And Playing the Role of Herself...

~ And Playing the Role of Herself... ~
by dabkey
© 2005

DISCLAIMER: See Part 1

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I woke the next morning lying on my stomach; the soft, lingering kisses along my spine and fingers tracing lazy patterns across my back drawing me pleasantly from dreamscape to wakefulness.

"Mmm…s'nice."

The fingers paused for a moment before resuming their tracing.

"Sleeping beauty awakes," she husked in my ear and kissed my shoulder. "I thought you might sleep the day away." Her hand swept down my back and up again, stopping occasionally to knead at a muscle. "God, I love your body."

"And my body loves you," I mumbled, too sleepy to care what that might sound like. I pried one eye open and blearily focused on the bedside clock. "It's seven-thirty. Seven-thirty is sleeping the day away?"

She moved over me to kiss the opposite shoulder, her breasts pressing into my back. "The sun's up and there's a big wide world out there to explore."

The gentle caresses changed to light scratching and I closed my eyes again, sighing in contentment. "I'm not going anywhere if you keep doing that."

The nails moved lower, scraping up the back of one thigh and over my butt. "Doing what?" she whispered in my ear, repeating the action on the other thigh. "That?"

My body arched into the touch and I knew, with just that touch, that voice, that I was wet again. I spread my legs slightly in reflex and heard the small hitch in her breathing near my ear.

She trailed fingertips across the inside of my thigh, brushing lightly against coarse hair. "What do you want, baby?" She brushed again, her touch more firm. "That?"

"Yes…" I hissed, my breath coming faster. "Yes."

"Tell me."

"Ah…god, Rob…" I tried to push against her to increase the pressure, but she pulled away.

"Tell me, Caid. What do you want?"

"I want you to touch me," I whispered. "Please…"

I clutched at the pillow under my hands when her fingers came back to where I needed them, stroking insistently and then lightly, bringing me to the edge of orgasm and keeping me there until I surrendered to it with a loud moan.

I buried my face in the pillow, slowly loosening my grip on the cover as my breathing eased and my body relaxed.

I could hear the smile in her voice as she breathed "good morning" in my ear and brushed her lips across my shoulder.

I let out a muffled chuckle, but didn't raise my head, embarrassed by how blatant I'd been.

"Caid?" she questioned after a few moments of silence, resting her hand on my back. "What's up, baby? You okay?"

"Mm-hmm," I mumbled into the pillow and then slowly rolled onto my side, giving her a shy smile. "A little embarrassed, maybe, about acting like a cat in heat, but I'm fine." I reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, wondering how she could look so damn good when she'd just woken up. "Better than fine. Stupendous, even. That was one hell of a 'good morning'." I leaned forward and kissed her lightly. "Good morning to you, too."

She gathered me in her arms and rolled onto her back, pulling me with her. I rested my head on her chest and draped an arm across her stomach, liking the rumble of her voice under my ear. "Don't ever be embarrassed about wanting to be touched, Caid, or about wanting sex. I love touching you, and being with you…how you respond to me is a huge turn on."

Feeling strangely self-conscious considering what we'd just done, I kept my head down and traced small patterns with my fingertips on the skin of her stomach. "I guess I'm just not used to it."

"Not used to what?" The fingers that had been sifting idly through my hair as we talked stilled. "Sex?" She gave me her best southern drawl, which was a pretty damn good one. "Because honey, you sure don't seem like no novice to me."

I pinched her lightly on the arm in response to her teasing, trying for my own southern accent and failing miserably. "Well, goodness, Miss Scarlett, I'm so glad you approve…"

"Oh, I definitely approve." Her voice was low and husky, whispered directly in my ear, and sent my body humming yet again, highlighting the truth of my next words.

"I'm not used to…wanting so much."

She was quiet, and I listened to her heartbeat beneath my ear, the steady rhythm lulling me into drowsiness. "Neither am I," she said finally, and brushed her lips across the top of my head.

We were quiet for another few minutes, and I thought maybe now would be a good time to have 'The Talk' she'd spoken of, but before I could start, she kissed my head again and said briskly. "Cheese omelet okay for breakfast?"

I guess our little tête-à-tête would have to wait.

I tapped her belly with my fingers. "You're serious about this whole getting up and exploring the big wide world thing, aren't you?"

"'Fraid so. We need to be on Big Pine Key by 10:00."

I rolled onto my side and propped my head on my hand. "We do?"

"Mm-hmm." She reached forward and brushed a hand absently through my hair, the obvious affection in her gaze making me smile.

"Well..." I sighed and leaned forward to kiss the tiny cleft in her chin. "If we must, we must. So. How far away is Big Pine Knot, and do I get a hint as to why we need to be there in," I checked the clock, "an hour and forty-five minutes?"

She rolled over, bracing herself on her arms above me, and kissed my forehead. "It's Big Pine Key, not Knot." She kissed my nose, which I wrinkled in response. "About thirty minutes." She kissed me soundly on the lips, lingering long enough to make me forget what we'd been talking about in the first place. "And no, you don't." She climbed off of me, leaving me with diminished brain capacity to match her answers to my questions, and padded across the floor to the bathroom.

"So…" I tried to get my brain to concentrate on something besides the feel of her lips against mine and the resulting havoc they'd caused. The sight of her nakedness as she crossed the floor was not helping. "Uh…" I pulled my eyes from the door as it partially closed behind her and stared at the ceiling. "What do I need to wear on this exciting outing?"

##

I shook the excess water from my hair and flicked it out of my eyes, just in time to see Robyn emerge from the calm blue water like some fantasy brought to life, her body long and tan in a brief black bikini and her dark hair sleek against her head, glossy with moisture.

"God. Damn." I muttered, enjoying the view as she walked through the shallow water towards me like a runway model at a Milan show. I shook my head in sheer amazement that this woman was here, with me, of her own volition.

She cocked her head to the side as she walked up, accepting the towel I handed her. "What's the headshake and funny look for?" She looked down at herself. "Do I have a lamprey hanging off me or something?"

"No…" I let admiring eyes travel up her body. "You're perfect. I was just wondering how in the hell I ever got so lucky."

Her mouth quirked in a crooked grin - one of my favorites in her smile repertoire - and with a flick of her wrists she looped her towel around my neck, grabbed the other end, and tugged gently, pulling me towards her. "Funny," she gave me a quick kiss, "I've been thinking the same thing all day."

I splayed my hands across her bare back, pulling her against me completely, and dropped my hands to cup her behind. "You say the nicest things," I murmured, and sampled the skin of her neck with my lips, tasting the saltiness of seawater. "So," I nipped lightly. "How private is this beach?"

She chuckled breathlessly and tried to push me away. "Not that private."

"Mmmm." I nibbled on her neck some more, then up along her chin, catching her lower lip between my teeth and tugging gently before releasing her. "Too bad."

"Uh-huh," she answered, staring at my mouth, which curled into a knowing grin. She pushed me away with a mock scowl and I laughed, happy to see I wasn't the only one whose brain became scrambled when we were together.

I dropped onto the closest lounge chair, stretching my arms above my head to loosen the muscles of my shoulders, leaving them in that position when I realized how comfortable it was. The late afternoon sun felt good on skin still chilled from my recent swim and I closed my eyes with a contented sigh, letting the rays slowly warm me.

It had been a wonderful day.

It had started with the scenic drive west on the overseas highway, the top to Robyn's little yellow convertible down and the light blues and greens of the shallow waters on either side of us stretching out to the horizon. When we reached Big Pine Key, a grumpy, weathered old man had met us at the marina with a motorboat and silently taken us to a destination in the channels of the backcountry, leaving us with a double-kayak, a map, a radio, and gruff instructions about getting back by sundown or they'd send someone after us.

We paddled leisurely through the day, past mangrove forests, sponge and grass flats, and an abundance of wildlife, talking occasionally but mostly enjoying the beauty and the quiet. A small island that was nothing more than a spit of sand became a picnic lunch spot, and after we'd eaten our fill of the sandwiches and fruit Robyn had packed, we continued our explorations, making in back to the marina by three.

Back at the house, we'd decided on a swim and some sun before figuring out what we would do for dinner.

"Jesus, Caid, you sure don't make it easy on a girl, do you? All day long I had that beautiful back in front of me, and now this?" Her words and frustrated sigh pulled me out of thoughts of our day, and I cracked opened an eye to find her staring down at my body which was covered in a red tankini that left a few inches of my midriff bare. I wasn't showing nearly as much skin as she was, but apparently it was enough to get her attention.

I turned my head towards her and opened both eyes, looking her up and down with a lazy smile. "Look who's talking, Miss show-off." I reached up to pluck at the material of her bikini bottoms, and then slid my hand up the back of her thigh, my fingers brushing lightly between her legs. "And if you keep looking at me like that, I'm not going to give a good god damn how private or not private this beach is."

"Hey!" She jumped away from my hand with a tiny squeak and wagged an admonishing finger at me, smiling. "Behave, Harris, or I'll be forced to punish you."

"And this would be bad…how?"

I'd said it as a joke, but instead of laughing, the smile on her face faltered and she looked away, absently patting her neck and chest with the towel. "Is that something you like?"

"Huh?" was all I could come up with as a reply.

She looked back at me, searching my face. "Being punished."

Oh. I blinked. The intent look on her face told me this was important, and the flippant remark on the tip of my tongue would not be appreciated. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the chair, motioning to the space beside me. She lowered herself slowly, her eyes wary, and I took her hand, lacing our fingers together.

"Are you asking if I'm into pain?" I asked carefully. She nodded, and I thought for a minute and then answered as honestly as I could. "I don't know."

She tensed and withdrew her hand from mine, turning her gaze from me to look out over the water for a moment before returning her eyes to mine. "I'm willing to…explore a lot of things with you, Caid. I want you to be happy with me…with what we do…"

"Honey, I am happy…"

She shook her head and held up her hand. "Just let me finish, please." I quieted, and she took a breath. "I'll do just about anything for you, Caid, but…" She stared down at her hands. "I was involved with someone once, and she asked for things…" She shook her head vehemently. "I don't think I could do that again."

"Hey." I grabbed her hand and held it fast when she tried to pull away. "Robyn, honey, look at me." Slowly her dark eyes rose to meet mine and I saw old hurts and new fears and wanted to strangle whoever this person had been. "Rob, I said I don't know, because honestly, I don't. It's not something I've ever done, or ever had a lover who wanted something like that. I can say that it's not something I've ever had the urge to explore, and while that might not mean I wouldn't like it if I did, it's probably a good indicator."

She frowned, looking perplexed, and I thought back over my last statement. Hell, I barely understood it myself, and I'd come up with it. I touched her cheek. "What I mean is…no, I'm not into pain. I could never take pleasure from hurting you. I swear I won't hurt you like that person did."

She took my hand from her cheek and kissed it absently before putting it in her lap with the other. "She didn't hurt me, Caid. At least not how you mean. Inflicting pain wasn't her thing." She looked past me, her eyes clouded. "Receiving it was. She wanted me to hurt her."

She shifted restlessly and started to stand, but I held her hands in mine firmly. "Tell me?" I asked, stroking a thumb across the back of her hand. "Please?"

She sighed heavily and sat back down, staring at our joined hands. "It was all a long time ago."

"That doesn't make it any less important. It obviously still affects you."

She sighed again and looked out over the water for several long moments. "I met her in Paris, at a party…I was about twenty three, I guess, and just starting to realize that women were more my thing than men and I fell for her hard. God," she shook her head sadly, "I was so in love with her, and for a while, everything was so perfect…" She paused, her mind far away, and I stayed quiet, hoping to encourage her with my silence.

"She started asking me to do things…Light stuff, at first," she glanced at me quickly and then away. "Holding her down, being a little more…aggressive…" She shrugged, avoiding my eyes. "It was new and I'll admit, it excited me, the control - or what seemed like control at the time - but it wasn't enough. I wasn't enough." She paused, and then said quietly, as though speaking to herself. "I was never enough."

I could tell this story wasn't going to have a happy ending, and squeezed her hand in a show of support, despite the inappropriate and completely irrational stab of jealousy at hearing how much she had loved someone else. Again I kept quiet, knowing there was more to the story, and realizing that what she was telling me had a lot to do with why she had not let herself love since.

After a moment, she continued, her voice stronger. "I was doing a lot of speed - most of us did - and chasing it hard with vodka. The more she wanted me to do, the more fucked up I had to get to do it, because it wasn't exciting anymore. I hated it, hated myself after…but I loved her so much and I tried, I really tried to be what she needed."

She stood abruptly and took a few steps away, folding her arms across her chest and looking out towards the ocean. "Finally she asked for something that I just couldn't do…I couldn't do it anymore, and when I told her…"

I could see her body tense at the memory and I rose to stand beside her; not touching, but there if she needed me. "What happened?"

She stared at the water for a long time before answering. "She laughed. She laughed and said she knew I would break soon, but she'd gotten more from me than anyone expected and it had been great fun taking me as far as she had." She looked over at me and smiled bitterly. "It had all been a big game. Let's see how far the stupid, naïve American will go for love…I had never been in control at all."

She shook her head in disgust, and this time I did touch her, slipping my arms cautiously around her waist from behind and resting my chin on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." I seemed a wholly inadequate response to what she'd gone through, but it was heartfelt, and when I felt her relax against me and her hands cover mine, I knew it was enough.

We stood like that for several minutes, Robyn lost in memories, and me thinking of how Robyn's past experience shed some light on her present-day behavior. Eventually she patted my arms. "So that's the whole sordid tale and probably explains all sorts of things about what an emotionally stunted slut I've been since then."

I felt a little guilty, having been thinking along similar lines, although not quite that harshly. I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome." She turned in the circle of my arms and rested her forehead against mine. "I suppose you should know what you're getting into…maybe I should have told you sooner."

"Oh, Pish. Wouldn't have made a bit of difference. I don't scare away that easy."

She pulled back with an amused grin. "Pish?"

"Pish-posh, out with the wash," I recited, and her smile widened. I shrugged. "It's a grandma thing."

She laughed and hugged me hard. "God, you're cute."
It was good to hear her laugh again and I was pleased to be the one to cause it, even if I hated being called 'cute'. Puppies were cute. Kermit the frog was cute. That little four year old kid that rapped was cute. Creepy, I'll admit, but cute. I disliked being thought of as cute, but from her, I'd take it.

"Thank you for listening," she murmured in my ear, "and not freaking out, or thinking badly about me…" She pulled back and looked at me intently. "You don't, do you? Think badly of me?"

"Of course not. Why would I?"

She dropped her eyes. "Some of the things I did..."

"Robyn." I tucked my fingers under her chin and raised her gaze back to mine. "The only person I think badly of is the woman that you were with. And that's because of what she did to you, and how she hurt you…not because she got off on pain. I want to hurt her because she hurt you."

She smiled. "I'll point her out next time I see her and you can have at it, then. My money's on you."

I frowned, and dropped my hand to her chest, rubbing lightly. "You see her?"

She tilted her head back and forth in a nonchalant gesture, but the eyes that looked past me flared briefly with emotion before settling into feigned indifference. "Every once in a while. She has a house in LA, and we still have mutual acquaintances…I see her at parties, benefits, openings..."

"That must be…difficult."

She took a moment to answer. "It's gotten easier, over time, but yes, sometimes it's still hard. Especially if she's in a…playful…mood." She said the word with obvious sarcasm. "Then it gets especially fun. She calls me her petit sadique and wants to talk about old times."

"I'm sorry, baby." I kissed her gently.

"Thank you." She kissed me back, just as softly.

We stared at each other, and she slowly leaned in and kissed me again. When we pulled back from that kiss, minutes had passed and anyone watching our not-so-private beach had gotten quite an eyeful.

"Inside?" she asked hoarsely.

"God, yes." I grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the house.

She tripped after me, struggling to get her footing in the sand. "Dinner…"

I stopped and rounded on her in exasperation. "Do you want dinner, or do you want me?"

She grabbed my face in her hands and kissed me. "Stupid damn question."

We didn't even make it to the couch - ending up in a tangle of limbs on the carpet just inside the door.

CHAPTER TWENTY

I would have been perfectly happy with leftover lasagna, cheese and crackers…hell, bread and water would have worked, as long as Robyn was with me, but at her request, and for what she called 'counter-propagandaism', we drove a few miles into Islamorada for oysters, stone crabs and clam chowder at a popular waterside restaurant. In Robyn's words, "What better way to show them we're not squabbling over Josh than to be seen having dinner together?"

I couldn't fault her logic; the only better way I could think of showing we weren't squabbling over Josh was perhaps for the two of us to jump each other somewhere very public, and that wasn't something either of us was ready for. We had a nice meal - as nice as a meal could be with numerous interruptions by autograph and photograph seekers - and then we'd come back to the house and Robyn had shown me how appreciative she was of my patience.

Dinner had been well worth the aggravation.

Robyn stirred and I reached out and ran gentle fingers through her hair. She was on her side, facing me, one arm curled around her pillow and the other stretched above her head, and I had been awake for nearly an hour, just watching her sleep. It was like every damn cliché about love that I'd ever heard. I felt full, bursting with love, like it was a palpable force, radiating out of me. I looked at her and my chest felt tight with emotion and I felt like crying and laughing at the same time…it was exhilarating, wonderful and terrifying.

Dark eyes blinked open, regarding me sleepily. "Hey."

"Morning." I leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Her mouth curled into a smile and she rolled onto her back and stretched. "Been awake long?"

"A little while." I scooted closer and tucked myself in beside her, laying my head on her shoulder and draping my arm across her stomach. Her arms went around me immediately. "I was enjoying the view."

"The view of me drooling, and my hair looking so pretty?"

I turned my head slightly and kissed the skin near her collarbone. "It is very pretty. And you don't drool…much."

I felt her chuckle and a brief touch of her lips across the top of my head. After a minute of quiet she asked, "When do you need to leave?"

I sighed, not wanting to be reminded that I would be heading home soon. "Around one or so….the flight is a little after three."

She kissed my head again and tightened her arms briefly. "I wish we had more time."

"Me too." I raised my head and kissed her, sighing in pleasure when strong fingers threaded through my hair and she deepened the kiss, turning a brief peck into a slow, gentle investigation. She rolled onto her side and pulled me closer, tangling her legs in mine, and we spent long minutes in unhurried kisses, neither of us escalating the passion of the exchange.

"Mmm…" Robyn eventually broke the exchange, dropping light kisses on my cheeks and forehead before pulling away. She put a finger on my lips. "Stay. I'll be right back."

She unwrapped herself from our embrace and rolled off the bed; I watched her retreating form in languid appreciation until she disappeared behind the partially closed door of the bathroom.

Her slightly muted voice came from behind the door. "You have a long travel day...I was thinking maybe we could go for a run later this morning, get you some exercise before you have to sit all day. Interested?"

"When?" My tone was noticeably petulant, and I scowled at myself. It was a good idea, and would certainly be good for me, but I was enjoying our closeness this morning and didn't want it to end quite yet.

I could hear the smile in her voice. "I'm not in any hurry…just…later."

Satisfied that she was coming back to bed, I nodded, and then voiced my agreement when I realized she couldn't see me. "That sounds good…if you promise not to kick my ass."

"Well, I really wanted to run," came her muffled reply after a beat, "but I guess a walk would be okay…"

"Hey!" I protested, and heard her answering laugh. "Damn, Ward, that was cold. And to think all the people who read the rags think I'm the bitch."

She laughed again. "If only they knew that you're actually the sweet one."

I smiled and threw my legs over the side of the bed, stretching my back as I sat up. "That's what Liz said, too. I guess I'm destined to be misunderstood."

I heard the toilet flush, and running water. "So…did you tell her? About us, I mean." Her voice was still muted by the door, but I heard the tentativeness of her tone.

"Yep."

I didn't say anything else, and she poked her head out the door a few moments later, a toothbrush in her mouth. "An? Wha 'she sa?"

I looked at her questioningly and she rolled her eyes and ducked back into the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste before opening the door wider and leaning against the jamb. "What did she say?"

"Huh?" Distracted by her nakedness, it took me a moment to respond. I blinked and dragged my eyes up to meet her smug gaze.

"I asked what Liz had to say…" she motioned with her hand, "about us."

"Oh…um, let's see…she said 'wow', and something along the lines of 'I'll be damned' and 'holy shit', and then she asked….um…what it was like."

"Did she?" Robyn sounded entertained by the idea and went back into the bathroom, her voice taking on a slight echo. "And just how did you answer that one?"

I leaned back on my hands, watching her through the bathroom door as she washed her face, and pondered just how honest I should be about what I had told Liz.

What the hell, let's start our day out with a little shot of honesty.

"I told her it was none of her damn business…" She grinned at that, and patted her face with a towel. "And then I told her that even if it was her business, I couldn't tell her anyway because I couldn't think of words to describe how fucking amazing it is to be with you."

She gave a strangled laugh and pulled the towel away from her face. "Oh, aren't you a sweet talker…" Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the look on my face. "You're serious."

"Of course I'm serious."

She placed the towel gently on the counter and turned towards me. "You really told Liz that?"

"Yes I told her…and I meant every word," I added, trying to keep the nervousness out of my voice.

Her mouth formed a tiny 'O' of surprise. "Caid, I…" she stared at me for a moment, and then started towards me slowly, her gaze never leaving mine.

Now that you've started, you might as well finish it....

I pushed myself off the bed, wanting to be face to face with her when I told her the rest. She crossed the room and stopped in front of me, reaching out to brush my cheek. "You really told Liz that," she repeated, but this time it was a statement and not a question.

I cupped her face in my hands and laid the gentlest of kisses on her parted lips before taking a deep breath and stepping off the cliff. "I told her it probably had something to do with the fact that I'm crazy in love with you."

