Another Escape

A/N: So, I'm back with another offering in the Eve Dallas and Roarke fandom and this time I'm bringing you all something that I have never done before in any of the prior fics I've done. This was a challenge for me because of the numerous rewrites and edits that I had to make in order for it to look right, but I think now I'm satisfied enough to where I can finally share this story with you all.

Disclaimer: The writer of this fanfic claims no ownership to the characters and elements of J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas/Roarke series (in Death as it is called). This story was written for entertainment purposes only.

Another Escape by ElectricOutcast

Morris made time, of course. Though she'd have done the same for him, Eve still appreciated it.

When she walked in, his music sounded like sunshine as he methodically stitched up a Y-cut on a corpse.

"Nearly done here," he said without looking up.

"Take your time. I appreciate you making it for me."

"Never a problem. This young man thought to rob a store in the Diamond District, using the homemade boomer in his pocket as incentive."

Since she'd seen the case on the board in the bullpen--Carmichael and Santiago had caught it--she moved closer. And observed the large, jagged chunk missing from the DB's right side.

"Went off in his pocket."

"That it did. Fortunately for the bystanders, it wasn't very powerful. Unfortunately for our guest here, it was powerful enough to blow a hole in him. There now, all done."

He stepped back, blinked. "Well, look at you."

"What?" Thrown off, Eve glanced down at herself.

"You look gorgeous."

She'd have been less shocked if he'd stabbed her with his scalpel. "I-- What?"

"Like a perfect spring day," he added as he walked over to clean his hands. "I calls 'em as I sees 'em."

"Huh." Weird, she thought, but... "Thanks."

"I suspect you simply wanted another look at Elise Duran, as I can't add anything of value to my report."

He walked to the wall of drawers, opened one. The cool fog puffed out.

"A woman who took care of herself until her death. Good muscle tone, lovely skin. COD, the same as our first victim. Unlike our first, I see no sign she knew what was happening, attempted to get to a window or door for air, for help. She dropped where she stood. Death came quickly, but painfully."

"Has the family been to see her?"

"The husband. He's arranged to have her taken to a funeral home tomorrow. The family will hold a private memorial before cremation, then they'll have an open one for friends and extended family in a few days."

Morris touched a hand, briefly, gently, to the top of Elise's head. "Her husband sat with her for some time, asked if he could just sit with her. And so, he did, and talked to her, assuring her he'd take good care of their boys. He'd look out for her parents, and so on."

Morris sighed. "There are times, no matter how many you open and close, there are times it breaks the heart."

"Yeah. That's what he wants. Broken hearts, broken lives. He's already forgotten her. Duran, too. That's done, crossed off the list like a chore. Next? Fucker's not going to get a next."

Morris narrowed his eyes on Eve's face. "You know who it is."

"Yeah. I looked him in the eye today. You know what I saw in there, Morris?"

"What?"

"Not a damn thing. Behind the pretext they put on to mix with humanity, this kind is dead inside. She has more life in her than he does. It's not even real revenge, not the kind you'd get bloody for. It's more... It's a fuck-you," she realized.

"Somebody cuts you off in traffic, you give them the finger, move on. Not this guy. Cut him off, he'll run you over. That's his fuck-you."

Eve stepped back. "Yeah, I guess I just needed to see her again. Thanks for that."

"Anything I can do that helps you take him down."

Morris would've expected her to run straight back out to her car to drive home, which is why he was surprised when Eve started to soften her voice.

"You know, Li, it's been almost a year. How have you been doing?"

That question was simple, direct, but it still hit him like a ton of bricks. He didn't even have to hear Eve not utter the name of the woman that Morris was falling in love with before she herself got murdered almost a year ago. Amaryllis Coltraine had tried to restart her life with Li Morris when she left Atlanta for New York, had fallen into a relationship with him after leaving another lover who was connected with one of Eve and Roarke's enemies. And before that love could truly blossom, Coltraine was betrayed by someone who she considered a friend and murdered her in cold blood.

"Doing?" Morris echoed, lowering his gaze. "I suppose as well as anyone can be...considering."

