����������� Damn it. I was crying, again.� Sitting in Daniel�s arms like a helpless child, bawling my eyes out, soaking his chest. He must be absolutely disgusted with me�I was pretty disgusted with myself, and those thoughts made me cry even harder. Disgusted or not, Daniel held me tighter against him, rocking my shaking body.� His low voice dropped, words melting into soothing murmurs of nonsense. But the sudden hitching of his breath pulled me, momentarily, from my misery. Another hitched, shaky breath had me suspicious. Was Daniel�crying, too? Hesitantly, I reached a trembling hand up to his face to feel of his cheek. No moisture, no tears.

����������� On the outside.

����������� Somehow, though no liquid confirmation appeared under my fingers, I knew that Daniel was feeling my desolation; inside he was most likely sobbing and screaming as much as I happened to be doing aloud. But he was being quiet with his pain, strong with his emotions, and so wonderful to me. These new thoughts chased away my darker musings of disgust, and slowly filled me with a new sense of�hope?

����������� Hope. Something that I had lost touch with some time ago.

If he could be strong about this, for me, then I could be strong for myself. I had to.

Gradually, the crying stopped. Sniffling loudly, I drew myself away from the warmth and comfort of Daniel�s chest to scrub shaking hands at the tears still wetting my cheeks. Daniel�s hands remained on my back as I attempted to regain control of my erratic breathing. I drew in a deep breath and held it, before letting it back out in a tremulous burst of air. That seemed to help me some, so I did it once more then coughed to clear my throat.

�I�m sorry, Danny.� I whispered when I felt I could talk again. �I�I don�t know what came over me. I just�I just��

����������� �Shhh,� he soothed, as his lean guitarist�s hands trailed up and down my quaking back. �Its alright love, you needn�t apologize for anything.�

����������� With a will of its own, a small smile tugged at my lips.� �So you keep telling me.�

����������� His arms tightened around me for a moment. �And are you ever going to listen to me?� There was an answering smile in his voice, before the tone became sober once more. �You going to be okay?�

����������� �For now,� I replied with a small nod. �I believe so, for the moment, at least.� I molded my body to his, drawing him close, and buried my face in the juncture of his neck and shoulder. He shifted under my weight, moving slightly to accommodate our new positioning. Briefly, I rested my forehead against the warmth of his bare neck, then lifted my head to softly press a kiss to the smooth expanse of skin that I found. �Thank you�� I breathed quietly, my head still cradled by his shoulder.

����������� �For what?� His voice rumbled deeply underneath my ear, making me shiver.

����������� I silently contemplated the depth of my answer before replying, �For being you�being strong. Thank you.�

����������� A breathy laugh escaped him. �How many times have I told you that you don�t have to thank me for things like that?�� He drew my head away from his shoulder to lift my chin and capture my lips with his.� On their own accord, my hands traveled up to rest against his cheeks, my thumb softly stroking over the firm line of his jaw.

I smiled into our kiss, a real smile this time, and when we parted the smile was still firmly on my face. �Yes, so you have told me�but to repeat your very valid question, am I ever going to listen?� I felt him shaking his head emphatically under my hands.

����������� �I highly doubt it,� he told me, then leaned in to soundly kiss me once more.

����������� It was very easy to forget all problems while kissing Daniel. Somehow, he possessed the ability to make the rest of the world fade away, leaving nothing but me and him. The darkness would recede from my heart, if not from my eyes, and for the moment I would be left without restraint. It was only when our lips parted that reality came rushing back, time resumed its usual flow and the world started to revolve again. And the cloying darkness wrapped around me once more�

����������� I wished that I could kiss him forever.

����������� But I couldn�t.

����������� Reluctantly our lips parted, and slowly we drew scant inches away from each other. I could sense in his ever-elegant body language that he didn�t want to stop, but was restraining himself from continuing further. Part of me was disappointed in this, but the rest of me felt a profound sense of relief. I had felt too many emotions, far too strongly, in far too short an amount of time; to feel anything else, no matter how wonderful, I knew probably would have broken me.

����������� We sat in silence, still close enough to be practically wrapped up together. Daniel made no move to rejoin our mouths, but one of his hands stayed where it had been caressing my face. Long, lean fingers stroked over my cheeks, tracing now-dried tear marks, and then burrowed into my hair. I groped for Daniel�s other hand and, upon finding it, took it in my own, letting my fingers play over the many tiny lines of his palm. I skimmed over every ridge, mapping the terrain of his hand with my index finger, lingering on the soft pads of his palm, then moved up to his fingers and gently stroked over each hardened callus. Turning his hand over, I began to trace each knuckle. Daniel sat completely still as I explored his hand, his breathing slowed, growing hypnotic. More time passed, and still I said nothing. Neither did he. I was content to sit in the silence, simply caressing Daniel�s hands.

����������� His fingers twitched in my grip, and then Daniel hesitantly broke the silence. �What are you doing?� he whispered.

����������� My hands did not falter in their exploration. �Learning you,� I replied. His breathing hitched sharply as I brought one of his knuckles to my lips, then used my mouth to follow the same path over his skin that my hand had just taken. Light kisses and small nibbles ghosted over his warm fingers. Slowly, I turned his hand over and brought my tongue out to trail a moist line up his palm, smiling at the salty flavor. �My skin is seeing yours,� I explained to him, pressing a kiss into the center of his wrist. �Do you mind?�

����������� With that, I drew one of his perfectly tapered fingers into my mouth and began to suckle. To hell with the possibility of breaking�I needed him. And, judging by his body�s unconscious reaction, Daniel needed me as well.

