"Shinichi…" She moaned his name, bewildered by the touch of his fingers on her skin. Her back was digging deeper into the soft mattress she was lying on, dampening the white bed sheet with her steamy sweats. Her head was leaning to its side, giving the said detective a whole lot clearer view of her slender neck.

"Not yet, Ai." He lowly sighed to her ear as his hand assaulted the sensitive spot behind the lobe further than it already had.

She clicked her tongue in disapproval. He was taking this too slow. However, she couldn't do anything for her hands were both secured with handcuffs– the real official ones that Shinichi always carried whenever he was on duty. Worst, her eyes too, were blindfolded with his t-shirt.

With her sense of sight gone, the sensitivity of her other senses increased. This also included her vulnerability of her touchy ears that were already so delicate to begin with.

"Mmn." Ai bit her lower lips to suppress herself from getting louder, shifted her position a bit while at it. She was getting numb for staying on the same posture for a long time.

"Please don't move." He whispered softly in return. "I'm going to put it in."

Ai held herself still instantly, obeying his command only because she didn't really grasp the things he had been planning to do on her right now. All she could understand was that her husband was on top of her, caressing her sensitive spot for God knew how long.

She felt sensual.

"Ouch, it hurts." She was startled by the feel of his clumsy thrust on her skin. It felt like a needle piercing.

"S-Sorry." He apologized; a hint of guilt was heard in his voice. He waited for a short second for the pain to subside before he continued. "Does it still hurt?"

"Nn, not really." She replied. Her face was flushed red and her breathing was hitched every now and then due to his sweet abuse.

Ai let out an almost inaudible growl to herself. This was torturing her– her restricted movements added more to it.

Honestly, how did things turn this way? Moreover, it was only early in the morning, right after she woke up.

She indeed got up later than she normally did today. Without Chiharu in the house, she had no need to wake as early as the sun rose after all, so she could enjoy a longer slumber and take her time to relish the morning sun as the sleep inertia took in.

Yet the next unexpected thing she saw was her husband smiling back so widely to her face.

She stiffened from end to end like a hard stone, while he looked surprisingly fresh and wide awoke. It forced her brain to cancel all the sedate waking up processes in a jiff. A lot of questions were aroused in her mind.

What did he do on her bed this early?

And what were his arms doing, all enfolded around her neck and waist?

Wait, did she even get into her bed last night? The last thing she recalled, she was sitting on the floor to have her hair dried.

Did she perhaps fall asleep while at it? Then how on earth–?

Oh. She said to herself once everything clicked in her mind. A light tint appeared on her cheeks decorating her adorable morning face. It made his gleeful grin more obvious.

"Good morning, Ai." Shinichi pulled her deeper into his embrace as he brought his lips to kiss her forehead; she shyly hummed in return.

For a second, Ai felt like she was flying on a white cloud. Was this how it would be if she was to sleep and wake up by his side every night and morning? It appeared to her that it wasn't as bad as she had previously imagined.

In fact, she enjoyed it.

"Since when have you been awake?" She asked.

"Long enough to observe you sleeping, my queen." He replied teasingly, only to get a light smack on his face.

"Stop with that cheesy calling or I'll call you a pervert old man." She jokingly scoffed.

Shinichi took her hand away, then he smiled as he intertwined his fingers in between hers. Ai gasped when he suddenly rolled their position so he was on top of her, hovering her.

"But it's true that your beauty worth the title, Ai." He finished his remark with a catch of her lips in his, kissing her lightly before deepening it. She instinctively followed his pace, letting him intruded her space further.

They parted slightly for air, and that was then he said something absurd to her.

"It's a pity I have to cover that beautiful orbs of yours now." He smirked while releasing his grasp on her to straighten himself and pulled his t-shirt off right in front of her eyes.

Without any further explanation, he swiftly tied his t-shirt to the back of her head, covering her eyes completely with it. His movements were so fast that she didn't even have a split second to blush at his half-naked state. And before she knew it, his hands were already back to hold her arms firmly; his knees were on each side of her hips keeping her tightly from escaping.

He was too strong for her to struggle.

