A/N: So, here's the last installment. Happy Independence Day to my fellow countrymen (and women, of course)!

Once Upon a Stormy Night

Chapter 3: They

He was there faster than she'd expected.

She took longer to answer the door than he'd expected.

They and their bodies were both humming with anticipation, but old habits and old insecurities had reared their ugly heads.

She was afraid he'd change his mind as soon as she opened the door.

He was afraid she'd change her mind if he didn't speed his way over here. With as long as it took her to open her door, he was afraid she had changed her mind.

The door suddenly opened.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Can I come in?"

Mac stood with her hand still on her doorknob, gaping at Harm as he stood in her hall. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and the sexiest pair of jeans he owned. She knew from previous sightings that those particular jeans hugged his six like a lover and the front…oh, god, the front…it wasn't immodest by any means, but you could still tell he was well endowed beneath its zipper. The pigment of the denim varied as it followed the contours of his manhood, and it was all she could do not to kneel down and free him. She licked her lips

"Um, Mac?"

"What?" Startled, her eyes bolted to his.

"I said, can I come in?"

Of course, you can come in, Harm. Why do you even need to ask?

Because he's still standing in the hall and you haven't moved so he can come in, you dolt!

"Oh, of course. Please. Come in, Harm." She tried to gracefully step aside and motion him in, but, she thought ruefully, she probably looked more like a drunk chimp welcoming him to the zoo.

Harm stepped over the threshold and Mac closed the door behind him, leaning against it for a moment to regain her equilibrium. Her legs were rubbery, and her panties, the ones she'd been wearing when she'd been on the phone with Harm, were growing even more moist as her sexual juices started to flow.

"Mac?" Harm's voice was husky as he turned around.

"Yes?"

"Do you want me to go?"

What?!

"What?"

"I asked if you wanted me to go. We don't have to do this. I probably shouldn't be over here now—"

"NO!" Mac all but shouted. "No," she repeated, more softly. "I don't." She bit her lip, a certain thought entering her mind. "Do you want to go?"

Harm's 'no' was just as emphatic as hers, and yet still, the two of them just stared at each other.

Mac braved conversation first. "I-I'm just…nervous, I guess."

A softer, sweeter version of his flyboy grin gently lit up Harm's face. "So am I, but Mac…I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be."

"And I wouldn't have invited you if I didn't want you here." She grinned back at him, still feeling shy.

"Well…"

"Well…" she repeated.

"How do we handle this?" Harm asked gently.

"I-I don't know…I want to…you know…but I'm sca—" Her voice choked and she looked away from him as her eyes stung with tears.

"Scared?" he finished for her, and Mac nodded, still not looking at him. She suddenly felt his heat as he stepped closer to her, raising her chin with his finger. "That's okay, Mac. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared too. What we did tonight already…we've never done that before."

"No, we haven't, and I can't help but wonder what it meant."

"I see…you're afraid it was just…" He raised his eyebrow at her in inquiry.

"I don't know…just…just something to pass the time, to calm us down—"

"Mac, I think we were anything but calm."

Mac lightly smacked his arm. "I know, I know…I mean, you, we, were nervous about the storm. Or maybe it was just to scratch an itch…or maybe we just got carried away…"

Harm drew her into his arms. "Mac, baby…I was nervous about the storm…but the storm ended…and we didn't even know it had. I wanted to keep you on the line…so I said the first thing that popped into my head."

Mac stiffened in Harm's embrace. He said all that just to keep her on the line?

"No, no, Mac…don't back away." His grip tightened on her. "Maybe those first words were impulsive, but then I was lost. I was suddenly telling you everything I've wanted to do with you from practically the first moment we met. Maybe at that time it was more lust…but the more I got to know you…the closer we got…almost losing you…somewhere amongst all that, I started to love you. I wanted to be with you like that because I wanted to make love with you."

"Oh…" Mac breathed, her thoughts racing.

"Oh," he repeated, grinning down at her. After several heartbeats, though, his smile faded. "Mac, aren't you going to say anything?"

"Oh…Harm…"

Harm's shoulders slumped. "You don't feel the same. Okay, Mac, I'll go—"

His words were stopped with a kiss…and not just any kiss. Mac poured her love into each and every stroke of her lips on his. When their tongues tasted each other, she remembered how it felt to kiss him on the admiral's porch and wondered at how much better this felt. She was sure by the way he responded he felt the same…but she was still nervous. When they broke apart for air, Mac once again couldn't look Harm in the eye.

"Mac?"

"I-I'm still nervous, Harm. I'm afraid to ask…"

"Ask me anything, Sarah."

"Would you…could you…make love to me?"

Could you make love to me?

