*Deserving Of Love*

A/N: New Chapter! Look for yet another new one shortly! Just have to add some dirty details...
As always - PLEASE REVIEW!!! I appreciate them... :)

Remus shifted uncomfortably, stirring from sleep as a sharp pain made its way up his back. He sucked in a shallow breath, letting it out harshly with a slight groan. His chest was tight, he could hardly breathe and he felt as if he were bound to the hard surface underneath him. A brief thought that the pressure in his chest and shortness of breath was a heart attack flittered into his mind and he managed a strangled laugh at the absurdity of it all.

‘Just my luck… I finally get shagged and it kills me. I figured Nymphadora would eventually break my heart, not make it stop beating.’

He inhaled once more as he struggled to open his eyes and a wave of jasmine tickled its way into his nose. He blinked his eyes open at the smell, struggling to see in the blinding morning light filtering through the windows, and turned his head down to see a purple mop of hair resting below his chin.

Tonks was sprawled on top of Remus, her head buried in his neck, one arm lodged between their bodies and the other pinning down his shoulders. The arm lodged between their bodies was pressing harshly into his chest bone; the side of her elbow digging into his skin sharply, causing the tight pressure on his chest. She was breathing deeply, obviously still asleep, and Remus chuckled as her breath tickled across the skin of his throat. He raised his head slightly and dropped it to the pillow again with a smirk on his face; she was completely naked, save for a small part of her upper back that was covered with the blanket from the night before.

He brought his arms up to her back and stroked his fingers up and down gently, hoping the sensation would cause her to shift a little in order for the pain to subside in his chest. She simply nuzzled his neck and turned her head as he skimmed her back lightly, her breathing returning to its deep slow rhythm soon after.

Remus desperately needed her to shift over, but did not want to wake her; the intimacy of waking up with a naked woman sprawled on top of his naked body almost worth the ache in his chest and back. He ran his hands up her back a little more vigorously, hoping to rouse her gently. When she remained firmly planted against his chest he reached down and pinched her right ass cheek, causing her to mumble and shift slightly. She pulled her arm from between their bodies and brought it to rest on his shoulder and Remus let out a deep sigh at the relief of pressure from his chest. She nuzzled his neck again and he chuckled deep in his throat, moving his hands back up her spine to pull her closer.

Suddenly Tonks woke up, her entire body jerking as his fingers tickled her spine, her knee ramming forcefully into his groin. Remus let out a painful groan as her knee made contact and rolled to the side, throwing a very confused and sleepy Tonks onto the floor next to him. She sat up and looked at him with a bleary-eyed expression as he closed his eyes in pain, his hands instinctively moving to his groin to protect himself, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

“Did I do that to you? Are you alright? Did I break it?”

Tonks sat up and pulled the blanket to her chest, trying not to smile as Remus sat up gingerly to lean against the sofa to glare at her. He looked down and suddenly realized he was naked and pulled on the end of the blanket Tonks was shielding herself with, causing her to shriek loudly with laughter as it was ripped away from her.

“Am I completely banned from it then? I can’t even look?” she chortled as she gestured at the blanket now sitting neatly across his lap. Remus smiled in spite of himself and reached for her, pulling her onto his legs, but keeping her a safe distance from his throbbing groin.

“I would not say that you are completely banned from it, but I believe that it needs to take five from any activity…”

Tonks laughed and leaned forward to kiss him gently before standing up and holding her hand out to him.

“Fair enough. I’m sorry though… I swear it was an accident. I would never intentionally harm an area of your body that brings me such joy. C’mon, seeing as I’ve maimed you, I’ll let you make me breakfast.”

Remus stood and pulled the red floral robe off of the arm of the sofa and slipped it on, shaking his head at a naked Tonks swaying her hips enticingly as she walked toward the bedroom. He smiled and walked to the kitchen, crossing to open the icebox to see his cooking options. He was just pulling out a carton of eggs, muffins, ham and a block of butter when two small hands made their way under his arms and across his lower belly. He smiled and set the food on the counter before turning and kissing Tonks, lifting her up as he did so. She giggled into his mouth as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, groaning as his hands slid underneath her bottom to support her. She had put on a Weird Sisters t-shirt that barely covered her satin panties and Remus slid his hand over the smooth fabric as he moved his hand to her lower back. Tonks pulled away from him and leaned back, tightening her legs around his waist to steady herself.

“Hey there mister… what are you making?”

“I think I’m going to make eggs... and coffee… and muffins...”

“Sounds bloody fantastic… I’m just glad I got up early yesterday and went shopping. The only thing I had when we showed up the other day was condiments. And after all of yesterday’s strenuous activity, I do not believe an assortment of jelly and olives would have sufficed this morning.”

