Of Cinder and Bone

by Kyoko M

  “Evening, Jack,” she said.

  Jack gulped. “Evening, Kamala.”

  “May I come in?”

  “Yes, you may.” He stood aside and she glided in, her smile morphing into a playful grin as he shut the door. “Don’t forget to pick your jaw up off the welcome mat.”

  Jack blushed and cleared his throat. “Right. Sorry, I didn’t mean to—you just look—I mean, God, Kam. I’m at a loss for words.”

  She lowered her thick eyelashes to grant him a challenging look. “Try anyway.”

  He finally relaxed into a smile.

  “His love, his life, possessed the whole

  Of her young hero's heart and soul:--

  'Be sure the lady's fate repays

  Some mighty vow of ancient days,

  For blest with Ráma's love is she

  As, with the Moon's, sweet Rohiní.”

  She clapped a couple times, softly, still grinning. “Book Two, Canto Sixteen. Impressive. I was right. You are a romantic, Jack.”

  “I try. May I take your coat?”

  She slipped out of it and he hung it inside the tiny closet by the bedroom. He swept a hand towards the dining table. “Dinner is served, milady.”

  “Milord,” she drawled back, and curtsied, which drew a laugh from Jack as they walked over to the table. He pulled her chair out and then took his own seat.

  “Eggplant parmesan,” Kamala said with a wistful sigh as she picked up her fork. “I haven’t had this in ages. Homemade?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Have you ever had it before?”

  He arched an eyebrow. She giggled. “Sorry, I just wanted to see that look on your face. Did you taste-test it first?”

  Jack blinked. “Wait, I was supposed to do that? Oh, uh—”

  She ate the first bite. He froze in horror, watching intently. She chewed carefully and swallowed, her face impassive. Then she smiled. “Oh, relax, I was messing with you. It’s delicious.”

  He let out a gust of air that ruffled the candle flame in front of him. “Good.”

  They ate in a light, companionable silence until their plates and bowls were clean, and Jack refilled the red wine in their glasses. Halfway through his second glass, Jack’s tongue loosened a little more. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Always.”

  He twirled the wine glass stem between his long fingers. “What made you change your mind about… this? Us?”

  “I wouldn’t think of it as a change of mind, really. More a realization.”

  “What did you realize?”

  “That the signs were there in miniscule aspects of our lives,” she admitted, running her painted fingertips along the lace edges of the placemat. “For instance, I thought about my reaction to Fujioka soon after we met her, and in some ways, I was actually jealous of the relationship you had with her. She gave me the impression that you were completely honest with her in a way you hadn’t been with me, and I felt oddly upset by the notion. When I thought she had some sort of agenda, I felt about as protective of you as you did of me. Last night, Faye told me to sleep on it. I did. I thought about the fact that I should have noticed sooner how you’ve treated me kindly in a way that you haven’t with anyone else, and that I treasure our relationship because it’s so private. Even before we kissed, it had its own sort of intimacy and in a lot of ways, you were already my partner. I didn’t have to share you with anyone, and it’s something I’ve held on to and appreciated over time.”

  She flicked her gaze up at him. “To me, the benefits of taking a chance on us outweighed the cost. It was easy to place our relationship in a labeled box to keep out all the complicated emotions we’ve been feeling this past year. I’ve been holed up in a tower like a forgotten princess, emotionally speaking. I think it’s time to come down.”

  “Wow,” he said softly. “You’ve given it a lot of thought, huh?”

  She nodded. “I don’t do anything lightly. All or nothing. Like someone else I know.”

  He grinned. “Speaking of all-or-nothing, would you care for some dessert?”

  “Don’t ask rhetorical questions, Dr. Jackson.”

  He chuckled and rose, going to the freezer. She watched as he found a couple of bowls and spoons, returning with a frozen treat. He handed it to her and she groaned with anticipation.

  “Raspberry sorbet. My favorite. Ten points for Gryffindor.”

  Jack laughed and returned to his seat. “I always saw myself as more of a Ravenclaw.”

  “Maybe,” she said after the first mouthful. “But you have the heart of a Gryffindor.”

  “Fair enough.” He adopted a British accent. “Well, Miss Granger, what would you care to do for the remainder of the evening? Dare I say we indulge in the home cinema?”

  “That sounds positively novel, Mr. Weasley.”

  “Would you be so kind as to choose our entertainment?”

  “I would indeed.” She walked over to the bookcase while she started perusing his video library. Jack cleared the table and started to finish off the rest of his wine glass.

  “Do you own Body Heat?”

  Jack choked on the wine. Kamala dissolved into laughter. Once he finished coughing it up, he shot her a filthy glare. “You did that on purpose.”

