Fourteen:
Christmastide (pt five)

Much later after dinner, Elise and Rob got their things together and left for the trip home. They couldn't leave the dogs for very long, especially as two of the bitches were close to whelping time. Malcolm and Elizabeth disappeared upstairs. Daisy begged Rose for a ride to her boyfriend's, so they left for a while, too. Kelly decided that she didn't want to leave Jamie (as they had become best of friends), so it was decided that she would spend the night with Nana and Papa, while Catherine and Ben would go home with the rest of their family.

It took a while to get the two excited three year olds down for the night, but once it happened, Ruth and Harry shared a private smile before they went back downstairs and began cleaning up the supper dishes. It took over an hour to get through the pile of cutlery, glasses, and dishware in the sink, so it was decided that everything else could wait till the next morning.

Harry hung up the drying towel and said, "So… I suppose we should adjourn to bed, then."

Ruth blushed a touch, then replied, "Ah, yes, well… one of your gifts was very much not appropriate for young eyes. So you still have a bit of unwrapping to do, my love."

He smiled, a little wolfishly, and said, "Is it the kind of unwrapping that I usually enjoy?"

"Oh yes," she replied cheerfully. "But I need a couple of minutes head start."

He gave her an annoyed look. "For what? I'm just taking your clothes off –"

"Harry, lower your voice," Ruth said. "You don't need to wake Kelly and Jamie up."

"Bloody hell," he muttered. "How are we going to make love with a bunch of kids in the house?"

"Same way we have been," she pointed out dryly. "And it's a good thing we can be quiet."

He grunted. "Fine, have your head start," he muttered. "I'll use the kids' loo and meet you in our room in five minutes."

She raised an eyebrow. "Five? It takes you five minutes to pee now?"

"Give the old man a break," Harry said with a sigh. "Not everything works like it's meant to now."

"I'm sorry," she replied automatically.

He came closer and gave her a kiss. "Love," Harry whispered, "you've got to get out of the habit of apologizing for everything, especially things out of your control."

"I was commiserating."

"You looked guilty when you said it."

"I'm sorry that my bad habit offends you," she said with an annoyed sigh. "But I'm going upstairs. If you're not there in five minutes, you'll miss out."

"You wouldn't."

"I will," she replied with false cheerful bravado. "I've been getting myself off for years, Harry. Of course I would."

"Five minutes," he ground out between clenched teeth.

She took off for the stairs and made her way to the bedroom. She already had the new, sassy lingerie on – it was surprisingly comfortable for something so expensive and frivolous. Ruth slipped out of her jeans and jumper and into one of Harry's disused work shirts – the dark grey one they had retired just before she'd been forced to leave (and that had wound up in her dresser) – and she buttoned it just up over her breasts. She added the precious pearl necklace to the ensemble and prayed that Harry's great-grandmum would forgive her for being a bit… naughty… with it. She wanted to show him her appreciation, and, really, it went so well with the bra and knickers –

Five minutes was over far too quickly, as the door opened and Harry came in. He looked up and stopped still in his tracks, his eyes widening, darkening with the emotions and the lust that she inspired in him after all their time together. She could read his expression, could see him warring with himself, then knew the moment when he gave in.

Harry inhaled deeply and said, "You fill that shirt out so much better than I ever did."

She smirked and said, "Ah, yes, well… I've had years to get fattened up."

He gave her a dour look. "Have I ever given you reason to doubt how you look?" Harry asked. "I don't mind you being a bit larger or smaller – what I mind is that you don't feel comfortable with yourself, still." He kicked off his shoes and reached down to take off his socks. "Bloody hell, Ruth, all I want to do is worship you, and you like to think you aren't worth the effort."

"Oh, I'm worth the effort," she purred, fingering the pearls that dipped low across her belly. She wondered how they would feel against her skin, between them – would they be cold or would they warm up with the heat between them? "I just don't always think that I'm meant to be worshipped. I'd be a very bad deity."

