Nine
When I opened my eyes, it was dark and still raining. It wasn’t dark like night but dark like morning. It was very early on a gray, rainy day; the kind of day best spent under the covers watching TV.
“You awake?”
Squinting, I looked up into the face of Sam Kage. He was standing there, one hand in the pocket of his jeans, staring down at me with that scowl of his.
“Listen, I called your boss and told him you weren’t coming in, so don’t freak out.” He was sipping something from a plain back mug that smelled good, like coffee.
“Can I have some of that?” I asked, trying not to whine.
I heard his long exhale. “Sure. How do you take it?”
“Just cream, no sugar. It needs to be blond like me.”
“Okay,” he said gently, the corner of his mouth curling. “Be right back.”
But before he could get far, I stopped him. “Last night you were worried about me, huh? That’s how you get when you’re scared, maybe? You yell?” I asked softly, beginning to understand the inner workings of Detective Kage. “’Cause you were terrified that I was hurt, weren’t you?”
He just stared at me.
“Tell me.”
“You scared the shit outta me.”
“Were you worried about me or your case?”
“You.”
“How come?”
The furrowed brows, the way his eyes looked… I felt my stomach twist into a knot.
“I don’t know, because mostly I just wanna throttle you.”
I smiled up at him. “What’d my boss say?”
“He said you need to call him by ten.”
“Okay.”
“What’s the deal with him? He doesn’t treat you like a boss would.”
“No,” I agreed. “I get treated like we’re family.”
He stared at me, his gaze never wavering. It made me uneasy.
“Do I look that bad?”
He shook his head.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. You look like somebody roughed you up.”
I smiled lazily, my eyes narrowing as I looked up at him. “You wanna rough me up?”
The muscle in his jaw jerked tight and he swallowed hard, his eyes on my mouth. “Yeah.”
My heart was in my throat. His eyes were so dark, so intense, just locked on mine. “Come kiss me, then.”
Slowly, gently, like he was concentrating very hard, he put the mug down. He moved over to the bed and took a seat beside me, his hands on my face as he leaned in for the kiss. I lifted my chin to meet him and felt the tips of his fingers slide over my jaw.
“Jory,” he breathed against my mouth, his lips hovering over mine.
I tried so hard not to make a sound, but the whimper came up out of me, and I instantly felt the change as a surge of desire rolled through him.
Tenderness was replaced with the thrust of his tongue between my parted lips.
He ground his mouth down over mine, kissing me hard and deep.
I arched up against him, and his hands were hot on my skin.
But he broke the kiss and got up, walking backward away from me like he was Superman and I was a giant hunk of kryptonite.
“No, come back,” I pleaded.
“You have a concussion,” he reminded me, taking a deep breath then exhaling slowly, adjusting himself with a grimace.
I clearly had a very carnal effect on the detective, which I absolutely loved.
“You need to eat and take some ibuprofen and call your boss and sleep some more. That’s all you’re doing. ”
“No.”
“Yes,” he insisted, glaring at me. “Don’t argue. Go pee, and I’m gonna make you a bagel.”
“I’d rather have you all over me.”
He pointed toward his bathroom. “I went to your place and got you some clothes and all the crap for your hair and face and whatever else. You’ve got a lot of lube and more boxes of condoms than anyone I know.”
I cackled evilly.
He rolled his eyes and left the room.
“You don’t want to fuck me?” I yelled after him, collapsed back down onto the bed as my head nearly split in two. The pain was no joke.
“Hah,” Sam said, leaning back into the room. “That hurt like a motherfucker, didn’t it.”
“Owwww,” I moaned.
He grunted, and then he was gone.
And even though I was pretty sure if I had an orgasm, it would kill me, I thought having Sam Kage again would be worth it.
On a very nice tray, the kind with the legs, I got a bagel with egg, ham, cheddar cheese, garlic salt and chili flakes.
He’d even cut it in half for me. I also got some peeled apple slices, a glass of orange juice, a glass of water, and a big mug of coffee.
Then there was a horse pill—800 milligrams of ibuprofen—and a bottle with more of them.
The label had my name on it, which I thought was odd, but then I was brought discharge papers from the hospital. He’d been busy.
“You can just do that? Have me discharged and pick up a prescription?”
“Police detective,” he reiterated for me, as he took the tray away, leaving me the glass of water on his nightstand for later.“Get it?”
I waved him away, snuggling back down under his covers. “Be gone. I’m tired.”
He shook his head. “Concussion isn’t as bad as I thought. My last one was worse than what you’ve got going on.”
“It’s not a contest.”
“That wasn’t what I was—”
“Are you still here?”
He scoffed. “You’re a pill, and hating my bed, I can tell.”
“It’s unexpected,” I whispered.
“What was that?”
“I thought you slept on a cot in a tiny studio apartment.”
