Ch. 20

Slowly returning to awareness after a good night's sleep, Valerie awoke with a smile on her face. She was surrounded by warmth as she lay there with her head on Dante's arm. His other arm was snugly holding her against him and the heat of his body was radiating through the scanty lace she was wearing. Something else was resting snugly against her bottom, which made her smile wider. She wondered what it would be like to wake like this every morning, knowing a human furnace had been holding her securely through the night. She stretched a bit, arching her back, which brought her into further contact with his erection as it brushed her backside.

Dante involuntarily pulled Val in closer when he felt her moving, stroking himself against the lace panties of her baby doll teddy with a smile of his own. He sighed a little before reaching down with his hand to move her hair off of her neck. Lightly brushing a kiss there, he huskily whispered, "Hey, good morning." "Good morning yourself," she replied. He went on, "Mmm. This feels good, doesn't it?" "It does feel good. Something else, too. It seems-" They spoke at the same time—"Natural." "Right." "Yes," she added, "It does feel right. Isn't that strange, that waking up like this should seem so normal?" "I don't know," he answered. He thought about her question for a moment before saying, "I think maybe it's because it's comfortable. We were both looking for some comfort last night and together we found it. Being here with you is easy and I feel-"

"Content."

"Yeah, I guess that's a good way to explain it. Content. I just feel good. What about you? How do you feel right now?"

"Happy. Content. Scared."

"Scared? Why scared?"

"Maybe because it's too good. My feelings are all jumbled up. Technically, I don't know if I have the right to be so happy to wake up in your arms. You're still married-"

"That's a technicality, too."

"I know. But when we were together before, it was an impulse we had because we thought Lulu and Dillon had cheated first. Now we know the truth, and it does kind of make a difference to me. I mean, I could make love to you right now-"

"Be careful," he said as he prodded her from behind, "because I wouldn't exactly say 'no'".

"But what does that say about us? We did what we did before because of wrong information. If we're together now, before everything is finalized between you and Lulu—I don't know what that says about us. About me. Now that the whole department, for instance, knows about us—I don't know. I'm all mixed up. We went and took care of the birth control issue and now I'm saying-"

Dante released her and sat up in the bed, pushing his pillows behind his back for support. "What are you actually saying? You want to give up whatever this is developing between us?"

She rolled over to face him, propping herself up on her fist as she said, "No, that's not what I mean. Right or wrong, I don't consider myself a home-wrecker because of the way we got together the first time. If it had been intentional cheating, if we hadn't thought they had already cheated first, that would be one thing, but that's not the way it happened with us. But now, if I just bulldoze ahead-" She exhaled in frustration. She didn't think she was explaining her position adequately and she didn't want him to get the wrong idea…

"If I'm getting what you're saying, you think it would be more like an affair if we have sex now, is that it?"

"Kind of, yeah. Is that totally awful or offensive? I want you, Dante. Don't doubt that at all. But I'm wondering—can we wait? Can we at least try? It might be hypocritical because of what we've already done, but if we could, I'd really like to try to hold off until-"

"Until everything is finalized between me and Lulu."

"Yeah." He smiled down at her before leaning forward and kissing her lightly on her nose. "Let me tell you something," he responded with a smile, "I don't think we'll be able to hold out that long. There's just too much heat between us. But if you want to, if you don't mind being frustrated twenty-four/seven-"

"Wow, twenty-four/seven? Because you're all I ever think about, I suppose-"

"—then we'll do it your way. Fair warning, though. If you ever give me the 'go ahead nod,' I'm going for it—I won't be stopping myself next time."

"What do you mean, next time? Every time we've stopped, it's been because of me, not you!"

"I seem to remember telling you to stop me that first time. If you hadn't listened, we'd have done it then." Thinking back, she realized he was right. Nodding her head, she said, "Ok, you got that one, but the other times was me. Either way, we might have a challenge ahead but I still want to try."

"Does that mean no nights like last night and no mornings like this?"

"That's the problem. I'm not willing to go that far because I liked waking up in your arms. I don't know if you could handle all that contact without you know," she gestured toward his crotch.

"Like I'm some beast who can't control my passions? I told you, my self-control is legendary. Usually. As far as this goes"—he pointed to his now subsiding erection—"that's gonna be there as long as you're around, especially if you're gonna be prancing around in that kind of stuff," he added, referring to her lace teddy.

"So it seems that we're striking a deal, here. Maybe we should set some ground rules…"

"Rules? No rules! C'mon! Can't we just wing it-"

"We have to have some boundaries, don't we? For example, should kissing be allowed?"

"Definitely. Although, whenever I kiss you, I end up wanting to take you up against a wall-" She covered her face and her stomach clenched at the image his words evoked.

"None of that," she exclaimed, shaking her finger at him, "No suggestive, salacious language—it's not fair."

"Hmm. I don't know if I plan to play fair."

"What do you mean?"

"This is your idea so I'll go along so far, but I plan to throw all the hardware at you. Might be fun, seeing how long you resist."

"Don't do that, Dante. I'm not gonna lie, I won't last long. I really wanna try to wait but if you're sabotaging me from the beginning, I might as well concede now."

"Ok. No hardware. The kissing, the suggestive language—that stays on the table, though. What about touching?"

Val moved to a cross-legged position as she sat up, shaking her head. "Maybe this is gonna be too hard after all…"

"No, we'll try it. It's important to you, so we'll try to hold out. It'll make when we finally do make love that much more explosive. I'm looking forward to stoking that fire, taking care of all that heat." He wiggled his eyebrows at her which caused her to groan aloud.

"You're terrible, you know that?"

