Author's Note - Thank you all for reading and for your wonderful reviews...
Mark woke up as the morning sunlight barely started to filter through the closed curtains. He blinked a few times in an attempt to get himself aware of everything around him. The first thing that hit him was some kind of flower-ish scent. It was nice… subtly sweet and fresh. Leaning towards a bit, he figured it was coming from her hair.
She was lying on her side, still sleeping peacefully, her back facing him and his arm was around her waist. Her skin was soft and warm under his, and not able to resist, Mark rubbed his palm over her abdomen. She flinched a little, but she hasn't woken up. A strangled smirk grew on his lips, as he remembered the way her petite body flinched from his touch last night, how amazing she felt under him, and the sound of her moans and pleas that got him every single time.
He was staring at her sleeping figure, mostly focusing on a few red splotches he noticed across her neck and shoulder. He felt a massive wave of want ran through his body, settling in his lower half, just from looking at her, lying like that, naked and weary, between his sheets. Using all of his inner strength to ignore that, he bent down for a second, leaving a light kiss on her bare shoulder, and then carefully got out of the bed.
…
Lexie opened her eyes as some intense, inviting aroma completely filled her nostrils. Coffee. Oh God, she needed coffee. She sat up on the bed, the blanket falling down her body, and suddenly, cool air in the room made all the skin of her naked body prickle. Making the face of displeasure, she laid back down, covering herself again.
Damn, his bed was too comfortable, too warm... She didn't want to leave it, not really… So that would be the first thing she had to deal with... she was in his bed. Naked. She was naked in Mark's bed. Her gaze fell to the side at the empty space. She was naked in Mark's bed, but Mark wasn't there...
Even though she was alone in the room, her hands instinctively pulled the covers all over her head as the memories of last night flooded in, all in perfect detail.
She could feel her heart rapidly beating in her chest, not prepared to find out what's waiting for her when she gets up. In any way possible... she was not ready to face him. The best way to get out of this situation was not to get into it in the first place, and it was far too late for that.
But it felt good... it felt real. It felt more real than anything she'd ever allowed herself to experience before. She actually found herself not caring anymore that he was a man she just met, that he was surely a lot older than her, that future for them is totally unpredictable. Being with him just felt so good that... she couldn't help it.
She knew, though, there was a pretty good chance he wanted her immediately gone. And there was a... slight chance he would be willing to deal with her a little longer.
And as she predicted, everything she felt for him last night, in the restaurant, in the Central Park, while they walked and everything she felt here, in his bed, all of that was still there. But how the hell she was supposed to tell him that?
Inhaling deeply, she finally slipped off the bed and looked at the clothes all around the room. After pulling on her black panties, she stared at the dress on the floor for a whole minute. Okay, so... an image of her pulling that dress on again, and getting across the whole Manhattan to get home afterwards... yeah, there's no way she's doing that.
Lexie then glanced at Mark's shirt she borrowed last night. Or she tried to. For a minute... before he took it off her. But anyway... that was her best choice at the moment. Trying not to overthink her actions, she put on the shirt and nervously left the bedroom.
She found him sitting on the couch in the living room with a newspaper in one and a coffee mug in the other hand. Completely dressed, in a grey shirt and black sweatpants… unlike her. Silently praying that whatever was going on between them won't turn into some kind of awkward mess the moment she opens her mouth, she shyly greeted him, "Hey..."
Mark looked up at her and couldn't help but smile as he beamed at the sight of her in his shirt. Damn, he loved her morning voice. Deeper and huskier than its usual tone. Sexier.
"Hey... About time you wake up." he smirked, putting away the newspaper.
"What?! What time is it? Please tell me it's not pass ten?" she whined in disbelief, as she slowly sat down next to him on the couch, rubbing her forehead. Thank God she asked for a day off...
"Pretty much is..." Mark assured her, moving a little closer and spontaneously putting his hand on her bare thigh what made her skin immediately burning under his touch. She shivered in surprise, even though she very well remembered how wonderful his fingers felt against her skin. As she felt him caressing her skin slowly, her eyes found his. Knowing that she was blushing way too much in way too short time, she looked away after a few seconds and grabbed a mug from his other hand, tasting coffee from it.
Regretting that decision straight away and making a face of disgust, she put a mug on a coffee table beside them, exclaiming, "Oh God. That's really bitter."
Mark tilted his head down, trying to hide his laugh, as he told her, "There's more coffee, so I can make you as you like."
"No, I can do it."
A comfortable silence sat between them as Lexie got up and walked towards the coffee machine on a kitchen counter. While the whole process of… taking a mug, pouring coffee in it, adding sugar and milk... lasted, she could feel his intense and non-stopping gaze fixed on her. She knew her cheeks were getting more and more red every second.
"You're little."
Lexie looked up at him, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "I'm what?"
"Little. I don't remember you being that little last night."
"I have no idea how to respond to that. But you know, that's usually how high heels work." Lexie said laughing, as she sat back on the couch, holding a mug in her hand and Mark again immediately budged closer to her.
