The weekend is moving on and this chapter we meet Lady C. Lots of you have commented and I can confirm that she is inspired by Lady Catherine de Bough from Pride and Prejudice…does that make Sherlock our Mr Darcy ;).

Chapter 9

They made their way downstairs to the drawing room only to find that they were the first ones down and completely alone. Molly wandered over to the ornate, Victorian, sideboard and poured herself and Sherlock a drink and he surprised her by coming up behind her and putting his hands on her hips and kissing the side of her neck.

'Wh..what are you doing?'

She felt him smile, his lips still touching her skin.

'This is perfect. Gives us a chance to be seen together so to speak.' He moved to the side and leant against the sideboard before pulling her to him so she was stood between his legs.

'Kiss me Molly Hooper.'

She couldn't help but smile as she rested her hands on his slim waist. 'Well that's something you don't have to ask for twice.'

She had to admit, as she moved to kiss him that she was getting much more used to being this familiar around him. It seemed so natural; they seemed to fit together perfectly. She tried not to think about how hard it would be to go back to being just friends. Even just the fleeting thought of it made her brain want to shut down and her heart contract.

She loved the taste of him, sliding her tongue against his, feeling his hands roaming across her body; his thumbs delicately brushing the underside of her breasts making her nipples start to harden. She couldn't resist returning the favour and her hands moved down from his waist to his thighs and she let her thumbs almost trace the line of his groin, knowing she must be centimetres or less from his manhood. What she hadn't expected was the way he groaned when she 'almost' touched him.

She couldn't decide if he was just a good actor or if he really was getting turned on as much as she was.

In what must have been a moment of madness she moved one hand to cup him but before she made contact there was a gentle cough from the doorway.

'I do hope you aren't putting on that show for my benefit because you really don't have to...and I do mean really!'

Molly saw Sherlock suck his lips between his teeth as he struggled to hold back some no doubt biting retort to his brother, who was walking towards them with his hands in the pockets of his immaculate dark grey suit. It looked just as expensive, if not more so, than the black one that Sherlock was wearing.

Strangely Sherlock wasn't letting her go, instead he let his hands slide down her back until they were sitting on the top of her bum and if anything he pulled her slightly closer.

'You're just jealous that we're making it so much more believable.' He leant forward and kissed the base of Molly's neck pulling the skin into his mouth lightly but not enough to mark her. It was all she could do not to moan out loud.

Mycroft seemed to be intent on ignoring his younger brother's actions as he casually poured himself a large whiskey.

'Are you so sure this is still a game Sherlock?'

Molly felt Sherlock stiffen slightly and she frowned wondering what exactly the older Holmes brother meant but before anything else could be said Sherlock's parents entered the room.

This time Sherlock waited just long enough for them to see himself and Molly in their embrace and then he let her go and stood himself back up straightening his jacket.

'Mother, Father can I get you anything?' He indicated towards the temporary bar.

'Oh yes please Sherlock a gin and tonic and make it a large. Your father will just have a tonic though, he's not been feeling too well.'

Mycroft turned to his dad and Molly could see worry written all over his face. 'What's wrong? Anything serious...we can call a doctor out if we need to.'

'I'm fine..I'm fine. I already told your mother it's just a bit of indigestion that's all. Don't fuss.'

Violet sat down on the sofa to one side of the fire and patted the seat beside her indicating to Molly that she should join her.

'Now my dear, tell me all about yourself and how you and Sherlock got together. As I say, he tells me nothing so I need all the details.'

Molly sat by his mother feeling a little nervous but she knew the story that they'd decided on and she told it well, even adding an embellishment or two of her own.

'I suppose there are not many couples who can say they fell in love over a dead body but…well in a way it's quite fitting for us.'

His mother had started out seeming a little suspicious but by the end she seemed to have believed Molly. Molly figured it helped that her feelings for Sherlock were genuine even if his weren't for her. She did feel a little guilty however at fooling the older women, she was being so nice and was so happy that her youngest son was with someone and it seemed horrid to be deceiving her.

As Molly's tale ended Sherlock's mother sniffed and turned to her youngest son. 'Yes well so long as you don't propose over a dead body Sherlock. That would be just too distasteful.'

Sherlock chuckled. 'Alright Mother I think I can promise you that much. Knowing my Molly as I do, any proposal would have to be romantic, complete with a ring and me down on one knee. Am I right?'

He looked at her and for a second she had to take a breath to keep her emotions in check. She couldn't afford to let her guard slip and let his mother see how hard this conversation was for her but the slight narrowing of his eyes told her that Sherlock had just guessed.

She made an effort to smile brightly. 'You're absolutely right and you'd have to make sure that ring has a rock big enough to make it hard to lift my hand up.'

