It took another 5 weeks for us to go home.

5 long weeks of exactly the same thing we'd been doing over and over again. More flying, more ground patrols and by the end of it there was still no trace of Stark. There had been a few minor ambushes again but nothing like we experienced that night. More and more people, myself included, thought of Stark as dead. Though no one would openly say it, the search would looking more like we were searching for a body to identify rather than a live person.

Reporters had arrived just after Riley and I had gotten back from our night away. They hounded everyone for information when they first got there. It only lasted 2 weeks before they all seemed to fall into the same bored routine as the rest of us. Stories became more focused on the people involved in the search. I was at the range with Riley and his old SEAL team one day having a shooting contest and one reporter asked if she could video it. Our faces were kept pretty obscure by our hats and sunglasses and they filmed just about everything from behind for security reasons. But it'd been a fun thing to do. I'd given Riley an absolute ass kicking and he joked if I wanted his balls now or later to carry around in my purse. His old SEAL team hadn't been shy on their laughter at him either.

I'd done what Natasha said told me to and not dwelt on the what ifs from the last mission. The guilt was still there sometimes but I was getting better at keeping it contained. It still reared its ugly head sometimes. But I wasn't wallowing in my own little pity party about it anymore. The nightmares were new, but thankfully very few and far between. My mind was still in turmoil about what I was actually going to do with my life. The year at SHIELD was slipping by faster than I ever imagined it would. Every time I thought about leaving, I wouldn't think of anything else to do with my life. I thought being back on the ground doing patrols was going to set in my mind that I couldn't do this anymore. But despite my anxiety the first few times being back on the ground for foot patrols and searches, nothing else went wrong. The most exciting thing we came across was some feral camels and goats.

Vanity Fair had been roaming around taking random photos just before we left. While Riley was hugging me from behind just outside the accommodation block, the photographer called out for us to smile. Like well trained little monkeys we both flashed a smile at the camera and Riley had given me a kiss on the cheek a second later. I had no doubt it would have been a pretty cute photo. But the photographer had disappeared before either of us could ask for the photo, and then ask for it to be deleted. SHIELD was very strict on keeping our faces out of the media. Jared and Natasha both went as far to duck out of the way every single time a camera went near them. I understood that clearly enough. Both of them did far too much undercover work to be seen in the media and be identified as some kind of Agent for the US government.

My current anxiety was now sitting in the international terminal of Kabul airport with Clint trying to calm me down. Natasha wasn't having much better time. She got the job of keeping Jared in the airport and making sure he flew home like a normal person. By the pacing he was doing up and down with Natasha on his heels, I wasn't sure how successful she was being.

"You're a pilot, how are you scared of flying?" Clint stood in front of me with his arms crossed. He looked so damn exasperated at me and my very stupid fear. It was 0100 local time and STRIKE Team Delta, plus Jared, had been stuck on the very last flight home. SHIELD was doing a rotation of Agents so the Quinjets flown here in had to stay at Bagram. Which meant having to travel home like a normal person. Riley had caught a flight 6 hours ago, despite asking if he could switch to travel with me. Apparently he'd run out of favours and charm because he got a very irritated no from Evans straight away. Coulson wasn't coming back until next week so we'd gotten a heavy lecture on behaving ourselves while he wasn't there. After our lecture he produced a bottle of scotch that the 4 of us enjoyed immensely. It was our Thanksgiving drinks with him since he wouldn't be home for it.

"Because I know what can go wrong," I stubbornly crossed my own arms and glared up at Clint from my sitting position in the uncomfortable airport chair. "Come on, you've been flying heaps doesn't it freak you out to know how quickly shit goes wrong?"

"I will be too tired to give a shit," Clint sighed heavily at me. "And if it does go wrong we have Jared. Dropping from 35,000 feet takes about 4 minutes. More than enough time for him to get us all out of there. Thats if you don't break into the cockpit first and hijack the plane first to fly it home."

That wasn't comforting at all. Thanks Barton. I scowled throwing myself back in the chair like a child having a tantrum. Honestly this flying like a normal person thing is bullshit. I have no idea why SHIELD just wouldn't let Jared teleport us home once we were clear of Bagram base. For once I was more than happy to let Jared teleport me back home. I was planning on using that time to be waiting in Riley's bed for when he got home.

Clint grumbled under his breath at me and pulled his phone out. It only took him 2 seconds before he found whatever he was looking for and put the phone on loudspeaker. After 3 rings the line picked up.

