Redemption
Chapter Forty-Two
Sue sat seemingly comfortably upon the couch as she wallowed in the misery she was feeling. Even Levi's company did little to brighten her mood. She only absentmindedly rubbed his head as she thought about what Bobby had told her. He'd explained to her the basics of Jack's predicament without revealing that he was working on a very hush-hush, high-profile case. He told her not to worry and reassured her that it wasn't as bad as she was thinking. He'd obviously lied to her for the sake of her sanity. If she only knew about Dessa, he knew she wouldn't be able to handle it, so he'd bent the truth to calm her fears.
She was calm to a point, though. Even if Jack hadn't gone rogue or dug himself into an impossible hole, as per her fears, there was still the fact that he was hiding something from her. Maybe she would feel better if he would have the decency to tell her and not try to conceal it. Of course, perhaps she didn't want to know altogether.
It had been issues like this that made her fear a relationship with that man, but one look into those puppy-dog brown eyes and one touch of his delicious lips was all it took for her to become putty in his strong, masculine hands. She's always thought she'd become immune to most of Jack Hudson's charms—which she had. But, lately, she'd discovered a whole new slew of them that she wasn't sure she could or wanted to live without.
She looked down at Levi with a heavy sigh and stared into his own puppy-dog brown eyes. They were so much like Jack's that she felt overwhelmed. It was like everywhere she looked, she saw those eyes. She was literally surrounded by them and yet, because of it, she felt an eerie sense of calm filling her when she looked into them. She knew that when she looked into either Jack's or Levi's chocolate brown pools, she knew she was protected, though Jack always seemed to add an extra something to his guard. Maybe it was the way he looked at her when he felt she needed protected. Both gazes held a connection and a deep sense of caring, yet Jack's were usually filled with something else she couldn't quite put her finger on. Her mind tried to jump to so many impossible solutions that could attribute to it, yet she might get her hopes up enough to actually believe such idiot fantasies.
Yet, she couldn't help it. The day she decided to stay in DC, his eyes were filled with so much emotion that it was so hard to tell what he was feeling. There had always been a special glint in those gorgeous eyes of his when he looked at her that she didn't notice when he was talking to other women. Neither Allie nor Jessica had received that special sparkle and she couldn't help but wonder what she was seeing. Was she imagining things or was she seeing—No; she wasn't, she tried to reassure herself to very little avail.
A loud groan escaped her which startled Levi and caused him to look up at her with his sweet, adorable eyes filled with wonder. She looked down at him with exasperation and chuckled. "Don't look at me like that, boy," she told him. He gently nudged her hand with his muzzle as if to tell her he was listening. She smiled down at him and returned to petting his head. "I know, I'm being silly, aren't I?" He only continued to look at her as if he was her psychiatrist, yet he was sweet enough to enjoy being paid in dog treats. He was her furry, golden shoulder to cry on and he would sit and wait until she got everything off her chest—as long as she remembered the dog treats; she couldn't forget those. "But, what if this is the reason why he kissed me in the first place? What if he's dug himself so deep that he just felt the pressure of it all and kissing me was just a way of relieving the tension he felt?" She snorted softly to herself. Yeah, if she knew Jack as well as she knew she did, kissing her would not be the option he would take to relieve tension. She had to blush at that thought. Just imagining what he could have done if the anxiety had gotten too great made her skin burn with excitement. She'd been imagining what that man could do with his hands and mouth upon her skin was enough to make her swoon.
She cursed herself under her breath for thinking such thoughts. She had more important things to worry about besides what Jack was capable of doing to her in the heat of the moment.
She felt Levi rest his head upon her lap as he let out a slight groan. It was as if he was showing her that she was being ridiculous. He knew the reason why he did it and this case had nothing to do with it. There were other reasons behind it, but he would let Jack tell her for himself. He lightly sniffed the air, catching a familiar scent. Speaking of Jack…
"You don't think so? So, I'm just being silly, then?" She couldn't help but ask that last question with a begging tone. She wanted to make sure she was just overreacting over something stupid. She saw his head perk up and his tongue came lolling out as affirmation. She couldn't help but giggle and placed a kiss upon the top of his head. He knew just how to make her laugh when she was down and she loved him so much for that. "Thanks, Levi," she said before he quickly got up and rushed to the door.
She followed his lead, smoothing out her t-shirt and sweatpants as she did so. Since she'd been lounging around the apartment for most of the day, she'd decided that it would be much more comfortable to wear comfortable clothes. At least her body was at ease where her mind wasn't.
