Code Red

by Amy Noelle

“Uh, can’t say that I do.”

  “I need to, you know, do some girl things before I can do, well, you.”

  He laughed so hard that several people turned to stare at us. “I adore you, do you know that?”

  Well, that sent a bit of pleasure through the annoyance of him laughing at me. “You do?”

  He touched my cheek, and there it was, that look that made my heart pound. “I very much do. As for the girl things, you can go ahead and do them. I can either wait in your living room or if you want, I can go get us dinner.”

  “On Fridays I have a standing order from Lin’s. It’s a Chinese place over on Fourth. We’ll have to add yours so . . .”

  “I’ll walk over there and get it. I take it they know your name?” He smiled at my sheepish expression. “Okay, then, I’ll pick it up.”

  “I’ll tell Henry to let you up. The door will be unlocked.” Excellent. We had a solid plan. So why was my stomach still doing somersaults? I shouldn’t be nervous now. I’d clean up, we’d eat and watch Supernatural, and finally have sex. No big thing. I was good at sex. Much better than at the rest of this relationship stuff.

  We got off at my stop, and I pointed Josh in the direction of Lin’s. Then I practically sprinted into my building and told Henry to let Josh up. After placing a call to the Chinese place, I did a quick glance around my apartment and felt assured it was passable. I’d been a cleaning fiend lately in the hopes that one of these days he’d finally come inside. It was also a productive way to work out my pent-up sexual frustrations.

  It wasn’t until I got to my bedroom that a new panic hit. What should I wear? Normally I threw on yoga pants and a T-shirt. That certainly wasn’t sexy. I had lingerie, but that seemed a bit forward. And I wasn’t putting on work clothes again. Damn it.

  I stomped into the bathroom, turned on the water, and poured in a healthy dose of my vanilla and lavender bubble bath. Then I grabbed my phone and undressed before slipping into the water and dialing Jen. She answered on the third ring.

  “Hey, Nic, to what do I owe the honor of you calling on Supernatural night?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I have called you on Friday nights before.” It was just always before eight. “I have a crisis.”

  “What kind of crisis?” From her relaxed tone, she didn’t sound like she was taking it too seriously.

  “Josh is coming over, we’re going to have sex, and I don’t know what to wear.” I flipped the phone on speaker so I could start shaving.

  “What?” I was pretty sure I could hear her scream all the way from her house. “He’s coming over tonight? After your show?”

  “Jeez, bust my eardrum why don’t you? No, he’s coming over now. Well, I mean, he’s already over. He’s picking up dinner.”

  There was a long pause as Jen processed the information. I couldn’t blame her. It was a huge break in my routine.

  “Let me get this straight. You invited him over to watch Supernatural with you? A show you once told me was too sacred to share with your best friend?”

  Great. Now she was all offended. I should have called Kim. “I didn’t say that, exactly. It’s just that you ask a lot of questions and talk too much during shows.” She might be insulted, but she knew it was a fact. “That’s not important. What is important is that Josh will be back in about twenty minutes, and I have no idea what to wear.”

  “But how did this happen? I thought you were seeing him tomorrow.”

  “Come on, Jen, focus. I didn’t plan on it. He had a fight with Derek and he was all sexy. After that I just didn’t want to be apart from him, so I asked him to come over. I didn’t know that was the green light he needed to finally have sex with me. If I had, I’d have invited him weeks ago. Or not at all. I don’t know. God, I’m a mess.”

  Jen laughed. “Yeah, you are. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you freak out over sex. You’re like a guy when it comes to that. See, want, do.”

  “Fuck you.” It was true, but still. There was too much buildup this time. If he hadn’t made such a big deal about it, I would be perfectly fine right now. “Are you going to help me or not? Usually I wear comfy clothes, but should I dress up a bit? Wear lingerie? What?” I was trying to keep my temper in check so I didn’t cut up my legs with the razor, but it was difficult.

  “Wear that green satiny tank top thing you love so much. It makes your eyes look awesome. No bra. He’ll see your nipples through that thin material and focus on nothing else all night.” Jen was a genius. I knew I’d called her for a reason. “Pair those with your gray leggings. They show off your ass. No underwear. Easy access all the way around.”

