A Path Well Traveled
Chapter 13
It was late that night when they finally made it home. Andy barely managed to close the door before Sharon stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him, her head resting on his broad chest. He enveloped her in a tight hug, holding her close and letting his hands caress her back. He smelled faintly of his cologne and his own unique scent, and she inhaled deeply of the familiar, comforting mixture.
She had been thinking about this all day, whenever she turned around and saw his concerned gaze fixed on her, when she felt his reassuring presence right behind her or at her side. He had hovered a little bit, but after years of working together, he had perfected the art of walking the line between being supportive and crowding her. He knew how much she would let him get away with, and some days he stepped right up to that line. These last few days, that had been the case, but she appreciated his restraint just as much as his willingness to be there in case she needed him. He always was.
Having someone in her life who had her back, no matter what, who steadfastly supported her, despite her stubbornness and her reluctance to relinquish even a little bit of control, that was something she was still getting used to.
"How about you take a bath to relax while I see if I can make us something quick for dinner?" he suggested after holding her for a long moment. His voice was deep and soft, his lips moving against her temple and his chest vibrating with his words.
She loved him for trying to take care of her, even though he was just as exhausted. After considering his offer, Sharon shook her head, burying her nose in the folds of his shirt as she tightened her hold on him even further. She was not hungry. The greasy pizza Provenza had organized for lunch earlier was still sitting uncomfortably in her stomach, which had not completely relaxed from the knot of tension that had settled there days ago.
"A bath sounds heavenly, but why don't you join me? I'm not really hungry right now."
She knew that Andy did not like to eat late at night anymore. It made it hard for him to sleep, so it was no surprise when he groaned happily into her ear at her suggestion before he turned her around and, with his hands on her shoulders, walked her down the hall and into their room.
His touch as he slowly peeled her out of her clothes was gentle. She stood in the middle of the room, her eyes closed, and let him rid her of layer after layer, neatly placing each item over the back of the chair in the corner. When all that remained was her underwear, he allowed his hands to caress up and down her arms, his fingers digging into the tense muscles of her shoulders until she moaned. For the first time all day, Sharon felt the chill that had settled in her bones retreat, the warmth of his touch chasing it away.
If the interview with Jack had been tough, she had been ill-prepared to watch Lieutenants Tao and McCarthy talk to Deputy Chief Davis afterwards.
Deputy Chief Winnie Davis already occupied a chair in interview room one by the time Sharon made it to Electronics. She gave Mike a nod of thanks when he rose to offer her his seat. One of the screens in front of her showed the visibly unhappy Deputy Chief glaring at the officer that was stationed in the room with her. The other screen showed the conference room, where Jack was still busy writing down his statement. Sharon wished that they could simply turn off the audio, because the way he was trying to hit on Lieutenant McCarthy made her mildly nauseous. How the other woman was able to stay so unaffected, she did not know. Although, thinking about it, she had done the same with countless officers and suspects before, but it was an entirely different story when it was her ex-husband. She felt ashamed for him and had to remind herself that his behavior was no longer her problem. That was something she would have to continue working on.
Behind her, she felt a familiar, warm presence move up to the back of her chair. Andy's fingers lightly brushed her shoulders as he grabbed the backrest. It was a brief touch that could easily have been accidental, but she knew better. He was trying to give her whatever strength and support he was able to without overstepping the thin line they had established between their private and professional lives. It was somewhat moot, considering their current case, but she appreciated that he nevertheless respected her boundaries.
With a little luck, they would be able to put an end to this entire investigation after speaking to Winnie Davis, and she would get to take her fiancé home and indulge in one of his long, tight hugs. The thought of his arms wrapped around her and his heart beating underneath her ear was a seductive one, and she would do whatever possible to make it a reality sooner rather than later.
Finally, McCarthy rose from her chair and, telling Jack to stay put until after they had spoken to Davis, she stepped out of the conference room, holding the door for the uniformed officer who would keep an eye on the remaining occupant. A moment later, the woman opened the door to the Electronics Room and leaned inside, letting her eyes travel over the people gathered behind the large table.
"So, who wants to help me crack a Deputy Chief," she asked with a smug smile on her lips.
