Chapter 9: Up Close And Personal
Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
-- Unknown
 

Luis felt a grin tug at his lips at the sight in front of him. The door to Gwen’s apartment had been left slightly open and when he pushed it a little further, to see if everything was okay, he was greeted by the sight of Gwen – with a duster in her hand. He stifled a chuckle as he watched the scene unfold. Her auburn hair was resting neatly atop her head in a bun, her suit jacket was no where in sight, leaving the top half of her body clad in a crisp, if dusty, white shirt. She looked flustered as she looked at the boxes that were piled in her living room, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. Frustrated, she ran the duster over the top of the boxes, singing softly. “At first I was afraid, I was petrified, thinking I could never live without you by my side. But then I spent so many night thinking how you did me wrong, and I grew strong and learned just how to get along!”

She smiled happily as she finished dusting the boxes, with finesse. Luis, not being able to stay quiet decided to make his presence known. He leaned against the door, crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “Well, don’t we look domestic?”

Gwen’s eyes immediately flew to the door, and Luis grin got wider as she blushed six different shades of red. Her hand flew to her hair and the one that was holding the duster, dropped it like it was a hot potato. “L-Luis how long have you been standing there?”

“Just in time to catch your heart-rendering version of I Will Survive,” he answered with a smirk as he made his way into her living room and shutting the door behind him. “You know, you should close your door when you decide to become Claire Huxtable. You don’t know who could drop by.”

Her embarrassment turned into a grin. “Claire Huxtable didn’t clean. She was a lawyer.”

“Doesn’t mean she didn’t clean,” Luis challenged as he inched closer to her. “I mean after all, you’re a businesswoman and lo and behold, you’re cleaning.”

“I needed to,” she admitted. “This place is a pigsty.”

“Hardly,” Luis scoffed, his eyes still locked with hers. It seemed that with every step he took forward, she took one backward. “So, what’s the real reason you were cleaning?”

“There isn’t any other reason,” Gwen answered, looking away. He smiled, knowing that she would never admit that she was just whiling away time, waiting for him to come. “Can’t somebody just want to clean?”

“You’re right,” Luis said as he rubbed the back of his neck and came to stand in front of her. She looked up at him, her blue eyes glazed over. He nodded and then brought his hand to the side of her face. His lips quirked into a smile as he heard her breathing quicken and he could feel his own heart pounding in his chest. He tilted his head and looked at her questioningly. “You don’t feel like cleaning now, though, right?”

“Well I do have to finish it some time and I really have nothing better to do,” she teased. “Can you think of anything better to do?”

“Well I am here now,” he said, his voice dropping a little as he face moved closer to hers.

She tilted her face closer to his and moistened her lips. “Would you like to help?”

He grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I’d like to help you out of those clothes.”

Her eyes glazed over again, sending a current down his spine. He pressed her to him, his lips hovering slightly over hers. “Well, that’s good because I do need to take a shower after all of this cleaning. I’m a mess.”

“Shower,” Luis said a Cheshire grin spreading across his face. “Good idea. Mind if I join you?”

“Be my guest,” she whispered as her arms came loosely around his neck. He smiled, dipped his head and seized her lips with his. She melted against him, her fingers tangling in his hair as his tongue sought entrance into her mouth. She obliged and kissed him back with uncontrolled intensity. He groaned somewhere deep in his throat as sensations ran through his system, making him forget about the grueling day he had just come from. She dragged her lips away from his and pulled his arms, leading him to her bedroom. “The bathroom is this way.”

He followed willingly and kissed the smooth column of her throat. Her fingers were quick as she unbuttoned the top three buttons of his police uniform. He smiled against her ear. “Impatient are we? Miss me that much, huh?”

“You know Officer,” she said with a sexy smile. “I love a man in uniform. Although in this case, I’d prefer him out of uniform.”

He chuckled and pushed the door to her bedroom open. “Well then, who am I to disagree?”

Their banter was cut off, as Gwen kissed him again, slowly making her way to the bathroom. They left a telltale trail of their clothes all the way to the bathroom. His uniform, her blouse, her bra and her suit skirt were strewn haphazardly on the floor as the continued to make out all the way to the bathroom. Once inside, Luis closed the door behind him and followed her into the shower. She stopped all of a sudden and looked down at his boxers and clucked her tongue. “You can’t go in there until those are off.”

He smiled crookedly. “I will take this opportunity to remind you that you can’t go in there either.”

“Hmm, you’re right.” She concurred. “Well we can fix this.”

“We sure can.” He hooked a finger on the waistband of her panties on each side of her hips, pulling her closer and then groaning as flesh met flesh. Slowly, he pushed the material down, his lips kissing her jaw line, then her neck and then all the way down her cleavage as he dipped lower to relieve her of the restrictive material. “Much better.”

A flush ran through her body as he gave her an appreciative once over. She reached for the drawstrings of his boxers and then tilted her head for another kiss. “My turn,” she murmured against his lips.

