Author's Note: This story will have it's lemony moments, though nothing to crazy, since I suck at them and my lemony half of the EDA has graciously agreed to beta for me. I know my summaries suck but before you complete burn me at stake for my Angsty Detty ways, I really do love the pair and not just because Eric Mabius is sex on legs. It will get better if you bear with me :)

July 23, 2012 - As some of you can see I named this chapter and the next, mostly because a lot of these chapters were inspired by songs I tend to have on loop as I'm writing and if you want and if you like some music and such I think the songs might be able to help set up the ambiance.

This title comes from Skin by Rihanna ;)

How had she gotten into this point in her life? Betty had always been the smart one, the sensible one, the good one and Daniel had always been her best friend but what were they now? Now that he had her perched on a desk in London, her desk that she had worked her ass off to earn in her office that she deserved after years of doing everyone else's grunt work his to be specific, her white silk shirt un tucked from the form fitting pencil skirt, bunched up around her hips, the buttons undone revealing a lacy red bra… He loved that color on her, he'd told her how it drove him crazy to just watch her swish by and not rip her clothes off her on a regular day, but in red… Well that red dress happens to be the reason behind the entire sordid tryst. Why was she even trying to justify this anymore? There was no way to defend this, they were well beyond sordid affair and straight into addiction, temptation and fire but for once Betty couldn't bring herself to do the good, moral, right thing. Why should shehave to be the one to do it? It was always her that others depended on to be the level head but when Daniel's hand were setting every inch of her on fire, disappearing underneath her skirt, into her hair, wherever they could and when his lips were attached to her neck just dipping lower and lower tightening that bundle of nerves in the pit of her stomach in a deliciously nervous way. It felt like lightening coursing through her veins and she didn't want to stop it no matter how wrong it was, no matter how upside down this entire thing was.

Daniel had come to London and though he had said it was for himself Betty had known better, and he knew she had known even back then, despite what the world liked to think of Daniel Meade, despite the fact that sometimes even those closest to him doubted it, he wasn't a dense man and he was actually quite on the ball most of the time, and though his choice in women up until Molly had been questionable and tasteless at best, Betty had always known him to have the best of hearts and maybe that was what had made this transition from best of friends to sex driven affair incredibly easy for her. The mind blowing sex with a beautiful man who she had known for over six years might have also had something to do with it but it really was hard to over analyze things when Daniel had practically ripped her bra off.

"Hey! I still need that I've got a meeting in thirty minutes." Betty tried to look upset though her normally bright and cheery eyes had darkened into something a little less Betty and something a little more… well, Daniel to be honest. Her time in London had definitely changed her, gone was the insecure, albeit strong girl that the former playboy of the Meade Empire had once done his best to sabotage and get rid of (and still thought about from time to time, never feeling any less guilt), gone was his quirky little friend and sidekick, the girl he depended on to tell him when to breathe and here was the woman who without…. He would be nothing. Daniel knew that what they were doing it wasn't right, their situation wasn't ideal, but his feelings for her, that could never be wrong and given the heady noises she was making just feeling his shaky breath on her neck, or the way her hands were practically shaking in anticipation of what they were both waiting for… She just had to feel the same.

If it weren't for his damned brother, if only she hadn't have let him in, if only Daniel had been faster, braver….

There were so many should have, could have, would haves that if Daniel stopped to think about them for one second he might have gone mad… So he didn't, he pushed those thoughts to the dark recesses of his mind, Daniel didn't care that Betty was with Tyler and despite the fact that they had long ago accepted one another, they were no closer then before and in fact Daniel resented the man for waltzing into the picture 35 years later and taking the one thing that Daniel would never share. He could have had Mode, the Meade riches, Daniel would have given it up, (although he really did like that comfortable cushion his designer label covered ass rested on) all of it without the bat of an eye for her. Even their mother had seen it when Daniel had been too stubborn to do so and still Tyler had come to London, of all places, to take a job offer from Dunn Publications for a fashion magazine… All of it smelled entirely too fishy for Daniel when he'd finally had the courage and resolve to find Betty, to leave it all behind for her. To make up for having left her when she needed him most, to reiterate to her that he just couldn'tlive without her… Daniel refused to.

