Candyland & Fairy Tales
©2005 MaddyLA27
Part 4
This follows Part 3 –
and won't make sense unless you read that first!
USA Networks, Stu Segall, Stephen J Cannell…yeah,
they own Chris & Rita, Cap etc etc. I own Brodie, but I'd like to throw him
back, any takers??? I'm just borrowing these guys to set things right, because
SOME people just don't know know how to respect what they own. There will be no
killing of our favorite characters in my world, because good fairytales are too
few and far between as it is. This story takes place a few months after Evil and
Knievel (a.k.a Jillian & Eric) have left CnR's lives. Yes, there is smut here,
as there should be a good dose of smut in all our lives. J If the smut offends you, well, good luck with that
little problem. You've been warned.
And yes, I get writers block a lot, please send me
suggestions, feedback anything to push me along faster! Even flames are welcome,
just let me know someone out there may be reading it! I am at Maddyla27@aol.com. That being said – read
on!
+ + + +
Somehow, even after everything that had happened, it had been just the
beginning of the night.
Rita had barely woken at one point, when she felt Chris gently
disentangling her hands from his chest and rolling her back over, pressing her
back into the sheets. Her eyes were heavy, and she could hardly open them, and
she saw Chris's face, his eyes closed too as he rolled on top of her again.
There in the middle of the night, and nearly asleep, he slid his hard length
deep inside of her again.
His hand came up to cradle the side of her head, and his lips brushed
over hers. The dark made it all about the sense of touch, and her body responded
immediately by opening towards his. Even as sleepy as she was, she opened her
legs to him and allowed him to settle more deeply within her. He thrust into her
gently, time and time again. She rolled her hips and urged him closer as the
feeling built within her.
This time, she held his face as his lips met hers, opening her mouth
again to him. He hadn't liked being without her when they slept, and he had
woken with an unstoppable need to have her again. Now, in the haze of sleep, he
kept up a slow, lazy rhythm. Without saying anything, she clutched at his back,
her hands digging into his skin as he continued the maddening pace. In the dark
of night, they tumbled over the edge again.
He sank against her, careful not to crush her. He was ready to withdraw
from her heat, but she kept him there, her mouth kissing his shoulder before
they drifted off into sleep together.
And yet, the night couldn't be over. Within a few short hours, Rita
woke, and Chris felt her stir beneath him. He rolled backwards and pulled her on
top of him, feeling himself grow ready inside of her again.
“I can't stop being with you,” he murmured.
Rita straddled him, feeling bolder at being on top. In the faint light
of the room, she could see the beautiful rippled muscles of his chest beneath
her and the way his hips tapered. Her gaze traveled up to the shadows of his
face and she took a deep breath, her hand reaching to touch him. She began to
move slowly on him, nearly paralyzed again with the thought that this was Chris
here in the dark with her. Chris who was moving within her.
Chris who now knew so incredibly
intimately.
He finally owned her completely, she thought. She took another deep
breath and tried to meet the fear head on.
His hand caught her hand and he turned his face into her palm, kissing
her. “Sammy, you're mine. I can't help it,” he whispered.
He was right. There was no stopping it now and there was no point. They
had been inexorably, inevitably drawn together tonight. Rita ached again,
without the safety of his arms wrapped around her. She leaned forward and slid
against him, resting her head beneath his chin and kissed his neck, working up
to his ear.
Chris moaned beneath her as he held her. “You're a dangerous woman,
Sammy.” He said softly with the faint hint of a chuckle.
Rita smiled against his skin. “Well you, my friend, are not so innocent
either.”
He laughed then, sliding his fingers into her hair, content to let her
just lay there. “I was innocent until you corrupted me.”
She grinned shyly in the dark. “I think it was the other way around,
Sam.”
She may have been right, but he didn't care. He had her on top of him
and nothing else mattered. Chris thrust upward, hearing the surprised sound
break from her throat. She lifted her head, bringing her lips against him.
She rained kisses over his face as he drove mercilessly into her. Within
seconds he had brought them both shattering over the edge again. Rita's body
convulsed around him and he grabbed her head, bringing her mouth against his as
he met her cries, tumbling into the blissful oblivion together.
When it was over, Rita lay limp against his heated body, gently kissing
the salty skin of his chest. She stretched then, lying fully on top of him. The
pleasure of his body naked against hers was overwhelming. For all the years she
had spent in his arms, nothing had prepared her for this. She hadn't realized
how much she had wanted him touching her like this. And now, she didn't have a
clue how to control the need that kept building.
Instead of being sated, she wanted him more and more.
Rita's body hurt. She was sore in places she didn't know could be from
Chris's lovemaking. It was a good kind of ache, the throbbing in her wrist long
since forgotten. This was the languid aftermath she knew she would only feel
after having been thoroughly loved the way she had been tonight, by the one man
in the world she trusted completely. She burrowed deeper against Chris and let
her eyes drift shut, the music still drifting in the dark. Rita didn't want the
light of day to come any time soon, knowing she wasn't ready to give up the
perfect isolation of this room. The dark, the music, Chris. For a room that had held so much terror earlier,
Rita was surprised she had never felt so safe.
Chris felt the deep, erratic rise and fall of her chest against him. He
stilled her finger that was drawing circles on his chest and kissed the top of
her head. “Sammy, close your eyes and get some sleep.”
“I just want it to stay dark outside.”
He stroked her hair, letting the silky soft curls slide through his
fingers. “I know. For once, your insomnia may come in handy if we end up staying
up all night.”
She lifted her face, settling her chin on his chest. Her head was a
million miles away. She couldn't shake the feeling that the morning light was
going to take away everything they had here. “Are you scared?”
Chris saw the fear creeping into her then. “No.” Across the board he had
no regrets about what they had done tonight.
“Not at all?”