  “I love you,” I said reverently as I finished shaving my right leg.

  “Sure, now you do. I’m not going to forget that you invited him to watch your show and not me. And what do you mean he had a fight with Derek? What happened?”

  I gave her a quick rundown of my confrontation. She spewed a string of curses until I told her about Josh threatening him and being commanding and hot. “Well, damn, I think I just got turned on.”

  I laughed as I washed up. “Are you seeing Ryan tonight?”

  “I didn’t plan to, but I might have to now. He’s working late, but since Josh will be otherwise occupied, maybe I’ll go over there. Do you think he’d fight someone for me?”

  I rinsed off and stood to grab a towel. “He’s a cop. I think he’d shoot someone for you.”

  “Hot,” Jen said. “Very hot. Yeah, you go have fun. I think I have preparing of my own to do.”

  “Have fun. And thank you. I don’t know why I’m freaking out so bad.”

  “Don’t you?” she asked.

  “What does that mean?” I smoothed lotion over my body. There. I felt good. I smelled good. I wouldn’t draw blood with my prickly unshaven legs. I carried the phone out into the bedroom with me and grabbed the tank top and leggings.

  “Never mind. You’ll figure it out.”

  “Jen!”

  She giggled. “Have fun, Nic. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She disconnected before I could press her. There was no time to call her back and harass her about it either, so I pulled on my clothes and brushed my hair. I had no reason to reapply makeup, because I didn’t want to look like a raccoon after a good bout of sweaty sex. Then I pulled my hair up in a ponytail so that it would be out of the way.

  I came out of the bedroom and saw Hunt on top of the refrigerator, glaring at me. He knew something was up. “Hi, baby,” I crooned, hoping to put him in a good mood. I got a kiss when I held up my hand, so that was a good sign. Winchester wound through my ankles, and I bent to give him some love before getting them some food.

  “We have a guest coming tonight and he’s kind of important, so it’d be good if you were on your best behavior.” Hunt flicked his tail, and I took that as a sign of foreboding. “Please don’t bite him. That’s my job.”

  A laugh from behind me had me whirling around. Josh stood there with our bag of Chinese and a big grin on his face. “Are you going to take a bite out of me, Nicole?”

  “How long have you been standing there? See? This is why you need a warning system.” Maybe I could rig the door at work with some kind of alarm.

  “But then I’d miss all the good stuff.” He set the bag of Chinese on the counter and put his arms around me. “I like hearing that I’m kind of important to you.”

  My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. He pulled me close and rested his head against mine. “You smell delicious.”

  My head was spinning now, too. “It’s lavender and vanilla.”

  “Mmmm.” He kissed my neck before releasing me. “Speaking of things that smell good, do you want to eat?” I noticed he was looking at my chest when he said that. Jen was a genius.

  Right. Food. “Sure.” I grabbed some plates and utensils and led the way to the coffee table. “I tend to eat here so . . .”

  “It’s fine, Nic.”

  “Okay. Why don’t you dish it up, and I’ll get us s
omething to drink. Beer?” I needed something to soothe my nerves.

  “Beer’s great, thanks.” He sat, looking perfectly at home on my couch as he started opening cartons. I went into the kitchen and opened beers for both of us. When I hurried back into the living room, Josh was holding Winchester. “I take it this is the nice one, right?”

  I sat next to him and grinned. “Yeah, that’s Win. He likes to worm his way into getting people food.”

  He chuckled and scratched Win’s ears, making him purr. “It looks like he gets it more often than not.”

  I pouted and shrugged. “Well, he gets it sometimes, but not Chinese. No spices.” I pointed to the floor, and Win jumped down.

  “That must be Huntington Peabody the Third, then.” Josh pointed over to where Hunt was now peering at him, green eyes narrowed to slits, ears down.

  “Yeah, that’s Hunt. I apologize in advance for anything he may do to you.”

  Josh chuckled. “Do you promise to kiss wherever he wounds me?”

  I pretended to think about it as I dug into my garlic chicken. Thank God we were at my place. I’d need to brush my teeth pronto. “He once bit a guy right on the ass. I won’t kiss you there.”

