Chapter 1

AN: Thank you for reading the sequel to "The List."…In a nutshell: a little spice, a lot of learning, a little angst, and a lot of love.. Probably will be updating a little slower than usual...

Derek Morgan loved his baby girl. Without a doubt, the woman was the most special, most life-changing force in his world. She was the best, the most perfect, the sexiest woman ever created just for him. She was a dream come true; a kind, beautiful angel…

Who currently had him handcuffed to his kitchen chair. Naked.

She was humming, naked, rummaging in the refrigerator. She was terribly off-key. The woman couldn't carry a tune to save her life. He was watching her sweet round butt sticking up in the air while she reached to the back of one of the shelves.

"I've almost got it," she said, making a little oomph noise for her effort.

"Ah, baby girl?" he questioned, suddenly thinking a little about self-preservation. "You know; cold doesn't do the same things for me as it does for you."

"Oh, no Ben and Jerry's®, hot stuff," she said, laughing. "Been there, done that." She reached behind her and placed a jar on the table. "Now this. This is new."

"What the hell is that?" Derek said, staring at the tub of chocolaty looking goop. It had the consistency of a cross between gelatin and pudding, with a dark brown chocolate color.

Oh, boy. His baby girl had been cooking again. Penelope made things that were very tasty almost always, but usually looked awful. She made him dinner one night to surprise him. He sat down to an odd, red-colored pile of stuff. It was tasty, very Italian, but he still didn't have a clue what it was he ate.

"It's hot fudge, honey. I made it," she said, stating the obvious. Not the hot fudge part, that wasn't obvious. No, no one in their right mind would've guessed that was hot fudge. "And I know what cold does, so I thought, Let's heat it up a bit, shall we?"

She wandered over to the microwave and stuck the container in. She was humming again, that same happy little tune from before.

He smiled. She was damn creative. His happy parts were happy, too. He didn't want to deal with ice cold stuff where it didn't need to be. He cringed at the thought.

While they were waiting, he had to ask the question. "Who gave you the handcuffs, honey?"

"JJ," she said. "She felt awful about misjudging you-"

"She didn't, really." He grinned his most rakish grin. "I was what she thought: a complete ladies' man. Still am, but only to one lady."

He heard the bell on the microwave, then the door opening. "That's true, my cute little soon to be covered with chocolate Adonis."

It actually smelled heavenly. He couldn't help wondering what it tasted like. She smelled wonderful, too; his mouth salivated thinking about her.

They made love.

A long while later, she reached around, undid the handcuffs, and rose to her feet. She gave him a soft kiss.

He reached his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. "You are incredible, woman. I love you."

"You better," she teased, giving him another kiss.

"We're at three months, you know. You said we'd end this after three months," he said. "I need to talk you into staying."

"Try to get rid of me; I dare you."

"No, baby," he said, smiling at her. "I really want to talk you into staying. Here. I want you here. Permanently."

Her heart swelled in her chest. "Derek, what-"

"Move in with me," he said, kissing her again. "I can't stand bringing you home one more Sunday night. It's killing me."

She smiled wistfully. She didn't think he was going ask her that, but it was good anyway. "I hate going, too."

"Then it's a deal?" He looked so hopefully at her, she couldn't say no, even if she wanted to. And she didn't want to say no at all.

"Deal."

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