He found her perched on the steps to her building. "Min, why aren't you on your way to work? I waited for you at the place. We're gonna be late."
"You go on, I'm just gonna stay here." Mindy chirped, a little too enthusiastically.
Danny stood on the bottom stair and regarded her sceptically. "On the stairs?"
"Yep, it's a nice day. I'm going to sit on the steps all day."
"What? It's freezing!" As he examined her more closely he could see her shivering. "You're shaking. Jesus, and you're sweating. Are you okay?"
She let out a huge sigh and pointed down at her right foot, which she'd been hiding behind one of the myriad bags she carried most days. Why she needed to change clothes so often he'd never know.
A broken high heel dangled from her toe, her ankle clearly too swollen to go back into the shoe. His heart skipped a beat. "You're hurt."
"It's just a sprain," she said quickly.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I don't need your help. I'll be fine."
"You need someone's help. I think you're in shock."
"Quit being so dramatic. You're a doctor, you know this isn't shock. Go away. You have work and I have to get upstairs and put some ice on this."
"Oh yeah, how are you gonna do that? You can't even make it back inside."
She puffed up indignantly. "I can, I was just resting."
"All right. If you can make it to the door I'll go to work and you're on your own."
"Fine." She threw him an irritated glare and braced herself, turning to her left, one palm flat on the step, the other holding her long coat away from the ankle as she tried to get up. She sucked in a sharp breath and folded.
He leapt up the final few stairs to reach her. "Min, don't do this."
"Just give me a minute." She looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears and he had the ridiculous urge to kiss them away.
He couldn't let her go on like this. "Give me your keys."
"What? Why?"
"I'm going to take all your stuff up to your apartment, and then I'm coming back for you."
Looking defeated, she just handed him her whole handbag. "Everything's in there."
"What about your phone? Keep your phone, just in case."
"I don't know where my phone is, I think I dropped it over the side of the rail when I fell."
"So that's why this isn't all over Tweeter?"
Mindy rolled her eyes. "It's Twitter and you know it is. Could you look?"
A quick search uncovered her phone, which he handed to her. He grabbed her other bags and started digging through her purse to find her keys. "How do you ever do you ever find anything in this?"
"Look for the keychain. It's a giant gummi bear."
"So it is," he replied drily, keys now in hand. He unlocked the security door and turned to check on her one last time before going up. "I'll be back."
She grimaced at his horrible, horrible Terminator impression. "So lame."
He smiled and literally ran for the stairs.
. . . .
When he returned she was actually on the top step, presumably having managed to scoot herself a little now that she wasn't burdened with bags. Propping the door open, he bent down to help her balance on her good leg. "I told you I was fine," she grumbled.
"Min, you're gonna have to lose the high heel."
"And put my bare foot on the disgusting ground? No thank you."
"Have it your way." In one quick motion he swept her into his arms.
"Danny, put me down! You'll throw your back out and we'll both end up in the hospital."
"I'm not going to throw my back out. I can lift way more than you."
"Damnit, Danny this is ridiculous." Her protest was weak when he could see the creeping blush color her cheeks.
"I agree, which is why you need to stop wiggling and let me get you into the elevator. I'll put you down in when we're inside."
She went still in his arms, but he could still feel her breath against his neck as she huffed angrily. It was distracting, but a little less so than the wiggling had been. He stepped into the elevator and turned her toward the panel. "Push the button. My hands are full."
She slapped at the button and as the door began to close he gently lowered her so she could put her good foot down and use the rails along the walls for balance. Her injured foot brushed the floor as she tested it and she collapsed with a moan.
He scooped her up again and this time she didn't even protest. She leaned her head against his shoulder and let out a little sob. He pushed her door open gently with his elbow and moved slowly to make sure he didn't accidentally bash her foot against anything.
"You left my apartment wide open?" she sniffled.
"You leave your apartment open all the time." He carried her directly to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. "I'm going to call the office and let them know we're not coming in."
"Don't be silly. I'm safe in bed. Go to work."
"I'll be the judge of that. You haven't even let me examine you yet."
"I'm not letting you 'examine' me, you perv."
"I'm not a perv, I'm a medical doctor and you're going to sit still while I take care of some things," he replied gruffly. His mind may have wandered a bit as he'd laid her in the bed, her ruffled hair and rumpled clothes evoking some memories that were not for here and now.
"Fine. You're the boss." She looked tired, but there was a sparkle in her eyes that said she knew she was pushing his buttons now.