"Wha…?" Our faces were close enough that I could actually feel the whoosh of air as she drew in a sharp breath and blinked; a myriad of emotions running across her face, surprise the most immediately recognizable. She tried to pull back but I held her in place, my hands still cupping her face.

"I love you." I said again softly, surprised at how easily the words came. I placed another kiss on her stunned lips. "I am totally, completely, head over freaking heels in love with you, Robyn. I don't want to scare you, but I wanted you to know. You don't need to say anythi…"

The rest of my words were swallowed abruptly as Robyn crushed her mouth to mine, and the next thing I knew I was flat on my back in the middle of the bed, with six feet of warm, naked and very amorous Robyn Ward on top of me, raining kisses on my face, neck and chest.

"Say it again," she demanded suddenly, pulling back to look at my face intently, as though judging my sincerity.

I wondered, as she searched my face for proof, just how many times she'd been told those words. Considering her fame, her looks…more than a few times, I'd guess. How many others had told her they loved her in hopes of getting something from her? I knew of at least one who had professed love and lied, hurting her badly…had there been others?

I met her gaze squarely, wanting her to see everything I was feeling, needing her to believe me. I brushed her cheeks with my thumbs and ran my hands through her hair. "I love you, Robyn," I said clearly, bringing her head down for a soft kiss. "I love you," I said again and trailed my lips over her chin and down the long column of her neck. "I love you," I murmured, nipping at the skin just below her ear and feeling a slight shiver in response. I tilted my head back and found her eyes again, willing her to believe me. "I. Love. You."

She touched my face, trailing her fingers over my eyebrows and down my cheeks. "Oh, Caid..."

Her voice, to my ears, seemed apologetic and I fought back panic. Now, when faced with her response, my brave statements did not seem like such a bright idea. I pulled her head down and silenced her with a kiss, not wanting to hear what she had to say right now, not wanting her to feel pressured or obligated, and especially not wanting her to tell me she didn't feel the same. She could tell me how she felt later - right now, I wanted to show her how I felt.

I rolled us over, kissing her hard, and pushed my hands into her hair, tilting her head back so that I could kiss along the underside of her chin and down her throat.

"Caid…" Her words stopped in an expulsion of breath when I settled my thigh between her legs and pressed against her while I covered her nipple with my mouth, sucking and biting gently. I trailed my hands down her body and braced my arms on either side of her chest, lifting my body off of her slightly, pushing my thigh against her again. Her fingers threaded through my hair, tightening almost to the point of painfulness when I held her nipple gently in my teeth and flicked with the tip back and forth with my tongue.

"Ah…jesus…" She arched against me, lifting her leg and pushing against my sex roughly. I groaned and pushed back automatically, quickly falling into the rhythm she set. I let go of one nipple to move to the other, giving it a few minutes of attention before she dragged my head up and brought our mouths together in a panting, openmouthed kiss, her tongue meeting mine in time with our thrusts. Gradually the rhythm increased and our kiss slowed until we were just breathing in each other's air as we concentrated on the movement and feel of our bodies.

"Oh….yes…" she whispered, her lips moving to my forehead and her hands to my hips, urging me into her. I kept up the rhythm of my leg against her, riding her thigh, feeling the slickness of sweat and desire where our bodies touched.

"Oh…god, Caid…" Her leg shifted again and pushed into me harder. "I'm…" she sucked in a breath, "come with me, baby…"

Our movements became frantic; labored breathing interspersed with whispered nonsensical words and gasps, and I slipped one hand between us, drawing my fingers through her warm wetness and teasing the hardened nub of her clit with gentle strokes. She hissed out a breath and her body stilled at the contact, then jerked, and I felt the slight sting of her fingernails as she tightened her grip convulsively on my ass. Her head was thrown back, the muscles in her neck corded and tense, and I watched, enthralled, as I continued my movements, amazed as always by how beautiful she was. Suddenly her hand was between my legs, and her fingers inside of me, just as she arched further and let out a shuddering moan, jerking inelegantly against my hand. The moan, her movements, her fingers…it was all enough to send me tumbling after her into orgasm, whispering a final 'love you' before collapsing in a very ungraceful heap on top of her.

After several moments, she withdrew her fingers and her arms circled me in a loose embrace. We lay without speaking as the thundering of her heartbeat beneath my ear returned to a steady thump-thump, and the rise and fall of her chest slowed to evenness; as the sweat dried on our skin and the rising sun cast ever changing shadows on the bedroom walls.

It was a peaceful, blissful silence and I was loath to break it, but eventually the jangle of a ringing telephone broke the complacent stillness, the sound so incongruous after two days of quiet that it took my brain a moment to understand what it was.

Robyn tensed underneath me and swore softly. She started to move but I shifted my weight, stopping her. "Don't."

She sighed, and ran her hand up and down my back. "I'm sorry, baby, I have to. It must be something on the set…the only way I could talk Lynne into letting me have this weekend was if I let her know where I would be and promised to come in if they needed me. She's the only person I gave this number to."

I slid off of her reluctantly and she climbed out of bed, giving me an rueful look before snagging a t-shirt - mine, I noticed - draped across the back of a chair and pulling it on as she trotted from the room.

"Damn." I sighed and rolled onto my back, listening to the sounds of Robyn's voice,
raised slightly in annoyance, in the next room. I doubted they'd be calling to chat about the weather…it looked like our little weekend was coming to an end even sooner than expected.

I sighed again and rolled off the bed, annoyed to feel a twinge of relief at being given a reprieve from Robyn's reaction to telling her I loved her.

Christ, I was such a chickenshit.

A few minutes later, after using the bathroom and throwing on some clothes, I found Robyn out on the back deck, phone still in her hand, looking pensively out at the water.

I walked up behind her and slipped an arm around her waist, brushing the hair from her neck with my other hand so I could kiss the soft skin below her ear. She turned her head and gave me a distracted smile, holding up the phone up. "Sorry."

I put my other arm around her and rested my chin on her shoulder. "Now it's my turn to ask…when do you have to go?"

"As soon as I can get there…they got a permit to shoot on-site in Key Largo but we've only got today."

"Damn." I wasn't surprised, but I had hoped for a little more time. I kissed her cheek with a sigh and held her tighter. "Thank you for this weekend."

She turned in my arms and ran both her hands through my hair. "Caid…" She stopped and looked at my face searchingly. I could see her struggle for words. Finally she looked away. "You're welcome. I had a great time."

A great time.

I'd used that exact phrasing to brush off a mediocre date more than once. I inwardly steeled myself, waiting for the "but…"

It never came, but neither did the hoped for profession of love.

Jeez Caid, what do you expect? A minute ago you were relieved to not know, and now you're frustrated?

I hid my disappointment, and tugged her into the house. "Come on. Why don't you jump in the shower, and I'll fix you breakfast for a change."

She smiled seductively and pulled me back towards her. "How about you join me in the shower, and we skip breakfast?" she murmured, laying a light line of kisses along my neck.

I quashed my immediate reaction to her words and nearness, feeling a certain hollowness in her offer. My body was willing but at the moment, my heart just wasn't in it and I wasn't sure hers was, either.

"We'd never make it out of the shower," I joked lightly in an attempt to ease the disappointment and confusion that flashed across her face as I pulled away. "You have a long day ahead of you and need to eat." I pointed to the hallway and pushed her gently in that direction. "Away with you."

"Caid…" She frowned, her expression still betraying her confusion.

"Go on." I tilted my head up and kissed her lightly on the forehead before pushing her towards the hallway again. "I'll have something ready for you when you get out."

She hesitated a moment longer, staring at me intently, and then nodded slowly and walked past me and down the hall.

I sighed and walked into the kitchen, taking stock of what kind of ingredients we had on hand to make breakfast. There were eggs and some left-over seafood mixture from Robyn's lasagna that would make a decent enough filling for an omelet, and french bread for toast…I nodded to myself and pulled the items out of the refrigerator.

I rooted around in the cupboards and drawers for a skillet and a small mixing bowl, my movements getting slower and slower, until they stopped altogether.

What in the hell was I doing?

The woman I was in love with was naked in the shower, and I was about to make an omelet? I shook my head in disbelief. Robyn asked me to share the last of our time together making love, and I had said no.

Caid, you are a dumbass.

I put the food back into the refrigerator and walked down the hall, a smile building on my face until I entered the master bedroom and saw that Robyn wasn't naked in the shower at all. In fact, she was standing in the middle of the room, fully dressed, and apparently fully packed. The small duffel she had brought was slung over her shoulder, and she looked to be in the process of checking for any stray items she might have missed.

I stopped abruptly in the doorway and stared at her stupidly. "Wha…what are you doing?"

"Leaving," she said briskly, taking one last glance around.

"But…you were showering…we were going to have breakfast…" I frowned in confusion. "Why are you leaving?"

She hitched the bag higher on her shoulder, finally looking at me. It was then I realized how angry she was. "I won't be manipulated."

That did not help my confusion at all. "What are you talking about? I'd never try to manipulate you."

"That's what I thought, too, until a few minutes ago." She shook her head sadly. "I really thought you were different, Caid. Stupid of me."

She moved towards the door and I stopped her with a hand on her chest. She gave the hand a look of distain that made me cringe, and looked at me coolly. "Get out of my way."

"Not until you tell me what the hell I did wrong!" I was starting to get worry now; I'd been on the receiving end of that look before, the night at her house when she'd told me nothing could happen between us. It was cold and resolute, and just like that night, I had no idea how to counter it.

"I won't let you use sex to manipulate me into saying what you want to hear. I enjoy you, Caid - I enjoy being with you. But sex is sex, and I can find it elsewhere. Remember that." She moved my hand and brushed past me roughly.

I didn't stop her, too shaken by the thought that maybe she was right. Not about the sex is sex part; that was a bunch of crap. I knew whatever was between us was something special, and went much deeper than physical. But her accusation of my withholding sex because she hadn't told me what I wanted to hear…was that why I had refused her? As some kind of punishment for not returning my feelings?

I thought back to what I'd been feeling and shook my head. No, that hadn't been the reason. I'd refused because it felt…wrong. Like…she was trying to distract me, to avoid having to discuss issues that needed to be discussed.

She had been the one that tried to use sex to manipulate.

My worry was displaced by anger, and I followed her into the living room, grabbing her arm and turning her around. "I told you I loved you, damnit, because I do. Very much. And I thought you should know. I'm not trying to manipulate you, regardless of what you think. I didn't, and still don't, expect anything from you except honesty."

She glared at my hand but I continued to hold on to her - I wasn't finished. "Maybe you should take a look at your own behavior before you go accusing me of shit. I tell you I love you, and you don't want to deal with it, so what better way to distract me than to drag me off into the shower? You know the effect you have on me, and you tried to use it to your advantage. So don't give me righteous lectures about using sex as a weapon."

She shrugged my hand off angrily and grabbed her purse and keys from the table. "The cleaning service comes at three - make sure you're gone by then. Leave the key in the mailbox," she told me icily, and stomped to the door.

"Robyn." I had one more thing to address.

To my surprise, she stopped at the door and turned back, her expression stony.

She wouldn't be manipulated, but I wouldn't be threatened. "If you do find sex elsewhere…despite how much I love you, you'll never be with me that way again. I told you before that I don't like to share. Remember that."

A muscle in her jaw twitched, and she stared at me for a long moment, and then she was gone.

##

I thought - I hoped - that she would come back.

I actually sat on the couch for another half an hour, hoping, but was finally forced to face the reality that Robyn's fight or flight tendencies were going to take a lot longer than a weekend to counteract. I wasn't giving up quite yet…we didn't get this far to allow a misunderstanding as stupid as this to tear us apart.

I started planning my assault on Fortress Robyn as I changed into my running clothes, and as I set off down the hard-packed sand near the water, heading north and hoping the beaches connected for at least a few miles, my head was filled with nothing but thoughts of how I could get her to talk to me.

I waved at a man with binoculars on the beach one house over; nodded sympathetically to a couple overseeing four children building sandcastles several houses after that, and patted a few friendly dogs on the public beach I ran onto that ended sooner than I'd hoped, but was far enough to make it worth the run.

The run back went quickly, and once I'd gotten back to 'our' beach, I stood for a long time, looking out at the water, remembering what an amazing weekend it had been, and vowing to do everything in my power to make it happen again.

I eventually started towards the house, but stopped when I saw the man with binoculars from next door climbing slowly over the rise between the houses, struggling in the deep sand with a walking stick and a pronounced limp. He looked to be in his sixties, with a wide brimmed hat and Bermuda shorts that seemed to be the uniform of the older tourists in the area.

Curious as to what his mission was, and wondering if I could somehow help in his struggle through the sand, I started towards him.

"Hi." I called out, receiving no response, just resolute progress over the rise and onto the beach in my general direction. When I got closer, his face finally lifted to meet mine and I realized he wasn't as old as I thought - late forties, maybe - with pale blue eyes that stared at me with an intensity that made me uneasy.

"Hi," I said again when I was within a few yards. "Can I help you with something?"

He stopped and smiled, watching me approach. "As a matter of fact, you can."

If I hadn't had other things on my mind, if I'd been in the city, if I'd been expecting trouble…maybe things would have gone differently. As it was, I smiled expectantly, and watched as he flipped the walking stick into the air, caught it in both hands, and swung.

I realized what was coming at the last second - not nearly enough time to dodge the swing or even get my arm up in defense. Pain exploded in my head as the stick struck me across the jaw, spinning me around and sending me stumbling across the deep sand and dropping to my hands and knees.

What the…stunned from the blow, I stared dumbly at the blood on the sand beneath me, unable to comprehend what was happening. Another blow came down hard on my back and I hissed as pain shot from the point of impact and down my legs.

That can't be good.

A foot in my stomach knocked the wind from my lungs and I collapsed onto the sand as he kicked a few more times and took a few more swings with the stick.

All six of the main cast members of 9th Precinct had gone through a modified police academy curriculum, with self-defense and subduing techniques a large part of the training. I'd been good at it, and confident that I could use the knowledge if the need arose in real life, but none of that training had prepared me for the violence of this attack; it had been too swift; too unexpected. The only thought in my mind was to get away.

I rolled onto my stomach and struggled clumsily in an attempt to get back to my hands and knees, but a hand yanked my head back by the hair, and I stared into wild, feverish eyes.

"I saw you with her. I saw you touch her, you filthy bitch. You're sick! I saw you touch her! She's mine!"

He punched the side of my face, driving it into the sand. My vision blurred, and my face throbbed.

Thank god Robyn left…it was the last thought to flit through my brain before another blow struck hard across the back of my head, and then…nothing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

So much noise…so many voices…and pain…

"Caid, baby, stay with me. Damnit, don't you leave me…" The frantic voice came from far away - it was familiar, I knew the raspy tones, wanted to respond…

"…need to load her in the ambulance now, ma'am…"

My body jolted and pain erupted in my head. I slipped back into blackness.

##

"…nurse, I specifically said family only. Why is this…woman…still here? Call security, right now."

The loud, unwelcome voice pulled me groggily from unconsciousness.

Who… The voice was familiar. Sebastian?

My mind slowly came back into the land of the living and once it did, all I wanted to do was to go back to nice, pain-free darkness.

God, I hurt. And I was so, so tired.

"Mr. Harris…calm down. I'm sure we can work something out," an unfamiliar female voice spoke soothingly. I could have told her that wouldn't do any damn good - Sebastian always got his way.

I kept my eyes shut, cataloging the hurts. The pain in my head was excruciating…nauseating. It made it hard to think, hard to hear, hard to breath. And other areas of my body were chiming in on the pain meter, too. My lower back, my stomach, my left wrist…I winced, and the movement brought a whole new set of aches to my attention - my nose, cheek, and jaw felt painfully swollen.

What happened? Why…

"Go ahead and call security. I'm not going anywhere." The voice was low and husky, tinged with irritation.

Robyn.

I wanted to giggle. No one talked to my brother like that.

At the sound of her voice, the throbbing in my head eased to a somewhat tolerable level and I let my eyes flutter open a little, finally finding something in this situation worth sticking around for. Bright light and colors hit sensitive eyes and I shut them again as my stomach roiled. After a moment, I took a shallow breath and tried again. When my head didn't explode, and my need to hurl up whatever might be in my stomach passed, I opened them wider. Or at least as wide as I could, since I could feel that one was nearly swollen shut.

Christ, what had happened to me?

The blurred images around me gradually gained focus and I stared in dazed bewilderment at my surroundings. I was in a long room - a very white room - and weak light streamed through several narrow windows. On either side of me, stacks of instruments and machines beeped and pinged regularly, and a pale blue curtain stretched across the space to my left, bunched on a ceiling rail towards the end of the bed. My eyes dropped to my arms and I felt my brow furrow in confusion. My left wrist - the one that ached - was wrapped in some kind of splint and there was an IV line running out of the back of my other hand and something clipped to my finger.

Hospital. Something happened… I tried to get my brain to work, to piece together what was going on, but couldn't make any sense of the jumble, and trying made the pain in my head worse.

I shifted my gaze and focused on the man speaking across the room. Sebastian. My brother. This I remembered, but not why he was here. His dark hair was beginning to gray at the temples, but the square, strong jaw, thin, pinched mouth and intense green eyes were the same. He stood stiff with anger and outrage, glaring down at a dark-haired woman slumped in a chair.

Robyn. I let my gaze linger on her. I loved her. This I remembered, too.

A woman in brightly patterned scrubs hovered next to Sebastian, looking worriedly from one to the other. A nurse, I assumed, but didn't recognize her.

"Don't think I won't," Sebastian was saying. "I don't care how famous you are or what connections you have…"

Robyn's eyes wandered in apparent boredom as my jerk of a brother railed at her, eventually coming to rest on me and widening in sudden realization. She was out of her seat and across the room in seconds.

"Caid? Honey?" Her voice was hopeful and desperate, and she reached out a hand to touch me but drew back and grabbed onto the rail of my bed instead.

I blinked slowly. "He…" I croaked, my voice weak and raspy. I swallowed, and licked my lips with a tongue that felt three times too big for my mouth, flinching when I passed over a tender area that felt split. I tried again. "Hey…Rob."

Her face broke into a beautiful smile, and a tear slid slowly down her cheek. "Oh, baby," she whispered, gripping the rails of the bed tightly. "I'm so glad you're awake. God, you scared me…"

I tried to smile back, but it hurt, and I closed my eyes again.

"Caid? Baby?"

I was so tired…her words flowed around me and I let the beckoning darkness washed over me again.

##

"…I don't want visitation changed. I don't care who they are, Perry, they are not her family."

"But these are her friends! It might help her to hear their voices…"

"I said no, and that's final! She doesn't need to be around those kind of people right now. She needs her family, and our faith in God…"

The arguing voices drew me rudely from the safe, pain-free arms of unconsciousness into the distinctly non-pain-free world of consciousness. I groaned involuntarily in disapproval. Jesus. Those two never stop arguing. My eyes fluttered open, and blurry images gradually gained sharpness. Three startled sets of eyes were staring at me - two familiar, one not.

I tried out my voice - it was weak, but audible. "Will you…two…shut up."

"Caid! You're awake!" Perry hurried forward to hover uncertainly by my bedside.

"Hard…to sleep…with you two…ragging…at each other." I croaked out and swallowed, wishing for some water and some more nice, pain-free darkness.

He smiled tremulously. "How do you feel?"

I would have laughed if I wasn't sure it would have hurt like hell. Instead I grunted.

"Jesus Christ, Caid, you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry…" I whispered, although I wasn't sure what I was sorry for.

Sebastian moved up beside Perry, frowning in disapproval. "Perry, you will not take the Lord's name in vain…"

I winced at the tone. "Jesus Christ…Sebastian…shut up." I told him wearily, and thought I heard a titter of laughter from the other room's occupant who I assumed was a nurse.

The disapproving eyes turned to me, narrowing in annoyance. My brain might be muddled, but pissing off Sebastian was second nature. "Well hello to you, too, Caidence. Nice to see the attitude survived intact. And you're welcome. I dropped everything to come down here to be with you and this is the thanks I get?"

I stared at him unremorsefully, blinking tiredly. We hadn't been civil to each other in years - I didn't see any point to starting now. Whatever his reasons for being here, I doubted my welfare was one of them.

The nurse pushed both men out of the way with practiced ease and moved up beside me. She glanced over at a console of machines to my left and smiled down at me. "Hello there. Glad to have you back with us. How are you feeling?"

I blinked slowly. "Crappy."

She smiled sympathetically and patted my hand gently. "Yes, you took quite a beating. You look a lot better than you did two days ago, if that's any consolation."

Beating? Two days?

"Wh…what happened? I don't remember…" I frowned, trying to concentrate and the pain in my head intensified. I hissed softly in pain and closed my eyes.

"Shhh…don't worry. It'll come back to you. Just relax, and I'll be back a little later with the doctor."

I nodded, sleep already tugging at me again, and heard her move away.

"Gentlemen, could I speak to you outside please…"

##

"Caidence? Miss Harris?"

My eyes jerked open quickly and I flinched in pain, blinking up at a blond, athletic looking woman in a maroon scrubs with a stethoscope looped around her neck. She flashed a wide, friendly smile while light brown eyes swept over me in quick, professional perusal.

"I'm Doctor Reese. How are you feeling?" She looked down at a clipboard in her hands, flipping through pages, and then back up at me.

I coughed slightly and winced at the resulting twinge in my back. I cleared my throat carefully. "I've had better days."

She put the chart back with a chuckle. "I bet you have. Would you like some water?"

"Please."

She nodded across the bed and I noticed another person in the room, the nurse from before. "Gail, could you grab that?"

The woman picked up a small pitcher on the table next to me and filled a plastic cup, dropping a straw into it and handing it to me. I drank gratefully, the liquid trickling down my throat in blissful coolness.

