Derek stood there slack-jawed for a minute—just as she'd expected. But she hadn't expected silence for so long and what he must be thinking suddenly dawned on her. "She's not yours," she said quickly.

Derek nodded, not knowing whether to be angry or relieved.

"You have a daughter?" he asked in surprise.

Penelope sighed. "Well…where did you think these stretch marks came from?" she shot back.

He looked at her as if she had three heads. "Your voluptuous curves!" he answered.

"Derek, look—"

He held up a hand. "Just shut up for a minute so I can…think."

"Did you just tell me to shut up?" she asked.

"Yep."

"Well now I'm mad!" she said, hands on her hips.

"Tough! You don't get to be mad," he informed her. "I get to be mad. Why in the hell didn't you tell me you have a daughter?"

Penelope sighed. "I…the first time I slept with you…I thought we were just…flinging. It didn't seem…appropriate at that time. And…I didn't think I was going to see you again."

"And the second time we…flung?" he asked angrily.

"I still didn't think we'd see each other again."

"Ok, fine," Derek said. "And over the last few weeks? Every time we fucked did you think it was going to be the last time?"

"No," she muttered.

"This is…too much," he said. "I need to think."

"Well…will I see you before Monday?" she asked.

Derek gave her a confused look. "You'll see me in the morning," he told her as he reached for his belt.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Going to bed."

"My bed?"

"Yep," he said as he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor.

"We're not done talking," she told him.

"Trust me. You don't want to talk to me right now," he said as he kicked off his boots.

"Trust me, I do," she argued. "You're just…gonna be all mad at me and then spend the night?"

"Yep."

She laughed in disbelief. "I don't think so."

"For God's sake, Penelope. We had a fight. We didn't break up," he said as he pushed his pants down over his legs and stepped out of them.

"Were we even together?" she squeaked. A lump of desire had formed in her throat; the mere sight of him in his boxers was enough to turn her on.

"It sure as hell felt like it a few hours ago." He crawled into bed and turned the lamp on the nightstand off.

"That's my side of the bed," she said.

"Not tonight." With that, he rolled over to let her know the conversation had come to a halt.

Penelope shed her clothes and got under the covers beside him. She turned the lamp on her designated side of the bed off, and moved up behind him to put an arm around his waist. She placed a soft kiss in the middle of his upper back and felt him tense immediately.

"Screwing me isn't going to make it go away," he said harshly.

She sighed and fell back onto the mattress.

They lay there for a few minutes, neither of them speaking. Penelope was just dozing off when she felt the mattress shift and it was only a second before the room was bathed in soft light.

"And by the way, I'm still pissed about the whole Quantico thing," Derek said angrily as he turned to face her, his elbows bracing his upper body.

She gave him a confused look. "What Quantico thing?" she asked.

"Did you ever even consider moving to Chicago…to where I was?" he asked.

"No. I did not. I wasn't going to chase you, Derek. There's nothing worse than a one night stand that comes looking for you!"

"I never wanted a one night stand, Penelope," he said quietly as he looked down at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, really? Then what did you want the first time we slept together? Did you get onto that elevator thinking that we had a great thing going?"

"OK, maybe the first time we slept together…that was what I was looking for. But not the second. And not any time after that."

"Derek—"

"Don't," he said gruffly. "Just…don't." The next second, his lips were on hers in a crushing kiss and he shoved his knee between her thighs. They tightened on his upper leg and he groaned as he pulled away, then leaned down to pull his boxers off.

He grabbed her behind the thighs and pulled her lower on the mattress, then put her hands above her head and pinned her wrists there.

"Derek," she whimpered.

"What?" he rasped as he bent forward to take her nipple between his teeth and give it a gentle tug.

"Oh, God," she said as she bucked up off the mattress. It had never been like this with anyone else before. She loved foreplay. And while Derek was certainly incredible at it, she could never wait for him to be inside of her.

She lifted her legs so her ankles locked behind him, leaving just enough room for Derek to drag his body up hers. As soon as he entered her she tightened her legs and had to use every ounce of energy she had to lift her hips up off the mattress to meet him as he thrust into her again and again. "I want to touch you," she said breathlessly, struggling to get her wrists out of his grip.

"Too bad," he said callously as he drove into her one last time with a groan. His body fell down on top of hers, his breathing ragged. He was still inside of her, but he was spent. He lay there for a minute with his forehead on her shoulder before reaching between her legs. He moved his fingers back and forth over her swollen core, and it was a matter of seconds before she was writhing beneath him. "Derek," she begged.

He let go of her wrists and she instantly moved them to her sides. Reaching for the sheets, she clutched them as her body convulsed around his. Her eyes closed as she sighed in pleasure. When her body finally stilled, Derek moved to roll off her, but she lifted her arms to his shoulders. "Don't go," she said softly.

They lay there until Derek fell asleep, Penelope tenderly stroking the back of his head. It was a long time before she found sleep.

XXXXX

Penelope had fallen asleep afraid she was going to wake up alone. But Derek was behind her, an arm casually draped across her waist. When he tried to pull away, she reached for his hand, linking her fingers through his. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely.

Derek was silent for a moment. "When you found out I lived here and we started spending more time together, that should have been on of the first things you told me."

Penelope choked back a sob. "I wasn't ready to lose you," she said fiercely.

Derek pulled his hand away from hers and moved it to her waist, forcing her onto her back so she was looking up at him.

"Why would you lose me?" he asked.

"Single men and kids just…don't mix," she said.

"Some single men and kids," he corrected. "Why didn't you tell me, Penelope?"

"I didn't tell you at first because…I loved the way you looked at me. You…wanted me so badly I could see it in your eyes. I didn't want anything to change that."

"Penelope—"

"The first time I met you, Ava was six months old," she told him.

"Where's her father?" he asked, settling back down on the mattress beside her.

"With his wife," she answered. "The wife he had the entire time we were dating. The wife that I didn't know about."

"Awww, Pen," he said.

"His name was Alex. He was an engineer working on a bridge they were building in D.C. I met him at a club one night and…things just kind of took off. He was only there Monday through Friday and he stayed with me every time he was in town. I thought we were having some…love affair. Turns out, I was in love. He was…affair-ing."

"Pen…" he said, his voice trailing off.

"When I told him I was pregnant, he freaked out and wanted me to get rid of the baby. I told him I wouldn't, and he said that he didn't want to see me again. Then he told me he was married and he and his wife had a family of their own. He didn't need anymore kids. I never saw him again."

"I'm sorry," Derek said.

"Don't be," she said with a bitter laugh. "I'm not." There was a short pause. "When I met you, Derek, you made me feel so…good. You were the first man I'd been with since Alex and I just…didn't want to ruin it. You wanted me more than anyone I'd ever been with. And I loved that. I needed that."

Derek seized her wrist and placed a soft kiss on her palm. "And how many men have you been with?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"How many women have you been with?" she shot back.

His lips twitched. "You're right. We shouldn't have this conversation." He leaned down to kiss her soundly and then pulled away, his eyes searching hers. "I just need to know one thing."

"What's that?" she asked breathlessly. Amazing that one kiss could do that to her.

His eyes suddenly turned serious. "Am I gonna be the last?"