You Again

The second Phantom – a man by the name of Nelson Reid – did well, but when Seth had gotten restless and moved over to the piano that had been brought on stage only for rehearsals, he'd sat down on it, went through his scales, and then let out a chilling yet mystifying rendition of "Music of the Night". She had to admit, his voice was hypnotic, his presence all too commanding, and his body language suggested a rougher albeit sexier side to the Phantom. He gave the audience an understanding as to why Christine would perhaps be lured and more easily swayed by her mentor.

He flashed smiles and winks her way, leaving her smiling widely and also causing her to feel a bit foolish. Tasha tried to shrug off the feeling, but during his enactment of the "Point of No Return", his dark eyes didn't follow that of his co-star the whole time, but looked to her, as if looking into the very depths of her soul and butterflies arose immediately.

His confidence on the stage, his understanding and depth that he brought to it truly was a sight to see. From basement to upstairs to Broadway, he'd accomplished more than she would've thought him to be able to. He was right, Seth Allen and Seth Archer were the same...but Seth Archer was the man displayed to the public while Seth Allen was who he was in private. She could understand that – Natasha Ravens was her penname and how she portrayed herself to the world. No one, save for close friends, would've guessed that the shy girl was the one behind those best sellers.

When rehearsal was finally finished, it was time for them to go to Christian's flat and she more than happily looped her arm with his.

"So, how'd I do?"

"Very well. Though that should be of no surprise to you," she said, looking up to him.

He smiled lightly. "The show tomorrow night, I've arranged for you to sit in the front row with my family."

"You really didn't have to."

"I wanted to," he said, meeting her gaze. "What other reason do I need?"

She tried hard to hide her smile but failed. "Nothing, I guess."

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"It was not that bad," Jonathan countered, looking to Seth and his brothers.

Seth chuckled. "Please. My self-pity party in Glasgow was bad but you...at least I bothered to bathe."

Jonathan blushed then looked to his wife. "This is all lies."

"I'm sure," Holly replied then looked back to Seth. "Go on."

"I'm telling you, when he found out that you'd gone off to college and gotten a new beau it shattered him. Not even the mention of Princess Leia in the bikini costume could snap him out of it."

"All right. You've made your point, Seth. But may I remind you that I am not the only one at this table who's been destroyed at least once at losing the love of their life."

Seth leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Subtle, Jonny. Real subtle."

"Destroyed is a bit of a harsh word, don't you think?" chimed in Natasha.

"No, it's accurate," Holly replied before Seth or Jonathan could. "Seth was utterly destroyed at your refusal..."

"Holly..."

"I'll tell you more about it after dinner..."

"Why wait? You have a free room in here and I'm finished with my meal," Tasha said then gave a look to Seth.

"I told you what happened."

"I know," she said standing up. "But to get it from a girl's point of view is always nice. Shall we, Holly?"

Holly nodded then led her into one of the open rooms in the large flat. "Did I ever say it was good to see you again?"

"No you didn't, but I'll accept it now." The two laughed. "So what's with this destroyed business?"

Holly gave a soft sigh. "I know I shouldn't interfere, but you had to know that it'd kill him. I mean, he's been in love with you since the seventh grade. If that isn't commitment I don't know what is. He's got something so pure for you that it's only spoken about in fairy tales."

"Our friendship hasn't been one to go in the fairy tale category," Natasha said then sighed, her arms crossing over her stomach. "How bad was he when you found him?"

"Let's put it this way, I went to Glasgow to convince him to come to my and Jon's wedding."

Her eyes widened a bit. "Wow..."

Holly nodded. "Yea. Once he'd sobered up and snapped out of it, he showed his face. It was either that or I told him I'd be sedating him and taking him back to the U.S. for it." She let out a small chuckle. "It's funny how fate works with you two."

"What do you mean?" she asked with a slight cant of her head.

"Well, you guys are always brought back together at crucial moments in your lives. When he moved to Washington and thought he'd never find a friend, you showed up. After that whole debacle with the Internet, you took him back as a friend, which is something many wouldn't have done. When you guys realized how much you truly missed each other while you were away and then came back, you finally got together. And now, when both of you are at the height of your careers you meet again. Those things don't happen just for the hell of it."

Tasha was silent for a moment, contemplating all that Holly had told her before nodding. "I suppose you're right."

"Do you still love him?" Holly asked.

"If it's possible I think I might love him more. I mean, he's changed so much..."

"You have a lot to do with that, you know." Holly began to walk towards the door.

Tasha followed. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"

Holly glanced over her shoulder to Natasha. "I told him that you'd hardly want to see him stinking drunk and not going for his dreams. How else do you think I would've been able to get him to turn around?"

And with that Holly left the room, leaving Natasha standing there slightly stunned.

