More than a lover. He lay with his head cradled at her breast like a child. There was passion in an artist. Passion in art. Passion within him. In the man who was once all wrapped up in mystery, the man who was once a free-bird fantasy was now also tender, gentle and loving.

From the first touch of his hand caressing across her delicate fingers, to chasing her down into the belly of a ship, unleashing a playful side to an otherwise young and lifeless girl, Jack Dawson had revealed many facets of a man she had never dreamed could exist. The touch of his torso against her own, fully, as the flat but ridged part tickled the softness of her own stomach. All insecurities one had ever felt before had truly flown away leaving a beautiful awakening of womanhood. He would trace every part of her with his tongue, worshipping in ways she never knew that a person could. This…act, as her mother had once called it, this act a woman should only participate in once married, had suddenly become the most wonderful part of her life. How could anything this beautiful be seen as wrong? His fingers went through her freed curls, which were a curtain about the top of their heads as they lay side by side, legs tangled together. The wind outside made the inside of their tiny boarding room even more homely. This would never be permanent. Nothing ever would. Except perhaps their love. She thought back to a few weeks prior, when they had arrived in New York City, surviving the sinking of the Titanic and completely unable to focus on anything but the other…

Hours after docking…

''Would you like me to put some water in the bath for you?'' Jack asked Rose, her shivers uncontrollable for quite some time.

Rose's face seemed to flush darker, as the soft click of the door latch closing rippled through her. Her lips parted as there was some realisation that she wasn't going to be leaving the room anytime soon. He was to be here with her for the night. Together. They had spent days laid in the hardened corridors of the Carpathia, with only brandy and layers of blankets to keep warm. Now though, it all seemed to be causing her entire body to quiver. They had made it-alive, just as he had said. Oh, how she wished to collapse in tears into his arms.

''No, thank you.'' She exhaled deeply, her nerves building more as she sensed his, as he removed his coat, exposing bare forearms and an open collar. It was not the first time she had seen him in a state of undress, but this seemed to be affecting her. During their limited time in the Renault, they had barely found time to explore the other. Barely time to appreciate anything. Now though, after several nights in his arms, listening to the way that his heart beat, warming her hands upon his bare skin, there was a primal need to be closer than she could be to Jack.

''I'm not trembling from the cold.'' Rose admitted, her mouth drying, the sight was intensely provocative to her. His skin was darker than her own. His torso was firmer than hers but he seemed to appreciate every curve of her body. Rose's knees weakened and she staggered over to the nearest chair, half-sinking and half-falling into it. She was almost shy at this point even after he had lovingly taken her virginity in the back seat of the motor vehicle. She remembered how she had felt the urge to touch him the first time he had stood shirtless before her. He had been so hard beneath her questioning fingers, like stone. Her hand lifted to her throat. As dry as her mouth had been, it was now flooded with moisture.

Slowly, Jack raised his shirt above his head, discarding it upon the wooden floor and left nothing but a timid look in his own beautiful eyes. There was something there, crackling below the surface of the air.

Rose's eyes went to the line of hair which formed below his navel, going downwards and disappearing beneath his trousers. In the dim light of the cargo hold, there had been barely any time for looking; it was simply a case of roaming hands but now there was time; time to explore. She was enamoured with the sight of him. Smitten as she'd thought she could never be. There was nothing she would alter about him, nothing she found fault with. In that moment, she was certain she would pay any price for the pleasure of looking upon him indefinitely. The sensations moving through her were drugging and addictive. She wondered helplessly if there was any way she could feel like this every day. Was this part of being a woman? Should a woman want to be taken to bed by a man so strongly? How had she never felt this way with Cal.

''Neither were mine.'' He half smiled; his voice saturated with affection.

Yes, she felt drugged as she felt her feet enable her to stand and take several hesitant steps towards Jack.

''We both were trembling.'' Rose almost stumbled into him. He was so hesitant with her, as she guided his shaking fingers to her waist.

Jack grabbed her hips, feeling her supple skin beneath the dress she had been given by a passenger aboard Carpathia. It was bland in colour, yet Rose still managed to make it look lovely. So effortlessly beautiful, even more so without the need for makeup, lavish clothes and diamonds.

At the feel of him, Rose turned so that his hand trailed to her stomach and her back pressed against his own stomach. She could feel the warmth which burnt against her clothes and felt the urge to shed all layers between them for a first time, and allow an eternal flame to burn between them, forever. This was the only way in which the pain could be eased. A life so lonely had been lived, a tragedy so unimaginable they had survived.

''Close your eyes.'' Jack whispered, just the way that he had done at the bow. ''Give me your hand.''

She did so, without hesitance. With a heart full of trust. Feeling his hands on her waist, he seemed to massage her hips through the dress. She dragged her hands through his hair and then stopped for a moment. He ran his index finger over her shoulder before turning her around to face the door as he slowly found he was unbuttoning the back of her dress. Slowly he managed to open them one by one as he kissed the back of her neck once again. He pressed his lips to the top of her bare shoulder. The back of her gown gaped open and he pushed it free of her shoulders, then down to the floor. The draught of the room flashed across her bare skin as goose bumps appeared across her body, but she was unsure of whether the cold was the real culprit for the effect on her. What was causing her to shiver?

