*** Hey again! Okay, I've used the word 'valeted' in this chapter, and I'm not sure if that's even something you've heard of over there....hmm, maybe you use another word, but hopefully the meaning will be clear in the context! Enjoy!***

Chapter thirty

Lenny sat in the truck and looked it over minutely, a sheen of sweat breaking out on her face as she thought of Kevin's reaction if he noticed anything amiss. The garage had done a good job by the looks of things, but it had cost her virtually all the money she had to get it valeted to this standard. Still, it was worth it just so she didn't get hanged from the nearest tree. She started the engine and drove it carefully back to the ranch, hoping Kevin would be still either be out or at her house having dinner. Amy and the others should be able to keep him from getting too curious as to her whereabouts.

When she made it back without any other mishap, she breathed a sigh of relief, especially when she didn't see anyone around. Checking to make sure it was parked exactly in the spot where he had originally left it in Mark's garage, she leapt out and locked it up before rushing into the house and setting about returning his keys. She gave a knock at Kevin's bedroom door, holding her breath and waiting. What if he was in there? What on earth would she say? she thought, but no-one answered and she closed her eyes thankfully, edging silently into the room and placing the keys back, grateful that at least she had got this far without being caught. The sound of the door slamming behind her made her jump and she spun around, one hand on her throat in shock and her eyes widening when she saw Kevin standing there with his arms folded over his chest, leaning back against the door.

"What are you doing in my room?" he asked her, his voice silky, his eyes holding a light that she recognised and she knew that something was wrong, that he knew she had done something wrong.

Lenny wracked her brains for something to say, but she only stood there with her mouth hanging open, wondering how to get out of the door with him standing in front of it. No matter how close they were becoming, she knew that she would still be able to piss him off...and she knew he would still want to get hold of her when she did.

Kevin cocked an eyebrow at her silence and pulled himself away from the door, stalking slowly towards her with his eyes glittering demonically. "No answer? Want me to say why I think you're in here?"

She watched him come towards her and saw the anger in his face, her heart going mad inside her chest the closer he got. "No."

"Tough. I think you're in here to return the keys to my truck. The truck you stole and messed up. Am I right?"

Her mouth fell open again. How had he known? "How....Amy wouldn't..." she stammered, stopping abruptly when she realised what she was giving away. Her eyes measured the distance between him and the door, hoping she could maybe get past him and make it out of the room.

"Don't even think about it. I can get hold of you before you even touch the handle," he warned her, smirking grimly down at her as he reached her position. "Amy is in deep trouble right now for keeping secrets from Mark, and that's thanks to you. It's about time someone taught you a lesson, and I think that someone should be me!" he said, reaching for her.

The sight of his big hand about to grab her arm galvanised her into action and she ducked away from him, dodging around his big body and rushing towards the door before he had moved. She was going to make it, she told herself with relief as she reached out for the door handle, she was going to.....the big arm that wrapped around her waist told her differently and she was picked up effortlessly and carried over to the bed, kicking and struggling all the while.

"Be still, or I'll make you be still," he warned her gruffly, squeezing the arm around her waist tightly, waiting for her to stop.

"Let me down!" Lenny shouted, squealing when his grip tightened painfully. She thrashed wildly about trying to make him drop her, but his hold on her was unbreakable. "You big animal, let me go!" She tried hitting him, her fists bashing at whatever she could reach.

A few of her blows landed and he winced, unable to believe she was going overboard like this, and he started getting really pissed off. "Not until I've turned your ass red!" he snarled at her, dropping down on the bed and placing her over his long legs.

Eyes wide at his words, Lenny went mad. No way was he going to spank her, she thought, scared at what she had unwittingly released. One big hand stopped her from getting up, but she attacked him with her fists again, thumping his legs as hard as she could and ignoring the fact it was probably hurting her hands more than it was hurting him.

"Ow!" he yelled when she gave up hitting him and bit his leg instead. His hand came down and swatted her ass hard, making her yelp in pain, but it didn't stop her and she attacked him with renewed vigour, biting him again harder. This time he couldn't ignore the pain quite as much as she almost drew blood, and he pushed her off his lap so he could grab his leg, rubbing it hard to make the sting go away. Before he had a chance to figure out what she was doing she bolted again, wrenching the door open and fleeing as if her life depended on it. Which, thought Kevin with a furious smile, it did. He got up and gave chase, determined that she wouldn't escape his wrath, not this time

Lenny knew her time was limited, he was far bigger and far faster than her and he was really pissed this time, so she had to find somewhere to hide. She looked frantically around the doors lining the upper floor and settled on one around the corner from the staircase, knowing it was a closet and he was unlikely to look in there.

After she had closed herself into the small, dark space, she tried to calm her breathing, worried he'd be able to hear her if she didn't try and be a little quieter. She was in high panic now, though, and her heart was currently trying to beat it's way through her ribcage, especially when she heard his pounding footsteps go past on his way down the stairs. His voice floated to her through the wood as he asked Mark and Amy where she was, and they said they hadn't seen her, then his footsteps came back! She couldn't believe he had come straight back upstairs, but he must know that if Mark hadn't seen her, then she hadn't run past the room he was in.

She cursed herself for not leaving the house while she had the chance. Well, what was stopping her now? she thought, hearing him walk past on his way back to the bedrooms. If he found her here she would be no better off, so she may as well make a break for it. Closing her eyes she prayed for luck, and waited until she heard a doorway at the far end of the landing open, then she burst out of her hiding place and made a dash for the stairs, surprised that she was fairly quiet about it. She risked a glance back and gave a small sigh of relief when she saw that Kevin wasn't following her, continuing her flight until she reached the hallway.

