Puzzles of the Heart

WARNING: THIS IS THE MATURE RATING CHAPTER!!

Actually I think its a little tame myself but a friend of mine who does not enjoy this sort of thing explained her position to me very well one day. She made me realize that I have as much right to enjoy the sex and she has the right not to, she merely requires a warning so Susan this chapter ain't for you baby!

Chapter 4

I went home that night feeling edgy and keyed up. I fed my cat. I alphabetized the spices in the spice rack, the ones with a layer of dust on the lids because I hardly ever use them. I finally decided the one thing that would get rid of this mood would be to clean the furnace in preparation for the coming winter cold. A homeowner's work is never done. I changed into an old tee shirt that showed the marks of previous painting and home repair projects. The neckline was ripped and the seam under the other arm was giving way. It was a rag but I figured I would toss it after this last job.

Cleaning a furnace is no fun. Its dusty and yucky and it used to be something that Joe took care of. After he was killed, I did it faithfully every year just to feel connected to him again.

"Is it broken?"

I screamed, rose up and banged my head painfully on the sharp edge of the burner. "How the hell did you get in here?" I yelled at him, holding my head. Tears were welling up behind my eyes. I could already feel a lump starting to rise.

Two long strides brought Bobby to my side from the foot of the cellar stairs. "I'm sorry. I rang the bell a bunch of times but you didn't answer." He took my hands from my head and pulled me over under the cellar light to have a look. "I saw your car in the drive and the lights and the TV on and….I got scared actually." He continued to hold my head brushing the hair away gently from the spot. "I was afraid something happened to you, Alex."

I relished the sound of my name on his lips. I looked up into his face and he saw the unshed tears in my eyes. "I forgot I gave you my key."

I saw something darken behind his eyes as he stood close to me with his hands cradling my ears. He leaned forward ever so slightly but then brought his hands down to my elbows. "Come on, lets get you some ice or you're going to have a goose egg." He propelled me up the stairs ahead of him which left me acutely aware of the fact that along with the horrid tee shirt, I was only wearing a skimpy pair of shorts that had also seen better days.

I had lit a fire earlier and it was roaring merrily. Bobby deposited me on the couch in front of it before going in search of ice in the kitchen. He had been here a few times before and it wasn't necessary for me to direct him as he found the ice pack and got us drinks.

He brought glasses of soda for us both and a zip lock bag of ice for my head. When I reached to take the bag from him, I saw how dirty my hands were from the furnace. "Now, now," said Bobby, "you can wash up after the obligatory twenty minutes with the ice pack." He took the item and applied it to my head himself. "I really am sorry for scaring you and for…" his free hand motioned toward my head.

A wisecrack hovered on my lips but his voice was soft and so sincere, I just nodded and smiled. This was dangerous. I leaned forward and picked up my drink and felt a trickle of cold water from the ice pack run down my neck. At least that's the reason I gave myself for my shiver."

"Here," Bobby reached over and grabbed the afghan I had slung over the back of the couch. "What are you doing running around in shorts anyway, its freezing outside?" He tucked the blanket around me. "You know, Eames, I don't think I've ever seen you wear those shorts before."

I snickered, "Yeah and you never will again. How dare you catch me in my home improvement clothes."

"Home improvement, huh? What do you wear planting tulips in the spring?" I reached for the ice bag. "No, only about eight minutes so far." I gave him my don't mess with the cop look and he acquiesced, raising both hands in the air.

I made a bee line for the kitchen to ditch the bag and wash my hands but Bobby had jumped up to follow me. The hall mirror caught my attention and I gave a squawk at the soot and dust on my face and in my hair. Bobby came up behind me. "What," he said looking at the two of us in the reflection. "Its just a little dirt." He brushed at a spot on my nose. "Come here." He turned me to face him and brushed a little at my hair. This was more dangerous. "See it comes right off."

"Um, Bobby, I uh…" I couldn't finish. He had stepped closer and those hands were still on my face, his thumb on my chin and his fingers on the sensitive chords of my neck.

"What, Alex?" I could feel his breath stir the hair at my temple. "What do you want, Alex?"

