I was ready.

It hit me just now on my head, like a strike of lightening. I swayed slightly on my feet from the shock. I couldn't tell you why I felt that way, or what happened to me just now that made me realize that the time had come. All I knew was that I was finally ready to give myself to Wufei, and that I couldn't wait to begin an elaborate scheme to surprise him and show him just how much I loved him.

Unfortunately, the universe was conspiring against me by using an anal-retentive, sixty-five-year-old man to thwart my scheming.

"No. Try moving it a little more to the left."

I sighed, and pushed it more in the desired direction. "There?"

"Hmmm... no no, that still doesn't look balanced. Pull it back to the right."

Resisting the urge to stab my uncle in the eye with the peanut butter brittle I was chewing on, I did as he asked. Again. "There?"

"Yes, that's perfect!"

I looked at our (our, not mine, even though Wufei bought it specifically for me) new Smoothie machine's position, and glared at him. "Howard, that's where I had the damn thing in the first place!"

"No it wasn't," he said cheekily before sashaying off, proud of himself for a hard day's work, which consisted of me moving furniture around while he supervised. Huzzah for him. Bastard.

Deciding that it wasn't worth the temper tantrum I was ready to throw, I went ahead and dropped the subject. I opened my month-old, sleek, black refrigerator for a beer, and sat down in my two week-old ebony chair at my glass kitchen table. I looked around and smiled in appreciation. Wufei had my entire kitchen remodeled to a black, shiny, modern look. The walls, knobs and the island counter top (which I loved the best, by the way) were white, whereas everything else was the blackest of black. Hilde and Howard loved the look too. I couldn't tell you how much time we've spent in here, just looking around in amazement. I took another sip of my beer.

Ever since I became Wufei's mate two months ago, I have been spoiled senselessly. So far, Wufei has nearly managed to remodel my entire house. I've learned to be careful of what I say, because if I mention the words 'want' or 'I like,' whatever item I'm talking about will become a new addition in the house within twenty four hours. Not only that, every night that I've come home from work I've found a candle-lit dinner on my table. My kitchen windows would be opened to allow the beautiful notes of Quatre's violin to come wafting in. After dinner (which was always excellent) I would climb into my yacht-sized waterbed, to wake up the next morning surrounded by freshly picked rose petals. Following the trail of said petals always led me to a different part of the house, where a surprise would be waiting.

All of this, however, came with a price.

Many of those candle-lit dinners I ate alone. More than half of those surprises were an apology for a date that was canceled at the last minute, and much of the house was remodeled because I destroyed something during one of my temper tantrums. There were times I was so pissed with Septem or Alex that I couldn't control myself. Ever since the 'Pike Creek Murders,' as the media dubbed them, where Alex was too drunk to handle the crime scene of Luna's murder, he has been demoted to the lowest rank possible. Meizer made it his mission in life to ensure that Alex got the shit police jobs. Unfortunately, that didn't keep him busy enough. So, in his free time, he tormented me and my family. But things have calmed down since the day Hilde caught him pissing on the side of our house. She poured a boiling pot of water on him. I guess it's hard to start trouble when your pecker has first and second degree burns. Tee hee.

Yep, things have been going great... if you weren't counting the bad vibe I've been getting. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I am not psychic. Don't want to be either. But I've noticed that ever since the werewolves came into my life, my 'gift' has gotten stronger. Much stronger. Humans now were too easy to read. It took nearly no effort at all to peek at what they were thinking. I still couldn't read the thoughts of the werewolves, but every once in a while I would get a stray thought. It has only happened twice among the weaker Weres, and the thoughts were mundane, like 'my ass itches' or 'I'd rather have steak,' but I was as pleased as punch that I heard them.

Anyway, what had been so upsetting to me lately was that the bad vibe I was getting was coming on stronger every day. Something was seriously wrong with the world, but I didn't know what it was or how to go about finding out. I only knew that it was going to rear its ugly head in the near future to bite someone on the ass. Most likely me.

The tip I had that something was wrong... the Prince of Werewolves hasn't been calling.

