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Author: Sherylyn Story: Hearts Afire Rating: Mature Setting: Pre-DH Status: Completed Reviews: 4 Words: 48,067
This takes place near the end of St. Margaret’s Chapter 7: A Day Like No Other. ~*~ A shaft of morning sunlight danced across Harry’s face, and he sleepily dragged one hand across his eyes, shielding them from the brightness. A glimmer of a different sort caught his attention and he opened one eye to squint at it accusingly… until it suddenly registered that the gleam was from his wedding ring. He blinked at it for a moment, stretching his fingers slightly against its still unfamiliar weight. He felt a grin slowly spreading across his face as his brain seemed to realize several things all at once: that he was in what was possibly the most comfortable bed he’d ever experienced; that he was quite naked beneath the silky-soft sheets; and that an equally naked Ginny was sleeping soundly less than an arm’s length away from him. He turned slightly on the pillow, drinking in the sight of his Ginny… my wife, he suddenly thought. Ginny’s left hand rested on the pillow near her face, and he could see her wedding rings gleaming in the early morning light. He resisted, for the moment, the temptation to touch her — he didn’t want to wake her when she was obviously sleeping so well, and he found he also wanted just to savour the experience of waking up with her for the first time. He sighed contentedly, staring at her in wonder. Her beautiful hair spread out around her like a fiery cloud against the sheets, and he could see her bare shoulders and the slightest hint of cleavage between her breasts. The sight teased him, reminding him all too vividly of that moment the night before when he’d looked up to see her standing before him in that clingy bit of satin and lace that she’d worn… for a few moments, at least. His grin widened and he rolled onto his back, shutting his eyes to revel in the memory of that first glimpse of her. He’d been mesmerized by glimpses and touches to her breasts before, and he’d seen other parts of her in her swimming costume, but last night… He’d looked up from that post from the ship to a sight that literally took his breath away. * “Do you like it?” Ginny asked, and she twirled around as if to show off the gown. He was scarcely aware of moving, but in the moment it took for her to face him again, he was right in front of her. He’d been fighting back his desire for her for what seemed like hours. She’d been so beautiful at the wedding, he’d scarcely been able to keep his eyes off her. And now, here she was, and here they were, just the two of them at last. They’d waited for each other for so long, and there was no reason to wait any longer. “Like it,” he ground out. “Like you,” he added as he bent to kiss her, drinking in the sight and taste and feel of her. “Like your hair,” he muttered, lifting a hand to cup her breast and moving his thumb back and forth against its peak. “Like your body.” Her hands were moving beneath his shirt, stroking his bare back and shoulders, her lips moving across his chest. He slid his other hand over her shoulder, pushing at the narrow strap of silky fabric that was keeping him from seeing all of her. “Oh no,” Ginny said suddenly. “Me first.” His heart skipped a beat at her words — she wanted him as badly as he wanted her? He’d never heard anything more arousing than the greedy sound in her voice. He thought he smiled at her, but wasn’t sure if it actually looked quite right, with the way her words affected him. If she noticed anything about his reaction, though, she didn’t let on as she quickly stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside. She turned back to stroke her hands along his waist, and he sucked in a breath as she unbuttoned his trousers… He wriggled a bit to help, and she pushed away the last of his clothing. He was naked, and he could see the hunger in her gaze. Heat swept through him as her eyes travelled over his body, obviously liking what she was seeing. And then… she touched him. Her hands slid across his skin… ghosting across his stomach and then down to touch… oh god… He wasn’t sure if he could still breathe, as her soft fingers wrapped around his flesh and she stroked him almost tentatively… Her other hand glided over his body, as if she wanted to touch all of him at the same time as she rained kisses across his chest. He couldn’t get enough of her, and yet… he wanted to see her, touch her as well. “My turn,” he murmured, his voice huskier than usual. Ginny’s hands dropped to her sides and she tilted her head for his kisses as he lowered his mouth to her neck. He brought both hands to her shoulders now, pushing those straps aside easily. Some small part of his brain was registering the feel of her skin against his as the fabric slid downward, baring her breasts. He had to lift his mouth away from her throat to work the gown off her completely and, at last, to see all of her as the gown slid away. Harry swallowed thickly as he raked her with his gaze, trying to drink in the wonder of her body all at once. To see all of her breasts at once… her stomach… her hips… how all those curves and planes his hands had mapped over clothing all seemed to fit together so perfectly without those clothes. He’d never seen anything more beautiful. So many times he’d thought of this, so many times he’d wondered, and now… “So beautiful… my Ginny.” He wasn’t even sure if he spoke the words aloud as his hand moved, almost of its own volition, to where his eyes had been drawn repeatedly since she’d been bared to his gaze: down her stomach, his hand travelling over her silky-soft skin, around her hip and upper thigh before sliding toward the apex of her thighs to caress her as intimately as she’d caressed him moments before. He was in orbit… it was almost indescribable, the way it felt to touch her like this, and the intoxicating, completely female aroma of being close to her this way. The sensation of her warm flesh against his fingers… the proof that she was as eager for him as he was for her… Nothing he’d ever dreamed of, imagined, read could have prepared him for the intensity of these moments. He felt her tremble at the touch of his fingers, and the sensation only inflamed his own desires. She reached for him again, and