The Memoirs

Ms. Toni and that... that... enormous thing had come home, talked a lot, made googly eyes at each other, and Arnold was just. Not. Happy. He didn’t like that Ms. Toni was smitten, because hello, she didn’t smit with anyone and whenever she did, Arnold would snarl at her jerks until they backed down, man to man, and left. Funny thing is, Arnold had tried this very thing with the big hair thing Ms. Toni dragged home, and all he got was an eyebrow raise. Who did Big Thing think he was?! Huh?! Coming home with HIS Ms. Toni and STAYING?!

 

This was just not funny. And he stared at the Big Thing on the couch, guarding Ms. Toni's door like the good Labrador Retriever he was.

 

The nerve.

 

Graham woke up early Saturday morning, stretching.  The sun was shining in the window, and he hadn't fallen off the couch once.  And for a big man like him?  That was a miracle unto itself. 

 

He woke to find that damned dog--what was it's name?  Terminator?  No.  Arnold!  That's it.  Arnold, sitting outside Toni's bedroom door like Graham was a dangerous man.

 

Well... he nearly was.

 

Toni made him feel things.  Lots of things, good things, really, that he hadn't felt since his wife's death.  Which was surprising, considering that nobody else had.  "Mornin', Arnold."

 

"Grrrrr." How DARE Big Thing talk to him, like it was totally okay to be TALKING to him right now. Yeah right, Big Thing. You keep your meaty meat paws away from MY Ms. Toni.

 

"Yeah, well, I don't think you like me, but, get used to me.  You'll be seeing me again in a few months, I dearly hope."  He raised his voice just a little.  "Toni?  Your guard dog is growling at me; I don't think he trusts me."  He stretched again, and growled back at the dog.  "GRRRRRRRR!"

 

Oh, NO he did NOT. Arnold spread his legs and snarled at him, baring his teeth and growling right back. Creep head Big Hairy Thing! He would have leapt and ripped the guys head off, if he hadn’t heard the door behind him and immediately dropped to his belly and calmed. Ms. Toni didn’t like him growling at her men, and he was a decent enough guy to understand.

 

Didn’t mean he couldn’t growl at them when Ms. Toni wasn’t around.

 

"Arnold, for shame." Her face was groggy with sleep, pulling on a robe over her bare skin as she walked out of the bedroom, and she was just crossing it over herself and tying it as she stopped in front of Graham... and yawned. Heavily. "Mmm. 'm sorry my dogs mean."

 

Graham growled back again until Toni opened the door, and he quieted about the same time the dog did.  "Not your fault," he said, closing his eyes briefly, then leaning over to kiss her yawning lips softly.  "He just doesn't like anyone hornin' in on his territory."

 

Toni burst out laughing against his lips, slipping easily onto the cushions beside him. Her knees were to her slender chest and half in his lap, snuggling under his arm as her brows rose. "I take it you didn’t sleep very well."

 

"Actually slept pretty well, considering I'm half as wide as the couch," he teased.  "But, I didn't fall off of it, so that's something."  He let his arm snuggle her even closer, and his voice had returned to it's normal mellowness instead of the thick accent it had carried after last night's brouhaha.  "Just woke up to find Arnie there growling at me."

 

And maybe she'd tell him sometime how hot that thick brogue had turned her on. My God, but wasn’t he a gorgeous man. She snickered up at him, nodding as she tapped his chest like a door. "You're solid, yep. How do you not crush people, Graham?" She gazed up at him, and it was somewhat of a difference. She being 5'2, his being 6.... six something. "How tall are you?"

 

Graham chuckled.  "I'm six foot five and half, but I'll settle for six foot five.  You don't want to know how much I weigh."

 

"You must feel so good." She said lightly, very innocently, and shifted a little so she was facing him more. "I'd say a cool two sixty. Two eighty?"

 

Graham shook his head.  "Three ten."

 

"We'll have to talk 'no crushing Toni' policies sometime." She murmured. "I weigh one ten. And I’m five..." A blush up at him. "Two."

 

Graham snickered.  "I could lift you up with one hand.  One ten's gotta be when you're soakin' wet in a parka."

 

Her eyes danced. "Maybe I weighed myself while with a soaking wet parka, ever think of that?"

 

"That'd have to account for a hundred pounds of you."  He laughed softly.  "the other ten's just skin and bones.  Mama's gonna have a great time tryin' to put some meat on 'em... but I like it just the way you are."

 

She set her chin on her knee, grinning at him as one slender brow cocked just a little bit before smoothing again. "I'd like to meet your family. I think it could be fun... Dominic’s lost whatever mind he had, and I can just imagine your family." She grinned it easily. "Graham, when are we going to have sex?"

 

"Morgan never had much of a mind to start with; I think he lost it about the time Shayla was born, and oh, dear God, Toni, you do not want to meet my family."  Then he blushed.  Brightly under his beard.  "When do you want to?" he asked, trying to meet her blunt for blunt.

 

"I’m thinking I can pencil you in sometime this afternoon. What do you think? Three thirty or so? We can go out, get a meal, sight see a little bit, then come home and let me see how much flannel you have layered on."

 

Hard gulp, a very, very bright blush, but a definite nod.  "I think... I think I can fit that into my busy schedule," he agreed.  "Leave... leave the evening open.  Be flexible about dinner."

 

"Maybe we should wait till after dinner." She pondered, tapping her finger to her lips. "It does mean I'll have to store up on my control, but I’m a trained physician. I have skills like control." And yet she couldn’t help pulling his shirt forward and taking a peak inside.

