"That is something I am so glad to see on your face, Serena."

She looked up at Ric, the smile on her lips growing a little wider as she shrugged. "I finally have something worth smiling about, Ric. We are happy together."

"Really? Because I wouldn't call it that."

Serena's smile faltered a little as she cocked her head to one side, trying to suss out what he meant. "I, I'm sorry?"

He looked guiltily at a spot on her shoulder, as if he knew that he had cocked things up, and she reached out to touch his shoulder. "What I should have said is that you two don't look happy, you look content. And honestly, that is a much better place to be in. Happiness is fleeting, but when you've found someone who makes you content, well, that's just the best feeling in the world."

She relaxed a little as she nodded. "I know that we're still in the midst of a storm, but I think I would rather be here than anywhere else. There's something to be said about finding love's recovery while chaos is erupting around you."

"Stormy weather does tend to make bonds tighter." He gave her a warm smile before dropping a stack of files on her desk. "Though that does not stop the need to get paperwork finished. If you could perhaps see fit to have most of this stack completed by five?"

Serena groaned a little, her happy smile slipping off her lips as she nodded. "I'll do my best."

"That's what I always expect from you." He winked at her before fairly skipping over to the door. "Oh, and Serena?" She looked up at him. "I am so very glad that you are happy, too. You deserve to be happy after everything that you've been through."

She nodded before taking the first file off the stack, knowing that she had to work quickly if she wanted to be done in time to go home with Bernie. Biting her lip slightly, she dug into the work, barely hearing the soft knock on her office door.

Looking up, she saw Bernie standing there, coffees and pastries in hand. "I brought reinforcements!" she sang out as she kicked the door closed behind her.

"Thank God," Serena said as she held out her hand expectantly. Bernie held out her coffee, and she sipped at it, a grateful groan tumbling from her lips. "This is almost better than sex," she teased as she picked up the bag and rummaged through for the chocolate croissant she knew would be at the bottom, almost hidden from view. That was their little joke, and one that she had quickly become accustomed to in the three weeks that they had been exclusive.

"I guess that I'll just have to work a little harder tonight, then," Bernie shot back, and Serena nodded. "Jason is going to be out with his girlfriend, right?"

"Yes, why?" she asked, suddenly wondering how this conversation had taken a weird turn.

"Because we have yet to christen the kitchen table or counter, and since your back is better than mine, you get the table." Bernie gave her a deep wink, and Serena knew that she was blushing as she bent back over her work, nibbling at the confection in an effort to distance herself from her decidedly dirty thoughts. "Is that a blush I see staining those cheeks, Serena?"

"No," she said much too quickly before taking a large bite of her croissant, hoping to use the pastry to put some space and distance between her thoughts and Bernie's looks. It was a losing battle, however, and she sighed as she looked up at Bernie, cocking her eyebrow up a little. "I will thank you to keep those dirty thoughts off your face."

"Why?"

"Because we are at work, and we promised that we would be professional at work."

"Like that's ever stopped the others! Come on, we could sneak away to a supply closet and I could help you relax a little before we both jump into that pile of paperwork on your desk. You know that I have quick and nimble fingers."

Bernie waggled said fingers at Serena, causing her to blush once more. "I swear you do that on purpose, Berenice!" She stood suddenly and grabbed hold of the sleeve of Bernie's scrub top. "And it is going to be my nimble fingers working on you, if we do this. Because you know everything about how to keep quiet, whereas I cannot keep my big mouth shut."

She pulled her out into the hall, casting her eyes about to see if any of the staff were looking at them. Thankfully, it seemed like no one was about, and she dragged her lover to the nearest supply closet, locking the door behind them. "Are you going to make this hard and fast?"

"I was thinking slow and soft, my dear, to drive you absolutely wild." Serena deliberately let her voice drop low, knowing how it got to Bernie every time. Said woman groaned lowly as she tipped her hips forward, and Serena claimed her lips in a searing kiss as she slipped her hand beneath the loose waistband of the scrub bottoms, her fingers running along Bernie's wet heat. "Or do you need me to be quick, darling?"

"Oh, god, Serena, whatever you do, don't tease me. Please!"

She nodded as she fitted her fingers in Bernie's tight channel, loving the silky feel against her digits. And then, Bernie was tugging her close, claiming her lips in a torrid kiss as she thrust her hand into Serena's trousers to stroke and caress her folds before nudging into her body, pumping with the same rhythm that Serena was using on her body. They strove for completion, never ending their kiss, as if they knew that they'd be too loud any other way.

She shuddered through her orgasm, feeling Bernie clench around her fingers as she went over the precipice, too. Finally, she tore her lips away so that she could get a deep breath, resting her forehead against Bernie's. "We can never do this again," she panted out.

"But it was so much fun," her lover teased as she pulled her hand out of Serena's trousers and seductively licked them clean. Serena moaned a little as she shook her head. "That eager for round two?"

"You know that when it comes to you, I live in a perpetual state of want, Bernie." She slowly removed her hand as well, copying her move, and knowing that she'd hit a raw nerve of desire based on the way Bernie's nostrils flared and her pupils dilated. "But we have paperwork to do now, and so our pleasure will have to wait until we're home."

"Ah, Fraulein, how you leave a girl hanging," Bernie muttered as she leaned in and kissed her sweetly. The handle of the door rattled loudly, and Serena gasped as she grabbed hold of Bernie's top. "We'll be fine, I'll go out first and deal with whoever is out there, and you can come out five minutes later."

"Okay." She gave Bernie one more kiss before the woman unlocked and opened the door. That couldn't stop Serena from peeking out, taking in the knowing smirk on Raf's face. "Oh, do wipe that look off your face, Mister di Lucca. We were just working on some inventory," she muttered as she sailed out past him, leaving the pair in her wake, listening to Bernie laugh loudly. Deliberately, she let her hips swing, knowing Bernie would be watching her, a delicious smile on her lips as she thought about the night ahead. Ric was right, it was good to be so content, which she was, here in love's recovery.