This is a sequel of this : s/10762693/1/Sand

The next step

After their little intermezzo in the water, Sybil did manage to get some rest, sending Tom to play volleyball with a group of young men not far away on the beach. With his natural good nature, it didn't take long for him to enter the game.

Sybil didn't know what had got into him but since they were here for the week-end, he seemed insatiable even if they always had a very active sex life since they met two years earlier. She wasn't complaining because it was nice to feel desired but still, she would have welcomed an extra hour of sleep this morning. And that's when she realized that they barely saw each other the last month, even if they were living together, and it was mainly because of her erratic shifts.

Now, the sun was going down and they were back in their hotel room getting ready to have dinner. They needed to shower the sand and salt off before going to the port and enjoy the sunset while having wine and seafood.

"First one in the shower," announced Sybil once inside as Tom was closing the door behind them.

Tom didn't even have the time to answer when Sybil already threw her sundress to the side and was down to her swimsuit.

"In honor of…?" he trailed, an eyebrow raised.

"Your gallantry?" she answered with a smirk, pulling her bikini top off.

Tom enjoyed the show as Sybil chuckled to herself knowing she had won this round. She turned around to enter the bathroom and Tom started to strip down, not caring if she was looking or not. After all, there wasn't anything she hadn't seen before. Sybil had stopped at the door and just stared at his naked buttocks for a few seconds before she realized what she was doing and where her thoughts were going. What was happening to her? He definitely was bad influence on her. She quickly turned around and took off the bottom of her bikini and started the water.

Tom heard the water turn on and knew Sybil was standing a couple feet away from him completely naked. His body immediately reacted at the thought and he sighed heavily, thinking about his next move, at the risk of being called obsessive.

But Tom couldn't help himself; he stole a quick glance behind him. Fortunately (or unfortunately), their bathroom had a very large Italian shower, meaning a lot of space and a large doorless opening. And what he saw through the open door made his little problem a big problem. She was already rinsing the shampoo out of her hair and he watched the path the water and soap took down her perfect body, defining every curve. He couldn't just let go. He took a deep breath and entered the bathroom.

"Hey Love, do you mind washing my back?" he asked her innocently, his head popping into the shower.

Sybil slowly turned halfway around to look at him; she had her hand in her hair so her arm blocked the view of her breast. She looked stunned for a second then she dropped her arm, took a step aside to make room for him, grabbed her soap and turned completely towards him, giving him a full view.

Tom let his gaze slowly move down her body as if trying to memorize every contour and shape. 'She really is perfect,' he thought. Every part of her body was toned from her arms to her abs to her thighs. Her breasts were just the right sizes for his hands, with hard cinnamon nipples….wait a minute why were her nipples hard? The water was warm at best, could it be that she was as affected by this as he was? He let his gaze slide down her body then back up before looking her in the eye.

She looked directly at him waiting for him to finish ogling her. She took a deep breath and tried to slow her heart rate. She looked into his lust-filled eyes and felt a small amount of pride that she was the cause. She smirked, still wondering what had gotten into them in here. Was this place having a special effect on them or was it only the lack of intimacy of the past month playing with them?

"I can't wash your back if you don't turn around Tom," she finally stated, her voice sounding husky even to her.

Tom fully entered the shower and turned around as she was lathering up her hands with the soap. She then started at his shoulders and worked her way down, trying not to notice the way his muscles felt underneath her hands. She reached his lower back where she took her time then she went lower to his perfect ass.

Tom couldn't help his sharp intake of breath and what sounded strangely like a whimper when her hands made contact with his ass. He felt her fingernails rake down his buttocks and back up and he closed his eyes in delight. Yep, coming into the shower was a good idea.

But he didn't know how he was controlling himself at the moment. All he wanted to do was turn around and claim her as his own again. But he already had his fair share today and he wouldn't want to appear like a beast. He almost snapped when he felt her hard nipples brush up against his back, but instead he just let out a low groan.

Sybil moaned too as the feeling sent a bolt of electricity right down to her center. But she wasn't going to let him have her so easily. She won't be the one giving in. So, she reluctantly pulled away and smoothed her voice. "Anything else you need help washing?"

"No, that about covers it. Thanks," Tom quickly said feeling slightly breathless as he took a few seconds to try and calm down. Sybil turned around and took a step away in the large shower and continued washing.

'That was not fair Love, but payback's a bitch,' Tom thought.

He grabbed the soap and lathered up his hands and turned fully towards her. Her back was to him so she didn't notice when he stepped closer to her. 'You're in so much trouble, Love.'

She jumped when his hands made contact with her shoulders. "Just returning the favor, darling," Tom roughly whispered behind her.

She was in so much trouble, she didn't know if she could handle having Tom touch her right now without jumping at him.

