Tainted Pictures (10 page)

           Kate slid her hands down his sides, feeling the ripples of his abs through his shirt but then grabbed the bottom of his shirt and tugged it upwards, urging him to take it off.  He stopped her for a moment and paused, looking at her with concern.

           “Kate, are you sure?”  He asked, remembering the other day when she had started screaming.  He knew that after a month she was medically cleared but she certainly hadn’t seemed emotionally ready recently.

           “Derrick, there is nothing I am more sure of right now.  I am so tired of being afraid.  I want to start new, I want to start new with you.  I want to be with you and only you.  I want every piece of you and I want to give you every piece of me.  Take me, take every single piece.”  She spoke with a quiet confidence, caressing his cheek with the back of her hand and kissing a trail up his neck to his lips.   

           He grinned at her, feeling his heart swelling in his chest.  That was all the encouragement he needed.  He was happy to oblige her wishes and lifted his shirt up over his head as she stared greedily at his defined chest and stomach.  He leaned back down, covering her with his warm skin and immediately did the same thing to her, slipping her tank top up over her head leaving her in only a lacy bra and her pajama bottoms.  

           His eyes were no longer smiling, but intense instead with a fiery gaze that made her feel like she was burning up.  She felt feverish but in a sensual way and she craved the release only he could provide to help cool her down.  She wriggled underneath him, feeling antsy as he kissed her slowly and moved his hands up and down her body.  She pressed her hips up against his, begging him with her ragged breathing and panting.  He was kissing her neck, switching between gentle nibbling and firm kissing.  He trailed his lips and tongue further south until he was blocked by her bra, so he grabbed the delicate fabric in his teeth and ripped it off.  One swift motion and it was gone, leaving her upper half completely exposed.  

           Her mind jumped in a thousand direction at the sudden and harsh movement.  She cried out sharply as intense fear gripped at her heart and she shrunk back into the bed away from Derrick.  His face slipped into confusion and then immediate remorse as he realized that his rough handling of her bra had gone too far.  He pushed away from her and leaned back on to his feet folded beneath him.  

           “Kate, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean...”  He stammered, looking down and rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.  He had no idea what to say or do, his guilt was overtly transparent on his face.  

           She sat up and looked at him, biting her lip in frustration.  Her heart was still with him and she wanted him more than anything.  Her reaction had been completely involuntary and the fear had subsided after just a moment or two.  It had immediately been replaced with guilt when she saw the devastated look on Derrick’s face as she watched him mentally reprimand himself.  She knew that he had been going above and beyond to take care of her, he didn’t deserve to feel guilty and yet she had just made him feel that way.  

           Kate reached out and grabbed his forearm that was raised as he was still rubbing the back of his neck with anxiety.  She pulled his arm down and towards her, placing it on her thigh.  She felt a shiver that was almost fear but she steadied her breath and pushed that away into the recesses of her mind.  She was going to be present, she was going to be in the moment, she was going to be with Derrick.

           He watched her as she left his hand firmly on her thigh and then reached her arms out to pull his torso towards her as her fingertips lightly clasped his ribs and coaxed him towards her.  His breath caught in his throat as he felt her approval and persuasion which he quickly provided her.  He leaned forward, stretching across her once again and found his lips with hers.  

           The moment they touched again, she gasped and her body impulsively writhed beneath him, trying to find some way to satisfy the ache that had overtaken her once again.  It only took the instant feeling of his heated skin pressing down on hers and his soft lips stealing hers to rebuild the fire inside of her.  He slipped down kissing her neck more slowly this time, enjoying every nibble, caress, and taste of her skin as he moved further down her body.  

           Soon he kissed her stomach softly and one of his hands grabbed the waistband of her panties and gently slipped them down.  She assisted him by wiggling the rest of the way out of them and he slid back up her body to find her lips again.  Kate reached down and pushed at the top of his boxers, mentally begging him to remove them and he quickly submitted to her request.  

