Drew turned the knob on his bedroom door and was surprised to find it locked. He tried it again, sure it was just stuck, but no, it was definitely locked.

Had he accidentally locked it when he left that morning?

He tried knocking, and heard Chiara's voice from inside.

He waited, and heard the door across the hall open. He turned around and saw Gary standing in the doorway to his room, shirtless, looking apologetic. Before Drew could ask him anything, however, the door his own room opened, and Chiara was standing there, wearing one of his old flannel shirts, hair brushed to a shiny gloss, face washed, smelling of toothpaste.

She looked unspeakably beautiful.

She looked beyond Drew and saw Gary. Her eyes narrowed for a moment as a look of watchfulness settled over her features, and instead of moving aside so he could enter, she stepped out into the hallway, putting her arms around Drew's neck and hugging herself close to his body.

Drew could tell immediately that she wasn't wearing anything at all under the shirt, and his hands went to her waist of their own accord as his arms wrapped around her, around her pliant warmth.

She let out a sound, a raw moan of want, as she reached up and in to kiss him, her mouth open in anticipation, feeling greedily for his tongue with her own, licking deep into his mouth over and over as she wrapped a leg around his hip pressed her sex into him.

Drew's response was immediate and visceral as his body pressed hers into the wall next to the door. He groaned, deeply and long, kissing her back so deeply and so hard that her head hit the wainscoting with a little bounce. They both laughed, and Drew broke the kiss to ask, "Are you all right?"

She nodded, gasping, "Let's go in, okay?" She rolled her hips into him again, raising her leg even higher on his.

Drew nodded back, kissing her. "Fuck yeah, feels so good, you feel so good, CC--"

They stumbled through the door and Drew kicked it shut behind him with a bang before picking Chiara up and simply carrying her to the bed. He laid her down, lying on top of her, crushing her under him as he raised her hands over her head and pressed her into the bed.

"What's gotten into you, hm?" he asked as he went to work on the two or three buttons she'd closed on the flannel shirt.

"When I came up, Gary followed me," she began in between kissing him. "It was strange."

Drew stopped kissing her and sat up, looking down at Chiara. Her shirt was unbuttoned, and she pulled it closed to cover her nakedness as she, too, sat up, looking down so her hair fell forward, obscuring her face.

"What?" He smoothed her hair behind her ear. "CC, did something happen? What are you saying?" None of the boys in Manderley Dreams had ever, ever had this kind of issue before, even Gary, who was, to be sure, the acknowledged womanizer of the band. "Surely you misunderstood him?"

Chiara stared at Drew as comprehension dawned. "Oh no, Drew, nothing like that, that's not what I'm saying at all." She shook her head, and Drew was relieved, but he noticed that she did continue to hold her shirt closed just below her breasts.

"What, then?"

"He followed me," she repeated. "And he said he wanted to say good night, and he came and hugged me, and kissed my cheek, you know, the way Neddy would. Or Noah." She touched her cheek, though she continued to hold her shirt closed with her other hand.

"And then he wouldn't let me go, Drew." Her voice was quiet. "He kept hugging me. And it kind of felt like he was crying, almost, like he needed me. It was strange." She went back to her original words. "So I stayed there for a minute, but then it just felt too close, too tight, so I kind of pushed him off and came in and shut and locked the door."

She looked up at Drew, till holding her shirt closed. "I don't know," she said, as if he'd asked a question. "I don't know."

"But you're fine?" he questioned carefully. "You're fine now?" He put a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded, shaking herself as if to clear her head. "Oh, and I have a surprise for you," she said with a smile.

"You do?"

She nodded again.

"Well, I need a quick shower, yeah? I need to get the taint of LeeAnne off me, so I'll be back in five minutes. Can you stay awake that long?"

"Are you kidding? After what just happened out in the hall?" And Chiara finally let go of the shirt, letting both sides hang open so he could see a tantalizing amount of her nakedness in the bit that showed down the middle. "Go, Andrew, hurry up and shower."

He needed no prodding, and vaulted off the bed to the bathroom, tossing a smile over his shoulder as he went.

He showered quickly, and pulled on a pair of briefs, but didn't bother with anything else, toweling his hair to dampness as fast as he could, hoping she hadn't fallen asleep, because he knew he wouldn't have the heart to wake her if she had.

Thankfully, she was sitting up in bed when he entered the bedroom, and gave him a radiant smile. He ran and jumped on the bed with a laugh, making her bounce and give a little laugh of her own as she did.

"Okay, what's my surprise?" He looked at his girlfriend expectantly.

"Open your drawer over there." Chiara nodded toward his bedside table.

Drew leaned over and pulled the drawer open. Normally he kept a dozen or so condoms in this drawer, but tonight there weren't any.

"What? Where'd they go?" Drew rooted around, moving the various sundry items in the drawer as he searched.

"We don't need them anymore," Chiara informed him.

"We don't? Why? You don't want to have sex with me any longer?" Drew pretended to be hurt.

"I got on the pill," she told him, unable to contain her grin. "I've been taking them for the past month, I'm safe."

Drew, too, began to smile. "But what about STIs?" he had to ask. "You know about my past. I'm what's known as 'high risk,' because of all the traveling I've done, because of all my partners, yeah?"

"But you used condoms every single time, didn't you? And you took a drugs test after you came off your last tour and passed, right?" Chiara countered.

