French Kisses

Sunday morning came too soon. They woke together, curled together like spoons in a drawer. Lee couldn't remember any time he had woken in such a state of simultaneous contentment and arousal. He felt as much as heard Amanda chuckling as she wriggled even closer into his body and his encircling arm, as his free hand gently stroked up and down the length of her thigh and he breathed in the scent of her hair against his face.

"Something funny, Amanda?"

"Mmmm, I was just thinking how long it's been since I've woken up to a boner in the small of my back. For the last few years, I've had to make do with your hand there."

He began to shake with laughter; she could feel him smiling against her neck and smiled as well, thinking about how cute his dimples must look right now.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've had anyone to bother with one"

"Did I say I was bothered?" she laughed. "Although I could grant you hot and bothered."

He waited to see if she was going to ask anything about what he'd inadvertently let slip with that comment, but she stayed silent, twining her fingers with his, and rubbing one foot up and down along his shin. Minutes continued to pass in a comfortable silence before she finally turned in his arms to face him and reached up to pull his face towards hers in a long intimate kiss.

They made love then, as the morning light dappled the bed through the blinds, a sweet slow loving of caresses and endearments, nibbling and kissing before finding their way to the shower where their mutual exploration continued as they rinsed away the stickiness of the night's activities. Amanda leaned against his chest, while Lee lathered her hair and then slowly massaged her scalp. As she began to moan gently from the zaps of electricity it was sending down her spine to her groin, he leaned in and whispered into her ear, in an echo of last night's passion, "Touch yourself".

Without even pausing to question what he'd said, her hand found its way between her legs and she began to rub herself slowly, her moans steadily increasing as the physical sensations overtook her. He leaned back against the wall of the shower stall and braced his feet against the far wall so that he could take her weight with one arm while he continued the head massage with the other. When her climax hit and she went limp against him, he held her tightly and leaned back under the spray of warm water, letting it rinse the shampoo from her hair as she trembled in his arms and returned his fevered kisses.

Once she was steady on her feet again, he reached down to stroke himself to a similar conclusion, but before he had barely begun, he felt her slide down his body and take him in her mouth. "Oh Amanda" he groaned as he felt himself slide into the warmth and her tongue began to slide gently around his tip. He knew it was not going to take long since he was so far gone from watching her come in his arms but when he tried to tug her back to her feet, she simply grabbed his hands with her own and tilted her head to take him in more deeply, looking up at him with brown eyes that had gone almost black with desire. When she let go with one hand and reached up to gently rub the velvety spot directly behind his balls, he lost it and found himself bucking uncontrollably against her while she wrapped her arms around his thighs so that he couldn't slide out of the suction of her mouth until he was done. Then he was the one who went limp, sliding down the shower wall until he landed on the floor, Amanda still kneeling between his legs. She fell into his open arms and that's where they stayed, letting the warm water wash over them, as they tried to catch their breath and slow their rapidly beating hearts.

By the time the water had started to cool and they had dragged themselves from the shower, it was late enough that even Lee had to admit they were past the time of day where any meal could be called "breakfast". As he pulled on a t-shirt and jeans, he glanced over at Amanda who had snagged his robe from the back of the bathroom door and came to a sudden realization.

"Amanda, what are you going to wear home? You can't go home in that dress a day after you left on your date! What will your mother say?"

Amanda chuckled as she tied the robe. "For one, Mother is away this weekend with her boyfriend and the boys are with Joe. And two, sorority girls know how to avoid the walk of shame, Lee. I have a bag out in my car."

He stared at her, not quite believing what he'd heard. "So let me get this straight. You drove here for our first date with a change of clothes, made sure I drank just enough so that I'd be functional but unable to resist you and then wore a dress that you knew gave me a raging hard-on every time I thought about you in it?"

She nodded, smiling at him.

"Why Mrs. Robinson, I think you're trying to seduce me." She burst out laughing at the cheesy move line.

