It was 4AM, a time that was neither day nor night, when the veil of illusion was thinner and you could see things in the lilac-tinged light that could not be spied at any other hour - like the steady ticking of a pulse-point in another woman's throat, and the glitter of something more behind a glance.

Connie twisted a lock of blonde hair about her fingers, curling it and flicking the end so that it splayed out like a fan. She gazed at it for a moment. So many different shades of gold that she had never noticed before, white, honey, buttercup, all threaded together to form this head of hair that was propped up above her.

Rita had turned over, and now she lay flat against her, her body warm and her eyes upon her so bright.

"You're amazing..."

She whispered, and she ran a finger from Connie's hair line all the way down to the tip of her nose, where she paused, and then allowed her finger to fall to the rise and curve of her lips.

Connie rolled her eyes and pursed her lips against a smile. She could still feel the race of Rita's heart beating through her chest against her own. She exhaled, and though Rita's weight made her feel far too hot, she didn't want her to move...not when she was above her, looking down on her with that look...the look that had the ability to catch her, and make her wish she could go on looking forever.

"So, tell me more about this 'practising', that you do...?"

Rita grinned against the bite of her lip. At some point the lamp had been turned off, and now, looking down at Connie she saw all the beauty in the world beneath her. Her hair looked black as ink, her skin paler than It usually appeared, and every freckle was darker.

"Oh, I'm sure you can well imagine what sort of 'practising' I meant, N..."

"Were you about to call me Nurse Freeman?!"

Rita's sudden laugh caught her off guard and she felt the blood rush to her face, suddenly grateful that the lamp had been turned off.

"A Freudian slip..."

She murmured, though her lips twitched with amusement and Rita feigned a frown, her brow creasing and her eyes narrowing.

"Al-right...Mrs Beauchamp..."

She paused to consider how that sounded on her tongue.

"Do you know? I think I might quite like that..."

Rita bit her lip again, a habit that had the ability to make Connie forget whatever it was she had been doing, or thinking, and when Rita moved closer to kiss her, she lost track of absolutely every thought within her head.

Rita kissed her slowly, so slowly that she could feel every slip of her tongue and she could taste her, just her...

The blonde's body moved against hers, shifting and rubbing against her causing her body to ache in the familiar way that it used to...

Her body shivered. All this kissing was making her head hurt; it was reminding her of what she could feel, and how it could be when you wanted someone as much as they wanted you, because when someone kisses you with everything they feel, you don't stop thinking about it for a very long time. And it was happening then, she realised. Rita whispered against her cheek and she was halfway to the point of no-return, her breath quick and every fibre of her being wanted her. She wanted her to push her fingers up her skirt and touch her where she so wanted to be touched, and when she felt Rita's hands against her hips, holding her, moving higher, slipping beneath her shirt, her hands so hot on her skin that she struggled to breathe.

She forced herself not to listen to the voices in her head telling her how disgusting she was, and she inhaled sharply against the flicker of a flashback, because if she let them in, she would hear those voices...she would feel those hands on her, those men inside her, fucking her...

"I can't..."

She pulled back quickly, away from Rita's kisses...those kisses that tasted of everything she had ever wanted...

"I can't...not yet..."

She began to feel hot again, too hot. Her scalp prickled and she had to move, and as though Rita had read her mind she pulled herself backwards so that she sat on her haunches, her jeans were still undone and the unmistakeable scent of sex laced the room.

Connie's eyes were closed, her body stiff, she forced herself to breathe in and out until she felt the panic subside but still it haunted her. She could feel it, like a cold blue cloak smothering her.

Rita held out a hand as she opened her eyes, and when Connie took it she drew her up into a sitting position, wrapped her arms about her and held her gently.

"It's fine, it's absolutely fine."

She whispered, stroking her hair and placing the lightest of kisses on her shoulder. Connie drew in a breath, inside her chest her heart felt as though it were trembling.

Rita leant back again, ever so slightly and took her hands, holding them between themselves.

"You know, my Grandmother told me when I was little...that when you're really...when you..."

She paused, a nervous twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"When you really like someone, you always know right away...despite your differences..."

She began again and glanced up at Connie.

"Despite your arguments."

She tilted her head to one side before continuing.

"She always said it was like flash lightening, or an angel tapping you on the shoulder...you could always ignore it if you wanted to, but in the end it was like choosing a puppy...you think you're going to pick the cutest, best behaved one, the one your mum would like...but really you wind up going home with the one who keeps insisting on climbing into your lap..."

She glanced back up, and once again she felt herself blush. Connie was watching her, one eyebrow perfectly arched.

"Do I feature in this analogy of your Grandmothers?"

She asked slowly, not quite following.

"You're the puppy I ended up going home with..."

Rita answered in defeat, realising how silly she sounded.

Connie nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

"I don't ever recall climbing onto your lap?"

She asked, vaguely aware that whatever it was that Rita was trying to say, at least it had stopped her from thinking...

"Well, no...but you were always there! I just meant...you weren't what I was looking for, but..."

"But you ended up with me because I was persistent? Constantly on your back...?"

Connie cut in, but in the dim early morning light Rita failed to see the laughter within her eyes and she sighed, her body crumpling slightly.

"No! No...Oh..."

She gave up with a sigh, finally out of words.

"Rita?"

Connie reached out and took her fingers within her own.

"What?"

Rita asked, with a wary lowered glance.

"I love you too."

She said simply.

More tomorrow! This one took a while because I'm so tired, hopefully I haven't made any glaring errors!?

Thank you so much for the reviews of the last chapter, I was particularly nervous about that one! ;) There will be more like that though...probably quite a bit more, if it's wanted :) xxx