“Is that right?”
“You seem quite spartan.”
He nodded. “Well, I’m a big fan of creature comforts.”
“But not moisturizer or sun screen.”
“What?”
“Tired,” I muttered, closing my eyes. “Sleeping now.”
And I thought I had dismissed him, but as I was nestling in the mound of covers, I got a kiss on the forehead.
“I’ll be here,” he rumbled.
I didn’t dare open my eyes. I refused to cry over a man who barely liked me.
When my phone rang, it woke me from a dead sleep. Squinting at the display, I saw it was my boss. I wasn’t surprised that he’d called before I could. There was, as far as I knew, not a patient bone in the man’s body.
“Hello,” I said, my voice gravelly before I cleared my throat and tried again. “Hello.”
“Are you trying to make me deaf?”
“Yes,” I answered drolly.
“You’re in trouble,” he said flatly. “I talked to Detective Kage, and he said you’re in protective custody. Is that correct?”
“No.”
“No?”
“It’s a long story, but I refuse to go into protective custody. I would never leave you.”
Silence.
“Boss?”
He took a breath. “Tell me what’s going on with you right now.”
So even though I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say, I spilled it all. “I have a slight concussion, but apparently it’s not nearly as bad as the last one Detective Kage had.”
“Pardon me?”
“Never mind. Mostly I don’t wanna put any of you guys in danger by coming in.”
“We have a security guard in our building who checks everyone in and out, Jory. I’ll expect you back here Monday morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. When have you ever known me to say something I didn’t mean?”
Never. “Okay then. I’ll see ya Monday.”
“Actually, I’m having dinner at Adagio’s tonight at six thirty,” he said crisply. “Come by briefly so I may look at you, all right?”
“What’s with the early dinner?”
“Theater tickets, if you must know,” he said curtly.
“Oh.”
“I’ll expect you.”
He just wanted to see me with his own eyes and make sure I was in one piece.
“Okay. Thanks, boss.”
He hung up, and I rolled over and went back to sleep.
When I woke back up, Sam Kage was in a wingback chair that was now beside the bed, and he was typing on his laptop.
“What are you doing?”
“Typing,” he replied without looking up.
“You’re funny.”
“Make sure you tell everyone, because no one believes me.”
I laughed at him, and he looked up from the screen.
“Feel better?”
“Yes.”
“You look better. Your pretty gold color is back.”
“Pretty?”
“Gimme a break,” he muttered, his gaze returning to his laptop screen. “You know what you fuckin’ look like.”
“Do I?”
“Go back to sleep.”
“I don’t wanna.”
He grunted.
“If I’m so pretty, why don’t you kiss me?”
“Don’t irritate me, you’re hurt.”
“Slight concussion,” I baited him. “You said.”
He lifted his head as if he was going to say something, but I was smiling at him, and the way his breath caught made me smile more.
“Don’t tease,” he warned me.
“Who’s teasing? Come here and kiss me.”
“I don’t wanna hurt you,” he rasped, looking pained.
“Why would you hurt me?”
“I’m not as gentle as I should be sometimes.”
“Who asked you to be?”
Moving slowly, he stood up, put his laptop back down on the chair he’d just vacated, then bent over me. I lifted my chin for the kiss, my hands on his face, and he meant to simply brush his lips over mine, but I caught his bottom lip gently between my teeth.
His breathing sounded ragged, and I smiled before I kissed him soundly, devouring his lush lips, sucking and licking, my tongue tangling with his.
He broke the kiss, panting. “Jory, baby, you need to be careful of me.”
“Oh yeah? Not domesticated? A wild thing?”
“It’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny,” I assured him. “Get in bed with me.”
“You need to rest and—”
“No, Sam, I just need you.”
“I—”
“Now.”
Long sigh then. “I want you so bad.”
“Good.”
He straightened up, eased the covers off me, took hold of my thighs, and slid me to the edge of the bed.
Even though he had the sweats off me in seconds, he was being very gentle.
Leaving me for a moment, he went into the top drawer of his nightstand and returned with lube.
When he lifted my knees up, I couldn’t contain my laughter. He froze, staring down at me.
“What?”
“You got lube?” I raised my eyebrows. “For me?”
He looked pained, and it was both endearing and adorable at the same time.
“You’re a mess,” I assured him gently, motioning him closer.
He wrapped me in his arms and kissed me, shifting to bear down on me, his mouth slanting over mine so possessively, so urgently that I whimpered.
“Jesus,” he groaned, his mouth on my throat, kissing me.
“I wanna fuckin’ eat you.” It was a confession from his soul since his brain was turned off, so I put my hands on his face again and kissed him back, sucking, biting, and making sure my tongue missed no part of his mouth.
I gave as good as I got and felt the deep shiver that came with his surrender.