Two weeks went by. Two weeks in which Garibaldi tried to find out what Marcus had been doing at Susan's at 4.45 in the morning. Neither Marcus nor Susan had said a word on the matter, to anyone. And for some reason, there was no one who could tell him what had happened at that bar either.
And so two weeks went by. Two weeks in which reports of a way too hyper Ranger became more and more persistent. Two weeks in which it was said that a certain Commander had been looking out of the observation dome starry eyed, more than once. Two weeks in which polls were started in Security and C&C with very high stakes. Two weeks in which the Commander and the Ranger were seen in each others company a lot. But then they did have all that business with the Resistance to take care of and a seven day mission to Mars to plan.
Two weeks in which Garibaldi could find no tangible evidence to support what his gut was telling him: something was going on with those two.
Two weeks, until...

Marcus had been gone for four days and Susan had been all over the place. Her stomach had been in knots since he left. Stress, she'd told herself. Which was exactly what Franklin had made of it after Sheridan had forced her to go see him. Franklin had given her something to help her sleep, to no avail. It hadn't helped her mood swings either. They had been impressive, even for her. One moment she had been giving everyone in C&C hell, the next she'd been standing on the Command deck staring out at the stars, lost in a reverie.
Now they were all assembled in Sheridan's office: Garibaldi, Franklin, Delenn, the Captain and herself. And the look on Sheridan's face worried her.
"There has been a vicious attack on a Resistance cell on Mars," Sheridan said.
Susan's stomach turned.
"We don't know what happened exactly, only that it happened in a district where Marcus was supposed to be meeting with some people," Sheridan continued.
The rest of his words were lost on Susan. She was glad she'd sat down at the beginning of this meeting. She felt her breakfast coming back and she felt like she was gonna pass out.
*This is ridiculous! Why does this news upset me -this- badly?*
** Hello, are we dense or what?! Face it Susan, you love the guy and you're literally sick with worry. Now deal with it and behave like a professional!**
She looked up. Sheridan was still talking. He was saying something about waiting two days to see if they heard something from Marcus and then sending out a rescue mission. Her gaze came across Franklin's. He was looking at her, concerned. She nodded 'I'm okay' at him. She wasn't, but she didn't need Stephen fussing over her right now. Her mind was in turmoil.
*Oh God, I hope he's okay.. he has to live.. he -has- to.. I have to tell him*
"Commander, how long will it take for you to organize this possible rescue mission?" Sheridan's voice cut through her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh.. ehh.. assuming we get no more information.. about a day," she managed as her auto-pilot seemed to take over.
"Okay, you and Mr. Garibaldi start on that then and we'll get back together tomorrow morning at 0800 to discuss what's next. In the mean time, let's all pray that we hear from Marcus."
Everyone nodded and they all left Sheridan's office. Susan stayed behind, not trusting her legs to work properly yet. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, face in her hands.
*Will I ever learn? Why did it have to come to something like this for me to realism that I love him? Due to my own stupidity I may never be able to tell him.*
She sighed and gathered her strength.
*Thinking like that doesn't really help. I gotta focus on organizing a useful rescue attempt. Concentrate Susan. *
She sighed again, putting thoughts of Marcus in danger or worse aside. She was about to get up when she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Sheridan.
"Are you okay?"
" Yeah.. yeah.. I'm okay now."
"Are you sure, Susan? You can talk to me if you want."
"I know, thank you." She got up. "I'm gonna start on that mission. See you."
John watched her walk out of his office. Garibaldi was right, Susan and Marcus were definitely closer than he'd thought. Sheridan had never seen the Commander turn pale like she had when he had relayed the news. He really hoped the Ranger had found his way out of the mess.

