Chapter Twenty Seven Outtake Harry asked himself how many times he'd had this dream. It had occurred several times a week ever since that day in Madam Malkin's shop when he'd first seen Ginny in this dress. In his dream he could freely go to her, freely kiss her, freely feel the softness of her skin, freely undress her, freely love her. He'd lost count of the number of times it had happened in his mind. Now, after a year of waiting for each other, the dream was about to become reality, and there was nothing that could come between them this time. She was his wife now; she belonged to him as he belonged to her. He took a deep breath and drank in her appearance as she stood in front of the fire, sipping at her champagne while she waited for him to join her, the orange flames bathing her skin, burnishing it, causing it to glow. She was looking back at him now, her eyes searching his without a hint of hesitation, telling him that she wanted this just as much as he. She set her glass down and he gathered her hands into his, before placing them at his waist and pulling her closer into his arms. He held her for a long moment, breathing in the scent of her hair. He wanted to take his time and savour their first night together as much as he could. He felt her snuggle in against him, her chest rising and falling against his as she breathed in deeply, almost in a gasp, while her arms tightened around his waist and she pressed herself closer. His entire body was coming awake, aware of her slightest movement against him. A tingle of desire ran from his neck into the pit of his stomach as she began to nuzzle at the angle where his neck met his shoulder. As one, they separated just barely enough to look into each others' eyes. Hers were darkened, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted. Already. It reminded him of the very first time he'd dared kiss her in her parents' living room. He hadn't known what that look meant at the time; he'd only known he'd thought it beautiful. He still did. Another hot stab of need passed through him, making him want to tremble with it, and he wondered how he was going to manage to remain in control. Sirius had told him that control was key if he wanted to learn how to please her. That and focusing on her. At the moment that seemed like a Herculean task. Harry gave in to the need to kiss her, leaning down to her while she craned her neck to meet him halfway. Soft, pliant lips opened under his, her tongue rose to meet his, and the two danced for a while, as his hands rose to touch the bare skin of her back. She'd put her hair up in a knot, and his fingers itched to release it from its bonds. Not yet, though. The exposed flesh of her neck was enticing him to explore further, and he'd soon given in to the temptation, his lips tracing a path below her ear while Ginny tilted her head back for him and held on for support. Her eyes had drifted shut, but her expression hadn't changed. He recognised the symptoms of desire which were graven there. As he continued to nip along her neck and jaw line, he felt her grip on him loosen, and her hands begin to move in random circles over his back. She trembled and had to clutch at him once more when he ran his tongue over the rapidly beating pulse on the side of her neck. A surge like triumph passed through him and he did it again. This time a low moan escaped her throat. He recognised it. He'd heard her cry out like that before, and he wondered what else he could do to provoke a similar reaction. Suddenly Harry was no longer the only one interested in eliciting a response. Ginny had slipped her hands in between their bodies and was working them up to his collar. He felt her fingers begin to tug at his shirt buttons, and he loosened his hold on her to allow her to have her way. Their gazes locked as they moved apart slightly. He could see Ginny's breath coming in shallow spurts, and her eyes had gone larger and darker than he'd ever seen them before. He thought they must be blacker than his hair by now. She ran her hands under the fabric, back up his chest to his shoulder, pushing the cotton back. He shrugged the garment off onto the floor, keeping his eyes on her. She was no longer looking at his face. She was watching her own hands as she began to caress his heated skin, pausing for a moment as they passed over the talisman, which he still wore. He watched, fascinated, as she leaned forward and rubbed a cheek against his chest. Then he felt her lips and tongue touch his flesh, sending a jolt through him. His eyes fell closed and he shuddered with pleasure. His fingers threaded into her hair, pressing her face against him, and encouraging her to continue her explorations. He wondered if he was going to survive the intense feelings she was provoking in him. They hadn't really done anything so far that they hadn't done together in the past, but this was affecting him on a much deeper level than it ever had before. And they'd only just started. He groaned aloud, not knowing how much more he could take. It was sweet beyond anything else, but it was like torture at the same time. The heat that was pooling deep within was threatening to rage out of control very quickly. And he'd wanted to maintain control, he reminded himself. He didn't think it was going to happen. He groaned again, and this time Ginny pulled away. Harry opened his eyes and saw she looked very pleased with herself. She'd wanted to see how far she could push him, he realised. Well, that could work both ways. It was time for him to do something he'd dreamed of doing ever since the first time he'd seen her in this dress. He pulled her into a searing kiss, and slowly moved his hands up her back to her neck, where his fingers found the fastenings that held the top of her dress up. As much trouble as he'd had the last time he tried to do this, the tiny buttons yielded easily to his fingers this time. As his hands helped the top of her bodice fall away, he took a step back so he could look at her. He hadn't had a chance to see her like this before, and now that he had, he felt his mouth go dry. