Lost Time
[Continued from 'At the Tracks']


The key turned slowly in the knob, raising the metal pins above the shear line, until the lock disengaged. Rhiannon pushed the door open. Light from a corner lamp spilled golden across the space, making shadows long. The gray house cat, now nearing four, stood up and stretched her legs. It was a calm interior of wood floors and brick walls, and very little furniture, but all Rhiannon noticed was the pile of laundry near the couch. Why it should matter, she wasn't sure.

She looked over her shoulder. "Do you want a drink?" There was probably an old bottle in the cupboard, a brown drink she'd forgotten about. Maybe a couple of beers in the fridge.

Stepping aside, she waited for Joseph to cross the threshold.

Joseph trailed after Rhiannon, a shadow on her footsteps. "You got a beer? Or whiskey?" he asked as he dropped a kiss on the side of her neck before he eased into the apartment. Not that drinking was high on his list of priorities but he needed something to calm his nerves. God only knew why he had them, given that they'd done this dance countless times in the past, but he did.

He took a small breath and slipped his jacket off his shoulders, smiling as the cat he'd given Rhiannon all those years ago as a kitten wandered over and brushed across his legs. Joseph leaned down and rubbed at her ears, chuckling softly as she began to rub against him and gave a deep purr.

It was definitely warmer indoors than it was out.

"Yeah." Because she had a feeling it would taste better, Rhiannon took a beer out of the fridge and closed it with her hip. The cold bottle was a sore temptation. Part of her wanted to roll it against her neckline, to subdue the blush that might be creeping up her skin. Instead, she extended her arm to him and leaned down at the same time to unlace her boots. She balanced on her legs one at a time and pulled off the shoes, leaving the brunette in her sock feet.

"Mary Sue missed you, I think." When the cat had gotten her fill of attention, she wandered past Rhiannon and bumped against her calf, a feline drive-by on her way to the couch. There was a dip in the cushion from the cat's weight, which served as evidence that she'd become lazy in her middle age.

Joseph took the bottle that was offered to him and lifted to his lips, taking a slow pull.

"I think so," he muttered with a chuckle before he reached out to curl his fingers around Rhiannon's arm. He pulled her closer and covered her mouth in a kiss, sharing the taste of beer and himself with her. He leaned back after a moment and gave her a soft smile, nudging her nose with his. "I remember when she was a tiny kitten."

"Mmm... me, too." Rhiannon took the chance to see him from close range again. He had an arresting face. It was warm in the eyes and kind, eyes that promised her intimate things and could make her squirm from across a room. But he had cheekbones and a jaw that had a harder set and shadows underneath. It made him rougher and dangerous in certain ways. Not for the first time, Rhiannon was grateful that he loved her. If she'd had to experience that mix of handsome-rogueish face without being able to touch, it would've been impossible to be near him.

The nerves, which announced themselves like beating wings in her ribcage, tripped into double-time. Or maybe they weren't nerves. Maybe they were anticipation... Her body screaming for her to do something before she exploded.

Rhiannon put her thumb up to his lips. They were damp from the cold drink. She went on her tiptoes and kissed the beer away, drawing first his lower lip, and then his upper lip, into her mouth one at a time. The kiss was slow and thorough, as though she were being careful to remove all traces. "You taste good," she said, and walked around Joseph.

The brunette went through the space that was loosely designed as a living room. The gray cat's eyes followed her, no doubt hoping her mistress would not usurp her place on the couch. But she went over to the mattress on the low frame instead. Rhiannon didn't kneel on it. She simply looked at the sheets and covers she'd left unmade that morning. They were rumpled and pushed askew. She leaned down and took the sheet between her fingers and peeled it back farther, away from the pillows, until a wide space was left in the middle.

"Come here," she said. "Quick, before I lose my nerve." There was a tendril of amusement curling around Rhiannon's voice. It was just that there was this thought that kept repeating in her head. The first time she slept with Joseph, she had loved him, but she hadn't known it was forever. Now they were coming back together after far too long apart, a second first time, and so when Rhiannon touched him, she knew he would be the last man. Once upon a time, she thought he wouldn't ever be so close again. She planned to take advantage of it.

