And how exactly do our Daring Detectives pretend nothing has changed? I'm going to assume they are all professional enough to do their job without emotions getting in the way (for now) but how do they hide it from friends and co-workers? Logan'Barek. Bobby'Alex.

oOo

"Extracurricular Pursuits"

Copyright 2006 Penn O'Hara

T

Usual disclaimers apply.

Timeline: After "A Shift of Axis".

A/N: At the request of a Barek fan, I've tried to put a wealth of character into Carolyn Barek. Some may say I've overdone it, but it was a challenge to turn her more 3D before she departs. Some Goren fans can't believe the Logan they see in LandO:CI could be the Logan that I like to write. But, if you've watched every Logan episode since LandO's inception, as I have, you would have seen the boyish Logan surface every now and then when the occasion warrants or permits it. It is that Logan that I know exists and that I allow to surface when he's not being abrasive and gruff.

oOo

"You gonna eat that fried onion?" Mike asked Carolyn, checking her plate.

Carolyn put down her coffee cup and looked round the restaurant for the waitress, wanting a refill. She spied four other detectives from their division sitting in the bar section and lifted a hand in greeting, but couldn't see the waitress anywhere.

"No, and neither are you." She batted Mike's hand out of the way as he made a swipe for the leftovers from her steak burger.

Far from looking chastened, Mike gave her a look that belonged behind closed doors and between damp sheets. Carolyn's heart skipped.

"Have I told you yet, I like that new blouse you're wearing?" he asked. "It's different from those pullover thingies you usually wear."

Carolyn preened a little, gratified he'd noticed. She'd bought it recently, while feeling feminine and happy with her world with Mike in it. "Flattery is going to get you nowhere," she said, realizing it was a lie as soon as she said it. More often than she cared to admit, he got his way with her through persistence.

"Since when?" His dark brows artfully framed his surprise. "Now, why aren't I getting your onion?"

"If I'm going to sleep with you all night–"

She broke off as Michelle materialized at her elbow.

"More coffee, Detective?"

Carolyn gave a start, cursing the waitress' bad timing."Yes, thanks." She held up her cup, watching Michelle's face carefully for any sign that she had overhead. Waitresses in this bar were notorious gossip-mongers and Michelle was no exception. Half of One PP patronized this eatery because it was close, cheap, licensed and the food was damned good, but they had to keep their mouths shut.

Michelle's face was bland. In fact, she looked exhausted, run off her feet by the crowd tonight. She poured the coffee and moved on without any outward sign that she had picked up juicy gossip. Carolyn continued to watch her as she threaded her way through the patrons, stopping only to pour coffee. No one engaged her in conversation and she didn't offer any.

"Hey!" Mike swiped his hand up and down in front of her face. "You listenin' to me?"

Swinging her gaze back to him, Carolyn smiled. Smiled because she couldn't help herself, because he was good to look at, and because he had his head cocked on the side with the look of an eager kid hoping for a treat.

"Yeah, sure, Mike. What'd you say?"

"I want you to stay at my place tonight," he said. "We always go to yours."

Carolyn's eyes widened. "Do I want to see your apartment, Mike?" she asked. "Is it safe? Are there any hazards I should know about first?"

Mike flattened his hand against his chest in mock hurt. "Hey, I've got a cleaning woman who comes every Monday and I'm hardly ever there!" He leaned forward, eyes glittering, smiling wickedly. "She even changes the sheets."

"Thank the lord for cleaning ladies!"

"How 'bout it then?"

Carolyn tipped her head to the side to consider his request. There was no reason why she shouldn't, except that she liked her apartment; she liked being in it, and she liked seeing Mike in it. Her heavy, well-worn, well-loved antiques suited a big man.

"You got a jock's bed?"

Mike's jaw dropped, then a grin spread as he recognized the joke. "Um… define a jock's bed."

Lifting her elbows to the table, Carolyn rested her chin on linked fingers. "Water bed, black satin sheets, mirror on the ceiling, loud music, red table lamps…"

He leaned back in his seat, shaking his head. "Well, there ya go darlin', you're gonna be pleasantly surprised."

Carolyn caught her breath, expectation making her pulse quicken. "You realize you've still got a few 'surfaces' left untried at my place…"

Mike leaned forward again, his hands on the table, unconsciously playing with the ring on his finger, a habit of his that he did more times than Carolyn could count. A light sweat breaking out on her skin, she was mesmerized by the molten message in his half-closed eyes.

