Going Down

Author's Note:

Thank you so very much to everyone for being patient. I know this has been a long time coming. Your comments and e-mails have been encouraging and helped get me through a wicked case of writer's block.

If you enjoy it, please take the time to vote or comment. Feedback is my drug.

Script

*

Gray sat in the armchair and looked over at us, seated on the sofa beside him.

"What happened?"

The question was delivered with the sort of directness I had come to expect from the good detective.

"Well, we were sitting here, watching TV when we heard a knock at the door. Cale went to answer it. I thought it was strange that the desk hadn't called up, but I figured maybe it was a neighbor or something."

I watched Grayson's eyes narrow at that little bit of news. He made a brief note in the little pad that was ever present. I guess his recorder was for the more serious stuff.

"I was curious so I went to see who it was. Imagine my surprise at finding Brent at the door."

His eyes swung to regard Cale for a moment. I couldn't help allowing myself a little peek as well.

Cale was casually reclining against the back of the couch, his hand in mine. Only the fierceness of his grip belied the tension in him. I gave his hand a squeeze.

He gave a shrug and picked up the tale.

"He was here to let me know he blamed Grace for the loss of his job and for the police sniffing around at his heels."

Gray nodded.

"Alright, tell me everything that was said."

Cale proceeded to relate the whole experience again. Everything he told Grayson was what I myself had heard. I noted the conspicuous absence of whatever threat he had given him when I was out of earshot. I gave a shudder. Perhaps it was better if I didn't know what had passed between them.

Grayson noted my reaction and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you alright Grace?"

I gave him a tight smile.

"Just a little shaken I suppose. I didn't have to think while it was happening, but now...."

He nodded again.

"I suppose that's enough for now. I'll leave you to your evening. I'll call if I have any questions."

I stood up and shook his hand.

"Thank You for getting here so quickly Gray. Thank Amy for me too. You've both been great throughout this whole ordeal.

Grayson's eyes softened.

"You're welcome Grace; Cale."

Cale responded with a nod, and left to walk Gray to the door.

I sank to the couch, suddenly exhausted. Cale found me there a few minutes later, and wordlessly he sat and curled me into his arms, my head tucked against his shoulder.

My gut clenched in worry as a thought hit me with sudden force.

"What about the guard downstairs..."

Cale shushed me, his hands gliding over my hair in a comforting gesture.

"Gray was on the phone with Amy before we made it to the door. Kevin is fine. He got a call about someone lurking around the back door. I guess it was Brent pulling him away from the desk."

I sighed in relief. I couldn't stand the thought of anyone being hurt because of me. "Will there be any trouble for him over this."

Cale hesitated for a moment and I sat up to look at him sternly.

"Cale, I want you to promise that nothing will happen to Kevin for this. It wasn't his fault."

I could see him fighting the urge to argue. He knew who would win this one. With a resigned sigh, he promised to make sure that Kevin's job was secure.

I nodded with satisfaction and curled back into his arms in relief. "I was just getting used to things being quiet again."

I felt Cale's arms tighten around me.

"Yeah."

That one quiet word conveyed everything he was feeling, everything we both were feeling. He had a knack for that, speaking volumes without saying anything.

I leaned back into him as he continued gliding his hands lightly over my hair. Just that simple touch was re-awakening the fire that heated my body earlier. I wanted him, needed him with a fierceness I couldn't fight.

I could tell the moment he sensed the change. His hands stilled and then resumed their pattern at a slower, more defined pace. I could still feel the hesitation in him, the worry that clouded his every action. It was sweet, and I was sick to death of it.

He loved me.

He had admitted it in a moment of passion; I wanted to make him say it while lost in a passion of a very different sort.

I was ready for him to lose control like he had only weeks before. I wanted to watch his eyes lose focus, no, become focused solely on me and the reactions I was coaxing from his body. I wanted him to forget about the events that had forced this physical separation on us, and give himself over to the violence of our passion.

I turned and gazed up at him with a look meant to captivate, to ensorcell. His eyes locked with mine, and in them I could see the struggle. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.

I realized that it wasn't the gentleman in him that was so protective, it was the primitive side, the same side that wanted to fling aside the reasons that we couldn't do this, the side that would see his woman safe at any cost.

I decided to see how far I could push the alpha in him before he lost that fragile control.

