Her Thin Blue Lifeline: Indigo Knights Book I

by A. J. Downey

  I let her into the booth first, and slid in beside her, Angel and Golden sliding in across from us. It was a six person booth, all of them on this side were, but there was no tellin’ if one of the other guys would show up or not to join us so it was always good to grab a spot with a little extra room.

  Dinner conversation was pretty polite and bland, mostly trading a few war stories and pointedly avoiding the couple of elephants in the room. The big one being the threats on Chrissy and things being a bit dicey where her being out in public was concerned. The other, smaller one being what it could do to her case if it were found out that she and the lead detective were bumping uglies. That part was a hell of a lot easier to keep under wraps, though by making sure we were nothing but stiff, cordial, and polite with one another where there was a potential for a camera to catch us.

  I made sure to keep my hands on the table where they could be seen, and Chrissy pretty much did the same. She wasn’t a dope, it’s part of why I liked her, and I figured if we were careful we’d get through this and out the other side and once the case was closed, go from there. Enough time passes by and it goes from ‘oh my god, how could they’ to ‘oh my god, how sweet.’

  I wasn’t the first detective in history to get involved with a victim or witness, the trick was to not be caught out doing it during an active investigation and jammed up for it.

  As always, the food out of Reflash’s kitchen was top-notch, but the place was starting to get packed again with the dinner rush, and there were a few people I’d caught pointing cameras in our direction. I threw more than enough money down on the table to cover mine and Chrissy’s tab and told Angel, “Make sure the wait staff gets the rest, man. We gotta bounce.”

  “Cabs out there?” Golden, who was sitting on the outside, looked back around the booth and out the front windows. I was already on my phone, pulling up the app to get an Uber enroute.

  “Already on it,” I said, and with a good ETA, too. Three minutes or less. I texted the driver to text us as soon as he pulled up in the loading zone out front and sat back.

  “Everything okay?” Chrissy murmured and I detected a hint of nerves.

  “Yeah, everything’s good. It’s just starting to pick up in here and that means it’s time to go.”

  “Yeah, I was wondering about that…” she murmured and I smiled.

  “Gonna be fine, precious, you’ll see.”

  She nodded and forced a smile when she too caught a camera in her direction, although, it was kind of hard to miss. The chick snapping the photo used her fucking flash.

  “Did I seriously just see a flash go off?” Golden demanded.

  “Ah, yeah,” I answered.

  “Aw hell no. Where is he? Who did it?” he asked.

  “The blonde chick at table seven, out on the floor,” I answered and he twisted around and looked.

  “The one in the hooker heels?” he asked, and Chrissy laughed a little, hiding it behind her hand.

  “I’m sorry, that wasn’t right laughing, it was terribly judgmental,” she said and Angel smiled at her like she’d done something cute, which she had.

  Golden got up and stretched saying, “Naw, fuck that. She went there first, takin’ pictures and shit like you ain’t got a right to privacy or to eat a fuckin’ meal without everybody all up in your shit.”

  Chrissy’s expression sobered and she nodded. I looked up at Golden and told him, “Stay inside the lines, brother.”

  Golden winked and said, “Check me out, this holster humper doesn’t know what’s gonna hit her in a minute.”

  Chrissy looked up at him aghast, and asked, “You’d honestly go there?”

  He winked at her and said, “No way José, and that’s exactly the point I’m gonna make.”

  Angel started laughing as Golden walked away with a certain amount of swagger in his step and it was all Chrissy could do not to explode with laughter herself. The blonde was looking our way, and I schooled my face into good cop face while Chrissy did a fucking admirable job of looking dubious.

  The blonde’s attention diverted to Golden who pulled a vacant chair from a nearby table and turned it around, straddling it and talking to the blonde and her friend at the two seater table they occupied. Angel shook his head.

  “He can be such an asshole,” he said.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “But in this case, he’s using the power for good.”

  “Oh, I hope it doesn’t sting too much,” Chrissy said and with a sigh added, “It looks like he’s quite the charmer.”

  “That’s Golden,” Angel said with a nod. “He learned it from me.”

  We shared a bit of a laugh and my phone went off with a text from the Uber driver.

  “Okay,” I said standing. “That’s us.” I stood aside so Chrissy could get out of the booth and Angel gave us a little salute.

  “Night, Youngblood, night Ms. Franco.”

  “Good night, Angel. Thank you for everything, and its Chrissy, if you please.”

  “Anytime, and okay.”

  I took her around and out the front door, giving our Golden boy and his new pet project a wide berth. I stepped out of the entryway and onto the street first, giving the Uber driver a nod and looking both ways up the sidewalk which was relatively clear. I opened up the back door to the car and waved Chrissy out. She kept her head down and hustled into the back seat and I closed the door, getting in up front myself.

  “How you folks doing?” the driver asked and I took stock of the inside of the car. It was nice, clean, and the dash cam was a good personal safety touch for the guy. I approved with half the crazy shit that went on in this city.

  “Doing good; how about yourself?” I asked.

  “Doing fine.”

  He signaled and pulled out into traffic smoothly and we rode in silence a ways. He looked into the rearview and asked, “Hey, I know you, miss? You seem awfully familiar.”

