“Oh sorry… just thinking.” Sam was glad Brooke had her back turned and could not see the blush crawling all over her fair cheeks. “How about some caffeine-free soda? And I don’t mean the diet kind.”

Brooke smiled as she grabbed two sodas and shut the door. Turning around to face Sam, Brooke held up the cans for her approval. “How about some caffeine-free Dr. Pepper?”

“Sounds good to me. Thanks,” Sam took the offered soda and placed it on the table.

Brooke pulled out Sam’s chair and waited for her to take a seat. “Now, before you say anything, I’m just trying to be nice and show you how grateful I am for dinner.”

The blonde ran a hand down Brooke’s cheek before sitting down. “Thanks, Brooke. I mean that,” her green eyes twinkled in their sincerity.

“You’re welcome, Darlin’.”

Taking a seat next to Sam, Brooke began to eat the meal. After a few bites, Brooke slowly closed her eyes, savoring how delicious everything tasted. She’s prepared this steak, perfectly. I’m going to have to ask her later just how she knew which way I prefer it. “My God, Sam…everything tastes wonderful. This dinner is fabulous.”

“Dinner was nothing. Wait until you see the dessert,” Sam caught Brooke’s gaze as one dark eyebrow arched high on her forehead.

“Oh yeah? I get dessert, too?”

Sam placed her fork down, resting it on the plate. “Oh, come on, Brooke. Somehow, I get the impression that dessert is your main course.” She picked up her fork and continued to eat her dinner.

“Of course it is. See, everyone thinks that my arms are all muscle. Wrong, it’s dessert. Years and years of dessert.”

“I thought so. Now I’m really sure that you’re going to like my surprise.” Sam smiled as she watched Brooke’s blue eyes twinkle with delight.

After dinner, Sam disappeared from the kitchen to make sure everything for Brooke’s surprise was all set, as the older woman cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher.

“Hey Brooke, do you have a stereo or speakers for the living room?”

“Yeah. Look in the entertainment center, under the TV, the stereo’s in the bottom cabinet. There’s surround sound in there so the speakers are scattered around the room. I have them kind of camouflaged.”

Opening the entertainment center, Sam stepped back and admired the system. Ooh, surround sound. That’ll be nice. She’ll get the full effect from all sides. The blonde smiled as she moved around the room lighting candles, then she turned the lights down to a soft glow.

“What’re you doing in there, Sam?” Brooke called curiously from the kitchen where she was feeding Mario.

“Just getting the dessert ready, Hon…” She answered, only mildly surprised at how easily the term of endearment rolled off her tongue. “You almost done in the kitchen?”

“Yeah, I’m all done. Can I come in there now?” Brooke called back.

“Nope, not yet. Just give me another minute or two, okay?” Sam brought the dessert from the dining room into the living room and placed it on the glass end table next to the leather couch.

Brooke looked down at Mario, who had devoured his entire dinner by this point. “How about that, Mario? I’m being held prisoner in my own house.”

Mario lifted his head from the plate of food and looked over toward the tall woman, offering a soft “woof” at her.

“Yeah, and I don’t mind either, boy.”

Glancing around the living room, the blonde surveyed her handiwork. Then, with an approving nod of her head, Sam was satisfied that everything was in place. Reaching into her purse to retrieve a CD, she opened it gently and ran her fingers across the label on the disc’s surface. “So, you liked that dance number, eh, Brooke? Let’s see what this one will do for you.” Sam spoke quietly, reassuring herself that she had the nerve to go through with her plan. She kissed the CD for luck, placed it in the stereo and hit the button labeled ‘play’.

“Okay, Brooke. You can come in now,” she called into the kitchen.

Being cautious and not knowing quite what to expect, Brooke walked to the door of the living room, looking for the young woman.

“Is it safe?”

“Depends. Maybe…maybe not.” Sam walked over and took her by the hand, leading the curious woman to the couch.

“Oh yeah? Depends on what?”

Sam pushed Brooke down onto the couch as the song from Friday night, ‘All or Nothing’ began to play. “On you,” Sam answered softly as she began dancing.

Brooke followed the blonde’s every step and soon she could feel the perspiration beginning to form on her upper lip. Within a few provocative moves from the young dancer, the older woman was breaking out into a full-blown sweat. Despite the coolness of the room, the mesmerized woman’s entire being was now on fire as she watched the display in front of her. Rivulets rolling down from her head now accompanied the beads of sweat that had started as a sheen on her upper lip.

