Yes, here's another chapter for you...I wasn't sure where this was headed when I started writing it, and it kind of swings from one emotion to the other...let me know how you like it...
Chapter Six - Hurting
"Izzie…!" Meredith called out, "phone for you…" She stood at Izzie's bedroom door, after knocking on it repeatedly. "It's Mark…"
The door was flung open finally, and Izzie stood there wrapped in her old bathrobe, her hair sticking up in different directions. "Tell him I'm sleeping…" she muttered. "Please, Meredith…"
Meredith frowned, taking in the disheveled appearance, the red rimmed eyes, the general air of depression that Izzie exuded. "Sure, Iz...but I'm coming back here as soon as I hang up the phone."
"Whatever…just bring the ice cream with you, would you?" Izzie shut the door again, leaning against it tiredly. She rubbed her eyes, hating the scratchy feeling, knowing the puffiness was there. She needed a drink, or ice cream, or both…did that even make sense?
After a couple of minutes, the door opened again, and Meredith peeked inside. "Brought the fudge ripple…" She held up the container and two spoons. "What's wrong? I thought you and Mark were doing good…"
"Me too…" Izzie sighed and settled on the bed, sitting cross legged and taking the container of ice cream. "We had an amazing dinner…and the sex was mind blowing…"
"So…?"
"I don't really want to talk about it…do we have tequila?"
Meredith raised one eyebrow. "This is Casa Grey…of course there's tequila, but you don't normally drink it."
"I want a drink, Mer…you told me you would have the tequila ready for the inevitable breakup…"
"Breakup?"
"Do I need to use smaller words, Mer? You were right…"
"But why am I right?"
"Mark wasn't the guy for me, you were right…"
"I don't want to be right about that," Meredith murmured, trying to understand. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Tequila first…"
"Fine…" Meredith headed for the kitchen to fetch the tequila, and phone Derek. This might be a long evening.
^-^-^
"Spill, Izzie…" Meredith told her, after a couple of shots were consumed.
"Oh, well…you know I was off work yesterday…" Izzie fidgeted with the belt of her bathrobe. "I was doing a little shopping, and I thought I'd stop for lunch downtown…and I realized it was close to Mark's office. I thought I'd stop in and surprise him, you know, but I went by this little restaurant with an outdoor patio. And he was there…with another woman..." She paused, taking another spoonful of ice cream. "She was gorgeous…red hair down her back, wearing this amazing suit that just screamed money…"
"It could have been a client…?" Meredith offered.
"He kissed her, Meredith…he held her hand, and he kissed her…" Izzie muttered. "After everything we did…he's seeing someone else…"
"Did I miss something? I thought it was just about sex…"
"I should've known better. You were right, I fall in love with the wrong guys, every time. I think with my heart, not my brain…I'm tired of getting emotionally beat up." She hugged the pillow against her abdomen. "I never want to get involved with anyone again…"
"Wait, Izzie…are you in love with Mark?"
"I don't want to admit it, but yes…god help me…" Izzie's eyes brimmed with tears again.
"Then you need to talk to him. Get his side of the story," Meredith urged. "He called you, he's going to wonder why you're avoiding him."
"You tell him the next time he calls to go fuck her if he wants sex. I'm through…" Izzie murmured, with a little drunken hiccup. "More tequila please…"
"Okay…" Meredith poured another shot, knowing that Izzie couldn't drink much anyway, and within moments she was proved correct. Izzie fell backwards against the pillows, out cold. Meredith retrieved the spoon from her hand and the container of ice cream. "You're gonna hurt in the morning…" She pulled the duvet over Izzie, and shut the lamp off.
^-^-^
"What's wrong, Mark?" Addison asked as he slammed his office door shut at the end of the work day.
"Nothing…" he muttered, juggling his brief case and his cell phone. "I'm going out."
"I can see that," she commented, raising one groomed eyebrow. "Don't tell me…you had a fight with your lady friend?"
"What makes you think that?"
"You have that cranky look."
Mark stopped short. "I am NOT cranky, Addi. I'm just confused…she won't take my calls…when I go to her house, her roommate tells me she's sleeping, or at work…but I know she's there…" He rubbed his hand over his jaw. "I thought we had a good thing going…"
"Mark, I'm shocked…since when do you get upset about a woman? I thought it was all just sex and good times for you."
"It was…it is…"
Addison's green eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "No, you might be experiencing a new kind of feeling, my friend. That gut twisting , heart wrenching, can't sleep feeling…"
"Yeah…?"
"You're in love with her, Mark…you have to tell her how you feel."
"How can I tell her when she won't talk to me?"
"You're a smart guy, you'll figure something out," she smirked.