  “Um, no, I don’t think so,” Chrissy murmured and he frowned and I knew he was trying to place where he’d seen her.

  “Do us a favor, man.” I said gently and he glanced my way. “Just leave it alone.”

  When we pulled up to the station it clicked and he said, “Oh, man, wait! You’re that lawyer! The one who got shot. Man, I’m sorry what they did to you, Tina. That just ain’t right.”

  She looked up suddenly, her expression darkening.

  “What did you call me?” she asked.

  “Sorry, uh, Tina… like the hashtag, you know? Hashtag where’s Tina?”

  “My name is Christina, not Tina, and thank you for the ride.”

  I got out quickly and she did too, before I could come around and get her door. I called out, “Thanks man,” and went to the garage surface entrance, putting my badge up against the RFID reader so that my access card in the holder behind it could be read. The door buzzed, the red light on the pad switching to green and I dragged the door open. Chrissy rushed inside and I ducked in right behind her as the Uber driver looked on.

  The door shut behind us and she let out a breath saying, “God, can’t I go anywhere in this city without someone looking at me funny?”

  I shook my head and said, “Come on, let’s get you home.”

  “Yes, please; let’s,” she agreed.

  I went to my truck and pulled the stool out of the back for her. She was so upset, but on the angry side, that she hauled herself up this time without so much as wincing. I threw the stool back in the bed with a clatter and shut her door, going around to my side.

  The drive across the bay seemed to help. Her shoulders were losing some of the tension that rode them, her expression calming into one that was almost meditative as she looked out over the water.

  We stopped in at the pharmacy, one, so she could get her morning after pill, and two, so I could grab some condoms until she could get an alternate form of birth control online and working for her.

  Still, even with the stop, by the time we got back to my place, and I pulled into the garage, she was
downright placid. She took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh once the garage door had finished closing.

  “Feel better?” I asked.

  “I’ll feel much better when we’re upstairs and in bed.”

  I smiled, “Ain’t gotta tell me twice.”

  I got out of the truck and went around to help her down, taking her hand gently and towing her up the stairs and to my room.

  I took off my coat, hanging it in the closet and kicked off my shoes into the bottom of it. The belt came next, the gun going on the dresser in its holster, before I thought about it and changed my mind, setting it within reach of the bed on the nightstand.

  Chrissy stilled, she’d laid her purse aside, and had unclipped her hair and was working her blouse out of the waistband of her skirt when I’d made the change.

  “Just being overly cautious, don’t worry about it.”

  She nodded and stepped out of her cute black pumps and I went to her, the sound of tearing Velcro loud in the room as I peeled the strips back from each other to get her sling off of her.

  She lowered her injured arm carefully, wincing, and I asked her, “When was the last time you had a pain pill?”

  “A while,” she admitted, “but its fine for now.”

  I took her at her word on that, I mean, only she really knew her own body and what was going on with it, but it didn’t sit well with me, and I worried. I turned her back to my front and drew her to me until we were pressed together, my fingers finding the top button of her blouse. I undid it, letting my fingers drift down from the next, to the next; to the next. I let the tips of my fingers trail against her silky skin between buttons, unfastening them carefully as I went, bumping over the lace and wire of her bra between her breasts her breath catching, her arms hanging limp to her sides as I supported her body with mine.

  When I reached the last button and let the material fall away from my hands, I put my hands gently on her hips and took a half step back, dragging the shimmering material off her shoulders and down her arms, letting it fall to the floor. It landed with a hushed whisper on my bedroom’s area rug and I let my hands drift up her back, pleased at the sweep of goosebumps following them. I rested them lightly on her shoulders and dug lightly with my thumbs in that sweet spot that always seemed to be tight on me.

  Her breath spilled from her lips, carrying a groan of pleasure as I worked away the tightness in her muscles, easing the tension in her upper back and neck with careful, even pressure. The sounds she made causing my dick to rise to attention, I wanted so badly to turn her around and kiss her. To start working us the rest of the way out of our clothes and get us both into the bed that waited for us.

  I kneaded between her shoulders, carefully along her spine and along the supple curve of her neck to either side until she was nearly asleep on her feet and as relaxed as I could get her. Only then did I take back my hands, and start in on my own shirt, quickly, before she could come back to herself.

  Chapter 18

  Chrissy

  I rolled my head on my neck and just stood there for a moment, basking in the Zen that Tony had created, wanting to give some back. I smiled to myself, knowing just the thing and turned around slowly.

  “That was nice, thank you,” I murmured, sinking down to sit on the edge of his bed. Just perfect, I thought to myself. He let his dress shirt join mine on the floor and hauled the white tee shirt he had on beneath it over his head in that way that guys did that just drove me crazy.

  He smiled, a twinkle in those bright blue eyes of his when I crooked a finger at him, motioning for him to come closer while saying; “You’re going to have to undo those pants for me.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  He reached for his pants, slipping the button free of its loop tortuously slow, and drawing the zipper down tooth by tiny tooth. I smiled up at him and had to laugh, biting my lower lip.