He unbuttoned his shirt cuffs. "No, you would be a very balanced, fair deity, only taking your wrath out on those who really deserve it…" Harry looked at her and winked. "By the way, I think we should think about a holiday this year, just us –"

She scowled at him. "Harry, I'm standing here, waiting for you, and you're yammering on about a vacation?" Ruth said sharply. "I need you, you stupid old man. So get over here and start unwrapping," she ordered brusquely, knowing that it turned him on immensely when she was demanding and forthright.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "Really? You're going to give your boss orders now, Ruthie?"

She ran her fingers down over her thigh, shivering as gooseflesh rose in the wake of her fingertips. "Oh, but you aren't my boss for a few more days," Ruth breathed, "so I think I can get away with it."

Harry blinked at her, as if suddenly realizing that she'd been serious before when she'd said she could get herself off. "Oh, okay," he agreed, coming over and kissing her deeply. She moaned, melting against him; yes, she could get herself off… but it wasn't nearly as satisfying as being with him. Fantasy and reality were blurred lines between them; always had been.

"You wanna do some unwrapping, too?" he whispered against her lips. "I've got a present for you, as well…"

"Mmm, yes," she agreed, eagerly helping him with his buttons, each little disc sliding through its hole neatly, quickly – Ruth was very adept at buttons. She pushed his shirt off of his shoulders and smiled, loving the expanse of chest and belly she was revealing. She and Harry had met not in the first flushes of youth, so she couldn't imagine him before the desk had claimed his waistline, but she had seen photos. She would have given heaven, hell, and all the earth to have been just a few years older and to have met him when he was still strapping and full of the intensity of youth. Her lips met his chest, trailing little hot, open-mouthed kisses down his body till she met his belt and his trousers.

He wanted her – the tightness of his khakis proved it beyond any reasonable doubt. She looked up at him coyly, watching him look down her shirt at her cleavage as she released his belt buckle. His eyes were burning with desire, intensity of feeling that never seemed to change, despite the years and their separations. She unbuttoned, then unzipped, his pants, and slid them down over his well-padded bum and muscular thighs…

And burst out laughing.

"Oh my god," she cackled. "HARRY!"

He was wearing bright red boxers patterned with little wrapped gifts in black with green bows. The words "HO HO HO" were written across the front, bold as brass, one of the HOs being right across the fly where his erection was attempting to peek through. It was just too bloody much.

He was grinning with mirth, a dirty chuckle escaping his lips. "I've been waiting all day for that," he admitted.

She finally stopped laughing – but not till tears had begun to escape from the corners of her eyes. "Next time, warn a girl," Ruth giggled, gasping for breath as she pulled the boxers down his legs and leaned in to press a kiss to the tip of his dick as it bobbed, apparently glad to be free of the boxers.

"It's what you might call a gag gift," Harry said.

She raised an eyebrow, then looked at his cock, then back up at him, trying to keep a straight face. "Oh really?"

"RUTH! I didn't mean it like that!"

She lost it again, caught in a fit of the giggles, even as he hoisted her up to her feet and began impatiently unbuttoning the rest of the buttons on her shirt. She stopped laughing, however, when his voice lowered with appreciation, lust, and naked need as he exhaled, "Oh… Ruth."

She'd gone for the burgundy satin (as his favorite color was red, but such a bold shade didn't suit her coloring), covered in black lace, with thin gold ribbon around the edging. The bra was a plunging demi cut that pushed her breasts up almost indecently, with a gold bow right in the center, covering the front clasp. The panties were low-cut bikinis in a similar fashion, but the gold bow was, cheekily, hovering over the edge of the back seam near her bum. She was actually worried that he would blow a gasket when he saw the credit card statement, as the set had set her back quite a bit, but the look on his face made the extravagant purchase worth every pound.

He was still just staring at her, his hands having come to a complete stop.

"Harry," she said softly. "Harry," Ruth repeated, trying to get his attention again. "Hey, why did you stop?" she teased when he finally tore his eyes from her breasts and looked at her.

"I – god, Ruth, I almost came just looking at you," he said, a twinge of mortification in his tone. "Next time, you've got to warn me –"

"Calm down," she murmured, coming closer and slipping out of his old shirt. "We've got all night."

"You might have all night, but I'm old," he said bluntly.

She pulled him down for a hungry kiss and whispered, "Count backward and think of waterboarding."