===

Two days later Susan was standing on the command deck, frantically trying to avoid a major collision between two freighters. Five minutes ago, she'd been in the best mood: yesterday they'd had a message from Marcus. He was on his way to Babylon 5 on a freighter and he was still in one piece. He'd be arriving in two hours, if that darned Earth freighter =moved=!!
"This is Babylon 5 flight control to Earth freighter 'Poseidon'. Respond!!"
Lt. Corwin had done a nice job, moving the queue of waiting ships out of the way of a drifting Drazi freighter that had lost engine and helm control right after it came out of the jump gate. It had been drifting straight into the queue. All the vessels in queue had nicely responded to their request to move, all but this one freighter that was now in danger of being hit in the rear. For some reason these =dopes= were only watching what was going on in front of them, if they were watching at all.
"This is Earth freighter 'Poseidon' to Babylon 5 control. What's up?"
This guy had a nerve! After ignoring Ivanova's continuous hails for 3 full minutes, he finally responded as if it were a social call!!
"Freighter Poseidon! Get your ass away from there =NOW=!!" Ivanova barked at him. "We've been sending you the coordinates for the past 10 minutes!!"
"Wow, don't get your panties in a bunch, lady!" the captain responded.
Ivanova was steaming. "MOVE.. NOW.. or you're gonna be crushed by that Drazi freighter and I sure as HELL am not gonna send my men out to pick you from between the rubble!"
On hearing that news the captain moved his ship, amazingly fast too. When the vessel was in it's new appointed spot the voice of the captain came again, this time sounding pretty shook up.
"Geez.. I'm really sorry about that."
Ivanova rolled her eyes. Unbelievable.
She ordered the Starfury squad to start towing the Drazi freighter and spent the next two hours cleaning up the mess.

===

They were still working on eliminating the delays when Garibaldi informed Ivanova of Marcus' arrival on the Station.
"Thank you, Mr. Garibaldi. Ivanova out."
Damn, she was gonna be stuck here for at least another hour. And she couldn't leave now, that would be way too suspicious. She sighed and turned back to her console.
An hour and a half later everything was =finally= back to normal. Her shift had been over two hours ago, so Susan signed off and went to her quarters. She decided she needed a change of clothes and a shower before seeing Marcus. She entered her quarters and went to the bedroom where she stopped dead in her tracks.
She hardly recognized the room as her own. Someone had done some redecorating, hanging yards and yards of the finest, thinnest, most beautifully skyblue fabric she'd ever seen from the ceiling to form a canopy and four 'posters'. The anonymous interior designer had left a comforter and pillows in matching casings too. Upon closer inspection she found her own bed underneath it all and a note, lying on top of the comforter. It was a poem, in Marcus' handwriting.

You are the promise I made to my heart
You are the vision I saw in the dark
You are the reason I waited so patiently
So many nights when I closed my eyes
It's you that I have seen
I am the Dreamer
And you are the Dream

She rushed to her com station and sent a message to Marcus.
"Marcus, get your butt over here =now=!"

===

Marcus was walking the hallways of Babylon 5. He was nervous, very nervous. He was on his way to Susan's. Five minutes ago he'd received an audio only message from her, summoning him. He hadn't been able to assess her mood from the one line she'd spoken, but he knew she had found his gift. He'd set it all up before he left for Mars, getting the fabric and bed linens via one of his many contacts. He'd been sure then that it would be perfect to surprise Susan after he came back from his mission. Susan had warmed up to him considerably over the past two weeks. They had gone from general conversation to talk of much more personal things like family and feelings, to sharing the most incredibly mind blowing kisses he'd ever experienced. And then he had left for Mars.
Mars, where the past six days had been pure insanity. He was supposed to hook up with two different resistance cells in two different districts. He would spend one day with the first group, and two days with the second. Add four days for travel and there you had your seven day mission.
All very plain and simple.
Until he had arrived on Mars. He had stayed with the first group a lot longer than planned. Just as he was about to leave for his second rendez-vous, they'd received the news of the attack. He had immediately set out to find the first secure transport out of Mars and had made his way home.
As soon as he'd set foot on Babylon 5 again, he'd gone to the Captain to make sure Susan was on duty and would be so for at least another hour. He needed time to set up his gift. Sheridan had not been surprised to see him, which had made Marcus wonder how much he, and the others, knew or suspected. Marcus had decided to let that go for the time being, and concentrate on he task at hand: preparing his surprise for Susan.
From his short conversation with Sheridan he'd gotten the impression that the news of the attack and the knowledge that he might have been in the middle of it all, hadn't gone too well with Susan.
Knowing that made him hope that she wasn't too mad at him for his gift. Still, with every step that brought him closer to Susan's quarters, his nerves seemed to jump into a higher gear.

