Aoife slid in the passenger door but then scooted to the middle so Chibs could put his arm around her. He'd still rather be on a bike with her arms around his waist and her chest pressed to his back, but being in a cage wasn't all that bad, as long as she was snuggled up to him. "So where are we going?" Aoife asked curiously.

""S a surprise, love," he told her with a wink. She made several guesses, and Chibs just drove on with a grin, shaking his head. "You can keep on guessing, but I'm not telling you."

When they pulled into the botanical gardens' parking lot, Aoife rewarded him with a delighted gasp and he let out the hopeful breath he had held all day. He had gotten the idea listening to the one of the clerks at the florist gush about how her fiancé had brought her here to propose. The other three women in the shop, one clerk and two customers, had all expressed the opinion that the gardens were a romantic setting.

Chibs felt out of place in his cut and sunglasses as he paid their admission, but then Aoife slipped her hand into his, and everything was right with his world. He wasn't that interested in the flowers, but he loved watching Aoife. She stopped every few feet, her free hand caressing the air around the blooms as she admired them. Her eyes danced. Every few minutes, she would look up at him with a happy smile and stretch up for a kiss. Chibs loved everything about this development in their relationship. His heart still thrilled every time he tasted Aoife's soft lips, and kissing her more often and in public made his heart beat double-time. They walked leisurely through the outdoor gardens, hand in hand, for probably two hours. As they reached the entrance arch where they had come in, Aoife sighed.

"What's the matter, love?" Chibs asked. Aoife pulled his hand around her waist and turned her body towards his, her arms going around his neck.

"Nothing. It's just that I'm sad to leave something so beautiful. I've never been on such a wonderful date. Thank you, Filip." He used his hand to tip her chin up while he brought his lips to hers and kissed her sweetly.

"I'm glad you liked it, lass," he whispered between kisses. "But we're not done. I've saved the best part for last." She pulled back and raised an eyebrow at him. "They have a butterfly pavilion." She let out a little laugh of joy and kissed him hard, channeling her excitement into passion, and Chibs clutched her hips tightly to prevent his hands from roaming. He couldn't wait for the opportunity to be alone with her again.

"I love butterflies! I've lived in cities most of my life, so I don't get to see them. Thank you!" Chibs chuckled at her enthusiasm and then took her hand again. He'd guessed on the butterflies, based on the frequency with which the creatures appeared in her apartment décor.

Once inside the pavilion, Chibs found himself nearly as mesmerized as Aoife with the butterflies. Until he had moved to Charming, his life had been spent in cities as well. Butterflies had no reason to appear in the concrete and asphalt-covered slums of Glasgow and Belfast where flowers had nowhere to bloom, and the area of Charming where the garage sat wasn't much better. All around him in the manmade rainforest, there were butterflies of every imaginable hue. He pushed his sunglasses up on his head so that he could see the riot of color unfiltered. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Chibs muttered to himself. "I've never seen anything like it. 'S absolutely fucking beautiful."

"Aye," Aoife nodded, clearly equally enchanted. She slipped her arm in his and they strolled slowly, coming to a stop beside the indoor waterfall. A brilliant blue butterfly landed on her hair. Chibs fumbled with his cell phone, desperately wanting a photo, and his face fell when the butterfly flitted away before he managed it. His disappointment must have shown, because Aoife stood on tiptoes and gave him a gentle kiss. She then stopped a passing couple and asked if they would take a photo of them with her cell phone. When the middle-aged woman agreed, Chibs pulled Aoife's back to his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist, enjoying the faint coffee and caramel smell that wafted up from her hair. She caught his hands in hers, entwined their fingers, and then pulled him as tight to her as possible. The blue butterfly landed back on Aoife's hair at the moment the shutter closed, causing the photo-taking woman to gasp in delight.

Stopping for ice cream was Aoife's idea. She ordered a cone of death by chocolate ice cream, and then turned expectantly to Chibs. Chibs couldn't remember the last time he had eaten an ice cream cone, but the memory that came to mind involved a very young Kerrianne and a lot of laundry. "What'll you have a cone of, a ghrá?" It took him a moment to recover from the (entirely pleasant) surprise of her calling him "my love" in Irish Gaelic, and the girl behind the ice cream counter had to ask him again what he wanted before he managed to stammer out that two scoops of strawberry cheesecake ice cream sounded good.

