15. Nikita #2
“I’ve done all that. She’s sleeping now. I ordered her some groceries in case she still feels nauseous later,” I tell her. “I was hoping there was more I could do.”
“That’s really sweet,” Cindy says, getting that dreamy tone to her voice again. She turns her head to Sasha. “Isn’t that sweet?”
Sasha doesn’t miss a beat. “Niki’s a sweetheart.”
I roll my eyes at the grin he’s fighting. “She’s agreed to move in with me,” I say, making Cindy squeal and clap her hands.
“I knew it. I knew we were gonna be sisters one day,” she says, and Sasha gives her a genuine smile when she looks up at him again.
I tell them I need to go when I get a text that the groceries are here.
Cindy makes me promise to have Savanna call her when she’s feeling up to it, and then Sasha asks me in Russian if I can disable some CCTV cameras from midnight to one tonight.
When I tell him it won’t be a problem, he gives me the address.
With one arm wrapped around his wife, he strokes her pregnant belly and tells me all about the men he’s planning on killing later.
Cindy’s learning Russian, but her murder vocabulary is still weak, so she’s happily oblivious.
She knows who she married, though, so maybe not quite as in the dark as she’s letting on.
Once we’ve said our goodbyes, I grab the food and put it away.
Bringing some water and a Gatorade with me, I go back to check on Savanna.
She’s still sleeping. I want to curl up next to her, but I’m afraid I’ll wake her, so I sit at my desk instead.
Keeping my fingers light on the keyboard, I type in my password with hardly a sound.
Angling my monitor so I can see Savanna’s still form on the bed and she can’t see my screen if she wakes, I quickly hack into the CCTV cameras Sasha needs me to disable and set up a bug that loops footage from 11:45 to 1:15, giving my cousin a few extra minutes in case he needs it.
Then I spend the next few hours going through my Alpha files.
One of these fuckers has to be Cupid. So far I’ve gone back five years, and every name has been a dead end.
It’s time consuming because I can’t make assumptions.
I can’t assume that Henry Peterson isn’t our guy just because he’s the manager of his local grocery store that’s three hours away.
I have to dig around in his life, hack into his emails, convince myself that a man who doesn’t know how to properly CC someone can’t be the mastermind I’m looking for.
It’s a slow, frustrating process, and I’m starting to feel my own headache starting up when I hear Savanna call my name.
In seconds, I’ve closed down my computer and I’m at her side.
“I’m right here,” I tell her, grabbing the bottle of water and helping her lift up enough to take a drink. “How do you feel?”
“Better,” she says, slowly sitting up and looking around. “How long have I been out?”
I look at my watch. “About six hours.”
Her face falls at that. “I’ve missed the whole day with you.”
“No, you haven’t. We had a great day together. You slept with your head in my lap, and then I worked while you softly snored. It was perfect.”
She wrinkles her nose at me. “Well, that’s super sexy.”
I wink and hand her the Gatorade. “It was. I love being able to look over and see you anytime I want. Plus, you kicked the covers off an hour ago, and I’ve had one hell of a view.”
She gives a soft laugh, still being careful to not move too quickly or speak too loudly.
“You sure you’re okay?” I ask while I run my eyes over her. She fell asleep with the washcloth over her eyes and there are several creases on her face from rolling over and lying on it, her hair is sticking up in multiple places, and there’s still a flush to her skin and a tired look in her eyes.
“I’m fine.” She notices me staring at her and groans. “I can’t imagine how awful I look right now. You weren’t supposed to see me at my worst yet.” A tiny grin slips through, giving me just a hint of her dimple. “I was going to save that for later.”
“I was just thinking that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
” She raises a brow at me before taking another drink.
“I’m being serious. You’re stunning, Van, the only person on the planet who could look sexy while sick.
Cindy wants you to call her when you’re feeling better, by the way. ”
“Cindy called?”
“No, I called Sasha so I could ask her about your migraines. I wanted to know if there was something else I could be doing.”
I get a quick glimpse of her deep dimple before she leans forward and wraps her arms around me in a big hug.
