First time for everything

Chapter 7

Daniel and Kate stood alone in the darkness of the garden. The moonlight angled itself through the backyard across Daniel's strong features, shadowing parts of his face. Along with his stubble, it seemed to give a masculine quality to his looks. Kate had just claimed she could be spontaneous and wanted to prove it here in the garden. Daniel's curiosity shot up at what her announcement could mean. He wisely chose to keep quiet, hoping she would continue.

Kate took a steady breath, "Dance with me."

He thought of a few possibilities as to what might be considered spontaneous, but never that.

Daniel looked stunned, "What?

"You heard me, Daniel."

"I did, but I wished I hadn't," he stated, "T-that's just crazy!"

He couldn't even meet her eyes.

"Daniel, look at me!" she insisted. When he did, she continued, "As you've said before, crazy is already part of your world so let me join you! We'll do something crazy together!" She then brought one arm up with a bent elbow, imitating a waltz position, "Let's dance."

Daniel shook his head, "I'm sorry, Kate, I can't."

Her arms retreated back to her sides.

"Why are you so resistant to trying something new?"

"Because, Kate, my hallucinations are more believable than what you've just proposed."

She gave a frustrated sigh, "No they're not, Daniel," she tried to sound enthusiastic. "Take a look around, Daniel! We're in midst of a beautiful garden under the twinkling stars! A night for dancing! "

She was beginning to believe her own words.

"Kate..." he was emphatic about the next part, "When I told you 'I can't'; what I meant was 'I can't dance'."

Kate would not back down, "So you're no Fred Astaire…well, I'm no Ginger Rogers, either. "Who cares? Let's just dance."

Kate positioned her arms in a waltz pose once again.

"I'm waiting, Daniel."

He stared blankly at her and still remained rooted to the ground. However, Kate steadfastly maintained her position although internally, she was a bundle of nerves.

She was ready to give up hope.

Until Daniel took a tentative step towards her.

Inches away from one another, she watched him with an astounded expression when he shakily reached out and placed his right hand on her waist. Kate immediately felt the heat from his hand on her and her throat felt dry as their gazes met. He then extended his left hand with his elbow bent and gripped her already raised right hand in a loose grip. Kate assuredly placed her left hand on his right shoulder, basically mirroring his movements.

And they waited. Each could hear the vulnerable sounds of the other's breathing. They both felt anxious yet excited at what was about to happen.

Yet no one moved.

"Well?" Kate raised one eyebrow, expecting him to take the first step.

"I thought you were taking the lead," Daniel stated.

"This isn't a investigation, Daniel," she bluntly stated "just... take a step forward."

"I don't hear the music," he complained, still standing

"Maybe it will begin once we take a step," Kate was unusually patient.

He looked down at his feet, " I only have a 50-50 chance of leading off with the correct foot. I need better odds."

"I'm no expert in dancing," Kate humbly explained, "but I've been to enough weddings and and other dancing venues to know that on the first beat, you need to step forward with your left foot."

"Won't I bump into you?"

"No, of course not, Daniel. I'll be following your lead and move, too."

They both looked down at their feet as he hesitantly took the first step and she shuffled along with him.

Afterwards, Kate's mouth twitched with suppressed amusement, not only regarding his first step, but with hers as well.

"Ohhh..." Kate reacted, trying not to laugh out loud.

"That...was the opposite of dancing," Daniel deadpanned, as he stopped again.

"One step never is, so we need to continue...think of it this way...it couldn't get any worse," she patiently reasoned, "...now, keeping your left foot stationary, on the second step, with your right foot, go right; like an upside down letter 'L'."

"I just hope I don't make the letter 'Q'."

Daniel stepped forward on his right foot, but his timing was off and he ended up stepping accidentally on Kate's foot.

"Oooo!" Kate cried out as she lifted her foot and winced.

"Kate! Sorry!" Daniel looked distressed.

"No...that's fine," Kate forced a smile and brought her foot back down trying not to think about the pain, "I should have known that the rule number one rule in teaching dancing is I need to get my foot out of the way before my partner can step on it."

She was certainly being a good sport about it.

Daniel smiled, "I'll try and keep that in mind, too."

"Okay, we'll continue. On the third beat, slide your left foot to meet your right foot so that both feet are now together. And...that's it! Then we do it all over again...left, right, together."

They tried it.

"...and 1, 2, 3...1, 2, 3..." Kate was counting as they repeated the entire round of steps again. And again. And again.