She readied herself to face the visitor with a fake, cheery smile, but when she opened the door, she couldn't help but let a real one form on her lips. Jack stood there with half a smile all ready in place and that was what made her smile for real. He was so handsome with his lips curled in such a fashion. "Hi," she said with a bit of surprise. She hadn't expected him to show up and she was regretting that she'd changed into her sweats. She felt insecure when he looked at her the way he was now. If only she'd gotten some sort of warning, she could have made herself more presentable.
"Hi," he said, glancing at her outfit when she's glanced away for a second. He found that she looked so beautiful when she wore her sweats.
"I didn't know you were going to stop by today." She was trying to spark up a conversation that might break the slightly awkward feeling she'd gotten from his gaze. She let him enter as he motioned with his hand as a sign of asking. She worried her bottom lip as she closed the door and waited for his reply. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd caught on to Bobby. Would he be able to trace their conversation back to her? She glanced up at him with a meek smile, which he returned with that special twinkle in his eyes. He obviously had no clue.
"I didn't know either," he gave a nervous chuckle as he smoothed back his hair with a slightly shaky hand. "It was just one of those spur of the moment decisions." He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze to show that he was telling the truth. It had been a spur of the moment decision and it was only when he got half way to her apartment that he'd realized that he'd made it. "Besides, I wanted to see you." He raised her captured hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss upon her knuckles. The light touch sent a spark of electricity through them both as if it was what fueled their feelings for one another. As soon as they recovered from the initial shock, they returned to their normal selves. He pulled her closer until she was snuggled perfectly against him, their faces far enough apart for her to read his lips with ease; though reading his lips wasn't what she'd had in mind at this point. "I'm sorry that I haven't been myself lately. I feel like this case is getting to me. I only we could get the one lead that we need, then I'd be happy."
They were truly at a stalemate. They only needed the one piece of evidence that would tie Dessa to their case, but it was almost impossible to make the connection. Jack had the idea to check the brothers' shop once more just to be positive that they hadn't missed anything the first two times they'd cased the joint. That was where it all started and that would be where it would end, he knew. The trouble was figuring out what was important and what wasn't, anymore.
"I know what you mean. We're all overwhelmed by it." 'Among other things,' she added to herself. "I just don't want you to think that you have to hold anything back from me. You can tell me anything." She raised her hand to his check to make him look her straight in the eye to make sure he knew she was serious. "I mean it."
He nodded. "I know, and I will tell you everything when I figure this out." There was no point lying to her, he knew. What point would it prove, anyhow? She was a lot smarter than he sometimes gave her credit for and he knew he had to rectify that. She was intelligent, kind, and beautiful to top it all off. He'd really gotten lucky the day she'd stormed into the bullpen to prove herself.
"You'd better." She smiled as she playfully poked him in the chest and that made him pull her tighter against him so that there was barely an inch of space separating them.
He playfully rubbed his nose over hers as he contemplated where to kiss her first. But, then, a thought occurred to him. The apartment was surprisingly quiet and other than Levi, Sue seemed to be all along. "Where's Lucy?" He'd asked the question with only a hint of interest. For all he cared at this moment, the longer Lucy was away, the longer he and Sue could play.
Sue thought he'd leaned in to kiss her and readied herself for the attack that would fall upon both her lips and her senses. She didn't expect that question and it only made her giggle. "She's spending the day with Grams. She won't be back until late." The sentence just seemed to purr from her mouth as she matched Jack's teasing motion with her own nose. She loved this new attention she was getting from him. It seemed so exciting and new and she couldn't help but join in on the sensual teasing. Though they would go no farther than gentle, yet intimate, caresses and kissing, it was still fun to be a part of.
"So, we're alone then?" This question held so much more interested and it made his eyebrows arch with anticipation as he tongue lightly danced across his lips as he anticipated the taste of hers when he finally took them captive within his own. The wait, alone was enough to make his mouth water.
"Well, there is Levi," she said, glancing down at her furry companion as he lay in front of the couch. He'd figured he couldn't be of much help now that Jack was there and he figured he would get paid for his therapy session after Sue and Jack had made up. If it would have been anyone else, though, he would have been adamant about receiving what he was due. Jack was lucky he was his favorite human, only second to Sue.
Jack glanced down at his best canine buddy. "I don't know. I think I might have the advantage over him," he chuckled with a slight wiggle of his eyebrows. After all, Jack did have hands where Levi was all feet and his kisses were so much more swoon-worthy than the sloppy licks the golden was prone to give.
She chuckled as well as she turned her attention back to Jack's gorgeous brown pools. "Really?" she teased. "Well, Agent Hudson, I do believe that I have to ask you to show me some concrete evidence to back up that claim." Her hazel eyes held a special glimmer of their own as she gave back just as much as she could get.
"Well, I can most certainly do that, Miss Thomas," he said before he gently brought his lips down upon hers and engulfed them into a fiery embrace that he knew proved his point.