Tango
R eina came awake feeling nearly normal. She was warm, felt rested, and alert. The dim light was on across the room beside a chair where she saw Jimmy sat. His eyes were on the screen of his phone. She couldn’t help herself but take a moment to study his face and his solid form. She’d always thought he was attractive, and right now, he was even more attractive to her than ever.
“You’re awake. I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”
“No,” she answered. She noticed how quiet it was. “What time is it? Is everyone else asleep?”
He rose from the chair and crossed over to the bed, retaking his seat on the edge of the bed beside her. “It’s early, nearly three. About an hour ago, our digital team found the beige Volvo. The team went to intercept.”
Excitement at the news skittered through her. “Really?”
“And don’t worry. They know Lilly is probably with them. They’ll do everything they can to protect her from seeing anything she shouldn’t. And they’ll take care so that she doesn’t get hurt.”
Reina nodded, nervous energy flowing through her. “So, this could really be over very soon.”
“I hope so,” Wilson said.
Reina sat up. She adjusted the pillows against the headboard so they would bolster her to sit comfortably. “How long did I sleep? I feel well rested.”
“That’s good to hear. You look much better, too.”
“Do you know if my phone was recovered? I’d like it back.”
“Yeah, we have it. The car accident scene was our first stop when we got into town. The state trooper who was the first on the scene had it.”
This was great news. “Well, can I have it?”
“Reina, you shouldn’t call or text anyone yet,” he said.
“If you have my phone, then you know that you’re pretty much the only person I regularly call or text. I was told to lie low by the Marshals and that’s what I’ve done.”
“Then why do you need your phone?”
“It would be nice just to be able to see the time or scroll news groups, play some games, or listen to music,” she said, feeling annoyed she had to justify why she wanted her phone.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Of course, it would and to just feel normal again. Yeah, I’ll get it for you. Are you hungry? There’s left over Chinese in the fridge. I could get you a plate.”
“No, but I’d really love to take a shower and maybe change my clothes if anyone has anything that would fit me.”
“I’m sure that’d be fine, though you should probably not get your head wet where you were hit.”
She nodded. “And I’d love to brush my teeth.”
“You can use my toothbrush if you’d like. I doubt anyone has an extra,” he offered.
He got himself a plate of fried rice while she was in the bathroom. He insisted she leave the door cracked open. Every few minutes he’d yell in, asking if she was okay even though she guaranteed him she didn’t feel dizzy at all. He was worried she’d suddenly feel lightheaded and fall. He also got her a pair of his flannel sweatpants with a drawstring closure, his favorite long sleeved black compression base layer shirt, and a pair of thermal socks. That’d keep her warm.
She came out of the bathroom dressed in his clothing; a towel wrapped around her hair. She was rubbing her hands together. “Damn, am I ever going to stop feeling so cold?” she asked as she padded back over to the bed. She flattened the pillows and crawled back into bed, lying on her side and pulling her legs up tightly to her abdomen.
“Here, let me help to warm you,” Wilson said, immediately crowding in beside her and pulling the bedcovers over them both. He took her into his arms and held her close. She straightened her legs and pulled her body flush up against his. Satisfaction rolled through him, knowing that his body heat would help warm her. “Body heat,” he added with a smile.
She laid her head on the pillow, her eyes gazing into his, which hovered over her. She instantly felt his body heat. She watched him shuffle a bit, readjusting his position so that his head was on the pillow beside hers and she found herself gazing into his beautiful blue eyes.
“I could get used to this,” she said with a small smile.
When she rested her hand on his chest, the sensation of her touch shot straight to his cock. He kissed her forehead and then the tip of her nose, wanting to kiss so much more of her, but knowing this wasn’t the time for it, not after what she’d just been through. And he didn’t want her to think she owed him anything. What Garcia had previously said came back to him. Rae needed to know that he didn’t expect her to spread her legs for him as payment for anything he did, including rescuing her.
Her whole body buzzed with the sensation of his body against hers, of his arms around her, holding her close, of his lips on her skin. She yearned to feel those lips on hers.
Wilson allowed his hand, holding her back, to stroke over it softly. He took in the incredible sensation of holding her in his arms, the length of his body pressed to hers. He liked how she melted into him, accepting his comfort. He gazed into her eyes, lit with life and adoration for him in her return stare.
His hand drifted up her arm, over her shoulder, and up her neck. He caressed softly over her cheek, his fingers lingering on her neck. He enjoyed the softness of her skin, craved the closeness to her, wanted more, a lot more.
The sensation of his touch was electric. “I like it when you do that,” she said. His thumb brushed over her lower lip, and she trembled. She exhaled hard, wanting it to be his lips. She ran her hand over his hard chest and up to his shoulder, unaware that instinctively she pulled her body closer to his.
