by ANDREA SMITH
“Or we could just go and brush our teeth and gargle.”
“Takes too much time,” he said, kissing me sweetly.
I popped a lifesaver into my mouth and dove under the covers. For the next ten minutes, Taz got to see how a blow job felt butterscotch-style.
“My dick is going to be so sticky I probably won’t be able to slide a condom on it.”
This brought a fit of giggles from me and then it suddenly dawned on me: we didn’t have any more condoms. We had used two more last night until the wee hours. I stopped my oral ministrations and popped my head out from under the covers.
“What?” he asked.
“Condoms?”
“Oh shit, that’s right. Well, we’ll just do each other orally,” he replied, “until I can stock up on more.”
“I want to feel you inside of me,” I persisted.
“Lindsey,” he said in a very cautious and warning tone, “let’s not play with fire.”
“Taz, please? We fucked so much last night your sperm count is probably below zero. Besides that, my period is due in like three days, so it isn’t even my fertile period.”
I could tell he wasn’t totally comfortable with the thought of riding bareback. I could see him mentally weighing the pros and cons. Knowing Taz; he was probably running a statistical analysis through his brain.
“How can I refuse you, baby girl?” he finally crooned, kissing me.
I can’t describe how fantastic it was making love with Taz and not having that thin layer of sheepskin between us.
It mattered not that his dick was not ribbed, nor glowed in the dark, or was flavored, spiked with a French tickler or anything else, it was his skin against my skin, and it was beautiful.
We both came with a vengeance unlike all others. I know we were loud. At some point, I think Darcy was pounding against the wall of our adjoining rooms as if to say, “Shut the fuck up.”
We didn’t care. It was all about us and our coupling, and the feel of our skin meeting skin, and how intimate and sexy it felt.
I had never heard Taz moan as loudly as he did when he came this time. It was totally sexy and satisfying to me knowing that he loved the way that I felt.
Afterwards, coated with a thin film of perspiration, we cuddled next to each other. Taz kept kissing the top of my head, his fingers, softly massaging my breasts that were tender as they always got right before my period.
When my alarm sounded five minutes later, we scurried off and showered together, washing each other in a very intimate way.
Something had changed between Taz and me in just twelve short hours. I was afraid to trust it. I felt so good and secure at this very moment. I didn’t want to part with it.
We were both dressing in my room when he checked his iPhone.
“Shit,” he mumbled. “I should have checked this last night. I have some reports to review today, Lindsey. Will you be okay if I drop you at school and then pick you up when you’re finished this afternoon?”
“Of course, Taz, I actually prefer it that way. I’m in no danger at school with a zillion people around.”
“I meant what I said about Kyzer.”
I blushed, turning to him and hugging him.
“Taz, I made a promise to you last night and I meant it.”
“No, sweetheart, I’m talking about you being extremely careful about what you say to him, and paying extra attention to what he says to you, okay.”
My cheeks flushed and my bubble burst. Egg on my face.
“Oh, that,” I snapped. “Of course, Taz.”
I went to leave the bedroom and I was immediately hauled back by his strong arms. I was up against his chest, my palms flat against it.
“I meant what I said and what you promised about the other, baby girl. I just trust you enough that I didn’t feel like I needed to remind you of that.”
He lowered his head, his lips kissing mine.
Great save, Matthews!
Taz dropped me off at my first class, telling me he would be back to pick me up when my last class was finished. He said he had reports to read and would be working out of the apartment. He told me to call if anything seemed strange or out of the ordinary to me.
I agreed and told him I would see him later this afternoon.
I opened the door to the truck to step down and found myself immediately hauled back into his embrace. He planted a major lip lock on me causing me to blush (and smile).
“Lindsey,” he said his eyes very serious, “please be careful and watch what you say, okay?”
I nodded, wondering why he was being so serious at the moment.
“And listen carefully to what is said to you. Hone your sense of recall of conversations, no matter how innocuous it may seem. I will want to know.”
I nodded again, knowing he meant Kyzer, of course.
I jumped down from his truck and headed towards the building. Taz drove off.
I had only walked a few steps when I immediately spotted Kyzer. By the look on his face, I knew he had been watching my interaction with Taz.
He turned from me, a look of total disdain marring his otherwise good looks.
“Kyzer, wait,” I called after him, speeding up my pace to catch up. “I need to explain.”
“Explain what, Lindsey?” he asked, sounding very disappointed and sad. He was still walking.
“Kyzer, please stop for a minute, I want to explain.”
He halted right then and there and turned to look at me. I felt badly for the look of hurt I saw on his face, knowing that I was responsible for it.
“Explain why you lied to me yesterday about his feelings for you and your apparent feelings for him?”
“I know that’s how it looks, but I didn’t lie. A lot happened last night that even I don’t understand myself, Kyzer. I’m new at this. I’ve not had any serious relationships before. I wanted you to be someone I could explore that with.”
“Evidently, I’m not the person you want anymore.”
“Kyzer, I’m sorry. I really am.”
