DOUBLE TAKE

She tried to slip out of his embrace without waking him, but he was a light sleeper.  He rose up on one elbow and watched as she began searching out her clothing.  It was tough going in the dark.  There was very little moonlight shining through the window.  She wasn't aware he was awake.  She wanted to walk out, to leave him like some type of exotic thief in the night.  He wanted to wake up with her in his arms, to see what she looked like the first thing in the morning.  Plain and simple, he was hooked.

"Where are you going," Donovan whispered huskily, his voice still thick with sleep.

Startled, she turned toward the bed.  "Oh shit, Frank, don't do that."  Her heart was larruping in her chest.  She felt as if she were a rabbit being chased by a wolf.  "I have to go."

Donovan sat up and began to move.  Astonished, she watched as he crept toward her.  Scarily enough, at that exact moment, he was a wolf.  She didn't know whether to stay put or run.  He settled his hands on her shoulders.

"No you don't," he said.

His eyes consumed her as thoroughly as the wolf consumes the rabbit.  How was she going to get away from him?  "Come on, Frank," she said shakily.  "Don't do this to me."

He smiled a little as his hands slid down her arms to grasp hers.  "Do what to you," he asked innocently.

"Frank, please," she moaned.

"Okay," he said before laying a deep, breathless kiss on her unsuspecting mouth.  "Come back to bed," he said once he broke the kiss.  "Stay with me.  There's nothing so important that it can't wait until tomorrow."

She gazed up into his eyes.  He didn't understand, but she was in no condition to argue with him.  "Maybe you're right," she sighed.

He lifted an eyebrow.  "Maybe I'm right," he teased.  "Come back to bed," he repeated.  "I want to wake up in the morning with you in my arms."

*  *  *

It was nearly nine thirty.  Monica, Cody, and Alex had arrived at work hours before.  However, there was no sight of Jake or Donovan.  Before any of the three could question each other about their missing colleagues, Jake came into the room, keeping his eye out for the boss.

"Relax, Donovan isn't here yet," Monica said as she casually perused the morning paper.  For once, there wasn't much going on.  It seemed as if the bad guys had all taken a vacation.

"No shit," Jake spat, surprised.  Donovan was never late. 

"No shit," she agreed.

"Where were you this morning," Cody asked while farting around with a sick computer.

He smiled a little.  "Nowhere special, just at home.  I overslept."

Monica peered at Jake over her newspaper.  "Did this have anything to do with your leaving early?  Come on, Jake, inquiring minds want to know."

Alex suddenly leaned closer to Jake.  "Yeah.  What she said."

Jake couldn't believe it as he began to feel the first tinges of a blush.  He didn't blush.  "Maybe," he said with a broad grin on his lips. 

Together, Monica, Cody, and Alex cried "WOOOOOOOOO" in unison.

"I can hear you all the way down the street," Donovan said as he sauntered into the room. 

Four sets of eyes went immediately to their tardy leader.  He had walked over to the inbox and found nothing exciting.  He then went toward the double coffee maker and reached for decaf, debated with himself for a minute, and then grabbed regular instead.  He hadn't had much sleep the night before, and he would need the caffeine if he intended to get any work done.  He was going over his schedule in his mind as he poured the coffee without adding anything to it.  Full strength was the only way to go.  When he turned around, he noticed that his four subordinates were staring at him curiously with small knowing smiles on their faces.  He knew they suspected that something was going on, but he wasn't sure how much information he wanted to give them.

He took a sip of coffee and grimaced slightly at the bitter taste.  Cody made it again.  Someone needed to teach him how to make coffee.  Sedately, he asked, "Is there any reason why you're all staring at me?"

"Did you know you're late," Cody asked with a slight grin.  He had made the coffee stronger than usual this morning.  He thought the tardy members of the team might need it today.

