Bass has just been brought back from the dead after a fake lethal injection from Rachel and Gene. He's laying in his bed recovering at the house in Willoughby.

Bass woke up with a start, immediately noticing a silhouette of someone in the room with him. The person moved closer, into the dim morning light streaming through the window behind the bed.

"Charlie?" he croaked. "What are you doing here?"

She stepped forward, looking down at him with an expression he couldn't quite read. Disgust? Curiosity?

"I had to see for myself," she said. "You're alive."

"I'm still here," he confirmed. A determined look came over his face as he continued, "Charlie, while I was lying on that table, knowing I was about to die, the only thing I could think about – other than Miles and how I wished things between us weren't so fucked up – was you."

She visibly startled, standing up straighter and widening her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Bass went on, "I swore to God if he was listening, if he gave me another chance, that I would tell you… I'm in love with you, Charlotte. I've been in love with you for a long time."

Charlie gasped and sat down hard on the edge of the bed, not touching him. Putting her head down in her hands, she whispered, "Son of a bitch."

"What?" Bass said, not sure he'd heard her.

She drew her head up, looking off into the distance with a disbelieving look on her face, "The first man to tell me he loves me. And it's Sebastian Monroe."

Hurt clouded his features. "Sorry if I'm not up to your standards," he said sarcastically.

Charlie laughed slightly. "Yeah, well, the hell of it is, I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you, too."

Bass' heart soared, but he noticed that she still wouldn't look at him. "Charlie," he said softly, reaching his hand up to touch her back lightly.

When he did, she burst into tears. Struggling to sit up, Bass moved to get closer to her but collapsed back on his pillow, still weak from the drugs in his system.

"Come here," he urged her, pulling her down toward him. Hesitantly, Charlie moved until she was lying beside him, wrapped in his arms, her cheek resting on his bare chest.

Through her sobs, Charlie confessed, "I've just… I've hated and feared you for so long. I don't know how to do this."

"I'm not the monster under the bed," Bass told her.

"Anymore," she said spitefully.

"Anymore," he agreed.

For a few minutes, Bass just held Charlie as she cried against him, her hands fisted in the blankets over his torso. He stroked her hair with one hand, elated at finally holding her, at having told Charlie how he felt. Bass felt as if a weight had been lifted from him—the weight of the crushing regret that he'd felt as he'd walked to his death, that he might never have a chance to tell her.

When he heard Charlie beginning to calm down, he pulled away from her slightly and raised her chin up to look him in the eyes.

"Hey," he said. "It's me. It's Bass. It's okay."

For a second, it looked like she was about to lose it again, then she visibly fought back her emotions and nodded. Gazing into his face, she relaxed and smiled slightly. She raised her hand up to his face and ran it along his jawline. Then, she moved in as if to kiss him, then quickly stopped.

"Can I…?" she asked.

Bass chuckled. "I already told you, I'm not going to bite you."

Charlie rolled her eyes, "No, but you are still recovering from having just been executed, so I don't want to give you a heart attack. Ass."

"I'll be fine," Bass assured her breathlessly, thinking if she didn't move again to kiss him right that second, he would somehow have to find the strength to jump her.

Moving toward him again, Charlie pressed her lips to his softly, unsure. As soon as she did, the chemistry between them exploded, and she pressed into him more urgently, and he opened his mouth to her. They kissed hotly, Charlie moving her hand up to run her fingers through Bass' hair.

Bass felt himself becoming aroused and instinctively angled his body to press into Charlie. He could clearly feel the rough fabric of her jeans through the thin boxers he was wearing and groaned at the friction on his engorged cock.

In response, Charlie kissed him even more deeply and pushed herself against him, dragging her breasts along his chest. Bass ran a hand up her back and realized that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath her thin tank top. Pulling his hand around her ribcage, he gently ran his thumb over her nipple, causing her to shudder and moan into his mouth. Bass kept teasing her there, until she pulled away from his kiss, gasping.