 

And yeah, her breathy, trembling little sigh wasn’t in her control. "Oh. I... yes." She coughed softly and let his shirt fall back against his skin again. "You're very muscular, aren’t you?"

 

"Yeah, I am."  He flexed for her, just so she could check his muscle structure.  "Comes from workin' outside all the time."

 

"Do you have muscles everywhere?" Her very, very small palm dropped to his crotch without any type of preamble, touched a moment, then slid up his belly and back into her own lap, gazing at him expectantly.

 

"Oh... yes."  He turned so that he was facing her entirely, elbow resting on the back of the couch, one leg drawn up to support his arm, the other spread wide to brace on the floor.  "Where... would you like to check next?"  He leaned forward just a little, crowding into her space just enough to rub her cheek with his beard.

 

She drew back just a little bit, in shock at his forwardness but oh, it was pleasure, and as soon as he reached forward she did too, angling her face for him to rub as her trembling little fingers sat in her lap. "You don’t want to know." She murmured, her palm finally reaching up to cup the side of his face as he stroked against her. Her other pressed gently against his mid leg, where it was supporting her arm, keeping herself grounded even as her chest heaved.

 

Graham moved one of his hands so that it he could stroke along her forearm.  "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know," he whispered into her ear, breath skating over the sensitive shell. 

 

He could feel himself trembling but tried to stop it, feeling her hand on his leg and the simple pleasure of being cupped closer to her face.

 

She cleared her throat... her voice was still dusky, and her body craved, but she knew how much pleasure to let herself have, and when too much was too much. So for now she turned her face into his mouth, a shiver running down her back and the implication he'd just given her.

 

So when she slid her fingers over his thighs and up, close to his groin, then back around to the top of his ass, she couldn’t be blamed. "Here. Did I tell you..." She brushed her lips over his jaw, right underneath the lobe of his ear. "That I think you're sexy?"

 

"I think... I think you might have mentioned it once or twice at the restaurant," he said gruffly, his hand gripping her shoulder gently as his thumb brushed over the top line of her shoulder.  "Did I tell you," he said between quiet nips to her throat, "that I think you're the most beautiful woman I've seen in a long time?"

 

"You might have mentioned it." She echoed softly, letting her head fall back so he could do amazing, amazing things with those ingenious, soft lips. They were like warmed butter, leaving a trail of heat on her skin, and it was definitely, definitely okay to wake up on Saturday mornings to brewing coffee and Graham’s lips on her skin. So okay, that it might be okay to do it for a long time. Until the end of time.

 

Graham took special care not to scratch her delicate skin too much with his beard.  Instead he used his mouth, sliding along the arched column as he pressed soft kisses to it, moving one hand to her waist while the other cupped her face gently, thumb sweetly caressing her cheekbone as he kissed softly.

 

"Graham." Her voice was throaty and full, hitching with each stroke of his beard over her skin, with each touch. She could very easily slide into the cocoon of his arms and let their clothes melt away, and let her explore each crevice, each please where muscle bunched on that long back and that truly fantastic ass… and let her lips explore where her fingers did. Oh, and the temptation was sweet, so sweet in fact that her skin goosebumped in pleasure and her nipples peaked, hard as rock, against the soft cotton of her bathrobe. "Graham." She said again, a little heavier, her nails digging into his back as shivers of pleasure slipped down her spine. God, his hands felt exactly like she thought they would. "W… we can’t, not yet, we..."

 

"I know," he said softly, sweetly against her skin as he lapped at the small indention at the base of her throat.  "But le'me at least have th'taste of ye to take with me."  The pleasure and the emotions in Graham's throat was thickening his voice again as he spoke into her throat.

 

Her voice was a sob as he licked, her fingers sliding up his back to latch into his long, soft hair, darkened with the sun but there was still enough blond in it to make her know exactly where to bury her face. He was enormous, huge, and for the first time in her life she felt small and taken care of. Treasured.

 

It was a feeling she was willing to keep. "Your accent..." She groaned quietly, her free hand sliding down his back… and up under his untucked shirt, letting her small palm run over skin as hot and silky as fired satin.

 

"Canna help it," he lilted softly, moving his kisses down just a little further, staying clear of the swell of her breasts despite his desire to see how firm they were in his hand, to feel their softness and to scrape a work-roughened palm over the nipples.  "Y'make me sad t'leave ye."

 

"Don’t leave. Wait a while. Stay with me." Her noises were getting headier, more wanting, her fingers pressing into the skin, tracing his spine as coffee brewed in the kitchen. "You can kiss me. Kiss me, Graham." She ducked down and caught his mouth, arching her chest and begging for a touch, when she knew it was too fast and she shouldn’t. But dammit, dammit this man was making her break all her own rules.

 

Graham moved, meeting her mouth with his as he caught her face in his hands, holding her carefully.  He was painfully aware of how big he was and how small she was, and he was careful not to touch her too hard, not to squeeze too tightly.  Everything he did he did to pleasure her, not hurt her, and his tongue pressed into her mouth, asking to be allowed a taste of her. 

 

The arch of her body pressed her loosely against his chest, and one hand fell from her hair to her back, pulling her closer against him, tucking their bodies close together from the waist up.

 

Her lips spread willfully, and now, her, it was she who reached up, wound around him like a burr, and kissed.