“Scared of what exactly?” He lifted his head to look at her more fully,
trying to gauge if she even knew what she was afraid of herself.
She didn't know. He was asking the simplest question and she couldn't
answer him. It was just a vague feeling within her that made her heart pound
with apprehension. She shrugged and put her head back down, kissing his chest
again. “I don't know, I guess.” He was right, she realized. She should try and
sleep. She lay her hand flat against his chest and closed her eyes.
Sleep came immediately.
+ + +
“Sammy?”
Rita stirred and then lifted her head at the stage whisper, the
unfamiliar sensation of having her cheek against Chris's bare chest taking a
moment to register. She opened her eyes and registered the still playing bedside
clock radio.
“You awake?”
“Yeah, Christopher. I'm awake.” She laughed and gazed at him. “You
aren't exactly whispering.”
He pouted. “Well, you said you were awake.”
“After you woke me.”
“Oh.” He looked dejected.
“Was there a reason you were waking me?” She asked, eyebrows raised. She
couldn't help the soft laugh that bubbled up.
“Well, I was thinking that you were going to be sore in the morning.”
“You think you're that good, Chris?” She teased, knowing full well she
had already considered this.
“Well yeah. Of course.” He grinned and paused, changing the subject. “No
Sammy, I mean…” His voice trailed off and he suddenly seemed unsure of what to
say. “I mean…” He shifted underneath her and the dampness between their skin
prompted her to roll off of him and onto her side. He was concerned again about
her earlier struggle with Brodie's crew.
“Chris, I'm fine. Just relax. A little banged up, that's all.”
He stilled and looked at her, the edges of his lips curling up. She saw
the raw humor that danced in his eyes. She realized what she had just said and
how raunchy it had sounded. They both burst into fits of laughter. “I'll bet,
Sam.” Chris finally grinned.
Rita swatted him. “You're terrible.”
He pulled her up against him and brought her mouth to his, hungry for
her again. His lips captured her swollen ones, gently sliding his tongue along
them before coaxing her mouth open for him. Chris kissed her deeply and
thoroughly, reveling in the small sounds she made as he moved against her. He
was hard again, and her naked thighs were already seeking him out under the
covers. Rita's body tangled with his and Chris slid his hand down and cupped her
breast, gently rolling her nipple in between his thumb and forefinger. He moved
farther down her body, placing hot open kisses on her neck and behind her ear,
capturing her earlobe gently between his teeth before sucking it gently.
Then he was kissing lower, his mouth trailing along the long smooth
column of her neck. She arched beneath him, urging him lower. His mouth opened
over one of her breasts and she moaned, pulling his head towards her.
Chris indulged her, but only for a moment before he lifted his head and
looked at her. The heat in his eyes stole her breath.
“Stay here Sam.” He was lifting off of her and leaving the bed. She
nearly protested the loss of him, but then the sight of him naked rendered her
speechless.
She couldn't tear her eyes off of him. He was incredible.
She didn't know why or how she hadn't been this struck by it before. She
had always pushed the awareness that he was so unbelievably gorgeous to the
side, unwilling to acknowledge it for the sake of their friendship. Her friends
had always commented on her outrageous luck at having him as a partner, and Rita
had responded to their appreciation with a steadfast guard against any sort of
realization about just how damned sexy he truly was. But now she was quiet as
she watched him walk into the bathroom. His back was muscled all the way down to
his torso, giving way to lean hips and strong thighs. His dark hair was cropped
short, and the ripped lines of his arms that had held her…heat flooded her and
her hands itched to touch him again after only a few seconds of being apart.
She rolled over onto her side, away from the light of the bathroom,
curling up into the sheets. They smelled like Chris which made her pull the
pillow tightly against her. Somewhere in her mind, she knew there was something
coming at her, like the faint lights of a freight train off in the distance. But
it wasn't there in front of her yet, and for once she just wanted to stay in the
moment and not worry about what was coming or what would happen later on.
She wanted the here and now with Chris.
Rita heard the water to the shower turn on and Chris fiddling to release
the now cold bathwater that had been left standing in the tub from earlier. Lifetimes ago. She clutched the pillow
tighter, the events of earlier seeming so long ago. Had it just been five hours
ago that she had been struggling with the intruders, trying to get her weapon
back in her hands? And now, if Chris's movements were any indication, her second
time in the bathroom tonight was going to be much more pleasant than the first.
Her body thrummed in anticipation.
She must have drifted for a few minutes because the next thing she knew,
Chris was kissing her shoulder and standing behind her. “Come on, Sammy.” His
finger trailed over the skin of her back. She stirred and rolled over, looking
up into his beautiful eyes. His mouth descended on hers and he lifted her,
unwilling to break the contact with her mouth.
Chris carried her into the shower, and let her slide down his aroused
body under the spray of the water. Her body was smooth against his and his hands
cupped her face. He had left only the small lamp on next to the sink, and the
soft glow of light combined with the steam from the shower cast a faint haze
around them. He gently nudged her legs apart, standing between them against the
wall of the shower.
Water cascaded down them and Chris smoothed her wet hair away from her
face, his lips against hers. She was breathtaking. Her wide, luminous green eyes
met his and his heart stopped. Here in the shower, Rita looked so small, and her
upturned face reflected all the trust she felt. He couldn't get enough of her
skin, the faint smell of vanilla that clung to her body, or the fullness of her
lips. As small and fragile as she looked, the fact that she was anything but
truly fascinated him. She had taken on two of Brodie's guys tonight and put up a
hell of a fight. And when she had called, there had been little fear in her
voice; Rita had been full of unwavering determination instead.
Chris didn't want to think about what could have happened here tonight.