Much like her washing, he started at the top, but he took his time. Soon the washing changed into a slow seductive caressing. Sybil couldn't help but let her eyes drift close at the sensations he was creating. It hadn't been long since she had felt his touch but one never get tired of good things, right? She could feel her heart pounding out of her chest.

Tom bent over to her ear and said in deep gravelly voice, "You know Love, we should make this a regular practice after our days. You know conserve water and all that."

Then Tom let his lips brush against her ear as he brought his hands to rest on her waist. His long fingers going down to lightly massage her pelvic region, teasing her.

"Uh huh," was the only thing she could get past her throat. He moved his lips from her ear down to her neck alternating between small kisses and light nibbling. Sybil was really trying to keep herself in check by biting her lower lip, and not moving at all. She couldn't hide her rapid breathing and the goose bumps that spread down her arms though. Seeing and feeling her reaction, he pushed the envelope. Tom pulled her gently against him, bringing her back flush against his impressive erection. He wanted her to know exactly what she still did to him, even after two years.

Sybil moaned before she could catch herself. The fact he had an erection really didn't surprise her, even if they already had sex several times today. But what did surprise her was they didn't seem to be able to stop doing it since their arrival. But deciding to stop and try to analyze things, she arched her neck ….and his hands moving around to her stomach, she was fast turning into a pool of Jell-O.

She brought one of her hands up to his neck anchoring him in place, while the other one went to join his hands at her stomach. She relaxed completely against him and started moving against his erection. His response was a groan and he moved his free hand up to cup her breast, which made her groan as well. She tossed her head against his body and arched her back giving him a bigger handful of her breast. He would have moved his other hand down between her legs, but she was griping his hand so tight, he wasn't sure he could get it free right now. They were both completely out of control, their breathing labored and neither of them had it in them to stop this and maybe go to a more comfortable place to finish.

Tom rolled her nipple between his fingers and Sybil snapped. She turned her head towards his face; almost sensing what she wanted and needing the same thing himself, he met her halfway. Immediately, their lips parted and they started exploring each other's mouths with their tongues. The kiss was hot, demanding and passionately rough; both Tom and Sybil felt it all the way to their toes.

Sybil, not seeing the point to resist him anymore, turned completely around and grasped his erection in her hand, while the other one was still in his hair making sure he went nowhere. Not that he wanted to be anywhere else at the moment. She started pumping his shaft immediately, measuring what her closed eyes couldn't see at the moment. Tom let go of any control he might have had and crushed her against the thin tiled wall, never breaking the kiss which had taken on a life of its own.

With one hand he reached behind her thigh bringing her leg up to his waist, and with the other he reached behind her bringing his hand down past her ass so he could reach her core. She was dripping wet and it had nothing to do with the water around them. He stroked her a few times brushing her clit before he dove two fingers in her hot, tight center and he felt her inner muscles squeeze around him.

Sybil, for her part, was at the point of no return. Without thought, she wrapped her other leg around his waist, and he immediately took on the extra weight. He left her center to keep her weight balanced in the place where he needed her most. Going on pure physical need and thinking of nothing other than the pleasure they were causing each other, they both adjusted the angle and before they knew it he was inside her. They finally broke their kiss for some much needed air.

"Oh God, Tom."

"You feel so good, Love."

This was anything but slow love making; it was animalistic and driven by need and desire. They were claiming the other as their own. The only sounds in the large enclosed shower were moans of pleasure and words of encouragement.

"Harder, Tom." And he did; he completely let go and didn't do anything but feel. He knew she was close when she dug her nails in his back. He knew he wasn't going to last for very much longer either. He reached between them to grab her breast and rolled her nipple between his fingers and a moan rolled from the back of Sybil's throat.

She had gone high and fast and it was enough to make one dizzy. She could already feel herself climbing higher and higher, it wouldn't be long before she fell. Sybil couldn't help digging her nails into Tom's back as the sensations grew stronger and more powerful. Vaguely, in the one part of her brain that wasn't wrapped around Tom, she hoped she didn't draw blood. When he touched her nipple it was her downfall, she began to come hard. She knew he could feel it too. Tom bit down on her shoulder to smother the loud groans that he couldn't hold back as his movement became more erratic and then after a few blissful moments he was coming with her and it was hard, it was almost painful...almost.

It took a minute for both of them to get their breathing under control. They both drew back slowly to look at each other, each with a look of love but also of shock at how animalistic they have been.

Sybil was the first to speak. "Wow…" she said still a little out of breath.

Tom just stood there looking at her with amazement. He was still inside her with her legs and arms still wrapped around him. He was surrounded by Sybil Crawley once more and he decided he never wanted to be anywhere else.

