A/N: This chapter had me changing the rating on this story from Teen to Adult. I'll admit I get a little racy here. I wanted to warn you, but I'll also admit it isn't as detailed and descriptive as some things I have read on this site. I think we are about at the end of our time in the cabin, I am looking forward to attacking what comes after those mechs.

They settled into a pattern of tranquility for a couple of days. They explored the area around the cabin, went fishing, several more times in fact, and Kiera actually got better at it. She even eventually caught a fish. Brad chopped firewood and Kiera cleaned the kitchen. They cooked together and laughed, telling each other stories about their children and things they had done in their times, the good parts, not the bad.

Each night they slept in the same bed, and every morning they awoke in each others' arms. Kiera was sleeping the best she had since coming to this time, but she was also getting a little frustrated at Brad's sense of propriety. At first, when he pulled away from her each time they were getting a little too into kissing each other, she was patient. She assumed he was still dealing with the guilt of moving on from his wife. She didn't think it was out of a sense of waiting for her, she already admitted that she no longer loved her husband and she thought he knew she was ready to move on. They were constantly putting their hands on each other as they passed by in the cabin, they held hands while walking around outside, he stroked her hair as she fell asleep, and whenever they did kiss, it was electrifying. It never went past that, however, and Kiera didn't know how much longer she could be patient and understanding, but at the same time, she felt like a jerk for even feeling that way.

Brad felt like he was falling in love with Kiera. He had made his peace with his wife a couple of nights ago. Kiera was taking a shower, so, he had a few minutes to himself, well actually, more than a few, for some reason, Kiera really liked a shower. Brad had gone outside and sat on the porch. He told his wife all about Kiera and how much he felt that she would have liked her. She was strong, a good fighter, someone who could protect his back in battle, yet so soft underneath. She was smart and funny, and adorable how she still missed references that he understood, and the way her nose crinkled when she was confused. He talked until he felt at peace, and he knew his wife understood. He knew Kiera had said that she didn't love her husband anymore, but Brad was still unsure himself if she was ready to move on with him. It was new for her, this idea of moving on. He had more time than she did, unfortunately, to face idea of the future without his wife. He knew she was willing to go father physically than he had been letting things go, but he also knew it was easy to get caught up in the moment. This wasn't just a fling for him, and he wanted to make sure that it was the same for her.

Kiera was in the kitchen, washing the dinner dishes when Brad came in to help her with the drying. As he passed behind her to get a towel, he paused and kissed the back of her head. His hand was on her waist, and as he leaned to the right to get the towel from the counter, he accidentally pressed himself against her. He liked the contact, but he just grabbed the towel and returned to his proper station, to the left of the sink.

Kiera had caught her breath when she felt his hand on her side. When he leaned up against her, she stopped breathing all together. Her mind was flooded with images of them laying together, with his body leaning against her in a very different way. When he suddenly moved away and was gone, she let out her breath in frustration, putting the glass she was holding down in the sink so hard, it cracked and broke.

Brad jumped and grabbed her hand, but she wasn't cut. "You're okay," he said with relief.

Kiera turned to him, other hand dripping with soap and water. "No, I am not!" she declared.

Brad looked confused, he reached for her hand again, checking to see if he missed a cut.

Kiera snatched back her hand from his. "Not that way," she said.

"Then what way?" asked Brad, still confused.

"I don't know, in some way that I can't figure out," she said. "I keep telling myself that you are stopping us from having sex because you are still mourning your wife, and then I feel bad for getting impatient and frustrated with you. Then," she continued. "I start to wonder if you feel the same way as I do."

There, she had said it, for however bad it made her look, for however impatient and uncaring she seemed, she finally just said it. Kiera waited for Brad to say something, and after he didn't for a few moments, she started to worry that she shouldn't have said anything.

Brad put down the towel on the counter, turned off the water, and carefully picked up all the glass in the sink. Kiera watched as he cleaned up and threw out the glass, still waiting for him to say something.

Finally, he turned to her and said, "I didn't know you were thinking that something was wrong with you, I'm sorry."

"Let me guess then, 'It's not you, it's me?' We still have that crap in 2077, too," she said, feeling angry.

"Something like that," Brad said. "But, it's not what…"

Kiera stormed out of the kitchen, but in a small cabin, there weren't too many places to storm off to. She was standing in front of the fireplace in the next room when Brad followed her. As he came in, she yelled, "What has all of this been then?" She motioned around the cabin. "I thought there was something here, something between us, I can't believe I was wrong."

Brad started to move forward, but Kiera moved to the side to avoid his touch, she didn't think she could handle his touch right now. Brad noticed and stopped moving.

"You are partly right," Brad said. "Would you listen to me for a minute?"

Kiera nodded, not trusting herself to answer in an adult fashion. Part of her knew she was lashing out and overreacting, but she couldn't seem to stop.

"I loved my wife, part of me always will," he explained. "But I came to terms awhile ago that my future was not going to have her in it. I was still mad, mad at the world, until I met you."

"Then what is it?" Kiera demanded.

"I think I am scared," Brad admitted.

"Scared?" Now it was Kiera's turn to be confused.

"I know you said you didn't love your husband anymore, but I didn't know how to be sure that this was something real for you, as real as it is for me," Brad confessed. "I don't want to be the thing that helps you get over your husband, and then you move on past me."

Kiera stood there, not sure what to say. She hadn't looked at it from his perspective. Also, the fact that he said how real this was to him wasn't lost on her. She looked up at him, the man that she was coming to love, and she saw the pain and doubt in his eyes. She walked towards him. "I'm sorry," she said.