I leaned up and slid my lips slowly over his, eliciting a soft groan from him. I smiled and stroked my tongue over his lower lip before capturing it between my teeth. I heard a sigh and realized it was coming from me.

I had missed this intimacy. Cale had kept himself distanced from me, his affections more like a brother or a friend. I needed this closeness like air. I needed to feel like the life I had fought for was truly worth living.

Cale slid his hands up my arms. He pulled back and looked down at me, the war still fully raging in his eyes.

"Grace..."

I cut him off by kissing him with all of the emotion and heat that had been building over the weeks of my recovery. His arms tightened around me and he let himself just feel for a moment. I could feel the tension humming through his body like a bow string ready to snap.

I wanted to cause that. I wanted to unleash that power, free it from it's restraint and let it roll over both of us.

I ran my hands over the planes of his chest and back up to twine behind his neck and tangle in his hair. The moan that he couldn't prevent was all the encouragement I needed. I slid my lips down the side of his face, placing small kisses as I went.

I buried my face in his neck and breathed deeply, filling my senses with the scent of him. I flicked my tongue over the tender skin and moaned with pleasure at his taste. I felt his sharp intake of breath and smiled against him. Whether or not he admitted it, he was mine. His resistance was all but gone.

I slid my hands down and tugged his shirt free from his jeans. I sighed at the feel of his warm skin under my fingers.

Oh God, I'd missed this. I looked up at him and grinned at the heat in his eyes. The lust he couldn't fight was feeding my own. I couldn't remember ever wanting anything as badly as I wanted him in that moment. I tore the shirt over his head, my eyes feasting on the bare expanse of skin that was revealed.

I raked my hands down his chest, fire spreading to my fingertips from the heat of his skin. The electrical charge arcing between us could have generated power for the whole building. I was in awe at the reactions Cale could drag from my body, not that I didn't have a few tricks of my own to use on him.

I leaned down and ran my tongue around his nipple, drawing a ragged groan from him, the sound primitive. I felt my body tighten in response. I traced a path from one little nub to the other, nipping his warm skin lightly with my teeth. His breathing had become shallow and his eyes were closed, his head thrown back in abandon.

I grinned and let my mouth follow my hands as I moved lower over his abdomen. I paused to swirl my tongue around his belly button, my nails digging lightly into his skin just above the waistband of his jeans. He sucked in a sharp breath. I looked up at him and met the dark heat smoldering in his eyes as he looked down at me. God, how could the man be so damned sexy?

I moved my hands to his jeans and had them unfastened before he could protest. My fingers gliding lightly over the head of his erect cock killed any other resistance he might have offered. With a tug I had the rest of his clothing on the floor.

I knelt before him and took my time letting my eyes wander over his beautiful body. The fire in my blood heated to the boiling point, just knowing that I could finally have him. I let my hands glide up his legs, the hair tickling my sensitive fingertips.

I dragged my nails lightly over his skin again and watched him shudder. Cale looked down at me with a drugged expression, his passion filled eyes half closed and glittering at me. In that moment he looked almost primal. A thrill ran through my body at the thought that I could do that to him.

I smiled and let my tongue follow the path of my hands. His breath was becoming short and ragged. I wrapped my hand around his engorged cock and felt it jump in my hand.

Six weeks of deprivation had me impatient. I needed him in a way that pulled at my insides. I looked up to those glittering eyes and all but begged him with my own.

"Cale."

His name slid from me in a whisper. He groaned, low in his chest, the sound causing tremors through my body. I was suddenly so fevered I couldn't think straight. I don't know how the rest of my clothes ended up on the floor, but I was finally free. Before he could change his mind, I straddled his body and sighed at the feeling of his skin next to mine.

I'd forgotten how good it felt, just having my body in contact with his. I leaned forward and ran my tongue across the seam of his lips, coaxing him to open them for me. He groaned, and suddenly his hand was fisted in my hair, his mouth dominating mine. I gave a little shudder.

I could feel the head of his swollen cock against me, rubbing in the wetness that was spreading between my thighs. I shifted until he was at the entrance and sank down as hard as I could.

I tore my lips from his as I gasped. Dear God, it was amazing. My body spasmed around him and I stayed still, unwilling to let go just yet. I let myself marinate in the feeling of him invading my body. I opened my eyes and gasped again.

My careful lover was gone, driven out by the demon of intense lust that was evident in his eyes. I let a slow smile creep over my face, as I raised myself until he was barely inside me. I slammed back down until he was buried completely. My body quivered. I wasn't going to make it much longer, but I didn't care.