He growled and kissed her with all the passion they'd misplaced between them. There were times when their lovemaking was slow and tender, but when they abstained a little while, or when they weren't sure where things stood between them, it was always sizzling, scorching, full of unspoken needs and wants that only abandon could set free. She whimpered and took his erection in her hand, slowly stroking the full length of him, listening to the sound he made in the back of his throat – it made her feel powerful, like she was the only one who had ever inspired such a noise to come from him.

His fingers fumbled with the bra clasp, then her breasts were free. The sensation of cool pearls against her nipples and the sensitive flesh of her breasts shot fire straight to her core, and a flush came over her body already. If he touched her, she would come; it was very simple and she wasn't ready. "Stop," she exhaled weakly, holding his hands away from her. "Let me."

Harry's eyes darkened even further, becoming the color of honey-laced tea, and she took a couple of steps back, hooking her thumbs into her knickers, shimmying out of them like a belly dancer, hips and thighs jiggling in a rhythm that was only hers. It gave her a moment to cool down, to breathe, to calm herself before the oncoming storm.

"You did that the first time we had sex," he said, chuckling a little. His laugh was deep, hoarse, and she knew he was struggling to hold back as much as she was. "I still think it's the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

She smiled and moved back into his arms, pressing her body against his and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. One kiss became a dozen, two dozen, countless deep, drugging kisses, tongues playing against one another not in a play for dominance, but in a play for pleasure. His cock was hard against her belly, and she was tingling all over, heat rising in her core until she thought she might be overcome –

His hand slid between her legs, brushing her folds, and she shattered into a million pieces. "Oh," Ruth managed finally to exhale when she could breathe again.

Harry had an amused smile tugging at his lips. "Oh indeed," he said softly. "I take it you weren't expecting that –"

"Not as such, no," she murmured, her heart still racing.

She really wasn't expecting him to pick her up, so it came as a surprise when he did – but she wrapped her legs around his hips and let him carry her to their bed. He set her on the edge of the bed and guided himself into her. Her back arched and she felt a moan escape her lips, despite her claim that she could be quiet, and the sheer bliss of him stretching her so intimately overwhelmed her brain.

It was always like this between them – intense, full of chemistry, wanton lust, even when they were being slow and devoted lovers. It was always lurking below the surface, the sizzling reactions, the need, the desire, the want to share one another's skin and heart and everything. Their lips met, this time in an outright war for dominance and to assert a claim on one another – kisses, love bites on one another's lower lip, tongues dancing and warring against one another as their bodies thrust, moved, came together in ways so familiar.

The pearls pressed between them gave another level of pressure, sensation, texture to their need; Ruth felt one of the pearls rubbing back and forth against her left nipple as he thrust, and the resulting friction made her tumble head-long into the abyss. She came back to herself, whimpering into his mouth, wordless sounds that she couldn't quantify in her mind, couldn't assign a reason for. They were both sweating profusely, adding slip to the friction, and his hands were hard against her hips, holding her still as he pounded into her.

She felt a frisson of pure pleasure up her spine, setting her fingers, toes, and clitoris to tingling. She grabbed at his ass, shifting their angles ever so slightly, and his next thrust hit the sweet spot – she almost blacked out from the force of her orgasm. She vaguely felt him still, thought she might have felt him erupt inside her, but her body had a mind of its own – she was still tingling, shaking, trembling, and his pubic bone resting against her clit was enough to make her come again.

He brushed her hair back out of her face and smiled. "That was…"

She weakly moaned and accepted his tender kiss. "I've never –"

"Me either," he admitted. "It's never been like that. Even between us."

She nodded and kissed him back, releasing her legs from around him so he could pull out. "It was amazing," Ruth whispered. He pulled out and they moved up onto the bed, Ruth settling with her head on his chest, her body curled against his side, his arm wrapped around her waist. It was his favorite place to have her afterward, when they cuddled. It was her favorite place to be, listening to his heart beating as his chest rose and fell. It made her feel safe, wanted, loved in a way that nothing else ever had. This is where she had longed to be for so long: in his arms, oblivious to the world.

"When are you going back to work?" Harry asked softly.

"Day after tomorrow," Ruth murmured. "Ros is quite eager to get me back up to speed. I'm sure there have been a lot of changes."