I didn’t know what more I could say. I couldn’t tell him that Taz and I had something serious going, because I wasn’t sure that we did.
All I was sure of at the moment was that the chemistry between Taz and me was undisputable.
It was new territory for me sexually, and for Taz, it was undeniably new territory for him emotionally.
I knew that I was emotionally attached to Taz in a very guarded way. My instincts told me that Taz was fighting the attachment because it was foreign to him until now. He was apprehensive at best.
“Lindsey, there is no need to apologize. You feel what you feel. I can’t fault you for that. If things change between you and whatever-he-is to you, I would always welcome another chance.”
“Oh, Kyzer,” I replied, putting my hand on his shoulder. “I’m not sure where any of this is going, but I hope you and I are still friends.”
“Absolutely,” he said with a faint smile. “You can never have too many friends. You’ve come to be a very important one to me. I’m grateful for that.”
“Do you want to meet for lunch today?” I asked.
“Of course, Lindsey.”
We both parted ways, going to our individual classes. I thought about how well Kyzer had ultimately reacted once he knew that I hadn’t lied to him yesterday.
I bumped into Darcy on the way to my first class. I suspected she had gone out of her way to run into me since her first class was in a different building.
“Well, well,” she said, getting a shit-eating grin going. “I’m surprised to see you made it to school today. No, strike that, I’m surprised to see that you’re even able to walk today after the workout you had going all night long.”
She started giggling as I looked at her trying to maintain a serious demeanor, but not managing to do so.
“Whatever, Darcy,” I said with a smile. “It’s not as if both you and Jill haven’t kept me awake all night on many occasions. I guess
it was finally my turn, right?”
“Yeah, I would say it is definitely about time. You two were rocking it, that’s for damn sure. I didn’t know you even knew those kinds of words, Linds.”
She managed to get a blush out of me on that one.
“So what are you going to do about Kyzer?”
“He already knows,” I replied. “He saw Taz pull me back for a kiss this morning in the truck.”
“No shit? Well a picture is worth a thousand words, so I guess he got the message.”
“We talked about it. He said something to me just yesterday about Taz having feelings for me.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of obvious,” she said, shaking her head.
“Not to me,” I replied.
“Oh, come on, Lindsey. Even with your naiveté, you have to see the writing on the wall. Dude has done everything but piss around the perimeter of our apartment to mark his territory.”
I couldn’t suppress a smile at the visual I got from her comment. Still, she didn’t see the look in Taz’s eyes when he asked me what we were doing last night.
“You didn’t hear him going off that first night he arrived when you were out with Kyzer.”
“Darcy, he was pissed because I left the apartment that was what all that was about.”
“Not true,” she replied.
“He was fine when I told him you went out and asked that I stay and wait for the agent that was coming. It was a little later, after that second agent left with the box of roses that he inquired about the specifics of where you had gone. So, I told him. That was when dude came unhinged.”
“Well, I guess time will tell. He’s kind of complicated. By the way, have you heard from Darin?”
“Just every day about four or five times; we’re getting together this weekend. I’m driving home.”
“That’s fantastic,” I replied. “And how is Jill?”
“She’s recovered pretty much. By the way, she stayed with Gabe last night. She told me to tell you Taz could crash in her room for the next couple of nights. I guess that won’t be necessary though.”
I shook my head at Darcy.
“Got to get to class, Darce. I’ll see you later at home, okay?”
“I’ll be there,” she called after me. “I’m hoping to get some sleep tonight.”
CHAPTER 26
(Taz)
I stretched out on the sofa in the apartment with my laptop, downloading the forensic analysis report that had come in yesterday evening.
I had been too distracted with ‘other things’ to review it. I generally made it a point to avoid those types of distractions when it came to my work.
Who the hell was I kidding? Lindsey was not what I was used to in a woman, by any means. It was more than the physical part of it, though that part was superior to anything I had experienced before. It was also the emotional part that had crept up on me with her. It was making me crazy. I was out of my element in this.
Having her curled around me in bed was something foreign to me. I kept my life simple for a reason.
The chicks that had come and gone before her were in my bed for one reason and one reason only: to fuck once or twice during their visit and then pack it up and go home. I didn’t host sleepovers. That was not my style, or least it hadn’t been up until now.
Even when Lindsey was in my bed at home, I hadn’t wanted her to leave it. I had been curious to see what it would be like to have her wake up right beside me. It hadn’t happened there, but it had happened here and I liked it. I liked it a lot.
I didn’t know what the hell I was doing with her, but I sure as hell knew that Slate wouldn’t dig it.
If my best friend would have an issue with it, I didn’t want to think how Sammie would feel about it. That was probably the only reason Slate would have an issue. He knew that Sammie wanted a different type of guy for Lindsey.
As much as Sammie loved Slate, and it was totally obvious that she adored him, I knew she was uncomfortable with his work, and rightfully so.
Slate was the best of the best in his line of work at the bureau. He adored Sammie right back, and at times, I had seen him lose his edge for a minute because of concern for her or the mere distraction.
