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Part 12

I argued with myself for five minutes about whether or not to get dressed and then wound up just shrugging on an emerald green satin robe that barely reached passed my hips. A couple of swipes with a brush and I was half-way presentable. Mark would have to do without seeing me in make up for the night. That alone might scare him off. Right before I was about to head downstairs I spritzed with a single shot of perfume. No need to take things to the extreme.

After turning on the porch light I went to the kitchen and put a kettle on the stove for some chamomile tea. Maybe it would keep me relatively calm after what was sure to be yet another emotional night. That was all that I had time for before I heard the doorbell go off.

A quick check through the peep hole and I opened the door. Sweet mother of Ralph Lauren! Mark stood there looking somewhat eager and nervous, dressed in stretchy black bike shorts that hugged every millimeter of his… never mind, and one of those loose workout tanks that scoops low enough to show off half of his very well defined pectoral muscles. I furiously battled the little devil sitting on my shoulder urging me to tell Mark that he could come in, but he'd have to take off those obviously inappropriate clothes. Why yes, I do have something that you could wear. How about a tea cozy?

Eventually, I came to my senses and stepped back to allow him inside my lair… my home. GAH!

"Hi." Keep it simple, Casidhe. Anything more and he would know that you are a monumental idiot.

Before I even had the door closed, his lips captured mine. A warm blanket of fog settled over my mind as I eased into his embrace. His right hand holding me by the lower back and his left hand cradling my face. God, I could learn to love this every single day. Who am I kidding? I already love this.

By the time reality turned on the yellow fog lamps so I could see straight I eased back down and realized my right foot was kicked back just like in the movies. Who does that? I always thought that it was just a little visual thing that the director told the actress to do for cuteness sake. Nope, I guess all a person needs is the proper lips to encounter.

After a few blinks I was able to compose myself. "Um…" Gulp. "I'm making some chamomile tea. Would you like a cup?"

With a nod he answered. "Thank you. Would you like some help?"

"I've got it. Why don't you have a seat and I'll be out in a minute."

Okay, I didn't have enough willpower to actually go to the kitchen until I got a very nice view of Mark walking to the couch. Bless the makers of biking shorts the world over. I think I know exactly what to get him for his belated birthday gift.

Sorting the tea goodies on a serving tray kept me busy and my mind off of things better not thought of was probably my only salvation for the evening. I set out a few tea cookies and napkins. Anyone would have thought that I was serving for upper class guests that always drank their tea with their pinky firmly extended, but that was the way I was taught. Do it right or don't do it at all.

Well, here we go. Don't drop the tray.

Mark's eyes widened a little at the set up while I asked him how he liked his tea.

"Just a little honey, please."

Great. We drink our tea exactly the same way. Is this fate trying to tell me something?

We sat quietly, nibbling on our cookies and sipping at our tea until I couldn't take it any longer. I sat my cup down and pulled my feet up until I was comfy on the couch, looking at my boyfriend.

"Do you know how my parents died?"

Mark shrugged a little. "Terrorist suicide bomber?"

I nodded. "We were at the American Embassy in London. I was ten at the time. I was screwing around and my parents were ready to leave. They almost made it to the front gates and I was running to catch up."

When I tell this story I usually blank out, relating it to whomever is listening. It keeps me from being emotional. From what I've been told, it's unnerving as hell to watch.

"Mom was wearing an olive green pea coat and Dad had his London Fog jacket on. He always thought of it as a little inside joke, being in London and wearing that particular jacket." I paused for a second, seeing them in my mind's eye. "Dad was holding Mom's hand and he had turned around to see where I was. Mom looked over her shoulder smiling just a little. Then they were gone."

My nose crinkled up a little in displeasure. "I remember a flash and a wall of hot air hit me in the face. I think I weighed about eighty pounds at the time. But I do remember that I was airborne for a second or two." My face cleared and I tried to take on a more clinical air. "The concussive force of the blast blew me back. It's pretty much what you see in the movies. Except you really don't appreciate how much heat an explosion like that gives off. It felt like my skin was going to melt off."

I looked down for a second and saw Mark had taken my hand in his, but I didn't want to get sidetracked.