"Want to do it again?" he smugly replied as he tightened his grip around her.

She couldn't help but smile from the feeling of pure joy Tom gave her from that one statement. Her intoxicating smile caused him to smile also. She leaned into him for another long and languorous kiss.

When they drew apart, Tom slid his hand on her hair and breathed in her ear.

"We should really get ready or else we'll lose our reservation."

She looked up dreamily at him before pushing him away playfully after crawling off his body. "Hurry up. There's no way I won't get my lobster tonight."

Tom laughed heartily at her change of mood, always amazed at the state of excitement the promise of good food would get her. He gave her a quick kiss and stated rinsing off. She turned away from him and started cleaning up. She went to rinse between her legs when her hand came in contact with his semen running down her thigh. "Oh fuck," she softly swore to herself but unfortunately loud enough for Tom to hear.

He turned quickly and asked with concern. "Are you alright, Syb?" He was afraid he hurt her. He wasn't exactly gentle that time.

She turned toward him. "Yeah, I'm fine." At his slightly disbelieving look, she continued, "I'll tell you later, I promise it's nothing serious."

Or she hoped so. She wasn't ready to spoil the mood but she still couldn't believe her nor Tom had thought about protection. Yes, they were in a real relationship for two years but they were still using condoms. With her erratic schedules and her being a scatterbrain, the pill just wasn't her best friend in this case so they had both agreed to stick with condoms until they took time to look at other options. It wasn't ideal but it suited them at this point. Well, it suited them until now and Sybil was already dreading the conversation she needed to have with Tom.

They were in a relationship, but the last thing they needed was a misunderstanding between them and she knew she needed to talk to him. But were they ready for more?

She looked up at him as she was halfway through drying off and saw him standing there completely soaked looking at her with mild worry, and maybe a little panic. Seeing that he wasn't moving,

she looked up at him ready to start urging him to move, but stopped when she saw the look in his eyes.

She walked over to him and gave him a slow, meaningful kiss. "It's nothing, really. Now, get ready. You don't want to have me starved." Slightly relieved, he smiled at her which she returned.

"No, we don't want that," he answered softly.

They finished dressing and were soon on their way to the little restaurant near the shore, both lost in their own separate thoughts. Sybil was already regretting not having told him right away what was the problem and telling him it wasn't anything serious. He wasn't stupid; he'll soon realize they didn't use a condom and that she wasn't on the pill. But she wasn't worried about a commitment from Tom. She knew he loved her but they had a lot to sort out before thinking of kids. And besides, she would really like to be married before they had kids. She wanted to do this the right way. Not have some shotgun wedding where it is blatantly obvious the bride was pregnant. Oh my…did she just think of marriage?

She blushed and looked up at him and couldn't help but giggle at the expression on his face. He was on cloud nine and was not hiding it, his arms proudly around her shoulders as if he just conquered the world. So, regardless of the consequences she wouldn't take the last 20 minutes back for anything.

Tom was ecstatic; nothing could ruin the mood he was in. He just made love to his sweetheart for the third time today (well, third and half if their little game in the sea counted for something) and he couldn't wait to get to the restaurant where he had planned something romantic. At least, he thought it was. He was ready to take the next step in their relationship and he hoped she was ready too.

"Was that a giggle, Love?"

"No." She replied through a smile.

"Oh, I think it was." Tom egged her on knowing this was too good to pass up.

"Good luck proving that," she said, entering the restaurant as he was holding the door open for her. Tom shook his head at her unable to give her a verbal response.

They were lead to the outside terrace that was overlooking the sea. The sun was setting and the view was breathtaking.

"This is nice," breathed Sybil as she was sitting down. "The view is lovely."

"Yes, it is," confirmed Tom looking straight at her.

Sybil looked back to him with a smile and started to blush furiously when she realized he was speaking of her and not of the view. She felt more than loved then and very special but couldn't help herself to roll her eyes at him, just for good measure.

The server arrived and took their order, interrupting Tom who was about to add something. As they had already settled on lobsters with white wine, it was quick and they were soon alone again.

Tom was watching her intensely and Sybil started to get uncomfortable, almost squirming in her chair.

"What?" she finally asked after some time.

Tom smirked and nodded playfully to her left shoulder, the gold skin shinning against the white tissue of her dress after two days at the beach.

"Did you fight with some feral beast, Milady?"

Sybil frowned as Tom was leaning toward her across the table.

"Or did you have the best sex of your life? Because I can't see another way to get a hickey with teeth marks."

Proud of himself, Tom leaned back in his seat, arms crossed against his chest.

"WHAT?" yelled Sybil, trying to look down to her own shoulder.

