22. Rio
The lack of sleep the night before meant that my post-orgasmic nap was deeper than usual, and it was well into the night when I woke. Saint was snuggled into my chest, his breathing deep and regular, and I was glad he was sleeping so hard. He needed it after the last few days.
There was nothing of note on my phone, and everything sounded quiet. I was torn between getting out of bed and checking the room, but Saint on my chest was so warm and comfortable, and the room was so small that I could see everything from where I was and it all looked the way I had left it. If I craned my neck I could even see into the bathroom, though not in the shower.
I would stay awake now, at least for a few hours, but I couldn”t bring myself to relinquish Saint quite yet.
Saint stirred around 3:30am, snuffling softly. He stretched and let out an honest-to-god purr when he realized we were in bed and I was holding him. “God…” he mumbled. “How you knock me out when you haven”t even…”
I chuckled, my voice still gravelly. “Wait til I do,” I said, gratified with the shudder I felt go through him.
“When?” Saint asked quietly.
That was an excellent question. He had topped me once, but most of the time we exchanged blow jobs, hand jobs, or a combination thereof. The precarious situation in which we currently lived meant that the preparation required for a proper round of everything felt like a very big commitment. As such, I hadn’t pushed the issue. I really did want our first time doing that to be something special. I could be being presumptuous, but I felt like Saint probably hadn’t enjoyed his experiences with that as much as he could, even if he had enjoyed it well enough.
I liked to do a job well if I was doing it at all.
“When we get back to LA? I want to make it good for you,” I answered in a minute. “I take my time. I haven’t felt like I had the time to do that for you considering everything that has been going on.”
Saint’s brow furrowed as he thought about that answer. “Okay,” he replied after a moment. He tipped his face toward me. “More of your training coming out?”
I huffed a chuckle. “And my work ethic,” I said with one side of my mouth tipped up. “Little bit of a perfectionist.”
Saint growl-hummed, stretching to slide against me. “I have no complaints…” He breathed quietly again in a way that I knew meant he was thinking. “Do you like Osito only when you’re subbing?”
My jaw went slack. This was not the direction that I was expecting our talk to take. I also hadn’t thought about that question before. “Well…” Did I? That’s the only time I had been called that name. Rafael’s growly voice rumbling that to me when I was on his knees for him was a memory that would forever send a shiver through me. “I don’t know. Why?”
Saint sighed. “Because I’ve almost called you that a few times but I don’t know if it would be weird for you.”
“I don’t think it would be weird,” I said slowly. I combed my fingers through his hair. “I have only been called Osito when I’m submitting, but that doesn’t mean I would object…”
Saint nodded and settled against me more snugly.
We lay together for a while, and Saint sighed. “You should nap for a little while, I’ll keep watch.” He stretched up to kiss my lips and rolled away from me. He was still dressed, though I knew there was now dried come on the clothes. He began to pull his clothes off as he headed for the bathroom and I chuckled as I admired his ass in the low light. I had left the small desk lamp on last night and it had been burning all night. “You could have it, you know,” Saint called back over his shoulder before he closed the bathroom door, and I laughed.
“Thirsty,” I replied and he opened the door and showed me a middle finger. That only made me laugh more. “See, thirsty,” I called and the door closed to the sound of him laughing too.
I rolled over and stretched, stiff from being in the same position for so long. I would catch a little more sleep if Saint stood watch. He knew where my gun was and I trusted him.
I was nearly asleep when I felt the air in the room shift, and I opened my eyes long enough to tilt my head to get a kiss. “I’m good,” Saint said softly, showing me my gun in his hand before he went to the chair and sat down. I nodded once and closed my eyes.
***
The sun was up when I opened my eyes again, and Saint was in the chair with my gun next to him as he scrolled his phone. He smiled at me, his blue eyes tired but affectionate. He stood up and crossed the room to kiss me and I smiled into it. I liked this, he was settling into easy affection with me and it made me feel a little like I’d tamed a feral cat.
I picked up my phone when Saint sat down again and saw a message from Lee asking me to call him ASAP. I hit the dial button and Lee’s rich voice answered in only two rings. He’d been waiting for me, then.
“Rio, baby, it’s big. They linked the poison to Fernandez. They found a fingerprint in the room that belonged to the same lieutenant that was on tape.” Lee was talking quickly. “They also caught a car on video that may have been the person who poisoned you. It came in not long after you left, stayed for only a few minutes, and left again. They’re still tracing it.”