"Agent Lyngley," the crisp professional tone my Mom always used at work came over the line. I scowled even harder at Clint for ringing my Mom.

"So I'm sitting here watching one of your children scowl at me like an angry 2 year old," Clint didn't bother with pleasantries. "And the other is pacing the airport like a caged tiger. Any suggestions? We have to board in 20 minutes."

"Drug them both," Mom sounded like she was finding great pleasure in having this conversation. "We used to spike Jared's juice with NyQuil when he was a kid when we flew anywhere."

I covered my mouth so I didn't burst out laughing too loud at that. I always thought Jared just fell asleep before we boarded because he'd spent too much time being uppity about flying. No wonder he always managed to sleep through flights when we were younger. Clint smirked over at me seeing the amusement playing on my face and my muffled laughter.

"Best suggestion ever," Clint grinned. With his free hand he pulled me to my feet. I flailed in protest but his grip was too tight. He began marching me towards the general store that was about the only thing still open. "I'm looking forward to a peaceful flight."

"Can I at least talk to my Mom for a second?" when I couldn't wriggle free from Clint's grip I just let myself be pulled along. Looks like I was getting knocked out whether I wanted to or not. But it probably wasn't a terrible suggestion. I'd have to keep it in mind for when Riley and I flew to Minnesota in 2 days time. Clint handed his phone to me and I turned it off speaker, pressing the iPhone to my ear.

"Are you still ok to pick us up from Rapid City on Tuesday?"

Riley suggested that we spend the few days after Thanksgiving with my parents. Which meant a trip to Ellsworth, Nebraska where my Grandparents cattle ranch was located. So we'd fly to Minnesota about 24 hours after I got home. Spent the weekend there with Riley's family and then catch another plane on Tuesday morning. Rapid City was the closest airport to my Grandparents ranch, even though it was still 140 miles away. I suggested we hire a car but Mom kept insisting she'd come and pick us up. I was hoping she'd change her mind but I wasn't so lucky.

"Yes Kari," Mom just laughed at me. "You aren't getting out of that one. I'll see you there at 1330 sharp. I promise I'll just be me and your Dad. I won't let anyone else come along."

I held back my sigh of relief. It seems we'd had this discussion a few too many times over the last few weeks. That had been another thing Riley had gently encouraged me to do when I was struggling with everything. Just ring my Mom and talk to her. Mom was pretty shocked the first time I'd actually rang her out of the blue just to talk, but it helped. A lot. Even without Mom using her powers she just seemed to know how to soothe my frazzled emotions when things got stressful. We'd even done a video chat through Skype a few times which I always dragged Jared into. Mom had even managed to get Dad to join in one as well. That one had ended in Clint taking over the computer and harassing Dad about when his super heavyweight bow would be ready. It'd been a lot of fun and I found myself looking forward to those planned conversations. I'd even joined in on Riley doing the same with his Mom. I'd never forget the look on his Mom's face when we were both there on the screen. Her first thing she said to Riley was how excited she was that I was real. His sister, Tessa had then stuck her head into the conversation and said I was far too pretty to be dating a loser like her brother. I spent more of the conversation laughing than I did contributing anything useful.

"I'm really excited you guys are coming," Mom continued. "Even Jared said he'd duck in for a few days if he doesn't get put on assignment right away."

Jared was doing that as a massive favour to me. He was there to stave of some of the insanity that came in our family gatherings so Riley wouldn't get scared off. It was Jared's way of saying how much he actually liked and approved of Riley.

"I'm excited too," I smiled into the phone. "It'll be good to see you and Dad. I haven't seen you in months. Riley is excited too."

"Everyone is excited to meet your boyfriend," Mom teased me gently. "Its nice to see you bringing one home for holidays."

"It's nice to have a boyfriend to bring home," I laughed. "Especially one like Riley."

Mom had expressed to me a few times how much she liked Riley. After his initial confession about emailing my Mom he'd kept doing it openly. He seemed to enjoy their email banter which was very frequent. Mom liked Riley enough to start dropping not too subtle hints in that she wasn't getting any younger and some grandchildren would be appreciated. At least that was easy to brush off. Riley and I hadn't even dropped the L word yet.

Clint had left me in front of the store while I was on the phone. In the short conversation I'd had with Mom he'd come back with NyQuil syrup, 2 bottles of Sprite and a very proud look on his face.

