Later that day we returned home, Mark chattering all the while about the idea of running a wrestling school that I had put into his head. All I could do was nod and grin at his enthusiasm, the most he had shown about anything for some time. He was still in full flow when I heard my cell phone ringing in the living room and ran to grab it, pressing the button to listen to the voicemail someone had left for me. Mark, finally quiet, leant against the wall with his arms folded and his ankles crossed as he watched me listen.

Wincing, I rolled my eyes. "Oh, he is just loving this…" Mark cocked his head, giving me a questioning look as I dropped the phone back on the side table. "Glen. Looks like I picked up his watch in my gear somehow.

Mark snorted and dropped onto the couch. "If it'd been his PS2 you'd have had about twenty five messages by now."

"He tried ringing the apartment first and wants to know why the phone line is disconnected."

"Probably shoulda told him about that..."

"Last time I spoke to him I didn't know it would be. He's guessed where I am though and is gloating about being right." My eyes rolled again. "I don't have to tell you how unbearable he can be when he's right."

Mark chuckled slightly. "Yeah he can..." Shifting slightly he dropped a boot on the coffee table. "What uh... what'd he say?"

"Something along the lines of 'I told you so' several times." Sighing I dropped on to the couch next to him.

Immediately he snaked an arm round behind me. "What'd you all talk about?"

I puffed out a breath. "What happened a bit, and what he thinks is going to happen now."

Mark's head dropped to his chest. "Good lord... Doctor fuckin Glen..." Snorting he looked over at me. "I knew I caught him watchin Dr. Phil..."

"I did tell you the day I got back he had theories."

"What sort of theories..."

A rueful chuckle escaped me. "For starters he told me it would be no time at all before you had me moving in here full time."

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Uh huh... what else?"

Suddenly a little uncomfortable I shifted in my seat. "He... uh... seems to think you'll want more kids."

Mark stared blankly at me for a moment. "I uh... never thought about it."

Trying to adopt my normal attitude of ignoring it and hoping it would go away I shrugged a little. "Like I said, that's his opinion."

"I mean... I'm not gettin any younger..." he blustered slightly. "I came from a big family... and I guess I thought I might like one too but... once everything with Sara went to shit I sorta dropped it."

"So... essentially he's right..."

Mark blushed. "Yeah... he sorta is..."

I sighed softly, realising it wasn't going to be dropped just like that. "I told him I have views on kids. There are pretty strong restrictions on when I'd have them."

He echoed my sigh. "I'm not sayin let's have an army tomorrow..." The couch creaked under his weight as he leaned back.

Resolved now to having this conversation I turned to face him, tucking one leg underneath me. "The same restrictions apply to one or four. I've never planned to have kids. I've never really seriously thought about it at all."

"And I'm not sayin I'm dead set on more either. Amber's my angel... that's all I need."

I nodded, staring into the middle distance. "That's simple then."

Mark frowned at the look on my face. "What... talk to me..."

I shook my head and looked at him. "Nothing. I was just miles away."

Not necessarily convinced, he nodded slowly. "Besides, I'm not in the habit of knockin up my girlfriends." Gently he grazed my cheek with his knuckle. "I do have some honour... If we're ever gonna broach this subject, you'd have to marry me." The statement was ended with a grin.

No answering smile showed on my face as I looked up at him seriously. "Yes, I would."

"So it's settled then... No kids... not now..." His attempt at a nonchalant shrug came out as looking somewhat guarded. "One day at a time..."

I settled back into the couch. "Yeah..."

Mark frowned again. "What's goin on in that head of yours darlin? I'm not stupid..."

"That was the last subject that came up."

"With Glen?"

I nodded. "He's easy to talk to. If I need to talk to someone out there it's him now."

To give him his due Mark did his best not to show how relieved he was at that statement. "He's always been a good friend to me... He's very... insightful."

One of my resolves ever since coming off the drink and drugs had been to be as honest as I could with Mark. With everything I had done to give him little reason to trust me, it was as if I was trying to fight my way back somehow. With this in mind I glanced at him warily. "I do still see Dave and talk to him a bit but not like I used to. Besides, Glen knows you pretty well."

"Givin out my secrets is he?"

I shook my head. "No, no secrets. Just advice and opinions."

"He tell ya I'm a miserable old redneck with no manners and a taste for too much Jack?" Mark grinned forlornly.

A quiet chuckle was forced from me. "You might have expected that, but no." Taking a deep breath I became serious again as I looked over at him. "He also seems to think you'd want to marry me."

A slow grin worked its way over his face as he pulled me into his side. "Maybe..."

Snorting derisively I shoved at him, laughing. "Are you even capable of giving a straight answer, Calaway?"