Only to find out at dinner, what he thought was the start of their something special, that she had run across Tyler a month after she'd gotten to London and that in their support for one another, in their friendship, they had been dating for six months before Daniel had gotten the nerve to see the one he let slip away once again. How he'd never known was beyond him and somewhere in the back of his mind, where Daniel did his best to keep all the dark thoughts away… He knew, Tyler was smart enough to know that their mother would have told him in a heartbeat at first word of Betty it was like the daughter Claire Meade had always wanted… Aside from Alexis but that's an entirely too complicated story altogether. Daniel could never shake the thoughts that Tyler was bitter, and angry, that Tyler was trying to take away the one thing that Daniel honest to God loved, he didn't like to bring it up to Betty because it always ended badly for him and best for Tyler and the thought of her and him in bed together, in a flat that they shared… He just couldn't stomach it, and he just couldn't and wouldn't have her mind or heart on anyone that wasn't him, she was his and that was that.

His actions mimicked his acts without skipping a beat, teeth dragged across beautifully tanned, dusky skin, he could feel her racing pulse on his tongue and it did great things to his ego among other things and his previously playfully rough hands, tugged the rest of her shirt open leaving it to hang limply off her arms and hoisted up the skirt, making it even easier for him to wrap those delectably soft legs around him and grind against her in way that only made it harder for them both to keep their grips on sanity.

"Then I guess you should be thanking me for making sure you get the client's approval, you're such a tease Ms. Suarez do you know that? Do you know what you do to men? Do you have any idea what you do to me?" And to accentuate his point, Daniel ground himself into Betty, the restricting binds their clothes provided only served to frustrate and excite them both endlessly.

"Less talking, less clothes, more you… please" Betty begged and Daniel had to admit the sound of her pleading, her full lips pouting and her eyes so full of a primal instinctual need, something he had never once seen in Betty before a year ago and it took a lot of restraint not to bend her over the desk instead and have his way… Today just didn't feel like that kind of day though… Tomorrow might be though, and the thought made a smirk grow on the man's lips to the woman's irritation and arousal. If he was going to make her work for it any more, she'd go insane and she'd take care of this herself… Something he'd seen her do and though it had led to a night of perpetual surprises, Betty just wanted Daniel to do what no other man could do for her, to excite her, to use her, to make her feel desired, and to somehow be the sweetest and most excruciatingly good lay of her 28 years of life.

Her hands didn't hesitate in removing his belt expertly and sliding down the zipper, she was done playing and she was going to get what she wanted from Daniel because she was tired of all the games he played with her all day, all the messages, the reminders of the night before, the way his eyes just burned themselves into her soul and practically haunted her in her sleep. Those deep cerulean eyes that sometimes Betty couldn't bring herself to look at because they reminded her of what she blatantly refused to accept. Daniel didn't push her though because sometimes with Betty if you pushed you got a brick wall and then sometimes when you pushed her… You were pushed away, he had learned all too quickly and as much as the thought of her being with anyone else killed him he just couldn't find it in him to push her any further then this, and for now this would have to do, until she learned that she didn't have to always have to be perfect for everyone… He just wanted her to let him in, to trust him, something she had made painfully clear wouldn't be happening given his extensive history despite Molly despite the fact that he'd given everything up in New York to be a journalist for the Guardian, someone that they didn't even take seriously because he was a "fashion" editor that had been given the job by his father, he was a two hundred word columnist on a good day and made nothing near what he was used to but for Betty it was OK, to learn how to work and earn his own way Daniel was ecstatic and despite the constant come ons from women in the work place and out on the town, none of them could take his attention from the woman who had her hands shoved quite dominatingly down the front of his pants, a smug look on her face that his distractions had suddenly diminished with every light, teasing tug and caress.

"You know some of us actually have work to do Daniel and if you'd rather I could always just call-"

She didn't get any further then her almost mean hearted teasing before his lips had crashed forcefully into hers, his hands coming up to grab her face keeping her in place, it was one thing to know what happened every night after they left one another but for her to use it against him so he could just rush things along, it was painful but beyond that, it was almost like a dare to his masculinity and he was not going to let her get away with that.

Daniel pushed the red lace hipsters that accompanied Betty's bra aside letting one hand slide off her face and gently tickle a trail down the front of her body, his body shivering at each and every female contour and mound until he reached that treasured spot, waiting for him and he just couldn't keep it in him to deny her any longer. Despite Betty's pushing though she hadn't seemed to be expecting the sudden intrusion of Daniel's fingers and she instantly moaned into their kiss, her nails digging into Daniel's expensive designer jacket as she did her best not to let his ministrations get the best of her but the deeper he explored her folds, not showing the least bit of concern for being in her office, Betty could only roll her head back and do her best not to be loud as Daniel rhythmically pumped two fingers into the woman making her hips rock against the man's hand and body shiver while the man who had her at his control took claim of an exposed nipple, drawing it into his mouth slowly, biting down on it gently, greatly pleased to hear the sort of choked out scream and renewed bucking as he continued his harsh love of her body.