I quickly return it and then lift her so she’s in my lap and we’re chest to chest. The sheet slips down, and I rub my hand along her bare back while her breasts press against my chest. I’m still not wearing a shirt, and I sigh at how good she feels while I continue to stroke her back and hair.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” she whispers against my neck.
“I’ll always take care of you. I ordered some groceries, too. Do you think you could handle some soup?”
“Yeah, the nausea is pretty much gone, and I’m starting to get hungry. Do you think you could heat it up while I take a quick shower? I think I’ll feel better once I’m clean,” she says.
I’d love nothing more than to get in with her, but I know she still needs to rest, so I kiss her head and say, “Of course I will. Take your time. It’ll be ready when you get out.”
Leaving her to get cleaned up, I start the chicken and rice soup and then heat up a cup of rice in case she decides she wants more.
I also grab a banana and make her a piece of toast. I’ve just decided it’s overkill when she walks in the kitchen wearing nothing but my hoodie.
She might have panties on under there, but I prefer to think she isn’t wearing any.
Her hair is still damp from her shower and hanging loose and I freeze at the sight of her.
She looks nervous for a second, but then she walks up to me and wraps her arms around me again. Her face rests against my chest while I hold her and kiss the top of her head.
“I missed you while you were sleeping,” I tell her. “I know that’s stupid, but it’s true.”
“It’s not stupid,” she murmurs against my chest before kissing it. “It’s really sweet. I missed you, too, and the only reason I’m not too pissed about it is that I’ll be moving in soon so this wasn’t a one-time thing that I missed out on.”
“You’ll be moving in immediately,” I correct, “and definitely not a one-time thing.”
She kisses me again and then turns her head, laughing when she sees the very bland feast I’ve prepared for her.
“Wow,” she says, eyeing the less-than-appetizing selection.
I run a hand through my hair and say, “I wasn’t sure what you could stomach, and you need the calories, so try to eat as much as you can, or I can make you something else if you want. I got a rotisserie chicken. Do you want a sandwich instead?”
“No, this is perfect. Thanks for making it all.” She walks over and sits at the island. While she reaches for the banana, I grab her a cold ginger ale and then put some water in a kettle for the peppermint tea I bought.
“You don’t have to do that,” she says when I get a bowl of soup for myself and take the stool next to her. “You can eat whatever you want.”
“I like soup,” I tell her, not adding that there’s no way in hell I’m going to eat a greasy, tasty meal in front of her when she can’t join in. I pop the top on my own can. “I also like ginger ale.”
After I take a drink, I grab the cup of rice and add some to her soup before dumping the rest in my own. “You need the calories,” I remind her. “You haven’t eaten anything all day.”
After she’s eaten as much as she can, I make her tea and load up the dishwasher while she picks us out a movie to watch. With mug in hand, I join her on the couch, and then quickly decide I want her in my lap. She drinks her tea while I pull a blanket over us.
Resting my hand on her bare thigh, I say, “I really like this outfit, by the way.”
She grins over the rim of her mug. “Me too. You should prepare yourself because I’m not so sure you’re ever going to get this hoodie back.”
“Consider it yours,” I say. “It looks better on you anyway.”
“Agree to disagree.”
I huff out a laugh at how absurd that is, but it dies in my throat when I slide my hand up and hit her bare hip. “God, I was really hoping I was right about you being naked under here.”
“We did agree to go without clothes as much as possible this weekend.” She rests her head on my shoulder while cupping the mug close to her chest. “I just got a little chilly and needed the hoodie. I thought this was a good compromise.”
“This is the perfect compromise,” I tell her while lightly grazing my fingers along her smooth skin.
I’m sure the movie she picked out is great, but I don’t hear a single word of it.
All my focus is on the woman in my lap. I can’t stop touching her, and it’s not in the crazed, I need to be inside you right this fucking second way that I’d been feeling the other night.
Although, there is a good bit of that mixed in, but it’s more than that now.
I want to touch her because feeling her body beneath my fingers makes me feel whole in the kind of way that I hadn’t known was possible.
It’s as simple as that. It’s not a want.
It’s a need, the same way my lungs scream for air and my heart for the constant push and pull of blood. I need her in every way that counts.