Chapter 3

i need a straight jacket
whenever i get around you
cuz you're like a magnet
i can't help it, i have to touch you!
a dirty pirate,
that's what i love about you.
now don't feel worthy,
you give me something to bow down to.

Crazy Girl – Ke$ha

Anna was really something, Danny knew that much. The moment he'd seen her in the Tiger enclosure at Central Park Zoo he'd been drawn in. Her scent, the bright sparkle in her hazel eyes, the way her thick red hair cascaded in curls over her shoulders. It took every ounce of strength in him not to reach out and let his fingers run through it.

Those two nights previous when he'd had her in his arms, Danny had felt stirrings inside him he hadn't felt in a long time. It was a primal need, the same need that washed over him whenever he found himself in the same room as her since.

Danny was a man who always got what he wanted, women included and he wanted her, it was only down to the fact they worked together he held back. That plus he needed to know if she felt anything too.

Don had noticed, letting Danny know his oh so subtle looks at the new girl were not going unnoticed and had also warned Danny there was no chance in hell anything would happen between them both. "Your way too different" he'd said.

That statement there only made him want her more as childish as it may be. There had been many times over the last 3 weeks since her arrival when Danny had found himself fantasizing the many things they could do given half the chance to be alone.

After leaving Mac's office for a rundown on their newest case, Danny headed through the corridors, a small smirk on his face. He was sure somebody was looking out for him, as Mac had only gone and put him working with Anna.

Spotting her in one of the labs, he clapped his hands together and headed inside, "Hey Mac said I'd find you here, what you got?" he asked shrugging his way into a lab coat, his eyes doing a quick run over her small figure.

Anna looked up from the evidence in front of her and smiled, ignoring the stirring in the lower part of her stomach as she watched Danny cross the room. "Did you read the field report?" she asked, jumping straight to work. Anna reminded herself to breathe when Danny leant against the table beside her, his arm brushing against hers.

"Missing weapon, low projectile penetration, missing second party, iPod, chopsticks, blood...did I miss anything?" he asked turning his cornflower eyes onto her. Anna picked up a photo in front of her and handed it to Danny,

"The missing second party was wearing size 6 shoes, 7 tops so we're looking for a small woman..."

"Or a young one..."Danny cut in; Anna nodded as she continued,

"And reports show there was likely a sexual connection, DOA was in his 50's." She told him, "Do you want the elastic or the paper?" she asked, turning to face him. Danny smiled as he looked at her before offering a small shrug,

"I should probably handle the paper cos there might be something on it." He teased, Anna narrowed her eyes at him, fighting back a smile before she picked up the elastic and headed to the microscope. Sliding it underneath she examined the strand of hair still knotted up in the red band.

A little time later, she'd placed the hair in a brown envelope. Pulling out a pen she wrote on top 'DM7 DNA Testing' with a small smile she sealed the envelope and stepped over to Danny, her grin widening as he looked up at her. "You done?" he asked her, in slight surprise.

"I'm just waiting on you Messer." She replied her eyebrows rose slightly, as she matched his stare. Danny shook his head, small laugh escaping before he looked down to the note in front of him.

As the day wore on, both Danny and Anna were both called down to the morgue by Sid, it was something Anna wasn't too thrilled about. The morgue had always freaked her out, even back home, Danny however had chuckled when she'd hesitated at the doors, and to Anna's immense surprise his hands had gently rested on her hips.

It was a small action, barely a touch but Anna felt her heart speed up and her mouth go dry. Feeling her body tense under his touch Danny smiled and leaned in close behind her, "I'll keep you safe." He whispered into her ear, causing a shiver to run down Anna's spine, a fire erupting in her lower stomach, as she inclined her head to the side ever so slightly to look at him. Words failed her; all she could do was look back at him lost in a small moment when the morgue doors crashed open causing them both to jump in surprise.

Not saying anything or even looking at Danny, Anna hurried into the morgue keeping her eyes focused on Sid when she spotted him, refusing to look anywhere else. Danny strolled behind her, unable to wipe the grin from his face, it was clear now she felt something for him, that was all the encouragement Danny needed.