Betty for her part though could do nothing but fight the urge to just scream out in a haze of pleasurable insanity. Screw her meeting, she just wanted Daniel to take her back to his apartment and take her on every surface he could, she just wanted to get lost in him to be the couple she vehemently shot down. Betty just couldn't trust Daniel to be satisfied with her of all people though why did he love her now? Because she was more "conventionally" pretty? Because her braces were gone as was some extra weight and from time to time she might even wear contact lenses? It felt as shallow as their explicit free time did and as much as Betty hated the woman she was becoming she couldn't deny that just the chance to be with Daniel on some level was what she wanted. Then again when a man could make your entire body shiver with just a look it was difficult to deny him.

It was hard for either of them to speak at this point, for her part Betty could only keep a tight grip on the man in front of her, muffling her moans into the collar of his jacket not really caring if she wrinkled the material or not and finding that the subtle scent of his expensive designer cologne only drove her senses into overtime as she struggled with herself not to look too desperate for this man's affection but he knew her better then anyone else and the deep chuckle that rolled up from his chest that sent shockwaves coursing through her only told her that her fight to keep unattached was as amusing as it was frustrating.

Daniel knew he hadn't had the best of records when he met Betty, hell he'd even started sleeping with one of her best friends as an attempt to get back into the dating pool after Molly had died but Betty had never said anything against it… That he could recall and anything she had to say couldn't have been taken as much seeing as she had her own relationship troubles at that point. No, Daniel wasn't the best of men and he was willing to accept that but Betty was no white dove and there would be a couple of exes that would take Daniel's side in saying that Betty just didn't know how not to get her way. He couldn't blame her though, it was a part of what made the woman addictive, her get it done attitude that got her to where she was today in such a short span of time with really no help from him, because had Daniel had it his way, Betty would have stayed in New York, tied to his bed and that would have been the end of that but he supposed that there was something about this game that only made him want her more. That didn't mean it frustrated him any less to know that she was in a relationship with the one man he just couldn't fathom for Betty, there was something that Daniel didn't trust about his half brother and it wasn't just the fact that he was half a Hartley, it felt like everything Daniel had Tyler wanted to take away. Betty called it paranoia, Daniel called it instincts there was just something off about the fact that some small town redneck from nowhere would seem so keen about taking some modeling gig in London, it just didn't add up to him and then to wind up with Betty, Daniel's Betty of all people in the world it just left a bitter taste in his mouth that despite the fact that he could get Betty to do things no man could before (straight from her mouth, no pun intended) and despite the six years of friendship between the pair and the connection on a level no other person would ever match, Daniel could feel Betty was trying to pull away as though she owed Tyler something just because neither brother liked the other very much and it did upset him that she would put him before Daniel, it was a slap to the face is what it was. As if all those years of friendship and support hadn't meant a thing. Daniel wasn't fool enough to believe that it had been a 50/50 relationship or even sixty forty but Betty was a strong woman and when she had needed a shoulder, who's was it that she always leaned on? Now to see his half brother just come in a second earlier and take her from him, it made him angry at himself, at Tyler, and yes... at Betty as well. She wasn't an idiot she had known what he wanted when he'd asked her to dinner nearly two years ago it was why she'd cut him off before he could get a word in edgewise but she hadn't counted on the fact that Daniel wouldn't take no as an answer and that's what led them to this little predicament.

Daniel wanted to be soft with Betty, to take his time and bring her to the brink of madness time and again for hours on end, never having to worry about who would see them holding hands or sharing a kiss, he wanted to be the one going on trips to Paris to visit DJ and Alexis with her. Daniel wanted to be the one that everyone congratulated, not his alcoholic, rageaholic, blue collar bodunk brother who had nearly killed his mother in a drunken stupor. Just because the man was a bastard and unwanted, because he was raised by a nice family and had battled his demons alone he was a saint that deserved Betty? Daniel called horseshit and if any one would know horseshit better the man of wealth figured that it would be some farmer from a sleepy town. Instead though, Daniel was a dirty little secret kept in a corner and making lunch visits to her office when they couldn't meet in his apartment. Daniel was the one that had to wait for her to call because if he called Tyler would get upset. It was enough to drive the man mad and it made him angry and he couldn't help but to take it out on her when she left herself to him and his desires but Daniel could see beneath the wincing and whimpers… Betty loved the abuse and it was a surprise and an incredible turn on to know that his once innocent assistant would turn into such a seductress.

