Hi lovely people! I feel like I always more or less say the same thing whenever I leave a message at the beginning of a new update, so at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I just want to say thanks as always for your support, it's really encouraging :) I start my sophomore year of college in about two weeks, so i'm going to be a lot busier; but I promise that i'm not going to start slacking with updates! They might start coming a little slower, but I've pretty much planned out the entire story from start to finish so it's just a matter of writing it all down lol.

The next one should come pretty soon though, because i'm just about finished with chapters 11 and 12 and i'm kind of excited about them. All I have to do is add some finishing touches and start editing them, so expect the next update sometime around the middle or end of next week.

Well, that's about it I guess! I hope you enjoy! xo

"Jesus, I can't remember the last time I had a hickey." Deb says as she stands in front of the mirror and buttons up her shirt. "I hope I don't get any questions today."

I stand behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and resting my head on her shoulder.

"If the hickey doesn't lead to any questions, then I'm sure the way you're walking will." I whisper into her ear.

"I'm not walking funny!" She insists. "Okay, okay. Maybe I'm a little sore."

"Yeah…sorry about that. I don't really know what came over me last night." I reply as I pull away from her.

"You don't know what came over you the second time? Or was it the third?" She asks, raising her eyebrow at me playfully. "You apologize too much. There's no need for that, believe me."

I watch Deb as she carefully walks across my bedroom, trying not to laugh at her subtle limp. Truthfully, it feels good knowing that I was the one who did that to her.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" She asks, picking up a pillow from my bed and hurling it at me, barely missing my face.

"Nothing, it just kind of scares me sometimes how much I love you." I blurt out, surprised at the spontaneity of my statement.

"Aww, Dex! You're not getting soft on me, are you?" Deb teases.

"The opposite, actually." I respond.

A shocked expression forms on Deb's face as a result of my sudden boldness, and she saunters back over to me and pulls me into a warm embrace.

"Since when did you become such a fucking flirt?" She asks, placing a hand on my chest. "I always pegged you as more of the romantic type; flowers, chocolates, that sort of shit. You know, it would be nice to be wined and dined…"

"Are you asking me out on a date, Debra Morgan?" I ask.

"Ew, fuck no." She replies, shoving me jokingly. "Hey, not that I don't love what we've been doing or anything, but have you stopped to think about how weird it is?"

"I wouldn't call it weird, Deb. It's…unexpected, but no, it's not weird. To be honest, throughout my entire life, I've always felt the least weird when I was with you."

"I'm glad," Deb says, smiling from ear to ear. "But I'm still having trouble thinking about what to call…this."

"What? Should I tell everyone at work that I'm your boyfriend or something? I mean, I will if you really want me to." I say.

"Fuck you!" Deb groans.

"What? I mean, as far as my secrets go, this one is the least illegal."

Deb laughs, but I catch a hint of uneasiness in her voice. It's clear that she's not comfortable joking about my, err, hobby.

"Look Dex, I'm fine with whatever this is. I don't need you to confess your love for me to the entire fucking world, because this," she pauses to gesture to the space between us. "This is all that matters to me. You know how I feel about you, I know how you feel about me, and that's all I've ever wanted. Okay?"

"Okay." I reply, holding her hand in mine. "Come on, we should get Harrison to school before we end up late for work."

After quickly eating our breakfast, Deb, Harrison and I pile into my car. When we're almost to his school, Harrison seems to notice Deb's unusually cheerful demeanor.

"Aunt Deb, you seem different!" He says.

"It's because I'm happy, buddy!" Deb replies, turning to smile at Harrison in the backseat.

"I was scared before. You kept hurting yourself, but now you're all better!" My son adds.

"That's right, Harrison. I'm all better now, no need to worry about me."

Deb turns back around to face me and I take one hand off of the wheel and place it on her thigh. Momentarily, I take my eyes off of the road to look into her eyes, and I notice that the spark is back (for good I hope), but I know that she isn't 'all better'. She probably never will be, thanks to me; but I try not to focus on that. This is the happiest I've seen her in almost a year, and all that matters to me now is keeping her that way.

After dropping Harrison off at school, Deb and I head to the station.

"I'm scared, Dex." She says as we sit in the parking lot.

"Don't be, you have nothing to worry about." I reply, gently squeezing her thigh.

We walk hand in hand until we reach the front door and Deb quickly releases her grasp on my hand.

"Shit's still kinda weird." She says. "Sorry."

