A/N: Thanks for all your support thus far. This chapter features a certain type of citrus fruit.

Love and thanks to my brilliant beta, AdelaideArcher.

Chapter 17: Slow Burn

A long, lazy kiss turned into a deep and passionate one, and then I was trailing kisses across his torso again, careful not to press against his injured shoulder.

Severus allowed his head to fall back against the pillows and his eyelids slid closed as I lovingly kissed along each of the dozen pink lines I'd healed the night before, peeling away the covers as I did so until he was exposed down to his long, elegant toes.

Placing a final kiss at the end of the mark that cut across his belly, I continued my gentle tour downward, tasting the salt and copper of his pale flesh. His erection pressed between my breasts as I circled his bellybutton with my lips, and then followed the dark trail of hair that marked a path down the centre of his flat stomach.

I lay infinite soft pecks along the line where his skin met his boxers and placed gentle kisses on each of his pointed hipbones, enjoying the way his belly rose and fell with increasing speed as his breath thickened above me.

His erection strained against the cotton fabric of his underwear, and I hooked my fingers through the waist, tugging downwards until his penis stood before me at attention as if waiting for a command.

"Hermione," he moaned softly as I brought my face to his erection, kissing the small, sensitive V at its tip. I placed soft pecks down his length, and then paused in my study of his body just long enough to divest us both of our clothing. His eyes followed me as I crawled over the top of him once more, nestling his erection between my thighs.

One graceful hand reached up, his fingers trailing gently over my jaw, and I waited, simply enjoying his touch.

"You're beautiful, Hermione," he said, his voice and expression unguarded. "I love you."

My heart felt like it expanded outward at his words, filling me with a sense of cloud-like joy and affection that I could not express except to smile down at him and continue on the path that had started with our kiss.

"I love you, Severus," I said, and carefully tilted my hips upwards and back again to capture the end of his penis and send it diving into my core.

The first time we'd had sex, it was wild and passionate. This time it was like falling into a good book, slow and studied, and I understood the true difference between fucking and making love.

Our eyes never wavered from each other's as I rocked deliberately back and forth over him, each movement building a blissful warmth in my lower body. His fingers traced the skin of my belly, my breasts, and my hips, my own palms resting on his chest for support.

Before long Severus was matching my movements, thrusting his hips gently upwards, and I could not stop the whimpered moans that escaped my mouth at the extra depth his movements pushed him inside me.

This was what I had wanted, what I had been dreaming of ever since the first time I'd studied the way his hands had caressed his tomes each evening. Now the book was my body, the spine my insides, the pages my flesh, and I gave in completely to his touch, allowing his hips and hands to guide my thrusts until I fell apart in his hold.

"Severus!" I moaned loudly as my orgasm crashed over me, though our movements did not pause even as I shuddered around him.

"Yes, my love, my goddess," Severus purred and I felt myself climax again and again at his urging, his hips pushing into me harder with each subsequent release until I was delirious with pleasure.

I felt sure I would disintegrate into a pile of burned pages when Severus moaned my name loudly and drove to his own release, his hands gripping my hips tightly as his seed spilled inside me.

As the trembles of his orgasm continued under me, I leaned forward, placing my lips at the base of his neck, kissing and sucking at his skin. "Mine," I whispered against his flesh, and I was happy to see the mottled blotch that claimed him as my own as I pulled away.

Feeling satisfied, I settled myself against his body, my breasts pressed against the bottom of his ribcage and my arms across his chest, content simply to look up at him.

Severus brushed my cheek in a soft caress with the backs of his fingers before settling them against my jaw, his thumb continuing to brush circles on my skin.

"Is this a dream?" he asked, his eyes deep pools of black water.

"If it is I hope I never wake up," I said, and leaned forward to kiss him once more, my lips gently sucking his bottom lip. Then I lowered my head onto his chest, curling my arms possessively around his torso.

"I can stay here today, but I'll need to return to work tomorrow," he said, pulling me closer and then twining his fingers in my curls.

"I know," I said with a sigh, not wanting to think about tomorrow just yet.

"I can't risk deviating from my normal schedule," he said, a hint of sadness in his deep voice.

"Relax, Severus. It's okay. Tomorrow we'll go back to our routine," I said. "But for today can we please forget about everything outside of these rooms?"

"For today," he agreed, and I closed my eyes, amazed at how relaxed and whole I felt nestled against him.

We lay there in silence for some time, me listening to Severus's heartbeat with my ear against his chest, Severus with his fingers gently running through my hair and down my back.

How was it that less than 12 hours ago I felt my mind slipping with uncontrolled grief and despair, and yet now I was filled with hope for a future with this man? Tomorrow I would tell Severus the terrible details of his demise at the hands of that cursed snake and we would begin planning, but for that day I pushed it all from my mind and concentrated on the warmth of Severus's body against my own, the sound of his heart beating steadily against my ear, knowing it beat for me, and mine for him.

For all I cared, the world began and ended at the four posters of Severus's bed.