  Josh laughed. “Duly noted. Just you wait. I’m going to win him over.”

  I snorted and took a sip of my beer. “Good luck with that.” Hunt loved me, and only me. He tolerated the girls, but he was my baby, and he liked it that way. “What are you eating?”

  “Mongolian beef. Want some?” I nodded and he scooped some onto my plate. We ate in companionable silence and, when we were done, he rinsed and put away the dishes while I brushed my teeth. No more garlic.

  “Want a cookie?” Josh asked when I came back into the room. I burst into giggles and he rolled his eyes and tossed a fortune cookie at me.

  I opened mine and nearly fainted when I read the words. Happy life is just in front of you. Josh raised an eyebrow and held out his hand, so I gave him my slip. He smiled.

  “These things are quite prophetic,” he said.

  I really hoped so. “What does yours say?”

  He handed it to me.

  Love is like a sweet medicine, good to the last drop.

  I laughed nervously as I passed it back to him. “Neither one of us got good fortunes for the ‘in bed’ game.” I said to change the subject. Some freaky voodoo person had obviously given Josh our cookies, and I didn’t want to think about what they were hinting at.

  “What’s the ‘in bed’ game?”

  “You’ve never heard of it?” He shook his head. “Well, you’re supposed to be able to add ‘in bed’ to any fortune, so if you get something like ‘You will be lucky,’ it’s really ‘You will be lucky . . . in bed.”

  Josh laughed and put his arm around me. “Well, let’s hope so.”

  I took a deep breath and turned on the television, since we had only a few minutes until Supernatural. Normally I was chomping at the bit to get to the show, but I wasn’t in any hurry today.

  “Do you have any questions about the show before the episode starts? I can’t guarantee I won’t smack you if I miss anything.” I wouldn’t, but it was a warning I thought I should give.

  He chuckled and shook his head. “No, I’ve been reading up on it some. I think I know what’s going on.”

  I turned to stare at him. “You read up on it?”

  He shrugged. “Well, sure. I wanted to know what you were so into. I’ve actually watched it the last three weeks.”

  I had to kiss him. “That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. Do you like it?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Decent violence for male watchers. Are you a Dean girl or a Sam girl?”

  I giggled. “You have been reading up. Dean, all the way.”

  Josh grinned. “Good, I like him better.”

  “Well, get comfortable. It’s about to start.” I stood and flipped off the lights. He kicked off his shoes and opened his arms to me. I didn’t even need to think about it, I just crawled right in. It wasn’t my routine, but damn if it didn’t feel good to have him holding me as the show began.

  We were both quiet while we watched the boys battle to save the world. He held me close and caressed my neck and shoulder, but he didn’t try to kiss me or distract me at all. That didn’t mean I wasn’t completely aware of him, because I was. My nerves were getting worse and worse as the show went on.

  “That was exhausting,” he said when the show ended. “Do they go through that in every finale?”

  I giggled. “Just about. This was nothing. They’ve had to take on the devil before.”

  “They’re pretty awesome.”

  “So are you.” I turned to sit sideways with my legs over his lap. “You battled a demon for me today.”

  He smiled. “I wouldn’t go quite that far, but he was an asshole.” His hand moved down my leg, and he cupped my ankle. Then he stroked the skin there and my breath caught.

  “It was the sexiest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

  “Is that so? I’ll have to try to improve on that, then.” He kissed me, and I shifted so that I was straddling his lap. He moved his hands around to cup my ass, and I moved against him. It felt so good. I wanted to take him right then and there.

  “Damn,” he said when we broke apart. “It feels like I’ve been waiting years to do this.”

  “That’s because you have been. We could have been doing this for two weeks now.”

  He laughed. “Believe it or not, I’ve enjoyed every moment I’ve spent with you just as much as this one.” I raised an eyebrow, and he grinned. “Okay, nearly as much.”

  I started to tug his shirt off, but he stilled me. “I want to do this right.”

  “Believe me, I know how to do it right. You won’t complain,” I said as I tried to pull my hands away from his grasp.