===

Susan had spent the past fifteen minutes lying on the bed, looking up at the skyblue and white patterns on the canopy and remembering the events of the past two weeks.
They had both been busy working, sometimes together. In between they had found the time to get to know each other better. She had seen the most obscure little restaurants in Down Below, which was probably the reason Garibaldi hadn't found them out yet. Most importantly though, she now knew that she had fallen most definitely and totally in love with the Ranger. It scared the hell out of her, but, now that she knew he was okay, it felt =so= good!
And how could she not love him? True, he could be most infuriatingly annoying, but that was because he knew =exactly= how to push her buttons, which in itself was an admirable feat. She, on the other hand, knew exactly how to push his buttons, so they were even on that one. He had a passion for old earth literature and, oddly enough, 20th century earth music, and he knew quite a bit about Russian history, both cultural and political. And, most surprising of all, since he had confessed his love for her, he'd been very honest and open about how he felt towards her and it hadn't bothered her. In fact, she had liked it very much. He'd been understanding about her initial reluctance, but he had also told her that it did hurt him.
He'd been very chivalrous about keeping things silent for the time being, until she had figured out her feelings. He had made sure that they went for dinner at places that were nice and where they would have some privacy, away from Garibaldi's prying eyes.
A few days before he left for Mars, they had shared another one of those mind blowing kisses. The last couple of days they'd been sharing more and more of those. She'd been surprised at his kissing skills. For some reason she'd assumed that he was completely innocent when it came to any form of lovemaking. He had gently chided her saying his celibacy never meant he wasn't interested. She had smiled at him and had said: "I'm glad" and had gone on to kiss him to prove it.
And now he had given her this gift. This totally unique, one of a kind four poster bed. She had dreamt of a bed like this. Hell, she'd had -fantasies- involving a bed like this!
It was an infinitely erotic gift and she was gonna make sure he knew it!
She was about to loose herself in a fantasy when her door chime went off.
She pulled herself off the bed and yelled, "Who is it?"
"It's me", Marcus' hesitant voice came.
Susan walked to the door and opened it. Marcus was obviously very nervous. Susan had planned on torturing him a bit, but he had that lost look on his face that she just couldn't resist.

===

Zack was doing his rounds. He was nearly done when he realized he was just a few corridors away from Susan's quarters. He decided to just swing by there. You might never know. They had been secretly keeping an eye on her place to see if Marcus would show up unexpectedly, but so far they hadn't caught them. If something was going on.
Zack rounded the corner to Susan's hallway.. and stopped dead in his tracks, jaw on the floor. He recovered and disappeared back around the corner, hoping they hadn't seen him. He peeked around the corner. Nope, they hadn't seen him, no way. They were way too busy.
Zack grinned and tapped his comlink.
"Zack Allen to Garibaldi."
"Garibaldi here, what's up Zack?"
"Chief, I just stumbled upon some suspicious activity."
"Where? You need backup?"
"Nah, they'll be gone by the time you get here. Just watch security camera 2163."
Garibaldi keyed in the cam ID thinking, *Isn't that the cam in Susan's hallway?* when the image came online. A big grin spread across his face.
"Gotcha," he murmured.
On his screen he watched Susan and Marcus, lost in a passionate embrace in the doorway to Susan's quarters. He turned off the image, not wanting to invade their privacy any more than he already had.
"Thank you for reporting that Zack. I'll see you in Security shortly with a full report."
"Okay Chief. Allen out."
*Oh boy,* Garibaldi thought, *I can hear her now: Garibaldi, you're a dead man!*

===

Susan pulled Marcus into her quarters.
"Did anyone ever tell you you're crazy?" she said to him before kissing him again.
He managed an affirmative "Hmm hmm" before getting lost in her kiss and embrace again. He felt her arms circle his waist underneath his robe, trailing fire through the fabric of his tunic. Meanwhile she was hungrily exploring his mouth, her tongue following the shape of his teeth. He pulled her closer to him, one arm around her shoulders, hand in her hair, the other snaked around her waist, holding her as closely as he could.
He moved his lips from hers to her neck and murmured, "Does this mean you like my gift?"
Susan chuckled, "Like it? That's the understatement of the week!"
"Is that so?" he replied, trailing kisses along her neck, all the way down to the collar of her uniform and back up to behind her ear.
"Hmmm.. I've -dreamed- of a bed like that.You have no idea, the fantasies I've had involving a bed like that."
She felt a shiver go through him at the word 'fantasies' and grinned. Her grin turned into a sharp gasp when he started nibbling her ear.
"I imagine not," he said, moving to minister the other side of her neck.
"Marcusssssss..," she breathed, concealing the beep of the com station.
"Susan, I-," Sheridan's face appeared on the comscreen. He gaped, then cleared his throat.
It took Marcus and Susan a few seconds to realise what was happening. They both looked at the screen, just as surprised as John, not even trying to pull away from each other. They briefly looked at each other and Susan put her head against Marcus' shoulder trying to regain her composure.
"Yes, Captain," she managed, looking at the screen, not quite composed yet.
"No, never mind," he cleared his throat again, this time to keep from laughing, "it can wait till morning. I'll hold all your calls."
"Thank you, sir," Susan replied, not liking the glint in his eyes one bit.
"Good night Susan, Marcus." With that John Sheridan signed off.