 

Her tongue thrust into his mouth, her body and heart giving what she felt for him, the budding emotions and what could be, what already was, and what she'd felt for him for so long already. She arched and pressed her breasts to his chest, painfully aware of how little separated them, and she kissed him like she'd never kissed anyone before. Hard, passionate, full of life and zest and spice and adoration, kissing him because she wanted to.

 

And his taste. Oh, God. Kill her now.

 

Graham murmured softly into Toni's mouth, but the words were lost in the wet, hot kiss they shared.  The arm around her back moved to rest first on her hip, and then over her leg and up the terrycloth covering her stomach to pause right below the fabric bunched around her breast. 

 

Unable to resist, Graham slid his hand over the fabric, cupping her breast through it, delicately squeezing the firm globe in his large hand.

 

"You're... oh, God... making me break all my rules, sugar." Toni murmured into his mouth, letting those gorgeous lips go so she could move over to an ear just begging for a nibble. Her tongue rasped over his beard, licking, tasting soap from the evening before and something distinctly him. Lovely. Gorgeous.

 

Then he had to go and touch her, and she froze... moving back to look at him, so their eyes met. She watched him, hesitantly, and suddenly shyly, arching her back so his hand was filled... and cupping her fingers over his own. It was painfully obvious how much larger he was then her in the simple touch, but it only made her feel more treasured. More... something, and she smiled at him even as a flush crept up her cheeks.

 

Too long. Entirely too long. "Should feel… feel proud, sugar. Not everyone gets to touch me."

 

Graham leaned forward, pressed a gentle kiss to the smile, then rubbed the bristle of his beard against each of her flushed cheeks.  "Didna mean'ta make ye break yer rules," he said softly.  "But I'm verra glad ye did."  His thumb brushed delicately over a covered nipple once, and then moved his hand to the back of her neck to pull her close to him.  "I'm proud that ye chose me, Toni."

 

And in that exact moment, the coffee pot sounded it was finished with a loud bring, and she jumped half a mile, and would have sailed off the couch if Graham hadn’t had that firm hold on her. She wrapped her arms around him, laughing a little before falling silent, and stayed where she was for a few, long moments. "You're not like other men."

 

"Aye, Toni... I'm just like other men," he said, an amused chuckle in his chest.  "Ye just havena been aroond enough ta know."  He held her loosely against him, snuggling her as close as she would be snuggled.  "Dinna be puttin' me up on a white horse, lassie, cause I'm bound to hurt ye when I fall."

 

The accent. drove her. Insane. She moaned softly when he finished speaking, shivering in his arms, and her fingers slid up to touch his face, his jaw, his chin. Which her mouth sucked a moment later, covering it and lapping softly. "No... you're not like other men in the fact that I’m throwing myself at you and you're… you respect me. I like that." She pressed a little closer, and caught her lip. Soon. it was going to be very, very soon.

 

"Of course I respect ye," Graham said, a snort in his voice.  "Ye hafta respect the ladies in yer life if ye expect to get it in return."  The snort became more vocal.  "M'youngest sister pointed that out t'me just recently."

 

"Shayla?" Now it was Toni's turn to grin, and the flush in her cheeks began to slowly die down. "She's sweet, though. She found out I was coming to check on her future uncle, and she cornered me and asked a ton of questions." Oh, she snorted right back. "I don’t think she was expecting my bluntness."

 

"Tha's the one.  She's shavin' years off m'life with every word out'o her sweet mouth," Graham grumbled.  "Hope she wasna too obnoxious."

 

"What part of Ireland are you from?" Toni asked suddenly, slipping out of his grasp and padding to the open kitchen, separated from the living room with an island, and went into a cabinet for cups.

 

Graham got to his feet and followed her into the kitchen, leaning against the counter.  "Cobh, a little city outside'o Dublin.  Our claim t'fame is watchin' the Lusitania sink, an' that's how our Mama met our Da."

 

"I figured 'Senatori' wasn’t Irish." But she was smiling as she got down her little 'no see, no hear, no speak' baby angel mugs, setting them on the counter beside him as she went into the fridge for creamer and milk. "Where's your father from?"

 

"Da was from Sicily, if ye can believe it.  Handsome man, he was, but none of us took after 'im."  He grinned suddenly.  "It's how you see a bunch o'blond Irishmen with an Italian name.  They were married in Venice, on the beachfront, and Da took her back home to Cobh because'o her family."

 

Oh, and Toni grinned. "There is nothing wrong with Irish Italian, I assure you." She winked as she offered the milk or creamer to him, getting a spoon out of a drawer and shutting it with a saucy little clip of her hip.

 

"Not if y'ask Mama," Graham teased, taking the milk and adding several dollops to his coffee.  "We got t'worst o'both kens; Irishman's temper and a Sicilian libido."  He watched her hip bang the drawer shut, and he grinned.  "Nice swing ye got there."  And then his face fell slightly; Missy had done the same thing when she had her hands full of the baby.

 

Toni noticed it... it wasn’t hard to miss it. His eyes took on a soft shadow, a shadow she felt...she felt she'd broken through, and her head tipped a little, smiling back though it was tinted with the sadness in his expression. "I dunno. I think its a really, really nice mix. Nothing like a head strong, stubborn man to get the juices flowing." And Toni's smile brightened, offering him a wink as she dipped the spoon in his coffee and stirred it for him, then did the same for her own.

 

Graham smiled gently.  "Toni... yer a tease.  And I'm addin' you to the list of people who're shavin' years off m'life.  If I keel over'n in a decade, yer part o'the reason."  He shook a playful finger at her.  "Shame on ye.  A doctor n'less."