The doctor pulled the stethoscope from around her neck and fitted it into her ears, speaking briskly as she gently pulled aside the neck of my gown and laid the cool metal against my chest.

"Gail tells me you might be a little confused about what happened. Do you remember anything at all?"

I shook my head slightly. "No…nothing. My head - everything is so fuzzy."

She nodded. "I'm sure Gail told you that that's normal. You took quite a knock on the head. What's the last thing you remember?"

I frowned, trying to gather my stray memories into some kind of order. A paddle in my hands, turning my head and laughing at Robyn behind me…"I…we went kayaking…" Robyn across the table from me, smiling sweetly at a young girl and her mother who asked for an autograph… "We went into town for dinner…"

A possibility suddenly occurred to me and I straightened, trying to sit up and grimacing at the pain in my back. "Robyn," I ground out. "Is she okay? We were together…"

"Whoa there," the doctor gently pushed me back on the bed, her hands on my shoulders. "Just relax. Your friend Miss Ward is fine. A little ticked off at your brother right now, and worried sick about you, but she's fine." I relaxed, and after watching for a moment to ensure I wasn't going to try to jump out of bed again, she released my shoulders and straightened. "Let me fill you in a little, okay, and maybe it will help a little with your memory."

I nodded gratefully.

"You're at Mid-Key Medical Center in Marathon, Florida. The ambulance brought you in at around eleven on Sunday morning."

"Sunday?" I forced myself to concentrate. Kayaking had been…Saturday. Sunday…what had we done Sunday? I'd been scheduled to fly out early that afternoon, and Robyn was due back on the set…

I throb of pain that seemed to engulf my entire head stopped my memory gathering and I shut my eyes for a moment, before opening them again. "How long…"

She glanced at the watch on her wrist. "It's 9:45 pm, Tuesday."

Nearly three days. Whoa.

"What happened?" I asked slowly. "Why…"

"You were attacked and severely beaten. Miss Ward came with you in the ambulance, but she wasn't hurt - she apparently found you."

She had found me? Oh, honey. I couldn't even imagine what that must have been like.

"Beaten?" I said slowly. A flash of memory, and object coming towards my face and a flash of pain along my jaw…

"Is any of this sounding familiar?"

"Maybe…" I shook my head in frustration and she nodded sympathetically.

"I wouldn't worry…I'm confident your memory will right itself in time. Now," She hung the clipboard up and gestured to the nurse. "We'll just do a quick examination, and then we can talk about your injuries, and you can ask any questions, okay? I'm sorry, but some of this is going to hurt."

She was right. They poked, prodded, and maneuvered my body, and by the time they were finished, I had long since stopped trying to hide tears of pain and I was exhausted. She finished with a light test to my eyes, and a few simple questions then wrote in the chart for a minute before giving me her attention.

"Well Miss Harris, it might not feel like it right now, but you're one very lucky woman."

"I'd hate to know what it would feel like if I'd been unlucky," I mumbled.

She looked at me seriously. "Quite frankly, you'd be dead."

Oh.

"You've got multiple contusions on the head, face, abdomen and back, but it doesn't appear that there will be any lasting physical damage from any of it. You're concussed, which is to be expected, but not severely according to scans. That's what's causing the confusion and memory loss you're experiencing...it should be temporary. You have a very hard head." She smiled slightly. "Despite the amount of trauma to your face, no bones were broken, although you sustained a couple fairly deep cuts…luckily we have a plastic surgeon on staff and he stitched them up nicely. If treated properly, they should heal without much scaring. Your abdomen is heavily bruised, but amazingly no ribs were broken and no internal damage…and we were concerned about spinal bruising from a large contusion on your back, but all of your reflexes and sensation seem to be within normal limits. A pelvic exam showed no signs of vaginal or anal trauma and your clothes were intact when you were brought in…"

I sucked in a sharp breath. Jesus…

She glanced at me sympathetically and her tone softened. "You weren't raped, which is good news in an attack like this. The most serious injury, besides the head trauma, was a fracture of the ulna in 2 places above the left wrist…you've got a small plate and a couple of screws in there to keep it together while it heals…all in all, very lucky, and you're in excellent physical shape, which should speed the recovery process."

I blinked slowly and suddenly felt very lucky indeed.

"How long…" I gestured at my body with my good hand.

She crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. "A few weeks for the bruises to fade, five or six days before we take the facial stitches out, and then several weeks for those to heal completely, six to eight weeks for the wrist, and we'll have to see how the back feels when we get you up and around…Your head injury, it's hard to say - we'd like to keep you here a few more days for observation, and once you're released, you might experience headaches, dizziness, light-headedness for anywhere from weeks after to months after. You'll definitely need to take it easy for a while, and you might need a little help for a bit when you're released."

"The best thing for you right now is to rest," she continued. "I'm going to restrict visitors for you for a little while…we've had some…issues, and you need the quiet. I've got you hooked up to a morphine drip…now that you're awake, you can manage that yourself. This button here," she pressed a button on one of the machines by the bed, and a moment later I could feel a tingling in my hand and a delicious lethargy flow through my body, "releases the drug into your system…it's set up to allow you a certain amount an hour. Do you have any questions for me? Anything we can do for you?"

They both looked at me expectantly.

I put processing the information about what my body had gone through on hold and contemplated her question, fighting fatigue and the slowly encroaching haziness brought on by the morphine.

There was something I wanted to ask…about Robyn…

I closed my eyes to concentrate and sleep took me again.

##

I woke briefly on and off over the next several hours; long enough for a nurse to ask me how I felt and for another hit of morphine before drifting off again.

When I finally woke with my head clear of haziness and my body rested enough that fatigue and pain didn't make me want to go right back to sleep, I was in a different room - a much smaller room - and the array of machines beside me was much less impressive. The sharp odor of antiseptic was overlaid by something sweet and floral; I looked around curiously and found that nearly every available spot of counter space, along with some floor space, was taken up by flower arrangements off all sizes and even a stuffed animal or two.

I tried to chuckle at that, which ended up as more of a wheeze, and a nurse who was scribbling something on a clipboard at the end of the bed looked up. She smiled. "Oh good, you're awake again. How do you feel?"

I thought about that for a moment before answering.

"Not great," I croaked, and cleared my throat. "But…better," I added, surprised that it was true. My head still throbbed but the nausea was gone, my face didn't feel quite as tight and swollen, and mind was much clearer.

She glanced at the display of one of the machines beside my bed and wrote something down, then looked back at me. "Good." She poured me a glass of water and I nodded gratefully when she handed it to me.

"What time is it?" I asked, noticing weak gray light coming in the room's one window.

She looked at her watch. "It's about a quarter after six. Wednesday morning," she added before I could ask. She hung the clipboard on the end of the bed and refilled the water glass I'd set down. "How does some food sound? Maybe some toast…some juice?"

I nodded slowly, realizing that now that the nausea was gone, I was hungry. "I could eat."

"Great. I'll go fetch you something, and your brother was just in here…he went to find some coffee, I think. I'll let him know you're awake."

"Which brother?" I asked bluntly, not wanting to deal with Sebastian quite yet.

She smiled slightly. "Perry. He's been here most of the night." She motioned to the corner of the room where a messily folded blanket lay across the back of a chair. "I'm Kara, by the way. I'm on until eight. I'll be back in just a bit with your breakfast."

"Thank you, Kara." She smiled and pushed out of the room.

A few minutes later Perry poked his head hesitantly through the door, smiling uncertainly. "Hey. Morning, sleepyhead."

I gave him a wide smile in greeting, happy to see a familiar face, and flinched slightly at the pull on my right cheek. I raised my hand curiously, feeling the swollen tightness of my skin and the evenly stitched welt that followed the line of my cheekbone beneath my right eye. Exploring further I found another welt running along my jaw from below my right ear to the middle of my chin and a small, painful knot on my forehead above my right eye. The left side of my face in comparison felt smooth, with only a few tender areas of scrapped skin.

"Caid, you okay?" I blinked and glanced over at him. He had entered the room and was looking at me worriedly.

"Yeah…sorry. Just hadn't…felt the damage before. How does it look?"

He looked at me uncomfortably, "Uh…well…"

"That good?" I asked dryly. Perry looked at the floor and bit his lip. "It's okay, Per. I know I probably look like the bride of Frankenstein, but they tell me it'll all heal up fine."

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, still looking at the floor.

"It'll be fine, Per, I promise. Didn't the doctor talk to you?"

"Yeah, she's been really cool." He nodded and was quiet for a moment, then looked up with a tiny grin. "She's a babe, too."

I raised an eyebrow - my left one. "Is she?"

"Oh, come on, Caid - I woulda thought you'd notice something like that, after your recent…discovery." His grin widened.

"My brain was a little scrambled when I met her," I smiled slightly, glad for the change of subject and Perry's brightened demeanor. "I'll try to pay attention next time."

He grabbed the chair in the corner and dragged it over next to the bed, dropping into it with a chuckle. "She's got some balls on her, too…Sebastian's trying to pull his crap on her, but she won't take any of it. And they say when he had Robyn tossed from your room, the Doc turned around and tossed him, too…oh, I would have loved to have seen the look on his face."

I frowned. "Robyn was here?" A vague memory of her worried, tearstained face surfaced, and her voice telling me to stay with her. "And Sebastian tossed her out of my room? Why?" I shifted restlessly. "And why the hell is he here, anyway? He should be in church thanking god that his sinning sister got what was coming to her."

He frowned. "That's a little harsh, Caid. He seemed genuinely concerned. He's an asshole, but you're still his sister."

It was nice to think that maybe somewhere, deep down, Sebastian still carried around familial feelings for me, but too much had passed between us and too much had been said for me to lay any bets on it.

I didn't respond and Perry watched me for a moment and then sighed. "It's kind of my fault he's here anyway…when I got the call on Sunday about what happened, I tried to contact mom, to let her know I'd fly down to be with you and not to worry. The contact number I had for her was some little inn in Switzerland…they said they weren't expecting her group for another couple of days - at least I think that's what they said - anyway, I left a message and then I called Steve. I thought he'd want to know, too…"

Steve was our father, although Perry had never called him such. "And dad called Sebastian," I finished. Which meant dad wouldn't be coming down himself. I gave myself a mental shake, annoyed that after all this time, it still could hurt.

Perry nodded. "I couldn't get a flight out until Tuesday, but since Sebastian's in Tampa, he got down here Monday morning and I guess he found Robyn in the room with you - the nurses said she'd been with you since you were brought in - and he threw a fit about visitors being family only, and since he is a blood relative, and the oldest sibling, they let him have his way. I tried to get him to lighten up, but you know how he is."

"Where is she?" I asked hopefully.

He frowned. "Who, Doctor Reese?"

"No…Robyn. I'd like to see her."

Since I'd woken in the hospital the day before, more and more of the puzzle pieces that made up my memory had fallen into place. Memories of our weekend -good and bad - had surfaced and I desperately wanted to see her, to know where we stood. She'd stormed out after our fight, but she must have come back - for some reason - since she was the one that found me. That gave me some hope.

"She left last night, after she heard you'd woken up for real and were doing good…I talked to her a little before she left, and she mentioned something about her director threatening to replace her…she said she'd try to make it back tonight."

I closed my eyes. Damn.

"…it's probably best that she did, anyway, a lot of the media people left when she did."

My eyes popped open. "Media?"

"Uh…yeah. I guess they tried to keep it quiet for a while, but…" he shrugged.

Just what I needed; more media scrutiny.

Fantastic.

The pain in my head went from the dull ache I'd woken up with to a pounding throb, and went to rub my forehead with my palm, forgetting about the IV line and nearly jerking it out of my hand. "Shit," I muttered in frustration.

The door swung open and Kara pushed in, back first, with a tray in her hands. "Here we are." She smiled at Perry as he scooted the chair aside to give her room to place the tray on my table. "Toast and juice, as ordered."

I looked at Perry. "Is Sebastian here?"

He shook his head. "He went back to his hotel last night after Robyn left."

I looked at Kara. "Kara, could you let someone know that I'd like to make my own decisions about who can and can't visit me? Sebastian doesn't need to be involved in that anymore."

She blinked in surprise at my abruptness. "Um…yes, sure…"

"And Robyn Ward is welcome to visit any time," I finished, and reached for a piece of toast.

She nodded hesitantly. "Okay…"

"Thank you." I took a bite and chewed slowly, marveling at how good a plain piece of toast could taste.

Perry sat quietly as I ate and Kara asked me a few question about my injuries. When she left, I glanced over and found him watching me thoughtfully.

I paused in my chewing and swallowed. "What?"

He just shook his head and laughed.

I shrugged, finished off my juice and reached for my last triangle of toast.

"It's Robyn, isn't it? The woman you were talking about…the one you're in love with?"

I stopped with the toast halfway to my mouth. My smile, as lopsided as it was, must have said it all.

"Holy crap," he said, and laughed again.

I bit into my toast, amused at the expression on his face.

"Holy crap. I can't believe I didn't figure it out before. She was in your room in Big Bear, you're always talking about her, and the way she's been freaking about you being hurt…" He shook his head again. "I guess she changed her mind about not being interested, huh?"

I just smiled, and hoped he was right.

"Holy crap."

I laughed and finished my breakfast.

##

Sebastian visited later that morning, and with Perry's words about his concern in mind, I did my best to be civil. We actually conversed for at least three minutes before we ran out of safe topics and he started in on my choice of careers and how the assault was basically my own fault; a direct result of my association with 'those people', and in particular, 'that woman.' I asked him to leave and don't bother to come back, at a volume that brought nurses running and with language colorful enough to even impress Perry, who had to step between the two of us and finally escorted Sebastian out.

The run-in shook me up as well as exhausted me and I slept into the early afternoon, waking to find two police detectives being ushered into my room. One was in his late twenties, tall and well-built with dark hair cut in a military style buzz and sharp brown eyes and the other was older, in his mid forties; short and fit, with thinning brown hair and a reddish mustache that he pulled at often.

"I'm Detective Fischer," the shorter one introduced himself, "and this is my partner Detective Linden. We're with the Monroe County Sheriff's office…" His voice held a hint of the south and reminded me of Liz, which in turn made me wonder how she was taking this whole thing, or if she even knew. Perry had mentioned media coverage…

I realized the two men were watching me expectantly, and brought my mind back into focus. "Sorry…" I told them with a wry grin. "I was just sleeping…I'm still a little out of it."

They both nodded, and this time the tall one, Detective Linden, spoke. "Not a problem, ma'am. We're sorry to bother you. How are you feeling?"

"Like some crazy man beat the crap out of me with a stick," I said dryly, drawing a slight grin from Linden and the barest flicker of what might have been sympathy from Fischer.

"Can you tell us what happened?" he asked and pulled a small notebook from his pocket. "We have a good idea, but we'd like to hear it in your words."

I carefully reached out for the cup of water on the table by my side and took a few sips, gathering my still slightly jumbled thoughts. As my mind had gotten clearer over the last several hours, I'd remembered the attack, and the wild-eyed man who did it, but this would be the first time I'd put it in words.

"I was down on the beach…I'd just gone for a run, and was cooling down. I started back to the house, I saw this man - I'd seen him before, on my run, he was on the beach, one house over…he had a walking stick, and was limping, looked like he was having trouble getting over the rise, there, between the houses…I thought I could help him, and wondered what he was doing, what he wanted..." I paused for another sip of water and to clear my throat as the memory of his face came vividly to mind. I took a breath. "I said hi, and asked him if I could help him…he said yes, and started swinging with that damn stick." I shook my head and fought down a wave of nausea, closing my eyes until it passed. I blinked them open again. "Took me completely by surprise, knocked me down, kicked me a few times…I tried to get up and he grabbed me and punched me…then I got hit in the head, and that's all I remember until I woke up here."

"Did he give you any indication why he attacked you?" Detective Fischer asked.

I nodded slowly, choosing my words carefully. "I was staying with a friend for the weekend - Robyn Ward. Just before I was knocked out, he said, 'I saw you with her'….how he said it, his face…he meant her, I think. He was angry with me for spending time with Robyn."

Both men nodded, as though I'd confirmed something, and Linden pulled a small envelope from his jacket. "We'd like for you to look at some pictures for us, and tell us if you see the man who attacked you?"

I nodded, and he opened the envelope and pulled out four mug shots, laying them carefully on the table beside me. Familiar, pale, wild-looking eyes looked back at me from the third picture, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Seeing him made everything much more real. I pointed at it with a shaky finger. "Him. That's the guy. Who is he?"

Linden hesitated, shooting a look at Fischer who nodded at him. "His name is Todd Massey." He glanced at me, his expression asking if the name meant anything. I shook my head slightly, and he picked up the pictures and slid them back in the envelope. "We picked him up in a public restroom on Long Key after we had a call about suspicious behavior…thought he was just some tourist off his meds but as soon as he started talking, we knew he was the guy."

"He confessed?"

"Yes ma'am, and then some. Guy won't shut up now, he's being pretty vocal, ranting about what he did to you, seems proud of it even. Turns out he's got a history of stalking…nothing violent in those, but sounds like it was just a matter of time. Three restraining orders against him in the last five years for harassing his subjects…he's a photographer for World Weekly, based out of New York. Paper says he was sent down here to get shots of Lonnie Colchev, but if the stacks of photos found in his hotel room are anything to go by, our guy seems to have developed a fixation with your friend, Miss Ward. Looks like he's been following her for a few weeks, developing some kind of fantasy that they're together…keeps saying he was protecting Miss Ward from you, which matches with what you told us he said during the attack."

From the carefully neutral looks I was getting from both detectives, I was betting Todd Massey had been saying quite a few other things about me and Miss Ward. And he was a photographer.

Damnit.

I closed my eyes wearily. I really wanted to talk to Robyn about this, but I wasn't going to lie if they asked me…I waited for the expected questions, but they didn't come. Instead I heard a rustle of clothing and opened my eyes to see both men had put away their notebooks.

"Sorry to have kept you so long, Miss Harris, we'll let you get back to your rest. Thank you for your time. If you need to get in touch with us for any reason, here's my card." Detective Fisher laid a card on the table, and stepped back. "We'll let you know if we have more questions." He hesitated a moment, and tugged at his mustache. "Miss Harris…I want to assure you that we're aware of the…delicacy of this situation, and all the information gathered in the course of the investigation will be handled with discretion."

I blinked slowly. So they definitely know. And they're going to try and be discrete about it. I wasn't very optimistic about this kind of thing staying discrete, but I appreciated the gesture. "Thank you," I said faintly, unable to think of anything else to say.

He nodded and the two moved towards the door, where the shorter man paused and looked back at me. "Hope you start feeling better soon."

##

He struggled slowly over the rise between the houses, struggling in the deep sand, leaning on his walking stick, limping painfully…suddenly his intense, pale eyes were just inches away, and I could feel hot breath on my face. "She's mine…"

I jerked awake, my eyes wide. The apparition from my dream faded in the dim light of the room, and I took a shaky breath, noting the sky outside the room's single window was dark. My back was knotted in pain and my face and head throbbed. I took even, steady breaths, and the pain slowly subsided as my body relaxed again. My mouth felt like cotton and reached for my water glass, pausing when I heard movement from across the room and realized I wasn't alone.

I glanced over at the noise, expecting to see Perry, but instead found Robyn staring at me, her dark eyes filled with more naked emotion than I'd ever seen, taking my breath away. She looked pale and exhausted, and her eyes were dark and haunted.

Seeing her brought an ache to my chest and for a minute, I just stared.

"Hi baby," I said softly, smiling as much as I could. "You look like hell."

She let out a strangled sound that was part laugh, part sob, and closed her eyes, sending a trickle of tears sliding down her face. When she opened her eyes again, they were full of love and I knew, even if she hadn't said it, how much she cared.

We stared at each other for a long time, until finally she whispered, "I thought you were dead. You weren't moving, and there was so much blood…"

She shook her head and looked down at her hands.

"I'm sorry." I said after a moment of quiet. "I'm sorry you were the one to find me, to see me like that…"

She shook her head vehemently. "I'm not. The police think it was the sound of my car pulling up that scared him off…if I hadn't have realized what a shit I had been and come back to apologize…he could have killed you. He would have." She stood and paced the room. "Fuck. If I hadn't have been such a shit in the first place, maybe this would have never happened."

She stopped pacing, her back to me, and said softly, "God, Caid, I'm so sorry. This is my fault…I should have been there…it should have been me."

"Robyn." She slowly turned to look at me. "Come here." She didn't move. "Please," I added softly. Slowly she crossed the room to stand next to the bed. I held out a non-splinted hand for her and she took it hesitantly. The feel of her hand in mine was better than any drug, and I sighed and rubbed the back of her hand lightly with my thumb. She was looking at me as though she didn't quite believe I was real, and I tugged on her hand, pulling her forward a little more. I caught her gaze and carefully laid her hand on my chest in a spot that wasn't bruised. "I'm okay, baby." I told her, and covered her hand with mine. "See? Alive and well, just a little bruised."

She didn't move for several moments, and just stood looking at our hands together. Finally, some of the tension went out of her body and she sniffed and wiped at her face with her free hand. Her eyes ran over my face and down to my splinted arm. "Just a little bruised?" she said skeptically, the corners of her mouth turning up into a slight smile.

Relieved that she could joke and that the haunted look was gone from her eyes, I did my best to smile back. "Yep, just a little. Doc says I'll be good as new in no time."

She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it.

"What?" I asked curiously.

She shook her head and gently extracted her hand from beneath mine and raised it to trail her fingers lightly along my left cheek, the tenderness in her gaze nearly making me cry.

