Author's Note: So for this one, I had two different ideas in mind, either the scene on her back porch during the "I don't want the best, I want you" or the care scene with the "Much more natural" bit. I debated for a while on which one to use and decided to opt for the latter because I decided it would be much more funs since it takes place in the car and it's after Dotty's "burning passions" lecture. With that in mind, just imagine that it took Francine a little longer to get her "Suburban frump" look together and that they didn't immediately pull apart. I hope you all enjoy. I also did a little editing to the prior chapter, adding a tiny bit more dialogue and correcting a couple of errors that I overlooked in my proofreading.

Chapter 18-Much More Natural

"Filming Raul"

At seeing Amanda shiver, Lee became concerned. "What's the matter?" When she turned from him and shivered again, he asked, "Are you cold?"

"No, I'm a little scared. I guess I shouldn't admit that, but...uh..." She shook her head.

"Hey, come on," Lee said as he draped his arm around her to comfort her. "I'm scared too," he added with a chuckle then smiled at her as it felt nice just to be close to her for a moment.

Amanda briefly smiled back at him and to avoid the risk of getting lost in his eyes again, quickly turned from him and said, "That isn't very reassuring," with a slight cringe.

"What I mean is, I feel responsible for Scotty and Raul. I wouldn't want anything to happen to them," Lee attempted to explain, but when Amanda looked at him in chagrin, then turned from him again he added, "Or to you...too...I mean..."

"Yeah," Amanda said with a slight nod. They smiled and gazed at each other for a moment.

When Lee saw Amanda attempting to turn from him again, he stopped her with his hands on her arms, forcing her to look at him. "Hey, Come on, Amanda, look, you're going to be alright. You're protected by the best ther-"

His words were cut off by Amanda saying, "I don't want the best there is, I want you." His comforting touch stirred that fire inside her that only he could seem to ignite.

Lee mistaking her meaning looked affronted leading to an awkward conversation with Amanda apologizing and both of them stammering nervously before Amanda made a beeline into the house.

Good one, Amanda, she thought with a sigh and a shake of her head as she entered the house, glad to get away from him for a moment, yet feeling more secure in the knowledge that he was out there looking out for her and her family. She was kicking herself for coming right out and admitting that she wanted him, but was grateful that he seemed oblivious to her true meaning. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the phone.

Dotty, having seen her daughter's nervousness and her peering out the window, had initially thought that her nerves had to do with the accident, but witnessing her clipped phone conversation and seeing her ready to bolt from the house afterward made her change her opinion. This is about her secret lover that she won't admit to having," she thought. The one she was fooling around with when she was seeing Dean. No wonder she can't make a relationship last. She'd seen her daughter casually dating a few different men since breaking it off with Dean, but none of them seemed to last very long. "You are making a mistake, Amanda," she scolded. She stood in the doorway of the living room, her arms folded across her chest as she watched her daughter heading for the cost closet. "A man does not respect a woman that he can call on a whim."

"It isn't what you think, Mother," Amanda said as she pulled her coat on.

"You are seeing a man, aren't you? These burning passions, midnight assignations, they don't work."

"Mother, it's only 8:30," Amanda replied as she shut the closet.

Dotty shook her head and said, "I cannot manage your life for you. Maybe you're entitled to a meaningless affair, something passionate and fiery, with no future."

"Maybe I am," Amanda said thoughtfully, pulling on her coat, as she thought about the fact that she and Lee definitely had the passionate and fiery covered. As for the "no future" part, she wished she knew. "I'll be back in an hour," she said and headed for the front door.

"An hour!" Dotty said in shock. When Amanda just turned and smiled awkwardly at her before making a hasty exit, she leaned back against the doorway for support and cringed. "Ugh! One of those."

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Amanda babbled nervously about government spending while Lee countered about Francine being the trained agent. Their debate went on until she finally said, "What do I do?"

"Billy thinks it's a terrific idea that you stay with me until we get your car back," Lee said gazing at her with a warm smile, the thought of her "staying with him" filling his mind.

Amanda looked at him, saw the gaze on his face and feeling like she could get lost in those eyes again, quickly turned from him and said, "It would be a lot simpler the other way."

"And a lot quieter," Lee said still gazing at her. "Francine makes the drop.

Amanda turned back to look at him and found him still staring at her. She pulled her gaze from his again and said, "You know, my mother thinks I'm involved in some kind of...clandestine love affair."

Lee chuckled as he thought of their own "clandestine love affair" or whatever you call it and couldn't resist trying to get a rise out of her. "Your mother should know you better than that."

