“You don’t need to tell me twice. I’m getting in the cab as we speak, so I’ll be there soon. I’m looking forward to some TLC,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Mike,” she swallowed, “I love you.”
“I love you, baby. It’s okay. I’ll be there in 10 or 15 minutes, okay?”
“Okay.” She wanted to cry.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m almost there.”
“Hurry.”
“You’re always wanting me to hurry,” he chuckled. “I’m on my way, Em.”
They disconnected and she waited for him to arrive, her mind racing in a million different directions. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t thought about the reality of his job. Every day he was out there, he could be killed. The thought literally made her sick. She actually had to run to the bathroom to empty her stomach, the fear was so great.
When her intercom went off she buzzed him up and opened the door, waiting for him in the hallway. A moment later, she saw him get off the elevator and turn the corner toward her and she covered her mouth to hold in her sob. She’d never been so happy to see him.
He walked to her, giving her a tender look and when he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her close. Paying special attention not to apply pressure to his ribs, she kept her arms loose and nuzzled and kissed his chest through his shirt, then looked up at him.
“I’m so glad to see you,” she whispered, tears in her eyes.
“Me too.” He kissed her softly. “Take me inside.”
She held his hand and brought him into her apartment. “Have you eaten?”
He shook his head, then pulled her to him again. At that point she couldn’t hide it in anymore and she started to cry, holding onto him for dear life.
“Shh. I always have the vest on,” he said, quietly stroking her hair.
She was so overcome with fear and emotion that she couldn’t speak. When she was able to regain control, she pulled back noting the wet spot on his shirt. She put her hand on it then whispered. “Let me make you something to eat.”
He didn’t argue and finally let her go. He used the bathroom while she whipped up a huge omelet and several slices of buttered toast. When he emerged from the bathroom, his hair was still wet.
“Did you take a shower?” she asked, thinking of his bandages.
“No. Just dunked my head under the sink a bit when I was washing my face.”
“Here. Eat something,” she ordered softly, pulling him to sit at the small table off the kitchen.
“This looks great. Thanks.” He sat and plowed through the meal quickly, all the while touching her hand or looking at her.
“As soon as you’re done, we’re going to bed. You need to rest. Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“Nope. I’m done ’til Monday.”
She looked at him, her heart in her eyes. “Okay. I’m gonna work from home tomorrow.”
He cocked his head. “You don’t need to do that.”
She put up her hand before he could finish. “Joe let’s us work from home and when I tell him you’ve been shot, I’m sure he’ll understand,” she said sounding annoyed. “So, I’m staying home.”
He smiled sweetly at her, willing her to calm down. “Em, I’m okay.”
“I’m staying home,” she practically growled.
“Okay.” His eyes twinkled. “I like getting TLC from you.”
She got up to clear his plate. “Yeah, well you didn’t need to get shot in order for me to give it to you, you know,” she grumbled.
She heard his chuckle then heard him get up and walk up behind her. He touched her back as she put the plate in the sink.
“Are you pissed at me?”
She let out a huge exhalation then turned to him, her back leaning against the counter. “No. I’m not pissed at you. I’m,” she began, trying to be honest. “I’m just scared. That call from Lacey took a couple of years off my life, that’s all.”
He nodded and touched her face. “I’m sorry he called you.”
If he hadn’t been shot at, she would’ve pushed at him. “No, Mike. He absolutely should’ve called me.”
He put up his hand as if to stop her tirade before it began. “I didn’t mean you shouldn’t have been told. I just meant it would’ve been better for me to tell you in person so you could really see I’m okay.”
She breathed out a sigh and looked down. “I’m sorry. This is just really new for me. I hadn’t been thinking about your job and the realities there. I don’t know why. It seems so stupid now that I think about it.”
He reached his hand under her chin forcing her to look at him. “It’s not stupid. Nothing like this has ever happened for us to talk about it. Let’s go to bed, Em. We’ll cuddle,” he smiled, “and you can take off those god awful flannels, and we’ll talk if you want. Or we’ll sleep. Whatever you want.”
She let out a shaky breath, stood on her toes and kissed him. “Let’s go to bed.”
They did. While holding each other, Emily thought about one more question as their limbs were entwined and her head rested above the binding over his rib.
“Have you ever been shot before?” she asked quietly.
His hand rested in her hair and rubbed at her scalp. “No. Which is really something considering I’ve been doing this for a while.”
She looked at him. “Were you scared?”
He thought for a moment. “Yes and no. I knew I had the vest on so in that sense I felt safe. Plus there’s this girl? She’s been teaching me some moves at a Krav Maga studio and so my game has been getting better,” he said with a smirk in his voice.
She smiled but said, “I’m serious.”
“I know. There’s always an adrenaline spike when we go into those unpredictable situations. But you never really believe something will happen to you.”
He got quiet for a few moments until he finally continued by saying, “It kinda makes me think of my job differently now that I have you. I have a tremendous amount to lose if something happens to me.”
