3. A Night Out

"Chase her. Chase her even when she's already yours." | Unknown

"I'm glad you could come out tonight." Bo said over the noise of the crowd that gathered around the order window of Beaucoup Burgers, a retro diner out by the freeway. Its outdoor-only seating was charming on a summer's day and just plain cruel during winter. The picnic tables around them began to fill up as the crowd at the order window thinned. Sitting across from Bo, Lauren looked down at her burger wrapped in foil, the side of fries in a paper boat. Her eyes met Bo's, who smiled as she bit into a French fry.

"I'm not sure sneaking out the loading dock would be classified as leaving freely."

"Why do you let them keep you holed away like that?"

"Bo… I-"

"I'm sorry, it's just… you're this beautiful, intelligent, amazing doctor…" She trailed off, breathless, as if she didn't have the words to continue.

"I am also Human." She looked away.

"And there's nothing wrong with that. Some day they'll get it. I'll show them what Humans can be to Fae."

"Food?"

"Not to me." Bo set her hamburger next to her dwindling fries. "How did they trap you? They tricked you, didn't they?"

"No, the Fae have been very good to me." Bo shook her head. "You don't believe me."

"You can't miss a day of work, they don't let you leave, and Lachlan frowns on visitors. What part about that is good?"

"I get to do my research," Lauren said simply before biting into her cheeseburger.

"That's it?"

"It's all I've had for the past five years until…" Lauren swallowed.

"Until what?"

"Until you came."

"Oh." She nodded slowly.

"Now my freedom seems so far out of reach, and my life, so out of control."

"I have that effect on people."

Lauren laughed good-humouredly. "I'm awake again," she said. "And I owe that to you."

Bo brushed the compliment off, as she was so practiced at doing, and looked back at the Camaro, bathed in neon lights from the diner. "When do you have to be back?"

"My curfew was at nine"

"That is so high school," Bo scoffed.

Lauren laughed. "I suppose it is." She dropped the remaining burger in the red and white checkered paper tray and took a napkin from the dispenser. "

"Aren't you afraid he'll punish you?"

"Yes." The fear on her face was apparent. "But I rarely get out and there never seems to be time for night's like this."

"Lauren…" She was worried. It was obvious Bo had never considered the ramifications of her constant opposition of Lachlan and rule-breaking in Lauren's name. "Can I take you home?"

"It's not my home. I live there with my things, but it's not my home."

Lauren didn't have a home anymore. No family and no home. And if it weren't for Bo, she wouldn't have any friends either. They kept her in the lab and in her loft until Bo came for her. It's why she was willing to risk Lachlan's raving or the possibility of worse. She was prepared to incur his wrath just as she was eager to love Bo because bravery came in many forms and Lauren's was a brave heart.

Bo covered her hand on top of the picnic table. "You wanna get out of here?"

Lauren's sad expression brightened at the suggestion. "Sure."

Untangling herself from the table, Bo stood and cleared their trash to the can at the side of the building. When she returned, Lauren was leaning on the table, waiting. Bo sized her up as only she could and Lauren cocked her head to the side to receive her appreciation.

"Ready?" Bo's eyes sparkled and Lauren fell under the Succubus' spell.

She wasn't using her Fae gifts on Lauren, but her natural magnetism was so strong that Lauren couldn't resist her-as if she even wanted to. "Yeah." She nodded as she led the way to the car.

They pulled out onto what was a busy roadway that had gone mostly silent due to the time of night. At the intersection Bo turned onto the freeway in the opposite direction of the compound. Lauren didn't stop her or ask where they were going, she trusted Bo and she would take whatever punishment Lachlan would dole out because of this trip.

They were in the hills, surrounded by trees and Bo drove with purpose and poise. She knew what her Camaro could do and she pushed it to its limits in every maneuver. The wheels started to spin on the gravel road as they ascended but Bo maintained control. At the top, the trees parted and a panoramic view of the city sprawled in front of them. She pulled up to the edge of the lookout point and killed the engine.

Bo turned to face Lauren whose expression was one of mirth. "What?"

"Lookout point? Now who's so high school?" Lauren laughed. Bo's smile was disarming and suddenly Lauren couldn't say what was so funny. "Do you come up here often?"

Bo shook her head. "No, never."

"Oh." It was awkward again. Lauren shifted uncomfortably next to Bo.

"I come up here sometimes to cool off and figure things out." Bo was serious and Lauren felt bad for having made a joke.

"Well, it's a great view." Lauren frowned at how blasé she sounded.

"Only one like it in the city." Bo's hand reached for her, pausing to lift the hair on her shoulder, admiring the golden strands between her fingers. "I don't bring people up here. Kenzi doesn't even know I come here."

Lauren swallowed. The air was suddenly supercharged. She felt Bo's pull and that familiar ache began again. "Thank you for bringing me here," she said, her eyes locking with Bo's, losing herself even more to the moment.

Bo leaned across the emergency brake and into her space. They were face to face in the dark of night, city lights twinkling below, and when their eyes met Bo's intention twinkled there, too. She kissed Lauren, delicately, reverently and something deep inside of her stirred. Lauren brought a hand to Bo's cheek and caressed it softly as she kissed her. It was intimate-more intimate than any encounter they had together up to that point. Her kiss was heavy with emotion and Lauren was floored by it. As far as she knew, Bo was still hung up on Dyson, and Lauren wasn't in it for the competition. That was high school.