"Maybe, but they're still on my list," he promised. "And just imagine what I can do in… familiar territory."

Carolyn's heart lurched. "Let's go," she breathed.

Their dash for the door was thwarted by Pirelli hailing them as they passed the group of detectives near the bar.

"Hey, Logan! Aren't you joining us tonight?" Pirelli asked.

"Just seeing Barek safely home," Mike said, heading past them.

"You been doin' that a lot lately," Pirelli whined. "And you don't bother coming back. What's up?"

"We'd love to join you," Carolyn said quickly, stopping Mike with a hand on his arm. "C'mon, Mike. I feel like a drink myself. You don't mind if I join you, do you, Pirelli?"

"Nah, 'course not! More the merrier!"

Carolyn felt Mike tense under her fingers. "You sure, Barek?" he asked. "You said you wanted–"

"I could do with a couple of wines. They'll limber me up," she said, then laughed at his shocked expression.

Pirelli hooked a chair from the table behind him and slotted it beside the empty at theirs.

Taking the chair closest to Pirelli, Carolyn thanked the Detective, noting the man was already on his way to being inebriated and she hoped he wasn't on duty tomorrow. His tie and jacket was off, his round face perspiring and rounder stomach protruding over a too-tight belt and trousers.

Carolyn hadn't wanted to join him and the others, but she also didn't want them to come up with the correct reason why Mike was changing his after-work habits. She nodded at Watkins and Yung as they signaled for the waiter to take another order, and smiled at Mason before she realized the other woman was watching Mike with open calculation.

Tracy Mason and Mike? Carolyn's eyes narrowed. Mike hadn't said anything, but it was possible they were involved at some stage. Carolyn knew the man was no saint and accepted that, but while she was with him, she was going to do her damnedest to see that he didn't stray. Especially with athletic out-going blondes like Mason.

Moving her chair closer to Mike, Carolyn half turned away from him, so that her hip butted his thigh. Outwardly, she looked like she was giving Pirelli her full attention, while under the table, she was maintaining intimate contact with Logan.

"Yeah, Mike," Tracy said, her eyes accusing and mouth turned down, "I haven't seen much of you lately. Where ya been hiding?"

Carolyn was now sure of their past involvement. Tracy really wanted to say, Who've you been sleeping with instead?

"Uh, around." Mike shrugged, his voice quiet and non-committal. He turned to Carolyn as their waiter approached. "What're you drinking?"

"House red, thanks," she said, something unfamiliar and uncomfortable crawling in her stomach. Tracy Mason was 'competition' and Carolyn had this urge to stake her own claim, with no idea how to do it without alerting the others to Mike's and her relationship.

Listening to the others' conversations as they flowed around her, Carolyn sized up her potential rival. An inner devil prompting her, she finally zeroed in. "You seein' anyone, Tracy?" she asked, girl-to-girl.

Tracy looked from Carolyn to Mike back to Carolyn again. She looked confused by the conversation-opener but answered anyway. "Uh, no, not really. I thought–"

"I know," Carolyn commiserated. "That's the nature of our job, isn't it? We get to live in the pockets of our male partners all day and then have to go home to an empty bed. It's criminal. Back to front, even." She shook her head, accepting the glass of red from Tony, making a point of leaning into Mike as she did, pushing her breast against his arm before he collected his own froth-topped beer from the drink tray.

"But imagine the alternative," Carolyn said, unable to put a brake on her mouth. "Taking someone else's partner home to your bed. Twisted, eh? Ever had the urge to do that, Tracy?"

Mike lost it. Choking on his beer, he sprayed it into the center of their table. Watkins wore some of the liquid and whined at Mike while Yung laughed uproariously. Tracy wouldn't meet Carolyn's eye, confirming her suspicions.

"Hey, Mason, I'm game if you are!" Pirelli laughed.

Mike's hand grabbed Carolyn's knee, warning her off the subject. She felt like a bitch. She shouldn't have done it, yet her involvement with Mike had become important to her, so soon, so quickly that she was feeling proprietary.

"Don't even think about it, Pirelli." Mason stood, pushing back her chair. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said, then left them to walk out of the restaurant.

"What I'd say?" Pirelli asked in confusion. "Shit. Some people are touchy."

"Must be her time of the month," Watkins suggested, downing his beer.

"Nah, that was last week," Yung offered.

Pirelli's mouth dropped open. "How'd ya know that?"

"I ride with her every day." Yung scooped a handful of nuts from the bowl on the table and popped them into his mouth. "'Course I know the cycle. You can read the signs."

