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His hand was at her shoulder now, rubbing gently. His eyes flickered briefly, emotion that he normally kept hidden away or locked up threatening to break through the gates of his iron will.

"It's not that lonely," Sterling replied, but his heart wasn't in it. "I meet interesting people now and again. And if I hadn't been traveling alone, the chances of my coming to Dawn's rescue in time would have been severely limited."

"Then I'm glad you were alone. I don't know what I'd do without her." She chewed on her lip, having trouble looking away from him, "Do you want to go upstairs? We could, like, talk a little bit more freely." And be a little bit more free.

She mentally smacked herself and decided that like was her least favourite word. Like, ever.

He paused and withdrew his hand from her shoulder. "If you'd like," he said. "Whichever makes you more comfortable."

"How long have you and Dawn been living on your own?" he inquired.

"Um, my dad kicked me out the day he found out. I moved in with my boyfriend and his parents, but they decided to move across the country rather than help support me, since they thought it was my fault. I got a job and government assistance to live on my own while I finished high school. So, since before she was born it's been just thw two of us."

She lightly took his hand, "Let's talk about something else." She started towards the stairs, "Unless you want to retract that favour?"

"I'm sorry," said Sterling, taking her hand and following her up the stairs. "But for what it's worth, you've done a remarkable job raising Dawn, and providing for her." He offered a small smile. "She's got her mother's bravery, that's for sure."

Even though they were only half way up the stairs, Cici turned and kissed Sterling. It was both because of his kind compliment and to get him to shut up. she pulled back and looked him straight in the eye, "I'm not brave. I'm reckless - though, I'm going to be more careful at night, that's for sure. Dawn will be in before dark every night."

Sterling was rather surprised by the kiss, but she broke it before he could respond in kind. It did the trick though, shutting him up. Actually, if she asked him, he'd probably keep an eye out for Dawn anytime. But he reigned back those tendencies. Sometimes a Hunter's involvement drew more attention than if a Hunter stayed out of it.

He wished he'd brushed up more on interacting with women. Right now he was kind of at a loss for words. "Is there anything more you'd like to know? Or ask?"

She laughed softly, "Not right now. Pillow talk later. I can learn all about you, or we can turn over and sleep, either or." She opened up her bedroom door, "Go on in." She wondered where all this bravery was coming from. Usually she let men take the lead.

Honestly, though, how was Sterling going to take the lead?

She took a look in the bedside drawer and didn't find a condom, "Thank goodness I'm on the pill..." She murmured.

Sterling eyed the bed, in all its lumpy gloriousness, and then turned to look at Cici. He much preferred to take the lead, but it wasn't his place, technically. Still...

"Something the matter?" he asked Cici, sitting at the foot of the bed for a moment to unlace his boots. And then looked around for his trench coat--but it was downstairs, along with his crossbow and he sighed and forced himself to let it go. He'd splashed the front door with holy water and nothing was going to get in. He had to let that go.

"Oh, I just don't have any condoms, but I'm on the pill. I take it faithfully. It's to keep my periods in check." She brought her hand to her face, "Wow, that's a mood killer. Anyhow, I am on the pill. Let's leave it at that." She sat down and looked at him, "Are you ever, like, not worried?"

There was that blasted word again!

Sterling shrugged as he finally kicked his boots off, and then promptly realized all his spare clothes were at a local hotel. Oh well, that wasn't important.

He flopped onto his back with a sigh, feeling the mattress give a little. "I never worry. Either I'm killed on the job or I'm not. It might be a bit crass, but if I hesitate more people could die." He fidgeted a little, one particular memory making him uncomfortable. "I made a mistake once, and it's come back to haunt me several times." He looked up at Cici. "But that's not really pertinent to anything here."

Cici nodded and moved to sprawl out beside him, putting her hand on his chest, "No, I suppose not. You're kinda awkward. Or is it just me? 'Cause I mean, if, like, you're not, like, interested in me or something just let me know and I can sleep on, like, the couch. I don't mind."

