Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

rested his forehead against hers, watching her face, waiting for the moment she opened her eyes. He needed to see her eyes. Needed to know she needed this too. Needed to know he hadn’t gone too far.
    ‘Daphne?’ Her name came out gravelly. She opened her eyes and he managed to swallow his groan. The blue was dark with desire. Alive with need. ‘I want you. You understand that?’
    She nodded, the pulse at the hollow of her throat beating so fast. He kissed her there, felt her go languid in his hands. She was still staring up at him. Wonder and want swirling in the blue. ‘Joseph.’
    ‘Soon,’ he whispered. ‘Soon I’m going to do all the things to you that I’ve dreamed about.’ She swallowed hard, bit her lip harder. He kissed her there, taking her lip between his teeth and tugging. ‘I’ve dreamed a lot, Daphne.’
    She licked her lip. ‘So have I.’
    ‘I need to stop. Or I won’t be able to.’ He lowered her feet to the floor, unwilling to let her go. ‘I need to stop. God, I want you naked.’
    She closed her eyes, opened her mouth to breathe. ‘You do things to me.’
    ‘You have no idea what I’ll do to you.’
    ‘Soon.’ It was uttered on an exhale. ‘Please. Oh, God.’
    He forced himself to step back, forced his hands to let her go. ‘Soon.’ He removed her hands from his neck and pressed them together, kissing her fingers. ‘I’ll be back for you tomorrow morning. Try to sleep.’
    She nodded. ‘I’ll try. Thank y—’
    He silenced her with a last hard kiss. ‘Don’t you thank me. Not yet. Not until I give you something to be thankful for.’
    Exercising every ounce of discipline he possessed, he left her there. When he looked back she stood in the doorway, her fingertips lightly covering her mouth, the big black dog at her side.
    Tuesday, December 3, 11.20 P.M.
    Clay tapped his foot impatiently. The elevator was so damn slow.
    ‘Clay,’ Alec said softly. ‘You can’t go to her family like this. They’re scared enough without you barging in looking like a drug dealer on meth. Your eyes are wild, man.’
    Clay closed his wild eyes, slumping against the elevator wall. The kid was right. ‘Okay. I’m calm.’ He opened his eyes. ‘How’s this?’
    ‘Sixteen cups of coffee and a handful of uppers. But down from meth. Keep going.’
    Clay had to smile. ‘You know, you’re actually proving useful, kid.’
    ‘Gee thanks. I’m touched.’ But Alec’s tone was amused and his eyes were kind. ‘Sometimes I’d be at Ethan and Dana’s when they’d get a new foster. Those kids can be wild too, like a wounded animal in a cage, ready to bite even a friendly hand. Ethan’s just a rock, you know? He can get them calm when nobody else can.’
    ‘So you’re channeling him?’
    ‘Something like that. He’s pretty much been my dad for the last six years. There are worse people to wanna be when you grow up.’
    Yeah, like me . Helluva dad I turned out to be . His daughter wouldn’t even see him, no matter how many times he’d tried. ‘Not many better.’ The elevator opened, but instead of running out like he wanted to, he looked at the kid seriously. ‘Now?’
    Alec studied his eyes. ‘Okay, now you’re down to a case of Red Bull. If you promise to play nice, you can go in.’
    ‘Thanks, Alec. I mean it.’
    The kid’s cheeks heated. ‘That’s what you pay me for.’
    No, it wasn’t, actually. They walked down the hallway to the ICU security door, but Clay didn’t push the call button. ‘I’m not trying to get rid of you.’
    ‘But?’
    ‘But, while I appreciate the many wild-animal-calming skills you’ve picked up from Ethan, what I pay you for are the technical skills he taught you.’
    Alec’s brows lifted. ‘What do you have in mind?’
    ‘I’m not sure yet. But I got loose ends flapping around in my head. One of them that I keep thinking about is the webcam stuck in Gargano’s vent. That was a crime of opportunity that Doug made work for him. I mean Kimberly was invited to the party through an outside association. She didn’t crash it. But it worked.’
    ‘And because it did, maybe Doug and Kimberly tried it again?’
    Clay nodded. ‘Exactly. But in a planned way instead of relying on chance party invitations to homes of cops. Kimberly was arrested for stealing from a cleaning client.’
    ‘Working for a maid service would get her into people’s houses. But if she had a record, nobody would hire her.’ Alec considered it. ‘Maybe she