 

"And I’m being gentle with you." She heaved a teasing sigh and turned to lean the small of her back against the counter. "Doctors are supposed to make you feel better, aren’t they?" She motioned a hand at herself. "I want to make you feel better, and get the shadows out of your eyes. You're too young to be so tragic, sugar."

 

"If yer bein' gentle wi'me, I'd hate to see ye when you're not."  He leaned against the counter too, sipping from his cup.  "Y'do make me feel better, lass."

 

"You're evading what I was asking without asking it." She clicked her tongue and boosted herself up on the counter, crossing her legs and letting the crossed, bare foot bop lightly. "Did I tell you I was going to be a psychologist?"

 

"No, y'didn't.  But m'not surprised."  He hitched up to the counter, and for the first time, they were face to face.

 

She simply nodded and took a sip from the mug, turning a little more so she could gaze up at him, and said, completely straight faced, "If we cave through this thing, you're buying me a new one."

 

He laughed.  "I'd build ye a new one."

 

"You like to build with your hands?" She asked, sipping more of the coffee and sighing as it happily slid into her belly. She watched her dog pad silently over and slip his head under the foot still hanging off the counter, and she rubbed his head gently, grinning down at him before back up to her...well, whatever he was. Gentlemen friend? To granny. Boyfriend? They weren’t quite dating, were they? Lover? God, not yet. Friend seemed a good, solid description, so she looked up at her friend, watching his long fingers and the easy grace he had with his height.

 

"Aye, that's m'business and m'hobby."  Graham held lightly calloused hands up for her inspection.  "Cabinetry and carpentry is m'business.  When I come back, I'm startin' m'own business, layin' carpet."

 

She let her fingertips skip over his work hardened ones… blushed pink, and looked down into her coffee until her cheeks didn’t feel quite so hot. She glanced up in pure happiness at him, however, and beamed. "You're planning on staying in Smallville?"

 

"Aye.  While m'gone, Morgan's going to be looking for a house fer me.  Mama wants t'stay with Morgan in the... whatever ye call th'monstrosity, so her and Shayla will be stayin' there insteada with me.  S'it'll be just me and Shane."

 

She had a soft spot for babies, and Shane’s sweet, completely cheerful and innocent little disposition made her a pile of goo as she sipped her coffee. "He's such a beautiful baby. A good little guy."

 

"M'not lookin' forward to takin' him back.  Nearly screamed himself sick when Lionel was in th'hospital, and I don't wanna think aboot him in another country.  He's fair bonded to the man he has, and I dunno why."

 

She snickered over the rim of her mug. Couldn’t. Be. Helped. "Senatoris, especially the sweeter and more gentle of the lot, somehow flock to the man."

 

"Y'mean me idiot brother," Graham groused.  "I've yet t'see what's the appeal in the man."

 

"If you've seen them the way I have, you'd understand." She nodded it, and set her cup down to dip her head and sniff at the roses Graham had gotten her, now sitting in a crystal vase right beside her. She pulled her legs up, Indian style, and took one out that was already half bloomed.

 

"I wouldna count on it," Graham said softly.  "I accept it, and I love m'brother, but I dinna know what he sees in Lionel Luthor."

 

She grinned crookedly. "The first time I met them, I thought the same thing. Of course, I'd had my arms up to my elbows inside your brother for a few hours, so I was feeling a bit protective. But Lionel... he got everything set up, and he wouldn’t leave his side at all. He'd snarl at me, for weeks afterwards, like I was some sort of siren ready to come and take Dominic away with my womanly whiles." She grinned. "Not that they’re bad, mind you."

 

"I happen tae like your wiles," Graham said, drinking his coffee.  "This time I've had to use a crowbar to pry Dominic away from Lionel."

 

"Oh come on. Having a close knit family isn’t all that bad. And just think, you'll be able to call him a brother in law soon enough." She hoped down from the kitchen counter, setting the cup in the sink, and biting her lip.

 

She considered dropping her robe and asking for it, breaking her number one rule. But the darkness in his eyes, the shadow of pain, kept her from ripping it all down and begging. He wasn’t ready for it, and it broke her heart for him. So she offered a hand, grinned, and said, "I have HBO in my bedroom. Want to watch some TV with me for a while?"

 

"I dinna want to call him brother in law."  Graham growled it.  "Dinna want to call him anythin' but arsehole."  He put his coffee cup in the sink as well, and slipped his huge paw around her tiny hand.  "Aye... that sounds like fun; I'd like tae see TV wit'ye."

 

"I think Oceans 11 is on. If you don’t mind me drooling over George Clooney, its a great movie." She said conversationally, walking with him through her small apartment, fingers lost in his own but it made her squeeze tighter.

 

And Arnold followed right behind her, still glaring at Big Hairy Thing... even though Ms. Toni seemed so happy around him. Alright. This one could be different.

 

It didn’t mean Arnold liked him any better.

 

"Y'should see the original.  Sammy Davis Jr. does a great song."  He did a little bit of a soft shoe as he followed her. 

 

And growled softly at the dog.  "Grrr!"

 

Oh, she giggled! "You can dance. Oh, Graham, a man after my own heart." She grinned up at him, squeezing his hand even as he growled. "Don’t mind Arnie." She giggled and pet the lab's head gently. "He gets a little testy. But he's good to have around... I dated some creep a few months ago, and he tried to get frisky and Arnie here saved my innocence. Of course, after a trip to the hospital, the guy hasn’t called me since."

