Tara couldn't control the desperate moans that were escaping her as she hungrily devoured Willow's lips. Her body was rigid, her fist balled at her side as she struggled to contain the want and desire coursing through her.
It had been two weeks since Willow had voiced her fears about Tara not wanting her and in that two weeks both girls had kept to their promise of being as intimate as possible, which had included them regularly ending up in the position they were in now, lying alongside each other in bed and kissing fervently.
Over those two weeks, the kissing had become more and more frantic with each passing day, usually resulting in Tara going off for a cold shower and Willow lying in bed, trying to calm her raging body down.
Today was going to be different though and Willow decided to start the change in procedure by grabbing Tara's balled fist and flattening the blonde's palm against her jean-clad butt.
"Damn," Tara huffed in frustration, pulling away from the kiss and snatching her hand back as soon as she'd felt it come into contact, "I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to-"
Willow shook her head and grabbed Tara's hand again.
"I did it, Tara," she panted, putting the blonde's hand back on her ass, "I want you to touch me."
Tara's hand automatically squeezed the clothed flesh beneath her hand and she bit back a moan.
"Willow, sweetheart, I want that too, so badly, but-"
"No, baby," Willow cut the blonde off, meeting her gaze and looking at her intently, "We can."
Tara furrowed her brow in confusion, shaking her head.
"What?"
Willow shuffled her body closer to her wife's and cupped the back of her neck.
"Remember how I saw the doctor yesterday?"
Tara nodded, remembering how happy Willow had been when she got back from her appointment, since the doctor had said that if she continued to heal and improve at the rate she was, that she should be able to be cleared to go back to work the following week.
Willow couldn't help but grin; she'd almost jumped Tara's bones when she'd returned from her doctor's appointment the day before but had wanted to wait so she knew everything was definitely okay for them to progress to where she wanted them too.
"Well, I asked about, you know, what my body was able for in terms of..." she trailed off with a pointed look and Tara nodded her understanding, "She said that there was nothing physically holding me back and that it was really just about stopping if there was any pain. So we don't have to stop. We can make love."
"We can?" Tara asked, her eyes wide as her excitement started to bubble up inside her, "Are you sure?"
Willow blushed for a moment before speaking again.
"I, um...this morning, when you were in the shower...I kinda...you know...played around for a bit? But there was no pain, none at all. So, yea, I'm sure."
Tara bit her lip in anticipation before a cheeky smile fell on her face.
"You didn't let me watch?"
Willow's blush deepened but she got an equally mischievous smile on her face too.
"I will next time," she said, making Tara's grin even more lascivious, "And just so you know, I didn't...finish. I was just making sure I was able to so that you could...make me whole again."
"Oh Willow..." Tara moved her head forwards and met the redhead's lips again, more tenderly this time before pulling back and rolling off the bed, "Just one sec."
Tara fumbled around the room for a few moments before going over to the dresser and lighting the two candles that stood on top of it, then going over to pull the curtains closed, making the candles illuminate the bedroom with a soft, romantic glow.
She moved back towards the bed where Willow was now sitting on the edge of the mattress and went to unbutton her shirt but was stopped by the redhead motioning her forwards.
"Can I?"
Tara grinned and nodded, walking over and standing in front of her wife. Willow looked up to meet Tara's gaze and kept it as she slowly unbuttoned the blonde's shirt, caressing her sides as it was slipped over her shoulders.
"You're gorgeous," Willow said in a moan as she moved forwards and began kissing Tara's stomach.
Tara sighed softly at the contact and ran her fingers through the smaller girl's hair, stepping out of her pants when they fell around her ankles leaving her in just her bra and panties.
Willow made quick work of those as well before leaning back on her arms, admiring the nude form of her lover, rejoicing in the fact that she could look at her unrestrained, without worry of getting too overexcited and knowing they'd have to stop.
"My turn?"
Willow's head snapped up at Tara's voice and she nodded in answer to the question, proudly lifting her arms over her head, something she'd only managed to accomplish completely, pain free, in the past few days. Tara dropped to her knees and gently lifted the redhead's t-shirt over her head, smiling in delight when she saw she wasn't wearing a bra.