"I was going to say I'm glad, which I am." She found my hand with her free hand and squeezed, looking at me intently. "But that seems so…trivial, compared to what I really feel." She took a deep breath and leaned forward to brush her lips across mine ever so softly. "I love you, Caid. So damn much…"

The words ran like electricity through my body, and I took a shuddering breath, blowing it out slowly. I stared at her, knowing my eyes were filling with tears. My first reaction was to pull her down and kiss her until neither of us could breathe, but in deference to my somewhat incapacitated state, I slowly reached up and ran my fingertips across her cheek. "I love you too, sweetheart," I whispered, and threaded my fingers into her hair, pulling her down into another gentle brush of lips.

For a minute I forgot my injuries and tightened my grip on her hair, increasing the pressure of the kiss, and lifting my other hand to cup her cheek…a stab of agony from my wrist brought my movements to a halt with a hiss.

"Ow. Damn…" I froze, and so did Robyn, which is how the nurse found us when she walked in a moment later.

"Oh, hello Miss Ward. I didn't realize you were in here." She breezed in with nothing more than a curious glance in our direction.

I expected Robyn to pull away quickly, to make excuses, to explain away what the nurse had seen, but instead she barely flinched and stayed where she was, hovering above me with our lips nearly touching.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly, her eyes full of concern. "Did I hurt you?"

I swallowed convulsively at the intimate feel of her breath across my lips, and shook my head wordlessly. She nodded and slowly straightened, flicking a glance at the nurse. "Hi Gail."

Gail smiled at her and picked up my chart, transferring her attention to me. "Just coming to check in…how are you doing?"

"Um…good, I think."

"And how's the head? Any nausea, dizziness, light-headedness?"

"Head hurts, but none of that, no."

"Great, great. Anything I can get you?" I shook my head. "No? Okay then, just let me know if you need anything." She glanced at her watch, and then looked pointedly at Robyn. "You really should be resting now. Miss Ward…"

Robyn held up a hand and flashed a winning smile at the woman. "I'll let her rest, I promise."

Gail hesitated, looking between Robyn and me briefly. "Okay then," she said with a nod. She flashed a smile at Robyn and told her, "Nice to see you back, Miss Ward," before pushing out of the room.

I smiled slightly when she'd left. "You've made yourself quite a fan club. Of course, that doesn't surprise me - I'm rather fond of you myself."

Robyn toyed absently with the thin blanket on my bed, staring down at it. "The staff here - especially the nurses - they've been great to me…letting me sit with you when it was against the rules, keeping me in the loop about what was happening…Gail even let me stay after your brother laid down the family only policy, but when he saw me in your room…"

"Sorry about Sebastian," I said with a wince. "He can be…trying."

She chuckled and stroked my hand. "That's very diplomatic of you." Her face turned concerned and she looked up at me. "I heard you two went at it this morning…are you okay? Sounds like it was quite the argument."

I shifted on the bed. "Let's just say no one can push my buttons quite like Sebastian…he's my brother, so on some level, I love him, but mostly I just want to kick his teeth in."

She raised a surprised eyebrow at that, and then looked down at our hands, picking mine up and bringing it to her lips before placing it carefully back on the bed and meeting my gaze. "I also hear that he was blaming me for this…" she stepped back from the bed and wandered over to the window. "And really, he's right. If you hadn't known me, if I hadn't left…" She paused, looking out the window, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Caid. I'm so, so sorry."

"Sorry for what?" I asked with a frown. "For inviting me to spend the weekend with you? For loving me?"

She turned quickly and her eyes flew to mine. "No! God no! Loving you…I'll never be sorry for that. It's the only thing I've done right in this whole mess."

I smiled slightly, trying to lighten her sudden melancholic mood. "I hardly consider it a mess, and I can think of a few other things you've done right…"

I was rewarded with a tiny smile before her face saddened. "I just feel like this is my fault somehow…"

Well, that line of thinking definitely had to go. We had enough problems without her dragging a truckload of unnecessary guilt around for god knows how long.

"Damnit, Robyn, that's bullshit and you know it. Did you attack me? Club me with a walking stick? Kick me? Punch me?"

She visibly flinched.

"Did you?" I pushed.

She shook her head. "No," she said in a voice that was barely a whisper, "but…"

"No!" She blinked at the vehemence of my voice. "No buts. This is no one's fault but the man who did it. He did this. Not you. Do you understand me?"

After several long moments, she finally nodded.

I released a slow breath, suddenly very tired. "Good. Now get over here and kiss me."

A small smile played on her lips as she moved to the bed and looked down at me. "So demanding," she murmured, and leaned in to brush feather-light kisses across my forehead, cheek and finally my lips.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "God I love you."

When I opened my eyes, she was smiling that smile; the one that made it hard for me to breathe. "I love you too, baby. I'm sorry it took me so long to say."

"And now you've told me twice in ten minutes…" I reached for her hand. "I feel like I've won the lottery or something."

She laughed quietly and raised my hand to her lips. "I love you, Caidence Harris."

I closed my eyes and relaxed back into the pillow with a smile. "Oh my," I murmured. "Three times in ten minutes. Look Ma, I'm a millionaire."

She chuckled. "I don't know about that…" she paused, and I felt her lips touch my forehead again. "But I know of one who's available if you want her," she whispered.

I opened one eye. "A millionaire, huh?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Not as big a deal as it used to be, but yeah."

I opened the other eye and regarded her thoughtfully. "She hot?"

She blinked and let out a surprised bark of laughter. "Depends on who you ask."

"Uh-huh." I pulled her forward against the bed and released her hand so I could rest mine on her hip and brush my thumb lightly against the warm skin just above the waistband of her jeans. "Depends on who you ask?" I repeated skeptically. "Just who are you asking? Dead people and live people?"

She laughed again and I closed my eyes with a happy sigh, loving the sound of her laughter and the contented warmth it caused. She brushed a hand through my hair soothingly and I relaxed under the caress.

I jerked awake a little later, not knowing if it was seconds that had passed or minutes, but the warmth of Robyn's skin was still under my fingers and I stroked absently, opening my eyes to find her looking down at me pensively.

"So," she asked hesitantly. "Do you want her?"

It took me a second to realize what she was talking about. When I did, I smiled slightly. "The hot millionaire?"

She smiled, but her eyes were worried, and I could tell she was unsure of my answer. She actually thought I would say no? Crazy woman.

I squeezed her waist. "Yes, I definitely want her. More than I've ever wanted anything in my life."

"She'll be very happy to hear that," she told me with a wide smile, and leaned down to kiss me lightly on the lips. "Now close your eyes and go to sleep."

"M'kay." I let my eyes flutter shut. "Love you."

"I love you too, Caid."

I smiled and snuggled into the pillow.

##

"Caid, baby…wake up." Soft lips pressed against my forehead. "Let me see those gorgeous eyes…"

The low, husky words were whispered in my ear, drawing me from sleep and bringing an involuntary smile to my face. I did as I was asked and opened my eyes, rewarded for my efforts by a soft smile and dark eyes hovering inches from mine.

"Ah…there they are. Good morning." She kissed my forehead again. "I need to head to the set, but I wanted to tell you I was leaving. Are you really awake? You're not going to go all Fatal Attraction on me because you didn't remember I said goodbye, are you?"

I blinked sleepily at her, my smile widening as I remembered what she had told me...she loved me. Robyn Ward loved me.

Hot damn.

I yawned and lifted my hand to stroke her hand. "I'm awake. Your rabbit is safe." I looked around the room. "What time is it?"

"It's 4:30…"

I furrowed my brow. "You stayed all night? Did you get any sleep?"

"Some," she said with a shrug, but I doubted it. She looked tired and drawn, but her eyes were shining happily as they looked down on me. "I wanted to be here when you woke up. I'm sorry I have to go…I'd rather stay with you, but I'm walking on thin ice with Lynne as it is."

I gingerly shifted my body on the bed, twisting until I was facing her. "Rob, you know I understand…I'm just sorry if all this has screwed things up for you…"

"Shhh…" She reached out and let two fingers hover just above my lips. "No sorrys, okay?" I nodded and she leaned in for a brief kiss before pulling back. "Everything's fine, I just don't want to push any more than I have to. Can I come back tonight?"

I glared at her. "If you promise not to ask stupid questions like that one."

"Ooohh." She smiled. "Kinda feisty at four-thirty in the morning, aren'tcha?"

I did my best to waggle my eyebrows, despite the pain it caused. "Stick with me, baby, and you'll find out just how feisty I can be at four in the morning."

She suppressed a chuckle and a dark, elegant eyebrow inched up her forehead. "Is that so?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I certainly need to stick around for that. Guess you're stuck with me for a while."

"Lucky me." I smiled up at her.

"Lucky me." She grinned down at me. Our eyes locked, and both of our smiles faded as electricity sparked between us, along with something deeper. "I love you," she said softly.

"I love you, too."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath at the words, smiling radiantly. "I wonder if I'll ever get used it."

"To what?" I brushed my fingers across her cheek, and she opened her eyes. "To hearing someone loves you?"

"No baby…" She leaned down to brush her lips across my cheek. "To actually believing it."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"Eroto what???" Liz looked at me blankly, the normally flawlessly smooth skin of her forehead furrowed in perplexity.

"Erotomanic Delusional Disorder." I repeated. "With…" I scrunched my face up, trying to remember what Detective Fischer had said. "Uh…attached Narcissistic Linking Fantasies."

She blinked. "Uh-huh. And is there an English translation for that? Something us simple folk can understand?"

We were sharing a carafe of coffee on the small back patio of the guest cottage on Liz's estate, talking and enjoying the cool morning air as had become our habit over the past twenty-three days since I'd been released from Mid-Key Medical Center. Liz had insisted I use her cottage as a place to rest and recuperate out of the public eye, and I had taken her up on her offer with very little argument. Since then, these early morning coffee sessions had become something of a ritual; every two or three days Liz would show up at the cottage door after my morning walk - running was still too painful - and her morning swim, carafe in hand, and we'd talk for an hour or so, until the coffee was gone. This morning when Liz knocked on my door, I'd just gotten off the phone with Detective Fischer.

I smiled slightly and took a sip of coffee. "Mm-hmm. Basically what it means is that Todd Massey thought he had some kind of relationship or friendship with Robyn, and the stories about Josh dumping her for me…that really pissed the guy off, insulted her and by extension, him. So that anger had been building up for weeks, and when he saw her with me, the supposed reason Josh had dumped her, he just…snapped"

She blew on her cup absently and nodded, her eyes flicking from my face to my splinted wrist. I had done a lot of healing since leaving the hospital - my face had returned to its normal size and shape, the welts from the cuts on my face had gone down and lost the angry, swollen red of a new injury, the large metal and bandage splint on my wrist had been downsized to an easily removable light-weight vinyl and canvas splint, and most of the bruising had faded to a faint, slightly jaundiced yellow - but evidence of Todd Massey's 'snap' was still very visible.

"And they're just going to ship him off to some loony bin? No trial for what he did?" She wrapped both hands around the mug, tapping gently with one long, blood-red nail.

"It's not official yet, but that's what it sounds like since they doubt he's fit to go to trial. And he's continued to be violent in custody, attacking two cell mates before they transferred him to a mental health facility that deals with that kind of thing." I delivered the information dispassionately, suppressing the churn of emotions that talking about Todd Massey and the attack brought on.

"And how do you feel about that?" Liz said carefully, watching me with concern.

I sighed and rolled the tension out of my shoulders. "To be perfectly honest, I'm relieved. The detectives and the DA think that with the violence of the assault and his behavior since the arrest, it will be a long, long time before anyone has to worry about him walking the streets; longer, they think, than what he might get if he actually went to trial."

"Maybe that is better, then."

I shrugged. "I think so…I wasn't looking forward to living through it again, and the media attention a trial would have brought…" I shuddered for emphasis. "I'm finally starting to be a non-entity again with the press - I'd like to keep it that way for a while."

I had thought the amount of attention I garnered for 'dating' Josh Riley had been intense, but I'd learned being attacked by a clinically insane erotomanic delusional with narcissistic linking fantasies ranked much higher on the scale of newsworthy things a celebrity could do to get attention. And add the extra titillation factor that the object of the attacker's fantasies and obsession was Robyn Ward, whose boyfriend I had recently stolen, and who I had been spending the weekend with when I was attacked…the fervor had been insane, and the speculation, mind-boggling. Rumors of a lesbian affair between Robyn and I had surfaced, but seemed to stem from previous rumors fueled by the season finale kiss and not by any new information. With nothing new to keep them alive, they never gained a good foothold, and although they never disappeared altogether, there was far less speculation in that area than I had expected, and I was glad to be proven wrong about the Monroe County Sheriff's Office's capacity for discretion.

"Yes, things do seem to be calming down," Liz mused. "Paula said you two swung by your house yesterday when you were out, and it was relatively press-free."

I nodded. "Nary a photog in site. My hydrangeas are decimated, and the front landscaping is a mess, but it was a beautifully empty mess."

"And the rest of the trip?" she asked casually, "everything go alright?"

Yesterday's trip with Paula was only the second time in twenty-three days that I'd left the fenced confines of Liz's estate. I knew Liz was concerned by my reclusiveness, but she hadn't pushed, and for that I was grateful. Last week, I'd finally forced myself to leave the property, accompanying Risa on a brief trip to the grocery store, and yesterday I'd tagged along with Paula as she ran some errands for Liz at a crowded shopping center, just trying to get accustomed to being surrounded by strangers again.

"Everything went fine…better than fine, really. I'm still a little jumpy, but it wasn't as bad as I expected, once I got over the initial weirdness of having people in my space. I'm actually thinking that I should move my ass home and stop hiding out here, especially now that my house is press-free. I've taken advantage of your generosity for long enough. I was thinking of moving early next week."

Liz paused in mid-sip and lowered her cup, reaching out with one hand to touch my arm. "Caid, you're not taking advantage of anything. You know you're welcome to stay as long as you want." She pulled her hand away and returned it to her cup. "I've enjoyed having you around, actually." She smiled. "The only other person who stays in this cottage is Mama, and you're much easier to deal with."

"Liz, I've met your mama. Being easier to deal with than her isn't much of a feat."

She gave me a mock frown. "Are you bad-mouthing my mama?"

I laughed. "No, ma'am. I'd never do that." We shared a smile and I reached out and tapped her cup gently with mine. "And I've enjoyed being here, Liz. Thank you again."

"Caid, you've already thanked me a hundred times…"

"So now it's a hundred and one." We were quiet for a moment. "Speaking of Mama Stokley," I asked curiously, "how'd she take the news?"

Two weeks ago, in an announcement that had surprised pretty much everyone, Liz and Danny not only went public with their relationship, but also announced their engagement. The resulting media flurry had done just as much, if not more, than my seclusion to get stories of my attack out of the lime-light, and despite Liz assurances to the contrary, I still wasn't convinced that the timing wasn't deliberate.

Liz laughed. "Oh, she's a little concerned that he's Italian, and Catholic, and that I'm rushing into things, but she's already talking to caterers and florists and bugging us to set a date."

"Well, it was kind of quick," I said absently, remembering my own surprise at the news, even though I knew Liz and Danny were together. Liz looked annoyed at my comment and I hastily amended, "I'm not saying it's good or bad, Liz…I'm just saying things happened very quickly, and you surprised a lot of people."

"God, if I had a dollar for every time someone's told me we're rushing…" She shook her head and looked out over the lawn, and then back at me. "I've been with a lot of men, Caid…a lot," she said matter-of-factly. "I knew right away it was different with Danny, and he knew it too, and we figured, why wait? Because other people think we should?"

I held up a hand in apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I think you're making a mistake - I don't. I've seen you two together, and I think it's good, Liz. Really good."

She contemplated my apology while she poured herself more coffee, and finding it satisfactory, moved on to other topics. "So, when is Robyn getting back?"

Robyn's filming had taken her to New York for sound stage work the day before my release from the hospital. We talked daily, but she hadn't been able to make it back even for a quick visit and I missed her intensely. To say I was looking forward to her return to LA would be something of an understatement; I'd been thinking of little else for the past several days.

"She's not positive yet, but sometime this weekend if everything stays on schedule." I nodded my thanks as she filled my mug.

"Bet you're looking forward to that, hmm?" she asked.

"You could say that," I said dryly.

"Uh-huh." She laughed. "Well, I don't know what y'all's plans are when she gets in," she raised her eyebrows suggestively, "but please make sure she knows she's welcome here any time - I've told Risa to expect her."

I blushed, but managed a smiled at her thoughtfulness. "Thanks, Liz."

She laughed again, and patted my hand. "Of course, sugar."

Liz left a little while later, and I passed the morning with a light free-weight workout and nearly an hour and a half of careful stretching, followed by lunch, some business-related phone calls, and another walk. It was late afternoon before I grabbed a book and settled into a large overstuffed armchair in the cottage's living room, tucked in sideways with one leg draped over a padded arm and the other stretched out along the floor, easing the pressure on my still tender back.

I'd become completely engrossed in the story when the shrill jangle of a phone sounded, tearing through the silence of the house and scaring the crap out of me.

"Shit…" The initial jolt of surprise brought a lance of pain from my lower back, but after taking a few calming breaths, the pain eased and I carefully lifted my leg from where it was draped over the arm of the chair and pushed slowly to my feet. I straightened with a wince and dropped the book onto the chair before crossing to the table where the phone sat in the foyer.

"Yes?" I answered curtly, trying and failing to hide my annoyance both at the pain the intrusion had brought and the interruption to my lazy afternoon.

"Hi." Liz's melodic voice came over the line, "sorry to interrupt your busy day, sugar, but your girlfriend's here, and I'm going to assume she's here to see you and not me."

"My wha…?" I blinked.

"Your girlfriend. Robyn. Remember her? Tall, dark and broody? The one you haven't seen in three weeks? I just told Risa to let her in…so I hope you've showered today, and please tell me you're not wearing those atrocious holey sweat-pant things I saw you in earlier today…if you are, you have about 3 minutes to change into something that doesn't make you look like a reject from the cast of Rent."

"Robyn's here?" I repeated dumbly and looked down at my clothes, even though I knew that, yes indeed, I was wearing those holey sweat-pant things - once black bleach-spattered cotton sweats raggedly cut off at mid-thigh - along with a faded t-shirt with the neck and arms ripped out.

Lovely.

"You are wearing those things, aren't you?" I could hear the amusement in her tone, and scowled. "And I was wrong about the three minutes - the woman must be in one hell of a hurry, 'cause I can see her car already. I give you about 30 seconds. Maybe you've got time to brush that rats nest you call a hairdo?"

"Liz, you're a shit." I told her and hung up, smiling slightly when I heard her laughter as I put the phone down.

I thought about trying to change quickly but dismissed the idea, since my body wasn't able to do anything quickly at the moment. I used the hall mirror to try and put hair into some kind of order, and then opened the front door and leaned against the frame with my arms crossed, watching the green Range Rover roll past the main house and start down the narrow gravel lane to the guest cottage.

She pulled up twenty feet from the door and turned off the ignition, pausing for a moment to stare at me before slowly climbing out of the car and walking up the short path to the door, a grin building on her face that I knew was mirrored in my own. A moment later I was engulfed in her arms, surrounded by her scent and drowning in feel of her body against mine.

"Hi," she whispered into my hair.

"Mmmm…hi." I melted into her with a groan of pleasure. "You're early."

One of her hands went to the base of my neck and kneaded gently. "There was some screw-up with the scheduling of one of the studios, and we're not going to be able to get in until Saturday. Lynne gave everyone a couple of days. I have to fly back Friday night, but I wanted to see you."

"I'm so glad you're here…" I kissed the side of her neck and snuggled in closer. "God, I missed you."

"I missed you, too," she said in a husky whisper, and tightened her arms around me. It caused a twinge from my back but I didn't care. I could have stood right there, in her arms, for days.

And we did stand that way for several minutes, gently rocking back and forth, just soaking each other in. My good hand crept under the hem of her soft cotton tank-top and splayed across the heated skin of her back, pulling her closer, and she let out a sigh and buried her face in my neck.

At the sound of footsteps on gravel, we finally pulled apart, but to my surprise and pleasure, Robyn didn't pull back very far, keeping one arm draped over my shoulder as we turned to face Liz who was walking up the drive with a smirky grin on her face.

"Looks like your early arrival was well received," Liz called to Robyn as she approached.

Robyn glanced over at me with a smile and I wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed, returning the smile. "Looks like."

When she looked back at Liz, the two shared a grin, and I sensed some kind of collusion.

"You knew she was coming?" I asked Liz curiously as she walked up.

"She called this morning when you were on one of your little hikes…it was my idea to surprise you. You would have been a basket-case all day if you'd have known."

She was right, of course, and right now I was too damn happy to make a fuss.

Liz stopped in front of us and slipped her hands into the pockets of her long shorts. "Danny's coming over for dinner in a little bit…I was coming by to invite you to join us."

I felt Robyn stiffen slightly, and she looked at me and then at Liz. "I…uh…actually brought some dinner for us…I thought…"

I looked at her in surprise. "You did?"

"Mm-hmm. Indian."

"I love Indian," I told her and smiled.

She grinned back. "I thought you might."

We kept smiling at each other, and probably would have continued to do so indefinitely, if Liz hadn't pulled her hands from her pockets and clapped happily.

"Great! We'll be over as soon as Danny shows up. Do you have any wine, or should we bring some?"

I knew Liz well, and recognized the playful glint in her eye, but Robyn had obviously not been exposed to Liz's more… mischievous side, and look on her face was priceless. I bit my lip to keep from laughing but Liz had no such compunction, and let out delighted peals of laughter.

"Liz, you're a shit," I told her good naturedly, and gave Robyn's waist a squeeze. "Don't worry, Rob, she's joking. She abhors Indian food, and I'm sure she and Danny have something much more interesting planned than dinner in with us."

