So Not a Hero (22 page)

“I take it you enjoyed that as much as I did?” He asked as he moved closer. His fingers stroked up my naked side.

I nodded and stretched, sighing as I draped one of my legs over his. “I would say that I probably enjoyed it more. After all, you did all the work. I just went along for the ride.” I reached up and brushed the side of his cheek. “You have got mad woman-happying skills, Detective. Never let it be said you don’t know your way around a va-jay-jay.”

He laughed and nodded his head towards the table. “Well, I’ve got evidence to back that up, it seems.”

I turned my head to survey the damage and looked back at him, covering my mouth with my hand. “Ohmygosh. Kurt, I’m so sorry. I just … well, it was an accident. I’ll pay for it, I promise.”

He waved one hand in a dismissive manner. “Don’t worry about it. It belonged to my ex. I was going to throw it out anyways.”

I nodded and then ran my fingertips along his still-hard cock. “Maybe we should be more careful. Wouldn’t want to break anything else.” I ran my thumb over the head, producing a shudder from the hunky detective.

I was hoping we were just getting started.” He leaned over to kiss me, keeping his lower half right where I could continue stroking him.

“Are you as good with this,” I whispered, giving him a gentle squeeze, “as you are with your mouth?”

“I happen to think that I’m actually better.” There was no arrogance in the statement, only lustful confidence.

I nodded and spread my legs again. “Well, big boy. Let’s see if you’re right about that.”

Turns out that he was.
Much better.

CHAPTER 14: THE DESCENT OF THE OTHER SHOE

The delicious smell of food cooking pulled me out of sleep’s embrace. I rolled over onto my back and a sudden burst of light appeared on the other side of my closed eyes. On reflex, I threw an arm over my face and cautiously peeped from behind the safety of my elbow.

A sliver of ungodly-bright morning sunlight slipped through a tiny gap in the dining room’s curtains, falling in a blazing line right across my face. I groaned and wriggled my shoulders to scoot a few inches to the side, out of its path. The motions made the muscles in my legs and back sing and the flood of memories concerning the previous evening’s activities made my toes curl happily.

For an un-Enhanced male, Kurt had incredible stamina.

I sat up, holding the blanket over my chest as I glanced around the room. The table was still lying on its side and the indentions my fingers had made in the leg were very prominent. We were lucky it had fallen in the direction it had and not toppled over onto us. That would have probably ended our tryst early. It’d been a long time since I’d lost that type of control during sex. Martin had done an excellent job of teaching me how to keep my strength at non-lethal levels during coitus. It had either been too long since those days or else Kurt had managed to stroke me in ways that my former lover had not.

I was betting on the latter.

I stood up, letting the blanket fall to the floor, and stretched left and right, chasing the stiffness away. I spotted my dress sitting neatly folded on a chair, along with my ruined underthings and my shoes. Apparently I was going au natural until I could get back home. I stepped into the dress, fumbled with getting it mostly zipped, and slipped my feet into the flats.

The results of the unexpected battle and even more unexpected romp on the floor left me with a need for a shower. I glanced down the hall towards the heavenly smell. Maybe I’d wait until after breakfast. Then Kurt would be available to wash my back and other … things. I smiled and sighed with the memory of the previous night and the hope for more to come.

There were several pictures hanging on the walls around me, almost all of them of Kurt and his parents. A trio of Happy Braddocks. It was apparent that they were all eager to be photographed together, and I noticed none of the underlying resentment that had often permeated my own family’s portraits.

I couldn’t help but wonder how Kurt’s mother would feel about his sleeping with a girl he barely knew on a rug underneath her picture.

The doorway on the opposite side of the room from the foyer led down a short hallway to the kitchen. I paused right outside the entrance and leaned carefully against the frame to watch the handsome detective at work. He stood in front of the stove, humming a tune I didn’t recognize as he stirred a pan sizzling with scrambled eggs. The island counter on the other side of the kitchen was already home to two empty plates, a pair of coffee mugs, two glasses of orange juice, a platter of sausage and bacon, and a stack of toast.

Either he was covering all possible bases or he was planning to feed a half dozen guests.

He was dressed in a pair of plaid flannel pajama pants and a white ribbed tank top. The muscles of his arms stood out even more than they had in the polo and the intimate knowledge of the body beneath made my mouth, among other things, water. His dirty blonde hair had a messy bed-head look and there was a tribal-style tattoo on his left shoulder. His other shoulder was adorned with little dark circles in a semi-circle pattern. Similar markings also showed in various places on his forearm as well.

