License to Love

Bonus Chapter: You & Me.

🚨 Warning! Steamy content ahead (nothing explicit). Ice water recommended afterward. 🥵🔥

"Brook, please say something." Michelle pleaded. It had been a whole hour since they reached back home and Brook had kept up a staunch silence making Michelle grow antsier by the minute. Brook had avoided talking to her earlier by taking an unusually long shower; Michelle waited as patiently as she could for him to come out so she could explain things to him. But by dinner time, he still hadn't even looked at her. She finally confronted him in the kitchen, catching onto his hand in desperation.

"Brook, I know you're mad and I'm sorry! I didn't think you'd be this upset... I know I shouldn't have gone alone with Paige's wild plans like that... I..." She sighed, feeling hopeless. Brook finally turned and looked at her.

"Is that what you think? That I'm mad at you?" His voice was so low and soft that Michelle began to doubt that he was angry at all.

"Michelle, you were almost in danger today. Do you know what that thought did to me?" he stepped closer to her, one agonizing step at a time. Michelle bit her lip as she met his penetrating gaze.

"You were worried about me?" She asked though she knew the answer.

"'Worried' is an understatement. When I heard that Paige might have dragged you off on some dangerous mission..." Michelle saw his Adam's apple bob heavily. She looked away, regretting what she put him through.

"I'm sorry," she said in a small voice, leaning against the kitchen counter. Brook finally stepped so close to her that his body was a hair's breadth from hers. He put his hands on the counter on either side of her, trapping her between his arms.

"Michelle, I had to spend the last hour fighting thoughts of what might have been. If anything had happened to you if I hadn't been able to protect you... And while I'm upset that you didn't tell me where you were going," He gazed at her with such tenderness her heart melted, "I can never be mad at you." His hand came up to her neck, clinging with a gentle grip.

"I just got you back Michelle, I can't lose you again." His voice broke at the end and a tear escaped Michelle's eye. Brook wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.

"I'm sorry Brook. You're right. I never should have kept this from you. We're a team and we're supposed to do everything together." Michelle wrapped her arms around his neck as she broke down on his shoulder.

"You and me, Michelle, no matter what," Brook said, massaging the small of her back. "Promise me you won't leave me out of anything again."

"I promise." She withdrew to give him a teary smile. He returned it, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Then put those tears away because I don't want to see my girlfriend cry." Michelle wiped her eyes, a little laugh leaving her throat.

"I love you, Brook. More than I can ever tell you." she glanced at him with ardent eyes.

"I love you too, Michelle. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I'm gonna spend the rest of my life protecting you. Cherishing you." He leaned in, capturing her lips with a slow synchronized stroke of his own. Michelle marveled how even after being apart for a year, they were still able to calibrate to each other in a moment, finding each other's rhythm and matching it perfectly. She responded by letting him penetrate his tongue between her lips.

"You know, we're finally alone..." Brook groaned huskily inside her mouth. Heat rushed through her body at his words and her senses came alive.

"No interruptions..." she mumbled.

"No imminent threats..." Brook said, earning a giggle from Michelle.

"Just you, me, and a whole house to ourselves. What do you think we can get up to?" she asked,  withdrawing so she could see him with a cocked eyebrow. He chuckled huskily, studying her lips.