"Hawk is back with my drugs," I said dryly. "I'll text you when we land."

"Have some NyQuil and a few vodkas on the plane," Mom suggested with a laugh. "Stop stressing. Love you and talk to you in 20 hours. Send me a text when you change flights in Dubai."

"Love you too," I said and before I could say goodbye properly Clint snatched the phone from my hands.

"Do I get a, I love you, for looking after your favourite daughter?" Clint quickly switched it back onto speakerphone. I tried to snatch the phone back but Clint was too quick to move out of my reach.

"No, you get a, make sure my only daughter comes home in one piece otherwise you'll never get that bow," Mom laughed. "Goodbye Barton."

"Thanks Linda," Clint grumbled in good humour into his phone. "Bye."

"Bye Mom," I called over Clint's shoulder. "Tell Dad I need him to work out how to make bigger magazines for the AWSM so I get more than 5 shots."

Mom didn't bother to reply to that. I didn't miss the sigh of defeat before she ended the call. That made me grin openly. I knew that she'd tell Dad, and then Dad would have something else to glue himself into his workshop for. Workaholic didn't come close to describing Dad. Especially when he was neck deep into a new project. It's no wonder she was already pestering me for Grandchildren. At least having an evil mini me would keep her amused while Dad played with his toys for all hours of the day and night.

"Its good that you're talking to your Mom," Clint handed me one of the bottles of Sprite. "Ok lightweight, take a dose and next time I'll bring valium with me."

That was an even better idea than knocking myself out on NyQuil. I did as I was told, taking a capful of NyQuil and chasing the horrible tasting liquid down with half a bottle of Sprite. While I was pulling faces at the disgusting taste in my mouth, Clint went over and handed the rest to Jared. He stopped his pacing long enough to shoot off a nasty Icelandic curse at Clint before taking both of the offered items. He took a long swallow of the NyQuil and then drained his own Sprite in a few long mouthfuls. By the amount of NyQuil I think Jared had just taken, we'd be carrying him onto the plane. The dose was enough to make Jared stop pacing and finally sit down after only a few minutes. Being the lightweight Clint correctly called me, I sat down next to Jared, resting my head on his shoulder. I was tired and the drugs didn't take long at all to start knocking me out.

The call to board the plane came a lot quicker than I expected. I'd nearly dozed off on Jared's shoulder when the loudspeaker snapped me back to fully awake again. It took a lot of effort to drag myself up off the seat and go stand in line. Clint was in front of me, so I draped my arms over him and rested my forehead against the back of his shoulder while we waited. There wasn't much height difference between us so it was surprisingly comfortable as we shuffled along in the line. He only shrugged me off when it came time to board. The flight attendant scanned Clint's boarding pass and then frowned at the computer momentarily.

"It seems you've gotten a last minute upgrade Mr Barton," the attendant smiled as she turned back to Clint. "You're now flying business class."

Simultaneously, all 4 of our phones sounded their various tones as a text message came through. I quickly pulled mine out of my pocket, squinting at the screen in my tired haze.

Enjoy the upgrade guys. Thanks for your hard work back here. Save some pumpkin pie for me.

This should be awesome. I'd never flown business class before, but always envied the people who did. The lay flat bed was already calling to me and I hadn't stepped foot on the plane yet. I glanced back to Jared who looked like he was suddenly regretting having such a big dose of NyQuil. Now I was really going to have to find Coulson the most awesome Christmas present in the world. I think I had just to thing sitting back in the attic at my Grandparents place.


It turns out flying home from Afghanistan wasn't the only time I was ever going to fly business class either. Riley had surprised me by booking business class seats as well. I needed to learn not to underestimate his sneakiness. We sat in the airport business lounge enjoying a drink before the flight to the airport in Rochester where we had a hire car to drive to about 15 miles out of Winona.

"So how did you sneak those business class tickets in?" I asked as I stirred my scotch and dry around with a straw. I'd forgotten a dose of NyQuil to knock me out, so I was relying on the scotch instead. Even if it was only 11am. I was on my second one already and it was helping a lot to keep me calm.

Riley had booked the flights that night we'd stayed at the hotel. I'd made sure I'd given my credit card to pay for mine so he wasn't paying for both of them. I even checked my balance to make sure he'd actually paid for mine with my own money.

"I did use your credit card," Riley just smirked at me over the rim of his Heineken. "I just paid for the upgrade myself so you wouldn't notice."