           There was nothing left between them anymore as her arms wrapped around his shoulders, anchoring herself to him.  He maneuvered himself between her legs, pushing them apart and she hooked them behind his thighs attempting to pull him into her immediately.  He wasn’t going to let that happen yet though, he wanted to make sure they both enjoyed every moment of this and didn’t rush anything.  He kissed her softly, pulling back slightly when she fiercely kissed him back.  He grinned at her as she moaned in frustration, not amused by his tortuously lingering movements.  

           “You are always going to be safe with me, Kate.  I will never let anything happen to you again.  I am yours forever.  I love you, Kate.” He whispered to her, kissing her cheek and down her jaw as she pressed herself up against him.  She smiled and ran her hand down his back, basking in the reassurance of his words.  She knew he was telling the truth and she felt completely safe and whole in his arms.    

           “I love you, Derrick.” She replied and with that, he didn’t waste another moment.  With gentle movements, the two became one and Kate knew that she was definitely not going to be getting a lot of sleep tonight.

           And that was perfectly fine with her.  

CHAPTER EIGHT

           Derrick yawned and stretched in bed as he felt the heat of the warm, morning sunlight hit him.  He felt like he had only just fallen asleep and really wanted to roll right over and hit snooze on life, but he knew that meeting the detectives was important.  He sat up gently in the bed, making sure not to disturb Kate who was still sleeping, her naked body tangled in the sheets.  Her head was tilted to one side and her hair was cascading behind her on the pillow, making her look angelic and peaceful.  

           He smiled as he walked over to his dresser and pulled out some boxers, slipping them up over his legs and around his waist.  He walked out of the bedroom and went to start some coffee brewing.  He opened the fridge and found some eggs and bacon and began cooking breakfast for the two of them.  The kitchen quickly began to smell delicious as the bacon sizzled in the skillet.  The wonderful smell wafted back to the bedroom and Kate lazily blinked her eyes open as she felt her stomach growling, eager to consume what she was smelling.  

           She leisurely made her way out of bed and grabbed one of Derrick’s shirts that was lying over the top of a chair and slipped it over her head.  It was large enough to drop just below her bum and hang loosely on her smaller frame.  She left the bedroom and followed her nose into the kitchen, pausing in the doorway.  Derrick was standing at the stove, stirring eggs in a pan.  He was only wearing boxers and his back was gleaming and muscular.  He was still unaware that she was there and so she stole a moment to enjoy watching him.

           She loved this man who had gotten up early to cook her breakfast, who took care of her, and wanted to be her everything.  In that moment, Kate knew that she could forgive him for leaving her alone in the hospital.  She didn’t see that scared boy anymore, she had seen a transformation even in these short few days.  Before her was a man, a strong and powerful man who she knew she could now trust with everything.  Her secrets, her life, and her safety.  

           Kate felt this strong surge of energy and love pulse threw her body as she watched him and she knew that she had to have him right then and there.  She rushed the last few steps across the room and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her face on his back.  She gave him a squeeze and he turned around in her arms, grinning at her.  

           “Morning, sleepyhead.”  He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her, leaning back against the stove.  They kissed for a moment longer and then it suddenly wasn’t a soft and gentle good morning kiss, it was deeper, passionate, and desperate.  Their lips entangled, Derrick anchored his hands below her buttocks and lifted her up so her legs wrapped around his waist.  He carried her a few steps over to the kitchen table and sat her on the edge then with one push, slipped his boxers down to the ground.  

           Derrick leaned over the kitchen table, kissing her fiercely as she clutched on to him and pulled him into her.  Her hips enticing his as they moved with one another and the creaking kitchen table.  It didn’t last long and it didn’t need to because they were both so suddenly desperate for one another, desperate to be whole in a way that only being engulfed in one another could do.  As the two began to calm down and the intensity of their pleasure slowed, Kate held onto Derrick tighter and pressed her head into his chest.  He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head as he stood back up.  He pulled apart and kissed her lips gently, pushing the hair out of her eyes and sliding it behind her ear.  They smiled at one another dreamily.  

