Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Kay spent the rest of Gibson's shift at the Campanelli's house. Gloria sat up with her until she fell asleep and the next morning, Gibson drove to their house, meeting Chief at the door and received a hearty clap on his shoulder by his boss.
Gibson looked through the open door before he met his boss' eyes. "How is she?"
Chief Campanelli gave him a smile. "A little restless. Gloria gave her some chamomile tea before she went to bed last night, but you know these old houses, you can hear people moving around."
Gibson nodded. He'd done his share of renovations on older homes, including a Victorian that he'd bought and renovated into apartments.
There was also Kay's house. The whole structure was sound, but he could hear Kay moving around at night and she was slim, hardly somebody who would make floorboards creak or groan.
"She's in the kitchen with Gloria and they're both smiling, but I'm sure she'll be much better when she sees you, Braun."
Gibson lifted a hand to his chest and pressed the heel of his palm against his heart. "I will be, too."
The chief didn't miss the physical gesture, but instead of joking about it, he nodded, smiling. "I'm happy for you, Braun." He gestured back into the house. "Not about what happened yesterday, but... it's good to see you happy. And almost settled."
Gibson smiled back at his chief. "Very settled as far as I'm concerned."
The chief tilted his head in toward the house. "Go see Kay and if you need to call into next shift, just let me know."
"I'll let you know, Chief."
Chief Campanelli jogged down the steps of his house and climbed into his command vehicle.
Gibson cleaned the bottom of his boots off on the doormat and saw Kay's shoes just inside the door.
He stepped in and heard Gloria calling out.
"Aldo Campanelli. Don't you tell me that you're standing in that open door letting all the warm air out!"
Gibson closed the door just as she appeared in front of him. "Sorry. I walked up as the Chief was heading out."
Gloria's expression was a mix of exasperation and welcome. "Come on in!"
She leaned back. "Kay! Your honey is here!"
"Oh! Gibson's here?"
He smiled as he heard Kay walking toward the foyer. She appeared just moments later and the look on her face made him feel... invincible.
And humbled at the same moment.
Kay's steps slowed, but the look on her face brightened the whole room. "Gibson."
He couldn't hold back then.
He rushed her, lifting her up in his tight embrace and holding her tightly.
"I knew you'd be okay here with Gloria and Chief, but god... I wish I could have kept you with me at the fire house."
She worked her arms out of his embrace and wrapped them around his shoulders. "You had to concentrate on your job. I was fine here."
"Yeah?" He turned his head and pressed kisses to her cheek. "You ready to go home?"
He felt her shudder against him and worried that he'd said the wrong thing or was pushing too hard.
He heard her taking a deep breath and let it out as she rubbed her hand over his back.
"More than ready. I just... I just want to be alone... with you."
Gibson swallowed at the knot in his throat and felt tears well up. He felt her heart beating against his chest and understood her feelings. Because he wanted to be alone with her, too.
Slowly, he lowered her down to the ground, hating the thought of letting her go.
"I packed up breakfast for both of you."
He turned to see Gloria walking up with two covered plates, hesitating. "I'm sorry-"
"Please," she walked up and pressed the plates into their hands, "I'd love to have you two stay for breakfast, but I know how'd I'd feel if I went through something similar. I'd want Aldo to wrap me up in his arms and never let go. So go, take care of each other."
Gloria gave Kay a warm hug and then leaned up to press a quick kiss on Gibson's cheek.
"Later," she explained when she stepped back, "we want to have you both over for dinner or a lunch, your choice. Just talk to Aldo at the house and we'll make it happen."
Kay stepped forward and drew in a breath that lifted her shoulders. "Thank you, Gloria. You and Aldo were so kind to have me stay while Gibson was finishing his shift. I greatly appreciate your help."
Gloria shook her head. "It was our pleasure. This house gets so empty now that Vitalia is out on her own and when Aldo has to dash off at the drop of a fire alarm, it's good to have someone else in the house. It brightens the energy in here. Especially good people like you."