"You are so sneaky, I'm going to start calling you super spy," I laughed at the smugly pleased expression all over Riley's face. "You need to stop spoiling me."

I wasn't going to complain too much. Flying business class definitely had its perks. It'd made flying a lot less terrifying when you were comfortable and the flight attendants had premium beers and spirits. Though I think the latter had a bit more to do with it than being comfortable and having leg room. Poor Riley having to fly economy all the way back home from Afghanistan. I'd actually enjoyed being able to lay flat and stretch my legs out for the long flight. Maybe enjoy was a strong word, but it made it comfortable at least.

"You deserve to be spoilt," Riley flashed me a grin. It was that heart melting and panty dropping grin all rolled into one. That grin that it very hard to resist whatever he was trying to charm his way into at the time. "Besides, I hate flying economy and I figured since you hate flying I need to hold your hand. All problems solved by upgrading the tickets."

"Tickets?" I emphasised the S on the end of the word. Raising my eyebrows at Riley he suddenly looked a bit sheepish.

"Well, we are doing a few flights over the next week," Riley offered a shrug as an apology. "So I kinda upgraded all of your tickets."

"You know you're making it harder and harder to try and buy for your birthday and Christmas when you keep dropping these amazing surprises for me," I tried to grumble but I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. Riley's birthday was on the 9th of December and I was having all kinds of struggle trying to find something to buy for him. He wasn't being helpful either.

"I told you all I want for my birthday is you tied to my bed naked, with a can of whipped cream and bottle of chocolate syrup," Riley smirked before leaning over to kiss me. He lingered on my lips a few moments far too long to be decent in public. With the thought in my head of what he just described it was very hard to resist grabbing him and making a disgusting pubic display of affection in our booth. "Maybe some Reeces Pieces for some strategic placement. I can think of a few places I'd eat them off."

Riley had discovered my secret love of chocolate and peanut butter combined. I swear he brought out every store in Afghanistan while we were there. I never seemed to be without a bag the entire time we'd been there. I would really like for him to be eating them off me. I was so tired when I got home last night I'd fallen asleep for ages. I'd only woken up with enough time for one round with Riley before we had to get up and pack for the week away. That one round of us finally being alone and enjoying Riley's king size bed wasn't enough to even take the edge off how horny I was feeling. If anything it was like pouring petrol on a fire.

"Stop it," I giggled like an idiot. "You're making me so horny."

"How do you think I feel?" Riley shot me a pointed look.

The table was low enough my hands wouldn't be seen wandering. I made no effort to cover up I was giving his crotch a firm grab. Riley bit his lip as soon as my hand came into contact with the erection already there. I teasingly ran my hand up and down a few times along his jeans. As I did I lent over and gently bit his neck. I could feel goosebumps on his skin under my lips and gentle teeth. A barely contained groan slipped from his lips as he pushed himself into my hand.

"Mile high club?" Riley breathed into my ear.

"Says the person who didn't want to have sex in the mens shower," I laughed against him. "Besides, we already did that."

The second last flight I'd done in the Quinjet and I was meant to be by myself. Clint had stayed back to Skype with Laura and the kids. So I asked Riley if he wanted to come with me since I did offer to teach him to fly if I could shoot his CheyTac. I'd done plenty of firing over the last few weeks on the CheyTac but I hadn't been able to get him into a Quinjet. Not much flying got taught in that 2 hour flight as the Quinjet sat on autopilot most of the way there and back. It'd been a lot of fun. I was a bit of a late bloomer so I never got to experience the fumbling in the backseat of a car as a teenager. As an adult I was more than happy to make full use of my slim figure and flexibility in the co-pilot seat instead of a backseat. It was one experience I'd never forget.

"This isn't going to go away anytime soon," Riley lent down to trail a line of kisses down my own neck. His teeth scraped along my sensitive skin, repaying the favour for a few moments ago on him. "This flight will be the death of me."

"Here's something to make it go away," I lent forward and whispered in his ear. "We have to spend the next 5 days with your Mom."

I pulled away in time just in time to see Riley pulling a slightly disgusted face at that. He was still rock hard and throbbing under my hand. Having my hand there probably wasn't helping at all. I pulled away, sitting back up and putting a small gap between us to give Riley some space to settle down.

"Didn't help," Riley chuckled as he sat back up, reaching for his beer again. "Really didn't help."