===

As soon as the connection was broken Sheridan started laughing uncontrollably.
Garibaldi walked in.
"Captain, wanna go for coffee?"
"Sure, Michael. I could do with a break," Sheridan replied, catching his breath and gesturing at the piles of reports on his desk.
"What's so funny? Can't possibly be anything in those reports."
Sheridan decided to be nice and keep silent about Susan and Marcus, for now.
"Nothing, just.. nah, it's nothing."
Garibaldi looked at him, not believing a word he said.

===

They made their way to the Zocalo, chatting away. At a certain point, Garibaldi couldn't keep it to himself any longer.
"Say, did you know that Susan-"
"And Marcus finally found each other?" Sheridan finished for him. "Yes I did. How did you find out?"
"Zack almost fell over them necking like teenagers at Susan's door. But that was only ten minutes ago. When and how did -you- find out?"
Sheridan couldn't keep a very satisfied smirk from his face. Smugly he replied, "I caught them in a compromising situation when I was trying to contact Susan on Babcom. Just before you came in. You should've seen their faces when I came online!"
They both laughed at the image.
"So, you finally got her back for that time she interrupted you in the middle of trying to kiss Delenn."
"Yes, I did," he smirked, then offended, "How did you know about that?"
"How 'bout that coffee?" Garibaldi tried to change the subject.
They disappeared into the crowd at the Zocalo.

===
 
Susan and Marcus looked at each other.
"That was quite embarrassing," Marcus said with a deadpan look on his face.
Susan was still unable to really speak. *Of all the things! I left it on receive.. my god!!.. Ah what the hell, they were gonna find out soon anyway. *
She looked at Marcus, who looked kind of scared. And she started laughing uncontrollably. It was just too funny.
Marcus saw the laughter start in her eyes and move over her entire face. It was an amazing sight. *In Valen's name, she's so beautiful,* he thought trying to lock the image in his memory. Then he laughed with her.
Susan freed herself from Marcus' embrace, still laughing. She hung on to his hand and walked over to the com station. She set it on holding mode, making sure everyone who tried to call would get her standard message saying she wasn't available and would call back at her earliest convenience.
Marcus saw what she did and grinned. She had one of the most hostile 'answering machine' messages he'd ever seen.
"Convincing everyone you're in a foul mood, are you?"
She gave him a don't-push-your-luck look and he smiled at her innocently.
Susan walked to the door, still pulling Marcus along. Marcus wondered, *Is she going to throw me out already?*
Susan turned off the door chime, wiggling an eyebrow at Marcus. Marcus' heart skipped a beat. *Oh my goodness, I go away for a couple of days and come back to find... this.. If only I'd known that before!*
Susan moved towards Marcus, wrapping her arms around his neck again.
"Now where were we?" she murmured.
Marcus caught on pretty fast, still not believing what was happening. Placing a kiss along Susan's neck he whispered, "I believe I was somewhere around here."
"Oh yes, I remember now. And I believe I was telling you how much I liked that," she purred.
Marcus kissed his way down her neck until he met with the collar of her uniform again. He gave her a kiss right above the first little hook of her uniform jacket and whispered, "May I?"
Susan could only manage an affirmative sound deep in her throat. Marcus moved his lips back to her neck and her ear, meanwhile fumbling with the hooks of her uniform jacket.
Susan was pulling Marcus' tunic free and slipped her hands underneath. Feeling her hands on the bare skin of his back distracted Marcus and he grabbed her face in his hands, pressing his lips to hers again in a surge of passion. They were lost in their kiss.