Remus chuckled and kissed her and slapped her lightly on the ass before setting her back on her feet. She moved to sit on the counter next to the stove, reaching out for the carton of eggs Remus handed her before going in search of pans.

“Do you have a double boiler? I could make hollandaise sauce for the eggs…” Remus asked as he rummaged through a cupboard and pulled out a couple of pots and a frying pan.

“A what? What in Merlin’s ass is a double boiler?”

“I’ll take that as a no.” Remus snorted as he put some water into a pan and put it on the stove to boil. He began looking through the cupboards on either side of Tonks and pulled out a glass bowl to place it on top of the pan. He returned to the icebox and started rummaging through it, once in a while pulling out a container and opening it cautiously while muttering something under his breath about rot and decay. He pulled open the bottom drawer and quickly shut it again, closing his eyes and turning blinding in the direction of Tonks.

“When’s the last time you cleaned this contraption out? There is a thick layer of green covering everything residing in this drawer.”

Tonks rolled her eyes as Remus’ snapped open to glare at her and she quickly averted her gaze to her fingernails.

“Geez… you sound like my mother… what are you looking for anyway?”

She caught the look of amused disdain he threw her at the mother remark out of the corner of her eye and she dropped her head, studying her nails more closely.

“A lemon… is it hiding underneath the canopy of the forest in the drawer?”

“O very clever there sir… and no, it is not hiding in the drawer. In the door should be a bottle of lemon juice. My mother brought it with her the last time she visited… she was sick of my lemons always being rotten and having to go without lemon in her tea.”

Remus stood and grabbed the green bottle from the door, giving one last glance to the despicable icebox before returning to the stove.

“You are a hopeless slob…”

Tonks smiled sheepishly as Remus leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead before getting started on breakfast.

Tonks watched him silently as he added water to the frying pan and place it on the burner before reaching for the block of butter to set in the glass bowl on top of the pot of now boiling water. She watched in amazement as the butter started melting and he pulled a wooden spoon from a metal holder sitting in the middle of the stove to stir it.

“So what are we doing today?”

Tonks asked as she opened the carton of eggs and handed Remus one. He cracked it and it slid into the frying pan where a small amount of water was steady boiling. He added three more eggs to the pan and covered them tightly before leaning down to lower the burner. She handed him another egg and he separated the yolk into a bowl carefully and reached for another. Tonks watched him do this to four more eggs before dumping the yolks into the melted butter and whisking them carefully.

“Breakfast, then a shower…” he smiled at this and reached up to tuck a rogue strand of purple hair behind Tonks’ ear before continuing. “Then we should probably go to Sirius’. I have to get my things ready for St. Mungo’s tomorrow, and I think that Sirius is probably pretty lonely. I figured we could just stay there tonight.”

Tonks nodded her head in consent and leaned down to place a quick kiss on his cheek, smiling at the faint tint of blush that colored his face as he turned to continue cooking.

“Sounds good to me. I have the rest of the week off of work so I will probably just hang out with Sirius while you are at the hospital tomorrow. And if you don’t think you’ll get sick of me, I think that I will probably continuing staying there most days… Dumbledore asked me to stay in case the Order needed me.”

Tonks cleared her throat in anticipation; even though she had been staying at Grimmauld Place for the majority of two months, she was nervous now that Remus and she had begun a relationship. What if he didn’t want her hanging around all of the time? What if he needed more space now that they were involved than he did when they were simply friends? Would he feel that her near-constant presence was suffocating?

She nibbled on her lips as she waited for his response; the seconds since she last spoke seemed to go on for an eternity as he slowly added the lemon juice to the egg and butter mixture on the stove. He set the bottle down and looked up at her as he stirred the concoction slowly, smiling at the look of apprehension on her face.

“Nymphadora… I do not see why anything should really change with our relationship even though we are now… togeth- … intimate…” Remus blushed and looked back down at the stove before continuing. “I expected you to continue staying at Grimmauld Place. It is important for the Order. That and… well… you staying there will make it much easier for me to shag you.”

He looked up at this last statement to throw her a devilish smile and a wink, and Tonks reached out to run her fingers through his hair before trailing them down to his face; Remus grabbed her hand and pressed her fingers against his lips, kissing each finger softly before pressing a final kiss on the back of her hand.

“You better be careful, Mr. Lupin, or I may just fall in love with you…”

Remus chuckled and bit her playfully on the palm of the hand before letting it go and returning to concentrate on the sauce.

“You are just saying that so I will clean out your icebox…”