"It's also used in men for troubles with..." She trailed off, embarrassed.

Knowing full well what she was getting at, Lucien couldn't help but tease and play dumb. Furrowing his brow, he prompted her. "With...?"

She blushed and then resolved herself. "With manliness."

Lucien grinned at her blush and then shrugged before downing the sap-based brew and bumping her shoulder with his, absolutely delighted to be able to tease her in this way.

Her wide, shocked eyes were worth the foul-tasting sap and then, as it always did when he spoke with Jean, the pieces of the puzzle began to come together and the case had never looked more clear.

With a hasty press of lips, Lucien was out the door, completely missing the look of desire in Jean's eyes.

A few hours later, with the case successfully closed and another day coming to an end, Lucien was glad to be at home and even gladder to see Jean. A few hours apart was already too long to be away from her. He shrugged his coat off and hung his hat on the rack, rolling his shoulders and trying to ease some of the tension that had set in over the course of the day.

Since leaving Jean earlier, he had felt hot under the collar. He thought perhaps he was running a fever, but the thermometer in his medical bag indicated everything was normal.

And yet, he felt unsettled, flushed. He was anxious to see Jean, to touch Jean, to kiss Jean, to-

Oh, bugger.

The sap. Bloody hell. He wasn't sick at all, he was aroused.

"Lucien? Is that you?"

Just at the sound of her voice and the anticipation of seeing her, Lucien felt the low pull of desire and his manhood stirring to life.

He couldn't let Jean see him like this. Not if her reaction to his earlier advances in the kitchen the other night was any indication. It would only make things harder. Difficult! It would only make things difficult...

"Uh, yes, Jean. I just need to go shower. I'll be there in a moment."

Even to his ears, his voice felt strangled. Jean popped her head out from the kitchen doorway, wiping her hands down with a hand towel. "Everything okay? You don't sound alright."

Lucien took in the sight of her: slacks riding high on her hips and a too-big white shirt buttoned up to the collar. The sleeves were rolled up many times over her slim forearms and the neck of the shirt left a sizable gap.

Lucien swallowed hard, "I-is that my shirt?"

Jean blushed and smoothed her hands down over the fabric. "Yes, actually. I was in the garden and my top got quite dirty and I was going to change, but then Charlie was here, and I just grabbed the closes thing I could out of the laundry bin." She looked uncertain. "I hope that's alright? I can take it off, if you like?"

Lucien groaned at her innocent suggestion. He knew she meant nothing by it, but the sight of Jean in his own clothing combined with the thought of Jean unbuttoning his own shirt from her body, each time revealing more and more smooth, pale skin for him to see and touch, left him reeling.

He felt his pulse quicken and his pants were beginning to feel uncomfortably tight. He needed to get out of this situation before he said or did anything to upset her.

"N-no, it's fine, Jean. Perfectly fine! You look beautiful, as always." He started to head for his bedroom, anxious to get some relief from the sudden strike of arousal. "I'll just be a moment and then we'll have dinner, alright?"

He tried to move past her but Jean-his beautiful Jean-wasn't having it. She grabbed a hold of his arm, preventing him from leaving.

Jean smiled up at him, eyebrows raised, "Lucien, your fiancée is wearing your shirt and you won't even greet her with a kiss?"

Lucien's eyes flicked from her teasing eyes to her soft mouth before realizing what a lost cause he was. With a quick tug, Jean was in his arms and his mouth was slanted over hers. This was no chase 'hello' kiss.

Jean, surprised but certainly not unwilling, leaned into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, urging him on. She felt a sense of womanly pride as he groaned at her touch.

Lucien's hand rested on the small of her back, pressing her closer to him. He couldn't get enough of her: her touch, her taste, her smell.

However, pressing her against his body brought her into contact with his hardness and he felt her go stiff in his arms. He hastily broke the kiss.

"Lucien, what-"

He cut her off. "Jean, I'm so sorry, love. The bloody sap really does do, uh, what you say it does. And then you in my shirt was a sight and I am so sorry." He moved away from her, embarrassed.

They had exchanged their fair share of heated kisses before but they had always put a stop to it before things could escalate beyond the point of true arousal. They both knew how hard it would be to stop if they allowed themselves to be overrun with passion and desire.

But his Jean was always surprising him. She took a few steps towards him and wrapped herself around him, stopping him from escaping to his bedroom.

"You don't have to hide from me, Lucien. I'm not a virgin who is unfamiliar with a man's body and desires." Daringly, she let her hand wander down his abdomen, stopping just above the waistband of his rapidly tightening pants.

Lucien's mouth went dry. Jean grinned and brought her mouth close to his ear, breath hot against his skin. "And, this serves you right for being a smug doctor and drinking that sap, you tease."

She pulled away, eyes light and teasing, and snapped her kitchen towel at him. "Now go shower, dinner will be ready soon."

Lucien watched his fiancée sashay into the kitchen, the swing of her hips as enticing as ever, and his heart overflowing with love. Shaking his head, he shuffled off to his bedroom to ease his arousal.

His Jean was one of a kind, indeed.