"I was out of it when I hit the ground. I think I remember other people screaming, but that could have been my imagination. I would imagine that there would have been."

I felt him squeeze my hand, not too hard, but still.

"I didn't wake up until two days later. Gramps was there by my bed. I was covered in bandages… the… the shrapnel the terrorist was carrying on him is what hit me the most. Funny thing is that I don't even remember being hit with it, just the heat." With a dry swallow I met Mark's eyes briefly and then turned my gaze to the back of the couch, plucking at some imaginary lint, absentmindedly, with my fingers.

"When I was well enough, Gramps and I came back home and I met with a plastic surgeon friend of his and they did a bang up job on me. You can barely tell where I was hit… well almost barely."

Mark spoke for the first time since I started. "Is that what you need to get fixed this December?"

I nodded a little and added a shrug. "It has a lot to do with it, yeah."

After meeting his eyes for a moment I looked back down. "It made me… I can't have any children of my own. It screwed up my hormones where I had to take supplements. Basically I'm a mess."

The corners of his mouth lifted up a little. "I don't think you're a mess. I think you're a survivor."

That brought a single heaving laugh from my lips. "You're sweet. You're obviously stupid, but you're sweet."

"Come here."

He opened his arms and I turned around on the couch to face him as I cuddled into his chest.

"How can you think that any of this makes any difference as to whether I like you or not?"

I sighed and tried to engrain this feeling of acceptance into my brain for as long as I could remember it. "Because I was two very different Casidhe's then and now. It wasn't until I started school here that I changed into who I am today."

Mark's arms tightened around me and I felt his lips atop my head. "Tell me couple of things."

"Okay," I mumbled into his chest.

"This operation that you are having in December, will it change who you are in the inside?"

Well, that was a loaded question. "Sorta. It'll let me be who I want to be… who I was meant to be."

"So what's the big deal? You do what you need to do."

I sighed in resignation. "The big deal is that I'm not a real woman."

He didn't say anything at first, probably thinking about what I said, but then he found the words. "You're not able to have babies, and not able to produce female hormones, right?"

I didn't say anything, but I did nod.

"Does this mean that a woman that has uterine cancer and has to have a hysterectomy any less of a woman? Does it make her a man?"

I shook my head.

"Does someone that has breast cancer and has to have them removed make them any less of a woman?"

Again I shook my head.

"Casidhe, I'm not an unrealistic kind of guy. There are lots of things that make a relationship work. The most important thing is the ability to talk things through. We've done that. The second thing is we have to have the ability to have fun with each other with whatever we do. We'll find out more about that while we date."

My arms squeezed around him tighter. It was like I was trying to pull us together out of sheer willpower.

"Another realistic thing is the ability to have a mutually satisfying sexual relationship."

Nodding with understanding, I looked up under his chin, trying to see the expression on his face.

"When you have this operation will you be able to have…"

"Yes," I breathed. "From what the doctor says, I should be as close to a normal girl as is possible, under the circumstances. You shouldn't be able to tell the difference and I should be able to achieve orgasm like a normal girl."

He chuckled a little at my directness.

"Oh, and my breasts are growing."

That brought on a big laugh from him. I just smiled and snuggled in closer.

"I told you that I'm a eyes, legs, and butt, kind of guy."

"I like my butt. No problems there."

"I do too."

Not being able to take it anymore I pulled back and turned his head to me. If I were able, I'd take him upstairs and show him exactly how much I appreciated his understanding. Then I thought. Why couldn't I? I might not be able to do everything, but then again we both already knew the score on that subject.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

I bit my lower lip slightly and then told him. "I'm thinking about how much I want to make love with you right now."

His eyes turned very serious. "I can wait. There are other things we can do. I hear kissing is pretty cool."

Thoughts of kissing Mark gave me a warm fuzzy feeling and something else to add to the interesting new body reactions list: hardening nipples. I blushed, not wanting him to think that I was a giggling school girl, whether it was true or not was beside the point. So I kissed him.

To: studlymuffin3829
From: coconnor

Jerry,

Studly muffin? What's up with that? Do me a favor and post the attached letter on the MySpace page that you made of me, and follow the request as well, please. Do this and I'll cooperate to make your page a little less stalkerish.

