A/N: As promised, Make Like Strangers is happy to bring you the fifth and final chapter of Cut! And Action!. Sunday we will be posting the first of Part 2 in the series-It Can't Be All About Sex, Can It?, which will follow our favorite couple through the next part of their adventure. Join us for a surprise lunch, a bachelor party, a wedding, and a few surprises a long the way….
The support you've given us has been remarkable. We really appreciate any and all comments and reviews! Comments keep us motivated to bring you hot, erotic, and entertaining chapters as often as we do. Please take a minute to tell how you think we're doing...good or bad! We will continue to post a new chapter every other day for as long as it takes to tell our story.
Hope you enjoy this one!! And now…on with our story.
****************************************************************
Chapter 5
Harry awoke the next morning with a start. The first thing he was aware of was the sun shining directly into his eyes. He raised a hand to block the offending brightness, and as he did, he felt something warm and soft fall from his arm.
Gulping, he suddenly realized the previous night hadn't been a dream; he looked to his right and saw Hermione lying beside him. She was curled up next to him, a smile of contentment on her face. Her hand had slipped off his arm when he raised it. Swallowing back the panic he felt rising within him, Harry carefully slipped off the bed and shivered at the sight of his own naked body. He stood up and ran his hand anxiously through his raven hair as he watched her for a moment while she slept…fully aware of her state of undress beneath the sheet that covered her.
He looked around the small hotel room, remembering the night before when they had made love right in front of the door. Anywhere else would have been too far for them to go in their urgency. Their clothes were thrown everywhere and anywhere. He couldn't even remember how they'd gotten into the bed.
He couldn't believe the turn of events the night before. How could a simple rehearsal turn into the best night of shagging in his life? He couldn't even blame it on having too much to drink because he hadn't had even a drop of anything alcoholic. It's these bloody male hormones, he thought irritably. He looked at her again and added to his thoughts, and the feel of the most beautiful, loving, sexy little vixen…
Enough! This is Hermione...and last night changed everything. EVERYTHING!
Sod off! Harry shot back angrily to that damned little voice in his head. He refused to allow anything to change between them. He wasn't ready for it. She was his best friend; she was never supposed to be his lover.
She said she loves you.
But I never said it back, he thought morosely.
Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was 7:30; they were due at the movie shoot in an hour. Okay, first a shower and then I'll wake her up before I leave. We'll just meet again at the studio. He quickly gathered his clothes and quietly went into the bathroom.
As soon as the bathroom door clicked close, Hermione opened her eyes. She had been watching him from under her eyelashes the entire time. She'd watched him get up, walk around the room, pick up his clothes, and go into the bathroom. She smiled as she swung her legs off the bed and sat there, gathering the sheet around her. Mission accomplished, she thought with a grin. She'd wanted to know what it was like to kiss Harry…and now she knew. She knew that - and so much more.
She picked up her watch from the bedside table and gasped when she saw it was 7:30. "We have to be back at 8:30," she said, scrambling up from the bed. The sheet trailed behind her as she walked quickly to her suitcase lying on the credenza across the room. Grabbing a pair of clean knickers and matching bra, she went into the bathroom.
Without thinking, almost like it was the most natural thing in the world to her, she pulled back the shower curtain. He looks even better in the morning, she thought. She dropped the sheet and climbed into the shower with him. She ran her hands up Harry's back. "Good morning," she said softly as she kissed the base of his neck.
Since Harry's eyes were closed while he was standing under the water, her touch shocked him and he let out a yelp of surprise, launching the soap when he threw his hands up in the air. "Hermione…what…?" Not only had she startled him, but to say that he was unnerved by her being naked and wet in the shower with him would be the ultimate understatement.
She looked up at him with sleepy eyes. "What?"
He swallowed nervously, trying not to look anywhere but at her eyes. She wet her hair in the water that splashed from the top of Harry's head then grabbed the shampoo and raised her arms, to work it into her hair. Her breasts were pulled taut and protruded out toward his chest; he could feel his mouth watering. Bad, he thought. This is bad. "Can I get under the water, please?" she asked innocently. Unable to speak he nodded, but didn't move. "Harry?"
"What? Oh, yeah. Sorry." He stepped aside and let her slide past him in the small space, her pert nipples just barely brushing against his chest. She did that on purpose, he thought as his eyes closed in a moment of unsettling desire. He stood at the back of the tub just watching her lean backwards to rinse the shampoo out of her hair. Her head was back, her eyes were closed, and her arms were above her head, fingers lost in her wet, soapy hair. Harry couldn't keep his eyes from straying as he watched the shampoo slide down her chest, her stomach, and her legs in narrow rivulets before it was washed away. Her breasts were so perfect, her nipples rosy. He reached an uncontrollable, shaky hand forward to touch her…
"Harry, could you hand me the soap, please?" she asked with closed eyes, her voice still sleepy - or is it dreamy?