But she couldn't see it right so she reached in her purse for her little pocket mirror. And sure enough she had a huge hickey on her shoulder with what looked suspiciously like teeth marks. She vaguely remembered Tom biting her as they both came, but she didn't think it was this bad. Thank god her scrub hid it.

Tom laughed.

"Don't worry, Love. I'm sure I have a few scratches here and there myself. It was pretty intense."

At the memory, Tom couldn't help the glazed look that crossed over his eyes. He couldn't help but think about what it was like to have her legs wrapped around his waist as he pounded into her. What it felt like when she came and the way she clung to him. She was a very passionate lover and he seemed to never get enough of this side of her.

"Yes it was…"said Sybil softly, thinking it was maybe time for that little discussion.

She took a deep breath and chose to be very straightforward.

"Tom…we didn't use a condom when we…well….you know…when we….in the shower."

She looked up at him, unsure. He had a slightly confused look on his face as he was connecting the dots.

"Well there's a first time for everything I guess."

Tom was clearly still lost in his last thoughts about their earlier activity.

Sybil had a look of shock on her face. "Tom, I'm trying to be serious, here. Remember that I'm not on anything?"

As she waited for this to sink in she added: "It didn't even cross my mind until afterwards when I was cleaning up….I'm usually pretty serious about that sort of thing. It's not like me to get carried away…." She had a slight grin on her face. "You always did have a way of making me forget the Rules."

He smiled at her choice of words before being serious again.

"So you're saying you could be pregnant," he stated calmly.

His expression was hard to read. "Yes."

"So what's the problem?"

Sybil's eyes got round in shock at what he just said. Tom reached for her hand across the table. "Syb…you know that I'm not the weekend dad type, and I was never with anyone I was willing to spend the rest of my life with."

'Until now,' he added silently.

"And to be honest…"

He reached inside his jacket's pocket and pulled out a little black velvet box. Sybil's heartbeats sped when he gave it to her.

"I didn't plan for things to happen this way but as we're having a serious conversation. Don't get it wrong. I'm not asking you to marry me…yet," he added with a soft smile. "But I wanted to give you this tonight. As a promise of engagement from me. We've been together for two years and it has been the best two years of my life. I can't see spending my whole life with anyone else so…yes, maybe the timing sucks, maybe we did the things in the wrong order but…what's wrong with that? We love each other and if there's a baby, then I'll welcome it with open arms." He looked down a little unsure of himself, "Unless you don't want…"

He never got to finish, because Sybil got up suddenly and he found her lips pressed against his own. She pulled back and looked him directly in the eyes. "Nothing would make me happier, Tom, than to be the mother of your children."

"But?" he pressed, seeing in her eyes she hadn't finished.

"But… I just always wanted to be married before I had kids and we're not exactly in a stable situation right now."

She didn't have to go into details; he knew too well what the problems were: her schedule and his income. He sighed heavily and pulled her down on his lap, not bothering about the few heads that had turned to them.

"Alright, so we wait till we get home and you can ask Gwen or Anna to run tests. If you're not pregnant, then get the pill, or the shot, or whatever it is women are on these days. Or we can be more careful and still use condoms.

"Even if I'm dying to make love to you again with nothing between us," he breathed in her ear for her alone to hear. "And if you are pregnant we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Sybil for her part tried her best not to let the tears, which were quickly forming, fall.

"God I love you." It was out of her mouth before she realized it.

Tom gave her a big smile before he captured her lips in the sweetest, most loving kiss he knew how to give. When he pulled back to look at her it was the most natural thing in the world to say, "I love you too."

They both had silly grins on their faces and laughed a little. This time it was Sybil that kissed Tom. As it ended, she pushed him away. "Good, now that this is settled, can I get that lobster you promised me? Then we need to get the hell out of here while I still have control over myself."

Tom laughed and pushed her gently off his lap with a playfully slap on her bottom.

"And don't you want to see first what I got you?" he asked, pushing the velvet box to her across the table.

Sybil bit at her lips, her eyes shining with excitement before reaching for it after Tom had nodded to it once more.

"Go", he said, excitement in his voice too.

She opened the little box and her eyes started to fill with tears again.

"It's nothing fancy," he stated. "But I hope you like it. I thought that the meaning behind it was just perfect."

"My own Claddagh ring!" she exclaimed. "Of course I love it! Oh thank you, Tom!"

Without wasting one more second, she reached for the ring and put it on her right hand. She extended her arm in front of her to admire it with a radiant smile and Tom took her hand in his to softly kiss the ring on her finger.

"While waiting for more," he breathed against her skin, sending a shiver through her body.

Sybil leaned toward him over the table and murmured, "I'll thank you properly later when we're alone."

She smiled mischievously to him as he was panting hard and looked around the restaurant.

"Now… where is the server with our lobsters?"

To be continued...