Still own nothing….but that's okay.

Chapter Four

Lorelai pulled away from Luke and stood up. She reached her hand down and grabbed his hand pulling him up behind her.

"We have work to do here mister."

"I can't wait. Been looking forward to this all afternoon." He mumbled glumly.

"It won't be so bad...and I promise you a reward when we're finished."

Luke looked at her and smiled and tried to pull her back into an embrace but she would have no part or it.

"Work first, play later, if you are a good boy."

"Good boys never get the prize."

"But good boys always get the girl." Lorelai dragged him over to the tree and soon had him helping her put on the lights. They honed a system; he held the bulk of the lights while she twisted the wires among the branches. Then she tucked the tree skirt around the base and then headed back to the kitchen to get the angel.

She handed the angel to Luke telling him it was the man's job to top the tree. He said that's what his mom always said too. He reached up and anchored the glass angel securely to the top. Lorelai plugged in the lights and they stood back and admired the way the lights reflected on the angel, making her seem even more special.

"Good job."

"Not finished yet." Lorelai grabbed the bags of ornaments as Luke let out a groan.

But he was soon as involved as much as she in arranging and attaching the ornaments they had picked out….angels and musical instruments and sparkling stars.

When they were finally finished, they gazed at the finished product.

"We do good work together." Lorelai murmured as she held him close.

Luke laughed, "Yes we do." He pulled her closer and kissed her.

"I was talking about the tree."

"Yeah, me too. But now I get my reward, right? And if I remember right, we're pretty good at finishing that product too."

Lorelai laughed as he embraced her tightly, kissing her deeply leaving no doubt of what was to come next.

Luke gently pulled her sweater over her head and unfastened her bra with one swift move. She shivered as he pushed her down on the bed. Her fingers were already removing his shirt and heading down toward his belt buckle. Luke pulled off her slacks and tucked her under the covers before he went to check the door lock and turn out the lights. He left the tree lights on and they cast a romantic glow over the whole apartment. Luke stood by the side of the bed and unzipped his pants and let them fall to the floor. Lorelai gazed at him and smiled.

"What?" Luke teased.

"Gazing at my bonus, enjoying the unwrapping process. I was in serious need of the unwrapping."

Luke crawled in beside her. "Serious need huh? Well, we can take care of that."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently at first and then stepped it up a bit. He rolled over on her and slipped into her waiting wetness….her hands roamed down his back and rested on the firmness of his butt.

She whispered "perfect fit." He smiled and whispered back "I've noticed."

She could feel the strain on his muscles as he started moving slow and steadily. They stared intensely into each others eyes until the first waves of passion starting running through both of them. Then Lorelai's eyes fluttered shut, enjoying his hardness moving inside of her, enjoying the way he made her feel. They were soon caught up in the moment, the moment when no one has control. Lorelai bent her knees so he could go deeper, she couldn't get enough of him. Luke groaned as he thrust deeper and she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly to her. They were soon rewarded with the ultimate wave. Too soon, Luke breathlessly rolled off of her. She snuggled into the crook of his arm, running her fingers in little circles through the hair on his heaving chest. It really wasn't hair it was more like fur, short and soft and falling in little curls. She loved to stroke the softness of it and she gently moved further down, resting her hand on his soft member.

"He looks tired." She giggled.

"He is tired. You are work."

"Work, huh?" Lorelai stuck out her pouty lip.

Luke gently touched her lip. "Pleasurable work, but work just the same. But don't worry, the South will rise again."

Lorelai broke into laughter. She kissed his chest and whispered, "Luke?"

"Yeah."

"I love you."

"What?" She had whispered it so softly that he thought he had imagined it.

Lorelai sat up a little and looked into his eyes. "I love you."

"Lorelai I…"

"Don't say anything. Just let me get this out. I love you plain and simple. You don't have to feel the same about me. I know we have a good thing going here. We're good in this room but we're also good in life. We somehow just mesh. It's okay if you don't feel that way about me. I don't care. I can go through life being just like this… I don't think I could be any happier." ( She took a deep breath.) " Does that scare you?" Done with her little speech she snuggled back into his chest.

Luke remembered how this whole thing started; he had asked the same question.

"Damn woman." He mumbled.

"I've messed things up haven't I? Saying too much too fast…but I just couldn't hold it in any longer. We promised each other the lying was over and this is just me coming clean."

Luke kissed her and smiled. "Coming clean? And you call me romantic."

Lorelai giggled nervously waiting for the shoe to drop.

Luke looked deeply in her eyes. "I love you too. How could you doubt that? I am totally consumed by thoughts of you….every time the bell on the diner door rings I hope it's you…when we aren't together at night, I can't sleep. I wake up and reach for you and I think I've imagined it all."

"Luke…"

"Let me finish. I thought I would burst before I could tell you…but I had this grand romantic gesture planned….Christmas Eve or the first snow…something special, memorable…"

"May I speak now?"

Luke sighed and relaxed, happy it was finally out.

Lorelai continued, "I've said it to you a million times, while you were sleeping, after we would hang up from a phone call…."

Luke softly laughed and whispered, "Me too."

"Do you think it's a bad sign that we were afraid to say it?" Lorelai was worried now.

"No, I think it proves we're more alike then we thought. We both know how we dealt with relationships in the past and how we both managed to screw them up. We were just afraid to do it again. But this one is different…"

"Yeah, it is." Lorelai bent in to kiss him. "Say it again."

"Lorelai Gilmore, I love you."

"Lucas Danes, I love you too."

And they sealed it with the ultimate full body kiss; this time not taking their eyes off of each other, riding the waves of passion fully aware of their true feelings. Feelings finally spoken and mutually acknowledged.

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