Jack watched her with those intense blue eyes, his body made golden by the flickering candlelight burning on the bedside table.

''Open them.'' And, she did.

Jack leaned forward ever so slightly, so that their lips came into contact for just the briefest few moments. Rose felt her heart flutter. He had pressed his lips against her forehead, her cheek and hand since they had been aboard the Carpathia, but for the first time since she had said those three words in the Ocean, he kissed her lips.

He kissed her again with more passion than the first time before she could even think. She could feel his warmth next to her, but yet she still shivered. As his lips moved on hers, she struggled to even breath, to think and to even stand. The outside world seemed to disappear. It was just them now. No more words were needed to express what each felt towards the other.

This was the moment which she played over and over in her head since they had docked and yet she hadn't managed to prepare herself enough for what would happen.

''Rose, I won't let you go, I promise.'' He whispered breathlessly as he leant forward to kiss her again but this time, both felt the undeniable need. He clutched her to him tightly and held her there with entwined fingers. She leant against him, feeling her body ache so much with the intoxication. The fear of this complete consummation which she knew would change her life again. He scared her, consumed her in every way possible.

''Marry me,'' he urged softly, ''I can't think of life without you in it now.''

The words were so tender and as her eyes fell on the man, half-clothed aside her, ready and willing to give himself to her fully, she felt her entire legs want to buckle beneath her.

''I know that's what scared you before, the thought of being trapped but I-'' Jack seemed to lose the confidence which had led him to this moment, and he ran shaky fingers through his hair, ''I know you were to be married to someone else, I know your fears and you know mine. I won't cage you, I only want to set you free, but I just want to always be with you. I can't lose you, when I love you.''

Standing only in her undergarments and stocking, Rose was not embarrassed or cold. There was no way she could be, when warmed by a stare as heated as Jack's. He didn't move, barely blinked. As the silence lengthened, she lost courage and clasped her hands in front of her.

''Yes.'' There wasn't an ounce of hesitance.

Jack;s hand lifted to his chest and rubbed, as if to soothe a pain there. The way his gaze fell upon her face made her feel more beautiful than she could ever even imagine. Here she was, clad in very little, with a man who wasn't her husband. She was innocent to the ways of the world, but she was willing to allow him to guide her. Willing to give himself to her. Willing to be his. He brought her hand to rest over his heart, allowing her to feel its racing. It was his way of telling her just how he felt about her. How she made him feel the flickers of happiness which he imagined were long since burned out. His heart beat; raced, purely for her.

''I-I-'' He was afraid of what to say. Afraid that he didn't know the answer to the question himself. Restraint was the one thing which had kept him at bay from her for days but then, he had slowly given into the pressure and allowed her into his life, allowed himself to see her, to fall in love with her.

Rose pressed her lips together. ''I was never afraid to marry, only afraid of lifelong plans. Afraid to never feel free. I-'' she needed to say more but she simply didn't know what to say. He had affected her in such a way that words were sometimes hard to come by. The stiffened ways of Society had shaped her into an ideal adolescent bride for a man to claim by his own account, but here she was about to give her entire self to someone who she knew would hesitantly take her, but who would love her with all of his heart. She was in control of everything. This was his way of ensuring that she steered her own destiny. With him, there were no restraints, no rules and the Society had faded away in the back of their minds, so that they existed in a world where it was just the two of them. Alone. Forever.

''I want that freedom with you.''

''And I want to marry you.''

Relief caused him to shake, but as he took her into his arms, Jack grabbed her hips, feeling Rose's skin beneath her undergarments. She turned around with her backside pressed against his stomach. He ran his index finger over her shoulder and pulled away to play with the bow detail upon her bralet. It was the simple things like this, which made her shiver to the point she thought she would crumble to the ground into a pile of trembling bones.

''Are you going to make love to me?'' She asked shyly, sensing the way he stilled and then he hesitated. He was still a man above everything else, but he knew of her innocence last week. In a way he had wanted to wait for her, but he had fallen for the seduction in the back of the car which was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

She closed her eyes and placed the palm of her hands against the door for support.

''Oh, Rose,'' he exhaled, ''I want to.''

Rose quickly silenced him by placing a finger upon his lips, sensing some kind of hesitance. ''I want you to.''

There was something about revealing herself fully to him; it was beautiful and she wasn't sure she was ready to, just yet. She glanced at him and gave him a small smile, almost shyly. He stepped towards her, needing that contact with her.

''I never thought it could be this way with us.''

Rose lowered her lashes before their eyes met and interlocked.

''I know, yet, it is.'' Her eyes felt like they were lining with tears. ''I want to be more than your lover.''

