After The Glow

Author: Rosie

Email: rosiiii@aol.com

Rating: NC-17

Context: This is a continuation of my romantic series. The fan fictions,
"Mother Knows Best," "Some Enchanted Evening," and "Finally," preceded it.
I hope you enjoy it! I really don't know if I'm getting better -- but I am
having a blast!

Disclaimer: This is my work of fiction, based on the CBS series The Guardian,
but is not associated with the series in any way (somewhere...David Hollander
is saying...uh..no sh*t Sherlock.)
___________________________________________________________




"NICK!"

"Lulu!" Nick groaned into her ear, squeezing tight, lying beneath her on the
couch as she straddled him, pressing up and into her. Louisa moaned softly,
her eyelids growing heavy with pleasure. She undulated atop him, he grasped
her hips in his hands and growled in response. Lulu smiled, placed her head
softly on Nick's chest and kept moving, "My God," Nick choked.

Suddenly she gasped, and her big brown eyes flew open wide, "Oh My God!"

"Yesssss," Nick hissed with pleasure, enjoying her surprise, enjoying her...

"No! Nick! Stop! STOP! You don't understand!" She gasped again, and grasped
his hands which were clinching her hips. As she lifted off him carefully,
his voice cracked, and he yelled out in frustration.

"I'm sorry, so sorry...," her face looked pained. God, she hated doing that
to him...hated doing that to herself...but it had to be done. She wanted to
weep.

Lulu couldn't believe it! She couldn't believe the risks they had taken in
the heat of the moment! 
 
"Oh God!" she groaned, scrambling off him, and hurriedly moving to the far end 
of the couch. Lulu grabbed a pillow, and hugged it to her, curling her legs up 
and dazedly staring into space. As petite as she was, the pillow totally 
obscured 
the view, Nick noticed grumpily, still panting -- what was going on?!

"Lulu, what the hell's the matter with you?!" his face was still flushed,
and his tone was harsh at the interruption.

"We didn't use anything...we didn't use any protection Nick!" she said
strongly, looking right at him, as if she expected him to solve this
particular problem post haste, as per his usual.

Nick's breath left him and he jerked upright now, his head in his hands. All
thoughts of romance suddenly went out the window, following right behind his
common sense apparently, which had long since preceded it. He tried to
formulate a sentence, but images of curly blonde tots crawling all over Lulu
danced in his head and tripped him up.

"Oh, well, uh...you weren't taking any -- I mean, I just assumed...thought..."
Nick paused to unscramble his brains, and untie his tongue, which Lulu
somehow always managed to twist into knots. This was a doozy. "Okay, scratch 
that. 
I guess I didn't think at all...I couldn't." He looked a 
bit shell-shocked himself now, ducking his head and repeatedly smoothing the
hair on his nape as he was prone to do when faced with a problem.

He had wanted Lulu so much that he hadn't given a thought to protection.
What in hell was the matter with him?! He was always careful, had been from
a teenager. Burton had drummed it into his head pretty often as a young man,
albeit long-distance, regarding what lengths some women would go to, to
ensnare the son of one of the wealthiest men in the city. Now that Nick was
a grown man, successful in his own right, he was incredibly diligent about
contraception, and always aware of his health and his potential for
paternity. He was 'full safe' at all times.

Nick recalled that even while in the throes of a hit, and partying his ass
off back in the day, that he'd always had the presence of mind to wear a
rubber, and sometimes two. As a matter of fact, if they were to invent a
prophylactic suit, Nick Fallin would have been the first in line to buy one.
So what the hell happened here tonight? Huh. Dumb question. Lulu happened.

Strangely enough, he found himself neither worried, nor upset. He decided to
try and calm Lulu's nerves as she still looked a bit stunned. Reaching for
his trousers, he slipped into them, as she'd be much more apt to take him
seriously with his pants on. He laughed at that. He actually laughed. Lulu
turned to look at him as if he'd lost his mind, how could he laugh at a time
like this?!

"Lulu..." he said, quickly wiping the grin off his face and sitting down
beside her near her end of the couch, he picked up her hand, caressing her
soft palm. "It'll be okay...I promise -- we probably don't have a thing to
worry about...I mean, c'mon," he cajoled, "this was only our first time
together." He ducked his head and stared at her face intently to see how
this was going over.

Nick reached out and stroked her cheek softly, waiting for a response. Lulu,
wearing her burgundy chenille pillow, looked at him then, and totally deadpan
said, "You know, Fallin, Anatomy & Physiology really should be a requirement
of anyone studying the law. Nice try though."

Uh-oh. We're back to last names Nick thought, not a good sign. He sighed,
and although not prepared to leave, he reluctantly decided to give her a
little space if that was what she needed. "Louisa, do you want to turn in?"

She knew what he was asking, and there was only one way to answer, because
they couldn't risk it. "I think it would be for the best. But you…you can
sleep here tonight if you like." Lulu said hesitantly, hopefully. She didn't
want him to go.

