A/N: Rated M for a few F-bombs and various language. Not a ton. But rated that way for Sexy Times as well. I believe those of you unsatisfied with last chapter should be happier with this. I would hope anyhow.

A/N: There is a small LoVe scene for those of you who are wondering where they went! I promise, both couples are important to me in this story. Also, this may not be the best. But I have been going over and over this chapter and this is it. I have to move on. So I do hope that the dialogue here is good enough.

Enjoy!

Chapter 14

When Veronica walked into the apartment to see the water pitcher out of the fridge, a half-eaten banana sitting on the counter, and Dick's shoes under the bench, she had a bad premonition as to where both Dick and Mac were, and it wasn't down at the pool. Recalling all the long looks she had caught between the two of them, she knew instinctively that they were both in Mac's room.

Immediately she had knocked on Mac's door, calling out her name in concern. There was an awkward shuffling behind the door, and within a few minutes Dick opened the door, dressed, thank God, with a t-shirt and shorts in hand. He glared at her, his face flushed. "What, Ronnie? Mac's in the shower, I came in here to change. I don't think she can hear you."

Suspiciously, Veronica tried to see past him, but Dick's tall frame filled the doorway. He stalked past her, tightly shutting the door before she could see inside. Although the shower was obviously running, she knew that something was off. Turning, she watched as Dick stomped to the hallway bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Five minutes later, he came out, changed, slacks and shirt in hand. He dropped them next to the coffee table and sat down on the couch.

Veronica observed his choppy movements, recognizing the actions of a sexually frustrated man. She came to sit adjacent of him in the lounge chair. Not saying anything, she waited. He resolutely ignored her, grabbing the remote control, turning the television on and immediately flipping through the channels.

"Anything good on?"

His eyes flicked to her. "Is there something you wanted to watch?"

"No. But I have a question."

Dick stared at her for a beat. "You really just live, eat, and breathe your cases, don't you? When do you ever just relax?"

Tilting her head, she clucked her tongue. "Dick. I'm a Mars. This is relaxing." When he glowered at her, she said, "Look, it has nothing to do with the case. Turn the TV off."

Pressing the power button on the remote extra firmly, Dick set it down on the coffee table and glared at her sullenly. "All ears, here."

"I want to know about you and Mac."

He blinked. "What's there to tell?"

"Come on, Dick. I'm not stupid. As much as you wish I were, you know me too well. Quit Dick-ing off with my friend. "

"I don't kiss and tell, dearest. I have nothing to say." He set his eyes straight on her. "If you want in-fo," he said the 'fo' with a rounded POP, "talk to Mackie."

Throwing her hands into the air, Veronica sighed. "Fine. Fine. But I will tell you this, Ri-chard," she said the second syllable with a similar POP to it, "You need to watch yourself with her. I'm a bear-cat when it comes to my friends. And she's spent the last decade getting over a Casablancas. I am in no mood for another ten years of a tortured-soul Cindy Mackenzie. Lay off. The last thing she needs is a player."

Dick sat up, scowling deeply. "How is this any of your business? Mac is a grown woman. If we decided to screw on the top of her car during rush hour traffic, it couldn't be less of your business. Why is it your personal mission to keep her away from me?"

"Because you're Dick Casablancas. It goes without saying why."

"Really." Dick scoffed. "Enlighten me anyway."

"You really want to dig into the logistics of why?" Veronica asked scathingly. "Are you a complete moron to not know why for years I could barely stand the sight of you?"

Dick visibly paled, his eyes flicking toward Mac's door. "That has absolutely nothing to do with anything."

"Oh, really, Dick? The fact that you roofied me and then brought me into a room and left me alone with your brother has absolutely nothing to do with anything?" She shook her head in disgust. "You really are a moron. You think that I would ever encourage you, of all people, to be with Mac, when I know for a fact what kind of person you are?"