Her hands went to Willow's jeans and she popped the button, hooking her thumb into the waistband of those and her panties, dragging them down her wife's legs as Willow lifted her hips.
When they were finally both naked, she manoeuvred the redhead's legs back onto the bed and moved to hover over her, making sure she wasn't putting any weight on Willow's body.
"I'll be super gentle," she whispered, her face just centimetres from Willow's.
"I trust you, baby," Willow whispered back, resting her hands on the blonde's shoulders, "I love you."
Tara nuzzled their noses lightly against each other, placing short, sweet kisses on her wife's lips. Willow moved one hand to hold the back of the blonde's head, opening her mouth to allow the kiss to be deepened, moaning when Tara's tongue began playing with her own.
"I love you, Willow," Tara said when the pulled back, before she started placing warm, wet kisses down the redhead's throat.
Willow took deep lungfuls of air as her wife moved down to her clavicle, kissing her protruding bones before placing the softest of kisses over the circular scar where the bullet had entered her chest.
"Tara, not there..." Willow said tersely, trying to move the blonde's head away, "It's ugly."
Tara just placed another kiss over the scar before moving up to meet the redhead's gaze.
"Every single part of you is beautiful."
Willow turned her head off to the side and closed her eyes.
"It's rough...and nasty...and ugly."
Tara turned Willow's head back towards and waited the few seconds until the smaller girl opened her eyes again, leaning down for a quick kiss when she did so.
"Willow, this..." Tara paused and traced a finger lightly over the mark, "You got this because you risked your life for me. Because even though you knew you could die, all you could think about was protecting me. And this...it reminds me every day of close I came to losing you. Another inch, a few more minutes and you would've been gone. This makes me love you more. And it makes you more beautiful than ever."
Willow gulped and looked down at the mark, then back into Tara's eyes.
"Really?"
"Really," Tara reassured before getting a grin on her face, "Besides, weren't you the one who said that your girl couldn't resist a scar? You were right. It's very, very sexy."
Willow grinned and looked down again.
"Yea?"
"Oh yea," Tara replied breathlessly before leaning her head down, "C'mere."
Their lips met passionately again, Tara feeling like she wanted to devour the redhead until she pulled back and started kissing down her wife's body gently until she settled between her separated legs.
She placed her hands onto Willow's inner thighs and felt her breath start to come in shallow gasps as a flood of arousal went through her as she settled back into the intimate position.
She stared at her lover's core, gulping as a sudden wave of fear washed over her. She'd been so excited when Willow said they could make love again but now all she could think about was the possibility of hurting her wife.
Maybe it hadn't hurt Willow when she'd experimented earlier, but that didn't mean it wouldn't if Tara tried, even she was gentle. She continued to just stare, plagued by worry until a timid voice spoke up from above.
"Tara? Is, um...is something wrong?"
Tara looked up and gulped again, just as Willow's face crumpled and a lone tear fell down her cheek.
"I was right before, wasn't I? You don't...you can't...I'm not..."
Tara closed her eyes for a moment before placing a soft kiss on Willow's mound and moving back up in the bed, lying on her side alongside the redhead.
She leant over and wiped the few tears falling down her wife's cheek before taking the smaller girl's hand and guiding it to her mound, letting her fingers glide into her abundant wetness.
"That's how much I want you, sweetheart," she said, biting her lip as the feel of Willow's fingers made a fresh wave of arousal shoot through her. She lifted the redhead's hand away and placed Willow's palm flat against her furiously beating heart, "Feel that? All you."
Willow swallowed a few times as she stared at her hand on Tara's chest, feeling the steady thud underneath her fingers that were glistening with the blonde's need for her until her wife spoke up in a whisper.
"I'm terrified I'm going to hurt you."
Willow closed her eyes and exhaled slowly as she registered Tara's words and the continuous loud beating of her heart.
They both needed this, she realised.
They needed to make love – they were both emotional wrecks and needed to connect completely again.
With that thought in mind, she turned her hand that was over Tara's heart and entwined her fingers with the blonde's, bringing both of their hands down to rest over her own mound.
"Watch me, baby," she said quietly, removing her own hand.
Tara fluttered her eyes open and gazed longingly down at the area her hand was covering before looking back at her wife's face.