����������� Another gasp escaped him, before he gradually removed his finger from the warmth of my mouth. As it withdrew, I bit down gently to graze the digit with my teeth. This earned me another hitching of breath.

����������� �Do I mind?� He repeated, his voice rasping. �Not at all. Learn away��

����������� Then Daniel kissed me again. I smirked slightly into that kiss, which only caused him to kiss me harder, sealing my lips and effectively wiping the smirk away. As his mouth massaged mine, I flipped our positions in order to lower him carefully to the floor. He pulled away from me momentarily as I did so, his hurried movement followed by a rustling sound against the carpet. I paused in my motion to listen, biting on my lower lip in puzzled confusion.

����������� �Something wrong?�

����������� Both of Daniel�s hands gripped my arms again in that instant and I was unceremoniously yanked down to cover his body.

����������� �Nope,� he replied briskly, his lips bussing my neck. �Not anymore.�� A nuzzle. �Just had to shove a suitcase out of the way��

����������� I smiled. �Oh. Comfy now?�

����������� �Comfortable enough,� he told me. Then, �I think, however, that we could get even more comfortable.�

����������� �And just how--� I was cut off by Daniel�s hands burying into my hair, and a very pliant pair of lips pressing into my own.

����������� The need for breathing stopped again, as it usually seemed to when I was with him. There was something completely intoxicating about having Daniel Jones pinned to the floor, immobile under my body, his tongue plundering my mouth. My senses were working overtime trying to catalogue every new body-tingling experience. Inhaling deeply, I breathed in his scent-- a strangely alluring mixture of his cologne overlain with the faint lingering odor of smoke from his cigarettes. I had one hand cradling the back of his head, my fingers tangled into the fine hairs at the nape of his neck. My other hand was braced against the floor, the stiff carpet fibers pressing and leaving little indentions in the soft flesh of my palm. My heart rate sped up, the thrumming sounding uncommonly loud in my ears.

����������� Daniel�s heart was racing too; I could feel its wild rhythm under the hand I held at his neck. Our breathing grew heavier. Softly gasped nonsense words were half spoken between wet kisses. His chest heaved against mine, as my weight kept him pressed solidly against the floor, anchoring him. Possessing him. I shifted slightly, letting him breathe more easily, one of my knees sliding to nestle firmly between his parted legs; pressing slightly up against him, I could feel the tension and the hardness growing in his body, and my body responded in turn.

����������� I spread my legs wider and straddled his thigh, then bared down to increase the contact. At the same time that I pressed myself down my knee moved upwards, rubbing him in tandem. We moaned simultaneously at the pleasure such a simple movement brought. Increasing the pressure, I moved again, then again, thrusting my lower body against his leg. He moaned once more when I brought my hand from the carpet to rest against the crotch of his jeans. I could feel his hardness and heat through the rough, ungiving fabric. Never ceasing my thrusting, I attempted to fumble to undo the buttoned fly of his pants. Gasping my name, he brought shaking hands up to join mine, and in scant seconds I had the button undone, the jeans unzipped, and my questing hand delving in to rub him firmly through the soft cotton of his boxers.

A tightness, an urgency, was growing in my body, speeding me onwards.� Mumbling incoherencies, I latched my mouth onto the smooth skin of his neck, while increasing the momentum of my stroking hand. Daniel was now thrusting up to meet me, rubbing me as I rubbed him, quickening the already rapid pace.

����������� All too soon, I felt a familiar tingling start in the base of my spine; it grew and continued moving up, bringing a surge of swift electric warmth with it.� Pressing down to get one more moment of sweet contact, I stiffened, wrenching my lips from Daniel�s throat to gasp out his name. At the same moment his body tensed, and with a strangled cry he and I reached the peak together.

����������� Movement ceased, our bodies stilled, and we lay there on the floor, breathless in the aftermath. I all but collapsed against him, my head pillowed on his heaving chest. Weakly, he brought a hand up to gently tangle in my hair. We were silent again, as our bodies fought to restore equilibrium and our lungs struggled to slow their intake of air.

����������� Daniel recovered more quickly than I, and found his voice first, still breathing shakily. �Oh god� Dare.�

����������� I feebly nodded my head, rubbing my cheek on his shirt-covered torso.� �Mmhmm?�

����������� ��that was��

����������� I cleared my throat and rasped out, �Unexpected? Exciting? Over�too quickly?�

����������� Daniel�s rumbling laughter reverberated under my ear. �Yeah,� he agreed, softly. �All of that. And more. Wow��

����������� We lay there still entangled, listening to the drumming of our slowing pulses. Breathing deeply, I opened my eyes thinking for just a moment that I would look up to see Daniel�s beautiful face. I sighed deeply when the only thing I could perceive was a wall of darkness. It didn�t matter though because, when I let my eye slip closed again, I could see him in my mind--beautiful, decadent, and so very sated. The mental image cheered me somewhat, leaving me content.

����������� �Know what?� I asked him, letting my eyes slip closed again. ���

����������� �What?� His hand began stroking though my hair, nearly making me want to purr and fall asleep like a contented housecat.

����������� �I think a shower is now in order.�

����������� Daniel laughed again, his fingers never stilling. �That sounds like a plan.�

����������� �A good plan,� I replied, stifling a yawn. �You can go first��

����������� �After you, I insist.�

Neither one of us moved.

tbc