-Joan POV

"What in the name of haven are you doing Watson?" Sherlock was whispering in shock, quite an uncommon state for him.

"I...I... I'm sorry.. I don't know what came over me. It wasn't intentional." Joan blushed of embarrassment, what could she possibly be thinking to do such a thing?

"Not intentional? I can't imagine how could that be, you practically threw yourself at me!"

"I did not throw my self at you Sherlock! It was just a kiss. We were just talking and then you got that look..." now she was coming to her senses shaken by his harsh tone.

"Look? What look?" now he was almost shouting.

"The look you, some times, have when you are talking about something more intimate Sherlock. When you, momentarily, forget about the cold bastard you really are!" she knew it was childish trying to insult him, bat really it was right there, so, she just picked it up.

"And at what point did that look gave you permission to throw yourself upon me?"

"Permission? Oh I'm sorry... I didn't know I needed one! I just felt like it! Do you know what the term means, 'feel like doing something', or would you like me to explain?" she was angry now. Okay she had kissed him but he didn't have to act so shocked and repulsed. That was just hurtful.

"I am familiar with the term, yes, thank you very much. But that's just it, our arrangement forbids you from acting based on what you feel on the moment." his tone was back to cold hartles bastard mode now, Joan wasn't sure what was worst, angry or cold Sherlock.

"Well then excuse me for violating that agreement, even if I was not aware of it, I deeply regret having upset you by my wild behavior tonight, it will not be happening again. You can be sure of that." tears were welling up in her eyes and she, sure as hell, did not want to give him the satisfaction of realizing how much his action had hurt her.

"What do you mean you weren't aware of it? You know perfectly well how I am Watson, how my mind works and my intimacy problems. Do you expect all of that to go away with a kiss?" his tone was very-matter-of-fact, nothing more nothing less.

"Ooh no! You will not make me feel guilty Holmes! Not tonight!" immediately she run up the stairs not being able to hold her tears any more. She shut and locked the door of her bedroom and then collapsed on her bed.

Maybe he was right after all, she had pressured him too much. She knew him, she had studied him and his strange ways, she thought she had come to terms with the fact that he could not show any affection to her, beyond a certain point. What on earth had possessed her to kiss him like that. They were just sitting on the couch and talking after they had solved a case, like any other night. They were happy and laughing, he seemed carefree, looking in her eyes, touching her hand, almost... almost as if he was provoking it... Yes! It was all there, eye contact, touch, sound, everything in the book! He was making an experiment out of her. How could he play with her like that? Oh now she was furious, she had stopped crying and was pacing in the spacious room. She had to confront him! She was running down the stairs now, making her way through the living room and the study, quickly checking only to see he was not there.

"Holmes!" her voice was angry, he was in the kitchen, bent, his head inside the fridge.

"Nuuh?" he sprang up his head turning in her direction, curiosity in his gaze over her and a piece of cheese in his mouth.

"Did you enjoy your little stunt?" she said, fury burning like fire inside her.

He gulped the bite of cheese and said: "Watson you are not making any sense! Which stunt of all are you referring to?"

"The one you pulled on me of course! You thought I wouldn't notice?"

"I knew you would of course! You are a brilliant detective. But I have to say I am a bit disappointed."

"Disappointed?" she was confused now, what was he talking about?

"I simply thought you could be able to detect it sooner, what could possibly have clouded your judgment?"

"I cannot believe you Sherlock! Are you still mocking me? After that? I thought you were a lot of things, but cruel? No, I never had you for a cruel man. Play with your only friends feelings like that."

"I am sincerely sorry if your feelings got hurt in the way miss Watson, I was merely trying to prove a point."

"Naturally! Always trying to prove a point! To whom Sherlock, huh? To me? To yourself? To the universe? What was so important that gave you the right to manipulate me?"

"I..." was he really speechless? For the first time, for as long as she knew him, he seemed to have nothing to say to defend himself. Now there was only a thing left to do.

She walked slowly to him looked him in the eyes and slapped him as hard as she could! It was definitely satisfying! But it lasted only a moment, as soon as he took in what had just happened he grabbed her from her shoulders and paced her backwards several steps, making her hit the wall hard with her back. He was standing there so close to her, his hands griping her arms tightly his body on hers, his eyes fixed on hers, breathing heavily, as was she. And then the most unexpected thing happened, he let her go. She was sure he was going to do something, strike fer back, yell at her, hell, maybe even kiss her, but he had turned his back and walked away, his body so full of tense Joan thought he might actually explode.

She had violent dreams that night, full of hatred and love, all for him.

Her eyes shot open! Instinctively looking at the clock beside her she saw it was 4:47 in the morning and something felt wrong. She sat up on the bed only to find herself staring at Sherlock, who was standing on the foot of the bed, observing her. He was bear chested wearing only his pajama bottoms, his hands joined behind his back.

"What are you doing here Sherlock?" her voice sounded tired, tired from just having woken up and from their earlier fight, her crying, it was a tiresome day in all.

"I was curious... what if..." he broke off, obviously drawn by some though inside his head. He walked forward then, getting on the bed and kept walking on the mattress, he knelt when he reached her, never taking his gaze off of her face.