"You know nothing, Veronica," Dick argued, twisting in his seat. "When that happened, there was a lot at play there that you knew nothing about. And I have tortured myself for years over that. You think I don't regret that night and everything that led up to what happened with Cassidy?" He looked at her beseechingly, "I'm sorry it happened. I had no idea that it had…until…until you did." His voice cracked. "I swear, I thought there was no way Beav would do it." He mumbled something under his breath.

She leaned forward to hear him, "What did you say?"

Something flashed in his eyes before he broke eye contact. "I said, I thought he was gay."

There was a sharp gasp, and both Veronica and Dick looked up to where Mac stood, having just come out of her room. "Gay?"

Cracking her door open enough to hear the conversation in the living room, Mac listened with increasing apprehension. She knew a good portion of why Veronica disliked Dick, but to hear them speaking about it made her ill. It wasn't something she let herself dwell on much, just because it was so hurtful and unimaginable, what Cassidy had done to her friend. All before Mac had even known him. And then he had spent two entire years acting as if it hadn't even happened…and Dick had been a part of it.

When the word 'gay' had come out of Dick's mouth, Mac couldn't stand it any longer, she came out of her room in shock, stepping out so lightly neither Dick nor Veronica had heard her until her voice had betrayed her presence. "Gay?"

Running his hands through his hair, Dick rested his elbows on his knees, his hands stopping on top of his head, not looking at either girl. "I've never said anything, but surely you wondered, too?"

Mac had wondered. In fact, she was all but positive it was true. She remembered the times Cassidy and she would try to be together that he would get nervous and it would just be over. Watching Dick sitting on the couch, miserable, Mac whispered, "Yes."

"That's still no excuse for what you did," Veronica pushed.

Dropping his hands, Dick tapped his fingers on the coffee table in front of him. He looked straight at Veronica. "I was seventeen, Ronnie, and stupid. Ever heard of that?" He ground out, "Certainly there's something you've done in your life that you regret. That, if given the chance, you would go back and undo." Blowing out a breath, Dick sat up straighter. "I have lots of those. But one of the big ones is that night. How was I supposed to know that Madison would hand that drink straight over to you? That in itself is inexcusable, and I'm ashamed I put myself in the ranking with the world of people like Mercer Hayes. Seventeen-year-old boys don't always think with the brain in their heads. It's not something I would ever do again, not something I did normally. But when you're young and horny, you don't always get that there's another day and another girl to be had, and you don't know you can afford to be patient." He flicked his gaze to Mac, who was listening and watching him intently, but he dragged his eyes back to Veronica. "And as for what happened that night with Beav, that was just plain wrong, and I know it. I knew it then. But Sean and I both thought that Beav would be out of that room in five seconds flat, and we could just have a good laugh at Beav's expense. And Carrie said he puked on her shoes, so yeah, we thought that's what happened. He never acted like he did it. I know it's a piss poor excuse, but that's all I got. I'm a fuck-up." Dick couldn't seem to meet either of their eyes. "I honestly thought he couldn't do it."

"Well he did, Dick. And so that's your reason why what's going on here is my business."

"It's been twelve years, Veronica! Will you ever just get over it?" Dick's voice began to rise in exasperation. "I'm sorry, Ronnie. I really am sorry."

Veronica stood up. "I'm working on getting over it, Dick. But that was more than a year of hell for me, highlighted by what happened that night. Thank you for your apology, but honestly? Honestly you're not here because I want you here. I'm doing this for Logan. For some reason, you're like a brother to him, so I have to put up with you. I don't have to like it. Mac, when you're done here, I still have a spot on the floor that's got your name on it." Veronica paused to give her an enquiring stare before heading to her room, leaving Mac to deal with Dick gaping after her.

He turned his attention to Mac, apprehension in his eye. She stepped closer to the couch, but not near enough to sit, so Dick stood up to stare at her from across the coffee table, saying, "I wish you wouldn't look at me like that."

"How am I supposed to look at you?"

"Like you're not judging me for a drunken stupid-ass mistake that happened twelve years ago, like the way Veronica probably will for the rest of her life."

"She's been hurt by a lot of people. Can you really blame her?"

"I don't want to talk about Veronica," Dick said, stepping around the table and towards her. "She's not what matters right now."

