CH25
It is now one month later:
Kate had made aggressive love to Rikki the following morning after reading about half of Rikki's mother's journal.
Rikki was resting in Kate's arms feeling both of them breathing heavy. "Where did that come from?" Rikki questioned smiling. Not that she was upset with Kate for how Kate had made love to her. It had been aggressive and quick; however it had also been passionate in the extreme.
"I love you and wanted you, and didn't want to take no for an answer." Kate told a white lie. Kate had wanted to drive the pain of what she had read out of her mind and she did love Rikki.
"I would never say no to you Kate my love. Not for any reason. However you can take me like that anytime the mood strikes you." Rikki started grinning since she had enjoyed every second of it. "Should I show up during lunch today so you can have your way with me in the ladies room?" Rikki teased.
"I'll bring my handcuffs with me." Kate teased back, only to have Rikki flip Kate till Rikki was on top of Kate holding her hands down to the bed.
"I'll go out and buy some scarf's to tie your hands and legs to the bed with today. You just make sure you are home on time and naked, wet and in our bed inside five minutes or there will be a price to pay." Rikki warns Kate.
It had Kate breathing heavy and getting her wet almost instantly in anticipation of relinquishing complete control to her fiancé'/lover. "I'll be here, wet and all yours." Kate reached up and pulled Rikki's head down so she could kiss her and search her mouth with her tongue, feeling Rikki kiss her back and start round two for the morning.
Kate was presently sitting at her desk trying to fill out a search warrant for a judge to sign on the case she was working. Problem was her mind was back almost a month ago.
Kate had raced home that day, telling the guys bye and raced down the stairs skipping the elevator since it was too damn slow.
Kate had gone right past Elka who had greeted her at the front door and was stripping off her clothes as she went up the stairs. By the time she reached the third floor all Kate was wearing were her soaking wet panties, finding Rikki dressed in a corset with stockings holding what looked like a riding crop.
"You have three minutes left to be naked and wet in our bed." Rikki used the riding crop to slap the bed.
Kate had taken off her soaked panties and threw them at Rikki and literally jumped in bed and watched with anticipation as Rikki took her sweet time tying Kate to the bed. "You know what I'm going to do to you love?" Rikki purred at Kate.
Kate was sure she had lost her mind that night as she screamed and screamed out Rikki's name she didn't remember how many times. It also got Kate to stop typing out her search warrant and run for the ladies room to take off her soaking wet panties and try and dry them off.
Kate pulled out her cell phone and called Rikki who was likely working on her next book, whichever one she was in the mood to work on at home. "I have four pairs of handcuffs and you better be naked, wet and in our bed when I get home or there will be hell to pay."
All Kate heard was Rikki inhale sharply before Kate hung up on her. Payback was going to be a bitch. Not to mention loads of fun!
Kate was also looking forward to going home today for another reason. Rikki wanted to teach her a new spell, something more powerful. Rikki thought Kate was ready for something harder to cast.
Tree Shape - By means of this spell, you are able to assume the form of a Large living tree or shrub or a Large dead tree trunk with a small number of limbs. The closest inspection cannot reveal that the tree in question is actually a magically concealed person. To all normal tests you are, in fact, a tree or shrub. While in tree form, you can observe all that transpires around you just as if you were in your normal form. All clothing and gear carried or worn changes with you.
Kate had her signed search warrant and was just meeting the guys outside of Pet Central, after hours. It had taken some convincing to get the judge to sign so Kate was running late.
Kate waved her paper. "We are good to go." Kate was smiling since she had gotten what she wanted.
Espo stepped up to the door first. "Unlocked and open." Espo points out. Getting Kate and Ryan to pull their weapons. Kate nods and Espo enters first and they fan out after entering.
Finding the front empty they find a door that leads to a back room, with a light peeking out under the door. Kate places a finger to her lips and points at the bottom of the door.
Espo is off to one side with Ryan on the other as Kate gets ready. Ryan tests the door nob and turns it slowly and quickly forces the door open. Espo and Ryan go inside, with Espo to the left and Ryan to the right while Kate steps just past the door. "NYPD!"
It's a back room with a number of aquariums devoid of water and a dead guy lying on the floor. Espo steps over and checks for a pulse, and shakes his head a little.
A quick scan of the room finds no one else in the room. There was however two very large snakes that have been cut open from their heads to their tails.
"What happened here?" Kate whispers out.
"Hey Beckett." Ryan motions her over. "These aquariums aren't even set up to handle fish. They're filled with sand, dead tree branches and some plants, and the lights are too hot for fish." Ryan points out.