  “I… couldn’t… help myself…” she said through giggles.

  He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Body Heat came out in 1981. Before either of us were born, in fact. You should update your references.”

  She sent him a look over her shoulder. “Would you prefer Fifty Shades of Grey?”

  Jack shuddered. “God, no. On second thought, I’ll take the eighties references.”

  She came away from the shelf with a DVD case, holding it out to him. “Well, if we’re going to use the proper updated references, do we consider tonight a Netflix-and-Chill scenario?”

  Jack eyed her. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  “Enjoying what?” she asked, widening her brown eyes to look innocent.

  “Trying to make me lose my composure.”

  “In my defense, your reactions are positively adorable.”

  He accepted the case and flipped it up to read the title. He eyed her again. “Alright, this is a good choice, so I’ll forgive you for now.”

  After switching off the CD player, he knelt and stuck the DVD inside the player. After he clicked Play, a familiar iconic, swelling orchestral music filled the air and he took a seat at the end of the couch. He flipped the recliner back and stretched out his long legs.

  “May I?” Kamala asked.

  He scooted over, surprised. “Of course.”

  She settled next to him and laid her head on his shoulder as the opening crawl to The Force Awakens began. She noted at first that he was a bit stiff, but as the movie continued, he relaxed into the couch cushion. Eventually, she felt his chin rest on the crown of her head and smiled a little to herself.

  138 minutes later, Jack stretched a bit and rested his hand on her upper arm, rubbing it slightly. “It’s late. Do you want to head home yet?”

  She snaked an arm around his torso, giving him a half-hug. “Not especially.”

  “Still not sleeping well?”

  Kamala sighed. “I slept alright after last night. I’m just…not in a hurry to try again.”

  “I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but I’d like you to do something with me.”

  She glanced at him then and he rolled his eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I meant something to help you cope with everything. I’ve been looking around at psychiatrists in the city. A lot of really bad things happened to both of us and sometimes it’s good to get it off our chests with an impartial third party. Would you consider something like that?”

  “I suppose it’s the most logical thing to do.”

  “But do you want to do that?”

  “I’
m not sure I’m ready to face what I did.”

  “Hey,” he whispered, brushing a stray hair out of her dark eyes. “You don’t have to face it alone, okay? I’m here. As a friend, as whatever you need me to be. Always.”

  She held his gaze for a long moment, bathed in the faint glow of the end credits. “You were wrong, you know.”

  “How so?”

  “You are worthy.” She kissed him.

  Even after all the over-the-top reactions Jack’s heart had in the past, he expected it to completely lose its shit during the first real kiss from the woman he loved.

  Instead, it simply let out a single wistful sigh.

  If there was any other pair of lips on the planet, Jack sure as hell didn’t care.

  Softness. Warmth. Comfort. Passion. The kiss wore all of those like beautiful, carefully crafted garbs. Whether it lasted mere seconds or an eternity, it was by far the best he’d ever had. It came to its end slowly and naturally, and he felt breathless afterward.

  “Weird?” he asked huskily.

  Kamala smiled and shook her head. He nodded in confirmation. “Good.”

  He leaned in this time. She sighed against his lips and brought her hand up to cup the side of his face, her fingers sliding over his clean-shaven jaw, eventually up to the nape of his neck to pull him closer still. She licked his lower lip and relished the faint groan that escaped him, and opened her mouth wider. She shivered deeply when his tongue met hers and two kisses became three, four, five, six, and beyond.

  She didn’t remember climbing into his lap, but she found herself there a couple minutes later with her hands underneath his halfway unbuttoned shirt. She’d forgotten that delicious warmth of firm skin and the delirious intoxicating scent of a man and his well-chosen cologne. She struggled to remember the last time she’d done this; not since before the project, not since that awful Christmas when her parents tried to introduce her to a suitor and it put her off men in general for a while. She hadn’t been craving sex all that much because it had been so long she didn’t think she even needed it. She’d forgotten all the little things. She’d forgotten how damn good it felt to have someone kiss her and run his hands down her spine and nibble her earlobe and—goodness gracious, she’d gone completely off the deep end, hadn’t she?

  “God damn me for saying this,” Jack muttered, his voice several octaves deeper for obvious reasons. “But we just went from zero to a hundred at the speed of light. Are you sure about this?”

  She nodded. “Absolutely not.”

  He chuckled. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I started it. It’s good that at least one of us has an iota of decorum.”

  Jack paused. “I can’t tell if that’s a good or bad thing right now. I’m gonna go with bad.”

