A/N: Well, the next chapter - you may have expected it - had turned a bit juicy *chuckles*

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with a hint of everything

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Tommy's free hand had found hers again and after a bit of gentle fidgeting their fingers had found themselves into an interlaced position. While they held each other's hand Barbara took a bite from the dark bonbon she could not see and not exactly by accident she unexpectedly felt the boldness to let her lips lick his fingertips. The hand that was connected with hers suddenly squeezed it hard and she heard him sharply inhale before he obviously ate the other half. She could hear how it vanished in his mouth.

"Yummy." Barbara almost squeaked. "And hot." The spice was not at all the reason for her creaky voice.

"Very hot!" Tommy almost moaned.

One pair of their hands still was interlaced with thumbs caressing while the other pair continued to brush across their faces. Ignoring the rest of the chocolates they were continuing the tactile part of their senses' adventure. Barbara's fingertips brushed across his cheekbone and his head slightly followed her hand. Steven was right. Either it was her enabled eyesight or it was the deeply carved memory of every contour of his face but in her inner eye she could literally see Tommy's face merely by touching it. And it looked so good.

His knuckles caressed her chin and she felt an electric sizzling where his skin met hers. Two of her fingers slid down his nose, then it became only one that continued its soft path across the tip and further down before she diverted them towards the side and around the line of his lips. While his flat hand warmed her cheek his thumb gently caressed her lips before he let his spread fingers comb through her hair. Barbara's breathing was flat so she would not miss a sound hence she held completely still when she heard Tommy moving on his chair. She only stroked her fingers over his temple and was surprised how eager her entire body was to be touched by him.

Barbara's other hand softly squeezed his again when she realised they both had moved closer to each other. This experience was thrilling and she felt like she was in a universe far away from the dull suburbian education centre. The invisibility of the others, shut out by the blindfolds over their eyes, made it easy to forget them. And since all their senses were focussed on each other they had no sense at all for what happened around them. It surely was not important anyway.

Tommy's hand had moved down to her neck and now he kept it there lying still. Barbara had expected him to tickle her behind her ear where he had a few moments before. It had sent a thrill through her veins she wanted to feel again so she slightly turned her head towards him and straightened her back to get closer. Her own fingers mirrored her wish and involuntarily fondled Tommy's ear. She moved to the edge of her chair. Her hand trembled.

Then Barbara felt Tommy moving another inch closer and finally his personal scent hit her nose. It was not just his aftershave or the smell of his clean shirt. It was that undefined scent underneath, something she rarely had had the pleasure to enjoy until now, something warm and alluring, familiar and strange all at once. When she heard him deeply inhaling Barbara had to swallow. She had realised that smelling his scent in combination with being blindfolded was exciting and even had an arousing effect on her she had not felt for aeons.

Barbara loudly exhaled when she felt the warmth of him above the skin of her neck. He sniffled at her again and the small breathing sound she then could hear from Tommy was a voiceless approval. His breath streamed across her exposed neck and she slightly tilted her head. Caressing her skin Tommy's nose brushed from her neck upwards to her jawbone. He must feel every little goos bump.

Excited by the touch Barbara's breathing suddenly became elaborate. That he had recognised it was palpable. Tommy briefly stopped his nose's journey and let his breath linger on her cheek. One moment later by a minmal tilt of his head his lips touched her skin as softly as a feather flying by.

Barbara sharply inhaled.

On the hidden side where their fingers were interlaced Tommy softly pulled at her arm. Their knees bumped and she knew he was skidding forward on his chair. So did she until she felt her right knee pressing into the outer side of his right thigh.

" 'oooh." she silently exhaled. How close his face really was was sensible by the hot breath reflecting back into her face from his. The soft flesh of his lips lightly touched her face. His lips moved closer to the corner of her mouth. Barbara turned her head just the fragment of an inch. She wanted to kiss Tommy as fiercely as she feared it. A disturbing feeling of calm excitement warmed her system from inside.

Then his nose nudged hers. If Barbara would have kept her lips closed she would not be able to hold back a restraint moan but since her mouth was open Tommy only could hear another sharp exhaling sound. Their foreheads briefly had contact while they moved their faces back and forth until they let the tips of their noses circle around each other softly caressing the sensitive part in the centre of their faces. He felt her nostrils flare against his and his breath warmed her skin.

Eventually Tommy's lips hovered over her open mouth. His breath mingled with hers and he paused for what seemed like hours. Barbara lifted her head so they were even closer without touching. She kept a little bit of distance but the heat of his face warmed hers like hers surely was felt on his.

Just before Barbara was about to finally close the distance by herself Tommy brushed his lips across hers as light as a breeze and as short as the blink of an eye. She did not withdraw. She did not move at all. This was such a heady moment she did not even dare to breathe but Tommy dared to touch her lips again. A bold little bit longer this time but almost as light as before. After the second touch he stayed away from her for another few seconds but he was closer than ever before.

Barbara started to breathe again. Next thing she realised was that she had closed the distance between them completely and their lips lingered for longer. He did not move further back. Tommy's lips were softer than she ever had dared to dream. They were as soft as the movement he started after a few seconds. Thrilled by this Barbara hesitantly mirrored his tentative nudges.

Her one hand that was not held by his reached up until it flatly laid on his chest and involuntarily crumpled the cloth of his shirt. Her heart was racing in expecting delight.