When they finally broke free they both started to frantically tug at each others clothes. Susan slipped Marcus' Ranger robe off of his shoulders, while he fumbled with those darned hooks again. Susan looked at him intensely, her eyes saying *come on, hurry up already!*
When he took too long for her taste she brushed his hands away and undid them herself. The moment she unfastened the last one, Marcus pulled the jacket off of her shoulders, exposing her shirt.
*Darn, more buttons,* a distant part of Marcus' mind thought.
She was already undoing the first one when he took her hands, looked her straight in the eye, shook his head and said, "I want to do it."
There was something in his voice that told Susan not to oppose him. So she let him have his way, drawing lazy circles across his tunic on his back.
Marcus undid the first two buttons of her shirt and stopped suddenly. Susan saw the look of desire on his face change to thoughtfulness and then sadness. He shook his head and stepped away from her, sighing. She looked at him, utterly lost.
*Am I seeing this right? Is =he= pulling up his walls? I thought I was supposed to be the one doing that?*
Marcus walked towards the sofa, putting a hand on the back of it.
"Marcus," Susan asked, not sure what she wanted to know, only that she wanted to break the silence.
Marcus sighed again. "Susan, the last thing I want is your gratitude."
"Hang on, Marcus. I'm not following you."
Marcus turned to face her, sadness still in his eyes.
"Susan, I don't want you to do this, because I gave you a gift, because you're grateful and you feel you have to give me something back."
Susan was shocked. "Marcus, I don't do sympathy fucks," she said fiercely. She saw him flinch. She took two big steps towards him and took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.
"Marcus," she said, making him look into her eyes, "Marcus, look at me. Do you remember what I said to you when you told me about the woman you were waiting for? Do you remember? I said I hoped she'd appreciate it and I meant it. I still do.
Marcus, I could =never= toy with you like that. Never! You mean too damn much to me."
"Susan-," he said, trying to keep her from making, what he thought was gonna be the dreaded let's-just-be-friends speech.
"Marcus, please, let me finish. These past few days have been the worst I've experienced in a long time. From the moment you boarded that transport to Mars, my stomach's been in knots. Then the news of the attack came, and all I could think of was how I'd never had the chance to tell you, that I love you."
It was out, she'd said it and meant it too. She saw it slowly register on Marcus' face, the sadness making room for wonder and excitement and love.
Until a few moments ago, Marcus had been sure she was gonna break his heart. How could she not? After all, she didn't love him. Her first reaction to his confession two weeks ago had made that clear. He didn't know why he had let himself be swept away like he had. Making himself believe that maybe she had come to love him in the past two weeks. He had started to curse himself for being such a fool, when she saved his butt.
She =did= love him, he only needed to look into her eyes to believe it. All her walls were down, she was completely open to him.
He =really= didn't deserve her. She was too good to be true.
He finally found his voice.
"Do you have any idea how absolutely amazing you are?" he said to her.
Susan blushed, she actually turned red on her cheeks! Marcus drank in the sight. Then he kissed her, gently at first, then more passionately, crushing her against him, holding her tightly. He felt a shudder go through her body, feeding his own arousal.
She moved against him, pushing her hands underneath his tunic. She felt him shudder again, and started moving around the sofa, pulling him with her to sit down. She moved her kisses to his ear, while hanging one of her legs across his knees. She traced the shape of his ear with her tongue, hearing a soft moan escape from his lips.
Marcus managed to gather his wits just enough to remember what he had been doing. He moved to finish unbuttoning her shirt. He had to concentrate real hard, what with Susan making love to his neck and trailing fire across his back with her fingertips.
He undid the last button and pulled back slightly to get a good view. Susan stopped her loving assault on his ear and watched Marcus look at her. He pushed the shirt away from her shoulders, revealing a black satin bra, simple but very elegant, and oh so sexy, the way it stood out against her pale skin. Marcus gaped.
Susan chuckled and waved a hand in front of his eyes.
"Uhmm, Marcus?"
He blinked, then swallowed. He gestured at her discarded uniform on the floor.
"You've got more woman hidden underneath there than I could possibly dream of."
She smiled at him warmly, his compliment arousing her. She leaned close to him, grabbing the hem of his tunic and pulling it up.
"I'll tell you a little secret," she breathed in his ear, "there's more."
She moved away from him again to pull his tunic over his head, revealing his muscled chest, sprinkled with dark hair. Susan put a hand against his chest, gently caressing him.