He heard it in her voice, the platonic offer of the couch. Being this close
to her, especially after having shared so much, would be an enormous
temptation. Nick smiled crookedly at her offer, gave a slight laugh before
replying, "I really don't think that would be such a great idea, Lulu."

"Nick, it's late, it's almost 3 in the morning, and I don't want you out
there at this time of night," she sounded almost scolding. "You'll stay
here, okay? No arguing. I'll go get some clean sheets for you." 
 
Lulu started to get up, forgetting she was naked as a jaybird, and was struck
immobile with shyness. Backing out of the room with a pillow in a death
grip might look a bit foolish, especially considering Nicholas had seen every
inch of her already.

Lulu's eye caught the pale blue of Nick's shirt as it lay on the back of the
couch, she breathed an audible sigh of relief, and began to reach for it.
Nick had followed Lulu's eye - he knew exactly what she was going for.
Louisa didn't see the small devilish smile, which played about his full mouth.

At the exact same moment Lulu made a move, Nick's hand brushed her's as he
lightly snatched up his shirt, pretending to act surprised, "Well, there's my
shirt, I had wondered where it got to!"

Lulu narrowed her eyes a bit, unable to ascertain if that had been
deliberate. It was all Nick could do to hold back a smile.

Now what was she going to do. This was silly, she thought. As Lulu weighed
her options, Nick nonchalantly watched her beneath his lashes, he'd let up in
a minute - the poor thing was starting to look a bit forlorn stuck buck-naked
on the couch as she was. At that moment Lulu gathered up her nerve, and
decided to gracefully lose the pillow, and make an exit. Which is precisely
when Nick started to crack. Lulu was then easily able to discern a smile on
that handsome face, as his eyes dipped down at the corners, and his laugh
lines deepened.

The pillow hit Nick hard and full in the face, and wiped the smile right off
him. "Why you little --" as he reached for her, he dropped the shirt and Lulu
laughing, sidestepped him, grabbed it from his fingers, and slipped it on,
blushing as he recovered and began to watch her slowly and intently, as she
buttoned up.

"Nick..." she whispered entreatingly. Nick dropped his head, she was right
-- they couldn't finish whatever it was they were starting again.

Those eyes devastated her. Time for a breather. She started to back away from
the sofa, watching him with her heart in her eyes, and told him where the
bathroom was in case he needed it. All the while he was looking at her in
that way -- and it was turning her insides to mush.

Nick noticed his shirttails came below her knees, and the sleeves a good 5
inches below her hands, her hair was a shiny brown tumble on her shoulders,
and her lips still pink and swollen from their tryst.  She was adorable.


"Lulu," Nick breathed heavily, reaching out, catching her wrist softly, and
bending her down, to gently kiss her lips, sipping at her and finally closing
his mouth fully over hers.

Lulu gave a whimper and buried her face in his warm neck, trying to regain
her composure, Nick's hands had slid up under the shirt, and were firmly
holding her hips, one hand slid inward and began to do incredible things to
her inner thighs -- teasing and caressing, her knees began to shake.

Lulu, decided to call a halt before things went beyond their control.
Pecking him firmly on the lips, and pulling out of his arms, she told him
she'd be right back. She ran lightly down the hallway, telling him over her
shoulder, that she'd bring back towels in case he wanted to shower.

It was almost 2pm and Nick hadn't seen Louisa since he walked into LSOP at
noon. He restrained himself from asking Alvin where she was, he couldn't
tolerate one of his smug knowing looks, as he was getting increasingly
worried. He spotted Barbara talking to James in the conference room, and
wandered in trying to play it cool.

"Hey Nick," said Barbara.

James looked up and greeted Nick, "Hey man, how's it going?"

"Pretty good, pretty good," replied Nick, his hands deep in his pockets. He
walked over to the fax machine and checked it for good measure, then stood by
the printer, wondering how he might broach the subject of Louisa's
whereabouts and totally missing Barbara and James's knowing smirk in his
direction.

"Out of toner?" Barbara questioned innocently.

"No - no, it's fine...uh Barbara...you wouldn't happen to know --"

Barbara broke into a mile wide smile, "She's at lunch with Brian, Nick."

Nick felt his breath leave him, and saw red for a second. Barbara and James
both saw him blanch and determined then and there, that Nick and Lulu's
relationship had past the point of harmless infatuation. This was serious.

"What?" Nick said softly, his face seemingly pained.

"Y-Yeah Nick, they left about an hour ago -- they're at Wheeler's getting a
bite to eat."

Before she finished, Nick had left the conference room, grabbing his jacket.

