X.
The water felt so cold it took Danny's breath away and for a moment he thought was going to freeze to death before he realised that the water was, of course, not that cold. It was only September and the summer sun had warmed it up for months. Also, he was running high on adrenaline and therefore he soon forgot about the cold or, maybe, his body had adjusted to it.
The good thing about being in the water was that his opponent did no longer fight. Obviously the man had figured that with his hands cuffed behind his back he had more of a chance to survive this if he let himself be pulled to the nearest bridge by Danny.
But that was piece of hard work as the riptide was working against them. Danny had never been good as a lifeguard but there was no way he was going to un-cuff the other man's hands. And so he struggled against the water, pulling the guy with him and feeling a sudden relief when he saw the figure on the bridge. He had felt guilty about leaving Lilly behind the way she had been but then again, this little excursion into the Hudson hadn't been planned.
He could see that Lilly shouting something but couldn't understand the words. All he heard was his own breathing, the other man's panting and the roaring water around them.
Only when he got closer he could hear what Lilly was saying: "Hurry up, we need to get you out of there!"
What the hell do you think I'm doing? Enjoying a nice afternoon swim?
He reached the bridge and in order to climb up he had to get rid of his unmoving load. Using the handcuffs to hook the man's arm to the bridge strut he finally made a weak attempt to get out of the water.
Before he knew it a small female hand gripped his arm tightly a started to pull with an unexpected force.
Moments – which felt like hours – later he was finally standing on the bridge, bent over with his hands propped on his knees, still panting. His wet clothes were sticking to his body uncomfortably and the cool wind was making him shiver. Once his breathing had evened he straightened up to look back at Lilly who had been watching him the whole time. "How're you doing?" he asked her.
"I'm okay", she said, quickly. "I got a little head-ache but that's all."
"That's all, huh? You better get that checked out by a doctor."
Lilly shook her head. "First we need to get the man out of the water. And then I think you need call your boss."
"My cell phone is in there", Danny replied pointing towards the dark grey water. "And I really don't feel like diving in again.
………………
Sitting in the passenger seat of Danny's car and pressing the cooling ice-bag to the spot the guy had hit her Lilly watched the scene in front of her with half-closed eyes. It had been a while since she and Danny had pulled the man out of the water. Afterwards Lilly given Danny her cell phone – for his was lost – and he had called Agent Malone, the local police and an ambulance. Soon there were more people around than she could bear so – after a short examination by a paramedic – she had sat herself in the car, nursing her still slightly aching head.
Danny was on the phone, talking to Malone again and from the way he was pacing up and down the street she could tell he was angry. Finally he came to the car opened the door and leaned in. "You better?" he asked. He was obviously still worried about the bump on the head Lilly had received.
"Yes, there's nothing to worry about. I just got checked out by a medic."
"You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"
"Positively. – Now can we leave here?"
"But…"
"Danny… I thought your boss says the NYPD can handle this until we know who the man is and what relevance he has to our case."
"Yeah, right, my boss says. My boss says I gotta be in his office tomorrow morning at eight o'clock sharp – only so I can listen to a two-hour lecture about not having informed him on this before."
Lilly smiled a half-hearted smile. "You should have informed him before we came here."
"Not you, too", Danny said grumpily.
Grinning now, Lilly got out of the passenger seat and held out her hand, palm turned up.
"Come on", she said, sympathetically. "Let's get you home. You need to get out of those wet clothes."
Danny stared at her hand, confused. "What do you want?"
"The keys. I'm driving."
"You just got knocked unconscious…"
"I said I'm okay…"
"It's my car."
Shaking her head Lilly remained adamant. "Danny, look… you can't stop shivering; I don't want to see you holding the steering wheel. I'm driving."
With a sigh of surrender Danny handed her the keys and let her walk past him so she could get to the driver's side of the car and into it. Eager to get away from this place she started the engine and drove off quickly, letting Danny give her directions.
He had wanted to get back to the office at first but she hadn't needed much time to convince him to go home. All his adrenaline was spent by now and he seemed to have started to feel the effects not only of his dunking into the Hudson River but a whole eventful and tiring day.
Once outside his building she parked the car and they both got out.
"Why don't you wait inside while I get changed quickly and then I'll give you a ride back to that motel", Danny suggested. He had crossed his arms in front of his chest, pressing them close to his body, still shaking in the cool evening wind.
Not wanting to object Lilly just nodded. She was feeling her own exhaustion very well by now, and despite the chocolate bar she had had earlier her stomach was grumbling again, loudly. So she followed Danny into the building and – a few long minutes in the old lift later – into his apartment.
