She tilted her head back with a smile of her own. "Oh, did you want to wear it?" she laughed softly, squeezing her arms about him for a moment before releasing him. She threw him another fondly teasing smile as she walked away, picking up the robe on her way to the bathroom.

"Well, if you've got another, I might think about it." He grinned and let her go. As she walked towards the bathroom, he sauntered over towards the bed. His shirt was unbuttoned, cuffs first. He sat down, then slowly lay back. His shirt was abandoned to drape across a pile of boxes.

"Mm, if these flying visits are becoming a fixture, I might just have to buy you one," she called from the bathroom, divesting herself of all her clothing... may as well be comfortable. "Donal? Why did you bring the delivery this week? You said you didn't know when you'd be back."

His hands were folded on his stomach as he stared up at the ceiling. "Had to disappear for a few days, let things cool off. Couldn't think of a better way to spend a few days than to be here." He smiled and closed his eyes.

"Mm .. I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted," she grinned, tying the robe closed as she walked out. It flapped open as she knelt on the bed, reaching over to brush a lock of hair off his forehead. "You look tired."

He turned his head and gave her a tired smile. "I am. Been a long few days. But, I did not come without gifts." He made no move to get up and produce the gifts that he'd brought. "Thought you'd like some New Year cheer." He held out his hand and gently stroked the bare thigh near him. "I know it's awfully forward of me, but I couldn't resist."

Colby's jaw dropped. "You bought me a present?" She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "But ... you barely know me, why would you even want to? I'm just a pain in the groin to you." So much for the self-assured confident woman she pretended to be - inferiority complex, anyone?

"I did, and except for that one time, you've been a rather pleasure to my groin." He chuckled as his eyes closed. His hand continued to softly move over her thigh, his thumb making wide arcs on her delicate skin. "Don't be so surprised, Colby. You've made quite the impression."

Her thigh tensed tremulously under the gentle touch of his fingers on her skin, unable to ignore the physical reaction that came with his hands on her. But there was something else there, something she had yet to admit to. After all, it wasn't just anyone who got a key to her apartment. She shifted a little, leaning against the pillows beside him as her fingers lifted to trace his features curiously. "Why me?" she asked quietly. "There's gotta be a hundred girls where you come from who'd kill to be where I am right now."

He felt her tense under his hand, yet continued the gentle massage. "Why you?" He lifted a brow, opening one eye. Her hand on his face felt like a feather and he fought to keep from giggling his high pitched giggle from the slight tickle. "Because you wouldn't kill to be in the position that you're in."

Her head tilted with a vaguely sardonic smile, fingers gently brushing over his lips for a moment. "I find it hard to believe that every woman you've ever met aside from me has just fallen at your feet, Mr Shriver."

"I'm a Made Man, Colby. And women where I come from are money hungry, grubby little whores who fall down at men's feet just so they can climb the social ladder." He sounded bitter, as if the taste of the words were sour in his mouth. "You're not like that."

"A Made Man? What's that mean?" She'd never heard the term before. "Is it like a self-made man? You worked your way up from the bottom?" She sat up, reaching out to wipe the makeup off her face while she remembered. Panda eyes were not a good look, especially when you knew you would have company in the morning.

"Exactly. Worked my way up. Of course, being Italian gave me the boost I needed to become Made, but you hit the nail on the head, beautiful." He grinned and closed his eyes again, giving her a smidgen of privacy to remove her make up. "You don't need that paint, you know."

Never had his name sounded so sweet in his ears as when she breathed it in that way. And her talents were more than enough to have him writhing for her, filling the air with a groan that travelled from his diaphragm up through his own tortured vocal chords.

And she teased and played with him far past the point where it would have been kinder to stop, testing his sensitivity before she drew back, kneeling up to lick her lips in a definitely predatory manner. "Feeling better now, cupcake?" she asked sweetly.

As his body collapsed onto the bed, his bottom lip quivered as he let out a shuddering breath. "S-s-stop." He reached for her hair. But she'd already lifted her head. His head flopped back down onto the pillow and his eyes closed. "Jesus, where did yo ... never mind. I don't want to know."

She snorted a little, crawling up along his body to lean over him, watching as he recovered. "Just a little something my first love taught me," she told him with a grin. "Well ... he was my biology professor, I guess I had to come out of that relationship with something useful, right?"

His brows arched, but that was about all of the energy he could muster. "You'd better have had a good grade, to boot." He laughed softly and managed to bring his arms up to gently run his hands down her sides. "Thank God for biology."

