a/n: I just want to say that the response to this story has been absolutely overwhelming. Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, or reviewed this story. And a very big thank you to bittie752 again for encouraging me to write this. Also, I have tried very hard to keep this story at a T rating. Although it may push the boundary a tiny bit, I don't believe it crosses over to M territory. There is a more adult version available on the website A Teaspoon and an Open Mind.

Chapter 13—Seduction

"Oh, yes," the Doctor breathed again. Grabbing her face again as he had the night of the club, he quickly leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and responded, first running her fingers through his hair and then dropping them to caress the back of his neck. He pulled her into his lap and deepened the kiss.

Rose shifted, straddling his legs and resting her knees on the jump seat. The desire he had been feeling all evening turned into a sharp wave of arousal, which this time he didn't try to suppress. Instead, he cupped her bum and pulled her closer to him.

Rose's heart began to pound wildly as what started out soft and slow quickly became heated. In all the times they had kissed, and by this time they had kissed a lot, he had always been extremely gentle as he kissed her, almost as if he were keeping himself under tight rein. But now his kisses became hard, almost demanding, and she felt overwhelmed by their intensity.

Brushing her hair to the side, the Doctor placed openmouthed kisses on her neck and shoulder. "All I could think about that night in the club was how much I wanted to do this, kiss you exactly like this," he said in a low voice.

Closing her eyes and breathing heavily, "While we were dancin' at the club, that's exactly what I wanted you to do."

"That outfit you were wearing, it would be illegal on one hundred fifty-six planets I can think of off the top of my head. Don't ever get rid of it."

"I don't suppose… you have any… other rooms… in this ship," she said, running her fingers through his hair again. She paused to speak after every kiss she placed on his forehead.

"TARDIS," he corrected, kissing her jawline and throat. "And there are hundreds… thousands… possibly even more."

"Any bedrooms?"

"Hundreds, probably," he told her. "I've never bothered to count."

"And in all those bedrooms… do any of them have a bed?"

"Of course," he said as he continued to kiss her.

She pulled far enough away to stare at him meaningfully, one eyebrow raised.

Slowly he remembered where they were. And how uncomfortable the jump seat would be for certain activities. Although it was an intriguing thought… but no.

At least, not this time, he thought, grinning to himself.

Standing up, the Doctor took her hand and pulled her down a long series of corridors, but Rose hardly noticed her surroundings as he kept stopping to kiss her every few feet or so. But she wasn't complaining. Nope, she thought, definitely not complaining.

They finally arrived at a plain door at the end of a long hallway. There was only one other door nearby.

"Was this my room?" she asked.

"No, actually that one was your room," he said, pointing out the other door. He pulled her in for another kiss, leaning her against the door frame and pressing himself tightly against her. "This one is mine," he whispered in her ear and kissed her again.

Reaching around her without looking, he opened the door next to her, but in his effort to reach the doorknob he leaned too far over, almost falling into the room as the door swung open. As he stumbled, he pulled her with him. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Standing up straight, Rose looked around the room. Unlike the rest of the ship she had seen, this particular room didn't look alien. Instead, it looked like a beautiful, if masculine, bedroom, with dark, paneled walls and heavy, comfortable looking furniture. A thick oriental rug in shades of blue and brown lay on the floor. One wall contained a tall bookcase with an overstuffed chair and floor lamp next to it. There was a door leading to what was probably the en suite on the far wall. And then there was the bed.

It was huge, to Rose's eyes, longer than and possibly twice as wide as her bed in her mum's flat, with a solid headboard made of some sort of dark wood. The bed was covered in a duvet in blues and browns that coordinated with the rug, and huge, soft pillows in matching colors lay at the head of the bed.

"Wow," Rose said. "'S gorgeous."

"Yeah, it is."

Rose glanced at him curiously when he sounded surprised.

"But you said this was your room. You sound like you've never seen it before," she said.

"I haven't. Well, obviously I have, it's my room after all, but it never looked like this before," he laughed. "The TARDIS has been doing a little redecorating. She must approve."

"She?"

He nodded. "The TARDIS is alive, and possibly sentient. Certainly semi-sentient. And she has always liked you, particularly since… Well, that's a topic for another time," he said. He took her chin in his hand and looked deeply into her eyes. "Rose, are you sure about this? Because we don't have to do this."

"The question is, are you sure, Doctor?" she asked seriously. "Because I am."

In answer, he swept her off her feet and placed her on the bed. After removing his jacket, shirt and shoes, he crawled onto the bed, joining her there. He leaned over to kiss her, placing openmouthed kisses on her throat and jaw and lips, all the while touching her, caressing her everywhere, marveling at the softness of her skin. In response, she ran her hands up his arms and back, feeling the lean, hard muscles under her fingertips.

Kissing him, touching him, and having him kiss and caress her, was wonderful. She didn't ever want to stop. Although she couldn't actually remember anything about their time together, knowing she had known him explained the connection she had felt with him almost instantly, on an almost instinctive level. There had been an immediate attraction, but there had been more, she thought, in how natural it had been to spend time with him, how natural it was to hold his hand. And despite him saying that they hadn't been together, she was certain that she had wanted to do this for a very, very long time. And from his reaction to her, it appeared that he had felt the same way. She wanted to ask him why that was, why they hadn't been involved before. But not now, she thought. Later. Much later.