Joseph bit his lower lip as she drew away from him and he turned on his heel to watch her movements, enjoying the sway of her hips and the grace in her step. He chuckled softly and rested the bottle on the nearby table, approaching her slowly. He took in everything about her: the way her hair fell around her face, how her face caught the light and how her lips were full and still a little damp from their shared kiss. She was beautiful, hard and soft in all the right places and his. He'd never thought that would be possible again, but it was. And he was grateful for that.

**Begin Adult Content: Sexuality**

He kicked his boots off and followed after her, reaching out to wrap an arm around her waist. "You're gorgeous," he shared softly as he ran the back of his fingers across her cheek. "I hope you realise that." The fingers disappeared into her hair and Joseph leaned down, drawing her up into a kiss. It was the sort of kiss that went so much deeper than a kiss, it reached into her soul and opened Joseph up to her in all the ways he'd never to anyone else but Rhiannon.

Joseph's hand moved through her hair and dropped to the back of her neck, callused fingertips running in slow methodical circles as he reacquainted himself with Rhiannon's skin.

Whether or not she would've realized it normally, Rhiannon completely felt gorgeous in his presence. She was a normal woman, in that her body moved differently when he watched. It was just that the transformation for a Slayer was more dramatic. She became sinuous, fluid, and soft. She allowed herself to be vulnerable.

While they kissed, Rhiannon placed her palms against his shoulder blades. She conformed her hands to the shape of him, and then they went lower. It was a caress that followed the strength of his back, the narrowing of his waist and spanned his hips, and then gave a none-too-subtle hint of what she eventually wanted, by pulling Joseph flush against her.

A hint that would be taken, eventually. As soon as Joseph was satisfied he'd explored every inch of her and learned everything he had missed during his time away. He wanted to know her, the same way he had over a year ago. When he could close his eyes and picture her perfectly, from the tips of her toes to the roots of hair on her head.

He cupped her face, running thumbs over her cheekbones, before slipping his hands down and over her shoulders. He felt the strength in her arms and down her back, appreciating the subtle changes in her when she moved. Joseph dropped his head, moving his mouth to her neck and over her pulse. It was there his touch lingered and his mark blossomed to the surface, a small telltale sign of teeth.

Rhiannon arched her neck. As the sharp edges of his teeth bruised her skin, she breathed deep. She couldn't believe how different pain could be, depending on who delivered it. A tiny hurt, barely noticeable in a fight, now was the only thing she knew. "Joseph," she whispered. Inside his hip pockets, Rhiannon's fingers dug deep, until her hands were full. "I--" Missed him? That was territory already covered. She knew he already understood, but couldn't stop herself telling him more. "I dreamed about your mouth and your hands." That wasn't all.

Those were cruel dreams, taunting her with details she might not recall in waking life. Her subconscious never forgot, and didn't miss the chance to refresh her memory, whenever her guard was down, of how it felt to do this with him.

With her eyes closed, the brunette pulled his shirt up and touched his back with her fingernails. They were gentle at first, scraping lightly towards his stomach on either side, and then retreating. Dipping into his waistband instead.

His breath caught as her fingers tightened and his eyes fluttered against her neck. He cupped the back of her head and tipped his own back as he needed that distance to catch his breath and regain his composure, which she'd managed to shred like paper.

He closed his eyes and leaned into her, capturing her mouth in another kiss. Her fingers invoked a response across his skin, causing the olive expanse to prickle into small bumps until the surface was uneven, not that Joseph's skin could ever be described as smooth given his lifestyle.

"Rhiannon," he breathed against her mouth and touched his mouth to her throat. He drew away and took a deep breath as his fingers curled in his shirt and he revealed himself to her, tossing the shirt aside. The necklaces had been unsettled by the movement but soon found their familiar resting place, against his chest and above his heart.

Her fingers in his waistband sent tingles down his legs and caused heat to pool in the pit of his stomach; how he was still standing was beyond him.

