Undercover 15
Tonight was the most romantic evening in my entire life. Joe looked absolutely delicious, and I felt happy and lucky to be me. Following a magical meal at a lovely restaurant, he had surprised me with a beautiful ring he had designed himself to make up for not ever giving me an engagement ring. He continued to charm and tease me on the drive back to the house. We sat in the car in the garage and we kissed, caressed and nuzzled each other until we were both anxious to move inside.
I paused in the kitchen to retrieve a candle and some matches I'd seen there earlier. I rushed to the bedroom, lit the candle and then went into the restroom to take care of business and to change into a sumptuous red satin negligee that I'd purchased last week. One last look in the mirror said 'all set'. I rounded the corner into the bedroom and there, in the candlelight was my incredibly sexy husband. His hair was slightly tousled from our makeout session in the garage. His pants and belt were undone, his shirt unbuttoned and untucked, his shoes still on his feet.
And he was sound asleep on the bed. I mean sound asleep. I cleared my throat. I coughed twice. I sat down on the bed – not gently. I tried nuzzling his neck and biting his earlobe. I turned on the CD player beside the bed. Loud. I thumped him in the arm. Nothing. Fine. I stalked down the hall to watch TV. I found a bag of Oreos in the cabinet and ate them all. Joe would wake up and come find me and I'd make him make it up to me. He did come to get me, but not until dawn. I remember him carrying me and putting me in bed. He was dressed for his run. I think he knew he was in hot water because he didn't even hint at wanting sex; he really didn't say much to me, for that matter.
Again, he brought me donuts and coffee in bed, left me with the newspaper and hit the shower. This morning was much like yesterday without benefit of magical sex. Relatively speaking, it was still a pretty nice morning. We have all day today and then tomorrow morning together before Joe has to go back to work.
Around noon, my cell phone rang. Joe retrieved it for me and handed it to me with a puzzled look. The caller ID said it was Dunphy. I didn't think he'd call and interrupt our weekend for anything short of a disaster, so I answered cautiously. "Hello, Dunphy?"
"Yeah, friend, I'm sorry to bug you. Is that SOB husband of yours around there where I can talk to him?" he inquired.
"Sure." I handed the phone to Joe.
Joe smiled, and took the phone, "Hey. Why you calling to bug me? I screwed up last night and I'm trying for some makeup sex here." Joe's face sobered. He assumed full cop demeanor. "Everything okay now?" I heard him ask. He was looking at the floor. "How bad is it?" I was looking at him and hoping he would give me a clue what was going on.
Joe stood and walked down the hall, probably to get away from me, so naturally, I followed him. He frowned when he saw me. He motioned for me to go back down the hall, but I crossed my arms and stood my ground. He ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a long breath. He was listening intently. "Any idea who it was? Okay, let me talk to Stephanie and I'll call you back," he chuckled once but I could tell it was forced. "Thanks for taking care of everything."
Joe explained to me, "Mrs. Stone called 911in Trenton this morning to report that our back door was standing open and the house looked like it had been ransacked." Mrs. Stone was our next door neighbor.
My hand flew to my face. "Joe, who would break into our house? We don't have anything anyone wants, do we?"
Joe circled my body with his arms in a comforting gesture. "The only thing I have of value is you." He kissed me on the head three times and put his cheek against my forehead. "You don't have any psychopaths chasing you that I don't know about, do you?" He had to ask. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the first time.
I actually had to think about it. "No. No. Pretty sure I'm not in trouble with anyone scary right now. Everything's been unusually quiet."
"Did you leave any notes at the house, like where you were going to be this weekend or anything? I can't imagine anyone would break in for that, but just to be safe…." He was trying to think of every angle.
I responded, "No, I was careful not to leave anything. I've even got all the notes you sent to me at the gym stashed in my purse that I brought with me. I'm glad Bob and Rex weren't there when this happened." I guess the shock had worn off and I was crying now.
"It's okay, Honey. Dunphy said it didn't look like they destroyed anything or even took anything, for that matter. He said it looked like they were trying to find something specific. The worst part of the mess was in the kitchen, our bedroom and the office upstairs, which again is where people keep notes and things. That's why I thought they may have been looking for information. He said he's already got pretty much everything put back in place and not to worry. Oh, yeah, and he said to tell you the priceless Morelli family cradle was untouched!" Ha. That was funny. Joe was smiling and trying to get me to smile as well.
Joe called Dunphy back and told him we didn't have any ideas on who it could have been. We agreed not to let the incident ruin our last 24 hours together. I needed some exercise after being cooped up and being so lazy, so we took a long walk. We both missed Bob. He's so much fun to walk with. Joe said that it wouldn't be long before we'd have a baby to take on our walks with us, too. Once again, the thought of the imminent change due to take place in our lives was sobering and incredibly exciting. We looked forward with anticipation and a little bit of apprehension. By the time we got back to the house we were talking about jogging strollers, baby seats, baby bouncers, high chairs and all the hundreds of pounds and dollars worth of baby junk people thought they needed to lug around to deal with a six pound baby. We were laughing and in just the right mood for that makeup sex Joe had mentioned earlier.