DAMN IT BRAIN! STOP USING THAT WORD AND DO NOT GIVE HIM AN OUT!

Cici got up and turned out the light, laying back down, reaching for his chest again and hit his arm and then narrowly missed his face.

If Cici was looking at him before she turned the lights out, she would have seen him smile briefly. "It probably wouldn't be so awkward if our roles were switched and we were at my home in my bed."

He caught movement just before she struck his arm and then felt her hand pass just over his face. Years of practice of moving in the dark aided him as he caught Cici's hand with his own, and he rolled onto his side to look blindly down at her. He couldn't see her at the moment, his eyes not yet adjusted.

"Easy, I'm still mortal," he joked.

Cici laughed and used her other hand to find his face, "Well, your here now." She moved in and kissed him, running her hand up his arm, squeezing his shoulder firmly. She relaxed and enjoyed the kiss, giving him more time to respond this time as her hand went over his chest, mentally cheering when she felt his abs.

Yeah, that was the goal. Mmmm, abs.

He relaxed into the kiss, deepening it before she could pull away. Her hands were cool but not unpleasant against his chest and abs. His own hands were not idle, tracing her curves and finally wrapping around her to keep her close.

He could be surprisingly gentle when he set his mind to it, and he set a trail of kisses down her neck.

He didn't care anymore about vampires or werewolves. Instead his thoughts were pleasantly focused on Cici.

At just before midnight Cici had wrapped the blanket around herself and slipped downstairs to call work. She was back within minutes and slipped back into bed, trying to find a comfortable spot. It was hard suddenly sharing your bed, but she was happy. She quickly found the right spot and practically passed out, her head on his shoulder, fingers splayed across his chest.

When her alarm went off at 2, she reached over and turned it off, her eyes not opening as she curled into the warm bed. Perfect. An extra day off of work, warm bed.

She continued to sleep, waking when Dawn's alarm went off. There was no reason for Dawn to come into her room and she wasn't afraid of her finding them together. Not that Cici was anywhere near Sterling anymore, having slipped to the edge of the bed in her sleep. She streched out and placed a hand lightly on Sterling's chest, "Hey, wake up, hon." She wasn't sure why, but she felt good about letting him spend the night in her bed. It had felt great - she had never slept beside a man before. She leaned in and kissed him softly, even knowing he'd be gone after breakfast.

It was her gentle voice and the soft kiss that he woke to, having slept through whatever movement she made during the night. He grumbled incoherently for a moment as he wrested himself from sleep, blinking his eyes open to see Cici. And then a gentle smile creased his face.

He sat up carefully, the blankets falling back to show his bare chest, scars and all--which had been lost in the darkness of the previous night.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, his voice rumbling.

Cici nodded, "Too well, I think." She smiled at him, her fingers looking at his chest while her eyes tried to stay up on his face, "Do you wan breakfast? I don't have to head to school until ten, but I want to drive Dawn to school this morning. She's probably already looked at the couch and assumed that you broke your promise..." The last thing she wanted to do was talk about her daughter, but she knew it wouldn't be fair to be up here stealing Sterling's time, when Dawn seemed to love him so.

He smiled at her sentiment, feeling the same way about sleeping too well. He rarely slept at night, preferring to hunt during the wee hours of the morning when things that went bump in the night tended to move about. But it felt good to be up with the sun.

"Breakfast would be great," he admitted, his hand closing over hers on his chest. He wouldn't have minded a little more time to stay. "How about I see you and Dawn off to school?" he suggested.

Cici nodded, "If you want to have a shower you can. I'm going to go tell Dawn you're still here and see what I can do to keep her from asking questions..." She went to her dresser and pulled on underwear and scrubs. The teal looked nice on her skin and she pulled her wild curly hair into a ponytail.

As she headed downstairs, she hummed to herself, "Morning sweetie!"