Hi folks. Well, my shorts just keep writing themselves, maybe it's the weather, the season, my new computer, whatever.

Anyway. This is, first of all, ADULT N&N. Mildly so, more on comment and innuendo, but I am playing things safe. If you are under 18, or this offends you, well, don't say I didn't warn you.

This is another in my continuing saga of Nick's re-introduction to mortality. If THIS offends you, head back to the lair now. Humorous and human, of course. If you have read "We WHAT???" "Of Mortal Loving,"  "Fire of Love," or "Pas de Deux," great. But it could stand alone as well. Timelinewise, it's anytime after "Pas de Deux."

Legally speaking, I do not own any of these people (involuntary servitude is illegal, anyway), TPTB do. They have just been borrowed for awhile.

Donut Don, Tracey and Vachon are all alive and well, and Lucien is on permanent vacation, although I have not ever brought up the how or why.  He just is. :-)

Comments, etc. to pasvee@yahoo.com. Enjoy!  Oh. This tale, as are many of mine, was based on actual events. I will not say any more, or someone close to me will definitely kill me...;-)

Deluge                 by Mistress V.

"I love to feel the rain in the summertime...I love to feel the rain on my face...." The Alarm

Natalie Lambert stared at her reflection in the mirror. How has she possibly let the saleswoman talk her into this swimsuit?  On second thought, she decided, maybe it was worth it. The suit was a pale,
shimmering violet, with simple lines that hinted at everything but showed nothing. She imagined the look on Nick's face when he saw it for the first time.

That would be *tonight*. Don and Myra had put in a new hot tub and were having a barbeque to celebrate. She and Nick would be attending.  Together. And "Together".

Natalie sighed. Nick had been away in in Ottawa on case-related business for the past four days. They had spoken frequently, and for hours each night, and she could hear the pain of their separation
painfully apparent in his voice. Since he had re-discovered his mortality, his emotions had surged forth like an erupting volcano, leaving them breathless at times.  He'd returned this afternoon and had had to report straight to Reese, who was on the warpath because the internal auditors had berated his staff for their slow paperwork. Again.

She pondered as she dressed in the matching top and sarong. They were of a gauzey fabric, printed in a mosaic pattern that complemented her suit. The total effect was definitely a subtle knockout.

And where do we go from here? she asked herself. This evening would be their formal declaration of couplehood to their friends and co-workers, but despite all the positive events of the past months, neither of them had brought up the subject of the future, not wanting to tempt fate.

Natalie was startled out of her thoughts by the phone. It was Nick.

"Hey, Nat," he said. "Look---Schanke and I have to get over to the hospital pronto." He sighed. "Fazio's taken a turn for the worse, and we need to be there for a dying confession."

"Oh." Natalie sighed as well.

"Catch a cab over to the party, and I'll be with you as soon as I can.  Save me a beer, ok?"

Natalie laughed. He was definitely mortal, all right. Beer!

"I love you," he dropped his voice. "Gotta run!"

"I love you too, you sexy detective," she replied, picturing the look on his face.

                           *000*
"Hi, Natalie, glad you could come." Myra greeted her warmly. "I LOVE your outfit!"

"Thanks, Myra," Natalie replied, handing her a bottle of wine. "It's new."

"It's absolutely gorgeous, the colors do wonders for your hair and eyes. Honestly," she sighed, "isn't it awful the boys got called out now? I've never gotten used to that aspect of police work..."

Natalie followed her out to the patio where she nibbled on the appetizers and mingled with the other guests. She saw Tracey and Vachon arrive a few minutes later.

"Hey Natalie," Tracey said. "Nick called. They're on their way, Fazio snuffed it."

"Good," Natalie replied, a little guiltily, since someone HAD just died. "I was afraid they'd be stuck there all night."

"Yeah, it can get pretty messy," Tracey agreed. Vachon was silent, but his eyes spoke a pleasant greeting to Natalie. It was still a little weird between the four of them;  they were working on it.

She and Tracey decided to sample the delights of the hot tub. Javier declined to join them ("he's afraid he'll melt," Tracey confided, blushing) but hovered at the water's edge, passing them bottles of
mineral water and snacks.

"Here's Nick," he said, a good minute before the familiar figure appeared. Natalie smiled. She wanted Nick's first view of her to be something out of a 1930's water ballet extravaganza.

