Lee Stetson very nearly had to drag his partner into the hotel room that the
Agency was putting them up in for the night. It was, in Scarecrow's mind, the
very least they could do. A five-star hotel would have been more along the lines
of what they fairly deserved, but the Richmond Henninger was, in its own right,
a classy establishment.
Amanda groaned as Lee guided her through the door of the suite and slowly
trudged her way over to the couch while Lee locked the door behind them. He set
their bags down on the floor while watching her weary body slowly descend onto
the couch.
"No, no, no," he told as he quickly covered the distance and tugged her back up.
"What?" she whined at him, her expressive eyes clearly showing her confusion to
him. "You mean I can't even sit down?"
"Well, yeah, I mean you can," Lee began. "But trust me, you don't want to."
Amanda shook her head and began to sink back down onto the couch, looking for
the all world as if she fully intended to crash there for the night.
"Lee, I'm tired, my body feels as though I've been playing an all-day football
marathon and ended up on the losing team. Please?"
Lee shook his head, then held out his hand to her.
"Come on, I've got something in mind better for you."
"Trust me," she told him. "There can't be anything better than sitting here."
She looked down at her muddy, soiled jeans and shirt. "Well, except for laundry
service."
"Amanda, the clothes will be taken care of, now follow me."
"Huh?"
She winced as she stood up and looked at him, a sorry expression covering her
face if Lee had ever seen one.
"Follow me, walk with me, trust me," she mumbled even as she allowed herself to
be pulled along.
"I do these things and what does it get me?"
Lee chuckled as he listened to her words, muttered loud enough that he could
hear but soft enough that he comprehended she meant no harm. She was simply
venting aloud and he certainly could not blame her. Today was supposed to have
been a milk run that had snowballed into a complete disaster, a Net-Eleven-FU.
While messy and a tad painful for both of them, things had turned out rather
well, including the score of a luxury suite within the Richmond Henninger.
"What it gets you, Amanda King, is something that is sure to help the sore
muscles that I know for a fact have to be killing you as much as they are
killing me."
"Oh, and what would that be?"
"A hot shower," Lee told her.
"Lee," Amanda began softly, "I'm sure that would be very nice, but I don't care.
The only thing I want to do is sit down and contemplate the taking off of these
dirty clothes, which really may require several hours of intense concentration
to even accomplish, I will have you know, and after which maybe have room
service deliver something edible, preferably something that doesn't require the
effort of lifting a fork or spoon."
"You really are cranky," he said with a grin, marveling at the fact that she'd
still had enough energy to put all that into one sentence.
Amanda just sighed and turned around to look into the bathroom.
"Oh my," she gasped.
"What?"
Lee poked his head in and grinned.
"They weren't kidding when they said luxury."
"I think this bathroom is bigger than my garage," Amanda whispered.
Lee entered into the room that really wasn't quite as large as Amanda described
it, but he knew better than to try to tell her otherwise. He crossed over to the
shower and turned on the taps, beginning a warm spray of hot water that was
exactly what his partner needed.
"See, hot shower, clean towels, I'll order room service," he told her with that
charming smile that melted her insides like butter sliding down warm pancakes.
Right now, that's all Amanda wanted to do, slide down onto the what looked like
marble floor, curl up, and ignore the world. For about a month. Instead, she
found herself viewing the silly grin on her partner and shaking her head at him.
The gesture and thought were sweet and she told him so.
"There's only one problem," she told him.
"What?"
"I hurt so bad I don't think I could get my clothes off," she said with a small
laugh.
"Oh," Lee's eyebrow raised at that and then his facial expression rapidly
changed, to concern.
He quickly moved to stand in front of his partner, eyeing her up carefully,
trying to assess the damage of the day.
Seeing his concerned look, she consoled him. "I'm teasing," she said. "Now
scoot, it's getting steamy in here."
Lee laughed as turned and walked out. He had just pulled the door to an almost
closed position when he heard Amanda's little groan.
"Manda?" he called her name.
She did not respond.
Lee did not hesitate.
He pushed the door open and sighed sadly as he looked at her. Though the
determination was visible, her expression matched the painful wince that he had
heard from her.
"Amanda, you, uhm, want some help?" he asked her nervously.
She gave Lee a look, one that said she needed the help, very much, but was
afraid to ask him. They both knew the reason why.
It had taken them a long time to dance around the issue of just exactly how
involved they were and just exactly how involved they wanted to be. Since the
spring, after their kiss in the Q-Bureau, they had tried to nurse the
all-too-new romance that had blossomed between them, but between the demands of
job and her family, it hadn't been exactly easy.
It was a romance filled with hopes and dreams, swirling with equal parts of
sexual tension and questionable uncertainties.