 

Oh, NO THE BIG HAIRY THING DID NOT! Arnold snarled right back at him, glowering and measuring him up, man to man.

 

Graham couldn't help it.  He was bigger than the dog.  "Not mindin' him, just havin' fun baitin' him."  He slipped his arms around Toni's waist and growled back at Arnold again, snarling and baring his teeth as his chin rested on Toni's shoulder.

 

"In my long existence I’ve come to realize that testosterone travels species to species too." She rolled her eyes at him, though she was teasing, and stepped into her bedroom. She shook Graham free and shoved him towards the bed, wagging her finger at her dog as she closed the door. "You be a good boy, mister."

 

Oh! He was...distracted with happy thoughts of removing the mans testicles in a painful and protracted manner, and Arnold looked up in time to hear the words. 'Gobildy Gobildy, good boy, gobildy.' He could be good. He was a PRO at it.

 

"Ah, ye never le'me have any fun."  He settled on the foot of her bed, smirking at the dog as Toni closed the door in his face.  "He started it."

 

She offered a playful glare and padded silently into her walk in closet, stepping over the threshold, and felt a touch of embarrassment for her shoe fetish. She had at least a hundred pairs, in every color, shape, and style imaginable, and she blushed prettily as she looked for a good pair of jeans and t-shirt to lounge around with him. "I’m sure he did. Graham... I had a good time last night. I forgot to tell ya, sugar, and I’m sorry I embarrassed you in front of the guys."

 

"Ye didna embarrass me, Toni."  He rested his hand on his cheek as he watched her in the closet.  "I was the one who embarrassed you, and I'm sorry f'that."

 

"No way," She shook her head and peaked out. "You didn’t. I was just pulling needy. Don’t feel like you have to stand to anything you said, alright? We're gonna take it nice and easy." And this part she grinned. "And if I decide you're nothin but a no good Irish brogue, you're out the door."

 

"Didna say anythin' last night that I didna mean," Graham said softly.  "Includin' the fact yer welcome to come wit'me if ye like."

 

She closed the closet door, shedding her bathrobe and still fresh from her morning shower. She slipped into the jeans and pulled a bra on, practical and comfortable so she wouldn’t get any fresh ideas. A light blue t-shirt went on over it, and she checked her hair in the mirror before padding out, feet sinking into the thick, warm carpet as she bounced on the enormous bed with him and smiled.

 

Thank God she'd had the decency to make it.

 

"No… its something you have to do alone, sweetie." A solid nod, before crawling up and plopping on the twenty pillows at the top, feet happily tugging on his arm as she put the TV on.

 

Graham waited for her to get comfortable, and then he scooted up a little from the foot.  "Aye, tis, but I wouldna mind a pretty face at th'end of it all t'help chase the bad memories away."

 

Its what she'd been wondering, and she tipped her head a little, rolling onto her belly so her feet hung in the air and she was facing him. "You loved her, very much."

 

"Aye I did."  Graham sighed.  "Missy was m'first real love, m'wife, and the mother of m'boy."  He ran his fingers through his furry beard nervously.  "I w's crushed when she passed."

 

"She must have been remarkable," She lay her cheek on her hand. "To know the man you are, and just how special you are. And Shane, Shane’s the testament of her." Toni knew better then to touch him, and simply smiled a little, very softly.

 

"She was."  He met her eyes.  "Yer th'first, since her."

 

Her eyebrows met and furrowed softly, and this time she did reach for his hand. "It must be very hard for you."

 

Graham met her hand halfway, clasped it tightly.  "Not as hard as startin' over."  He sighed as he met her eyes.  "It's verra frightenin', in a way."

 

"Don’t let it be. Its going to be a fun experience...and just think, you'll live in the states. No more of this Canadian crap." She wrinkled her nose. "You'll get to do things like snub the Canadians, and eat oreo's, and stuff."

 

"I's not that," he said quietly.  "I's learnin' to let someone else in again."  He clasped her fingers even tighter than before, and pressed a light kiss on her wrinkled nose.

 

"I'll never break your heart, Graham. I promise. Usually they call me Heartbreaker Braxton, but..." She shook her head. "Not you. You're... I don’t know. I never just sit around with a man, ask Arnie. I’ve never felt this way about any man like I feel for you."

 

"I know, darlin'."  His voice was slightly husky.  "I wouldna asked ye along if I thought ye'd do anythin' to hurt me."  Graham rubbed her fingers across his lips once.  "I trust ye, Toni, and I want to be around ye."

 

She suddenly sat up, crossing her legs Indian style. "There’s going to be a dinner, the second week into February, over the opening of the new wing at work. Its going to be at that Italian restaurant in town… will you be my date? If... if you want to." And she looked down, smiling even as she re-crossed her legs. "It could be fun. And I have a secret agenda. I want to see you and Shane in tuxes."

 

"I'd be honored," Graham said quietly.  "I'll call ye if I know I willna get back in time, but Lionel called a realtor f'me, so they're just waitin' to show the house."

 

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

 

"Of course ye can," he said, looking up at her.

 

"Do you really want to sell your house?" She propped her chin on her palm.

 

"Aye, I do," he said softly.  "Didna realize how much until I got out of it and around other people."  He stroked her thumb with his own.  "Didna realize I wanted t'live again and I couldna in th'house."