Mac's voice was so soft, so tentative. Could she not tell by the way he'd just kissed her back that he wanted this, wanted her? Perhaps not, because she stood there, trembling in his arms. "Oh, Mac…" he whispered. "I want you." He gave her a barely-there kiss. "I love you." He punctuated those words with another kiss, this one much deeper. "Do you think you could love me too?"

"I-I do, Harm…I do love you."

"Then of course I can make love to you." He kissed her thoroughly, moaning in his throat as she wrapped her eyes around him. Her answering moan caused his blood to flow south, but somehow, he knew she was still rather frightened by all of this.

"You're still scared, aren't you," he said as they broke apart again.

"Uh huh," she nodded. "I—I don't know why…maybe I'm afraid I-I'll disappoint you. Maybe I'm afraid of finally getting what I've always wanted…and maybe I just don't know how to start here."

"Mac, baby…you could never disappoint me, and as for not knowing how to start…why don't we just go back to an old standby?"

"An old standby?"

"Yeah…" He pushed her away slightly. "First, I open your robe…"

Mac gulped as Harm's deft fingers undid the tie at her waist. Her robe fell open, revealing only her black panties. Her nipples tightened as she saw the burning desire in Harm's eyes, his pupils so dilated with passion that they were almost black.

"And then I lead you to your bedroom…"

He started to push her down the hall, but Mac knew there was something he had to do for her first.

"Harm?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Take off your shirt."

They stopped midway down her hall and Harm complied. His chest was just as she remembered it—strong, chiseled, that sexy trail of hair that disappeared below his waistband.

"And your jeans," she commanded as soon as his shirt made it to the floor.

"Your wish is my command." Soon his jeans were on the floor too, his manhood erect and poking through the gap in his boxers. "What next, sweetheart?"

"You take me to my bedroom…lay me on the bed…" She felt herself being swept up into Harm's arms then, and together they finished their journey to the bedroom. Soon, he had her lying in the middle of her bed, his hand stroking her tummy while goosebumps rose up along her arms. Every few strokes his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her panties, and she couldn't resist thrusting her hips upward, hoping he'd take the hint and touch her more intimately. His knuckles grazed the underside of her breasts, and then before she had time to react, his big hand covered one of them and began to deeply massage her flesh. His thumb teased her nipple, and she felt it pebble under his touch. It was almost painful, and yet it felt oh…so…good. The more he touched her, the more she couldn't contain her moans of passion, and then, oh then…he took her nipple into his mouth. He alternately suckled from her and then nipped at it with his teeth, and soon she was writhing on the bed, nearly screaming his name. He paid her other breast equal homage, and she wondered if she was going to come from this alone.

Harm, of course, had more planned. His hands left her breasts and she whimpered, but then one of his long, beautiful fingers stroked her center through her panties. He raised his eyes to hers, his gaze even more heated than before. Now his cock was completely poked through those oddly sexy white, navy-issued boxers. "You're wet, aren't you." His fingers stroked over her panty-clad slit again, then slid his whole hand under her waistband. He cupped her mound and she thrusted into him until one finger penetrated her opening. He dipped it into her, then moved it out and circled her clit. She screamed his name and thrashed on the bed. He pulled his hand from her panties and gripped her hips to steady her again before he leaned forward and kissed his way down her belly. Ever so gradually he began to pull her panties down, down, until his tongue could tease her clit. He drew it into his mouth at the same time two fingers entered her, and then he thrust them in and out of her as he licked and sucked and drank from her. Mac could feel the tell-tale tightening of her lower belly and then she was coming around him. His fingers curled inside her as he drew out her orgasm, and suddenly, she was orgasming again, screaming out his name.

She hadn't yet come down from her high when he covered his body with her own. She felt his hardness against her most intimate area as he kissed her, and the taste of her on his lips caused her to rake her nails down his back. She hadn't known that that would drive her so wild, but drive her wild it did. She gripped his six, and that's when she felt his manhood pressing against her center.

"Wait!"

Wait?!

She was killing him. "Mac…I'm not sure how long I can keep it together…"

"But it's my turn, sailor," she said with a throaty laugh. "Stand up."

Harm did as he was told, finding himself standing awkwardly in the middle of Mac's bedroom. He was impossibly hard, even harder than he'd been when they'd loved each other over the phone. He hurt, really, and all he wanted to do was lose himself in her lock…that is, until she was suddenly kneeling before him, taking him into her mouth. He cried out her name as she took him ever deeper, and the image of her sucking him until he exploded into her throat damn near made him pass out. A moment later, however, she drew back and tugged at his boxers.