She slowly got out of the water, delicately shaking the droplets from her ankles. As she turned to face Nick, his eyes widened, riveting themselves to her body. Oh HO, she thought, he likes what he sees!

"NATALIE!" Tracey grabbed her. "QUICK, get back in the water!" she hissed.  Natalie stared at her, uncomprehending. "Your suit," Vachon whispered, "it's--gone--transparent...you can see..." he stopped, obviously embarrassed, even for a vampire.

Natalie's face and body turned scarlet as she plunged back into the water and promptly burst into tears. Nick ran up, alarmed. "What's wrong, Nat?" he asked, concerned.

"Nick---" Tracey caught him, "be a dear and go get Nat's bag? It's in the guest room. Shoo! She needs to change."

Vachon handed Tracey a towel, then gallantly turned his back as Natalie jumped from the water and allowed herself to be securely covered. She had never been so mortified in her entire life.

At that moment, Nick re-appeared, carrying her tote bag. "Here, Nat," he said, moving to kiss her. Natalie was so ashamed that she grabbed the bag from his hands and ran wordlessly into the patio cabana.

As she pulled out her clothes, she realized her underwear---a brand new set from Victoria's Secret--was nowhere to be found. Oh NO. She was certain she'd packed it, but now realized it must be sitting  on the bed back at her apartment. There was no other option. She had no
intention of sitting around in a wet bathing suit, so she'd have to risk wearing nothing but her outer clothes. It was dark enough outside, and the fabric's pattern would camouflage things, she hoped.

Nick. Maybe he'd dropped her bag? She opened the door and re-joined the party.

"NAT!" Nick said happily, and she realized this was the first time she'd seen him in nearly five days. "You look great! I've *missed* you." He gave her a kiss, then handed her a glass of wine and put his
arm comfortably around her shoulders. They exchanged pleasantries with the other guests for a few moments. Nick was in his element---another enefit of mortality. He loved the company of people now.

"Nick," she asked when she could get a word in edgewise, "did you notice anything, er, fall out of my tote? I'm missing something kind of important..."

Nick looked thoughtful, his eyes betraying nothing. "No, He began, "but maybe---"

His words were cut short as the heavens opened in a massive summer thunderstorm. Everything was drenched in seconds. Completely. Natalie looked down at herself and gasped as she realized that here secret wouldn't be one for much longer. She began to sob.

Nick stared at her for a second, then shrugged off his cotton jacket and instantly had it over her wet clothes. Everyone ran inside and the party broke up rapidly.

"Please, Nick, take me *home*," she wailed miserably.

As they left, Vachon stopped Nick. "Can we have a lift?  We--er--flew..."

Natalie refused to sit in the front, so she and Tracey piled into the back seat. Tracey sensed a disaster has taken place and figured she'd hear all about it the next day. She and Natalie had gotten close recently, especially since Vachon had begun contemplating mortality  ("Why should Nick have all the fun?" he'd said).

They pulled up in front of Tracey's building to let off their passengers.

"Nick's gonna have a frostbitten dick tonight!" Vachon hooted as they ran inside. Tracey smacked him. "That's not nice!" she said. "Maybe not, but it's true," he shrugged. "Keep it up, moron, and the two of you can compare symptoms tomorrow." Tracey gave him an arctic look.

Natalie reluctantly got into the front seat. Nick tried to kiss her, but she turned away. "Darling," he said, "what's wrong?"  It was the first time he'd ever used that term.

She began to speak. Her voice was low, her voice ashamed. "I just wanted to look pretty for you," she said, "and I ended up feeling like a cheap whore." Tears rolled down her face.

Nick kissed her cheeks, tasting her saltiness. "Nat," he whispered, "it's not your fault, and believe me, you'll *never* look like a whore.  Don't even think that!"

Natalie snuggled against him. "Oh Nick, how can I not? Every time I try to surprise you, we end up in something even Fellini wouldn't have dreamed up."

Nick laughed as he started the engine. As they drove through the rainy streets, Natalie's cellphone rang.

"Hi Myra. Yes, isn't it awful? At least the tub won't be harmed. Yeah, you'll definitely need to have another party...OH?" her voice turned cool. "REALLY??? No, no, that's ok, I had my suit on. Sure, send it in with Don tomorrow. Honestly, I'm fine. Ok, see you later."

Natalie turned to Nick, daggers in her eyes.