 

Alright, that qualified hugs. She crawled over to him, close, and gathered him right up in her arms, hugging him tightly to her and kissing all that lovely hair. Tears had swamped her eyes, burning her throat, and she buried them in his hair until they were reined back in, kissing his head gently before looking back into his face. "And just for saying that, you're stronger than all of us."

 

Graham's arms wrapped tightly around her.  "M'nae strong at all, Toni.  I want to be, but I canna be.  I've thrown too many fits in my life ta ebe strong."

 

"Liar." She croaked, hugging him tightly before laying down, pillowing her head on the bed beside his bicep, gazing up at him. "You got under my skin. For that, you're damn strong."

 

She was notorious for being one tough cookie. Tough, and unable to love. She was picky about her lovers, and if he didn’t satisfy, she was the kind to kick him out the door. But in Graham... she'd found herself head over heals. Fellie had agreed a hundred percent, over their girl talks, and she reminded herself to call him as soon as Graham was flying back to Canada.

 

He looked down at her, smiling.  "Yer under m'skin too, darlin'."  He dropped his head down so that they were nose to nose.  "Everythin's packed in the van; I just need t'call Ms. Bird and see if she can get Enrique to drive her and the baby here... m'not leaving until the last minute."

 

She wrinkled her pert nose against his, but dammit, she'd fallen so in love with him. And love... felt indecently good. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping him close and whispering conspiratorially, "I should confess, I got you in here to see if you fit on my bed."

 

Graham wiggled his feet, which just barely fit inside the footboard.  "Jus'barely."

 

"Isn’t it lovely that I like them big?" She said innocently, and wrapped her feet right around his knees.

 

His arm slipped out and snuggled her close to his chest, tucking her head under his chin.  "Aye, it's very lovely," he rumbled in his chest. 

 

"Caught that, didn’t you?" She murmured back, curling closer so she could listen to his heart. The steady thump, thump, thump was more satisfying then anything she could remember in the recent past. "Graham?"

 

"Aye, darlin?"

 

"We'll wait until you're ready."

 

His hug of her tightened just a little.  "As much as I love ye, I dinna know when that will be."

 

 

He loved her. Oh, it caught in her throat. "Sugar, I’m a patient woman. I’d rather have all the man, then half the man. When you’re in me..." She angled his angels face gently to her own. "I want you to think of nothing but how good it feels, how right it is."

 

Graham kissed her softly.  Gently and slowly, he held her close to him as he pressed the soft kisses to her face and her lips.  "I already think o'that, Toni.  I just don'know how long it'll be."

 

She was crazy to touch him. Crazy to feel him over her, and never, in her life, had she had a yen, an itch, quite like this one. Right here, in her grasp, but...not, at the same time. She was a woman that always went after her itches, but right now, she would wait. Wait for him, because she adored him.

 

And that’s how things would be. "Whenever you're ready for me, I'll be here." And she grinned, wriggling from his grasp slippery as an eel, and stood in front of him. "I’ve suddenly decided we should go out for breakfast. Eggs, bacon, pancakes?"

 

"Aye, and that sounds good."  He let her go easily, watching her move.  "Morgan's said that Kathy's asked aboot me at Denny's; how aboot we go there?"

 

"Kathy?" An eyebrow rose. Hard.

 

"Ethan's sister," he explained.  "And she's flirting with me."

 

"Flirting?"

 

She was fairly positive that her eyes turned green.

 

Graham pulled his boots back on innocently, hiding his grin behind his bulky arms.  "Aye, she flirts wi'me when I go in.  I havena the 'eart to tell her that I didna have interest in her."

 

"She what?" Her eyebrow rose to her hairline, her arms crossed across her chest, and her weight shifted to one hip. Oh, no she did not have the audacity to flirt with her man. "We are not going to Denny’s."

 

"She flirts w'me."  Graham straightened with a smile on his face.  "I havena had the heart to tell her I was taken."

 

"You’re more then taken, sugar. She better not get any funny ideas, because I will knock her ho ass to the ground so fast her head will spin." And she grabbed his arm... and realized in the next instant that he was teasing her.

 

And her mouth dropped.

 

"That’s not funny."

 

Graham's arms wrapped around her waist and toppled her into his lap.  "Aye, it is, as many years as ye've taken off m'life.  Only fair I get to tease ye back."

 

She fell with a plop onto thighs of iron, and her woman’s heart jack-tripped. "You're just saying that because you feel bad, because you know I could so kick your ass in about half a second if you even tried anything."

 

Graham slipped both hands around her waist and lifted her up.  "Aye, darlin'," he said with a chuckle.  "Of course ye could."  He let her drop gently back in his lap.

 

Oh, God. She wasn’t sure if he knew quite what he was doing, but in her sex addled brain it… yeah. So she flushed, softly, pink under the hue of her skin as she bit her lip and offered a crooked grin. "I'd drop you so fast your head would spin. And Arnie would be sure to take chunks out of you, I swear."

 

"I can beat the dog up," he said, looking down into her eyes.  "But I'd not want to do anythin' that would lose you."  His hands came to rest on her shoulders again.  "Nothin'."

 

"You know, this double whammy is not doing wonders for my ego." She whispered, leaning in to kiss his cheek… his chin... his jaw, and then his lower lip softly. "I’m not used to this."

 

"Double whammy?" he asked, nibbling along her jaw.  "Wha' double whammy?"

 

"I'll tell you some other time." She murmured, then after another soft wriggle in his lap, climbed up, straightened her hair, smoothed her shirt, and nodded. "Breakfast. If I kill Ms. Kathy, you know why."