"And how would you know bro?" Espo questions him.
"I had one when I was a kid. My parents forced me to drain it and scrub it clean every few months, plus change out the gravel in the bottom. Fish pumps, fish food, aquarium lamps, all of it." Ryan explains.
"I pegged you as more of a dog person, since Elka likes you so much." Espo teases.
"Jealous Espo?" Kate asks.
Then something moving on the floor caught Ryan's eye and caused him to jump and point his weapon.
"No don't Ryan." Kate calls out.
Kate holstered her weapon and got down on all fours to get to what Ryan had seen. "Hi little one. … Aren't you cute." Kate picks him up and holds him in one hand while using a finger from her other hand to stroke him.
"You are precious aren't you." Kate coos at him.
"What did you find Beckett?" Espo was curious.
Kate stands up holding him using both hands. "Isn't he cute." Kate holds him out to Espo to show him.
"Get that thing away from me Beckett." Espo backs up and has to watch where he's going to keep from tripping over the dead body. Dead human body.
"Oh don't be such a baby Espo, he's just a baby." Kate strokes his body and lifts him up to give him a quick kiss. Watching him flick his tongue out a few times.
"How about you Ryan, or are like Espo here." Kate offers him up to Ryan.
Ryan holds up his hands. "I'm good Beckett."
"You two are such babies." Kate continues to stroke his body, working at keeping him in her hands.
"It's a snake Beckett. …. You don't even know what kind. It's probably venomous and kill all of us in one bite." Espo holds up his hands trying to keep far away.
"He's not going to bite you Espo, are you Henry." Kate coos at him.
"Henry?" Espo questions.
"Well he needs a name doesn't he?" Kate counters. "Call CSU and have them search this place and get Lanie out here to look at the body. Something was in those snakes, I want to know what it was, and who is our dead guy?" Kate starts to leave.
"You taking THAT with you?" Espo questions.
"Yes Espo I am. If we find the pet shop owner I'll pay him for Henry. Until then I'm taking him home with me. … You want to go home with me don't you Henry." Kate coos at him.
As soon as Kate opens the front door to leave, they both get hit with a blast of cold wind, causing Henry to get agitated and Kate loses control of him.
Kate manages to hang onto him and holds him close to her body just below her chin, and feels him slip through her fingers and down her top. Kate sucks in her breath. "Oooo, Ahaaa, …. Oooo."Kate starts shifting her body trying to adjust to where Henry is going.
"Henry, where are you going?" Kate starts feeling her upper body through her coat.
"Eeeekk." Kate feels Henry go down her bra and make his way around inside her bra cup, until Henry calms down at the bottom of her left bra cup, just under her left breast and stops moving finally. "WOW, that feels weird." Kate comments.
Henry was just a baby, about 2 weeks old and maybe about 9-inches long. "Ok Henry, you just stay right there until we get home." Kate started walking for her car, feeling Henry squirm only a couple of times all day.
Kate was adding to her murder board with what they had learned today. They were still waiting on ID of their dead guy and waiting for Lanie to finish with their dead guy. Someone else was looking into the dead and gutted snakes, as well as the CSU report.
"I see your still standing Beckett." Espo teases Kate about Henry. "Did you come to your senses and give that snake to someone who knows what it is and how to treat it?" Espo didn't see Kate handling it.
"Henry is fine Espo, you just worry about Lanie biting you." Kate counters, smiling behind his back as Espo heads for his desk. Kate went to her desk to start the necessary paperwork for what happened today.
"Come on Henry, it's time to go home, though I need to make a stop first." Kate talks to Henry.
Kate stopped and bought four pairs of Tiger looking fuzzy cuffs in anticipation of what was going to happen tonight.
Kate was met by Elka at the front door. "Hi girl, how are you? Where's Rikki?" Kate watches Elka climb up the stairs. "Right where she's supposed to be." Kate was smiling, as she climbed the stairs with her bag of cuffs in one hand.
Kate stepped into their bedroom, but didn't see Rikki, however she did hear the toilet flushing, followed by the water at the lavatory running. Rikki stepped out of the bathroom, naked.
"You have two minutes to be in our bed wet and waiting." Kate points out the two things Rikki hasn't done.
"And if I'm not?" Rikki twitched her hips like a belly dancer a little.
"Then I would spank you like the bad little girl you are." Kate informs her smiling.
"Ooooo, tempting." Rikki however jumps into bed and spreads her arms and legs.
