A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for their likes, follows & reviews. I am actually pretty floored at the response this story has gotten, I wasn't expecting it, like, at all. So thank you!

"You should wear that one," Allison said for the tenth time that night, pointing to a dress in Lydia's closet. Lydia grabbed it – a simple blue dress with short sleeves – and held it up to herself. She turned around to Kira, "What do you think?"

Kira shrugged, "I like it as well as the other ones you've held up to yourself, Lyds." She sighed, "This is the tenth dress. You've vetoed every other one we've picked out. Why are you asking for our input when you're not listening to our advice anyway?"

"I'm nervous," Lydia said, plopping down onto her bed and putting her head in her hands. Allison got up from her position on Lydia's bed and started rummaging through her closet.

"I'm gonna find you something that will totally blow him away," Allison said, starting to go through Lydia's closet. Lydia was acutely aware of Kira watching her, so she just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Tell me why you're nervous," Kira said, and Lydia sighed.

"I haven't been on a date since I was seventeen years old, Kira. I don't know how to do it. I don't know what being in a relationship even entails anymore. What if I mess it up somehow?"

"Remaining monogamous doesn't seem to be your problem," Kira pointed out, "since Derek was the only guy you were sleeping with for the past four months. So, what is?"

"Talking," Lydia answered. "I don't know how to keep everything out in the open. I haven't dated anyone since our senior year of high school – four years ago, if I have to remind you – and I'm going to mess up. How do you even do a relationship, anyway?"

"Easy," Allison said, marching back over to the bed where Lydia was sitting and thrusting a few clothing items into her hands. "You hang out with them. You spend time together. You talk about everything – anything you can think of. You learn the other person. It should be easy for you."

"Why do you say that?" Lydia asked, putting on the clothes that Allison had handed her. It was a simple black jean skirt and a pretty purple blouse – they actually kind of complimented each other pretty damn well. Lydia twirled around to try to see every angle of herself in her full length mirror.

"Because you're already in love with him," Kira answered for Allison. Allison nodded. "That's half the battle right there."

"Yeah, but it's different," Lydia said, this time rummaging in her closet for a pair of shoes. "I mean, of course I love Derek. And he loves me. Yeah, I get that, okay? But I'm still worried I'm going to screw this up somehow. It's what I'm good at."

"Don't jinx yourself, Lyds," Allison answered. Kira just nodded.

"I'm not gonna jinx myself, Ally," Lydia answered. "I'm just thinking, you know? I don't know if I can do this whole 'dating' thing."

"You can," Allison said. "I know you can."

Lydia sighed, "Yeah, you're probably right."

Once Lydia was dressed, she looked at both Kira and Allison. Allison smiled at her while Kira gave her a thumbs up sign. God, she knew that she was going to screw this up. She was just hoping that she didn't screw it up too badly.

-x-

Lydia told Derek she'd meet him at the café at eight o'clock. It was now seven forty-five, and Lydia was there. She was early. Lydia wasn't early very often, but she figured that this was pretty damn important. She sat at a table, waiting for him. When he did show up at eight o'clock, Derek looked really good. He was dressed in a nice pair of dress pants and a button up shirt, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Lydia smiled at him as he took a seat across from her.

"You look good," Lydia said to Derek.

"You too," he answered. "You look very beautiful."

A few moments of awkward silence passed and then Lydia said, "I'm sorry. I'm so bad at this. I don't know how to do a relationship right, and I'm gonna fuck this up somehow."

"It's not that difficult," Derek answered. "Just go with what feels right."

"I'm only good at sex," Lydia said to him. "Everyone knows that. I'm allergic to feelings."

Derek laughed. "I don't think so," he answered. "If you were allergic to feelings, you wouldn't have such a strong bond with everyone else in the pack."

"Fine," Lydia answered. "I guess I'm just allergic to romantic feelings then."

Derek reached across the table and grabbed Lydia's hand, interlacing their fingers, "Do you not want to do this? I mean, I know I asked you out, and you said yes, but we can just leave and pretend it never happened." Even though I'll never be able to forget it, Derek thought, but didn't dare say it out loud. Right now, Lydia was more vulnerable than he had seen her in a really long time, so he didn't want to push her.

