Three hours later, Lauren found herself sitting on a couch in an apartment complex on the other side of town. She was still trying to figure out what the hell happened, and honestly, she was pissed. After Bo's outburst towards the Ash, Dyson called some of his buddies and they literally moved all of her stuff into this new apartment, despite her protests. She tried to get answers from Dyson, but he was just as in the dark as she was. All he said was that Bo was very dangerous when she got into a mood and it was best just to go along with her, but that he was sure Bo wouldn't hurt her. Lauren wasn't worried about that. Somehow, she knew that Bo would never hurt her, but it still didn't explain the claiming of her that she just did. She was sick of being treated like a piece of furniture, just passed around without any considerations for her own thoughts and opinions. Her brief time with Bo made her think that maybe she was different than the rest, but apparently not.

And now she was trapped in this apartment and didn't have a clue what to do. Dyson told her not to leave until Bo got back, and she wasn't crazy enough to cross a Queen succubus and thousand year-old wolf shifter, so she spent a bit of time unpacking a few essentials, but seriously! Did she even have a job anymore? What would she do if she couldn't be a doctor? It was the one thing in her life that made her happy. She was on the verge of a breakdown when she heard a knock at the door. Getting up, she opened it to the whirlwind that was Bo. Walking in without even a thought, she was talking a mile a minute "are you okay…did the Ash give you any trouble…I will kill him if he did…did Dyson get all your stuff…" Finally, Lauren had to shout to get her to shut up. Stopping mid-sentence, the brunette looked at her quizzically as if she had no idea why Lauren was yelling at her.

"What the fuck? You think you can just waltz in here like you own this place, oh wait, you do and apparently, you own me now too. And I thought you were different, but I guess not, my Queen," Lauren bit out with all the sarcasm she could muster. Queen or no, she wasn't going to pretend she was happy with her new state of ownership.

Bo blinked at her, not saying a word. She ran through everything in her head again and realized she had fucked this up. Once again she acted without thinking, or in the case, communicating what she was thinking. Of course Lauren was pissed. She probably thought Bo just took ownership of her and was no different than the Ash-hole. That was all wrong, she had to fix this now.

Holding up her hand, she gave Lauren a sad smile and walked out the door, closing it behind her. Lauren just stood there, not having any clue what was happening. The woman had walked in like a whirlwind, but then when Lauren called her out she just left with no explanation?

The soft knock at the door startled her again. Seriously, what the fuck?

Opening it again, she saw Bo standing outside, a chastised look on her face. "Hello Lauren, sorry about that before, I'd like to try this again. May I come in? I would like to talk with you" she asked, waiting patiently outside while Lauren pondered her answer.

Her head spinning, but still wanting to know what Bo was thinking, she nodded as she stepped back from the door allowing Bo to enter. She walked with the brunette over to the couch, noticing how she was much more calm and had a beautiful glow about her now that she had clearly fed. She did wonder what that feeding had entailed. A quickie with some stranger in an alley, or did she have a harem of willing donors at her beck and call? Did she need to have sex to feed? Lauren realized she was actually jealous of the thought of Bo having just come from a sexual encounter with someone else. She would need to think on that more later though, since Bo had taken a seat on her couch and was waiting expectantly for her to join her. So she did, taking a seat on the opposite end.

Sitting up straight and taking a deep breathe, Bo began. "Lauren, I am sorry for the lack of communication and the crazy way everything went down in the past few hours. I am still working on not doing the whole, shoot first ask questions later thing, and as you can see it isn't going so well."

Lauren nodded for her to continue, but didn't offer anything else up. She wanted to see where Bo was going before reacting.

Smiling, Bo continued. "First of all, I don't own you. You are 100% free. I am sorry for what happened with the Ash, but he would never have agreed if I had just asked him to release you. The fae unfortunately don't think that way, but they do react to threats and fear of retribution, and I knew he would not argue with my claiming you if he feared for his own safety."

Lauren blinked, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I'm free?" she whispered.

"Yes. No one owns you. You are more than welcome to stay here, you are right I do own this building, and honestly it is a little lonely so I would love the company. But if you wanted to move somewhere else, I will help you find a place and have your stuff moved. "

Sitting in stunned silence, Lauren didn't even know how to process what she was hearing. Just 5 minutes ago she was pissed at herself for being so wrong about Bo, and now here she was speechless and free. Not even thinking, she surged across the distance on the couch separating her from Bo and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck, practically sitting in her lap. She squeezed harder as she felt the tears start to fall and she could do nothing but mumble 'thank you' over and over as she allowed herself to accept what Bo had given her. She felt Bo's arms wrap around her and hold her close as she cried, whispering her own 'you're welcome' once Lauren had settled quietly against her. After a few moments, Lauren became aware of her physical location in Bo's lap, wrapped in a warm embrace, and pulled away slightly so she could look in Bo's eyes. Almost immediately both women could feel the shift in the air, the sexual tension that had been swirling in the lab, thickening and becoming heavy between them. Lauren tried to read the expression in Bo's eyes, but she could not help herself from glancing down at Bo's lips, lips she wanted to get lost in. Glancing back up, she was surprised to see Bo's eyes flash blue again. Concerned, she gently cupped Bo's chin, asking softly "are you still hungry?"

Bo closed her eyes and shook her head. Curious now, Lauren asked "then what is it?"

Opening them again, Bo was calmed by the concern in Lauren's voice and her eyes faded back to their soft brown color. "My eyes flash when my inner succubus is closer to the surface. So when I am hungry, or angry. Or aroused," she explained feeling a slight blush reach her cheeks.

