I woke up and looked over at my guy, who was buried so deeply in his comforter that only the top of his crazy brown hair showed. We'd had the best intentions when we'd returned to bed this Christmas morning, but they'd somehow morphed into a nap. And now it was early afternoon.

I shook him. "Teddy. Teddy. Wake up. We can't leave that mess out there; we have to go to your parents' this evening, remember?"

He opened bleary gray eyes at me, blinking adorably. "What happened? I thought we were coming back to bed to get busy?"

I shrugged. "We were, but someone was too tired," I laughed. I got out of bed, eluding his grasp, and wandered out to the living room. He showed up a minute later, hair in complete disarray, bare chested, so sexy he was nearly drool-worthy.

I looked around, sighing. "I guess we have to clean up." The cats had fallen asleep in the evidence of our Christmas morning gift unwrapping orgy.

"Looks like a wrapping paper factory blew up," Teddy agreed. He took my hand, pulling me. "But it can wait. Come with me to the sofa. I want to make out for a while, please." He smiled at me.

God. That gravelly, just-woke-up voice.

Wordlessly I followed him. Who could say no to that?

I'd only known him for seven months, yet in that time he'd become so dear to me, so important, so irreplaceable. I didn't live this way. People came, and, horribly, people left. I knew this from agonizing firsthand experience. My mother had died when I was fifteen, leaving me completely alone. Until now. Until this beautiful boy, this man-child with the lovely gray eyes and gentle hands, the deep voice and quick wit.

Being hired as the interpreter for boyband UK Crush, who were filming a movie in Japan, had been my first piece of unbelievable luck. Having them turn out to be such amazing people had been my second. And falling stupidly, hopelessly, deliciously in love with Theo Shelley had been my third. And he'd fallen in love with me, the biggest, most amazing, lucky thing of all. And waited for me, until I'd figured out what I wanted. Which I now knew unequivocally was him. And somehow I'd wound up here, in his house in London, where was living until my audition for Hamilton Conservatory in New York in January.

Which was now less than a month away. Oh. My. God.

In the few, tumultuous months that I'd known him, first as his interpreter, then as his friend, then his lover, my life had changed, so much. I'd gone from being a penniless music student with only one real friend in the world to being in love with this wonderful person, to being loved by the four marvelous boys in UK Crush, arguably the most popular band in the world.

Teddy and I had been so far apart, so lost to each other these last months that it was frightening. I should've said something, confronted him sooner about what was causing him to pull away from me, but relationships were new to me, too, and I'd just sat helplessly by as he drifted farther and farther away.

We were good now, though. He still loved me, and god knew I still loved him. I'd never stopped.

I lay down on the sofa and held my arms up to him. He started to lie down on top of me and stopped. "You're so thin right now, I don't want to break anything." I yanked him down, relishing the feel of his weight on me.

"I'm sturdier than I look," I whispered, looking into his eyes. "And I'll try to gain it back, okay? I know you like me curvier."

He kissed me. "Don't do anything for me. I like you however you are. You be you, however you're comfortable." And he lifted my shirt, pulling it over my head before going to work on me, his hot mouth everywhere, making by breasts pink and wet, greedily pulling me to him.

He bore down on me, breathing harshly, finally sitting up to impatiently yank his pjs off. "God, look how beautiful you look," he breathed, looking at me spread open on the sofa, glistening for him already. His eyes glittered, pupils blown.

I grasped him, pumping once as I pulled him to me; he was already leaking, and I squeezed as I pumped him again, but he hissed and I let go immediately. "Don't—don't touch me, too close," he said, shaking his head.

He lowered himself, sinking into me in one wet, hot continuous motion. "Bloody fucking Jesus," he moaned.

"I've missed this, I've missed you, so much," I murmured into his mouth as he dug into me, filling me like I hadn't been in so long. The months long separation had left me feeling dry and empty, and even the last twelve hours hadn't been enough to eliminate the wonderful burn when he thrust deep inside me.