His eyes were piercing into her as if trying to see into her soul. She turned away, breaking the contact. "She matters."

Mac could hear his frustrated blow of air. "Fine. She matters, yes. But does how she feel have to affect how you feel? What we were doing in there, Mac, had nothing to do with Veronica. It had nothing to do with Cassidy. It had everything to do with us. Can't you see that?"

"There is no us," Mac told him stubbornly.

"We've had this argument before, Mac, and I'm telling you again: This is happening. It's happening right now, for God's sake. I've been here, in this teeny apartment, sleeping on this rickety old couch for days and you really buy that it's just because the doctor told me to?"

"You said it was for the foundation." She risked a glance at him.

He had come to stand about two feet away, his head tipped down, earnestly looking at her. "Well, yes, it was for the foundation, but I knew right away that…that I could have anyone I wanted to stay with me. I can hire someone. But I chose to stay here. Why do you suppose that is?"

When she didn't answer, he stepped back, looking her up and down, his eyes taking in her plain garb, eyes ablaze. "Fine. Fine. Don't answer me. I don't need an answer right now. I've waited long enough. I suppose one more night won't matter. Go run to Veronica. I'm assuming you'll be sleeping on her floor, so if you don't mind, I'm sleeping on your bed. You're welcome to join me. Any time." With that, Dick, giving her one last burning look, stepped around her and into her room, leaving the door cracked open enough for her to see him roughly throwing back the covers of her bed and then storm into the bathroom, leaving it up to her to decide whether to join him or not.

Veronica was waiting for her when Mac finally stepped into the back room. Mac met her eyes briefly, breaking the contact before she could see the condescension in her friend's eye. Closing the door, she stalked to the closet, opening it and grabbing down the extra blankets that she had used a few nights before, the first night Dick had spent with them. Still not looking directly at Veronica, she began arranging the bedding on the floor.

Mac was frustrated. Frustrated with herself. She was frustrated with Veronica. She was frustrated that the night had ended up with her on the floor in Veronica's room, too timid to join Dick in her room. Now that the moment had ended and her head had cleared, she was still wishing that she were with him, being warmed by him, forgetting reality. Instead, however, she had chosen to not disappoint her friend and had come running, hiding from what she would rather have.

"Did you have sex with Dick?" Veronica's voice interrupted her reverie, cutting through the silence in the room. "Because I've got to tell you, Mac, I've always pegged you as smarter than that."

A exasperated laugh burbled out of Mac's throat as she continued with her task. "You are overstepping your rightful bounds of curiosity there, V."

"You're the one that came to me, that first night he was here, freaked out that he was in your bed, and that you knew you needed to stay away from him. What do you expect me to think here?"

"I guess I'm a little more protective of how I'm feeling now. I don't want to talk about it."

There was a momentary silence. "Dick will hurt you, Mac."

Pausing as she fluffed the pillow, Mac sat up, turning to glare at her. "Who says I'm not aware of it?"

Taken aback at the fierceness of Mac's words, Veronica visibly pulled back. She held her hands up in defeat. "Look, I'm not trying to piss you off. I just don't want to have to pick up the pieces when he's through with you."

"Who sets out to get hurt? Besides, I know exactly what Dick's about. He's a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kind of guy. I'm over that. It's not like I'm asking for roses and a ring." She grimaced. "Not even a freaking date. Although," she added, roughly unfolding a blanket to spread it out, "if you can count purchased items, he did buy me a drink tonight, I suppose." Finishing making her makeshift bed, Mac twisted herself so that she could sit to face Veronica.

"Wow. I guess if you're on the same page…"

"Why do you seem to think I would be so stupid think that Dick wants any more than a notch in his belt? I just wanted an hour. An hour to forget about this hell I've been going through." A look of understanding passed in Veronica's eyes. "I know he doesn't want anything long-term."

Veronica gaped at her. "Do you? With him?"

