An Internal Affair

_______________________________

It really was nice to be in a relationship again, even if he wasn’t exactly sure where the whole thing was headed. Chad didn’t try to over-analyze it, knowing that would only lead to doubts and nothing good… it was enough for now that he felt like smiling whenever he thought of her and that it just felt…right when he was around her. So far, no one else knew about the fledgling relationship, which was another thing to be worried about, so he tried his best not to. It wasn’t anyone else’s business, after all. Others would find out about them soon enough, and he’d deal with the fall-out when it happened.

Chad smiled to himself as he signed his name on a form authorizing an inquiry into the leisure time of a patrol officer, thinking of his recent encounters with Andrea. After their walk on the beach and the subsequent hand-holding (which had made him feel as excited as he’d been when he was fifteen and alone with a girl for the first time on a date), they’d begun seeing each other on nearly a daily basis. On the days when Hopper was off annoying someone else, they went to lunch together and most nights had dinner together as well.

They hadn’t progressed past enthusiastic groping - whatever base that was supposed to be these days – and hadn’t spoken of it, but he was more than ready to move on and knew that she must be as well if the way she’d been responding to his kisses and caresses were anything to go by. He set down his pen and leaned back in his chair, still thinking of what they’d been doing two nights ago… it was as if Andrea had grown an extra set of hands. He hurriedly wiped the grin off his face when he realized that his door was open and Haskell was staring at him from inside the IA bullpen. The other man quickly averted his gaze, and Chad went back to his paperwork half-heartedly.

Andrea had insisted that tonight was her turn to take him out on a proper date, and he wondered what she had in store for him this time; she’d been looking awfully pleased with herself all day long and had teased him by whispering the suggestion that he wear something easily removable when they’d been in the elevator with one of the robbery and homicide detectives. His eyes went to the clock to see that it was finally past his shift, so he pulled open a desk drawer to stash the paperwork and came face-to-face with the portrait he kept inside it. “Hope you’re happy now,” he muttered under his breath, flipping it upside down. He wasn’t entirely sure why he kept it there anymore – he’d get rid of it later. He nodded pleasantly to Haskell as he locked his office door and left, heading home to walk Meredith, clean up the house, and shower before Andrea came by later.

She showed up earlier than he’d expected, nearly making him cut himself shaving when she stuck her head in the bathroom to surprise him with her punctuality. “Oh – sorry,” she said sheepishly as he glared in the mirror at her and shook his razor threateningly. She bit her lip and tugged on the spaghetti-strap of her top slightly, leaning against the wall to look at him.

“Next time, make some noise as you’re coming through the front door,” he scolded, finishing shaving and wiping his face while she perched on the sink next to him and watched interestedly. She giggled at his exaggerated wince as he put on aftershave, and pulled him closer by hooking a finger in the top of the towel that was wrapped around his hips. “You’d better be careful or we’ll be late to whatever you have planned,” he growled, sliding his hands up the sides of her thighs to part them so he could get closer to her.

Andrea ran her fingertips over his skin and slid them below the edge of the towel. “Maybe this is what I have planned,” she purred at him, dipping her head to run her tongue along his collarbone. Fuck, I should have jacked off in the shower. His body was eagerly responding to her tone and caresses as he kissed her, but he didn’t apologize for his reactions any longer – she slid her hand lower and rubbed him through the towel, delighting him with her boldness. She’d never done that before; it had always just been a teasing brush of fingers or a knee pressed against him accidentally-on-purpose… Chad pressed against her palm as he slid his hands beneath her shirt to cup her breasts, stroking his thumbs over the fabric-covered nipples. “Mmmm, Chad, ” she moaned against his lips as he pinched lightly.

He brought a hand down to hold hers in place, bucking his hips slowly while he explored her body with his free hand. “Do you want to…?”

“Not now, we were supposed to go to dinner and then– oooh, ” Andrea sighed as another gentle pinch through the cloth of her bra made her arch her back. Chad kissed her a final time and stepped away from her, banishing her to the living room while he waited for his erection to subside – he was going to haveto come up with a way to persuade her to actually finish what she started - before dressing in a pair of well-worn, faded jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. She was playing with Meredith when he came into the other room, but she gave him an approving nod and stood to hold out her hand. “Let’s take your car tonight…”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _


Andrea smiled at his surprise when he pulled into the parking lot she indicated. “Haven’t you ever been to a Moroccan restaurant before?”

