I realised I really should get this finished. For tudorrose, who has been glorious enough to update, and who I'm heading over to read RIGHT NOW. xxx

She woke in the night with his hand wrapped over her body, holding onto her shoulder, and his lips resting in her hair. She gave a long, contented sigh, resting her own hand gently on his arm, absent-mindedly stroking his skin. Everything about this was warm and comfortable and soft. Her heart swelled almost painfully as she thought about what they had done together earlier. Oh gods, she loved this man, she had wanted this for years. Her other arm lay draped across his body and she tightened her grip on him just a little, without thinking about it. She heard him stir softly in his sleep.

"Grace-…" was the first word he said as he neared waking, and her heart gave another jolt.

"I'm here," she told him quietly, smiling at him.

His eyes focused on her in the dark, and widened. And then the corners of his mouth stretched into a smile.

"This is a dream," he said softly, "It has to be."

She touched his face gently with the tips of her fingers.

"I'm real," she told him, "I promise you."

He took her hand in his, pressed her fingertips to his lips and kissed them softly. She watched him carefully, his intense concentration and reverence touching something deep within her.

"Have you dreamt about me before?" she asked him quietly, a small, teasing smile lingering on her lips as she did so.

"A gentleman never tells, Grace," he told her with such seriousness that she burst out laughing.

"I'm taking that as a definite yes, then" she told him, and he smiled too.

"I may have had the odd arrant thought," he confessed.

"Good," she replied firmly, smiling at him.

He watched her for a moment.

"I love you, Grace," he told her, very seriously, very quietly.

"I know," she replied, "I love you too." For a moment she was quiet too. "I don't want this to end," she confessed, "I don't want this to be all we have. Is that wrong of me?"

"No," he replied immediately, "Or if it is, then I'm wrong too and I don't want to be right. I want to be with you, Grace, I need you and I won't let this be the end."

"Thank God you said that," she said softly.

"Of course I said it," he told her softly, "I love you," his hands caressing her face, the top of her shoulders, "Come here."

He held her close to his body and kissed her, lovingly, passionately, with tender exploring strokes, with growing passion.

"I love you," he told her again, between kisses, "I'm so in love with you. I need you. You make me so happy."

She groaned a little, wrapping her arms around his neck and he rolled her onto her back, pressing her into the bed.

"I promise you," he told her, looking into her eyes, "This is not the end. We will find a way," he pressed another kiss to her lips, "I will stay with you. I will marry you. I will give you children."

Her expression softened with surprise and emotion. She raised a hand to his face, caressing him tenderly.

"Will you?" she asked him quietly.

"Of course," he told her.

She drew him down for another kiss.

"I wish I knew what to say," she told him softly, "I can only say yes, but it's not enough."

"It is enough," he told her, "Of course, it's enough, Grace. but if you want to say more, you have all the time in the world to find the words."

Her arms came around his back, cradling him to her, as he moved between her thighs and was with her once more.

End.

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