Realizing what she had just said, Mac broke eye contact, feeling her face heat with embarrassment. "That's not what I meant. I just meant I'm not expecting anything out of him except…sex. That's all it would be. I know that's all he wants, and I guess if we both get what we want, there's nothing to worry about. No string's attached. I didn't ask him for the moon or anything. We'd both walk away in the morning."

"Mac." Her tone was serious. "I'm sorry I interrupted now."

Letting out a harsh laugh, Mac rolled her eyes. "That's not true. You can't stand him."

"Just because I can't stand the guy doesn't mean you have to not like him. If you're into one night stands and you like him enough to…well, I can try to tolerate it. The good thing about a one-night stand is I only have to deal with one awkward breakfast the morning after…and I've been doing that all week, so what's new? I know that comfort, even for a night, goes a long way when dealing with what all we're dealing with here. You've been under an extreme amount of pressure. But that's why I worry, because Dick…could seriously take advantage of that. And hurt you. Hurt you badly. I don't want that for you." Veronica chewed her lip. "Just…be careful, Mac. He's a Casablancas. Are you sure that's the best thing for you?" Shaking her head, she held a hand up. "Actually, don't answer that. It's absolutely none of my business. I've spoken my piece and I'm done." Her eyes half-closed in jest, "As long as you are aware that Dick's track history suggests that he may have an STD or two and a few kids floating around somewhere," she smiled when Mac began to laugh, "He's just not the serious type. I don't want you getting your hopes up…he's not really into serious relationships. But I guess if you want him, who am I to keep you from it? You know what he did back then. You know more about Dick than any of us, save Logan. And Logan is nothing if not protective of Dick. But I…I just mostly don't want to have to pick the pieces up if and when he crushes you."

"I don't plan on him crushing me. I am fully aware of what he's like." Mac felt her anger melting away as all her confusion came bubbling out. " I know he's the temporary type. I know it, but there's just something about him that irresistible to me. I really don't know what I'm doing here. Usually, I'm in control, but this? This is uncharted territory."

"He's not who I want for you." Veronica paused and then added, reflectively, "But Logan's not who my dad ever wanted for me…not to mention what you or Wallace wanted. Sometimes all that matters is what we need in the moment. I'll get over it, I suppose. But honestly, I wish you could choose someone more…vanilla." Veronica laughed. "I've tried vanilla, and though it's easier to watch someone with vanilla….I've always been more of the Rocky Road type."

Mac smiled back. "Logan's not so much Rocky Road anymore...and I never minded him, even when he was. You two work well together. "

"Well, I do hope he can't be defined as Vanilla."

"No. Not at all." Mac grinned. "How many more days?"

"We're at month. Exactly." Veronica brushed that aside. "Anyway, we're talking about you and Dick."

"There is no me and Dick. I had a moment of weakness, and it's…it's over."

Veronica laughed. "I had a moment of weakness with someone that I hated and I still love him, eleven years later. Sometimes we don't get to choose. I just hope that you're careful. Your moment of weakness could possibly be just a quick lay for him."

Alarm shot through Mac. "No one said anything about love, V."

Veronica just looked at her. "Mac. I've seen the way you've been looking at him. I'm telling you, tread lightly."

They turned the lights out not long after, hoping for sleep, but Mac lay staring at the ceiling for a long time, mulling over what her best friend had said. Mac had thought she was being careful with how she was around Dick and that she had been guarding herself more than that. Apparently not. Terrific.

Veronica could feel the warmth on her skin, the feel of lips running along the base of her throat, the raking of fingertips along her arms and down the length of her torso. She gasped, the feel of their joining making her breathless. She opened her eyes to see Logan's warm brown eyes gazing into hers, a satisfied smile lingering on his lips as he leaned in to graze his mouth across hers. Lifting up, he said, "It's been too long."

Veronica sighed in contentment, her arms pulling him closer into her. She could hear his heart beat thudding lightly in her ear. Meeting his lips, she kissed him deeply, as if to suck his soul into her. She felt…lost inside his arms, but home at the same time. No one else could make her feel this serene. She never wanted it to end.