"Why?"Amanda said fixing him with an icy glare.

"Why? You're not the type, that's why."

Her thoughts were in a flurry as she wondered just how he could say that about her after all the times they spent in each other's arms. She turned from him and began babbling again, "Well, I don't know how you can say that my mother should know me better than that. I mean, you never can tell who's the type for what. I mean, I'm not the type to be a spy, but look at me... And...I mean, you never..." She turned her attention back to him, swallowed hard at the burning gaze she saw in his eyes and said, "...you never can tell what a person might do under certain..." her voice trailed off as she finally allowed herself to be once again drawn into to Lee's hypnotic bedroom eyes. Out of nowhere, Lee grabbed her and pulled her to him. Amanda's heart skipped a beat, thinking that like her, he'd gotten caught up in the moment too.

"There's a local patrol car passing by. This looks much more natural," Lee said as a means of explanation, though it was no hardship to be holding her this closely.

"Oh yeah, it's much more natural," Amanda whispered as she found her hand of it's own accord sliding up his chest to rest on his face.

"Yeah," Lee said pondering his own words and how it felt completely natural to him to be in her arms.

"Yeah," Amanda repeated feeling that nothing was more natural than to be close to him.

Both were breathing heavily, a combination of nerves about being caught by the local PD and by each other's nearness. Lee turned his head slightly in an attempt to watch the police car, but instead found his mouth just inches from Amanda's. Feeling her rapid heartbeat against him, her shallow breathing in his ear, her hand on his face, her slender body so close to his, he was unable to resist closing the distance, pressing his lips to hers. He felt hr respond right away and lowered his hand from her back to her bottom, pulling her more into his lap, both their mouths opening to each other, beginning a new exploration of each other.

Amanda's hand slid from Lee's face to the side of the passenger seat, fumbling for the release she knew was there.

"Oof," Lee said as the back of the seat dropped, Amanda now fully pressing against him. He slipped his hands beneath her coat and under her sweater to caress her bare skin.

"Who's not the type?" Amanda said hoarsely, not giving him a chance to respond before lowering her mouth to his, pushing her tongue against his lips wanting to taste him again. She rocked against him and soon shifted her mouth to his neck tugging at the collar of his turtleneck to give her better access to the tender region of skin she knew set him on fire. She wanted to set him on fire, wanted him for burn for her the way that she burned for him, needed to remind him of just what type she was. She moved her other hand to tug the turtleneck out of his pants and slid it underneath to caress his chest.

"OH, I take it back," Lee said with a groan, awash in sensation at her lips on the tender pulse point at his neck, her hand teasing one nipple while his hands worked their way down to cup her bottom, squeezing it tightly as she ground against him, making his jeans feel painfully tight. His hips twitched against hers as he slid his hand to her front of her jeans, fumbling with the closure, he usual smoothness thwarted by the trembling on his hands.

"Here, Let me," Amanda said as she pulled back from him long enough to shimmy out of her jeans. "I know how much you hate me wearing jeans."

"No, I never said that, you look great in them, I...Uh...I just think you look better out of them and the jeans you were are so tight, it's a pain to get you out of them," he teased.

"You know, you don't look so bad in jeans yourself," she said in a seductive tone as she ran her hand along the bulge in his pants causing him to groan. She smiled at him alluringly and added, "But we need to talk about these turtlenecks." She ran her hands up his torso under the offending garment.

"Don't like them?" he questioned sighing at her touch.

"Mm-mm," she said as she moved her hands back down to open his jeans. "I can't touch you the way I want to."

"OH," Lee choked out as she gripped him firmly. "No? You're doing a pretty good job right now."

"Well, you just never can tell who' the type for what," she teased as she scooted to the floor to take him in her mouth.

"Manda," he growled at the feeling of her warm mouth enveloping him, suckling and teasing him, his hands involuntarily tangling in her hair, bucking against her as she took all of him in.

"Mmm?" Amanda said stopping what she was doing to look up at him with a sweet smile.

Lee gaped at her in shock and said, "Why'd you stop?'

"Oh, well, you said my name. I thought you wanted something," she said smiling innocently.

"You..." Lee paused, not even sure what he wanted to call her. Changing tactics, he said, "I'll tell you what I want." He tugged at the panties she still wore, tearing the fabric, and then pulling her to him roughly to him, her whispered low in her ear, "I want to be inside you." Giving her no chance to respond, he gripped her hip and immersed himself in her causing them both to cry out.