Attch: WHAT'S UP FALCONS!
Yes, this is a message from me, Casidhe. I've found you out! So, if you get to look at pictures of me without me b*tching then I'm making a request of you too. Come to Thursday's baseball game and watch our Mighty Falcons kick the living spit out of the Klein Bearkats. As an added bonus I'll be sporting a new look for the occasion. I think you'll appreciate it. This isn't a proposition for the pervs, but I have spirit, do you? Game Time: 7pm. Pre-game party: 6pm at the field. Bring your boom boxes, and I'll bring the eats.

Casidhe

p.s. Yes, the rumor is true. Mark Tanner is mine! But more importantly I'm his.

Does a mild-mannered… okay never mind. Does a slightly bent new girl have the power to command the lives of -- by last count 432 -- MySpace geeks? Pfft. Apparently you don't know me very well.

I checked the site to make sure it was posted the day before. Now today is game day and I let the attendance office know that I would be taking a personal day. For some reason I need a note from my parents to let the school know I'm doing this with their permission. I kind of equate this to the pimply faced guy behind the counter at McDonalds that wants to know if I want fries with the apple pie I just ordered.

So, I drove in with Chloe the next morning to have a powwow with excitable lady at the front desk.

"Do you have a post-it that I could use?"

She looked down. "Is purple okay?"

From the blank look on my face she took that to be a yes. I scribbled away: Casidhe has my permission to take a personal day from school. Sincerely- Casidhe O'Connor.

"Sorry, parents are dead. Check my records; I'm emancipated."

There, that's taken care of.

Did you know that they make these things that you can have attached to your existing hair that makes it look like it's your own hair, only longer?

Did you know that the Parents Sports Boosters that take care of concessions don't really like it when you come in and do their job better than they do?

Did you know that you can have a custom made cheerleader's outfit finished in a single afternoon if you flirt enough with the guy behind the counter and add an under-the-table sizable tip to the tab?

Did you know that chaps don't really go with a cheerleader outfit? They don't. Plus, I think the school might have a problem with that. Okay, scrap that idea.

These and other revelations coming soon to a baseball parking lot near… um, the school.

"Hey, where are you at?"

Still fiddling with the ear bud thingie for my phone I answer, "Right around the corner. Hey, you're still dating Dave, right?"

I heard Chloe sputter. "Yeeeah, do you know something I don't know?"

Pulling in the parking lot I reply, "No, just checking. You're coming to the game tonight."

"Cas," she whined. "I don't like baseball."

"Maybe not, but you'll like the outfit I got you."

I saw her waving at me and closed the connection before stopping. The door opened and her backpack made it to the floorboard before she dropped beside me."

"Oh my god! Where did you get all of that hair?! It's so cute!"

I pet my high ponytail with a smile. "I know, right?"

She leaned in a did a close inspection. "Wow, they matched the color great." Dropping back down in her seat she gave me the evil eye. "Okay, now what's this about an outfit?"

Reaching into the back seat, I retrieved a good sized white box and handed it to her with a smile. "It's for tonight."

I checked the side mirrors and eased back out into the post-school-leaving-the-parking-lot frenzy. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her open the top and her resulting giggle.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"Nope."

Chloe pulled out the cheerleader uniform top, except it wasn't designed like the current squad's uniform. The purple and gold colors were definitely there, but in place of the school's letters and mascot was a large patch that read, "Dave's Girl," in cursive lettering.

"I've got one just like it," I said with a pleased expression on my face.

"You've got a cheerleader outfit that says, Dave's Girl?"

A giggle escaped my lips. "Mine reads, Mark's Girl, and I have one for Ted too."

She folded up the top and closed the box. "Craig will appreciate Ted in a skimpy skirt."

"Chloe! His are shorts and a normal guy cheer top."

Her face wrinkled up a little with an unpleasant thought. "Think we can get him to shave his legs? It would look a lot better with the outfit."

I was going to comment, but the thought of a smooth legged Ted stuck in my head, so I just let my mouth hang open while I explored the possibilities. "Call him and get him over to the house. I'll try to talk him into it." As an afterthought I added, a little too eagerly. "Call Craig too."