As they came to a stop beside the gurney which their Vic lay on Danny forced himself to slip back into professional mode. "Mac told me to call you both if I found anything."Sid said as he began to roll back the skin from the back of their Vic's skull, making Danny cringe slightly and causing Anna to pale.

Covering her mouth Anna swallowed fighting back the urge to throw up, "As you can see this is the back of his skull. See these patches?" he asked them both pressing against the marks on the skull, Anna nodded not really wanting to focus on it, "Our Vic here suffered from Paget's disease."

"Bone softening condition?" Anna asked Sid with a small frown, Sid straightened and handed her the magnifying glass. With a grimace Anna took it,

"It's very pronounced in the cranium." Sid told her, watching as Anna leaned in closer to get a look, frowning at what she saw immediately,

"Letters." Anna looked up at Sid in confusion as he nodded,

"Imprinted by something on whatever caused the lesion in the scalp."

"How long do you think since this wound happened?" Danny asked, a frown etched into his features as he took a mental note of everything being said.

"2 or 3 days tops, maybe whoever did this came back to finish the job," Sid suggested as he looked at Danny. Anna quickly gave Sid back the magnifying glass and stepped back,

"You think you could get this cleaned up and an image sent up to the lab Sid?" she asked, smiling softly at Sid when he nodded,

"Will do."

"Thanks Sid," With that said Anna spun on her heel and all but hurried from the morgue eager to get back upstairs into the lab where she was more comfortable.

This case was a strange one to say the least, the Vic obviously had a thing for girls still in high school, the problem Anna had was that these girls were chasing these older men. Spoilt little rich girls with obviously nothing better to do than shop for some kind of sugar daddy.

Their evidence had quickly led Danny and Anna to the man their Vic had apparently had an altercation with, Owen Bowers. Anna hadn't felt comfortable since the moment she sat down in that chair opposite him, Danny had chosen to stand.

"I'm telling you sweet cheeks no one cares that piece of garbage is dead," he said to Anna making her tense at the term he used,

"Thanks for that Mr Bowers, but it's our job to investigate any way." She replied, choosing to try and ignore what he'd called her. Danny though didn't, his grip on the back of the chair beside Anna's tightened.

"You should know her names Detective Harris, Mr Bowers not sweet cheeks so watch how your talkin. You ever erm...get into a physical altercation with Kinsey?" he asked, the man laughed

"Come on I could take him with one hand tied behind my back, but yeah I did. 2 days ago, he provoked me, he threw a punch at me I threw one back." He replied to Danny, "I started talking to this girl the other night, he gets all possessive on me, we run into each other on the street we have some words." He shrugged, smiling at Anna; Danny straightened and cleared his throat gaining Owens attention once again.

"That girl, she wouldn't have happened to be on the very young side would she?" he asked, watching the small smirk that crossed Owens face.

"Didn't put you as a player Detective, but now I see how you could know about a girl like that..."

"A girl like what?" Anna interrupted her expression hard as he looked at her. His eyes scanning down her body as he smiled,

"Well you know these young girls, they like to come out, play..." Anna shook her head,

"What were you saying about Kinsey?" she asked, steering them back onto their original topic. Everything in her wanted to get out of this room. Men like Owen made her sick to her stomach, the way they preyed on young naive girls. As he spoke Anna looked at Danny, as he conversed with Owen, a clear look of disgust on his face. The way he'd jumped to her defence before made her smile softly.

"Look, am I glad the man's dead? Sure, did I kill him? No." Owen snapped some time later, Anna smiled as she looked back at him,

"Then I'm sure you'll have an alibi as to your whereabouts last night?" she asked, unconsciously leaning back in her chair when he leaned forward against his desk.

"You'd be right about that, I was at the bar." Anna nodded and stood from her chair, sharing a look with Danny as she turned.

"Well thanks for your time Mr Bowers...hey, don't be watching her, look at me." Anna turned in surprise hearing Danny's tone. As she looked at Danny, Anna saw him glaring at Owen who only smirked, clasping his fingers behind his head as he met Danny's stare head on.

Danny shook his head, letting out a frustrated breath as he turned to Anna heading for the door. Placing a hand on her back, he guided her out the office and shut the door with a bang. "Okay what the hell was that about?" she asked, trying to keep up with Danny.

