Nik's Notes: I feel very lurved. I feel the lurve. Now keep it coming. I got exams to grade and I need the distraction. Idiot freshman forgot everything they learned since middle school I swear. Wanna read another chapter before Tuesday? Review and write nice things about how his words send you off into another world...lol He'll be back on the 18th and then it's back to his 'new' old stuff. Nicole

Chapter4

They'd driven back to her suite in his SUV and she'd packed and boxed up her stuff in less than 30 minutes. She was right. She didn't have a lot of 'Jenny Burton' stuff.

Chuck pointed to his walk-in closet and his instructions were clear and well thought out.

"Your stuff goes wherever you want it. I'll clear out a couple of drawers while you hang up your things. If you need more room, let me know. I got crap here I haven't worn for years."

The closet was almost bare except for suits, dress shirts and ties and some unfamiliar equipment hanging from hooks on the back wall. It took her only a few minutes to put her stuff away.

She stood around, clearly nervous, and watched him sort out some clothing and repack his dresser drawers. He'd given her to top three drawers of the dresser and also had taken the time to reorganize the bathroom vanity with its double sinks to allow her total access to the cabinets. He'd remembered how his Ex had bitched about not having enough room for her 'cosmetics' and he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

"Chuck, you don't have to reorganize your life to suit me. I don't have a lot…"

"Jenny, this is your home and I want you to have anything you want and I want you to feel comfortable. It's our place, and you're not a visitor here, Jenn. OK?"

She'd never had a place of her own until joining the CIA and even then, it was theirs not hers. She felt the pressure of tears and she felt something in her chest swell. Ours.

She pushed him down on the bed and straddled him, looking at his face with love and wonder. Our place. I'm not a visitor. I'm home.

He put his arms around her and held her, rolling them onto their sides, looking at her struggle not to cry.

"Too much? Too fast? Too soon, Jenny?" He was worried he'd pushed her someplace she didn't really want to be. Damn. I can be so needy and insecure and I must have pushed her too hard for this.

"No, baby. I'm just overwhelmed. I thought you were going to break up with me and that you were using the consulting thing as a way and I'm so glad I was wrong. I love you and I love how you say our place, our stuff, our home. I'm so damned happy, Chuck, I could cry. I love you, Chuck, really and truly and I'll never stop."

They were both nervous. It had been a long time for both of them and neither were all that experienced. Chuck's ex-fiancé had pretty much driven the sex boat although she did have a wide variety of tastes and preferences. His wasn't the only V-card she'd mounted on her trophy wall.

Jenny had the one disastrous relationship with a guy who just wanted another notch in his conquest belt and didn't care how he got it. Once he got between her legs and the novelty wore off, he moved on, forgetting his promises and intentions.

Chuck brushes the tears from her cheeks with his thumb and lightly kisses her and then realizes where they are.

"Um, uh, why don't you use the shower now and I'll clear the wreckage from dinner. Won't take me too long, honey, but take your time. I have some emails to review and answer regarding my grant research and I need to clear them off my To Do list."

He rolls off the bed and goes into his office, leaving the door ajar so he can hear her if she needs anything.

Shit! Towels! I didn't show her where the linens are kept!

He walks back into the bedroom to tell her where the towels are, figuring she's in the bathroom already but she's not. She's standing in front of 'her' side of the dresser selecting sleepwear or something but he only notices that she's naked.

"Oh, crap, I'm sorry, Jenny, I didn't mean…" He was blushing furiously and turned and rapidly walked to the door, his eyes squeezed tightly shut but his mind still processing the image of her beautiful body – and he walks right into the edge of the open door.

"Ouch! Shit! Damn!" He sits on the bed and pinches his nose trying to stem the blood. He always bleeds like a stuck pig when his nose…

"Here, baby, lean back and tilt you head back. I've got you, Chuck. I've never made this much of an impression on any man. I guess I should be flattered. Two 'encounters' and you almost bleed out as a result."

He feels his head nestled against her chest and the gentle pressure she applies stops the bleeding in a few minutes. He doesn't notice. He's too damned embarrassed. She must think he's a pervert or something.

"Jenny, I was just coming back to tell you where the extra towels are. I didn't mean to…"

"Hey, Chuck, relax. If we're going to be living together I hope that being naked is a frequent occasion. I love you and that implies intimacy, you big goof. I'm flattered you got so unhinged…" Her laughter makes him smile and he has to laugh.

"Jenny, you're only the second woman I've ever…I mean, hell, I'm not a Don Juan and I don't have a belt hidden in my room that has notches carved in it. If I did then it's a good thing it's hidden because there's only one notch in it and that's ancient history."

"Then we have something else in common, baby. I've only been with one other man and it was a complete and utter disaster. It's why I'm so…guarded sometimes."

"Good. We'll learn each other's pleasures, likes and dislikes together. Um, uh, I think it's stopped bleeding." He started to get up but she stopped him, holding him and sighing.

"Chuck, I feel cheated. You've seen me in all my naked glory and except for that time on the boat when you wore a bathing suit, you're still a mystery to me – your body I mean. Oh, crap. This is going all wrong and I'm going to screw it all up. Get naked, Bartowski, and shower with me. It's like a cold swimming pool. It's easier to just dive in than to wade in an inch at a time."

"I can't, Jenny."

"Why not?" There was a plaintive sound to her voice. She sounded like a little girl. What did he think living together implied? A long term sleep-over?

"You're holding me down, Jenn." His statement delivered in a flat matter-of-fact tone drove her over the edge. All the tension of the moment evaporated into laughter. He liked that about her. She laughed when she got nervous. She laughed when something was funny. She laughed after they'd kissed for the first time.