"This is just weird," Lydia responded honestly. "I don't know what to do or how to act. I haven't been on a date in a really long fucking time and I don't know what's expected of me."

"Nothing is really expected of you," Derek answered. "I don't expect anything of you. Please believe that."

Sighing, Lydia shrugged, "I dunno. I mean, I haven't dated in a long time, and before, everyone I've been with has always expected something of me. I don't know what to do here. I'm just warning you, I probably am going to be the worst girlfriend there could be."

Derek looked straight into her eyes – and she noticed how beautiful his eyes were, how had she never noticed that before? – when he said, "Let's take things slow. I mean, maybe just go on a few dates and see what happens?"

Lydia watched him silently for a few seconds before saying, "Are you gonna be one of those douchebags who withholds sex? 'Cause, I gotta tell you, I really enjoy it and if you're gonna be like that –"

"Lyds, stop," Derek said, smirking a little. "I'm not that kind of guy. You are never gonna hear those words coming from me, okay?"

"Okay," Lydia said. "Because we've been having some really great sex the last four months and I really don't wanna give that up."

Derek smirked, "Believe me, baby, neither do I."

-x-

Later that night, Derek and Lydia tumbled into her apartment, kissing each other like their lives depended on it. Derek could kiss Lydia forever; her lips were so soft, so warm, so fucking inviting. Lydia kissed back like she needed it to survive. They stumbled through the apartment until they reached Lydia's bedroom, neither one wanting to break the kiss. Once they stumbled onto Lydia's bed, she broke the kiss and looked at him, breathing heavily.

"Can we try something?" she asked him. "If you wanna say no, it's fine. I'm okay with that, in fact. Just never mind." She stopped talking, feeling like a fool. Lydia was nervous. Since when did Lydia feel nervous about anything that had to do with sex? She was the most confident person when it had to do with things in the bedroom. She was good at it, and she knew it, so why was she so nervous right now? At the prospect that Derek would say no?

"It's fine," Derek said. "I want you to feel free to ask me whatever you want to ask me. Don't be afraid."

Lydia sighed. "Okay," she said. "So, what would you say, hypothetically, if I asked if I could handcuff you to the headboard this time?"

Derek watched her closely before saying, "You know your handcuffs probably won't hold me, right?"

"That's what's gonna make this more exciting," she said. "I know you can break free out of those cuffs in a second. But I also know that you won't do that, if you're really into it. You'll give the illusion that I have all the power, even when I know I won't."

Derek licked his lips before looking at Lydia, saying, "Sure. If you want."

"I only want to do it if you want it, Der," Lydia answered. "I don't want this to get uncomfortable for either of us."

"I want it," Derek answered. "I want you to have power. It's sexy when a girl takes charge in the bedroom – I like it."

Lydia nodded, "Okay." She went into her dresser and dug out her handcuffs. She kissed Derek fully on the mouth for a long minute before she helped Derek out of his clothes. When he was down to his boxers, she said, "Get on the bed, on your back."

He kissed her again, quickly before he did as she asked. Lydia licked her lips nervously before she looked at him. God, Derek was gorgeous. Lydia knew that coming in to the bet, of course, but now she took the time to full appreciate it. He was beautiful, in a way that a man could be. She wasn't sure if he'd get mad if she called him that, though, so she said, "God, you're gorgeous, Derek."

"Thank you?" he said, even though it sounded like a question.

She reached up and cuffed his wrists to the bedframe when he said, "You know, Lyds, you never did tell me why you have these cuffs."

"Stiles gave them to me," she replied. "Duh."

"I know that much. But why did he give them to you? Were you two a thing?"