Robyn looked between the two of us in consternation, and Liz finally stopped laughing, wiping the moisture from the corner of her eyes delicately. "She's right, Robyn, I was kidding." She favored her with a friendly smile. "I wouldn't dream of horning in on y'all's reunion. Actually, Danny's taking me to Matteo's, and then we're going to see what kind of trouble we can get into."

"Watch out, LA," I murmured, and Liz laughed.

Robyn regained her equilibrium and smiled along with us. "Congratulations, by the way, Liz. On the engagement. Danny's a good guy."

Liz smile softened. "I think so, too. Thanks." She glanced over at me, and back at Robyn, smiling slyly. "Congratulations to you, too."

I glanced furtively at Robyn, wondering how she'd react to our relationship being compared to Liz and Danny's engagement. All I could do was grin stupidly when Robyn gave me an adoring look, kissed me on the cheek, and then flashed a dazzling smile at Liz. "Thank you."

She kissed me again, this time on the temple, letting her lips linger and breathing in with a gentle huff of air, as though she were inhaling me. I closed my eyes and wrapped my other arm awkwardly around her waist as tightly as I could.

"I think that's my cue to leave," Liz said with a chuckle, and my eyes popped open guiltily.

"Sorry…"

"Oh, don't be." She waved my apology away. "Welcome back, Robyn. You two have fun tonight." As she walked away, she called over her shoulder, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

I let her walk a few more steps, and then said in a loud stage whisper, "Don't worry, babe, that covers just about everything."

Liz's laughter floated back to us, and she waved without turning around. I smiled and watched her for another few yards before turning back to Robyn.

"She's a lot…different off the set, isn't she?" Robyn asked, still watching Liz's progress thoughtfully. "I always kind of wondered why you two were such good friends - you seem so different - but now I guess I can see why."

I glanced affectionately at Liz's retreating figure and then back at Robyn. "Yeah, she just doesn't let many people see it."

She turned and draped both arms over my shoulders. "I look forward to getting to know her better, then," she told me, and kissed me briefly on the nose. As she pulled back, she paused and looked at my face with concerned eyes. She brought a hand to my cheek and slowly traced just below the two scars with gentle fingers. "Do these still hurt?"

I turned my head and kissed her hand. "A little tender still, but not too bad. I have to rub this scar-be-gone goop into them every day, and that hurts like hell, but most of the time they don't bother me."

"They're kinda sexy, now that the stitches are out," she told me, tracing the lines again and quirking a grin. "Especially in this outfit. Very tough."

I gave her a dubious look.

"I'm serious." She leaned in and kissed the scars lightly. "Very hot. And the rest of you? How's your back today?" She paused, and stepped back from me quickly. "Ah, shit, I nearly crushed you when I hugged you…that had to hurt. Damn, I'm sorry, Caid, I wasn't thinking."

I stepped close again and put my arms around her waist, pulling our bodies back together. "It didn't hurt much, and it was well worth it. Honest," I assured her when she looked unconvinced. "Now, what was this I heard about dinner?"

"Ah," she said, tentatively returning her arms to my shoulders and running a hand through my hair. "Dinner is in the car. And a few movies to choose from, if you want…"

"You brought movies, too?"

"Yeah…" She looked almost shy. "I thought a night in with you, dinner and a movie, sounded…nice."

"It sounds better than nice." I smiled and let my hand drift under her shirt again, scratching gently across her back. "It sounds perfect."

She sucked in a breath and blinked rapidly, then dropped another kiss on my nose and stepped out of my arms. "Good," she said briskly, "The stuff's in the car. I brought some beer, too. Indian is always better with beer, I never could find a wine that went with it…are you still on pain meds? You shouldn't drink if you are…I didn't know what kind of movies you liked, so I got a mix…some action, some drama, and a foreign flick…"

I shook my head, bemused by what I realized was nervousness. I watched her walk to the car and fumble around with a few bags and a six pack of beer. "Need any help?"

"No, thanks…" She straightened quickly and hit her head on the inside of the car door. "Shit…"

I walked to the car and wordlessly took the beer from her. She gave me a sheepish look and immediately used the newly freed hand to rub her head. "Ow…damn, that hurt."

"Poor baby." I stepped in close. "Let me see." She stopped rubbing and with a slight pout, bent her head. I inspected the spot for a moment, and stood on my tip toes to kiss it. "There. All better."

"Thank you." She smiled, the nervousness of before gone.

I stepped back and tilted my head, gesturing towards the cottage. "Come on, Ward, I'm starving."

The cottage was a modified loft, with the large living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and bath on the lower level, and the master bedroom and bath on the upper level overlooking the living room. Robyn glanced around curiously, pausing in the foyer while I continued on to the kitchen.

"This is the guest cottage?" she asked with a laugh. "She must like her guests a hell of a lot."

I smiled as I put the beer in the fridge and walked back to join her. "She said, way back when, that it used to be a barn, but I think that's a load of crap." She was still gazing around in appreciation, and I took the bag of food from her unresisting hand and went back into the kitchen.

"Well, whatever it was way back when, it's damn nice now."

"Uh-huh…why do you think I agreed to stay here? This place is way nicer than my house." I started unpacking different containers of food and placing them on the counter.

"I like your house. It's cute."

I glanced over to see she'd finished her perusal and was leaning in the entryway of the kitchen, watching me.

"I like it too," I said, and turned back to the food, "although I think I'm going to look for something else soon…my neighbors are ready to lynch me." I popped one of the containers open, breathing in the exotic spices. "God, Rob, this smells great. Where'd you…ohhh…" My voice trailed off into a tiny gasp as Robyn came up behind me, her body as close as she could get without actually touching me, and kissed the exposed skin at the base of my neck.

"You smell great," she murmured, the heat of her breath washing over my skin. She moved her lips to my shoulder, and then trailed them up under my ear, kissing the skin there and nipping lightly at my earlobe. "And you taste great, too."

The slam of arousal took me by surprise, and I closed my eyes, gripping the edge of the counter tightly with my good hand and laying the other palm down on the counter.

Jesus...

She laid her hands on the counter on either side of mine; I could feel the hardness of her nipples brush against my upper back, and feel how she moved slightly from side to side, her breath quickening as she rubbed against me.

"God, Caid," her voice was ragged in my ear. "I can't believe how much I want you right now."

I groaned, and she kissed my neck again, sucking gently. I let my head fall to the side, giving her better access and she took advantage of it immediately, sucking and kissing all along the exposed skin, up under my jaw, and back to my ear where she traced the inner curve with her tongue.

Through it all she kept the steady rhythm of her breasts across my back, some strokes firmer than others, but always the same, steady motion. The array of sensations was overwhelming and I could barely breathe. My whole body was trembling, and I reached to steady myself, gripping the counter tightly with my splinted hand and yelping in surprise as pain shot from my wrist up my arm, bringing tears to my eyes.

"Fuck," I hissed, and pulled my arm to my chest, cradling it. "Fucking fuck fuck fuck…"

Robyn jerked away from me as though she'd been slapped, taking a few quick steps away before hesitantly coming back to my side and hovering worriedly. "Oh, shit. Oh, god, Caid, I'm sorry…"

"S'alright," I said through gritted teeth, breathing slowly through my nose until the pain faded to a dull ache.

"No, it's not," she said angrily, and ran a trembling hand through her hair. "Jesus, you just got out of the hospital, you're hurt, and all I can think about is getting you into bed…"

I smiled slightly, despite the pain. She might think that was a bad thing, but I was inordinately pleased by her zeal to get me horizontal. It meant that, despite all I'd been through, and the possible permanent changes to my appearance, she still wanted me. I didn't even realize I had been worried about the alternative until her actions allayed my fears.

Still cradling my arm, I turned and leaned against the counter. "Rob, it's okay."

She took a step back from me and shook her head, staring at the floor.

"Honey," I took the steps to close the distance between us and cupped her cheek with my good hand. "Baby, look at me." After a moment she lifted her head and met my gaze, her dark eyes full of apology. I stroked her cheek. "Robyn, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm relieved, actually, that you still want me, after everything that's happened." She started to protest and I moved my fingers to gently cover her mouth. "Let me finish." When she settled down I continued. "I love you, and I want you as much as you want me. I've missed you so much…missed your touch and the closeness we had that weekend…I want that back, and I hope you do too."

I moved my fingers back to her cheek so she could answer, and she turned her head to kiss them before speaking. "More than anything," she said softly.

"Good." I smiled leaned in for a quick kiss. "We just need to be a little careful for a while, that's all. But please don't pull away from me…please."

She nodded slowly. "Okay."

I slid my hand down her arm until I held her hand in mine and squeezed. "Okay. How about we eat, watch a movie, and see what happens?"

She smiled slowly and squeezed my hand. "I can live with that."

What happened after dinner was that I fell asleep.

Drowsy from two beers, settled comfortably on the couch in the vee of Robyn's legs and leaning back against her, I fell asleep to the soothing rhythm of her breath on my cheek, the solid warmth of her at my back, and the feel of her fingers running absently through my hair.

When my eyes fluttered open, the DVD logo was bouncing slowly around the television screen, reminding me of a lazy game of pong, and sending flickering patterns of light across our sprawled bodies. I lifted my head and turned slightly to see if Robyn was asleep too, and found her watching me with a tender smile.

"Hey." She kissed the side of my head gently.

"Hey." I let my head fall back onto her chest, and lifted a hand to rub the sleep from my eyes. "Sorry…I'm being one hell of a date, aren't I? How long has it been finished?"

I felt her shrug, "A while. I'm not complaining. It feels great, just holding you like this."

I grinned and tilted my head up to kissed the underside of her chin. "Robyn Ward, you're a sweetheart."

She chuckled and began to rub gentle circles on my stomach. "I've been called a lot of things, Caid, and sweetheart was never one of them."

"Times are changing," I said firmly, and laid another sloppy kiss on her neck before snuggling back into her body.

"That they are," she said softly and gave me a gentle squeeze. "We should probably get you to bed, hmm? Are you upstairs, or down here somewhere?" My body stilled, and the gentle circles on my stomach stopped. "Caid?"

"Will you stay?" I asked quietly, trying to keep from sounding too hopeful.

She resumed her caress. "I'd like to, but only if you want."

"Oh, I definitely want." I shifted my body around carefully and looked her in the eye. "Remember that thing you said in Florida about always wanting me in your bed? That works both ways, honey."

I emphasized my point with a hard, fast kiss. She blinked in surprise and I patted her cheek lightly with my splinted hand before sitting up and cautiously pushing myself off the couch. Once I'd straightened gingerly, I reached out a non-splinted hand to where Robyn was still sprawled on the couch, watching me with ill-veiled concern. When she didn't move, I wiggled my fingers at her. "Come on, woman. Time's a wastin'."

One dark eyebrow rose at that, and I couldn't help but grin. "Have I ever told you how much I adore your eyebrows?"

Another eyebrow went up to join its sibling. "I don't believe so, no."

"Well I do. They are truly wondrous things."

She smiled and took the offered hand, rising smoothly from the couch without any extra help from me. "You are a truly wondrous thing." She leaned in for a quick kiss. "Odd, but wondrous."

I smiled, taking it as the compliment it was meant to be. I tugged her towards the wide stairs, turning off the television and DVD player as we walked past. Robyn followed obediently for a few steps and then stopped.

"I've got a bag in the car..." she looked slightly embarrassed. "I brought it just…hoping, I guess. I've got some stuff to sleep in…"

"You won't need it."

That stopped her for a moment, and she looked at me uncertainly. "Caid, I know we talked about this earlier, but I don't know…"

"Robyn, please…stop thinking so much and just come with me," I asked quietly, and tugged on her hand. After a slight hesitation she followed, and I led her up the stairs that ended in a spacious bedroom with soft, thick carpeting and a huge, low-lying bed.

At the top of the stairs I paused and fumbled a little at a row of switches, surprised when I hit the one I wanted - the one that turned on only the four wall sconces positioned around the room - on the second try.

I took a few steps toward the bed, pulling Robyn with me, and then turned towards her and raised her hand to my lips. She watched with hooded eyes as I released her hand and ran light fingers across her abdomen, feeling the ripple of reaction in the muscles beneath, and stopped at the hem of her shirt. "I want to undress you…" I said softly, and held up my splinted arm, "but I think I might need some help."

She took a small step back, her eyes not leaving mine, and her hands went to the fastenings of her shorts. She undid the button and zipper and pushed the shorts, along with her underwear, down her long legs, kicking them to the side when they hit the floor. In one quick motion she pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it on top of the shorts, and her bra quickly followed.

My eyes followed the final garment's progress to the floor, and then slowly traveled back up the tan, smoothly muscled length of her legs, pausing briefly at the neatly trimmed thatch of dark hair at the juncture of her thighs, and continuing upwards, over the long, flat expanse of her belly, small, firm breasts tipped with dusky brown, and her long, elegant neck…She met my gaze with no sign of embarrassment or discomfort, her posture self-assured, and almost arrogant, and she had every right to be.

"You're amazing," I whispered reverently, stepping forward to run my hand up her side, across her breasts, and down across her stomach, stopping with my hand just above her navel. "So beautiful…" I ducked my head and tasted the skin of chest with my tongue, slowly moving lower until I captured a pebbled nipple in my mouth and sucked gently.

Robyn let out a growl of pleasure and her hands went to the back of my head, pulling me closer as I sucked hard on a nipple and then dragging my mouth away and dropping her hands to the hem of my shirt. "Now you. Arms up," she rasped, and I compliantly lifted my arms to let her pull my shirt over my head. She tossed it to the side and eyed my front-closure bra with a professional eye, making quick work of it and kissing the top of each breast as the scrap of material dropped carelessly to the floor. She slowly knelt and dropped a chain of kisses across my stomach, untying the drawstring of my shorts and letting gravity do the rest. Then she sat back on her heels and just looked. I stood quietly as she had done, trying for the same confidence and finding that the way she looked at me made it easy.

Love, desire, tenderness…all of it and more shown in the dark depths of her eyes. I smiled gently down at her and touched her cheek. "Come here, you."

She slowly climbed to her feet. "I'm scared of hurting you, Caid," she told me softly. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't, baby." I smiled softly. "We'll figure something out."

And we did.

We lay face to face on the bed, sharing long, soft kisses and gentle touches, hands gliding over warm skin, reacquainting ourselves with each other.

"God I've missed this," Robyn murmured, skimming her palm from my thigh up over my belly to cup my breast, squeezing gently.

"Mmmm," I sighed deeply and mirrored her movements, brushing a thumb across her nipple and leaning in to initiate another long kiss.

The pace was slow and gentle, with no rush or urgency, and when our fingers finally found each other, the release was unexpectedly intense. We clung to each other, my face buried in her hair and hers pressed against my neck.

"God, Robyn…" I choked out in a half sob, half laugh, overwhelmed by emotion and how much she made me feel.

She pulled back and stroked my cheek with an unsteady hand, gazing at me in wonder. "How did I not know it could be like this?"

'Oh, baby…" I kissed her softly and pressed my face into her shoulder, unable to find any other words.

She carefully rolled onto her back and wrapped her arms around me, and after I maneuvered my splinted wrist to a more comfortable spot between us, I settled my head onto her chest and snaked my other arm around her waist, pulling us closer together.

She kissed my head, her fingers making lazy patterns on my back. "I love you, baby."

I turned my head a little and kissed her chest. "I love you too, sweetheart."

Robyn spent the entire two days of her break with me; I kept expecting her to tell me that she needed to go home, or she had things to do, but she stayed, and we fell into a routine of sorts. A short walk in the morning, reading the newspaper over long, drawn out breakfasts, another longer walk off Liz's property in the afternoon, a quiet dinner and a movie or television in the evening, and gentle love making before falling asleep in each others arms.

It was idyllic; as close to perfect as I'd ever managed to get, and I knew with overwhelming certainty that this was what I wanted. I'd never thought in terms of forever before, actually scoffing at the idea of one person making me happy for the rest of my life, but for the first time, I could imagine it. I'd found someone who could make forever possible, and when she was ready, that's exactly what I would ask for.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

"Well." Connie blinked her light-brown eyes once, very slowly, her face expressionless.

She pulled off her thin, gold-framed reading glasses and tapped one ear piece against her lower lip a few times, regarding me speculatively. Sinking back in her chair, she dropped the glasses to hang from an intricate gold chain looped around her neck and steepled her fingers. "Well, well, well."

I smiled slightly and took a sip of the espresso her assistant had brought in a few minutes before, watching her reaction carefully while acting like I wasn't; like the possible repercussions from what I'd just shared with her didn't worry me one bit.

"You've certainly had an eventful summer, haven't you?" She swung her chair slightly to one side and stared at the wall for several moments. The question sounded rhetorical so I didn't answer, taking another sip of espresso and waiting. She swung the chair back and pinned me with sharp eyes. "You know," she tapped the tips of her steepled fingers together, "four months ago, you were by far my easiest client. Steady gig, liked your privacy, stayed out of the public eye, rarely needed anything…"

I grimaced apologetically. "Yeah, Con, I'm sorry to be such a pain all the sudden…"

She waved an imperious hand. "Oh, goodness, Caid, don't be sorry. This is what I do, and I quite like what I do. I also quite like you, which I can't say about many of my clients, but I'll tell you, it makes what I do even more fun for me." She smiled, and some of the tension that was knotting my shoulders drained away. "So." She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her desk. "How do you want to handle this? I'm assuming that's why you told me. And thank you, by the way. For telling me."

I nodded and let the corners of my mouth turn up in a tiny grin. "I know how much you hate it when people know more than you do."

"Damn right I do," she said with a huff, and we both smiled.

I set my cup down on the corner of her desk and sat back, crossing my legs. "That's one of the reasons I told you - Robyn is about done with shooting on Lost Key and due back in LA soon, and I don't really know how things are going to play out, but I'm planning on spending as much time with her as possible. I wanted you to be prepared in case this whole thing leaks somehow; wanted to have some kind of…game plan, I suppose you'd call it."

She nodded. "And the other reasons?"

"I guess…" I shrugged helplessly. "I guess I'm looking for some advice."

Pencil-thin eyebrows crept up her forehead. "About your…love life?"

I laughed softly. "No…about how to keep my love life mine."

"Ah. Okay then." She leaned back again and cocked her head to the side. "Let me ask you first - is this something you want to go public with?"

"God no," I said with an emphatic shake of my head. "At least, not like going on to 20/20 and coming out to Barbara Walters kind of public, and not right now, either." I suppressed a shudder at the thought of the media attention that would draw. "I don't want to outright lie about it, but I also don't want to make a public statement…Gah!" I ran a frustrated hand through my hair. "It pisses me off that we even need to worry about this. This isn't news, it's my damn life!" I said angrily, and she raised an eyebrow at my vehemence. I calmed and gave her a wry smile. "Sorry."

She waved the apology away. I sat for a moment, and sat forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "Connie, this relationship is extremely important to me. There are already enough…complications," I said carefully, "without bringing the public into it. If things don't work out, I want it to be because of me and Robyn, not because of media interference or public opinion. I want to be able to work on this without the world looking on, and I want you to tell me how I can get the space to make that possible."

She searched my face for a moment, nodding slowly. "Okay." She picked up a pen and tapped the desk. "This is how I see it, Caid. You've got two things that need addressing. One," she waved the pen at me, "you're gay…" She gave me another sharp look and added, "or at the very least, bi-sexual, and although you don't want to lie about it, you also don't want it to be public knowledge at this time."

She waited for me to confirm her statement with a nod before continuing. "Now, if that was all we were dealing with, that's not nearly as hard as people think, especially now that you've been off the front pages lately. Ron Chandler, Tara Sun, Rena Kohlakis, Owen Lucio…all gay celebrities who have managed to be 'out' in their lives, without outing themselves to the entire world. A combination of keeping a publicly low profile and being discrete is usually all it takes, and I know you are very capable of both."

I nodded again. It was common knowledge in the industry that the people she listed were gay, but the press never mentioned it.

"What complicates things somewhat," she continued with a wry smile, "is issue number two: the fact that you have decided to embrace your newly found lesbianism by becoming romantically involved with an extremely visible public figure who, last I heard, was publicly involved in a relationship with another extremely visible public figure." She tapped the pen against her chin, frowning, and said carefully, "Mmm…what exactly is her involvement with Josh Riley, Caid?"

I smiled slightly, amused by her sudden delicacy. "You mean is Robyn cheating on Josh, and am I the 'Other Woman'?"

"Well," she squinted her right eye, the only sign that my question had flustered her. "Um…yes."

I let out a chuckle. "Robyn and Josh are not romantically involved, and Josh is very aware of our relationship."

She sighed in relief. "I figured as much about those two, but I wanted to make sure…"

"You figured…" I blinked. "You did?"

"Sure." She shrugged slightly. "I've been on the coordinating end of enough merks to spot one when I see one, although it's tricky with those two since they obviously like each other - sometimes it's so damn obvious that the people involved can't stand each other, it's pathetic..."

"Um…" I frowned, stopping her rambling. "Uh…merks?"

"Merkins," she clarified at my baffled look, giving me the same fondly indulgent look that Liz did when I showed my utter lack of entertainment business savvy. "As in, a woman dating a man to cover up her sexual orientation. If the man is gay, it's called a beard."

"You're joking." I stared at her. "There's a name for that?"

"Of course there is. We have a name for everything. And that kind of thing is fairly common practice..."

Well, I knew that. I'm not completely clueless. I just would never have guessed they'd have a name for it.

I reached for my cup and sipped absently.

And what in the hell was a merkin, anyway? Did someone just pull that name out of their ass? Sounded like some kind of termite exterminator….

"…with Josh Riley something that Robyn plans to continue? Because that might throw a little hitch in your plans for privacy - "

"Huh?" I said, pulled from my pondering of merkins.