"Um, sure," he said shaking his head and recovering quickly. He had to reach around her to the floor of the bathtub to retrieve it from where it'd landed when he sent it flying. He nearly slipped when he tried to stand up and he leveled himself with his hand against the wall behind her. As he slowly pulled his arm back, she leaned her head toward it, letting her cheek drag along it. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "You're wet," she whispered.
Harry gulped. His already painful morning erection, that he hadn't had time to work out before she had interrupted him, was now throbbing. And there was only one way he could think of to alleviate it…only one way he wanted to alleviate it. No! We can't do that again! We can't! He didn't even know how it had happened, but suddenly Hermione was pressed up against him running her soapy hands up and down his back. "Good?" she asked him, smiling sweetly.
Once again every consciously thinking part of him betrayed him and he could only nod. Her lips were parted, her hair was slicked back, and her beautiful, curvaceous body was slicked with suds. You can't resist her. You've had a taste haven't you? Now you want more?
Didn't I tell you to sod off?
Yeah, but a right lot of good it did you last night!
Harry closed his eyes and swallowed hard, letting out a shuddering breath as he felt her hands slide uninhibitedly down over his bum, reaching between his thighs and gently cupping his balls to give them a little squeeze. A moan escaped him and he silently cursed himself for letting the sound escape. He didn't want her to know that even her slightest touch sent him nearly reeling off into oblivion.
"You like that?" she purred, running her hands up his chest to wrap around his neck, her breasts now fully pressed against him.
Harry looked down at her, hoping to Merlin he would see in her eyes that this was just a game and that she wasn't really trying to seduce him again. His hopes were squelched when she parted her legs and straddled one of his, resting her now throbbing, aching core against his thigh and slowly sliding up and down the length of it. He was aware of every sensation she caused in him…every little touch was magnified a thousand times over. Her pubic hair tickling his thigh caused the muscles in his leg to tighten uncontrollably. The feel of her hard nipples against his chest as she moved with such reckless abandon against his thigh hardened his own nipples. The feel of her hands in his hair made his knees feel weak. The smell of the soap permeated the air and its heady scent filled his nostrils, adding to the light-headed euphoria she'd already created. The soap on their bodies made them incredibly slick and incredibly turned on.
Hermione slowly kissed his throat, all the while running her hands through his hair, which was even more of a turn on to her now that it was wet. "Harry…"
His name on her lips and the burning need for him in her eyes was all it took. His arms went against every protest that was going through his head as they snaked their way around her waist and pulled her flush against him, pressing her sex tighter against his thigh. She hissed as the tiny nub of suddenly overly-sensitized nerves was pushed against the hard muscle of his leg. "Oh, Merlin…" she moaned, rubbing herself against him. "Kiss me." Harry couldn't tell if it was a demand or a proposition.
Regardless of her intent, he could no longer resist his burning need for her. He brought his mouth down to hers in a kiss that stole the breath from her body. Their bodies went rigid against each other as Harry pushed her up against the cold tile wall. Her mouth dragged along his neck until she came to the spot on his collarbone she had assaulted the night before. The minute her lips touched the bruised spot, Harry let out a yelp of surprise and unmitigated ecstasy.
Unable to hold back any longer, he reached down and wrapped his arms under her bum, lifting her effortlessly. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist and without another word or lingering doubt, he plunged deep inside her, slamming her relentlessly against the wall over and over. "Ah! Ahh!" she screamed against him as he pulled out and plunged inside her again. Her mouth stayed attached to that erogenous spot on his neck as he pumped in and out of her. Slow and sweet was no longer part of the agenda. Her back continuously pounded against the wall. The water fell over them, continuing to rinse the soap from their slick bodies, but doing nothing to cool the passion between them.
Less than five minutes later, they came together in an explosion of orgasm so intense Hermione actually bit down on his lip as they kissed. Somewhere in the back of Harry's brain, pain registered, but it was so overshadowed by the glorious pain of his release that he was sure he imagined it.
He carefully pulled out of her and set her down on unsteady feet. She stayed against him, not trusting her legs to hold her up. After a minute, Harry kissed the top of her head and pulled away from her. He rinsed off quickly then attempted to smile at her. "I'll let you finish," he said and without another word got out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and quickly left the bathroom, wanting to get far away from her as fast as he possibly could. The minute the shower curtain closed Hermione dropped breathlessly to the bottom of the tub.