Kay lowered her head for a moment before nodding. "Thank you... for everything."
"You're family now." Gloria put her hand on Kay's shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "You're stuck with us." She stepped back and waved at the door. "Now, take your woman home, young man. I think the two of you have a lot to talk about."
Kay looked up at him and he saw more tears in her eyes, but he didn't think they were sad tears.
He saw the smile on her face and her whole body seemed lighter.
That made all the difference.
"Let's go home, honey."
Kay's shoulders relaxed and she nodded. "Let's go."
When they got home, Kay let Gibson take the lead. It might be her house on paper, but she definitely felt that it was home for both of them.
He put the plates in the refrigerator and steered her toward the bathroom.
Gibson started the water and while she stood before him, he stripped her of her clothing and put her under the comforting flow of water. After he took off his own clothes, he got in with her.
She smiled when she smelled his soap on his skin. She looked up at him as he reached for her bath cloth and her soap. "You showered at the fire house."
He smiled at her and started to move the textured cloth over her skin. "I was dirty and didn't want to come back to you with grime all over my skin."
She looked down as his hands gently scrubbed the cloth and bubbles over her skin. "Then I could have done this for myself."
"And miss the opportunity to pamper you a little? No thanks."
She sighed and leaned into his touch when he'd soaped up every inch of her skin. "I hardly slept last night."
The admission surprised her, and she opened her eyes to meet his gaze.
He was watching her carefully, but his gaze was open as he listened to her.
"I tried to lie to him. I tried to pretend that I felt for him.
Felt something like what he felt for me.
" She shuddered at the thought. "But I couldn't feel it.
I know he saw it in my eyes. Chuck may have been suffering from some kind of delusion, but even he could tell I didn't feel for him.
Not that way. It didn't help his mental state when I pulled the fire alarm to get help.
He lost it then, splashing something around the room.
It smelled like gas, but not the kind I put in my car at the station.
There was a different scent to it, but even his father saw what he was up to.
"He told me to run. Told me to leave and go, but I knew I couldn't leave Charles behind.
I couldn't take him with me if I went, so I stayed, and Charles pointed at the walk-in freezer.
I don't know how I managed to drag him in there, but I did.
Thinking of the time I saw that drill running at Fire House Twenty-Nine when I came to bring you some lunch, I used the technique, but I didn't think I had the strength.
"But I did. The strength of my need to see you again.
"And when I closed the door, I heard Chuck yelling.
I heard him beating his fists against the door.
And I managed to keep it closed when he tried to pull it open.
I can only think that it was my terror that gave me strength then.
Desperation and the soft sobs of a father who'd nearly been killed by his own son.
All I could do was tell myself that you were coming.
That I had to hold on until you could get there.
That's what kept me going, Gibson. Thoughts of you.
Wanting you. Even just seeing your face one more time.
“When he started to scream, I tried to talk to Charles, to keep his mind off of what was happening outside. I didn't know if we'd make it even in the freezer, but I didn't want him to hear his son dying."
He leaned in and kissed her gently on her lips.
"I saw the body, Kay."
She tensed and held herself together as he continued to speak.
"He started that fire, and I don't know what happened while he was in there. It could have flashed over. He could have tried to put it out and it could have turned on him. No matter what happened to him, it wasn't your fault."
Kay could only nod. She knew he was right, but it still didn't make things any easier for her.
"There's one more thing that I need to tell you.
" She looked up and marveled at the fact that the water was still running warm.
"Besides the fact that the water heater you put in is something like a miracle.
It's still going. Before you changed it, we would have been icicles long before this.
" She shook her head feeling very, very silly. "I don't know why I said that."
He gave her a smile that she found reassuring. "You can say anything you want to me, Kay. I'm here for you. You know I love you."
She felt the weight of his love on her, all over her, and she basked in it.
Absorbing it like the sun.
Kay ran the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip before she spoke. "I know that you heard what happened before you got to Smokey's tonight when I gave my statement to the police, but I want to tell you how... how it felt."
"Baby, you can tell me anything you want, and I'll listen."
