Alone at Last - December 22nd

Somehow, Troy managed to talk Chad out of attending the party with the guys; how, he wasn't exactly sure.

It might have been the way he and Gabriella couldn't keep their eyes off one another since they'd gotten back to her mother's after her doctor's appointment. It might have been the way Gabriella kept thinking up excuses to get him alone for a few seconds here and there; or it might have been Taylor's insistence that he and Gabriella needed some 'alone time' so close to Christmas.

Whatever it was, Chad and Taylor were going to party with the Bears, leaving Gabriella and Troy alone for the first time in days - and Troy found he didn't mind one bit that his best friend would be hanging with his team without him.

With her mother out Christmas shopping - nothing big she'd insisted, since Taylor's presence was Gabriella's gift, and Chad and Taylor heading to the party, they were about to be left to their own devices... and at a loss (initially) for what exactly to do with the unexpected hours of uninterrupted time.

Taylor was upstairs with Gabriella getting ready for the party, leaving Troy and Chad downstairs to cool their heels. Chad had asked for, and obtained, the use of Troy's truck for the night. He figured, rightfully so, that it wasn't going to get much use. Besides, it wasn't as if they couldn't walk to their place if they chose not to remain at the Montez house.

"Are you sure about this Hoops?" Chad asked, taking a drink from the 7Up he'd raided from the fridge. "You can still come with, you know."

"I know."

There was a distracted edge to Troy's words that Chad didn't miss.

"Troy?"

"Hmm?"

Craning his neck, Chad tried to see what held his friend so riveted in the back yard that was close to the patio. Following Troy's line of sight, Chad snorted. Troy's gaze never left the hammock that was in clear view of the wall from where he was leaning and a decidedly whimsical tilt to his lips said he was remembering the other morning - likely before having gotten caught.

"You are so whipped, Hoops." Muttering under his breath, Chad tossed back the last of his soda and slapped the can down on the counter with a distinctive crunch, making his friend jump as his head whipped around. "Earth to Troy - best friend still in the house."

"Sorry, man. What'd you say?"

"Nothing important, apparently. So what're you and Gabby going to do while we're gone?" He phrased the question innocently enough, despite the sudden rush of color across Troy's cheek bones. "Charades?"

Troy coughed and glanced back out the window towards the hammock. "We'll probably take a walk."

"It looks like rain."

"So?"

Good point. Troy and Gabriella were probably more at home in the rain than any people Chad had ever met. "I will never understand why you two like the rain so much."

"It's not the rain," Came the instant reply complete with secretive half-smile. "Though it does have a certain appeal."

"If you say so. I still think you'd have more fun with us at the party; you're passing up a golden opportunity."

A silent shrug was all Troy cared to give in return; he'd had enough of the topic over the last couple of days. Changing the topic, he pushed away from the wall and turned his back on the yard - and the hammock that was as tempting now as it had been two days ago - he slid onto one of the stools at the island counter. "What time do you figure you and Taylor will be back? Gabriella's mom will want to know what time to expect her."

Ah, guy code - he understood what Troy was really asking; How much time do I have with my girl before you come barging through the door? "If you don't have an issue with your truck being here for the night, we figured we'd both crash here. With your parents gone, I can take the guest room and Gabby can crash with you." Chad tossed the can Troy's way. "If that works for you guys tonight."

"I think we'll manage," Gabriella informed him pertly from the doorway, drawing both of their gazes as Troy caught the can. She grinned. "Providing of course, that you don't call until morning."

"Wouldn't dream of it." The Redhawk assured her with a smirk, but Gabriella's gaze had already gone to Troy - and Troy was half out of his chair. The tension between the two of them was palatable and something that made even Chad feel like an intruder. It was an exasperated tension that had never been present in High School; but then, they hadn't been lovers in high school. "Where's Taylor?"

"She'll be down in a minute," Gabriella assured him, dragging her gaze away from Troy's. "You guys aren't going to do anything crazy tonight, right?"

"It's a dorm party."

"Exactly." was her immediate and arch reply. "Elizabeth and Elaine have told me all about Dorm parties - in more detail than I cared to hear."

"Elizabeth and Elaine?" With a glance Troy's way, he gauged with a glance that his friend wasn't too fond of them. "Friends of yours?"