If that wasn’t enough, every hormone in Brooke’s body stood up and shouted to be heard as they screamed out their message loud and clear in her head. In fact it was so loud when Sam straddled her lap, Brooke thought it had to be deafening to anyone within a mile radius.

With each of her hands running down Brooke’s face then throat, Sam continued her taunting assault causing the dark-haired woman to loose all track of the world around her. Suddenly, Brooke found herself being drawn deeper into the world of feelings and passions than she had ever been led before.

“You said you wanted to see it again. Well, I made a little improvement on it,” the blonde offered.

Brooke’s eyes were as big around as saucers at Sam’s boldness. Her throat was dry as a bone as she tried to speak. “Oh yeah? How so?” she finally croaked out after clearing her throat.

Sam’s only answer was a smile and a sultry wink as she began to play with Brooke’s hair, causing the woman to close her eyes and take a deep breath as she leaned into Sam’s touch. Reaching over into a bowl on the end table, the blonde picked up a nice, juicy strawberry. After dipping it into a fondue pot filled with dark, melted chocolate, Sam brought it toward Brooke’s lips, then bent down slightly to place a soft kiss on the perfectly formed mouth.

“Open up, Brooke,” she whispered as she withdrew from the kiss, “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Brooke opened her mouth as requested but kept her eyes closed from the kiss, as Sam placed the strawberry past her lips.

“Okay. Now, take a bite. Ah…gently please.”

Her lips first formed around the plump fruit as Brooke carefully closed her mouth, not knowing what to expect. The sweet explosion of juice that burst into her oral cavity surprised the tall woman as she slowly sank her teeth into the unknown offering. The moan that escaped Brooke’s lips could not be helped as she bit down. It was too much of an effort for her to reason out if it was the taste of the fruit or the position of Sam straddling her legs as its cause. At this point, she didn’t really care. Besides, why would she? One pleasure was just as good as another, especially now when they were just beginning to learn about each other.

“Mmmm…I thought you’d like that,” Sam replied as she ate the other half and proceeded to kiss the remnants of chocolate off of Brooke’s mouth.

“Mmmm…uh-uh…I like this better,” Brooke replied as she opened her eyes, watching Sam as she licked her lips.

“I was right about that too, I see.” Sam picked up another strawberry, dipped it in the warm chocolate and offered it to Brooke.

“Well then, you’re just batting a thousand tonight, aren’t you?”

“I always was a good hitter. I don’t let too much get by me,” was Sam’s quiet reply.

Brooke grinned at Sam as she stuck out her tongue to catch the chocolate dripping off of the strawberry before her lips. Instead of the warmth of the chocolate, she tasted a different kind of warmth as Sam captured her tongue between her lips.

With the fruit forgotten and dropped back into the bowl, their kiss deepened until both women were breathless from its intensity. After several leisurely moments of exploration, they broke away, each one gasping for a much-needed breath of air.

“I think I like you as dessert more than the strawberries,” Brooke licked her lips in demonstration.

“What strawberries?” Sam asked as Brooke grinned. “Silly, I come with strawberries.”

Both of Brooke’s eyebrows found their way into her hairline as she grinned at Sam. “Really?”

Stunned by what she was seeing, Sam reran the last few verbal exchanges in her mind and realized what she had said to justify Brooke’s reaction. She placed her hand with the chocolate tipped fingers to her face as she blushed. “Oh my God. I didn’t quite mean that the way it sounded.”

Brooke threw her head back, laughing as she hugged the embarrassed girl. “Hey, I’m just teasing you. I’m sorry, I’ll behave,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “…a little.”

Sam held up her other hand to prevent any further apologies from her friend. “Nope, that’s alright. I walked into that one myself. You don’t have to apologize.”

“Well, I love the surprise.”

Sam removed her hand from her eyes as she looked confidently at Brooke. “I figured that you would. I kind of saw that the other night.”

“Huh?” Brooke asked with confusion until realization hit her and she remembered walking in and watching Sam as she danced around the dorm room, half-naked. “Oh, when I walked in and you were…uhm…”

“Yeah, that’s it. It was just the look on your face. Besides, you didn’t know what I was doing. You were there for C.C.”

“Actually, Sam…to be honest with you, once I walked into that room, C.C. was the last thing on my mind. Other than you telling me that she had gone to class, I didn’t think about her at all that night,” Brooke admitted as she looked down. “I…just thought about you.”