During the two weeks of murder mayhem Wufei and I went through, and the week after he and I officially hooked up, the Prince had called religiously every day. Sometimes twice a day. I spent a lot of time with Wufei at his house after I accepted his courtship (courtship, what a funny word), to get to know him better and vice versa. However, many of our talks were interrupted because the Prince of Being a Pain in the Ass would have Wufei on the phone for a good two, three hours easy. But during our second week together we didn't hear a peep outta him. At first I was as happy as a clam about it, until that feeling of impending doom settled in my soul. So, in an effort to calm my nerves, I kept an ear out for any mention of him. The third week passed without a call. Then the fourth week. Then the fifth. It's now the seventh week, and there hasn't been any word.

Wufei has tried to contact him several times to ensure that he was still alive (or to take over his kingdom if he wasn't), and each time a man...er...werewolf by the name of Otto would assure us of the Prince's good health. Wufei knew of Otto, and told me that he has been one of the Prince's Privileged for many, many centuries. Otto was also known to be true to his word. So if he said that the Prince was unharmed, then he was unharmed. I let Wufei cuss his blue streak before I told him about the vibe I was having. He took my words to heart (since I was so right the first time around), and immediately beefed up security and patrols. Things have continued to be quiet, but not unusually so.

God, I was ready. But I was nervous too.

Besides Wufei and I making out like there was no tomorrow, and a grope every now and then under the cover of darkness, he and I haven't done anything more intense than that. I knew that Wufei has had more lovers than James Bond, but I've only had one lover one time. That's right y'all. I've only been done in once, and it wasn't in a loving, partnered relationship either. It was a very accurate assumption to say that when I turned eighteen, I threw my virginity away like it was trash to the first cute guy that would have me. Now that I thought back on it, I cringed. Hell, there were times that I wanted to jump off the roof because of the humiliation. It made me sad to remember the desperation I felt back then. Worse yet, that night exposed my best kept secret to someone I would've never guessed was gay.

I was afraid to tell Wufei how all of that went down. What would he think of me?

I was also afraid of not being able to satisfy Wufei. I was inexperienced, yes, but compared to Wufei I didn't even qualify as a lightweight! Hell, I didn't know what I was compared to him! The werewolves could have different degrees and levels of virginity for all I knew. I mean, I couldn't help but feel intimidated by someone who's had centuries worth of experience in the shagging department.

All in all, I was torn. I was excited to get the ball rolling, but I didn't want to be so eager (even though I was), that I forced something to happen that Wufei might not be ready for. We've had so many personal hiccups in the time that we've known each other that I wanted this aspect of our relationship to start off on the right foot...er...paw. I wanted to wait for the right time, the right moment, blah blah blah... but I also wanted to sit on Wufei's face and get it on!

Conflicted and bored, I picked up the phone and dialed a number that only my fingers knew. He picked up on the first ring. "Yuy."

"I'm bored."

He snorted. "When aren't you bored?"

"Shut up. Just because I don't have an all-powerful job like you--"

"No, you're bored because you're spoiled."

"Don't confuse the issue. You should've called in sick today like I suggested."

"You made it a suggestion, meaning I didn't have to take it."

"I'm the Primus you know," I said, trying to sound all high and mighty. "I am to be obeyed!"

He chuckled. "No, you are to look cute, cuddly and have the appearance of a strong breeder."

"Ch'. We both know that ain't happening."

"Well, you can just do the cute and cuddly part."

"Asshole." I snorted, then quieted at the rapid clicking of keys. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm at work, so it can be deduced that I am working."

I rolled my eyes. "I know that, crotch stain. What are you working on?"

"I'm testing the firewalls in our mainframe to see if they are up to par."

"Cool." I nodded to myself. "And are they?"

I could hear his smirk over the phone. "Not by my standards."

"Well, if you find any porn download it for me."

"Why? You have a camcorder. Go make your own."

"Heero!" I hissed, blushing even though we were on the phone. "Don't say that!"

I heard him snort again. "Shyness from the man who calls me names that would kill a priest."

"Change of subject!" I said, blushing even harder. "Seen any good movies lately?"

Heero began in a sing-song voice, "Duo and Wu~fei, sitting in a tree, K–I–S--"

"Heero Yuy, don't you dare!" I shouted, making sure that I couldn't hear his voice over mine.

