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Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6,Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14,Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26,Chapter 27
Chapter 28. Beaches
Rose lay on her side on the sun-lounger, stretching like a contented cat. A rather fat, contented cat. At forty-six weeks she was into her third trimester and her bump was finally expanding again as the baby began to grow and put on weight. She was still quite compact though and, according to the Doctor, she’d never looked more beautiful and he’d never loved her more. He was currently admiring her as she lay beneath a beach umbrella in the pretty red bikini he had brought her.
She winced as her stretching caused her back to twinge. Ever attentive, the Doctor shot to her side. Reaching into his capacious pockets for some massage oil, he began to soothe her lower back, rubbing in small firm circles, his nimble fingers chasing down and banishing pain. Rose all but purred, deciding Impressive Masseur should be added to his Time Lord titles.
‘Where can I get myself one of those?’
Rose looked up as Sarah-Jane emerged from the TARDIS carrying two fruit cocktails. She handed one to Rose, who giggled as Jack looked up from his prone position on a nearby towel, his eyebrows twitching suggestively.
‘I’ve got the oil, darling, you’ve just gotta ask!’
Sarah-Jane chortled as she lowered herself elegantly onto the lounger by Rose. ‘Jack, in your dreams!’
‘How did you know that?’ He asked.
Rose and Sarah-Jane laughed as Sarah-Jane tossed an ice-cube from her drink at him.
‘Ooo, ice. Kinky. I like it!’
Rose rolled her eyes, then whimpered in pleasure as the Doctor’s ministrations reached a particularly receptive spot. If the Doctor kept this up they were going to need to move to somewhere a bit more private.
The Doctor smiled, basking in his mate’s happy laughter. He’d taken Rose to see Sarah-Jane after Marcus’s death and it had proved to be just what Rose needed. Sarah had spent the last few weeks with Rose, building her confidence, getting her to talk about her ordeal and discussing her pregnancy. At Sarah-Jane’s suggestion Jack and the Doctor had left them alone for a few days and when they’d returned Rose had seemed much better. As far as the Doctor could tell there seemed to have been an inordinate amount of ice-cream and soppy chick-flicks involved in this therapy, but Rose had seemed reassured by it. He guessed it was the sort of thing she would have done with her mum. By way of gratitude Rose had suggested they drag Sarah off for a much deserved holiday, so here they were on the secluded beaches of Bermuda 4, the planet, not the island.
Rose shifted beneath his hands and yawned.
‘Come on, flower, time for a swim and then a nice snack. Bananas and milk. Fabulous source of potassium and calcium. Just what your body needs.’
Rose sighed, faking long-suffering exasperation. She got up willingly enough, though, and let the Doctor lead her into the warm seawater. Her laughter floated back to Jack and Sarah-Jane, gleeful and light-hearted.
Jack smiled. ‘She really is much better, isn’t she?’
Sarah-Jane’s eyes didn’t leave the frolicking couple. ‘She is. She’s still having nightmares, but they’re not as bad, and she’s feeling much more confident about the pregnancy. It’s hard for her, not having her mum here, but she’s coping.’
‘Thanks to you.’ Jack observed.
‘Oh no, I don’t think so. Most of it is down to you and the Doctor. She’s loved. She gets so much strength from that.’ She turned to contemplate the Captain, her eyes sad.
‘She doesn’t understand why you both love her, you know. She feels so undeserving of you. She was so terribly afraid that you’d reject her after what happened with Marcus. She thought it was her fault.’ Sarah-Jane looked back out to the ocean. Rose was floating on her back, the Doctor by her side.
‘I just let her talk, played the older female sounding board. Chided when I needed to, cried a little, made her eat cake! You know, she made me watch Pretty Woman five times.’
Jack barked with laughter. ‘She loves that film!’
‘Yes, she does. I think she needed it this time though; the promise of a fairytale ending, even for a woman who has fallen from grace. She feels sullied, Jack. That won’t just go away. I know she seems better, but don’t forget it. Don’t let the Doctor forget it either. She’s not as robust as she seems. Be careful with her.’
Jack looked at Sarah-Jane earnestly, ‘We will, I promise.’
She smiled. ‘I know. Now, where did I put my sunscreen?’
Jack waved it at her wickedly. ‘Only if you let me rub it in!’ He teased. Tutting at him indulgently, she surrendered.
‘Very well, Jack. Just remember, one stray hand too many and I’ll have K-9 reduce you to cinders.’
‘Can’t die,’ Jack pointed out smugly.
‘Who,’ retorted Sarah-Jane, ‘said anything about killing you?’
Jack rubbed the sunscreen in carefully. He suspected Sarah-Jane was not a woman it would be sensible to cross.
*************
‘Good day, love?’ The Doctor asked. He was massaging cream into her belly, easing the taut skin. It had become something of a night-time routine, one they both looked forward to.
Rose smiled at him, running her foot up and down his thigh. ‘Lovely.’
He swallowed, trying to ignore the sensations she was provoking.
‘We don’t have to take Sarah-Jane home tomorrow, if you don’t want to.’ He said, looking at her nervously.
He was worried the loss of her friend would see the return of the broken Rose that scared him so terribly. She was much better than she had been. Physically she was mended; her blood pressure was within normal parameters and her fractures and bruises had healed. He was far less confident about her emotional state, however. Her eyes still grew shadowed from time to time and she was still woken by her own screams at night more frequently than he would like. Sarah-Jane said it would take time. He sighed. He guessed it was the one thing he had plenty of. Still, he fervently wished he could hurry it along. Rose suffering was not something he was prepared to tolerate. He was snapped out of his reverie by Rose’s reply.
‘Yes we do, it’s time. She has a life, and it’s not here.’
Her foot lingered at the top of his thigh and he stilled as she chuckled, ‘I’ll be fine,’ her foot moved a little to the left, caressing his fly, ‘Promise.’
‘Rose!’
‘What?’ She asked, her eyes wide and innocent. Her foot, however, was wicked.
‘You are driving me wild! Minx!’ she giggled as his cream slicked hands reached for her. Rolling onto her hands and knees she slowly stalked him, backing him up against the headboard.
‘You, husband, are wearing far too many clothes!’ He divested himself of them with alacrity.
Giggling, she straddled him, revelling in the touch of his eager, slippery hands on her belly and breasts. Slowly, she lowered herself onto him, gasping in pleasure as his cool length filled her. Her nipples budded in pleasure as his lips teased and worried them and she shuddered, feeling his slick hands against her skin, clutching at her, worshipping her swollen body. As she moved she let the sensation of his tender fingers and his clever lips banish the last ghosts of Marcus. This was love. Evil had no place here.
Chapter 29
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