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Chapter 6: Finally

Touch was imperative.

But he placed his hands around her shoulders, so he cupped each one gently, and pushed her slightly away from him so that he might look down at her. The sensation of the cool air that cut between them was unwelcome, and his body cringed, wanting to pull her back. He needed to look at her.

He took is finger and placed it under her chin, tilting her head up so that their eye contact was full and decided. This was the moment. Not his moment, because it was as much hers as it was his; it was their moment.

Slowly, and yet almost as if it were at the speed of light, he brought his lips to her forehead and placed a delicate kiss, taking in her scent, marking it down in his infinite catalogue. Yes, he already knew the smell, in that he knew the smell of Rose and how it fit so nicely into the other smells and sensations in his life: the smell of the TARDIS, the smell of a good suit, the smell of tea, the smell of jam and biscuits, of the Time Vortex.

But now he smelled something different. It was the smell of Rose, yes, but it was more potent—full of pheromones or something—and it was sweet and compelling and absolutely delightful.

He needed more, and moved down the plains of her face to her nose, where he planted an equally gentle kiss with silent reverence.

She moaned softly, enjoying the attention, but wanting more. She wanted to kiss him and kiss him hard. She wanted, even though they were in a park full of people, to kiss him with her lust and her need, to snog him within an inch of regeneration. But she had to know that he wanted this too, and she let him proceed as his own pace.

"Rose, your heart is beating like a humming bird. Are you okay?" He asked, looking down at her again and pulling his face into a weak but pleased sort of smile.

"This is what you do to me," she replied, blushing. Her voice was choked with desire. "I think you should kiss me again, yeah?"

"Yeah," he said. He reached around her head and weaved his fingers through her hair, placing the other on the small of her back, and pulled her flush against him, so that he could feel her heart pounding against his body. The distance closed between them and their lips met, joining purposefully and finally. Time and space calmed within his mind, the processes that ran overtime all the time slowed slightly, clearing space for him to enjoy the kiss, to really feel it.

When he had kissed her to remove the Time Vortex, he wanted it to have been a kiss like this, but he was trying to save her life. He had reasoned with himself at the time that if he kissed her now with the intent of saving her, maybe one day he could kiss her with the intent of just kissing her, and maybe in some impossible universe, with the intent of loving her.

When she had kissed him, or really, when Cassandra had kissed him, he hadn't been kissing Rose. It was like kissing some cheap imitation. It felt like Rose in that it felt like her skin and her hair and her lips, but it was nothing like Rose really felt. It was a kiss that savored strongly of the desperation and jadedness that made up Cassandra.

This time, though, it was perfect. Their lips smashed against each other, struggling clumsily at first to find a rhythm. He felt desperation in this kiss too, but not the bitter desperation he had experienced before. This was desperation for each other. Specifically for each other. Rose for her Doctor and the Doctor for his Rose.

She brought her hands up to his head, now placing her fingers in his hair, willing the kiss to continue. His tongue slipped into her mouth, discovering its wet, delicious texture and savoring the flavor.

She nibbled at his lower lip, causing him to moan into her mouth, and also alerting her to the fact that they were, in fact, still very much quite in public, and that their display of affection was beginning to border on indecent.

"Doctor, we should get out of here before we get into trouble."

"Nope," he said, reaching an open mouth kiss for her jaw line, "Psychic paper. All good."

"Not all good. I don't know if you've been paying attention, but you've managed to get your hands most of the way up my skirt. There are children here. I don't think the psychic paper is going to get us out of the kind of trouble we're headed for."

He sighed, knowing this was true. They would need to relocate back to the TARDIS. The TARDIS, did, though, have the added advantage of complete privacy and the great expanse of Time and Space, so if they got bored on the TARDIS, they could simply take themselves elsewhere, anywhere.

Rose was breathing heavily, not wanting to leave their spot anymore than he did.

"Rose, I need you-"

"—back to the TARDIS."

He smiled, finally relenting, knowing she was right.

"Let's go home, Rose."

He grabbed her hand, warm and soft in his own, and they ran together.

"Do you want this, Rose?" he asked, staring her intensely in the eye, so that she would understand both his meaning and the magnitude of how much he meant it.

They had pushed open the TARDIS doors with unnecessary vigor, and he pressed her against the wall, trapping her gently between himself and the soft orange coral of the console room.

"Yes, very much," she replied and kissed him tenderly on the throat where she could reach. "If you do."

"I think I need this."

"I think I do too."

He kissed her firmly, his hands resuming their previous journey, working up her waist, over her ribcage, and skimming the bottom of her bra, causing her body to shiver with anticipation.

He stopped suddenly, drawing her attention with his eyes again.

"I need to make sure you know something first, Rose, okay?"

"Okay…"

"I…I want you. But I want you because I love you. I love you, Rose. And if this is going to happen, I want it to happen again, not just this once. I want you to know…because…I'm trying to say that…I know it might be stupid or foolish when you consider all of the factors—my long life and your brief one, the fact that I'm so old and you're so young—but I want something with you. I'm ready to do that. I'm tired of being a coward. I want to be brave. I want to be brave and be with you."

"I love you, Doctor. Always. Nothing else. Just you with me as long as we can have."

She moved against him and kissed his neck, working her way behind his ear and up to his temple.

"I love you, Doctor. I've loved you for…for a very long time."

He grinned wildly and kissed her tenderly, trying to communicate all of his reverence, his love, his adoration, and desperation that he had dammed up for so long and letting it all rush forward.

"Thank you," she sighed, pulling away from the kiss.

"For what?"

"For telling me."

A/N: Done! Thanks so much for reading and all your reviews so far. Please let me know what you think! :)