My resistance was gone. I was trying to keep a tight grip on my emotions but I my hand rose up to touch his cheek, as I had wanted to do a thousand times, for so many years. His eyes closed at my touch and then his resolve broke like the sudden onset of a monsoon. He mouth descended upon mine in an instant, hard and insistence. I reached up to bury my hands in his curls and to stop him from ever pulling away from me. His hands were everywhere, caressing my neck, my shoulder blades and then back in my hair. His lips slide off mine and moved to my ear. "Are you sure, Alex? He whispered. "Are you sure this is what you want? Is it me you want?"

At his words, I felt my breath catch and bolt of desire shoot down my center. I pulled back and looked into those sweet warm eyes. "Yes, Bobby I want you. I have for ages." I watched a fire ignite in his eyes and realized I was in for it now. All the glimpses of that tightly controlled passion that he kept under wraps was about to be unleashed on me. I shivered again but this time in anticipation.

He brought his lips to mine again but this time softly, barely touching mine. Pulling back each time to look into my eyes again. He hands came to rest on my backside and he pulled me firmly to him. He moaned deeply into my mouth as those talented hands lifted me and pushed me into the wall. I felt my breath leave by body but I only needed him. My mouth slipped off his and moved to his neck. I had the satisfaction on hearing him suck in his breath at the feel on my mouth under his ear. My hands found the buttons of his shirt and I was intent on removing the offending garment as fast as I could but I was finding it hard to concentrate as Bobby's fingers had located the ripped seam in my shirt and he apparently found it fascinating. I finally succeeded in pushing his dress shirt off his shoulders but he had to let go of me to take it off his arms. I slid down the wall. "Ouch" I laughed rubbing my head. Bobby pulled me to him, his hand gently cradling the place where the lump was, his chin resting lightly on top of my head. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. He smelled like Manhattan on a cold afternoon, like summer grass and cotton candy all rolled into one.

He picked me up and carried me back into the living room. He stood me up on the coffee table in front of the fire and stepped back to look at me. I was now a couple of inches taller than him. The firelight played in his eyes as he looked up at me with all the longing in his heart written on his face. It was more than I could have hoped for. I smiled sweetly and peeled off the tee shirt and then my bra. Bobby kicked off his pants and boxers, never taking his eyes off of me. I reached for the waist band of my shorts but his hands stopped me.

"Stop. Wait, I just want to look at you." He raised my arms up and twirled me slowly around in a circle. "I really like these shorts." He gave me such a naughty grin that I could feel myself getting wetter by the second. I caught my arms around his neck, his mouth was just at the level of my breasts. His mouth was so hot I knew I would find welts from his lips in the morning. Bobby slipped his fingers into the waistband of my shorts and slowly pulled both my panties and the shorts down to my knees.

"Bobby I can't take this." I told him pulling him closer to my breast. His response was another devious grin as his tongue left my breast to wander down my stomach to my navel. "Oh my God," I cried as my hips bucked forward. His clever tongue moved lower but never exactly where I needed him to be. My hands were entwined in his hair urging him to my center. Instead of indulging me, he looked up in my face, "I want to watch you as you come for me." His hands spread my legs and I suddenly felt the those talented fingers inside me. I felt the world explode around me and Bobby's eyes never left my face. He gathered me in his arms as I came floating back down to earth. He pulled me onto his lap, straddling him on the couch.

"So you weren't kidding with Jones were you?" I said.

Bobby threw his head back and laughed even as he eased into me. "No, and it made me sick to watch you flirt with him." I would have objected but my brain was only able to focus on the impossible size of his shaft and the sensation of it filling me up. I gasp as I felt it strain against my cervix.

He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, as if to keep me from escaping. "Its okay, we'll take it slow until you get used to it." He chuckled quietly in my ear.

We found our rhythm and then it was my turn to observe the look of ecstasy on his face and the sight of it pushed me over the edge once more into my own climax.

Bobby pulled me down to lay beside him, the fire crackled in the background.

"Uh Oh," I said twirling a finger through the hair on his chest. "I think we just broke a rule."

I loved his laugh, it make him seem younger and uninhibited. "Well, I'm not calling Deakins but if you feel the need to confess, be my guest."

