to speak again, to say something more, or to even find the courage to repeat those words that had brought them to this moment, but it came out as a shuddering exhale of air.

"Shhh," he whispered to her, a soft breath against her ear. "Just...stay."

There was only one reply for her to give. "Forever."

His embrace tightened as she sank back willingly into him. The tangible reality of his arms around her soothed down some of her fear that she had gone that final step too far and that he would finally turn and run from this.

And the urge to flee while he was still capable of doing so was pulsing a warning in mauve at the back of the Doctor's mind; yet it warred against the white-hot urge to draw so much closer than he had ever dared. For just this moment, at least, he wasn't running. Even though a very large part of him was sounding alarm bells and saying this was far, far, far too dangerous a path to tread. But it was too late for that now and he knew it. It had been too late to turn back from this long before this night.

And he was so tired of running.

So tired of losing.

So tired of holding himself back from ever having what he wanted most.

Just a touch, he told himself. Just one. He would just allow himself one touch more, one touch closer than he had before, and this time a touch and taste of Rose that had nothing to do with taking death from her lips as a selfless hero. This was about taking life, selfish as it might be. Maybe this would be enough to dull the ache which was becoming a slow and steady burn.

The side of his face pressed to her head, and he lost himself in her potent, intoxicating scent, filling his lungs with her essence that his entire being craved. He let himself become immersed in it, drown in it as he breathed her into himself. He brushed his face lower and nuzzled his nose to the side of her soft, warm cheek, her flesh aflame with the hot blood coursing through her veins.

Rose sat motionless and barely breathing, afraid that one move would shatter the tenuous intimacy that suddenly existed between them. His warm breath puffed out against her cheek through parted lips, and the urge to turn into his lips, to close that minute distance, was almost overpowering her. Then his lips touched her cheek, so soft, just a whisper, but the intimate contact sent a powerful jolt through her body.

"Rose...," he whispered her name, the single needful word caressing her skin, and Rose was no longer able to resist the magnetic pull towards him – the pull that had always existed but was now far too powerful to subdue. She turned her head, his nose gliding across her cheek as her face moved to his. At this blurred proximity, she could just make out his half-lidded eyes, black pupils almost entirely overtaking the brown of his irises.

Something powerful and crackling shifted in the air. Time itself seemed to bend around them and leave them untouched by its progression so that they remained suspended in this one moment. He was waiting, she knew, for her to make the next move. Whatever happened next, he would not take this. She had to give it.

And she did.

A fraction of a movement was all it took to finally, finally breach that divide. Rose pressed her full lips to his, her body sinking further into him as their mouths joined in perfect union. For the span of several heartbeats neither one moved. Neither was able. This single sensation from this one intimate point of contact temporarily left them both powerless.

Then Rose finally moved, driven by instinct as old as Time and fueled by insuppressible need. Slowly, her lips moved and slid against his, hyper-aware of every sensation the movement created – the fullness of his lips, their perfect shape molded to hers, the softness and coolness against her own burning mouth – she cataloged every element so that if this never happened again, she would never ever forget this one moment.

His mouth was soft and pliant beneath hers, but other than his fingers curling more tightly into her shoulder he didn't move, he didn't respond back. Rose felt a strong mixture of emotions – a deep flash of disappointment, a rush of embarrassment, yet a feeling of utter surprise that he had even allowed this much without stopping her or turning away.

It was Rose who drew back with a soft sound of release. Her eyes slowly opened, and when they found his, she saw that he was already focused on her intensely, and the powerful look within his eyes made her breath catch and come to a halt on its way up her throat. It was a look of hunger, almost ferocity. It was the look of a man staring down what he was desperate for. So much so that he might actually reach out and grasp it, possess it. And she was offering him this.

She was offering and he was taking, and she barely had time to pull in a breath before his lips were on hers again, firm and seeking and driven.

His arm around her waist moved up to grasp her other shoulder and pulled, urging as she turned more fully into him. One knee came to rest on his thigh as she faced him on the bed. Both his hands went to her face, angling her head for access to what had been denied for so long. Rose gripped at his shoulders, steadying herself as she felt her head begin to spin under the onslaught of passion finding release. When his tongue slipped out between his lips, she couldn't suppress a whimper which soon became a deep groan as he traced with precision the circumference of her lips, first the top, then the bottom. He prodded the slackened seal of her lips and she opened freely to him as they merged deeply, his right hand sliding through her hair to come to rest as an anchor at the base of her head.

Neither could think beyond this instant nor weigh what might come next if this progressed. They simply let this single moment of longing meeting release break over them, sweeping them along in its current. His cool tongue sought and found hers, drawing her out. It was a shared dance of discovery that had them both burning and hungering for more. Soft sounds rose in their throats, passed between them and merged as one with every touch, every sweet, intoxicating taste. His left hand drifted from her face and skimmed down her side, reaching her waist and urging her closer still. Rose moved fully atop him then, the hem of her long gown pooling around them as she straddled his lap, one knee on either side of his thighs.