I wondered how Lee knew all of that, but I wasn’t about to ask. There was a mercenary side to the business too, and sometimes you just had to appreciate things without looking at them too closely.
“That’s great news. Does any of that link back to Greene?”
“Not technically, but…” Lee made a what can you do? noise. “Greene is one hundred percent planning on Fernandez catching all the heat on this if it gets that far.”
“Of course he is, or Ginny.” I saw Saint’s head come up at her name and I shook my head. “Nothing new about her,” I mouthed to him, then headed towards the bathroom. I was sticky and I planned to take a quick rinse before I got dressed, once I got off the phone with Lee. I pulled the shower curtain back and nearly dropped the phone.
Lee heard my sharp gasp. “Rio, what.” He asked.
“S–” I was frozen as I stared into the eyes of a coiled rattlesnake. Its tail began to vibrate as it shifted, staring at me. Part of my brain screamed to run, the rest was shouting that was a bad idea, and my body was completely paralyzed. “Ss?” I tried again.
“Es?”Lee asked, pronouncing the letter, then I practically heard the lightbulb go on in his mind. “Snake?”
I replied with a soft sound of agreement and he swore quite colorfully. The snake was on a pad in the tub, probably one of those portable animal heating pads. Clever, that would have tempted him to stay in place until one of us disturbed it. “Ss,” I tried again.
“Hold on, honey, I’ll get help,” Lee promised, and I could hear his keyboard clattering madly before the line went quiet the way it did when it was put on hold.
In the other room, I heard Saint’s phone ring and Saint answered it cautiously. “A what??” I heard in another moment. “Holy fucking shit,” he said. “What should I do?”
The snake was shifting slowly, clearly preparing to strike if I gave it a reason, but not quite ready to make the first move. I wanted to back up, I wanted to get the fuck out of there but all I could do was watch its eyes and its fangs.
Then Saint was in the doorway. I heard his soft, controlled breathing. “Osito,” he crooned and I could have cried. “Osito, it’s okay.”
“Snake,” I managed to say. “Rattlesnake.”
I heard his breath hitch but his voice was still low and calm. “We need to go. Can you move?”
I flexed the hand on my phone and it worked. Now that Saint’s voice was behind me, I felt control returning and I swallowed hard. “Sí,” I whispered and shifted my weight just enough to take a tiny step backward.
The snake rattled his tail a little harder, crouching lower, and I forgot how to breathe. I froze for a moment, until the sound lessened, then took another tiny step back. Saint was crooning to me all the while, calling me his little bear and telling me that it would be okay, that we would get rid of it and we would be okay. After an eternity I was in the doorway. Once I was, I felt Saint grab me and yank me away, slamming the door shut.
As soon as I heard the sound of the door I began to shake hard. Saint gathered me to his chest and rubbed my back, still talking but I couldn’t really hear what he was saying. Suddenly I began to laugh, the old involuntary adrenaline response taking over. I clung to Saint and laughed in a way that felt almost like crying. Saint held me through, and when I was done he took me and sat me on the bed.
The phone in my hand began to ring and I looked at it, having forgotten I was holding it. It was Lee, and I swiped to answer. “Did you get away from the motherfucking snake?” he demanded.
“Sí. Estoy bien.” I was still shaking, but otherwise, I was okay. “Did you call the police?” I asked Saint.
“No,” Saint said. “I was more worried about getting you out of there.” He picked up his phone and dialed 911 then, reporting the incident and mentioning the poisoning last night. I had a feeling that we would be seeing Detective Parker again quite soon.
Suddenly I realized that it had to have been in there when Saint was there at 3 am. I looked at him and he stiffened. “What? I don’t like that expression.”
“You peed with a snake in the room with you,” I said and he began to blink rapidly. “If you’d wanted to shower–”
“Shit,” Saint breathed, still blinking. “I thought about showering…” he said, his voice going distant. “Didn’t want to take the time then.”
“Thank fuck,” I said softly. Saint had a habit of just sticking his hand in to turn on the water — “Ginny. Ginny was in on that. She has to be. The snake was for you. You know how you always turn the water on. She must have remembered that somehow.”
“That’s how we all do it,” Saint said. “That’s how we were taught to do it. ‘Don’t get water on the floor!’” He mimicked falsetto and rolled his eyes.
I pondered what Saint getting bit in the middle of the night by a rattlesnake in a motel bathroom would have been like for a moment, especially on my watch, then shoved it away. It didn’t happen. I drew breath to speak, but a rough pounding on the door interrupted me. “Oh good, the police,” I said cheerfully.