"Wa–" Her vain attempt of protest was sealed by his mouth as his tongue slid in, drifting her attention to their little entanglement instead. His hands were tracing her arms and stopped themselves on her wrists. She whimpered under his gentle touch and–

Click!

The inapt clicking sound snapped her attention back to reality, then she felt something cold and hard like a metal around her wrists. She tried to move her hands, yet she found them restrained by a short chain.

Did he just handcuffed me?! Her mind shouted, flabbergasted by his sudden fatuity.

"I have a surprise for you." Shinichi said deeply.

Even though her eyes were covered, Ai could see him smiling from behind the blindfold. She shuddered at the thought of his impish idea on this.

Was he, perhaps, implying to his surprise for her birthday? If that was so, what the hell were all these things for? Could it be that he yield a fetish to such particular things during these past years?

In spite of that, she sighed eventually; conceding. With her state right now, she was bound to lose in terms of strength anyway. Shinichi smiled smugly at her slightly surrendering body and so, he began to move his hands to start his surprise plan.

Under each gentle brushes of his skins and some demanding movements, he slowly turned things to the way it was right now.

"Shinichi…" She desperately moaned his name again. "I can't hold it anymore."

"Mm, just a bit more." He told her. "I'm almost done, Ai."

Shortly after, she felt his hands retrieved themselves and he shifted to her side so he won't fall on her little restless body. Without him saying anything, Ai knew that he was done. At once, Ai gave out a very long moan of relief; Shinichi chuckled.

He turned to cup her cheek and kissed her lips for the last time before he got up to the floor. He took her hands to help her sit then he kneeled before her to release her hands from the handcuffs, as well as her eyes from the blindfold. She complied with the last strength she got.

Ai was greeted by his guilty look once she regained her sense of sight back. He was still kneeling while holding her hands gently, observing her wrists that showed a faint red bruises due to the iron shackles.

But what more could he do? This was the only idea he had to restrain her movements so he didn't have to deal with her defensive hands in the middle of his surprise plan.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Ai." He said softly as he brought both her wrists to his lips and kissed the light red marks sweetly.

Ai smiled, flattered by his genuine gesture of apology.

Yet, because she was Ai and everyone knew she wasn't the kind who received a simple expression of regret, so with both of her (now) free hands, she took her chance to pinch his cheeks and stretched them as far as they could to the sides.

Shinichi winced at her strong nips on his cheeks, although he let her. It was his fault to begin with.

"This is for getting me riled up so early in the morning, right after I woke up, by fondling my ears for too long." Her smile turned dark and evil with each second she said her words. "Not to say, it is all only because you tried to put a pair of earrings on my earlobes while you could've just given them to me and I could put them on myself."

"Sorry." He cried pleadingly in between his stretched cheeks, turning his handsome face into that of a clown.

Watching his face like so, Ai stifled a laugh almost immediately, forgetting all her rage while leaving Shinichi speechless. Guess, this silly face of his was fine enough as to avenge her molested earlobes.

His lips quirked up a second later in a contented smile. Her happy face was indeed the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and with the earrings he just put on her, she looked stunning.

Both his hands spontaneously caressed her jaw lines, securing her gaze into his orbs. Her laugh diminished a bit and turned into a sweet smile as she found herself lost in his eyes. Her hands were loosening their grips only to rest on his shoulders for support when he pulled her closer against him.

"Happy birthday, Ai." He said before he tenderly claimed her lips in a kiss; she hummed in reply.

.

.

.

It was a pair of round diamond stud earrings that he gave her as a surprise gift; an eighteen karat white gold in a halo style with medium-sized diamond in the middle.

It was an all-time earrings design that gave off a regal vintage vibe, indeed fitted perfectly for a queen. Or so it was, according to the source he found on the internet when he did his last minute research.

How seemly. He thought.

With that in mind, Shinichi had gladly chosen this design out of all the others that the store attendant suggested. And it looked like he made the right choice– no, it was more than perfect if he could say. He should be proud of himself now that she seemed happy with his gift.

Observing the gift through her reflection in the hand mirror, Ai was smiling at the imagination of his troubled expression he brought to the jewelry store. Knowing how insensitive and dense he could get most of the time, it amused her that he had a fair taste in choosing things for her.

