A/N: You all clearly needed a break for some romance. I'm not sure you could have been more clear! So, for your reading pleasure, and after the example set by the prologue, Chapter 20 is a glimpse into the future, inspired by the September monthly challenge pictures on forum dot drquinn dot us.

The time lapse is deliberately vague – there are enough revelations here as it is – but you can assume this takes place within the not-so-distant future. Chapter 21 will bring us back to the present, back to the forthcoming wedding, and back to our couple's continued journey toward the discovery of their ever-existent love.

Chapter 20: All the Difference

Sully walked toward the center of town, replaying the latest negotiations in his mind. The stipulations weren't fair to the Cheyenne, and he was having a difficult time convincing the army of that. He'd just spent two days on the reservation, away from government bureaucracy and the white man's preoccupation with progress and efficiency. The report he would give after the tribal council should make a difference to the army, but he knew it wouldn't.

He tried to shake off his frustrations, focusing instead on the heady anticipation he felt about coming home to his wife tonight, tucked away in their little rickety homestead outside of town. He smiled. Michaela never failed to take his breath away, a product of another world, of Boston, yet she adjusted so easily to this more rustic life, appreciating the richness found in its simplicity, and connected with people who had no comprehension of her former life, which had been full of intellectual challenge and elite professional drive, and still she could love and respect them with her whole heart. His heart swelled and raced in his chest, filling him with anxious, heavy elation, his body warming with the emotion. God, he loved her.

Then he saw her, talking to Charlotte on the porch of the boarding house. She wore a simple blue plaid blouse and blue skirt, such a contrast from her Bostonian upbringing, her auburn hair shimmering copper in the sunlight, pulled back in combs at the sides and falling down her back in loose curls. He loved her like this, loved to feel the warmth of her skin through the fine weave of the simple cotton, to run his fingers along the leather belt that accentuated her trim waist. Focused on Michaela, who had yet to see him, he vaguely registered Brian coming down the side street from school, headed for home. The boy immediately spotted Sully, calling out to him, and changed his direction, running to meet him in the street. The happy commotion caught Michaela's attention, and she smiled at the boy's eager affection for her husband. She caught his eye, a blush rising to her cheeks. Sully exchanged a secret smile with Michaela, his eyes twinkling with meaning, and held her gaze for a long moment, before crouching down to greet his young friend.

"Hey Sully!" The boy was panting, excited.

Sully patted his arm. "Hey Brian. What's up?"

He brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I need to talk to ya 'bout somethin'…" he looked back toward the women on the porch. When he turned back, his voice fell almost to a whisper. "…in private."

Sully smiled to himself at Brian's embarrassment, mentally making a few educated guesses at what might be coming. He nodded shortly, a serious look on his face. "Alright. Wanna go for a walk?" He would have to find his wife again a little later.

Brian looked relieved. "Sure! Thanks, Sully!"

Sully stood, taking Brian's books and slinging them over his shoulder, then resting an affirming hand on the fatherless boy's shoulder. He caught Michaela's glance out of the corner of his eye and winked at her. She blushed, a shy and innocently alluring smile upon her lips, and turned back to her conversation, and he felt his heart skip a beat. She was going to give him a heart attack one of these days.

Balancing two steaming cups of coffee in one hand, Sully carefully closed the door behind him, easing down onto the step next to Michaela.

"Thank you," she said in a low tone, accepting the warm mug from him.

"You're welcome," he returned, settling his forearms on his knees, and looking up to the stars.

"You never told me what it was Brian wanted to speak with you about this afternoon." There was something seductive in her tone, low, soft, teasing, that had nothing to do with her question, and everything to do with their bodies side by side, the twinkling stars, and the warm bed just inside the door.

His body responded to his observations, but he tempered it, assuming an air of nonchalance that he knew would instigate her curiosity. He shrugged, leaned back, rested his elbows on the steps. "Just man stuff."

She turned so she could see him better. "Oh? And what is 'man stuff'?" There was a twinkle in her eye. She knew he was playing with her, but she'd taken his bait anyway.

