by Dale Mayer
“And you’re right about talking about our pasts. Who the hell wants to?”
“Exactly, they’re over, and that’s the way they’ll stay.”
She smiled, and then her smile dropped.
“Now what?”
“The problem is, that young woman’s life is over too. She can’t ever add to it. She can’t ever have another day of fulfilling a dream or … or doing something, anything that she wanted to do … all because of this guy.”
“So get angry. I don’t have a problem with that. Get angry, but get angry at the right person, not me.”
She looked at him in surprise. “I’m not angry at you.”
“Good, then don’t go trying to break up with me.”
She stared at him. Her lips quirked. “Is that what the food is for?”
“Is it working?” He checked her out, with interest.
She rolled her eyes at him. “You bring me leftover pasta, meatballs, and whatever else this is, including the garlic bread. I eat it all without a thought, and you’re sitting there eating peanut butter.”
“Right, and there’s only one damn reason why I’m here and tolerating that,” he said in a deadpan voice.
She leaned forward. “I know why too.”
His eyebrows shot up. “And why is that?”
She grinned. “Because it’s absolutely great fucking sex right afterward.”
He had to admit her words shocked him, but what she did next sent delighted thrills up and down his body. She had crawled across the table they shared, grabbed him by the tie, stood him up on his feet, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him until he felt it everywhere.
By the time they made it to her bed, he was already out of his jacket and his shirt. He still had the tie hanging around his neck, and he was tripping over himself, trying to get his pants off his feet. The damn shoes had to be forcefully kicked off, and, by the time he made it to her bed, she was laughing like a crazy woman, stripping off her clothes every step of the way.
When she jumped onto the bed, and he jumped after her to land on top, his temperature was through the roof, and he couldn’t have been happier. This woman tormented him, shocked him, and, at every turn, delighted him. His head came down, his lips matching hers with an ardor that he’d rarely seen matched in another, as they quickly fed the fire, until it burned hot and bright.
She flipped over, sat up on top of him, and whispered, “Let me ride.”
He immediately relaxed underneath her and whispered, “You go, girl.”
She laughed and slowly lowered herself onto his erection, and she stopped, almost shuddering in delight, as he filled her to the brim. When he reached up to cup her breasts, she was left to wonder at how something so small could hold so many damn nerve endings. Just his touch sent a moan rippling up her chest to exhale on a heated breath.
He shook his head. “You’re so damn perfect.”
“I’m scrawny,” she said.
“And that’s all right too.”
She slowly raised herself up onto her knees and then sank back down again. He shuddered and whispered, “You’ll push it too far.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she whispered. “I think there’s a lot of room for all of this.”
He smiled and agreed. “If you say so.”
“Sit back and relax.”
He shook his head. “Not a hope in hell.” He slid his hands down to her hips, gently stroking the soft curls and the plump lips below.
She shuddered, reaching for his hands, and held them there close to her, as she rose and sank, feeling his fingers against her flesh, as she went up and down his shaft. She rose, fell, and then leaned forward, placing her hands on his shoulders, as she started to ride. Thrust for thrust, he met her oncoming passion, driving them forward, driving them both closer and closer to the edge.
When she finally came apart, he grabbed her hips, holding her tight as he ground upward, plunging to his own climax, until he groaned, his body shuddering in delight.
When she collapsed on top of him, she whispered, “I don’t know what that was, but it was fabulous.”
And, with a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes and, like a child, fell asleep in his arms. He lay here, exhausted, delighted, winded, and, at the same time, completely entranced. It’s not that he hadn’t had wild and crazy sex before because, of course, he had.
He was a man with a lot of years of experience, but nothing so completely natural as her. She was 100 percent—all the time, one way or another—whether she was cranky, whether she was happy, whether she was making love, or whether she was giving somebody, like him, a dressing down. Usually it was all her, and she was all in. It was glorious to watch and even better to experience.
He closed his eyes, then wrapped her up tighter in his arms, ignoring her murmurs, as she tried to shift more comfortably, then stretched down to grab a blanket and awkwardly pulled it over the top of them. His boxers were on his thighs, his socks still on his feet, yet she had somehow managed to strip herself right to the bone.
He shook his head. “Efficient, aren’t you?” he murmured, as he pulled the covers up to her shoulders.
She gave a happy sigh and wiggled in his arms.
He shifted her to her side, curled up with their thighs entwined, and whispered, “Just sleep.”
She closed her eyes again, tucked her head up against his shoulder, and was off.
He marveled at her ability to drop like a child, to just live in the moment, and to move on as need be. He wished he had that ability. Nightmares kept him awake most nights. And right now he was dealing with that weird sense of smell, which he hadn’t had a chance to tell her more about. But it was here. He could smell her elemental female essence. Also the heavy smell of sex permeating the room. But, if there were two smells that he could handle quite nicely being amplified, they were those.