She giggled softly down at him, nuzzling her nose to his for a moment. "Come on, lift your legs," she ordered then, kneeling up to manouver the quilt out from under him to cover his naked body over. Then she rose to turn out the lights, dropping her robe in the faint gleam of moonlight to slide in beside him. "You gotta get some sleep, sweetheart."

He did as instructed, lavishing in the warmth under the quilt. He turned to his side and curled beside her, pulling her back against his chest. "Colby?" He murmured, gently nibbling the ridge of her ear.

She wouldn't admit aloud, but as he drew her back against his chest, she smiled to herself. She'd missed feeling this safe, this protected, as his larger frame curled around hers. Her head turned towards him, teeth nibbling on her own lips in enjoyment of his lips against her ear. "Mmm?"

"Why are you so nice to me?" He knew that he'd been a downright bastard to her, so the treatment he'd just received puzzled him. "Not that I'm complaining,"

Her hand reached up to stroke her fingers against his cheek as she smiled into the gloom. "Because you don't care who I am or where I came from," she whispered softly. "Because there's a good man under all that bluff. And ... because I like you, Donal. Probably a lot more than I should."

Donal closed his eyes and inhalred deeply through his nose. Her hair smelled of perfumed shampoo, sweet and a little tangy. "Don't love me, Colby." He warned her as his hand moved to the curve of her breast.

His hand on her breast was warmth and danger all at once. Her lips curved a little. "Can't tell my heart who it can and can't love," she told him quietly, shrugging a little. "Don't worry, I know men like you don't love girls like me. I'd never ask you to. If I loved you. Which I don't."

He sighed, letting his fingers play against her skin. "You don't understand," his voice soft against her ear. "It's not that we don't, we can't." He gave her a gentle squeeze. "It's not fair to the ladies. And it happens so often that some people think it's a curse." He stopped talking then, slipping into a self-absorbed silence.

Her teeth found her lip as he touched her, biting down with a soft moan as the insinuating pleasure brought her hips rolling back against him. "It isn't your choice who you love or who loves you," she managed, just a little breathless as her hand covered his. She wasn't used to gentleness from him in this context, and it was having a startlingly profound effect. "And this ... this isn't Earth, Donal."

Nudging her hair with his chin, he applied a sensuous kiss to her shoulder. "Do you know what happens to girls that fall in love with wise guys like me? Hmm?" His mouth moved along her shoulder to the graceful curve of her neck.

"Mmm ..." She stifled the sound the moment she heard it, too late to keep him from hearing the affect he was having on her. "They get hurt?" she asked softly, her voice a husky whisper in the dim moonlit room as her rear rolled back against him once again.

Her hands lowered to the bed, pressing down with her palms as she squeezed her eyes shut more tightly. It was such a vulnerable position to be in, but ... she trusted him. Colby knew Donal wouldn't hurt her without her consent. His breath on her wet skin made gooseflesh ripple along her body, and she gasped softly as her body shuddered in pleasure, just for him.

"Tell me what you like." His hands lifted from the bed as he scooted back a bit further. He rested upon his elbows when finally in position. His knees still firmly planted on the bed, his head dropped so that he could taste the skin along the bottom of her rib cage. "Tell me."

"But I don't know," she protested softly, her own hands lifting from the bed to curl over his shoulders and into his hair. "How can I tell you when I don't -" Her head fell back again as she felt his lips trail along her ribs.

"Do you like that?" His voice held an amused lilt to it, making the question sound almost musical. "Tell me if you like it."

He would have a fight on his hands to hold her still. Her body was reacting without her say so, her back arching to lift off the bed and press her skin to his lips and hands. "Yes," she breathed eagerly. "I like it, I ... yes ..."

"Good." He smiled at the soft shudder of her body, the small goosebumps that were raised in the wake of his fingers. Slowly, he leaned and pushed the palms of his hands flat to her skin and moved forwards, smoothing the skin between his palms. "Do you love me, Colby?"

Caught up in the swell of sensation from him, for a moment she did not register his question. But as the words sank in, her eyes opened, golden brown looking up at him uncertainly. For the first time in her life, there was no witty response on her tongue; she didn't know what the right answer was. The truth could make him leave, especially after all his professing of widowhood for any woman who loved him. "I ... does it matter?"

A flicker of disappointment at her pause, and then her answer. An almost imperceptible nod and he was moving back down her body. His hands still pressed against her warm skin. Slowly, he stretched his body out onto the warm bed, his hands resting on her hips. "If only you did."