Craig was the first call and I listened while Chloe told him the plan. Amazingly enough, he was game to the idea of experimenting, but couldn't make it to the house. If he was going to the game then he had to complete his homework first. It was one of the conditions of his parents during the school week. Understandable, I suppose. Although he was very eager to see Ted in a cheerleader's uniform.

"Nuh uh, not gonna happen."

I grabbed Ted's arms and gave him my sweetest puppy dog eyes. Bow to the effect, I tell you. Bow! "Craig said he's interested in seeing you hairless."

That little tidbit of information shocked him a little. "Really?"

Extending my pouty lip I nodded quickly. "Uh huh."

He looked to the side to avoid the amazing power of my pouty lip.

"Ted, Mark has smooth legs too. In fact he went as far as to have his whole body laser cleaned of hair."

That brought his eyes back around to me. "Mark?"

"I think it's sexy as hell, and you would look so good in the outfit." Opening the box I moved the top out of the way and showed him the stretchy shorts. "Isn't it about time to show the guys and girls what they've been missing all this time?"

The sound of Chloe pounding down the stairs interrupted us, and she turned the corner, striking a pose. "What do you think?""

It wasn't a traditional outfit. We wouldn't be actually leading cheers. I'd leave that for the semi-professionals. So I opted for purple knee boots with a chunky two inch heel instead. Ted's were regular tennis shoes with purple ankle socks. The purple skirt with gold piping was a little shorter than I thought. It didn't take much of a spin to make it fly up, revealing the spankies underneath. I stayed within cheerleader guidelines and kept the spankies the same color as the skirt. It was still damn sexy.

"You're hot, Chloe. No doubt about it." Ted added a nod of encouragement as well. I think he was actually speechless.

Chloe bounced a little. "Dave is SO gonna love this." With exaggerated movement she closed into Ted, distracting him for the cause. "So, Ted, are you gonna join the smooth squad?"

Chloe is so bad. I couldn't let that challenge go so I tried to one up her by taking Ted's hand and setting it on my thigh.

"Doesn't it feel good?" His eyes jerked to where he was touching while I moved it a few inches back and forth to show him how nice I felt. "We could do it for you if you want." With that, I looked up at Chloe, trying to egg her on.

"Oh yeah, good idea. She grabbed Ted's other hand and put it on her thigh. "Wouldn't you like us to help shave you?"

Craig may have more than a handful of hormone charged Ted to deal with at the end of the night. It was all for a good cause, then.

"Do you think we broke him?"

I gave Chloe a wry smile while I poured my Coke. "Well, since he's up there 'relaxing' himself…" A giggle escaped my lips. I just couldn't hold it back. "I'd say we performed admirably, shaving a sixteen year old boy's legs."

Chloe's hand was over her mouth trying to contain herself. "I can't believe you offered to clean him up — 'there'.

I shrugged. "Nothing worse than a bushy jungle between a guy's legs, or a girl's legs for that matter. I thought it was quite helpful of me, even when he declined."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yeah, if you wanted to give him spank fantasies for the next year."

Sipping at my Coke, I played with that thought for a few seconds. "It's kind of… nice knowing that a guy thinks about me that way."

"Cas, a lot of guys think of you and want to…" she motioned her fist up and down.

"Plunge their toilets?" At her returned glare, I set my Coke down and grabbed her arms. "Turn around, you've got it all wrong."

I pushed myself up against her back and went up on my toes, over her shoulder. "You've got to imagine you've got a penis. There's not a whole arm movement down there. It's all in the wrist, like this."

I tried to looked down, but couldn't see anything because something was blocking the way. "How can you seeing anything down there. Your mongo breasts are in the way. Teasingly I reached across and covered both of her breasts with my hand and forearm, squeezing them in.

"Where are you guys at?" Ted announced as he came through the kitchen door, decidedly more relaxed. His eyes widened at my arm around Chloe and my hand posed over her genital area, and my other hand… No, no, no Chloe, don't do it!

"Hey Ted, don't mind us. Casidhe is just showing me how to masturbate properly. Apparently I've been doing it wrong all of these years."

A strained look overcame his face before he backed out and closed the door.