Mark looked up from his seat just inside the living room, and he grinned, nudging Amy who was sitting on his lap. "Bye Lenny!" he shouted and Amy slapped him, her mouth open in shock that he had given the other girl away.

Lenny stared at him in horror for a second until she heard the heavy footsteps move to the top of the stairs and she glanced up, nearly fainting with fright when Kevin growled down at her like a wolf and started moving like lightning down towards her. A shriek of pure terror escaped her and she rushed out of the house and ran as fast as she could towards her own house, aware that he wasn't far behind. He was going to kill her, she thought, and her eyes filled with tears as she tried to make her shorter legs try and go faster. Kevin had always frightened her a bit, and it only made her innate clumsiness worse when he was around, hence the high amount of mishaps. But he had never terrified her so much, especially after their night together. She had thought they'd become closer, and she had really been looking forward to him getting back today, and then the milkshake had to happen....she had ruined everything, just like she knew she would. The anger that emanated from him in waves was far worse than any emotion he had ever demonstrated before, and it scared her out of her wits. What on earth would he do when he got hold of her?

"Where the hell...do you think...you're going?" Kevin shouted at her as he grabbed her around the waist and threw them both on the ground, pinning her struggling body underneath his much larger one and glaring at her. He was shocked to see that, rather than the mutinous expression he had expected, she was crying and shaking, her face as white as a sheet. The very real fear in her wet eyes made the anger leave him in a rush, and the heaving gasps she gave froze him. "Lenny..." he started, unsure of how to react.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry....I shouldn't have...." she said, her voice shaking almost as much as her body was. She gulped and tried to squirm away from him again, not taking her huge eyes from his for one moment. "Please don't hate me," she finished lamely, starting to cry in earnest now.

Kevin gave a gasp of shock at her words and rolled over onto his back, taking her with him and cradling her head against his chest. In all the years he had known Lenny, he had only seen her vulnerable once - when Jack Penn had attacked her, but now he could see that what he could do to her was far worse. He supposed it shouldn't surprise him so much. After all, Sam had said she had deep feelings for him. "I couldn't hate you, little one, calm down," he said gently, stroking her soft hair and closing his eyes as he realised what he must have seemed like to someone as small as she was. He sat up, still cuddling her, and bent over her head. "Hush now, sweetheart, it's okay."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she mumbled over and over into his shirtfront, letting her fear drain out of her with the tears.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter," he whispered, looking down at the way she was curled against him, her small hands clutching his shirt and her face hidden against him.

"It was an accident, I swear," she mumbled into his warm shirt, sniffing and closing her eyes as she waited for him to start yelling again. That thought made a fresh bout of tears flood her eyes and she felt him sigh beneath her wet face.

"You seem to have a lot of those," he said, smiling wryly as his fingers tangled in her incredibly long hair. He let the silky strands slip through his fingers as he frowned, his other arm tightening around her in comfort. "You okay now?" he asked her when the sniffling sounds stopped.

Lenny nodded and took a shaky breath, easing a fraction away from him but not looking up. "I didn't mean to steal your truck, I was just looking for my earring..and....and I had a milkshake..." she broke off and bit her trembling lip between her teeth, taking another breath. "It just tipped over and I tried to stop it and I knew you'd be mad..." she stopped again and slumped in his hold, realising how useless it really was trying to explain her actions to him.

Kevin found a small smile tilting his lips up at the corners at her posture. "And what sort of mess is my truck in?" he asked softly.

"I had it cleaned. You wouldn't even know..."

"And you intended to keep it from me?" At her nod he sighed. "Haven't you learned yet that you can't keep anything from me?"

She lifted one shoulder and studied the grass nearby. "I guess."

"Didn't you think I might be worried about you?"

"About me?"

"Yes. You were supposed to be here when I got back, and instead I end up having dinner with the others and you're nowhere to be found," he said, brushing his hand down her cheek. "I didn't know if you were okay or not."

"I didn't....didn't think about that," she murmured.

"And you didn't think that it might be better to just explain to me what had happened with the milkshake?"

"I thought you'd get mad, and you did, and I didn't want you to be angry with me," she mumbled.

"I only got that mad because you tried to deceive me, and I don't like that. I was worrying about you all afternoon, missing you....and then I found out about my truck and I guess it all turned into anger." He pursed his lips and then sighed, stroking her face gently. "I never meant to scare you, baby," he said softly, then smiled. "I guess this is our first real lover's argument huh?"

Lenny risked raising her eyes to his, surprised that he was looking amused now. "It is?"

"Mmm-hmm. And when lovers argue, they have to make up again," he continued, raising his eyebrows.

"They do?"

"Yeah, they do, and that's the best thing about arguing."

"You're not...not mad at me anymore?" she asked, frowning in confusion.

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "I am, but not so much that I want to scare you or hurt you. We'll have a little talk about this tomorrow when we've both calmed down a bit, but for now I want to forget about it. I don't want us arguing or fighting for the rest of the time I'm here, do you?"

"No," she whispered, biting her lips again. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, at least you tried to do the right thing, but if you ever do it again I will beat your ass until it's black and blue, you got me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and then smiling when she nodded. He stood them both up and turned her around, dusting her off and then getting her to do the same for him. "There. Now, let's get back and do some making up, hmm?"

Lenny gave a relieved smile when he took her hand in his and started walking them back to her house, wondering what else the next few days would have in store for them. Her mind still refused to contemplate what it would be like when he left.

****Okie dokie.....done for now, but I hope you enjoyed it!****