His words touched her deeply and she reached out to caress his mouth. He didn’t say anymore and she didn’t ask him to expand. Instead, she leaned up and kissed him and they both went to sleep.
……
All day Friday, Emily pampered Mike, making him meals, going with him to his apartment to get clothes, making sure he could shower around his binding which he complained incessantly he didn’t need. In essence, she needed to be with him, just be close to him and love him. The realization hit her that the TLC was for both of them.
He called his parents, Janie, Jeremy, Luke...then when he was exhausted by relaying the story for what felt like the billionth time, he turned to Emily in excitement.
“Let’s go to the Krav Maga studio tonight like we planned,” Mike said, as it was now late afternoon.
“Are you frickin’ crazy?! You’re not working out tonight, Callahan.”
“Well, I don’t have to workout, but I can watch you workout.” He smiled lustily. “Besides, my ribs don’t feel that bad.”
“There’s no way you’re going to the mat with anyone tonight,” she said pointing her finger at him.
“Come on, let’s get outta here. We’ve been locked up in here all day and you know you wanna workout tonight,” he said. “Come on,” he said slapping his thighs as if talking to a dog.
She rolled her eyes. He knew he had her when she started to laugh at his antics. “If you want to, we’ll go.”
“Nice. Come on.” He got up quickly and didn’t even flinch. Maybe he hadn’t bruised his ribs too badly after all.
When they arrived at the studio, Jose came over to say hi while Emily dumped her stuff in the locker room. By the time she’d made it back out, Mike was leaning against the wall watching her, a smile hovering over his lips and their eyes practically devouring each other. She gave him a smirk and a once over with her eyes then she and Jose began sparring.
After about 15 minutes,
Mike walked over when they were breaking and before Emily could say a word, he nearly stripped her with his eyes. The heat was palpable as he placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her in for a teasing kiss. Jose chuckled.
“Should I just leave you two at it? The next class won’t start for another ten minutes. You may be able to get in a quickie.”
Emily gave Jose a dirty look, but her body was snapping with sexual energy. She couldn’t wait until Mike was healed. He looked absolutely edible in his black sweats and gray tight t-shirt showing off his lean muscular build. She wanted to lick him all over.
“Nah. We’ll need a lot longer than ten minutes,” Mike joked, pulling Emily in for another kiss. This time she pushed him away playfully. Carefully of course.
“Well, you’ll need more than ten minutes if you’re doing it with that injury. Make sure you go easy on ’im, Em,” Jose joked. She wasn’t sure if he was referring to the sex or the sparring. Apparently Jose had asked why Mike wasn’t doing anything and he shared what had happened.
“I could take her,” Mike said confidently.
“Ooh, those are fightin’ words,” Jose teased, further stoking the embers of challenge.
“Testosterone,” she muttered. “And you’re not getting on the mat tonight, Detective, so don’t even think about it.”
“Just some light sparring, GC. Come on. We’ll go slow. I really do feel okay. It’s only a little sore.”
She gave him an exasperated look.
“Come on,” he said, a gleam in his eye.
“You’re impossible, you know that?”
He turned to Jose and said, “That means I won.” He smiled.
“If you feel any twinges, we’re stopping,” she said seriously.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a salute.
She shook her head again with exasperation. “Come on, then,” she said leading him to a mat.
He rubbed his hands together and licked his chops. “Gladly,” he said following her. “How ya feelin’?” he murmured when they were finally on the mat facing each other off.
“So, so. I’ve got some built up energy that needs to be released.”
“I think I can help with that.”
“Let’s go then, Detective,” she taunted. “You asked for it.” She found a stance then bounced on her toes.
His eyes twinkled as he crouched slightly, preparing himself. She bounced on the balls of her feet two or three times more, then pounced. He was ready for her, deflecting her kicks and hits and giving back more than she was expecting. It looked like he was feeling okay but she started to pull back a little just in case.
“Don’t pull back,” he groused at her.
“Light sparring, Detective.”
“You’re a spoilsport,” he whined playfully.
“Mike, I’m serious. How do you feel? Really.”
He answered by throwing two consecutive kicks at her.
She deflected and continued along, always conscious of not making him fight too hard, but he was holding his own. Not wincing, which was a good sign.
A few moments into their set, she said, “It looks like you’re doing okay. And you got some new moves.”
“I told you I felt good. ‘I got the moves like Jagger,’ baby.” He smacked his lips. “And they’re not new moves. Now that I’m convinced you can defend yourself better than any man, I’ve decided not to hold back.”
“Oh, so that’s what you’ve been doing all these times on the mat? You’ve been holding back?” She landed two kicks in quick succession to the side of his thighs. “And all this time, I thought you were just losing.”
He chuckled and went at her, moving her up the mat with his moves. She easily flipped, turned and avoided each of his hits. She laughed out loud, she was having such a good time with him.
She became momentarily distracted by his arm tattoo and he was able to knock her off her feet.
Shit. Pay attention, Emily.
She scrambled immediately to get up, but he was quick, using a wrestling move to keep her on the ground. His arms were folding her body in half and pinning her shoulders to the mat.