Bo pulled away, but only by an inch or two. "What's wrong?" Her breath feathered Lauren's cheek.

She shook her head. "Nothing," she lied.

Bo's hands were in her hair on either side of her face as Lauren leaned into her again. Their mouths met with a fierce passion the likes of which Lauren had never felt. Bo's kiss was unending and her hands? Well, Lauren had nicknamed them Lewis and Clark.

Bo hovered above her, knee pressed between her legs, her mouth crushing against Lauren's. The click of her seatbelt unfastening, and Lauren felt more eager than ever. Whatever Bo had planned, she wanted it just as much if not more. Reaching beside her, Bo released the seat and it leaned back unexpectedly and she tore her mouth away from Lauren's. "Lauren…"

Her eyes were wide, the awe on her face apparent as she covered Bo's lips with a pair of fingers. Whatever Bo was going to say, Lauren wasn't ready to hear it, and when she withdrew her hand, she replaced it with another kiss. A kiss that scorched the air between them and found Bo unfastening Lauren's pants. The excitement she felt when Bo crawled over her was overwhelming. Whenever they were together, she was in awe of the feelings Bo resurrected in herself. And when Bo's hand dipped into her underwear, Lauren gasped. Her eyes drifted to the fogged over window and then to Bo's face. Her tongue glanced over her lips, her eyes an ethereal blue, and the pleasure on her face was plain to see. Her hand was circling her now, a finger sliding deeper into her. She pressed her head back against the headrest and bit her lip.

Bo admired her every expression, her every gasp. She pressed her palm against Lauren's cheek, teased tendrils of her hair apart, caressed her breasts all while maintaining a maddening rhythm between her legs. Lauren wasn't uncomfortable to be watched so carefully, a little self-conscious maybe, but nothing she couldn't overcome in the first few moments after Bo sunk into her.

Lauren hips moved against the leather seat that creaked with her effort as Bo stepped up the pace. She was panting, unable to catch the breath that kept getting caught in her throat, coming faster and faster. She forced her eyes to open, to watch Bo watching her. She pulled Bo's face down to hers. It was a breathless, desperate kiss and it didn't last long, her hands clutching at Bo as her body began to quake. The lights behind her eyes were blinding and she squeezed them closed harder.

She turned her head and broke their kiss, gasping for air. Her body shook with a force she could not describe as release washed over her and Bo leaned back to watch it all unfold. When Lauren's eyes drifted back to Bo's face, the serenity she found there surprised her. Not because she didn't think Bo had it in her, but because she expected Bo to be more than ready for her turn. But Bo declined with a smile as Lauren buttoned her pants and straightened her blouse.

"You're sure?"

Bo kissed her gently. "I'm good. Don't worry about me. I should get you back to the compound."

"Yeah," her tone was one of disappointment but she put a smile on it.

"Hey…" Bo put her hand on her knee. "Lauren…" She turned to face Bo. "I had a really good time tonight."

"Me too," she laughed. "Obviously." Lauren fastened her seatbelt again as Bo turned her key in the ignition and put the car in gear. Once again, Lauren was captivated by Bo driving that beast of a Camaro which helped to dull the angst building in her chest. The drive felt longer than it was and Bo tapped along on the steering wheel to the classic rock station as she drove. Lauren stole glances at her profile and felt the yearning begin to grow again.

The Camaro jostled them as they drove over a bump and into the parking lot. Bo shut the lights off as she approached the compound and stopped the car well away from the entrance. She looked at the front doors, guarded by security.

"Shit." She looked around. "I'll help you sneak back in."

"It's okay. I'll go in the front."

"Lauren, you can't. Lachlan will-"

She unbuckled her seatbelt. "It'll be worse if I'm caught sneaking in."

"I'll distract the guard." Bo reached for her door handle.

"Bo…" Lauren's eyes were kind and her voice confident. "I'll be fine."

She nodded and put the Camaro in drive, pulling around the lot to let Lauren off at the front doors.

"I'll call you." It may as well have been an I-love-you for how often they used that phrase. Bo would call and they would start their dance all over again, each time getting closer and closer to the big one.

Lauren nodded and popped the door open. She inhaled her last breath of Bo and climbed out of the car. She could feel Bo watching her back as the security guard opened the door for her and she disappeared inside. She walked quickly through the facility and to her unit. As she approached the door, her heart sank as she spotted the notice on her door. A sorry-I-missed-you note written on her letterhead. He'd been inside and looked around. She unlocked the door and pushed inside-back to her life under the Ash's thumb. She sighed as she leaned on the door until it closed. Everything was dark, save her grow lights, which cast a blue light over her kitchen. She didn't bother with work or pleasure. The day was done and she was trudging up the stairs with her thoughts of Bo before drifting off.

She undressed slowly, as she thought about Bo in high school-all that power and no one to tell her how to control it. She pulled back the duvet and slipped between the sheets. Rolling onto her side, she looked at the other side of the bed and remembered the day before-when Bo was wrapped around her and she could pretend that was how it always was. She closed her eyes, hoping sleep would come quickly so she could live that dream one more night.

TBC