When she wanted someone badly enough, even simple touches -- first base touches -- could be erotic beyond the telling of it. Rhiannon inched back. The desire to stare at his chest was unstoppable. "You're perfect," she said, sounding almost pained about it. That array of scars and tattoos across his flesh was something women could swoon over, but a Slayer could revere. She let him follow the hungry path of her eyes, until they settled on a rough cord of damaged skin on his pectoral muscle. Rhiannon's mouth was open before she even got there. She sealed her lips around it and tasted him.

In the back, her hands had turned into fists against his hips; she was hanging on. The sharp tips of her fingernails scraped back and forth, tantalizingly slow, within that small space they were allowed. Joseph's brown skin turned red.

She picked up her head and, without warning, found the scar on Joseph's neck. She began to run her tongue from one end of it to the other.

Joseph's breath hitched in the back of his throat and his hand scrambled for purchase, finding it in the thick strands of her dark hair. He moved his other over her back and brushed the backs of his fingers over the small of her back, seeking the skin he so desperately wanted to touch.

His breathing came in slow uneven bursts when nails teased reactions out of him he thought long since dead. He'd recalled a time when she'd told him off for speaking in a tongue that came easier to him than that of English, but in instances like this he couldn't help himself - a string of endearments in thick Italian escaped him.

The scar around his neck was more sensitive than most and in a flash he had a sudden and shocking recollection of the instance it had happened, shortly chased away by the warmth of Rhiannon's mouth. It was as she neared the edge that his mouth hungered and he took what he wanted.

But not for long.

He ran his hands down her back and over her sides, following the movements with his mouth. The kisses began at her chin, slipped over her neck, touched her collarbone and wandered much further south. He wound up on his knees, mouth against her navel and lips touching muscle and scars.

Rhiannon's stomach jerked away. It felt too good at first. But then she let go and let Joseph's mouth have her. She peeled her shirt up over her torso and brought it overhead. The cloth bunched between her fingers and became a little ball that she tossed behind her. She cradled his head in her hands and looked down. The Slayer watched his mouth pucker and his tongue bathe the expanse of her abdomen.

She had a secret. Not knowing what Joseph was saying was a serious turn-on. She could let go of the actual words and hear the sounds behind them, the strain of Joseph's vocal chords forming the syllables. Imagination had a free pass to turn them into any meaning she wanted; Rhiannon could pretend he had issued a particular command, which she then could follow through on. She liked to think of it as his body telling her things that his words didn't.

Like right now, Rhiannon 'heard' him tell her to unbutton her jeans and inch the denim down, just until it hung off the curve of her hips. The strings of her black panties stood out against pale, freckled skin. She didn't take them off.

Joseph looked up at her and gave her a smile before he smoothed his hands over her sides, touching for the sake of it. It had been a long time after all. He wanted to remember. He ran the roughened tips of his fingers over the littering of freckles across her skin, gently tracing shapes and following them with his mouth.

He was glad she didn't remove the jeans, he wanted to do that. There was nothing sexier than undressing the woman you loved, taking your time to peel away the layers that kept you from seeing all of her. And he was fortunate, Rhiannon was beautiful. More so than any other woman he saw. Perhaps he was biased, but he liked it that way.

He placed his mouth over the curve of her hip, tasted her with his tongue and withdrew after a moment. His hands went to her jeans and smoothed along the waistband before he slowly eased the zipper down and he gently slid them off her hips. "God, Rhiannon..." he murmured softly, praise abundant in the overall warmth of his voice.

The sound of her name was as potent as any place he could've touched her. Rhiannon closed her eyes. She wondered if he could see the way her thighs trembled. Placing her hands on Joseph's shoulders, she lifted each knee, and her jeans dropped around her ankles instead. Whenever Joseph breathed out, she felt it wash down her legs.

With some coaxing, Rhiannon looked him in the eye. Normally she'd be a force of nature; Joseph made her into a woman that wanted to take her time, savoring each aching, gorgeous second of the build-up. "I can barely hold still," she confessed. True, she wanted to slip her legs apart and join him on the floor, but not until he wanted it. The praise in his eyes pinned her in place.

