Chapter 21

"OH MY GOD, JOE! If you stop, I swear I'll get my gun and shoot you!" I was writhing around and Joe was grinning. "That feels better than anything you have ever done to me - ever. Don't stop, please, don't stop!"

"Cupcake, if I'd known I could get you this excited by just rubbing your feet, I could have saved an awful lot of work for myself." He was laughing.

"Well, my feet have been hurting a lot…oh, wow. Really, don't stop. That feels Soooo good."

"You're pretty cute when you beg. I'm going to have to refresh my bedroom skills, I guess. I don't like you getting more excited about a footrub than a full body rub." He was still rubbing my feet and it really did feel wonderful. They were pretty swollen, but the walk today helped a lot.

We had spent the afternoon in the cabin, just talking, laying in front of the fireplace and napping. It was heaven.

Joe had found a nice little restaurant in town and had taken me to eat dinner and then for a little sightseeing drive. We were back at the cottage for the evening.

"What time is your appointment at the prison tomorrow?" I asked.

"I need to get there around 10 in the morning. I'll leave here at about 8:15 or so. Do you want to drive me over and keep the car? I hate to leave you stuck out here all day." He knows I get bored easily.

"No, I figure I'll take another walk around the lake. I still have some reading to do before my next doctor's appointment and I brought some FTA files I can check out if I want." I hate driving in strange cities. I always get lost and somehow end up in a really bad part of town. Joe doesn't need to know this about me yet. He already knows enough of my flaws. Let him find out the rest on his own.

I tuned back into what he was saying. "I hope I have some big revelation in my sleep or something because I am still really fuzzy on how this guy fits in. It seemed more promising when I thought he'd just switched teams – I thought I could get him to rat someone out if he was mad at them. Now that I have your theory that he was actually in business with both of the families at the same time, that changes matters considerably. I don't know where his loyalties lie. If I go about it the wrong way, it could blow the case, or at least my chances of getting him to give me information."

"You'll do great. You always get information out of me, don't you?" Joe chuckled at that thought.

"Yeah, but not until I've made you so mad that you just yell it at me." He had stopped rubbing my feet and climbed up next to me on the bed. He hadn't shaved today and had a sexy rugged look about him. His hair was long. Not long long like it had been before, but Joe long. Anyone else would look like he needed a haircut. Joe looked perfect. It was curling around his ears and over his forehead. I was sort of fiddling with it and kissing him lightly.

My cell phone rang. My purse was next to Joe's side of the bed, so he plucked it up and handed it to me. I didn't know the number, but I answered it anyway. "Hello?"

"Stephanie, it's Terri. I need to talk to Joe."

"Oh, okay. He's right here." I said, and then to Joe, "It's Terri."

"Hey Terri, what's up?" Joe was listening to her talk. I didn't know why she would be calling. It better be important for her to be bugging us.

"Did you hear anything else?" Joe said. "Okay, thanks for the information. Hey, how's Darth?" He was laying on his back and staring at the ceiling while she answered. He was smiling, too. "Well, don't be mean to him. He doesn't like you already…just ignore him, but don't tease him. No, it's too cold to leave him outside. Terri, dammit, if I have to put up with all your crap, the least you can do is let him sleep in the house……well close the bedroom door if he bugs you….." Joe was laughing now. "It serves you right. Now you know how I feel when you bug me all the damn time." He hung up the phone. I didn't know which conversation I was more interested in, why Terri called, or who the heck is Darth?

He rolled back toward me and put his hand on my hip. "Terri got word that Green is looking forward to talking to the cops. Supposedly, he isn't affiliated with either family anymore but they both seem to be keeping tabs on him. The problem will be if they put two and two together and realize that it's me who is talking to him. I've got a fake name and badge that I'll use to talk with him, so unless he realizes that it's fake, he won't be leaking my name back to them."

Joe had balled his pillow up underneath his head and looked like he was about half asleep. I had to know about Darth, however.

"So, Joe, who is Darth you were talking to Terri about?"

He smiled, without opening his eyes. "Darth Greyder. He's a little grey kitten that adopted me a couple of weeks ago. He's tiny – probably not even ready to be fully weaned, but he latched onto my pants leg and climbed all the way up my leg and into my coat and on up to my chest one day while I was standing and watching some activity on the street in front of our apartment. He's a tough little shit. He was so cold, he just wanted to get warm so he got right in my face and told me so. I took him inside and fed him. I think he almost doubled in size in just the few days he's been there."

"You are such an old softie. What's Bob going to do when you bring home a cat and a baby? Poor guy will probably have an identity crisis." I was smiling at him and stroking his scratchy jaw.