The Lieutenant was starting to feel comfortable around them. Usually, divisions outside of Internal Affairs had no warm feelings to spare for IA officers. This time, however, she was very clearly on their side, trying her best to protect the reputations of two veteran members of Major Crimes. Since she had never dealt with any of them before, they had greeted her arrival with the usual caution common for outsiders, instead of the open dislike IA officers were faced with. It was a welcome change, and it did not take her long to let down her usual guard a little bit. The detectives of Major Crimes were consummate professionals with a combined experience that easily surpassed any other division, but they were also a close-knit family with a great sense of humor. They did not allow that to shine through too much, but the case they were investigating did not leave them a lot to laugh about. Still, there were moments of levity that she enjoyed very much, even more so, since she was included for once.
Sharon smiled back at the eager woman, feeling everyone around her straighten up a little. She knew that each one of them hoped to be nominated for the task of interrogating Deputy Chief Davis, but she had already made her choice.
"Mike, will you please accompany Lieutenant McCarthy?"
He practically skipped out of the door, his "aye, Captain" gleeful as he made his way past his colleagues to join the younger Lieutenant in the hallway. Sharon pursed her lips to suppress another smile and focused on the screen showing the interview room, sensing the people around her doing the same.
It took a couple of minutes for the two Lieutenants to join Winnie Davis, no doubt because they had taken a moment to discuss their strategy. They sat down across from the older woman and placed their files and papers on the table, neatly laying out every single item so that they would be able to find whatever they needed without delay.
Davis was not willing to wait that long. Before the other two even settled in their chairs completely, she was ready to give them a piece of her mind.
"What the hell is all this about?" she yelled. "Howard told me to report to Major Crimes, and when I got here, I was sat down in an interview room like a common criminal. This is outrageous, and you better start explaining yourselves right now."
Despite Davis outranking them, neither Lieutenant was intimidated by her. Mike raised an eyebrow, and McCarthy pulled a list of the charges they were ready to file against the Chief out of her folder and put it in front of the other woman without reacting to her outburst.
She kept pushing evidence across the table, one piece after the other, without uttering a word, allowing the older woman to take a look at the information they had gathered. Davis kept a straight face as she studied the material, refusing to react in any visible way.
They had started with prints of the articles, then the testimony of the journalist, before moving on to a summary of the process that led them to the computer used to email the material and the key card logs. McCarthy held Jack's statement back for the moment, waiting to see the Deputy Chief's response to their other evidence first.
"What does Captain Raydor's questionable sex life or her bad taste in men have to do with me?" Davis finally asked, her eyes narrowed and her lips curled in disgust as she looked up from the documents in front of her.
McCarthy ground her teeth in an effort to keep control over her rising temper. She had never worked with Captain Raydor prior to this unfortunate incident, but she knew the woman by reputation, and she respected and admired her. The lieutenant knew from experience what it was like as a woman in this job, and she could only imagine how much worse it had been when Raydor had started out. Sexism and misogyny were an almost constant factor in their lives, even now. To see a female officer act in such a repulsive way, undermining another woman by trying to ruin her reputation, that was something she had a hard time accepting.
"We are not here to discuss Captain Raydor's personal life," she replied, her voice devoid of any trace of her resentment. "What we are interested in, however, is how her personal life ended up on the news, and we would like to hear what you have to say about that."
Davis sneered at the younger woman. "How should I know? But I guess that's what she gets for behaving like a slut for so long. She thought she'd get away with it, but looks like it finally caught up with her."
Mike Tao had seen a lot in his many years with the LAPD. He was aware that there was a lot of hatred in the world, but to see it from one of their own, aimed at a woman he respected as much as he did his captain, was a shock even for him. He rarely allowed suspects to rouse his temper, but Davis was seriously testing his restraint.
"If I were you, I'd hold off on the celebration for now. There are a few things that might catch up with you in the very near future." He let that sink in for a moment before he went on. "What can you tell us about your relationship with Jack Raydor?"
He had to admit that Davis was good. She barely reacted to his question, the slight tightening of her jaw the only indication that it meant anything to her at all.
"What relationship? He's a lawyer. He defended a few of my division's suspects. I don't think I ever actually spoke to him."
Lieutenant McCarthy gave the older woman a smug smile as she pulled several additional sheets of paper out of her folder.
"I have your phone records right here. They show calls between your cell phone and that of Jack Raydor at least three times a week over the last six months. For someone you never spoke to, that's a lot of calls."
She gave Davis a few seconds to mull that over, her lips still stretched into a tiny smile. The Deputy Chief was suddenly very quiet and had paled noticeably.
"Once we got that interesting bit of information," she went on, "we asked around and found out that the two of you have met at a bar a few times. We have several witnesses who saw you together and are willing to testify to that. They said that you seemed very close." McCarthy shrugged and turned to Tao. "I guess there's no accounting for taste and," she faced Davis again, "it certainly isn't a crime to date a lawyer."