Rhiannon combed his hair back, softly, giving every indication of tenderness. Submission. At the base of his scalp, though, she tugged it and yanked Joseph's hand back, exerting herself. No longer only the woman posed above him, but also the woman who had him on his knees.

Joseph hissed in a breath and went with the tug, ignoring the instinct he had to fight. This was Rhiannon after all. He tossed her jeans aside, far enough so they would be hard to reach again. He smoothed his hands over her legs, stopping at her knees to gently caress the skin behind it.

He might have been on his knees but there was a mastery in the way that he touched her. A confidence not many a man had, especially when in the presence of such a strong woman. He was slow, deliberate and meticulous. There wasn't an inch of her skin he hadn't touched with his hands, not an inch left undiscovered.

He leaned in again and pressed another kiss to her abdomen, leaving his mouth to linger there as his hands slid between her legs, following the smooth expanse of skin. "I just want to make you feel good," he shared in a heated whisper, voice thick and accent heavier than before.

His hands turned and it was the back of his fingers that travelled to the strings that held that black material in place.

A short, quiet laugh escaped her. Pure rush. The next shudder that shook her frame, she knew he felt. "You do," she said. Rhiannon lifted her knee and pressed the soft, inner curve of it against Joseph's cheek. The morning's shave made his jaw the tiniest bit abrasive. Rhiannon's breath stuttered in her chest.

She held herself that way, statuesque, waiting to see what Joseph would do with his fingers and those strings.

Joseph turned his head and smoothed a kiss over her skin, tasting and remembering. He curled the strings around his fingers and slowly slipped them off her hips, moving his mouth to touch the newly exposed skin. He murmured another soft word of Italian against her inner thigh before nipping gently.

It wasn't long until he'd stripped away the panties and he had to sit back and just look, awe in his eyes. "Bellissimo," he muttered quietly. She really was.

To hold still beneath the scrutiny of a lover's eyes was every bit as nervewracking as it was arousing, no matter how many times she had been naked before. Rhiannon wanted to give Joseph the full view. To occupy her hands, she reached back and unhooked her bra. The straps slid off her arms in delicate arcs. She let it fall away.

For the most part, she was unchanged since he'd last seen her. She was not the most curvacious of women; Rhiannon was a graceful figure, pale and freckled in places, toned across her stomach and down her legs, which were exceptionally long for her frame. She was curved and subtley feminine. There were tattoos on her wrist and down her spine. The Slayer's hair was longer now, and very dark against her shoulders.

The difference was in mild, pink scars that accelerated healing hadn't quite removed.

She took Joseph's hands and guided them to her waist. "I want you to touch me."

Joseph's eyes softened as she stripped before him and he smoothed his thumbs in long movements across her sides. He doubted he could have said no to that. He certainly didn't want to. He rose to his feet slowly, dropping his head to kiss her as his hands slid upwards. He explored freckles and scars, familiarising himself with the new while reacquainting himself with the old.

It was his thumbs that touched the curve of her breasts at first before both hands slowly ran over them, caressing and feeling. He shivered. He pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck and curled his tongue around her skin, gently puckering it underneath his mouth.

He touched her a little more firmly than before, circling a nipple before spreading a hand outwards to slip it over her side and across her stomach. His touch didn't linger long. He needed more. Joseph pushed his hand around and flattened it against her lower back, pulling her to him until their chests were crushed together.

The sudden expanse and warmth of his chest was sensory overload. Rhiannon put her arms around Joseph and buried her face in the crook of his neck. The tips of her breasts were awakened, and a sharp focus for her otherwise fuzzy mind. "You--" The word echoed in the small hollow between her mouth and his collarbone. Oh, she was going to let him know what he'd done to her.

Lifing her knee alongside his hip, Rhiannon seemed to simply be teasing at first. Then she hooked the long, smooth leg around his back and clamped it tight. The brunette was in a precarious balance on her tiptoe. It didn't seem to affect her in the slightest. She leaned forward, and brought the center of her body against Joseph's abdomen in an intimate, hot way. He would feel her arousal now.

The brunette eased herself up and down. It was a miniscule movement, her calf muscle flexing. Rhiannon lifted her face from its nook and put her mouth against his chin. "Take your pants off."

