Author Notes: Hey, hey. This little offhanded thought of a scenario ended up turning into a whole ass story that's been living in my brain for the last six months and I'm actually quite proud of it. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have writing it.

The deep red liquid swirls along the edges of the wine glass in Donna's hand, her knees tucked against her chest, arms wrapped around them as she stares absently at it. How on earth had her life come to this point? The firm she's spent over a decade devoted to in shambles… the new relationship she'd been so excited to be pursuing in tatters… and Harvey, well, they've stretched and strained their relationship to the point she's not sure where they go from here.

He'd called earlier. After the hearing. But she hadn't been able to bring herself to answer, too afraid to learn how it had gone, if she'd truly been responsible for him losing everything that was important to him, that made up Harvey's identity. Donna hadn't been ready to face what that conversation might have looked like, the potential resentment, and so she'd watched his name light up the screen of her phone until it went dark.

Even after Alex had filled her in, she hadn't known what to say. Robert, Harvey, Thomas, she'd put all of them in this position. It was her fault. Apparently all because of her stupid heart.

She's spent the entire afternoon and evening contemplating it. How she feels, her conversation with Alex the previous evening, the one she'd had with Thomas just this morning. It churns in her brain, spinning over and over again as she tries to dissect her emotions logically. For someone that knows other people so well, Donna has a remarkably easy time lying to herself when it comes to matters of the heart. As much as she hates it, as much as it kills her to admit it, that's what she's been doing for the last year. Hell, the last thirteen years, really.

Because she's in love with Harvey.

However she may want to spin it, that's the truth. She's known for certain since she kissed him in her office all those months ago that she'd felt more than friendship. Sure, she'd buried it, lied and said she'd felt nothing to appease his anger, fought to get their relationship back from the brink of collapse, but it hadn't been the least bit honest about what was going on deep down.

That single press of lips, barely anything really, had unlocked a door she'd been keeping sealed tightly for many years. Every flutter, every laugh, every flirtatious comment, every glance that had lasted just a second too long, every accidental brush of fingertips, every late night drink that had seemed just a tad more than appropriate for colleagues, she'd held at arms length and shoved deep within her subconscious.

What a fat lot of good it had done her.

She'd told Thomas nothing less than the truth. A part of her would always be connected to Harvey. Somewhere along the way he'd burrowed a piece of himself into her soul and no matter how hard she tries, she's incapable of cutting it out.

But they can't keep doing this to each other. Pushing each other away only to pull the other back in. It's not healthy and isn't serving either one of them anymore. The last few days are glaring proof of that if she's ever seen it. She needs more. And she'd thought she'd found it in Thomas, finally, but she's surely screwed that up now as well.

Taking a long, deep slug of her wine to quell the harsh thoughts circling through her mind, the rapid and urgent banging against her door startles Donna out of her reverie, eyes darting toward her entryway as she sets the glass down and is up from her couch in a matter of seconds. As she swings the door open, worry etched over her features, the air leaves her lungs.

Harvey.

Once again here on her doorstep when he shouldn't be. When will they stop being pulled toward one another? Will they ever?

The answer seems to be a resounding negative as their gazes connect and Harvey looks at her in a way he never has in all their years together. Soft and vulnerable, like she's the answer to all his nonexistent prayers and something inside Donna unravels as she takes three hesitant steps backward. She's never been very good at saying no to him. Except that string between them is stronger than ever and Harvey's charging after her, crashing their mouths together.

Something inside of her sings, a choir of humming and joy that expands in her chest. It's as if her body recognizes his and relaxes from their joined lips out through her limbs. Still, she's been burned before and as they draw apart, Donna studies him, trying to read his thoughts in the span of a heartbeat, to know what's happening here. His pupils are dilated, dark with desire and the faintest hint of a smile tips up the corner of her mouth before he's diving in again, driving them backwards until her hips jamming into the table stops their forward momentum.

Not the frantic urge to touch each other though, to reach and kiss every inch of skin available to them. Harvey's mouth shifts from her lips to her cheek, down her throat as he scrapes his teeth over the vulnerable skin there, causing Donna to shiver and throw her head back in unadulterated pleasure. Her own hands grip the hair at the base of his neck, stroke over his broad shoulders, shedding his suit jacket with it before working to loosen his tie. Her sweater is quick to follow suit, lessening as many layers between them as possible.