Nervously, Lee approached her.
Nervously, Amanda looked at him.
"I, uhm, could help you," Lee began.
"Would you, uhm, mind," Amanda began.
He smiled at her.
"Turn around," Lee told her.
She did, so that she was facing the mirror in the bathroom, Lee standing behind
her.
"I, uhm, can help you take your sweater off," Lee stammered nervously, "I mean,
I know your shoulder has got to be hurting you."
"Yeah," she whispered softly.
Lee's hands moved to the front of her and gently clutched the bottom of her
sweater. Slowly, he pulled it upward, taking care so that he didn't jostle her
too much for she'd been through enough today.
Nervously Amanda watched in the mirror as he began to pull her sweater up,
knowing that she was allowing Lee to get a glimpse of far more than she had ever
revealed to him before. His movements were that of a man treating her like a
fine porcelain doll, taking all the care in the world to remove the garment.
When it was off, he allowed it to fall to the floor and their eyes met in the
mirror. For a long moment, they simply looked at the reflection of his taller
body nestled up against her back, his powerful towering body seeming to have
adopted a protective stance. It was then that she noticed his hands had returned
to her body, resting gently upon her shoulders.
"I think I can handle the rest," Amanda told him shyly.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded, very slowly.
"I know you're hurting, the water's hot, and I can do a mean shoulder massage,"
Lee offered.
"In…" Amanda's voice squeaked.
Lee nodded. Already his hands were doing wonderful things to her skin, slowly
massaging her aching muscles with a gentle touch.
"Gosh," Amanda whispered.
She closed her eyes, reveling in his touch that was almost too much to handle.
The man she loved was willing to do what he could to ease her pain and yet, at
the same time, Amanda understood his unspoken intent. Her Scarecrow would never
push her any further than she allowed, even if they did end up in the shower
together.
There was only one problem with this scenario. Amanda was not entirely sure
exactly where she wanted her partner to stop, or to begin.
She felt his hands move down her back and linger at the back of her bra, slowly
gliding back and forth, indecisively. His touch was warm; stirring a heat within
her that had nothing to do with the warmth of the hot water cascading from the
shower that had filled the luxurious bathroom.
Amanda lowered her dark eyes, closing off from him the display of her private
emotions. When she spoke, her voice was a tiny whisper.
"Yes."
Lee pressed a gentle kiss against her neck.
"Trust me," he replied.
She merely nodded as he began to undo her jeans, his long fingers sliding the
zipper downward slowly. Unable to watch the reflection that they made, Amanda
closed her eyes. It was one thing for her partner to view, but Amanda was not
sure she could handle the observation of him removing her clothes. Instead, she
allowed him the privilege, trusting him completely.
First hers and then his, until there were no barriers between them and yet she
still did not open her eyes. It was through Lee's guidance that she found
herself in the shower, being turned around so that the heated water cascaded
down her back. Then he joined her, moving to stand behind her.
Amanda was not sure how long they stood there, enjoying the feeling of the day's
tensions washing away. It was almost like a surreal dream to her, something that
she could not quite guarantee the reality of while desperately needing it to be
real.
Lee's hands reclaimed ownership of her shoulders, practiced movements stroking
away the soreness that had settled in. He kept the trust that she had needed as
his hands worked heavenly magic upon her now damp skin. Movement carried his
fingers along her shoulders, up her neck, and down her back before traveling
upward again. He would start at the top of her shoulders; sometimes his hands
dipping slightly forward but never so low that he crossed the invisible boundary
of decency between them.
He caressed her back with both vertical and horizontal strokes yet never
straying too far around her tiny frame, lest his fingers stray from his intended
path of purity.
All the while, as he stroked and kneaded her, releasing the pain from the day's
bumps and scrapes that would, in all likely hood, leave bruises upon her skin he
did so much more. The internal battle that had waged within Amanda struggled to
come to a conclusion. She loved Lee more than she had ever loved any man, with
an intensity that overpowered nearly every rational thought. Admittedly, from
the very beginning she had found him intriguing, handsome, and very desirable
despite his obvious display of lacking manners and cocky arrogance. Fantasies
that she had once thought would never breathe to see the light of day were now
on the verge of becoming reality.
There was no doubt in her mind that he wanted her, the physical evidence rested
rock hard against her flesh while his lips lightly teased her neck here and
there between his massage. If nothing else, she had to admire his will power,
knowing full well what it had to be taking him to reign his own emotions.
She knew he loved her, even if he had not spoken the words aloud. She'd known
for a very long time that the emotion exited between them, on both sides.
Sometimes she'd thought it had always been there, beckoning from just below the
surface while neither had been ready or able to grasp the evidence.