We make our way to the homicide department and Deb quickens her pace, probably hoping to make it to her office without being seen. She doesn't get her way, though. Masuka turns the corner and almost knocks her off her feet.

"LT, finally back on the job!" He exclaims after steadying himself. "I'm wondering though, why did you get days off while the rest of us were here busting our balls? You know New Year's is always a big time for homicides."

I place my hand on Deb's lower back, letting her know that I'm ready to step in whenever she needs me.

"It was only a couple of days, Vince. I didn't think you'd miss me so much." She replies.

Masuka's eyes travel down to Deb's neck, and a creepy smile spreads across his face.

"Oh, so you were out getting laiiid!" He teases. "Why didn't you tell me you were feeling a little rusty? I would've been more than happy to oil your machine, if you catch my drift."

"Give it a fucking rest, Vince." I snap, hoping that he catches the venom in my voice.

"Um, okay…see you later Morgans." Masuka replies. His tone is more serious now, and it sounds like I may have actually offended him. Good.

"Wow, Dexter." Deb says when Vince is out of earshot. Her voice is throaty, and she looks a little flustered.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, I just love it when you swear. Looks like I'm rubbing off on you."

She winks at me before walking towards her office, still slightly limping. Before she can make it there, Quinn gets her attention and pulls her into a hug that lasts far too long for my liking. If it were up to me, she wouldn't even be hugging him at all.

Everything inside of me is urging me to rush over there and pull Deb away from him, but I remind myself that Deb is a big girl who can take care of herself. She doesn't need me suffocating her. Besides, I'm sure that no one, not even Joey Quinn, could come between us now.

I idly stand by and watch as they have a fairly innocent looking conversation until I remember that there was a conference scheduled for the forensics department today. I reluctantly take my eyes off of Deb and head to the conference room.

I take a seat next to Masuka, who greets me with his usual toothy grin. He can never seem to stay angry at anyone for too long. In some ways, he's kind of the polar opposite of me. It's like he can't function if he's not running his mouth.

The minutes tick by and the lecturer's voice is drowned out by Masuka cracking inappropriate jokes. Listening to his rambling is at least taking my mind off of Deb for the time being, which I greatly appreciate. These days, I can't even go ten minutes without thinking about her. It's a strange feeling, being in love with someone this deeply; one that I've never experienced before. Can Deb really be changing me for the better this time?

All of a sudden, my phone vibrates and I reach into my pocket to see who it is. My heart skips a beat when Deb's name pops onto the screen, and I'm intrigued when I see that I have a new picture message.

I click on the message and my mouth falls open at the photo that now takes up the entire screen. The picture is of Deb from the waist up, and she isn't wearing a shirt…or a bra. Her mouth is twisted into a teasing smirk, and the text underneath reads: I miss you…

I feel myself start to harden the longer I stare at the screen, and the only thing on my mind is that something needs to be done about this, now.

Masuka turns toward me, attempting to look at my phone. I close the message quickly and drop my hands into my lap.

"Woah, did I just see boobs?" He asks, keeping his voice down to a whisper.

Shit.

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about, Vince. You must be imagining things." I lie, hoping that he'll let this go.

"Sure, Dex. Whatever you say." He mumbles. "But that was one nice set of sweater puppies."

I roll my eyes but don't reply, thankful that he at least hadn't seen Deb's face. Still, the problem in my pants isn't going away. I abruptly get out of my seat and leave the conference room. The seminar isn't over yet, but if anyone asks, I'll just tell them that I needed to relieve myself, which isn't exactly untrue.

I hurry to Deb's office and when I reach for the handle and turn it, the door doesn't budge.

"Deb, it's me. Open up." I say, careful to keep my voice down.

The door swings open and Deb flashes me that same teasing smirk from the picture. I enter her office and close the door behind me, double checking to make sure it's locked and that the blinds are completely shut.

"Why would you send me that?" I ask. "You know I was in a meeting, right? Masuka was inches away from me!"

"What can I say?" Deb coos. "I missed you."

Her hand travels down to my crotch and she glides her fingers over my zipper, toying with me.

"Go lean up against my desk." Deb instructs.

I do as she says and soon her hand is back on my zipper. She pulls it down, and then does the same with my pants.

"Deb, are you sure this is a good idea?" I ask. "I know the door is locked, but what if someone manages to walk in on us?"

Earlier this morning, I told her that I would be fine with people knowing the truth; but the rational part of me was relieved that she decided to keep things between us. There's really no need for more added complications in our lives, and someone walking in on this would be just that.