She shrugged, looking at Mike once again as if she was asking for his opinion. He, in turn, tilted his head to the side a little and narrowed his eyes in consideration.
"Dating a lawyer is not, you're right. However, conspiring with one to start a smear campaign on his ex-wife is."
Mike reached over to take another sheet from the folder and placed it in front of the Deputy Chief.
"This is Mister Raydor's written statement in which he claims that the two of you had an affair that lasted several months and that, when he broke up with you, he gave you photos and videos featuring his ex-wife and Lieutenant Flynn. He thought you would use them to blackmail Captain Raydor into withdrawing her application for the Assistant Chief position. He was not all too pleased that you decided to make them public, considering the problems that created for him, so he was very eager to cooperate with us."
Winnie Davis narrowed her eyes and gave the two Lieutenants a condescending look, not even bothering to read the statement that had been placed in front of her. She shook her head as if they were fresh out of the academy and had no idea what they were talking about.
"You have absolutely nothing but a lot of circumstantial evidence and the word of a known addict and gambler. If this is how you go about your normal cases, I really don't know why they call you an elite division. So if you'll excuse me, I've got more important things to do than to watch you waste the city's money."
With that last, biting remark, she pushed her chair back and rose. Her hands were still planted on the table and she froze like that when Lieutenant McCarthy interrupted her departure.
"Actually, Chief, we do have a little more than that. Mister Raydor provided us with the user information of the cloud space that was used to store the data he provided. We just obtained the IP address of the computer used to set up that account and it comes back to your home address."
Mike had not expected them to get the information that soon. He knew that Andy had requested a warrant for the user data as soon as they'd gotten the account details, but it usually took at least several hours for them to get any results. Considering their Captain's popularity with most judges, he supposed that whoever Flynn had called was only too eager to help out as quickly as possible. He wondered who had talked to the cloud space provider to make them dig up the information they needed this quickly. Maybe Julio had scared the living daylights out of some unsuspecting tech guy, or it was the Captain herself, proving once again why people called her Darth Raydor. Either way, it was a lucky break, and he would take it. If Buzz had not informed them about the latest development via their ear pieces, they would have had to let Davis go.
When Deputy Chief Davis slowly sank back down into her chair, Mike asked the question he had been dying to ask.
"Why did you do it, Chief? Was all of this just to get a promotion?"
He understood being ambitious, but he had never seen the value in throwing other people under the bus in order to get ahead. Maybe that was why he had never made it past Lieutenant, but he would much rather remain at his current rank for the rest of his career than sacrifice his integrity.
Davis sneered, her voice dripping with contempt. "What was I supposed to do? She already had the promotion before the competition even started. Pope practically trips over his own tongue whenever he sees her, and she knows exactly how to play him with her perfect little outfits and the way she struts around in those heels," she spat, gesturing with both hands as she spoke. "The job should have been mine by default. I am next in line to Taylor, and the fact that Howard was put in charge as interim Chief is insulting. I needed to get that bitch out of the way, and when I met her ex-husband, I figured that he might have some dirt on her. I was right." She smirked, tapping a print of one of the articles where it still lay on the table. "It took a little more time and effort that I thought, but it was worth it. He was so easy to play, it was laughable."
McCarthy wondered if the Deputy Chief had lost her mind when she started to actually laugh. The older woman was someone she had looked up to for many years, because she had made a name and a career for herself in this male-dominated job, and she had earned everyone's respect. It was shocking to see her so full of hate, so driven by her own ambition that she lost sight of what the job was all about.
"Well, no one is laughing anymore, Chief."
Sharon sighed happily as she leaned back against Andy's chest, his arms and the hot water surrounding her. She allowed herself to relax completely, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Andy had chosen the calming lavender bath oil she loved so much, and Sharon inhaled the soothing scent. She hummed when he trailed soft kisses along the side of her neck, gently nibbling at the sensitive skin, his hands caressing her stomach. She wanted nothing more than to let go of the stress and anxiety of the last several weeks, but her mind was still lingering on Winnie Davis and what she had done, despite Andy's attempts at distracting her.