After studying them for a few seconds, I realized they were bruises. Bruises in the shape of fingertips. My fingertips. When he turned slightly to the side to reach for the salt shaker, I saw another purple blemish across his cheek.

I gasped and he jumped, nearly dropped the frying pan. “Holy shit!” he yelled, managing to keep the eggs from flying out. He set it back on the stove and looked at me. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, Karen. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry,” I said and giggled a little at the thought of my heavy ass being able to sneak up on anyone. Then I winced with a frown, pointing at his face. “Did I do that?”

He arched a brow and reached up with his free hand, running his fingers along the ugly wound. “Oh,” he nodded with a smile. “Yeah. With your legs, I think. It’s okay, though. Really. I just didn’t expect you to react with such … excitement and enthusiasm.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again. I wondered if it might be better if I just left and went back to the tower. Before I could escape, however, Kurt walked over to me and kissed me. It was a slow one, the kind that created the warm fuzzies as opposed to hot and readies. My concerns and worries slowly drifted away.

Until I casually placed my hand on his face ,causing him to sort of yelp into my mouth.

I pulled back my hand back quickly, glancing down at the floor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think …”

He shrugged and gave me a tiny smile. “It’s okay, Karen. Really.” He stepped back to the stove and poured the eggs into a yellow bowl. After he’d placed it with the rest of the food on the island, he turned back to me. “Coffee?”

“A world of yes.” I just hoped I could keep from hurting him again.

We stood on opposite sides of the island with the mass quantities of food between us. I insisted that he sit even though I couldn’t, but he refused.

“If you’re standing, I’m standing,” he said as he slid a cup of java to me. When his arm was fully extended, he hissed under his breath.

“How bad does it hurt?” I cradled the warm mug in my hands and refused to meet his eyes.

“I’m okay,” he said, adding a little laugh that seemed a bit too forced. “I’m a cop, remember? It’s not like I’ve never been beaten up by an Enhanced criminal before.”

My head snapped up and I blinked a few times, trying to swallow what he’d just said. “What?”

Kurt’s attention was focused on transferring some bacon from the platter to the empty plate in front of him. “I guess I’m lucky you didn’t break my jaw.” He laughed and shook his head. “Or anything else for that matter.”

I pushed the coffee away. “I have to go. Thanks for the … uh … evening and dinner.” I headed for the door. “Bye.”

The clatter of a dish on the counter sounded behind me and Kurt hurried past to block the hallway. “Wait. What’s wrong?”

I shook my head and wrapped arms around myself. I needed to go. To get out and clear my head … and my feelings. “Nothing. I just need to go. I have … to patrol. Need to get changed first.”

He arched a brow and crossed his arms over his chest with a barely noticeable wince that seemed to be glaringly obvious to me and made the knot in my stomach tighten further. “I seem to recall you saying that you weren’t on duty until tonight. So, why do you suddenly need to leave?”

I shrugged. “I just do.”

“Did I do something? Is this because we had sex?”

“Not exactly.” I glanced down at the floor. “I just need to go.”

He stared at me for a few moments before finally stepping aside. “Karen, I don’t want you to leave. Not like this.” He leaned against the wall next to the door. “But I can’t make you stay.”

“Thank you,” I said as I walked past him towards the front door. “I really did have a good time last night.”

He followed me, keeping back a few feet. “Enough to want to do it again? Go out, I mean,” he added quickly. “I’d like to go out with you again.”

“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.” I put my hand on the knob and looked back at him over my shoulder. “Can we just say goodbye for now and talk about this later?”

He nodded. “If that’s what you want.” When I turned and opened the door, his hand lightly touched my arm and I stopped. “Karen, if I said something, or did something that bothered you please tell me.” He sighed. “I really like you. And I think you like me too.”

I didn’t turn around. “I do. I really just need to go think.”

His touch vanished and the hole it left upon departure hurt worse than a punch from Colonel Tank. “Okay. Call me later if you want.”

I stepped out into the bright, morning sunshine that didn’t fit my mood at all. Too bad it wasn’t overcast and raining. I heard the door close behind me and I trudged down the steps and headed for home.

It was about five miles from Kurt’s brownstone to headquarters and I could have run it in less than four minutes. Instead, I pushed open the front door of the Paulus Building after an hour and a half of walking.