"Well no one's going to mistake you for Dustin Hoffman – you're so much taller. And you missed the part where I hardly ate any dinner. That's always a big clue. So now I'm starving – let's go find something to eat." She grabbed his hand, ready to pull him into the kitchen.

Lee looked completely at sea at this last sentence. "You hardly ate and that's a clue? You've lost me."

"Well, Lee, here's a fact that you've probably missed while you were dating all those children" She cupped his cheek with one hand and grinned to take the sting out of her comment. "When a girl thinks she might want to end an evening with dessert…" She paused and licked her lips suggestively at him before continuing "they don't eat a heavy meal. So when your date only has a salad and pushes most of her meal around on her plate, you should know that's a very good sign."

As his eyes widened in comprehension, her stomach growled as confirmation of how hungry she was. "Alright then. Let's feed you before you become too enjoy my future advances. Fortunately I actually have food in my fridge and a vast culinary knowledge so we won't need to leave the apartment".

The meal was as good as promised, although Lee could barely taste it, as he was too busy enjoying the sight of Amanda King curled up in the kitchen chair opposite him, dressed in nothing but his robe. Their conversation was simple and relaxed, they really just picked up from where they had left off at the restaurant the night before. His heart tightened in his chest as he realized how much he loved this woman sitting in his kitchen; he'd never imagined this much pure happiness in the mundane act of having a meal after a night together.

As they finished their lunch, he carried the plates to the sink and when Amanda followed him, carrying their coffee mugs, he turned to take her in his arms.

"Thank God for that stupid play" he said as he dropped kisses across her face. "Especially the part where it got cancelled and left you free for a date last night."

"Oh I don't know that it was so stupid" she smiled up at him, eyes crinkling with humour. "We got to rehearse what with me being the understudy and all."

"Don't remind me!" he groaned. "Francine and her stupid impeccable timing!" He growled slightly thinking of how their co-worker had interrupted a very promising clinch just a few days before.

"Probably just as well if it was going to lead here. This couldn't have happened in the middle of the office." Amanda leaned back far enough to undo the belt of her robe and guided his hands around her waist.

"Mmmm" he leaned in and began nibbling the soft spot just under her ear which he had already discovered made her weak at the knees. "Although it probably wouldn't have happened if I'd had to keep spouting those stupid lines. 'You look sad tonight, and crystal dew drops of dashed dreams insult your eyes?' I mean come on!"

Amanda giggled "Well, to be fair, that wasn't in the real play, that was one of the lines the Russians wrote for him. Tony's lines were much better even if you didn't understand the play." As he rolled his eyes, she dropped her voice and began speaking in the heavily French-accented English she had used for the part she'd been understudying. "Your opacity is transparent… Will wine really make you forget?" She wriggled against him, eyebrows raised suggestively

As Lee started to laugh and leaned in to kiss her, the phone began to ring. "Un-frickin-believable" he growled. "It's Sunday and based on that timing, it can only be Francine or Billy."

"Or perhaps just a lonely telemarketer. Or you've won the Publishers' Clearinghouse Sweepstakes." Amanda chuckled as she danced out of his arms towards the phone, a mischievous grin on her face.

"No because Publishers' Clearinghouse don't call you, they just show up at your door. Ignore it. Amanda! Do not touch that phone!" As he finished the last word, Amanda stuck her tongue out at him and picked up the phone. "Allo?" she drawled into the phone still using the breathy deep voice she had been using as her French play character. "Leeeeee? Ah mais oui, of course he izzz heeere. Un moment s'il vous plait". She held out the phone, grinning and mouthed "Billy" at him as he took it, trying to glare at her but failing miserably in the face of her silent laughter.

"Stetson!" he barked into the phone, trying to make it clear he was not happy about this interruption to his weekend.

"Lee, it's me. Sorry to interrupt your…Sunday". He could hear Billy sighing down the line at him, obviously disappointed at the apparent evidence that Scarecrow had reverted to his old ways. "I was hoping you'd know where Fred could find the Hauptmann file from last week. Something's come up with the Russians and we can't find it anywhere."