The disembodied voice came over the loudspeaker announcing our flight was ready to groaned and let his head fall against the table at the bad timing of it all. I winced as his forehead hit with a very loud smack. I didn't miss the wince of pain coming from Riley either. That wasn't terribly smart of him.

"I hope that helped," I looked at Riley who had his eyes screwed shut tightly face down on the table. He just shook his head, not opening his eyes.

"Think of Jared naked?" I tried unhelpfully.

"Gross," Riley laughed. "Basically living with him for the last 7 weeks I've seen more of your brothers body than I ever want to in my life."

Riley had a good point there. I think we'd all seen far more of each others bodies over the last 7 weeks than any of us really needed to. Natasha had been the worst for it. She really didn't care about getting changed in the room and leaving the door unlocked while she did it. Jared and Clint didn't care, but Riley blushed furiously every single time he'd walked in on her. Natasha liked to play on his shyness as well. Standing there half naked she'd try and start a conversation with Riley. I thought it was hilarious. Riley not so much.

"And Hawk," I added with a grin. "Come on even you have to admit he's pretty buff."

"Barton's body makes me want to cover mine in shame," Riley pulled his head up off the table. "It's going away at last. Ready for this?"

A twinge of nerves hit me at the thought of what was about to happen. This was a bit nerve wracking going to meet Riley's family. And then having to introduce him to the absolute chaos of my family was going to be even worse. I was about to find out if Riley really was in this for the long haul like he said when he was drunk. I just hoped I didn't make an idiot of myself. I'd been warned that like every family he had the nosy relatives who wouldn't be able to help themselves with all the standard embarrassing questions. The scotch had managed to edge some of the flying nerves off leaving me jittery but not a complete mess as we walked to the gate to board. Riley slung his arm around my shoulder as we walked as I held onto his waist. He'd been very cuddly since we'd gotten back. As we waited in line he reached over and kissed me on the cheek.

"My Mom already loves you and she is the only person you need to impress," Riley squeezed me reassuringly. "Just ignore Aunt Emma when she gets on the Southern Comfort. You're already amazing so just be yourself."

Riley's words calmed me down slightly. I had another 4 1/2 hours on the plane for those nerves to kick back in though. Part of me wanted to drink for most of the flight to keep the nerves at bay. But I definitely did not want to be a messy drunk while meeting his Mom for the first time. No matter how much Riley assured me she already loved me, I can guarantee that'd change very quickly if I did that.

We boarded and got settled easily. I was still jet lagged so it was easy to fall asleep before takeoff. I didn't wake up until Riley was shaking me as we pulled in for the landing. Judging by his expression he'd only just woken up as well. His hair was sticking up everywhere as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"My body is so out of whack," I groaned as I stretched out feeling my joints crack and pop. "It doesn't know what time zone it's in."

This jet lag was a killer. My body was telling me it was the early hours of the morning where it was actually late afternoon. Sleeping on the plane had done nothing except making me feel groggy and disorientated. I was very glad for an hour drive to make myself feel a bit more human before I actually met Riley's Mom. I didn't get much response from Riley except a few mumbled words like he always did when he was really tired. We both disembarked and staggered our way to get our bags. Standing there at the luggage carousel not paying any attention to anything except looking out for my purple suitcase, I felt before I saw the figure barreling into Riley and I.

"SURPRISE!"

Those words were enough to make me want to run. Far, far away as quickly as possible and not come back until I was looking less like a zombie. I may have even made a step to my hasty exit before Riley grabbed my arm. Shit. There goes that plan.

"You didn't have to come pick us up," Riley sounded genuinely happy unlike my current inner turmoil. I turned to face the two people who I really didn't want to see in my tired state. Riley's Mom, Lynette, didn't bother to answer. She just threw her arms around Riley and hugged him hard. She was a petite woman, so she was on tiptoes to deal with Riley's height of 6'1. Her looks were the opposite of Riley, blonde hair which hadn't faded with age, from the quick glance I saw of her face she had hazel eyes. Riley must have gotten all his looks from his Dad, because his sister Tessa looked like a younger version of Lynette.

"You look completely freaked out," Tessa stepped in while Riley and Lynette hugged.

"I was hoping to not look this awful by the time we got there," I couldn't stop the spew of words coming from my mouth.