Lydia shook her head, "No, Stiles and I were never together. Besides, by the time we were in eighth grade, he fell fast and hard for Cora. He gave them to me a long time ago, when we were fifteen, because I wanted to experiment. I was with Jackson at the time and I wanted to know what it was like to be restrained. Not like forced or anything like that, God no, but just…submissive, I guess. I was trying to figure out some things, so I talked to Stiles about it. He and I became friends back then, but we never were more than that, nor did I want more from him at that time. It was nice to just have him as a platonic friend, y'know? So we used to talk about things, and he and I used to check guys out together, and some girls, and when I expressed that I wanted to experiment, he lifted those for me. They were his dad's spares, and even though John is a cop, he never really knew where they went. Don't ask me why. And…that's the story, I guess. I've had them ever since."

Derek nodded, "Sure, I get it."

Lydia watched him closely for a moment before slowly removing her top and skirt. She toed off her shoes, sinking about three inches, and then straddled his waist.

"If you wanna stop at any time, just tell me, 'kay?" she said to him. "I'll stop whenever you want me to."

"It's fine, Lydia. I trust you."

Lydia leaned down to kiss his lips, and what was supposed to be a quick kiss turned into a mini make-out session. Lydia licked into his mouth, cupping his cheek as she did so. Lydia would never get over the way he tasted – it was amazing. Lydia knew that the mating bond didn't just affect Derek, but it would also affect her whenever she was with Derek, and now that she was aware of the bond, she could tell that things were different. She could tell that she felt things with him that she'd never felt with anyone else, and she knew why. Things had always been different, but she had never stopped to think about it. Lydia was glad that she was kissing him, and forgot how much she loved a good make-out session.

After breaking the kiss, she started kissing down his body, nipping at his jaw, kissing down his chest. She ventured further south until she hit his boxers. "Lift your hips for me," she said, and he complied. He lifted his hips and she pulled his boxers off slowly. Licking her lips again, she threw his boxers behind her and ran a fingertip up his length. She watched his eyes closely as she said, "I don't taste you as much as I would like. I do like giving blowjobs, and I absolutely love the way you taste."

Derek groaned like that was the sexiest thing he'd ever heard, and Lydia lowered her head, licking a stripe up the underside of his cock. Derek's head fell back and he closed his eyes, groaning. Lydia loved his response, loved the way that she could undo him with just her mouth. She didn't start slowly; she put her mouth on him and took him as deep as he could go. Lydia was thankful that she had gotten rid of her gag reflex a long time ago. A lot of people would say that too, and the thought made Lydia smirk. She knew she was good at it, and yeah, she flaunted it when she could. She put everything she could into this blowjob and pretty soon it had him groaning. He started to move his hands before the handcuffs rattled, like he forgot that he was restrained, and he said, "Shit, Lyds, gonna come."

"Good," she said, pulling off. "I wanna taste it."

"That is the sexiest goddamned thing I've ever heard," Derek groaned. Lydia started fondling his balls and took him into her throat. She hummed around him and that's when he lost it. He came into her mouth and she swallowed everything that he had to give her. She leaned up, wiping some come that was on her lower lip and sucked it off her thumb, "God, Derek, you taste fucking good." The statement seemed to make him groan again.

"You got to taste me," he said, as Lydia slowly pushed her panties down and unhooked her bra. "Now I wanna taste you. Please tell me I can."

"Are you begging me?" Lydia asked. She was having a hard time believing that big, bad Derek Hale was actually begging her to do anything. She kind of liked the way that felt.

"If I have to, I am," he said.

"So beg for me, Der. C'mon, I wanna hear you."

"Let me taste you Lydia, please," Derek said.

"How do you want me?" she asked him, still kind of drunk on the fact that he was fucking begging her.

"Sit on my face, Lyds, please."

Even though Lydia had a lot of experience when it came to sex, she was still a little nervous. She hadn't done this very often with anyone else – after all, Derek had gone down on her more than anyone else ever had. He seemed to get off on getting her off, which was sexy as hell, and Lydia wasn't sure how to proceed from here.

Derek seemed to notice her apprehension, because he said, "Hey, Lydia, you okay?"

"I guess I just don't know how to proceed from here," she said, deciding on honesty. "I haven't exactly done this a lot."