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Something was up. Seth could feel it radiating from Natasha as they were driven home from Christian's flat to the time they stepped into his own apartment. He wasn't sure what Holly had exactly told Natasha, despite having tried to get Holly to tell him and only failed at that mission. As he laid his leather jacket over the armrest of a chair, he watched her.

"Ok, what'd she tell you?"

"Hmmm?" Natasha said, snapping out of the daze she'd slipped into.

"Holly. That little chat you two had about my pity-party. What'd she tell you?" He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. "Because whatever it was has managed to make you be silent, a feat rarely accomplished."

She narrowed her eyes at that comment then sighed. "Is it true that the only reason you snapped out of your 'pity-party' is because you knew I wouldn't have wanted you to be like that?"

He sighed. "Well, those weren't her exact words, but that was a big part of it, yes." He received only a nod. "Tasha, I remembered that we'd always said that no matter what we wanted each other's happiness. After Holly mentioned that and I let the memories come back, well, I could hardly stay the way I'd been. You wouldn't have wanted me to waste my life away in a hotel room drinking and not using my talents, just like I never want you to not use your's. I did what I had to and things worked out." Seth gave a crooked smile. "Besides, wasn't it you who always said you found that things always worked out in the end?"

"Yes, I did say that."

"Then why are you so surprised?"

"I guess I just never realized how much I truly influenced you, Seth. How much I affected you."

"Tasha, you could turn my whole day around by me just spending five minutes with you. No one has had that control over me since you..."

She met his gaze. "And what about now? Do I still have that control?"

"Funny isn't it? The submissive one having all the power over the dominant one." As he spoke he took tentative steps towards her. "Yes, you still have that control. But then again..." He stood mere inches from her, dark eyes gazing down at her. "I'm not completely powerless either..."

Natasha felt her heart jump into her throat at the same time her pulse began to speed up. "Is that so?" she managed to get out.

"Yes." His tone was confident, but he spoke as if others were in the room and his answer was for her ears alone.

He leaned down a little bit and Natasha felt the fire licking through her veins. What was he waiting for? He lingered over her, his eyes staring intensely into hers, lips so close to her own that she could feel his breath on them. Kiss me, she thought. Seth took a step back and she swayed a bit. That was his power, she realized. He'd made her want him in a way she hadn't truly felt before. Seth had always come to her. It was now her turn to come to him.

"I'm going to go shower," he said nonchalantly, as if such an intense moment hadn't occurred between them.

She made sure to take hold of her senses before speaking. "Ok."

"Don't wait up," he said as he moved to walk past her, a purposefully moving to graze over her arm gently, and he felt the Goosebumps that appeared on her skin. He then walked out of the room.

Once he'd left Natasha sat down on the chair where he'd laid his coat, his scent hitting her and she closed her eyes before letting out a shaky breath. Oh yes, the man had gotten to her, he'd gotten to her without being extravagant or outrageous. He'd been himself. And in all honesty, that's all Natasha had ever wanted from Seth.

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After his shower, which had been a cold one, Seth hadn't been able to go to sleep. He'd told himself that playing such games with Natasha wasn't a good thing for either of them. Games had never been his style, anyway. But he had needed to know if he'd swayed her in anyway and by the dreamy look that had appeared in her magnificent blue eyes when he'd been only inches away from those tempting lips of hers, he'd gotten his answer. He turned on his side then back onto his stomach, letting out a defeated sigh before looking to the clock, which read 11 p.m. His pillow muffled a groan before he moved onto his back, a hand coming to rest under his head as the other rested on his bare abdomen. Eyes closed as he tried to relax, but unbidden images filled his mind.

Finally deciding that maybe he needed another shower or maybe just something really cold to drink, Seth moved from his bed and over to the door. When he opened it, he was slightly surprised to find Natasha on the other side. Her legs were bare and she wore the white, button up shirt he'd given her the first night she'd spent there. He felt his heart begin to race and he swallowed hard and before he could say anything, his lips were covered by hers.

He didn't hesitate, pulling her closer, a hand tangling in her luscious brown locks while the other skillfully unbuttoned the shirt. Her arms snaked around his neck a moment before creeping down his sides and one of her hands moved to rub over the bulge in his sleep pants. Soon her shirt was off, cast somewhere over his shoulder onto the floor, and he had her on the bed.

His hands moved feverishly over her smooth skin, each caress earning a moan or small sound from her. Lips clashed together in a heated passion as their hips met each other, grinding hard. A gasp escaped him as the familiar and pleasurable sensation of her nails scratching his back occurred. He pressed harder against her, feeling the wetness on her panties spread more.

He bent to her ear, a chuckle leaving him. "You're wet already...you must want it bad..."