He had her in his arms now and that's all that mattered. He kissed her again,
his heart aching from the fullness. Rita was reaching for him then, the hot
water sliding down between them. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he
lifted her, pressing her body against the wall of the shower. He settled between
her legs, hard and ready for her. Her head fell back against the shower wall and
he drove into her body again.
She was still slick from their earlier lovemaking, and he began to move
within her. She held tightly to his body, reveling in the way that the water
clung to his eyelashes, and the shiny short tendrils of dark hair that were now
plastered to his head. She ran her hands over the solid wall of his shoulders
back up his neck, sliding her fingers along his skin.
“Sammy,” he groaned.
She still was having trouble absorbing the reality of what they were
doing. Every now and then tonight Rita would look at him, and the shock of
seeing Chris's familiar face and the blatant desire written there would startle
her. Now was one of those moments. As his blue eyes lifted to hers, she was
confused by the way she was reacting to him, like she could never get enough.
The steam of the shower seeped into her as she took a shaky breath, still
clinging to him.
He ground deep into her, eliciting a soft gasp. “Sammy. You're mine.”
There was no protest left in her. Somehow, no matter how she tried to
deny it tonight, he was right. She had never belonged to anyone or anything as
much as she belonged to him right now. Rita felt him fill her completely with
every push of his hips, and she tightened her inner muscles around him,
desperately trying to keep him within her.
Emotion rushed up within her, rocking her completely out of control.
“Chris. I love - ” her voice broke off suddenly and she desperately fought the
words that nearly slipped out. Rita squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will the
feeling away. No. Dammit no! She
couldn't go there. She'd ruin it all.
Chris's head snapped up and he tried to focus on her. He didn't miss
much. “Say it.”
Everything locked in her throat. She couldn't risk it. He moved again
and all sensation focused on the feeling of his skin against hers. She couldn't
lose everything with him and she knew she would if she let things change any
more than they already had. She couldn't ask for more than this. “I love,” she
started, nearly choking again. “I love the way this feels.”
He grabbed her head, forcing her to look at him. “Sam. I love you.”
She wanted to cry, wanted to break down and weep for all they had lost
with that one admission from him. “No Chris. No.” She bent to kiss his
shoulders, trying to distract him.
He wouldn't have it. Chris lifted her head again and looked at her, his
lips hovering near hers. “Oh yeah, Sammy. You can't stop it.”
He kept moving against her, sending her body hurtling towards the edge.
The raspy sound of his voice and the unmistakable intent written all over his
face combined to send shivers racing across her skin. “I love you too. Just not
like - ”
He drove hard into her and his mouth slammed down on hers, effectively
silencing her. “Don't lie. Not to
She closed her eyes and let the sensation of his skin against hers and
the feeling of him sliding into her body carry her towards that point of pure,
unparalleled ecstasy that she so desperately sought. Something in tonight felt
inexorably right. Rita didn't think she could ever get enough of him doing this
to her. The feeling was building inside and she cried out, knowing now exactly
how that precipice would feel as Chris carried her over it.
He didn't stop, relentless in his need to get deeper into her and her
nails dug into the satin smoothness of his back. His hands slipped to her hips
and then down to the underside of her thighs. He hoisted her up slightly higher
against the shower wall, opening her to him evening more.
There was something beyond the pure sexual need in the way that he was
pounding against her. It wasn't slow or easy. It was rough, quick, possessive.
Chris bit at her lips, nipping and then retreating before settling his mouth
over hers completely and kissing her thoroughly. He moved faster then, setting a
pace she couldn't keep up with.
Rita just hung onto him, unable to do anything now but hold on to him
and let him ram home inside of her. She was going to crash so hard into
that wall. Rita closed her eyes, dropped her lips to his
forehead and prayed to God she would make it through without the fire burning
her so badly she disintegrated completely.
Chris thrust up inside of her forcefully and the wall broke. Rita screamed, her
body clenching so tightly around him that he immediately exploded within her,
both of them shaking with the mind-blowing force of it. He didn't stop the pace
until her head had fallen forward and they had both been completely and
thoroughly sated, nearly too weak to stand.
She was shaken again with the intensity of it. He lifted her face to his
and kissed her.
“Exactly like that Sammy.” He repeated.
He saw her retreating into herself and realized her had to pull back now. Rita
needed time to process it all or she would break into a full-fledged backpedal.
He kissed her head and let her slide down against the wall, holding onto her to
settle her. “Hey.” He bent at the knees a little bit to get eye level with her.
“But I've got time, sunshine. I can wait until you're ready to say it too.”
She was going to protest that she didn't feel the same way, that she
wasn't ever going to say it, but the words felt hollow. He had asked her not to
lie, and she owed him that at the very least. The sweet smile she had come to
depend on in her life broke over his face and she couldn't help but meet that
with a smile of her own. She decided to change the subject instead. “You know
Chris, for all the times I asked you to get my back,” she reached for the
container with the liquid soap in it and handed it to him, “would you get it
now?”
He relaxed. She wasn't ready for the next step yet, and he could wait.
But at least she wasn't lying or fleeing or shutting down. He'd take avoidance
over complete denial any day. “Ha! You little vixen.” He took the soap and began
to pump it into hands, knowing he was thoroughly going to enjoy this.
Fifteen minutes later, the water had started to cool and he shut off the
spray, reaching for the big white towels as he opened the door and Rita followed
him out of the shower stall. Chris wrapped her in a towel and Rita used one edge
to wipe the water from her face, the cool marble slick against her feet. For a
brief moment she recalled the earlier events of the evening, remembering how she
had fruitlessly tried to gain some leverage on this smooth floor when they had
been trying to pull her out of the bathroom.
As usual, he was completely in tune with her every move. “Hey,
everything ok?” Chris was leaning into her, searching her eyes. She nodded but
he wasn't convinced. Chris lifted her chin. “You're thinking about earlier?”