 

"Ethan wouldna be happy if ye did that."  Graham kept Toni's hand as he stood up beside her.  "Ye willna have t'kill her."

 

"And he's a cop, isn’t he?" She shook her head, stopping by the closet to slip into a pair of tennies and grab her jean coat. "Want to shower, sugar? There’s towels in the bathroom, you can get cleaned up."

 

Graham considered.  A shower.  Naked, in the same room as Toni.  Naked.  "Would ye like to scrub m'back, darlin'?" he asked softly.

 

Her heart stuttered, and her eyes were wide as a doe's when she glanced up. Oh. Okay! "No, sugar. You go on ahead, I'll be waitin' for you, okay?" She giggled. "I'll even convince Arnie not to Hannibal you."

 

"M'not afraid of Arnie, darlin'... only what ye do to me."  He kissed her hand and disappeared into the bathroom.

 

She bit her knuckles as the door closed, stopping the squeal to wait. Shower. Naked man in her shower.

 

Okay. Okay. She turned and walked to the door, ripping it open before she could stop, and closing it behind her with a soft click. And she made a bee line for the phone, snagging it on her rampage and leaping on the couch he'd slept on. The couch that smelled like him! She demon dialed Fellie and hid the squeal, stopping herself as she waited for her best friend in the world to pick up. Come ON Felicia!

 

"Mmm'lo?"

 

Okay, the last time Toni had checked, her best friend didn’t have a male voice. Since when did--Ooooooh! "Ethan! Hi, its Toni. Sorry to wake you up, sweetie."

 

Had Ethan been any more awake, he would have been embarrassed. However, as it was, he simply turned and snuggled back against his girlfriend after handing her the phone, face buried in the nape of her neck as his arms wound around her and spooned her, tightly, tenderly, from behind.

 

And was snoring, a moment later.

 

"If this isn't God, you better have a damn good reason for waking me up," was Felicia's reply as she snuggled back against Ethan.

 

"He slept on my couch."

 

"Who did what?" Felicia yawned, and then, holy shit, it registered.  "Graham??"

 

"Yes! On my couch, and he woke up all burly and we talked and he totally has all the issues you were talking about and since when does Ethan sleep in your bed, Miss Felicia?!"

 

"She's loud." Ethan murmured sleepily, despite the sunshine and the birds twirping and the sounds of Metropolis waking up were outside of his girlfriends apartment.

 

"I told you the man has issues."  She turned and giggled at Ethan.  "Yeah, baby, she is."  She kissed his cheek softly, and then wrapped an arm around his waist.  "Since last night, when I called in sick to make sure we had time together."

 

"You should be totally ashamed, and I'd tell you so if I didn’t totally do the same thing. But anyway! We talked, and he was all sweet and smoochie and we watched HBO and he told me he cared about me, and it was just eee and I realize I sound like I’m fifteen again but I can't help it and I’m so crazy about him!"

 

Ethan’s lips were questing down his sweet girlfriends neck, trailing his lips were the bone at the base of it, as his fingers began to wander.

 

Felicia murmured softly in happy pleasure as Ethan's lips brushed down her neck.  "I told you so, Toni.  God, you do sound fifteen again, but I'm glad you found him."  She sighed happily.  "Did he invite you to go with him again like I told you he would?"

 

"Yes, but oh, Fellie, he's so tragic and sad. He has to do this, you know? I don’t want to go with him and ruin things for him. He's closing a door, you know? He said I get under his skin." Oh, she barely kept the squeal in. "God, I love him, and I’m a dork, and okay, go make out with your law man, HI ETHAN!, and I’m going out for breakfast."

 

"'lo, Toni," Ethan murmured as his fingers dipped low on her belly, begging her to hang up and turn back to him without a word said, his mouth sucking soft, warm kisses from his girlfriends throat, shoulder, spine.

 

"Go out for breakfast, Toni.  Eat Graham up with a spoon.  And let me get back to my lawman before he has to go out and protect everyone." 

 

"Done." She giggled, and after making shmootzy poo smoochies into the phone, hung up. Kicked her feet in the air, gave in to the suppressed squeal, and would have given her ARM for see through vision.

 

Felicia not only hung up the phone, but she threw it into the other room as she flipped over and snuggled against Ethan.

 

Back in Toni's shower, Graham shook his short hair clear of water droplets and pushed the door back.  His clothes were still sitting on the corner of the sink, and he picked up a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he stuck his head out the door.  "Who're ye kissin' in there, darlin?  Better not be kissin' the dog!"

 

"I.." Naked man calling from her bedroom. "I was talking to Felicia. Seems like she and Ethan stayed in Metropolis overnight, instead of coming back." She grinned wickedly and took a little peak into the hall from the couch. "You shower fast, Mountain Man."

 

"Ye didna see that one comin'?" he asked, toweling his hair dry with a second.  "When they were talkin' aboot spendin' te night together?"  Then he laughed.  "I dinna see a reason to stay in the shower for hours like Morgan.  I get in, clean what needs it, and m'done."

 

"He takes forever?" She grinned and pulled her knees to her chin. Okay. And that lasted for point five seconds before she was on her feet, thinking of anything else other than what he was painting for her and drummed her fingers on the counter, Arnold just staring at her like she'd lost her mind. "Well, I have, Arnie."

 

A blink. Arf?

 

"Aye, bloody man.  Ye'd think he's a woman--no offense--fer all the time he spends in the shower!  If yer in a hurry?  Shower before Morgan."