"And you thought I'd know? You know I'm useless at that stuff – Amanda's the one you should be asking." He made a face at the woman in question who was now leaning against the kitchen counter, grinning at his mention of her name. He turned away and tried to keep the laugh out of his voice.

Billy obviously didn't notice as he went on. "Well of course I tried her first, but she isn't home. I don't suppose you know where she is? I don't really want to have to wait until she comes in tomorrow to find the file for us."

"Billy, the last thing I'm wondering about right now is where Amanda might be on a Sunday morning." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement and realized that Amanda was now sashaying her way across the kitchen towards him. "No!" He held out a hand to stop her. "No! No! No! Don't you dare!"

He could hear Billy asking him if everything was alright just as Amanda began to speak loudly, still in the sultry voice of a French chanteuse. "Leeeeee, ma chere, where is the rest of the champagne from last night. I am sooo thirsty and you promised meeeee"

She leaned forward and sliding her hands under his t-shirt began to tickle him lightly as he squirmed trying to get away. "Quit it! I'm on the phone with Bi- with my boss!" Then to his horror, as she continued to tickle him, he found himself blurting out "A-man-da! Stop it!" He could hear the dead silence at the other end of the line as Amanda dropped her hands from his waist and put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Oh shit", he heard himself saying next.

He heard Billy clear his throat but it seemed he had otherwise been stunned into silence and Lee certainly couldn't think of anything to say. It was at that moment that he watched and understood just what Tony Martinet had seen in Amanda as an understudy. She drew herself up, shook off the laughter that had overcome her and began to screech "Amanda? Amanda? Who is thees Amanda? You spend the night in my arms and then you call me by some other woman's name? Bah! Forget your stupid breakfast and your stupid champagne! I do not need to stay here and be insulted by one such as you!"

He could tell from the barely controlled laughter at the end of the phone line that Billy had heard her entire tirade. He held the phone further away from his face and tried to make it sound like he was having an argument with the angry imaginary French woman. "Marie, ma chere, it was the tiniest little mistake. Don't leave now! I mean, you're not even dressed!"

"oh so now you remember my name, Lee Stetson? Bah, you Americans – I do not know what women see you! You are like boys compared to a Frenchman!" As she continued to screech at him, Amanda wandered over to the living room and leaned down to pick up the dress and shoes that he been left lying there the night before. Swinging the dress back and forth, she grinned at Lee and yelled across the room. "You stupid man! Where is my brassiere?" She drawled out the proper French pronunciation of the word.

Lee flashed back to the memory of the unexpected surprises of the night before and answered her truthfully "I don't believe you were wearing one". He heard Billy guffaw down the line as Amanda doubled over trying not to laugh out loud. "Darling! Don't leave! We could still have a beautiful afternoon together!" He pointed to the front door and was relieved that Amanda immediately understood what he meant. She walked over to the door and opening it, yelled one last "Bah! Americans!" before slamming it shut again and then leaning back against it laughing silently.

"Uh, Billy, I have stuff here I should probably deal with, so if you're done with me…"

Billy was still laughing down the phone line. "Yeah sorry to have interrupted your day, Lee. I hope you can salvage some of it. Preferably without any bruising"

"I'll do my best Billy. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Oh and Lee? If that girl is the new translator from the French Embassy, you might want to steer clear. There's a rumour she's really doing corporate spying for French Intelligence. Although I'm not sure you'll be seeing her again." Billy was laughing really hard now.

"No worries, Billy. I'm 99% sure she doesn't work for the Embassy. And I'm 100% sure she was no girl – that one was all woman." He grinned at the pleased look Amanda shot him from where she was now leaning against the back of the couch.

Billy had hung up, still laughing and Lee stalked across the room to pick Amanda up and carry her into the bedroom. "And now, woman, you must be punished".