“Actually, I haven’t…which you probably guessed,” he said pointedly, though he didn’t seem upset at the teasing. A muscle in his jaw twitched when she told him that they would be eating part of the meal with their hands. She laughed and leaned over the center console for a kiss, heat starting low in her belly as she thought of what they would be doing later…they’d waited long enough. “So, um, what’s supposed to be good here?” he asked curiously once they went inside and were seated on long couches beside each other. Their waiter drew a glare from him immediately when the man winked at Andrea after she asked for a wine list.

“Don’t be jealous, he’s an old friend…Lhoucine, this is Chad. Chad, Lhoucine – I come here all the time, so they know me; that’s why we’ve gotten such a private corner.” Chad still looked slightly skeptical at this but didn’t say anything so she ordered their food and moved closer to him, winking at their waiter and telling him not to rush. “So, what do you think of it so far?”

Chad nuzzled her, sliding an arm around her and pulling her against him. “So far, I think I like it. I like you more, though,” he whispered in her ear, brushing his lips over her neck. “I’d also like it if you wanted to spend the night with me tonight.”

She smiled and opened her mouth to speak when another thought hit her. “Chad.”

“Hmm?” He kissed the corner of her mouth softly.

“What do you do on Saturdays? Two weekends past I saw you, and…”

He drew away, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “You followed me?”

Andrea frowned and sat up. Why was he being like this; was he really seeing someone else? She’d just been joking about it the first time they’d spoke of it, but… “No, I was on my way back from the gym and thought of you, so I decided to drive by and see if you were home – look, what’s up with you? Why won’t you tell me?” She was trying her best not to get upset, but thought she was most likely making a rather poor showing at it. “It’s another woman, isn’t it? Because I know you said it wasn’t, but you’ve gotta help me out here.”

Chad pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “I already told you once, that’s not true. I just…don’t really feel comfortable talking about it.”

“Well, you’d better get comfortable with it or I’ll just call a cab and leave,” she threatened, feeling slightly alarmed at the intense feeling of jealousy welling up inside her. What the hell am I doing? I’m acting like an idiot and ruining everything. This isn’t like me!

Andrea stood abruptly, intending to head into the bathroom to collect herself, but he misunderstood her reaction and reached to stop her. “Wait, don’t leave! I…I’ll tell you, just don’t go,” he pleaded, looking so miserable that she sank down onto the couch immediately and reached for his hands. Chad looked slightly embarrassed as he began to speak, and looked down at their interlocked fingers. “I, um, didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want anyone else to know about it – besides the ones who already do, I mean… I guess it’s pretty stupid, keeping it secret.” He looked up at her sheepishly. “I never thought that you might think I was actually seeing someone else. But the thing is, I’ve been…training.”

“Training?” She blinked in surprise. “Is that the reason you were carrying riot gear into your house? But I thought you’d finished with being a beat cop years ago…”

It was Chad’s turn to blink. “What were you doing, having a stakeout down the block with your binoculars? Next time you should warn me; I’ll give you something a lot more interesting to watch.”

Andrea rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh. I believe you were telling a story…?”

He started fidgeting in his seat. “I am finished being a beat cop – but the ones assigned to crowd control aren’t the only ones who use riot gear. SWAT does, too.”

“You’re still not telling me why you – okay, wait. SWAT? As in…SWAT? You?!?! ”

Chad looked down again and pulled his hand from hers. “Just forget I said anything.”

“No, I didn’t mean it to come out quite like that… it’s just a surprise. I would have never guessed that you’d want to go for SWAT,” she said quickly, putting her hand on his thigh as soon as she saw how she’d hurt his feelings. “I tried out for the team once, but I wasn’t really cut out for it and decided to just stick to where I was. What made you want to try out?”

He seemed to relax as she traced circles on his leg. “Ever since I was a boy, I wanted to be on a SWAT team,” he confessed. “My mother didn’t really think it was a good idea though; she always said that I should use my brain instead of relying on my strength. And then with Rita…” he cleared his throat. “She didn’t think I should transfer, either. Too dangerous. So…what do you think about it?” he asked hesitantly.