  Josh shook his head. “Our first time is not going to be with you straddling me on the couch, even though it’s incredibly hot and I’d like to revisit it for our second or maybe third time.” I felt myself getting overheated thinking of all the times after this time.

  I didn’t care. I just wanted to touch him. And I wanted him to touch me. “Okay, whatever,” I mumbled as I bent down to kiss his neck.

  He laughed and stood. I squealed and wrapped my legs around him. “Where are we going?” Was he going to do me against the wall? On the kitchen counter? The mind boggled.

  “To your bed. I want to make love to you properly, and I need plenty of room for that.”

  Make love. My heart started hammering again. Was that what this was? I was so screwed, and not in the way I’d planned.

  Chapter 23

  It didn’t warrant thinking about. We were about to have sex. I didn’t need to cloud it up with words like “make love” and “happy life is just in front of you.” Happiness was going to be his hard cock pounding into me. That was the happy ending I wanted.

  He carried me into my bedroom. No guy had carried me since I was in the second grade and I sprained my ankle on Thanksgiving Day. Plus that had been my dad, so it didn’t have quite the same meaning.

  “Nice room,” he said before leaning down and setting me on the bed. I unwound my legs from his waist and reached for him, but he stepped back. “Let me look at you for a minute.” He raked me over with his eyes, and I swear to God, it felt like he was touching me. Every part of my body screamed for him.

  He smiled as if he knew what he was doing to me. “Do you know I nearly swallowed my tongue when I walked in and saw you? Those pants were enough to kill me, but then you turned around and your breasts were right there. You’re clearly not wearing a bra. You know how to bring a man to his knees, don’t you, Nicole?”

  I shook my head. No. Not this man.

  “You’ve had me since the moment I saw you,” he said. Jesus. I was going to come before he even laid a hand on me.

  I wanted him to devour me, but all he did was kiss me lightly. “Josh, please,” I whispered when he pulle
d away.

  He smiled and lowered himself on top of me. I ran my hands into his hair and pulled him to me. Then I kissed him hard like I needed to be kissed. He grunted but didn’t fight me. I spread my legs and he was right there, right where I wanted him the most. He rocked slowly against me, and my eyes crossed.

  “I want you. Now,” I said and pulled at the collar of his shirt.

  He laughed. “Well don’t strangle me or you can’t have me at all, and that would be a real travesty after all this time.” He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it behind us. I didn’t know where it landed and I didn’t care, because before me was pure perfection. His muscles were defined and beautiful. He had sculpted pecs and yes, God, that was a six pack.

  “You work out,” I said before I could stop myself.

  He grinned, and his hair fell over his eyes. He was irresistible. I wanted to take a picture, but it might have taken us out of the moment. Though it would have been worth it to see the expression on Mandy’s face when I showed it to her.

  “I do. More so now that I live with a cop.” Thank you, Ryan. I’ll buy you new handcuffs.

  “I like it.” I really liked it. I traced my hands over his abs. Josh sucked in a breath and his muscles tensed. So hot.

  “I’m very glad to hear that. Do you work out? Shall I see?” I shook my head in answer to the first and nodded in answer to the second. He laughed. He was straddling me half-naked and laughing.

  He caressed my stomach over my top. “Soft. I bet your skin is even softer.” Then he traced his fingers up between my breasts before putting his hands on me, finally. “Oh yeah, it is.” He dragged one finger along the seam of my tank top. That little touch had me ready to scream.

  “Josh, get on with it!”

  He laughed. “Let me savor this, Nicole. I’ve done nothing but think about it for nearly a month. Do you know how many times I’ve imagined you just like you are now, lying beneath me, looking up at me with those beautiful eyes of yours, begging me to touch you?” He leaned forward and gently tugged my ponytail holder out.

  “There. Your hair was always spread over the pillow in my fantasies. I love your hair.” I was incapable of speech. “It’s so many colors, like it can’t be just one thing. Original, like you.” He was combing his fingers through it and I was dying. There was no way I was going to survive this onslaught of emotion. I was excited and turned on and scared and nervous. Part of me wanted to cry, but another part of me wanted to run because of what his sweet words were doing to me and what they might mean.