"Oh, Lee," Amanda sighed at the incredible feeling of him being inside her again, satisfying the craving that had been building all night in knowing it was in her back yard, mere feet from where she'd had her way with him on the picnic table. It seemed that her craving for him was never fully satisfied. Every time that she was in his presence, she felt like a heroin addict jonesing for her next high and that he was her dealer. Pushing her feet against the floorboard, she rocked against him, needing to reach that high again. She leaned her head against his as they moved together, their coupling slower and easier than the last time due to the limited space inhibiting their movements. "I love the way you feel inside me," she whispered in her raspy voice as she nipped at his earlobe, then the tender patch of skin just beneath it.

"Amanda," he growled as he wrapped his arms around her. "I love... love feeling you wrapped around me," he said as he pushed up into her meeting her rocking thrust for thrust, creating the perfect rhythm. His thought whirled as how he'd almost confessed his feelings for her then and there. That wasn't a place he was ready to go; not yet. To keep himself from blurting it out in the heat of the moment, he planted his lips on her neck while his slid one hand between them to stroke her softly, wanting her feel her tight muscles spamming around him again. He was rewarded for his efforts by hearing her soft cries against his skin as she trembled above him, feeling her clenching around him. Knowing she had no more control, he shifted both hands to her hips pulling her to meet him as he drove up into her bringing on his own release, crying out her name again as he spurted within her filling her with all of himself.

"Lee," Amanda said softly, her voice a hoarse whisper through her heavy breathing and the thudding in her chest. When her breathing slowed enough to form a coherent thought again, she lifted her head to look at him and said, "So, what was it you were saying about my mother knowing me better than that?"

Lee chuckled, reached for the remains of her panties. "So, does she know that you wear these?" He asked, amusement dancing in his eyes as he held up the tatters of her black, lacy thong.

"Not unless she's been snooping in my lingerie drawer. Like I said, you just never can tell," she said with a laugh. "I guess I won't be wearing them again though."

Lee laughed and said, "I guess not. Sorry."

"Don't be. I have more where those came from," she said with a seductive smile as she pulled back, turning from him as she reached for her jeans, scooting back into the driver's seat as she pulled them on.

"Oh? And what else do you have in your lingerie drawer? Sexy nightgowns, maybe? For your clandestine love affairs?"

"Affair," Amanda corrected, "One. One clandestine love affair."

"Oh? Who's the lucky guy?" Lee said in a teasing tone, but with an underlying hope that she was talking about him.

Amanda glared at him and said, "What is it you always say to me? If you have to ask the question..."

"...you won't understand the answer," they finished together.

"So, does that mean...uh...I mean...Is that how you see...this...this..." He sat up reaching for the latch beside the seat to pull it back to its upright position and tried again. "Is...is that how you see...us?"

"Us? Is there an us?"she asked, not daring to look at him for fear that he'd shoot her down and deny the underlying feelings between them.

Lee glanced at her, then unable to take the fact that she wasn't looking at him, shifted his gaze to the rearview mirror to see Francine hurrying toward them. "We better..." he nodded toward Francine's approaching figure as he hurriedly straightened his clothing, hastily shoving the lacy undergarment in his hand into his coat pocket. He smiled for a moment as he did so, liking very much the idea that she was now not wearing any underwear. He started to say something else, but was stopped by Francine rapping on the window. "Uh...Look, trade jackets with Francine.

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Amanda entered her house to find her mother on the couch, still perusing the insurance paperwork. She tried to slink up the stairs without being seen, but was halted by Dotty's voice, saying, "How was your evening?" without looking up.

"It...uh...It was fine," Amanda stammered.

Dotty glanced at her and her somewhat disheveled appearance. "Clearly. You were gone more than an hour," she said giving her daughter a knowing look. "That man of yours must have more stamina than I gave him credit for."

"Mother, really," Amanda said, perturbed at her mother's leering look.

"Come on, Amanda, we're both adults here. Level with me. I don't want to intrude on your private life, but I would like to know a little more about it, that's all."

Amanda looked down, unable to face her mother any longer, wringing her hands together and said softly, "I would like to, Mother. I hate keeping secrets from you, but this...this...you...you just wouldn't understand." How could she explain to her mother that a man she'd only known a few months made her regularly lose all self-control when he was close to her, that the simple touch of his hand, a simple smile made her weak in the knees?

"So, help me understand. I think we're both long past denying that there's a man in your life that you don't want me to know about."

"Okay," Amanda conceded. "Yes, there is, but I can't...what he does...I can't talk to you about that."

Dotty looked at her in alarm wondering just what it was about this man that made her so reluctant to talk about him. "What is it that he does to you? Is he pushing you into doing things that you don't want to do?" Dotty asked in concern.