"I didn't mean it as a bad thing. Somehow it's just... it's suits you. Little..." With those words, Mark's hand reached up to tenderly stroke her cheek, then moved to cup her jaw, slowly pulling her towards him. He liked calling her little. She fit so well into his arms.
"Is mocking a part of your morning mood?" Lexie whispered just before she met his gaze and their lips brushed. He kissed her gently for a few seconds, but ended the kiss biting her lower lip. She gasped quietly, her grip around the coffee mug getting tighter, as he pulled away.
"Get used to it. Especially if you're gonna walk around without any pants all day." Mark grinned, his eyes not leaving hers, not even for a second. She had the most inviting gaze, the one he could just drown himself in. And that warmth that was sparkling inside her brown eyes... he once again felt himself become completely hypnotized by them. He enjoyed feeling that warmth, that heat... He enjoyed having someone like that in his life. Someone… warmer.
"I don't have any pants to wear." she defended herself playfully, but her voice then turned into more serious. "And I'm not planning to stay here all day." Those words barely left her mouth, and her look fell down, as she waited for his reaction. Isn't that what he was expecting? For her to be gone as soon as possible, so both of them could just continue living their lives? Isn't that how things like this works?
"You have some place else to be?"
She was surprised with a concerned tone in his voice. It felt almost like... almost like he didn't want her to leave.
"No... but I can't stay here all day."
"Why?"
"Why?" she repeated after him, as she bent over to put a mug on a coffee table. "I don't know why." she exclaimed louder, in a voice that was on the fine line between intriguing and desperate. "I don't know anything. I don't what this is, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do right now." Her face flushed bright red, and she looked confused, like she was trying herself to figure out what the hell she just said.
"That's... a lot of don't knows..." Mark stated and for a second he thought that she was about to pick herself up and leave. He stared at her, but all the playfulness on his face turned into a serious grimace. He waited for her to say something, but he knew that it was he who supposed to talk now.
It's not like his mind was blank. It most definitely wasn't blank. It was full of thoughts. Thoughts of her, about her, of her face, her eyes and lips, her body, her creamy skin, her hair... Full of things he could say.
But again, he felt a familiar block in his brain. A block that was not letting him say things he wanted to say. Why? Because he thought he should always be rational and in control of his emotions? Because he was afraid of being exposed as weak and vulnerable? As someone who actually had feelings.
"Yeah..." she said smiling softly, almost apologetically. "Care to diminish that?"
"I just..." he started, his hands reaching for her legs and putting them over his lap. "I felt good being with you. Really good. Like I haven't felt in a really long time. So I didn't want to question it or put a logic into it, I just... went for it."
He was actually surprised with words that left his mouth. It was just a small part of everything that was still locked in his mind, but it was something. He managed to break that first layer of ice. And he was certain that the rest of it would soon melt as well. "And it didn't matter it was Christmas. I mean I would've done all the same..." Lexie raised her eyebrows, and he hesitated, "Okay that's a lie. I would've probably tried to get you into bed a lot faster. But you can't really blame me for that."
Mark finished that sentence seductively leaning in and pressing a soft, light kiss against her still lightly blushed cheek. His lips stayed there for surely a couple of seconds before moving down, landing on her neck, breathing her in. Lexie chucked as he found that ticklish spot just below her ear, but leaned towards him anyway, putting one of her hands across his shoulder and burying the other into his hair.
"It's not like you haven't melted for me last night as well." Mark whispered and smiled, lifting his head from her neck. His eyes darkened as he captured her lips for a slow, lingering kiss.
"I don't know what this is. But I'm open to company you for some New Year's Eve fireworks. As long as you let me kiss you afterwards. And then take you to bed. And make you coffee in the morning."
"You can work on that last one." Lexie chuckled against his lips. "Wait. Did you actually make plans for New Year's Eve? I thought you're not into making plans." She mockingly raised an eyebrow, brushing her knuckles over his beard.
"I saved you last night, little one. Don't mock me." he smirked, slowly pushing her and laying her down on the couch. Their lips found each other again in a deep kiss, as Mark settled himself above her. His hands braced themselves on either side of her, one knee slipping between her thighs to support himself. Lexie whimpered at what he grinned cockily. Then he kissed harder in return, pressing his body tightly against hers.
"You haven't already made plans for a New Year, have you?" he asked her between the kisses, one of his thumbs rubbing over her cheek.
She loved the way he touched her. The way his hands were brushing away everything she was always insecure about. Everything she was scared of.
Just a few spontaneous, honest acts of kindness and admiration, turned him from a stranger into a person in whom she finds closeness and safety. Exactly what she needed. She knew she got herself into something undefined. Unknown. Something like nothing before. But that didn't scare her. It didn't felt terrifying. It felt... exciting. In a good way.
"Your plans trumps mine."
I really hope you enjoyed this story…
... Also, I have planned another AU Slexie story. I almost finished the first chapter… It's a story in which Mark decided to stay in New York after his visit to Seattle at the beginning of the season 3, and shortly afterwards Lexie chose to start an internship in New York as well, and that's just the beginning. Let me know if you're interested…
