“Uh, well, we got a new Marshal from California. He flew in this morning. Dean and John came last night. So I’m all set. You need to go back to your place and get ready for the next assignment.”
Cheyn chuckled on the other end of the phone.
“Can I talk to him? Please?” She gripped Dante’s hand, while holding out her other one for the phone.
“Cheyn, Laurie’s about to wrestle me for the phone. I think she wants to talk to you now.”
Dante turned his head away from Laurie, as she tried to snatch the phone from him. His hand still held one of hers, so he held it up to block her.
“Yeah, let me talk to Miz Laurie.”
“All right, all right. I’ll give you the phone,” he said to Laurie. “I gotta go, Cheyn. She’s getting insistent. You take care of yourself. I’ll see you soon.”
“You take good care of her. Be very careful. Real careful with these Kaimi people.”
“We will. I’m giving the phone to Laurie before she attacks me. Bye.” Dante handed over the phone.
Laurie gave him a light punch on the shoulder. She turned her head away as she took the cell phone.
“Cheyn! I’m so glad you’re okay! I’ve been worried.”
“Aww, Miz Laurie. Of course, I’m okay. Are you okay?”
“I’m good. I’m good. Getting a little stir crazy, but I’m okay.”
“How’s Dante been treating you? You know if he gives you any trouble, you can tell me. I can take him out.” Cheyn giggled.
“No. Dante’s been good to me. Saved my life the other night. You both did.”
“I was just doin’ my job.”
“Well, thank you. Thank you for protecting me. I’m sorry you were shot, and Max, and…David.” Her voice had lowered to a scratched whisper.
Dante put his hand on her back to soothe her.
“I know, Miz Laurie. I know. I’m fine. I’m leaving the hospital tomorrow. So don’t you worry about me, okay?”
“Okay. I’m glad you’re going to be fine. We were concerned when we couldn’t reach you.”
“They just kept switching my room around. Must’ve been in three rooms already. I’m just fine, Miz Laurie. You need to take care of yourself.”
“Yes, yes, I will. Dante will take good care of me. They all will.”
“Well, you take good care of him too. That’s my partner right there. Someone needs to have his back while I’m out of commission.”
Laurie smiled into the phone. She looked up at Dante. His eyes were a dark chocolate she wanted to loose herself in. Her heart constricted under his tender gaze.
“I will. I’ll take good care of him too.”
Dante smiled at her. His fingers contracted on her back in an imperceptible caress.
“Have a good night, Miz Laurie.”
“Okay, Cheyn. You have a good night too. Feel better!”
“Aloha.”
“Aloha.” Laurie hung up the phone.
Next Dante dialed the operator again and got Max’s new room number. Max didn’t pick up the phone, but Dante saw the hospital care pages. He decided to try to reach Max that way. He and Laurie wrote a very nice ‘get well soon’ message to him, which made them both feel much more lighthearted by the end of the day. The hospital still had Max listed as a patient. Even if he couldn’t pick up the phone yet, he was at least alive.
***
Dante
Dante rolled onto his back, taking Laurie with him.
She sank down onto one side of his chest, sighing her contentment. She ran her fingers over his spray of dark chest hair.
He kissed her forehead. Then he ran his fingers down her neck to her shoulder. His movements were lazy, slow. The world was slightly fuzzy, bathed in the early morning light, as if they were both caught in the tail end of a dream.
“I love morning sex,” Laurie said.
Dante chuckled.
“I’ll have to remember that.” He kissed her, brushing her lips with his in a soft caress.
They breathed together for a few moments, and Dante closed his eyes. He breathed in her scent, the faint smell of their lovemaking. The sheets were damp from their exercise. Sunlight streamed through the curtains, landing on Laurie’s head, igniting her hair in a blonde halo. He ran his hands through it, like combing warm silk.
“These past few days have been amazing.” Laurie nuzzled his shoulder.
Dante gave her a grin as he dropped his hand back onto her shoulder to caress it again.
“I’m so glad you were the Marshal that showed up at my door.”
He turned onto his side to embrace her. He pulled her tight to his chest, kissing her deeply. He took a breath, then kissed her with lazy strokes of his tongue. When he pulled away, he just stared into her eyes. He caressed her cheek with his thumb, lightly skimming over the fine-boned surface.
She smiled at him, with the same tender expression she wore more often lately. He returned it. They laid there for a few minutes, unmoving. Then he tucked her underneath his chin, and ran his hands up and down her back.
“I should get up.” He had the worst time trying to pull himself away from her bed.
“You should.” She ran her fingers over his chest.
He didn’t move. He just laid there, caressing her back.
She giggled at him. Then she leaned back to brush his lips with hers.
“You can’t be late for work.”
He groaned as he smiled. He kissed her back, then unfolded himself from her. He pulled himself off the bed.
She got up with him, stretching with the lazy grace of a satisfied cat. He watched her, and she gave him a provocative smile. She was the sexiest thing he had ever laid eyes on, and worse, she knew it.
He grabbed some of her clothes from the duffle bag. He tossed them on the bed. The sooner she was dressed, the more likely he wouldn’t be late for shift change. He slid on her bra, then fumbled with the clasp. He had always hated them anyway.
Laurie took mercy on him. She turned around so he could fix it.
Then he pulled on her panties. It felt strange for him to be working in reverse but he liked the intimacy of it. He pulled on her shirt. Then he helped her into her jeans before kissing her.
Laurie broke away from him to get his clothes from his duffle bag. She helped him into his boxers and jeans. Then pulled his shirt over his head. They stood for a few minutes embracing.
“I’ll wait here for a little while. So we don’t leave at the same time. Have a good day at work.”
He chuckled at her. Dante walked out into the hallway via his unused bedroom.
Dante tried not to swagger in. There was something about taking a beautiful woman as your lover that just screamed from every pore of a man. He bit back a grin and tried to clear his mind before he entered the living room. Dean and John were watching TV, as usual. There hadn’t been a day in the past week he’d seen them do anything else. Dante heard a door open behind him down the hall, and he turned expecting to see Laurie, but he saw Jason instead. Jason walked toward the bathroom, disappearing behind the door.
Dante turned back to speak to John and Dean, but what he said was drowned out by the sound of shattering glass as two bullets burst in through the window.
Dean and John dropped to the floor.
Dante crouched, covering his head as he threw himself into the hallway, away from the windows. Dante’s mind cleared of everything else except getting to Laurie. He ran to her door and opened it to find her on the ground covering her head. A bullet flew through her window, hitting the wall near Dante. He dove down and crawled to Laurie. Bullets flew around him.
“Stay down and come with me!” he shouted to her.
He covered her body with his as they crawled to the safe room door. He popped open the door, shoved her in and locked it. He heard more breaking glass, as the windows in the adjoining bedroom shattered. Dante pulled out his cell phone and called for back-up.