Her brow furrowed just a little, seeing that flicker across his expression, hearing the faint regret in his voice, and her hands reached down to him, stilled only by the first jolting pleasure from his unexpected kiss. "Oh ... gods ... what do you mean, 'if only I did'? You told me not to."

"What a man says," he breathed into her, his voice muffled, "and what he wants, deep down in his heart ..."

She opened her mouth to respond, and all that came from her lips was a loud cry. Lost in his talents displayed against her body, she writhed and moaned for him, at his mercy as sensation overwhelmed her senses. Never had she ever felt anything like this before; at least, not without giving something back at the same moment.

He pulled back and lifted his head, a smile upon his face as he looked down at her. "Are you enjoying this, Colby? Has anybody ever given to you without taking something in return?"

Breathless, she slumped back to the bed, staring at him in astonishment. "No one but you," she gasped, pushing herself to sit up. Her hand curled about his cheek, gently drawing him up to her level. "Ask me again." She didn't tell him which of the questions she meant - if he truly wanted the truth, he would know which question to ask.

His breath caught in his throat as her warm palm pressed to his cheek. Without hesitation, he stared into her eyes. "Do you love me, Colby?" He sat, transfixed. As if only her answer could make his body move once again. He held his breath.

"No." He laughed softly and crinkled his nose slightly when she kissed his forehead. "More like 'give more than you take' and 'you'll know, Donny, you'll know.'" Just what it is that he'd know, he didn't say.

"You and me are going to have a problem if we're both trying to give more than we take," Colby laughed quietly. "I do have a job to do, you know." She wriggled down to touch her nose to his. "And you're not going back to Earth until I'm sure you're protected."

"I don't think it'll be much of a problem. We'll just have to take turns." Softly chuckling, he let his hands travel again, his breath warming her skin as he sighed. "I've my guns, and I've got a sixth sense, or so they say."

Her body jerked a little as he touched her once again, eliciting a low growling moan from her throat as she glared good-naturedly at him. "Sense or not, I want you protected," she managed, sliding her own hand down his chest and stomach to return his light touches. "It'll only take a few hours ... and one of your hairs."

Where her hand was, he gave a start to her words and convulsively pulled back and away from her. "One of my what?" His eyes had grown as round as saucers and his hands moved down to protect his manhood and the hairs that surrounded the base of it. "That'll hurt." His face was comical; that of a boy who had learned what a kick to the crow's nest had felt like and would do anything to prevent it from happening again.

"Not one of those hairs!" Colby laughed aloud, rolling onto her back as she clutched at her stomach, curling her legs up. Red hair tumbled across her face as her lips opened in a loud chuckle that seemed to go on for a long time, as she replayed her mental image of chasing him naked around the club with a pair of tweezers.

"Oh." His hands slowly moved from the protective grasp to move up and he crossed his arms over his chest. He eyed her dubiously. "Wasn't that funny." He couldn't help it and grinned crookedly; albeit grudgingly. "Well, maybe a little funny." Turning his head he stared up at the ceiling. "What's the hair for?"

She giggled her way to a standstill, sighing as her hand rubbed over her now aching midriff. "Protection," was all she could tell him. "I don't know how it works, and I've never been brave enough to ask. But she'll protect you for me, if I have something so personal to you it can never be replicated." She rolled onto her side, up onto her elbow to look over at him. "Don't you trust me?"

"Oh." He blinked slowly and his lower lip protruded a bit. Turning his eyes first, then his head to look up at her when she rested on her elbow. "Yeah, I do. But I can only think of one thing that would use something personal of mine, and it's not a protector. Voodoo dolls are meant to harm." He nodded slowly. "My cousin in Louisiana was a Voodoo priestess."

Her face crumpled into a confused grimace at his description. "You haven't been in RhyDin much, have you?" she asked with a smile. "Magic is alive here; all kinds of magic, and not all of it is meant to harm. A lot of it is used to protect and heal. I don't know what 'vou-de-oo' is, but trust me, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes narrowing slightly. It was a thoughtful look, like he were trying to decide something. Then, a slow nod and he turned to look at her. "Yes, I trust you." Then he canted his head, offering the crown to her. "Pluck away. Just don't make me bald."

"Just one," she promised. "And in the morning. Right now, I think I have something else that needs doing." Her fingertips lifted his chin as she leaned over him, and her lips touched his softly for the briefest moment, before pressing a slow, full kiss to his mouth. She had a claim to stake before she was letting him get away this time.

((A scene played out between Donal and Colby.))