"Go with it," Derek said. "You're not gonna hurt me, okay?"

Lydia nodded and moved, putting her legs on either side of his head. She lowered herself slowly and as soon as her center hit his mouth, Derek groaned contentedly. He licked at her center, fucking his tongue as far into her as he could, and Lydia moaned. He made a noise, so Lydia raised herself, "What?"

"I want you to really get into it," Derek said. "Ride my face. I like it when a girl really gets into it."

"Okay," Lydia said, lowering herself down again. As Derek started to really fuck her with his tongue, she started to really get into it. She lost herself in the pleasure and started grinding down. It didn't take long for her to get close, and when Derek took her clit in-between his lips and just sucked, she was coming. She groaned as she came, and then rose up again.

She leaned down to kiss Derek once again, and could taste herself on his lips. "You taste like me," she giggled, and Derek smiled.

"Is that okay?" he asked, clearly still concerned that she was going to just stop kissing him.

"It's sexy as hell," she said, leaning down to kiss him again.

She rummaged around in her nightstand and produced a condom, tearing the foil package and rolling it on him. She licked her lips as she got up and straddled him, slowly sinking down. As he was surrounded by tight, wet heat, Derek groaned.

"Jesus, Lydia, you're so fucking tight," he said, and Lydia groaned. Once she was seated all the way, she stopped for a moment before leaning down to kiss his lips once more. After a moment, she started moving, but was moving slowly. Lydia thought back to that night that they actually made love, not just had sex, and how it was so easy for her to get off from that. Placing her hands on his chest, she found rhythm moving up and down, biting her bottom lip as she did so.

"Holy fuck, Lydia, you feel so fucking good," Derek said, closing his eyes and tipping his head back. "Seriously, I will never get tired of the way you fucking feel around me."

"Good," Lydia said. She started moving a little faster, reaching down to rub her clit.

"Rub yourself off for me," Derek said, once he realized what she was doing. "You look so good, like a wet dream."

Lydia bit her lip as she giggled a little at his description. It wasn't much longer before she felt herself start to get close.

"Shit, Der, so fucking close," Lydia whimpered. "I'm so fucking close." She started rubbing her clit faster and harder and it took absolutely no time at all before she was coming around him.

"Oh, holy fuck," Derek said, feeling her muscles tighten around him, making him explode, too.

Afterwards, with Lydia still on top of him, she leaned over, Derek still inside of her, and she just lay there for a long minute.

"That was amazing," she said to him, "but I need just a minute. Just let me get my breath back."

"I'm all for that, Lydia, but do you think you could at least take the handcuffs off?"

Lydia giggled, "Sorry about that." She got up off of him and got the key, undoing the handcuffs. He rubbed his wrists where the cuffs had been as she removed the condom, tying it off and throwing it in the trashcan Lydia kept by her bedside. Not able to resist, Lydia leaned down and gave Derek what was supposed to be a quick kiss, but with his hands free, he grabbed her and pulled her on top of him. Rolling them so he was on top of her, their kisses turned into a make-out session. Lydia moaned as she relished in the feeling of his lips on hers. She pulled on his bottom lip with her teeth, and that made him groan. She pulled back and looked at him closely.

"You like that, right?" she asked. "I mean, I may be sexually experienced, but I haven't actually kissed anyone on the mouth in years, and I feel…inadequate. I don't like feeling inadequate about anything."

"You don't have to worry about feeling inadequate, Lydia," Derek said. "You're amazing. But, if it would make you feel any better, we can spend lots of time practicing. I like to make out, especially with you, and practice makes perfect, you know."

"No," Lydia said, and Derek almost looked hurt, so she added, "I'm not saying no to you, Derek. God, that would be insane. I like kissing and I love kissing you. I was saying no to your statement. Practice does not, in fact, make perfect, because nobody is perfect and nobody can ever be perfect, at anything. Practice makes better. That's all there is to it."

Derek chuckled, pulling Lydia down for another kiss, "God, Lyds, you're such a nerd."

Lydia just giggled.