"Bass," she breathed. She rolled slightly to her side and pulled her tank top off over her head, exposing her breasts. Bass groaned and immediately took her other nipple into his mouth, keeping his hand on the other. He licked and suckled at her, causing her to buck and twist beneath him.

As Bass continued his ministrations, Charlie unbuttoned her jeans and shoved them down over her hips, shifting around until she could kick them off completely, dragging the blanket down with her in the process. Charlie lay before Bass, completely naked. He thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful.

Bass' cock was painfully hard, and it had worked through the hole in his boxers. Gently, Charlie put her hand around his length. She pulled the waistband of his boxers down over his penis and off his hips, so he could remove them. Once he had, she ran her hand up and down his length with a feather-light touch. Bass thought he would explode from the tension coiling inside him.

"You're so big," Charlie said, sounding awestruck. A hot bolt of lust shot through him at that, right through to the tip of his dick. Jesus Christ, he needed to be inside her.

"You can take it," Bass assured her, his voice strained.

Charlie exhaled shakily, and she moved so she was straddling Bass in the bed, one knee on either side of him, his cock laying flat against his stomach in front of her. She took his cock in her hand once again and pulled him up. Raising her body up, she positioned him at her entrance then hesitated, looking down at him.

"Just go slow," he urged, willing himself not to slam up into her, to be patient and wait for what they both wanted.

Charlie lowered herself down the tiniest bit and whimpered as his tip entered her, in arousal rather than pain. Bouncing slightly, she spread her legs and sank down a bit more until the head of his cock was buried in her wet folds.

"Fuck," Bass said when she stopped again. "Charlie, you're killing me."

In response, she bent down and kissed him, still hovering over him with him partway inside her. "What do you think you're doing to me?" she asked, her voice husky, as she lowered herself further. Bass could feel her sheath stretching around him, and he groaned deeply.

"So tight," he whispered, running his hands all over Charlie's body. "So hot."

Finally, Charlie plunged herself down onto him, so he bottomed out inside her, her lips against his flesh. As she began to move, he felt his tip stroking the tender flesh inside her. Charlie had a look of concentration on her face as she balanced on him with both hands on his chest, rocking back and forth as she rode him.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Touch me," was her response as she moved her hips more vigorously. Bass moved his hands to her breasts, kneading them, rubbing her nipples with his rough palms. As he did, Charlie cried out, shuddering around him, her cunt pulsing around him as she came.

Unable to hold back any longer, Bass pulled her down on top of him, wrapping one arm around her back and placing one hand on her ass, holding her in place. Finally, he let himself thrust up into her with the passion he'd been holding back, impaling her again and again with his cock.

"Ugh… not going to last long," he warned her as he fucked her, already feeling his orgasm building. His rhythm grew faster, more punishing, and dimly he hoped he wasn't hurting her.

Finally, Bass knew he was at the point of no return. He shifted as if to pull out of her, but Charlie grinded down on him with all her weight.

"Charlie," he said, slightly panicked. "I'm gonna…"

"I don't care," she said, her voice hazy with lust. "Please, Bass, I want it." She jerked her hips slightly against his to emphasize her point.

Groaning, Bass didn't even consider protesting further as he worked his cock into her with abandon. A few more hard strokes, and he came inside her with a groan, releasing his cum into her willing body.

Charlie collapsed on top of Bass, resting her head in the crook of his neck. He reached down and pulled the blanket up over them, then cradled her tenderly in her arms. Bass wasn't a religious man, but in that moment, he thanked God fervently. For who else could he credit for his being a dead man walking one day, and holding the woman he loved in his arms the next?

Her thoughts seemingly along the same lines, Charlie commented, "I'm glad you didn't die."

"If I did right now, I'd die a happy man," he murmured, running his hands gently over her back.

"Well, still. Please don't," she replied.

"I'll do my best," he promised.

A/N: Inspiration randomly struck with this one, and I'm pretty sure it's just a one-shot. I had fun writing a bit more sweet and tender Bass than I usually do—hope you enjoyed!