She wasn't given a chance to answer, his lips meeting hers once more, tongue battling with hers with a vivacity that he hadn't felt in years. The palms of his hands moved along her sides, her back arching slightly, and soon her hands were pinned above her, trapped within one of his. Lust filled eyes met, ragged breaths echoed in the room. He pulled back when she lifted her head to try and kiss him, a devilish smirk forming on his lips.

"All good things come in time, babe...and I plan to have fun with you before the night is through..."

Teeth nipped at her neck in a vampire like fashion, tongue lavishing the spot afterward while his free hand snaked down the front of her body. He could feel her heartbeat increase when the hand moved to massage her breast for a few moments before continuing it's journey downwards, slipping beneath the hem of her panties, and his fingers began to play with her body.

"Mmmm..."she moaned, her chest rising and falling a bit faster.

His fingers pressed harder against her sex before slipping inside and her hips began to move in sync with them. A hard nipple was taken into his mouth and he teased them with tongue and teeth, suckling upon them and pulling them in the way he knew she liked. The pace of his fingers increased.

"S-Seth, if you keep that up...I'm going to..." She gasped out.

The hand that held hers captive let go and her panties joined the shirt she had been wearing on the floor of his room. He broke from her only to remove his own clothing barriers before coming back to his position hovering above her. He licked the fingers that he'd had inside her, tasting her.

"You taste good. Just like I remember..." He said. "Fucking you is going to be good. Would you like that?"

She nodded. "Y-yes."

"How bad do you want it?" He asked, the tip of him coming to graze against her. "Hmmm? Tell me you want it."

"I want it...I want you..." Their gazes locked, her hands coming to rest on his strong back, pressing herself upwards against him a bit. "I want you. Please..."She pulled his head down, their lips connecting passionately.

He thrust his manhood into her deep, spreading her wide, a pleasurable groan escaping him as he did so, and for a moment he didn't move, just enjoying the warmth and slickness of her body.

"Ahhh..." She shuddered beneath him, her fingers pressing into his flesh and her legs entwining with his more, feet flexing against his legs.

He began to move, the muscles in his back and arms flexing as he thrust inside her, their hips moving together in a fluid motion. He couldn't help but let out sounds of pleasure and soon his head became buried in the crook of her neck and began to thrust a little faster.

"You feel so good," he panted.

She looked to him, panting in his ear, and watched beads of sweat roll down his cheek before she'd nip at his ear lobe then suck upon it. One hand pressed against his neck, the other the small of his back, trying to push him deeper within her. She hadn't imagined this, hadn't imagined it to feel so good or as right as it did. It was addicting and this was something she never wished to be cured of.

Natasha breathed hard as he kept moving inside of her small body, her lips seeking out whatever flesh they could just as his did, causing sensation after sensation to roll through them. She began to feel herself tightening and closed her eyes, her back arching more, pressing herself against his hips harder.

"Oh...Oh..." Her hands pressed into his back once more, nails digging in. "Oh...Seth..."A shudder ran through her. "I'm cumming...cumming..."As she spoke those words he moved faster, hitting the right spot, and stars began to dance behind her eyes.

Seth moved so that he could look down to her. "C'mon, baby, cum for me..." He said then began to grunt as he pushed himself deeper.

"Oh!" she cried out as she orgasmed around him, her body locking up around him for that brief, wonderful moment before she collapsed backwards, her form softening and starting to milk him. Though Seth couldn't cum, he did, however, feel the same sort of sensation and shuddered as it ran through him before pressing his lips to hers. Her small hands moving down to hold onto his rear to keep him against her as she breathed hard once the kiss had broken.

"Seth..."

"Tasha...I...."

She leaned upwards, cutting him off with another kiss. "I know." She smiled softly. "I love you too."

His usual lopsided, albeit now a bit lazy, smile formed on his lips. "So now what?"

A mischievous look flashed in her eyes and she moved so that she was on top of him, her fingertips trailing down his chest and following the defined lines of his abdomen. "Round two..." She leaned down a bit. "You up for it?"

His hands moved upwards to cup her breasts. "Oh yeah."

---

Come the next morning Seth awoke with a smile on his face, a smile which only grew when he looked down to see Natasha's sleeping form resting right beside him. He let out a content sigh before shifting just a bit, trying to do so without disturbing her, and then closing his eyes once more, just relaxing. A few moments later he felt her move and looked down to her, gazing down into those sapphire like eyes.

"Morning, love," he said, doing nothing to hide the smile.

She smiled too. "Morning."

"How do you feel?"

"Happy." Her smile grew a bit. "And you?"

"Oh I couldn't be happier," he said, a hand coming to rest on her cheek gently and she leaned into the caress a bit. "So, together again, hmmm?"

She watched him for a moment then gave a nod. "Yeah, I think I can handle that."

He grinned. "I certainly hope so."