"First comes love--"

"Heero."

"–then comes marriage–"

"Heero."

"–then comes Duo with a ba~by carriage!"

"Gee, nice talkin' to ya but I gotta go!" I said too loudly and hung up on Heero's laughter. Even when I left the sanctuary of my kitchen, I could still hear his laughing in my head. I was going to get even. Maybe I could put some peanut butter and jelly between his ass-cheeks. I'd love to see how he would react. It really pissed Catherine off the time me and Quatre did it to her.

Speaking of Quatre...

It was nearing two o'clock. It was Monday too, so Quatre would be tearing through my front door to plant himself in front of my big screen TV to watch General Hospital. He would be especially pissy since he's had to wait two whole days to find out if Emily and Nikolas found the cure to Helena's curse, if Kristina will find a bone marrow donor for her leukemia, and which impressionable youth fell for the hard life of a mobster. Any commenting by me would not be appreciated, but met with threats barely within the rules of the Pack that would keep him from being executed.

To ensure my safety, I went back into the kitchen to prepare snacks I knew he liked, grabbed myself a couple of beers, and waded back out into the living room. When I had everything set up, there was a purposeful knock followed by the door opening and an agitated shape-shifter running through. Howard and Hilde steered clear of Quatre when he was like this. A couple of times he damn near walked over them both to get to the TV!

Once Quatre settled down and that awful opening music began to play, my mind wandered back over Wufei and his body. Well, mostly his body, anyway.

I couldn't tell how long it took me, but my thoughts had strayed from Wufei and I making love by a beautiful lake, to us getting it on in his car which, for some reason, was parked in front of a Wal-Mart at three in the morning. It was right when he was about to tie me up with the seatbelt that I heard the TV click off. I jumped in surprise and saw that Quatre was standing up, getting ready to leave. I glanced at the clock. Two fifty-five?! I had been daydreaming about sex for nearly an hour?!

"Mariemaia will be home from school in a few minutes," he told me as if I didn't know. This has been our routine since school started.

"Okay," I said with a slightly strangled voice. Only slightly. "Need anything?"

"No, I'm good Duo. Thanks." He started to walk away, but he shook his head to himself and turned back to me. "Are you alright?"

That surprised me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Nothing, you just..." He waved his hand vaguely in the air. "I don't know. You seem distracted. I smell your lust, but I also smell some fear." He gave me a soft look. "You wanna talk?"

Damn his eyes. Quatre has eyes that could convince the Pope to rob a bank. "No, not now. You've got Mariemaia to take care of."

"She knows where to find me if I'm not at the house," he told me gently. "She can handle herself. Being on her own for an hour or so won't mean the end of the world."

I shook my head. "I'm good Quat, thanks though. I just need to figure some stuff out for myself."

"You're worried what I may think of you."

Bingo. He hit the nail on the head. "Actually, yeah, I am. No offence, but you're too opinionated, and talking to Heero would only make me blush to death."

He nodded his head, thinking. I could see the reels turning, but I wasn't getting a picture. Damn. I couldn't hear werewolves, and I couldn't hear shape-shifters. But I could hear a grouchy-ass troll. Yippee skippy.

"Alright," he relented. "But if you change your mind, just call, okay? Or you can talk to Trowa, if you like. I promise he won't mind. Almost everyone goes to him to get something off their chest."

He gave me a genteel smile before he turned and walked out, closing the door quietly behind him. "Later Duo!" I heard him yell through the door.

"Yeah," I said calmly, knowing he would've heard me. I never thought of going to Trowa. He just seemed so... quiet and calm. Hell, I could use some quiet and calmness right now.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I got up and cleared the mess we made during the show. Then I doted around the house until Hilde and Howard left for work. When they did, I called Heero again to pester him some more. This time, I made it to Heero enacting how I would sound during sex before I hung up. (I couldn't imagine what his coworkers must've thought of his 'performance'). After that embarrassment I played a couple of video games, balanced my checkbook, and vacuumed.

I was Bored with a capital 'B.'

