Aquarius – Chapter 9

They were wrenched from what promised to be a very satisfying sexual pursuit by the sound of an eerily familiar voice echoing through his empty house. If it were Ted, Charlie could have ignored it and with some devoted effort he could have made Dani not care, but sounds carried well along the marble floors and white walls. The voice that came to them chilled them both. It was Kevin Tidwell's.

"Crews?" he called out. "Detective Crews?" his voice became more insistent, louder as if he were drawing nearer.

"My car's in the drive," she whispered. "He knows I'm here," she sounded edgy and slightly panicked.

"So…" Charlie was having a harder time disengaging from their decidedly amorous pursuit. He really needed to work on his attachment to this woman he thought. He didn't want to let her go. He wanted to stay here – in this moment – or the one just before it when she was wriggling and moaning beneath him for the rest of his life – or at least the rest of the morning.

"So…he'll have us split up if he finds out we're…." she stopped unsure of what the word was for what they were doing, for who and what they were becoming.

"Lovers?" he supplied one definition for her approval.

"What? No…yes," she admitted hissing. "Now let me up," she demanded.

Always his pushy demanding partner she was. "Tsk, tsk" he chided lightly and in jest chuckling as he rose.

She scrambled off the bed and smoothed her hair and clothes. She focused down, zipping and buttoning her jeans. The sigh of disappointment that escaped him as the smooth flesh of her belly disappeared from sight drew a scowl from her. "Now go get in the shower," she ordered.

His raised eyebrow questioned her silently.

"I got this," she assured him. She smiled and he was sold on the idea.

As he sauntered towards his bathroom in no special hurry, his backside drew her attention for just a moment as she appreciated the long sinewy lines of his lean body. She shook herself out of her lustful reverie and squared her shoulders and left the room to deal with her ex-lover.


Crews smiled at himself in the mirror and leaned heavily against the counter. She was just there in his arms. He was inches from having what he wanted; Dani Reese, as a willing participant, in his bed. She'd been in that bed before with him, but none of the previous times had they met on equal footing. Each of the previous times, one or both of them was unbalanced, hurt, drunk or angry. This time she was there because she wanted to be. She wasn't running away from Tidwell, rebelling from her father; she wasn't using him to forget a pain or hide to from the darkness. She was there because she'd surrendered to that which they both fought for so long; the inescapable fact they belonged together, the fact that no matter how long or how loud she protested – she loved him.

And that was a good moment, perhaps his best moment in a very, very long time.


"Hey," she directly engaged Tidwell as she descended the stairs.

"Dani," he tried to sound surprised she was here. She was instantly annoyed at his duplicity. He had to know she was here - her car was parked in his drive. "Crews here?" he inquired continuing his ploy.

"Uh, yeah," she sounded more than a little annoyed at his deliberate dumbness. "He lives here."

"Hospital called," he snapped off his words sharply now obviously pissed off or jealous, but definitely not nonplussed. "Said he pulled a Houdini," he left the rest hanging and waited for her to fill in the details.

"Well, he didn't," she lied again. "Must have forgotten to sign the discharge forms." Her body English dared him to question her.

"So you…what? Drove him home?"

"Uh-huh," she agreed. It made sense. No reason to spill the fact her partner had her pinned to his mattress and was kissing her breathless moments ago.

"You coming to work today?" Tidwell asked walking away toward the open front door.

She didn't answer so he turned to catch her eyes. "Your partner's on medical leave; you aren't." His eyes glittered in challenge. They said what he would not. Just tell me you two are fucking so I can stop thinking we'll get back together.

But Dani didn't work like that. She didn't get pulled into disclosing her secrets, yet another way she and Crews were alike. "I'll be in later," she promised. "I just need to make sure he's okay. He's my partner," she explained unnecessarily.

Tidwell closed the door behind him and muttered to himself, "he's a helluva lot more than that."