Suddenly, Jack could take no more, he pulled her body towards his and their lips met. It was soft but so full of passion. The passion that had been locked away for what felt like an eternity.

Jack turned his attention to her neck, every movement sending sharp spirals of shock down her spine and then back up as she crumbled for him. After a minute, she pushed him away slightly, confusion knitted across his face. He thought he had hurt her or moved too fast. Her left hand reached out, slowly, her shaky fingers caressed his chest. He trembled, looking downwards and swallowing heavily, the anticipation and hesitation written across his face. She ran her hand across his bare chest and stomach, feeling the strength beneath it. Curiously, she watched as he slowly breathed beneath her touch, the breaths becoming quicker and shallower. He was affected by her, too. Jack pulled Rose to him. He slowly undid the buttons of her bralet, slowly and one by one to ensure she had enough time to stop him if she wished to. She didn't. She couldn't. It fell away from her body with a whisper, sliding from his fingertips to the floor. He wrapped his arms around her keeping their torsos pressed together, he pressed her against the wall and kissed her again. She could feel cold shivers running down her back, not from the lack of heat but from his touch, his presence and the way he held her as though she was the strongest, yet most fragile thing which he had ever touched.

His hand slipped down and ran across the top of her exposed breasts. His heart was racing as he glanced downwards. Her breasts were as perfect as he had remembered; they fit her frame beautifully. Her nipples jutted up at him, tiny goose bumps were everywhere, evidence of her shivering for him. His eyes came up to look at her face but once he saw the smile, his nerves dispelled.

Jack caught her mouth once again and this time she knew he wouldn't stop kissing her. He managed to lift her into his arms and carry her to the bed. He lay on top of her and their lips hadn't parted until he got onto his knees to remove her stockings. She felt so exposed to him at that moment, and there was something so damned beautiful about it. Here he was able to witness everything. She would be able to feel his trembles in the aftermath, see him in his entirety even with innocent eyes. There would be nowhere to hide from the other.

His eyes twinkled in the dim light, watching her with such adoration, she knew that he was in love with her. She could feel it. Tears sprang to her eyes from the intensity of the moment, and he wasn't even unclothed, yet. He noticed, leaning over her body so that their bodies were almost pressed together. His thumb ran beneath her lash line, rubbing away the watery reminder of the depth of her feelings for Jack.

''Please marry me before we leave New York'' he urged her in a whisper, once more. ''And not for any other reason than how much I love you.''

''I will.''

''You will?''

She nodded, with her head laid back against the plush pillow.

''Truly.''

Jack backed up onto his knees, his face flushed. The seriousness startled her until she realised that he was unbuttoning his trousers, he pulled them off expertly yet managing to keep his balance, and slowly he went further, always giving her time to stop him. She held her breath as he removed his undergarments. And there he was; naked before her. Her lips parted, her breathing seemed to stop as though she had forgotten how to do the things which were the most natural to her.

''Jack,'' she whispered, her hands grasping the sheets of the blanket just to ensure that this moment was in fact real. It wasn't a dream that she had yet to wake up from. This was what she had experienced in the Renault but not been exposed to.

''I know.''

His eyes were focused between her legs as she spread them for him, slowly. In an instant he was on top of her, his mouth on hers. She felt his tongue dive deep into her mouth as tiny fiery threads ran down her spine. His hands were rough as he pulled her legs up against his sides. Hot desperate lips found her breasts and then his hands gripped them. This was what she had wanted for so long. She noted the way that suddenly, she wasn't thinking so much as she was before. She wasn't lost in her own insecurities but instead, became lost in the serene, beautiful moment which she would never believe to be a true one as they truly entwined with each other.

She had given her virginity to him. That much was clear. But now she was about to fully give herself away. He pressed himself against her and she closed her eyes for a moment. This would be different; it already was. It was full of love, intensity and passion. More than the Renault. This time he was more than a lover.

''I'm nervous,'' she told him, pressing her lips to his stubbly cheek, relishing the feel of his alien weight atop her.

''So am I.''

Slowly, she moved her hips to position herself at his tip and then she moved downwards just a little. It was slightly painful but bearable, the last remainders of her virginity, if any, were now truly gone. She pulled his face into her neck, grasping her arms around his shoulders with all of her weight. He felt her pain as he navigated his way. She didn't tense the way he expected, she relaxed against his tight grip after a few seconds. The entire experience was surreal. She tightened against his body, as he went in before withdrawing once or twice slowly. He closed his eyes, blindly finding her lips and cherishing her with his entire being. He opened his eyes for a moment and came face-to-face with Rose. He saw that her lips were swollen. They curved into a smile before he moved his mouth to kiss her once again.

He had fallen in love with her; an upper class, beautiful young woman with many capabilities. One who had left her family for him, left her life for him and now, she was here in his arms and willing to become his wife. Giving everything and all of herself to him.

Her legs around his waist tightened, pulling him into her in every way. They were fully entwined. All caution was thrown to the wind from then on. They were more than just lovers.