"Me too, mmm, me too," he whispered, eyes looking into mine.

He kissed me, over and over, tongue stroking into my mouth, making soft noises as he did, melting my heart a little each time. "Love you, love you, love you, always, always, always," he whispered, in rhythm with his hips, eyes closed, beautiful face serious with effort and concentration.

I put my hands on his backside, pulling him deeper into me, feeling the pressure of his pubic bone on mine. I whimpered into his mouth as I raised my hips and rocked back into him, sweetly colliding again and again.

"Mine, you're mine, mine," he muttered urgently, his thrusts getting faster. He yanked my head back by my hair so he could suck on my neck, squeezing my breast as he suckled; I could feel the heat as the blood vessels burst, and knew I'd have a mark.

My orgasm was coming, tensing my sex and abdomen, and I wrapped my legs around him. He grabbed one, pulling it higher on his hip, making what was already pleasurable almost unbearable, it felt so good. My arms fell helplessly next to my head as I moved with him.

Teddy knew how close I was and lifted my leg even higher, pulling a wanton, needy sound out of me as he hit something deep inside. "Oh, fuck," I moaned into his neck, bringing my arms down and digging my nails into his back. "Right there, right there," I gasped as my body arched up into him. Then I was gone, mind blown to smithereens as I came, long and hard, seeing spots, hyperventilating.

He felt me on him, tightening, and groaned. "Coming too, coming with you," he breathed into my ear. We clung to each other, motionless, slippery with sweat, as he drilled himself deeper into my body. He began to relax, to let me go, then tensed up again, pulling me back towards him. He exhaled sharply, gasping, "Again, oh my god—" and this time I felt him as he released, hot and thick, deep inside me. We stayed tensed up, curled into each other for long moments, until he was sure he was finished, spent, until I felt my spasms and vertigo subsiding.

We remained as we lay, without moving, for long minutes, the sound of our breathing the only thing in the room.

Suddenly, Teddy started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked, trying to shift his head off my shoulder.

"The cats," he said. "They're licking my feet. It fucking tickles." I lifted my head and looked, and there they were, batting at his toes and licking them. He continued to laugh, trying to shake them off, which only made them more interested.

"And I guess you had your second multiple orgasm," I said.

"Yeah, I guess I did." He smiled. "Thanks for that," he said, kissing my nose. "I keep forgetting to tell the lads about that."

I sat up. "You wouldn't!" I said, horrified.

"Course I would," he said matter of factly. "That's exactly the sort of thing we would tell each other. A total guy thing."

"Really?" I asked, fascinated in spite of myself. I couldn't imagine telling anyone about what I did with him.

"Would you tell them anything about me?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, you know I would," he said, sitting up, pulling on his pjs and handing me mine. "I already have. You heard me talking to Geth that time. I told him about how you came so hard you passed out, and about how I got stuck inside you."

"Well, yeah, but other than that, I mean, have you told them anything else?" I asked. "Would you?"

"Would you mind?" he asked, running his fingers through my hair, getting it off my face. "We're in a kind of a funny situation, you and me, because we both know my mates so well. My best friends are like your brothers, you know?" He looked at me.

"I suppose I could keep it to myself if you wanted me to," he said with a smile. "I don't know if I would've told Gethin anything if he hadn't asked me. I mean, I've talked to him about this stuff before, but it was weird because it was you."

"Well, what else would there be to tell them?" I asked. "I'm pretty normal, right?" I pulled my hair out of my pajama top and turned to him.

"I guess there's the fact that we 'do it' a lot," I said with a smile. "Which Ronan already knows anyway. And is that really that unusual? I find it hard to believe we're the only people around who get it on as often as we do."