           “I’m not going to be the one burning the meal this time.”  Kate grinned at him mischievously.  Derrick suddenly looked towards the stove and saw that the scrambled eggs were a toasty brown color and looked quite unappetizing.  He rolled his eyes and looked back at her, chuckling.

           “Fair enough, miss klutz.  I will take the blame for this one.”  Derrick walked over to the stove to start over.  Kate had a reputation for burning things in the kitchen and being accident-prone so she relished this rare moment, laughing with Derrick.  

           “I’m going to go shower and get dressed.  We have to be at the precinct soon, right?”  Kate asked him, he nodded in confirmation and then winked at her.  She blew him a kiss and then walked out of the kitchen to go get ready for the day.  

~~~~

           About two hours later, Derrick and Kate were standing in the lobby of the police precinct waiting for the detectives to show up.  Another officer ushered the two of them further into the building and showed them into one of the back rooms along a wall of doors in front of the open area where all the detectives’ desks were.  Kate had been in several of these rooms but this was a new one and probably the nicest one that she had seen yet.  The wooden table in the center of the room made the place look less cold and the chairs were padded that surrounded it.  The walls were painted a muted beige tone and several lamps emitted a warm, soft hue into the room.  There was some framed decorative art on the walls but nothing that captured your attention.

           Derrick pulled out a chair at the table for Kate and she smiled at him as she took it.  He joined her in the chair beside her and leaned back, putting his arm around the back of her chair to comfort her.  They were only alone for a few minutes before the door swung back open and Detective Liz Snow walked in, followed by her partner Detective McCraig.  They were both holding stacks of folders and notepads and other miscellaneous things as they closed the door behind them and sat across the table from the couple.

           “Hi guys, how has your morning been?”  Detective Snow started, smiling at them both.  Her partner was not much for small talk and just flipped through his papers, paying them little attention.  

           “It’s been good so far, hoping it will stay that way.”  Kate said, almost as a question to the detectives.  

           “Well, we have a few things to go over with you and it really depends at how you look at it.  It’s not great news, but it's progress in the case which is great news all in itself, right?”  She said to Kate, attempting to encourage her.  Kate just nodded, staying silent.  

           “Alright, well as you know forensics went through your apartment last night.  We are still running tests but preliminary results look like he didn’t leave any clues behind.  It seems he was able to get in through the front door as neighbors say that they saw a man enter your apartment that afternoon, but no one could give much of a description.  Our guess is he knows how to pick locks because there was some damage to the lock on your front door, which means that this is not new to him.  If it was new to him, the damage would have been much more obvious.”  The detective explained to Kate and Derrick, who both nodded along.

           “Well we already knew that it was doubtful that I was his only victim.”  Kate said to her.

           “Exactly but we didn’t have any majorly unique information to be able to pick up a pattern or match it with other cases.  Until you showed me the photograph.”  Detective Snow pulled out the photograph and put it on the table in front of them.  Kate looked away, not wanting to see it again.  Derrick hadn’t seen it yet and he looked shocked when it was presented to him.

           “Photograph?  Who took this?”  Derrick was stunned because this was new information Kate hadn’t yet filled him in on.  She wasn’t hiding it from him but there was really no way to bring it up casually in conversation.  
           “The perpetrator takes photographs on an instant camera of his victims right after the attack.  Keeping one photo for himself and leaving the other with the victim, as a sort of trophy for himself and a reminder for her.  Well with this information, we were able to find the pattern in ViCAP.”  Detective Snow told them.

           “What’s that?” Kate interrupted her with the question.

           “It is an FBI program that basically lists all the major and violent crimes in the USA.  So, we used that program to help us search for any cases that might relate to yours.