I let out a tired breath as I headed towards my bedroom. After everyone's little freak-out regarding Lydia's safety, we spent the next few hours going over the official plan for catching her father. Caffrey explained that there would he undercovers stashed at the gallery and both Maria and Lydia would have on bulletproof vests. I still didn't like this plan. I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that wouldn't go away.

I hesitated when I got to the closed door to my bedroom. Lydia came up here an hour ago to shower. I didn't want to go in there worried. I wanted to go in there and do as I promised her. I wanted to spend the night showing her exactly how much I loved her. I took a few deep breaths before I finally opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hey, beautiful," I breathed when I closed the door behind me. Lydia emerged from my bathroom wearing a robe as she towel-dried her hair.

She threw the towel into the hamper before she smiled and sauntered over to me. "Hey yourself." She trailed her finger down my chest and had a hungry look in her eyes. "I was hoping you would join me in the shower."

The corners of my mouth lifted. "Well, maybe we can just take another one later. Now that I think about it, we haven't taken a bath together in awhile."

A short laugh escaped her and her eyes widened. "Oh, really? You are volunteering to take a bath? I thought you hated them."

I rolled my eyes and placed soft kisses to her neck. "How can I hate them when I get to feel your soft, wet, soapy body straddling mine?" A moan spilled from her lips as she clutched my shoulders. Her head fell back and I continued to kiss and suck at her neck. "I also love the feeling of you tugging at my wet hair while you ride me in the water."

"Take me to bed..."

A deep chuckle escaped me as I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the bed. I stood her on her feet and removed her robe slowly. The heavy cloth pooled at her feet and I pulled her naked body flush against my clothed one.

She kissed me with a desperation and need I also felt. She pushed my jacket from my shoulders and stopped kissing me long enough to pull my shirt over my head. She crushed her lips to mine again and I felt her working the button and zipper on my jeans. Less than a minute later, I was just as naked as she was.

My heart started pounding in my chest as her eyes met mine. She really was the most breathtaking thing I had ever seen. In all my life, I never thought I would be lucky enough to find someone who was as pure as she was. She had a heart of gold and she deserved the best. Even better than me.

"I want tonight to be slow," Lydia said as she pushed at my shoulders and I sat down on the bed. "I want to savor every minute of it with you."

That sounded good to me. "You are so beautiful, you know that?"

She tucked some hair behind her ear and glanced away shyly. I was still so amazed at how oblivious she was to her own beauty. Anyone could get lost in the chocolatey depths of her eyes. The feeling of her long silky hair brushing against my chest when we made love was indescribable. And her skin...I've never felt anything so soft. She really was unique. There was no one like her.

Even though I didn't have doubts about our relationship, I knew that if anything happened that ended in a breakup, I would never get this close to anyone ever again. It was a feeling I felt deep inside and it wasn't going away.

My thoughts came back to the present when she straddled my waist and wrapped her arms around my neck. I rested my hands on her thighs and looked into her eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked.

"Like what?"

Her breath was barely a whisper. "Like I never want to leave this room."

I smirked. "That can be arranged." I gently laid her back on the bed and I hovered above her. I buried my face in her neck, kissing her just the way she liked it. She ran her hands down my back and chills followed her fingertips. My eyes flicked to her. "I love the way your hands feel on me."

She worried her bottom lip shyly. "I'll make sure to keep them on you all night then."

I placed a soft kiss to her lips before I started working my way down her body. Even though we've had sex more times than I could count, there were a few times she would feel shy or self-conscious. By the way her body was tensing up, I knew tonight was one of those nights. I knew a few tricks she liked that helped loosen her up, and I was all for using them.

I flicked my tongue over her nipple before I sucked it between my lips. Her small gasp of pleasure made me smile. I showed her other breast the same attention before I started dusting kisses down her stomach. I looked up at her and her eyes met mine. I slid one long finger inside her and I cursed at how wet and ready she was for me. Her breathing became short pants as I continued to pleasure her. Unable to resist tasting her any longer, I took her into my mouth.