He couldn't believe it, he somehow thought he'd see her before she told Brian
it was over. Nick exited the old brick warehouse and briskly walked down the
street in the direction of Wheeler's Pub. He saw two figures exiting just as
he rounded the corner, and immediately knew it was Lulu and Brian, as he
dwarfed her small figure. Brian had her by the elbow in what appeared to be
polite gesture, but as Nick grew closer, he noticed he was gripping her arm
much too firmly, and forcibly walking her towards his slate gray Benz.

"Brian, no...NO! I'm not going with you, please listen to me. It's my fault
I didn't know what I wanted, but now I do...and..and...I just need space, you
deserve better than what I have to give," she pleaded with him trying to get
him to see reason, but still he was marching her along in the direction of
his car, despite her efforts to hang back. He was beginning to frighten her.
It seemed he wasn't hearing a word she was saying, and he had a terrible
look in his eye.

Brian looked up to see who was approaching so fast, and immediately grew red
in the face with rage, and squeezed Louisa's arm, pulling her closer. Lulu
gasped in pain, "Brian, NO! You're hurting me!"

Nick hurriedly caught up to them, and stepped right between the two. Caught
by surprise, Brian veered back. Nick's shouldering into Brian forced him to
drop the death grip he had on Lulu's elbow. Lulu, was shielded behind Nick
now, and she was so relieved she wanted to cry -- she didn't know what Brian
would have done.

"Well, well...look who's here -- your knight in shining armor, Louisa. Tell me
is this the reason for your sudden change of heart? Really, don't feel you
have to spare me, I can take it -- you want this..." He looked Nick up and
down disdainfully, poking his finger into the middle of Nick's chest, "this,
drug addict instead of me, is that it?!" Nick looked at him impassively,
waiting for Brian's rage to expend itself. On one level he understood
Brian's despair at losing Louisa, so he decided to not inflame the situation,
by responding. Until Brian made his next mistake, he looked behind Nick at
Lulu, and continued sneering, "That's perfect Lulu, what better match for a
druggie, than a little whore like you!"

"You son of a bitch," Nick growled enraged. His fist connected with Brian's
cheek, and he grabbed him up by the lapels. Lulu watched Brian's head snap
back with the force of it. He seemed dazed, hanging loosely, arms akimbo, he
was supported by Nick's fists which were gouged into his clothing.

"Nick NOOO!" Louisa screamed, remembering how any illegal infraction might
hurt Nick, she grabbed his arm, and anxiously tried to pull him off Brian.
If he wound up in serious trouble, she'd never forgive herself. "Nick
please, PLEASE!!" she whispered urgently, sobbing, and out of breath. She
looked desperately up into his face and tried to calm the rage she saw there.
She pulled harder, touching his face, and directing his now ice-cold hooded
eyes down into her pleading gaze, "C'mon...please Nick, let's...let's go
back."

Nick, shoved Brian away from him. Brian's legs wobbled -- he shrugged and
straightened his clothing -- still arrogant. He backed up towards his car,
looking contemptuously at the two lovers. He turned to climb into his car,
but not without one parting shot. "Make sure you tell golden boy there all
about your past Lulu. You and your whore of a mother using and entrapping
any poor schmuck that blew into town...." Nick made to lunge at him again,
but Lulu's low moan of, "Noooo...," stopped him.

Lulu gasped in pain, and he caught her up against him. She was shaking, the
tears rolling down her face, "You know that's not true - I had nothing to do
with my Mother's lifestyle. For you to even say something like that, must
mean you never loved me."

For a split second he had the decency to look contrite, but then his face
contorted in rage, "BITCH!" How dare you turn this around on me, I did love
you! I would have given you everything!" He slammed the door shut and tires
squealing, roared down the street.

Louisa looked broken, Nick enfolded her in his arms, as she sobbed. He spoke
softly, stroking her back, "I wish you had talked to me before you made these
arrangements to see him, this is just what I was afraid of." He didn't want
to upset her further, but hoped she could see the danger she had placed
herself in. They came across cases similar to this every week at LSOP, the
many restraining orders against abusive and sometimes suicidal homicidal
ex-boyfriends and husbands, who were losing their property. He pegged that
asshole Olsen as just that type, dictating to Lulu where they'd live, where
she'd work, if she'd work and for how long.

Nick had known instinctively, that Brian was the type who would not take
their breakup well, his ego couldn't stand Lulu leaving him, let alone her
leaving him for someone else. He had a strong feeling though, that this would
be the last they'd see of milkdud, as his penchant for self-preservation was
much too profound to lead to other future confrontations. Lulu and he were
rid of him...well rid of him.

Nick looked down at Lulu's tear streaked face and kissed her forehead,
tightening his arm around her. They started back towards the office. Lulu's
heart swelled...and was full to overflowing with love for Nicholas Fallin.
She resolutely decided, today would be the day she let him know who she was
and where she came from, she hoped and prayed he wouldn't see her any
differently. Lulu gathered her courage, and prepared herself for that next
big step.

Yes. She'd have something to show Nick when they returned to LSOP.
 
THE END