He took me on to his lap and chucked my chin gently. "Birdie. Sweet, sweet girl. We've gone over all this already. You are a genius about so many things, but you're going to have to trust me about this one thing, okay? I know a lot about sex, and about what people do, and I've never heard of anyone, and I literally mean anyone, who has sex as often as we do. And neither has Gethin. And neither has Ronan, for that matter. So that makes three of us. And no one's thought to ask Matthew yet. It's not normal to go at it so often you're permanently sore from it." He grinned, and carried me to the shower, where we cleaned up; then he napped on the sofa while I scrounged around and made something for lunch. We slept together on the sofa in the afternoon, and made love again, in bed this time, then drove out to his parents' house in rural Hertfordshire in the evening, after the snow plows had cleared the roads.

He had cruise tickets for his parents, and I had scarves, of course, wrapped in colorful paper. I wore a Christmas sweater I'd made years ago and a black wool skirt with knee socks, very collegiate and sedate, I hoped. Teddy wore the gray sweater he'd unwrapped that morning.

His parents gave me a monthly subscription to a mail order coffee club, since they knew that their son was not a coffee drinker and I was. This would save me the trouble of buying coffee for just myself every month. In addition, they gave me a really beautiful necklace with an antique pearl pendant. We drove home in the wee hours of something called Boxing Day, freezing cold and crystal clear. I could see every star, and each one looked almost close enough to touch.

"Could you pull over for a second? Please?" I asked on the way home.

He obliged, pulling into a convenient turnaround. He turned off the engine and looked at me questioningly.

"Something on your mind? Couldn't wait until we got home to wee?" he asked with a smile. I slapped at his sleeve. I put on my hat and coat and motioned for him to do the same.

"I know it's cold, but that's when it's best; get out for a sec with me, would you?" I requested.

"Are you barking? It's freezing out there," he declared.

"Come on, don't be such a pussy," I said, opening the door.

"Did you just call me a pussy?" he asked. "Did you?" He opened the door and got out.

"Birdie? What the fuck are we doing in the wilds of Hertfordshire in the middle of the night?" he asked in a whisper as we walked into the unfenced field at the edge of the turnaround, the frozen grass crunching under our feet.

"Look up, Teddy, look at all the stars," I whispered. "You can see so many more out here than in London.

"See? There's Orion, and the Pleiades, Pegasus, wow, look." I held my breath, which was obscuring my vision.

"You know all those stars?" he asked me.

"Those aren't stars, those are constellations," I said softly. "Aldebaran, right there? Rigel? Betelgeuse, Capella, those are stars," I pointed. I put my hand on his arm.

"Sometimes," I whispered, "if you're really lucky, you can catch the Perseid meteor shower at this time of year. It's so pretty.

"I was hoping that maybe because the UK is so far north we might be able to see the Northern Lights, but I guess not. I've always wanted to, my whole life, but I never figured I'd get out of California." I turned to him

"Have you ever seen them? The Northern Lights?" I asked, still whispering.

"No," he whispered back.

"I thought you might have, since you've been to Scandinavia," I said softly.

"Honestly, I never thought to look," he said, putting his arm around me.

"Too bad," I said, leaning into him.

He unzipped my coat and put his hands inside, around me.

"Ooh, you're so fucking warm," he said, pulling me to him and putting his hands under my sweater and shirt.

"Nooo!" I tried to keep my voice down so it wouldn't echo around the midnight countryside. It was the attack of the ice cube hands all over again.

I adjusted to having his hands on me, and once again looked around and up at the night sky.

"Anyway, isn't it gorgeous?" I asked softly. "Isn't it worth being a little cold to see this?"

He rubbed noses with me. "You're gorgeous," he whispered to me. "And it's so worth being a little cold to see you like this." And he kissed me, his lips, mouth and tongue shockingly warm in the frozen night. I kissed him back, all thoughts of stars and the Northern Lights gone from my brain, thinking of nothing but him and his hands, his mouth.

His hands came around to my front and he popped the hooks on my bra, freeing my breasts with one practiced motion. I gasped at his cold hands on me, my knees nearly buckling at the sensation.