"Is that right?" Carolyn asked, her hand slipping below the table and finding Mike's thigh, but what started out as a gesture of apology for her earlier behavior turned into a need to explore more. She tipped her head toward him. "You know my cycle, Logan, by any chance?"

Mike wouldn't look at her, but she watched him take a nervous swig of his beer before she put out her other hand to take his glass.

"Let me taste your beer," she said. "In case I want one of those next." She put her lips where his had been, looking at him over the rim of the glass as she slid her hand further up his thigh. "Well, Mike," she asked, capturing his gaze and letting her eyes convey her rising awareness of him. "You know my cycle?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, unable to look away. "It's no cosmic mystery. You're due again next week."

That floored her and she didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused, so she opted for returning the favor and throwing him off kilter. Putting down his glass, she closed her palm over his groin.

"Holy Mother of–!" Mike gasped.

"Geezus!" Carolyn finished for him, shocked by Mike's huge hard-on. She hadn't expected him to be so hot to trot.

"Hey! What're you two getting religious about?" Pirelli asked, rocking forward to peer at them.

"Nothing," Mike choked, grabbing Carolyn's hand and putting it back in her own lap.

Carolyn took a deep drink of her wine, more disturbed that she cared to admit. Yung and Watkins were watching them closely now and she took another swig of wine while she searched for something to break the silence.

An idea forming, she turned to Yung. "So, what do you and Mason talk about? When you're on a stake-out…"

"Gee, I dunno," Yung said slowly. "She likes to hear about my kids. What they're up to. They grow up so fast and they're so damned cute–"

"Does she talk about herself?" Carolyn interrupted, more interested in knowing what Mason had to share. "You know, who she's seeing."

"Barek…" Mike warned.

"Yeah, she asks my advice on guys sometimes," Yung said. "Get the male point of view an' that."

"Anyone serious?"

Mike's hand was back on her knee, tightening painfully, but it wasn't enough to stop the devil driving her.

"Well, there was this one guy a while ago," Yung supplied. "She thought she might like to get serious but she was pretty cagey about it. I don't know what became of him though."

"What was the problem?" Carolyn took a quick breath as Mike's hand slid up the inside of her trousered leg. Abandoning his warnings, he was going for revenge. Her heart dashed against her ribs but she fixed her gaze on Yung, concentrating on his answer.

"No problem. She was interested in how I make it work with Beth, seeing as how we're both on the Force. I figured he was a cop too, but she wouldn't say much."

"No idea who he–?" Mike's finger slid between her legs and Carolyn bit down on a hiss, abandoning the question.

"You've finished your drink, Barek." Mike leaned toward her. "Let's go."

"But I want another–" Carolyn held her empty up to attract Tony's attention.

"No. You don't." He slapped her glass onto the table and pushed back his chair, grabbing her by the arm to coax her to her feet.

"See ya, fellas," Carolyn said as Mike half-dragged her out of the restaurant.

She stood outside, legs like jelly, heart hammering, her brain mush from the emotions Mike's hand had fired. Pointing her toward the Precinct where her car was garaged, Mike strode out pulling her along with him.

"That was some fishing expedition you went on, Barek," he said, his voice harsh. Dropping her arm, he swung his head toward her, mouth twisted. "What was the point?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Tracy?"

"Why did I have to? It was over ages ago."

"I worked that out for myself, but…" She gave him a quick glance, contrite for baiting him. "Okay, I guess there was no need to bring her up, but is there anyone else I work with that has, er, known you better?"

"If there is, I'll be sure to steer you away from them!" Mike snapped. "Why were we there anyway? I thought we were leaving."

Carolyn bit her lip, wanting to drag him somewhere and smooth his ruffled feathers and then rub herself all over him. Instead, she concentrated on walking, dodging other pedestrians and keeping close to Mike.

"We were," she said, "but when Pirelli called you over, I was worried… well, if you change your habits dramatically, the guys are going to wonder why."

"And they're not going to wonder why you're taking shots at Tracy Mason? Or asking about her love life?"

"I'm sorry about that, Mike." Carolyn bit her lip, genuinely ashamed of herself. "I feel really bad. I don't know what came over me. Let's go apologize to her."

"You stay away from her, Barek. You're not thinking straight. Surely one glass of red wine–" He squinted at her in the glow of the New York lights as he continued to stride ahead.

Carolyn shook her head, giving up on rationalizing her behavior. "That's because I'm thinking hot, hard and throbbing," she purred, leaning into him before pulling apart again.