“Who’s losing now, GC?” he said in between breaths.
She kicked out her legs and dislodged herself only for a moment, but it was enough to roll away before he grabbed at her leg again. Their grunts could be heard throughout the room while the class nearby had finally started. Emily threw a hand out to stun him across the neck, but he leaned back so she missed.
She growled in frustration and he chuckled, which just pissed her off even more. She was trying to be aware of his rib while bucking him off slightly so his head leaned forward. Once it did she was able to land a hit with both hands to the sides of his neck as lightly as she could so she didn’t hurt him, but still stunning him so he released her.
He let out a sound and shook his head, allowing her time during his disorientation to disentangle and get to her feet.
“You okay?” she asked when he finally got up. “Mike,” she said, worried when he hadn’t answered her immediately. She huffed, now angry with herself. “I knew we shouldn’t have done this.”
He waved his hand pushing her comment away. “You’re a demon with that neck slap thing. It gets me every time.”
She smiled recalling his nickname for her during their rematch and every time they sparred.
“We can stop if you want,” she said.
He came at her again and they spent the next several minutes working up a sweat until they were both gulping for air. By this time, they had attracted an audience from the class only a few yards away and everyone was avidly watching them.
Jose yelled over to Emily, “When are you gonna start teaching those classes?”
She smiled. “We’ll talk.”
“Glad to see you’re feeling okay,” Jose yelled to Mike then he turned back to Emily. “Bring the giant with you,” Jose said, nodding toward Mike. “You’d make good partners to show the kids how they can even beat up the big guys.” Jose smiled and gave Mike a teasing look.
“Hey! I heard that!” Mike yelled good naturedly and the students in the class laughed. Then he walked over and hooked his arm around Emily’s neck pulling her in. “Come on, babe. Let’s go get some grub.”
They both took quick showers in the locker room and changed into clean sweats, then headed to pick up some food to take back to her place. He kissed her and played with the damp strands of her hair while waiting for the taxi, while in the taxi, while getting the food… By the time they arrived to her apartment, he put the food down on the kitchen counter then pulled her in for the kiss he’d been wanting to give her since they’d been at the studio.
And she was ready. She pulled him down further to meet her lips, then wound her arms around his neck.
“Get up on the counter,” he urged, helping her up. She hopped up and immediately pulled him in between her legs pressing into him, rubbing her feet up and down his thighs.
“I’ve been missing you,” he murmured in between small nibbles and licks to her mouth. They obviously hadn’t had sex since before his shooting, and the night before there was no way she was going to touch him that way. She’d been so scared of him hurting his rib further.
His hand came around her neck and stroked while his other reached around her back drawing her tightly against him.
“I’ve been missing you, too. How are you feeling?”
He was kissing her neck by this point. “I feel good enough to take you here and now, I’ll tell ya that much.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely, positively. Oh, and I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this all day,” he picked his head up to look at her then interrupted himself, taking a moment to stare into her eyes. “Gimme a sec,” he whispered while he looked at her.
She reached up and touched his cheek, enjoying his perusal of her eyes and face.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, nuzzling his mouth with hers.
“I just
like to look at you. You’re easy on the eyes, Em.”
“Yeah?” she smiled and kissed him.
“Yeah,” he breathed, then kissed her again.
She started laughing. “What did you forget to tell me?”
“Sorry. Your eyes always distract me. They make me think dirty thoughts,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose. “The guys decided that we wanted to get together one more time tomorrow with Rene and Mo before meeting with the students next week.”
“Okay,” she nodded.
“Come with me.” He looked so sexy making that command.
“I would love to come with you.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips.
“Good. And go to the training with me tomorrow, too.”
She groaned at his joke and rolled her eyes.
He smiled, then without warning he slid his hands down the back of her Yoga pants and scooted them down her ass until her cheeks hit the cool counter.
“Wow,” she whispered, getting excited. “It looks like someone is hungry.”
He licked his lips, reached back and pulled off her flip flops then pulled her pants and panties down her legs.
She pulled up his shirt and leaned forward to kiss the bandage over his rib.
“Are you sure -?”
He answered by helping her pull his shirt the rest of the way off. His hands skimmed up her torso and were filled with her breasts. He played with her hardened nipples which poked through her lace bra and tank top, putting one in his mouth then moving to the next, nibbling. He left wet spots on her shirt.
She pulled at his hair, pushing into his hips and rubbing herself against his sweatpants while sinking her teeth behind his ear.
He ground into her while he continued touching her nipples over the fabric, scratching lightly with his nails. The friction was so delicious she could barely focus her eyes. She sucked his lip into her mouth and bit down.
That seemed to push them both past the point of reason. He began kissing her voraciously, letting one hand slide behind and under her ass cheek, and finding her wetness there. He plunged two fingers in and she yelled into his mouth, moving her hips into his fingers. She reached her hand between his legs and squeezed him, furiously pushing his sweats down to free him into her palm.
Revelation: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series) Page 32