Harvey can't seem to get enough, his hands stroking down her sides, over her breasts in a faint touch that isn't nearly enough and Donna grips his wrist to direct him exactly where she wants him. Her own nails drag lines down his back, digging in as his mouth elicits delicious sensations from her. The first time had been amazing, a haze of lust and whipped cream and laughter. But they'd been so young, so naive. This time there are years worth of knowing, of yearning, of history that swell between them. It's overwhelming.

They wrap themselves around each other, helpless to this need between them, finally set free. Donna hooks a leg around Harvey's hip, arching up against his straining desire and reveling in the feeling as he joins his hands at her lower back to pull her closer, their mouths meeting over and over again. He tastes just like she remembers, a hint of whiskey and something entirely Harvey that is as good as any drug she's ever had.

Eventually, the frenetic need slows, only marginally, just enough for them to pause to catch their breath, foreheads joined and noses brushing each other. It's intimate, more so than they've been in so long and as their fingers slowly interlock together, Donna begins pulling Harvey toward her bedroom because there's no other place this can be heading.

As she pulls him behind her, turning a few feet from the foot of her bed to wrap her arms around his neck and bring his mouth back to hers, that's when their first words are spoken. "Donna," Harvey breathes, so softly against her throat as he buries his face there again, hand gripping her hip urgently. "I—"

"Shhh," Donna says, petting her fingers through his hair, stepping even closer to him as he lifts his head to meet her eyes. "We don't have to talk now. We will," she assures, because they need to. They can't go from zero to this without a discussion, but right now she doesn't want to think about all the complications, everything that's kept them from doing this for so long. She only wants to feel, to give in to what her body craves, what her heart has been biding its time for years to have. "I just want to be with you, Harvey. Please."

It's the please that does him in. He's always been willing to give her anything, everything. Except the one thing that she's needed. But he's ready now, had realized sitting in that office listening to Samantha drone on about having someone that not only accepts your flaws, but loves you anyway, had unlocked something inside him. It had made him realize what a fool he'd been and before Harvey had even realized what he was doing he'd ended up here, needing to get to her before he was too late.

Thank god he's not.

He brushes a lock of hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear and stroking his thumb over her cheek as he studies her face. This is exactly where he's meant to be. Finally. "You're so beautiful," he whispers in awe, the faint blush that rises to her pale skin reward enough. For years now he's pushed these feelings below the surface, tamped down on his desire every time she'd worn a particularly attractive dress, or a whiff of her perfume had stuck in his nostrils as she'd walked past him. Every time her laugh and a smile on her face had caused his heart to clench in his chest.

They've all broken free in the span of a day and it's too much and not enough, so Harvey ducks his head down and angles his mouth over hers, sucking her bottom lip gently between his, tongue peeking out to tease along her plump flesh. His free hand lifts so his fingertips can tease at the strap of her silk top, pushing it down over her shoulder, his other streaking up her hip and along her side to follow suit on the other side.

Donna's lips tip up in a smile against his own and her hands rise to start working at the knot of his tie properly, slipping it free and dragging it down to drop to the ground, fingers quickly getting to work undoing the buttons of his shirt. Her manicured nails drag down the defined lines of his chest as it's revealed to her touch and she groans in the back of her throat.

The sound is so sexy it drives Harvey wild, his hands gripping the hem of her shirt and yanking it over her head, shucking his a moment later. His eyes drag over her exposed torso, her breasts framed in a deep burgundy lace, pert and eager for him and he can't help his hands from cupping them, teasing her nipples through the thin material until they are hard peaks. Donna arches her back into his touch, pressing in closer and hooking her arm around his neck as they slant their mouths over each other.

Neither can get enough of the other's taste. And this all should feel awkward, strange after nothing but friendship and professionalism between them for so long, but it's the most natural feeling either have ever experienced.

Harvey's hands slip around Donna's back, making quick work of the clasp of her bra until it falls away easily and he's filling his hands with her bare breasts now, even better than before. Her skin is soft and smooth, pebbled with goosebumps. Intoxicating. He drags his mouth from hers to duck and suckle a nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue over and around it, eliciting those tiny little hums and moans from the fiery redhead in his arms.

God, he's an idiot.

She's always jokingly told him so. A little rib that is more affection than anything else, but having her like this, so open and eager in his embrace and realizing they've denied themselves this for thirteen years, Harvey knows it to be the truth. He's straining in his slacks, painfully hard, but all he currently cares about is giving Donna as much pleasure as possible. He wants her to be a puddle in his arms.