Logan pulled from her then, lying on his side, pulling her to face him. He stared at her and brushed a stray hair from her eyes, tucking it behind her ear, his deep brown eyes almost black in the light. "Six months felt like sixty years, knowing you were here waiting for me."

A smile played on her lips. "Nine years has nothing on one hundred and eighty days." Her eyes wandered over his face, taking in every line and contour, imprinting them to her memory. His hair was cut short, a requirement of the Navy and he was tanned from too much time in the sun. Logan's eyes were crinkled in amusement, watching her watch him. "What? Can't my eyes adore you?" She asked, pouting.

In answer, he tipped his head to capture her lips, rising up to cover her body with his. Deepening the kiss, he took her warmth, pulling away lightly to rub his cheek across hers, his stubbled-skin feeling wonderful as he dragged kisses down her neck, to plant a deep, tingling kiss at her collar bone.

Tears suddenly sprang to her eyes and a cry tore from her throat. There was something…not right about this moment, something niggling at the back of her mind. Her head began to twist back and forth….

The moonlight woke Veronica; she was bathed in a fine sheen of sweat. Her eyes glanced down to where Mac lay on the floor, thankfully still deeply asleep. Veronica wondered if she had called out, hoping not. Taking in deep breaths, she realized that her tears were not just in her dream; they had actually begun to leak from her eyes. Sitting up, she reached for her laptop that sat between her nightstand and bed. She flipped it open and booted it up, logging onto her email and began writing:

Dear Logan,

I miss you. Ridiculously miss you. I just dreamed of you here…and I woke up crying. Less than a month to go and I'm slowly going insane. I'm praying you are all right on your mission and that you return safely to my arms.

I loved your gifts. I loved your letters. They were all perfect, and I can't wait to wear that dress…actually, I can't wait for you to rip it off me. Do you have suggestions of where we should stay when you return? I have a feeling we won't want to make the drive back to Neptune…even if you want to, I don't think I can make it back, fyi. I seriously hope that Dick hasn't planned some crazy bash that night, but if he has, I'm calling dibs right now. And I have veto power over all others.

We have been hard at work with both Dick and Madison's cases. Tomorrow we are going to talk to Madison's family about some developments, and hopefully wrap that up soon. It seems like it just might be close, but one never can tell.

Dick's case is starting to…blow up, actually. I'm starting to worry about his safety, and about who is after him. We just found a connection to The Castle—from Hearst. Do you remember anything about them? They're the ones directly involved with…my tape from then. And now it looks like they are trying to keep Dick from going forward with his foundation that he has been trying to start. We're just now getting into it, but it's not looking as if this is a simple case of too much alcohol.

I wish you were here, right now. Dick is staying with us, like you asked…but we've found out that he isn't really a danger to himself. There seems to be an underlying worry that someone really has it out for him. Who knows how dangerous it really is, but we're being cautious. We all need to sit down and talk about the course of the next few days, because Dad and I are probably going to need to leave town for Madison's case, and I doubt he'll want to go along. It will involve a flight and we can only charge the client so much…so it would it have to be up to him.

I can't wait to take some needed time off when you get here. I've already talked to Dad about a break, and he seems good with that idea. So start thinking of all the places you can take me to show me off, wink, wink. Actually, think of all the places that deliver, because I think we should just plan to spend the entire time locked in a room somewhere.

Less than a month by my clock! I am sooooo glad that the countdown is actually attainable now.

Spanning continents. Love you.

Veronica

Reading over her words, Veronica pressed send, wondering just when he might actually read it, wishing, not for the first time that she could just transport herself with the words to where he was, to crawl into his arms and just be with him, even for a night.

Flipping through her photo files on her laptop, she found a file labeled 'LoVe,' opened it and went through each picture, ones that she had scanned from years ago and ones from recently, pictures from their short two weeks from getting back together and to the time he deployed. There were other pictures that she stored there, ones that he had forwarded of him on the Air Craft Carrier and some from their time apart over the course of nine long years.

Staring at the date at the bottom of her screen, she rejoiced in the knowledge that in less than thirty days, she would be physically in his arms and not imagining any longer. Eventually, she slept.