Kate drops her bag and stays at the foot of the bed, pushing Elka's doggie bed out of her way a little and starts to slowly peel away her clothes, one at a time while licking her lips, staring unabashfully at Rikki's center with her legs spread wide.
As Kate's bra finally starts to come off Kate kneels down at the foot of the bed and places her bra on the floor, making sure that Henry is all curled up inside her cup. "Stay Henry." Kate whispers before standing back up.
It was hours later when Kate was lying content in bed with Rikki's released arms wrapped around her. "Is this what you felt love? That was amazing. Now I know why I love you and gave you my heart." Rikki informs Kate.
"Probably, I wanted so much to touch you but couldn't. I begged you to touch me, but you wouldn't. It was delicious and exquisite pain. I could feel my soul being released to you as I screamed your name over and over again." Kate explains.
"So who is Henry?" Rikki asks, since Kate had never mentioned him before.
"HENRY! I forgot about Henry." Kate extracts herself from Rikki's arms and hops out of bed and is down on the floor at the foot of the bed searching for Henry. "Henry? Where did you go Henry." Kate is scrambling around trying to find him since he wasn't in her bra anymore.
Kate lifted up Elka's doggie bed after Elka had gotten up off of it when Kate had gotten up. "Henry!" Kate scoops him up from under Elka's bed at one corner.
Rikki was soon down on the floor with Kate. "That's Henry?" Rikki reaches out to stroke his short little body. "Where did you find him?" Rikki questions.
"Me and the guys had a warrant to search a pet shop as part of this case. We found a dead guy and two gutted snakes and Henry here was on the floor up against the wall, I think he was scared. … isn't he cute?" Kate stroked Henry and watched his wiggle from one hand to another as Kate moved her hands.
"I don't think he likes the cold much, he dove down the front of my coat and settled in my bra under my left breast. He spent the rest of the day there till I got home." Kate explains.
"Snakes are not big fans of the cold, they prefer warm places. Up against your body inside your bra was probably the perfect place for him. Plus he could likely feel your heart beat since he was under your left breast, right next to your heart. … He looks like a baby." Rikki reaches out and soon finds Henry in her hands.
"He is pretty cute." Rikki comments.
"You know what kind he is?" Kate asks since what Kate knew about snakes would fit on the head of a pin.
Rikki started shaking her head. "He doesn't look familiar. Not every animal that was on my Earth is on this one or vice versa. …. Let's find out." Rikki gets up off the floor after handing Henry back to Kate.
Kate follows Rikki upstairs to her laptop that she writes her books on. "Let's see." Rikki powers up her laptop while Kate holds Henry close to her breast, with was easy to do since neither of them were wearing anything. Both were comfortable in their own skin, especially in the presence of their lover.
"I think I found him." Rikki points out and they both look at the screen.
The Malayan or Blue Krait is, by far, the most deadly of this species. Found throughout South East Asia and Indonesia, 50% of bites from the deadly Blue Krait are fatal, even with the administration of anti venom. Kraits hunt and kill other snakes, even cannibalizing other Kraits. They are a nocturnal breed, and are more aggressive under the cover of darkness. However, overall they are quite timid and will often attempt to hide rather than fight. The venom is a neurotoxin, 16 times more potent than that of a Cobra. It quickly induces muscle paralysis by preventing the ability of nerve endings to properly release the chemical that sends the message to the next nerve. This is followed by a period of massive over excitation (cramps, tremors, spasms), which finally tails off to paralysis.
Before the development of antivenin, the fatality rate was a whopping 85%. Even if antivenin is administered in time, you are far from assured survival. Death usually occurs within 6-12 hours of a Krait bite. Even if patients make it to a hospital, permanent coma and even brain death from hypoxia may occur.
"It says here that Henry is the third most venomous snake of the viper family." Rikki points out. "Henry here should grow to about 3-feet though 6-feet is the maximum expected. Henry is nocturnal, when it may be more defensive. It is, however, a very timid and placid species of snake. In the daytime, it hides under stones or in holes." Rikki is reading for Kate since the type is rather small.
"The many-banded krait usually feeds on fish, but it is also preys on other species of snakes, including members of its own species. This species also feeds on rodents, eels, frogs, and occasionally lizards.
Looks like Henry here prefers a watery environment." Rikki turns her head to look at Kate. "I'll do some shopping for you tomorrow while you are at work, we're also going to need to find out how to stock up on anti-venom." Rikki adds.
"Henry wouldn't bite anyone, he's good boy." Kate turns away from Rikki a little to protect Henry.