He left the statement open-ended, turning away from Eve and busying himself with cleaning up his workspace. They both knew what 'considering' meant - considering that a year hadn't yet diminished the acute sting of losing someone you loved, considering that the gaping hole Amaryllis had left in Li's life was only just starting to scab over.

Eve watched Morris for a moment, her brows knitting together in concern. It gnawed at her gut to see him struggling with the past that refused to fade away.

"I just... I wanted to say that she wouldn't have wanted you to stop living because she's not here anymore," Eve said, choosing her words carefully. She glanced towards Elise Duran's body, another woman who wouldn't have wanted her family and friends to stop living because of her untimely death.

Morris didn't respond immediately. He finished cleaning up and straightened, adjusting his glasses as he turned back to face Eve. His smile was soft and sad, but also somewhat relieved. "That's probably true," he said finally. "Amaryllis wouldn't have wanted me to wallow in grief indefinitely."

Eve nodded in agreement, "Listen, Li," she gently laid a hand on Morris' shoulder, "why don't you come over to our place for dinner tonight? There's something that Roarke and I want to discuss with you."

Morris hesitated for a moment, glancing up at Eve with a hint of surprise in his eyes. "I appreciate the offer, Eve, but I have a gig tonight. I'm playing at The Blue Note. I'd love to catch up with you and Roarke, though. Perhaps we could find another time that works for all of us?"

Eve nodded in understanding, "I plan to work at home anyway, as soon as we wrap this up, you'll be the first to know."

ooooOOOOoooo

It wouldn't be until after Eve had finished arresting Marshall Cosner, the person behind the murders of Kent Abner, Elise Duran, and Stephen Whitt that she and Roarke would have a time window to invite Morris to their home for dinner. When that dinner happened, the three of them had a full day off from their respective jobs.

As they sat around the dining table, the tension that usually accompanied Eve's investigations seemed to melt away. The room was filled with the soft glow of candlelight and the rich aroma of the meal Roarke had prepared. It was a casual affair, yet there was an underlying solemnity as if they were all subtly acknowledging the empty spaces left by those they had lost.

Roarke poured wine for everyone, his movements smooth and practiced. "To new beginnings," he toasted, raising his glass. The clink of glass against glass sounded like a promise being sealed.

Morris took a sip, letting the rich flavor coat his tongue before he spoke. "I didn't realize how much I needed this," he admitted, looking around at both Eve and Roarke with a sincere warmth in his eyes. "It's easy to get caught up in my own headspace."

Eve nodded, her expression softening. "We all do, Li. Sometimes we just need someone to pull us out of it."

The conversation gradually shifted from personal reflections to lighter topics--music, upcoming projects at Roarke's businesses, and Eve's relentless pursuit of justice in her job. Finally, when the meal was being wrapped up, Eve and Roarke looked at each other and silently nodded in agreement.

"Li," Eve said after turning to face him. "The reason why we wanted to invite you over for dinner is because I told Roarke about the six-month sexual affair that you and I had two years before I met Roarke at the DeBlass funeral."

Morris was about to take a drink from his flute when his hand froze at her confession.

"You did?" he asked.

Eve kept her gaze steady on Morris, her face set in a determined but empathetic expression. "I know this must seem out of the blue, Li, but it's something we've discussed openly between us, and I felt it was time you knew that Roarke is aware. There's no need for secrets or discomfort."

Roarke, observing the exchange with a calm demeanor, placed his glass on the table and turned towards Morris. "Eve's past is as much a part of her as her future with me," he said smoothly. "Understanding and respecting that past includes acknowledging the relationships she had before me."

Morris slowly set his glass down, a mixture of emotions flickering across his face--surprise, a touch of embarrassment, but also relief. His mind started flashing back to the first night of that six-month-long affair, she had been at The Blue Note one night while Morris was also there playing saxophone with the band.

He knew that Eve's musical preferences were mostly towards driving rock and metal, so he was pleasantly surprised when he saw her in the club hearing him and his band play. Eve later explained to him that his saxophone playing was good and mixed well with the band. She also told him that his saxophone notes felt like a proposition being offered to her.

Eve did accept the proposition and it led to a passionate affair between her and Morris that lasted for six months. The affair eventually reached its amicable end not long after Eve had been promoted to Lieutenant.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Morris asked Eve.