"But why earrings?" She asked without leaving her eyes from the mirror. They were sitting side by side comfortably on the bed, with him still in his half naked state.

"It is said that earrings mean togetherness since they come in a pair. They can also mean protection." He smiled sheepishly as he scooted closer to her. Leaning forward to take the mirror out of her hand and put it aside, he successfully monopolized her full attention.

"But honestly, it is only because I find your ears cute whenever you are flushing." He finished his teasing remark with a playful kiss at the back of her ear; she blushed. "They always turn red and sensitive, just like right now."

Before she could react more to his utterance, Shinichi pushed her back to the bed and whispered sweet nothings to her, turning her ears as hot as ever. He began trailing his kisses below her ear and to her neck, while his hand were brushing her curves up and down.

"Wouldn't you be late… for work if you continue this?" Ai tried to stop him in between her breath, but he didn't bother to listen.

It wasn't like she didn't wish to continue this either though.

After receiving all those sweet abusive treatments so early in the morning, definitely, everything inside her succumbed to her built-up desire to do more with him. She only tried to hold it up by saying so, realizing today was still a weekday.

"Well, I took a day off today." He replied without leaving her skin too much.

"Hm? Wh–?"

"I couldn't leave you alone on your special day, could I?" He looked up to her, a bit annoyed at her too many questions.

Ai was totally speechless at that. Never did she expect him to treat her birthday as something special, yet he specifically planned all of this only to spend the day together with her.

"So, can I get my sweet share on you now?" He grinned.

Without further ado from his wife, he continued his work on her collarbone with his butterfly kisses. She whimpered as his hand climbed up to her thigh, trying to reach for her skin that was hidden under her shorts.

Brrrrrt-brrrt.

Her phone suddenly rang, but her mind had gone too far from reality to get the call. She didn't even care to check who the caller was before she decided to ignore it. Shinichi too, was too preoccupied with the moment to even bother stopping himself and telling her to get the call. Instead, he shunned it.

However, the persistent caller kept her phone ringing nonstop after one unanswered call to another. It was irritatingly distracting by each passing second.

"You better get the call." Shinichi groaned. He gave her another kiss on the cheek before pushing himself up from her timid form.

"Sorry." She chuckled lightly, although a glimpse of regret and disappointment transpired on her eyes.

Ai straightened up her clothes before taking the call, while Shinichi put his crumpled t-shirt back on himself and sat beside her. Turned out, it was the Professor and his wife greeting her a happy birthday through a video call.

"Oh my, did we disturb something?" Fusae asked sheepishly upon noticing the young couple's disorganized state.

"N-No. We've just woken up, that's all." Both of them tried to hide their blushes with their forced smiles. Even so, the old couple kept staring unbelievably at them, pushing Ai to shift the subject. "Anyway, isn't it almost midnight there? You should probably take a rest now."

"Oh, it's fine, Ai-kun. I still have to finish my research to– ouch!" Agasa reasoned, although Fusae cut him short by sharply poking at his waist. As a fellow woman, she totally got her adoptive daughter's hint on this.

"We're going to turn in for the night after we call you." The old lady told them with a wide innocent smile as if nothing happened, while the Professor stifled his agonized moan of pain. The young couple could only laugh dryly at their childishness.

"Geez, you should take care more of your health, dad." Ai replied, making the old man blushed coyly.

"By the way, we are sending you a present from here last week. It should arrive within these two days." Fusae said at the end of the call. "Hope you'll like it."

The strawberry blonde nodded and said her gratitude for troubling them. They exchanged some parting words after that before ended the call.

"So." Shinichi grinned as he closed the gap in between them; Ai blushed. "Can we continue where we left off?"

"W-Wait a min–"

Brrrrrt-brrrt.

They froze at once upon hearing another phone call. Why the hell did people call her this early in the morning? But looking at the clock, it wasn't that early anymore though. Shinichi's head fell into a slump on her shoulder, realizing the mood had been totally ruined by now. Ai chuckled, stroking his head to console him.