"Teddy, Teddy," I said against his mouth.

"Hmm? Yeah?" he said, in between kissing me.

"I want to go back to your car and fuck." I kissed him again.

"Okay, yeah," he agreed.

We lurched back to the SUV, stopping every few steps to kiss and touch each other some more. We took off our coats and hats, throwing them into the back seat, and he leaned over to start the engine so he could turn on the heater. He climbed in on the passenger side, pulling his sweater and shirt off, and grabbed me, taking me onto his lap and pulling the door closed.

He reached under my skirt, feeling my thighs, letting his fingers press into me, as I unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. He pulled my sweater over my head, tossing it in the back with our coats.

He took me in, staring in the dim light, a smile curving his lips.

"What?" I asked breathlessly, smiling back.

"You look like a schoolgirl, with the skirt and knee socks," he said. "All you need are pigtails and braces on your teeth." He pulled my already unhooked bra off my arms and threw it somewhere. My round breasts swayed between us, nipples already tightening and tingling in the cold air. "A very sexy schoolgirl," he amended, pushing me back so he could see me better.

"Is that a fantasy of yours?" I asked with a smile as I grabbed and squeezed them. I leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "You want me to call you 'Daddy'? Hmm?" He didn't answer, merely pushing me back again so he could see me. He watched my hands as I massaged my breasts, fingers pulling at my nipples. I ground into him, only the thin layer of my undies between us.

He groaned, lifting his hips so he could push back a little; he gripped himself, rubbing over my already damp undies, before just pushing them to the side.

I sank down on him, and he moaned, exhaling. "Jesus, so warm, so fucking warm inside," he whispered. Then silence for a few seconds, just the sound of us breathing. I braced myself against the sunroof and window, trying not to hit my head as his movements got stronger.

He pulled my head back, exposing my neck, leaning forward to kiss me along my hairline, tongue snaking out to taste my skin. I continued to move with him, feeling something close to pain from the friction of his hard chest on my nipples.

"You ready, or do you need more time?" he murmured, looking at me.

"I'm so ready," I smiled, biting his lip, kissing him. "Let's go together, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, here we go," he whispered, putting his hand between us, on my swollen and slippery center. I gasped; I was so sensitive that it almost hurt.

We closed our eyes and held on to each other, our breathing getting deeper. He bit my shoulder, and I opened my mouth, though no sound came out. We rode it together, then relaxed, our foreheads touching.

"You are so lovely, I can't even imagine what I did to deserve to have you in my life," he whispered to me. He kissed the tip of my nose, then my mouth.

"And I've changed my mind about your weight, if that's okay," he said.

I looked at him questioningly.

"I'm getting bruises from your hipbones, so maybe you could gain just a few pounds?" he asked with a smile. "I don't want to be the sexist man who's telling his missus what to do about her weight, I really, really don't, but it fucking hurts, a lot."

I laughed, kissing him. "It's fine. I'm not comfortable at this weight, and none of my clothes fit right anyway. I'm going to try to get back at least close to where I was." I pulled off him, feeling us, the wetness of us together, coming out of me. Teddy fixed his pants and scooted over to the driver's side of the car, and I could see, even in the darkness of the English winter night, that there was a huge wet spot on my seat. Great.

"Why didn't we do this in the back seat, hmm?" I questioned with a laugh as I leaned over the seat to grab our clothes from the back. I handed him his sweater and pulled mine over my head, not bothering with the bra, which I couldn't find anyway.

Teddy laughed as we pulled back onto the road. "What, you don't enjoy sitting in our 'love juice'?" he teased.

I groaned. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, if you don't mind," I announced, adjusting my skirt. "Besides, I can't really feel it anymore."

"Why not?" He glanced over at me, eyebrows raised.

"I'm sitting on your coat," I answered with a laugh of my own.

I was asleep within five minutes.