The others laughed at her joke and she was glad when the conversation moved on. Molly hadn't really expected the subject of marriage to be brought up and Sherlock had probably never realised how touchy she was on the subject but it just highlighted for Molly how unlikely it was that she would ever get married and that thought always, always made her sad. She had twice been engaged and she knew in her heart of hearts that it wouldn't happen again, not after Tom…not whilst her heart belonged to Sherlock.

She knew she wasn't participating much in the new conversation but no one seemed to notice much and a couple of minutes later the room fell quiet as Lady Catherine finally made her appearance.

She was quite a bit older than her sister, Sherlock's mother, but Molly could see the resemblance both to her and to Sherlock. Mycroft seemed to take after his father and his side of the family more.

Lady Catherine might have been old and walking with the aid of an old, carved, mahogany walking stick but she was a very imposing woman and she seemed to take command of the room from the moment she arrived, dominating the conversation.

Each of the family greeted her in turn with Sherlock and Mycroft kissing her on her dry, wrinkled cheek until finally she turned her imperious gaze on Molly.

'So Sherlock, this is the girl you've brought is it?'

'Yes, this is Molly, Doctor Molly Hooper. Molly, my aunt, Lady Catherine.'

Molly had stood when the older woman had entered the room and she stepped forward and held her hand out. 'I'm pleased to meet you.'

Lady Catherine just tilted her head and looked her up and down but she made no move to shake hands with Molly.

'I suppose being a doctor she must have a reasonable level of intelligence but she's not much to look at is she...a little plain for your taste I would have thought Sherlock.'

Molly was sure her mouth must have fallen open in shock. She had never been treated so rudely before.

Sherlock took a step forward and put his arm around Molly's waist protectively. 'Personally I think Molly is beautiful and if anyone in this relationship is lucky it is myself. I don't deserve someone as kind and thoughtful as Molly, I never have. So I'd appreciate it, aunt, if you didn't scupper my future chances with Molly by treating her so appallingly. Don't think we won't leave because we will if we have to.'

There was a beat of silence in the room and then the old woman laughed. 'Good, I'm glad to see you caring about someone enough to defend them. I'm pleased to meet you too Molly Hooper but I hope for both your sakes that this relationship is real and not some stunt like the one Mycroft tried to pull a couple of years ago. I hate dishonesty even more than I hate the fact that we have no heir to the family fortune.'

Just then a gong sounded in the next room and Molly found Sherlock leading her through, along with the others, into the dining room. She found herself sat between Sherlock's father, Sigur, and Sherlock. Lady Catherine was at the head of the table between Mycroft and Sigur and Violet was next to Mycroft.

Molly had to admit that the food was delicious and very opulent with Sorbet brought out between courses to cleanse the palette. There also seemed to be a different wine served with every course and if Molly's glass started to get low it seemed to be topped up as if by magic by the waiting staff. It wasn't long before she began to feel a little tipsy and given the way Sherlock was holding forth about one of his recent cases she figured he was as well.

It wasn't helping her concentration that as they waited for dessert to be brought out his hand had found its way to her leg and was currently making its way up her thigh.

'Anyway Molly here realised that he hadn't been killed by strangulation but instead he'd been poisoned and that clinched it. There was no doubt then in my mind that it must have been the secretary who killed him. Turns out they'd been having an affair and he broken it off when he found out that she'd been disinherited.'

'Ah, so Molly helps you in your work, is that how you both met?'

This time it was Sherlock who answered, turning to Molly as he did and letting his fingers trace a circle on Molly's inner thigh which had her biting her lip so as to not let out a sound. 'It was and I was a fool for not seeing how perfect she was for me sooner. I'm just eternally grateful that she waited for me.'

He leant forward and pressed his lips against hers and she couldn't help but close her eyes still enjoying each and every kiss they shared. He pulled away after a moment but his eyes seemed to stare into her very soul and she could feel her body heating up under his intense gaze.

It was Mycroft who broke the moment clearing his throat and rolling his eyes. 'Yes, very romantic but I don't understand how the secretary could have had the strength to make the strangulation look real.'

Sherlock launched into another long explanation but all Molly could concentrate on was his hand and how far up her leg it had travelled. She was feeling more than a little tipsy by now, very horny and quite confused about why he was doing this when no one knew what was happening. Then she wondered if his super-deductive family could work out what he was doing but just not reacting. Either way his hand was causing all sorts of sensations none of which helped her feel composed or relaxed.

He only moved it when dessert came out and by the time she'd finished eating Molly had decided it was time for pay back.

So a very suspicious Lady Catherine (understandably so) and lots of kissing and teasing from our erstwhile couple. What bit did you like best and how do you think the night will end?