She averted his gaze and started to walk out of the bathroom. “Yeah,
maybe.”
He wasn't letting her get away this quickly. They had never really
talked about what had happened. “You want to tell me about it?”
“No big deal, Chris. They just wanted to warn me. It was Brodie flexing
his muscle. Nothing more.”
She couldn't fool him, even with her back still turned towards him as
she dug for a t-shirt in the bedroom. That tough girl act covered for a lot. But
he had known her far too long to be put off by it. “You were scared, Sammy,”
Chris said softly.
Her back stiffened. “Christopher. Just drop it.”
“I want to know what happened here. I'm your partner; I have a right to
know.”
He was right and she knew it. Rita turned to face him. “I was in the
tub, and I heard a noise out there. I knew it wasn't you because I had locked
the chain like you said, and you wouldn't have broken that lock to get in.”
“And then?”
“I called you. They wanted me to know they were here, which makes sense
because it was just a warning. So they came in. I tried to take out the first
one, but it was too close in here to get a good shot off. The first guy got my
gun out of my hand by slamming my hand on the counter. We struggled. The second
one, he...” She faltered for a second, remembering.
“He what, Sammy?” The sympathy and gently urging in his voice tore at
her.
“He managed to wrap my robe belt around my throat and told me he'd kill
me if he wanted to, but that this was just a background check.” She started to
turn, going back into the bedroom. She pulled the t-shirt on over her head and
then dropped the towel, suddenly shy.
Chris had gone still, trying to imagine how scared she must have been.
Cop or no cop, she had had her life threatened and he didn't know anyone alive
that didn't feel the adrenaline and fear when that happened. “Then what?”
“Then you were here.” She had been toweling her hair dry and stopped
when she realized the importance of what she had just said. Yeah, he needed to
know that, especially with how he had been feeling lately over the Ross case.
Chris needed to know just how much his instincts about her phone, her gun and
even his need to stay close to the apartment had stopped it from being more
terrifying than it was. The intruder hadn't intended to kill her, but she didn't
know what else he had planned. Chris had been there just in time because he had
insisted on staying closeby. She was once again reminded how grateful she was to
have him as her partner. Rita walked over to him, taking her damp towel with.
She absently rubbed it over his wet chest and down to the towel knotted at his
waist before throwing into onto the bed and looking up at him. “You were here
for me. As usual.” Rita attempted a small smile.
He didn't look convinced. “If I hadn't left-”
“Brodie didn't intend to kill me if I was what I pretended I was. If you
had been here, he may have changed his mind about believing me, or worse, tried
to hurt you too.”
Chris was suddenly tired and didn't want to argue with her. They hadn't
slept much at all, and it was nearly dawn. They needed an hour or two at least
to be able to function at the department today. God, work seemed like a million
miles away. “Ready to get some sleep?”
She was a little hesitant, feeling awkward about climbing into bed with
him, even despite everything that they had done tonight. “Yeah. I'm tired.”
Chris nodded, looking for his boxers and slipping them on. She pulled
back the covers and slid into the bed, straightening the sheets as she went. He
joined her, pulling her against him and thoroughly enjoying the smell of her
damp hair on his chest. “Goodnight, Sam.”
She sighed, already snuggled into him. “Goodnight, Sam.”
They were asleep in a matter of minutes.
+ + +
The ringing of his cell phone woke him, and groggily Chris realized that
the sun was streaming into the bedroom. Rita still lay across him, her still
damp hair fanned out on his chest. He cursed the phone for causing him to get
out of bed long before he wanted to, and well before he would have been done
with Rita.
This was definitely not how he had planned on waking her.
The phone kept ringing and he sighed, gently lifting her off of him as
she began to stir slightly then settled back into slumber. Where in the hell was
that damned phone? He searched for his jeans and noticed the phone on the floor
next to them. He flipped it open. “Lorenzo.” He said quietly.
“You were right Lorenzo.”
Chris wearily rubbed a hand over his face and searched the floor for his
jeans. He had a feeling there would be no going back to bed this morning. “About
what Cap?” He looked at the clock and realized they had still had nearly an hour
before they needed to be in. Captain Lipshitz had no idea the potential of the
morning he had just interrupted.
Chris shrugged into his jeans, leaving them unsnapped, his head not in
the game. He could only look at the still sleeping form on the bed and remember
the way she had taken off these jeans last night. He nearly groaned out loud at
the need that coursed through him. He had wanted to wake her up by being inside
of her again. Rita looked so amazingly beautiful, her dark hair on the white
pillow and the...oh God. He laughed out loud. She had a hickey on
her neck. She would absolutely, positively kill him for that. On the other hand
he liked it there a hell of a lot. It proved his point that she was his.
“Lorenzo are you listening?” Cap shouted into the phone. “What is so
funny? You think murder is funny? Lorenzo are you there with a woman?”
That stopped his laughter short. If the Captain ever found out, they
would be done before they even started. “No, no. Cap. I stayed at the safe house
with Rita.”
He was met with a brief pause before Cap cleared his throat. “Well how
did her date with Brodie go?”
Chris took one last look at her, and reluctantly began leaving the room,
not wanting his conversation to wake her. “It went good. He fell for her as
planned.” And so did I, Chris silently added. He turned for one more quick look.
Rita's breathing was steady and even, her lips slightly parted and Chris's hands
itched to pull her beneath him again. She was absolutely gorgeous, and he was
completely in love with her. He sighed, knowing he had a battle ahead of him
with her and it was one he didn't plan on losing.
“Well, Rita's a beautiful woman, of course he did. So what did he say?”
Chris was too tired to play a hundred questions right now and he
desperately needed coffee. Ah, hell. It was still in the car along with last
night's dinner and the rest of the groceries he had picked up at the convenience
mart last night. He had run in, justifiably more concerned with what was going
on in the apartment. The milk, juice and burgers would be spoiled, but the
coffee and danishes would be ok. He looked for his keys. “Cap, what was I right
about? I can tell you the rest when we get in.” He knew his impatience sounded
in his voice.
