Harmonized

by Mary Behre

  “You shook my entire belief system to the core when you walked out. The woman I’d fallen in love with was full of compassion and kindness. She wanted to be a nurse. To save the world. But the woman who abandoned me? I couldn’t reconcile her with the woman I loved.

  “It was conceivable that the party girl did take the money and run to Cabo. You never called to contradict the story. I didn’t know what was real, and it screwed with my head every time I thought of you. Eventually, I tried not to think about you at all.”

  “Great,” she said, her heart in her throat, choking her almost as badly as his words. “Because I never stopped thinking about you. See, more regrets. Had I just talked to you that day—”

  “We’d have argued, because I figured he was after money.” Zig dropped his arms to his sides and closed the distance between them. “We’d have fought and you’d have still left. I might have chased you, but I couldn’t have stayed in Mexico for four years. We’d have still broken up because eight years ago, we were children trying to act like adults. Today, you’re a woman and I’m a man.”

  “So that’s it? Eight years of pain was for nothing?” Karma didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or kick Zig in the balls.

  “No, not for nothing. We had to take separate journeys to get here, to this moment. So I could apologize to you for not fighting harder. Being too young and stupid to see you needed me, even when you thought you didn’t. I’m sorry, Carmelita. Truly sorry.”

  “I’m sorry too,” she said, the fight drained out of her. She’d lost him so long ago but at least she could start over knowing he didn’t hate her anymore.

  “No more apologies, Karma.” Then he silenced her by brushing his lips gently over hers.

  It wasn’t a kiss of old lovers reunited. But it could have been.

  It wasn’t a kiss of promise. But it might have been.

  It wasn’t a kiss of passion. But it was.

  It was all those things and more. The feel of his soft mouth on hers, was old and new, and more than she could have hoped for.

  ***

  Zig’s world had tunneled down to this moment. The taste of Karma on his lips. The smell of her skin. The feel of her hands in his hair. And he was home.

  He backed her against the wall, pinning her there. She kissed him harder, slid her mouth down his neck to suck at the pulse point, all the while squeezing his ass.

  “I’ve missed you so fucking much,” he said shoving the sweatshirt she wore up to her neck. And yes, her breasts were full and bared to him.

  “That’s so romantic,” she teased, reaching down and cupping him through his pants. And goddamn, her touch was too good. She had him thrusting against her hand.

  She was going to make him come before he got her naked. Not gonna happen.

  Shifting his position, he lowered his face to one of her breasts. He rolled the tight, dusky nipple between his teeth, tortured it with his tongue then sucked it sharply into his mouth.

  “Oh, Zig.” Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. The pinpricks of pain made him crazy. Ignoring the ache in his left shoulder, he shoved down her pants and slid his fingers lazily across her wet cleft. She shivered and rocked her hips against his hand.

  “That’s it,” he whispered, switching to lave her other breast, while his fingers still teased her. “Let go. Come for me. Right here.”

  She rocked faster and faster against his hand. Her skin slick with sweat, her legs trembling with need. Dropping to his knees, Zig replaced his hands with his mouth and suckled her. Karma’s body tensed as her moans of pleasure rebounded through the room. He played with her nipple while he continued to taste her pleasure.

  He wanted to give her this moment, this time, to just feel. After years of pain, she needed to experience every ounce of joy he could give her.

  Zig tried to hike her leg over his shoulder, but her pants and panties were around her ankles. Instead, he lifted her off the ground and moved her the few steps to the kitchen table.

  Tugging her legs free from the material, he spread her like a feast on the table. He’d barely put her on her back and touched his lips to her body again, when she came hard. He drew out her orgasm. Loving her with every labored breath.

  When she was spent, he licked his way up her body and kissed her deeply. “Wait right here.”

  ***

  Karma couldn’t move, even if the building exploded around her. Somewhere in the distance, a neighbor’s clock chimed the midnight hour. The tinny sound filtered into the kitchen, making her laugh a little.

  Best start to Valentine’s Day . . . ever.