Being Sunday, Joelle was off and the empty lobby seemed more forlorn than I would have imagined it could. My shoes thudded on the tile floor and echoed off the walls. When I reached the palm scanner next to the elevator, I had to submit myself to three identification attempts before it would register my authorization to enter. By that time, I was wound in such knots of rage that it was a miracle I didn’t just smash the panel to pieces and rip the damned doors open by hand.

I took several deep breaths as the car carried me upstairs, pushing the negative thoughts into the dark corners of my mind. Since I already looked like something the cat had dragged in—wrinkled dress, messy hair, no underwear—I didn’t need my expression to be any lower. When the ding of the elevator sounded, I’d cemented a happy smile on my face and exited the box with an exaggerated spring in my step. Yep, everything’s hunky dorey around here. Zero problems.

The smell of coffee drew me to the dining area, desperate to make up for missing out at Kurt’s. I entered the room to find Darla, Daniel, and Alexis all sitting around one of the larger tables. Only the teen was actually eating breakfast, a bowl of some multi-colored cereal. The other two were drinking from mugs filled with the very beverage I’d come to obtain.

“Morning,” I said as cheerily as I could manage and headed towards the coffee machine.

“Well, hello there, Miss Sleepy-Head. About time you got up.” Alexis said, giving me a sideways grin. “I knocked on your door for, like, twenty minutes. I was gonna just ghost through it and wake you, but then I you probably got in really late.” She shrugged. “So I let you be.”

“Uh, thanks.” I said as I grabbed the handle of the pot.

“Seriously? Are you really that dumb?” Darla said, turning towards the teen. “She didn’t just get up, she just got home. In case you didn’t notice, she’s still wearing the same dress she left in last night.” The blonde glanced back in my direction, tilting her head slightly to the side. “And judging by her state of appearance and lack of a bra, I’d say someone had a pretty good time, too.”

Alexis glanced back at me and her mouth dropped open with the realization that the blonde was correct. My fingers remained curled on the handle of the carafe and I shot Darla a ‘you suck’ glare. Before I could attempt to explain myself, Daniel slammed his cup down on the table and stood up, hurrying out the door in the direction of his lab.

I sighed and released the pot. Way to go, Karen. Just trample all over everyone’s feelings. No wonder the only person who’d have you is a sociopathic genius.

I looked back at Alexis, whose face was a portrait of surprise, and held up my hand. “To hell with this interrogation. I’m going to take a shower.”

When I got back to my room, I locked the door and stripped out of the dress, throwing it across the room as I fought the urge to scream. I climbed into the shower and turned the spray to the maximum heat setting. The water that came streaming out of the nozzle was close to boiling and I remained standing under its spray, praying that it would cleanse me of my poor choices in life and let me begin anew.

A baptism of self.

After my extended shower, I dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt. I felt the outfit matched my mood. I left my hair damp and gave it a cursory finger-combing before heading back out to face my teammates. I found Darla, Richard, and Greg gathered together in the briefing room. The three of them were watching one of the large screens, currently tuned to one of the local news networks.

The ticker across the bottom read, “Semi-Naked Hero Stops Villain.” And the video above showed footage—from someone’s phone, apparently—of my battle with Vaporizer. When I entered the room, Darla pressed the pause button and froze the scene. Of course the angle of the camera and the moment the blonde had chosen to stop the action showed only my panty-clad bottom. The bad guy was barely visible at the corner of the screen.

Greg turned to look at me, his face full of disappointment. “While I applaud your enthusiasm towards stopping Vaporizer before he hurt anyone,” he said, pointing at the still image of me on the monitor. “Did you really need to strip in order to do it?”

I shrugged and tucked a loose strand of hair behind one ear. "I didn't want my dress to go up in a puff of smoke."

He shook his head and facepalmed. "You should have just taken that chance."

The gasp from Darla added support to my decision. "As you can see, Greg. Not everyone agrees with that."

"Not to mention," Awesome said as he tapped on my pixilated rear. "That's a great shot of you."

Greg shook his head. “It’s all over the news, Karen.”

Darla snickered. “News? It’s probably getting a zillion hits and likes on ViewTube.”

I threw my hands into the air. “What the hell? Seriously? I wasn’t naked, for crying out loud. I know plenty of heroes who wear less than that on a daily basis.” I cut my eyes over at Darla for emphasis.