"See, wasn't that easy?" Kate declared proudly at the end of the round.

"As easy as brain surgery," Daniel deadpanned, "so are we done?"

"Dan-iel..."

"Okay, okay...what's next?"

"It'll get easier, Daniel."

"No, it won't."

She ignored his comment, "now try and lead me in a direction so we don't get stuck in one place."

He attempted to lead her. The results were rather robotic.

"That wasn't bad, Daniel!" Kate encouraged him, "at least we went somewhere."

"It felt as though I moved you around like a push broom."

Kate had to hide her smile.

"Just relax!" she advised, "and remember to lead with your entire body while keeping your shoulders and arms springy."

"So you're saying I need to be more smooth."

"I'm saying we BOTH need to smooth out our steps a little better," she stated diplomatically.

"There's not a rolling pin big enough to smooth out these dance steps," Daniel said sarcastically.

They tried it again. Better, but still stiff.

"I-I didn't know we'd be so dreadful together," Kate stated, after another round, but she was smiling.

"I told you I couldn't dance," Daniel reminded her, "I just didn't know that you couldn't either. Usually you do things so well."

"How do you know what I can do well?" she asked, "the only things you've ever seen me do is work on cases and interrogate suspects."

"True...so don't ever quit your day job."

Kate laughed as they attempted another round of steps. Determinedly they struggled on, making slow but steady progress around the garden grounds. And with practice, they were able to even out their steps at last. Now that they were more relaxed, they seemed to be getting more into rhythm. They got to the point where they were in sync and it was beginning to feel natural. And fun.

Now feeling comfortable Daniel could think about other things; like how wonderful and sweet Kate felt in his arms and it caused a pang of yearning inside of him. With his newly found confidence, he decided to take it one step further.

"I'm going to dip you," he announced bravely after he was able to sweep her in a fluid circle.

Kate's mouth dropped.

"What?"

"When I come out of my next turn, I'm going to circle you in and then step to one side and bend you in a lunge," he stated analytically.

"Suddenly you're a dance expert giving out instructions?" she asked, astonished.

"I didn't kill your foot a second time, did I?" Daniel reasoned, "So after we go around again. I'm going to dip you. And you better go along with it, or one of us will end up with a sprained back!"

"Okay..." she agreed, up to the challenge, "but I better not get a concussion from it," she warned.

It was Daniel's turn to smile.

Though they joked around, it was only due to their nervousness. They were also feeling excited anticipation. They circled fluidly around one more time.

There was a pause and they got ready for the dip.

Tentatively Daniel wrapped one of his hands firmly around her waist and the other cradled the back of her neck. Next he gently lowered her in the direction of his knee. Kate supported herself by hugging his shoulders and finally pushing her hips forward, she pointed her other leg and foot in the air.

And they made the perfect dip.

Their faces were so close now that they couldn't breathe. The stillness of the night was underlaid with the noise and lights coming from the house. They stared at each other for an endless moment, lost in unspoken thoughts.

Kate's heart was beating so hard that it made her dizzy. For the first time in a very long while, she was in a situation in which she had no control.

But it didn't bother her She was in Daniel's arms and it felt wonderful.

"Did you hear the music, Kate?" he softly asked as he held her in suspension.

Her eyes seemed bathed in starlight, "I did, Daniel."

At last, Daniel gently lifted her back up, never taking his eyes off her. She was looking back at him with round, unblinking eyes, her cheeks flushed. Confusion and desire swirled inside of both of them. He dropped the arms that had held her so tenderly yet possessively.

He found it hard to breathe, "That was nice..." his voice sounded different.

"It was lovely," she acknowledged. She paused before saying, "Daniel?"

His gaze was intense, as if he were trying to read her private thoughts, "Yes?"

She swallowed hard, "we're not taking a breather, are we?"

Looking into the softness of her eyes, Daniel shook his head, "No, it's only the beginning, Kate..."

The words held promise. He was standing so close now that Kate felt the hot touch of his breath against her hair, his lips hovering close to hers. It felt as if the night was throbbing with some unexpressed emotion.

And as they stood gazing at one another, Daniel intuitively lowered his head to hers.

His lips were gentle, careful, as if he feared bruising her. He only used his lips, not touching her anywhere else on her body for the intention was to merely sample a taste of her. But sensations quickly flared in his stomach when their lips touched. The feathery kiss affected him like a lightning strike. He longed to kiss her full and hard, to feel more pleasure than it was possible to bear, but not here. He made an agitated sound in his throat before he lifted his head.