  Naked from the waist down, her shirt shoved up over her breasts, Karma lay on Zig’s kitchen table. The laminate cooled her heated skin, while ribbons of pleasure uncurled inside her.

  When had he learned to do that? And could she convince him to do it again? She had to repay in kind, of course. She was no selfish lover. She’d show him what she could do, when he returned. As soon as she caught her breath.

  Zig hotfooted it back into the kitchen, tearing at an unopened box of condoms with his teeth. His eyes glittered with excitement. “I knew I had these somewhere in my bathroom.” He struggled with the cellophane.

  “Hand it over.” Karma reached for the red tab and pulled. The box burst free of its wrapper. When he tried to take the box back, she turned away and pulled out one of the condoms. “My turn to play. We’ll just save this for a later.”

  She set the foil packet on the table and slid herself off. Dropping to her knees in front of him, she pressed kisses up his right thigh to his waist then used her teeth and hands to tug down his pants.

  His erection sprang free like a person popping out of a cake. She laughed and licked her lips. “Do you still like when I do this?” She ran her tongue up the vein in his impressive cock then closed her mouth over him.

  “Killing. Me,” he grunted, his hips thrusting twice before he restrained himself.

  She didn’t want him restrained. She wanted him wild. They may only have tonight and she wanted their time to be as unforgettable for him as it would be for her.

  Karma used her mouth and her hands to show him what she couldn’t say. Their time apart hadn’t changed her need for him. She loved him, even if he’d gotten over loving her.

  When his knees shook, she sat back and used only her hands. He thrust against her palms. His movements faster, more frenetic. Just when she thought he would come, he pushed her hands away.

  “I want to be inside you.”

  Zig reached down and tugged the sweatshirt over her head. Funny, she hadn’t even remembered she was wearing it. The material sailed to the floor, joined quickly by his clothes.

  Karma turned to pick up the condom from the table, but it was gone. Then Zig was there behind her. Bending her forward. Nudging her legs wider. “Like this, Karma. I’ve dreamed of taking you just like this for years.”

  Leaning forward, she gasped as he drove home in one deep thrust. His hand came around her waist and dropped to stroke her in time with the movement of his hips.

  She cried out at the sensations bombarding her body. His fingers stroking her, his body pumping into her. It was too much, too much! Then she snapped free and was flying.

  Zig squeezed her close, before he joined her in orgasm.

  After, they remained connected, panting and sweaty, half standing, half leaning on the table. “Yeah,” she gasped. “The table was a great idea.”

  “Just wait,” he said sliding out of her. “I’ve got more plans. The next involves me facing you when we come.”

  Chapter Ten

  Zig’s plan for round two involved making love against the wall in his hallway. It was rough and fun and fast. Round three was steamy shower sex.

  She’d nearly wept at the sight of his injured shoulder when they were drying off after their lovemaking. Somehow she hadn’
t seen it before.

  “I was hiding the scar from you,” he admitted, color high in his cheeks. “It was a stupid mistake that nearly cost me and Jules our lives.”

  While he was towel-drying her hair, he explained how he’d been stabbed during the investigation by a crooked cop, a man he’d mistaken for a friend. That cop then stuffed Zig and Jules into the trunk of a car, where Zig would have died had Jules not used his cell phone to call for help.

  “Then in the hospital I nearly died again of a staph infection. I should have been back on regular duty two months ago, but I’ve been manning the desk. The doctors cleared me to return to active duty only yesterday.” He stopped drying her hair and started stroking the towel between her legs.

  Karma shifted, wanting him to stop and wanting him to continue at the same time. “I want to know how the story ends.”

  “I lived. They gave me the Silver Star. The end.” He tossed the towel to the floor then picked her up and carried her to the bed.

  Karma and Zig made it to his California king–size bed after three in the morning. His plans had been plentiful and left her delightfully achy. She’d been asleep for only a half hour when her cell phone rang.

  Dazed and disoriented, she sat up and would have fallen out of bed had Zig not looped an arm around her waist.