She instinctively threw her leg over my shoulder as she arched her back. "Sean..."

I slipped my hands around her waist and pulled her closer to me. I stroked her with my tongue; the combination of that with my finger was getting her worked up. Within a minute, she was moaning my name as her release claimed her. I continued to taste her until I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted, no I needed, to be inside her.

I climbed back up her body, placing myself between her open, welcoming thighs. I captured her lips in a fierce kiss and she buried her fingers in my hair. I slid my right hand down her side and lifted her thigh. I was hard and aching for her as my cock teased her entrance.

She whimpered against my lips; letting me know that she needed it as much as I did. With one smooth, powerful stroke, I filled her. I swallowed her gasp with a kiss before I placed each of my hands on either side of her head for leverage.

Our emotions took over after that. She raked her nails down my back as I started thrusting into her. It started out slow and tender. But the longer it went on, and the more pleasure we felt from each other, our fear of what was to come turned it into fast and desperate. Desperate to get lost in each other. Desperate to survive...to be together forever.

I felt my hips slamming into her, and I was unable to stop. Even if I wanted to. Lydia had her legs wrapped tightly around my waist and her arms around my neck. Her mouth was at my ear and I could hear her gasps, moans, and her orders for me to go faster and harder. I rolled over, pulling her on top while I was still inside her. She rested her hands on my chest as she took control. Lydia lifted her body; her tight heat taking me deeper with each thrust.

Her eyes fell to my lips and I knew what she wanted. I sat up and brushed her hair out of her face. I pulled her lips to mine, giving her a long and deep kiss. I leaned her back as I quickened my thrusts.

She whispered, "I love you," over and over again in my ear. Just as I felt her body tighten around mine with her orgasm, I released myself inside her.

We stayed like that for several minutes before I fell on the bed next to her. After we caught out breaths, I looked over at her. She was looking straight up at the ceiling. I could feel her emotions in that moment. I knew that when I turned her face towards me, there was going to be tears in her eyes.

So, instead of tilting her head to the side to look at me, I decided to try something else. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course you can," she whispered.

"When-- when I got shot, there was a short time when I wasn't sure I was going to survive. I started to think about things; things that I knew I should have put in that letter I wrote you but I was afraid to."

Lydia cleared her throat before she asked, "Why were you afraid to tell me?"

I ran my hand over my face. "We hadn't been together very long at the time. Not only that, you were also going through a lot. Even though I ended up surviving, I didn't know I would at the time. I regretted not telling you."

It was good that we both weren't looking at each other, because I can feel my emotions building up. I knew she wasn't oblivious either. If anything, my voice was going to give me away.

"We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. We have no idea if everything is going to turn out the way we're hoping it does. So just in case something doesn't go our way, I want you to know that meeting you has been the best thing that's ever happened to me. I know every time we talk about the future, you tend to get scared. And I get it, I understand why. But you need to know that when I think about my future, I think of a wedding. I think of you and I starting a family, having a baby that's a little bit of me and a little bit of you. I think of the amazing mother that you would be."

When she remained silent, I added, "I just wanted to tell you what I see when I think about the future. I'm not proposing and I'm not putting pressure on you. Tomorrow is going to happen, and we don't know the end result. I just wanted you to know exactly how much I love you."

She finally turned towards me and I saw the tears that started streaming down her cheeks. I wiped them with my thumbs and she gave me a big smile. "I love you, too. Even though thinking about the future does scare me a little, I think about those things to. I never thought it would be possible for me to have a husband, or a family. Not until I met you."

I kissed her with everything I was feeling. When I pulled away, she jumped from the bed and sauntered over to my bathroom. "Its time for our bubble bath, baby."

God, I loved when she called me baby. I got to my feet and followed her into the bathroom. No matter what happens tomorrow, at least we had tonight.