Lauren was mesmerized still. "Well, you aren't hungry and I am guessing you aren't angry either," she asked. Bo shook her head. This was torture, being this close, mere inches from the doctor's lips and not wanting to ruin what would soon be their first kiss by rushing it. Though she was a succubus and obviously used to taking charge and taking what she wanted, this was different. She wanted Lauren to come to her, she wanted there to be nothing forced or impure between them. Her succubus was howling though, and she managed to plead out a very husky "Lauren…"

Hearing her name like that lit Lauren on fire, and she immediately closed the last few inches between them as she slanted her mouth over Bo's. She swore there were sparks at that first contact and she pushed harder against Bo, overcome with the need to be with this woman, to feel her against her and to make her scream her name.

Bo eagerly responded to the kiss, taking as much as Lauren was giving her. Wanting her closer, she wrapped her arms around the blonde and pulled her in so there was no room left between them. She was surprised to realize that her succubus was allowing her to take the lead, that she wasn't consumed with the desire to feed.

After several breathless moments, Bo pulled away suddenly, remembering what she had asked of Lauren originally. "Wait!" she said trying to catch her breath so she could speak.

Lauren pulled back, her dark hooded eyes watching Bo intently, challenging her resolve.

"I want to do this right. I asked you to have dinner with me and I would love it if you were still okay with that."

Lauren frowned, her libido was raging and all she wanted to eat right now was Bo. "How about we have dinner after," she purred as she leaned forward to take Bo's lips once again.

But Bo was determined and could be as stubborn as a mule when she wanted to be. "Lauren, please. I want you so bad, you have no idea. But I also want more than a quick fuck. I'm a succubus so my whole life is about sex, but I don't want that to define me. I want a normal life – and someone to share it with. I know we just met but there is something about you that just draws me in and I really want to get to know you."

Lauren tried to blink away the haze of lust she was experiencing and reign back in her libido. She really had no idea what had come over her to make her so blatantly forward. She could blame it on Bo being a succubus, but deep down she knew it was more about the woman herself than her species. And to be honest, there was something about Bo that drew her in as well, so perhaps she should follow her lead and see where this went.

Climbing off of the brunette, she smiled as she reached her hand down to help her off the couch. "Alright, woo me Succubus."

Bo, who had looked sad as Lauren was moving off of her, had her whole face light up in a smile at Lauren's words. Allowing herself to be pulled up, she pulled Lauren in closer and placed a kiss next to her ear, stoking the flames, "oh, I intend to doctor, I intend to." Lauren's shiver was all she needed before tugging her along and up to her apartment, where she hoped their first date would turn into many many more.

xxxxxxxxx

"Lauren – dinner is ready," came the call from the kitchen. Lauren closed down her laptop and wandered into the kitchen, peering over the shoulder of the brunette who was hunched over while cautiously plating some grilled chicken onto a salad. "Looks delicious," she said as she placed a soft kiss on Bo's neck before moving over to grab some utensils and set them up on the kitchen bar.

Bringing the two plates over, Bo placed one down at each place setting before sitting down next to Lauren at the counter. She smiled as she watched Lauren dig into her salad, happy the blonde liked it as it was one of the few things she was capable of making and that was only because Lauren had spent many evenings teaching Bo until she got it right. Most of the time Bo was too distracted by Lauren to focus on the cooking lesson and they had ended up in bed instead of finishing the meal more times than she could count.

"Do you remember the first time I cooked for you?" Bo asked, feeling sentimental as they shared their dinner. Lauren paused as she looked at Bo, sensing her need to get something off her chest.

"Do you mean the time you wanted to woo me, but almost burnt down your penthouse because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself?"

Bo grinned, "yes, that time. It wasn't my fault – you were way too distracting."

"If I remember correctly, I was the one who wanted to skip dinner in favor of other activities."

"I admit, not my smartest decision. But it all worked out okay, didn't it?"

Lauren smiled gently and nodded, her eyes shining with love. "Better than okay." She and Bo had had a good laugh over the brunette's ineptitude in the kitchen, and ended up in bed anyway. And for the most part, they had been inseparable since then. Lauren had helped her with her control, as well as provided a calming and reasonable influence on her exerting her royal influence. They had made great progress in changing how the fae treated humans as well as loosening the requirement that everyone had to choose a side – unaligned was a very popular choice now. Bo had helped Lauren build a free clinic that served all fae, regardless of their affiliation, and had allowed Lauren the freedom to work on her most important project – perfecting the serum that would allow her to have the same lifespan as Bo. She had just finished her testing on the final version and was confident it would work, though she hadn't yet shared the news.

Bo took a deep breath before trying to center herself and get her emotions under control for what she was about to do. She was nervous, but more than that she was excited to move their relationship to the next level. Slowly she rose from her seat before going down on one knee.

Lauren gasped, her eyes wide with surprise. "Bo….."

"Shhhh Lauren, please let me finish this before I lose my nerve."

Lauren nodded, her hand covering her mouth and tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Three years ago when we met in your lab I never thought I was deserving of love, let alone capable of finding someone who could love me. You have taught me so much in that time, helped me feel good about who I am and my place in this world. You have loved me on my best days and my worst days. And I love you too, with every cell in my body and every breathe that I take. I want to spend forever with you, however long that is. I want you by my side always, I want you to be my Queen, and I want you to be my wife. So Doctor Lauren Lewis, will you marry me?"

With tears rolling down her cheeks but a smile a mile wide on her face, Lauren slid off her chair and pulled Bo up from her kneeling position. Cradling her face, she whispered "yes" before closing her lips over the brunette's.

Knowing she was days away from being able to have that forever with the beautiful succubus who stole her heart the minute she met her, and that that woman would soon be her wife, Lauren could only thank the gods for what she had. Everything that had happened to her before was worth it, because Bo was her soulmate. And she was the luckiest woman on earth.