Susanne Novan - Driven

"Yeah," she nodded. "I’m afraid so, tofu can go bad in a flash."

"I don’t believe this."

"Hey, we still have the soufflé and the roasted chilies."

"Right." Cat tried to remain positive, but her hopes were slowly diminishing. "Let’s hope I don’t kill you with those."

"Cat," Dylan moved closer and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman. "You have no idea how much it means to me that you even tried this. Vegan cooking isn’t easy."

"Vegan?" Cat slowly drew back. "As in no meat by products?"

"Yeah."

"Great there goes the soufflé."

"What?"

"Eggs and milk," Cat sat back down. "God, this has got to go onto your list of hellish dates."

"No," Dylan returned to her seat. "It’s not hellish. I could stand to lose a little weight." She joked hoping to lighten the mood. "We still have roast chilies."

"Are you sure you’re that brave?"

"Absolutely, bring them on."

Cat wasn’t sure why Dylan was being so gracious about the whole mess, but she hoped that she wouldn’t go screaming into the night. Well, at least not

running away. Screaming into the night was high on Cat’s list of things that she wanted to hear Dylan do.

Dylan looked at the dish, smiled and speared a huge amount of the colorful vegetables that had been prepared just for her. She smiled at Cat as she

started to chew.

Cat watched as Dylan’s eyes grew wide and panic crossed her face as chewing got slower and slower and it was obvious she was desperate to find a place

to rid herself of the food. The napkin in her lap was the only option, once the food had been disposed of, she grabbed her wine glass and drank it straight down, then blindly grabbed for Cat’s glass as well.

She was coughing and choking, her face was bright red and tears were steaming down her cheeks. Cat dashed to the kitchen and poured Dylan a glass of

soy milk, she didn’t even have time to turn around before Dylan reached passed her and grabbed the regular milk and gulped it straight from the carton.

After nearly finishing a quart of milk in one long gulp, Dylan sank to the floor sliding against the wall as she did.

Cat knelt and placed her hands on Dylan’s knees. "I’m sorry."

"What," the tall woman gasped. "What kind of chilies did you use?"

"I when to the farmer’s market and told them I needed red, yellow and green chilies…"

"Oh God…" Dylan blew out a long slow breath. "Cat, Roasted Chilies, don’t actually have chilies in them. They have bell peppers…it’s just called Roasted Chilies."

"That’s stupid, why not call it Roasted Bell Peppers?"

"I have no idea." Dylan wiped the tears from her eyes. "God, that was hot."

Cat’s shoulders slumped. "I’m so, so sorry."

"These things happen."

"Yeah, but why do they have to happen to me?" Cat slumped on the floor next to Dylan and placed her hand on the tall woman’s leg.

"Just lucky I guess."

"So now what are we going to do for dinner."

Dylan removed her cell from her hip. "I have it covered."

*******

Dylan took the wine glasses to the living room while Cat cleaned up the remnants of their delivered dinner. The coach had taken pity on her player and

ordered from a place that would bring her something with meat.

Cat enjoyed a nice chicken and rice dish while Dylan had eaten a passable vegan lasagna. It wasn’t what Cat had hoped for, but Dylan seemed to take it all in stride and they had a nice evening.

As the blonde considered her disaster in the kitchen, Hamlet watched from the edged of the tile floor. Cat gathered up the soufflé and dropped it into his bowl. "Here you go pal. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it."

The dog wandered over to his bowl and sniffed. Then he sat down and looked at Cat with a whine. He almost seemed to be shaking his head no.

"Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad!"

Hamlet whined again.

"Was it?"

The dog barked this time.

Cat relaxed as she felt strong arms encircle her from behind. "You never can go wrong with dessert," Dylan purred into her ear.

"You can if you don’t have any," Cat replied over the heartbeat thundering in her ears.

Dylan’s resulting chuckle, deep and sensual, turned Cat’s mouth into a desert as all the moisture in her body headed southward for the summer.

"There’s more than one way to defur a feline."

Her hand was gently clasped and she followed Dylan blindly into the living room, spending the duration of the short trip simply bribing her legs to work

properly.

She then found herself blinking owlishly down at Dylan who had appropriated much of the couch and was lounging there like a well fed cat, long arms

resting against the back. "Care to join me?" She flashed a sexy grin that had Cat seeing a whole galaxy’s worth of stars. "I don’t bite. I promise."

"Not even if I ask?" Cat asked finally, sliding down to sit closer to the tall woman.

"Well now, that a horse of a different color." Dylan lifted her hand and palm Cat’s cheek. "You’re a beautiful woman, Catherine Hodges."

"Think so?" Cat could feel her face heat as a blush traveled from her collarbones up into her hair.

"Oh, I know so." A long thumb brushed against coral lips, soothing and exciting them at the same time. "And I also know if I don’t kiss you soon, my had may explode."

"We can’t have that," the blonde sighed and leaned forward. "You need your head."

"I’m pretty attached to it actually." Dylan smiled and leaned forward, tenderly kissing Cat’s lips.

Cat moaned softly, drowning in the almost overwhelming emotion of the gentle exchange. Warmth spread outward from her heart, traveling through her

body and back again in a never ending cycle. She blindly followed Dylan’s lips as they pulled away, and when a gentle tongue drew itself across her highly sensitized flesh, she welcomed it inside her, drinking in the taste, the essence of the woman who had caused this powerful hunger to well and rage within her.

Dylan finally pulled back and leaned against the back of the couch, bringing Cat with her and keeping her close within her tender embrace. Cat could hear her powerful heart thumping double time, and she smiled, knowing Dylan was just as effected as she.

"We needed this," Dylan said quietly, a husky undertone coloring her voice. "Just a quiet night without homophobes or crashing planes." She cocked her head slightly, effortlessly capturing Cat’s rapturous gaze. "Unless you’d like to go somewhere else?"

"I don’t think we should risk it," Cat reached up and unfastened the top button of Dylan’s shirt, pressing a kiss to the hollow of Dylan’s throat. "We should just stay here."

Another button, and another kiss. Dylan’s scent rose up to greet her, and she felt as if she were falling. "Until at least tomorrow," she continued in a voice she didn’t even recognize as her own.

As a third button loosened, Dylan felt herself quickly begin to lose what little control she had left. Her hand came up of its own volition, cradling the back of Cat’s head as her fingers threaded themselves through the incredibly soft hair. The sensations rushing through her body easily melted her self-imposed restraints and her mind, whirling with emotion and need, struggled to remind her of the promises she’d made to them both.

With a great amount of reluctance, her body screaming at her every millimeter of the way, she pulled again away from Cat. Looking into the glazed and passion-dark eyes almost trumped her resolve. She took in a very shaky breath, and eased it out slowly, demanding her body to calm itself.

"Did…did I do something wrong?" Cat asked in a voice that almost broke Dylan’s heart.

Gathering the younger woman closely to her, Dylan strokes the fine blonde hair in a soothing manner. "God, no. No, Cat. You did everything right.