"I do what I can. Not to interrupt this negotiation, because I really am having some fun with it but we need to get ready for work, which means I need to go home and change first."

Valerie had been enjoying this morning so much that she let the time get away from her and she looked at the clock on the wall in surprised alarm before launching up off the bed and dashing into the closet. "Oh, crap! I wasn't even watching the time—if we don't hurry, we'll end up being late! Not to mention that since we're together, we'll end up getting there at the same time!" Hurriedly she looked through the racks for something appropriate to wear to work.

"Don't worry. After I change, I'm going to the hospital to see Nathan. Once I've checked on him, I'll head into the station. You'll have been there for a while by then—no one will even notice. This having to run home is for the birds, though. Next time I come over, I'm definitely bringing an overnight bag."

"Or you can just bring some stuff to leave here."

"Yeah," he said, smiling at her, "I guess I can do that, too." He watched her as she stood in the closet scanning her choices. She has no idea the kind of picture she's making, standing there in that lace thing, he thought. Keeping his hands to himself was going to be harder than either of them knew. Still, for her sake, he was willing to make the effort.

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Peeking his head around the corner of the door to Nathan's hospital room, Dante stared at his partner as he looked for signs of movement. He didn't want to disturb Nathan, but the nurse at the desk told him he was awake and alert and he wanted to check for himself. Nathan saw him and gestured for him to come in. He was a little worse for wear, but he was alert and awake. Alive. The relief Dante felt as he fully entered the room was tremendous. "If you weren't on your sick bed, I'd beat you unconscious! What the hell were you thinking, goin' to the mill by yourself?"

Nathan grunted and laughed shortly while repositioning himself in his bed. "It's good to see you too, partner."

"Yeah. Sorry. How are you doin'? What are the doctors sayin'?"

"They think I'm going to make a full recovery. There might be some residual weakness or shortness of breath issues at first—you know all about that—but eventually, they expect me to be back to my normal self. It's a good thing I'm such a healthy specimen and that I take such good care of my assets," he said, gesturing with his hand up and down his body.

"You're a sad case, West, that's all I know. When are they sayin' you can return to duty?"

"Oh man, I'm gonna have to ride a desk for a few weeks, according to the Commish. 'You're not returning to duty until I'm satisfied you're fully recovered, whether you think you're ready or not'. That's the word from on high."

"When are they springin' you?

"Doc says maybe in a week or so, depending on my continued recovery rate. So far there have been no complications—I guess they just want to make sure the lung re-expands and stays that way. That's why I've got to still have this"—he pointed to the nasal cannula that was helping him breathe.

"That's good to hear, man. I don't wanna make you talk too much or tire you out, but what happened? Did you see who did it? Was it Robbs, d'you think?"

"I don't think so. I'm not exactly sure. I was looking in one of the windows in the back of the mill. I didn't even hear anyone behind me. One second he wasn't there, the next, I got zapped with something sharp and he was pushing me to the ground. From what I could see while he was running away, he looked tall and skinny, which doesn't match Robbs' description at all. He was wearing all black, even in this heat. Probably disturbed some junkie who had nothing to do with Robbs' operation at all; otherwise, why not kill me while I was down?"

"Just be glad he didn't, man. I'm sorry I missed your calls. I was in the basement looking up some old case files, and I didn't get your messages in time."

"You came when you got them—that's all that matters. Thanks, dude. You saved my life. I won't be forgetting that."

"Oh, I'll make you pay me back somehow!" They laughed together until Nathan began to wheeze as he tried to catch his breath. Maxie chose that moment to enter the room and she flew to Nathan's side in concern. "Sweetie, are you ok? You shouldn't be laughing. I hope you're not tiring him out, Dante," she added, throwing a sideways glance at him.

"I just wanted to check on my partner, Maxie. I didn't mean to make him laugh or tire him out. I'm not stayin' long anyway, now that I know he's all right."

"I suppose I should thank you for saving his life—I don't think I did that yesterday."

"You're welcome. I'm just glad I was there."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you. I can be grateful to you and mad at the same time. You really messed up yesterday, big time-"

Nathan and Dante spoke simultaneously. "What's this, then?" "Maxie, do we have to go there-" He added to answer Nathan's question, "Maxie and I had a difference of opinion yesterday, that's all."

Maxie was annoyed at his attempt to downplay the situation and she said huffily, "It was more than that, Nathan! He was practically showing off Valerie as his new girlfriend in front of everyone, including Lulu!"

"That's not what happened, Maxie," he protested. "You were tryin' to make her feel bad for even bein' there and you tried to make her leave. I didn't think you should have done that, which is why I defended her. I wasn't showin' her off to anybody!"

"That's not the impression I got! That's not the impression anyone standing there got, including Lulu! She was really hurt, you know! It's bad enough you slept with her, but you had to make some kind of declaration right in front of everyone like Lulu wasn't even there!"

Nathan, seeing Maxie getting more and more animated, tried to divert her attention by coughing suddenly. "I think my pain meds are wearing off, babe. Could you go find a nurse or something?" "Of course," she crooned. She glared at Dante. "HE should probably leave, though. He's making you tired and you need your rest." She flounced out of the room and Dante and Nathan shared a look.

"What's this about?"

"Nothin' major. Just half of the department gettin' their suspicions confirmed about Val and me because of an argument between me and Maxie. That's all."

"Dude, that's not little-"

"I know. And Val's been dealin' with it all mornin' while I've been here with you. I guess I should go face the music with her. Ugh," he said as a thought crossed his mind.

"What's up?"

"Johnson. He's gonna eat this up with a spoon. Harassment factor ten."

"Well you should have known this was coming. Go take your medicine like a good boy."

"Oh, shut up. I'll catch you later."

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