He could tell the Latin beauty was close by the expression on her face, her eyes were clenched shut and her mouth hung open while her hips bucked and she let out low sounds of pleasure that were nearly breathless and almost silent. Daniel didn't know how much longer he'd be able to stand of just watching her, it was enough to drive a saint to sin and he couldn't help but smirk at the look of utter disappointment and want when he withdrew his fingers from her body slowly, a small chuckle caught in his throat at the way she shamelessly seemed to want to follow. Betty opened her eyes, ready to beg only to find herself catching sight of Daniel tasting her on his fingers and the woman almost lost herself right then. Their eyes stayed locked on one another's as Daniel took a long slow lick of his fingers, relishing every delicious bit of the woman before him and somehow even more turned on by the look she was giving him.

"Please Daniel, no more games… I need you." The woman begged once again, pulling down his pants and grabbing onto his length and leading it to her core. Wasting no more time and finally taking into consideration her pleas, Daniel thrust into Betty with no remorse and sent the woman reeling in pleasure as she threw herself onto the hard wood desk, giving her former boss full control and a complete view of just how crazy he made her and for his part Daniel had to do his best to keep from coming right then and there. It was a difficult thing to do though, with the way Betty arched off the desk preening his ego as he fought with himself not to ask her if Tyler had ever made her come like he did. He just didn't want that man brought into this, this was their own little corner away from the world, despite the hard love and the rough sex, it was them it was just them two for sixty minutes, to do whatever they wanted, however they wanted. He rocked into the woman roughly, grabbing her hips and pushing them down against his making Betty writhe on the desk, knocking down her pictures and layouts for the next months issues. He loved watching her lose control because as soon as they were done and she walked out of that office door, she was once again Betty the editor, the caring yet stern boss that got things done and didn't take no for an answer. Daniel was the only one that knew that not five minutes earlier he'd had her on her knees begging him to take her it was a stupefying power that Daniel wasn't willing to give up.

Wrapping Betty's legs around his waist Daniel let his hands travel across Betty's body, to the voluptuous curves that made her a woman stopping for a moment to shower her with affection and kisses, to draw in a dusky peak into his mouth and be gentle with her, if only for a moment his eyes focused on her watching with great enthusiasm the way each and every touch warranted some sort of reaction from her, something new every time and it was just an intoxicating thing to be a first hand witness to. Kissing a path up to her lips Daniel slowed their pace down to something that resembled love making and with a hand wrapped across her throat the man pressed his lips to Betty's once again, dipping his tongue into the woman's mouth letting her taste herself and it was enough to make the woman's toes curl as she felt the knot in the pit of stomach tightening once again and she couldn't help but to bite down harshly on Daniel's lip, this was only supposed to be sex, she couldn't let her heart get more involved then it already was and if he kept on being so gentle Betty would forget that she just needed him to make her hit that peak she never had she didn't love Daniel Meade… She just couldn't.

Daniel saw the change in Betty almost immediately, for a moment he'd seen the sweet girl that had won his heart over with her "change the world attitude" the girl who would let you run her over and still get up and make sure you were fine, people called it naïve, Daniel had called it a good heart but she was losing that aspect of herself the further they delved into whatever they were and Daniel wasn't so sure he wanted to keep this up if it ended up changing her from the woman he loved, to just another woman willing to step on hands and stab people's back if it meant getting her way. Betty was smart enough to get her way by more peaceful standards, was it him that was ruining her to that?

"The longer you think about doing it, the faster I'm losing interest." Betty whispered breathlessly which betrayed her words but regardless, that rare moment of tender affection that one shared with the other was gone and back was the almost business like manner of their entanglements.

With a hand still wrapped around Betty's delicate throat Daniel wrapped his free hand around the woman's slim waist and picked her back, his slow tender pace picking up roughly and now instead of the smooth and sure, fluid movements there was a primal almost angry cadence to his rhythm.

Words were useless at this point and Daniel couldn't bring himself to look his former assistant in her eyes though his hands stayed put, the one around her throat tightening fractionally the closer he reached his breaking point but he refused to fall off the edge without Betty in tow. His eyes were shut tight, a look of angry determination was etched onto his face as he rocked their bodies against the desk, threatening to pick her up with every forceful thrust of his hips and for her part Betty could only grip her nails into the man's jacket, trying her best to tear into the skin as her teeth sank into the available juncture of his neck making Daniel practically lose his control right then and there seeing as he was already holding on to it by a thread.

