Howie's house wasn't too far from Caroline's, so when Brian stopped the car at the gate, Mandy asked: "I know you're tired, but...maybe you wanna come in for a while?" She had not only asked because she would feel more comfortable if she wasn't alone in the house, but especially because she wanted to spend more time with Brian. She hoped he would agree, and someone above had heard her silent, quick prayer.

"Sure. I just said I'm too tired for a club, but not to hang out longer. We'd probably just end up bored without each other anyway!" he smiled.

Mandy loved the sound of that. Without each other... Just a second later she mentally kicked her own butt. She had tried so hard to get past this, to forget that she was falling more than hard for Brian. But it was just impossible to bury those feelings. She was in love already, and there was no way back.

Nick and Araysa had returned to Nick's house some time before 11pm, after Araysa had seen his favorite places in Tampa and after they indeed had their romantic walk in the moonlight.

Both were not in the mood to watch TV, so they had cuddled up in front of the fireplace - the fire wasn't even burning, but a really comfortable rug happened to lay right there. Their cuddling and talking had soon turned into a make-out session that both were enjoying muchly, of course.

As comfortable as the rug might have been, Araysa wanted to take this somewhere else anyway. So when Nick was sucking on her neck, she whispered: "How about we continue this upstairs?"

Nick stopped what he was doing, looking at her expectantly. He was hoping for a special message in her eyes, and he sure found it there. He pressed his lips down on hers, kissing her deeply, but tenderly, before he pulled away and asked: "Are you sure?" Araysa just grinned and nodded.

Nick pulled her up with him and never stopped touching her or kissing her now and then, all the way up to his bedroom. Araysa rather paid attention to the man she was with, instead of taking in her surroundings. Happily she thought she would have enough time to take a proper look at this room in the morning.

Nick took things slow, wanting to give Araysa time to stop this, should she ever change her mind and not want to go all the way tonight. They took turns in removing one piece of clothing off the other's body. When Nick stood before her in only his boxers and she was in her undies, Araysa grinned: "I swear if Howie would call right now, I'd have to kill him."

Nick remembered the incident in the hotel, when Howie had interrupted them and had stopped them from going too far. "No interruption tonight", Nick smiled. "You still sure about this?"

Araysa thought it was sweet that Nick was so concerned about whether he was pushing her or not, but his worries were totally unnecessary. She was very sure she wanted this, and very aware of what she was doing. Instead of answering him with words, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Sometimes actions just speak louder than words.

Nick knew all he needed to know, so he maneuvered them so that he could gently push Araysa down onto the bed. His hands roamed all over her body, until they settled under her back, where he opened her bra, then took it off. He cupped one of her breasts with his hand, while he continued to kiss her. Suddenly he stopped though, and when Araysa opened her eyes she saw that a beautiful smile had broken out on his face.

"I can feel your heartbeat", he said. Then he grinned. "You're not about to go into cardiac arrest, are ya?!" Nick joked, because her heart was beating so fast.

"I'm not so sure", Araysa smiled. "So you better continue what you were doing. You never know how much time you have."

Lowering his head to the crook of her neck, she heard him whisper: "We've got all night. And much longer."

Taking Nick by surprise, Araysa gathered a little strength, then suddenly turned both of them around, so that she was on top of him. She wanted to please Nick the way that he was pleasing her, but Nick just grinned and shook his head amused. He turned them back around easily, propping himself up off her with his arms. With a low, almost hoarse voice that was new for Araysa, he brought his mouth to her ear and said: "Tonight I'm gonna show you how dominant I am."

Araysa shivered comfortably at the tone of his voice. She felt herself getting aroused just from listening to him. But she was just about to find out with how many different things Nick knew how to arouse her even more.

When both were ready for the final step, after Nick had let Araysa work her magic on him as well, he took a condom out from his bedside table. Araysa took it from him, doing the little work for him. Nick lost more and more of his patience with every single touch of her fingertips on his body. He just wanted to completely feel her right now, nothing else. Araysa smiled and brought his face to hers, when they were ready for the final step.

For both of them it wasn't their first time, but neither would ever forget the bliss they had shared that night. The memory would always mean much more than any other night with anyone could ever mean. Araysa couldn't believe that Nick alone had been able to arouse so many emotions inside of her, that just by his touch he had pushed her so far over the edge.

Howie, Sarah, AJ and Molly were having a great time in a club that Howie had chosen for tonight. They were dancing most of the time, and Molly wondered where in the world she got this major energy kick from. She felt like she could have continued dancing forever.

She felt even better because AJ was in such a great mood as well. She felt kinda stupid for it, but she loved that he was giving all his attention to her, while he and Howie surely got enough attention from other women in the club at the same time. She still found it hard to believe that this man that she had grown to not only adore, but also respect in many ways, had no other wish right now than to be with her. She couldn't believe how close to love, how close to heaven he made her feel.