When he was free of the tunic, Marcus stared at Susan again, arousal flaring in his eyes. He put one hand behind her head, one on her shoulder and pulled her in to fiercely take possession of her mouth once more. He felt her lips part and her tongue slip against his own, her passion matching his. He traced her lower lip with his tongue and nibbled it when she let him. Susan was running her fingertips up and down his sides and across his back.
Marcus moved his hand from her shoulder down her shoulder blade, across her back. His lips moved to her neck, down to her collarbone. Susan sighed. His other hand still buried in her hair, Marcus deftly undid the clasp of Susan's bra with one hand.
Susan felt the fabric falling loose around her chest and made a surprised noise in her throat.
"Damn you're smooth Cole," she whispered.
Marcus chuckled against her collarbone.
"Don't let it mislead you though. Underneath that cool exterior is a very nervous man," he whispered.
Susan smiled and slipped one hand down his side, her feather light touch sending tremors through him. She freed her bra from her elbow and moved her hand to his face. She kissed him, gently at first, to reassure him. But as her passion was growing steadily, she kissed him more fiercely, putting her arms around him and pulling him close. Feeling the hair on his chest rub against her sensitive nipples made her gasp involuntarily.
When they came up for air again, Susan knew they had to decide whether to move to the bed or no.
"Marcus, where do you want to go?"
Marcus pulled up a brow, not following her.
"Sofa, floor, bed, up against the wall, hell, even the kitchen counter is a possibility."
Marcus' brain caught up with her. "Ummm.. I don't know," he said, sounding a bit too innocent, "What do you recommend?"
Susan had to smile at the way he made her sound like the expert.
"I'd say, with the way you've been turning my legs to mush," Marcus looked at her innocently, Susan wiggled a brow at him, "and knowing that carpet burns are hell, I'd recommend the bed."
"To bed it is then, my lady," Marcus said and swept her up in his arms.
"Don't call me that!" Susan chided him, while tickling him to emphasise her point.
Marcus laughed, almost tripped and only just managed to dump her on the bed, bouncing down next to her.
They laughed together and Marcus propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at Susan. He looked at the exposed areas of her skin, taking in the image of her firm breasts, the rippling of her very nicely toned abs with her giggles, back to those exquisite breasts.
Susan watched him look at her and saw the desire mount in his eyes. *He's so gorgeous and I want him -so- badly,* she thought, but she could wait. This was his first time and she'd damn well make it worth the wait!
She reached over, took his hand and placed it on her breast.
"Go ahead, explore all you want. We've got all the time in the world."
He looked up at her, almost embarrassed for being caught staring. "Go on," Susan coaxed him again.
The tiniest hint of mischief crossed his features for a split second. She really thought he was completely innocent. Celibacy didn't mean 'not interest'. He'd had plenty of chances to explore the female body quite extensively, thank you very much. He smiled inwardly at the memory of her surprise at his kissing skills. She was gonna be more surprised this time. This was gonna be a lot of fun!

With the most innocent look on his face he started his conquest of Susan's body.
He took his hand away from where it had been cupping her breast. And moved to brush the sensitive side of it with the backs of his fingers. Meanwhile, he put his lips against her neck again, starting a trail with his tongue there. He felt Susan jerk at the sudden simultaneous stimulation. He trailed his tongue down to her collarbone, still gently brushing her sides.
Shivers went from her toes to the tips of her hair. He was barely touching her and she was getting fully aroused very quickly. *How-*
Her thoughts were cut short when Marcus trailed his tongue further down and to the side of her breast, moving in lazy circles and getting her skin really wet. Susan shivered at the touch of cold air on wet skin.
Then Marcus took his mouth away from her skin. She moaned in protest and was immediately rewarded with his gentle blowing across the wet skin. The tremors that went through her body were uncontrollable. She moaned deep in her throat.
Marcus moved to her other breast and repeated the ritual of wetting her skin with his tongue, leaving her dangling for a little while this time, and finally taking pity and finishing by gently blowing across the hypersensitive skin.
What was he -doing- to her? He was barely touching her, yet she was sure she was gonna die of anticipation if he didn't touch her all over very soon. Somewhere in a far corner of her mind she heard his words again: "Celibacy doesn't mean 'not interested'. "
*That's all very nice and everything, but he really needs to touch me NOW,* she thought, letting a frustrated moan escape from her lips. She hadn't even finished the thought when all of a sudden, Marcus put his mouth over her over sensitive nipple and sucked gently, but firmly. Her eyes flew open and she gasped, mouth wide open.
"Oh God," she gasped in surprise as he moved his mouth to her other breast.
He nearly overloaded her nerves by putting his hands flat against her stomach and around her waist. He felt her buckle underneath him and slowed down his assault on her senses. He moved his mouth back to her collarbone, still hanging on to her waist. Susan came down a bit and miraculously found her voice.
"My God, Marcus. You're-"
"Smooth?" he chuckled. "Not as smooth as you though," he murmured, running his hands up and down her sides.
He looked at her, caressing her body with his eyes. *In Valen's name, she's -so- beautiful, with her flushed face. Did her eyes just turn the most exquisite dark blue-grey? I think they did.*
She smiled at him, pulling his face to hers for a kiss. He complied and leaned into her soft kiss, only to be surprised by her turning them around. She was now on top of him, her hands resting lightly on his chest.
"My turn to surprise you," she smiled wickedly.
"I surprised you then?" he said smugly.
"Yeah well, we'll talk about that later. Now we have more pressing business to attend to." She smiled again as she wiggled her hips around against his groin. "Very pressing indeed."