Making a quick circuit of her apartment he gathered supplies. When he returned to the bedroom he handed her a little bottle and a glass of water. "Here, I found some vicodin. You didn't have any ice, so you'll have to make due with a bag of frozen tatertots until I get back."
"Where are you going?"
"To get some ice and some ibuprofen. I'll be back in like 20 minutes."
As he grabbed ridiculous the gummi bear keychain he heard her shout behind him. "Don't forget ice cream!"
. . . .
He half expected her to have already passed out by the time he got back, she never could handle pain medication. Instead she was hovering precariously at the closet door, surrounded by discarded clothing. "Jesus, what are you doing?"
"Relax, it's nothing you haven't seen."
He put down the bags in her kitchen. "You're going to hurt yourself again. I want you back in the bed, right away."
"You are just loving this aren't you?"
"You being hurt?"
"Ordering me around."
"No, I'd rather you were fine and we were both at work."
"You could still go."
"Not until I examine you."
"This again?"
"Get in the bed, you're supposed to have that ankle elevated. I've got to make an ice pack. I'll bring some ibuprofen too."
"Fine, I'll put my foot up." Danny watched as she hopped her way pitifully back towards the bedroom. When it was clear she managed fine on her own he returned to the task at hand.
Ice pack and ibuprofen in hand, Danny pushed the bedroom door open. "Listen, you're not invincible. Just because the vicodin dulled the pain doesn't mean it's safe for you to..." he trailed off when he caught sight of her. She had her foot elevated as promised, but in the tiny camisole and matching panties she looked exactly like she was posing for a lingerie catalog. Her thigh was at that angle she thought was flattering (and frankly was flattering.) The camisole had slipped up and he could see quite a bit of skin, skin that he wished he didn't know so well. Skin he wished he'd known a little better.
"I know I'm not invincible, but I had to change clothes. If I'm spending the day in bed, I am going to be comfortable."
He swallowed hard. "Well, you certainly look...comfortable. Take these."
She looked at the proffered pills, and let her eyes linger on his hands. He felt her gaze as it travelled slowly up his body to stop first at his lips, then his eyes. "You know what would make me feel a lot better?"
He could feel his ears getting hot. She knew him too well not to be able to read him so he tried to cover with anger, which wasn't entirely a lie. He thrust the pills at her. "Stop messing around, Mindy."
She took the pills from him. "It doesn't hurt nearly as bad as the time I sprained it in the steam room. I still have the brace if I need it."
"Where is it?" he asked, thankful for a distraction, but having a little trouble keeping his mind off of how she sprained it last time.
"In my closet, first drawer as you walk in." He felt her watching him as he walked away. He returned with the brace and went down on one knee at the end of the bed to get a closer look at her ankle. He rubbed his hands together to make sure they weren't too cold and lifted her foot carefully, pushing and flexing to test the range of motion, fingers gently prodding for any sign that they needed an x-ray today. She gasped a little, which made it even harder to concentrate, but he strapped her into the brace, his face carefully blank. "Can you move okay, is that too tight?"
She lifted her leg gingerly, and before he knew what was happening she'd swung it over his head and it was resting on his shoulder, his face now only inches from her inner thigh. He didn't want to move quickly and risk hurting her injured leg, but he could feel the heat radiating from her. Now he was plenty pissed off. "What are you doing? I told you to stop messing around. You're going to get yourself hurt worse."
"I'm not messing around, Danny," she purred at him, her eyes dark.
He couldn't help what happened next, it's just biological. He closed his eyes and tried to think of anything else, but she dropped the other leg over his shoulder and bent it, pulling his head toward her and oh God, he could smell her. "You are stoned on pain pills, you've had a big adrenaline rush, you just want someone, it doesn't have to be me. It shouldn't be me."
"Let me ask you something, Danny. When you were in the hospital, begging me to touch you, did you just want someone, or did you want me?"
"That was different," he whispered hoarsely, opening his eyes again. He could have moved at any moment, gently tucked her back into the bed, but if he stood right now she'd know she had him and he had to stop this before it got complicated. "It was different."
Her lips formed a little pout, but her eyes were too sharp for this to be about pain pills. "You didn't answer my question. Did you want someone, or did you want me?"
"You." He looked down. "I wanted you."
"But you don't want me now?" she asked frankly. "Don't try to lie, I can see how red your ears are."
Danny sighed. "Fuck, Mindy. You know I do."
"Then do something." She raised her eyebrows and nodded at him.
He turned his head, his lips now brushing the soft skin of her inner thighs. As he exhaled he could feel her shiver and saw the goosebumps crawl across her skin. He slid his hands up to her hips, and pulled her hard to his mouth. She cried out and he paused with her only inches from his lips. "Did I hurt you, do you want me to stop?"