The mere thought of big, strong Chad kicking in doors with his SWAT uniform on made her want to cancel dinner and drag him off to bed and keep him there for a month, but she couldn’t really say that. Not yet, anyway. So she just went with answering his question as honestly as she could. “I think it’s a shame that you let anyone guide you into one position when you really wanted to be in another… if this is what you really want, I think you should go for it and not let anyone else stop you.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “SWAT works with Narcotics pretty closely.”

He grinned, looking relieved that she hadn’t been negative about his dream. “They do.”

“So I could totally cop a feel in the middle of a drug bust.”

“I wouldn’t go that far…you really don’t think it’s stupid?” he asked plaintively.

The food arrived just as she was opening her mouth to respond, so she waited until Lhoucine had set down the bastilla and lamb brochettes and left with another wink that made Chad frown. Then she slid onto his lap and kissed him with every ounce of the feelings she had for him. “I really don’t,” she murmured when she let him up for air. “Let’s eat before it gets cold…” After the first few bites, which Chad had to admit were very good, they began to feed each other.

The feel of him sucking her fingers was so erotic, she thought she would faint right then and there and tried to give as good as she got, licking his fingers and sucking them in a sensual parody of oral sex that nearly made Chad pass out. “You’re, um, you must like…the…the food,” he said after swallowing hard.

She picked up a piece of lamb from her own plate and put on a show of eating it, sucking the sauce from her fingers suggestively and reveling in the desire she saw in his eyes as he watched her. “Just wait ‘til you see what I can do with things other than food.” By the time their server brought them fruit and mint tea, they were both more than ready to head back to Chad’s house and get on with their evening – as soon as she set her empty glass back on the table, she was pulled back onto his lap for another nerve-tingling kiss. “Take me home.”

If anyone asked later how they managed to get back to his house, she wouldn’t be able to tell them – Mrs. Marino across the street would most likely tell them all about it. Andrea leaped into Chad’s arms as soon as he slammed the door shut and locked it, and he carried her straight to the bedroom to toss her on the bed. “God, I want you,” he groaned, ducking his head to kiss her. She tugged at his shirt impatiently and he quickly pulled it off over his head, falling back on the bed with her. Andrea ran her hands over his muscular chest and back, something she hadn’t quite dared to do earlier but now resolved to do so as often as possible – good Lord, the man was built. He slid her top and jeans off as she felt at him, growling deep in his throat when her fingers traced the outline of his erection through the denim.

He popped the clasp of her bra and drew it from her arms to toss it on the floor carelessly as he stared down at her with an expression of awe on his face. “Is there something wrong?” she asked finally.

“Huh?” Chad looked up at her, slightly confused, before returning his appreciative gaze to her chest. “No, nothing’s wrong…” He drew in a ragged breath and ran his fingertips down her throat to her left breast, circling the nipple before pinching it lightly and repeating his actions at her other breast until she was pulling at him impatiently. “You’re so beautiful,” he breathed as he began to kiss his way down her neck, one hand stroking down her legs to dip inside her thighs.

Andrea let her legs fall apart, feeling as if she’d had too much to drink even though she hadn’t touched a drop. “Touch me,” she begged, trying to unbutton his jeans. Her hands fell to her sides limply as Chad began to stroke her through the flimsy fabric of her panties, and she arched up into his touch feverishly. “Clothes…you… off,” she panted. Their dinner had been nearly all the foreplay she’d needed, and she was more than ready for him.

He deliberately misunderstood her command and grinned as he hooked the sides of her panties with his fingers and drew them down her legs, kissing back up until he lay at the junction of her thighs after he teased them apart. “Let me,” Chad whispered as she instinctively tried to clamp her legs together, unused to this sort of contact – her previous boyfriends had hardly ever gone down on her, and even then it wasn’t exactly what she would call a good time.

Still, maybe Chad would better at it… she nodded at him nervously, and almost came up off the bed at the first touch of his mouth.


Yes, he was definitely better at it.


tbc… ;)
_____________________________________________

Ooh, goody. A semi-cliffhanger with smut! I love those the best, especially when the author picks back up in the next installment with "...when they woke up from all those exhausting sexual shenanigans..."