It's easy to tuck his hands into the waistband of her pants, pushing them down over her hips, her underwear coming with it and for a minute, Harvey stands and just admires her naked form, gaze dark and heated as his eyes rake over her body. Meeting her own, mirroring that desire as she bites her lower lip and smirks at him, Harvey cups her cheeks in his hands and kisses her deeply. "You're gorgeous," he mutters against her mouth. "I can't even tell you how many times I've imagined seeing you naked again."

"Is that so?" Donna taunts playfully, voice raspy and deep, not unaffected by their foreplay thus far.

"Oh, you have no idea."

Her hand cups his straining erection through his pants, teasing him lightly through the material, enjoying the faint groan the move pulls from him, the way his eyelids flutter closed before he looks at her under hooded lashes when they open. "And what were we doing in these imagingings?" Donna flirts, moving to release the hook of his slacks, slowly dragging the zipper down so she can sneak her hand into his briefs and wrap a hand around his hard length.

He takes a second to enjoy the feeling of her hand stroking him, twisting around his cock, a thumb swirling over his head. As lovely as the sensation is… he wants to be the one giving pleasure. So Harvey loops his fingers loosely around her wrist and draws her hand away, grinning at her with that Specter smirk she's so familiar with as he tells her, "Why don't I show you?"

Walking her backwards the last couple of strides until the backs of her knees hit the mattress, pushing gently on her shoulder until she lays back and settles herself amongst the pillows. He wiggles out of his remaining clothing, causing her to chuckle and for him to mockingly glare at her before he crawls into bed with her, nudging her thighs apart so that he can settle himself between them.

Starting off slowly, Harvey peppers the inside of her thigh with soft pecks, moving one by one closer to her center before switching to the other leg and repeating the motion. As desperate as he is for her, to be sheathed inside her again after so long, he doesn't want to rush this, doesn't want to screw this up now that it's finally happening. He's going to make her see stars then drive her up to the moon and back.

His warm breath ghosts over her core as he smooths a hand over her thigh, spreading her knees a bit wider, admiring her glistening center as he grins mischievously before slicking his tongue in one long stroke up her, groaning at her taste on his tongue. The miniscule shudder the move elicits through her legs and the minor jerk of her hips goes straight to his head.

Then Harvey is eating her in earnest, alternating between swirling his tongue around her clit and sucking it gently, letting his tongue dip down inside her every so often, changing his movements up enough to keep her on her toes even as her spine arches against the mattress and her fingers dig into his hair for purchase.

"Ugn, Harvey, yes. Oh—" Need constricts and burns inside her, gathering right in her core as every sense in her body is zeroed in on where his mouth is pleasuring her. Donna's fingers tighten against his head and into the sheets as she feels herself nearing closer and closer to the edge, entirely too close for how little they've actually been at this. It's not as if her needs haven't been met lately, but being with Harvey seems to have heighted everything.

He dips a finger inside her as his mouth sucks on her clit, just one at first, teasing, taunting, before he adds a second and crooks them just so, pressing against that front wall and an aching need blazes through her. She's close, so, so close.

"Please…" the plea is barely above a whisper and Harvey's gaze jerks up, taking in her trembling lower lip, the way her eyes are squeezed shut and how her chest heaves up and down and his own groin tightens at the sight, thinks he could come just from looking at her like that, hearing her soft moans echoing in his ears.

He focuses on thrusting his fingers into her for a minute, places a few pecks on her inner thighs as he looks at her, urging gently, "Come for me, Donna."

Hearing her name fall from his lips, the sheer guttural quality to it, is all it takes to tip her over that edge, her walls clenching hard and rapidly around Harvey's fingers as her orgasm rips through her. Everything dissolves around her until she's nothing but that rush of pleasure sparkling through her limbs, Harvey's voice filtering through the fog in her brain as she rides that wave, slowly coming down until his movements stop and he sucks her clit one last time, causing her to shudder from the stimulation, before he's crawling up her body and wrapping his limbs around her, fusing their lips together again.

His lips and chin are damp, a faint hint of her own essence on them that only turns her on even more as she wraps her arms around his neck, stroking them down his back and pressing herself into the long length of him, his erection pressing into her belly. "That was the sexiest thing I've ever seen," Harvey grunts when they part for air, his forehead tipping down against hers again.

Donna chuckles, delighted and sated, her brain still firing a bit slowly, but as lovely and delicious as Harvey going down on her had been, she needs more, needs him. "Oh, you have no idea," she taunts, nipping at his lower lip as she pushes on his shoulder to have him laid out on his back, shifting until she's straddling his hips.