Joseph made a sound when her leg wrapped itself around him and his hips were brought into startling alignment with hers. He dropped his head forward and pressed his forehead against hers, trying to catch his breath. He gave a soft husky laugh as she moved, swallowing the sudden lump in the back of his throat.

He tipped his head, allowing the light to catch his cheekbones and reflect in the depths of his eyes. He flicked his tongue out over his lower lip and reached for his belt, loosening it before tossing it aside. He'd have to get out of the bed if he wanted it back again.

His hands moved to the fastenings of his jeans and it was with a teasing movement that he undid the button and did away with the zipper. The denim parted and Joseph slid it off his hips, exposing the stark black that interrupted the otherwise flawless expanse of brown.

He was a tease. Every mundane thing Joseph did was a delicious torment to her. Smoking cigarettes, driving a car, playing pool, firing a gun... Hell, doing his laundry. She could see sex in all of it.

Still clinging onto him with that leg, Rhiannon unleashed the fingers of her left hand. She watched as they traipsed along his bicep, squeezing lightly. Danced across his nipple. Teased beneath his ribcage. Dropped way down and tickled inside the leg of his boxers.

Rhiannon put her mouth on Joseph's ear. Hot, moist breaths enveloped the lobe. "I want you." The confession was made more of air than voice. She tugged his boxers down and heard them hit the wood floor.

Joseph's skin reacted like you'd expect, prickling into a sequence of bumps. Again. She had that effect on him. He tipped his head into her mouth and closed his eyes, reaching up to tangle a hand in her hair. When boxers hit the floor he stepped out of them and wrapped Rhiannon's waist with his other arm.

"Need you," he echoed softly against her temple. He moved them towards the bed and laid Rhiannon back, positioning himself above her.

The mattress settled beneath her weight.

Rhiannon's legs tangled in his. The hair on Joseph's was soft, and she couldn't help working her calfs and thighs alongside his, wanting to feel it on her bare skin. It had been a long while since her body felt this kind of pleasure, in something so simple as skin to skin contact. "Almost enough," she said, although it was a lie. This wasn't nearly enough. She could be with Joseph her whole life, try every position in the book, twice, and Rhiannon would never get enough.

Seeing no need to deny herself any part of Joseph, she reached down and found him against her leg. With a lip snagging on her teeth, Rhiannon took hold of him more fully. She recalled quite clearly how he liked this, and didn't wait to start.

Joseph's hands settled on either side of her and curled around the sheets, a string of Italian escaping his lips as she touched him like that.

He leaned down and kissed her, sliding a hand from the covers to her hair. He wrapped a hand in the lengths of it and dropped his head, burying himself against the side of her neck. The essence of her was stronger there than it was anywhere else.

His necklaces came to rest in the centre of her chest, metal cool and alien against her pale skin. His mouth followed them shortly afterwards, tasting and marking.

Welcoming the contact, Rhiannon arched her spine away from the bed. It allowed Joseph's hot mouth and cold pendants to evoke reactions from her breasts. The small necklaces dipped and slid around her curves, shifting with the rise and fall of her breathing. The ceiling became a focus for her hooded eyes. "God," she murmured. Between his legs, she held him tighter and moved her fingers quickly, in a rhythm guaranteed to catch his attention. She was restless now. She wrapped her thighs around one of Joseph's and squeezed it.

The brunette felt his fingers in her hair. She nudged Joseph's hand aside and turned her mouth into it. A slow kiss inside his palm. An index finger that she sucked into her mouth. A bite around the tip.

Joseph muffled the sound he made against Rhiannon's skin, a telling sign that he'd been there by the mark of teeth he'd left behind.

He lifted his head, just in time to watch her suck his finger into his mouth. In that instant his gaze went dark. Joseph couldn't take it anymore. He ran his hand over her thigh and eased the tips between her legs, needing to touch her before he was driven insane.

Joseph's mouth found her jaw and his breathing followed the curve of it until he was able to suck her lower lip into his mouth, gently encouraging her to fall into him. He'd catch her.