"Do you think I'm that much of a goody goody that I can't break a few rules?" My hand began to make lazy circles down his stomach.

""Hey, cut that out. You have a dirty mind, not to mention face."

I smacked his belly. "Fine I'm taking a shower." I tried to get up but those strong arms that drove me wild on the few occasions I had seen him in a tee shirt would not let me up.

He nipped at my earlobe, gently tugging my earring with his teeth. "I have no intention of letting you up from here." He whispered in my ear. "You don't know, Alex, how long I stood there watching you bent over that furnace before I finally found my voice. You are the sexiest woman I've ever seen."

"I've always known you were a little left of center Bobby but a furnace fetish, please."

"Go ahead joke if you want." He twisted me away from him so that I lay spooned up against him. His lips were raising goose bumps on my back and his hands were cupping my breasts.

"Why am I only hearing about this now?" I teased him but the question was no laughing matter.

His hand moved down my stomach tracing the line of soft hair down into my folds. I gasp as he found my clitoris. "I wanted to tell you. Everyday, a million times. How could I admit to you or myself that only having you as a partner, as great as that is, wasn't enough?"

I felt myself moving resolutely toward the edge of orgasm. Both at his hands and at his words. Suddenly he stopped. "How about that shower now?" He leapt over the top of me and pulled me to my feet. Standing in the circle of his arms again was like coming home.

I reached up to touch his face, just so I could be sure he was really there. "I felt the same way, Bobby. I didn't want to do anything to lose you."

He groaned and his mouth descended upon mine with more intensity than before. I couldn't breath and didn't need to. I never noticed the tears that were flowing from my eyes until Bobby brought a hand up to cup my face. "Shhh," he held my head against his chest. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"I know," I sniffed. "I'm being silly."

"Come on."

The house had been built in the 80s with an enormous Jacuzzi tub. Joe tried and tried but could never fix it and he wouldn't hear of calling a plumber. The day after his funeral, I couldn't deal with his loss. I was crying and trying to figure out how I was supposed to go on without him. From somewhere outside myself I heard a voice say, "Call the damn plumber." I wont say it was Joe's voice but that is exactly what I did. The plumber came and fixed the tub which for the next several years held me while I cried.

When Bobby pulled me into the bathroom and caught sight of the tub he stopped short and gave a low whistle. "Oh, this is going to be fun." I however, hung back not sure if I was ready to share this with him. He noticed my rescindment. "Wait, is this a Joe thing? Dammit, I knew I should have brought you to my place."

His obvious chagrin and concern melted my reserve. "No its okay. I didn't get this working until after he was gone." When I didn't go on. Bobby put a finger to my chin and lifted my face to his. His lips brushed mine. "I just deal with things in there. Cases, losses, frustrations, undeclared feelings for my partner; you name it." I shrugged as if it didn't matter.

"So this is like your tree house?" He teased me. "This is the place where you curse and sing and dream and hide out from the world? His hands had delved into my hair again massaging my scalp. "Do you want to share it with me?"

I nodded and began to fill the tap. "How about some bubbles?" I smiled wickedly at him.

"No, I know from experience that tomorrow at work everyone will smell it on me."

"From experience huh? Who have you been taking a bubble bath with?" I wagged a finger under his nose playfully.

He grabbed my hand and held it captive against his chest. "No, no, no, I'm not going to reveal all my secrets in one night."

I woke up in the morning with a heavy arm flung over my hip, pinning me to the bed. It felt just as wonderful as I could have ever imagined. I rolled over to see two luscious brown eyes, crinkled at the corners, looking back at me. His hair stood up wildly on his head, his lips still full and red from our kisses the night before. I smiled widely, like a kid that finally got what she wanted for Christmas. "I have fantasized about what you would look like in the morning." He said kissing both my eyelids. "Seeing the sleep and the sex from the night before in your eyes." He whispered softly.

I wanted to ask him what finally brought him to me. Why he had picked last night of all the other nights to come to my door but I didn't want to jinx anything. In fact, I felt like getting up and throwing salt over my shoulder, rubbing a rabbit's foot or spitting on a new baseball bat, anything to keep my good fortune. "I'm really glad you're here." I said lamely.