It was a small place, smaller than she would have expected it to be. Very little decoration as well, she noticed. Sitting herself on his also small sofa she watched Danny disappear into the next room. Moments later there was a sounded like a shower being turned on. Lilly sighed. A shower… yeah, sounds good... Back at home. In her own bathroom. Just her and the lovely hot water…
She only realised she had been half-asleep when Danny's voice pulled her back. "You want me to drive you home now?" He had changed into a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a sweater and although it wasn't much of an outfit Lilly couldn't help thinking it looked good on him, as much as his usual suit and tie did.
She must have been staring at him because suddenly he grinned. "Yeah, I know. I usually don't leave the apartment like this but I don't think there will be a lot of people seeing me if I get into the car quickly."
Smiling back Lilly rose from the couch, wordlessly.
………………
During the drive back to the motel Lilly's stomach grumbled again, loudly reminding her of her missed-out lunch. "Is there a place we can get some decent takeaway food?" she asked.
"Sure. Lots of 'em…"
"Would you mind…?"
"No, I'm starving, too."
"You want something, too?"
He shrugged. "Yeah… just forgot my money… Gotta give it back to you tomorrow."
"You don't have to…"
"Yeah, I do", he persisted and pulled over to the side of the road.
Lilly got out of the car and realised she was standing in front of a Chinese restaurant. That was okay with her and she walked inside. It took a while until she had gotten the food, paid and was sitting in the car again. They reached the motel much too quickly for her liking and she felt a little reluctant to get out oft the car.
"Here we are", Danny commented. "So… I guess I'll see you in the morning."
Without thinking Lilly asked: "You want to come inside and have your dinner there with me?" Realising what she had said she cursed herself. And as there was no reaction from him at first she started to feel embarrassed. What would he be thinking of her now?
But then Danny smiled and said: "If you're not tired of my company yet…"
Oh please, you know damn well that I'm not!
Lilly just shook her head.
Ten minutes later they sat at the small table in her room, eating in silence. Lilly guessed that with anybody else the silence would have been uncomfortable, but with Danny it felt okay, somehow. Plus, they were both exhausted and not in the mood to make polite conversation only to kill the silence.
"So… guess you're going back to Philly tomorrow", Danny finally said.
Lilly shrugged. "Depends. Maybe you were wrong about Dina. Maybe Mrs Guerin is actually Mrs Guerin, and we'll have to start all over again."
"No way…"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Means, I'm never wrong."
"Really, Agent Taylor?"
"Okay, sometimes I am. I was very wrong about you, at first…" He almost whispered that and their eyes met for a second but then Lilly turned her head, though reluctantly.
Danny had finished eating and pushed the almost empty food container away so he could lean over the table; his face now very close to Lilly's. She could almost feel his breath on her skin.
Lilly knew this was the moment she would have to say she was very tired and that he should leave and that they would see each other the next day.
Only… she couldn't.
Not to Danny Taylor, anyway.
For a few seconds she was paralysed; torn between her usual professionalism – which was telling her firmly to make Danny leave right now – and those impressing dark eyes that had somehow fascinated her from the very beginning and that were now searching for hers. When she finally dared to meet his gaze she noticed that there was a new expression in his eyes – one she hadn't seen there before.
Desire.
And finally Lilly gave in to her own desire much quicker than she had thought she would. A gentle brush of his lips against hers turned into a kiss, long and eager, and all of a sudden the table seemed annoyingly in the way.
Lilly wanted to get closer to him.
And stop wondering what was up with her. Professionalism or no professionalism, she was an adult woman with needs and it had been a while since she there had been a man in her life.
And how could this be wrong if it felt so right?
Danny pulled her closer and she was sitting on his knees, when, still, their clothes were in the way.
She still wanted to be even closer…
If she had been thinking clearly she would have been more than surprised by herself; she had never been a women who took control of a situation like this. In fact, most encounters that included this kind of affection brought out the shy girl in her, making her feel like she was sixteen again – when at the same time she could easily take charge of conducting interviews, arresting people…
Isn't that queer?
Letting her hands slide under Danny's sweater she was disappointed to be met by a t-shirt, tucked into his jeans. Quick, uncontrolled fingers started to grip the thin fabric and pull in order to un-tuck it, before they made a vague attempt to get rid of that sweater.
As it became quite clear what Lilly wanted Danny finally moved her into a position that made it possible for him to get up from the chair he'd been sitting on and lift her up gently to carry her across the room and lay her down on the bed, slowly. Kneeing above her he leaned in for another kiss before he whispered in her ear, his voice low and rough: "You really want this?"
Lilly didn't even have to answer; just closing her eyes she let Danny take over control…