She tapped her pen on the desk. "I was asking if those two planned on continuing their front. Because honestly, Caid, since she's the one in the public eye, it's going to be her actions, more than yours that dictate the amount of privacy you'll be able to have. To lead a private life, you need to be a private person, which means keeping away from clubs, premiers, parties and events with lots of paparazzi and reporters. If she can pull herself out of the public eye, and manage to do it without creating too many waves, then you might be able to get that space you want." She put the pen down and steepled her fingers again. "On the other hand, if she continues her public involvement with Riley, that will make her a top commodity to the press, which amounts to more scrutiny, and would certainly make any kind of privacy hard to manage."

"I…" I chewed the inside of my lip, embarrassed that I didn't know the answer to that question. "I don't know," I said finally and sighed. "I don't think they will, but we haven't really talked about it."

A tiny tic in her left cheek was the only outward reaction to my admission. "And would you be okay with it if they did continue?" she asked bluntly.

"I…" I stopped and shook my head. "No. I wouldn't."

"I didn't think so." She put her pen down softly, staring at it for a moment before looking up at me. "So," she said after a slight pause, "what you need to find out is what Robyn is willing to do, and then ask yourself what you can live with."

I held her gaze for a moment, and then looked out the window behind her. "Yeah," I said quietly. "I guess that's the question, isn't it?"

##

The sun hung low over the ocean to our left and a sluggish breeze had begun to blow in off the water, cooling the sweat on my skin and countering the oven-like effect of the sand on either side of the path that radiated swirls of hot, dry air up at us. The steady slap of my feet on the asphalt was soothing, and I took a deep breath and held it through several strides, feeling a smile of satisfaction form on my face.

It felt good to run.

I'd only been out a few times since the attack, each time able to go further, and today I was pleased that the slight ache in my back that had accompanied my last two attempts had yet to develop, even coming into our third mile.

I glanced over at my running companion, noting with a twinge of jealousy his easy, athletic stride and barely increased breathing. With chrome bug-eye sunglasses, a white backwards baseball cap, white t-shirt and long navy shorts, he looked barely twenty, and if his t-shirt didn't reveal a few dark spots of perspiration, I'd almost think he was wasn't even sweating.

Show off.

Josh's bid for the Wimbledon title had been cut short by a stomach virus that had hit him late in the second round of play, leaving him dehydrated and fighting cramps, nausea and fatigue. He'd struggled through the third round and eked out a win but his weakened state finally caught up with him in the fourth round against a spry young Australian and he'd lost badly in straight sets. We'd spoken a couple of times since his return to LA the week before, always talking about getting together, but today was the first time we could manage it. Josh had suggested dinner, but I'd wanted to get outdoors after the first day of shooting for the new season of 9P, so we'd compromised with a run along the Parkway, which we'd follow up later with take-out at his house in the hill section of Manhattan Beach.

I signaled it was time to turn around, and we turned a tight circle and headed back towards the parking lot and Twila.

"I know you can kick my ass, Josh," I zigzagged around a pair of walkers along the busy path. "You don't have to wait up for me. When you asked me to go for a run with you, I didn't actually expect to be running with you."

He grinned at me and shook his head as we dodged more pedestrians. "This is good, Caid. I'm still feeling some after-effects from whatever bug I picked up, and I don't want to push it just yet, especially in this heat." His gave me an appraising look. "How are you holding up? Back ok?"

I nodded. "Feels great. I think the heat is good for it, actually."

"Good. Robyn said she'd whoop my ass if I let you over-do it today."

"You talked to her today?" I asked curiously as we detoured through the sand to get around a large family strolling along the path.

"Yeah, she wanted to let me know she'd be back Thursday." He glanced at me. "You knew that already, right?"

I nodded and couldn't stop my wide grin. "Yep."

Josh caught the smile and laughed, shaking his head. "God, you two…" He made a snapping motion with his hand. "Whipped, whipped, whipped."

"Eh, shaddup." I backhanded him lightly on the arm, but my smile didn't fade. "You're just jealous," I said jokingly.

"Damn right I am," he replied seriously and smiled wryly at my surprised look. "I know I said all that stuff about focus and not letting myself get distracted by being involved with someone," he paused when a nearly naked man on roller blades shot between us and skated past. "…that doesn't mean I don't want to be," he finished as he eyed the tiny speedo and pelt-like back skating away from us with amusement.

"I'm sorry…whoa," I swerved slightly as a biker with long blond dreads and no shirt flew by. Josh held out a steadying hand and I settled back into stride, smiling my thanks before continuing. "When we talked about it before, I guess I just thought you weren't…into that kind of thing." I waved my hand. "A relationship or whatever."

"Oh," he laughed, "I'm into it. Too much so, which is why I get so distracted. I tend to forget about most everything else…" He trailed off with an embarrassed look.

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing, Josh." I smiled warmly at him. "Lucky girl, I'd say."

"We'll see. Thanks to you," he poked me in the arm, "it looks like I'm going to be diving back in to the dating pool again soon. Robyn told me she is no longer available to be my escort around town."

I blinked and almost stopped running. "She did?"

"She did." He confirmed. "She said it felt all wrong to even think about it."

"She did?' I repeated, a slow smile spreading across my face.

"Of course she did," he said, rolling his eyes at me. "Did you really think she'd keep doing things with me when she's crazy in love with you?"

"Well," I hedged, feeling guilty now about my insecurities and that I'd actually thought it was a possibility. "I'd hoped not, but we didn't talk about it…"

"Did you ask her?"

"Um…no." I looked over sheepishly. "Neither of us is what you'd call communicative. We talk a lot, sure, but not about us. I don't want to push her…" I paused as I realized the strangeness of what I was doing - talking about my relationship issues with my lover's ex-boyfriend. And the weirdest thing was that it felt completely comfortable. And probably no one knew Robyn better than Josh. With an internal shrug, I continued, "I'm afraid that if I do, she'll pull away…I don't want to lose her because I asked a question she wasn't ready to answer."

He shook his head as we detoured through the sand again, this time around a woman walking a herd of poodles. They yapped noisily at us as we went by. "I don't think you need to worry about losing her, Caid…she seems all-in as far as your relationship goes. But it's obvious that you have some unresolved concerns…you really need to talk to her about them. I know she's not big on emotional discussions, but if you ask straight out, she won't put you off. "

All-in? Unresolved concerns? "What are you, a poker-playing shrink?" I said with a slight smile.

He grinned. "Just call me Dr. Josh."

I laughed and unstrapped the small water bottle I was carrying on the belt around my waist and took a few gulps. "So." I offered him the bottle and when he declined, strapped it back in before continuing. "I shouldn't worry about Robyn backing off if I bring up these unresolved concerns of mine. Is that about right?"

"Uh-huh." He used his shirt to wipe at the perspiration on his forehead, and the resulting glimpse of well-defined abs sent a group of teenage girls in bikinis tittering as we ran past. I couldn't blame them, really. The guy was awfully well put together. "Caid," he said after flashing a smile at the girls and causing hearts to pitter-patter, "Robyn loves you. The fact that she's admitted that to me, and to you, is huge. I don't think you could get rid of her now if you tried. If you need to know something, just ask."

"You make it sound easy," I grumbled good-naturedly.

"I know." He grinned. "Isn't it annoying?"

"Extremely." I snorted, but I was smiling, both at his humor and what he'd told me about Robyn.

The parking lot came into view and I eyed the distance speculatively. I grinned at Josh, and slapped him in the stomach. Hard. "Race ya!" I yelled as I took off down the path, happy enough to believe I might even win.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"Settle people…" Nate said crisply, and a hush fell over the crew gathered in the makeshift alley that the production designer and art crew had created between two out buildings on the studio back lot. "We're rolling…"

For a few seconds, only the faint sound of steady, drizzling rain falling in the surrounding puddles could be heard. I closed my eyes, trying to relax and ignore my surroundings - ignore the cold drizzle soaking my skin and hair, and the moisture from the wet pavement beneath me seeping into my clothes. Suppressing a shiver, I cursed whatever stupid childhood dream had made me want to go into acting.

Please, please, please let this be the last take…

It had been six weeks since the assault, five weeks since I got out of the hospital, ten day's since I'd moved from Liz's cottage back into my house and three days since the start of shooting for the new season of 9P. My body had healed well and I hadn't had any problems with the physical aspects of my job or schedule, but my adventure in Florida was still causing problems because of the caps, blending, and covering necessary to hide the slowly healing damage to my face. The complicated application took an extra hour and a half each morning, forcing Jules and I to be on set by five am, and the additional time needed for touchups during shooting was throwing everyone off schedule, triggering all sorts of trauma within the cast and crew. When enough people complained, Grant talked to Dorn, Dorn talked to his writers, and the next day, the season opener was re-written to create a reason for my character to have scars.

The opener spanned two hours, one of those 'to-be-continued' episodes people bitched about but that drew great ratings. The script brought all six main characters into an investigation of a series of execution-style murders that seemed to be linked to the Mexican Mob, La Eme. The original script called for the final scene of the first hour to be an assault on a witness to try to keep her from testifying. The writers switched the assault victim from the witness to my character Rita, and added a few bordering-on-sappy hospital scenes to the start of the second hour where Liz would get to act distraught, the guys would get to act stoic yet caring, and everyone would get to act confused when Robyn's character Judith showed up at the hospital to visit Rita.

The new scenes had been scheduled during the second week of filming, but Nate, in his infinite director's wisdom, had decided that this unseasonably cold and wet night would be the perfect backdrop for the mood he wanted to set for the attack. And that was why, at nearly midnight after a full day of shooting, I was sprawled in a soggy heap in an dark, dirty 'alley'; cold, wet, and thoroughly annoyed that my plans for the night with Robyn, who I hadn't seen in two weeks and who was finally coming home tonight after delays on the Lost Key shoot, had to be cancelled.

"Scene eleven-C, take five…mark!" someone called, followed by the distinct snap of a clapboard.

"Ready," Nate spoke again, "…and action!"

I forced myself to stay limp as rough hands gripped the front of my shirt, lifting me slightly off the ground and hot, cigarette-tinged breath blew across my face.

"Drop the case, bitch." The words were harsh and grating, underlined by another shake that I suffered bonelessly. "Forget you ever heard of the name Julian Hernandez."

My eyes fluttered open briefly, enough to see the cruel sneer and the dark, pock-marked face above me. The day-player who'd gotten the part of my attacker - David something or other - really was quite…intimidating, and I experience again, as I had in the takes before, a moment of unease when I opened my eyes and found his face so close to mine. I fought the accompanying urge to strike out in defense, reminding myself that Todd Massey was safely locked away in the Intensive Psychiatric Service unit of Laurel Hills Psychiatric Center in Tampa, and the man above me was not a threat. I gritted my teeth and forced out a soft moan, lolling my head to the side and exposing the fake blood on my cheek to the cold rain. The gooey mess immediately began to drip down my neck and into the collar of my shirt, tickling slightly.

"Rita?" a muted voice called, and sharp, quick footsteps echoed nearby.

The man swore unintelligibly and gave me one more shake before dropping me unceremoniously back to the wet pavement. I stifled a wince and lay still as the splash and slap of his footsteps receded into the night.

The quick footsteps came nearer, stopping abruptly near my head. "Rita! Oh god…Rita…" Warm fingers brushed my forehead and then were gone in a rustle of clothing. A click, several beeps, and the voice came again. "This is Detective Jennifer Hastings, badge number 54162. I have an officer down at…"

Liz's voice rattled off a fictional address and other information while she knelt beside me, and I willed myself not to move as the tickle on my neck from the rivulets of fake gore and rain became harder to ignore. From the hours spent setting up, blocking, and rehearsing this scene, I knew the dolly camera was slowly pulling away, widening the shot, and soon we'd be done, if I could just keep still a bit longer.

A fat drop of water dribbled from my hair onto the side of my face, and I felt it start a slow slide towards my ear.

I hated getting things in my ears. They were extremely ticklish, and just the thought of that big fat drop trickling into one…

Not my ear, not my ear, not my ear, I chanted silently, keeping myself still with supreme effort. Goddamnit Nate, cut already....

Just as the drop trickled exactly where I didn't want it to, Nate yelled "Cut!" and lights and movement erupted around me, turning the seemingly deserted area into a hive of activity.

"Gah…" I jerked into a sitting position and shook my head wildly, spraying water and film blood everywhere, frantic to get the water out. I dug into my ear with my pinky and shook my head again, finally getting the water out with a shiver and a sigh of relief. "God, I hate that…" My voice trailed off when I glanced over to find Liz staring at her red-spattered hands and clothes with appalled dismay.

"Oh…shit." I bit back a laugh and reached out hesitantly to flick a drippy red chuck of gore from her forehead, and another from her cheek. "Sorry. It was dripping into my ear…"

She scowled and rose swiftly to her feet, wiping her hands on her pants in annoyance. "Ew. Just…ew. Until about thirty seconds ago, I was actually feeling sorry for you." She turned and yelled over to where Nate was huddled under a clear plastic tarp with two other people, watching a replay of what we'd just filmed on the monitors. "Nate! We'd better be finished, 'cause Caid just…exploded all over me."

"And I'm freaking freezing!" I called grumpily as I crawled to my feet, careful to not put too much weight on my newly healed wrist. The orthopedic specialist had given me the green light to take the brace off if I was careful, but it was still fairly weak and prone to aching. Especially, I was finding, in weather like this.

Nate waved a vague hand, not looking up from the monitors. "Get out of the wet for a minute, and let us take a look at these. I think we've got a print, but give me a sec."

I grunted and followed Liz towards the improvised tarp shelter they'd thrown up to covered our chairs, a small table with a few empty trays of crumbs, and an urn of coffee. I slumped into my chair and a barely recognizable crewmember wrapped in a yellow rain poncho handed me a towel which I took it gratefully, leaning over and rubbing vigorously at my wet hair. When I straightened, still drying my hair absently, Liz was perched in the chair beside me, sitting patiently while Jules wiped away the last traces of the blood that I'd splattered all over her. Liz's eyes cut to me with a frown.

"You really did get soaked." She took in my soggy jeans and the short-sleeved, cotton shirt I wore that was plastered to my body and so soaked it was nearly transparent. Figures wardrobe would dress me in a white cotton shirt the night I have to lay out in the cold rain…I felt like a contestant in a wet t-shirt contest, and had already fielded several sniggered comments about my 'points of power' and 'twin weapons of mass destruction'.

"Yes, I really did get soaked," I agreed, shivering and wiping at my arms and neck but avoiding my face, although the sticky mixture of wet adhesive and makeup globed there was driving me crazy.

Jules sighed in aggravation and stepped over to peel off the oozing red acrylic appliance that had previously been attached to my cheek to simulate a wound. She dropped it into a container in her set kit with a wet slap and peeled another off my jaw, producing a wince when it stuck to the still tender skin beneath. "Sorry," she muttered as she worked, although she didn't sound or act particularly sorry. She stepped back and nodded at my towel. "You might as well just wipe the rest off - it's ruined now anyway."

As she stalked off I sighed and carefully began to swab my face, cleaning away the film blood and whatever else Jules had smeared on me. I hoped that in a few weeks, when all this extra effort wasn't necessary, that she'd stop being so damn cranky at me all the time. The thought of going through the rest of the season with the makeup specialist pissed-off at me was too depressing to ponder.

"New beau." Liz stated, her voice startling me out of my thoughts.

"Pardon?" I glanced over at her and held the towel away from my face, cocking an eyebrow questioningly.

"Jules. Has a new beau. Some musician, apparently." She tilted her head slightly and tapped her cheek, just in front of her ear. I wiped at the offending spot on my own face, and she nodded. "Having to be at the set so early is interfering with her love life. That's why she's being such a bitch to you lately."

I shook my head and stood, dropping the crimson-spattered towel into my chair. "You mean she's treating me like shit because she's not getting laid?" I was annoyed that I was being blamed for the current disruption to the schedule - it wasn't like I went out and got the scars on purpose…I'd been attacked for fuck sakes. It was, however, slightly heartening to hear that the cold shoulder might end when the schedules settled and regular nookie could commence.

"So says Drew, anyway," Liz said, and handed me the coat that had been hanging on the back of the chair. "Here, put this on before you freeze to death."

I nodded my thanks and pulled the jacket on, shuddering at the initial feel of the cold material against my already ice-cold skin. I zipped it up and rubbed my arms a few times, hoping my body heat would soon make wearing the coat warmer than not wearing it. "I guess Drew would know. Hell, if this script change gets things back to normal with everyone, then it'll be well worth laying in a puddle in the rain for three hours. But next time, you get the puddle." A violent shiver shook my body to emphasize the words. "At least you got a coat during takes."

The script had called for the assault to take place in the alley behind a bar that the squad frequented; the assailant nabbed Rita on her way to the bathroom, hence no coat for me. Liz had lucked out that the writers and wardrobe had deemed Jen smart enough to put on a jacket before searching for her partner, and that had kept Liz fairly dry throughout the drizzly shoot.

"Sorry," she said contritely and handed me a cup of coffee. "I promise, next time I'll lay in the puddle."

I took the coffee it in both hands, holding it for several seconds to warm my fingers and smiling slightly at the ludicrousness of that statement. Her sentiment might be genuine, but the chances of a script ever being written that called for Liz Stokley to lie in a puddle were slim to none. "I'll remember that," I said, and sipped at my drink, feeling almost warm for the first time in hours.

I nodded to David the day-player who came under our tarp for a coffee refill. "Nice job tonight, David."

He seemed startled that I had spoken to him and his hands jerked, coming precariously close to tipping the coffee urn over. "Uh…thanks." He smiled sheepishly, righting the urn and finished filling his coffee without further incident.

"You look familiar…you had a part last season, didn't you? You worked with Micah and Henry…"

We chatted idly for a few minutes, Liz interjecting comments occasionally, until Nate finally decided he had what he needed, thanked us, and told us we were through for the night. The entire crew heaved an audible sigh of relief and several started breaking down the set and light rigging, while Liz, David and I, along with the rest of the crew, headed en-mass towards the studio building's front entrance, the parking lot, or the trailers, all of which were in the same direction.

The drizzle let up as we walked along the side of the building, and we rounded the corner, chattering and joking about crappy timing. As the large crowd broke up into smaller groups bound for different destinations, Liz and I waved and headed for the row of actor's trailers which were set up as a subtle reminder of the 9P cast pecking order with Liz's being the first in the row and mine being the last. I stopped at her trailer to finish the conversation we'd been having, ribbing her gently about being willing to pay five thousand dollars for a wedding cake.

"Christ, Liz, I've heard you whine about paying a buck-fifty for a muffin…"

I could tell she was gearing up for a good comeback and looking forward to it when a wolf-whistle and several calls of greeting from the crew drew our attention to a tall, raincoat clad form emerging from a green SUV that I hadn't noticed parked in the lot's front row.

I hadn't recognized the car in the dark, but I certainly recognized its passenger. Even bundled in red gortex from the waist up, her form was unmistakable and a pleasant warmth stole through me at the sight of her.

"Isn't that Robyn?" Liz asked curiously. "I thought you cancelled your plans tonight."

I nodded absently at both questions. I had called Robyn and left a message about Nate's rearranging of the shooting schedule, telling her that I would call her in the morning. I hadn't expected to see her until then, and I was touched and pleased that she'd wanted to see me badly enough to brave the rain and the late hour. A grin spread across my face as she splashed through numerous puddles towards us, waving casually and returning the crew's greetings and comments but not pausing to talk to any of them.

Soon she was standing in front of me, smiling widely, her near-black eyes alight with pleasure. She pushed the hood of her coat back, absently freeing her hair from the confines of the hood with one hand and letting it cascade down her back. "Hey," she grinned, and moved towards me, hesitating when I instinctively flicked a glance at the several crew members who were suddenly not in such a hurry to get out of the wet. They watched us avidly, not even trying to conceal their interest.

I glanced back at Robyn nervously, not sure how public she wanted to be, and honestly not certain how public I wanted to be, either. She watched me carefully, as though waiting for some clue, and finally said softly, "I'm dying to touch you, Caid, and right now, I don't really give a damn who's watching, but I'll understand if you're uncomfortable…"

Her words melted my indecision instantly, and I stepped forward to wrap my arms around her before she even finished speaking.

"Whoa," she chuckled as her arms closed around me. "Guess that question is answered."

"Hi," I murmured into her shoulder. Her arms tightened briefly and then, deciding without having to say so that other, more involved greetings could wait until later, we both stepped back. "I didn't expect to see you until morning," I said, unable to stop myself from stroking her arm lightly. "I very glad to be wrong."

She smiled and shrugged slightly. "I got your message, but decided I didn't want to wait until tomorrow when I knew exactly where you were tonight." She hesitated, and then leaned forward and pressed her lips to my cheek, letting the kiss linger far past what could reasonably be construed as a friendly peck. "Hi," she whispered as she pulled back.

I blinked in surprise, both at her boldness and the sweetness of the gesture. She squeezed my hand and glanced behind me with a friendly smile. "Hi Liz."

"Hi Robyn," Liz's amused voice replied. "Good to see you. Finally finished, hmm?"

I turned, embarrassed to have forgotten Liz was standing there, and met her amused look with an apologetic one.

"Yeah, finally." Robyn put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and rocked back and forth on her heels. "It was a cluster-fuck there at the end, but supposedly things are all done. And perfect timing too - they're in the middle of a heat wave in New York. When I flew out today, it was 98 degrees and something like ninety percent humidity."

Unthinking, I snaked an arm around Robyn's waist as she talked, and when I realized what I was doing, slowly started to withdraw it. She casually pulled a hand out of her pocket to snag the retreating limb and put it back on her waist, keeping it there with a gentle pat. "I was ready to get back to something at least a little drier…" She laughed and waved at the rain around us. "This is somewhat unexpected."