"Guys like him make me sick." He replied, slowing his pace somewhat so she could keep up. Anna catching her breath nodded in agreement with Danny,

"Tell me about it, but you shouldn't let jerks like him get to you." She told him, a moment of silence passing between them before she reached out, placing a gentle hand on his forearm causing Danny to stop and turn to her. "Thanks though, for jumping to my defence in there, I appreciate it." She told him softly, smiling before she carried on walking.

Danny watched her for a moment, before he felt his body relax and a smile grace his features. Maybe today wasn't going to be such a bad day after all.

It was late when Anna finally made her back into her apartment building. The case was still unsolved but there was little else they could do until tomorrow. So after a little grocery shopping Anna was finally heading home, her arms holding tightly to the brown bag and her thoughts full of a certain Detective who's mere presence had her so tightly wound.

Anna could still feel his hands on her hips, his hot breath as he whispered. In a way she could still smell him; his scent was clean and homely and drew you in. Biting her lip Anna smiled wondering just how far things could go between them, it was thoughts like these that helped push away all the negative feelings associated with their case.

Fishing out her keys from her bag, Anna juggled the bag of groceries in one arm as she fought to get the key she needed. Ignoring the yelling coming from the apartment next to hers, Anna sighed glad she'd picked up that bottle of wine; it looked as though it was going to be another long night. As she turned the key in the lock she gasped, a bag of chips slipping from the top of her bag.

"Oh here let me get that."

In surprise Anna looked down at the man now crouched in front of her, her hazel eyes widening slightly as he stood, his 6 ft 2 broad, muscled frame was towering right over her. Realising she was staring Anna let out a small laugh and accepted the chips he held out to her, "Thank you." She said, looking back up into his deep green eyes.

"Don't worry about it, names Jason I live next door..." he spoke with a deep Brooklyn accent, he was bald but his rugged appearance made him look like one of those action movie stars.

"Anna, I don't think I've seen you about." She replied conversationally, Jason smiled as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"Yeah I've been away. Semi Pro boxer you see..." he shrugged, a smug look crossing over his face as he spoke and flexed his muscles, Anna laughed softly before a small frown crossed her face.

"That's nice...well thanks for your help I should get in." She said, stepping back into her apartment, "It was nice to meet you Jason."

"Yeah you to, catch you around sometime." He said, backing down the hall. Anna waved and smiled slightly before closing her door. After fixing all the locks into place she laughed and shook her head, not surprised she'd not felt attracted to the man next door. He was most defiantly not her type, as proven in the smug way he carried himself.

As she pulled out the bottle of wine from her bag in the kitchen Anna pulled out a wine glass, a smile on her face as she thought about the one man who was most defiantly her type.

Danny Messer certainly wasn't like any of the guys she had dated back home, but Anna couldn't deny the moment she'd met him she'd wanted him. Taking a sip of her drink she sighed, a small devilish smile crossing her face as she made her way to her bedroom a slight hop in her step.

Anna had always gone after what she wanted, and Danny was going to be no different. Pulling open her closet and dresser Anna set about choosing her outfit for work, determined that tomorrow Danny was going to want her just the same.

Okay here's the next chapter, thanks to those who've added the story to alert and obviously reviewed lol your supports great!

Donna I apologise who throwing everything at you with this story lol you've helped me out a tonne!

Donna – I would of gone nuts if I found a cockroach on my pillow too! I think I would of been out the city, lmao. Don's defo like a big brother, Anna's too small so it's no wonder he feel the need to take care of her a little. I think Danny and Anna will be a H.O.T. couple she'll definitely give him a run for his money.

jennifer32485 – Thanks for your review hun! So glad you enjoyed the bar scene though, Danny was definitely just looking for an excuse to get his arms around her I think lol nah joking.

Sch – It was important Anna got to know the team in my opinion and she does click with all of them, some more than others but that's understandable right? There was defo a connection in their first meeting, Anna would be the first to admit she's attracted to Danny, and was only too happy to pretend to be his girlfriend in front of Bryan lol hope you enjoy this chapter.