"You were curious about what? What could possibly be so important to have brought you here at this hour and woken me?" she knew of course it could be a number of things, it was not the first time he had done it, but given his earlier behavior, she was starting to worry a little bit for him.

"Sherlock? Are you okay? You're starting to scare me..." her words fell out and she lifted her hand to cup his face, it was mostly a subconscious gesture, but he seemed to respond to it, spasmodically turning his head to feel her hand.

"No, I am most certainly not okay Watson... I... I have been thinking about you... I don't seem to be able to rid of your words and actions this evening..." he spoke formally but his voice showed how unstable his mind was.

"What if, what if I kissed you?"he said then in a sudden outburst of energy in his voice.

"What then?" she simply asked and then he was kissing her.

It was a strange kiss almost surgical, but he didn't seem to want to break it so she took it upon herself to, at least, make it pleasant. She softened her lips upon his, taking their form, slowly she moved them against his, her softness defeating his hardness, making him give in to the kiss. Sherlock then released his hands from their tight hold on each other and placed one on the back of Joann's neck pulling her closer. She held on him and moved so she could be kneeling too, in front of him, leaning her body towards his when his other hand took a grip on her shirt at the small of her back, bringing their bodies in full contact. Joan could feel the muscles on his naked torso, he didn't seem a particularly fit and strong man when fully clothed, but apparently looks were deceiving in his case.

-Sherlock POV

What was he doing? Was he out of his mind? He was not sure. He was only sure of her, there in his arms, her mouth warm and soft sending shivers down his body, slowly opening her lips to give him permission to deepen the kiss. He touched her lips with his tong and then it swirled along with hers inside her mouth in a fine playful way. He couldn't have imagined Joan could be characterized playful in any way. Her hands moved from his face, he felt her touch on his neck, chest, she stayed there, feeling his bare muscles, her nails digging inside the soft flesh, a push! A push! She broke the kiss and almost made him loose his balance on the mattress.

"Joan what the...?" he was startled.

"What are you doing? Is this one of your little experiments? 'Cause if it is... I swear to God Sherlock, I will leave this house and you will never see me again in your life!" there was rage in her eyes, if he didn't know better he could have said it was pure hate for him.

"It's not! I give you my word. Believe me!" he couldn't bear not being touched by her, now that he had felt her he didn't wan to let go. And here she thought he was playing, if only she knew... "Please..." he begged again, this time his forehead on hers. And then the kissing began again, from exactly were they had left it, she gave in immediately, nor being able to resist either.

He, Sherlock Holmes, couldn't think of anything reasonable at this moment, he could only think of Joan in his arms and what he wanted to do with her. He knew this wasn't going to be just sex, she was right, if there are any kind of feelings involved, it's love, always love. He got her to lay down on the bed an he went over her. His hands were feeling her whole body, she was an impressive woman, fit and strong and yet so delicate, he could almost feel everything over the thin, oversized t-shirt she was wearing for sleep. But almost was never good enough for Sherlock, not if he could have it all. So he got rid of the damned thing and tossed it as far away as he could. Now he was left admiring Joan at her full grace, her small, but firm, breasts going up and down as she breathed heavily the muscles of her stomach, tense. He had to touch her. And so he did, his fingertips going over her belly, his gaze following, and then her thighs, so soft. He touched the inside of her right thigh and she shivered, her nipples hardened along with his erection. He had to touch them, hands were not good enough, lips! He needed to kiss them! Slowly his mouth synchronized with his hand, working up, down and around, making her breath in agony as she was craving more of his touch.

His lust had become her lust,she grabbed him from his hair pulling him closer to her breasts, making him lick her harder, he sucked and bit on her nipple, she pressed even harder, so he bit, on the side of her breast, even harder, making her scream! It was arousing, hearing her voice like that, he laughed loudly on her skin, she pulled his hair in order to look at him, she had a wild half smile on her lips and a small fire was burning in her eyes. She wanted him, he could tell. Joan rolled him around on the bed so she could be on top and kissed him as hard as she could, biting and pulling his lower lip. And then she was biting him all over, his chin, his neck, his chest, his abdomen, his hip bones... making him growl and her laugh in his pain just as he had done before. She pulled off his pants and saw he wasn't wearing any underwear, she smiled. Standing up she took off her own underwear -plain black cotton panties Sherlock found way too hot- and eventually knelt over him, her legs on his sides over his arms, trapping him. He knew what she wanted!

-Joan POV

She saw his face lighting in realization of what she was silently asking. His strong hands pulled her closer over his face and not wasting any more time he started sucking on her clitoris, immediately making her scream. He was good, licking, kissing and sucking, all in one beautiful choreography. And then his fingers joined too, dancing in the song of her sighs and screams, making her shiver as they hit that sweet spot inside her that drove her mad with pleasure. But he wasn't going to give her everything just yet, he was going to make her wait, building the tension to maximize the final outcome. And he was so fucking good at it! As she was screaming more and more loudly, just before the relief of the orgasm, he stopped everything, every motion and turned away to kiss her thighs instead.