By the time she came out of the bathroom, Harry had magically mended his torn shirt, with the exception of a missing button or two, and was completely dressed. He was standing quietly, staring unseeingly out the window, with his hands clasped behind his back. "We have to hurry," she commented as she pulled on her skirt. Harry knew better than to turn around. He thought it best to not know the state of dress - or undress - she happened to be in at the moment. He merely nodded. He listened as she rushed around the room behind him, pulling on her outfit from the day before, the micro mini skirt and shirt that, in Harry's current state of agitation, would not be in his best interest to see.
"Ready?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. He flinched.
"Yeah," he said and without preamble, turned and walked to the door, holding it open for her.
She watched him curiously, wondering what was going on in that wonderful brain of his. He was acting like he regretted all of it. Does he? She wondered. Because I certainly don't! She walked past him through the door and gently touched his cheek before stepping into the hallway. This time the scent of vanilla assaulted his senses and he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes for just a moment as she passed…something deep within him wanted to remember that scent. He followed her out the door and closed it quietly behind him.
He followed her to the elevator and stood in silence beside her, making sure not to stand too close, as she pushed the "down" button. As they stood there, an awkward silence fell between them. In all their years of friendship, their silences were usually comfortable and easy. This was something neither one of them had ever experienced. He does regret it, she thought miserably. But how can he when he said he might be in love with me?
The elevator door opened and he stood still and gestured for her step in first. Hermione stepped in cautiously, casting her eyes fervently about the walls and ceiling of the car. Harry couldn't resist his inward smile when he realized she was looking for the camera he'd mentioned the night before. Apparently satisfied she moved out of the way to stand against the side wall. As the door closed, he felt his body tensing as thoughts of the previous night invaded his mind. Don't think about it. It shouldn't have happened. It was just one night. That's all it was. It didn't mean anything.
Didn't mean anything? What was this morning then?
Bloody right it didn't…or did it?
I don't know. You tell me…
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The older gentleman Harry had seen the night before entered, carrying a briefcase and an overcoat over his arm. He smiled politely at Harry and Hermione as the doors closed. As the car began to move again, he bent down to retrieve something from the floor. Hermione was busy looking for something in her purse so the man turned to Harry and held out his hand. "Yours?" he asked looking closely at Harry's shirt.
Harry looked down at the button in the man's hand and felt his face flush. "Um, no," he said, giving the man a nervous smile. The man shrugged and set the button down, balancing it on the railing of the car. Harry's eyes never left the button and without realizing it he reached up and touched one of the few buttons he'd actually been able to find. The elevator made no more stops in its descent to the main floor lobby and when the door opened again the older gentleman gave Harry a cursory glance before he rushed from the car, obviously in a hurry.
Harry let Hermione step out first, and after affording the offensive button one more glance, he followed her out of the hotel and they walked side by side down the street to the hotel where the movie shoot was taking place. The director smiled as they approached and he quickly went over the scene with them again, obviously anxious to get started.
It took Harry a couple of takes to get back into the swing of things. He was feeling anxious about having to kiss Hermione and then walk out of the bar with her as though nothing had happened between them the previous night. Hermione was brilliant. She'd been waiting for so long for something to happen with Harry that she was ecstatic over the events of the previous night and that morning. When Harry finally realized he'd have to keep kissing her over and over if he didn't at least make an attempt to get it right, his focus returned and he nailed his part. This time when the director yelled "Cut!" the onlookers and film crew burst out in thunderous applause. Hermione blushed furiously while Harry, despite being no less than monumentally anxious, looked rather pleased with himself. That wasn't so bad now was it?
Not after you finally pulled your head out of your arse and decided to make the most of it…nope not so bad, then!
For the rest of the day filming went along at a leisurely pace. Although they were the stars of the movie, there was very little they needed to do that afternoon and once they finished, they were dismissed for the day. Harry quickly said goodbye to Hermione, told her that he'd see her in the morning, and then left the studio to head to his own hotel in the opposite direction of hers.
Hermione stood and watched him walk away. Give him time, she told herself. You know the truth, just hang in there a little while longer. He'll figure it out. After a minute she turned and walked in the direction of her own hotel.
When Hermione got back to her hotel she stepped into what she'd come to think of as `their' elevator and pressed the number 8 to go up to her room. Something glittering in the corner of the car caught her eye. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was a button from Harry's shirt. She picked it up and caressed it between her fingers, smiling fondly at the memories of the previous night with him. As the elevator door opened to her floor she smiled knowingly and put the button into her purse. Harry may be having second thoughts but she certainly wasn't. Every determined woman has a plan and one way or another she'd devise one…
-->