Morning came faster than Mac was prepared for. She woke well before Veronica did and quietly left the room, heading to her own room, mentally preparing herself before knocking on the door lightly and letting herself in. She had done a lot of thinking while trying to go to sleep the night before, and as much as she had told Veronica that the moment had passed, the truth was, it had not passed. She was still a bundle of nerves and energy, all senses hyper-aware of everything around her.

After talking with Veronica, thoughts of the past few days and conversations kept going around like a reel in her head. Just the fact that Veronica could understand why Mac was weakening around Dick made Mac weaken that much more. But there was still a hesitant part of her, part of her that scared her to death to give too much to him. Veronica had a point when she said the Dick wasn't into long-term relationships…but, Mac realized, the same could almost be said of her. Anytime anyone got too close, she found some excuse to break it off. The last boyfriend she had, had been more than a year ago, a computer geek that worked at Sun Micro Systems with her. That had been part of the reason she had taken the Kane Software job, to get away from Collin. He was completely the opposite of the man she normally was interested in, but they had a lot in common, and that had been the reason for their first date. Suddenly they had been on five, then six, then countless other dates. She hadn't even noticed that he was all of the sudden thinking they were exclusive (which, truth be known, they were, but it freaked her out when he said it). She had promptly come up with an excuse to not make their dates and started to dodge him in the hallways at work. And that, she found out the hard way, is why you do not mix business with pleasure. Completely awkward.

Within weeks she had made the switch to Kane Software. And from then until now, she had been on a total of two dates with two different men, never bothering to call either man back. She just hadn't been interested. There was nothing there to be interested in. It seemed to take too much time to muddle through all their blabbering's to get to the meat of the conversation. They just weren't what she was looking for. Honestly, she hadn't given much thought into what she was actually looking for, but she realized now that it was a look that she was searching for, one that would make her toes curl. Tonight, she had felt that curl. But the look had been from Dick. And as much as she appreciated that he created that response, she was still a lot freaked out by the revelation. She knew that just because she had been searching for that look…in all likelihood, he had not been. Why would he? There was just no way. He had access to all sorts of women, and she would just be another conquest for him. Mac would just have to be satisfied with what he gave her.

Shutting the door quietly, she looked over to the sleeping form of Dick buried in her bed. She could see that he hadn't been lying about liking it hot in his bed; the only part of him visible was the crop of his blond hair on the pillow. Mac stepped silently to the edge of the bed, wondering what exactly she should do.

Decisively, she pulled her top off of her, and the sweats were next to go. She was left in nothing but a sports bra and panties, and, deciding to not look too desperate, left those on, climbed into the bed next to him, underneath the light comforter and top sheet. He was on his stomach, completely out of it. She smiled to herself as she tucked herself into the crook of his arm.

It took him a few minutes to sense she was there. Before he stirred, she tipped her mouth into the side of his chest to place a soft kiss there, her arm snaking around his back. Dick twisted to his side, coming alive beneath her, bringing his arms up and under her, pulling her into him, pressing her tightly into his chest. He was clad in only boxer briefs, and she could the feel of the smooth fabric rubbing into her thighs as he crushed her against him, bringing his mouth to hers, almost inhaling her. His tongue made quick work of invading her mouth. His hand ran up and down the length of her, fingertips pushing the fabric of her bra up and over her breasts, touching her there. A sigh escaped her and she arched into him, relishing the heat that his body was radiating. Pulling at her, Dick rolled onto his back, bringing her with him until Mac sat astride him, looking down into his face. His eyes were closed, his hands roaming her body, pushing her closer into him. Mac leaned down to kiss his lips, and abruptly he stiffened and pulled his lips away from hers, eyes popping open.

He became completely awake all at once and he stared at her. "You're real."

"Last time I checked, yeah." She smiled at his shocked expression.