"You know me better than anyone," Willow continued, struggling to resist the urge to buck her hips at Tara's touch, "You know me better than I know myself. Watch me. If I feel even a second of pain, you'll know straight away."
"Okay," Tara nodded, liking the arrangement, "Yea. That sounds good."
Willow bent her knees upwards and Tara let two fingers glide lightly into the redhead's wetness, coming into contact with her clit, watching Willow's face intently for any signs of pain.
Willow had intended to keep her eyes open throughout, as an extra reassurance for her wife but at the first feel of the blonde's fingers on her pleasure bud, they closed and she moaned quietly.
"Mmhh...yea, baby. That feels good."
Tara continued to closely watch the redhead as she circled her fingers slowly around Willow's clit until she tentatively moved them downwards and probed her entrance.
Willow arched her hips an inch off the bed in invitation and whimpered when she felt one finger push into her bit by bit. Tara misunderstood the whimper and went to pull out but the redhead grabbed her wrist before she had a chance.
"No hurt. I've just missed you. Don't stop."
Tara closed her own eyes for a moment as she savoured the feeling of being inside her wife again before snapping them back open so she could remain looking at Willow as she began gently moving her finger in and out.
"Yes, Tara..." Willow moaned, "Can you use two?"
Tara pulled her finger out and hesitantly positioned another at her lover's entrance. Willow could feel the blonde's eyes boring into her, even though her own eyes were still closed and moved her hips down to take the length of her wife's fingers inside her.
"Oh god, Tara..." she groaned, one hand going to grip the sheet. She could feel Tara was completely tense beside her and opened her eyes to regard her, her voice and eyes pleading, "Oh baby, there's no pain, none at all. Just...just enjoy me. Please."
Tara looked between her hand that was between Willow's legs and back up at her wife's face before a small grin broke out on her face.
"Enjoy you," she whispered to herself else before a quiet giggle rose from her throat as she realised that they were really doing this again and Willow was completely able, "You feel so good."
Willow closed her eyes again and moaned in delight as Tara buried her head in the crook of her neck, kissing and nipping at her skin as her fingers started moving in and out at a quick but still gentle pace.
"Mmhh...Tara..."
Willow couldn't help the wide smile on her face as she held Tara's head to her neck, elated that they had both relaxed into the embrace they were in and were starting to return to complete normal functioning in their lives.
As well as that, the not-forgotten but missed feeling of being made love to, of Tara being inside her was beginning to overwhelm her completely as her wife's soft thrusts began hitting against her that spot inside that made her shudder with pleasure.
"I love you..."
Tara sucked the redhead's pulsepoint in response to her declaration of love as she curled her fingers again and again inside her lover. She was still lying on her side, not wanting to put any undue weight on Willow, and could feel a strain in her neck as she kissed and licked the places on the smaller girl's neck that Willow loved but wasn't about to stop for anything as small contractions began around her fingers.
"T-Tara..." Willow moaned, one hand still gripping the sheet as the other held the blonde to her neck, "Baby, I-I'm..."
Willow gasped as a warm feeling spread throughout her body, any and all tension her body had built up evaporating in a string of continuous pleasure that made her toes curl and lights flash behind her eyelids.
She was absently aware of tender kisses being placed around her ear and down her cheek until soft lips touched her own and she felt herself burst into tears. Tara tasted the salty liquid of her wife's tears on her lips as she kissed her and softly wiped them away with her thumb before Willow pulled away from the kiss.
"Baby...these are...these are good-"
"I know," Tara cut her off quietly, knowing the tears flowing down her wife's cheeks weren't those of pain, just of overwhelming emotion and happiness, "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm right here."
Tara placed soft kisses on Willow's face as the redhead continued to cry softly, until she quietly drifted off into unconsciousness with the blonde still nestled inside her.
Tara watched her breath even out completely and pulled her fingers out, grabbing the blanket at the end of the bed and covering them, cuddling into her wife's side and putting a protective arm around her waist.
"I love you, beautiful."
Her voice was a whisper into the softly lit room and she lay there, watching Willow sleep peacefully as the two candles blew themselves out and the last light disappeared behind the curtains, plunging their bedroom into complete darkness.
Tara could still make out Willow's features though and placed a final, loving kiss against her lips before she too succumbed to deep sleep.