Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. The rights to those characters and to the show belong to the creators of the show, to CBS, The Sullivan Company and to A&E.

A Sense of Belonging

Chapter Fourteen

The warm water of the shower cascaded over Michaela as she stepped in to begin her day. Reluctantly, she had left Sully in bed asleep, wanting to stay with him but knowing she needed to get ready for work. To think that she would wake up with him every day for the rest of her life was such a powerful feeling. He was a part of her in a way she'd never experienced before and it scared and thrilled her all at the same time. Lathering a washcloth, she ran it over her body as images of the night before came rushing back.

Never before had she been quite as bold, so in control of their love making. Normally Sully initiated and controlled the pace but last night that all changed. Being above him, surrounding him as she had, Michaela felt powerful. Pleasing them both with her movements, she varied their love making leaning forward and then backward as Sully groaned in blissful agony. She enjoyed the feel of his hands against her backside as he encouraged her movements. Again she thought of Abigail, wondering how their love making had differed. It was a question she had never asked and she wasn't sure she ever would but that didn't stop her curiosity.

Sully was so sure of himself with her, always knowing the right place to touch or kiss. He could bring her to the point of ecstasy without ever touching her most intimate places. The way he kissed the underside of her arm or raked his fingers across her scalp, the way his tongue felt as he outlined her belly button or kissed his way up her thigh- each made Michaela writhe in delight. One look from him was enough to arouse her so that she couldn't think about anything but being with him. Even now she felt the heat between her thighs, radiating upward no matter how hard she tried to repress it.

As if reading her mind, the door of the bathroom opened and then the door of the shower. Sully stood there casually, his hair still tousled from sleep as he let his eyes roam over her curves. "Got room for one more in there?"

Proffering a sudsy hand towards him, Michaela smiled. "It might be a tight fit."

Sully moved in behind her, pulling her back against him as he kissed her shoulder. "I missed you this morning," he whispered continuing his trail of kisses to the other shoulder. "I wanted to thank you for last night."

Michaela felt the warmth on her cheeks. "It wasn't …too much?"

"No," he chuckled turning her quickly so that her nipples pressed against his chest. "Why would you think that?"

Growing nervous, Michaela tensed slightly. "No reason," she whispered dropping her eyes.

"You know you can tell me anything."

"I know but this is different."

"Why's it different?"

Michaela took a deep breath. "It's about the past," she whispered.

Sensing where this was headed, Sully stroked her back. "About Abby?" She didn't reply right away but he knew from the way she held herself back slightly what she was thinking. "Things with Abby were complicated, Michaela."

Michaela raised her eyes, the questioning look preceding the actual asking. "Complicated?"

"Can we talk about this later?" He pressed her close again and she could feel his swollen arousal. "We don't have much time."

At first he thought she might turn him down, he could see her eyes darting back and forth as if avoiding him. When she lifted her head though, he recognized that she was simply fighting with desire, not with him. Neither was able to resist the building heat. Sully raised a hand to her cheek, running his thumb across her trembling lips. Michaela surprised him by taking it in her mouth, suckling and then nipping lightly at his thumb. "I love it when you're bold," he whispered to encourage her to continue.

Her hands began to move downward and for one moment Sully thought she was going to caress him but she moved back quickly to lean against the shower wall. At first Sully was a little disappointed, wondering where the girl from last night had retreated to. "We don't have much time," she reminded him and he realized her movement was an invitation for him to join them together.

Balancing her bagel on top of a mug of coffee, Michaela walked over to the table where her mother sat with Rebecca. She reached for a section of the morning paper but Elizabeth stopped her. "We need to talk flowers," she informed her daughter quickly pulling out the same notepad from the night before. "I'm going to the florist first thing this morning."

Knowing that her mother knew flowers much better than her, Michaela decided to simply let her make the decisions. "The flowers are all you," she said grabbing for the paper once more and finally succeeding.

"But what do you like? Certainly you have a preference for your bouquet?"

