Page 93 of It's Going to Be a Chrome Christmas
It took some time for Trixie to catch her breath and for her vision to clear. While she didn’t have anyone else to compare it to, she was pretty sure sex couldn’t get much better than that. And, if it did, she was equally as sure it would kill her.
“Our bath is about to overflow.”
Cayden raised his head sleepily from her shoulder. He reached over and turned off the tap. The movement pulled himout of her. She shivered at the sensation against her sensitive skin.
Cayden discarded the condom, lifted her off of the counter, and then carried her into the tub. The water was warm and rose dangerously close to the edge with their added density. She reached forward to drain it slightly.
She soon realized that Cayden was on the verge of passing out and decided that this was going to be a quick bath. He might be able to lift and manipulate her at will, but she certainly couldn’t him. She’d need his assistance to get him to their bed.
She reached up and started to cup water into his green spiked hair. She was pretty sure there was a new hole in the ozone just from the amount of spray he had to have used to make it stand on end like this. When he started to sag forward, Trixie urged him to turn around, so his front was resting against the edge of the tub. She quickly stood and went into the shower to get shampoo and then grabbed a drinking glass from the counter. They must have left it there during their first and only weekend at the house.
She worked to clean him and then shampooed them both. His eyes had been closed for several minutes, but she suspected he was still awake. She was losing him to the land of dreams though. Trixie reached over and opened up the drain.
It took some encouraging words to get him to stand. She guided him out of the tub, not trusting his eyes were open enough to do it on his own. Trixie dried him off and then herself using the same towel.
Cayden more plopped into bed than laid down. An odd feeling touched her chest as she saw him once more in their bed. It wasn’t the same as when he’d come to Romero’s the week before to see her. They’d both known he’d had to leave again. But seeing him once again here, it brought her relief to a new level. Cayden was back, and she was never letting him go again.
Trixie crawled into the bed behind him, not caring that there was a whole other side of the bed available for her use. He wasn’t so out of it where he didn’t wrap his arm around her waist and pull her closer to him.
When Trixie woke up, the nightstand clock said it was a little after five in the morning. She had no desire to get up, but it had occurred to her the night before that she’d left Romero’s in a hurry that afternoon without talking to any of her employees and had yet to be back. While she was sure Jeff and Joey could take care of anything that came up, it had still been rude. She owed them an explanation.
Trixie grabbed some clothes from her dresser that had been left at the house and slipped from the bedroom. Cayden was exhausted and sleeping like the dead. She didn’t want to disturb him.
She had to figure out how to get to the police station. Her keys, phone, and coveralls were in Captain Holloway’s office. Her Firebird would still be in the parking lot.
Trixie stopped. Cayden hadn’t turned off the kitchen lights after taking out the trash last night. On their kitchen table sat her phone, folded coveralls, and car keys. A small piece of paper lay next to them.
Abeja,
Figured you’d need these. Car’s outside. I’ll meet you at Romero’s in the morning to help you smooth things over with your employees. We found the Spyder. I’ll bring it with me.
A low laugh escaped her before a shudder went through her. Lee had slipped in and out of her house without them knowing. If it had been anyone else but Lee, that thought would have been terrifying. Then again, depending on what time he’d come in and the sounds he might have heard from the bathroom, he deserved it for just not ringing the damn doorbell. Hopefully he’d come in after they’d been passed out in bed.
Trixie moved the note to the counter so Cayden would easily see it. Then she added her own note that she was headed to work, told him to rest, and she’d see him when she got home with pizza. They could start decorating their house for Christmas then. She ended the note,
XOXO, Trix
True to his word, her Spyder 918 was in the parking lot when she pulled into Romero’s. It was still dark out, but the lamps cast enough light where she could make out Lee’s slumbering frame in the driver’s seat. She didn’t even make it to the door to tap on it when his eyes suddenly opened like he’d just been taking a long blink. He didn’t look sleepy, coming to full attention as he spotted her.
He got out of the Spyder. “Where’s your partner in crime?”
“Still passed out. He crashed hard last night.”
Lee nodded once. “He had a good scare in that warehouse. That’ll shake anyone. It’s better you let him rest.”
Trixie bit her lip to ask once again the details of Cayden’s scare. She knew, though, that Lee would just give her the same vague answers he’d given her the night before outside the warehouse. “Thank you for bringing me my car back.”
“Holloway figured you’d want it back.”
She stuck her tongue out at him before leading him to the employee entrance. “Are you planning on leaving that undercover car down the street from my house forever more?”
Lee didn’t comment on the fact that she’d noticed her extra protection. “Just until we catch Massey. Holloway’s insistence.” Trixie paused on her way inside when Lee touched her arm. “I heard Cayden’s little jokes yesterday about how all he did was curl up into a ball like a little girl. I don’t think he fully grasps the significance of what he gave us. For the first time, we have solid, indisputable evidence against Massey. Cayden helped bring down Carver, who’s flipping on Massey to gain protection and a lesser sentence. None of that would have happened without Cayden. The fact that he was unarmed in the middle of a gunfight is not something to be ashamed of. I hope you can help him see that.”
Trixie cocked her head at Lee. “Careful,gran hermano, it almost sounds like you’re concerned about him.”
Lee just raised an eyebrow, which Trixie took as an admission and smiled. He followed her inside. Trixie turned on the bay lights. A Corvette sat in the first slot with a Lotus next to it. She let out a sigh of contentment, loving the sight of her job.
Trixie and Lee hung out in her office, just talking, until her employees started to filter in. Or, rather, she talked to him. Lee nodded, grunted, snorted, and raised his eyebrow. She did notice that he was wearing his gun and badge around his belt. He must have grabbed the lockbox from the house the night before when he dropped off her stuff.