"Don't you dare stop now," she panted, her head thrown back.
The soft silkiness of her underwear was nothing compared to the prize just beneath, but if she wanted to play games he'd play too. Instead of moving her panties aside he opened his mouth wide and latched over her, the flat of his tongue pushing through the fabric to tease the sweet center of her.
He felt her fingers weave into his hair and she rode his mouth, for several long moments before she let out a frustrated groan and pulled his hair, his whole head away from her. "What are you doing?"
Turning his head he drug his lips up her thigh, his tongue flicking out to taste her skin. "What does it feel like?"
"It feels like you're fucking with me," she gasped, breathless.
"You better believe I'm fucking with you. Now are you gonna keep complaining or are you gonna let me finish what I started?"
She pulled his head back to her in answer and ground hard against his mouth, flattening his nose, filling his senses, weakening his resolve. His fingers caught the lacy edges of her panties and he ripped.
"Danny! Those were new!"
"They were in my fucking way," he growled as he finally claimed the prize he'd denied himself. She writhed under his hands as he held her to him, his tongue delving deep, tasting her, tracing every sweet part of her. She tasted so good, and as her moans began to match his rhythm he allowed himself to touch her, his fingers sliding in so smoothly, her excited gasp winding his body too tight like a coil. His stomach clenched, his head dropping a little and a groan escaped him, which is when she came right on his tongue, like a miracle.
The room was completely silent but for their breathing. He didn't even give her a chance to get her breath back before he settled her back onto the bed, kissing his way back up her body. Sliding her camisole over her head, he paused to enjoy the view.
"You are so beautiful." He stood slowly and his voice came out hushed like he was in church. How could she have denied any man the chance to see her naked?
Her cheeks bloomed with color again. "Why am I the only naked one here?"
"As you wish," he replied simply and stripped his shirt off.
"Holy shit," she giggled. "You cannot use movie lines on me. It's not fair. Westley is my Kryptonite."
Danny kicked his shoes off and pulled his jeans and boxers off in one smooth motion, stepping out of them to crawl onto the bed. She spread her knees a little, welcoming him to rest between her legs, but only rest. He held himself away and lowered his head to focus on her breasts, his tongue and lips traveling her body again. "Says the woman who just begged me to fuck her. Beautiful women are my Kryptonite."
"Oh my God, why is that working on me?" She gasped as his lips touched her throat. "I should be so fucking offended."
As he dragged his open mouth over her neck, along her jaw he realized he hadn't kissed her yet. It had been too long, and it felt too intimate. He had been prepared to have sex with her, but once he kissed her he couldn't turn back. He'd have to admit what he wanted, to make love to her. If this was just sex for her he couldn't... he just couldn't. "Mindy, I don't want to fuck you."
"What?" she choked. She pushed his chest hard, and he felt himself ripped away from her. She turned her face from him, tears already welling in her eyes. He'd missed that temper, that passion that thrived on absolutes. She got so angry, so quickly, his beautiful, fiery love.
Hovering over her, he took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. Their bodies were so close, but he couldn't think of anything but her lips. "Look at me. Please. If all you want is sex I can make you come. But I want more. I want everything. I want to make you mine."
He'd thought he'd loved the fire, the temper and the passion, but he was so wrong. Mindy's laugh, even with tears trickling down her cheeks was the whole reason he breathed. She smiled and pulled his face to her, kissing him even as little bubbles of laughter forced their lips apart. The laughter grew into gales and she tucked her head into his chest and laughed against his bare skin. "You are such an idiot."
"I know," he whispered into her ear.
She pressed her lips to his chest and laid dozens of tiny kisses along his neck until she reached his ear. "I was always yours."
He pushed into her, and she sucked in her breath. He was afraid for a second he'd managed to hurt her, but she raked her nails down his back and as when she reached his ass she pulled him, trying to get him as close, as deep as possible. He swirled his hips a little enjoying her heat, the little sounds she made, the sheen of sweat covering her skin. Drawing out slowly he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her deeply, greedily swallowing every sigh and moan as he thrust into her over and over. He wanted to be gentle, he wanted to be rough, but he just wanted to be hers too. When she cried his name his control slipped away and he finished inside her, tears springing to his eyes. He kissed her down to earth again and for the first time in a long time he knew they would be alright.
"I was always yours, too," he murmured to her. "I was always yours."
Notes: Writer's block still messing with my mojo. Might take a break. We'll see if tonight's ep fires up my brain.