"Yeah you look like shit," Tessa didn't mince words as she looked me up and down. "Fuck you're tall. I hate being short. I'd hug you but you look like you'd go all STRIKE ninja on my ass."

My laugh came out as high pitched and strained. God I sounded like a complete idiot as well as looking like something dragged out of a zombie apocalypse. Could this situation get any worse? Oh wait I still had to meet Lynette who hadn't let go of Riley yet. He hadn't been home since last year and he missed his family like crazy. Lynette finally let go of Riley and took the two steps towards me. Unlike Tessa she didn't wait for permission she just enveloped me in a huge hug. My nerves slowly started to dwindle as Lynette hugged me like we'd know each other for years.

"And it's so good to finally see you Kari," Lynette's smile was contagious as well. Despite myself I hugged her back and felt a smile start to pull on my face. "Oh you're just as gorgeous in person. You look exhausted, what time did you fly in?"

Lynette stepped back and looked me over carefully. It wasn't a rude or sizing me up look, more one of concern of how I actually was. I was touched by how much she looked like she genuinely cared.

"I came in about 6 hours after Riley," I explained. "The jet lag is killing me."

"Lets get home then," Lynette's bright smile never faltered. "You two can have a sleep before we go out for dinner tonight."

"Where are we going for dinner?" Riley had grabbed both our suitcases while I was hugging Lynette. He wasn't looking very enthusiastic about the prospect of going out for dinner. I can't say I was terribly thrilled about it either. A nice quiet night in would have done me for tonight.

"Just the local steakhouse with your Uncle," Lynette was quick to soothe Riley. "I know you guys are tired. I beat everyone else away until Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow."

The promise of steak perked me up incredibly. After living off mess food, a great big steak would go down very nicely. Hopefully with a beer or two as well. Riley must have had the exact same thought running through his head because he looked over to me. I nodded eagerly in agreement which made him smile. Tessa was watching us interact and just rolled her eyes. It eerily looked like Jared when she did that.

"Well, I can't ever say no to a good steak," Riley gave Lynette a wry grin. "Lead the way."

It was a bit over an hour drive back to Riley's hometown. We both sat in the back, Riley in the middle next to me. Lynette drove and kept the conversation light and easy, keeping all my nerves at bay. Tessa kept injecting into the conversation with her own smart ass humour. She was definitely the opposite of Riley personality as well as looks. Outspoken and definitely not shy about saying what she really meant. By the time we pulled up I don't think Riley had stopped blushing since 15 minutes ago when Tessa started on the embarrassing stories from when they were kids. There was only a 13 month gap between them so they grew up very close.

The family house was gorgeous. It was set a mile back from the road, showing off the open farm land with some cattle scattered in the snowy paddocks. The family chicken farm was set in a completely different part of the massive acreage so it couldn't be seen from the house. Or so Lynette told me as we drove up the hill. The house was a massive log cabin. It was double story judging by the large bay windows standing out from the steeple roof. And it was huge. While I never asked Riley how successful their family business was, right now it was staring at me right in the face. My nerves from earlier came back full force at the thought of all of Riley's extended family being here tomorrow night.

"Lets get inside, it's freezing and I need a nap," Riley brushed a quick kiss on my cheek before climbing over the other side of the car to the opposite door. By the time I opened the door and got my legs working again enough to stand up, Riley already had both our suitcases out of the car and was waiting for me. Lynette and Tessa were both already a few steps ahead of us, leaving us in a rare moment of solitude. We both stripped off our heavy jackets and shoes at the door. It was freezing here and the weather forecast promised a few more inches of snow by tomorrow.

"The house looks amazing," I murmured as I grabbed my suitcase handle. "It's massive."

"Mom always wanted a big log house on top of the hill," Riley explained with a small smile as we started to walk towards the house. "So when they could finally afford it, Dad went a little bit crazy with it. Mom says she would have loved it even if it was a one bedroom shack. I strongly disagree. I think Mom more than enjoyed being able to banish Tessa and I to opposite ends of the house when we were being little assholes."

"You be a little asshole?" I laughed at him. "I couldn't imagine it."

"No you're right," Riley grabbed the handle of my suitcase and pulled it up the stairs. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. He still wasn't letting me lift anything he thought was too heavy. Despite being cleared by the doctor's weeks ago with my shoulder blade, Riley was still being over cautious about me lifting anything. "I was the perfect child. I was never in trouble."