Once the Deputy Chief had confessed, Lieutenant McCarthy had suggested that they let a disciplinary commission decide her fate instead of filing criminal charges. All things considered, what Davis had done was a misdemeanor, and dragging her in front of a judge would only serve to keep the incident in the press even longer. No one wanted that when the punishment would likely be no more than a fine or a few months on probation. The much more interesting question was what would happen to her career. It was already clear that Davis would not get the promotion. Whether or not she would retain her current rank or even be allowed to keep working for the LAPD would still have to be decided. McCarthy was not yet sure what her recommendation would be. She would consult with her superior, and there would have to be a psychological evaluation to assess Davis' fitness for duty. Her actions had cast serious doubt on her judgment, after all.
"What's on your mind, babe?" Andy rasped into her ear, drawing her out of her thoughts.
"I can't stop thinking about Winnie Davis," she confessed. "She was always ambitious, but I don't understand how she could go this far for a promotion."
Sharon shook her head, waving her hands in agitation as she continued. "She seduced my ex-husband for the sole purpose of getting information that might hurt my chances of getting that job. The lengths she was willing to go to for that third star… I simply don't understand it."
Her frustration was evident in her voice, and Andy was able to feel the tension that had returned to her body as she spoke. He understood why she was having such a hard time relating to the other woman's actions. There was nothing wrong with wanting to get ahead professionally. He knew that she had dreamed of her own set of stars in the past. To take others down in order to get them was not her style, though.
"Yeah, maybe that's why you're a Captain and she's a Deputy Chief. You play by the rules and you spent a large part of your career giving other women a hand up. You're too principled for this stupid political game. And you know what?" He paused to place a lingering kiss against her temple. "That's one of the many reasons I love you."
It was true. He had seen her help female officers countless times. She had encouraged Chief Johnson to apply for the job of Chief of Police, coaching and badgering her until she had taken the process at least somewhat seriously. He knew that she had helped Commander McGuiness regain her footing after her husband and child had died, and when that post in SOB had opened up, Sharon had talked her through her concerns until she had been ready to take that step. The two women were still pretty close. There were many more examples like that, times when Sharon had put aside her own ambitions to help someone else. The problem was not that she was not qualified, persistent, or determined enough. She was all that. Andy knew that she would be one hell of an Assistant Chief, and an even better Chief. She simply lacked the selfishness needed to make it all the way to the top, and, since she had taken over Major Crimes, she had also lost interest in the political games. As much as he had hoped for her sake that someone would finally acknowledge how much she deserved a promotion like that, he was glad that he would keep working with her.
"You know," he said after a moment, "I hate to say this, but I almost feel sorry for Jack."
Sharon hummed in response, her fingers tracing random patterns on the back of his hand where it rested on her belly. "Yes, me, too."
Andy grunted quietly into her ear, obviously not happy with the way he felt about the other man. It was no secret that Andy did not like Jack, but it was hard not to have some sympathy for him. Davis had used him to get information. She had manipulated him and pretended to be attracted to him. It was disgusting.
Earlier that day, before they had sent him home, Jack had asked to speak to Sharon for a moment and she had agreed, leading him into her office to give them some privacy. She had expected many things, but not an honest, heartfelt apology.
Sharon slowly sank into her chair before she leaned forward and folded her hands on top of her desk. Jack had settled into one of her visitor's chairs, his shoulders slumped slightly and his hands fidgeting nervously in his lap. She stared at him in silence, an expectant eyebrow raised until he finally began to talk.
"Look Sharon, I know that you're angry, and you have every right to be. I just want you to know that I never wanted any of this to become public. I honestly thought she would just use the photos to get you to withdraw your application."
He sounded truly remorseful, but she was too furious to accept his apology just yet.
"Jack, you gave someone I work with photos and videos of intimate moments I shared with Andy. I don't care what you thought she would or would not do with them. You should never have shared them." She pinched the bridge of her nose, the headache that had been an almost constant companion over the past few days throbbing behind her eyes. "Do you have any idea what it feels like? I walk into a room and I can hear people whisper behind my back about that damn video. Our children could have seen that," she choked out, tears filling her eyes at the thought.
No matter how humiliating it was to know that at least some of the people she worked with had watched that video of her and Andy, imagining that her children or their friends might have seen it made her nauseous, and she was not sure if she would ever be able to forgive Jack for putting her in that position.
"I'm sorry," he reiterated. "I didn't even remember what exactly was in those files. I looked at some of the pictures back in the day, when Reynolds gave them to me. I never had the stomach to watch the video. When I cleaned out the storage room years ago, I thought about tossing the whole bunch away, but I couldn't do it for some reason, so I had it all digitized."
It was so typical for Jack to try and explain his way out of his mistakes. He always said that he was sorry, but in the end it was never his fault. She should never have agreed to talk to him, but there was one question that had plagued her ever since the first photos had appeared online.