He had apologized for falling asleep last night and told me that the 3 desserts on top of the big meal had just put him in a coma since he hadn't been eating much while undercover. I'd pouted for a while longer, just trying to milk it for all it was worth, but I finally said that it was okay.
The house was cool when we got inside but Joe was warm and sexy. I had removed his shirt and his shoes then he decided to build a fire in the fireplace in the living room. He made a little pallet on the floor in front of it with some blankets. I gladly joined him on the floor when he held his hand out to me. He was kissing and licking and nibbling my neck and unbuttoning my blouse to make his way down to my chest. I crave the feeling of his hard muscles when he isn't with me. I was going to make the best of it while I had him at my mercy and I was pressing into him and gripping him all over. I wanted to impress upon my memory the feeling of his body against mine. Almost as good as his legendary ass is his chest. It seems that his nipples are more sensitive than mine and certainly more than mine have ever been before my pregnancy. He has just enough hair on his chest to make him look sexy and it made a little trail down his hard belly as if it is an arrow pointing a sumptuous prize. Lucky for me, it is. He also has an eagle tattoo on his chest that he got in the Navy. It isn't big or obnoxious like some I've seen. It's just Joe. His abdomen was hard and I could see his muscles bunch, twitch and relax as he moved. He looked like one of those guys on the Bowflex infomercials on TV.
I helped him out of his jeans and underwear and he did the same for me. Yum. He looked so sexy in the afternoon glow mixed with the golden cast of the firelight. Since working on the elliptical so much, his thighs and ass were even more toned than before he left home. I was admiring those muscles as they rippled with his every move. He was laying opposite me, with his head at my feet and vice versa. He was propped on his elbow and was watching me with those gorgeous eyes. He started gently running his fingertips up and down my calves and thighs and stringing open mouthed kisses along the way, leaving a trail of cool saliva kisses like breadcrumbs marking his assent. He maneuvered around so that he could more comfortably pleasure me and I was treated to a full frontal view of this masterpiece called Joe.
As much as I enjoyed what he was doing, the view was making me impatient to feel him inside me. I've learned that the best way to make him as impatient as I feel is to take matters into my own hands…and mouth. It didn't take much of this to make Joe completely lose focus on his project. Soon, he had just rolled onto his back, moaning, and allowed me to take over. I repositioned myself and I was nuzzling his neck and pressing into that hard, masculine chest and abdomen. My thighs were grazing his and he was breathing raggedly while I held his interest in the palm of my hand. I bent my head down and gave one of his nipples a little playful nip and this sent Joe into motion. In one swift move, his eyes blazing with love and lust, Joe cradled me in his arms, rolled over on top of me and entered me completely. His eyes were closed and I could see his pulse beating in his neck.
He was groaning and whispering to me over and over again, "Stephanie, I love you so much. Oh, God, I love you so much." Long, urgent strokes gave way to almost no movement at all. We were both on the brink. He kissed me deeply and over the edge we flew. Together. Afterward, we continued to lay in the firelight. He supported himself on his forearms and looked into my eyes for the longest time.
He continued to kiss me, and caress my hair and face so tenderly. I knew that he was already thinking about having to leave me again tomorrow and it was almost too much for either of us to bear. He was being torn apart by hooks of guilt and obligation pulling him in so many directions. I needed to remind him that I believed he was doing the right thing. I needed him to know that I would be okay. I needed him to know that I would always be with him. Partners. Friends. Family. Lovers.
We both spoke so much that afternoon without saying any intelligible words; instead just assessing each other's souls by the glow of the fire. We kissed, nuzzled and murmured away our fears and insecurities. Each of us held a strong sense of admiration and trust for the other that fueled our love and passion. Caressing and feeling the love growing between us became of urgent importance.
Finally, when Joe heard my stomach growling, he offered, "How about peanut butter and olive sandwiches and chocolate ice cream for dinner?" He had a sort of a teasing grin on his face.
"I didn't think you liked peanut butter and olive sandwiches," I teased back.
"It's an acquired taste. I've been practically living off of them since being here. First because they remind me of you," he smiled and he planted a kiss on my nose and then stood up, "and secondly, because it really grosses Terri out." We both laughed at this comment.
He knew I was dying to ask, but could see me biting my tongue. "I have to hand it to you, Cupcake, you have been amazingly restrained this weekend. You haven't brought Terri up one time." He handed me my sandwich and plopped down next to me to eat his own. He used his index finger to guide my face so he could look me in the eyes. "I appreciate that you have decided to trust me. That means a lot to me."
