Hot Dog – Chapter 3

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

It was a familiar question from their old days. But these weren't their old days; this was his new life. The life he'd made after the fire took everything; the one where he had a wife, in addition to a partner and a young son and Max who lest he forgot licked his hand. He reached down and stroked the dog's head. Everyone it seemed could sense his uneasiness.

"I'm thinking…that I don't think we should go back there," he shared his concern about their foray into his past. "I'm thinking…"

"If you don't go back and resolve this, part of you will always be there," she interrupted again sounding more Zen than she meant to. "And I need you here with me, all of you Charlie. Let's do this and really move on," she urged.

He reached for her and found her hand in his. It was his familiar haunt, the stone patio overlooking the city. It was where he went to meditate, to think, to be alone and whenver the house got too quiet she knew where to find him.

"Over your little crisis of faith?" she wondered.

"Uh-huh," he nodded responding absently. He was still somewhere else.

"Liar," she called him on it forcing him to reconnect.

He looked down into the dark eyes, those eyes that shone with so much intensity it sometimes hurt to look at her. Max whined slightly and pranced anxiously. "Even the dog feels it," he noted.

"Yep," she agreed quietly. She paused and he knew she was gathering her thoughts and considering her words. His wife had a reputation for being a hothead when he met her. She had a tongue like a buggy whip and wasn't afraid to use it, but Dani Reese was far more thoughtful and reserved than people gave her credit for.

The angry young woman he'd met five years ago was still there sometimes – rarely anymore, but she still possessed that fire. Anger was an easy outlet for her when they'd first met. Her sharp mind and quick wit made snappy retorts easy. It also made it seem as though she lashed out at everyone, but she didn't. It had taken him a couple years to learn that; it wasn't really who she was. Dani was measured, intelligent and cautious – just like him.

"I wanna say something," she offered.

"I know," he accepted, "but you're not sure."

"Can anyone be sure of anything? Can you be sure of where this will lead? Do you know?"

He shook his head in the negative, but remained mute.

"If you knew, would you stop? Could you?"

Again his head swung side to side, this time with a grim smile.

"Then stop worrying about me and Sam and let's do this," she told him exactly where she stood. She was right beside him just as she'd always been; just as she always would be.

"There's a Zen saying," he began and her answering sigh was perfunctory, so he continued just as she knew he would. "Three things can not be hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth."

She smiled up at him in the early evening light.

"That's incomplete though," he prepared to pay her a compliment that told her how much her support meant. Her quizzical look was something he loved so he held onto his comment to prolong it. "There are three things that cannot be replaced: your love, your trust and our family."

"Do you think any of those in danger?" she wondered.

"No," he replied with a voice full of emotion he could not fully express. "I just don't understand how I ever earned any of them." He turned and caressed her face. "I'm not sure you'll ever understand how much I love you and Sam," he tried anyway.

"Let's go upstairs and you can show me," she demurred. Dani always let him off easy when it came to the hard conversations. She wasn't comfortable with talks that hinged on the depth of their bond. She deferred to humor and physical affection, but she felt as deeply as he and he knew it.

"The kid asleep?" he murmured against her ear. She nodded as the whisper became a kiss. "Then stay here with me and let me kiss you until the moon rises," he claimed her lips in a series of open-mouthed kisses. Each time he retreated she followed.

His hands roamed over her body in achingly familiar places.

She wanted less clothes and more Crews, but he was slow, patient and her eagerness was tempered by his pace and control. He set her on fire and he knew he could, but he still took his time. He spent so much time and energy evoking her responses that he could often kiss her into orgasm. And while she reveled in the time and attention lavished on her, he was slowly driving her mad.

After he thwarted her third attempt to remove his shirt, she pushed away breathless and wet, "there's the damned moon, Charlie. Now let's go upstairs," she was a hair's breath from angry at him. He chuckled, knowing her ire was a function of his control and how he made her feel. She both loved and loathed the things he could do to her. Right now she wanted him so badly they could both feel it.

"All right, but I have to warn you," he smiled. "I won't last very long if you take those clothes off."

She dragged him by the hand to the kitchen door. She opened the door and Max shot into the house and up the stairs to Sam's room. The sound of his nails on the marble retreated leaving them in silence. She quickly switched off the kitchen light plunging them into darkness.

Just inside the door she stopped and began to chastise him. "Haven't I told you not to do that to me?" she pushed him against the wall. "Haven't I?" She unbuttoned her shirt and removed her bra. She was naked and glorious in the pale moonlight through the window.

"Dani, I…" he began.

"Shut up, Crews. Just shut up," she kissed him hard and just like that he lost all that precious control of his. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her. Her short nails were first in his hair and then up his back as she clawed the shirt right off him. He pressed her against the wall and his hand sunk deep into her pants. She was so hot, so wet and so ready. He undid his belt and trousers, pushing them to the floor and stepping clear of them, while she did likewise.

They met in a rush and he slammed them against the cold plaster of the wall. His hands dug into her ass as he lifted her to reach him. He felt her wrap her strong legs around his waist and rock against him. He could find his way to her sweet spot now blindfolded in the dark and upside down; they'd done this so much, he knew her so well. He was inside her in an instant and their collective moan of release would have embarrassed both of them less than three years ago, but now it was the sound of contentment.

"God I love you," he professed before locking her in a searing kiss. They fell into a familiar rhythm; one he knew by heart. The music was wordless and soundless, but it sang in his soul. When they broke for air, she was gasping his name into the hollow of his neck as her orgasm shuddered through her. "Charlie, oh god, I…" was all she could manage before his matching orgasm ripped through him and his seed spilled into her again.

Slowly he eased her back down to the ground, holding her until she was stable enough to stand. "What were you gonna say?" he said in a low husky tone still holding her close in the moonlight.

Her laugh was silent at first, he felt it more than heard it. Then she pulled her hair back and looked up at him. "We should use something," she grinned.

"I thought you were on…" he started.

"No," she shook her head. "I'm not," her laugh was audible now. "Remember you telling me not to?"

"Ooops," he chuckled against her throat. "Guess we'll have to do up another room. Can't have my little girl sharing a room with Sam," he supposed their future offspring.

"Your little girl?" Dani shot him an eyebrow in challenge.

"Or little girls? Twins would be nice – don't ya think?" He challenged back.

"Don't say that. Don't even think that. So help me god Charlie," she replied and began picking up clothes.

"Leave them," he pulled her by the arm. "Leave it all," he pulled her naked body to his. "I'll clean up in the morning. Come to bed with me," he urged. "I'm not finished yet," he wrapped his long arms around her from behind and began kissing her anew.

"I'm not nearly finished with you," he sunk his hands into her hair and kissed her until she was lightheaded. He pulled and she came willingly up the marble stairs of their huge house, hand in hand with the pale naked man she loved more than life itself.

"You fucking bastard,' she swore softly, but he know knew these vulgar protestations of hers were terms of endearment. "You're lucky I love you so god damned much Crews," she murmured in that low voice that sounded sexy without even trying. She surrendered to him, to them, to the idea that she powerless against his obvious intention to make love to her repeatedly that night.

"Believe me honey, I know,' he began his ministrations anew in the sanctity of their bedroom. He knew her so well and so entirely, but since Sam they hadn't had the time or luxury of the night he promised.

If she wasn't pregnant now, she would be by morning and part of her just didn't care anymore. The Dani Reese who once said "kids and her wasn't a such good idea" was still there, but she was a good parent. They were good together. She loved him that much – so much that she'd follow him headlong on any adventure from parenting to policing to private investigations – her partner. He drove her insane, but there wasn't a man anywhere on the planet she'd trade him for and he knew it.