"Why did you have me followed, anyway? What did you hope to get out of that? You never did anything with those images before now."
Jack looked down at his hands as he considered her question for a moment. When he spoke, she thought he sounded almost heartbroken.
"I don't know. I… I guess I wanted to know what you got up to when I wasn't around. I know that I had no right to be jealous or to get mad at you for having an affair, but I was. At first I thought that thing with Andy didn't mean anything, but then you kept seeing him, and you looked so happy together. I was scared that he would replace me, and I guess I was right."
He cast a careful glance at her, trying to smile at his weak joke, but his lips would not quite comply.
"At the time, I thought that maybe you'd want a divorce eventually, and that the material I had collected would come in handy, but that never happened until two years ago. By then I didn't really want to drag all that up again. Besides, it wouldn't have done me much good, anyway," he concluded with a shrug.
Sharon stared at him for a long moment, mulling over what he had told her and trying to find a measure of peace in his words. The anger she felt towards her ex-husband was somewhat familiar, but she had long ago decided not to allow him to have this effect on her anymore. Being angry at him ultimately only hurt her. It served no purpose except to fill her mind with toxic thoughts. It bothered her that she allowed any of that to take up space inside her head, and it was time that she walked away from Jack and his games once again.
"You are right about that, Jack. And it did not do you any good now, either. I am afraid that you will have to find a way to work this out with the children. They are not very happy with you right now, and I can't blame them, but that is no longer my problem."
Straightening up in her chair, Sharon started to sort through the papers and files that covered her desk, the dismissal unmistakable in her tone. "Now, if you have nothing else to discuss with me, I have a lot of work to do."
He nodded once and got up reluctantly, hesitating a moment, obviously trying to find something else to say, before he turned around and left with a quiet goodbye. When the door closed behind him, Sharon took a deep breath and released it slowly, allowing her eyes to close for a few seconds to enjoy the quiet before she focused on the paperwork that needed to be finished.
They had managed to put a stop to the leaks and to contain the material that was already out there as much as possible. They had found the person who was responsible for the whole mess, and she would be facing the consequences, whatever they might be. Sharon had even more or less come to terms with the fact that the people she worked with every day now knew more about her personal life than she would ever be comfortable with. Her team had made clear to her, through their behavior, that they did not care what she had done in the past, that they respected her no matter what. Knowing that was comforting and empowering, and she was intensely grateful for working with these wonderful people.
She would still be working with them. Fritz Howard had paid her a visit shortly before she left. He had informed her that, while she was definitely out of the race for the Assistant Chief position, she would be allowed to retain her current job, as would Andy. It was a huge load off her mind, and she had seen Andy's shoulders slump in relief as well when she had told him. It was still uncertain what the new Assistant Chief would ultimately decide to do with him, since he was still on limited duty and would most likely remain so for a while longer. They did not know if he would ever be allowed to go back into the field the way he had been before, and there was no telling what that might mean for his future within the department.
She had promised him that she would fight anyone who would try to make him retire, because she honestly felt that he was an integral part of her team even while limited to desk duty. In the months since he had returned from medical leave, Sharon had gradually given Andy more responsibilities, allowing him to lead a little more of the investigative side while she focused on administration. She would never completely give up being a part of solving crimes, because that was something she loved very much, but she also knew that Andy needed to feel useful.
Another plan that she had come up with, one that she had yet to share with anyone, was to put Andy in charge of being a mentor for Buzz. The young man had done a great job finding his father's and uncle's killer, and it was obvious that he was thinking about his future. Sharon would not approach him directly, but she hoped that, some day soon, he would come to her to ask for advice once more, like he had done when he had started to think about becoming a reserve detective. In the meantime, she figured that Andy might be able to take him under his wing and encourage him discreetly to take a leap and chase his dreams.
All of that would depend on how her first meeting with their new Assistant Chief would go. There had not been an official announcement yet, but everyone knew that it would be Leo Mason. They would know in a couple of days, probably at the beginning of the week. Until then, all they were able to do was wait and enjoy the long weekend they had been given, and she already had a few ideas how to do just that, especially since Rusty would not be home.
Her youngest son was extremely put out with them at the moment, and as embarrassing as the situation was, she could not help but be amused by his reaction. While they had wrapped up their investigation, Rusty, who had dropped by to discuss something with Buzz, had accidentally caught sight of Andy's computer screen. At the time, Andy had been going through the cloud storage with all the photos and videos Jack had uploaded, and a particular set of images had caught Rusty's attention. They featured the old Volvo she had given him, the car he drove to school every day. Climbing out of the backseat of that car were his mother and Andy, both looking extremely disheveled, leaving no doubt as to what they had been up to.