"Let's get these off of you, baby." She pulled them all the way down and he stepped out of them, kicking them to the side. No sooner had he done that when she had him in her mouth again. Her delicate hand gripped the base of his cock, while her other hand drifted around to press against his six. Her mouth was hot and wet as he thrusted into her, and he was so close to letting go when she suddenly stopped.

"Maaaac!" He ground out, then found himself being pushed toward the bed.

"It's time, Harm," she whispered, and then he lay on his back before her. She straddled him, and just as she'd described when they were on the phone together, she rubbed her wetness against his stomach. She was wetter than he could have ever possibly imagined, and he was barely prepared when she rose up and slid down over his member. He could feel her stretch around him as she took him inch by inch, and it took everything he had not to release himself inside of her. Once he was entirely sheathed in her, he felt her squeeze her inner muscles around him as she threaded her fingers through his…and then she began to move. She circled her hips, first one way and then the other, then rocked against him. He thrusted up into her until he could feel the entrance to her womb and then thrusted even harder, finally rolling over so he was now on top. He drove into her, her whimpers and cries practically turning him into an animal, and then, when he felt he couldn't hold on anymore, he reached into between them and stroked her clit. He could feel when she came, could feel when her sexual juices flowed over him, and then suddenly he was emptying himself inside her. He ground against her, his seed spilling into her welcoming body, and when he was finally spent, he collapsed against her. They were both exhausted, and before he could pull himself away, they both fell asleep, while his manhood twitched deeply within her.

They really only slept for perhaps five minutes but Mac though that if every night could be this way, she'd never have trouble sleeping again. Harm stirred above her and she wrapped her legs tightly around him. He was still inside her, and she never wanted him to leave.

"Oh, baby…" he whispered, opening his eyes as he brushed her hair from her face. He leaned down and tenderly kissed her, and then they smiled against each other's lips.

"Oh, Harm…that was…that was…" she sniffled.

"Oh, honey, don't cry. Sweetheart…"

Mac gave a tearful giggle. "Well, I won't if you won't…" Her hand came up and brushed a tear from his cheek, and he chuckled as well.

"Harm," she whispered after a moment. "It's never been like that for me."

"Nor for me, Sarah." He nuzzled her nose with his.

"I love you, Harm."

"I love you too…but I don't want to crush you." He rolled off of her and pulled out, and as he left her, she could feel his seed mingled with her juices poor out of her. She hadn't been with anyone without using a condom in so long, but she could still remember how that feeling mixed with a certain soreness turned her on. She wanted him inside her again, but for now she contented herself with just watching him. His eyes were closed, but as she studied him, a smile formed on his handsome face.

"Like what you see, marine?" he murmured, his voice like molten gold over gravel.

"Yeah, I do, my love."

Harm's eyes fluttered open at her endearment and she blushed under the warmth of his gaze. "My love…" he repeated. "I like that…my love." He shifted so he lay on his side, while his hand wandered over her body. His touch was gentle now as he brushed over her breasts and tummy, and when his hand reached the spot just above her mound, his hand moved upward again. He did this several times, and his hands on her soothed her as much as they aroused her. Eventually she turned on her side as well, and he drew her into him. Her leg slipped in between his, and his leg went over her hip. Her nipples brushed against his chest and she could feel them harden, but for now, she was content to just listen to the steady beat of his heart against her ear. She was losing her battle with sleep, and a glance upward told her Harm was as well. With a whispered 'I love you' she relaxed against him, and just before she was completely out, his own 'I love you' reached her ears as his breath caused her hair to flutter. She was finally content, finally confident in his love, and then she finally slept.

Epilogue: Twenty-five years later

Mac groaned as she stood with her sleeping granddaughter in her arms. At nearly sixty, she didn't move with the ease she once had, but she was still fairly fit. She just shouldn't have spent so much time on the couch just watching the four-month-old Grace sleep. Grace belonged to her oldest, now a young woman that was her spitting image. She had her father's smile, though, and Haley's husband Jay never stood a chance. The young couple was out for their anniversary, and Mac had volunteered to baby-sit her as yet only grandchild until the next morning. It was nice to have the company; Harm was on the other side of the country with their son, touring colleges. She missed her husband, but as she checked her inner clock, she knew he'd be calling soon.

Once Mac had Grace tucked into her bassinet in Haley's old room, Mac stepped across the hall into her own room and turned on the baby monitor. She prepared herself for bed, though it was still fairly early, and relaxed on her bed. Her phone sat beside her, and she had it in her hand before she even heard the first ring. "Hey, my love," she greeted him.

"Hey, baby. How's the baby?"

"Asleep and all tucked in." She grinned in the darkness.

"Is she," Harm answered, the smile obvious in his voice. "Well, in that case…hey, Mac?"

Mac's smile widened. "Yes?"

"What are you wearing?"

End