He nuzzled her hair, loving that he had her near him. He sighed happily and shifted again, wondering if he’d sleep. No question that he was struggling with what she obviously wasn’t struggling with. He did doze for a little bit, woke for a while, and dozed for a bit more. When she shifted out of his arms and rolled over, only to sprawl out, taking up three-quarters of the bed, leaving him just a few bare inches along the side, he burst out laughing and got up, quickly stripped off the rest of his clothes, and used the bathroom.
He rarely slept long anyway, but, in this moment, it was so much more fun to just be here with her and watch. Not that he wanted to watch while she slept but to just experience having her here. Too often their time together was short, rushed, and then over. He wanted more but knew she wouldn’t accept it. They hadn’t even talked of this, but he already knew that he wanted her in his life, a whole lot more than what she would likely be willing to give him right now.
He also knew that, if he did anything other than give her space, she would probably walk away completely. And, for the first time, he admitted that such an outcome would incapacitate him. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing her, and that’s what he was facing right now. It was hard to admit that a man who had so few attachments in life was now hook, line, and sinker aligned with this one.
“Dear God,” he whispered, knowing it was the one thing he could say that would adequately cover all his conflicting feelings, ranging from joy to terror, all at once. Yet he wouldn’t change it for the world.
He crawled back into bed. Kate had shifted just enough so there was room for him to crawl up beside her. He tucked under the blankets, wrapped his arms around her, pulled her up spoon-style, and whispered, “I don’t know what I’ll do with you.”
She shifted her head, looking at him bleary-eyed.
He just smiled and whispered, “Go back to sleep.”
Her head dropped like a rock, as if she hadn’t even been awake. Just like that, she was out again. He marveled at that. But, happily tucked up where he wanted to be, he closed his eyes, and, this time, he slept.
Chapter 6
Kate woke that
morning, calm and at peace, everything inside her completely loose and relaxed. She lay here boneless on the bed, Simon’s arms still wrapped around her, holding her close. She smiled, even as she felt his body jerk and shift in sleep. She rolled over ever-so-slightly to look at him. His facial expression kept changing, not so much in fear but as if going from one experience to another, different reactions affecting him every time. She reached up a hand and gently stroked his forehead.
At her touch, he calmed down and drifted into a deeper sleep. She smiled, got up, and went in to shower.
It was 7:00 a.m. already, and she had to go to work. He might work from home to a degree, but she needed to be there in person. After her shower, she wrapped up in a towel and came out to find him watching her. She smiled. “I half expected you to come into the shower with me.”
“Don’t worry. I had to fight a battle for it too.”
An eyebrow shot up. “I’m surprised you did.”
“I knew you had to go to work, and I didn’t really want to rush it.”
She laughed. “What you mean is, you knew I also needed to make coffee and to get some food because I can get very cranky when I don’t get both of those.”
“I do know that.” His eyes twinkled, as he hopped up from her bed. “Are you okay if I have a quick shower?”
She nodded. “Absolutely.”
With that, he headed into the bathroom, and she quickly dressed in clean clothes. In the kitchen, she put on coffee and searched the fridge for food. They’d left all the dishes out last night. She smiled at that because she wouldn’t have missed it for the world. But, as it was, she had already pretty well cleaned up the leftovers, and he’d had the peanut butter and bread. She had a couple slabs of bread left but not a whole lot else. As she stood here in the kitchen, doing an inventory of what they could eat, he came out, stuffing his shirt into his pants.
“Is there anything left to eat?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “Honestly, no.”
He gave a roar of laughter at that. “I can always grab something to eat on my way home or cook some eggs even, but what about you?”
She frowned and looked at the two slices of bread in the bag on the table. “Well, there is still a little bit of peanut butter,” she said.
His eyebrows shot up. “Can you really do a day’s work on that?”
“Doesn’t look like I’ll have much choice.” She quickly slathered up the two slabs. She looked at him. “I’ll pick up some muffins on my way in. What about you?”
“I can get breakfast at home.”
“I thought you had meetings today?”
He nodded. “I do. And I’ll get to them.”
She wasn’t very good at this whole relationship thing. It wasn’t … it wasn’t her thing. People always expected too much of her, and then she felt terribly guilty because she couldn’t give it to them. It was part of the reason she hated relationships because she always ended up feeling like shit. It wasn’t supposed to be like that, but somehow she always ended up feeling that way.
He stepped forward, grabbed her by the chin, then gently tilted her head and gave her a hard kiss. “No frowns. I’m fine. You go to work.”
She picked up the sandwich in her hand, checked the clock, and groaned. “I have to go.” She reached out, gave him a quick kiss goodbye, raced out the door, and called back, “Can you lock up?”
“I got it,” he said.
She laughed and boogied down the stairways. She met one of her neighbors as she went, an older woman who always seemed quite friendly, if maybe even a little too lively at times. She stared at her and smiled. “Good morning.”
“Good morning. Aren’t you bright and cheerful?”
“Yep, I had a good night.”
“I’m sure you did, and I’m jealous. I haven’t had a good night like that in a long time.”