It was Rusty's outraged exclamations that had drawn her out of her office. Her son had stood next to Andy's desk, his back turned away from the screen and his hands covering his eyes as he mumbled something about having been scarred for life. Her fiancé had sat in his chair, his face in his hands and his shoulders shaking silently. Thankfully, the room had been otherwise empty, as most of the squad had still been out for a late lunch.
Once she had figured out what his problem was, Sharon had tried to calm the boy down, but it had only earned her a lecture about things people were not supposed to do in their cars, and did she know how gross it was, and that he had sat in that backseat, and how was he supposed to ever drive that car again? It had been hard not to laugh, especially when she had heard Andy's helpless grunts and snorts.
He had finally settled down after she had reminded him that he was not forced to drive that car, that he was more than welcome to take the bus to Santa Monica each day, if the thought of what had happened in the Volvo's backseat 24 years earlier disturbed him so much. When he had told her, much more calmly, that she would have to pay for a lot of sessions with Doctor Joe before he would get over that, she had merely given him an indulgent smile, refraining from mentioning that she already paid for his appointments with the good Doctor. They had all been relieved when Buzz had chosen that moment to come back from his break, giving Rusty the perfect escape. She had seen no need to question him when he threw over his shoulder that he would be staying with Gus over the weekend. A few days alone with Andy were just what she needed.
Twisting slightly so that she was able to look at Andy, Sharon gave him a sultry smile, her voice low and husky with desire. "How about we take this into the bedroom?"
While her mind had lingered on the past few days, Andy had been busy enjoying the enticing body that was reclined against him. He had wondered how long it would take her to catch up with him and finally let go of work. His caresses had become bolder with every minute she spent pondering their existence outside of these four walls. Only when he had pinched her nipples hard, pulling at them and twisting them between his thumbs and forefingers, did she return her attention to the present. Her sexy bedroom voice always had an effect on him, but combined with having her between his thighs, her lower back pressed against his groin and her soft, wet skin under his hands, he was more than ready to take her up on her suggestion. However, it had been quite a while since they'd had the time and energy for more than falling asleep in each other's arms. With their private life being spread all over their workplace and beyond, the mood simply had not been there, and he was feeling that now. Andy was realistic enough to know that, if he allowed Sharon to touch him, he would not last very long, so he would have to distract her long enough to make sure that she got her needs taken care of first.
"Later," he whispered into her ear, before he latched onto the sensitive spot right behind it, nibbling on the soft skin until she whimpered and squirmed in his arms.
His left hand abandoned her breast and slid down over her stomach to the inside of her thigh, nudging it gently until she caught on and lifted her leg over the rim of the tub, opening herself to his questing hands. He let his fingers play along her soft folds, slipping inside her just enough to make her roll her hips into his touch, searching for more. He teased her mercilessly, slowly, patiently bringing her to the edge.
She had confessed to him, a little after they had started dating officially, how much it frustrated her that her physical responses were no longer as quick as they used to be. The desire was definitely there, but it took longer for her body to respond. Andy did not mind at all, however. It merely gave him another reason to take his sweet time with her. He loved touching and tasting her just as much as he loved the feeling of being inside her. Seeing her fall apart underneath his hands, feeling her tremble and writhe in his arms, her whimpers and moans filling his ears, was worth every second it took to get her there.
Her heart was beating frantically inside her chest and her head was spinning slightly as her body slowly recovered. His fingers were still inside her, and her walls pulsing around them. The heel of his hand was pressed against her clit, and the barely there stimulation kept sending little sparks of pleasure along her veins. His other hand cupped her breast, his thumb lazily brushing over an overly sensitive nipple.
With another long moan, Sharon slumped into him, completely sated. She had not felt that state of utter relaxation in a while, and she wanted it to last as long as possible. Andy did not seem to be in any particular hurry to move, either, so she allowed herself a few more minutes to bask in the afterglow, to enjoy the feeling of safety, of being loved and taken care of. Once she regained a semblance of control over her body, she would take her fiancé into the bedroom and make sure that she repaid the favor.
~TBC~
A/N: I want to thank the guest reviewer who, in a review to one of the early chapters, wondered about Rusty's reaction to learning that Sharon and Andy had a little fun in his car. The idea was too funny to ignore.