The evening was warm enough for ice cream but cool enough that it melted slowly, allowing them to walk leisurely around the outdoor mall. They strolled along the shop windows even after the ice cream was gone until Aoife stopped and stared inside. The sign over the window read "Build-A-Bear." "See something you like, lovely?" Chibs asked.

Aoife gave him an almost embarrassed smile. "I had to leave a lot of things in storage when I moved. I miss my little teddy bear collection. It's silly, I know."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, love," Chibs said softly, putting his hand on the small of her back. "I'm glad you can still take joy from simple pleasures after all the shit you've been through." He spoke from the heart. She was a survivor, just like he was, and he wondered if that was what drew him to her like a moth to a flame. "You want a teddy bear, a mhuirnín?" He asked, leaning close and whispering in her ear.

"You do speak Gaelic," Aoife said with a smile, and teddy bears and ice cream were all forgotten during that kiss.

"I do," Chibs agreed on her lips. When they finally broke apart, he could feel eyes on him. Inside the Build-A-Bear store, a horde of little girls in pastel party dresses and pink paper hats had emerged from a corner and were running amok in the store while their mothers gawked at the biker and his girlfriend making out in front of the store.

"I can get a bear another day. I won't have room for one in my bed with a Chibs there anyway" she whispered seductively, her eyes burning with a sudden fire. "I think maybe it's time to go back to my place." Chibs was thrilled to oblige.

Aoife had barely shut the door behind them when she tossed her purse on the sofa and pulled Chibs' lips to hers. Chibs responded by moving his hands to her waist, and then, he had her pressed up against the door, grinding his hips into hers with the nails of her left hand scraping down the side of his neck while her right caressed his scarred cheek. They pulled apart breathless. Aoife's voice was husky. "We could move this to the bedroom." She led him by the hand to her room and sat down on the vanity table chair, bringing her right foot up on her knee to remove her sandals.

"No, let me," Chibs gestured for her to put both feet on the floor. Aoife looked at him uncertainly but obeyed. He knelt and slowly unbuckled each sandal. Once her feet were bare, he pulled her right foot onto his shoulder and kissed his way systematically from her ankle to the hem of her skirt and then back down again. He repeated the process with her left leg, worshiping her skin with his lips, teeth and tongue while his eyes remained locked with hers. As he proceeded, he watched the worry in her eyes subside to be replaced with desire. When he reached the hem of her skirt on her left thigh, he nudged it up just a little and nipped at the newly revealed flesh. Aoife responded with a gasp of delight.

He stood then, pulling her up with him, and slid the shrug off her shoulders. Chibs caught sight of ink in the mirror. "You got that tattoo you were talking about," he observed.

"It's not finished yet," she answered.

"May I see it?" Chibs asked. She obliged, turning, and he traced the black ink lines with his fingers, causing Aoife to shiver. Some areas were still just outlines, but the Celtic cross started just above the small of her back and stopped only a few inches below the base of her neck. His mouth replaced his fingers following the ink lines. He kissed her right shoulder, just above one arm of the Celtic cross. "Perfect place for a crow," he murmured, not even realizing he was speaking aloud.

"What did you say?" Aoife asked lazily as she reclined into his kisses.

"Nothing important, lass." It was far too early for that conversation, he told himself. It was no time for conversation at all, he thought, as he pulled up on the hem of her dress. His lips broke contact with her skin only long enough to pull the dress over her head, and then she was wearing nothing but her bra and panties in front of him. She faced him, unbuttoning his shirt, and soon he was wearing nothing but his boxers. He walked her back to the bed, and seeing the discomfort return to her eyes, he pulled back until he could look into her eyes. "I will nae hurt you, lass. We go as far as you want to go tonight and no further."

Aoife teared up. "I don't want you to stop kissing me. But that's all I want tonight."

"Then I'm going to kiss every inch of your body," he promised. For the next hour, Chibs explored Aoife's soft curves, delighting in every gasp of pleasure as he licked, nipped, and kissed. By the time he finally gave into drowsiness, with her spooned up against him, his lips were kiss-swollen and raw. Aoife's breathing was soft and steady, but he still whispered, "Sweet dreams, a chuisle. Today was the best day I've had in years."

Irish Gaelic translations:

a ghrá – my love

a mhuirnín – my darling

a chuisle - "pulse," an endearment