"Sorry. Here, let me help you up. Yeah, it's quit bleeding. I'm really sorry about that. I wasn't trying to shock you. I was looking for a matching pair and I guess my mind wandered. That happens when I'm happy, Chuck, so I figure it'll wander a lot 'cause you make me very happy."

She pulls him to his feet and then unbuttons his shirt. He's looking into her eyes the entire time, trying to ignore the naked body south of her eyes. She slips the shirt from his shoulders and then unbuckles his belt by touch. She doesn't want to break eye contact with him.

He puts his hands on her forearms and she thinks he's going to stop her but he slides them up her to her shoulders and then into her long brunette hair and brings her lips to his. She's quick to push down his jeans and boxers and begins leading him to the bathroom but they fall onto the bed instead with Chuck lying on her, still kissing her but laughing.

"Jenny, I have to take off my shoes. It's hard to move with my jeans and shorts around my ankles. Gimme a minute." He toes off his shoes then whips off his socks and pulls her to her feet.

"Now lets hit the showers, Jenny." He turns and walks slowly towards the bathroom trying to walk like a stripper and failing miserably. She snorts a giggle and then dissolves into fits of laughter.

"Oh, Chuck, you'll never be a Chippendale Dancer, that's for sure." It's only when he walks into the well-lighted bathroom that she sees the scars on his back.

So that's why he kept his t-shirt on when we were on the boat. I thought it was because he didn't want to sunburn or he was just shy about his body but it's not. It's because of scarring. Now I remember something that girl told me about him being in an accident.

She follows him quickly and he opens up a linen closet in the hall way and then stands beside the shower stall and unfolds two large and fluffy towels. He turns around and sees the look on her face and knows what's put it there. Damn it all!

"I was in an industrial accident on a consulting gig. A transformer blew out when we were working on a new power supply and I got pretty banged up with bits and pieces of the housing. Spent some time in the hospital but it's all good now. I guess I should have told you about it but I forgot about them, honest."

The truth was that he and Casey had infiltrated a missile launch facility in Iran and were in the process of destroying the site's computer system and refueling equipment when the timer on some explosives malfunctioned and the resulting misfire almost killed him. Casey had carried him out to the rendezvous site and it had been touch and go for a while but he was healthy again and the scarring wasn't all that bad.

"It must have been terrible, Chuck. I'm so glad you weren't killed. I mean, hell, I'd never have met you. I'm so glad we 'bumped into each other' before class that day. Bloody noses seem to bring us closer together, Chuck."

"Chuck, you're elbow's on my hair, honey."

"Jenny, I can't breath when you clamp your thighs…"

"Oh, my Gawd, Chuuuuuuck…"

She lay on him, her head tucked under his chin, running the inside of her thigh up his and threading her fingers through his chest hair.

"Baby, I never knew it could be so sweet…"

"You're incredible, Jenny. And I never knew people could bend like that."

"You're not disappointed are you, Chuck? I'm sure as hell not but was it OK for you?"

"Not just OK, Jenn, try faaaannnnntastic!"

She woke up at 8am in a strange bed and was confused for a few seconds until she remembered. She snuggled down into the covers enjoying the memories of the previous night. Yeah, they'd been nervous and awkward at first but not for long. She'd lost all control at one point. She'd never really had an orgasm before. She wasn't sure if she should tell him. She didn't want him to think she was…defective.

He made her laugh and sigh and almost cry as they made love. They whispered suggestions, lewd impossibilities and he'd made her giggle and laugh outright but mostly he made her feel incredibly loved and happy.

Jenny threw back the covers and used the bathroom and brushed her teeth and then pulled on a pair of sleep pants and a t-shirt and went in search of her boyfriend. He loved her and she needed another booster shot of being loved. God, she was such a drama queen.

She found him in the kitchen making breakfast. He'd gone out and picked up some things for their refrigerator since, as he put it, 'the damned thing's never been used for anything but steaks and salad stuff'.

Chuck was standing at the stove making eggs and bacon. He'd set the table after dusting off the few dishes he owned. He didn't cook. His selection of meals came from the second drawer under the microwave where he kept the take out menus for all the local restaurants.

"Mmm, something smells good, baby. You smell good. You smell like me, Chuck, and I like it that way. All the other women in your life will know you're taken when they catch my scent on you." She'd wrapped her arms around him and was rubbing her face against his back, incredibly happy for the first time in ages.

"Sit and I'll bring you your breakfast, m'lady. No toast. Don't own a toaster. We'll have to make a list of stuff we'll need to make this place more livable."

"But I like it the way it is. Simple and functional. Besides, Chuck, I have a confession to make. A terrible failing. Something you should have known before last night, maybe a deal-breaker."

"What? You're married? An illegal alien? On the lam from the mob? You're really a transgender post-op? What?"

"Don't be so flip, Chuck, please? I'm serious about this. I should have told you before."

He turned around and looked at her, a look of dread on his face.

"What is it you didn't tell me, Jennifer?" His tone was suddenly cold and she shivered as she took in his body language and tone of voice. She thought she'd seen 'all the Chucks' but this was a new one and he was scary.

"I – I – I can't cook, not at all. I feel bad I didn't tell you but we got busy doing other things and I kinda forgot."

He started to laugh and she stepped back, crossing her arms, not at all pleased with his response.

"Hey, go look at the 2nd drawer below the microwave. All your problems are solved."

She did as he said, still border-line pissed at his laughter and jerked open the drawer.

"I don't cook either – except for basic breakfast and the grill. So as long as one of us can dial a phone…" The drawer was filled with take out orders for local restaurants.

"I knew I loved you for some unknown reason, Chuck. Now feed me and then let's plan on doing some more practicing."

She wondered how she'd keep a straight face at Wednesday night's Happy Hour?

APR