Drew nodded.

"Plus, I trust you," she concluded simply. She scooted into his arms and kissed him, leaning her forehead against his. "I don't want to have anything between us anymore," she said her voice becoming soft. "I want us to be closer, as close as we can be."

Drew took a deep breath, and Chiara heard the hitch in it. "Oh god, me too, CC," he said, his voice husky with emotion. "I want to be close to you, too, I do." He closed his eyes and nodded against her head. He put his hands on either side of her body, just above the narrowness of her waist.

"I love you," he whispered. "I've never been in love before, so I wanted you know straight away that I love you." He leaned in and kissed her, keeping his mouth closed, merely pressing his lips to hers, pulling her body as close as he could. "I love you," he repeated.

"I love you, too, Andrew," Chiara said against his lips. "I love you, too, so much. I think I loved you even back when I was sure I hated you, you know?" She laughed a little.

And now Drew leaned forward and kissed her with passion, parting his lips and flicking his tongue out to lick at her mouth, loving how she opened her mouth to accept him, welcome him, let him taste her, making sounds of happiness as she did so.

He reached into her open shirt and found her breasts, thumbing her soft-hard nipples, making her moan, pushing her gently so she lay back on the bed, her body open to him, with nothing in between.

"You know, this will be the first time I've ever gone bareback in my entire life," he told the beautiful girl lying under him. "And I've been doing this for eight years, with probably a thousand women, and I'm so fucking excited I hope I don't just shoot off as soon as I'm inside you."

He kissed her neck, moving to her collar bones, causing her to arch her body and tip her head back into the pillow as she pointed her breasts up at the ceiling.

"You look incredible," he murmured.

He peeled his briefs off with some help from her, lifting the elastic carefully over his erection, feeling his length spring forward eagerly to hit the soft flesh of her belly. Normally this would be when they rolled the condom on, and feeling her warm skin with the knowledge that he didn't have to made Drew's head swim.

Chiara felt a little wetness, and used her thumb to smear his hot prerelease evenly over the tip of his cock, enjoying the little hiss that left his lips.

"Oh shit, that feels good," he moaned against her mouth.

She gave him a couple of gentle squeezes as she spread it around, knowing he was already close, enjoying the feeling of control it gave her.

"I'm close, too," she told him, acknowledging the throbbing between her own legs, the warmth and wetness that was gathering there. "Feel me, Drew, feel what I have for you."

He reached for her, felt between the lips of her sex, and found her engorged clit. She was so slick for him that his fingers almost slid into her of their own accord.

Fuck, that was so hot.

"Can I--now?" he asked, trying not to sound desperate, hoping she'd say yes, but prepared to wait if she said no.

"Jesus, yes, please," Chiara answered. "Fuck me now, Drew."

He put a hand on either hip to steady himself and slid into her, slowly, steadily, inch by delicious inch, and because there was no layer of latex between them, he felt bigger, harder, hotter, to both of them.

"Oh my god, CC, feels so good, feels so fucking good," he moaned into her ear. "I've never felt anything like this in my everloving life, Christ."

"Me either," she gasped. "Deeper, deeper."

Drew went up on his knees and thrust, hard, pulling her to his body by her hips, pushing a sound out of her that was almost one of pain, it came from a place so deep.

Chiara put her hands over her head, bracing herself against the headboard and thrusting back against him in perfect syncopation and counterpoint.

"Mm, mm, mm," she panted, gasping for breath.

"I can feel--something," he breathed. "Every time I push--" At the apex of each thrust he was pressing against something inside her, and he hoped it wasn't hurting her, because the pleasure he felt was exquisite, nearly causing him to pass out.

He moved a hand down to grasp her thigh so his thumb could press circles on her clit, which was so sensitive she cried out immediately, moving against his hand as she came.

He continued this for the couple of minutes, giving her three orgasms in a row, something neither of them had ever experienced.

He could feel is own climax rolling inexorably closer, something huge, like a wave, hovering out of control.

"Oh, Jesus, here I come, CC, here I come, you ready for me?"

"Yes, oh god, yes," she moaned, nodding with her eyes closed, hair in a mess on the pillow, looking magnificent.

"Okay, I'm coming, I'm coming, ahh, god, god, god--"

And his climax engulfed him, gigantic and overwhelming, a blackness behind his eyes, making his stop breathing for a few seconds, making him forget everything, the largest thing he'd ever felt. He could feel the hot ropes spurting out, one after the other, thick and endless, more than he'd ever felt before, shooting deep into her body, the most incredible feeling.

When he came back to himself, he realized to his horror that he was resting his full weight on Chiara, not bracing himself at all, his head on her cheek.

"Jesus, I'm sorry," he said as he put his hands out.

"No, it's okay," she assured him, holding him to her body, wrapping her legs around him. "I like to feel you in me and on me. It's part of the closeness. I love it. I love you."

"Well, let's do this, at least," he suggested, rolling them so she was on top as they were still joined.

"Okay," she said amiably.

He leaned up to kiss her. "I love you, too, CC. I love you so much. And may I say that was the best sex I've ever had, the best orgasm I've ever had."

Chiara laughed comfortably. "Me too, sir. Ever."

"Well, aren't we just the luckiest couple in the world, then?"

"I guess so. I guess so."