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked in the soft, flickering glow of the flames, but he couldn't seem to get the words out. Most of all, his mind was invaded with the memory of the night before she'd left for school last autumn. It had been too dark to see on that occasion, but he had touched and he had tasted. He intended to do so again. He pulled her to him, beginning with her lips. Their tongues tangled once more as Ginny pressed her bare skin against his. Soft curves pushed up against his chest, and he tightened his grip on her hips to hold her in place while he continued to pour all of his emotions into his kiss. Her dress had slipped down to her hips, and she was thinner now than she had been when she'd tried it on last summer. With a slight movement of his hands, it fell to the floor entirely, and she stepped out of the puddle of shimmering fabric, standing now before him clad in nothing but a scrap of white lace. Harry had to swallow hard. He stepped to her again, and his hands took on a mind of their own, creeping upward until his thumbs lay in the creases just below her breasts. Ginny pulled away for the briefest of moments, her movement granting him permission to move his hands a few inches higher until they were completely covering her breasts. He tested their weight in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples, and she arched her back, pushing against him and begging for more. It was impossible to refuse. As he continued to caress and tease her with his fingers, his lips left hers to kiss a path downward from her neck to her shoulders, continuing lower until he was nearly at his goal. If he'd had it in his head to change his mind at that point, he wouldn't have been able to, for Ginny's fingers had tangled themselves in his hair as she offered herself to his mouth. He had no choice but to comply with her wishes. Ginny cried out and her knees buckled when he took the hardened tip of her breast between his lips and began to nip at it. He raised his head, grinning in his turn. She was clinging to him for support now, and he knew they were going to have to move things over to the bed soon, or end up in a heap on the floor. He held out a hand to her. "Come on." She took his hand and let him lead her over to the bed, where he turned back the covers and was about to lie down. She stopped him, putting her hands on his chest. Looking steadily into his eyes, she slowly moved her hands downwards over him. He had to suck in his breath as she continued downwards and he felt her fingers working at his belt. She had to break eye contact then, so she could see what she was doing. When he'd stepped out of his trousers, he lay down on the bed, expecting her to join him. She didn't move right away, and he looked at her questioningly. "Just stay like that. Don't move," she said, and her voice sounded much lower than usual. The wide mattress sagged as she sat down beside him, and he had to move over to make room, but then he was still. She reached up and removed his glasses, and then brought her hands back up to caress his face and run her fingers through his hair. All the while she stared down into his eyes until Harry felt as if he was about to drown in a pool of chocolate. As he watched her, he saw nothing but her love for him graven in her expression and actions. She leaned down and began to kiss his face softly, reminding him of his eighteenth birthday, but as she reached his lips, he put one hand up to her nape so that he could capture her lips fully and deeply. When they broke apart, she had stretched out beside him, leaning half over him on one elbow while she caressed the side of his neck with her free hand. Harry began in again on her neck as he used the hand which was now entwined in her hair to remove the pins that held it in place. The already-loose knot soon came cascading down, forming a sort of curtain about the two of them. Harry spread her hair about her shoulders, and then, pulling her fully on top of him, drew her back into another long kiss. As they kissed, he ran his fingers through her hair and down her back, enjoying the soft textures, and continuing down until he encountered a narrow strip of soft lace. Moving his hand further down, he realised that there wasn't anything else covering her derriere. He ran his hands over the soft, rounded flesh, squeezing gently and enjoying her response when she pushed her hips against him. Ginny soon slipped from his grasp in any case, as she moved her attentions to his neck and chest until he was fairly shivering with need. Her lips and breath were warm on his flesh, and her hair trailed over him, soft and sensual. Her hands moved lower on his body, while she rained kisses across his chest, and didn't know how much more of her attention he could stand. She was going to kill him, but he didn't want her to stop either… He didn't