That had sealed the deal for me. If I hadn’t been absolutely certain before, I was positive now seeing those two and the commitment they had, to know I was doing the right thing by not getting emotionally involved with a chick.
Then Lindsey came along and it appeared as if she was tearing all of my resolve and best laid plans to shreds.
It wasn’t even that she had set out to do it. There wasn’t a deceptive or calculating bone in that beautiful body. She had always been upfront and brutally honest about herself with me.
I had to shake those thoughts of her from my mind. I was semi-hard just thinking about her. I needed to focus on this technical shit in front of me, and put my ‘Poindexter’ hat on to interpret the analysis and try to draw a conclusion.
I scanned through the several page report which listed the subject matter being analyzed, what types of instrumentation was being used for testing, how it was calibrated, the testing media, yada, yada, yada. I hated all of the preliminary crap that was required to be included for forensic purposes.
Okay, here we go.
In layman’s terms, the roses were dissected and various parts of the stems and petals were prepped for slides to be microscopically examined. The examination revealed that the roses were actually the Red Freedom variety, readily available from any florist. They had simply been dipped in a commercially available navy blue die to create the blackness.
I figured that was something that could very easily have been accomplished by the rat bastard or the Poindexter that was hot after my girl.
Fuck that shit, Taz. Get your head out of your ass and keeping reading for Chrissake!
I continued to peruse down through the report and something amid all of the technical jargon caught my attention.
A residual powdered substance was taken from several of the rose stems, and sent for a high performance liquid chromatography analysis. The results of the testing revealed that the powdered substance was identified as cathine, a derivative of cathinone, a Schedule 1 amphetamine.
Cathine is a less powerful stimulant as a result of de-potentiation and the bio physiological conversion of the ketonic atoms through oxidation.
Fuck! Didn’t Lindsey say that Poindexter was doing some science project on this very same topic?
I launched myself off the sofa immediately, shrugging my jacket on and grabbing my keys to head out. I was going to pull her ass out of whatever class she was in and bring her home.
My cell phone chimed. It was Slate. Shit!
“Slate,” I answered, “I was just on my way out.”
“Did you review the forensic lab report, Taz?”
“As a matter of fact, I just finished.”
“Does any of that shit make sense to you?”
I needed to tell him everything I knew. He wasn’t going to like the fact that I had allowed Lindsey to go off with a potential suspect in this whole incident with the roses.
There was still no connection to Jack. So officially, if the line couldn’t be drawn connecting him, the FBI had no business in this case.
“Yeah, I guess the bottom line is that someone is stepping on some amphetamine creating some type of designer drug that for reasons unknown, got sprinkled on the stems of those roses.”
“Yeah, I gathered that. Though it appears the amount and strength of the powder was nowhere near a lethal level.
"Even if someone had ingested every single rose stem, which is plain idiocy, it wouldn’t have caused much harm. It’s a message of some sort to someone. I’m not even sure that message was for Lindsey.”
I hadn’t considered that.
“For whom, then?”
“Perhaps Sammie, through Lindsey; maybe even Jack.”
“So, you’re thinking Jack is back in the states, his wh
ereabouts unknown to everyone?”
“It’s possible. If he is, someone wants to find him other than us for reasons still unclear. They might have suspected that Lindsey was harboring him, or at the very least, knows how to get in touch with him.”
“There is one other thing, Slate.”
I filled him in on the portion of the report that was nearly verbatim to what Kyzer Stanfield had told Lindsey was to be the content of his upcoming science project.
“Shit Taz; that is too close for comfort. I think Lindsey needs to take a break from school until we figure out what this kid is about. He can’t know why, though. It has to sound plausible, so he isn’t spooked.”
“Yeah, I know. Dude already knows I don’t like him.”
“Why’s that?” Slate asked.
Shit.
“Probably the same reason as you, Slate. He triggers something in our instincts. He fucking transferred to U of V at the beginning of the term last fall, the same time Lindsey enrolled. You should see his fucking college transcripts; all science classes, including one botanical something or other.”
“How did you see his transcripts?”
Uh oh.
“It’s better you don’t know, Slate.”
“Right.”
I was anxious to change that particular subject so I brought up a valid concern.
“You know Lindsey is going to pitch a fit about her taking a leave from school when the semester just started. How is that supposed to play out?”
“You know protocol, Taz. You can’t tell her a thing about what we know or what’s in that report. You tell her she’s needed at home for a while. Her mother is having some health issues.”
“Fuck Slate, I’m not going to lie to her and get her all upset so that she makes a beeline home under false pretenses like that.”
“It’s not a lie,” he replied. “I can’t get into it right now, Taz, and besides that, Lindsey needs to hear about the specifics from her mother and me. We will be making the trip home Friday. We should arrive sometime Friday evening. Can you follow Lindsey back so I don’t have to worry about that?”
I could hear the concern and anguish in Slate’s voice. I wanted to find out what the hell was wrong with Sammie and how serious it might be. He wasn’t in the mood for questions and I respected the fact that he felt Lindsey should hear it before anyone else.