"STOP THIS CAR, NICK. NOW." she said venomously. Nick hastily obliged, gulping.

"That was Myra," Natalie gestured hysterically. "She found my underwear, neatly arranged on the bed in her guest room." Her eyes narrowed. "Tell me you didn't have anything to do with this, Nicholas B. Knight..."

"Nat," Nick began in a small voice, "please, let me explain."

"EXPLAIN???" she shouted. "I'll bet you think it's funny that everyone got a free show, not once, but *twice*! Schanke will blab this all over the district. That underwear was meant for your eyes only, now everyone will know. How could you humiliate me like that?" She grabbed for the
door handle. "I"m getting out now, I'll get a cab. I HATE YOU!!!!!"

"Nat," Nick reached across to try to stop her exit. "Please."

For some reason, the pleading tone of his voice stopped her momentarily and she deigned to listen. That, and it was still pouring outside.

"I planned to ask you to go back to check the guest room with me," he admitted, blushing. "But then it started raining...'

"You wanted me to go have a quick FU** in Don and Myra's house? Really Nick," she snorted, "I didn't realize mortality had made you so crasse."

"Nat---" his voice was soft. "You have no idea. When I saw you get out of the water, I wanted you right there, right then. I missed you so much this week I nearly went crazy. In fact, I had to take care of myself. Alot," his voice got even softer, "like I was a kid."

Natalie stared at him, not sure of what to say.

Nick touched her chin. "I want you all the time, and I don't mean just sexually. I wake up and miss you. I come home and miss you. I think about you all the time. Mortality is great, but it does have its
drawbacks," he glanced down at his lap. "Ok, I wasn't thinking too clearly this evening. You have that effect on my sanity. But could you forgive me?" He kissed her fingertips.

Sighing, Natalie realized she couldn't stay angry at him. It wasn't air. Nick was learning how to handle his brand-new mortal emotions, something they had both prayed would happen for years. Just like a kid, he'd be bound to make errors in judgement. How could she be so harsh?  She had done much the same, but it had been a few years. No, decades.  They'd have to take this one day at a time. They loved each other, that was enough. For now. Sometimes, she grimaced to herself, imagining the gossip that would fly around the precinct once Schanke told his story.

"Tell you what, Knight," she whispered as she slid her arms around his neck, "let's go back to the loft so you can make love to me properly, and I'll...consider."

Nick attempted a mortal growl (a sad imitation) as he started the car.  Natalie thought a minute, then touched his arm.

"Better make it my place," she said, "I don't have any, er..." They both laughed a moment. "I'll need to keep some things at the loft," she said, almost to herself.

Nick cut the engine and cleared his throat.  "Not if you moved in," he said softly.

Natalie gasped. "I beg your pardon?"

Nick took her hands. "This isn't how I pictured bringing up the topic, but...would you consider living with me? For a start?"

Natalie stated, as if in a trance. Nick put his arms around her.  "C'mon, I'll take you home. We're both soaked, so we can have a nice hot bath, and I'll give you a massage, and we can get some
rest...later. But we have some things to talk about, ok? I love you, Natalie Lambert."

"OK," Natalie's voice was a happy whisper.

"I hope Vachon has some antifreeze with him," Nick sniggered as they drove towards the loft. His hearing was still a bit vampiric, much to his amusement at times like this.

                           *0000*

"Hey, Natalie," Schanke's voice was pleasant. "Here's the sweatshirt you left behind. Too bad about the rain, eh?"

Natalie looked up from her computer screen and smiled, but felt a blush start.

"Thanks, Don, and thank Myra for me," she replied. What did he know?  What had he said?

"Sure, Doc," he paused in the doorway, "hey, Myra wondered if you and Nicky boy would come over for dinner next weekend?"

"We'd love to." Nick's voice made her jump. She hadn't even known he was behind her. "See you later, love," he said to Natalie as he gave her a light, but possessive, kiss. He followed his partner out the door, with a special wink aimed just at her.

Natalie opened the shopping bag. Sure enough, in it was a beautiful handpainted sweatshirt. It was done in the same mosaic pattern and colors of her outfit. Where had it come from? And beneath it was her sexy underwear, carefully wrapped in tissue paper.

She noticed a note pinned to the sweatshirt.

"For the next deluge, just in case. Love, Myra and Don."

>fin<

Comments, umbrellas, etc. to pasvee@yahoo.com

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