"No shit," I mumbled, suddenly reminded that despite the warmth Robyn's presence caused, under my coat I still wore a soaked cotton shirt and wet jeans. I shivered, and Robyn looked over at me with a frown, seeming for the first time to notice my bedraggled state.

Liz made a shooing motion and pushed us both down the line of trailers. "Go. You've been bitching about being cold for two hours - you don't need to stand out here and get even colder. Robyn, I'm glad you're back, and Caid, I'll see you in the morning."

I groaned, remembering that despite tonight's late shoot, we still had a 7:30 call time in the morning, which meant that I had to be here at 5:30. "Shit," I muttered and sighed heavily as we said goodbye to Liz and trudged down the row of trailers to the last one. I mounted the steps and unlocked the door, pushing it open and letting Robyn enter first. My brain was still grumbling about the early call time when I was yanked into the trailer, the door slammed behind me, and Robyn's deliciously warm, demanding mouth descended on mine.

After overcoming my initial surprise I gave as good as I got, even pushed up against the door as I was. Her kisses were, impossible as it seemed, even better than I remembered, scrambling my brain and sending heat surging through me. We fought for dominance of the kiss until eventually I directed us across the room and onto the couch where we fell, laughing, in an ungraceful heap with Robyn on the bottom.

I straddled her body and propped myself up on my hands, smiling happily down at her. "Hi."

"Hey." She grinned and ran her hands along my thighs, her smile turning to a frown as she rubbed my legs. "Caid, you're soaking wet."

I contemplated an innuendo-laden response, but settled for the facts instead, giving her a quick kiss before sitting up. "I've been lying around in the rain for three hours, of course I'm soaking wet." I unzipped my coat and shrugged it off, tossing it onto a neighboring armchair. "And I'm freezing. I was planning on taking a shower to warm up, but someone distracted me." I smiled to show her I wasn't at all upset by the distraction.

She reached up to finger the collar of my shirt. "Please tell me that's fake."

I looked down at my shirt, realizing that the collar and chest were stained with red, and there were red splatters dotting the rest of it. "Yes, it's fake." I plucked at the collar and sighed. "Shit. Now Zoe's going to be pissed at me, too."

She rested her hands on my thighs, rubbing absently. "What scene were you guys shooting tonight, anyway? I thought I had the most recent script, but I don't remember anything that called for you to lie around in the rain, or get bloody."

"They must not have sent you the 'new and improved' script, then. Not too surprising, since I think they only made the changes yesterday, and we got the new sides today. Your scenes with me in the first half won't change, I don't think, but you've got some new ones in the second half…" I rubbed the raised skin along my cheek and jaw. "Covering these ended up being a butt-load of trouble, so they changed the script and had someone beat the crap out of Rita, to give her character the same scars. That's what we were shooting tonight - the scene where Rita gets attacked."

Her hands tightened on my thighs. "They wrote an attack on you into the script?" she said angrily. "Could they be any more insensitive? Jesus…"

I stopped her outburst with another quick kiss. "It's okay, baby. I told them it was fine. And if it gets things back to normal, I'm more than fine with it." She looked unconvinced. "It wasn't so bad…the damn rain and cold were the worst of it. Which reminds me…" I kissed her again and wiggled off of the couch, unbuttoning my shirt as I stood. "I need to get out of these wet things and take a quick shower." I pulled the tail of the shirt out of my pants to finish unbuttoning it, letting it hang open as I bent down and unlaced my boots, then kicked them off into a corner and worked at the buttons of my jeans. I glanced up from my unbuttoning and stopped, held immobile by the naked heat in Robyn's gaze.

"You're so beautiful, Caid," she said quietly, pushing up off the couch and crossing to where I stood. Warm hands pushed aside the edges of my shirt and rested on my hips, stroking gently. I closed my eyes, enjoying the gentle caresses and her lips claimed mine in a kiss that managed to be incredibly tender and soft, yet intensely passionate at the same time. She broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against mine, and we both sighed softly.

"Missed you."

"I missed you too, baby." I put my hand on her chest, realizing she still wore her damp jacket. I tugged lightly on the material and stepped back. "Why don't you take this off and get comfortable? I'll just be a few minutes, and then maybe we can grab something to eat…I haven't eaten since lunch."

Robyn took off her jacket and tossed it onto the chair with mine, cocking her head at me with a slight smile. "You do realize it's midnight, don't you?"

I shrugged. "It's LA. There's always something open…ah shit!" I smacked my forehead with my hand. "I have a 5:30 call time in the morning…damnit, I keep forgetting."

She crossed her arms and looked genuinely annoyed. "You have to be in at five in the goddamn morning after shooting this late?"

I looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry, baby…"

"No, no…" She waved her hand. "I'm not mad at you, Caid, I just…" she slumped onto the couch and gave me a wry grin. "Damn. I had plans for you."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Did you now?"

"Mm-hmm." Her eyes perused my half-clothed state. "Definitely. But," she added, leaning back to spread her arms across the back of the couch and crossing one leg over the other, "I'll take a rain check. How about instead, I take you home, feed you, and put you to bed?" She suddenly looked uncertain. "You were planning on spending the night with me, weren't you?"

Her apprehension was misplaced, but kind of cute, and I crossed the room and I leaned down to capture her lips in a fast, rough kiss, pulling back a few inches and stroking her cheek. "Yes, I was planning on spending the night with you, and I still am. We just might be doing a little more sleeping than I originally planned."

She grinned lazily and hooked a finger in the waistband of my pants, pulling my mouth back to hers for a quick kiss before pushing me away. "Go, or this couch is going to get some action."

I laughed and stepped back, gesturing towards the back room. "There's a perfectly good bed…"

"Caid…" she said warningly.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," I said, laughing.

After shutting myself into the small bathroom, I stripped out of my wet clothes and stepped into the shower. I set the water hot enough to make me wince and stood under the blissful heat for a few minutes before starting to scrub at the red streaks on my neck and chest.

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" Robyn's question came from the other side of the shower curtain, startling me so much that I fumbled with the soap and nearly dropped it.

"Uh…"

"You don't mind me coming in here, do you?"

"Uh…no, that's fine." I slowly resumed my washing, very conscious that Robyn was only three feet away.

"So…did you have plans tomorrow night?"

"I didn't have any set plans, no." I dunked my head under the spray and wiped the water out of my eyes. "Although," I added, trying to keep the uncertainty out of my voice, "I had hoped to be doing something with you." Tomorrow night and every night for the foreseeable future…

I tried to keep in mind what Josh had said - that I wasn't going to lose her by pushing - and told myself that wanting to spend the evening with someone you're in love with, who says they're in love with you too, after two weeks of not seeing each other, wasn't too presumptuous…

Christ, Caid - stop analyzing everything and just go with it…

I was so intent on my little internal dialogue that I didn't notice I had company in the shower until soft, warm skin pressed up against my back and long arms wrapped possessively around my waist.

"I hope you don't mind me joining you, but the thought of you in here, naked, was just to inviting to pass up. I'm only human, after all."

Her throaty voice so close to my ear sent waves of sensation through my body and I jumped a little, then relaxed back against her, humming at the feel of her skin against mine. I laid my arms across hers and squeezed, letting my head fall back against her shoulder with a smile. "No…I don't mind."

"Mmm…you feel good," she murmured, sucking lightly at the back of my neck, making me shiver. She held her lips there for a moment, and rested her chin on my shoulder. "I have to go to a sort of party tomorrow night…I was hoping you would come with me."

I turned my head slightly. "A sort of a party?"

Her hands began to stroke my torso lightly where the spray was hitting, from the top of my hips to just below my breasts and down my sides. "Trish and Mom opened the Santa Monica restaurant five years ago this week…Trish is closing for the night and having a little celebration in honor of the occasion. Diane is coming down, and Lori, and my Mom and Dad…" She hesitated, and kissed the side of my head and squeezed me tightly. "I'd like you to come with me."

Stuck in a strange but pleasant limbo between arousal and utter contentment, it took a moment for the words to sink in. When it did, I turned slowly in her arms and stared at her. It sounded suspiciously like she had just told me she wanted me to meet her family. The invitation certainly wasn't unwelcome, just surprising.

"Are you sure?" I asked cautiously.

She smiled slightly and ducked her head to press light kisses along my collarbone. "Yes," she mumbled into my skin, moving me forward so the spray wasn't hitting her face. "I'm sure." After one final kiss on my chest, she raised her head and looked at me hopefully. "Will you come?"

I stared for a second longer, and shook myself. "Of course," I told her, and she smiled widely.

"Good." She ducked her head again, this time focusing on my neck, and I shut my eyes and stroked my hands up and down her back, thinking about her invitation. I guess she wasn't actually bringing me home to meet the family, but it was a step in the right direction, both in becoming more involved in her life, and her willingness for me to be involved.

A thought struck me. "You know I'm not Trish's favorite person, right? I don't want to cause problems…"

She stopped me with a long kiss, and I'd almost forgotten what we were talking about by the time she answered. "Josh told me something like that," she dropped more light kisses along my chin and down my neck. "It'll be fine. Trish is more bark than bite."

"She really doesn't like me, Rob." I protested weakly, and gasped softly when her warm mouth closed over my nipple. I braced one arm against the shower wall and threaded the other through the hair at the base of her neck, increasing the pressure of her mouth on my breast. "God…"

"Caid?" My eyes fluttered open at her muffled voice, and then closed again with a groan as teeth scraped lightly across sensitive flesh. "I don't want to talk about Trish anymore."

Who needs sleep anyway? I thought dimly before her hands and mouth pulled me easily into a maelstrom of sensation.

Chapter twenty-six

Robyn walked to the large window and stood with her back to me, her arms crossed and her posture wary and defensive.

"I don't know what you want from me," she said abruptly.

Her charcoal gray suit and nearly black hair were stark against the light coming from behind the glass panes, adding to the bleakness of her tone and appearance.

I admired the effect for a moment before speaking.

"You kissed me, Counselor." I walked up behind her and stood to one side, reaching out a hand to touch her back and hesitating as though I thought better of it before stuffing my hands in my pockets. "That should be my question to ask."

She leaned slightly - almost imperceptibly - away from me, crossing her arms even tighter. "I don't recall hearing any objections from you, Detective," she said coolly. "In fact, you seemed quite amenable at the time."

I turned towards her and leaned one shoulder against the wall, careful to not lean too heavily despite assurances that the flimsy set wall would easily hold me. "I'm not saying I wasn't. And I'm not saying I'm at all unhappy that you kissed me. I'm just saying you started this, and you must have had something in mind when you did. So Counselor," I lowered my voice, leaning forward into her space a bit, trying to catch her eye. "What is it you want from me?"

"I…" She looked over at me, confusion and fear plain on her face, and then looked away quickly. "I don't know." Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

I nodded slowly, not saying anything for a moment, regarding her thoughtfully. "Lunch." I said finally.

She turned slowly, her arms still crossed, but some of the defensiveness was gone. "Lunch?" she repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

I so love that eyebrow, I thought to myself, but kept my expression serious. "Yes, lunch. It's eleven-thirty. Have lunch with me, Counselor. Consider it a warm-up…like pre-trial preparation. And if we manage to get through an entire hour without killing each other, perhaps you'd consider going to dinner with me sometime this week."

"I…" She blinked and scratched her arm nervously, then seemed to realize what she was doing and gripped her arm tightly instead. "Uh…." She cleared her throat and her eyes darted around the set before finally landing on me again. "Yes."

God she's good, I thought, just stopping myself from beaming at her in admiration.

"Yes to lunch, or yes to dinner?" I asked, allowing a small smile to flicker across my face.

"Lunch for now." She returned the smile with some of her normal, cocky flair. "Ask me again in an hour, Detective."

"Fair enough." I nodded, letting my smile widen as I pushed off the wall. "And maybe, if you don't feel like it's too much, too soon…you could call me Rita."

She smiled.

"Cut!!!" Nate yelled from where he was watching the action on the monitors behind the flimsy plywood barrier that acted as one of the walls to Judith Torrington's office. "I like it…Let's get the camera set up over here - I want to shoot a couple from this side of the window. Robyn, Caid, can you take your marks by the window, so we can get the focus and lights?"

We both nodded and turned back to the window, standing casually while the operator pulled the boom mike back and people began scurrying purposefully around the set. Jules' assistant Kylie hurried over, eyed both our faces and hair, found them acceptable, and hurried off again. When she had gone, Robyn glanced over at me with a warm smile and I resisted the urge to put my arm around her waist and pull her into a long, unhurried kiss.

It was strange to think that this morning I'd woken in her bed, our limbs so tangled up in each other's that I could hardly tell which were mine and which were hers, and now I had to be cautious about even the most casual contact. Robyn hadn't seemed to mind the crew seeing us together the night before, but today things seemed to be different. It probably had more to do with professionalism than any concern about sparking gossip among the crew, but I still wasn't completely sure of the rules of public conduct I was supposed to follow. I had a feeling that the kind of contact I was wanting right now was well outside the rules.

I fell into buddy mode, which seemed to be acceptable behavior, and bumped her shoulder lightly with mine. "Nice take."

She smiled slightly. "You too. The lean-in was a nice touch."

I grinned, pleased she had noticed. "Thanks."

She slipped her hands into her pockets, glancing around casually. "How you holding up?"

I resisted the urge to grin and glanced around as she had done, lowering my voice although I doubted anyone could hear us over the commotion going on around us. "You mean, considering I only got two hours of sleep last night?"

Not that I was complaining. Despite my tiredness, the late hour, and the distinct lack of space to work with, last night's romp in the trailer's tiny shower stall was definitely the most fun I'd had in a shower in…well…ever. And crawling into her bed to fall asleep in her arms…that hadn't been half-bad either.

Her smile turned self-satisfied. "Mm-hmm."

I couldn't help but laugh, drawing a few curious stares. I waited a moment, until people lost interest. "Proud of ourselves, are we?"

"We are," she said smugly.

I laughed again, quietly. "As well we should be," I murmured.

"Caid," Mariel, the 2nd AD called, popping from behind the wall, "can you go to the second mark?"

I nodded and took a step to my right and leaned against the wall, rolling my shoulders a bit.

"Will you be okay tonight?" Robyn asked quietly when again attention was no longer on us. "If you don't want to go…"

"I'll be fine," I reassured her quickly. "And I definitely want to go." I wasn't about to pass up the chance to meet her family.

"Great." The smile she graced me with was one of those she seemed to save just for me, and the urge to touch her became overwhelming. I blinked and looked away for a moment, and when I looked back, she was staring at me intently, apparently reading my look correctly. Her eyes dropped to my mouth. "Lunch in the trailer later?" she said huskily.

I nodded quickly, and drew a calming breath as Mariel came from behind the wall again. "Ok, let's do it. Places, everyone."

I snuck a glance at my watch.

10:30.

It was going to be a long two hours.

##

In fact, it was four interminable hours before we were allowed to break for lunch, and by then the 'lunch' I'd been looking forward to was reduced to a brief, heated kiss in the trailer before Robyn had to rush back to the IDT set for an afternoon table read and cast meetings. The morning delay in shooting caused the afternoon schedule to shift out as well, and as a result, Nate didn't let us go for the weekend until well after seven o'clock.

By the time I drove home, I was exhausted and cranky and pondered calling Robyn to tell her I couldn't make it, but I quickly dismissed the idea. I told myself to buck up, took a cool, rejuvenating shower, and was dressed and out the door, headed for Santa Monica by eight-thirty, but by that time Robyn, who had wanted to go to the restaurant early to have some time with her family, had long since left for the party. I had called her when I knew I was going to be late, and she'd assured me that I should just show up as soon as I could. As I slipped in and out of traffic along 110, I hoped that nine o'clock wouldn't be too late.

Main Street, Santa Monica was crowded at nine o'clock on a Friday night in August, but I managed to find a parking spot along the street, only three or four blocks from the restaurant. I climbed out of Twila and nervously smoothed my clothes, taking one last glance down at the form-fitting cranberry colored short sleeved top, shot through with thin strands of silver and tucked into simple but dressy pleated tan slacks, a wide brown belt, and pointy, two-inch heeled boots. It was too late to change now, and I prayed I wasn't underdressed, and I didn't look as tired as I felt. Taking a few deep breaths, I skipped across the street, avoiding puddles from the recent rain, and headed towards the restaurant, trying to remember all that Robyn had told me about the different members of her family and hoping to make a good impression, or at least get through the night without embarrassing myself or Robyn.

A tall, bald man dressed in a well-cut tuxedo and sporting a smile that didn't reach his eyes stopped me just inside the door, politely asking my name and even asking to see my ID before checking me off a guest list and asking me to wait a moment while he talked into a small microphone on the cuff of his jacket. He nodded at whatever response he got and waved me onto another tux-clad, muscle-bound man who quickly checked me over with a metal-detecting wand, asked me to please turn off my cell phone if I had one, and told me that if I'd brought a camera or camera phone, I would have to surrender those items for the duration of the party. I assured him I had neither of those items, showed him my phone, and after he'd made sure it was off he mechanically wished me a nice evening.

I shook my head, having been through that kind of security several times in the past at various industry gatherings, but curious as to why they'd need it here. At the top of the wide steps down into the main dining room I paused, running an appreciative eye over the changes made for the party. Swaths of rich colored fabrics hung from the high ceiling and covered the walls, combining with an intricate array of filtered lights to create a rippling affect, as though the cloth were caught by some phantom breeze. Several tables had been removed and the remaining rearranged to allow for serving stations and a bar along one wall and a jazz trio played in the corner, intent on their music and oblivious to the noise and crowd nearly drowning them out.

I was startled to see that the place was noisy and packed, with at least a hundred people standing in pairs and small groups, eating, talking and drinking at what Robyn had called a 'sort of party'. While I hadn't been expecting her family only, I certainly hadn't been expecting this many people, and I found myself a little annoyed that Robyn hadn't specified. The necessity for the tight security became clear, too, as I scanned the crowd and recognized numerous celebrities: local politicians, athletes, musicians, authors and of course several familiar faces from movies and television, along with many of the area's rich and idle were present, several of them dressed to the nines…I still wouldn't consider myself underdressed, but I'd have to remember to ask Robyn a few more question next time we went to a party together, since our ideas of what constituted pertinent information were apparently very different.

I stood scanning the crowd, searching for a glimpse of her, and smiled involuntarily when I spotted her across the room in animated conversation with a couple I didn't recognize. She looked stunning as usual, her hair gathered atop her head in an artfully messy pile and dressed in tight black sheath dress that was cut around the neck and arms like the wet suits I'd seen triathlete's wear, showing off well-defined shoulders, the long, graceful sweep of her neck, and plenty of tan, delectable skin. I noticed a hand resting casually on that skin and followed the hand to where it met an arm that was draped across her shoulder...

Josh.

Standing next to her, laughing with her, his arm around her possessively as thought they were together.

With my woman.

Whoa there, Tarzan…

I frowned at myself and watched the two of them together, feeling a brief stab of jealousy. For people who weren't going to be a public couple anymore, they certainly looked like one, I thought with irritation, and then squashed my annoyance, thinking that Josh was going to have to rein in his touchy-feely impulses in public, or I was going to have to rein in my Neanderthal-like possessiveness. Probably a little of both was in order.

"Caidence!" a feminine voice exclaimed just as I was about to go smack Robyn over the head with my club and drag her back to my cave. I paused and turned to find Sophie standing beside me, looking up at me in delighted recognition. She gripped my arms lightly and kissed me on both cheeks, then pulled me into a warm embrace. When she let me go she looked at me fondly and I smile back, very glad to see her.

"Sophie, buenas noches." I leaned in and kissed her on both cheeks, as she had done. "It's lovely to see you." I took in her flowing black dress, careful make up and elegant chignon. "You look muy hermosa, Señora."

She smiled and held my hands in hers, squeezing gently. "Ah, you flatter an old woman, but I will accept your flattery gladly." Her smile dimmed slightly as she caught sight of the still healing marks on my face. I'd spent several minutes in front of the mirror this evening, contemplating whether I should try to cover them up or not, and decided not to. People were going to look for them regardless; I figured I might as well make them easy to find. Sophie glanced around and pulled me into a less crowded space away from the stairs, then reached up and touched the scar on my cheek gently. I forced myself not to flinch, standing quietly and letting her trace the line with light fingers. "I am very sorry for your pain, Caidence," she said sincerely, and laid her palm against my cheek.

I smiled gently and pulled her hand from my face, holding it in mine. "Thank you, Sophie. And thank you for the flowers. They were beautiful."

"You are well?" she asked, still staring at me intently.

I nodded and squeezed her hands. "I am very well."

"Good…I was so worried for you. And Sabina…" she shook her head. "She was so terribly upset. I am glad she was there with you."

"Me too," I told her honestly, and squeezed her hands again.

"And speaking of my hija, I know she has been anxiously waiting for you. She has told us all to behave and not tell embarrassing stories, so of course we have all thought of some to tell…" She smiled widely and for a split-second it was Robyn smiling at me. I blinked away the vision as Sophie tugged at my hand. "Come, I will help you find her and then there are people I know she wishes for you to meet."

I let her pull me back towards the steps, smiling bemusedly.

"Miss Harris?" The deep voice and polite inquiry were accompanied by a hand on my arm and I shied away violently, pulling away from Sophie and nearly bowling over a tiny woman in a bright yellow dress and precariously high heels who was coming up the steps near me. I steadied her with a hand and got a bleary thanks in response, then took a breath and turned to find another tuxedo-clad member of the security team standing beside me, this one tall and lean with less obvious muscle but no less intimidating, despite the contrite expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't mean to startle you."