His hand roamed back up her side, across her shoulder, fingertips trailing up her throat and to her jaw, cupping her face as he explored her in a way that let her know just how much he craved her. No words were needed for this to be understood. His questing tongue traced the smooth line of her upper teeth, then swirled across the roof of her mouth, and Rose moaned deeply, clutching him tighter. His tongue moved lower, dipping behind her bottom lip before withdrawing his tongue altogether in favor of pulling her lower lip into his mouth, taking it gently between his teeth as pleasure and a rush of fervent desire rippled through her, before his tongue again moved to caressed the plump flesh in a long, sweeping stroke.

His explorations left Rose craving more of him. A powerful ache was steadily building deep inside her, desperate to join her soul with his. She wanted him. All of him. His beautiful inner light and his ugly demons – all that the Doctor was and had ever been, she wanted him wholly. She didn't even know his name. So much about this alien – this powerful being of Time – was still a mystery, yet she loved this man so, so much to the point that she could barely breathe in the wake of its unleashing.

She wanted to know every part of him previously withheld – wanted to taste and explore every crevice of his cool mouth as he had hers. Her burning tongue plunged into his mouth, tasting and devouring and learning of him in this way she thought she would never be allowed. He tasted of cool spring rain and warm spiced tea, both quenching her thirst and leaving her parched for more. She drank him in, relishing every gorgeous sound she elicited from him in response, noting which flick of her tongue or suckle of her lips made him tremor, redoubling her efforts. She marveled at this perfection the two were able to create between them, yet had always known this was how it could be if ever allowed. His seeking tongue chased after hers as she drew back a fraction, and Rose captured it, suckling the tip of his tongue before releasing and closing her mouth around his full bottom lip, nibbling and suckling as his hands tangled in her hair, a deep, low groan rumbling through his chest. She wanted to hear that sound again and again. Now that she had been privy to it, once could never be enough.

Yet her lungs were burning and she needed to breathe, feeling as breathless and starved for oxygen as she would if she had just been running flat out for miles. Rose pulled back, placing a succession of moist kisses to his swollen lips between gulping breaths of air, kisses he returned with fervor, barely affording her a chance to breathe.

They slowly stilled, foreheads pressed together and chests heaving. Both his hands moved up to frame her face as he tipped her head up slightly, her eyes opening to look into his, black and fathomless and shining.

He simply gazed into her eyes, spellbound, hers having transformed into pools of warmth and love and passion – and all for him. How could he have thought one touch from this woman could ever be enough? Yet if they went further, could he ever breathe again without her?

"Rose," he whispered again, still breathless, his voice ragged. "This can end here," he offered, and Rose felt her stomach tighten then drop. "We don't have to go any further. We can stay as we've been and nothing has to change."

"It already has," she whispered back, still laboring to breathe. "Everything has changed. And I want this. I want you. All of you. I love you so much that it makes me ache inside," she confessed as he sucked in a breath, those three words again rocketing through them both. "And if you want me too then I'm yours. Always. Just yours." Rose leaned back from him just slightly, her hands sliding from his shoulders to rest on his chest. Her gown was still open in the back and one of the sleeves had fallen off her shoulder, barely concealing her from him. Yet being concealed – physically and emotionally – was the battle they were fighting to overcome. Her next action was not a tactic of seduction but an offering of pure, open surrender to this man whom she loved with the very depths of her soul. Though it had taken courage, he had already bared a deep, hidden part of himself to her, and Rose needed him to know she would withhold nothing from him now. She was his, if that was what he wanted. And she would place herself in the most vulnerable position yet to let him know this without a doubt.

With her eyes fixed on his, her hands moved up to her own shoulders, then slid down her arms as she pushed lower, catching the gown with her fingers and slipping it from her body, off her other shoulder, down her arms, her chest, until it gathered at her waist. Rose dipped her head as she slipped her arms free.

Nearly trembling now, she swallowed hard and lifted her eyes back to his. His dark eyes were wide, mouth slack and parted. His eyes were locked on hers for several of the most intense seconds of her life, but then broke free, slowly traveling down her uncovered body as his nostrils flared. Rose felt a hot rush of blood flood her face, a fiery blush coloring her cheeks and chest, and she had to fight the impulse to bring her arms up and cover herself. She had never felt so exposed while at the same time so consumed with desire. She couldn't hide it. Her skin was flushed from the rush of arousal flooding through her. If he actually touched her now like this she thought she just might die from the intensity if just his eyes upon her alone was anything to go by, but if he was now going to reject her at such a moment, that just might kill her as well. All she knew was that she couldn't survive this agonizing silence much longer, not knowing what he was going to say or do.

Rose took her lower lip between her teeth and bit down until she nearly drew blood. She pulled in a breath and forced herself to speak. "I'm yours," she repeated, echoing her earlier declaration. "I want you and I need you and I love you. I'm done hiding and done pretending. And whatever you want, whatever you need, I–"

His swift movement caused her to gasp. In an instant she found herself on her back against the bed, lying beneath him as his body hovered over hers. His hands were planted on either side of her head, strong arms supporting himself above her. He just stared down at her for several silent moments. As his dark, intense eyes searched hers Rose actually thought he was now going to pull away and end this. Doubts and second thoughts had caught back up with him and overtaken him yet again, she thought. But then she saw something break within his guarded eyes just seconds before his mouth lowered to hers.

Just before touching, he whispered the words of his answer across her lips, and the desperation in his voice alone told them both there was no stopping this now. "I need you."