"Why don't we wash up and have our breakfast now?" She suggested. "You're going to ask me on a date after this, aren't you?"

"How do you–?" He looked up at her in surprise.

"Who do you think am I, huh?" She smirked as she got out of the bed, taking her phone with her. Shinichi smiled following her down the stairs to start the day.

It was Yukiko, Eri, and Chiharu who video called her this time. They were all greeting her some birthday wishes. Afterward, with her slightly incoherent speech, Chiharu tried her best to sing her the birthday song. Ai was touched by the little girl's cute voice whereas Shinichi only smiled beside her, enjoying his morning coffee and their little virtual family time.

It seemed all her worries about parting with the baby girl yesterday was all for vain. Her laughing expression showed that she was having a very good time with her grandparents.

"Did you guys enjoy the cat ears last night?" Yukiko puckishly asked.

While Shinichi was confused as to what his mom blabbered, Ai got abashed by the hint that her mother-in-law threw at them.

"What cat ears are you–?"

"Ah, I have to go! The pancakes are getting burnt." She hastily ended the call with a quick goodbye. Yukiko who was at the end of the other line, laughed heartily at her reaction.

The detective didn't let it slip though. He kept pestering her for that matter for the whole morning, and Ai kept avoiding his questions with all her might. Screw him for being too curious.

He finally turned quiet when Ai shoved a fingerful of whipped cream to his mouth, then she licked its leftover that was on the edge of his lips. She deliberately brushed her lips lightly on his while at it, sending him goosebumps and heartbeats to his excitement.

She really knew how to play him.

.

.

.

Another sudden phone call which was from Ayumi and some messages from the other two boys had disturbed the mood that her little teasing had brought upon them once again.

In addition to that, the ring of the doorbell paused their breakfast for awhile. It looked like the package from England had arrived by their door today.

It was a special purse made by her foster mom, a very limited edition that had only been produced under the brand's collectors category. But Ai knew that the one she got here was far exceeding that, because there was only one of this in the whole world.

Ayumi once said it was the privilege of having a famous designer as her adoptive mom, nonetheless Ai understood it wasn't the purse that her foster parents had really wanted to give. It was the heartfelt message that they tried to convey through the present, and she treasured it.

Regardless of your deep past and come what may, we believe you'll definitely grow into a fine lady. The card said.

Definitely, it was the Professor who was concerned about her eighteenth birthday this year and noticing his worry, Fusae who knew very hazy of her dark past, shared his burden on that. That was why they came up with this gift and message.

Ai smiled as she took a photo of the purse and sent it to her adoptive parents, saying her thanks.

And after what it felt like forever, she and Shinichi finally finished their breakfast late.

.

.

.

"Are you ready?" He was waiting near the genkan when his wife showed up from the stairs after getting ready for their date.

She looked gorgeous on her casual two-piece short dress that went well with all the accessories and the purse she had received as her birthday gifts. Also, the dark blue tone she chose somehow complemented Shinichi's white casual rolled up sleeves shirt and blue jeans. It was truly a coincidence that they decided to wear such well-matched outfits, they even put on a pair of similar white sneakers too.

Realizing they looked like a harmonized couple, they chuckled.

"Where are we going?" Ai asked as they walked together out from the gate.

"Somewhere, where we can do this without worrying of being seen by people we might know." He took her hand in his and interlaced their fingers, pulling her closer to his side. She smiled in return, clasping her hand tighter. If only they wore their wedding bands on their ring fingers right now, it would certainly decorate their glued hands beautifully.

Even so, the two of them were content only with this, especially Ai.

Never did she imagine that after all these years, there would come a day when she would celebrate her birthday with him. Not only he was here with her right now, but all the supports from her in-laws and her foster parents were also there for her to keep on walking ahead.

"Thank you, Shinichi." She softly said, which he replied with a smile.

It thrilled her to know full well that this would be the best birthday she had ever had despite being eighteen once again.

Author's note: I guess this chapter ended the summer holiday arc (haha). Hope you all will look forward to the next one.

Do not forget to give your comments and reviews. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: All characters of Detective Conan are belong to Aoyama Gosho. I don't own any single of them.