“Lorenzo, what's wrong with you? You sound out of it. What is going on
over there?”
Chris groaned as he found the keys on the floor, not feeling like
putting on his shoes. He opened the door, the morning air waking him a little
bit. “Cap, we had visitors last night. Tried to rough Rita up a bit. We'll tell
you all about it when we get in.”
The Cap's reaction was immediate and furious. “She better be okay
Lorenzo!”
Chris softened. He could hear the panic and concern and could sympathize
with how Cap felt. “She's fine, Cap. Really. We'll be in soon and put it into a
report. Now what was I right about?” The smell wafting out of the warm car made
him pull back. Guess that's what he got for leaving the burgers in the car
overnight, he thought. He dug through the bag and tossed the spoiled contents
into the dumpster next to his Buick before heading back into the apartment.
“The fingerprints Lorenzo. You were right when you had them double check
the cigarette lighter. We pulled a partial print last night.”
That woke him. Chloe's clothes had smelled like smoke, cheap cigarette
smoke to be exact, and yet there had been no butts or ashes in the car dispenser
which would have indicated she was a smoker. So he assumed she didn't smoke and
she likely hadn't been to a club that night according to her credit cards. Those
facts, combined with Brodie's penchant for only smoking fine cigars seemed to
put someone else in close enough proximity to her that she would still carry the
smell of their habit. With the car being a convertible, that would have meant no
lingering smell of smoke in the car, but the fabric of her clothes would have
likely been porous enough to absorb the stench. Chris had urged forensics to run
the cigarette lighter as soon as possible, knowing they may not have made it a
quick priority simply based upon the clean appearance of the dispenser. They
didn't have the days and days it would take to get the full forensics report in
the car. “Got a name?”
Cap sighed dramatically. “Yeah. We do. Or rather we did. Records came
out of NCIC about four hours ago.”
“Did? Four hours ago?” Chris dropped the bag on the kitchen counter.
“Why didn't we get the call?”
“The name was Carter Maritz. When we pulled the print, he came back
tagged to an old case here, in
This coffee thing completely bewildered Chris and he knew he would make
it wrong. He racked his brain trying to remember the rule Rita always tried to
hammer home about the coffee and the pot, but he always messed it up. He gave up
and dumped some of the grounds into the filter, doing his best to estimate. “So
what case was it?”
“He was linked to an old case of Beauregard's. Vice was in last night
after a late bust, so I took the liberty of walking over and asking Danny about
it.”
Chris's head was fuzzy from lack of sleep and he was having problems
following what Cap was saying. “Cap, why were you in the station at
He heard Cap take a deep breath. “Never mind Lorenzo. Had a lot to catch
up on and Frannie wasn't too happy with me.”
Chris chuckled. Cap and Frannie had a beautiful relationship and he
loved to watch them interact. It was everything he had never seen with his own
parents. Frannie no doubt ruled that house, and he knew that Cap actually loved
every minute of her continual fussing over him. Whatever Cap had done to cause
his misunderstanding with his wife, Chris was sure it would be over by
“He said it was an old prostitution bust he had been involved with about
three years ago. Seems Maritz roughed up one of the girls pretty bad, and she
had been a low level informant for Beauregard at the time, so she fingered
Maritz and Danny brought him in. There wasn't much to hold him on, especially
based with her reputation so he got probation. After that he left
Chris leaned over, peering into the coffee pot. It looked about the
right color, not too thick or black. Maybe he had done it this time, actually
got it right. He straightened, somewhat proud of himself and then began fishing
in the bag for the bananas and danishes. It wasn't the Ritz, but it would do.
“So does Danny know where Maritz is at now?”
Cap covered the mouthpiece and talked to someone else at the station
before coming back on the line. “Yeah, he had a few ideas, and since he was
awake and at the station, he said he and Rodriguez would go check the addresses
out instead of dragging you two out. Danny knew what he looked like too, so I
let him. Didn't think you two would get too territorial about it.”
Chris said a silent thank you to Danny. He owed him, though the other
cop would never know why. He would have hated to be dragged out in the middle of
the night after everything that had happened with Rita. “No, that's fine with
us. What did Danny find?”
“Well, that's where this gets messy and why you need to haul your sorry
butts in here!”
“Cap. What happened?”
“Danny walked into the second location, a cheap walkup on Northwest
Fifth. Maritz was there alright, shot three times in the chest and laying on the
floor of the bathroom.”
Chris swore. He couldn't give a rat's ass about Maritz, it was the live
lead he was sorry to let go of. “Any ideas about who did it?”
“How the hell should I know? That's what we pay you for Lorenzo! Now get
in here. Now!” Cap yelled into the phone before hanging up.
Chris clicked the phone shut and shoved it into his jeans pocket,
looking for mugs. The least he could do was take some coffee up to Rita before
he told her the news about another D.B. in the case. He hoped his coffee didn't
add to her misery. He opened and closed three cabinets before finding some mugs.
He threw the danishes in the microwave to soften them up a bit. Chris wished he
could make her a full fledged breakfast and then make thorough love to her again
before they had to go anywhere. Unfortunately this morning wasn't unfolding in
line with his plans.
“You made coffee?”
He spun, not having heard Rita come down. He smiled at the rumpled hair
and the oversized t-shirt. She had pulled on some soft cotton shorts too, but
her legs still looked incredible. “I tried.” He grinned, pulling her towards him
and kissing her forehead. Maybe there was time after all to go back upstairs.