Mike's step faltered. Looking ahead, he sped up, seizing her arm and pulling her along with him.

When he reached the stairs to a downstairs apartment, he half-carried her down into its shadows and pushed her against the inner wall.

Carolyn gasped and then was filled with the feel and taste of Mike as he thrust his mouth onto hers and pressed into her. She gripped his head, holding him closer and returned his erotic assault with a frantic passion that had nothing to do with the red wine she drank. The hardness of his body throbbed against her and she broke off the kiss to take a gulp of air.

"Shit, Mike, are you permanently aroused or what?"

He pulled away, shoulders heaving. "Honest to God, Carolyn, we need a room." He grabbed her wrists from around his neck and dragged her back up onto the street, heading for the Precinct garage.

"Okay, but if we're taking the car, you're driving," she laughed, trying to keep up with his bruising pace.

"Why?" He stopped suddenly and she ran into him, sobering as he held her steady.

Carolyn slowly looked down the length of him, her lips curving slightly, and then back up to meet his suspicious gaze. "You'll find out," she promised softly.

oOo

Gazing at the top of Bobby's head, Alex clamped down on the urge to run her fingers through his soft curls. She closed the book she had been trying to read, and gazed round the library instead, not only amazed it was still open, but that there were still people in here.

Besides Bobby.

Alex had agreed to come here with him only because he had let her choose the restaurant for their dinner. She'd even gone as far as ascertaining he'd never been there before so that she wouldn't have to again compete with fawning waitresses.

And it had been wonderful. Bobby was attentive, ordering the establishment's best Chardonnay and refilling her wine glass solicitously; even dancing with her before treating her to a mouth-watering dessert. So, mellowed by white wine and excellent company, Alex had agreed, out of curiosity, to call into the library to see exactly where he spent so much of his free time.

Despite the librarian warmly greeting Bobby as they walked past the lending counter, they had been left alone to browse toward the rear of the building. Choosing a Tom Clancy novel, Alex joined Bobby already seated at the table, half way into his first chapter.

But now, Alex was feeling restless, and Bobby didn't look even close to leaving, engrossed in his second thin hardback.

A book couldn't sustain her when the lure of Bobby was right across the table from her. Pushing her chair back, she rounded the table and sat in the seat beside him instead. Pretending to check out the book he was reading, she leaned against his arm, her body softening into him at the physical contact. Watching his profile, she appreciated his firm lips curved in concentration, rounded cheekbones, and his lively eyes skimming down the center of the book. He was speed-reading, his eyes tracking phrases either side of a central point, reading blocks of text rather than individual words. Alex had always wanted to be able to do that.

Still restless, Alex put her head against his shoulder, taking pleasure in the strength beneath her cheek.

Bobby's left hand came out to turn the page and Alex watched it hesitate, grab, then gently flip the page, hovering over the corner. Before he could withdraw his hand, she placed hers gently over it, squeezed and then began to stroke it, thrilling to the chance to touch him this way in public.

His head turning at her touch, he gave her a small smile that had her heart skittering against her ribs, then went back to the new page. Still holding his hand, Alex nestled in closer, reaching up to turn her face into his neck to lip his skin. The remnant of this morning's aftershave combined with his own unique scent teased her nose, its musk and the faint salty taste of his skin creating a raw ache within her.

"We're in a public place here, Alex," he murmured, tipping his head.

"I know. But these people don't know us." She frowned, remembering how familiar the librarian had been. "Well, me anyway. Even if they know you're a detective, you're allowed to have a social life."

Bobby turned back to his book. "You don't think…I have an image to uphold?"

"I think you're allowed a little public display of affection. The people we work with aren't likely to be here."

He raised his eyes and scanned the immediate area. "True."

"Besides, I'm feeling… mellow." Make that, extremely horny.

"You mean, bored," he said, not unkindly.

If he only knew. "You finish up there. I'm okay." She peered back at the book. "What're you reading, anyway?"

He half-closed the book to show her the cover. Making Relationships at Work, Work.

Alex laughed. "Tell me how it ends."

"I will."

She pressed her face into his neck again and lightly trailed her tongue upward to the shell of his ear. Passing over it, she breathed into him, rewarded by the tremor that rippled through his body. But what started as a teasing desire to get under his skin, was disturbing her more than she expected.

From the corner of her eye, Alex saw him grip the book harder than he needed to. She smiled before repeating her foray into his ear. "Ever read the Kama Sutra?" she asked, teething his earlobe.

