“Absolutely, bring them on.”

Cat wasn?t sure why Dylan was being so gracious about the whole mess, but she hoped that she wouldn?t go screaming into the night. Well, at least not running away. Screaming into the night was high on Cat?s list of things that she wanted to hear Dylan do.

Dylan looked at the dish, smiled and speared a huge amount of the colorful vegetables that had been prepared just for her. She smiled at Cat as she started to chew.

Cat watched as Dylan?s eyes grew wide and panic crossed her face as chewing got slower and slower and it was obvious she was desperate to find a place to rid herself of the food. The napkin in her lap was the only option, once the food had been disposed of, she grabbed her wine glass and drank it straight down, then blindly grabbed for Cat?s glass as well.

She was coughing and choking, her face was bright red and tears were steaming down her cheeks. Cat dashed to the kitchen and poured Dylan a glass of soy milk, she didn?t even have time to turn around before Dylan reached passed her and grabbed the regular milk and gulped it straight from the carton.

After nearly finishing a quart of milk in one long gulp, Dylan sank to the floor sliding against the wall as she did.

Cat knelt and placed her hands on Dylan?s knees. “I?m sorry.”

“What,” the tall woman gasped. “What kind of chilies did you use?”

“I when to the farmer?s market and told them I needed red, yellow and green chilies?”

“Oh God?” Dylan blew out a long slow breath. “Cat, Roasted Chilies, don?t actually have chilies in them. They have bell peppers?it?s just called Roasted Chilies.”

“That?s stupid, why not call it Roasted Bell Peppers?”

“I have no idea.” Dylan wiped the tears from her eyes. “God, that was hot.”

Cat?s shoulders slumped. “I?m so, so sorry.”

“These things happen.”

“Yeah, but why do they have to happen to me?” Cat slumped on the floor next to Dylan and placed her hand on the tall woman?s leg.

“Just lucky I guess.”

“So now what are we going to do for dinner.”

Dylan removed her cell from her hip. “I have it covered.”

Dylan took the wine glasses to the living room while Cat cleaned up the remnants of their delivered dinner. The coach had taken pity on her player and ordered from a place that would bring her something with meat.

Cat enjoyed a nice chicken and rice dish while Dylan had eaten a passable vegan lasagna. It wasn?t what Cat had hoped for, but Dylan seemed to take it all in stride and they had a nice evening.

As the blonde considered her disaster in the kitchen, Hamlet watched from the edged of the tile floor. Cat gathered up the souffl� and dropped it into his bowl. “Here you go pal. I?m sure you?ll enjoy it.”

The dog wandered over to his bowl and sniffed. Then he sat down and looked at Cat with a whine. He almost seemed to be shaking his head no.

“Oh come on, it wasn?t that bad!”

Hamlet whined again.

“Was it?”

The dog barked this time.

Cat relaxed as she felt strong arms encircle her from behind. “You never can go wrong with dessert,” Dylan purred into her ear.

“You can if you don?t have any,” Cat replied over the heartbeat thundering in her ears.

Dylan?s resulting chuckle, deep and sensual, turned Cat?s mouth into a desert as all the moisture in her body headed southward for the summer.

“There?s more than one way to defur a feline.”

Her hand was gently clasped and she followed Dylan blindly into the living room, spending the duration of the short trip simply bribing her legs to work properly.

She then found herself blinking owlishly down at Dylan who had appropriated much of the couch and was lounging there like a well fed cat, long arms resting against the back. “Care to join me?” She flashed a sexy grin that had Cat seeing a whole galaxy?s worth of stars. “I don?t bite. I promise.”

“Not even if I ask?” Cat asked finally, sliding down to sit closer to the tall woman.

“Well now, that a horse of a different color.” Dylan lifted her hand and palm Cat?s cheek. “You?re a beautiful woman, Catherine Hodges.”

“Think so?” Cat could feel her face heat as a blush traveled from her collarbones up into her hair.

“Oh, I know so.” A long thumb brushed against coral lips, soothing and exciting them at the same time. “And I also know if I don?t kiss you soon, my had may explode.”

“We can?t have that,” the blonde sighed and leaned forward. “You need your head.”

“I?m pretty attached to it actually.” Dylan smiled and leaned forward, tenderly kissing Cat?s lips.

Cat moaned softly, drowning in the almost overwhelming emotion of the gentle exchange. Warmth spread outward from her heart, traveling through her body and back again in a never ending cycle. She blindly followed Dylan?s lips as they pulled away, and when a gentle tongue drew itself across her highly sensitized flesh, she welcomed it inside her, drinking in the taste, the essence of the woman who had caused this powerful hunger to well and rage within her.

Dylan finally pulled back and leaned against the back of the couch, bringing Cat with her and keeping her close within her tender embrace. Cat could hear her powerful heart thumping double time, and she smiled, knowing Dylan was just as effected as she.

“We needed this,” Dylan said quietly, a husky undertone coloring her voice. “Just a quiet night without homophobes or crashing planes.” She cocked her head slightly, effortlessly capturing Cat?s rapturous gaze. “Unless you?d like to go somewhere else?”

“I don?t think we should risk it,” Cat reached up and unfastened the top button of Dylan?s shirt, pressing a kiss to the hollow of Dylan?s throat. “We should just stay here.”

Another button, and another kiss. Dylan?s scent rose up to greet her, and she felt as if she were falling. “Until at least tomorrow,” she continued in a voice she didn?t even recognize as her own.

As a third button loosened, Dylan felt herself quickly begin to lose what little control she had left. Her hand came up of its own volition, cradling the back of Cat?s head as her fingers threaded themselves through the incredibly soft hair. The sensations rushing through her body easily melted her self-imposed restraints and her mind, whirling with emotion and need, struggled to remind her of the promises she?d made to them both.