I forced a smile and tried to calm my wildly beating heart. "Can I help you?"

He stood carefully with his hands clasped behind his back. "Miss Ward would like to speak with you for a few moments…would you mind following me, please?"

"What is this?" Sophie said sharply from behind me.

"It's okay." I eyed the man for a moment, then turned and gave Sophie an encouraging smile. "This will only take a minute."

She frowned and gave the security man a hard look but to his credit, he seemed impervious to the glare and stood watching me expectantly.

"It's okay," I repeated and squeezed her arm gently before turning back to the man. "Lead on," I told him, and followed after giving Sophie one last smile.

He led me along the edge of the dining room and through a set of swinging doors into the kitchen, past the cooks and wait staff and down a narrow hallway, stopping finally in front of a non-descript door where he motioned me into a small but well-appointed office.

I wasn't surprised to see Trish leaning against the desk, thumbing through a stack of papers and looking casually elegant and feminine in a navy blue pantsuit with a very masculine cut. As she raised her eyes to watch me enter the office, I acknowledged briefly that Trish wore clothes nearly as well as Robyn did, and wondered if she'd spent time as a model as well.

Her expression was carefully neutral as she looked at me for a moment, and then flicked a glance at the man behind me. "Thank you, John."

The man nodded and backed out of the room, leaving the door partially open behind him.

When he was gone, Trish looked back at me and said politely, "Caidence."

"Trish." I acknowledged, matching her even tone. "Congratulations on five years. You and your mother should be very proud. And the place looks amazing."

That seemed to surprise her, and she paused before responding with a slight inclination of her head. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I slipped my hands into my pockets and leaned back against the door frame, waiting for her to get to the point of this little chat.

"I asked security to let me know when you showed up - I'm supposed to let Robyn know, too, but I wanted a chance to talk to you first." She put the papers down and circled around behind the desk, straightening random things as she went. Finally she stopped tidying and looked up at me. "It seems I owe you an apology. My mother, my sister, Josh…they all tell me I'm wrong about you."

If that was an apology, it was definitely one of the least enthusiastic I'd ever received, and I nearly laughed. "Your sincerity is touching," I said dryly and cocked my head. "But why don't you tell me what you think? That's really the issue here, isn't it?"

"What I think." She let her eyes wander over me briefly before meeting my gaze again. "I think mamá is easily swayed by good manners, Josh is a pushover for a pretty face and a pretty smile, and Robyn…" She shrugged. "I haven't quite figured out why she's so taken with you, but then again, she always was a little too trusting."

I held in the burst of anger her words caused, and instead raised a slightly quizzical eyebrow. "Not giving them much credit, are you? Your mother is an intelligent woman and seems quite capable of making the distinction between good manners and good deeds, and far prettier faces than mine have tried to sway Josh, I'm sure, and have not been successful. And Robyn…you don't know your sister very well if you think she trusts easily." I shook my head and tsked softly. "It sounds like you don't know any of them very well."

I was cranky and had added that last bit just to piss her off - it worked nicely. She leaned both hands on the desk and dropped the polite act, staring at me with obvious hostility. "I think I know them a hell of a lot better than you do, Caidence." She practically spit the name out. "I promised I would be nice to you, so I will be, but if they're wrong, and you end up hurting them…"

This was being nice?

I'd hate to see her on a bitchy day.

I didn't know exactly what I'd done to earn her suspicion, but I was starting to think it had more to do with the possibility of me stealing her family away from her than me stealing Josh away from Robyn. Whatever the reason for her attitude, it wasn't endearing her to me at all, and my patience was running low.

"Or what?" I threw up my hands in exasperation. "Is this where you warn me to stay away from Josh again? Or better yet…" Anger I didn't realize I'd been harboring bubbled to the surface and I pushed off the wall and stalked to the desk. I grabbed the handset of the desk's phone and thrust it at her. "Here. Is there someone you need to call with the press? To let them know that I'm here, about to steal Josh away from poor, trusting Robyn?"

Trish was taken aback by my outburst, opening and closing her mouth a few times like a fish, but not saying anything.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I dropped the phone back in the cradle and stepped back from the desk, crossing my arms. "You have no frigging idea the amount of trouble you caused that night, do you? And not just for me, but for Josh, and Robyn too. Your own damn sister, for god's sakes! Did you think about maybe asking her if she needed to be protected from me before passing judgment and telling the whole goddamn world something that was completely untrue? Did you think about her at all before you made that call? Think about the crap she'd have to put up with?" My voice had risen steadily and I took a deep breath to calm down before continuing in a quieter, but still intense, voice. "Do you realize," I turned my head slightly and pointed at my face, "that this could easily have happened to Robyn, instead of me?"

She visibly paled, and I realized that maybe that had been unfair. She hadn't caused Todd Massey's attack, ultimately no one but Todd Massey was responsible for that. I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for saying it, though. Her actions had set in motion a chain of events that certainly had contributed to his state of mind on that day, and it could have easily been her sister, and not me, who suffered for it.

"Do you want to tell me what the hell she's talking about, Trish?" Robyn's raspy, deceptively mild voice came from over my shoulder, causing us both to start. She stepped into the office and flashed a smile that nearly melted me on the spot.

"Hi." She stepped up and put her hand on my back, brushing her lips across my cheek. "Mamá said you were here - that some security person had whisked you away…" She gave Trish a hard look. "What's going on? I thought I asked you to let me know when she got here."

Trish looked uncomfortable, but stood up to her sister's glare. "I wanted to talk to her first."

"About what? And what exactly was Caid talking about before?" Robyn crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in question.

"I…"

A thunderous crash from the kitchen, followed by a voice yelling curses in Spanish and an answering voice yelling in English, saved her from having to respond.

"Damnit." Trish was by us in the blink of an eye, pushing past me none too gently and striding down the hall, hollering for someone named Julian.

When she was gone, Robyn asked, "What's going on, Caid? What did Trish want? If she's being a shit to you…"

I shook my head. "I think she was trying to apologize, actually, but things got a little off track. It's ok, Rob. It's just going to take a little while for me and your sister to get along." She frowned and I rubbed her back soothingly. "Don't worry about it, really. Now," She watched as I pushed the door shut with one foot, "do you think I could at least get a hug?"

"I think I could do that." She smiled and tugged me forward into her arms, her sister forgotten for the moment. She sighed. "I'm so glad you came," she murmured into my hair as we stood holding each other. She pulled back with a shy smile and grabbed my hand, reaching for the door. "Come on, I'd like to introduce you to a few people. Oh, and Josh is here, too."

"Yes, I saw," I said dryly, with more bite than I'd intended.

So much for reining in my possessiveness.

Her hand slowly dropped from the doorknob and she turned back to me, one delicate eyebrow arched in surprise. "You're angry."

I blew out a breath and shook my head. "No, I'm being an ass. Forget it."

"Caid," she took my other hand in hers and watched me closely. "Something ticked you off…talk to me, please?"

Way to go, Caid. Now you have to tell her what a jealous twit you are.

I sighed resignedly. "Keep in mind that I'm tired, and I'm in kind of a pissy mood, okay?"

"Okay," she said and nodded, frowning slightly.

"When I walked into the party, the first thing I saw was Josh with his arm around you." I squeezed her hands to stop her when she seemed about to interrupt. "I know you're not…dating him anymore, or whatever. I know that, you know that, Josh knows that, but no one else knows that, because the two of you still act like you are. Plain and simple?" I shrugged. "I was jealous."

She blinked. "You were jealous? Of Josh?"

"Yeah." I pulled my hands from hers and stepped back with another shrug. "I was jealous of Josh. Silly, huh? Well, not of Josh, really," I clarified, "but of what he's able to do that I can't. Like stand around in a crowded party with his arm around you…touch you…be with you, and not have to worry about what people might think…" I trailed off and ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

She didn't respond for a moment, then stepped forward and took my hands in hers again, her impossibly dark eyes watching me intently. "Is that what you want, Caid?" she asked slowly, stroking her thumbs gently across the backs of my hands. "To be public? About us?"

"I…" I shook my head and let out a frustrated breath, looking down at our hands. This was probably not the time or place to have this conversation, but now that I'd gotten the ball rolling, I'd better just get on with it. After a deep breath, I met her gaze again, hoping what Josh had said about not losing her was true. "To be able to be with you publicly, without concerns…yes, someday I want that. I want that very much. But right now? Right now, we still have some things to work out, and I don't want the attention that kind of declaration would create while we're in the middle of trying to figure out how to be together. Because in the end, that's what is most important to me. To be together, with you." I brought her hands to my chest and covered them with mine. "I hope that's what you want, too, Robyn. If it's not," I shook my head and looked at her searchingly, "then I don't know what we're doing."

Please, please, please be what you want…

"Oh, baby…" She freed her hands from my grasp and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close. "I can't believe you're worried about that," she murmured into my ear, rubbing my back gently before pulling back a little and cupping my cheek with one hand. "Of course that's what I want." She kissed me softly. "I love you, and I told you before that if you wanted me, you had me. I wasn't talking about a few days, I was talking long-term. As in a life together. I don't want to scare you, baby, but I've got plans for the future, and they all include you. Every last one."

I blinked. "You don't want to scare me," I repeated slowly, and almost laughed. She didn't want to scare me, I didn't want to scare her…we should have done this talking thing a long damn time ago. Would have saved me a lot of anxiety.

She frowned slightly, looking perplexed at my reaction. "I didn't want to push you into something you weren't ready for, no matter how much I wanted us to…mmph…"

I stopped her explanation with a kiss and after a moment of surprise, she responded wholeheartedly. When we broke apart, her hands were tangled in my hair and mine were wound tightly around her body.

"What was that for?" She asked, looking slightly dazed. "Not that I'm complaining…"

"Because I love you, and there is nothing you could do that would scare me away."

She smiled slowly and leaned in again, her grip tightening in my hair.

Our lips had just met when the door swung open. We moved apart but not very quickly and not nearly in time.

'Oh. My. God."

I looked over Robyn's shoulder to see Trish staring at the two of us, her eyes wide with shock.

Shit. I sighed and started to move away from Robyn, but she turned to face Trish and put her arm around my waist, holding me where I was.

"Stay," she said quietly. "Please."

I glanced at her quickly in surprise but stayed where I was.

"Robyn, what the hell?" Trish looked at Robyn, then at me, and back to Robyn. "Are you…" she sputtered, and looked between us again.

I felt Robyn take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yes, Trish, I am. And yes, we are." I could feel the tension in her body, but there was no evidence of it in her outward demeanor as she gave Trish a lopsided smile. "So…now you know. Sorry, I didn't really mean for you to find out this way…that's one of the reasons I wanted to meet for coffee on Monday, to tell you about us…"

Her voice trailed off when she saw that her sister wasn't listening - Trish was too busy glaring at me in naked dislike. "I knew you were trouble. I knew it."

Robyn stiffened at the words and tone, and I rubbed her back soothingly. I bit back the 'told you she didn't like me' that was on the tip of my tongue.

"This has nothing to do with Caid, Trish," Robyn said flatly. "I've been into women long before I met her."

"This has everything to do with her!" Trish exploded, moving into the room and waving an accusatory finger at me. "She's using you, Robyn. Using your celebrity, your money…"

"Patricia, there you are!" We all jumped as Sophie came steaming through the door, her agitation at her eldest daughter very plain. "People are asking for you…" She stopped abruptly when she saw that both Robyn and I were also in the room and looked at the three of us curiously. "I am interrupting?"

Robyn's hand left my hip for a moment, and then settled back more firmly than before, as though she were anchoring herself. I felt her take another deep breath, but Trish spoke before she could.

"Oh no, Mamá, you're just in time. Robby was just explaining her…relationship…with Caidence."

"Trish, don't." Robyn said quietly, the warning in her voice clear.

Sophie looked from a scowling Robyn to a smug Trish, and frowned deeply. She settled her gaze on her eldest daughter and placed her hands on her hips in the universal mother-scolding-her-offspring posture.

"Patricia Elizabeth, why can you not be happy for your sister?"

Trish blinked and did her fish impression again. "Mamá, I…"

"No." Sophie shook her head. "Do not mamá me. Sabina has embraced your Enrique with open arms…why can you not do the same? Your sister has found someone who makes her happy, and you do everything you can to spoil it. This behavior you have towards Caidence, it is unacceptable. Your father and I, we did not raised you to be this way."

Sophie could not have shocked her daughters more if she told them she was an alien raised by dingoes in the Australian outback. If the situation hadn't been so tense, it would have been funny.

Hell, it was funny anyway, but I managed to stifle inopportune laughter. My sense of humor has always been a tad off.

"You…you knew?" Robyn said faintly, her hand tightening reflexively on my hip.

I leaned into her and put my arm around her waist in support. Sophie glanced at me with a nearly imperceptible smile as she moved forward and reached up to cup Robyn's cheek, giving her a look of fond irritation. "Querida, I may not be young anymore, but I am not blind. Of course I knew. I am your mother," she said simply, as though that explained it all. "I am sorry you could not tell me."

"I…" Robyn blinked, her face still slack with astonishment. She covered Sophie's hand with her own, holding it to her cheek. "I'm sorry, Mamá. I…" she shrugged helplessly.

Sophie patted her cheek and withdrew her hand. "I know, cariño." She glanced over at me and smiled. "I am very fond of your Caidence. She is good for you."

Robyn looked between the two of us in surprise before smiling and saying quietly, "I am very fond of my Caidence as well." Her arm tightened on my waist briefly and I squeezed back.

"I know that too, cariño." She smiled at both of us and then turned her attention back to Trish, who had been watching the scene unfold in stunned silence. "And now, Patricia, you know this too. And you will treat Caidence as someone your sister cares about deeply. Yes?"

Sophie's hands were back on her hips again and her tone brooked no argument. I had to fight the urge to straighten and say "yes, ma'am!"

Trish looked down at the desk uncomfortably. "Yes, Mamá." She looked up again and her expression held a hint of what could have been genuine apology when her glance touched Robyn.

"Good." Sophie nodded decisively and moved towards the door. "Now, Patricia, you must get back to the party - there were many people asking for you, and Julian and Mark, they are fighting again. You know they do not listen to me."

"Yes, Mamá," Trish said again obediently, casting a quick glance at Robyn and I. "Rob…"

Robyn held up a hand and shook her head. "Later."

Trish nodded, and with one last look at the two of us, left the office. Sophie eyed Robyn sternly. "Elora and Will are wondering where you are - they need to leave soon and get home to the little ones. They are out on the patio now. You will bring Caidence there, yes?"

Robyn flicked a questioning glance at me, and I realized she was asking what I wanted to do. I nodded slightly and she looked back at Sophie. "Yes, Mamá."

Sophie's dark eyes watched the interaction with interest and after a moment, she nodded briskly. "I should go see how Patricia is faring with Julian…he is such a big bebé, I don't know why she puts up with him."

We both watched the door for several seconds after she left, neither of us speaking.

"Hell of a party, huh?" Robyn said finally and pulled me against her, smiling wryly and dropping a light kiss on my temple. "I'm sorry about all this, Caid…I was planning on telling my family, but that wasn't quite how I'd planned it."

"No worries." I turned fully into her embrace and gave her a quick kiss. "Never a dull moment around you, that's for sure."

She smiled slightly. "I wouldn't want you to get bored with me."

"Not much chance of that." I grinned. "You're more entertaining than a six pack of Huber and bucket full of Legos."

Her mouth twitched and an eyebrow crept up her forehead. "Am I."

"Oh yeah." I gave her another quick kiss. "That's good stuff where I come from, baby."

She smiled fully and shook her head. "Damn I love you."

We smiled at each other and then she stepped back after a final squeeze. "Come on, sweet thing, let's go meet the family." She snagged my hand, talking over her shoulder as she pulled me towards the door. "Now don't believe anything they say about me thinking I was Wonder Woman for a summer, sticking peanuts up my nose, or eating mud pies. It's all a lie…"

I laughed and followed her out the door.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I trailed light fingers along naked, still damp skin, skimming Robyn's back from the sheet bunched at her waist, up between her shoulder blades and back down, watching the dappled, early morning light play along the smooth expanse. I couldn't remember the last time I felt so happy and content, and let out a long, deep sigh, sated and pleasantly lethargic from our recent activities.

"I do love how you say good morning," I said lazily, shifting a little under her weight.

Robyn, I'd discovered, was very much a morning person, and although I hadn't been one in the past, waking up to her touch could easily becoming addicting. She was sprawled half across me on her stomach, her leg thrown over my hip and her head resting on my shoulder; I kissed her dark hair absently and continued my caress, receiving a murmur of agreement and a tightening of her arm around my midsection in response.

"I had a good time last night - thank you again for inviting me," I said after we'd been quiet for a few minutes. "I really liked your family."

Despite the altercation with Trish, it had still turned out to be a nice evening, and my introduction to the Ward family a success. As Sophie had promised, most of Robyn's family was gathered in a small, cobblestone courtyard between the restaurant and the neighboring building. After a quiet "ready?" and a smile of encouragement, she had tugged me past potted flowers, small palms and a scattering of wrought iron café tables towards a group gathered around a cluster of tables. The group had greeted Robyn with noisy delight and eyed me curiously, and so had begun my introduction to the Ward clan.

Her father Rich was tall, dark and quite charismatic, still possessing model good looks and I gathered from a few stray comments that he had been approached to run for city council in Santa Barbara and was seriously considering it. He had a big laugh and a warm smile, and showed an easy, casual affection for his daughters that caused a brief pang of longing for something I'd never have. Her Aunt Paige was Rich's sister; Paige and her husband Darrin lived in Thousand Oaks and raised Golden Retrievers for show - they were affable and hilariously goofy, occasionally breaking into song when the mood struck, and managing to sound quite good together. Her sister Lori was very pregnant and very sweet, as was Lori's husband Will; they were a quiet, gentle couple who obviously adored each other and talked about little else besides their two children and the one on the way. The final member of the family I met was Robyn's sister Diane - she had an amiable smile, a dry wit, and sharp, dark eyes that watched me knowingly from behind small, rimless glasses.

They were all striking and dark haired, friendly and gracious, and each had some feature or mannerism that reminded me of Robyn - Rich's presence, Sophie's smile, Paige's goofy humor, Lori's voice and Diane's eyes…I liked them all immediately and was pleased that the sentiment seemed to be returned.

"Mmm." She stirred against me and turned her head to kiss my chest. "They loved you, Caid." I could feel her smile against my skin. "Paige and Darrin want to adopt you. When you knew the third verse to 'You are my Sunshine', I thought Paige was going to wet herself."

I smiled. "I'll thank grandma next time I see her. I also know 'Camptown Ladies' and 'Tiny Bubbles' on the ukulele."

She raised her head to look at me. "Really?"

"Really." I kissed her. "I have all sorts of useless talents. Kazoo, skipping stones, building card houses, hanging a spoon off my nose…"

"You can do that?" she asked curiously, pushing her hair away from her face and tilting her head to the side.

"Yep."

"My, my. I'm even luckier than I'd realized," she said with a smile.

"Uh-huh." I shivered as she leaned down to kiss my neck and her hair brushed along my shoulder. "I'm quite the catch."

"No arguments here," she mumbled against my skin as she kissed along my collar bone and laid her head back on my chest with a sigh.

I resumed stroking her back, and we lay in comfortable silence for several minutes.

"I love this," Robyn said quietly, breaking the silence. "I love going to sleep with you, I love waking up with you, sharing my morning with you…"

I pressed my lips to the top of her head and tightened my arms around her. "I love it, too, baby."

She rearranged the sheets and rolled onto her back, resting the back of her head on my arm. "Morning has always been my time," she said quietly, staring at the ceiling. "That little sliver of the day that was all mine - sometimes the only sliver that was all mine - and I've always hated sharing it." She turned her head to look at me and reached out to trace the line of my jaw with a long finger. "Now I look forward to spending it with you. Watching you drink your coffee while you read the paper, how you chew on your lip when you concentrate," she ran her finger over my lower lip, staring at it intently. "Waiting for you to share something you think is interesting or funny…"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I felt a little guilty for horning in on her me-time, but she also said she liked our time together…I kissed the finger against my lips and stayed quiet, sensing she wasn't done talking.

She withdrew her finger and turned her head back to stare at the ceiling. She opened her mouth, shut it, looked at me, then back at the ceiling.

I smiled slightly at the atypical display of uncertainty.

"Live with me." she said softly. She turned her head to look at me, her eyes holding both nervousness and hope. "Here, your place, some other place, I don't care. Just…" she reached out again and cupped my cheek gently. "Live with me."

My mouth fell open in shock. "Wha.."

She quieted me with a finger on my lips. "You make me happy, Caid." she said simply. "I'm happier in the last few months than I've ever been in my life, and I've realized that I'm happiest when I'm with you this way, sharing this much. Like in Florida, or at Liz's place...going to bed with you, waking up with you, spending my mornings, my free-time with you…living with you."

Holy crap.

She'd caught me so off-guard that I was speechless, staring at her in astonishment.

This was it. Everything I wanted, everything I'd hoped for, wished for…everything.

At my continued silence, she smiled sadly and brushed the back of her hand against my cheek before pulling her hand back. "Well…"

Maybe it was too fast, maybe we were crazy, maybe we weren't thinking this through, but I wasn't going to give up this chance.

"Yes." I finally croaked out. I rolled over on top of her and peppered her face, neck and chest with kisses. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..."

She let out a throaty, delighted laugh and threaded her fingers through my hair, tugging my head up. "That's a yes?"

I beamed down at her, my face nearly cracking in two. "That's definitely a yes."

She smiled up at me and I caught my breath.

Whatever happened, however this all played out, whatever the future brought…it would all be worth it, just to see that smile.

End

dabkey's Scrolls
Main Page