Joan growled and got away from his touch, she turned her attention to his cock. Suddenly she wanted to feel its smoothness and feel it pounding and jerking reflexively on her grip. She grabbed him by the balls and Sherlock rewarded her with a surprised look. She took his dick in her right hand, without ever leaving his testicles, and started licking it from bottom to top. When it was lubricated enough she took it in her mouth slowly, folding her tong inside so the tip could hit "bottom" for extra pleasure. And she was right, not long after, Sherlock reached for her head, wanting control over this pleasure, she hit his hand hard tossing it away and continued her work. She took him deeper inside but soon her gag reflex started so she gave up on the idea, he was big... Instead she played with his balls, taking then in her mouth, kissing the tender skin, and then on the head again, hardening her tong and poking it lightly with it. It was making Sherlock mad, if he wouldn't let her reach her orgasm neither would she let him.

But she had played long enough, she seriously needed him now, wanted to feel him inside her.

"There are condoms on the bottom drawer." she said simply and he reached for them, taking one and putting it on. She was already on top of him so she simply positioned herself better and started lowering her body, taking him slowly in.

"Aaaah..." she felt relief when her thighs touched his and she knew everything was in place. She started moving up and down and soon they fell into a growing pace. It was good, she hadn't had sex in a long time and finally she could feel the joy of it, and then, there was also something else she couldn't quite place, it felt different, she and Sherlock always knew what the other wanted, they moved as one, instantly responding to each others silent requests. Is was almost magical!

He lifted her torso up and then followed her, loosing himself inside her bosom, he stopped moving and removed himself from inside of her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Turn around Joan." he commanded and she did as he asked.

She was on him now, her legs folded on his sides and her back turned on him. He was holding her hips, firmly guiding her, entering her again she felt all the glory of this new position, he was deeper inside her than before and they had more freedom of movement. Immediately he started moving her on him, thrusting himself at the same time.

They moved and yelled and screamed and shouted each others names again and again until they reached their climax, first she and only a moment after, he. He went in and out a couple of times more and when he was completely done he released her from his grip. He didn't make a move to show that he wanted her off of him so Joan sat there, leaned back on his chest to catch her breath.

"I... it was..." he started,

"Yeah! I know! I was there remember?" she teased him. He laughed out loud, which caused some movement making them both feel aroused again. She got off of him finally and lay on her back, observing him as he removed the condom and carefully made a knot on the top. After he was done he came to her and put his head on her belly, at first looking at her and then kissing her softly. She closed her eyes relaxing but soon his kissed became more aggressive asking her to respond. She took his hair and pulled him up.

"Are you really up for more? So soon?" she asked him.

"Why? Can't you take it?" there was a challenge there and she was not one to refuse a challenge.

She was the one to reach for the condom this time, they were left on top of the night table, she handed it to him giving him her "permission" for the next round. They made love three more times until morning, when they fell asleep until nine thirty when their phones rung, there was a new homicide, they had to get back to reality and deal with their actions and what they meant. But Sherlock was not ready to talk about it yet so she let it go and followed him in the shower when he asked her. They washed each other softly and kissed, there was no sign of denial from his part it seemed, this might actually be okay after all.

They had just entered the taxi when Joan finally decided it was time to break the silence. They had a good twenty minutes ahead of them to the docks -where the crime scene was- and they were on the move so he couldn't get away from her.

"So are we going to talk about it?"

"Is this an ambush Watson?"

She laughed slightly to lighten the mood and said: "Kind of, yes. Well you didn't seem to pretend nothing happened this morning so... I think that's a good start."

"A good start for what? Dealing with the problem?" he said bitterly.

"Do you see it as problem?" she asked.

"You are answering a question with a question Joan, you know I hate that!"

"Okay, fine! No I didn't mean it was some sort of a problem. I meant it was a good start to discuss what is going to happen in the future."

"What could possibly happen? We are partners in crime solving and we live together. What do you suppose could happen?"

"If I knew I wouldn't ask you Sherlock, would I? Aah... look, last night, it was fun, more than fun actually, I felt us Sherlock... but then maybe it was just me..." she was slowly coming to the realization that maybe last night wasn't as magical for him as it was for her.

"No it wasn't just you. I felt it too, don't be so self conscious Watson, it doesn't suit you." He assured her.

"Then what? I don't expect we start a relationship...?" she was unsure.

"Most certainly not! I say we can have fun whenever we want, no commitment, no relationship stuff, like obligatory date nights and anniversary presents..." he was serious.

"I agree, but I think we should debate the commitment part a little further... you know how I feel about committing to some one and about polygamy Sherlock. I can't do it. I need to feel a certain amount of safety..."

"So basically what you say is we start a proper relationship..."

"No! I mean... we both know we can't go back to how things were before, can we?"

"I honestly have no idea Watson. Maybe we can... not right away of course, but in time... who knows."

"I think we should give it a try and find out... I mean... obviously we are good together..." she said hopefully but at the same time not wanting to show him exactly how much she was expecting.

"You are probably right, we wont know if we don't try... and I want to find out!"