He grinned as she imitated his earlier movements and kissed his jaw line, his neck and then trailed her lips down his chest, stopping to achingly flick her tongue over his nipples, all the while his boxers inching further down his legs. As they pooled at his feet, he kicked them out of the way and the pinned Gwen against the door of the shower, kissing her roughly. She moaned against him, their tongue meeting in a desperate duel.

Finally, they made their way into the shower and he turned on the water. His hands and lips trailed over her now wet body, relishing in the pleasure it gave him. He knew that this thing between them, whatever it was, had to die down sooner or later but he felt happy that he was living in the moment. Gwen made him feel alive again. Something he hadn’t felt since Sheridan. So what if it was never anything more than just sex? So what if it couldn’t be anything more? Maybe he wasn’t meant for the picket fence life after all.

She pulled away from his all of a sudden, the water trailing down their bodies and he looked at her concerned. “Luis, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, why?”

“You just seemed to lose your…fervor,” she said, blushing. He grinned and then claimed her lips again, kissing her intensely until she murmured against his lips. “Much better.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Gwen woke up, frowning a bit as she felt the under head. It seemed a little damp and her still disoriented state of mind didn’t know why. Then, like a bullet train the events of the night before hit her full force and she found herself smiling. She and Luis had landed on the bed after their little shower escapade and had managed to fall asleep without drying themselves off. It hadn’t been her idea of brisk, basic hygiene but it had been great sex. She turned over and found Luis sleeping peacefully beside her. I could wake up next to him for the rest of my life… The thought slammed into her head and she was shocked by it.

Rest of her life? No! Luis and her…they were just sex. It would fizzle out soon. One or maybe even both of them would want out of it soon. Besides, she wasn’t going to be in Harmony long. As soon as her father was out of the hospital and on his own feet again, she was going to leave. She wasn’t going to change her plans because of a meaningless sex-pact she had with Luis Lopez Fitzgerald.

She shook her head and then glanced over Luis’s shoulder at the clock there. She gasped as she saw the time and quickly threw the sheet over he body and shot out of bed. Her movements caused Luis to wake up and he yawned. He looked at her, naked and frantic. “Where’s the fire?”

“Jade!” she exclaimed.

“It’s a rock…so?” he asked confused as sat up in bed.

“Not the rock, Jade Winslow. I have to meet her at the Country Club for breakfast.”

“Oh,” Luis said as she scampered to her dressed, pulled out under clothes and a pale blue summer dress. “So, who is she?”

“A friend,” Gwen replied as she struggled to get into her clothes. She tried to buckle her bra but couldn’t. “Luis could you possibly help me?” He nodded and came to her, reaching for the clasp of her bra. Instead of buckling it, he dipped his head and started to kiss her shoulder. A shiver ran through her and she groaned. “Luis, I can’t, Jade is waiting.”

“She’ll wait a little longer,” he whispered. He kissed her neck and it took all her will power to pull away from him. He looked at her with a smirk as he lifted her bra up. “So you’ll put it on yourself?”

She smiled at him and grabbed it from him, successfully managing to put it on herself; she slipped the dress over head and started rambling instructions. “Could you possibly lock the door on your way out? Oh and the doorman usually leaves the paper outside, could you bring it in? Oh and check my messages and let me know what they are on my cell? Please?”

“Sure,” he answered, and amused smirk still on his face. Finally, Gwen realized that he was standing in front of her naked. A blush hit her cheeks while a wave of lust rolled in her stomach. He caught her reaction, stepped forward and dipped his head to kiss her. He broke apart after applying the barest pressure with his lips and looked at her. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for a little bit longer?”

Gwen’s nerves were already frayed. “Maybe a little longer…”

“I like the way you think,” he said as he reached behind her and unzipped her dress. It fell to the floor and soon her under clothes joined it. In one swoop, he cradled her in his arms and carried her over to the bed. She sighed as he laid her down and the kissed her, slowly.

He made love to her, softly, gently which replaced the roughness and urgency that commanded the both of them the night before. Then, he let her go. She dressed again and headed out the door before either one of them stopped her. Once outside, she sighed. He had deliberately ‘made love’ to her so that she would be thinking about him all day long. A grin tugged at her lips. Bastard.

She reached the Country Club, and quickly located her longtime friend Jade Winslow. The fiery brunette was seated at one of the tables on the patio, looking pissed and impatient. As Gwen approached, she smiled and stood up to hug her. “Gwendolyn!”

“Jade!” Gwen shrieked. “Oh God, it’s so good to see you.”

“Back at ya babe,” she said. “Finally!”

“I’m so sorry!” Gwen apologized as she sat down across from Jade. A blush hit her but she tried her best to hide her face as she tried to come up with an excuse. “I just had a million things to do with the new apartment and all.”

Jade studied her closely, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement. Suddenly she gasped. “You had sex!”

Gwen dropped her mouth. “What?”

“You had sex didn’t you?” Jade asked. “I can tell.”

Gwen stuttered. “I… I how…”

“See, you admit that you had sex.”

Before Gwen could say anything else, another voice cut her off. “Who had sex?” The two of them turned around to see Sheridan Crane staring at them, an amused grin on her face.