She stiffened, not quite sure how to handle him this morning. His chest
was bare, and his jeans hung low on his narrow hips. Chris's hair was
disheveled, and he was sporting a five o'clock shadow. Rita flushed with the
rush of longing that came over her. He looked like some sort of ridiculously
sexy advertisement in a fashion magazine. She bit her lip, memories of last
night filling her head. “Did you get a call? I thought I heard the phone ring?”
“Yeah, Cap called.” He pulled her tighter towards him.
She tried to pull away, never meeting his eyes. She was looking past him
to the coffee. “What did he say?”
He felt her struggling to pull away and knew he had to let her. At least
a little bit. He had to give her the space she was going to need to get used to
the idea of what had happened between them last night. He dropped his arms and
watched her immediately go for the coffee pot. “We have another D.B. tied to the
Muldoon case. They got a print off the cigarette lighter in her car and matched
it to a Carter Maritz, whose name popped up linked to an old case of
Beauregard's. Danny and Rodriguez went to check out the LKA for him and found
him…” Chris broke off, watching her back as she took a first sip of the coffee.
She took a second, and he considered that a good sign that his coffee skills
were improving and a bad sign that she wouldn't even look at him. This was not
how he wanted this morning to go.
“Found him and…?” She looked out the window above the sink.
“He had been shot in the chest.” He watched her nod her head slowly,
still not turning around. He gave her a minute, but still no change. “Sammy, you
can't avoid me.”
Rita turned, startled out of her daze. She put down the coffee cup and
crossed her arms over her chest defensively. Chris groaned. Her movements had
only accomplished pulling her shirt tighter over her chest and Chris now had
proof she wanted him again the way he wanted her. “I'm not avoiding you Chris.
I'm not. I just…”
He closed the space between them and pulled him against her. “You're
just deciding that you need to stand ten feet away from me at all times?”
She looked at the floor, leaving her arms crossed between them. “Chris,
what happened last night…”
“What about it?” He leaned in close, his lips close to hers. God, he
wanted to kiss her so badly, but held off.
She pulled back, avoiding the proximity of his mouth. “It shouldn't,
it's not more…” Chris leaned in closer, finally brushing his lips against hers.
“Chris, it's not…we...” His mouth was wreaking havoc with her thought processes.
He kept leaning in like he was going to kiss her but then wouldn't.
Chris trailed his mouth gently over her cheek before leaning back to
look at her, brushing his hands over her hair. “Have something to say, Sammy?”
Her face was heated. “We have to get dressed.”
She was completely flustered and he had so rarely seen her like this
that he actually smiled. “I like that idea. You dress me and I'll dress you.”
Her eyes flew to his, and he could see the apprehension in them. His
heart sank. The morning had been too jarring in how it had unfolded and not the
way he had wanted to ease her into the day at all. Between Cap's call and the
information about another dead body, they had been thrown back into real-life
with no time to adjust to this newfound side to their relationship.
“Chris, I think that we should just, you know...” She broke away from
him to head back to the bedroom to get dressed. She stopped at the entrance to
the kitchen, once again unable to look at him. “We should just let last night be
what it was. Let's not make it more than that.”
His heart broke for her. What she had given herself into last night, she
was now analyzing to death in the light of day. Rita still hadn't learned to
trust her heart. “Sam. I know what it was,” he said softly. “I'm not the one
scared of it.”
She turned then and looked at him across the kitchen. “Chris-”, she
faltered.
Once again he took the space between them and put his fingers on her
lips. “It's ok, Sam. I told you last night that I would wait for you. And I
will.”
Her eyes welled up. “What will you be waiting for Sam? I keep asking
what exactly do you want from me?”
Chris took a deep breath, knowing that if he was going to teach her to
take risks with her heart, that he would have to show her how. He would have to
go first. “I want you to let yourself love me back, Sammy.” He saw her start to
protest and quieted her. “No Sam, I don't know how long ago this started. But
something changed here, or maybe what we always had just got more intense. And
while all of this is confusing, yes, there
is one thing is very clear to me.”
She was afraid to ask, but she was hypnotized by the intensity of his
blue eyes. She was lulled into responding. “What's clear to you Sam?” She
whispered.
“I'm in love with you, Rita.”
The terror warring within her finally won out at the blatancy admission
in that statement. “No you're not Chris! You're in love with me for what? A
week? A month? Maybe two? And then
what? Then you'll be done with me and the one thing I have, the one thing I count on will be gone! All because you
think you're in love again!” She tried to wrench free of him.
He held onto her, unwilling to rise to the bait. “This is different,
Rita. And you know it,” Chris said calmly.
He was right. She did know this was different. She had never felt like
this about anyone else either. No one else had ever filled her whole life so
completely and made her feel like she belonged. But it couldn't be love. Their
relationship didn't have room to be clouded by the promises and perils of an
emotion that ambiguous. Rita needed something solid with him, and that could be
nothing more than friendship. “Just be my friend, Chris. Please.”
It was the small pleading in her voice that did him in. It had been a
rough week with this case, and she had been through a lot already. Not to
mention she would have to come to terms with everything that had happened
between them last night. He knew he had to back off a little and give her the
space and security she needed. “Ok Sam. Whatever you need.”
A rush of emotion threatened to sweep her away. He was so willing to
offer her whatever she asked. “Thank you Chris.” She hugged him tightly, finally
feeling secure for the first time in weeks. “Thank you.” Between his trepidation
at protecting her, the case, and now this, she was exhausted. Rita just needed
time for it to be like it was.
“You're welcome, Sammy.” He kissed the top of her head and pulled back,
swatting her butt. “Now go get dressed.” She looked at him, waiting nervously
for a sexual comment like earlier. Chris knew better and just laughed instead.
“Go get dressed Sam. Alone.”
Rita finally smiled then and turned and headed into the bedroom to get
changed.