"I hate to ask, but could you be a little more specific?" Brad asked, trying to joke, but Kiera could see the seriousness of the question underneath. "Sorry about breaking a glass? Sorry about yelling at me? Sorry that you don't feel the same way?"

"Brad," she said. "I am sorry that I didn't realize how you were feeling and take steps to make you understand it is as real for me as it is for you. I may have just admitted that I don't love my husband anymore, but it isn't a new feeling. You aren't someone that I am using to move on. I want to move on with you."

"I'm sorry I was frustrating you with my manliness," Brad said.

"Funny," Kiera said. "But…"

Before she could finish that thought, Brad had closed the remaining distance separating them in the room and grabbed her in a fierce embrace. Kiera felt the passion of it, and knew that he was all in right now, as was she. Whatever thought she was going to express had flown right out of her head.

They were all instinct, and in seconds, neither one of them was wearing a shirt. When she felt his bare skin press against her chest, Kiera couldn't breathe for a moment, the sheer sensation of it was overwhelming. Sex with Greg had been good, or so she had thought. She had never experienced anything like this before. Brad ran his hands up and down her arms, reaching her shoulders, and then down to her breasts. He cupped them in his hands, his rough skin creating even more sensation for Kiera.

Suddenly, without her even realizing it had happened, they were on the rug in front of the fireplace. Brad kissed her neck, then trailing little kisses as he moved down to her chest. Kiera moaned out loud as he took one of her nipples into his mouth and gently tugged. Her hands found her way to his back, pressing him into her, not letting him move.

After a few moments, just when she thought she couldn't stand any more sensation, Brad sat up, unzipped her jeans and slowly slid them down her legs. Kiera kicked them off, and as Brad stood up, she returned the favor. As she pulled down on his waist band, she ran her fingernails down the sides of his legs. Brad gasped at the feeling and lowered himself quickly, finding her mouth with his.

The next few minutes, or they could have been hours, the two explored each other's body fully. Brad made sure to kiss and touch each part of Kiera, marveling more than once just how perfect she was. Kiera thought she was going to explode from all of the electrical current running through her, it seemed that each touch of Brad's hands and mouth woke up nerves that she hadn't remembered she had.

Finally, when he entered her, the feeling was so intense that she cried out. Brad instinctually knew that it was in pleasure, not in pain. He felt like he had truly come home, that this is where he was destined to be, in this time, in this place with Kiera.

They were off on their own wave, Kiera living in the moment and sensation that was Brad. She had no conscious thought, only feeling and need. She needed him, and she would always need him.

Finishing didn't even seem like an ending, just a brief intermission before they continued. Several hours passed this way, and finally they were both sated and exhausted. Brad went to the kitchen, getting them both something to drink, and Kiera propped herself up against the couch, staring into the fire that by now had gone quite low.

When Brad returned, she liked that his confidence let him just walk around naked. Greg always put pants on, even before Sam had been born. He offered her the glass of water, and they sat side by side for a few minutes, watching the dying fire, caressing each other absently with their free hands.

It was Kiera that finally spoke. "This isn't casual for me."

"I know," Brad said. "At least I know now."

"I've had opportunities to 'move on'," Kiera admitted. "But I haven't taken any of them. At first because of Greg, but later, because I couldn't let anyone know the real me. Even those that knew me weren't worth the commitment, I didn't know where I was going to end up and I didn't want to hurt anyone."

"But now is different," Brad confirmed.

"Now is different," Kiera agreed. "I'm not looking to go home anymore. I'm not looking to leave anymore. And even if I was, I couldn't bring myself to leave what we have. At the risk of inflating your ego," she paused. "Never mind, that's a risk I can't take."

"Funny," Brad said. "Spill it."

"I had thought I had good sex before," she started. "But, I don't know what this was. It seems like a cliche from a story, but when we were together, it is like we were meant to be that way, like we were connected." She looked for his reaction, half expecting him to laugh.

But he didn't. He understood what she was saying. "I know," he said, seriously. "I think that you are stuck with me now. I don't think I could ever find anyone else that makes me feel the way you do."

Kiera took his hand. "I feel the same way."

Brad understood now that he had been waiting for them to be together because he was afraid to risk it, afraid that she wouldn't or couldn't feel the depth of emotion he had for her. He thought it started when he realized that he had killed her, he thought it was guilt. But now he knew different. He had started to fall for her the day she took him home from the hospital. What were the odds that the only name he would remember was hers? He knew that the future was uncertain, that the idea of destiny was ludicrous for time travelers, but when he considered how events had put them together, it was enough to restore his faith that there was some sort of plan to the universe.

All of this had run through his head in a matter of seconds. He looked at the woman he loved. "Together, then?"

"Together," Kiera confirmed. "And no more hiding how we feel, not that I mind the outcome of our first fight."

Brad laughed. "I promise to do my best. We are both soldiers, time travelers used to secrecy with those in our lives. We may mess up a little here and again, but I vow to keep trying."

"I do as well," Kiera said.

They sat there a little while longer, holding hands in front of the fire. Eventually, Kiera started to drift off, resting her head on Brad's shoulder. When her breathing became deep and even, he carefully pushed her over to the other side, stood up and scooped her up into his arms. The feeling of her naked skin against his stomach and chest started to arouse him again. Almost if she had sensed his awakening, Kiera opened her eyes, a wicked smile on her face.

Brad couldn't get to the bedroom fast enough.