Eve took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the moment, and the importance of her next words.

"Because" she started, her voice steady yet gentle, "Roarke and I have been talking about exploring new dimensions in our relationship. About being more open, trying to understand our desires more deeply. And in doing so," she glanced at Roarke, seeking a silent reassurance which he provided with a nod, "we thought of including you."

Morris blinked, clearly taken aback. The air seemed to thicken with anticipation, his mind racing to catch up with the direction the conversation had suddenly taken.

Roarke leaned in slightly, his tone even but sincere. "Because we've been seeing you silently suffer through the loss of Amaryllis Coltraine. Everytime I've been seeing you, whether it's through us casually living, or if we're having parties and you play your saxophone, there's been a melancholic longing coming from you playing it. I see you suffering and think of how I could potentially suffer if I lost my Eve."

Morris shifted uncomfortably in his chair, the weight of Roarke's words pressing down on him like a physical force. The thought of being included in such an intimate aspect of Eve and Roarke's relationship was overwhelming, yet there was a part of him that felt a sense of belonging that he hadn't realized he'd been missing.

He still loved and missed Amaryllis, he always would cherish the times he spent with her. He even missed their own form of intimacy that they had in their sexual relationship and how it was actually better than when he had been with Eve all those years ago. Perhaps Eve offering him a stepping stone in wanting to give love another chance would be a way of potentially finding someone new in his life.

Without a word, Morris rose from his chair and walked over to Eve's chair, gently lifted her up and gave her a soft but passionate kiss. The kiss was both familiar and new to Eve. Familiar because she had experienced it before during her affair with Morris, and yet new because it was now shared between the three of them.

Roarke watched on, a small smile forming on his lips as he witnessed the spark between his wife and their friend. He had always known that Morris still had some lingering feelings for Eve, but it wasn't until now that he truly saw the depth of those emotions.

As their kiss deepened, Roarke slowly approached them and gently placed a hand on each of their backs. Instantly, Morris pulled away from Eve, sensing Roarke's presence.

But instead of showing any sign of jealousy or anger, Roarke simply leaned in and captured Morris' lips in a kiss as well. For a moment, all three of them were lost in the passionate embrace, allowing themselves to explore this new dynamic between them.

When they finally broke apart, Eve couldn't help but laugh at the situation they found themselves in. "Well, this is certainly new territory for us," she said with a smile.

Morris chuckled nervously, still trying to process everything that was happening. "Yeah...I never thought I'd be sharing a kiss with you two together."

Roarke had to give out a chuckle of his own. "Before tonight, the thought of Eve kissing another man would've put me in a rage. But seeing you kiss my wife like that made me think of a different way to work that part out."

Eve looked between the two men, her heart swelling with an emotion she couldn't quite name. It was a mix of gratitude, love, and an exhilarating fear of the unknown. "I guess it's about trust," she mused aloud, her detective's mind always analyzing. "And maybe it's also about healing, about moving forward together in ways we might not have imagined before."

Morris nodded, his expression sobering as he took in the words. "Trust is right," he agreed quietly. "It's not just about physical closeness; it's about letting go of the past and trusting each other with our vulnerabilities."

Roarke's gaze softened as he looked at Eve and then at Morris. "Vulnerabilities," he echoed thoughtfully. He knew better than anyone how protective Eve was of her own scars and shadows. Opening up this new dimension in their relationship wasn't just about exploration; it was also about reinforcing their bonds, testing the strength of their trust in each other.

The room fell into a comfortable silence, each person lost in their thoughts until Eve finally broke it. "You know, men, it'd be a waste to not let this evening go any further than it already has."

Before making her exit from the dining room, she paused to slowly turn her head and lock eyes with her husband and their newfound mutual lover. A sly smile crept across her lips as she spoke in a low, seductive voice. "Meet me in the Holo room in 15 minutes," she purred, "I have a special surprise in store for both of you." Her gaze held a promise of something dark and thrilling, leaving them both eager and anxious for what was to come.

ooooOOOOoooo

April of 2061 had brought out a mild spring warmth in New York, but when Roarke and Morris went to the Holo room, 15 minutes on the dot, the first thing they felt was the room temperature making it feel like mid-July. The room was designed to look like an old, abandoned warehouse building covered by brick walls, and had a large rectangular window that viewed an unknown cityscape. The two men also glimpsed at a bare covered oversized mattress that laid on the hardwood floor.