He ended it. He had to or he wouldn't be able to stop.

Kate couldn't believe her reaction to the short kiss. Upon the initial contact, she seemed to wilt from the immediate heat as her pulse raced. When his mouth brushed her lips for mere seconds she felt her heart pounding riotously. It's wasn't as if she had never been kissed before, but with Daniel, she felt yearnings, and madness and ecstasy all rolled up into one.

When they separated, they were staring at each other in searing wonderment. The stillness was only broken by their own panting breaths. They had both felt the agonized blend of emotional and physical hunger and it scared them.

"That wasn't a hallucination, was it?" Daniel needed to fill the silence with words.

She smiled assuredly, "No, Daniel. Though hallucinations are vivid and substantial, they're not real, Daniel. But I'm real."

"Oh, Kate," he softly said as he his thumb came up and edged the curve of her lower lip, "I know that very well."

She felt a sudden pitch in her heart in response to his caress. Before either could speak, however, they heard approaching footsteps and separated just in time to hear a voice.

"Excuse me, Doc, Kate."

From somewhere beyond them, Max was speaking to them. They could barely make out his form in the darkness.

"I hope you two got…uh…enough fresh air," Lewicki's voice sounded awkward.

Daniel was glad they were still in the dark, as he was still floating on a cloud of embarrassment and pleasure. Next to him, Kate cleared her throat.

"What... is it, Max?" Daniel asked, trying to keep his voice even.

"Uh, well, you both wanted me to tell you when StalkerLady arrived." Lewicki's head gestured back to the house, "and I think Hilda Jones just drove up."

"We'll be right in, Lewicki," his voice sounding unusually husky, even to him.

.

Daniel and Kate had returned inside the house, back to the party, where people were still mulling around, socializing. They searched through the crowd, but could find no sign of Hilda. Then before Daniel could recover from the deluge of people and noises, the doorbell rang. Lewicki went to the front and when he opened the door, a whole gaggle of female voices flooded the place.

And the herd of females made a mad dash directly over to Daniel.

Daniel scowled, "What is this? Are they here to riot?"

Lewicki grinned as he yelled out, "They're here to celebrate your birthday with you, Doc!"

The gang of female students were overly happy and giggling. One was carrying a wrapped gift that suspiciously looked like it held a scarf of some sort inside.

"Well, what do you know, Daniel?" Kate looked pleased, "You seem to have a fan club."

"A...a what?" Daniel was looking confused.

They were suddenly upon him.

"Hi, Dr. Pierce!"

"Nice party!"

"Ooo...love the outfit!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"We've all chipped in for a gift for you!"

The female students bombarded Daniel, who appeared completely baffled by it all. He certainly didn't get this kind of attention as a child on his birthday. He seemed to be turning this way and that as various voices were talking to him at once The noise level was deafening.

As Lewicki stood next to Kate, the two of them looked over at the overwhelmed Daniel.

"Kate, I don't know if you've met Daniel's students, although they're a bit preoccupied to meet you now... " Lewicki said as he pointed them individually out, "But that's Dani, Sara, Lisa, Liv, Katherine, Emily, Diana, Sally, Nadia, Faith, and Jenny."

Kate nodded. She had lost Daniel in the crowd, but she was glad for him. It was nice for him to get some attention; to come out of his shell. There seemed to be a gaggle of high pitched voices and laughter as the students were all vying for the spotlight with Daniel.

"Well, he's certainly popular," Kate noted to Max. Every now and then she would get a glimpse of him through breaks in the circle.

"Yeah he is" Lewicki nodded, "And you know what? Sometimes I wonder what is it with the Doc and his popularity with female students. What captivates them? I mean, is it his intelligence? His personality? His looks? I don't get it."

All of them, Kate thought with pride to herself, but knew better than to say it outloud to Max.

"I don't know," Kate stated as she folded her arms, "What do you think it is, Max?"

He shrugged, "Maybe he uses a cologne that smells like money?"

Kate laughed, "Could be, Max," she responded, "and with the arrival of his fan club, it looks like the party just started!"

"Well, you know what they say...when life hands you lemons... break out the alcohol!" Lewicki exclaimed with a smile.

Meanwhile Hilda Jones was completely forgotten as she made her way up the walkway.

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(Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the letter mystery! )

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