CHAPTER ELEVEN

Brass carefully set Iris down as they checked out the suite. The three-room suite boasted a large Jacuzzi tub and equally large shower. Iris let out a low whistle, Jim hadn't been kidding when he promised them a great place for their honeymoon night.

"Can you be without my cooking dinner for a few days?" Iris said. She was so accustomed to making their dinner every night.

"I'll get by, babe, got different cooking in mind right now." Brass said huskily to her as he folded his arms about her, sneaking a quick kiss in the process. Her lips tasted honey-sweet to him.

"You so have a love glint in your eyes, Master Brass. Umm, I'll just be a few minutes then." Iris said as she headed into bathroom, shutting the doors behind her.

Brass had called ahead instructions to the hotel staff for certain things to be in place in the room ahead of their arrival. He now proceeded to make some adjustments in the room, moving to change his clothes in the process. The songs of Barry White began to play softly in the background.

The bathroom door opened after several minutes. "Jim…ready to see what you bargained for?" Iris asked, hesitating just a bit.

"Bring it on, hon," Brass said eagerly.

Iris walked out wearing a lavender chemise of silky charmeuse with a beautiful scalloped lace border with sexy lace-up sides and straps that tied over the shoulders. She turned slowly around for the full 360-degree effect, wondering what his reaction would be.

Jim's face spoke volumes and all of it positive. "Hubby like," he finally managed to say. Iris noted he was now wearing a robe himself.

She gasped when she saw how the room looked. Scented candles burned everywhere, giving off waves of gentle illumination. A bottle of chilled champagne with two glasses was beside the bed. The lights were dim, adding to the atmosphere.

She found herself in Jim's arms, fast becoming her favorite place, as he said softly, "Dance with me."

Jim's robe slipped a bit and Iris noted a tattoo high on his right upper arm. It was a dark blue image with radiating arms from the circular center point that said, "Snow". She traced its outline and looked up at him questioningly. Brass felt she should see all and removed the robe. On his right upper chest just below the scar of the bullet he'd taken was the tattooed date of May 11, 2006. He'd not mentioned them before to her.

"Bear, what's the story on your tattoos?" Iris asked.

For a moment Brass was silent, old memories coming to the forefront. "The larger one is in memory of my first partner…a rookie. I was a patrolman back in Newark. We were responding to a 417. Some drunken husband was smacking around his wife, you know, in front of the kids and all. A real bad egg. Neighbors heard gunshots and called the cops. We get there and the guy's out on the porch holding the wife in front of him, gun's pointing at her and then pointing to him. I'm trying to talk him down. I told my partner to stay behind the door of the patrol car where it was safest. The guy suddenly hits his wife with the stock of his shotgun. She falls to the ground. My partner's only thinking of helping her and suddenly runs toward the woman, on instinct, all that training jargon of what to do out the window. The guy never blinked as he raised the shotgun and fired at my partner…it was a fatal shot. My partner's name was Lisa Snowden…we called her Snow for short…I did this to remember her by. It's a snowflake."

She gently kissed the first tattoo, touching the second one she looked up at him again.

"Yeah, the second one. You know I got shot, right? That's the date of the fateful day. Well, after I came back on duty I decided to get a permanent reminder of it, so I can't ever forget, you know. The sensation of getting shot was like a Twilight Zone experience. I could feel myself falling back and hitting the floor. I remember seeing Warrick bending over me as the paramedics got me on the stretcher and to the ambulance. Warrick stayed right with me, too. The emergency room doctor was yelling out orders and I recall getting zapped by those shock paddles. I was in and out after that but I had the strangest dream. I was in my grandmother's flower garden where I used to play as a kid. I wasn't alone though. Someone else I couldn't see was there, like a guardian angel I guess, telling me I was in the balance. Yet there was another voice eventually, a woman's voice that told me let not your heart be troubled." He said wistfully.

Iris's brow furrowed slightly as if the date meant something to her as well. "Wow, that was just before I transferred here from Dallas. Did you ever talk to anyone about it…your dream I mean?" She said at last.

"No, not until now, just seemed you ought to know." Brass replied softly.

Iris repeated her action of gently touching the bullet scar and following it with the softest of kisses. Iris was greatly moved by his story, looking up at Jim with tear-bright eyes. He gave her a half-smile as he kissed her eyes, tasting the saltiness of her unshed tears. "The thing with Snow happened many years ago, hon, this is our day and I want it to stay happy, okay?"

They moved slowly to the rhythm of music with its rich orchestral sounds and the low urgent vocals of Barry. Jim began to move his hands slowly down Iris's shoulders in gentle caresses to her chest and breasts, beginning to explore and seek out those places he wanted to learn that would bring her the greatest pleasure. He alternately started to kiss her face and then move toward her neck. Iris noted their dancing was taking them nearer and nearer to the bed. She let out a soft sound between a sigh and a moan.

"I'm takin' you to the mattresses," Jim said into her ear in his husky voice, Jersey coming through loud and clear.

"From 'The Godfather', right?" asked Iris. "Now there's an offer I can't refuse." They found themselves laughing at that.