She trailed her fingertips down his chest to his stomach. Marcus let out a moan. Susan bent down and started a trail of feather light kisses across his chest. She circled one nipple with her tongue, the other with a finger. Marcus twitched underneath her touch. She moved her mouth to his other nipple, hearing a very low moan escape from Marcus' lips. She moved her hands down his stomach to the belt of his pants, feeling his muscles twitch all the way. She undid the button on his pants.
"Time to loose these, don't you agree?" Susan purred, wicked smile on her face.
"They did get a little tight some time ago," he conceded.
*No kidding,* Susan thought with a smile. She unzipped him and motioned him to move his hips off the bed. He did as he was told and she slipped his pants off his legs, throwing them carelessly behind her. As she moved back up over him to do the same with his briefs. She slid her hands up over his legs. Marcus gasped at her touch, then writhed on the bed as her hands went up.
*Torture.. will get back at her for that,* he overloaded brain managed.
Susan gently pulled down his briefs, revealing his arousal. She looked at him approvingly and put her mouth to the inside of his thigh. Marcus moaned, clutching the sheets in his hands. Susan kissed her way up and around his groin to his stomach. There she encountered the tip of his arousal and took it between her lips, sucking gently.
"Oh Susan," Marcus gasped, putting his hands on her shoulders. She let go of him and brought her face level with his.
"That's a taste of what's to come," she said in a husky voice and kissed him slowly, trying to bring him down a bit.
"First things first though," she continued when she heard his breathing slow down a bit. "There's something we still need to get rid of."
Marcus looked at her, not quite conscious yet. Susan smiled, took his hands and put them on her pants.
"Ah yes," Marcus said, catching up. He slid one of his hands around to her butt and turned them. "Let's see if I can torture you for a bit here," he said, wiggling an eyebrow at her. Susan felt desire flare through her body.
He undid her pants and slid them down her legs, taking her panties with them. He couldn't believe the endless lengths of milky white skin he revealed. *I bet there's plenty of sensitive skin there.*
"Let's see what we have here," he said in a low voice, rubbing the sides and backs of Susan's knees with feather light fingers. *Bingo,* he thought when he saw Susan buckle and shiver. He slid his fingertips up to the insides of her thighs, putting his lips to the soft skin his fingers had just left.

Susan had the hardest time lying still. He was torturing her allright! She felt his hands slide further and further up along her thighs, lips following at a small distance.. so close.. so damn close..
Then his fingers found the soft curls at the junction of her legs and then the little nubbin that lay hidden underneath.
"Oh," Susan gasped as she pressed into his fingers uncontrollably.
He heard her moan and let his mouth follow his fingers quickly. He stopped his kisses when he reached the soft curls and looked up at Susan. Her face was flushed, her eyes open, but unfocussed and she was grabbing the sheets.
He rubbed her gently, feeling her body jerk with every movement. Soon he replaced his fingers with his tongue and started to lap her soft flesh. He explored by varying pressure and direction of his strokes, soon finding what she liked best. He heard her breathing go shallow and irregular, laced with gasps and moans.
Susan was beyond coherent thought the moment she felt his tongue against her flesh. He was driving her absolutely and most definitely out of her mind with his lapping, probing and sucking. Just when she was positive she couldn't take any more, he slid first one, then two fingers inside of her. Then he sucked, once, sharp and short.
That was it, waves of pleasure spread through Susan's body and she cried out.
Marcus felt her inner muscles clench around his fingers with her climax.
*Wow!* Marcus felt a heat wave rush through his body at the sound Susan made. It held the middle between a gasp, a moan, a sob and a cry. He rode it out with her and then moved up to kiss her.

