Title: Morning Has Broken
Author: manette
Rating: PG-13
September HBX challenge


Morning Has Broken

Morning had barely poked its shiny head over the horizon when Mac stretched lazily and rolled over onto her back. When her hand touched something warm and hard, she opened her eyes. When she realized who she was touching they got even wider. It was Harm—and he didn’t appear to be wearing any clothes.

She took a peek under the sheets. Glory be! She was naked, too, and while she was peeking she figured she should take a gander in his direction, also, just to confirm her suspicions. Yep, they were both naked—and in his bed. She finally quit gawking at his magnificence and pulled her head out from under the covers.

It hadn’t been a dream. They’d actually done it. Crossed that bridge. Tooted that horn. Rocked that boat. Lord have mercy—had they rocked that boat. She was still feeling the waves of aftershocks even now.

As far as she was concerned it had been glorious. Everything she’d ever imagined, hoped for, longed for, or lusted after in the last nine years. But now it was that dreaded morning after, and she was afraid he might not share all of her glowing, shimmering, walking-on-air feelings. She’d taken shameless advantage of him—caught him unaware—with his guard down—and when he woke up this morning there would be all sorts of awkward moments while she figured out how to pretend that nothing had changed. And nothing had. Not really. No words of love had been spoken. No promises made, and she was the one who’d put them in this uncomfortable situation.

She’d stopped by the night before to bring him some files on a case that had been assigned while he was out of town. He’d called from the airport and asked if she could meet him at his place so he could get up to speed. She’d knocked on his door, but he hadn’t answered and since his car was out front, she knew he was home. Worried, she finally let herself inside.

She found him sprawled across his bed asleep, and while she knew she should leave the files and simply go, she couldn’t resist one little touch. Brushing the hair from his forehead, she allowed her fingertips to trail down his cheek and onto his throat. He stirred at her touch, and she started to pull away, but his hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist and hauled her down on top of him. Without a word he rolled her beneath him and kissed her. Without questioning the wisdom of such an act, she kissed him back. Restraint was something for another day. Caution wasn’t even an option. Clothes came off faster than wrapping paper on Christmas morning. They dove into each other without practicing any self denial. They touched and kissed and felt and rubbed and marveled and laughed, but they didn’t speak except to moan each other’s name.

“Harm.” She breathed his name as he loomed above her.

“Mac.” He groaned as he entered her at last.

He taught her a new language then, as his body spoke to hers in a whole new way. When she came, she was certain that entire continents shifted. Nothing in the world would ever be the same. As his cry at the end mingled with hers, he kissed her tenderly and tucked her into his chest. Then he murmured, “Stay,” and went back to sleep.

Being in his arms felt like heaven. But she knew it wasn’t terribly smart to stay. She only intended to rest for a moment, to savor being held by his side while the night wrapped its sleepy arms around them. Then she planned to get up and go home—avoid the complications that waking up together would bring.

And now, here it was—morning.

Maybe she could still make her get away, and they could discuss what all this meant later. Somewhere more neutral than his bed—somewhere with their clothes on—somewhere she wouldn’t be tempted to roll over and see if they could reenact even half of what they’d done the night before.

She spotted her clothes on the floor commingling with his and slipped out of bed. Scooping them up, she scampered to the bathroom. Just as she glanced back at the bed Harm rolled over and spread out filling the space she’d just vacated.

She got dressed quickly, thinking she’d write a note to leave along with the case files. Not that she was sure what to say. ‘Dear Harm, I hope I didn’t disturb you when I crawled into your bed last night and ravished you. See you at the office. Sincerely, Mac’

Maybe she wouldn’t leave a note after all.

Poking her head around the glass wall of the bathroom, she could see that he was still sound asleep. He’d kicked the sheet off of his bare legs until it just draped across his hips. If she’d been an artist she would have paid him heaps of money to pose for her while she painted him, or sculpted him, or ran assorted paintbrushes over the long and the short parts of his body. He was gorgeous. Of course he’d always been gorgeous, but now that she’d been up close and personal with his gorgeousness it was clear that she was going to have all sorts of trouble maintaining her usual lady-like composure when he was around.

Averting her eyes she made a mad dash for the bedroom door. She was just about to step down into the living room when his sleepy voice stopped her.

“Did you think you'd sneak away without saying goodbye?” He sounded amused.