think he'd last if she actually touched him, but once she'd got his boxers off, he grit his teeth and let her explore. He tried to think of something -- anything -- to keep his mind off of what she was doing to him, but all he could think of was Ginny. She was sweet. She was bold. She was brave. She was his… He finally had to put a hand over hers and stop her. Drawing her face even with his, he pulled her into a long kiss, at the same time rolling them both over so he could express his love for her in his turn. He kissed her for a long time as his hands wandered over her breasts and abdomen, caressing her taut stomach before moving lower. He paused for a moment to remove the last barrier between them so he could stare at her naked form. He bent his head to kiss her neck moving lower and causing her to arch and cry out when he met with her breasts again. At the same time his hands ran over her hips and thighs as he worked up the nerve to touch her as intimately as he wanted, and as she had done to him. He knew that she had to be completely ready to accept him when they finally joined. Raising his head so that he could see her expression, he reached down and touched the inside of her knee, continuing up her inner thigh, and then taking a deep breath, he covered her with his hand. She quivered and whimpered, her eyes open and begging him for something. He thought he knew what she needed, but he didn't know how to give it to her. Tentatively he flexed his fingers over her. She responded by pushing her hips up against him, and he knew then that she wanted him to touch her even more intimately. The thought made him tremble once more. With gentle fingers he began to explore, still watching for her reaction, until he found a spot which made her moan and writhe under him. He continued to learn her contours, wondering if there was any other place that would provoke the same sort of reaction, but nothing seemed to. He listened to the tone of her ragged breathing, but nothing caused her to make those unmistakable sounds of pleasure, until he'd found the first spot once again. He concentrated his efforts there then, bending down to kiss a path to her breasts once more. After a while he could feel her body tensing up around him, as if it was gathering itself. There were small tremors running through her thighs. Then suddenly she was convulsing around his fingers, arching off the bed and crying out something. It might have been his name, but he was beyond hearing at the moment. He waited for the storm to pass, and then leaned up to kiss her again. She was flushed, and her eyes looked a bit bright. The passion with which she returned his kiss was surprising. He had thought her spent now, but she evidently wasn't just yet. Her hands were reaching down his body, pressing his hips into hers as she tangled her legs with his. He was beginning to be lost in a haze of pleasure already, and he gasped when he felt one of her hands reach between them to guide him into her. His entire body gave a violent shudder as he drove into her for the first time, but he forced himself to freeze, afraid he might have hurt her. Shaking the clouds from before his eyes, he looked down on her, saw that she was biting her lip, her eyes brighter than before, and knew a moment of panic. He tried to pull back, but she tightened her legs around him. "Don't stop, Harry," she whispered, "I'll be all right." "Promise?" "Promise." He moved tentatively, once, his eyes never leaving her face and ready to stop at the first sign he was hurting her, but she pulled his head down into her neck. He tried again, he thought she might even be all right with this; she seemed to want to bring him closer to her, to feel his entire body against her. The pleasure was taking over in any case and he had to close his eyes and give himself over to it. There was no other choice now. He felt his own body gather itself and there was nothing he could do to hold off the release which overtook him. He collapsed on top of her then and felt her arms tighten around him as she buried her head against his neck. He'd never known such a moment of completeness. They now truly belonged to one another. After a while, Harry began to come back to his senses and he realised he might well be crushing Ginny under his weight. He moved to roll off her, but she tightened her embrace once again, nuzzling against his neck. He felt her chest rise against his as she took a deep breath, and then he felt her lips at his shoulder as she placed small kisses there. He pushed up on his elbows so he could look down on her face once more. He reached up and brushed back a few strands of hair that had fallen across her face. Her eyes were still very bright. "Are you sure you're all right?" he asked quietly. Ginny reached up and brushed at her eyes. "Yes, I'm fine." "You've got tears in your eyes." "I'm happy. Aren't you happy?" She didn't give him a chance to reply; she simply reached up and kissed him again. He let her kiss him long and tenderly, but he also noticed the way she shifted beneath him. He knew she was beginning to find his weight cumbersome by now. He rolled to the other side of the bed, bringing her with him, settling them both in once she'd reached over to tuck the blankets around them. They lay there for a while holding each other, exchanging kisses and gentle touches, until Harry began to feel sleep taking over. After one final kiss good night, he let himself drift off with Ginny tucked safely in his arms.