Rhiannon's mouth opened on a soft moan. She let it happen, becoming as unguarded with her need for Joseph as she was with her spoken love for him. The Slayer's thighs slipped apart, making room for his touches. When had anything felt this good? A long time ago, and it was almost as though Rhiannon's body couldn't believe what he was doing to it. Joseph coaxed with his hands, slow and meticulous, exploratory even though he had memorized her. He never rushed.

She began to turn her hips. They stirred to life before her mouth could. Then she resumed the stroking motion of her hand and kissed him delicately. A sweet, lingering brush of full lips. The tip of her tongue dancing against his. Everything gentle in the kiss was deceptive, considering how badly she wanted him. What gave Rhiannon away was her eyes, which opened and were nearly black with desire.

Joseph shivered under her touch, reacting to it openly and freely. He held nothing back. He brushed his mouth over her neck and paused at the hollow, just to catch his breath. "I want you," he said into her mouth. The tips of his fingers curled and his thumb brushed across the sensitive core of her.

Rhiannon nodded. The in-and-out movements of her breath were labored. Placing her palm against his chest, she pushed, urging Joseph onto his back. She rolled along with him, stretching out fully on top. They were mouth to mouth and stomach to stomach. Before she hadn't noticed it, but a fine sheen of perspiration now dampened the contact. "Do you want me now?" The intimate question was quiet. The thick curtain of her hair fell alongside his face, blocking the warmth of the corner lamp. Joseph was all she could see.

A little movement, and Rhiannon's legs straddled him. "We could wait, if you wanted..." Lowering her head, she bit his necklaces, and the golden skin beneath them.

Joseph allowed Rhiannon to push him onto his back and then tipped his head back as her legs surrounded him.

He gave a breathless laugh as she mentioned waiting and he reached down, threading a hand into her hair. He didn't think it was possible. Joseph pulled her up and met her halfway. "Now, Rhiannon." His voice was thick, deep and raw with need.

The returned smile was luminous. "Yeah." She lowered a hand and put them into position. All she had to do was slide up, and...

"Joseph..." It was a slow-motion lowering of her body onto his. Pleasure rewarded her for every inch gained, culminating in a fullness, both physical and emotional, that took the air from Rhiannon's lungs. The relief of it was almost blinding. Unable to hold still, even to savor it, she engaged in a sensual back and forth motion, as natural as breathing, that soothed the very ache it created. Raising herself onto knees, Rhiannon sat up and grabbed for his hands.

Joseph's eyes fluttered and he let out a couple short bursts of air, simply gathering himself. He wasn't sure he could do anything but lie there and feel every inch of Rhiannon around him.

Eventually his hips found their own natural rhythm, meeting Rhiannon's each and every time they withdrew. It was when she grabbed his hands that he allowed his fingers and thumbs to explore the curves of her body.

Beautiful, and he said as much without realising.

As ardently as she had wanted this back, Rhiannon hadn't remembered until just now how much her body could sing. Joseph's touch explored what he wanted, and hers followed, resting lightly on the back of his hands. Encouraging. Inner thighs clung to him damply, perspiration indicating how hot the room had become, since they began. She rode the waves of sensation up and down, slow until she couldn't stand it, and fast until she feared it would end.

She was aware of his eyes. Rhiannon met them, and in a thrilling display of vulnerability, let Joseph watch her unwind. She never broke eye contact. Simply circled his body confidently, bringing herself closer and closer to the pinacle, but never quite arriving.

Joseph brushed his thumbs over the curves of her breasts and leaned up, covering a nipple with his mouth. He coaxed it to a head and rolled his tongue across it, tasting Rhiannon's skin and the sharp aftertaste of salt. Addictive.

He slid his arm around her waist and clasped her hip, drawing her closer until they'd both found a rhythm that was satisfying and torturous at the same time.

Joseph tipped his head back and held Rhiannon's eyes, drawing her down into a kiss. He held the kiss for long enough to roll them, taking her beneath him and settling their bodies that much closer. It was amazing how they still fitted together perfectly, like they'd never been apart.

