The front door to the ground floor wrenched open and in came in a family. With our inner senses becoming too hot for the public onslaught of affection, Harry and I pulled back immediately. Our gazes met and locked, holding steady as our breathing slowed to a normal pace.

"Excuse me?" The blonde woman holding her children's hands tightly, eyed Harry and I balefully. "Whatever this is, it's best suited for your flat. You don't get to hog the staircase, other people live here."

"Oops. Sorry." Harry grinned apologetically while I buried my face in his chest.

Clearly dissatisfied with our unapologetic smiles, the woman led her two girls past us and up the stairs. Harry didn't live here and I could hardly say that my stay with Natasha was still welcomed. However, it didn't matter, because once again, I'd be packing, but this time, I was heading home. To where I rightfully belonged.

Oh how everything had changed.

Once the door on the second floor shut loudly behind us, Harry's arms returned to grab my waist and he tightened his hold on me. I just grinned. I wanted to give him a soft, romantic smile, but I couldn't stop this huge, shit-eating grin spreading all over my face. I was so happy that I wondered if Harry could hear the frantic thudding of my heart.

"I know I'm sort of late to this, but I really want to do things properly this time around..." He paused for a second, then smiled. "Vivian, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Yes." He was watching me carefully. His faces inches from mine with a dimpled smile. "This night...and possibly every other night."

I giggled. "Do I have to look fancy? If yes, all my clothes are still in boxes."

"Viv, do you know how long I've waited for this?" He said softly, searching my eyes. I bit my lip, realising I didn't have an answer to his question. "I don't care what you wear or if you wear clothes, I just want to spend the evening with you." Then he proceeded to ask, "What are you thinking?"

"That this is one of the happiest moments of my life." I moved my hands to his neck and gently stroked his curly hair. "And that Natasha is probably going hate me even more than she does right now," I ventured, gesturing extravagantly at the ceiling with my head.

"One question?"

"Mhmm." I nodded a go ahead.

"Do you want to go out with me?"

"Yes, of course." I answered without as much as a thought.

"Then what has Natasha got to do with this?"

Absolutely nothing; if I tried not to think about returning to her flat to prepare for a dinner date with Harry.

•••

If I listened to Natasha play R.E.M's 'Everybody Hurts' or Morissette's 'Ironic', at full volume, one more time, I was going to take off my dress and sandals and start crying. Finally, Harry rang and picked me up subsequently in a rental Ford Truck, sparing my conscience.

My hands slid down my thighs, smoothing the creases out the silk material of my floral summer dress while we drove in silence. I was strangely nervous. Harry seemed nervous too, which rarely ever happened. For that reason alone, his anxiety was feeding mine. I began to wonder if things were irrevocably damaged—

Oh, I guess not.

He casually reached over the centre console and placed his hand on my knee. He kept it there, unmoving, while piloting through the streets of Croydon. Whatever apprehension he'd been feeling seemed to pass. Mine remained, but it was muffled under the lustful drone his hand at my knee produced within me.

His warm fingers toyed with the hem of my dress, keeping their focus on circumventing my clothing instead of going further. He knew what he was doing. He was making me wonder why he didn't just slide his hand up and accept the invitation my dress was extending.

When he finally decided to move his hands, he stopped at the middle of my thigh, massaging the muscle, squeezing and releasing it rhythmically, teasing me again. The silent seduction of his touch made my heart race and the warmth of it spread through me, concentrating around my core. I was being driven crazy by his massaging hand.

He stopped at a light, looked me over, and became pensive. I hadn't anticipated reflection, I had expected hunger, desire, lust. Something was off with him, and had been since I'd gotten into the car with him.

"What?" I asked after he had stared at me for a long moment.

He looked startled for a moment, his eyes widened slightly as if he had forgotten that I had the ability to speak. He looked at me again and his eyes lost the look of reminiscence they had carried, and he smiled at me in the way I was accustomed to.

"It's just...you're here with me and we don't have to worry about being in secret. Never knew this day would come."

Traffic light green and unfortunately for me, he released his hold on my thigh to manoeuvre the gear, leaving me turned on and unsatisfied. Shifting in my seat, I glanced in his direction, taking in his sweet, pillowy lips. I couldn't wait to kiss him again. I was dying to.