He made her feel like no one ever had before.
Appreciated.
"What you should know first, Gibson, is that I love you."
She thought that she'd cried them all earlier when she'd been alone in the guest bedroom at the Campanelli's home, but here they were flowing anew.
She held out her hand to keep him from moving closer. "I need to say this while you're not touching me."
She saw his eyebrows raise at her words.
"Sometimes it's hard to think when you're touching me," she managed a little smile. "It's like a drug. Your hands on me. Your body pressed up against me. I can't think when all I can do is feel and that's difficult for me. I'm used to thinking.
"And you... you make me feel things on so many different levels and at first, I was frightened."
He looked stunned and hesitant.
She didn't want him to feel like that.
Not with her.
"Not frightened of you, Gibson. Frightened of how I felt with you. I wanted to be with you, and I didn't want you to figure out what my parents had always said about me." She dropped her chin to her chest. "Said to me."
Two fingertips touched the underside of her chin and lifted up until she met his eyes, filled with love and concern.
"I can see now," she explained. "I can see how you feel about me in your eyes.
I didn't recognize it earlier because I don't think I've seen it directed at me before.
I was never good enough to deserve love.
That's what I learned from my parents, but being with you, feeling how you make me feel, I started to see things differently. "
She took hold of his hand and kissed it as she held it gently.
"I started to see myself differently. And I knew... I knew that I love you. I felt it deep down inside and I don't think it'll ever go away. You..." she drew in a breath and leaned her cheek into his palm, "you're a part of me."
Gibson felt like his whole world had expanded and contracted at the same moment.
The woman in front of him was everything to him and all he wanted to do was focus on her for the rest of his life.
Well, when she wasn't saving lives, and he wasn’t putting out fires.
Their time together... That's where he'd be the happiest.
"Gibson?"
He smiled at her. "Yeah?"
"How long will the hot water last?"
He grinned at her, seeing the glint of something in her eyes. "Probably another half hour? A little less?"
"Yeah?" She smiled and her eyes looked up at him as she bit into her bottom lip. "Maybe..."
"Yeah?"
She let go of the hand that she was holding and slid her hands up his chest and up the sides of his neck and up to his face, drawing his head down toward hers. "Gibson?"
He smiled and felt his whole world tilt. "Mmhmm?"
"Love me?"
"Always."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I mean-"
He reached down, wrapping his hands around the backs of her thighs. He lifted her up and moved closer to the wall. "I'm so glad you let me put in this shower."
When her back touched the wall, she shivered a little from the tiles, but he covered her soft gasp with his mouth, and he dragged her up his body until he fit himself against her.
Gibson turned his head slightly to the side, speaking against her skin. "I want to love you, baby. Love you here against this wall. In the shower."
She grasped his face and turned him so she could look into his eyes. "Yes," she relaxed against the wall, opening herself to him in every way possible, "I want this, Gibson. You and me."
He lowered her just an inch or two and felt her body stretch to fit him in.
Holy mother-
His heart was pounding in his chest as she wiggled against him, drawing him inside her.
"More..." She tipped her head back against the tiles and he felt the pebbled tips of her breasts drag against his chest as he rocked his hips forward and pulled her down onto his cock. "Oh god, yes..." She sobbed and he froze.
Kay opened her eyes and shook her head. "No. No. Don't stop."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm dying inside. Needing you. I want to feel more than alive, Gibson. I want to feel all of your love inside me."
"Kay," he felt his voice vibrating inside his chest competing with his heart pounding along with it, "if I could stay inside you for the rest of my life... it wouldn't be enough."
She held onto his shoulders, digging her fingers in as he thrust inside of her. "More."
"I love it when you get demanding."
Kay opened her eyes and met his gaze. "I love it when you give me what I want."
"Just tell me what you want, Kay. If I can, I'll always give it to you."
"You," she gasped as he bottomed out inside of her over and over again, lifting her closer to the heights they both wanted to reach, "I want you."
"Well you've got me, Kay. I'm always going to be yours."