His hand fell off of her scar as she led him away from his front door. She glanced back once at his face and he could see that although her panicked desperation was gone, there were still traces of fear. He sucked in a startled and unhappy breath and stopped walking. She turned back at his tug on her hand, brow wrinkling in confusion. The worry in her eyes was greater than it was a moment ago.
He didn't need to be a mind reader to know she was afraid that they'd damaged their relationship beyond repair. Until she'd shown up at his door with her heart in her eyes and clothes dripping rain onto the floor, he had worried the same thing.
He stepped into her, hands settling on her hips as he touched his forehead to hers. He tried to find the words to soothe away her fears, but his throat was closed tight with his own. Her hands came up to rest on his face as they stood silently, breathing the same air as she swayed closer.
The kiss was almost tentative. Her arms circled his neck. His hands began to move upwards, gently stroking her skin as if he could leave his mark for all the world to see that she was his.
His hands flew away from her ribs when she flinched, hissing in pain. He felt the blood drain away from his face.
"Kate, are you injured?" He herded her into his office and turned on the light so he could look at her.
"I'll be fine. It's nothing." He could see some of her wall going back up as she denied the bruises he could see forming.
"It's not nothing, Kate. You're hurt." He didn't wait for permission as he stepped close and slipped her shirt off.
Hands on her shoulders, he turned her gently in a slow circle. His writer's eye had no trouble stringing the injuries into a narrative of the fight. The bruises on her left forearm were from blocking strong blows. The backs of her elbows were turning black and blue from the force of her own strikes. The darkening blotches on her stomach took his breath away as surely as she must have been winded when she got them. Almost her entire back was turning purple, though he didn't know if it was from one fall or several. His eye couldn't help but snag on every scrape and scratch that told him she hadn't been sparring on a clean, soft mat in the precinct gym.
It was her shivering that interrupted his horrified catalog.
"Right, that settles it. You're chilled to the bone. Come with me."
He took her by the shoulders and steered her to the bathroom. She stood motionless and silent as he started running the tub, pulled a towel from a cupboard and set it on the counter. He disappeared into his bedroom and came back with sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt. He put them on the counter by the towel.
He moved to stand in front of her when she remained silent and still, eyes locked on his shoulder. She didn't look up. He couldn't tell if her cheeks were wet from her hair or if she was crying. She swallowed hard and sniffled, but that could have been the cold.
He brushed his fingertips across her cheek, tracing bone down and around until he could lift her chin to force her to look at him. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears as he ran the pad of his thumb over her lips. She kissed his thumb as it went by.
"When was the last time you ate something?"
Her eyes went foggy as she tried to remember.
"That's what I thought. You take a bath, soak some of the aches out. I'll make us some food. You want coffee?"
She nodded mutely, turned her face into his hand to kiss his palm. He leaned in and took his time kissing her lips. He stepped back and let his hands fall to his sides.
"Tub. Food and coffee. Then we'll talk." He closed the door behind him as he left.
She didn't know how long she sat in the bath before the tears started in earnest. She took deep, shuddering breaths and tried to let them out silently, hugging her knees to her chest. The water had started to get cold when there was a knock on the door. She tried to draw a breath to call out, but her voice broke on the sob that escaped instead. She dropped her forehead to her knees and concentrated on breathing evenly.
"Kate?" The worry in his voice was accompanied by a warm hand stroking softly over her shoulder. She didn't look up as another strangled sob escaped her throat. She was gently shoved out of the way as he slid into the tub behind her and slipped his arms around her stomach. She let go of her legs, turning to wrap her arms around him and bury her face in his chest. She was startled out of her tears when her hands found shirt instead of skin. She opened her eyes to see him fully dressed, soaked from the shoulders down.
"You're wearing clothes in the bath?" His eyes were solemn except for a hint of laughter around the edges.
"Well, yes. You looked like you needed a hug and I didn't want to waste time getting naked."
"Four years of innuendo and you're saying it would be a waste of time to get naked before hopping into a tub with me?"
"If it makes you feel any better, we could say that I was so overcome by the sight of you all wet and glistening that I was powerless to resist the pull for even a moment."
There were shadows lurking behind his teasing grin. She turned further into him, sliding up his torso to capture his mouth as she tried to kiss the shadows away. His eyes were dark and slightly glassy when she broke the kiss several minutes later.
"You can't resist me, huh?" She tried to pour every complicated emotion she had into the single sentence. His hands came up to cradle her face as he stared silently for a long moment. She felt drops of water from his fingers leaving trails on her cheeks and she shivered.
"I haven't been able to resist you since the day we first met. Even if you were hostile and rude."
She barked a laugh and sat back to glare at him. The power of the glare was weakened by the smile she couldn't suppress.
"Hostile and rude? You were an arrogant jackass!"
"Yup." His clothes shed a small flood as he stood and extended a hand to help her up. "And now this arrogant jackass is going to feed you nourishing food so you won't starve while he ravishes you later."
"Who said I was going to let you ravish me later?" She smirked at him as she very deliberately did not reach for the towel on the counter. His eyes involuntarily followed the hand that she ran from a naked hip to rub her stomach. "I might be too busy eating you out of house and home."
He swallowed hard but met her challenging eyes gamely.
"You're the one who almost knocked me down to take me at my front door. You're standing wet and naked in front of me and yet observe how I am fully clothed and virtuously keeping my hands to myself."
"Uh huh." She held his eyes with an evil grin as she swayed slowly closer. He took an involuntary step backwards, socked foot hitting the edge of the bath before sliding out from under him. Eyes wide and arms flung out for balance, he sat hard on the edge of his tub.
"Ow! I think I bruised my tailbone."
They stared at each other for a moment before they both burst out laughing. She leaned in to gently kiss his cheek before grabbing the towel and stepping out of the water.
"Come on, tough guy. Let's feed me and get to ravishing. I'll kiss your bruises better if you'll do the same for mine."