Embarrassed that the woman had guessed what Kate had been doing for most of the night, she quickly hurried outside and raced to the station. She found a nearby vendor with pretzels again, and she quickly paid for one and took it into the station, as she walked in right beside Rodney.
He took a look at the pretzel. “Damn, they always look so good.”
“Couldn’t resist it this morning. I haven’t had a chance to get any shopping done. I’ve got to pick up some groceries tonight.”
He nodded. “Cases are like that. Some more than others, of course, but they can dominate your world, until you can’t think of anything else.”
“That’s for sure.”
He smiled. “You’ll get there.”
“I’ll get there?” she asked, with a laugh. “It’s we, isn’t it? As in, we’ll get there.”
“Yep, that’s what I meant to say,” he said, but he flushed.
“But you aren’t feeling like it’s a we, are you?” She frowned.
“Of course it is,” he immediately backtracked.
She thought about that and then shook her head. “No, I think your wording was deliberate. What’s going on, Rodney?”
“Nothing,” he said.
She frowned and would not let it go. “Am I taking too much of the case?”
He looked at her in surprise. “Don’t you ever hide your light or try to not do as much because you’re afraid of how other people will view it?”
“No. I don’t really think about how others perceive my work. I’m in competition with myself.” She shrugged. “I just know that it seemed like, for the longest time, that I couldn’t do anything right, and that was really bothersome. I feel much more in my element here.”
“And that’s a good thing. You’re really good for the team, and you’ve got a hell of a brain on you.”
She looked at him, pleased. “And that is another odd thing for you to say.” She frowned. “So I’m not sure what’s going on, but are you okay? I mean it. Are you?”
“I’m okay. I’m just in one of those rethinks.”
“You’re not thinking about quitting, are you?” she said in alarm.
“No, no, not thinking about that,” he said, with a smile. “Just, you know, life.”
“I get it. Life can be a bitch sometimes.”
“That’s for sure.”
She worried about him throughout the day, as she collated all the statements they’d taken. She started to organize an investigation on anything and everything she could, while she waited for the video camera footage to show up on the university death. And, of course, there was the autopsy. When they didn’t get any word this morning on the uni victim’s autopsy report, Kate phoned and heard it wasn’t even on schedule for the day. But she did get a bit of information. She groaned, sat back, and looked at Rodney. “Her name is Sally Hardgens. She was only twenty-one and a full-time biochemistry student at the university. If the coroner can’t get to the autopsy today, we’ll be walking blind on this one.”
“I think we already are. Not a whole lot to go on.”
“There’s always something though,” she said.
“Yeah, always something, but I’m not seeing a whole lot yet.”
“Forensics would be nice,” she grumbled.
“Forensics would always be nice,” he pointed out. “But it doesn’t change the fact that it always takes time to get it.”
She nodded. “I still don’t like it.”
He burst out laughing. “Get some more coffee. It’s time for the staff meeting anyway.”
Colby stepped from his office and addressed his team in the bullpen. “Meet up, people.”
Kate grabbed coffee and walked into the larger room, where her team all took a spot.
“Why don’t you start, Owen?” Colby said.
Together, the five of them all went over the various cases that they had and shared any progress.
“And now you’ve got this cyclist,” Lilliana said to Kate.
She nodded. “Yeah, last night before I left, I was able to run through all the witness statements. Absolutely nothing of interest though.”
“Do you have anyone worth following up on?” Lilliana asked.
“I’ll definitely check out two students I want to talk to again. But I can’t really say that anything was there, outside of the fact that, honestly, they just pissed me off.”
Colby agreed. “Sometimes that’s all we get. It’s an impression we have, in the absence of any actual facts.”
“Sure, but we also have to walk a fine line.” Owen sat back, tossing down his pencil. “We don’t need any more accusations of police harassment.”
“More accusations?” Kate turned to him.
He nodded. “Apparently we’ve been hit by a couple recently. It depends on what the cases are and how much of a headache they are to crack. It tends to happen when we think people are holding back on us, and we put the pressure on. But, when it gets to be too much, don’t worry, the litigation starts, and we’ll get smacked for it.”
Colby agreed. “Just something to keep in the back of your minds.”
She frowned, as she thought about it. “I guess that’s viable though, isn’t it? Just because we think they’re guilty or have something to do with it or know something, if we can’t find anything, it makes us look stupid. Yet, at the same time, we can’t let it go because we know it’s there. Except we’re not always right.”
“Not only are we not always right, sometimes we’re completely out in left field,” Rodney added. “Look at our cyclist at the university. I mean, up until we arrived, you and I thought it was just an accident, right, Kate?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I was wondering why we were called.”
“It was a dead body on the scene,” Colby explained, “so you can expect to get called for that.”
“Sure.” And she thought about it. “It was the hole in the head that got me though.”
“Cases are like that,” Lilliana added. “You have to go with the flow and adjust as the evidence changes.”
“The problem is,” Kate asked her team, “what to do when there is no evidence—when we don’t have anything to go on, and it seems like absolutely everything has been done, and we still can’t find anything.”