On the verge of just losing my damn mind, I decided to take a shower. Just when I stuck my head under water, the phone rang, as per Murphy's Law. I let the answering machine get it, and strained to hear the message. Howard was so damn deaf that he had the volume on the machine turned all the way up. Anyway, when I didn't hear a message and the machine clicked off, I shrugged and continued to sing to myself. They'll call back if it's important.

For the next ten minutes or so I let the hot spray of water pound on my back, loosening the tight muscles there. Even though I didn't want to, I also washed the bird's nest that was my hair. Finishing that, I jerked off the water a little rougher than necessary, and grabbed my comb to tame my hair. When that mission was completed, I squeezed the excess water out of my braid, wrapped a towel around me and stepped out of the bathroom to-- "Oh wow!"

Lining the door from my bathroom to--hell, I didn't even know where--were red and pink rose petals. They were tossed on the floor in no particular pattern, but I could tell it was supposed to serve as a carpet. Walking on it brought me to the living room, where there were varying sizes of vanilla-scented candles lining the sides of the petal carpet. A sleeveless black satin robe was laid carefully on the couch, sash untied and opened to invite me to wear. I slipped it on, rolled my eyes at the perfect fit, and continued to walk the path laid out for me.

I raised an eyebrow when I came into the kitchen. Nope, no candle-lit dinner, but the petals continued to the back porch. Once there, I frowned again at the lack of another gift or food. Oh tartar sauce. But when I looked straight ahead, I saw that the rose petals continued on, as did the candles. The flickering of firelight went all the way to Wufei's house, where the light from the full moon showed that all of the rooms were dark save one: his room.

Hmmm....

Not knowing what else to do, I made sure my robe was closed tightly and started to walk to Wufei's house.

As I made my trek, I found that small treats were placed on the petals for me. I stumbled on a fun-sized Crunch bar, and started all over just to make sure I didn't walk over any other treats. When I made it to the cemetery there was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, then I snacked on some Almond Joys that were hanging from strings on the Honey Locust tree. At this point I could see that the first floor of the house had a faint glow that could only be caused by firelight. Wufei's room also had the same glow to it. What on earth was he up to?

When I was a few yards shy of his front porch, I stumbled on a chocolate orange and damn near went down face first in the dirt. Once I got my composure (and swearing) under control, I found, on his porch, the godfather of all chocolate: a Hershey Kiss the size of my fist.

Oh yeahhhh...

Licking my fingers clean of the Almond Joys, I entered the house. "Hello?! Wufei, you here?!" There was no answer.

Stepping further into the house, I could hear the crackling of wood in the fireplace. There was a bottle of some type of oil on the floor beside the fireplace. No one else appeared to be home. Curious (but cautious too), I placed my goodies on Wufei's kitchen island and started to look around. Yep, everything appeared to be in order... no blood anywhere, thank god... no eyes, heads or skinned bodies lying about... I didn't feel anything out of order, but the atmosphere wasn't its usual homey self. I stood in front of the fireplace and stared at the flames in thought. There was a massive presence here that felt like Wufei, but it was different somehow. Dark, mischievous, but not dangerous. Could it be... desire?

"Duo."

My head snapped around so fast I thought I sprained a muscle. At least I found the source of that feeling. Wufei was standing on the top step of his staircase, watching me intensely. His hair was loose around his shoulders (dear god) and he had a sleeveless robe on also, except his was red. It was opened at the top, allowing a clear view of his smooth, muscled chest.

Was it getting hot in here? Oh yeah, the fireplace.

I stepped back a bit. It didn't help.

"Duo," he said again, and this time I heard amusement in his voice.

"Huh?" Clearly, my brain wasn't working with me. My eyes were still glued to his chest.

"Why don't you pick that bottle up and come join me?" he asked, but I knew he meant for me to obey him. That should have pissed me off. It really should have, but....

/ Tonight's the night / my mind whispered to me, and I felt my eyes widen at that. He'd felt that I was ready, and made the first move.

/ How the hell did he know?! / the inquisitive part of my brain asked. The rest of my brain, however, was fishing around for a response.

With my eyes still feasted on his chest, and a small pool of drool in the corner of my mouth, I said, like a complete dork, "Okay."

(tbc)