The reply I had to that died on my lips as we walked inside. The front door instantly opened into a large lounge room. Polished floorboards and wooden ceilings stretched out glowing dimly in the late afternoon light. The lounge room seemed to stretch for ages, finally opening into the dining room and kitchen. A hallway and set of stairs sat off to my right, waiting to be explored as well. Right now I was just content to go sit by the stone fireplace and enjoy the view from the bay windows over the property.

"We'll do the tour later," Riley gave my hand a small tug as I stood there gawking at the interior. "Mom, what time are we leaving?"

Riley raised his voice which was carried clearly through the open plan downstairs. I hadn't seen where Lynette or Tessa had disappeared to.

"6:30 or 1830 so you can't be smart and say you don't know civilian time," Lynette's voice called back from somewhere towards the kitchen. "If you aren't down here I have no problems barging in."

"Got it," Riley led the way up the staircase, again dragging both our suitcases up with him. Not that mine was heavy, I just couldn't wrestle it out of his hands. The staircase was made out of the same polished wood as the floors. I couldn't help but to rub my hands over it as we climbed the stairs. Riley went to the left and down the hallway which was lined with the same large windows as downstairs letting all he natural light in. I couldn't help but to stop and stare at the view at the back of the house. Open paddocks turned into lightly timbered woods about half a mile from the house. A creek ran though the light wooded section. It sparkled like diamonds in the frosty afternoon.

"Wow," I stood there staring out the window. The view was to die for. I could happily curl up by the window and watch the world go past with a view like that.

"Its even better in summer," Riley paused next to me. "The rain makes everything green and its all you can see for miles. We'll go out on the quad bikes out exploring if you want."

Riley tugged my hand, looking a little impatient to be getting to bed. I knew that look well. He wasn't impatient to get some sleep. I knew exactly what he wanted as soon as we got to his room. I tagged along only a step behind him. We reached the end of the long hallway and Riley flung the door open.

His room matched the rest of the house with the high timber ceilings and polished floorboards. Bookcases lined 2 of the walls that were full of trophies, photos and the occasional book thrown in there. A queen sized bed sat in the middle of the room, in front of the wall mounted TV. The afternoon sun came from the large window to the left of the bed. It was a window seat, complete with cushions already sitting on it. Near the window another door led into what I assumed was an ensuite.

"Yeah I'm just going to live here," I grinned as I spun around in a slow circle to take everything in. "This is incredible."

"I love it here too," Riley chuckled as he watched me. He'd taken our luggage over to the foot of the bed and left them both sitting there as he stepped towards me again. I didn't let him get far. I closed the gap between us, throwing myself into Riley I kissed him while wrapped my arms around his neck. He flinched in surprise against my lips but was quick to respond to my tongue teasing against his lips. I pushed him back towards the bed until we both fell onto it, Riley on his back and me sprawled over Riley.

No words were needed as my fingers swiftly went for his belt and jeans, making short work of both of them. I got off him to yank both of them down, letting Riley kicked them off the rest of the way. Laying there mostly naked trying to get his pants off over his shoes, I took an opportunity I didn't normally get with Riley. After all this time sleeping together I'd never once given him a blow job. Every single time I went to do it he'd distract me with something else. It was frustrating the shit out of me because he wouldn't answer me when I asked him about it. Kneeling beside him on the bed I quickly seized my chance.

Bending down, I grabbed Riley's now mostly erect cock in my hand. Before he could protest, or even say anything I wrapped my lips around the head of his cock, teasing my tongue around the tip. The jerk of surprise and the moan that escaped from Riley's lips made me grin to myself. I wasted no time in sliding my mouth down onto him a few more inches, feeling my jaw stretch to accommodate him. I took my time in slowly dragging my tongue and lips back up and down a few times.

"Fuck," Riley drew the explicative out over a few syllables. The word came out more of a breathy moan making me glance up at him. Riley was lying back, his hands fisted in the bedspread with white knuckles as he clutched at the material. His eyes were closed and a look of pure bliss written all over his face.

I picked up the pace, giving Riley a reminder about my comment from months ago about a lack of gag reflex. One of his hands tangled through my hair as I slurped my way up and down. I knew Riley's body well by now. He was getting very close to cumming in a short amount of time. His breathing got erratic, his hips started to jerk as he tried to stop his body from pushing further into my mouth. I moaned on his cock, sending vibrations through his body.