"Classmates."

"But they tell stories - do you?"

"She did," Troy muttered darkly, leaving Chad with no doubt about whom and he couldn't help it; he laughed.

"Lemme guess, Hoops - they fell at your feet."

"Drooled on them is more like it," Gabriella returned testily, slipping further into the room and to Troy's side. "They weren't exactly circumspect in their approval."

"Among other things, I bet." Taylor added knowingly as she swept into the room. Her smile was infectious and the trio waiting for her returned it. "I still wish you and Troy weren't skipping out on tonight, Gabriella - we could be strangers together."

Chad slung an arm around Taylor's shoulders companionably and squeezed. "As if they'd be any use to us tonight if they did; they can barely keep their hands off each other."

Which was true enough; Troy was in the process of running the backs of his fingers down the exposed back of Gabriella's upper arm as he whispered something that was making her blush in her ear. Taylor and Chad shared a look before Taylor broke into the moment. "Can't you guys wait until we're gone at least? I mean, you might have to wait for another hour or two before you can use the balcony but come on!"

"Taylor!"

Gabriella's scandalized tone was worth it and Taylor simply grinned. Starting to steer Chad away, she blithly added, "I used to tell you to have fun with him, but now I know you've more than that in mind."

Her friend muttered something under her breath and Taylor grinned; Gabriella was so easy to tease. They'd reached the doorway, leading towards the front of the house and Gabriella and Troy still hadn't moved to follow - Chad stopping her with a squeeze of his arm before they left their friends in peace.

"Hoops!"

"Yeah?"

"You forgetting something?"

"Huh?"

"Am I going to have to hotwire your truck?"

Troy pulled his gaze away from his girl, clearly not having been paying any attention to what Chad had been saying to him. "What?"

Chad rolled his eyes. "Keys? For your truck?"

"Keys? Oh yeah, right." Digging into his pocket, Troy pulled out the aforementioned keys and tossed them to his friend. "Have fun."

Catching the keys, Chad nodded once and then steered Taylor away, tossing a "You too" over his shoulder - it was a comment they were both certain Troy and Gabriella didn't hear. As they opened the front door to leave, Troy's question was unmistakable.

"Just what did Taylor mean about the balcony?"

Pulling Chad out of the house and closing the door behind her before they could overhear, Taylor barely managed to get to the truck and inside before she burst out laughing. Chad, knowing she'd explain once they were away, shook his head and started the truck.

----------

"What do you think she meant?" Gabriella tossed back with a smile that would have bordered on brazen if there hadn't been hot color in her cheeks.

"Dreaming about me again?"

"Always." She linked her fingers through his as she smiled up into his eyes. "Did I hear you right? We're going for a walk?"

"If you want to - or we could stay in."

She swayed his way as their hands dropped to their sides, and Troy applied the tiniest bit of pressure to have her take an unseeing step back. Their bodies aligned as he moved with her. "Or play in the hammock?"

"Or the hammock," he was all solicitation, but Gabriella could see the flare of approval in his gaze for her suggestion as he pressed her back against the counter, his head dipping towards hers. "Or on the balcony..."

The sudden rush of heat swam through her veins at his heavy worded suggestion and she knew he was remembering what had happened the other night on that very balcony. Without thinking, she tilted her head to his unspoken question - inviting his kiss - and tried to lift her hands only to find them held prisoner. Troy didn't relinquish his hold as their lips met - but only barely.

He brushed the barest of kisses across her lips before leaving them. The angle of her neck exposed it completely, and his lips dipped to explore the smooth column as her eyes fluttered closed. Caught, his willing captive, she made a soft sound of protest when he still wouldn't relinquish her hands, but that concern was quickly banished as his lips found the sensitive place that made her knees buckle.

Pinned against the counter, she was completely reliant on Troy to keep her upright; and he obliged. Still keeping her hands captive, he slid his hands down and around the curve of her hips, across her backside and then under. Lifted off the ground with a single movement, her head lolled back on a sigh. It was only when his lips returned to hers a moment later tied with the familiar feeling of coiled desire low in her belly, that she once again became an active partisipant.