"Anc…ancient or modern version?" His voice was far from steady.

"Er, uh, either."

"Hmmm."

Alex took that for an affirmative. "Really?" She rolled the tip of her tongue around his lobe.

He shifted on his chair. "R…really."

"How many times?" Alex wrapped her arms around his waist, and panted lightly into his ear. Tormenting him like this gave her a sense of power that was heady and addictive.

"Once."

"Oh."

"And… memorized them."

Alex gasped. "You can do that?"

"With a photographic memory? Yeah…yeah, I can do that."

"Ohhh. Ever tried any of the positions," she asked, her tone casual despite her nerves firing with eagerness.

His body went still, the muscles tensing under her touch.

"A few."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Wanna try one now?" she asked hopefully.

Bobby's lips pursed and he turned to look at her, his eyes burning with a brilliance that stole her breath.

Shutting the book, he stood up and held out his hand.

Alex' jaw dropped. She meant it only as a joke, but somehow she had annoyed him and he was taking her home. She bit her lip as she put her hand in his, her chest tightening with disappointment.

Guiding her past the rows of bookshelves to the rear of the ground floor and not the entrance as she expected, Bobby took her down a small hallway to a door marked, "STAFF ONLY".

Alex' eyes widened as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket, inserted one in the lock and turned it. He stepped back to allow her through and, before shutting the door behind them, deliberately broke the key off in the lock.

"Can you do that?" Alex asked, not quite believing what she'd witnessed.

Bobby looked at her in surprise. "I just did. But if you mean, should I?" His lips lifted in a small smile. "Definitely not."

Looking around the room, Alex' fears that it was a bathroom were unfounded. It was a staff lounge complete with kitchenette, dining table and chairs and a magazine table positioned against the back wall.

"How did you get a key?" she asked.

"I'm well enough known here to be granted…certain privileges."

Alex looked at the closed door, her stomach knotting with anticipation. "How do we get out?"

"It's a one way lock." He demonstrated by turning the handle and opening the door easily before shutting it again. "Satisfied?"

Nodding, she wondered what he had in mind. "Um, what now?"

Bobby took off his coat and folded it into a foot square then positioned it at the top of the table as if it were a pillow.

Alex eyed the table, her tongue touching her lips. "Are we going to use that?"

"Eventually." Bobby took off his tie, stuffed it in his trousers and then started unbuttoning his shirt, beginning at the cuffs. Alex watched, mesmerized, as he peeled the shirt back from his chest, then slid it off his shoulders. Folding the shirt neatly, he placed it three quarters down the length of the table. If her head was pillowed by Bobby's coat, then his shirt would be just about where her hips would be…

Alex' heart raced.

Walking over to the fridge, Bobby opened it and hunkered down to peer inside. Pulling out a tub of yogurt, he examined the label and said, "Passionfruit. Hmmm. My favorite." Reaching inside again, he grunted in satisfaction. "This is better. Natural. Won't interfere with your own unique flavor."

Alex swallowed hard.

Giving the freezer lid a slight tug, Bobby pulled out a small tray of ice cubes, twisted the tray and popped the cubes into a glass sitting on the sink beside the fridge. Considerately filling the tray again, he replaced it in the freezer, the suspense of his deliberate and systematic movements stretching Alex' nerves taut.

"That'll do for starters," Bobby said, turning back to her.

"Are ice cubes really in–?" She pressed her lips together to prevent her panting in front of him.

"That's just my little addition."

"Are we going to–?"

"You don't appreciate me being… spontaneous?" he asked, his brows knitted in confusion. "I thought–"

"I was…I think I was joking…"

"And now?"

"Um, I'm not sure…"

Bobby stood legs apart, chest bare, one hand supporting his elbow, the other stroking his chin as he eyed her. Alex' eyes flicked up and down his body and she knew then she would do anything he asked of her.

"One more thing, I think," he said, turning back to the sink, and started opening and closing the cupboards. Alex brazenly watched the play of muscles rippling under his skin as he moved. He finally found what he was looking for. A small jar of honey. Placing it beside the yogurt, he unhooked his belt and laid it flat on the table near his folded coat.

"How did you know they had honey?" Alex began, shifting on her feet, throat dry.

"I didn't. I was merely hoping. Librarians usually don't disappoint me." He walked toward her, holding out a hand. "Shall we get started?"

Eyes heavy, Bobby's smile was a decadent lift of his lips. "Position one…"

oOo

tbc…