"No, Mother, it's nothing like that," Amanda said sighing that her mother had misunderstood her meaning. She'd been talking about what he did for a living, but her mother had taken in to mean what he did to her. Rather than approach the taboo subject of the spy business, she decided to go with it and let her mother's misunderstanding work for her. It was better not to tell her mother she was a spy and to let her think she had a mystery lover instead. You do have a mystery lover, she said to herself. "There's nothing that he's done that I haven't wanted him to do. The way he makes me feel...I..." her voice trailed off.

"You told Dean he made you feel sexy and desirable," Dotty said. "That is, assuming this is the same man."

Amanda nodded, "It is," she confirmed. "He does." She sighed again as she thought of Lee's "much more natural" comment, about how being in his arms felt completely natural to her now as if she were right where she was supposed to be and said, "I don't know if there's any future in this thing. To be honest, I don't care right now if there is or not. I just...I just don't to stop feeling the way he makes me feel, so for now, I'm willing to take what he can give me and not worry about the future."

Dotty sighed and said, "It's your life, Darling. I just don't want to see you get hurt in the long run and I don't feel that you should settle for anything less than what you want. It's clear that you have strong feelings for this man. Is this the same man that I saw you with in the back yard?"

Amanda nodded and answered, "There hasn't been anyone else but him since I met him."

"But you've dated other men," Dotty argued.

"Yes, but they...they don't compare," Amanda said. "Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I know you're probably sitting there judging me or feeling disappointed in me, but I..."

"No, Darling, I'm not judging or disappointed. I just want you to be happy. If this love affair has been going on for all these months, maybe I was wrong. Maybe it does have a future, after all. If this man makes you happy, then who am I to argue? I just want you to be careful."

"Thank you, Mother," Amanda said. "I...um...I'm going to bed." Amanda hurriedly trotted up the stairs before her mother could stop her.

Dotty glanced after her pleased that Amanda had at least admitted that there was a man even if she wouldn't reveal anything about him. After Amanda had disappeared up the stairs, she quipped, "It seems to me that you've already been to bed tonight."

While Amanda was being interrogated by her mother, Lee had to endure one of his own. At the agency that night, he was just walking out of the debriefing room when he was accosted by Francine.

"So, generosity and stamina?" she questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"What?"Lee replied in confusion.

"You, Amanda," Francine said. "Remember, you once made a crack about the generosity and stamina of the American housewife."

"Oh, that," Lee said having completely forgotten about it.

"So, how about it? Is it true," Francine probed burning with curiosity.

"How would I know?"Lee said nonchalantly. "There's nothing between me and Amanda," but he couldn't help but wonder after their conversation tonight and how Amanda had finally seemed comfortable enough to use the word "affair" in his presence and even alluded to the idea that they were indeed having a love affair.

"No?"

"No," He denied vehemently. The last thing he needed were rumors getting around the agency that he'd bedded the suburban housewife.

"Then maybe you can explain to me why when I wore her jacket tonight, your scent was all over it, your cologne, your deodorant, your shampoo...I'd know those anywhere," she said with a lascivious grin reminding him of their own brief affair.

"Oh, that,' Lee said. "While we were waiting for you, we nearly got caught by local PD so we had to make it look like we were just a couple looking for a place to make out, so we wouldn't get busted."

"Oh, I bet the little homemaker got a big kick out of that," Francine said sardonically.

"Why would you say that, Francine? It was purely business."

"For you, maybe, but not for her," Francine countered.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Lee, it's obvious to anyone with eyes that she's got a little crush on you, some kind of juvenile hero worship. It's...Well, let's face it...it's adorable."

"You're crazy, Francine," Lee said, but he couldn't help but smile. Was Francine seeing feelings for him coming from Amanda that he'd overlooked?

"I'm not. Ask anyone around here. I'm not the only one who's noticed it. I'd be careful how much you use the job to get close to her. She's just a housewife. She may take it the wrong way and we all know how you are when it comes to women," Francine said as she walked away.

Lee snorted at Francine's last comment, wanting to tell her that he hadn't been living up to his reputation lately. That that reputation was a thing of the past since hadn't been to bed with anyone except Amanda in months, but knew that would be a bad idea. Associating Amanda with him on a personal level around the office would do nothing to improve his reputation and would tarnish Amanda's in the process. No, it was better that they kept their interactions hidden, or as Amanda had put it, as a clandestine love affair. He shoved his hands in his coat pockets as he made his way out the door, chuckling softly to himself as he felt the tattered satin and lace beneath his hand.