One leg curled upwards, over his hip, and brought them intimately together. He inhaled sharply and it was that distraction that allowed her the chance to free her hands. They slid up his body with appreciative precision, up and over corded muscles and into his hair. Tilting her head to the side, Gabriella opened herself to his kiss and kissed him back.

This kiss was what she wanted.

Hot and demanding, it was full of love and fire - a mixture of repressed tension and denied passions.

Troy's hands moved, one sliding along her leg to hook behind her knee - making a low sound of approval for what she'd chosen to wear as his finger tips slid briefly over the bare skin of her upper thigh on their way - to keep her in place. The other tugged at the back of her shirt to pull it from the waist band of her skirt. "I've missed you," he breathed, the words almost lost against her lips. Her neck arched as his lips left hers to trail across her jaw and down the curve towards her ear. "I thought they'd never leave."

She laughed, only it was cut off by a gasp as he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. "Troy!"

"I want you."

There was no doubting that fact - and she wanted him too - but...

"Here?"

He lifted his head, his eyes a dark, story blue. "Anywhere. Here. The garden. The hammock. The balcony..." her shudder of appreciation caught him and he smiled, kissing her quickly. "You drive me crazy."

"Same he- Troy!" He'd palmed her breast - his hand having slid up the expanse of skin between her lower back, around her side and to her chest with surprising swiftness - and flicked his thumb over the tight nipple. Arching into his touch, Gabriella found her shirt suddenly felt too restrictive; too tight. She moaned softly, her head falling back as his lips found a sensitized spot low on her neck where the collar of her blouse stopped him.

His fingers and lips teased her, the tip of his tongue dipping to brush the hollow at the base of her neck. The open button at the top of her blouse enticed him, and he couldn't resist exploring with teeth, lip and tongue

Gabriella's hands tightened in his hair as his lips brushed across her skin. His fingers dug into her thigh and she shifted, rubbing against him with a gasp as his lips closed over her cloth covered nipple. His other hand slid downwards, leaving the cover of her shirt and over her hip. Grasping the fabric, he lifted it upwards and - with a soft groan - slipped his hand between them.

The cloth against his skin was damp, and he didn't hesitate. Lifting his head back to hers, Troy claimed her lips in a searing kiss as his fingers delved beneath the fabric. Gabriella clung to him as he touched her, her head spinning with almost overwhelming sensation. There was an urgency to his touch that had been present that night on the balcony; an urgency she shared. More than anything that moment she wanted to feel him again; to be naked in his arms - to have him inside her.

As he slipped a finger inside her, and then two, stroking her from the inside out, she moaned against his lips. She was trembling and panting by the time he pulled back to rest his forehead against her. The fires were licking through her veins, a ball of tension low in her stomach painfully tight as she writhed in an attempt to ease it - to no avail.

Both of them were gasping for breath as Troy twisted his wrist to make her arch again.

But it wasn't enough.

"Troy... I can't... I need..."

He didn't respond with the words she expected; but they were words she understood. "Right front pocket."

Almost choking on a half-laugh, half-sob of relief, she released her hold on him and her hands dove for the location he'd specified even as his lips touched the base of her neck once more. Fumbling around his arm, she dipped her fingers into the pocket - and brushed the foil wrapper she expected to find. Troy inhaled sharply, the breath sucking against her skin as she tugged it free.

It was only then realized her feet were hanging off the floor and likely had been for some time - Troy held her pinned against the counter at a level that was easy for them both. But she could feel the tremors in his arms; despite his strength, their passions for one another were still new enough to sunder them. Reaching between them once more, Gabriella fumbled with the zipper that was caught between the back of his hand and the hard ridge of his desire.

His hold on her tightened, making it all the more impossible, and she pushed against him when her hand became trapped. "Troy... I can't..."

Something in her tone brought his head up and their eyes locked. Gabriella struggled against the inferno that continued to burn within her; Troy hadn't stopped stroking her simply because she'd retrieved their protection. Without a word, he backed away from the counter. His gaze left hers for a fraction of a second to glance around - and Gabriella felt them falling his way.