He made a right turn and brought the truck to a halt, announcing that we had arrived at the venue as he killed the engine. It was a small secluded area, surrounded by trees and illuminated by moonlight. As a continuation to his teasing, Harry went on setting up the blanket and takeaway at the back of the truck without so much as a word to me or even a touch.

It should've been awkward, the silence we shared but I felt like I was back in secondary school, going out on my first date with the boy I like. A nighttime picnic with takeaway food from our favourite restaurant.

Finally, he ushered me to the back of the truck and the dinner commenced. We ate under the cool air, conversation slowly picking up to a full blown chat and jokes in between bites. There was no more awkwardness or long silences. It felt normal; like catching up and sharing the details of our long day.

"Viv, I know this feels a bit last minute but I want you to know, you deserve much more than a picnic at the back of a rental."

"Shut up Harry, it's perfect." I rasped, looking into his eyes with a seductive smile curling my lips.

His attention broke from mine for a second as he poured himself some more wine. Then I heard him say under his breath, "I wished I did more for you before."

"Let's not focus on the past. Our choices were limited because of my relationship with Aaron." His name felt like bile in my mouth. I looked down at the empty plate in front of me and chuckled in disbelief as I fiddled my fork between my fingers. A beat passed before I continued, "But that's over now. We should focus on us. Here. Now. Alone."

I anchored him with a salacious gaze, hoping he would pick up on the silent cues I was dropping for him that said I was all his. If he was picking up on my hints, I couldn't exactly tell, because he was staring at me like I was a strange creature that just materialised in front of him. Which confused me a whole lot and made me anxious.

I swallowed and shifted under the intensity of his green eyes. It was like our time apart had broken our momentum.

Before I could speak, his lips seized mine, the kiss instantly desperate and hungry. Breathing heavily, we plunged their tongues inside each other's mouths, dying to taste one another completely. He stopped kissing me for a moment and looked deeply into my eyes, I read his thoughts immediately.

My mouth was on his the next second. Tasting him again was a sweet agony. As the kiss grew deeper, Harry's response was a long drawn-out groan into my mouth, increasing the fervor running through me. He drew me in with a tractor beam of passion and warmth, of excitement and playfulness; of lust . . . and love. I couldn't stop my hands as they pushed his shirt up his back, touching his skin and feeling his muscles tense under my fingers. As I pushed further to get more of him, he leaned back and reached for the hem of my dress, pulling it up and my arms going with it.

He dropped it to the side and began pulling his shirt off quickly before his fingers made work of my knickers, yanking them down in one swoop. I barely freed one foot, my sandals getting caught on the other before I was up. I had to grasp onto his shoulders.

Once his jeans were off, he grabbed my face and tilted my head to the side, his mouth opening over my skin and his tongue trailing across my collarbone until he reached a particular sensitive spot that he knew would earn him a moan when he sucked on it.

God, he knew my body too well.

I felt my bra being yanked down on one side as he dipped his head and pressed his lips to my skin, licking between my breast then around to my nipples. With a quick bite to the pebbled tip, I gasped, "Harry!"

When he grabbed my legs and pulled me towards him. I couldn't stop the moan that escaped my lips. The public setting and the idea of us possibly being caught made my heart skip a beat and pump harder in my chest, but it also excited me enough to contribute to the growing moisture between my thighs.

"Harry," I grabbed his shoulder when he pushed my legs far apart. He traced a wet torrid line up the centre of my chest to my neck, nipping and sucking until his mouth was over mine again.

"The things you do to me, Vivian," he breathed out, sucking in my bottom lip and gently biting it. Sliding my fingers through his hair, I clung to the tendrils and pulled his lips away from mine.

"Harry, I need you." I breathed, watching his hand reach for his boxer briefs to free himself. His dick sprung free, and he palmed it, stroking it slowly. "Oh...yes." I could barely breathe.

He glared at me, his eyes full of lust, glazed over, darkened and hungry. I couldn't help but flush, my body heated as his gaze crawled over my body.

"Fuck, you're always ready for me," he said, running his fingers over the head to his hard length before guiding it to my opening.

I wanted to scream 'Yes', but instead I closed my eyes and felt the lips to my core open up for him. I was more than ready for the pleasure that was soon to come.

"No, no, no don't do that." I heard him whisper. "Open your eyes, baby."

I obliged and opened my eyes. And in one swift motion, he pushed into me. I slid forward and my back hit the blanket. It was a perfect fit. He had never felt so amazing.