He rose up to meet her halfway, hands wrapping around her waist to tug her into his body, his mouth seeking hers hungrily, dropping to kiss her throat, lowering even further. She wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing herself closer to him still, hands raking down his back as his mouth trailed down to capture a breast in his mouth, causing a gasp of pleasure from her. Mac grabbed fistfuls of his hair, pulling and tugging as his mouth worked its magic.

His hands were everywhere: running down her back, into her hair. Pausing at the band of her panties he tore his mouth away to look at her in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

Breathing heavily, she tried to ignore his question, choosing instead to try and push him back onto the bed, but Dick was having none of it. Taking hold of her wrists, he pulled himself out from under her to really look at her. "Mac?"

She gave him as teasing a look as she could muster. "Just…finishing what we started." His eyes were dilated and she was surprised at his control. Trying to distract him, she pulled her bra up and over her head, flinging it across the room and then reaching for his head, bringing him again towards her waiting breasts. Momentarily sidetracked, Dick nuzzled her there, rubbing his face into her, nipping and licking her lightly. Franticly, she arched herself further into his mouth, and he growled in approval, suddenly cupping her and flipping her over, so she lay on the bed, and Dick atop her. His thigh nudged her legs apart to rest between them, lightly rubbing her center. Again, he pulled back to look at her. "Mac?"

"Can we just not talk?" She finally asked him, panting, trying to kiss him, "I really don't want to stop."

His eyes crinkled with humor, pulling away from her a little. "Yeah, I got that. But…"

Here it was. Dick had changed his mind. Her body was not ready to stop, and here he was telling her that he didn't want to. Her brain was combating about why he wouldn't want to so when he told her, "We need a condom," and all she could think of to do was to give a sharp cry of relieved laughter, climbing out from under him and digging into her nightstand, producing what he had so wisely requested.

Throwing it at him, he grabbed at it like it was a lifeline, watching as she shed her underwear and scrambled back into the bed with him. Pushing the pillows to the headboard, Dick lay back against them, sitting up, opening his legs and motioning for her so sit between them, her back to his stomach. She did so, lying back, feeling his sinewy skin against her, melting into him. Her head dropped back to rest on his chest, relaxing there while his hands began the task of running up and down her arms, over them to her flat stomach, teasing her breasts. His lips nuzzled the smooth skin of her neck and she felt herself coming undone under his touch.

He kept at his mission, hands skillfully caressing her until she was in a fine frenzy, finally letting her twist in his embrace so she could kiss his mouth full on, pushing herself against his chest, hands in his hair, thumbs under the base of his ears. Her elbows were tucked between and she kissed him deeply, sudden emotion swelling at his gentle way at loving her…she was stunned at how thoughtful and unselfish he was being.

She loved the feel of his hands touching her. She loved the way his mouth broke from her to kiss the sensitive skin that ran along her jawline, loved the way it made her shiver with anticipation. Loved how suddenly he was becoming feverish, as her hands ran across his skin. How he let out a hiss when her fingers dipped under the band of his briefs, to lightly trace the tip of him, his eyes darkening in pleasure. She loved the way that her actions seemed to make him feel tauter beneath her touch.

He pulled away from her now, to shed his boxer briefs and roll her over, grabbing the foil package that he had set aside, ripping it one handed and sheathing himself in one fluid motion. He returned to her but instead of pushing himself into her like she expected him to, he paused, looking at the span of her. Holding her eyes with his, he placed a thumb on her center, surprising her even more, rubbing it just so that she bucked completely up and into him, crying out, hands grabbing a hold of his shoulders as he kept at it, and when she arched into him again, his mouth was suddenly running hotly between her breasts, finding the tips and playing with them each in turn before finally entering her and losing himself just as she exploded around him in a hot, blinding rush of sheer pleasure.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Thanks for commenting. Thanks for the favorites and follows. I love to read your comments. I hope I didn't just, as they say, 'jump the shark' here. I am working on the mystery, but the next chapter will not be about the mysteries at all, instead a rare treat into Dick's head. It will most likely not be as long as the other chapters but them's the breaks. Please if you have the time, I would love to hear from you. It helps me to know if you are enjoying it. Thanks.