He shrugged as if saying 'so what.'  A look of 'whafuck' was shared among the four of them.  Donovan?  Lackadaisical?  What was wrong with this picture?  He casually stood before them, sipping at the awful cup of coffee.  His mind had already begun to wonder to thoughts best left at home.  Donovan had left Loralei sleeping this morning.  It felt amazing holding her in his arms all night.  He hadn't wanted to leave at all, but he had little choice.  He had been told that a big case was headed their way, and he was to be in the office to await instructions [whenever they came down, he thought ruefully].  He would have preferred to stay in bed, his face in Loralei's sweet hair, inhaling the soft strawberry scent that seemed to possess all his senses at once.

"Ahem," Alex said.  Donovan snapped out of his daze and focused his eyes on her face.  "I thought we lost you for a moment.  So, we're all ears.  Did you have a hot date, too?"

He took another sip of coffee and grimaced again.  Goddamn.  What did he put in this?  "I never kiss and tell."  Without another word to them, he took his coffee and went upstairs.

*  *  *

That evening, Donovan once again went home a bit on the early side.  The instructions he had waited for all day had not come in.  He sent everyone home.  He couldn't concentrate on any paperwork.  His mind played back again and again to the night before.  He had no idea why he couldn't drive the thoughts out of his head.  He was addicted to Loralei; it was the only way to describe it.  Once inside his apartment, a soft smile touched his lips.  She was still there, asleep on the couch.  She had donned one of his shirts, and it appeared that she had nothing else on underneath.  He recalled that earlier, he had left his door key with a note, asking that she come back later today and wait for him.  He was afraid she wouldn't do it, and he was glad she proved him wrong. 

After stripping off his suit jacket, he stood by the couch for a long time, simply watching her.  Loralei Kadin was a mysterious woman.  She had yet to invite him to her place, and he once asked her about it.  She had claimed that her job was closer to him than he was to her.  It was easier for her to come to him.  He hadn't blinked an eye at her explanation, but he often wondered what she was hiding.  Of course, his suspicious side was lording over him, and he tried to shove it back into the very corner of his brain.  He had to learn to trust someone who wasn't a part of his daily grind.  It was more than acceptable to him that she was mysterious, that she held onto her secrets dearly, because he was the same.  He hadn't consciously recognized that until he became involved with her.

Donovan sat down at her feet and leaned over her.  His lips placed soft kisses along her leg and up her thigh.  She moaned a little in her sleep, but didn't wake up.  She probably thought she was dreaming.  He smiled at that idea as his lips continued their journey over her body as his nostrils took in the intoxicating smell of her.  By the time his mouth made it up to her lips, he was almost completely on top of her.  He supported the majority of his weight with one hand placed on the back of the couch.  He kissed her lips softly and she responded by kissing him back. 

"Come down here," she whispered against his lips.

He carefully lowered his body atop hers as he kissed her again.  This time, she was fully alert, but kept her eyes closed.  He shifted his body only slightly as she moved her legs to allow his hips to come down between her thighs.  He broke the kiss long enough to unbutton the shirt.  She held her breath, anticipating his touch, and when it came, she let out a trembling sigh. 

"You know, you're a horrible distraction," she whispered as her hand wondered restlessly through his hair.

"Is that so," he asked against her breast. 

He was teasing her incredibly, evilly.  He would draw an erect nipple into his mouth only to release it after a few seconds, then barely touching it with the tip of his tongue before drawing it back between his lips.  "Mmm, yes," she sighed.  "I haven't written a thing all day."

He moved to the other nipple and began the same wicked game.  "I could stop," he suggested after a delicious flick of the tongue.

"No, no," she whispered, "I deserve a break."

Much to her disappointment, he moved away from her tingling nipples and began placing moist kisses between her breasts and down along her ribcage.  "Do you mind if I ask a personal question?"

Loralei was having a hard time concentrating on his words.  She kept her eyes closed tightly.  Nothing would be worse than him watching as her eyeballs rolled up in the back of her head.  She vaguely wondered if he was aware how good he was. 

"Please, Frank, let's not get personal," she said through a shaky giggle.  "But since you have seen me naked, by all means, ask away."

He looked up at her solemnly.  "First, you must open your eyes."