  He slid the pants and his boxers down his hips and let them fall the rest of the way, smoothly stepping out of them and dragging each foot across the area carpet to rid himself of the socks. I laughed and asked him, “What, were you a stripper in a former life?”

  “Ah, think I could have been?” he asked.

  “Maybe,” I murmured, taking his cock softly into my good hand, wrapping sure fingers around him and stroking up and down his length.

  His eyes closed and he let out a moan, “Oh, that’s nice…”

  I leaned forward and he took a half step towards me and I kissed the tip, sliding him past my lips and along my tongue. I worked him in slowly. He was long, and I didn’t want to choke, because how unsexy would that be?

  I took him deeper with each stroke, teasing the underside of him with my tongue, compensating with my hand when I reached my limit and couldn’t take any more of him. I was so careful with my teeth, and I sucked his cock until my jaw just ached, and then I sucked him some more. I was completely enamored with the soft sounds he made, the gasps, the little ‘oh’s’ when I managed to do something he found particularly nice.

  He clenched his fists at his sides for the most part, but finally touched my head. Sweeping my hair back so he could look down the length of his body and watch me.

  He sucked in a breath between his teeth when I looked up at him and shook his head, drawing back and letting it out the rest of the way explosively.

  “I need you,” he said, the emotion naked and raw in his voice.

  I stood up and went to him, our mouths crashing together in a frenzy of need as his hands scrambled to the zipper on the back of my skirt. I felt it rush down my legs and he got the panties and hose started down them, breaking his mouth from mine to order, “Sit.”

  I sat on the edge of the bed and he peeled the offending clothing down my legs and let them drop. He reached for the box of condoms he’d tossed on the dresser when we’d come in and ripped it open, tearing one off swiftly before raising it to his mouth and tearing it open with his teeth. He grabbed the slippery rubber disc and set it over the head of his cock, pinching the tip and rolling it all the way to his root.

  I backed up carefully and centered myself on the bed and he climbed up to be with me, settling between my thighs, touching me gently with his fingers and finding me more than aroused, more than wet and ready for him.

  He put his fingers in his mouth and sucked them and I felt myself take a sharp inhalation of breath. He smiled that reckless grin of his down at me and lined himself up with me, entering me much more quickly, thrusting with a little more force than he had the day before. Not out of any kind of roughness or inconsideration, but more from just a sheer need to be one with me.

  How did I know? I could see it in his eyes, and when he bent over me to put his mouth against mine, I could taste it in his kiss.

  He moved deliberately, carefully, with surety and control. He wanted me to feel good, he wanted to feel good and though I was usually a major full on participant during sex, my injuries made it hard to do what I wanted, and what I liked. Still, Tony appeared to understand that, too.

  “Mm-mm, precious, not this time. You just lay back and enjoy the ride… let me do all the work,” he murmured. I closed my eyes and relished the sound of his voice, loved the even strokes and the warmth of his body against and inside mine.

  He pushed himself up on his knees and kept a slow and easy pace, his hands smoothing over my skin, taking his time, building himself, as well as me, up. Taking us high and higher until I was breathless with wanting, needing that little bit more.

  I gasped and touched him wherever I could, tracing every contour I could reach with gentle fingertips. I met his eyes and he met mine and we both smiled, he slid his thumb between us at the top of my sex and teased me, bending to kiss me as I tightened up that much more inside, the weight and feel of him everything, just everything; the totality of existence. I clung to him when that existence exploded into light and feeling. Euphoria spilling through every nerve ending and vein in an effervescent rush, in wave after wave afte
r wave.

  He collapsed over me, burying his nose in my hair, pressing his lips against the side of my throat, gently teasing the sensitive place just near my ear and I shuddered again beneath him. Both of us were winded, neither of us willing to move, to separate ourselves from one another, and truthfully, I almost wished that we could stay like this forever.

  Eventually the panting gave way to languorously slow and deep breaths, which led to him pushing up off of me just enough to look at me. He smoothed my hair back from my face and smiled down at me, letting his gaze travel my features even as I let mine travel his. His lips found mine and we kissed for a long time.

  I felt him soften, and the longer we kissed, the more he began to grow hard again, but he stopped first. Reaching between us he held the condom on himself and pulled out. I shivered with how good it felt before immediately mourning the loss of him inside me.

  I moaned and groaned and admittedly whined about it and he smiled and laughed, kissing down my chest and stomach before promising, “I’ll be right back.”

  He got up and threw the used condom away, before grabbing the pile of them off the dresser and transferring them onto the night table. He came back to me then, pulling me against his body, kissing me as if he needed to, as if he were poisoned and I were the only cure.

  “God I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered and I smiled against his lips.

  “Put another one on,” I whispered back and he pulled his head back and asked, “Yeah?”

  “Mm, yeah. I want on top.”

  “You sure?” he asked, but he was already rolling one on.

  “I want to try,” I said, suddenly a bit more shy than I’d been the moment before and he nodded.

  “You can do whatever you want with me, baby.”

  He got the condom on and laid back, putting his hands behind his head. I tucked my bad arm close to my side and got up on my knees, he brought his hands back to help me straddle him, and to help position himself, and I swear to god, I nearly came all over again just sliding down his length.