After giving her one last kiss to a spot immediately in front of her ear, the Doctor looked deeply into her eyes. The lovemaking they had begun, because that was what it was, between them it could never be just a shag, had left a flush to her skin and her long blonde hair was splayed around her on the pillow. And he was struck yet again at how beautiful the colors pink and yellow could be, would always be to him for the rest of his lives.

Rose raised her hand to his face. As she caressed his sideburn and jaw, the Doctor saw her look up at him with such an expression of desire and trust and… it shouldn't have been possible, it was too soon, she didn't remember him from before, but somehow her face reflected unconditional love and acceptance of him, the way she had always looked at him in the past. And he swore he would never take that look for granted again.

"You are absolutely breathtaking," he whispered to her. "Rose Tyler, I…" He couldn't finish the sentence, but he saw understanding written in her face. Even now, despite everything, somehow she knew. And he dropped his head and kissed her, trying to communicate in that kiss everything he couldn't verbalize.

Time Lords didn't do this, didn't want this, weren't filled with longing and desire and arousal and love… he could admit it to himself even if he couldn't form the words. But he had wanted this, wanted her for oh, so long. Truth be told, perhaps since he had met her.

From the time he had told her he was all alone. And she had said, "There's me".

And he whispered her name again, as if it were a prayer, and kissed her, and showed her without words how much he loved her.

Afterwards, for the first time in centuries he felt at peace with the universe. And lying there with her in his arms, for the first time in so very long, possibly ever, he was overcome by the feeling he was no longer alone.

"Y'know, John Smith doesn't really sound like an alien name," Rose said later. She was lying in his arms, lazily running her fingers across his chest.

"It's one of the names I go by occasionally," he told her, "but really, I am called the Doctor. Just the Doctor."

"Are you sure you're an alien?" she said. "Cos you look human."

"Actually you look Time Lord," he said, and began to kiss her temple.

For a second, she wondered if he was doing what he was doing on purpose, in order to distract her. Because if he was, it was definitely working. She reminded herself she needed to focus. But that was becoming increasingly difficult. What was she going to ask him again? Oh, yeah.

"What's a Time Lord?" she asked absently.

"That's what I am," he said, "and Time Lords were around way before humans."

She was going to ask him something else, but then he began to do something incredible to her ear with his tongue, and she totally forgot what they were talking about.

"Again?" she said in surprise much later. She was lying on her back with the Doctor next to her. He was currently slowly tracing circular patterns with his long fingers down her stomach. "This'll be like, what, the fourth time?"

"Is that a problem?" he asked, his voice tinged with concern for her.

"Not for me," she answered in amusement. "I just wouldn't think you could, not so soon at any rate, and not so many times."

"Superior Time Lord biology," he told her smugly, placing a kiss on her shoulder. "Binary circulatory system."

"Which means?" she asked.

"It means I have two hearts," he said.

"Seriously?" She rolled over to face him, and he nodded at her. She pushed him onto his back and placed her ear first on one side of his chest, and then on the other. She looked at him in amazement. "You have two hearts," she told him.

"Yeah, I know," he said, his mouth twisted into a small smile. "And a superior circulatory system, as well as a superior nervous system, means I have virtually no refractory period." He smirked at her and began to kiss her throat, and she tilted her head back to give him greater access.

"You think you're so impressive," she breathed.

"I am so impressive," he replied, and moved lower. She gasped.

"Uh, yeah, you kinda are."

"There are so many wonderful places out there, Rose," he said. Although there were no windows or clock in the TARDIS, with his Time Sense he knew that it was now almost dawn. "So many fantastic things to see. Stars, planets… there's even a nebula that looks like a rose. And I want to show them all to you."

"Musta been wonderful, traveling with you," she said, yawning. "Will you tell me about it? Not right now. Later. Will you tell me about all our travels, everywhere we've been, everything we've seen?"

"Of course," he said.

"I'm so sorry I don't remember," she said apologetically.

He swallowed hard and brushed a lock of hair from her face. "It's all right, Rose. I'll remember for both of us."

She smiled sleepily, her eyes half closed. "I may not remember you from before, but I know you now. And that's good enough. Better than good. Great. Fantastic, even."

"Yes, it is. It's absolutely brilliant," he said softly. "But it's very, very late. Actually, it's fairly early in the morning. Why don't you get a little sleep?"

She nodded, closing her eyes. "I'm so glad I met you, Doctor," she whispered.

"Me too, Rose." And as he kissed her forehead he realized she was already asleep.

He held her as she slept, his arm around her shoulders, her head on his chest. And he was happy. He would have wished that she would regain her memories of him, of when they met, of their early days together, of who he used to be, but if she didn't, if she never did, it would be all right. They were together now. The Doctor and Rose Tyler. Together. In the TARDIS. As it should be.

He rarely needed sleep, but he found himself drifting off. She wore me out, he thought, grinning, and gave in to the urge for rest.

Later, he awoke when he felt Rose stirring, and he tightened his grip on her in response.

"Mmm." She smiled and stretched and then lifted herself up enough to kiss him. "My Doctor," she whispered.

And there seemed to be a look of recognition in her face that hadn't been there before.

He stared at her, not daring to hope.

"Rose," he asked her, "are you remembering?"

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"You took my hand and said one word. Just one word. You said, 'Run'."