Eve stood by the large window, the late afternoon sun bathing her naked body in a warm, golden glow. Her only adornments were a pair of thigh-high boots and shoulder-length gloves, giving her an alluring and provocative appearance. Before her two lovers entered, she activated the Holo room's advanced technology, making it rain inside the room. The sound of raindrops hitting the simulated brick walls and wooden floor added an intimate, atmospheric touch to the already charged environment.

A light mist began to fill the room, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The cool sensation of the holographic raindrops on their skin heightened their awareness of each other, intensifying the anticipation that hung heavily in the air.

Seeing Roarke and Li enter, she moved towards the simulated brick wall, relishing the cool, gritty sensation against her exposed back. The contrast of textures--the rough brick against her smooth skin--sent a shiver down her spine, adding to the electric energy coursing through her body.

Turning to face her two lovers, Eve gazed at them with a smoldering expression, her eyes heavy-lidded with desire. The rain slicked Holo room accentuated the raw sensuality of the scene, as if they were actors in a provocative film noir. The moisture in the air seemed to amplify their heavy breathing, each exhale a testament to the mounting tension.

Her posture and demeanor exuded a raw, carnal hunger that spoke volumes about the cravings she harbored, hinting at the sexual exploration she yearned for. The rain poured down harder, echoing the intensity of their emotions.

The air in the room seemed to pulse with electricity, the tension building as she beckoned them with a crooked finger. "You boys take off your shirts and have a piece of this dessert."

Roarke and Morris exchanged a brief, charged glance before complying, their movements deliberate as they shed their shirts, revealing the contrast between Roarke's lean, sculpted torso and Morris's broader, equally defined physique. The room's artificial light played over their skin, casting shadows that emphasized muscle and sinew.

As they approached, Eve's lips curved into a more pronounced smile, her eyes gleaming with an almost predatory anticipation. She turned slightly, allowing the soft, golden light to skim across her profile, highlighting the sharpness of her cheekbones and the smooth line of her neck. The hot atmosphere in the Holo room thickened with each step they took toward her, charged with a raw intensity that was palpable.

Roarke reached her first, his hand tracing a path along the curve of her spine down to her hips, pulling her gently against him. His lips found the sensitive spot behind her ear, eliciting a soft sigh from Eve. Morris, standing slightly behind them now, watched the exchange with a complex emotion flickering in his eyes--desire mixed with a hint of reverence.

Finally stepping forward, Morris placed his hands on Eve's shoulders, his touch tentative at first but growing more confident as she leaned back into him. His fingers explored the contours of her arms before circling around to join Roarke's at her waist.

"You know, Roarke," Eve whispered seductively, the sound of the simulated rain in the Holo room punctuating her words. "It was very hot seeing you kiss Morris earlier. I think it'd be even hotter if you two kiss again while I jerk and suck on both your cocks in this intoxicating atmosphere."

Roarke's eyes darkened with a mix of challenge and arousal at Eve's provocative suggestion. He turned his head, catching Morris's gaze, which held an unspoken question. The rain continued to fall around them, adding an extra layer of sensuality to the already charged moment. The air around them vibrated with electric anticipation, each breath they took seemed to draw them deeper into the vortex of their shared desire.

Morris, who had always found his attraction to both Roarke and Eve something of a complex puzzle, now felt it lock into place with startling clarity as the rain drenched their bodies. The raw openness of the moment stripped away any remaining hesitations, leaving only the primal urge to merge physically and emotionally.

Without another word, Roarke leaned in to capture Morris's lips with his own, the kiss deep and exploratory. Eve watched, a sultry smile playing on her lips as she slowly slid down to her knees in the rain, her hands reaching out to trace the waistbands of their soaked jeans.

The sounds in the room melted into a symphony of sighs and murmurs--the soft rustle of wet fabric, the slick noise of kisses, and the increasingly labored breathing that filled the space. Eve unbuttoned and unzipped their jeans with deliberate slowness, her movements teasingly torturous.