Standing nervously in the doorway, Ruth shifted from foot to foot. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?" Pulling a black suit from the wardrobe, Harry hung it on the top of the door before turning his attention to picking out a shirt. "I did ask you after all."

"That was last night; this is tonight." Twisting the hem of her camisole between her fingers, she moved further into the room. "Wear the dark orchid with your black and purple tie."

"What?" Fingers pausing on a crisp white shirt, he leaned back so he could see around the wardrobe door and smirked at her. "Why Ms. Evershed have you been going through my clothes? Because I know for a fact I've never worn that shirt on the Grid."

Cheeks flushing, she crossed the room and stood next to him, her arm sliding under his until she gripped the shirt she was talking about. "I uh put the dry cleaning away last week when you sent me home. You know the night where you were debriefing Danny and Adam on the Mitchell case?"

"Hmm. That's right. I seem to remember telling you not to worry about picking it up; that I'd get it the next day. But like normal you didn't listen." Sliding the shirt she was talking about out of the wardrobe, he held it up in front of him and turned towards her. "You really thing I should wear this? I don't see myself as much of a purple guy."

Reaching a hand up to smooth the fabric, she nodded her head. "I think it'll make you look soigne."

Lifting an eyebrow at her, he smoothly hung the shirt up with the suit and moved to his tie drawer. "Soigne? Really Ruth? You couldn't think of something else?"

"What? I think you'll look sophisticatedly elegant." Waiting a beat, she continued. "And sexy."

"Maybe I shouldn't wear it then. We wouldn't want Fiona to forget she's married to Adam and try to seduce me now would we?"

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind."

Finding the tie she had mentioned at the bottom of the drawer, he pulled it out and hung it with the suit. Closing the drawer, he turned and slid his arms around her waist, pulled her closer. "There's only one woman I want trying to seduce me and it's not Fiona." Leaning his head down, he captured her lips in a leisurely kiss, his fingers tracing patterns on her hips.

Nipping his lower lip, she slid her tongue against his as his lips parted and slowly moved her hands over his chest and towards the top of his pajama pants. Fingers reaching the waist band, she sighed and started to slip them beneath the fabric, tips caressing the warm skin of his stomach.

Moving his lips from hers, Harry placed feather light kisses along her jaw, stopping as he reached the tender cartilage of her ear. Breath warm against her skin and voice low, he whispered softly, "what do you think you're doing?"

Fingers dipping lower, she started placing tiny kisses along the contour of his throat. "Trying to seduce you. But I don't think it's working."

Pushing his hips forwards, he trapped her hands between their bodies; stopping their southern bond movement and let his arousal from her ministrations press against her hip. "Trust me it's working." Lips moving back to hers, he kissed her once more before pulling away from her. "And while it's taking an exuberant amount of self control to stop this, we're not making love tonight. Not yet."

Sighing, she ran a hand over her lips and looked down. She really was bad at this. As if reading her thoughts, Harry reached a hand out and lifted her chin.

"It's not you Ruth, I promise. There's nothing I want more than to sweep you into my arms and make love to you through the night."

"Then why don't you?"

Thumb brushing against her cheek, he sighed. "Go get into bed."

Nodding slightly, she turned and slowly walked towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hand on her arm, Harry stopped her and pulled her back.

"You said to go get into bed."

"It's over there," he said, nodding to his left.

"But that's your bed."

"I thought we cleared this up before deciding on my shirt for tomorrow. I want you to sleep in here. Permanently. With me." Hand sliding down her arm, he entwined their fingers and led her across the room. "If it matters, I'll go move all your things in here."

"But you said you don't want to have sex yet."

"Won't not want; there's a difference; because trust me, I want to make love to you but I won't; not yet. And having you sleep in our bed does not mean we have to. I liked waking up with you this morning; I slept better with you next to me last night. It's the whole you I want; inside and out; and not just the body."

Reaching the bed, Harry pulled back the duvet and gently pushed Ruth between the sheets. Drawing them up around her, he crossed the room and turned off the overhead light before moving back to the bed and climbing in next to her. Settling against the pillows, he reached over and pulled her towards him, settling her head against his chest. Fingers tangling in her hair, he held her close.

"You asked me what my biggest regret was. It's not easy to pick one; there are so many things I've done that were wrong and I could have done differently. I was an absent father to my children, I cheated on my wife not once but numerous times, I've killed for my country and I've sent men to their deaths. All that I regret but I've realized that I regret what I've done to Jane the most. Not just the affairs but everything." Shifting slightly, he wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and held her even tighter. "Jane's second husband was my best friend; Richard and I had known each other since our last year of nursery. We went to University together but while I joined the Army, he went to medical school. He and Jane were together; they met our first year at Oxford; but I was intrigued by her. She was smart, beautiful, caring and completely not interested in me. Which meant that I had to have her. I set out to seduce her away from Richard and I succeeded. Once I did, the only logical step was to marry her. Don't get me wrong; I loved her and I can never regret the two children we have together but I've realized I was never in love with her and I took ten years away from her and Richard. They married six months after we divorced and had two more children."

"Harry..."

"No Ruth, that's why as much as I want to make love with you, we can't. Every relationship I've had has been built on a foundation of sex and want. And yes, I want too you but in a different way. Everyone one of those woman intrigued me and I wanted their bodies along with what they could give me at the time. We never had a deeper connection; they never truly got to know me; Jane didn't even know what I did until after we were married. But you do. You know the darkness of my past and you still want to be with me. With them I couldn't talk to them about the terrors I see at work; what I see does to me; but I can with you. At the risk of sounding like a cheesy greeting card, just being with you soothes my soul. So I'm not going to make the same mistakes I've made before. We are going to take the time to know one another, to trust one another completely and be fully committed to one another before we have sex. Hell, without trying to sound too Victorian, I'm beginning to think we should be married first."

Lifting her head, Ruth met his eyes. Still somewhat shocked at his little speech; she'd not expected that to be his reason; she didn't know what to say. Seeing the vulnerability lurking in the depths of his eyes, she leaned forward and kissed him slowly, her lips caressing his in the deepest of kisses. Breaking away when the need for air became too great, Ruth smiled at him before tucking her head onto his chest. Fingers tracing senseless patterns on the material of his shirt, she closed her eyes.

"You are without a doubt the most frustrating, volatile, moody, sexy, deepest, man I've ever met. And I love you."

Turning out the light, Harry wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. "I love you too."

AN: Alright so we've got Harry's biggest regret. Hopefully it's not too farfetched and out of character. I thought of it at 4:30 this morning when I couldn't sleep but just managed to get it down on paper. Ruth's biggest regret will be next but I thought this was a good place to stop. Thank you r4ven3 for explaining Cricket! It makes a lot more sense that way then wikipedia did last night. =0) Bookstores are my favorite places too and the thought of that many old books on one little street makes me squee. When I do get to England, Cecil Court is on my must do list. Thank you all for the lovely reviews; if you've the time please leave me one here.