 

Toni climbed up onto one of her kitchen stools, and laughed out loud. "He likes the water. Can’t blame a guy for likin' the water, sugar."

 

"An' then he should have gills!"  Graham finished drying his hair walked into the bedroom.  "Darlin', look by the couch an' bring me th'bag, would ye?"

 

Nooooo. Nonononno. NO.

 

Choiceless.

 

Fuck.

 

Toni slipped from the stool and threw her shoulders back. She was going to be a woman about this. The bag was right there and she leaned down, picking it up and walking, proudly, almost serenely, into the hall. Keep your eyes trained on his eyes, Boo. Eyes on his eyes. Eyes no where else. No where else on his jumpable, sexy… no! Paper! Trees! Gravel!

 

"H… here you go, sugar." She knocked lightly on the partially closed door.

 

Graham opened the door and took the bag from her, water sliding down his shoulders and into the lightly furred area of his chest.  Broadly shaped biceps and arms ended in calloused hands that took the bag gently from her.  "Thank ye, darlin'."

 

"Mmmph." She squeaked in her throat. Eyes. Eyes. Even if hers were slightly crazed. She nodded...let her gaze slide over him, NO! NONONO!

 

Rivulets of water, perfect for licking, taunted her...drove her half mad. She squeaked again, coughing lightly, sliding her arms across her chest and immediately turning and walking back down the hall.

 

It wasn’t called bolting.

 

"Toni?" Graham called out after her, smirking.  "Ye can help me get dressed," he offered wickedly.

 

During the night, he'd found a backbone in Toni's couch and he was happy with it. 

 

"Graham, one more tease and I’m mounting you were you stand, are we clear?" She snarled from the kitchen.

 

He swallowed hard.  "Ye say that like it would be a tragedy," came the very soft reply before he closed the door.

 

"It would. You're not ready sugar." She said it more gently like, and padded softly back to the door. Oh, and it was tempting. "I’m sorry, honey."

 

"Aye, I know."  He leaned against the door as he slid into his boxers and then his jeans.  "And yer right, I shoulda tease ye so."

 

"Besides.." She said it softly. "Seeing how long you can deal with my teasing is quite an amusing thought."

 

"Ye mean, see how long before I throw ye over my shoulder and take ye off to have m'wicked way wit'ye?"

 

"More or less." She grinned. "If I were a Flintstone. I ever tell you that’s my favorite cartoon of all time?"

 

He laughed as he pulled his flannel shirt on and buttoned it.  "I was always a Jetsons man m'self."

 

"Blasphemer."

 

"Nay... horny young man.  Too old for cartoons but we never saw them in Cobh; when we came here... the curves of Judy Jetson were undeniably attractive t'me."

 

Oh, she laughed, and leaned against the wall as she waited for him. "Please, don’t tell me Irish girls aren’t curvy."

 

"Aye, they are, just not in the right places."  He grinned through the door at that.  "They're more of real women curves, not like m'sister Meggie, bless her bare ass."

 

"I think you're a biased Irishman, Senatori. Whatever are you going to do when your American raised son comes home one day with an Irish girl without the right curves?"

 

"And there ye go, shavin' another twenty years off m'life.  My boy's not going to be bringin' girls home for quite some time yet."

 

"That’s what you think, Irish." Toni cocked a brow, grinning all the while. "You think he's going to be immune to female charms for long?"

 

"He's goin' to be immune until he's 18."  He finished buttoning his shirt and opened the door, glaring at her.

 

She was still leaning against the wall, but now a smile graced her face. "Sure, of course."

 

"D'ye want t'take another decade off m'life?" he demanded, bending over to tie his boots.

 

Oh, good God and Jesus Almighty the man had a nice ass. She tipped her head, catching her lower lip in her teeth and sighing a little breathily. "At the rate I’m going, you should already be dead."

 

"Aye, I should have keeled over ten years ago," he agreed, wiggling slightly as he got himself situated in the jeans and the boots.

 

"You’re doing it on purpose now." She muttered, and reached out to slide her nails over the snug denim, still nibbling on her lower lip as she raked her nails down, to where ass met thigh, and traced there a moment before letting go.

 

And the touch sated her, because yeah, the question 'hard as stone?' was finally put to rest.

 

Ass. Like. Cement.

 

"Pancakes, too."

 

Graham was still as she touched him, and then straightened.  "Pancakes, eggs, and coffee.  Little bit of bacon and syrup."  He pulled her close to him, and let one of her hands fall again to his ass while the other rested on his chest.  "Did ye like playin' doctor when you were a lass?"

 

"You put syrup on the bacon?" But as he tugged her forward, and let her palm slide down, biting her lip as she looked up. "I didn’t. I’m one of those weird people who didn’t figure it all out till halfway through college." She bit her lip a little bit, and knew she was being pushy, so she gently pulled her fingers away and instead looped her palms through his hands. "I wanted to be a painter, actually. My parents didn’t want me to starve until I died though, and they nudged me into medicine. I love it, though, so they knew best."

 

"Aye, I do.  Sweet and crunchy."  He tugged away from her hands for just a moment, long enough to wrap his long arms around her waist and pulling her close. 

 

She just stared up at him, shaking her head after a long moment and sighing heavily. "I’m dating a blasphemer." A glance up. "I’m sorry, God."

 

"I forgive ye," he teased.

 

She burst out laughing, grabbed his hand, and dragged him to the door.

 

 

-fin-

 

go to the next part