A playfully injured look was my answer. "Of course I am..." He laughed. "I just like bein cryptic with you. You're so damn cute when you're frustrated."

Grumbling I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to look affronted. "Spend most of my time like that round you..."

Mark looked thoroughly pleased with himself. "I like ya cute."

"Easily solved. I just won't rise to the bait..."

"Oh I dunno about that... I can be very very irritating."

Determinedly I shook my head. "Nope... I can resist." No sooner were the words out of my mouth that he poked me in the forehead. Shifting slightly in my seat I did the best I could to ignore him but he simply did it again. Just in time I caught myself beginning to frown but it wasn't soon enough to stop him seeing it and, grinning merrily to himself, he hovered his finger just between my eyes. Giving in with no grace at all I growled at him. "If you want to get laid any time soon you'd better pack it in..."

Mark burst out laughing and bowled me over onto the couch. "Like you could refuse me baby girl..." To reinforce his point he rubbed his goatee against the side of my neck.

Shivering furiously I protested. "I could try..." Even to myself I sounded totally unconvincing.

He continued chucking mirthfully. "You know what they say... tryin is half the battle..."

"Arrogant git..."

"You love me..." Gently he nuzzled against my jaw.

A soft sigh escaped my lips. "Oh yes... I do."

Mark kissed me softly then glanced down at his watch. "I wanna call and say g'night to Amber... Be right back..." As he stood and headed for the kitchen I sat back, grabbing the remote and flipping through the channels although I was totally distracted from whatever was on the screen. A couple of minutes later he came back, the cordless phone to his ear, and sat next to me. "Of course angel face... hang on." I was startled when he thrust the phone towards me, grinning. "She doesn't wanna talk to me..."

I had a quick conversation with Amber, hearing all about the toy monkey that Katherine had got for her and the ride they had taken on the Ferris wheel, then handed the phone back to Mark and listened while he said goodnight. As he put the phone down he turned to me, smiling broadly.

"I think I'm gonna have my hands full with both of you here."

My eyebrow quirked up at him. "And why is that?"

"She's taken quite a liking to ya darlin."

"She's easy to get along with."

"She gets that from me ya know..." He chuckled happily even as I stared at him incredulously.

"Yeah, right..." I laughed.

"You're breakin my heart baby girl..." Shoving me playfully he stood and headed towards the kitchen again.

"Yeah, I can tell the ego is suffering..."

He returned with a slab of cake and collapsed beside me. "This is damn good..."

I eyed the piece which looked to be about a quarter of what I remembered making. "Is there any left?"

Still chewing he stared at me. "Of course there is... there was half a damn cake in there."

"I was just going to say if there wasn't I'd make another one tomorrow. Use up the frosting."

"Don't you dare..." A sidelong smirk crossed his face as he finished the cake and then kissed me, pressing me back into the couch as I returned it hard, pushing towards him as hard as I could until he pulled back and laughed, wiping some frosting from my cheek. "So we've got the night to ourselves..."

The feel of the icing on my face made me grimace a little, more at his inner child than anything else as I watched him lick it off his finger. "So we have..."

"So what should we do with it?"

Contemplating I looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Run naked round the house and swing from the curtain rails?" I sniggered.

His long frame stretched lazily. "I can try but I dunno if my hips can take all that swingin and runnin..."

Slowly I trailed a hand down his arm. "What did you have in mind?"

Mark shrugged but an evil little grin was showing. "Got plans for that frosting..."

Even without any more details than that my breathing rate started to kick right up as I fought to keep the tremors out of my voice. "Are you going to enlighten me?"

Suddenly he stood, pulling me to my feet with him. "C'mon..." Grabbing my hand he tugged me to our bedroom and gave me a soft shove down onto the bed. "Just be undressed by the time I get back here." Without another word he turned and left the room, leaving me staring after him. I knew I shouldn't do it but I was such a fool for him, so totally in love that I would do just about anything he wanted. Especially if it was going to lead to where I had an idea it would. Mark chuckled as he returned complete with the bowl of frosting and found me sitting naked on the end of the bed. "Ya know, I expected you to put up more of a fight."

"You were the one telling me I can't resist you."

"And ya proved me right." Setting the bowl on the bedside table he put a knee on the bed beside me and pushed me back into the mattress to kiss me. Eagerly I lifted my head to meet him, my hands resting on either side of his neck as he dropped his weight down onto me and grunted happily against my lips. Squirming slightly to get myself comfortable I rubbed my palms down over his shoulders, grinning against his mouth as he flexed his muscles under my exploring hands then wrapped his arms around me and hauled me up the bed. "Get comfy…" Reluctant to lose touch with him even for an instant I dug the tips of my fingers into his pecs before doing as he instructed.

