Susanne Novan - Driven

skin, sure beyond telling that nothing had ever felt this good. Until, that is, teeth grazed softly over her neck and lips latched on, suckling gently at her bounding pulsepoint.

"Dear God, Dylan, please don’t…." Buried beneath a heap of clothes in the corner, a cellphone chirped self-importantly. "…stop."

Dylan eased away, earning a long, drawn out groan of protest. "They can leave a message," Cat growled, searching out her lover’s kiss-bruised lips.

"That’s the third time in an hour," Dylan replied, turning her face slightly away so the kiss landed on her cheek. "It might be important."

"This," Cat countered, pressing herself into the hot, firm body beneath her, "is important. Thatcan easily be crushed into a million tiny little pieces if it doesn’t shut up…right…now!"

As if hearing the threat, the phone quieted.

Then started up again, causing Cat to grit her teeth, jump up from lover and bed, and stalk over to the innocent heap of clothing, pawing through it until she came up with the phone and flipped it open. "What?!" she barked.

There was a long pause.

"Alright, whoever this is, you’ve got exactly one second to start talking. And it damn well better be an emergency or there’s going to be some serious hell to pay!"

Another pause, shorter this time. Then a hesitant voice came over the line. "Cat?"

Cat’s eyes widened. "Dad?"

"Yes, sweetheart. Where are you?"

"Where am…wait a minute. Where are you?"

"At the airport, Cat," her father replied patiently. "You were supposed to pick us up, remember?"

The sensation of blood rushing from her head was one Cat hoped not to repeat in the future.

Noticing the sudden paleness to her lover’s features, Dylan started to rise, only to be waved back by Cat as she turned slightly away from the bed. "God, I’m so sorry, Dad. I overslept."

"Overslept? Honey, that’s not like you." A break in the conversation treated Cat to her mother’s muffled voice demanding to know what was going on. "Your mother wants to know…."

"Yes, I heard her. Look, I’m really sorry, Dad. I was up really late last night…studying plays for tonight’s game." The lie tasted sour and foul in her mouth, and she turned further away from what she was sure was a hurt look on Dylan’s face. "I’ll jump in the shower real quick and be there in less than an hour."

"That’s okay, Cat," her father countered. "We can take a taxi."

"No! No, just…wait there. I won’t be long. I promise."

"Well…."

"Please, Dad, trust me on this. Grab some breakfast or hit the shops and I’ll be there before you know it, alright?"

She could hear more muffled conversation between her parents, and when her father finally came back on, she sighed in distinct relief.

"Your mother says that we’ll meet you right outside the doors to baggage claim."

Thank you, God!! "Alright, Dad. Tell Mom I’m sorry, and I’ll see you guys soon. Bye."

Ending any further conversation, she snapped the phone closed, and turned hesitantly back to the bed where Dylan was lounging on a stack of pillows,

hands clasped casually over the flat, muscled plane of her belly. "I’m sorry," Cat said in a small voice.

Dylan’s eyes softened and she lifted one long arm, palm up. Cat crossed the small space between them, and grasped the offered hand, clasping it as one

would a lifeline. "You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, Cat."

"But…."

"Listen to me. Remember the conversation we had last night at dinner?"

"Yes, but…."

"Cat, a relationship like ours is going to have its difficulties. The need to keep it away from the outside world is primary among them. What you will, or won’t, say about it to your parents is something that only you can decide. And whateveryou decide will have my complete support, okay? We’re in this together."

Tears stung at her eyes again, and she blinked them away as she nodded.

"Good. Now I’d suggest jumping in the shower post haste, because if you stand here like that much longer, I’m not going to be responsible for one hour late turning into four or five."

That got the smile she was looking for, and she stared in frank appreciation at the rear view as Cat scampered from the bedroom and into the bathroom.

"Oh, Dylan," she groaned, collapsing back against the headboard as the shower cut on, "you’re playing with fire here." Then she grinned, stretching and feeling the pleasant soreness a night of loving had given her body.

"Burn, baby, burn."

******

Cat grabbed her gym bag and was headed out of the locker room when she ran into Dylan. The coach smiled and offered a wave bringing the player over.

"Dinner?" Dylan asked quietly, knowing they might not completely alone yet.

"I..um…I promised to have dinner with my folks tonight."

"Ah that’s right. I forgot. Have a good time and let me know if they enjoyed the game. You gave them a hell of a show tonight."

"I didn’t do that for my folks, I did that for you." She grinned, wrinkling her nose. "I always get such great rewards when we win."

"True, but I guess this one will have to wait until your folks leave."

"Hey, why don’t you join us? My day would love that. He’s a big fan you know?"

"I don’t want to…"

Cat held up her hand. "Stop, just stop. Don’t say it. I wouldn’t have invited you if it were a problem. Come to dinner with us. I’m sure we can find something on the menu at Ramano’s that you can eat."

"Actually they have an eggplant dish that’s one of my favorites."

"Good. Then meet us there at eight. I need to go home and change. I’d invite you, but they’re meeting me there."

"Eight it is then."

Making sure they were quite alone in the hall, Cat gave Dylan a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "See you soon."

********

Cat opened the door of her apartment and found her folks sitting in front of the TV watching the highlights of the game on the evening news. "Didn’t you get enough the first time?" She teased as she dropped her gym bag by the laundry room door.

"Never," he father stood and opened his arms for a hug, which she gave without hesitation. "I love watching you play. I have all your televised games on tape."

"Good. When I’m retired and I want a highlights tape I know who to call."

"You’ve got years ahead of you, Cat."

He led her back to the couch, where they sat, with her mother between them. She gave her mom a hug. "I’m so glad you guys could come for a visit. I’m sorry I couldn’t get home, I just had so much to do."

"It’s okay, sweetheart. We understand." Her mother brushed a lock of hair from her daughter’s face. "You’re a busy young lady. Sometimes I think too busy."

Un-oh, this can’t be good. "What’s wrong, Mom?"

"Nothing is wrong, honey. I’m just worried that you’re working so hard you’ve forgotten to have a life."

"I have a very nice life, Mom."

"What about finding someone?"

"Mom, let’s not get into this again, okay. You know we don’t see eye to eye on this subject."

"But honey, I’m just…"

"Please?" Cat asked with just a hint of pleading in her voice. "We shouldn’t discuss this. It only ends up in an argument. We agreed not to talk about this."

"All right, fine sweetheart."

Cat sighed at her mother’s tone. "I promise you with all my heart that when I find that someone special, you’ll be the first to know and I hope you like her."

"Any chance it’ll be a him?"

"Only if he has breasts and a v…"

"Catherine," he father warned. He knew that his wife tried to accept their daughter’s choices and that sometimes she didn’t manage it as well as any of them would like, but he hadn’t raised his daughter to sass her mother and he wasn’t going to let her start now.