That action was enough to make him blow with any warning. I grinned to myself as I felt him twitch and moan underneath me as he seemed to go forever. When he was finally done I pulled my mouth off him and looked up. Riley was laying there breathing heavily looking completely strung out. I sat back on my haunches and waited for him to come back down into this solar system before I spoke up.

"That was fun," I grinned down at him.

"That was," Riley looked like he was having a hard time stringing a coherent sentence together. "Wow."

"Are you back on this plant yet?" I giggled as I traced my finger down his abs. His shirt had ridden up sometime during his blow job leaving his stomach exposed. I enjoyed trailing my fingers over the defined muscle and down happy tail of hair from his belly button down to his crotch.

"You weren't joking when you said you had no gag reflex," Riley's own laugh was still breathless. "Shit Kari, where the hell did you learn that?"

He still hadn't moved yet, but at least he could put a sentence together now.

"I worked with all guys," I explained as I slid my hands back up his stomach, pushing his shirt further up. "Most of the time they'd forget I was in the same room and I learnt a lot of what guys like."

Riley shirt was now bunched up around his neck giving me a nice view of his chest. He sat up quickly and pulled it off the rest of the way. Leaving me with a full view of his now completely naked body. This was defiantly one of my favourite views in the world. I couldn't stop running my hands over his body and playing with the defined muscles. Riley stopped my wandering hands and pulling himself back into a sitting position. Not to be deterred or have my fun stopped, I sat in his lap, wrapping my legs around his waist.

"You have far too many clothes on," Riley didn't wait for an answer. He pulled my shirt over my head and quickly unclasped my bra. The clothes barely hit the floor before Riley lent forward and kissed me. It was sweet and tender, not the passionate kiss I was expecting. He pulled back from me after a few seconds. I didn't even get a chance to open my eyes before Riley spoke.

"I love you," Riley's voice was barely above a whisper.

My eyes snapped open at those 3 words being whispered to me. I sat there in shock for a few seconds waiting for my mind to process what I'd just heard. When I was sure that's what I really heard, it wasn't hard for me to say the next few words. Especially with the increasing look of nerves on Riley's face as we sat there in silence.

"I love you too," I couldn't stop the idiotic grin creeping onto my face.

I'd been there for a few weeks now. It was just after our night away I knew it. I was just far too chicken to actually say it first. Mom had caught onto it straight away one day and told me that a strong, independent woman like myself shouldn't have any problems in saying it first. But the small part of me that had a bit of romantic feelings always wanted to hear Riley say it first. Mom had been very quick to point out that unlike me, Riley was emotionally mature and was already there as well so I had no chance of him freaking out about me saying it. Mom kind of took the fun out of discovering emotions for myself sometimes.

"Yeah?" a grin started to grow on Riley's face as well.

"Yeah," I felt sheepish admitting the next part. "I was too chicken to say it first."

I lent forward to kiss Riley again, but he gently dodged the kiss. Before I could get confused he quickly start to talk again.

"Will you move in with me?" Riley's next words were rushed. "Officially? You have no idea how happy it makes me to have you around all the time."

"Of course I will," I laughed quietly. I didn't even need to think of my answer for that one. "I've gotten into this bad habit of always wanting you in my bed."

"You have no idea how easy it's been to fall in love with you," Riley chuckled. He lent forward so our foreheads were touching. "I love you so much and happy doesn't even begin to describe how I feel that you love me back."

I closed the gap between our lips and kissed Riley again. I wasn't good with words, but I could definitely show him how happy I was too.

Authors Note

This chapter was originally going to be a lot longer. But I've been so pushed for time since being back at work I've had to essentially cut it in half. So it pushes my timeline out a bit. It would have been another week and a half at least to finish it and its already been too long between chapters. There's a lot going on in my life right now so its hard to actually get time to sit back and relax enough to write.

I've reached 100 followers. I'm just blown away by all of the support from everyone. When I first posted this I originally would have been happy to make 50 followers by the time it was finished. We're not really even 1/4 of the way into the story yet and I've had so much support and love from everyone.

I have to give a massive shout out to the Guest who reviewed the last chapter. I was having an absolute rotten day at work and then I got your review. Reviews mean so much to me, but this one just came at the exact right time at a really shitty point in my work. So whoever you are, thank you!

And as always thank you to kira shadow wolf who keeps me on track with my writing and is always on my case to keep going.

At the moment I'm aiming for fortnightly updates. It might be more, it might be less. So until next time.