"Chlo, you know you're going to Hell for that one, don't you?"

"Hey, you're the one grabbing my boobs. Which, by the way, leggo!"

I jumped back. "We're all girls here."

She turned and let me see her raised eyebrow. "Yeah, but you're bisexual, and you've already kissed me once. I've had boyfriends that haven't gotten as far as you have."

With just a little bit of disgusted recoil I flinched back. "Ewww, it would be like making out with my sister. No, just… no."

Chloe looked amused at my overacting. "Oh really. Then why are your nipples hard?"

I bugged, looking down at my chest and my newly budding breasts. Hey, they aren't hard!

"Made you look!" Chloe laughed as she dashed out of the kitchen.

The Sun was low in the sky, but still quite bright. You know the kind that sits right in front of you as you're driving, and all you see is this brilliant ball of yellow while you are speeding through a residential neighborhood avoiding small children, and those little rat dogs that invariably wind up in the middle of the street? No matter which way you turn to avoid looking directly at it, it's always there. And that little visor they have stuck above the windshield is absolutely no help. I can just see the engineers that designed the thing. 'Oh I know, let's put an adjustable, completely solid object in front of the driver so they can have the choice of going blind or not seeing a thing. Either way, they're dead.' Yeah, I can see it going something like that. How about a heavily tinted visor instead? Nooo! That would make too much sense!

A few cars were in the parking lot when we got there thirty minutes before the pre-game party to make sure the guy got there with the extra supplies for the concession stand. I'd planned on about a hundred people to show, but knew there would probably be a little less. From my research, advertising usually increases turnout by no more than ten percent, and ten percent of 432 is 43.2. I'd imagine someone would have to baby-sit their younger sibling, so there's the point two. Of course I could be totally off and everyone would wind up bringing the entire family, including cousins, in-laws, family pets, neighbors. But, thems the breaks when dealing with the unknown.

Chloe and I gave the concessions guy an eyeful when we stopped off. To look at things and hand over a check to cover the food. I was feeling a little self-conscious about showing so much of the lower half of my body. However with a gaff, a panty liner and my spankies, I knew I was covered pretty well.

Ted was still in the car by the time we made it back.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I changed my mind."

"About?" I prompted.

He looked down. "These shorts are too tight and my legs are shaved for god's sake. If I go out there like this, I'll be pounded for sure come tomorrow."

Chloe opened the passenger side door and grabbed a hold of one of his arms. "You aren't looking at this the right way, Ted. Stand up." At his balk, she swept her arm out. "Look, nobody's here right now."

He craned his neck out the door to make sure, so I grabbed the other arm and pulled. He finally gave in.

"See, you aren't any worse off than we are. You don't have six inches of belly on display, and Casidhe was nice enough to put the school mascot on your shirt instead of 'Craig's Boy'. Your thighs are pretty defined and you don't have knobby knees, so that's a plus."

"I think it's sexy," I added. "And with two of the hottest girls in the Sophomore class hanging on your arm, I don't think you'll be teased."

"Even if they did," Chloe explained. "Cas and I would tear them to shreds, socially. You saw what she did to Jerry Greene. He's had one date in four months, and that was actually his younger cousin that was visiting from Alabama, so that didn't count."

"It's a win/win!" Being double-teamed by both of us again had Ted questioning his self imposed angst that was eating at him. The expressions that were crossing his face gave me a positive feeling.

"Okay, but you guys can't leave me alone tonight."

Chloe and I grabbed an arm and slid our hands through. "His name is Head, Ted Head."

Chloe bounced. "Oh, I want to be Miss Moneypenny." I nodded. "That's cool. I'm gonna be Halle Berry."

"Cas, you're white, like white white," she exaggerated.

"Yeah," I agreed. "But I've got the sexy Catwoman costume on order for Halloween. Maybe I can get a dark spray on tan in the meantime."

"Oh, good call."

"You think my butt would look good in a leather Catwoman outfit, Ted?"

He blinked a couple of times.

"Cas, don't do that to him. Those shorts of his show everything. We don't need things exploding everywhere."

"Sorry, Ted. I didn't mean to tease." Okay, I really did. What? It's fun!

