A/N: Sorry! It's been a while, I know. I've been working on something a bit bigger - a spin off of this entire idea in an actual story, though Sophie and Bunny would be the secondary couple. It's a work in progress and a colab with a very dear friend of mine, Melody Winters. So we'll see what happens. A little warning now, this is eventually going to switched to something heavier on the rating...because I miss writing like me. I'm not always the cleanest person and I love me some smut. So we'll see what happens. But, just in case you think this fic disappeared, it probably just went through a rating change. Love to all my reviewers! You guys rock my socks with all your support and kind words :D Now...everyone enjoy a little chocolate ;)

Chocolate

She was baking again. It seemed to be something she did a lot of – baking. And there never had to be any occasion for it. She had a terrible sweet tooth and along with that, claimed that baking was just something she enjoyed doing. Sometimes she would follow a recipe exactly, other times she would just start throwing things together to see how they came out. She talked about opening a bakery one day, though whenever she used the words "one day" she never sounded as if she believed it would ever happen. Shame – the woman could bake.

That afternoon the apartment smelled of cinnamon and mulled cider. Aster inhaled deeply, savoring the scent for a moment before heading toward the kitchen to find Sophie. She stood next to the narrow island in her kitchen and the sight of her made him laugh softly. Hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, flour dusting her cheek and neck, one hand idly stirring something in a bowl while the other tilted the half empty glass of wine to her lips – she may have loved baking but she was certainly not committed to doing it in an orderly, wine free fashion.

He slipped up behind her and snagged the glass, finishing off the contents before setting it aside and spinning her to face him.

"Sneaky rabbit," she muttered, her eyes bright.

"I'm sure that wasn't the last of it," he shot back. "What have we got here?"

Sophie glanced over her shoulder at the mess spread over the island counter top. "It will…at some point…be bread pudding."

"At some point-."

She shrugged. Her hands were sneaking up his arms, her fingers combing through the short fur. "I just started. Still thinking over how I want to put it together." Reaching over, she dipped her finger into a bowl and it came up covered in something dark and glazed looking. "Here, try that and tell me what you think."

He leaned over and took her finger in his mouth.

"It's this combination of whiskey, kalouah, and heavy whipping cream. Took the idea of a Colorado bull dog and put it into a mix instead of a drink."

He didn't hear a word of what she'd said. The creamy mixture hit his tongue and he pulled back immediately, closing his eyes. "Is there…chocolate in that?"

"Oh yeah, I added a bit. Not a whole lot. Why? Overkill?"

He shook his head, trying to steady his breathing. Her scent was suddenly overwhelming him – vanilla, orchids, something else exotic. And her skin…her skin was so soft that it was almost painful to touch her. He could feel her veins pulsing beneath the surface-.

"Aster? Are you okay?"

He glanced up and sucked in a breath. Had her lips always been that full? Her eyes always so green and full of wonder? His gaze fell to her chest and he noticed how deep the plunging neck line of her shirt really was. If he leaned over a bit more-.

"Aster?"

"Crikey," he muttered, yanking her into his arms silencing her startled yelp with a kiss. She'd been trying the creation herself – he could taste the subtle hints of it along with the bittersweet bite of wine on her tongue. It drove him further over the edge, heightened his sensitivity until it was nearly unbearable.

Sophie went tense in his arms for only a moment and then she was clinging to him, kissing him back with complete abandon. He could feel ever curve of her body against his, could feel her pulse racing as he broke free, seeking the satin skin just below her ear where it beat strongly below the surface.

He barely registered the sound of something clattering to the floor. It was background noise to the soft moans of Sophie clouding his mind. Had she not said his name, had there not been the faintest hint of doubt that sounded more like a scream in his ears, he would have kept going without even thinking. Instead, he pulled back, taking deep, unsteady breaths and watching Sophie as she pulled herself together.

"Do me a favor," he muttered.

She nodded quickly, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed.

"Next time you're gonna use chocolate in somethin', warn me."

Her smile was slow and there was an impishness to it that didn't settle entirely well with him. "Deal," she said.

He wanted to feel reassured. Instead, he felt like he'd just given some trigger happy lunatic a free pass to a shooting range with unlimited access to ammo. She had him figured out. And all because of a little bit of chocolate.