Would it be so wrong to allow him this, to grant him access to cross this bridge
still separating them? Could she trust him with her heart and soul, as she'd
already come to trust him with her very life?
As if sensing the very questions that battled in her mind, Lee's fingers began
creeping closer to those boundaries. Not quite, but so close that both
recognized it. He was silently questioning her, awaiting her response. One hand
wrapped around her waist and pulled her back and closer, bringing their damp
flesh together.
No words had been spoken and yet she knew. All she had to do was pull away and
Lee would understand that she wasn't ready, yet. The heat of his hand resting
upon her stomach burned with the love that neither had verbalized; a simple
action that caused a surge of emotion within Amanda. Burning tears spilled from
her eyes, flowing down her cheeks along with the hot water. He loved her and she
had her answer.
Turning within his grasp she glanced up at him, taking in the dark passion that
emanated from his hazel eyes. She reached a hand up, her fingers sliding up his
cheek and then up into his wet hair. She pressed close against him, reveling in
the strength of his body.
"Lee," she began.
He lowered his head, his lips coming to meet hers. He began the kiss softly,
their damp lips barely meeting. Then the inferno that blazed between them took
hold, pushing all else aside.
Hungrily they kissed, each devouring the feast offered by the other.
Hands roamed and traveled, burning and caressing, mingling with the flowing
water. She felt his hard chest crush against her feminine curves and still it
was not close enough. Amanda's hands traversed his back, dipping low enough to
stroke his buttocks before rising back up. He moaned her name against her flesh
and she cried out his when one hand completed the path leading to her still
secret treasure that he intended to claim.
Walk with him, he had once asked of her. She had replied yes.
Trust him, he had wanted, and in this too, she had complied.
Love him, he had needed, and so easily she had fallen, so deeply and so
completely.
Make love to him, he had desired, and gosh, oh yes, she would.
She needed this and him and he knew. Amanda gasped when his hands encircled her
waist, lifting her up and back against the shower wall, only to bring her down
upon his hardened arousal, completing the journey that had begun with his
desperate plea by the train tracks.
Amanda buried her head upon his shoulder, sobbing at the pure joy and crying his
name as he guided her along the dance of passion that joined them as one,
uniting them in a fulfillment like nothing she had ever experienced.
It was wondrous and perfect, the feeling of his cock buried within her, the rush
of emotions that filled her with each rapturous thrust as they consummated the
love between them. It was an absolute perfection, the likes of which she'd only
experienced twice before in her life, when she'd held her newborn sons in her
arms for the very first time. The knowledge that this was right, with no doubts
and no regrets filled her and she pleaded for more.
With each heated thrust of him, he unleashed her passion. The joy of his
strength and power consumed her, allowing her to move with him in unrestrained
heat. A primal dance of erotic lust fueled by love and passion played out
between them while the hot water of the shower washed over them.
Lee moaned her name and she cried out in delight as they moved higher and higher
in a frenzied blaze of ecstasy.
Amanda had been like a moth, drawn to his burning flame and she reveled in the
sensations as he burned her with each stroke of his hard penis. He allowed her
to experience this lovemaking with no hesitations, cherishing her body with a
love that was nothing ordinary. He held her faith and her trust safely, allowing
her to give him both her body and heart completely. With each movement, their
frenzy increased until there was nothing in her universe but the blinding orgasm
that rocked her as she clutched Lee's body with all the strength she could
muster.
She cried out his name as he growled hers, his mouth pressed against her
shoulder as he climaxed within her, his own orgasm just as blinding and intense,
their bodies shuddering together.
Later, very much later, they lay under the warmth of the covers, snuggled
against one another in the aftermath of their lovemaking. Sleepiness threatened
to overtake Amanda and yet she wanted to stay awake, to enjoy this moment of
complete perfection. The feel of her partner, as he cradled her in his arms
assured her that this night had not been, nor would it prove to be a moment
she'd regret. As her dark eyes drifted shut, she smiled and began to give in to
the exhaustion that had lain claim of her body.
In those final moments, as the sandman took over to send awareness into
slumbering respite she felt Lee press a gentle kiss upon his forehead and softly
whisper the three words that he still didn't have the courage to utter aloud
when he thought she would hear them.
Her response was to snuggle deeper into his embrace, knowing she was exactly
where she needed to be and knowing that this was only the first in a lifetime of
passionate nights that would consume them and Amanda blessed the gods of passion
for bringing her Scarecrow into her life.
The End - and I promise they lived happily ever after
Story Notes:
Summer, between Season 3 and Season 4. Absolutely an A/U, but one that gushed to
be written. Sometimes, as Zena and I have discovered, it a good thing to venture
outside of the box.
be written. Sometimes, as Zena and I have discovered, it a good thing to venture
outside of the box.