Standing up Mark pulled his shirt over his head in one quick movement before sitting beside me, his fingers trailing gently along my shoulder and arm. The almost tickling sensation made me hiss even as my eyes roved freely over him. Leaning slightly away from me he picked up a little bit of the frosting on his fingertip and held it to my lips. Obediently I licked it off then closed my mouth over his finger, running my tongue over the tip.

"Mmm... that's nice..." Smiling he removed the bandana from his forehead and tied it over my eyes. "Be quiet now..." With a feather light touch the tips of his fingers grazed along the line of my jaw.

My body jerked as my sight was taken from me, limbs going stiff with a sudden nervousness. "What..."

Before I could finish the question he leant over and kissed me. "Shhh..." A sudden cold sensation dropped onto my shoulder followed by warmth as he dropped some frosting on my skin and licked it off with slow strokes of the flat of his tongue. Again I jumped, my head turning towards him as I came out in goose bumps. A fresh wave arrived as he blew a soft breath over my damp skin.

A breathy chuckle sounded close to my ear as he traced my collar bone and sternum with more frosting. "Who needs cake huh?" He followed the line with his tongue and I felt the bed move as he reached for more frosting.

"That's nice..."

"Uh huh..." He moved closer and licked gently at my lips, kissing me passionately when I lifted my head in search of his mouth, his fingers tracing slow shapes on my breasts. My body arched up into his hands as I kissed him back furiously, his palms cupping me as he kissed me harder and stretched out beside me. Now he was in easy reaching distance I reached out, running my hand up and down the hard expanse of his stomach, encouraged by the contented noises he made as he teased my nipples into tight little peaks and moved on to trace idle patterns on my stomach with more frosting.

As he again brushed over a ticklish spot the tip of my tongue poked through my teeth only to disappear quickly when he pulled the bandana free and I could look down my body at him, hissing sharply at the combination of feeling his tongue cleaning what he'd created and seeing what he was doing.

Mark looked up at me as he lapped the chocolate from my stomach and grinned. "Look like fun?"

I licked my lips. "Mmm... Do I get a go?"

"You want one?"

Once more I allowed my eyes to travel over his body. "Uh huh..."

Quickly he sat up on his knees. "C'mon then."

There was no need to tell me twice and I got to my knees as well, reaching for some frosting. I saw him smirk but he never moved a muscle as I smeared the sticky substance down one side of his chest and started to lick it off. His eyes burned into me however as he watched my every move, seeming to be savouring the feel of my tongue on his skin.

Finishing the job I licked my lips again. "Tastes better this way..." Reaching for more I moved down to his stomach.

Mark leaned backwards, bracing himself on his hands. "Yeah it does... I like the taste of you better." Busy as I was I simply smiled my agreement and bent to my task with short darting strokes. Mark gave a grunt of pleasure and ran a hand through my hair as I ran my tongue up from his belly to the base of his neck, then smeared some more up the side of his neck. Chuckling he swiped at it and smeared it over my chest instead before lifting himself up and over me, pushing me back down onto the bed to lick at it as I had done to him. The feel of his tongue on me again made me shudder, a soft groan coming from me.

"Definitely better off of you..." Again he reached; smearing haphazardly across my chest and stomach, his actions become more heated than before, less deliberate. Helplessly I arched up towards his mouth, groaning again.

Mark cleaned a little more chocolate from me then rose up suddenly, panting and fighting with his belt. That had me sitting up and reaching out to help him, my breathing harsh. His hands dropped as he let me work, a glint in his eye as he saw the fierce look in my eyes. The belt went quickly, the buttons of his jeans soon undone as well and I dragged the denim from him almost roughly in my enthusiasm, running my tongue up the front of one hip. Mark finished kicking the jeans from his legs and descended upon me, showering me with kisses and licks and smearing the frosting between us. Growling deep in my throat I gave him the same treatment.

Suddenly he rolled onto his back, his hand on his face and broke out laughing, pointing at my face. "Oops..."

I swiped at my cheek and looked at the chocolate on my fingers for a few seconds before grinning and wiping it down his cheek, sniggering madly at the childishness. Mark gasped and reached for the bowl, getting a good dollop and getting me clear in the face with it. Incredulously I stared at him then went for the bowl with both hands and gave it to him full in the face. Spluttering indignantly he pressed his face close to mine and kissed me wildly, covering us both in the gloop. Beyond caring I wrapped my arms around him and held on tightly. Laughing wildly he tried to pull away but his hands kept slipping. Echoing his laughter I clung tightly with my legs as well, refusing to allow him to escape.