Seventy-three. That's how many people showed, some of whom were Mark's parents and his little sister.

"Casidhe!" I heard above the music blaring as Chloe, Ted and I were dancing in the circular clearing we made with about twenty cars. Hey, it keeps the trash spreading around the grounds to a minimum.

I looked up and saw Mark's mom waving at me. My face lit up and I waved back. "Susan, Michael!" Turning back to Chloe and Ted I gave them the scoop. "Those are Mark's parents. I'll be back in a sec, okay?"

With a returned nod I was almost speed walking through the crowd. "Cool, you guys made it."

Susan's eyes were wide, taking in the display. "Wow, you really did it."

"No kidding," added Michael. "I thought you'd bring your friends, maybe a handful, gheeze."

I smiled wide. "Nothing's too good for my boyfriend." Behind Susan stood a pre-teen girl, looking decidedly sick to her stomach, not to mention the finger she was sticking down her throat and gagging dramatically.

Susan smacked at her. "Casey, stop it, and come meet your brother's girlfriend. This is Casidhe O'Connor. Casidhe, this is Casey."

With a smile and a finger wave I said, "Hi!"

She looked me over. "That's a cool uniform. Are you a cheerleader?"

Shaking my head, throwing my ponytail around and giggled. "Nope, just highly spirited. Come on, I'll introduce you around." Looking up at her parents I asked. "Is it okay?"

Michael looked a little wary. "Uh…"

"I'll be right beside her the whole time." Susan smiled at me. "Oh, and you guys have got to stop by the food stand. Free eats tonight!"

That distracted Michael while Susan cautioned her daughter. "Stay with Casidhe and no running off."

Before Susan could implement even more rules, I grabbed Casey's hand and pulled. "Come on! We got dancing!"

The bleachers were completely packed by the time the game started. Michael and Susan had their spots saved and I already had director's chairs set up next to them for the gang. The parking lot was cleaned up before things got a little more sedate without the constant blare of the local radio station through everyone's boom boxes.

The home team took turnes checking out the crowd from the dug out and when Mark poked his head out with a stunned look I jumped up and gave him a happy bounce and a wave.

His eyes bugged at my outfit, so I lifted the sides a little and curtsied for him. It wasn't a perfect curtsy, but the effect was good enough. A hand pulled him back and it was replaced with Steve's face and lascivious grin soon thereafter.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" I heard him yell.

The coach yelled at them and the team had to retreat to put their minds on the game. Two more cheerleaders showed up to lead the small crowd with their chants while I basked in the effect.

It's really kind of weird keeping my legs crossed all of the time. However if I didn't, it was amazing at how many boys would happen to be crossing in front of me, on their way to wherever. I turned into quite the pro after only fifteen minutes of showing off what was underneath my skirt.

Details about the game? Do you actually care? Let's just say that it was their biggest win ever. Six to three was the final score, including a one run homer and two RBI's by my sweetie!

Craig showed up at the third inning and Ted was distracted for the rest of the game, but Chloe and I cheered enough to take up the slack.

Ding Dong!

I left the game all by my lonesome as Chloe left with Dave, who finally showed up real late and Ted was, of course, off to have fun with Craig. But I had better things to deal with.

I opened up the front door and there stood my freshly showered and very happy boyfriend.

"Oh, hi Mark. I was just about to head to bed." I yawned dramatically, but couldn't keep it up, giggling right after.

He stepped in and hoisted me up from under the arms. I squealed happily and wrapped my legs around him so he could let me, in turn, wrap my arms around his neck for a nice long kiss. I heard the door close and our bodies swivel around until I felt my back against the door and his hands beneath my thighs. I could seriously get used to this.

He broke away and I leaned back a little. "Am I too heavy?"

"You're perfect. I could probably hold you here for hours."

A playful smirk played over my lips. "But then I couldn't feel your hands on me."

With a slight groan he slowly set me down. I made it a point to make sure our bodies didn't lose contact for even a second. Just making sure he was happy to see me. He was. Giggle.

"Where did you get this outfit?"

I broke away and spun in place. "Like?"

"Very much. I could barely keep my mind on the game."