Chris went back to get a cup of coffee from the kitchen, the image of
her smile replaying itself in his head. Yeah, he had seen it. He was sure of it.
After all her protesting, he had given her her way, at least for the time being.
But still, she hadn't smiled fully. The light had never sparkled in her eyes and
he thought he had seen the one thing that made him know he was right about how
she felt too.
There was actually a little part of her that looked like she regretted
his acceptance of her request for space. Well, she had nothing to worry about;
Chris thought as he took a sip of the coffee, surprised it wasn't half bad. He
wasn't accepting anything.
He was just going to try a different approach.
+ + +
“Different shooter, right?” Rita lifted her head from the ballistics
report she was reviewing and briefly looked at Chris across the desk before
averting her eyes.
Chris nodded. “Yeah. I agree. Three blows to the head first, and a .22
versus the .40 used on Chloe. Chloe,” he made a shooting motion with his
fingers, “takes it straight in the head, and Maritz gets it in the chest.
Different approach. Different shooters.”
“So we're back to motivation.” Rita looked lost in thought. “Maritz is
in the car with Chloe, he pops her. Bam. Twice in the head. Leaves us a print.
Then he takes three to the chest himself. Someone cleaning up the hired hit or
revenge for Chloe's death?”
“Well, what's Maritz's motivation to kill Chloe to start? Nothing ties
him to her before that night.”
“Ok, so let's work off the assumption that it's a hired hit. So Brodie
hires Maritz to take out Chloe, and then Brodie cleans up his purchase for
services by hiring a shooter to take out Maritz?”
Chris tried to meet her eyes, to no avail. She was so skittish this
morning around him. “It's possible. It's a step up for Maritz though isn't it?
From larceny and assault to murder-for-hire?”
Rita was frowning and chewing on the end of her pen. “I agree. But I
don't know about Brodie. It doesn't fit. That means Brodie knew the hit was
going down last night. If you ordered a hit, do you just go to dinner casually
while it's being executed?” She scrunched up her nose. “No pun intended.”
“Brodie doesn't strike me as the type to have a conscience. I doubt it
would interrupt his eating schedule.”
She shook her head. “No Chris. He's a control freak. You should have
seen him ordering dinner. He had to be in control of the whole process. I'd bet
he would need to be kept up to speed minute by minute on a hit like that. And
yet, time of death puts Maritz at killed between eight and eleven. I was with
Brodie that whole time.”
Chris's gaze darkened, remembering how frustrated he had been knowing
Brodie was laying a hand on her inside that restaurant. “Fucking son of a
bitch,” he muttered.
Rita lifted her eyebrows, finally looking at him. “Like him much?”
He scowled. “You could have been his alibi. What better to have as an
alibi than a date with a cop?”
Rita's eyes widened. “You think he made me?”
Hell. He could see the disappointment on her face, thinking that she had
failed establishing the cover. Chris didn't think Brodie had made her, he had
just been stupidly thinking aloud. “No. Actually I don't. He likes you. I doubt
he has any suspicions, especially after his little background check last night.
You checked out, he wouldn't have found anything to the contrary.”
She nodded. Last night. Any mention of it brought up conflicting
emotions. It had started out terrifying and ended up…incredible? She swallowed hard and pushed the errant thought
out of her head. “So Maritz hits Chloe. Brodie and I have dinner while someone
else takes out Maritz. Who is the unknown and why?”
Chris slammed the file down. “There is an unknown. You're right. This
was too simple. A silent partner? Do you think Brodie knew Maritz was going to
be taken out?”
“Good point. I don't know. But there is one way to find out.”
“What do you mean?”
“I schedule a little face to face with Brodie. I owe him a little visit
anyway to let him know what I thought of his unexpected drop by last night.”
Chris didn't like the sound of this. “You're just going to what? Call
him, stroll over to his house and ask him if he killed Maritz?”
She met his gaze. “I'll call him and feel it out.”
He gritted his teeth, knowing she was right. He couldn't go into some
controlling protective mode here or he would do nothing but incite her
annoyance. And then she would chalk up his reaction to what had happened last
night. “If you schedule a meeting, you're wearing a wire and a full team is
sitting on watch.”
She looked mutinous. “You can sit watch. I'm not risking blowing this by
having the place crawling with surveillance. We don't need it.”
“I won't be enough if it goes sideways, Sam. I'm not taking on that
responsibility alone.”
He saw her back straighten and knew he was in for it. “Since when?” She
whispered, leaning over her desk. “You're my partner. We do this all the time,
Chris.”
“We're not taking risks like this. Not anymore, and especially not with
this case. Brodie is ruthless; he proved that last night with the way he tried
to scare you.”
“Last night was only a--”
“What Sammy? What was last night?” he said softly, leaning over the desk
as well.
Rita clammed up and pulled back, staring at him. “You promised. You were
going to let it go.” She didn't know how fair it was to ask that of him,
considering letting go was seemingly more than she could do. She was on edge
just from his proximity today. Every time he leaned over her shoulder, or their
fingers accidentally touched when he handed her a coffee, she flinched with a
screaming awareness. Rita was even having trouble calling him by their nickname,
the familiarity of saying it making her heart ache with a desperate longing to
reach for him again. Her body still craved him, even after the number of times
that they had made love last night. Even now, Rita wanted to feel him against
her and…
He saw the immediate awareness on her face and nearly laughed out loud.
Chris didn't have to really push her at all, she wanted him just as much as he
wanted her. He relaxed a little bit with the newfound knowledge. “You're right.”
He flashed her that disarming grin. “I did.”
Rita took a deep breath, relieved and a bit surprised that he had
acquiesced so easily. “I'll set up a meeting this afternoon, deal? Bright light
of day, public place? I think I can swing that and then with a wire and you
nearby I won't need the excessive backup. Deal?”