"Do you ever shut the fuck up…?" She mumbles, pulling down my boxers and exposing me to her fully. I'm hard and ready, contradicting the uneasiness I just expressed. There's no way to hide how much I want her now, no matter how inappropriate the setting might be.

Deb licks her lips, and then gets down on her knees to kneel in front of me.

"Oh god…" I say before she even so much as touches me.

"Yeah, yeah. Just watch it asshole, this is my favorite shirt."

She licks her palm before taking my cock into her hand. As she rubs up and down the shaft gently, she cranes her neck upward so she can look into my eyes and witness for herself the effect that she has on me.

I throw my head back, losing myself in the moment, when she abruptly stops mid-stroke and I pathetically whimper in protest.

"Look at me." She pleads.

I lean my head down, fixating my eyes on hers, and she takes me into her mouth, resting one hand on my hip. I place one hand over hers and grab onto her head with the other, guiding her; though it doesn't look at all like she needs my help.

She takes me deeper down her throat and I gasp at the ecstasy that threatens to overcome me. The sounds she's making do nothing to help me make this last, and I tighten the grip I have on her hair, tangling my fingers through it.

"Fuck, Deb!" I scream, knowing how much she likes it when I swear.

I feel her lips form a slight smile around me as she continues sucking. I buck my hips uncontrollably, forcing myself deeper into her mouth, and much sooner than I would like, I know that I'm about to reach my peak.

"Deb," I moan. "Deb, I'm gonna come."

She increases her speed, and I look down to watch her again. I had no clue how…skilled she was. Soon after, I release into her mouth. She stares into my eyes as she swallows, wiping the corners of her mouth and licking what's left off of her fingers.

"Wow…" I mutter, still trying to catch my breath.

Deb smiles at me sexily, then steps behind her desk to grab a water bottle from out of one of the drawers. She takes a swig, and then says: "you might want to put your pants on and get out. I'm sure someone noticed that you were gone by now."

I don't want to leave, but I know that she's right. I scoop my underwear and pants up from off of the floor and put them back on hesitantly. Then, I lean over the desk and bring Deb into a longing kiss. She pulls away from me, but I grab onto her wrist, careful not to touch her wound that's still in the process of healing.

"Come here."

"Dex, I'm serious. You have to go."

"Not yet," I say. "It's time to take care of you now."

Deb moves from behind the desk and I pick her up and sit her down on top of it. I work on the zipper of her tight-fitting dress pants, and then pull them off of her in one swift motion. She's wearing black lace panties that are barely there to begin with, but I take those off too, slowly dragging them off of her hips and down her legs. I kneel before her and stick one finger inside, and then another, reveling in how wet she is.

I make sure to take things slow so I can make this last for her, but she grows impatient and places her hand over mine, guiding me to the spot that's just right and forcing me to quicken my pace. She starts to tilt her hips up against my strokes, and I plunge my fingers deeper inside of her. She bites down hard on her bottom lip, attempting to quell her desire to cry out, but when she looks down at me, she finally gives in to her need. She starts to moan and I'm thankful that she isn't as loud as she was last night.

I remove my fingers and Deb shoots me an irritated look. I bring my fingers to my lips and look deep into her eyes as I place them inside my mouth and suck off the remnants of her. She rewards me with a seductive smirk and quickly reaches down for my hand, trying to get things going again. I shake my head no and take her hand off of mine, leaving her looking thoroughly upset.

"Oh shit," she says when I lean my head down to take in the full extent of her arousal. I put my tongue where my fingers had been, and she throws her head back, chanting a combination of my name and "mmm, yes!"

A sudden knock on the door stops me dead in my tracks.

"Deb, are you in there?" Angel asks in a concerned tone of voice.

I stand up as quietly as possible and toss Deb her bottoms, mouthing an apologetic sorry in her direction.

"Y-yeah Angel, what is it?" She asks as she slides her underwear up her hips, followed by her pants.

"Mind if I come in for a second?" He asks. "Is everything okay? You sound a little out of breath."

"Uh, I-I'm fine. Just…give me a minute, I'll come to you!"

She zips up her pants and turns to face me.

"Stay here and wait like five minutes before leaving, okay?" She whispers.

"Uh, Deb…" Angel interrupts.

Deb ignores him and I nod my head yes as I run my fingers through her hair, attempting to make her look more like a put together police lieutenant and less like she was just in here giving me a blowjob.

"Deb…?" Angel repeats. "Is…is Dexter in there with you?"

Crap.