Okay, y'all, it's after midnight by my clock. Here's mine. Enjoy!

~T~

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"Dinner Can Wait"
A Luke and Mara Story
By Taramidala

DISCLAIMER: I'm not making a dime. They don't belong to me. I'm
just having a bit of fun. Capiche?

Special thanks to Jackie for the feedback.

SPOILERS: Balance Point, by Kathy Tyers. If you haven't read it, do
so immediately!

NOTE: Please don't post this anywhere without my explicit
permission. Thank you very much.

Takes place a few months after the events in Balance Point.

======================================================================

She felt him the minute he entered their suite. His emotions were
churning, and she knew something had happened. Well, she'd just have
to ask him about it, later. In a non-obtrusive way, of course.
Wouldn't want him to think she'd become a worrier like him. As she
felt him approach, the special place in her head and heart warmed,
and she ran a hand across her curly, unbound hair and straightened
her long green tunic.

"You know, I could make a comment about you being barefoot, pregnant,
and standing in my kitchen," Luke began. Mara spun and glared at
him. "But I get the feeling you'd really kill me."

"Got that right, Skywalker," Mara bantered back, fighting off a smile
as best she could. The Luke-place in her spirit warmed considerably
as he approached.

"Aw, come on, Jade," he teased softly, reaching forward to stroke her
face. "Can't I have any fun with you?"

His voice was low, seductive, pleading, and. . .almost irresistible.
Almost. He needed to work a little harder before she gave in. She
rolled her bright eyes. "I would think that is the one thing of
which you have plenty."

Mara tried to pull away, but he took a tight hold on her. "Enough?
There'll never be enough of you for me. Besides, you like your share
of fun, too."

The gaze in his soft blue eyes was unmistakable. /Okay, is it just
me or is it getting extremely warm in this kitchen?/ she asked
herself, so quietly within her head that he wouldn't hear. /Damn
him./ "Sometimes," she breathed, finally managing to turn herself
around and back to the counter where the vegetables lay, waiting
patiently to be cut.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and comfortably rested his hands
on top of her bulging belly. "Only sometimes?" he murmured in her
ear. His lips found their way first through her shining, red-gold
curls, and then gently down her elegant neck.

Mara permitted herself to relax momentarily and sighed
contentedly. "Isn't having fun what got us into this in the first
place?" she snapped mischievously. He bit her delicately. "Ow!
Okay, more than sometimes," she said with a chuckle. "Must be all
the changes I've been going through. . .There," she said, elbowing
him lightly in the stomach. "Is your male ego sufficiently
satisfied?"

She could feel him smiling. He knew she was baiting him. "For now."

"Good." She pushed him away from her before spinning around to push
harder. "Now get out of my kitchen."

He raised his eyebrows at her in skeptical disbelief. "Why Mara
Jade, I do believe you're becoming domestic."

Mara refused to let her husband's mocking get to her. Instead, she
smacked his backside playfully and shoved him further out of the
room. "Say that again, Luke Skywalker, and we'll see how much fun
you have from now on."

Carrying on with the act, Luke pouted. "I love you, Mara."

And she couldn't help laughing. "Yeah, yeah. Go on, or else we
won't eat tonight."

She watched him walk away and her hand automatically drifted to her
stomach. //I love you, too.// She turned back to her counter and
stared at the colorful items she'd started to cut up for a salad.
Just stared. Were they staring back at her? The kitchen was getting
warmer. In fact, Mara realized, it hadn't stopped. A soft invisible
pair of hands touched her shoulders, caressing gently, moving down
her back and her arms and all over her body. Her head whipped around
and she looked towards the sitting room. Luke was sitting by the
window, watching the lights of Coruscant at night.

Mara looked back at her vegetables. The touch returned. Cook?
Eat? Who could think about either of those things when this room was
so damned hot? She brushed some stray curls back from her face,
feeling the heated flush of her skin. /Ah, the hell with it. . ./

She marched into the sitting room where she was unavoidably met by
her husband's lips. "What happened to dinner?" he murmured.

As best she could, Mara put her arms around his shoulders and pressed
herself against him. "Dinner can wait," she whispered, kissing him
again, feeling the special warmth completely overtake her, filling
her, lifting her spirit high and spinning her around.

When they parted, he held her as tightly as possible and caressed her
face with a lazy, loving hand. "How long do you plan to keep it
sitting?" he asked.

"How about until tomorrow?" she replied, running her hands down his
chest before finding his hands and giving them a light tug. Her eyes
darkened as they bore into his, delighting him, enticing him, leading
him away from the bright light of Coruscant and their sitting room.

They reached the dim hallway outside their bedroom; he backed her
against the wall and smothered her with another kiss. "See?" he
breathed against her full lips. "I told you you liked fun."

~FIN.~