The redhead grins wickedly down at him, happy to take the reins, to be in charge for this part of their evening. An equal partnership. Her nails rake slowly over his torso, drawing random patterns over the planes of his belly before going lower to wrap her fingers around his length, stroking from base to tip and down again just to see what kind of reaction she can generate.

She's anything but disappointed as Harvey groans and thrusts up into her hand instinctively, those lovely eyes she could drown in if she let herself stare into them for too long, gloriously heavy, nearly black as he enjoys the teasing. And as gratifying as it would be to keep this up, to see how far she could push him until he broke, they'll have plenty of time for that because this, them, is finally happening, and right now all she wants to feel is Harvey inside her.

Donna leans forward, capturing his mouth with hers, kissing him deeply, tongues tangling for a minute before she leverages herself up on her knees a bit higher, angling him toward her center, teasing both of them for a moment before she sinks down over him, allowing him to fill her wholly and deeply. The redhead takes a second to adjust, her hands cupping Harvey's face now while they make out a bit, adapting to the sensation of being joined together.

Thirteen years is too fucking long, is all she can think, as her heart settles into place in the same moment their bodies join together. Too damn long.

Harvey must feel the same, because his hands grip her hips, fingers digging into her flesh as they lose themselves for a minute and she can feel him tense beneath her, need radiating from him. "God, Donna. You feel so fucking good." He breathes in the microscopic space between their mouths. His fingers tangle in her hair, musing and snarling it between the digits as Donna lifts herself up and then slowly back down again, rocking into Harvey's hips.

It takes them a couple minutes to fall into a rhythm, adjusting the angle and speed of their thrusts, distracted with the amount of naked skin they can stroke their hands over, the sounds elicited out of each of them while they surrender to everything they've bottled up since the last time. It's all there in every rise and fall of their hips. Every maybe, every almost, every if only…

Except now they are finally here, they've made it to their finish line and it's still just as overwhelming as it had been from the second their lips had met in her foyer.

Harvey's hands glide over her back, down her spine, as Donna arches into it, hands splayed over his stomach as she uses his body for purchase, grinding against his cock, every delicious drag over her clit pushing her further and further toward that edge again. She enjoys being on top, being in charge, and it's even hotter that it's Harvey beneath her, letting her be in charge when he so hates giving up control of a situation.

Watching her ride him, the way her breasts bounce with every thrust up into her, how her walls flutter around his dick on a particularly pleasurable tilt of his hips is maddening, has that thrum of desire coiling tightly in his belly, as he cups her breasts in his hands, tweaking her nipples between his thumb and forefinger, relishing the gleam of desire that streaks through her gaze as she moans and tosses her head back. That full head of fiery red hair that has captivated him from the moment that they met. There is a reason blonde's had been his usual type, brunette's his go-to. Why he'd avoided dating anyone with that same beautiful copper tone to their locks, because they had reminded him too much of the woman he hadn't been allowed to want.

A wave of emotion rips through him, disbelief that this is happening, that the woman that holds his entire heart in her hands is joined to him. An I love you nearly tumbles from Harvey's lips as he stares up at her, just barely catching the words in the back of his throat, swallowing them down on a deep grunt as his body hums at the pleasure of being inside her, so close to the edge of that cliff that it isn't going to take much longer, doesn't know how much longer he can hold himself back from his own release. Now's not the right time. There's too much that needs to be said between them before he can let that free as well.

Instead, he snakes a hand between their bodies to where they are joined, thumbing over her clit, urging her to let go, muttering sweet nothings as he drives her toward her peak again, needing her to fall before he can. It doesn't take much, he can tell she's close, the way her breathing has gone uneven, short pants, and she's squeezing her eyes shut in that way she had before, losing herself in her own pleasure, a picture perfect image Harvey knows will be imprinted into his memories for the rest of his life.

Suddenly, Donna is keening over that ledge, "Harveyyyyy," she draws on a low, breathy moan as her walls clamp around his cock, squeezing him tightly so that he can't even see straight anymore. That's the last straw, the final thread of Harvey's resolve cumbling as he gives himself over to his own orgasm, thrusting into Donna as his eyes roll into the back of his head, his entire body stiffening and shuddering under her.

She collapses on top of him, her face nuzzling itself into the crook of his neck, beneath his jaw as they both catch their breath, lungs straining for oxygen, hearts racing in tandem. Donna peppers whatever bit of skin she can reach with a few soft smooches, their bodies still joined together for another minute before her hips protest the position and she resettles herself along Harvey's side, one leg slung over his thigh, ignoring the wetness pooling between her legs for the moment.