He took a bite, and put a pillow from the sofa behind his back so he could lean against the fireplace hearth. As a reward for my amazing restraint, I guess he decided to share a little more information with me. "It hasn't been too bad. She's a slob but I knew that going in so, it doesn't really bug me much. She just stomps around like she has the worst case of PMS in the history of mankind most of the time because I'm not responding to her advances." Another bite.
"Advances?" I was curious what she was doing.
"Oh, you know, just…stuff. I spend most of my time in the living area working on the computer or working out, or writing reports or whatever. I gave up trying to sleep in the bed the first week. I still go in there and we do our nightly information recap but she just wouldn't leave me alone so I moved out and sleep in the living room floor. The couch is too damn short for me."
I'd felt my backbone stiffen up a bit, "What do you mean she wouldn't leave you alone?"
"Oh, you know, she just won't keep her hands off of me. She's always been that way. It was cool when we were 15. Now it's just juvenile and irritating. She knows it pisses me off, so she just does it more. I'd wake up and she would be practically on top of me. Whether she's doing that part on purpose or not, I just had to get out of there, so if she thinks of something to say to me, she has to come get me, wake me up and then we go back in the bedroom to talk, then I go back out where I can get some sleep." He took another bite.
I was deep breathing a little. "Has she been trying to seduce you, too, or is it just, you know, sort of innocent touching?"
He looked at me like I was a moron. "Honey, you know Terri. What do you think? You see the clothes she wears when there are other people around. It's like she's starting her own nudist colony when we're alone." He paused for a minute just looking at me. "Okay, I can tell you have a question. Just ask it. Get it over with. I really didn't want this to be a big production, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate that you trust me."
"Well," scooted a little closer to him so that my leg was touching his. I thought the question I asked may set the mood for the rest of the evening, so I thought I should tread carefully. I was torn between the whole handcuff thing and asking if he'd been tempted to take her up on her offer. He told me not to ask if I didn't want the answer, so I decided the handcuff question was safer. I blurted it out quickly. "Tell me why Terri had handcuffs in her underwear drawer and why you had the keys in your pocket."
Joe was smiling a sort of a quirky smile at me. "Cupcake, do you think we would be on an undercover stakeout and not have handcuffs with us?"
"Well, I hadn't thought about it. I guess not."
"It's just safer for anyone who comes to snoop while Terri and I aren't there for them to think we're just kinky instead of raising their suspicions otherwise. If we leave the house, we have to erase all of our notes off the white boards, and lock up the computer and all of our paperwork and everything in a secret compartment in the sofa, but we need to be able to get to the handcuffs anytime. It just makes sense to keep them in the bedroom."
"Keys in your pocket?" I prompted again.
"Well, um, I do have to sleep sometime and I just don't relish the thought that she may decide to take….matters….into her own hands….so to speak. It wouldn't be the first time. I told you we've done this before." Joe was trying to tell me that he didn't want to become her sex toy that couldn't get away if she cuffed him in his sleep. I had no response to that whatsoever. I just ate the rest of my sandwich in silence, thankful that he knew her so well going in to this assignment.
Joe spoke first, "Honey, Dunphy said he'd be at the house waiting for you when you got home tomorrow so that you could look through and see if you thought anything was missing. He offered to stay over and sleep on the sofa if you were scared. I told him you'd probably go to your folks' house if you didn't want to say at ours, but you need to remember he's there for you if you need him to be."
"Okay. I'm sure I'll be fine." Not. I still couldn't think of a single person who would want to break into our house, especially for information.
That evening, we just cuddled on the sofa and watched more baseball. I knew tomorrow would come soon enough and I was just happy to be with Joe. Muffin is still pretty small and you sort of have to push on my tummy to be able to feel him. Joe's hands were there constantly. He again, slept with his body curled around mine in a totally protective posture that screamed, 'Mine,' struggling with the concept of saying goodbye the next day.
I actually woke up before Joe did. I quietly snuck out of the bed and tiptoed to the restroom. If he was sleeping on the floor at the apartment, he needed to get as much sleep as he could before going back. I rejoined him in the bed and he immediately pulled me toward him. I love sleepy Joe. He is so sexy, without a bit of caution that he has when he's awake. He's just…snuggly, for lack of a better word. I cuddled into him and then had an irresistible urge to wake him up in his favorite way.
I claimed his mouth with my own and pushed him onto his back. He was breathing deeply through his nose and trying to wake up while responding enthusiastically by sliding his hands down my back to my hips. I made my way to his chest kissing and nibbling. I paused at his neck and selected a conspicuous spot. I sucked and bit at him while he moaned and grinned. "Are you marking your territory, Cupcake?"
"Is that a problem, Officer Hottie? It's not like you have to face the guys at work. It's just a little message from me to Terri. It says 'stay away'."
He was massaging my back and guiding my hips to find his erection. "Whatever you want, Cupcake. I'm all yours."