I began to ride his body slowly at first, increasing the pace as I grew more frantic for the release I felt building. Cale's head was thrown back, his hands sliding over my body, pausing to stroke across my nipples, giving the occasional pinch or two.

When he raised his head and looked at me I lost it. My body tightening around him in a desperate attempt to hold on before I flew apart, my atoms scattering over the universe, before finally coming back together to reform my body.

Cale's eyes darkened and he grabbed my hips, slamming himself into me at a frenzied pace. I threw my head back as after-tremors shot through me. Cale let out a shout as I felt him flood me, sending me back over the edge.

When I landed back in my body, I collapsed against him. It was probably the most violent orgasm I'd ever had. I smiled weakly, pressing soft kisses along his neck.

"Christ, Grace. Are you trying to kill us both?"

His voice was husky, holding none of the outrage his words implied.

"Hell of a way to go babe."

He chuckled as his arms came around me. I reached over and pulled the throw off of the back of the couch around us. I could feel my eyes growing heavier, and I let myself drift off, realizing that for the first time since the accident I truly felt safe.

~-~-~oOo~-~-~

I stretched my body, enjoying the slight soreness I felt as I resurfaced to the conscious world. I could hear Cale's voice, and the anger in it brought me awake, a sort of cold shooting through my veins. I recognized the familiar sensation of fear.

"What the hell do you mean you can't hold him?"

The quiet anger that filled Cale's voice set off every internal alarm I had. I forced myself to remain silent and wait for him to get off of the phone.

"Yes but....."

He sighed, his shoulders falling.

"Alright Gray, thanks."

Cale hung up the phone and ran his hands through his hair. He turned around and stopped short when he saw me leaning in the doorway. I had just enough time to see the worry in his eyes before he schooled his features into a calm expression.

"Hey sweetheart."

My heart did its usual little flop, but I refused to allow him to distract me. He wasn't going to change the subject before we even spoke.

"So, Brent is out then?"

I watched as he tried to keep that blank expression and then give up the effort, letting the fear and anger cause little furrows in his handsome face.

He nodded, the movement jerky and tightly controlled.

I took a deep breath and gave my best impression of a woman who wasn't terrified out of her bloody mind.

"Well, go ahead and tell me."

Cale closed his eyes and sighed, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. I could almost hear him counting to ten before he spoke.

"Apparently, he didn't do enough for them to arrest him. Gray held him as long as he could, but his sleaze lawyer busted him out about twenty minutes ago."

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding with a whoosh. I stood there a moment.

"I don't think it's him."

Cale's brows drew together.

"What?"

I looked down at my hands, and realized in surprise that they were trembling. I returned my gaze to Cale's troubled expression.

"I said, I don't think it's him."

Cale exploded.

"Why the hell not?"

I thought about it a moment. It was just a feeling I had. I searched for a way to put it into words, come up with some explanation he would understand. I cocked my head to the side.

"He's too much of a coward."

I shrugged my shoulders. Just articulating things was making me feel like I had some semblance of control. Sure, it was illusory, but there you have it. Unfortunately, my keen reasoning abilities were not having the same calming effect on Cale that they were having on me.

"The son of a bitch was going to hit you!"

I'd never heard him yell before. It was a little frightening, but somewhere inside, I was relieved he was capable of it. It helped dull a little of his perfect- guy shine, which only served to make him more perfect, because he was real.

I nodded as though he had just commented on the weather.

"Yes. That's my point. If he wanted me dead, he wouldn't have bothered with the theatrics, either at the office or tonight."

Unable to follow my dizzying intellect, or maybe that was just my female intellect, he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he could reply.

"Christ Grace. The man tried to hurt you, something I should have hung him by his balls for, and you stand there and defend the lousy bastard?"

I shook my head quickly.

"No babe, not defend, I'm just not convinced he's the real threat. I don't want to focus all of my fear and attention on him, only to be taken out by someone else because I wasn't on my guard."

His anger crumbled and he grabbed my wrist, dragging me into his arms. He held me as though he were afraid I'd evaporate if he let go.

"Ours, sweetheart. It's both of us in this thing."

I sighed and sunk into him, hating the thought that no matter what we did or said, this fear would keep us in its grip until we suffocated with it.

"Are you afraid Cale?"

He tightened his hold.

"More than you know love."