Amanda was still shrieking with glee as he tossed her on the bed and followed her down, pinning her underneath his weight. "It's not my fault you slipped up! All I did was answer the phone!"

"After I told you not to!" Lee could barely kiss her he was laughing so hard as his mind replayed the last few minutes. "Do I have to add don't-answer-the-phone to your list of prohibited activities?"

"Would it do any good?" Amanda smiled up at him and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Probably not," he conceded. "You know, that's the second time I've done something like that."

"Done what?"

"The night you left me here with Leslie? I called her Amanda by accident that night during dinner."

"You didn't! That poor girl!" Amanda actually looked like she felt sorry for Leslie for a moment, but then smiled at the image it brought into her mind's eye. "Did she flounce out in a rage as well?"

"No, she was very sweet and thought I was just starting a conversation about you." Lee felt a twinge of remorse over the translator he had dated and dumped so quickly. "She was really very nice, you know."

"I know she was. She was really sweet to me that night and if I hadn't wanted to rip her heart out for dating you, we probably could have been friends."

Lee pulled back and looked into Amanda's face. "You actually mean that."

"The ripping out her heart part?" Amanda smiled up at him. "Or the friends part? But of course, I mean that. She was nice, she was normal, she liked you enough that she wanted to make room at a romantic dinner for your friend. She was sweet. I liked her." She reached up and pulled him down for a kiss "But I like you more."

"Ditto."

He began licking her collarbone with tiny flicks of his tongue while her hands started exploring him again under his t-shirt but when he shifted down her body and she moved her legs to make room for him, she suddenly gave off a groan that had nothing to do with what he was doing for her. Lee stopped and looked at her with a concerned expression.

"Is everything ok?"

She groaned and tugged his shoulder to bring him back up into her arms. "Everything's perfect. I'm just not used to this level of – activity – anymore" She gave a throaty laugh even as she winced slightly again. "I have muscles hurting that I forgot I had"

"Oh Amanda, I'm sorry. I didn't even think – "

She started to laugh again, and drew him in closer "Oh Lee, I don't care that everything hurts. I wouldn't have passed this up for the world. However – ", she paused and kissed him lightly on her favourite dimple before glancing at the clock on his bedside table, "since I have now been naked for a record 16 hours, maybe it's time to go get that bag out my car and get dressed – like a normal person."

Lee grinned and stood up, pulling her to her feet and into his arms, kissing her lightly on the lips. She looked at him with an uncertain expression and asked, "You don't mind, do you?"

He looked surprised by the question. "That's a silly question." She stiffened and looked down with a miserable expression. He tilted her chin back up and locked his hazel eyes with her expressive brown ones. "Do I want to spend the afternoon ravishing my beautiful partner? Of course. Do I want to do that with a beautiful partner who is distracted by pain from what we're doing because I am unable to control myself around her? Not particularly." She relaxed in his arms as she smiled at his answer. "So now that's settled, I'm really hoping you had a purse last night because otherwise I don't want to think about where you were keeping your car keys all evening." He knew everything was going to be fine when she gurgled with laughter at that.

"Let's get you dressed and then we can go for a walk in Rock Creek Park before you head home."

Later on, they stood by her car, neither wanting to end this first date. They both kept reaching out absentmindedly to pick off imaginary lint on each other or smooth a non-existent crease, unable to stop touching the other even after an afternoon strolling hand in hand through the park. Finally Amanda pushed herself off from where she had been leaning against the Wagoneer.

"I need to get going. The boys will be home soon. I'll see you at work tomorrow." She knew the disappointment on his face was mirrored on her own. "It's not going to be weird, is it? I mean, we're…ok? Right?" She knew she was rambling but couldn't seem to get a coherent thought out.

Lee took her hand and kissed the top and then turned it over and kissed the palm as well, before looking up at her and winking, before adding in an echo of the words he'd said to her so many weeks before at Dooley's Bar "Ah my Amanda, we are more than just ok."