Jack slowed his steps as they neared the door of their suite, reluctant to see the night end. He rubbed his thumb across the palm of the hand he held, breathing deeply when her fingers involuntarily tightened around his. "Did Lucy give you a hard time?"

She answered with a small shake of her head. "Surprisingly, no. She was too busy apologizing for what she called my 'horrendously horrible Hawaiian happening.' At least that is what she said she said after I gave up reading her."

"Apologizing?"

Rolling her eyes, Sue gave a slight shrug. "She was saying that tonight should never have been, that we didn't come here for this, that I had been pushed into something I wasn't ready for. I didn't catch everything, but that was the gist of it."

"That doesn't make any sense." His facial expression mirrored the surprise in his tone.

"It's just Lucy going all protective on me." Her look was warm. "It seems to be happening in my life quite a bit lately."

Ignoring her light-hearted jab, he shook his head. "She must be under a lot of stress. I would have guessed that Lucy would be over the top with what happened tonight."

"She knows I'm not fond of being the center of attention," Sue gently reminded him.

His eyes flashed as his hands settled on her hips. He was pushing her gently toward the door, his body nestling closely to hers when she could go no further. "You weren't complaining earlier," he stated with male confidence.

"Would it have done any good to complain? Would that have changed anything? Besides, I told you that I, uh, got caught up in the moment." Her hands traveled to his chest and lodged there as she absently toyed with a button.

"I don't understand," he admitted, letting go of her and pacing a couple of steps before returning to stand in front of her. "Did I scare you? Did I hurt you? I know that I was pretty far gone, but I would have stopped if you had asked." He watched confusion cloud her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

He countered. "What are you talking about?"

"Lucy, apologizing for the photo shoot. She thinks that's why I disappeared for a while and why I, uh, seemed distracted when I returned. What did you think I was talking about?"

He dropped his eyes and mumbled something unintelligible. The tables were turned once again when he felt her finger lifting his chin. "You thought I was talking about our, um, our..."

"Making out?" he supplied for her, the twinkle returning to his eyes. She nodded her head, struggling not to give into the shyness that threatened to overtake her.

"Yes, our MAKING OUT," she agreed, forming the phrase in sign rather than speaking. "As far as I know, Lucy doesn't know."

Tucking a tendril of hair behind her ear, his hand then traveled down the length of her torso before snaking behind her back to be joined with his other hand as he pulled her to him. "Are you going to tell her?"

"Not unless she asks." Her head fell forward on a sigh, "And I'm sure she will." She felt his laughter from where her forehead rested on his chest. "It isn't funny," she mumbled without looking up. "She'll grill me about every little detail. I'll either end up revealing things I don't necessarily want her to know or I'll hurt her feelings by not telling her enough. It's a no win situation," she added after finally lifting her head. "You have no idea what it was like after the Callahan and Merced case. My eyes were blurry and my head was throbbing by the time she finally ended her inquisition."

He hugged her closer, his hands dropping to the gentle indention beneath her waist. "I'll protect you. And if she catches you away from me, then I promise to kiss whatever hurts until it feels better. If she talks so much you can't focus any more, then I'll run my lips across your eyelids, like this." He did exactly what he promised with infinite care, making sure his ministrations were gentle and soothing. When she finally dragged her eyes open once again, he continued. "And if your head starts to throb, I'll start at one temple and kiss my way around to the other." His lips followed the charted path as his hands stroked the sensitive skin of her graceful neck. As his hands tenderly migrated upwards to softly tangle in her hair, his mouth ventured south, across the smoothness of one cheek to lovingly tease her lips into an exotic dance. He was in no rush as he thoroughly canvassed the soft flesh beneath his, enjoying the faint noises she made in the back of her throat with each nip of his teeth or swipe of his tongue.

His hold on her changed when she stood on tiptoe to wrap her arms around his neck, her curves brushing against his chest as she moved closer and angled her head, enticing him to deepen their connection. His hands settled beneath her raised arms, holding her still while he accepted her primal invitation, all vestiges of relaxation gone. He demanded a response she willingly gave, his thumbs daringly caressing the outer mounds of flesh upon which they rested while he pushed her into the door to absorb her body's responding shudder with his.

It wasn't a far reach for his wallet and the key card to their room, but it seemed to take an inordinate amount of time for him to maneuver them so he could unlock the door and usher them into the privacy of their suite. The door opened with a quiet whoosh, the air-conditioned air sweeping over them.

Sue froze. Her eyes popped open as she frantically looked around, her brain finally getting through her passion-induced fog. She observed his heaving chest and red, parted lips before daring to meet his eyes. They were nearly black in their intensity, the wildness of them thrilling despite her growing reserve. Gnawing on her bottom lip indecisively, she swayed toward him before stepping back and declaring, "I can't go in there with you."

And then she fled.