he caught her hand purely by instinct before she could touch him. She looked up, obviously puzzled. “I can’t wait,” he choked out. Somehow, they made it onto the bed. This was real. This was actually happening. He was touching parts of Ginny he’d only thought about, kissing her as hungrily as he wanted, devouring her, and she was returning the favours with equal fervour. Her hands, her mouth on him, the feeling of her whole body against his… he felt as if he couldn’t possibly experience all these things at once, it was too much, it was too good, it was too perfect. “Ginny…” he murmured needily, clutching her to him. “Yes,” she responded, her arms tightening around him. His body was demanding that he satisfy his desire for her as soon as possible, but his heart demanded with equal ferocity that he satisfy Ginny as much as himself… They moved together, and then, Ginny was beneath him, her body welcoming him as instinct took over and their bodies connected as one. He thought he might have cried out at the contact, the sensation was so unbelievably intense. There were no words to describe this feeling of being with her, of being joined more intimately than mere bodies could contain. All too soon, pleasure exploded through him, so deep and powerful that he wondered how it was possible to live through it. He regained his senses somewhat while lying, panting, with Ginny, and yet another wave of love for her had washed over him, as powerful as the physical sensations of the moments before. “I love you,” he murmured, “so much.” * He chuckled silently as he remembered Ginny asking him if he wanted a drink of water, and how he’d turned the phrase back on her after he’d finally satisfied her. He was glad they’d had this morning lie-in. After all he’d been through on that training mission, and the way they’d exhausted each other last night, being able to sleep a bit later had been a welcome proposition. Not to mention that they might even have time for other pursuits as well. Hopefully, he opened his eyes and turned again to look at his wife… the word brought another smile to his lips, as did the sight of her. Thank Merlin I bought that book, he thought to himself, studying her and remembering how glad he’d been the night before that he’d had some clue as to how to give Ginny the same sort of pleasure she’d given him. And the second time they’d made love had been unbelievably brilliant for both of them. He raised his head slightly and squinted at his watch. Almost 9:00. He looked over at Ginny yet again. She’d rolled onto her back, and the covers had shifted when he’d raised his arm to look at his watch. Her breasts now peeked at him from beneath the edge of the sheet. He heard the low drone of a foghorn in the distance and couldn’t stop his grin from returning. He had a feeling that he might spend the next few weeks with a completely daft grin on his face. But considering the beautiful woman beside him who was responsible for that grin… he’d never had a better reason. He rolled toward Ginny and slowly pulled the covers down even further, drinking in the sight of her. God, she was beautiful. Last night had been fantastic, but now he was looking forward to taking a bit more time to explore this morning. Maybe, by now, she wouldn’t mind too much if he woke her up… accidentally, of course. He gently stroked her hair with one hand, brushing the strands away from where they were trailing across her chest. He leaned in slowly and kissed her collarbone, letting his lips and tongue linger along the hollow as it curved toward the centre of her chest. He moved his hand to her stomach and spread his fingers across the flat planes, sliding it back and forth over her ribs and along the curve of her waist. He raised his head from her shoulder to look at her again, and found sleepy brown eyes looking back at him. “G’morning,” Ginny murmured, lifting a hand to stroke his cheek. He turned his head to press a kiss against her palm. “’Morning,” he answered, shifting closer to her. She smiled and lifted her other hand to caress his chest and shoulder. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” she said, her voice still husky with sleep. “You were doing quite nicely before you stopped,” she added, smiling at him warmly. He grinned and leaned closer, and she met him halfway, her hand sliding into his hair to pull him to her as they kissed deeply. He was half-conscious of wondering if he should have brushed his teeth before he woke her, but the thought quickly disappeared as she kissed him without reservation. He skimmed his hand over her ribs again but didn’t stop this time — he cupped her breast, stroked his fingers over the silky skin, teased the hardening peak as she moaned into his mouth and slid both her hands down to grope at his bum and pull him closer still. Everything was so new, so amazing, as they explored and teased and tasted and kissed and touched. There was nothing to hurry them, and they revelled in each other and their own desires. This, thought Harry, much later in the morning, is absolutely the best way to start a day. Ginny sighed contently and kissed him tenderly, almost lazily. “I love you,” she whispered, her eyes shining with happiness. He smiled back, his emotions easily matching hers. “I love you,” he answered, kissing her again in reply, “Mrs. Potter.” ~*~ The End ~*~ Author’s Note: Well, this only took forever. Honestly, I think it’s taken almost as long for me to get this posted here as it took JKR to write the whole series :-P I wrote this *ten years ago* (which is absolutely mind-boggling to me) for St. Margaret’s birthday, and I’d intended to put a whole lot more with it, to have a complete chapter, and wrap up at least the first section of her fic with my “mirror” of it. And then I was going to get a teens-rated version done, and… yeah. Obviously, none of that happened, but while emailing with Melindaleo earlier, this came up, and… it’s posted. Finally. Thanks, all of you, for continuing to support PhoenixSong all these years. I love that we’re still here!! Author’s Note #2: Because I was a goof and forgot to include this originally. I owe sooo many thanks to both Rhetor and Sovran, because this literally would never have existed without their assistance at the time.
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