She opened them and briefly propped her body up on her elbows.  She wanted to see the look on his face, the hint of his sexy grin.  "Your question?"

"Do you taste like strawberries everywhere," he asked with an evil grin.  It was a question he had asked himself, and right now, he would find an answer either from her or by other means.

"I have no idea," she answered almost comically, "but you're free to find out."

He willingly obliged.  He quickly discovered that she didn't exactly taste like strawberries, but she was sweet and bewitching all the same.

*  *  *

After an exhausting round of intense lovemaking, Jake had convinced Zara to go out with him for food.  She hadn't wanted to leave his apartment.  She was insatiable, and couldn't seem to keep her hands off him.  He needed food, and there was no way he could make it wouldn't putting something in his mouth that didn't involve one of Zara's body parts.  The two of them strolled nonchalantly into the restaurant and found an intimate table in the back.  She tried to play footsy with him the entire time they had placed their orders, and Jake had to fight to keep a straight face.

When the server walked away with their orders in hand, Jake looked up as Frank Donovan came into the restaurant.  He was holding onto the arm of an auburn haired woman.  For a moment, he couldn't take his eyes off her.  He glanced at Zara and focused his eyes on Donovan's date again.  Their body type and skin tone was similar, but their hair color was radically different.  Zara's was fierier where the other woman's was darker.  They could almost be related.  I never thought I'd have similar taste in women as Donovan, he thought with a grin.

Donovan noticed Jake as well.  He nodded toward Jake, only taking his eyes away from Loralei's face for a few brief seconds.  However, he quickly found himself doing a double take look at the woman accompanying him.  Like Loralie, she was willowy and fair skinned.  Their hair was quite different.  The other woman's was a bright shade of red that appeared almost brassy.

Loralei noticed that someone behind them was distracting Donovan.  She turned her head and glanced casually over her shoulder.  "Do you know them," she asked.

He looked at her.  "One of them.  The woman I don't know, but she looks a little like you." 

She smiled a little meanly.  "Well, with the exception that bottle job hair of hers."

"And how would you know that," he asked, amused.  There was green in Loralei's eyes that had nothing to do with her eye color.

"Jesus Frank," she replied cattily.  "Look at it.  Tell me there is a natural color like that here on earth."  She cleared her throat and took a sip of water.  "How do you know the man?  Is he a friend of yours?"

He nodded.  "He is."  He didn't elaborate.  He wasn't sure he wanted to tell her that Jake worked with him as well.  It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but she was still new to his life, and he didn't necessarily want to tell her more than she needed to know.  At least not right now.

"He's cute," she said.

It was Donovan's turn to have a little green in his eyes.  "Is that so," he asked.

"Yes, it is."  She leaned forward and kissed his lips very gently.  "But you, dahling, are gorgeous."

"Gorgeous needs to eat before he passes out from hypoglycemia," he said seriously as he eyed the menu before him.

*  *  *

Jake did not spend the night alone, but Donovan did.  He had asked Loralei to stay with him again, but she said she needed to work on her dissertation.  He was satisfied [somewhat] with a passionate kiss goodbye.  He offered to walk her to her car, but she insisted that he go inside and get some rest.  Once his door was closed, he had no idea where she went.

Loralei went up to an apartment in a different building straight across from Donovan's.  Tonight, there was no friend.  The inside of the luxury apartment was nearly bare.  A couple of couches sat at opposite ends of the room and expensive camera equipment was set up between them.  If she were to look into the telephoto lens right at that moment, she would have been able to see right into Donovan's apartment.  She was tempted to look in on him, but decided against it.  The camera would come into play later.  There was a recording device whirring away, and she listened carefully to the tinny sounds emitting from Donovan's bathroom.  Apparently, he was taking a shower.  She went over to the recorder and shut it off.  She hit 'rewind' and began to play back the tape.  She pressed 'forward' until she reached the place when Donovan had come home earlier that day.  She listened to her voice mingled with his as he made love to her.  She shut if off immediately.  She could listen to no more.  Loralei took the tape and destroyed it, replacing it with a new one.