Chapter 7: Fearless

The sight of Crane in his suit with a crisp white shirt, black tie and jacket was enough to give Abbie palpitations, and she couldn't repress a grin as she came downstairs to see him waiting for her with a small, fancy-looking bouquet in hand. It looked like the sort of bouquet you always saw in Victorian portraits of women, with the closely crowded bunch of blossoms dangling elegantly from their fingers.

"Look at us," she laughed, "It's like prom night."

"Lieutenant, you look beautiful beyond words," Crane replied, kissing her hand and placing the bouquet in it.

"Thank you," Abbie grinned, "You don't clean up too badly yourself." She was downplaying it big-time. The truth was that with one more glance at how gorgeous he looked, she needed another cold shower. Or an outlet for all of this desire that just wouldn't seem to let her relax.

When they got to the gala, Crane followed the gentleman's code by immediately heading off to get her a drink and a plate of appetizers. One of the things they had always bonded over was their mutual love of food and drink, and Abbie looked forward to sharing opinions about the hoers d'oeuvres.

"Wow, great dress," Danny said by way of greeting, his usual cool and handsome demeanor on display in his suit. Abbie looked down at her bright, plum colored dress. She couldn't deny to herself that she had wanted to look her best for Crane, and had been so excited for this evening that she and Jenny had embarked on a last minute shopping expedition to pick out the perfect outfit.

"Thanks, Danny. I heard you're getting an award tonight. Congrats!" Regarding her ex now with nothing but friendliness, Abbie found it easy to make light conversation.

"Oh, come on! Mills, help me make this dull night a little more fun. Let's dance!" Danny held his hand out and Abbie laughed as he spun and dipped her. It was so obvious that the romantic feelings they had tried so hard to cultivate and keep alive had faded into a comfortable buddy rapport.

The song changed to a ballad, and Abbie didn't really want to stay for that one with Danny, so her eyes began scanning the room for Crane. No sooner had she thought of her date than he appeared, cutting in with a look of irritation on his face such as she had seldom seen. What's going on with him?, she wondered.

After he told her to follow him inside, she could hardly resist her curiosity, so she trailed him to an abandoned coat check room. "Crane, there isn't anything to—" She'd been about to say "anything to be jealous of" and explain the purely platonic nature of her relationship with Danny.

But Abbie didn't have time, because her back was against the wall behind the coat rack and Crane's mouth was on hers, not tentatively this time, like their first kiss. Now he explored her mouth greedily, then pinned her hands lightly and trailed his mouth down her neck, the enticing combination of his lips and the brush of his beard startling her with the fierce arousal it ignited.

"Abbie," Crane downright growled as his fingers clutched her thighs and wrapped her legs around his waist. Lifted up by his strong arms and held in midair, their height difference never more obvious, Abbie moaned helplessly. His fingers knowingly found their way to the hem of her dress and upward as he held her perfectly in place with one arm. His mouth pressed fervent kisses all over her decolletage, so tantalizingly close to her breasts that she thought she was going to faint. That theory only got more likely as his fingers brushed against her panties, which were so damp that Abbie would have been embarrassed if she could process a thought beyond how desperately she wanted Crane, needed him to keep going.

Then, without any warning, he stopped, releasing her very gently so that she touched down on the floor without tumbling downward as she would have if left to rely on her own wobbly legs. Crane said nothing more as he turned and left her there, practically panting. What the hell?

Abbie took a second to collect herself, then her feelings switched from shock to anger, and she launched herself after him. Crane was already heading back to the car.

He was shaking his head in his momentarily solitude.

"Crane!" Abbie shouted, as, naturally, it started to rain.

"Forgive me," Crane pleaded when she got close enough. Her anger started to melt at the sight of his plaintive expression. He wasn't playing a game with her, like she had assumed. "My conduct has been unforgivable this evening. I promised you that I would be patient and place no pressure on you to pursue a romance, yet the first time I see you with another man, I make uncouth advances of which I am thoroughly ashamed."

Abbie just stared at him for a moment and gave a short laugh. She looked up at the rainy sky and opened her arms to its wet embrace. "Are you done?" She asked Ichabod archly.

"Yes," he replied, clearly perplexed as to how she could be anything but furious with him.

Abbie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Crane's neck, drawing his lips to hers as the rain went from moderate to heavy, pounding down on them in torrents.

"Lieutenant…we must get you out of this rain," Crane said when they came up for air.
He unlocked the car and they sat down, still in a bit of a daze. Abbie ran her fingers over his cheek and said, "You know what?"

"What is it?" Ichabod asked, stroking her back, in as much a state of surrender to the moment as she.

"I'm not afraid anymore." Abbie pressed her lips together, coming to a final decision. "I love you."

"Abbie," he whispered huskily, "You don't have to…"

"I wanted to tell you that," Abbie confessed. "And I don't want to take it back. I want to be with you." She climbed onto his lap and they resumed kissing, hungry for the sensation they had wanted to experience for so long, insatiable in the craving they felt for one another.

"I need to tell you two things, Lieutenant," Crane murmured to her, his voice somehow both playful and dead serious.

"What?" She asked, searching his eyes.

His hands slid from her shoulders to her chest and waist, caressing her sensuously. "I love you, Abbie." He kissed her deeply, their passionate movements causing the horn to beep loudly several times.

"Hey, what's the second thing?" Abbie asked, breathless.

"We need to go home now."

She couldn't have agreed more.