  “It’s your phone. Want me to get it?” He sounded remarkably alert for a man who’d had less than an hour of sleep.

  “Yes, please.”

  Zig was out of the room and back again before Karma found the light. She switched it on to see him proudly naked, her phone pressed to his ear. He winked at her as he spoke into it. “Karma’s phone.”

  His smile disappeared in an instant. Zig’s eyes filled with concern as he crossed to his dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans. Tugging them on he said, “Thank you. We’re on our way.”

  Karma was out of bed before he’d clicked off and tossed the phone onto the nightstand. “What’s wrong? Please tell me that Wesley’s okay.”

  Wearing only his jeans, with the top button undone, Zig turned to her. “That was Nurse O’Bryan on the phone. Your friend Gwyn has taken a sudden turn for the worse.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The weather had changed from sleet to freezing rain to snow while they’d been making love. Zig maneuvered his truck on the treacherous roads as fast as he dared, but Karma still fidgeted next to him.

  “They haven’t had time to salt the streets yet,” he told her as they lumbered up the drive to the hospital for the third time tonight. Christ, had it really been less than a day?

  “I know. It’s fine.” Her words belied the worry on her face.

  The guest parking lot was unplowed, and several cars had been left sideways between spaces. “Karma, I’m going to drop you at the front door. I’ll meet you in Gwyn’s room, okay?”

  She nodded but kept her gaze on the picture of Wesley she’d carried with her like a talisman. “She needs to hold on. We’re going to find him. Right?”

  “Right,” he agreed, although he couldn’t be certain. The baby had been taken five days earlier. That was a long time. Plenty of time to get out of the city, out of the state, even out of the country. He couldn’t tell Karma that at the moment, though.

  His truck slid to a stop at the front entrance. When she opened the door, the cab light came on and Karma gasped. “His color is fading again. It’s hardly visible. Oh God, Zig. I don’t know what to do. We need to look for him.”

  “No, you need to be with your friend.” He kissed her cheek and touched his forehead to hers. “Now go. I’ll park and call Seth. See if he can check out Tara’s and Tina’s places again. But right now, you need to be with Gwyn.”

  Karma nodded once then hustled into the hospital.

  Zig found a spot in the covered parking lot. It was a long, cold, walk but if it meant no one was going to slam into his baby because they’d never learned to drive in the snow, it’d be worth it.

  The emergency room entrance was closer than the main one. Hospital workers didn’t like civilians using the ER entrance to visit patients, but he was balls-shriveling cold. If he had to flash his badge to get past triage, he’d do it.

  Inside, it was wall-to-wall people with a variety of injuries and illnesses. Some wore surgical masks. There were eight victims with arms or legs that appeared broken. An old man comforted his equally old wife as she fussed in a wheelchair. At least four homeless men and one woman were camped out, trying to escape the cold.

  It was crazy busy for half-past four in the morning on a Saturday.

  “Excuse me, sir.” A tall gray-haired nurse in red scrubs decorated with pink hearts stood up behind the counter and waved Zig over. “If you’re ambulatory—”

  “Hello! I was here first!” A short woman with choppy blond hair, and a squat face, pushed passed him. “I’ve been waiting. My baby is sick.”

  The nurse gave him a patient smile and held up her index finger. She turned to the blond, her smile considerably cooler. “Ma’am, as I told you an hour ago, your son has been checked on. Unless there’s been a change in his condition, you’ll need to wait to see the doctor.”

  “This is because I don’t have insurance, isn’t it?”

  Zig took a half step back from the woman, who looked ready to start screaming. She set down the baby carrier she’d had in her arms and fisted her hands at the hips of her hideous brown dress.

  He glanced into the carrier and his heart stopped. It was Wesley. He’d been staring at the picture all night and he’d know that child anywhere. The little blond was right: he was sick.

  Zig slowly tugged out his badge and palmed it. Then he unfastened the strap on his gun beneath his coat. He caught the eye of the security guard a few feet away and flashed his badge at his hip, low and fast.