Susan lay panting. *My God,* she thought, *did I really cry out?* She couldn't remember ever doing that. But then she couldn't remember ever coming like that either. Had it really been that long? Or was it different because this was Marcus? Marcus who worshipped -her- probably more than he worshipped her body..
"You've -got- to let me do that to you again," Marcus whispered in her ear, "That sound you made was incredible."
"Huh? What?.. =Again=? God, Marcus, you're gonna kill me if you do that again," she caught up with him. She turned to him and brushed his cheek with her hand, smiling. Then she kissed him gently and ran her hand down his neck and chest, down to his groin.
"You're gorgeous," she whispered, desire flaring in her eyes, and took his arousal in her hand. She started to move down his body, flicking his nipples with her tongue as she passed them, then laved his belly button.
"Uhm.. Susan," Marcus whimpered, not sure how he was gonna last more than a few seconds.
"Hmmm?," she hummed against his skin. Then she closed her mouth over him. Marcus gasped.
He felt her take him into her mouth, her tongue gently massaging him. Fire raced through his blood and he felt he was gonna explode.
"Susan! Susan!.. Ah! Stop, please stop!" he yelled almost in a panic. She was going too fast. Calm down, calm down, he had to calm down. He tried the first Minbari meditation exercise that came to mind to control himself.
Susan crawled up to his face. He had his eyes closed and was breathing fast.
"Marcus? Marcus? You still with me?" Marcus opened his eyes, looked at her, nodded and breathed "Too fast."
She smiled at him and said, "Slower it is then."
She sat up and bent over him, straddling him. She bent down pressing her lips against his. She started moving her hips against his, slowly but deliberately. He moaned into her mouth, pleasure surging through him again as he felt his arousal squeezed between his belly and her soft flesh. Susan set up a slow pace, firing up their desire at a gentler pace.
Marcus looked up at her beautiful face: slightly flushed, eyes set on his, gauging his reactions. He couldn't believe she was so open, giving so wholeheartedly. The image of her face as she had come, only minutes before, came up in his mind. He would never forget it and he hoped to see that particular sight many many times again. It aroused him to eternity.
He was pulled back to the present when he felt Susan lift herself off him slightly. He missed her body against his instantly and groaned his disapproval. The he felt her hand against him and his eyes flew open, just in time to see her guide him into her. He looked at her intensely as he felt her lower herself onto him, slowly taking him in. He felt her muscles clench around him and saw desire and concentration mixed in her features. When she had taken him inside her completely, he closed his eyes and revelled in her soft, warm, velvety feel. Yes, he could definitely stay like this forever; the throbbing in his body was pleasant, but not urgent yet and her softness was simply divine. Then Susan started to move, setting a nice and slow pace. With every stroke the throbbing in Marcus' body became more urgent.
Susan felt the tension in Marcus' body rise and sped her movements up accordingly.
"It's okay Marcus, you can let go," she said as she moved faster, "Just let go."
The moment she felt Marcus start to buckle with imminent release, she felt the heat rush through her own body with unexpected force. Marcus came with a long moan and took Susan soaring with him, to her own surprise.

Susan collapsed on top of Marcus, panting. Marcus wrapped his arms around her and hugged her fiercely. When she caught her breath again, she kissed his throat and moved off him to lie beside him. They both moaned softly in disapproval when he slipped out of her, both feeling the loss. But when Susan heard herself and Marcus, she couldn't help giggling. Marcus managed to lift an eyebrow at her.
"Looks like.. no, -feels- like we've created a monster here," she said wiggling an eyebrow at him and putting her hand against his butt to pull him close against her.
"In Valen's name woman! You're insatiable!," he grinned. Susan kissed him warmly.
"You bet! That's what you get for being-"
"-such a pain in the ass?" he finished.
She grabbed a pillow and hit him over the head with it. He retaliated by pushing her onto her back and tickling her mercilessly. She laughed and screamed and tried to get away. So Marcus straddled her and tickled her even harder. Then, just when Susan couldn't take any more, Marcus stopped and bent over to kiss her, a long soft warm kiss. After a while he broke it and lay down beside her.
"Turn over," he whispered.
Susan did as she was asked and felt him wrap himself around her from behind. She wrapped her arms around his and felt him nuzzle her cheek.
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met," he murmured in her ear.
She kissed the palm of his hand and drifted off to sleep.
 
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To be continued in 'Lost and Found III: Peace'...

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You Are The Dream - Ilse DeLange

I've lived my life convinced I'd find
Your love somehow, some way
I held on to the faith that you
Would show yourself someday
Something inside me believed
This night was meant to be

You are the promise I made to my heart
You are the vision I saw in the dark
You are the reason I waited so patiently
So many nights when I closed my eyes
It's you that I have seen
I am the dreamer
You are the dream

It wasn't always clear to see
Where I was headed to
But of all life's roads somehow I chose
The one that led to you
It doesn't matter how far I've been
I found my journey's end

You are the promise I made to my heart
You are the vision I saw in the dark
You are the reason I waited so patiently
So many nights when I closed my eyes
It's you that I have seen
I am the dreamer
You are the dream