"Maybe I don't want to…" Mark sighed, storming out the door. He needed to do something to take his mind off this, something that involved speed and danger, to get his blood pumping. He wanted that feeling to obliterate the ache that he felt from Izzie's absence.
In the parking garage, he rounded the corner to where his car was parked, and stopped in his tracks. "What the fuck…?" he muttered, looking at his Porsche. It was covered in swathes of toilet paper, and there were eggs smashed onto the windshield. For a second, he was speechless, wonder who had the nerve to do this, and then he spotted a small note tucked under the wiper. He picked it up, and opened it.
Mark,
Meredith said I should talk to you, but this seemed like more fun…I thought we had something together…but you want to keep your manwhore ways…so we're done…have a nice life, sweetie…
He frowned, trying to understand where she was getting this idea from. From the moment he woke up in bed with her on New Year's Day, he hadn't been with anyone else. Izzie had become the only woman in his life, and he damn well was going to tell her.
"Oh, we're not done, honey…" he murmured, "far from it…" He looked at his car again, this time laughing out loud. "You never cease to amaze me…"
^-^-^
Izzie walked out to her car at the end of the shift, wondering what Mark was doing. It had been two weeks since the last time she'd seen him, but then she shook her head, she didn't care what he was doing…that was for sure. She dug in her purse for the car keys, not noticing the person that waited beside her car.
"Hello, Dr. Stevens…"
"What..?" Izzie nearly dropped her purse in shock, her eyes going wide. "Mark, what are you doing here?" She eyed him suspiciously. He lounged against her car, looking sinfully handsome in a dark cashmere coat, black sweater and jeans. For a second, her body tightened, wanting him, but then she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Waiting for you, obviously. You won't talk to me, you make your roommate lie about your whereabouts…and then you egg my car…" Mark shook his head in reproach. "That's just wrong, Izzie…"
"It felt good…" she admitted.
Mark moved away from the car, coming to stand in front of her. He touched her cheek. "What did I do to piss you off, Izzie?" Their eyes met, his full of heat and remembered passion from their last encounter. A wash of desire flooded her at the same memory, and she bit her lip.
"If you have to ask, then you don't understand…" Izzie pulled away from him angrily. "This was a bad idea to begin with…a bad romance…"
"Look, Iz, I have to admit, I'll be the first to admit my affairs are usually casual…one night stands, maybe a few more if the woman is hot. You are the first one that made me re-think that…"
"Well, yay for me then…" Izzie retorted sarcastically. "I'm sure the red head you were kissing will appreciate the change of attitude…"
"Red head I was kissing?" he repeated. "Oh…you mean Addison?"
Izzie shrugged. "Whatever…"
"Addison is my partner at the office…"
"Then you were kissing your partner…"
"Kissing her? Hell…when did you see that?"
"It was at lunch…some little café…" Izzie admitted.
"You were checking up on me?"
"No…I just happened to see you."
Mark frowned, trying to recall when he would have been outside at a café with Addison. "Oh…god, we were celebrating a case that she won. I gave her a kiss to congratulate her. We're not sleeping together…"
"Sure…whatever."
Mark took her hand, stopping her from going by. "Listen, Izzie…this is real…what I feel is real…"
"What do you feel?"
"Confused…addicted to seeing you…needing to hold you…" he murmured, pulling her against him. "Addison thinks I'm in love with you."
Izzie raised her eyebrows. "She does? You don't know?"
"Hell, Izzie…it's a foreign emotion for me, cut me some slack."
"Cut you some slack?" she repeated, disbelief in her voice. "Oh hell no…this is over. I shouldn't have gotten involved with you in the first place…my first instinct was right."
Without another word, Mark wrapped his arms around her, unmindful of anyone that may have been watching. He brought his mouth down over hers, forceful and urgent, and despite herself, Izzie found herself responding. His tongue was warm and wet, sliding along the length of hers, suddenly making her weak, and turning her inside out from wanting him. The kiss was hot and deep, and with just enough desperation to almost make her pause…almost…
"Let me show you how much you mean to me, baby…" he muttered, releasing her briefly. "Give me a chance…?"
Izzie gulped, her heart racing, her body on fire for him all over again. "This is crazy…just crazy…but yes…take me home, Mark…"
^-^-^
Before Izzie could change her mind, Mark drove the short distance to his house in record time. He guided her inside, and had the door slammed shut behind them, pressing her back against it just as fast. He had his hands in her hair, kissing her mouth, bruising it from the intensity, teeth pulling at her lip. With one hand, he gathered up her skirt, giving him access to the satiny skin underneath. With his other hand, he pulled her blouse away from the skirt and slid underneath to unsnap her bra. Then he moved his palm around to cup her breast, and she pushed against his hand. She sighed in his mouth, and he deepened the kiss, crazy about the feel of her against him again.