In the middle of the afternoon, in a crowded place, he thought he could
deal with that. Chris nodded. “Deal.” He saw her grin with satisfaction and
before going back to the file from ballistics. “Women.” He
muttered with playful disdain.
That brought her head up, and there was finally laughter in her eyes.
“What are you muttering about? Women have never seemed to be a problem for you,
Christopher.”
He grinned, issuing a playful challenge for her in response. “Yeah, most of them seem to love me.”
I love you too. The
thought slammed into her full force. Her smile faltered as eyes locked with his
and she couldn't help thinking again about last night. He was smiling at her,
knowing full well that his intention with his last comment had worked. His lips
lifted into a seductive smile and his eyes dropped to her mouth. She shivered,
enjoying the way he was looking at her. Her stomach dropped when she thought
about the way his head had lowered to hers last night, and that incredible
feeling that happened every time she knew his lips were about to meet hers. Rita
remembered the ways his hands had grabbed her hips and pulled her hard up
against him and her heart begin to race. “Well, what can you do if they can't
help themselves?” It didn't come out lighthearted like she had intended, instead
it came out as a rushed, terrified whisper. Like I couldn't help
myself, she thought.
He leaned back in his chair, propping his feet on the desk and placing
his hands behind his head. “Well, I was blessed with the knowledge of what a
woman wants, Sam. Why should I fight it?” Chris smiled, highly satisfied with
how he had turned the conversation into a surface continuation of their talk
earlier that morning.
She didn't rise to the bait. Instead, Rita balled up a scrap piece of
paper and hit him right on the nose, which he scowled at. “You're such a good
Samaritan, meeting the needs of society like that. What would we do without
you?” Her eyes softened with the last comment.
He knew to let it go, and somewhere deep down understood what she was
saying. “Ha!” He threw the paper back at her, which she caught in midair.
“So we have time to sit around and play all day with two DB's out
there?” Cap had creeped up on them and was now standing over their desk with his
hands on his hips. He gave Chris a glare and pointedly looked at Chris's feet on
the desk.
Chris immediately pulled his feet off the desk and straightened up while
clearing his throat. “Uh, no Cap. We were just planning our next little visit
with Brodie.”
“Which is?”
Chris looked at Rita. “Rita is setting up a meetingwith him this
afternoon. It would fit that she would be rightfully angry about his goons
paying her a visit last night. She's going to confront him about it.”
Harry nodded and looked at Rita. “Where are you setting up the meet?”
“Have to call him first, Cap. Somewhere public.”
“Good. Let me know what happens.”
Chris grinned. “Will do. Now, partner. I think I may owe you lunch. Want
to join us Cap?”
Cap rubbed his stomach and scowled. “No. I think this green tea extract
Frannie started me on is disagreeing with me.”
Chris laughed and looked at Rita. “You hungry?” The look on his face was
pure sin.
For one split second she started, her thought processes unable to
disassociate from last night. Her first thought was that yes, she was definitely hungry. Only not for lunch. Her face turned bright
red and reflected her sudden flustered reaction. “Uh, yeah. Yeah. I could use
something to eat.”
Cap peered at her now reddened face. “You ok, Rita? You don't look so
good.”
Rita looked at Harry, horrified at the idea that he picked up that
anything was amiss. “I'm uh, fine. Just fine.” She gathered up her papers and
straightened them hurriedly before standing. She haphazardly shoved pens back
into their cup and then looked for her purse, looking in her drawers and not
realizing for a moment or two that it was hung on the back of her chair. She
finally looked at Chris, feeling frazzled. “Ready?” She cocked her head at him.
Chris grinned, enjoying every moment and knowing exactly where her head
had gone a moment ago. He had seen the telltale reddening of her face and been
pretty darned satisfied. Yeah, he didn't have to push her at all. She wanted him
too, and the only thing he needed was time to let her get used to the idea. In
the meantime, he wasn't a saint. Teasing her could easily become his favorite
pastime. “Depends on what you are hungry for.”
Her eyes widened and she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her
ear. “Lunch, Sam. You know,” she bit her lower lip, “like a sandwich?” She knew
she was breathing fast and couldn't help it. Her physical awareness of Chris had
just shot through the roof right here at the station.
Harry watched them back and forth and instinctively knew that this
little interplay wasn't what it seemed. He had seen this look on Chris's face
before and it usually happened when he was about to head home for a very intense
evening, to put it mildly. Rita looked like a caged bird and they couldn't take
their eyes off of each other. This couldn't be good. Harry's stomach began to
hurt. “Are you two alright? Is there something more I should know?” They were
his best detectives and he always knew when something was out of sorts with
these two.
Chris just kept smiling, his eyes never leaving Rita. He was pretty
proud of the flush creeping up her neck. “No no, Cap. Everything is great. That
sandwich sounds good, Sam. And how about a cold lemonade?” He made an
exaggerated motion of loosening his shirt collar. “Kinda got hot in here. Cap,
is the air conditioning working in here?” His concern was laughable.
She would kill him. “Sure, lemonade too. And it's not hot in here at
all, are you feeling well, Sam?” she
countered pointedly.
Chris stood up. “I feel great. Though I didn't get much sleep last
night.” He stood up, making like he was ready to leave and came around their
desks to lean into her ear farthest from Cap. “How do you feel?”
She looked directly at their Captain, who was now officially glaring at
them suspiciously. His face was a combined look of both consternation and
curiosity. “I feel fine, Chris. Can-we-go-now?” She enunciated.
Chris's hand went to the scarf carefully tied around her neck inside the collar of her button down. “Sam?” His breath was warm on her neck, making her shiver. “You've got something here, a little bruise,” he said softly into her ear, his lips centimeters from her neck. His finger slipped inside her buttoned shirt collar and he began to rub it gently, pretending to take a look at it. “What happened here Sam? How did