He pulled her leg over his hip and reached for her hands, lacing their fingers together and pressing them back into the bed as his movements went deeper.

She moaned her excitement into Joseph's mouth. Fingers tightened unto whitening. Rhiannon wrapped her legs around him eagerly, digging her heels in. This way, it seemed, would undo her, judging by the Slayer's quickening gasps. She went for his earlobe with her teeth. "Love you... I love you..." Then went back for another kiss, their mouths crushing together with none of the gentleness of before. Rhiannon's limbs became vices, trying to take from him all that could be given.

Joseph groaned into that kiss, baring his teeth for a fraction of a second as he bit her lower lip before opening his mouth, letting the kiss deepen. He clasped the back of Rhiannon's head and covered her chest with his. There wasn't an inch of her he wasn't touching and even then it would never be enough, could never be enough. He worked his hips faster, desperately seeking the release he knew they both wanted and needed.

Rhiannon's came faster. One moment she was straining, waiting open and still beneath Joseph as he moved, and the next, everything erupted, like an explosion inside of her. The orgasm was shattering in its completeness. Nothing hurt, no part of her was empty or incomplete. She was pleasure embodied, shivering and crying out.

Joseph drew back, far enough to watch as Rhiannon came apart. God, he'd never seen anything like it. It was Rhiannon who pushed him over, the way she reacted and how she sounded. His orgasm washed over him and claimed him, dragging him under to swallow him whole. It was in Rhiannon's mouth that Joseph found his fresh breath after the crush. And it was there he muttered confessions of love, English and Italian strung together like a poem.

Rhiannon clung to Joseph as if her life depended on it. The pinpricks of pleasure kept coming, with every jerk of their bodies against one another. "Baby," she whispered, combing his hair back and pressing kisses to his neck. The words pulled at her heart. Nothing was sexier than when he gave himself to her. "Stay." She meant inside her, as long as he could. "Stay, Joseph." She pulled him tighter inside her arms and legs.

Joseph collapsed onto his forearms, barely able to support his own weight. He tipped himself into those kisses and tangled his hands in her hair, burying himself against her. He didn't move and wouldn't, not for a while. The whole of the U.S. Government could come charging through her door and Joseph still wouldn't move. He doubted he'd even move for the Lord himself.

"Will you sleep with me tonight?" As the sweat dried on her skin, the heat of their lovemaking subsided. She extended an arm and tugged on the edge of the sheet. It came over them, soft and cool. "I need you."

Joseph lifted his head and kissed her neck. "Don't think I could move even if I wanted to." He looked at her, smiling softly as he brushed his thumb over her cheek. "I love you," he said quietly, just to say the words because he could.

Now that she was sated -- if only for a while -- Rhiannon's body ached in familiar, good ways. She thought that she could sleep, given time to wind down. Sleep or simply hold him, and wait until they had recovered enough to go another round. "I know you do," she whispered, and smiled back. "Can I tell you something?" Her fingers traced Joseph's profile, and down along his ear. "You make me happy." She kissed his brow and closed her eyes.

Joseph tipped his head into that touch and smiled slowly, eyes closing at the kiss. "I'm glad." He leaned down and nuzzled against her neck, pressing a smile against skin. "Mm, you smell good."

Aside from their breathing, the small apartment was silent. It was safe. She cradled his head against her breasts and stroked his hair. "So do you." Rhiannon's brown eyes found the ceiling. She relaxed. After a moment, though, a hint of a smile crept up on her. It kept coming until she couldn't contain it any longer. "Holy shit, you're a great lay." She busted out laughing and kissed the top of Joseph's head.

Joseph couldn't stop himself, he wound up laughing out loud. "Just for the record, so are you." His laugh quieted until he was just resting in her arms, breathing gently. Ever since the events of New York Joseph hadn't slept easy with the exception of that evening he'd spent with Rhiannon in his arms. This was apparently no different. Hopefully she wouldn't take it the wrong way, but he was so at ease and comfortable with Rhiannon that there was no way for him to resist the pull of unconsciousness.

She didn't. Rhiannon simply stroked his hair until Joseph slept, and for the rest of the time it took her to join him, she smiled.