Chapter X-Ray
X-Ray
Jeriah didn’t fall asleep as Burke thought she would.
It was past twenty-two hundred when they got back to the house.
They left cookies and milk out for Santa before they went upstairs to get the kids ready for bed.
Burke read them the story, T’was the Night Before Christmas, before he and Donna tucked the kids in.
Dorthea excused herself to turn in as soon as they’d gotten back.
“I think they’ll go right to sleep,” Donna said. “They’re all tired enough. But I think we should wait about a half an hour before I go check on them before we play Santa.”
“I’m not tired,” Rich said. “We can sit down and watch a movie before we do the Santa setup if you want.”
They were in the kitchen. She leaned her back against the counter. “Can we talk about why you raised your hand? Why you would have left us tonight?”
Burke rubbed his hand over her shoulder.
“I was pretty sure Shepherd wouldn’t select me for the mission because you were in town.
Just as I would have been shocked if he had sent Michael, given that he’s just coming back on active since the birth of his son.
But even if I thought there was a high chance I’d be deployed, I would have volunteered. It’s my job, Donna.”
“It’s your job to volunteer when you’re officially off work?” She tried to keep her voice neutral, to sound as if she were just asking the question and that she wasn’t upset by it.
“We were all officially off work. Eight people were needed to volunteer for the mission. Eight people’s holidays were getting fucked up.
In case you didn’t notice, everyone who was qualified for the mission raised their hand.
As I told you, if Shepherd accepted a mission, someone was really in trouble, most likely life-threatening trouble. Helping people, that’s what we do.”
“I understand that. I just don’t understand why, just this once, with us in town, why you couldn’t let someone else go,” she said.
“I’m sorry that disappointed you,” he said, watching her closely.
“Yes, I was disappointed that you didn’t care if you went away tonight.”
“I do care. I would have cared. I would have missed seeing the kids tomorrow morning and their excitement that Santa came. I also know that if our team didn’t go on that mission tonight, someone, somewhere would probably never be going home, maybe even a child.”
“I guess I don’t really understand the world you work in. I can’t fathom…” her voice trailed off as she considered what he’d said.
“Fathom what?” he asked after a few moments when she hadn’t finished that thought.
“You know, my dad was a cop.”
Of course, he knew that. He also knew her father had died on the job. He nodded.
“I’m sure he went on call-outs where he knew someone’s life was in danger and that his life would be too, just by doing his job.
I know that he knew the evil out there, and the dangers ordinary people face.
I guess I’ve just had the luxury of not having to think about it.
I can’t fathom someone being in danger and that if your team didn’t go on Christmas Eve, they could die.
I guess that is as serious as something gets. ”
“I’m glad you haven’t had to live in that world, Donna.
And I’m sorry a relationship with me draws you into it.
Last Thanksgiving, when that man attacked your sister, that wasn’t a one-off.
That’s the kind of thing we deal with on a regular basis doing this job.
The world has people in it who have no regard for human life, who operate illegally, who don’t care about society’s rules or basic decency. It’s very real.”
She leaned into him and dropped her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand. I do now. Can we forget that I got upset? I don’t want there to be any friction between us.”
“There isn’t,” he said.
“This is the second Christmas we’re spending together, and this year, now that we’re really together, it’s just really important to me. I guess the thought that you could have been selected for that mission when you raised your hand really bothered me.” Her heart thumped in her chest.
Burke reached his hand to her face and caressed her cheek.
Then he slipped his fingers beneath her chin and raised it so he could look into her eyes.
He leaned into her, his lips pressing to hers.
His desire for her spiked as soon as he tasted her.
After they played Santa, he’d make love to her again.
He smiled at this thought. “You handled it pretty well. And I really liked that you just now asked if we could talk about it.” Though he had planned to broach the subject with her.
Her lips pulled into a grin. “Thank you. Talking with Rae yesterday really did help. This is going to be an adjustment, and just because I got upset doesn’t mean I can’t handle your job.”