At the same time, Izzie pulled at the buckle of his belt with anxious fingers. She wanted him to take her over the edge, she wanted his mouth all over her, and she wanted his heat. Impatiently, she pushed his shirt out of the way, the need driving her, consuming her. It was like they were feeding off each other's desperation. Not that it mattered; nothing mattered except what they were doing to each other.
Half stumbling, half walking, they made it to his bedroom, falling onto the bed, still tugging at their clothes, discarding them in a trail. Coming up for air, she murmured, "Mark—"
"Hmmm?" He slid his mouth across her cheek, his fingers rolling her nipples into harder peaks. The heat in her clit intensified, and she sighed. He kissed her lips again and lifted his head to smile at her. He was hot and hard against her, and every rational thought she might have had deserted her.
"Oh, never mind…" she sighed, surrendering to the inevitable, as if she ever could have resisted him.
"Honey, this is all about you," Mark said huskily. "I need to convince you this is real…"
Then he pushed her back against the cool sheets, and his mouth consumed her, sucking on her tongue, biting her lip again. All the while rubbing himself against her, capturing her with his power, his need, with the size and the heat of him. The kiss was endless, sensually charged, and Izzie was overwhelmed at the intensity. She hadn't expected the aching pleasure that warmed her – her only thought had been the deed itself, making her feel whole again. But here she was, clinging to him, her body limp with desire, as he touched her with his sure fingers.
He kissed her slowly, down her throat, and along her breasts, her shoulders, and the inside of her wrists. Slowly exploring as if for the first time, to her hips and the curve of her waist, her belly and then her thighs. "God, Mark, don't stop…" she begged him, her voice low. She arched up into his mouth, willing him to touch her everywhere.
Mark's only response was to bury his mouth into her wetness, his tongue searching and licking at her clit, delving into her as he gripped her hips and brought her up closer to him. Izzie bucked and clawed at him, throwing her head back and screaming as molten heat flooded through her body, and she rocked with wave after wave of luscious little climaxes. He inhaled her warm scent, enjoying the way he could make her squirm and spasm around him. Slowly, he pulled away from her, stroking the quivering lips of her pussy with his tongue, and then tracing a line back up to her chest, and then to her mouth. Her skin was warm, and salty from the fine sheen of sweat that covered her, tiny quivers still running through her.
She pulled him up to her and kissed him hard, thrusting herself against his cock, spreading her legs wider for him. She had to have him inside of her, had to feel his hardness filling her completely, taking away the pain she'd felt. Mark kept pace with her urgency, taking her legs up higher around his hips. He gave her that wolfish smile, pushing into her slowly, and all she could do was sigh in satisfaction. Inch by inch, he took his time to enter her, deeper and deeper, sensing just what she wanted at that moment.
Then he pulled part way out again, and plunged into her again, making her gasp and open her eyes wide to watch him sliding in and out of her. Her wetness on his cock. He lowered his head to her throat, grazing her with his teeth as he thrust into her again and again, until she was shaking.
With a low growl, he rolled them over, and she found herself looking down at him. Squeezing tightly around him, she leaned back and he pushed up hard into her again and again, as she stroked her clit. Soft little cries came from her throat, and the sound sent heat sliding down his spine to settle in his groin, to settle in his balls. She pulled herself back up and bent down to kiss him, her hair in a wild tangle around them. He pushed his fingers into her hair, and he fell into the fever of making love to her. So hot, so wild, her mouth melting against him, as they pulsed together. The heat in their bodies spread, becoming more intense, pushing him on, up into her. The rhythm was mesmerizing, sweet hot sex all the way, harder and faster, until she arched away from him again, crying out, and everything in him released, every ounce pouring into her as she contracted around him in waves. They gave themselves over to the pleasure, dragging them both into ecstasy.
Izzie closed her eyes, as they lay together, sweat cooling on their bodies, breathing still ragged and hot. "Izzie Stevens…you are the only woman for me…" he murmured, moving over her again. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
Her eyes opened wide in the dim light, staring at him. Her hand went to his forehead. "You're feverish…that's it…"
"No fever, babe…" he grinned. He pulled himself upright, kneeling on the bed, and all she could do was stare at the sculpted muscles of his chest that seemed too perfect to be real. "I love you, Izzie…will you marry me?"
"Marry…you?"
"I don't want to spend another day without you in my life. Marry me…we can be crazy together…"
"Oh…" Izzie found herself speechless, her eyes filling with tears. Of all the ways she imagined this evening to end, this wasn't it. Her lip quivered, and he leaned in to kiss her, unable to resist that soft mouth.
"Say yes…" he murmured, wiping away the tear that trickled down her cheek.
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes, you idiot…" Izzie managed to laugh. "I love you…god help me, but I love you…"