Harvey's arms encircle her, tucking her tightly against him as his fingers play ideally with her hair and he presses a gentle kiss into the crown of her head. "I can not believe it took us thirteen years to do that again."

Donna's chuckle huffs a warm breath across his lips as she tilts her head up to grin at him, and Harvey loves the way her eyes twinkle as she teases, "But I was worth the wait."

-:-

They'd lost count of the number of times they'd come together, fallen apart in each other's embrace the night before, but it had been the early hours of the morning when sleep had finally pulled them under, their bodies sated and content. The dawn light peeking through the curtains comes far too quickly for either of them. Donna groans, blearily tucking herself into Harvey's side from where he's rolled to his back and burying her face into the darkness of his shoulder.

"Make it go away," she murmurs huskily, already feeling the claws of slumber dragging her back into the abyss. Morning person, she is not.

Harvey grunts, strokes a hand from shoulder to wrist down Donna's arm, frowning at the morning light coming in and lifting his head just enough to make out the time on the bedside clock before collapsing back onto the pillow wearily. They couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours. "And how do you propose I wield my will over the sun?" The light punch to his abdomen is probably deserved, but lack of sleep has dulled his brain function.

It was more than worth it though, Harvey muses, a smile spreading over his face as memories of last night begin resurfacing, replaying every stunning image and sound that had come from Donna. Frankly, it still doesn't feel real, even with her naked, pressed into his side, the scent of her shampoo filling his senses.

Shifting, propping himself up on an elbow, displacing a disgruntled Donna as she settles her head on the pillow and gazes up at him from slitted lids, a fist tucked beneath her cheek, Harvey beams, stroking his hand down her hair affectionately. "Good morning."

The tone of his greeting must convey something of the joy that waking up next to her has brought him, the disbelief, because a Cheshire grin creeps over her face and the redhead blinks several times to clear the sleep from her eyes as she responds in kind.

For a minute they just stare at each other, grinning like idiots. Until Harvey breaks that silence once more, "So… last night…" and there's just enough hesitance in his voice to make it endearing.

"I know, I was amazing," Donna teases him, sneaking a foot up to run her toes along his calf beneath the sheets.

Harvey chuckles, shakes his head. "Oh, I'd say you were a hell of a lot more than that. But that's not quite what I meant." He pauses again, his thumb absently stroking back and forth over her hip, the smooth material of her sheets cool beneath his touch. Even now, the words are hard, and he has trouble getting them out, finding a way to convey what he is feeling. But he's determined that this time is going to be different, that he can implement all the tools he's learned in therapy and life to not fuck this up anymore. "Us," he starts, eyes glued to Donna's to gauge every flicker of reaction on her features. "Being together again… it's a big deal."

She's quiet for another moment, gaze unreadable, for what feels like an eternity before she replies softly, "It is."

"Any regrets?" Harvey questions, tentative, afraid the answer might be yes in the light of day.

But Donna quickly shakes her head, lifting herself up on her elbow so they are eye level with each other as she cups a hand around his cheek, assuring, "None. I've wanted this for a long time, Harvey. Longer than I'd care to admit."

The man can't quite keep the pride out of his voice as he grins softly at her, his eyes twinkling with affection. "Good. Because I might just be thinking about doing it again." He leans forward, pressing his lips to Donna's, teasing the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips until she moans and opens for him to sweep in to taste her.

It takes very little time for them to settle themselves back into the mattress, Harvey hovering over her as Donna hooks a leg around the back of his thigh, grinding against one another as they make out lazily, limbs still lumbering.

The heavy knock on her front door startles both of them out of their haze of lust.

"Are you expecting someone?" Harvey frowns at her, pulling back enough to study her wide-eyed stare.

Donna shakes her head, confused herself. They've been in a bubble, lost in each other since last night and honestly, she'd entirely forgotten there was an outside world waiting for them. One where things aren't going to be as easy as the last twelve hours had been with the fallout from yesterday. Apparently it's time to face reality.

There's another succession of knocks and Donna squeezes her eyes shut, a feeling of foreboding pooling in her gut as she shifts beneath Harvey, shoving him off of her as she quickly shuffles from the bed, snagging her robe from the chair in the corner as she makes her way into the foyer while securing the belt, ignoring the peephole and swinging the door open without thought.

"Thomas…"