"I figured I'd give Darth to Mom. She likes cats but my dad hated them. She's never had one, even though he's been gone all these years. I wasn't going to keep him at all, but he's really aggressive and he absolutely hates Terri. It's hilarious. He torments her constantly. He, you know, does kitten stuff. He chases her. He plays with the cord on the curling iron while she is getting ready and it makes her burn herself. He scratches and bites her bare feet. The funniest thing is that he eats her food. She'll make a sandwich or something and the second she turns her back, he is right in the middle of it, eating the meat out of it. He doesn't do it to me. Just to her. She said he wants to sleep with her since I'm not there and it's bugging her. He's got these little razor sharp teeth and claws. I've rolled over on him in my sleep a couple of times and woken up needing medical care. He's just so damn funny. She was threatening to toss him out, but I know she won't. She's a bigger sucker than I am."

Here I am again, feeling jealous of Joe and Terri. Damn. I have got to get over it. I don't expect him to work 24x7. He has to do something for amusement. I'm glad it is tormenting Terri instead of flirting with her or something worse. Now they have a pet together. Damn.

It was getting late and I didn't want Joe to have to sleep all night in his clothes, so I pulled off his shoes and socks and headed up to take off his shirt. He had sort of a smirk on his face and when I reached for him, he pulled me down and rolled me into a spoon position with his arms around me and his head at my neck. I liked how this felt, but again, I wanted all his clothes off so I struggled free and started on his shirt again. He let me undress him and then said, "Can we take a little nap, Honey, I'm sleepy." It was warm and cozy in the cabin from the fireplace and it was late. I knew Joe's 'nap' was liable to turn into 'sleeping through the night' but I didn't mind. I pulled down the covers and had him get under and then undressed myself. I snuggled up with my head on his chest and stared into the fire, reliving the day's events – and non-events. I love just hanging out with Joe.

I can't sleep. He's so sexy and I am so hormonal. Yeah, I'll blame it on the baby. It can't be that I'm just horny. I don't know if it is unethical to take advantage of your sleeping husband sexually. After all, he is my husband. And he is naked. And I am naked. And he has never turned me down when he was awake. Okay. I am positive he wouldn't mind. If he happens to wake up in the middle, I'll die of embarrassment. Maybe I can convince him I was sleep-screwing. I'll just keep my eyes closed. Here goes. Carefully reach across his body and take hold of him. Oh, that presents a problem. I've never really felt him soft like that. Hmm. That's a little disheartening. I don't think this will work. Oh, my little friend is waking up. Joe isn't, but uh, part of him is definitely stirring.

I don't think this is going to be as easy as I thought it would be. He's on his back, which normally would be a good thing. I can get on top. What the hell, give it a shot. What can it hurt? Okay, just relax, Stephanie. Stop giggling! You are seriously going to wake him up! Keep your eyes closed. What's that? Ooohh. Joe is going to help. He's got his hands on my hips and is definitely going to participate. Oh, yeah. This is nice. I swear he's still asleep. Maybe it's good to be married to a horn dog. He really can screw in his sleep.

Now comes the next ethical question. What if I'm done before he is? Do I need to stick around and finish up? He's not really there, right? At this point, he's just a toy, right? A shower massage with a hot body. God, I love his body. I need to concentrate or this could go on all night. It wouldn't be the worst night I've ever had, but still.

6:15 a.m.

Joe shut off the alarm clock and stretched. There's that body again. God, he's hot. He snuggled back into me and was kissing my neck. He's back to his old tricks. Hardness shoved into my kidneys is my favorite way to wake up. "Good morning, Joe. Did you sleep okay?"

His voice was husky with sleep. "Yeah, I slept great. How about you, Cupcake?"

"Oh, wonderful. I had a fantastic night." I slipped out of the bed to go to the restroom. I think I got by with it! He doesn't remember a thing! It had really turned out to be a super-erotic experience. Neither of us saying a word. It was like our bodies were on auto-pilot and they just knew how to pleasure each other without a word spoken. Hot, hot, hot. Too bad Joe had missed it.

"I had a really bizarre dream last night," he said loud enough for me to hear him in the bathroom.

I finished and came back out and then stretched out next to him on the bed, "Oh, yeah, Sexy? What did you dream?" I started nibbling on his ear.

"I dreamed that I arrested your Grandma Mazur for solicitation of an old man, and she wanted to trade me sexual favors for letting her go."

"OMIGOD! Joe! That's so gross!"

He had such a gleam in his eye. "Gotcha, Cupcake." He got out of the bed and strolled that fine looking ass into the shower, laughing all the way.

He is so dead. He's gonna pay for that.