He nodded. “I know. Wilson told me yesterday, while we were putting that dollhouse together, that you need time to get used to the job. I understand that it will be an adjustment for you. I promise we’ll talk about anything that comes up. I love you, Donna. I want this to work.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him. “I do, too. And it will because we do love each other, and you’re my best friend. Did you know that Rae and Jimmy started out just being friends too?”
“Yes. How much did she tell you about how they got together?”
“Not much, just that Lilly came to live with them as they got together. She told me Lilly’s mom is in prison for the rest of her life. That’s just heartbreaking. That poor little girl.”
Burke embraced her more tightly to himself.
She had no idea how heartbreaking it could have been.
Both Lilly and Rae had been kidnapped and held, and Rae was nearly killed.
Rae didn’t tell Donna her story, and neither would Burke.
It was Rae’s story to tell, not his. He still had not brought up the trackers.
Lilly’s story was a good starting point to go from when bringing it up.
Not tonight, though. And not on Christmas Day either.
“Did you really enjoy the party?” he asked.
“Yes. Everyone is so nice. I’m honestly still surprised that there were Christmas gifts for my kids, too. That was kind and so unexpected.”
“I’m not surprised. Angel and Diana would never allow them to see the other kids getting gifts and not have something for them too.”
“Will you find out what that mission was about tonight and if they make it back for Christmas?”
“Yes, Rogers was selected as one of the medics. He’s on Charlie Team with me. He’ll fill us in, I’m sure.”
“I hope whatever it is, they’re successful,” Donna said. “And I hope they make it home sometime tomorrow. You know, I was surprised that guy, Garcia, has a wife and a baby. I remember him from last year in Virginia. I was watching him tonight.”
Burke chuckled. “Garcia’s a good guy, smart and skilled at what he does. But he can be intense.”
“That’s an understatement. But I saw a different side of him tonight. The thing that really surprised me tonight when the eight people left for that mission was how affectionate they were with their partners. PDA certainly wasn’t an issue,” she chuckled.
“Well, if I’d been chosen for the mission, you can believe I would have kissed you right in front of everyone too,” Burke said with a laugh.
“I wouldn’t have minded.” She pressed her lips to his again, and they shared a lengthy kiss. It was several minutes later when they ended the kiss. “The kids should be asleep by now. What do you say we play Santa and then take this to bed?”
“That’s the best offer I’ve had all day,” Burke said playfully.
“I want to sleep with the door open and with us clothed though, so the kids know it’s okay to come into our room in the morning.”
“I’d say we’d better be clothed if the door’s open,” he joked.
“The boys come and crawl into bed with me all the time. I don’t want them to think things have to change because you’re with us.”
“No, I’m good with it, but I really do like being naked with you.”
She laughed, thrilled with this relationship after she’d wished for it for so long. “Let me go upstairs and be sure they’re asleep. Can you start bringing the Santa gifts in from the garage?”
Donna snuck into the bedroom to find all three children sleeping soundly. She returned to the living room where she and Rich set out the stockings stuffed full of candy and other small items. They put out the Santa gifts, adding them to the other gifts that they’d already put beneath the tree.
Donna stood back and admired the scene of the tree with the gifts as Rich drank half the glass of milk and ate one of the cookies the kids had left out for Santa. Her heart was full. Rich had already given her the best gift of all: a commitment and a promise that they’d become a family.
He turned and saw her watching him. “I think it looks great.” He motioned to all the gifts under the tree. “I can’t wait to see them tomorrow morning.”
Another wave of emotions hit her, and her eyes filled with tears again. “I am so thankful that you’re in our lives. Not many men would want a woman if it meant they had to take on three kids too, you know.”
He stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Those men are fools. I love spending time with those kids. I have from that first day we went to Miami last year when I was assigned to protect you.”