A string of curse words left the woman's full lips and he knew she was fighting with herself not to let go and as angry as he was at how she was treating their situation he couldn't help but to smirk and pick up her face roughly, his eyes lit with a spark that Betty could only describe as 'Daniel' but before she could get in another word, the man once again took his claim of her lips roughly and Betty could only moan into the kiss loudly, letting out a scream when his pace had found her sweet spot and having picked up on it Daniel made sure to pound back into her, hitting that same spot every time thrilled to watch her eyes begin to tear.

"Come for me." He whispered hoarsely into her ears and it was as if that was all, the woman needed before she felt her walls clench and for the knot building up in the pit of her stomach to come undone. Daniel did his best to hold back, to lose himself in Betty's thrill, in her faces and the small purrs of pleasure as her body went entirely stiff then entirely flex and it was all the man could withstand before he let himself go and plummeted off the peak he had been treading on for what felt like eternity.

Betty's named rolled off Daniel's lips like a plea, like a curse, like an obsession and all of it was true. There was no other person on this earth that could do to him what Betty did and there was no other way he'd have it. Daniel refused to let loose his hold on Betty though because he knew the moment he did reality would hit hard once again and he wasn't ready to lose her, he wanted to stay in their own little corner of the world where Tyler didn't exist, where her job wasn't more important, where he could just have Betty without having to have her. If it didn't involve sex she didn't want to be involved with him and the slow but steady loss of their friendship over a relationship Daniel couldn't help but to call a sham it killed him, it was a constant twisting blade in his heart that the longer he kept his grip on her, the more he just wanted her to stay with him.

"Daniel I need to put my clothes on, I'm already going to be late." That was the new Betty, the businesswoman. The faithful girlfriend. The one who no longer had a need for Daniel Meade in her life. Clearing his throat and letting out a curt nod Daniel unwrapped himself from Betty feeling suddenly very cold and void without her warmth but the look in her eyes told Daniel that her warmth for him had left long ago despite what any of their trysts cared to contradict. He wanted this to be simpler, he wanted to let the world know who he loved, he was tired of being thought of as a playboy or a man in mourning, he wanted to move on to the next chapter in his life but without Betty how was that possible? It was all too much to think about after what had just happened and though he knew he should have felt satisfied or at least somewhat sated by their actions, it just wasn't the case. In fact he felt even worse then before, he was too old for these games, he was done with having to put himself on the line for her if they were meant to be shouldn't that mean the sacrifices are mutual and though he could never forget all the things she'd done for him as a friend and an assistant, as a love interest Daniel had never met someone as one sided as his lovely Betty.

The transformation of Betty Suarez, Editor in Chief never ceased to amaze Daniel, as ever button was done up, bra fixed and skirt rolled down there was no evidence of what had just happened, of how he'd controlled her. Not as she picked up her papers throwing them haphazardly back onto her dark oak desk and running a hand through her thick dark mane of smoothed down hair. The woman didn't look him in the eye, didn't even utter a single word to him as she picked up a briefcase that lay fallen beside the desk. Betty only looked at Daniel to make sure the man was dressed and presentable, which for Daniel Meade was about as easy a task as could be given and before Daniel could open his mouth, Betty was taking a forkful of the orange chicken in a white takeout box they hadn't had a chance to savor before opening her door, stopping at the doorway to finally look at the man standing behind her desk looking entirely the part of a kicked puppy looking for love and it just killed Betty to know this was the way it just had to be.

"So next week, why don't we go to OneSixFive, I'm tired of being in the office all the time. Bye Daniel! I hate to dine and dash but you know how busy things can get." And that fake cheeriness, that polished smile, it was getting harder and harder to accept the fact that Betty was no longer the sweet and innocent girl out of Queens… She was now Ms. Betty Suarez, Editor in Chief on her way to the top and if you stood in her way, it was your funeral.

"Sounds great…" Daniel muttered to himself, leaving the takeout boxes for when she got back, he knew she'd be hungry and he'd gotten her favorite Daniel just wanted to make sure she was fine but this was all new territory to him and with her fighting every step of the way, sometimes he just didn't know what to do…. For now though, he'd leave it as is, wait for her in his apartment next week, and take a walk to clear his head right now. After all there wasn't much he could do sitting here and moping like a lovestruck fanboy and besides the longer he stayed in this office the more memories of the past few months hit him and the harder it was starting to get not to just turn back and head back to New York to try an clear his head in Central Park. For now, until at least he could have his friend back though, walking through Hyde Park would have to suffice, though it's not exactly as though that would be such a burden to the man who walked out of Betty's office with a wry grin, waving his goodbye to Betty's young assistant and headed towards the elevator doors. It wasn't ideal... But it was his life, and the life of Daniel Meade had been far from ideal for quite some time now.