"Baby," he whispered out a deep groan in her ear. "I've missed you. Fuck, you always feel so bloody good."

"Harry," I called for him. "Harder."

But he didn't give me what I wanted. Rather, his hand came between us and reached for my clit. His thumb began circling.

"Yes," I breathed, wanton and needy, lifting my hips. "Please Harry, I need more," I found myself begging. It had been so long since I had a good fuck. Good sex. Great sex. Damn I'd missed it. Missed him, missed what he could do to me.

Aiming to please, Harry grabbed my hips in both his hands and lifted me while burying his length deeper between my legs. I bit hard on my bottom lip to keep from screaming his name across the park. He rolled his hips and deepened his strokes, slamming into me until my back was arched and my legs were trembling.

No longer able to hold it in anymore, I released a moan. The faster he drove into me, the more I felt like an animal howling at the moon. His fingers soon joined again, thumb especially working my clit.

It didn't take much more. The bright, colorful lights I was beginning to see left me feeling quite hazy. My walls clenched and I began to unravel, the first wave of my orgasm hitting me like a ton of bricks. Placing his hands flat on the blanket, he picked up a slow and steady rhythm.

Lining my tongue with his mouth, I tried to push my way in. When he finally opened up, I deepened the kiss and pulled his tongue into my mouth, drinking his moans as his pace picked up again. My legs wrapped around him to hang on and he slammed into me faster, harder than ever. His breaths, groans, pant all in my ear; I never realised how much I missed those sounds.

Feeling the fullness of his shaft within me, I was reminded how much I loved being connected to him. With one last trust, he pressed me hard into the boot of the truck and found his release. The next thing I knew, he sighed deeply and gave me his weight, dropping his forehead to my shoulder.

My arms wrapped around him in an embrace while my hands roamed across the expanse of his back, feeling the dampness as I breathed deep. Perspiration and sex, the smell of us mixed together was so heady it overwhelmed me. My senses engulfed me as I laid here, staring up at the dark sky littered with stars. Him, me, us. Connected together.

"Harry?" I quietly called for him.

He pulled out a bit and pressed back in before tightening his arms with a hum. "Hmm?"

He was still breathing hard and when he turned my head to him, he didn't answer, he kissed me. This wasn't a soft, post coital kiss. It was an I've-just-returned-from-war-and-I-want-to-ravish-you kiss. Then it started to crawl over me. The moments began to tick by and the haze started to evaporate.

Today had been a hell of a ride. And like every rollercoaster, the ride finally came to a halt and my brain instantly became alert. Realisation hit me hard. I was surrounded by him, inside and out.

"Oh shit!" I pulled back violently. "You didn't use a condom."

He looked down and frowned, "Was I supposed to?"

"Fuck!" I drawled, "I stopped my birth control."

Panicking, I tried to push him off me. I had just had sex, unprotected sex, with the man I love. And he was on top of me, inside me with no condom, skin to skin, as bare as my arse in the back of his rental.

"Oh fuck, bloody hell, fuck. I need to find the nearest chemist," I cried, wiggling underneath the weight of his body.

"Baby, calm down," he said, pressing his shaft into me again.

"Stop doing that!"

His hand came up to the side of my panicked face as he began in a calm voice, "I didn't know you stopped taking your pills. I couldn't help myself. Did you think I would be able to stop myself from kissing you or touching you?"

"Seriously, I've not been taking my pills since I broke up with Aaron." My voice was getting higher.

"Vivian, darling." He smoothed my hair away from my face in an attempt to calm me. Still I continued pushing at his chest to get his weight off me. He narrowed his eyes and I felt him give me more of his weight as he asked, "Baby, are you gonna calm down?"

I forced myself to be still enough to give a nod. He tipped his head, like he knew I was lying before leaning in to kiss me. It was gentle and intoxicating, the soft wetness of our mouths settling into a playful dance. This was his soft, after-sex-kiss that I had missed. I missed it so much I almost forgot he was still buried inside me without a condom.

Satisfied, he swiped his tongue over my bottom lip and pulled his head back enough to look me in the eye and say, "Now let's go to the chemist."

And finally, he removed his softening length from within me and righted my bra before he stood up. Taking my hand into his, he guided me up and we both began to reach for our clothes. Fixing the bottom half to my dress, I silently began to figure out the pretzel that was my knickers and sandals.