With a great amount of reluctance, her body screaming at her every millimeter of the way, she pulled again away from Cat. Looking into the glazed and passion-dark eyes almost trumped her resolve. She took in a very shaky breath, and eased it out slowly, demanding her body to calm itself.

“Did?did I do something wrong?” Cat asked in a voice that almost broke Dylan?s heart.

Gathering the younger woman closely to her, Dylan strokes the fine blonde hair in a soothing manner. “God, no. No, Cat. You did everything right. Everything, believe me.”

“Then why??”

“We?um?.” Dylan cleared her throat. “We agreed to take this slowly, remember?”

Cat blinked once, then nodded, almost timidly. “Yeah. We did.”

Closing her eyes, Dylan gathered the younger woman against her as fully and as tenderly as she could. “Cat, believe me when I tell you that there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that I would rather do right now than to make love with you right now.”

“There?s a ?but? in there,” Cat mumbled against Dylan?s cloth covered chest. “I just know there is.”

“There is,” Dylan said sadly. She sighed. “Cat, the truth is, I?m so damned attracted to you that I can?t see straight some days.”

“Well, that?s a good thing. Isn?t it?”

Dylan laughed softly. “A very good thing,” she agreed.

“But?.”

“But we need to take this slowly. Not just for us, but for our careers. We have a lot to focus on with the team, and to be completely honest with you, Cat, if we make love now, here, tonight, I?m afraid that my focus on my job will suffer. And that?s not something I can afford to let happen right now.”

Cat was still for a very long time. Dylan continued softly stroking her hair, content to let the young woman process her words and draw her own conclusions from them.

Finally, Cat sighed and pulled slightly away, tilting her head to meet Dylan?s eyes. “Even if the rest of me doesn?t agree, my head knows you?re right.” Lifting a hand, she stroked the sharply etched planes of her coach?s beautiful face. “Since it?s our night for confessions, I?ll tell you that from the moment I saw you in my dorm room that day, I?ve known that I could lose myself in you so very easily, Pallas Dylan Lambert.”

“You have, huh?”

“Oh yes. But I also know that you?re right. We?ve both put our life?s energies into what we do on the court, and I guess we need to make that our first priority.” She looked up, a little guilty. “And I?m not sure I could do that once I made love to you for the first time.”

The hug she received was worth every aching hormone in her body, and she sunk blissfully into it, praying with one corner of her mind, that it would never end.

It was well after midnight when Dylan said her goodbyes for the evening. The accompanying kiss left Cat?s entire body feeling like Jell-O, and she stood on unsteady legs waving goodbye until Dylan?s taillights disappeared down the street.

Hamlet, sitting just inside the door, whined, then gave a soft yip to get his master?s attention. Cat turned to him, in a daze. “Oh. Sorry boy. I guess you need to go out, huh?”

A sharper bark was her answer, and she led the dog out onto the grounds to take care of business.

When they reentered the apartment, Cat looked at the used glasses on the coffee table and shrugged. “They?ll still be there in the morning. C?mon, Hamlet. You can wait by my bed while I take a shower.” She paused as she touched her still tingling lips. “A long, cold shower.”

“Time! Call time!!” Dylan strode down the sidelines, eyes blazing, her hands forming the universal “time out” symbol.

From the corner of her eye, Cat caught Dylan?s gesture and signaled the ref for a time out. The whistle blew, and the teams trotted to their respective sidelines.

The trainers came immediately forward, handing the sweating women towels and bottles of water, which were quickly grabbed and put to good use.

Dylan looked up at the clock, though she had the entire scoreboard printed on her retinas. Eleven point nine seconds was a veritable eternity in basketball. Even if you were behind. Unless, of course, you didn?t have the ball.

“Stern, you?re in for King.” The rangy forward nodded and headed for the scorer?s table to check in with the ref.

“Alright, the rest of you, listen up. We?re gonna be heavy handed on the inbounds. Tippens and LeRoy, I want you in on their passer like you?re glued together, understand?”

Both women, dripping with sweat, nodded.

“Alright. If you can get a five second violation, we?re good. If not, foul. I don?t care how, just foul. We still have one to give, so make it count.”

“What happens if we can get a five?” Chaney asked, running a hand through her sodden dreds.

“I don?t care who in-bounds,” Dylan replied. “Just get it to Hodge.” She turned to Cat. “If you have an unbelievably free shot, go for it, but if not, hold it as long as you can, alright? We don?t want this backfiring on us.”

“Got it.”

The buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the time out.

“Alright, ladies, let?s win this.”

“Goddess!”

Dylan rolled her eyes, as she did every time her team made its rallying cheer. The team grinned back at her before turning and running onto the court, ready for action.

Blowing her whistle, the ref handed the ball to the Legend passer. Immediately, the young, rather short, woman was surrounded on two sides by the Badgers? forwards, doing their best to block every conceivable passing lane the young woman might think up.

Five seconds later, the whistle blew again. The guard slammed the ball down in frustration, and Chaney ran to the sideline to retrieve it, grinning like a madwoman.

Giving the Legend players no time to set up, Chaney passed the ball to King, who in turn hit Cat with a perfect bounce pass. Instead of going in for the shot, which would have meant trying to avoid the Legend center, all six foot seven of her, Cat shot an eye toward the clock, noticed she still had over seven seconds left, and deliberately slowed her dribble, allowing her teammates time to set up.

It was then that she was hit from behind by a runaway train in the form of the same Legend guard who had failed to get her pass in-bounds. Cat flew into Chaney, and both women fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The ball jumped from Cat?s hands and skittered across the endline.