Eventually Barbara opened her mouth and Tommy took it as it was - an invitation to deepen their tender kiss. His tongue carefully moved forward towards her lower front teeth until she met him halfway.

At first only the tips of their tongues touched and played but their kiss soon turned deeper. Barbara's hand moved to his shoulder and further to his nape when he curled his tongue around hers. He charmed a pleased sound from her lungs that turned him on even more. She felt his free hand on her hip and answered their oral game with pressing her tongue tickling against his palate. To her surprise it elicited a small moan from Tommy and then he let go of her fingers to snake his arm around her waist until his hand landed on her shoulder blade. Barbara's freed hand had wiped across his arm up to his neck and around it until her fingers had reached his ear on the other side. Their chests were pressed flush.

They shared a slow and exploring kiss. It was full of desire and still carefully cautious. It was highly arousing and soothing at the same time. It was unexpected but it surely was what both secretly had wanted for a long time. Desire, pent up for too many years, suddenly surfaced. Their kiss excluded the entire universe.

Exchanging a long kiss they teased each other's lips and tongues in turns. Elaborate breathing through only small gaps turned them both completely breathless. Barbara felt a thrill sizzling through her body she never had felt before. If they would have been alone she knew she would start tugging at his shirt. Then she recognised she already did that.

Suddenly the realisation hit her. She was actually kissing her boss, DI Tommy Lynley, the 8th Earl of Asherton. And he was answering the kiss with the same intensity she put in it, with eyes hooded by a blindfold and an audience that surely would recognise their kiss soon. In the end this realisation made her slow down the kiss until their lips parted.

"No!" Tommy whispered disappointed and followed her leaving lips but he only was able to catch another brushing touch.

Their panting was heavy and their faces beamed hot.

"How did it taste?" Steve was asking Amanda in that moment.

"Delicious!" Tommy murmured ardently. Barbara could feel even more heat, her own blushing now mirrored by Tommy's close face. Slightly exhausted the two let their foreheads briefly bump so they could catch some breath after this unexpected encounter. Immediately she missed the experience of his kiss and he did not seem to agree to the loss of the touch either so it was not long before their lips met again.

"Indeed!" Amanda said with her mouth full of something contrastingly tasty. Of course she was talking about the sweet.

Tommy had not meant the treat in the box. Not at all. But when Steven started to describe the strange taste of an asparagus choc the other voices began to sound through to the couple's ears again. It may have been interesting but now Tommy was completely fed up with the game here in the auditorium. Although Barbara followed his lips for several inches like he had done before he kept moving away from her and finally ripped off the blindfold from his eyes. He had to leave. He had to be alone with Barbara. They had to talk.

Still an enchanted but shy smile on her face Barbara sighed with disappointment. Seeing her like this woke a deep affection inside Tommy's belly, together with a carnal desire to make love with her, so one second later she felt his fingers untying her own blindfold and gently removing it. They stared into each other's eyes with surprise, love and contentment. And suddenly there was an unknown desire on both sides.

He smiled. Barbara blushed and catiously mirrored his smile. Almost savage Tommy pressed his lips on hers again for a second.

"Let's go somewhere else." he croaked. She only nodded. "For a coffee or something. We have to talk."

Barbara nodded again although she did not want a coffee now, nor would she want to talk. In fact she preferred the 'something' option.

Without a further word to Steven the two detectives left the lecture theatre through the door right next to their seats where they had sneaked in earlier. In silence they went to his car. Eventually their hands brushed. Then he took hers in his but it was only when they had almost reached his car and so he had to let go of it again. Tommy opened the car, they climbed in and drove off. They had not said a single word all the way there and they stayed silent for quite a long time.

Finally at a red traffic light, Tommy kept his eyes on the sign while he spoke, he gave Barbara the most romantically un-romantic declaration of his long hidden love for her without saying that word once. She just listened to him speaking verbosely about their great working partnership, their deep friendship and all these feelings that he had for her for such a long time but had not known how to describe them until now, nor would he ever have allowed himself to think she would mirror something like that.

Then the lights turned green and he drove on.

As a matter of fact Tommy still had not said it clearly but deep inside Barbara slowly understood. She had to process his words for two or three moments before she smiled. Her smile soon turned into a grin when it sunk in completely. The pink fluffy fog that had surrounded her since their kiss had started finally had disappeared completely. It had made space for something more concrete.

"M-hm." Without taking her eyes off the road ahead she nodded and then simply said it. "I love you too, Tommy."

Barbara only dared to look at him when they turned into another street a few seconds later. She saw him shooting glances at her and into the mirror. His face beamed and radiated pure joy but as dearly as he wanted it there was no space or chance to stop the car and kiss her again.

When she placed the blindfold she had nicked at the lecture onto the dashboard of his car Tommy's eyes briefly narrowed. He harrumphed, quickly looked into the rear mirror again, then indicated to the left, braked quite hard and bent over to Barbara. Grabbing her face with both hands he pulled her into a vigorous kiss. For several desireful moments they did not care that there were cars behind them waiting to drive on. Only when the horns were heard constantly the annoying sound finally reached their ears and they broke apart.

"Let's go home." Tommy breathlessly rasped while he set the car into first gear. "It's time for dinner."

The coffee Tommy prepared for breakfast was the best coffee Barbara ever had had.

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