He sat up, pressing up close to her, his arm slipping around her waist. She blushed, focusing her eyes on the dirt a few feet in front of them, all too conscious of his close proximity, his touch. How was it possible that he stirred her so with such innocent movements?

He leaned in, whispering in her ear. "You know, the birds and the bees." The pads of his fingers trailed softly up the length her spine, sifting lightly into the hair at her nape, caressing her scalp.

The warmth of his lingering breath and nearness suffused her body. Her eyes closed, sighing silently at his caress, having difficulty focusing on the conversation as her blood raced, sweet pleasure coming alive in her veins. "But Brian's so young…" she breathed, and bit her lip as his thumb brushed over the lobe of her ear.

He leaned in, nuzzling the hollow behind her ear. "Not so young – seems about his age I was starting to wonder about girls myself…" he whispered, and brushed his lips over the shell of her ear, feeling her slight quiver in response.

"You were? But he's only…" she turned surprised eyes on him, and he grinned, watching her analytical mind evaluate his words, mentally calculating the implications.

"Yep. Didn't you wonder about – things – back then, when you were his age?" He was teasing her. He could easily guess the answer, but he was deliberately pushing her buttons, putting her on edge, knowing vulnerability within the safe circle of their embrace was a gateway to intimacy.

Blushing, she shook her head, biting her lip. He groaned inwardly. That always made him want to kiss her, and now was no different. "No…" she whispered. In truth, she had never given it much thought, absorbed in her studies and her father's practice as she was, and assuaging what curiosity she had in medical textbooks. Real life was so much different than those pencil drawings and medical explanations…

"But you had a talking to, didn't ya?" he murmured knowingly, his voice hoarse with sweet, mounting tension. His thumb kneaded her shoulder gently, and then his palm trailed warmly down her back, moving around her waist and pulling her in close against him, his strength, his warmth suffusing into her own skin as his fingers caressed her side.

"Yes, I suppose I did…" Her eyes fell to her coffee cup, remembering the kind brown eyes and gentle words that even still hadn't diminished her embarrassment. Her thoughts went back to the present, to Brian. "And what exactly did you tell him?" She sipped her coffee, desperate to feign normalcy, even as her heart raced and her skin ached for more of his touch.

As she spoke he nuzzled his nose in her hair teasingly, knowing what he was doing to her, his lips lightly brushing her neck, her smooth skin warm and powdery soft. He inhaled deeply, breathing in the fragrance of her soaps and perfume. So light and… home. Over time, her scent had become home to him, at once comforting and arousing, and the thought sent his heart on a rampage. He exhaled slowly, trying to focus his thoughts back on their conversation. He rested his chin on her shoulder as he spoke low, looking up at her with smoldering blue eyes.

"I told 'im there's no rush." His warm gaze caressed her features. "Told 'im to save most of it for marriage, for love within marriage, 'cause that's what makes it worthwhile." She pulled back from him enough to look into his eyes, her own aglow with affection and burning with love. He touched her chin with his thumb, resting his curled forefinger beneath it to hold her mesmerizing gaze, his smoldering gaze moving seductively between her eyes and her lips, and back again. "I told 'im until then, he's just gotta focus on finding the right girl," his thumb swept over her jaw, resting it on her earlobe as his gingers dug into the silken mass of her hair, "'cause that makes all the difference."

With that, his lips descended upon hers, alternately delving softly, intimately into her mouth and rubbing parted lips over hers. She pressed into him with abandon, her senses ignited by his touch, his kiss causing her to forget everything else. Deftly he hooked a hand under her knees and pulled her into his lap, his warm hand moving up her thigh and softly squeezing the slender flare of her hip, sending a quiver of pleasure through her. Her hands moved over his broad chest to his shoulders, before her arms wound around his neck as she gave herself up to his ministrations, and he lifted her easily from the steps, carrying her inside, two cups of coffee left forgotten in the Colorado night.