“I was so worried about you the entire time,” he said in a whisper. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and then pulled less than half an inch away. “I would have moved heaven and earth to find you.” He pressed a second kiss to her lips, which lasted longer. When he spoke again, his lips were still against hers. “I promised myself I’d tell you how I feel about you when we found you.”
Reina not only heard his words, but she felt them, his lips on hers as he spoke. She was frozen in the incredible moment.
His next kiss was a slightly opened mouth kiss. As she opened her mouth to him, he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, earning him an erotic moan from her and her hand on his shoulder gripped it harder. He rolled atop her, both hands grasping the sides of her face, and he kissed her more deeply than he’d ever kissed anyone. He was completely in the moment. No other thoughts but enjoying this perfect kiss entered his mind.
Reina, at that moment, was just Rae again. The constant reminding herself what her new identity was evaporated. All that mattered was the kiss, the all-consuming kiss. An inferno raged inside her, a desire, a need for this man, something she’d never felt. She’d been with a lot of men, a lot, but no kiss had ever felt like this before. The weight of his body on hers was exciting. She wanted him to make love to her because she knew it would be an emotional coupling as well as a physical one. He would make love to her. He wouldn’t have sex with her. He wouldn’t fuck her.
She was confused when, after several wonderful minutes, he pulled away and hovered his head over hers. She could feel his breath blow over her lips. His lips were still close. Her eyes fluttered open when his lips hadn’t returned to hers after a few seconds.
“That felt just like I thought it would,” he said quietly. “Rae, I’ve known for some time that I’ve had feelings for you beyond friendship. You’re important to me. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. That became clear when you were taken. I was worried about you and would have moved heaven and earth to find you because if you’d never been found or if, God forbid, you’d been killed, I’d be a mess without you. And I didn’t realize it until you’d been taken.”
She reached her lips back to him and initiated an open mouth kiss that communicated her feelings in return. Her kisses were given freely with fervor, her entire focus on tasting him, her mouth becoming one with his in preparation for her body to be completely open to him.
After several more really active minutes of kissing and caressing each other, he pulled away again. “Not here, not now, but soon.”
“Why?” she gasped.
“The team will be back soon.” He kissed her forehead. “Besides, I want to do this right with you, Rae.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve been with women just to be with them. I haven’t had an actual relationship in more years than I can remember. Work gets in the way of relationships. And that’s what I want with you Rae, a relationship, not just incredible nights in bed, which there is no doubt in my mind they will be incredible nights.”
She returned his erotic grin. She also had no doubt they’d be incredible.
“There are things about me and my job you need to know if you’re going to be in my life and it wouldn’t be fair to you for you not to know what you’re getting into. That’s a discussion for another time. And you’ve been through a lot the last few days. You need to heal from that first.”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he offered.
“No, I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it. I want to forget every second of it, but I know I won’t ever be able to.” She couldn’t and didn’t want to vocalize the despair she’d felt, truly believing she was going to die in that hole. And even though Jimmy had found her, and she was safe now, she was still so worried about Lilly. Was she okay? And how afraid was she? Did she know that man had left her out there to die? Little girls shouldn’t have to have that knowledge ever.
“Maybe in a few days you’ll be ready to talk about it,” he said. “And when you are, if you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll get you an appointment with our team shrink. He’s a trauma counselor and a damn good one.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” she said.
He kissed her forehead again and then laid his head back on the pillow. “Have you warmed up?”
She flashed him a coy grin. “If I say yes, are you going to get up?”
Wilson chuckled. “No, I’m staying right here with you until you get up.”
“In that case, I might not ever,” she said.
He laughed and then turned more serious. “Really, have you warmed up?”
“Yes, thank you for sharing your body, I mean, um, your body heat.”
The towel had loosened on her head and several wet strands of hair had escaped. He brushed them back from her face. “Sloan isn’t going to be very happy you got your head wet.”
“The hot water pouring over my head felt so good,” she said. “Hopefully, I didn’t fuck up the wound too badly.”
“I’m sure you didn’t. He’ll want to get more antibiotic ointment on it.”
She shrugged. “That’s fine. I really do feel better and am tired of being anyone’s patient.”
“I vaguely remember that same attitude after the gunshot to your shoulder,” he said. “I remember thinking this is one tough chick.”
“And you were there with me on the plane after that, too. I think we need to change the dynamics of our relationship. I can’t keep getting injured around you and your team,” she said with a laugh. “No matter how much I like being with you.”
“Are you saying you don’t want to see me or have a relationship?” he asked, not understanding her statement. She hadn’t said anything about how she felt about him in return after he’d told her.
“Oh, God, no, that’s not what I meant. I meant that I have to stop getting injured when I’m around you, that’s all. And around you is where I want to be.” She paused for a moment and gazed into his eyes. “Jimmy, I’m not good at relationships and I’m even worse at saying how I feel. That’s what you need to know about me. I’ll try. That’s all I can promise.”
He pressed another soft kiss on her lips. “I’ll hold you to it, trying, that is.”