"Always," Harry said. "Ros is Section Head, Lucas is Section Chief. Dimitri, Beth, Erin, Tariq, and Calum round out the team now. Tariq and Calum are the techies, so you'll need to get in good with them –"

"Mmm, I don't want to think about work yet," Ruth murmured. "Do they know we're married?"

"Only Ros," Harry said. "All of your employment paperwork is still in the name Evershed, since Pearce hadn't legalized till right before Cotterdam."

"So no one knows I'm shagging the boss?" she teased, tickling his side, making him smile.

"Only Ros," he repeated.

"Mmm, good," she sighed softly, tucking her face into his chest. "It helps to know I can have a few special favors up my sleeve."

He chuckled. "Or that I can call you upstairs for a bollocking… while we fuck in my desk chair."

Her eyes opened in shock at the suggestion. "Harry!"

"I've had numerous daydreams about you, me, and that chair," Harry growled softly. "Don't disillusion me now."

She exhaled lowly, then murmured, "Wait, if Erin Watts doesn't know we're married, does she just think that I'm your bit of fluff?"

"She knows you entrusted the girls to me while you were away," he said, "and she might suspect more, but she is discrete and hasn't asked any questions."

"Bloody hell," Ruth sighed. "She'll have questions for me, then."

"Probably," Harry acknowledged. "What you tell people about our relationship is your business, Ruth. As DG, I can advise you not to claim me, but… I have to admit that it gives my pride a boost when you say I'm your husband."

She kissed his chest and whispered, "You're my husband, my lover, my everything."

"You're my wife, the most beautiful woman in the world to me, and you're the missing piece of my heart," he said, his voice choked with emotion. "I'm so sorry, Ruth – for being so… closed off."

"It's a hard adjustment," she murmured. "We were apart for so long. Everything changed, not least of all, us."

"Stop being so wise," he grunted. "I know you've been hurting, too."

She closed her eyes again, listening to his heartbeat. "There was a man in Miami – Emile," she said quietly. "He was my neighbor, a nice man, a good man. He knew my legend, knew that I was a widow with a baby, but he wanted to help me come out of my grief. I had to move on because he was so close, and he wanted me so much – I didn't want to have a moment of weakness and betray you. Not ever."

Harry exhaled, and murmured, "There were times… all I wanted was to fuck someone, anyone, pretend for a moment that I was still alive without you. I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"I hate confessions," Ruth whispered. "They make you feel sick and wrong."

"I hated every moment I wasn't with you," Harry breathed. "I'm sorry for pushing you away."

She said, "Stop apologizing."

"If I do it again –"

"Oh, shut up and close your eyes," she murmured. "You're thinking too much."

"I think you should take off the pearls," he said.

She sat up, having forgotten all about the necklace, and took it off, setting it on the bedside table with the noise of hundreds of beads clicking against the wood. "Sorry," she murmured. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to the priceless heirloom." Ruth's voice was teasing, and Harry pulled her back down to the bed for a good snog.

She felt boneless when he was through plundering her mouth, groping her breasts and bum, and she didn't even protest when he kissed his way down her body, stoking her banked fires again. He licked, nibbled, and kissed her into another delicious, hedonistic, pleasure-soaked climax, then held her so close to him that she thought he might try to crawl into her skin with her. "I love you," he rumbled close to her ear, making Ruth shiver from head to toe.

"I love you," she replied, feeling that the 'too' that she could have added was superfluous. It would make it sound like an afterthought, like she only felt it because he did. A simple declaration of her love in just as many words made it sound more earnest, more devoted. "Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone I was home? Really?"

He exhaled into her hair, his breath hot on the back of her neck as they lay, spooned together, his arm around her waist, her body flush against his. "Because I still think, every day, that I'm going to wake up and find out it was only a dream. That you're not really here. And I'm so scared to lose you again, Ruth. I couldn't bear it if that happened." Hot tears dripped onto her neck, and she closed her eyes, hating that they both felt the same darkness and doubt between them.

"I'm here," she whispered, "and I'm not going anywhere."

The promise echoed in the air around them, both of them hoping the words were truth.

END PART FOURTEEN