"It's not for us honey. I'm immune to poisons, and he's yours so even less likely to bite you. I'm thinking of Elka, your friends from work or your father if they visit. Or if he gets out of the house during summer somehow." Rikki informs Kate.
"Oh!" Kate turns back around to face Rikki. "How venomous? I don't want him killing Elka, I love Elka." Kate didn't want to let go of Henry, but she would if Henry posed a threat to Elka.
"It says here even a juvenile is capable of killing an adult in 29 hours after being bitten. 50% of the bites are fatal even after the use of anti-venom." Rikki reads. "It says we can use Tiger snake anti-venom if Blue Krate anti-venom isn't available." Rikki adds.
"Elka, come her girl. …. Elka was lying on him in her bed while we were making love." Kate points out before Rikki goes ballistic on her.
Rikki however says nothing while Elka comes up to Kate and sticks her nose in to smell what Kate had in her hands. "Henry, this is Elka. You need to be nice, Elka is a good girl." Kate and Rikki watch Elka stick her nose in while Henry flicks his tongue out at Elka and tickles her nose, causing Elka to sneeze.
"Bless you." Kate was smiling, and watches Elka stick her nose back in to sniff Henry. It was now when Kate decided to get bold and placed Henry on Elka's head, causing Elka to dip her head down low to the floor while Henry started moving around on Elka's head.
Elka is soon lying on the floor while Henry squirms his way around the top of Elka's head and ears. "How does that feel girl?" Rikki asks Elka as Henry wriggles around Elka's ears.
"So long as Henry puts up with Elka when she gets going, it looks like Elka is accepting Henry, especially since he has found her weakness pretty quickly." Rikki started chuckling.
Kate reached out and retrieved Henry from Elka's head. Rikki watched Elka's reaction. "Put him back." Rikki tells Kate and watches while Kate puts Henry back on Elka's head. "Yup, Henry has found her weak spot." Rikki knew Elka.
"Where do we keep him for now?" Kate questions.
"The tub with a touch of water in it along with a number of towels so he can burrow his way into them. I'll go shopping tomorrow for something more permanent." Rikki tells her.
"So Henry can stay?" Kate asks hopeful.
"He's already stolen your heart hasn't he?" Rikki chuckles, seeing the similarities between herself and Elka and Kate with Henry.
"No, … yes, …. maybe." Kate didn't want to admit that someone could get into her heart so fast, after years of keeping people out. Just that Henry wasn't people, and Elka got in pretty easily.
Kate hung her head low, only to have Rikki lift it back up with a finger and find that Rikki was kissing her. "When you gave me your heart my love, you opened it up to others too. Elka has found her way in and now Henry has found his way in.
Congratulations my young Druid, you have your very first animal companion, like I have Elka. As the years pass your connection will only get stronger, you'll start to think that you are reading each other's mind, and you won't be far off from being right.
Henry will start to fulfill your needs before you've even figured out what those needs are, and you him. … You'll both know just what the other needs almost before either of you know the other needs it.
You'll do everything you can to save Henry's life just like he will risk his trying to save yours. And when his time finally comes, your heart will break and you'll miss him. And yet you'll also remember the joy you gave each other, and do it all over again, because you have learned what loving someone gave you.
Let him in Kate, you won't regret it." Rikki tries to get Kate to see what she had been avoiding for years isn't a bad thing. Living in the darkness of despair isn't living, it's existing for no reason.
Rikki's little speech earned her a long heart felt kiss from Kate. After Kate breaks from the kiss. "I'm so happy that I love you." Kate tells Rikki.
"Hhmmm, hold that thought when we tell your father we're getting married." Rikki points out the only remaining problem.
"SHIT!" Kate knew they still had to talk to him. Kate wanted him there, she was happy and Kate wanted her dad to be happy for her.
"You need to call him and arrange a time for you two to talk, someplace quiet. … In the meantime I have something I want to show you for a possible venue, and then we need a date to see if it's available." Rikki tells her.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The Palm HouseLeave the stresses of the city behind and enjoy the sights, smells, and sounds of the Garden's Lily Pool Terrace and iconic glass-walled Palm House. The exquisite Palm House event space provides the perfect setting for an unforgettable affair.
Rikki scrolled through the pictures of the website. "There is another one in New York, however it is a lot larger and can accommodate 1,000 people. I don't think we need that much space." Rikki offers.
"It's gorgeous. … If it's too cool outside the glass walls and roof will keep all of us warm. With the gardens outside, …. I love it! Find out when they have an availability and we can adjust our date accordingly." Kate kisses Rikki's head.
They were one step closer, so many more steps left to go.