  She shook her head, looping her arms around his neck. “It’s a good thing. There’s no reason we should rush. It would cheapen this. Half the enjoyment of romance is the anticipation.”

  “True. So… five more minutes?”

  She grinned, drifting closer. “Absolutely.”

  Ten minutes later, Kamala glided out the door to her car on ever-so-slightly shaky legs while Jack trailed behind her, smoothing his hair back down and re-buttoning his shirt. One of his male neighbors was walking his dog and shot him a smirk so smug that Jack glared and pointed towards the street. Said neighbor chuckled and guided the dog further down the block.

  “So,” Jack said, clearing his throat and opening the driver’s side for her. “Drive safe.”

  She laughed softly. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

  “Laugh while you can, Dr. Anjali. I hereby declare war. I’m going to seduce the hell out of you as payback for all the teasing.”

  “Oh, are you now? I’m terrified.”

  He stooped down over the car door enough to kiss her, softly, nipping her lower lip just before whispering, “You should be.”

  She smiled wider. “Looking forward to it.”

  She drew him in for a final kiss, threading her fingers through his hair, down his shoulder, over his arm to his hand. As her hand passed his bicep, she felt him inhale sharply in pain. Kamala sent him a questioning look as he lowered his arm from where it rested atop the car door.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah,” he said with a slight cough, not meeting her gaze. “It stings sometimes.”

  “What about the painkillers?”

  “Using them sparingly. Only got a week’s worth, so I don’t always get through the whole day. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Text me when you get home.”

  She pressed her lips together, but nodded all the same and climbed into her car. He shut the door for her and stepped away from the curb, watching until her taillights were swallowed by the darkness.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  FALLOUT

  “I see you’ve been busy.”

  “Yes. Lots of ground to cover. How are you two faring?”

  Detective Faraday snorted. “I’ve been trying to get rid of her, but she won’t go home.”

  Evelyn Stubbs rolled her grey eyes. “I’ve been checking in on you, Julio, not babysitting, although from what the nurses tell me, that may actually be necessary.”

  Faraday scowled. “Who tattled on me?”

  “All of them.”

  “Traitors.”

  Evelyn shook her head. “We’re doing as well as we can. The surgery went well. He’ll start physical therapy in a week.”

  “And I’ll be back on the streets before you know it.”

  “God help the streets.”

  Faraday grinned wolfishly, then nodded to Kamala. “What have you got for us, doc? All we’ve seen so far is what the news has cobbled together.”

  Kamala took a deep breath and shuffled through a few photos on her phone, offering it to the pair. “That’s Okegawa. He’s in a coma. It’s too early to tell if he’ll ever come out of it. The damage was caused by a grenade, so there is a good chance he could die in that hospital and never even see his trial.”

  “Bastard got off easy,” Faraday spat. “Brain damage, missing arm, and third degree burns aren’t anything compared to what I’d do to him if I’d gone over there.”

  “Julio,” Evelyn said gently, laying a hand on his forearm. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “I know, Evey. Sorry.” He handed the phone back to Kamala. “Accomplices?”

  “Dead or in custody.”

  “What about the guy pulling the strings? Sugimoto’s kid.”

  “Unfortunately, he’s still in the wind. However, he was witnessed at the center of what happened in Tokyo. If they find him, we’ll have enough evidence to bring him to justice as well.”

  “What about the feds? Do they still want nothing to do with it?”

  “For the most part, yes. However, I spent an extended amount of time at the U.S. Embassy petitioning for assistance from the local authorities. The yakuza left behind a mountain of bodies at Sugimoto’s R & D facility, and they injured a lot of cops when they went to retrieve Fujioka. They’re angry and they want them brought to justice just as badly as we do. They’ve taken over and agreed to keep me in the loop on what they find.”

  “Good. I want to be in the loop as well. Soon as I’m back on my feet, I’ll see if I can shove some weight around on our end. I want Colin’s memory honored.”

  “It will be. I hope you both understand we did all that we could—”

  “Don’t be silly,” Evelyn said. “You risked your lives. That’s more than the average person would do. We’re both grateful and we’re even more grateful that you and Dr. Jackson returned home safely.”

  “Thank you. Please, if you ever need anything from me, don’t hesitate to ask. If it’s not an imposition, I’d like to stay in touch with you both.”

  “Certainly.”

  “Well, my dance card’s pretty full with
P.T. on the way, but sure,” Faraday smiled, offering his hand. Kamala shook it.

  Evelyn drew her into a hug. “Please be safe, Dr. Anjali.”

  The shorter woman drew back and clasped her hands. “Please call me Kamala. Jack sends his regards. He’ll come by to see you as soon as he can.”