He kissed her again, kisses she eagerly returned. This time when he pulled away, it was to lead her up the stairs to the bedroom. Behind a locked bedroom door, he let his desire dictate his actions. He couldn’t remember why he had denied himself for so long.
First, he removed her shirt so he could see her sexy form in the lacy black bra, so feminine and beautiful. Then her jeans, leaving a sexy, barely there black lacy G-string panty behind. He slid them down her legs, his hands sliding against her flesh as he worked them down.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered.
And that would have been the case had she lost the weight or not.
Her form was all woman, with curves where she should have them, a behind that he couldn’t wait to get his hands on, thighs he couldn’t wait to part, and breasts that no skinny woman would have grown on her own.
They were more than his hands could hold, and he couldn’t wait to enjoy them again.
Donna’s eyes were riveted to his as he gazed over her near-naked body.
His face held an appreciative, aroused smile that she couldn’t believe he looked at her with.
She had to believe the expression on his face was what hers was on every occasion she’d seen him partially disrobed.
The first day on the beach the previous year, when he’d slid off his shirt, the amazing definition of his entire body had mesmerized her.
She remembered staring as if she’d never seen a man’s chest before.
And the effect hadn’t lessened over the last year.
He stepped back into her and wrapped his left arm around her, pulling her tightly against his rock-hard body. His right hand cupped her face. He made a point of stepping back just far enough to pull his shirt over his head, baring his torso.
Her eyes tracked his movements and gazed over his incredible, defined muscles.
When he stepped into her again, his lips took hers in a slow, passionate kiss.
She fiercely returned it, but he kept it slow.
Then his lips went to her ear, kissing, sucking, and breathing over it.
His tongue slid down her neck, and her knees felt weak.
And when she felt his hands undoing the hooks on her bra, she unconsciously threw her head back and arched her back, offering him her breasts.
The cold air on her bare breasts lasted only a second before his warm mouth and calloused hands tickled them, caressed them, made love to them.
Her breaths came in heavy draws before his hands slid down her back, cupping her butt cheeks bared by the G-string she wore.
His moans of approval as his hands kneaded her flesh brought her own moans out.
Or maybe her moans were due to the light nibbling of his teeth on her nipples.
His moans changed into throaty curses as his fingers slipped beneath the string into her crack to find her drenched, ready for his cock, which was hard in his pants and was screaming to be set free.
He pressed her against the wall and lifted a leg onto his hip.
He held it there while his mouth continued to suckle and his teeth teased her gorgeous, full breast. His other hand felt over every inch of her crack, from her taut little bundle of nerves that made her entire body tense when he strummed it, into her steaming core, and around to the back to the tight virgin hole that made her squirm when he poked at it, not intending to penetrate, just enough pressure to drive her wild.
He dropped his own pants, allowing his rock-hard cock to spring free.
He rolled his hips, so his shaft dipped between her legs, and with his eyes staring deeply into hers, he impaled her.
Her soaking wet panties were pushed to the side.
He took her standing against the wall, burying himself all the way in her with each thrust.
Donna’s eyes remained locked with his; the concentration and passion of his stare and the raw animalism of his thrusts were intense.
As he got close, the guttural and inhuman grunts that came out of him in conjunction with the ferocious strength of his body slamming into her was wild and exciting.
She felt the power of his release. Then he drew her to the bed where he used his hands and mouth to bring her to the edge repeatedly before he brought her to completion, her hands grasping the bed sheets, her back arched from the mattress, with gasps and sounds coming from her throat that she wouldn’t recognize as coming out of her.
After they were both fully satisfied, they showered, dressed in sleepwear, and then unlocked and opened the door before settling into bed.
As Donna drifted to sleep, held in his arms, her thoughts focused on how exhilarating intimacy felt with him.
Obviously, she had sex before, but she’d never experienced the level of passion she felt with Rich.
It was as though she was discovering sex for the first time.
What his touch did to her was earthshattering.