**Still none of my characters except Ri**

Sherlock was confused. His mind was still halfway between sleeping and waking, but he knew something was off. The more his brain came into focus, the more he was aware of the strange pressure against his body. He vaguely remembered waking up in the middle of the night. His arms were wrapped around something warm and soft. He smelled roses. Ri used rose-scented shampoo and conditioner. The thought came unbidden to his mind.

Whatever he was holding moved. Sherlock's eyes flew open. He stared at the reddish-gold locks and creamy porcelain skin in disbelief. Then he remembered. The terror of the nightmare, and the woman who gently stroked his hair and held him in her arms until the phantasms tormenting his sleep subsided. He asked her to stay, and she did. No, he corrected himself, he begged her to stay.

He raised himself up, supporting his weight on his elbow to get a better look at Ri. Her luscious pink lips were slightly parted, breathing slow and rhythmic, indicating she was still asleep. Her hair was pulled back in a loose braid that tumbled down her back. The loose tank top she wore had slipped off her shoulder, revealing the top of her milky breast. Fabric the color of a tropical ocean seemed to be clinging to her areola and nipple, stubbornly shielding them from Sherlock's gaze. He was suddenly aware of her buttocks pressing pleasantly into his pelvis and how soft the skin on her legs were as they tangled with his.

Before he knew what he was doing, Sherlock's lips were on the nape of Ri's neck, gently kissing her. She made a soft noise and turned her head into the pillow, exposing more of the skin for him to press his lips against. He was acutely cognizant of the fact that with each kiss, her back arched so that her arse thrust more firmly into his groin.

Sherlock hastily moved his lips away from her and gently disentangled his body from hers. She sighed softly, but didn't wake. The fact that he was naked didn't disturb him. It was the fact that he had felt pleasure because the body of this infernal woman was pressed against his. The thought shamed him. He was Sherlock Holmes, the world's only consulting detective. Emotions like gratitude, affection and the hormones of lust clouded his intellect and had no place in his highly logical mind.

He dressed quickly and quietly, needing to get away. Away from this woman who made him feel things he swore he would never feel, away from the part of him that wanted nothing more than to crawl back into his bed and pull her tightly into his arms, away from the knowledge that if he did, he would never let her go.

It was still an hour before dawn and there was a light rain falling, but Sherlock didn't care as he stepped into Baker Street. He didn't know or care where he was going, as long as it was away from her.

The click of the door closing startled Ri out of her slumber. For a moment, she didn't know where she was. A hotel in some Slavic country? Then it came to her. She was in Sherlock's bed. He was gone, but the space next to her was still warm from his body. She pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

Oh my God, she thought. I slept in Sherlock's bed nearly naked. And he was naked! This was very bad. Did he think she did it on purpose, she wondered? Sure she found him incredibly attractive. Who wouldn't, with those dark curls, the long fingers, the deep baritone voice, the cheekbones you could cut glass with, and his eyes. Ri thought his eyes were the sexiest thing about him, the way they were the perfect combination of blue and green and gold. The way they seemed to pierce to the very core of a person. The intelligence behind them. Who ever said brainy is the new sexy had to be thinking about Sherlock Holmes. Fortunately for her, a lifetime of hiding things left her fairly confident she had hidden her attraction for him. She was almost positive he didn't know.

Ri wasn't necessarily bothered with the fact that he was naked or that she nearly was. She was from the Continent, and her views on the human body were much less uptight than the Brits or their American counterparts. She was much more concerned that Sherlock would read something more into it.

As attractive as she found him, she wasn't stupid. She knew what he was like, how he valued the rational and the logical. How human emotions were so foreign to him. Ri knew that he would never see her as a woman, an object of desire. As anything other than the occasional cook, assistant and calmer of nightmares. She understood the dynamic that their relationship had to have. Friends, colleagues, nothing more. She knew how Molly Hooper had pined after him for years, never giving up hope that he would one day see her as a lover. And Ri knew that someday, after they found Moriarty she would leave. Off to her next assignment.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, so Ri decided to go upstairs and try to get a few more hours of sleep.

Sherlock walked for hours, trying to settle his thoughts. The light rain had turned into a torrential downpour. He was angry. Angry at her for getting inside his head, for making him feel, for clouding his mind. Angry at himself for letting her into his head, for letting her see him in a weak moment. He was tired, and hungry, and soaked. He wanted to hail a cab to take him home, but realized he left without his wallet. So he turned around, retracing his steps. Silently begging the universe for her not to still be in his bed.

Determined to ignore Ri, Sherlock slipped quietly into the flat. He warily walked down the hall to his bedroom. She was gone, the only clue she had spent the night in his bed was the indentation on the pillow. He stripped his clothes off and left them in a sodden pile on the floor. He started toward the bed, then turned and closed the door, locking it before falling into bed.

Damn it, he thought. I can still smell her. And with that, he gave into the nothingness of an exhausted sleep.

***Author's note - The more feedback I get, the more I'm inspired to write! Leave me a review please!