She stopped with her back to him and then turned slowly. “I wasn’t sneaking.” It was a bald face lie, but she faced him bravely when she said it. “I just didn’t want to wake you up, but since you’re awake—goodbye.” Her voice sounded guilty, even to her own ears.

He pushed himself up onto one elbow while the sheet slid down, barely covering him. She knew because she looked to make sure. “Why not good luck?” he asked with one raised eyebrow.

She was completely confused. “Good luck? Why would I wish you good luck?” He sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed. The sheet was now a thin band across his lap. She dragged her eyes back to his face and waited for his answer.

Instead of answering immediately he stood up and started walking toward her with a predatory gleam in his eye. He lazily held the sheet in front of him at his waist. He didn’t seem too concerned about being totally naked behind it. “I think I’m going to need all the luck I can get if I’m going to convince you to come back to bed.”

“About that,” she stammered. “I was out of line, coming in here while you were asleep.” She waved her hand toward the bed. “I apologize.”

He was so close now she had to look up to see his face. He seemed fascinated by a lock of wayward hair that brushed her cheekbone. He picked it up and rubbed it between his fingers. “Never apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.”

“Didn’t I say that to you once?” Her hands twitched at her sides. It would only take one good tug to relieve him of his sheet.

His attention strayed to her mouth, and he ran his thumb along her bottom lip. “When you were stupid enough to think about marrying another man? Yes, you did.”

She laughed. “So now you’re calling me stupid? You’re going to need more than luck, Sailor—” Her voice trailed off as he leaned down and kissed her.

“Come back to bed, Mac.” His hot breath whispered across her ear.

She arched into his touch. “Why, Harm?”

“So we can talk.” Trapping the sheet between them, he wrapped his arms around her waist and started walking backwards, pulling her along with him toward the bed.

She allowed herself to be pulled, but sighed and closed her eyes. “This is where it always gets tricky.”

He stopped when the back of his legs hit the bed. “So, we don’t have to talk. I can think of other ways to pass the time.” His hands were making tiny circles on her back.

“I’m serious, Harm. I don’t want you to feel obligated in any way. I just barged in here, and you were asleep, and you probably didn’t even know what you were doing.”

With a grin he asked, “Is that a comment on my performance, Marine?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. This is all my fault.”

“Don’t I get any credit? I want credit for that funny little sound you make when I do this.” He nibbled his way from her throat up to her earlobe.

She made that funny little sound but then managed to say, “You were an unsuspecting victim in all this.”

“Come back to bed, so I can file a grievance.”

“Be serious, Harm.”

“I am, and that’s why you need to come back to bed. So we can do it again while I’m completely awake, and talk about why this is exactly where you need to be, and figure out what it’s going to take for me to keep you here.”

She studied him for a minute and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Behind the cocky teasing she finally saw not only love and desire, but his fear that she might not accept what he was offering. That moved her like nothing else, and her heart melted at his feet.

“You could start by losing the sheet,” she suggested as she playfully shoved him back onto the bed.

He tumbled her down beside him and without the least bit of modesty kicked the sheet to the floor. “I’m easy,” he said with a grin.

“I found that out last night,” she said with a leer.

They lay face to face as he asked seriously, “What else did you find out last night?”

“That I love you, and I’d be stupid to leave if you’re asking me to stay.”

He took her hand and said softly, “I love you, too, and I’m asking for more than that, Mac.”

She was getting lost in his eyes. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Now that you’ve had your way with me, I think we’ll have to get married.”

Before she could answer he kissed her—persuading, asking, and convincing her with every sweep of his mouth against hers.

Not that she needed to be convinced. When she finally pulled away her smile was wider than a mile. “I guess that would be the only fair thing to do.”

Their eyes met and it was impossible to measure such happiness. They laughed and hugged so tightly that Mac could scarcely catch her breath.

Feigning nonchalance, Harm asked, “Now that we’ve gotten that settled—can I have my sheet back? I’m cold.”

“You poor thing.” She sat up, looking concerned, but instead of reaching for the covers she started unbuttoning her blouse. “I bet I can think of some ways to warm you up.”

Rolling onto his back, he put his hands behind his head, and watched with great interest as her clothes returned to their proper place--thrown helter-skelter onto the floor next to his. “I’m all yours, Mac.”

“Oh, Harm, I like the sound of that.” She sighed as her naked body fit perfectly with his.

Glory Be! She couldn’t think of a single reason why she’d ever want to leave.

The End