"Woman! I'm all sticky!" Bursting out in a fresh wave of laughter he rolled over, trapping me underneath him. All I could do was laugh with him. Finally he managed to fight free a little and grabbed my wrists, holding them over my head as he shoved my thighs apart with his knees and dropped down to rest against me.

The atmosphere changed suddenly as I fought against him a little and snarled up at him. A wild smile was on his face but there was a definite fierceness in his eyes. "We're a fuckin mess..." Panting he dropped his head to kiss me as he pushed himself into me with an angling of his hips. My body rolled up to meet him and I hooked my legs behind his thighs. Mark gasped and trailed the tip of his tongue slowly up my cheek, pulling back and sliding in again. With another snarl I bucked up hard to meet him, a thrill going through me as he growled at the inference in my actions and again pulled back, this time slamming into me hard. I threw my head back into the pillows, grunting harshly and throwing my hips up to meet his again.

Mark bared his teeth and set a furious pace, releasing my wrists to brace himself against the pillows. Fighting to stay with him I raked my nails hard down his back. Throwing his head back he snarled as the pain shot through his back and shifted up to his knees, holding my hips against his as he thrust deep and hard.

"Oh... god..." Helpless to move against his strength I started to pant heavily.

"Ah Fuck Jade..." I could feel him fighting not to bite down as he dropped his head to my shoulder. I was really beyond caring by that point however and dug my nails into his forearms, my lips drawing back from my teeth. Mark started to shudder against me, his muscles no longer directly obeying his commands. My head darted forward and I bit him sharply at the junction of his neck and shoulder. "C'mon Jade... I can't..." In response to the plea in his voice I wound myself tight against him and angled my hips for maximum sensation. Groaning hard it was my turn to start shuddering underneath him. He gritted his teeth and panted against my neck. "That's... it..."

One final buck against him finished me off and I held myself rigid, trembling wildly and giving a choked little cry. Mark fell into a shuddering heap and pulled me down with him, our bodies still joined as his body jerked wildly in waves. Every spasm he went through sent another wave of sensation through me, my face pressed hard into his neck.

"Good... God... what the... hell was that?" he panted, fighting to regain his breath.

"That... was amazing..."

He buried his face in my neck and started to chuckle. "And... messy..."

Shifting slightly I grimaced. "Eww, sticky..." Mark burst into a full throated laugh, leaving my vainly trying to look affronted but giving up and cracking up with him.

"C'mon... shower again..." Still chuckling he attempted to hoist himself off the bed and failed miserably, falling backward again.

It was almost as much as I could do to drag myself to sit on the edge of the bed. "I think I might have bruises..."

"Me too..." Finally he succeeded in lifting himself, his hand going to his hip as he grimaced. Ignoring the fact that I was wobbling slightly too I eyed him concernedly as I got to my feet as well. Mark steadied me with a hand on my arm and then looked down at the bed. "Aw damn..."

Following his eye line I burst out laughing. "Guess we'll have to do something with that..."

He ran a hand through his hair, grimacing when it stuck in the chocolate. "Later..." Turning on his heel he headed for the bathroom, leaving me shaking my head at the mess we had made before following him. By the time I got there the water was running and he was in there already.

"We're so screwed up..." I laughed as I stepped in behind him. In reply he simply grunted and grabbed a rag to start getting the frosting off me, making me sigh happily. "But it seems to work."

"Yes it does..." Grinning, he mopped at his own face until I snatched the cloth from him to get the bits he'd missed. Content to let me work he just rested his arms on the shower wall. "This is nice..." I just made an assenting noise and continued amusing myself exploring his body with the rag, smiling softly when he shivered under my touch.

Reluctantly I eventually dropped the cloth. "All done..." Not wanting to stop touching him I let my fingers trail down his back. Mark took me by the shoulders and spun me round, grunting and removing a spot of chocolate we'd missed. Shuddering slightly at the memory I grinned up at him. "That was... different..."

"Different? Yeah I can't remember bathing myself in frosting before."

"Had a hell of an effect though."

He let out a low breath. "Oh God yes..." Smiling gently he kissed me. "You should bake more often."

"Maybe I will, when I'm home."

Moving again with that speed all of his own he trapped me against the shower wall with his arms. "You ARE home."

I looked up at him and ran my hands up his chest to his shoulders. "Yes... I am."

Again he smiled and kissed me. "Speaking of that... we should go get your stuff one of these days."

Nodding I dropped my head back against the wall. "Yeah. Shouldn't take long though."

"Tomorrow then, before Momma brings Amber home."

"Sounds good to me. Better go and do something with this bed if we want to sleep..."