Heat rose to my face and it wasn't an embarrassing heat. With all of the attention given to me over the evening I was humming along on a very nice excitement glow. Slow down, Casidhe. I breathed for a second and then distracted myself. "You want to stay in tonight? I could make us something to eat if you're hungry."

Mark's eyes swept my body and then locked on mine. "I'm very hungry."

I smiled. "For food, Mr. Tanner." Spinning away, I sashayed to the kitchen with Mark trailing behind after getting an eyeful.

"Hmm," I contemplated items in the refrigerator. "Steak sandwich?"

He goggled at me. "You cook too?"

I beamed at him, prideful. "Yeah-huh. I'm a very good cook. So, steak sandwich?"

"Sounds great."

The indoor grill was on the island in the middle of the room. I made my way around the kitchen after making sure Mark was comfy on one of the stools watching my every move. No matter how much I tried to concentrate on what I was doing, I felt the heat of his eyes upon me. The heat from the grill wasn't helping matters and I turned the overhead exhaust fan on. It added a whirring noise into the background, so I wasn't as self-conscious about the silence between us.

"What would you like on your sandwich? I'm using buttered Kaiser rolls that I'll toast on the grill."

His eyes brightened just a little. "Um, lettuce and tomato if you have it."

With a smile I opened the fridge. "But of course," I replied in my best French accent. It wasn't pretty. "I have a little bit of everything. I try to eat at least two healthy meals a day. The lunch room ala carte isn't something that I would classify as healthy."

He snorted in agreement. It was cute on him.

I peeled a few leafs of lettuce and sliced a tomato, setting them to the side. The aroma of grilling beef filled the kitchen and I sighed. It was nice to cook for more than myself again.

"You'll have to come over for dinner, more often. I hate cooking for just one person."

I could tell he was taking in the scent too. "If it tastes as good as it smells, then you'll have to lock your doors to keep me away."

Letting my eyes travel his body for a moment, I found his face and a little contentment behind his eyes. "Medium rare for you, I think."

"Hmm?"

"Your steak, you look like someone that likes his steak medium rare. With the juices dripping and licking your fingers, savoring the taste. Am I wrong?"

I think that was a little too much for him. He snaked his hand around my waist and pulled me to him. Hunger was definitely in his eyes and most assuredly in his mouth because he devoured me at that moment. My body was on automatic as I literally climbed up into his lap, straddling his strong muscular thighs.

Little whimpers of satisfaction broke out of my mouth. His scent, even above the aroma of the grilling steak, found itself inside me, caressing my mouth and nose, urging me on.

My hands worked at the hem of his t-shirt, lifting it up and allowing me access to his smooth chest, where my fingers danced in happy worship to our heat. Oh to be a genetic girl and have him lay me down on the counter to claim me, I would have given anything for that to have been true at the moment.

Breathe Casidhe.

I pulled away. His eyes were smoky, his mouth loose, and his lips full. Closing my eyes I tried to banish the image from my mind and turned my head away. My breath had already gone heavy, and my tummy twitched, ached for completion, or more to the point aching for copulation.

Reaching out I slid my hand across the counter for the tongs I would use to turn the steaks. His mouth found its way to my neck, teeth bare against my throat, biting lightly, surrounded by his warm lips. Oh god! My back involuntarily arched into him.

I was about ready to say screw the steaks, but I knew my man was hungry. For what, was the next question.

With my free hand I pushed at his shoulder. "Mark." God, when did my voice get so husky?

He pulled away and I quickly flipped the steaks. Okay, we've got another seven minutes before they're through. The tongs clattered on the counter where I dropped them as I pulled his mouth back to my neck. A burning sensation let me know I was being marked and I don't think that I cared in the least. On second thought, I knew that I did care. I wanted the world to know that I was taken and who it was that had claimed me.

His hands ran under my top, pushing it up, along with my bra, until I felt his mouth pull away from my neck and drop lower to my tiny breasts. Dear mother of all that is… That was all it took. A wave of warm sensation washed over me, crashing down upon my body like nothing I had ever felt before. My hips ground into his without my urging, and I held his head to my breast, squeezing him and shaking until I cried out, echoing into the night.

Photo Credit: Olga http://mgpg.wordpress.com/2006/09/25/olga-super-red/