They didn't fall long before their momentum was arressted by one of the kitchen chairs. With Troy beneath her, her feet now reaching the floor, Gabriella reclaimed his lips and lifted herself far enough away to undo his jeans. A lift of his hips brought them closer as he shucked them to his knees. Skin met skin as his hand eased away and Gabriella broke the kiss unconsciously. Sliding down his length, but not taking him within her body, she felt him shudder beneath her - and knew she couldn't continue to tease.

The time was now.

Troy fumbled with her hand, claiming the little foil packet as she levered herself away again. It took only seconds before his hands returned under her skirt and once more pulled the fabric away from her center. Their eyes locked - stormy cobalt blue to near black - and he eased into her.

"Gabriella..."

Her name on his lips, she'd later claim, drove her to it. The sound was the most enticing - erotic - thing she'd ever heard and she didn't want him slow. Taking control, she slid swiftly down, sheathing him completly within her. Troy gasped, his hands clenching convulsively at her and she heard fabric tear even as she paid it no mind.

Using the chair back for leverage, she began to ride him. Slow had no part in this joining as she circled her hips, testing the position, and slid forward and then back again, up and down, grinding into him and creating the friction they both seemed to crave.

But they were both wound so tightly, their desires too near completion that it couldn't last long.

Within moments, Troy pushed Gabriella over the edge with a strangled "Troy!" - and in doing so, her body convulsed around his and drove his release. Drawn as taught as bow strings, they clutched one another before collapsing in the chair practically boneless. Her forehead touched his briefly before sliding to his shoulder.

Chests heaving, they stayed where they were for long moments, Troy running trembling hands up and down her back. It was only then, as he was coming down from the euphoric high and basking in the fact they were still joined intimately, that he consciously noticed that they were practically fully clothed.

Gabriella stirred in his arms, and he turned his head to press a soft kiss to her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open and a soft, sated smile crossed her lips as she lifted one hand languidly to trace his lips. "Mmm, better."

Troy laughed softly. "I'll take that as a compliment." Brushing his lips against hers with a smile of his own, he couldn't resist teasing her. "I think you like that position after the hammock."

She didn't deny it; there was something very primal about having Troy at her mercy and stretched out for her pleasures. "And I see that you learned from it too."

"You mean the front pocket thing?"

She nodded, her smile almost impish despite its lethargy. "After the hassle it was to get out of your back pocket, I'm surprised you didn't keep it in your shirt."

"Who says I didn't?"

Blinking, she slid her hand up his chest - and he could see her finally register the fact they were still almost fully clothed - and into his shift pocket. She laughed, withdrawing another foil square and arched her eyebrows. "Decided to come prepared?"

"Better to have too many than not enough; and even now I don't think I have enough on me."

"And just how many more do you have, Wildcat?"

He brushed a kiss against her nose with a wink. "One for each pocket."

She laughed, but they were already starting to recover and she could feel him stirring within her as her muscles contracted.

Easing her from his lap, Troy hissed as he slid free of her intimate embrace; much as he wanted to remain, it wasn't a good idea. Gabriella regained her feet shakily, feeling the torn fabric rubbing against her inner thighs and the sound suddenly made sense. Troy had torn her underwear - and she hadn't felt a thing.

As Troy regained his feet, he froze as Gabriella lifted her skirt - and proceeded to remove the strip of destroyed fabric. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to look away from the delightful picture she presented. Who'd have thought a skirt would be so distracting? Turning away to put himself to rights, he attempted to banish the image from his mind - with little success.

Their clothing put to rights, Troy kissed her lingeringly. "Go put something on that won't distract me all the way home, would you?"

"You mean something that isn't a skirt without-?" She held up the ruined panties.

"Exactly." He couldn't resist kissing her again, before reluctantly letting her go - even thought their fingers stayed twined together. "Did you want to shower before we head home?"

"Only if you're going to join me."

He groaned with the immediate mental image her words conjured, his fingers convulsing about hers. "If I join you, we won't be leaving any time soon."

"We have some time to kill before we can make use of the balcony." Reaching for him, Gabriella hooked a finger of her free hand through one of his belt loops near his zipper - and could feel the truth to his statement. After the last few days, that was just fine with her. Taking a step back, towards the doorway, she smiled as she drew him with her. "I'll wash your back if you'll wash mine."

Folding like a deck of cards, Troy groaned and let himself be led towards the stairs.