Michaela gave a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe roses?"

Elizabeth twisted her mouth to the side while she was thinking. "Some red roses would pick up the color of your dress nicely with perhaps some stephanotis."

Perusing an article on the rising costs of healthcare, Michaela nodded in agreement mumbling, "That sounds nice."

"Oh and some white gerber daisies." Elizabeth was so excited she never noticed Michaela's lack of attention. Continuing to jot down notes, she started to talk out loud about what the bridesmaids could carry as well as what other flowers would be needed. Rebecca and Michaela shared a look at one point, both smiling over their mother's rambling. The bedroom door opening finally stopped her as Marjorie emerged. "What are you wearing?" Elizabeth asked narrowing her eyes.

"Do you like it?" Marjorie asked doing a little twirl in the middle of the floor, modeling the bridesmaid tank and boy shorts. "I bought them last night."

Elizabeth simply raised her eyebrows and then went back to her list. "Please choose something tasteful for the bridesmaid dresses."

"Oh Rebecca and I talked about them last night. We thought we should just go simple. I'm going to Saks when the mall opens to see what they might have. That way we won't have to fool with alterations."

Rebecca looked over at her sister, worrying that Michaela would feel out of the loop with everyone making so many decisions for her. "If that's alright with you, Michaela," she tagged on to Marjorie's plan.

"I think it's a great idea. You might as well buy dresses that there might be a chance you'll actually wear again."

Rebecca laughed. "I suppose you have four unwearable dresses from each of our weddings."

The color on Michaela's cheeks deepened as she went back to her paper, purposefully not answering her sister's question. The dresses had been given to Goodwill long ago. "I better get ready to go," Michaela said hastily.

"Oh before you leave we need to talk guest list," Rebecca quickly intercepted.

"I thought Marjorie was doing guest list?"

"We're sharing," Marjorie said wrapping an arm around Rebecca's shoulder. "We figured two heads were better than one."

"Thank you," Michaela mouthed to Rebecca who simply smiled.

Reaching over, Marjorie swatted her on the arm. "I saw that!" Straightening back to her original position, she smirked. "Gettin' ready to move in with Sully?"

Michaela shook her head. "We haven't decided where we'll live yet."

Turning casually in the other direction, Marjorie continued. "Oh cause it sounded like you were packing stuff or moving furniture around last night." Michaela had to only take one look at her sister's eyes to verify that she knew. "I thought I heard something banging against the wall."

Michaela took a deep breath, unsure whether to be embarrassed or angry. Remembering Sully's advice from earlier, she fought through both emotions. "Just doing a little yoga before I went to sleep. I find it relaxes me."

"I bet," Marjorie snorted.

"You really should try it sometime. It might cure your desire for late night wanderings."

"Back to the guest list," Rebecca intervened before their mother figured out what they were referring to. "I need to know about Sully's family, who he might want to invite. Of course I'll ask him but I thought you might be able to give us some sort of an idea."

Sucking her bottom lip between her teeth, Michaela grew nervous. It had never occurred to her that she would need to tell her family about Sully's background. Truthfully she wasn't sure how they would take it, especially her mother. "His parents passed away when he was younger but he does have some people he considers family."

"Good, I'll make sure they get invited. What are their names?"

"Cloud Dancing and Snowbird," Michaela whispered clattering dishes in the sink.

Three sets of eyes looked up at her, confused by the strange names. "Sully grew up differently," she began, immediately taking the defensive. "Very differently."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marjorie blurted out. "Was he raised by wolves?" She laughed at her own joke but everyone else remained serious.

Michaela picked up her messenger bag in frustration. "I don't have time to properly explain right now. Trust me, it's a long story." Guilt rose up inside of her as she questioned whether she was ashamed to tell them but she convinced herself that now simply wasn't the best time. "We'll talk when I get home." With that she quickly disappeared out the door, her conscience still prickling within her.

"Can't wait to hear this," Marjorie said rubbing her hands together.