  The lanky old man didn’t rush but moved in Zig’s direction.

  “Fine! I’ll take my baby to another hospital,” the woman yelled. Zig stepped between her and Wesley’s carrier. “Excuse me! Get out of my way. You’re blocking my baby, you asshole.”

  Zig stepped one leg over the carrier, keeping it between his calves. “Are you Tara or are you Tina?”

  The blond blanched at the second name. The intent to run was plain in her eyes. He snapped out a hand and latched onto her wrist before she moved. “Help! He’s hurting me! He’s trying to steal my baby! Help!”

  Several people leapt to their feet, but Zig held up his badge. “I am the police. Stay in your seats.”

  The security guard, wearing a badge that read “Appleton,” reinforced Zig’s words by waving the people back. Then he held out a pair of handcuffs to Zig. “Need these?”

  “Thanks.” Zig snagged them in one hand, while hanging onto Tina with the other. “Don’t carry mine off duty.”

  Appleton nodded and continued to wave the crowd back.

  “You have the right to remain silent,” he said to Tina, pushing her face against the triage nurse’s window. Zig managed to snap the restraints on the squirming, weeping woman as he Mirandized her.

  He turned to Appleton. “I need to call this in. Can you keep an eye on her?”

  Appleton glared down at the sobbing Tina, who’d slumped to the floor. “My partner at the door called the police when you flashed your badge. They’ll be here any minute. Did she really kidnap this gingersnap?”

  Zig squatted down and lifted Wesley from the carrier. His little body remained limp. He didn’t even open his eyes. Straightening, he turned to the triage nurse. “This is Wesley Bremer. He has CAH. I think he’s going into crisis.”

  The nurse called for help. A doctor and another nurse raced out of the back. Wesley was out of Zig’s arms and being taken into the recesses of the hospital when two patrolmen came in. Zig gave them a quick rundown, all the while Tina screamed.

  “No! You can’t take him away. He needs me. I’m hi
s mother now. Gwyn’s dead. I pushed her off that bridge. Give me back my baby! He needs me! He needs me!”

  The uniformed officers hauled Tina’s struggling body out of the hospital to a round of applause. The same people who’d been ready to attack Zig, now clapped.

  People were so fucked up.

  “Where did they take Wesley?” Zig asked the triage nurse who’d remained remarkably calm, if somewhat pale during the whole scene.

  She pointed to the ceiling with her silver pen. “Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Fifth floor.” He’d started toward the elevator when she called out, “How did you know?”

  “I’ve been searching for that boy all night.”

  ***

  Karma held Gwyn’s hand, feeling like a complete failure. She hadn’t found Wesley. She’d been too busy having sex.

  “I swear Gwyn, if you wake up, I will find Wesley.” Karma squeezed her friend’s cold fingers. “I’ll put him in your arms. Just don’t give up. Don’t check out on me. We’re close. I can feel it.”

  “Karma?” Zig’s voice floated in from the open doorway. “We found him. Wesley’s upstairs. I just came from seeing him.”

  Nurse O’Bryan came into the room, tears glistening in her eyes and a wide smile on her face. She carried a temporary medical bracelet. She compared it to the one on Gwyn’s wrist then attached it. “I have something for you, Ms. Bremer. I’ve seen your baby myself. He’s going to need you. Come on, wake up now. Wesley’s going to be hungry soon.”

  Relief and fear mingled in a swampy mess of emotions that had tears tracking down Karma’s face. She leapt into Zig’s arms for a quick hug. “Thank you, thank you!”

  Then she turned to Gwyn and squeezed her hand, hoping and praying for a reaction. Nothing. Her heart sank. She lowered her head to her friend’s hand.

  “Give her time. She’s got a reason to wake up now.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “You’re awake!” Karma said, two days later. Relief flooded through her. She practically tossed the pot of violets she’d been carrying into Gwyn’s room at Zig, then rushed to her friend’s bedside. “I was so worried. We came as soon as we got the call from Nurse O’Bryan.”