Murder in Misery (Spook Squad) (24 page)

“Keegan, what are you doing
here?” He leaned against the side of the door waiting for her answer.

She licked her chapped lips and gave up trying to ignore the urges that continued to surface every time she was alone with Matt. She wrapped her arms around him and loosened her hold at
his grunt of pain. She let out a happy sigh when he mimicked the motion and held her tight at the waist.

Keegan let her freezing hands rest on his cheeks and she looked up at him with wide brown eyes, “I needed to be sure you were ok
ay. I just,” she shook her head. “I just needed you.”

Matt stood frozen in the entry way of his house before he pulled Keegan felt his grip tighten and pull her inside. As soon as the door was shut he pressed Keegan against the door and tilted her head back, his lips pressing hot against hers.

She let out a wild moan as his hands yanked and pulled at her scarf and the zipper of her jacket. His tongue delved across her lips and into her mouth. Her hands tugged at the hem of her shirt trying to get it up and over her head. A second set of hands tugged at the fabric gently before it was gone and her cool skin was pressed against the warmth of his. She could feel the raised scars against her belly and the ridges at his throat under her fingertips. Her frantic movements slowed as she traced them softly.

“I’m fine,” He whispered against her lips
and he pulled her as close as he could manage by her belt loops. “I’m alive and that’s all that matters right now.”

Keegan shook her head. She let her fingers trail along the motley of bruises marring his skin. She pressed feather light kisses to the dark
scars across his neck before she was slowly kneeling before him. She rested her cheek against his belly. Her nose pressed against the smooth warmth of his skin and inhaling the scent of him. She pressed her lips to the bottom of the claw like scars. Her fingertips dipped below the elastic of his sweatpants as she held on to him. Her breath ghosted across the marks leaving damp reminders of her presence.

“Keeg,” Matt spoke her name in a brea
thless whisper. His hands moved from the tangles of her hair and up to her shoulders. “Come here. Please”

Keegan stood up with tears in her eyes. She
still couldn’t believe what had happened to him. She just wanted to make everything right again.  She let Matt pull her from the hallway and into his bedroom. He nudged her to sit at the foot of the bed and she watched as he kneeled. His fingers worked effortlessly to pull the laces free from her boots. He slipped her shoes and socks off before his hands were brushing from her ankles up to her thighs.

Her breath caught in her chest as his fingers freed the buckle of her belt followed by the button of her slacks. His hands were rough against her legs as he pulled her slacks off. His callused fingertips dragged against the most sensitive of places causing her to gasp in anticipation.

He dipped in and pressed a soft kiss just below her navel. He let his lips deliver feather light kisses as he moved up and over her. He let his nose graze against her skin, his stubbly cheek rubbed just below her breast. Goosebumps raised across her chest and arms begging for more than he was offering.

Keegan rested her hands atop his shoulders, her lips parted and chapped in anticipation.
She couldn’t help the words that tumbled passed her lips. Her voice started to crack as she spoke, “I thought I was going to lose you.”

Matt rested above her, his elbows pressing against the mattress on either side of her head. He ducked down for a heavy kiss, “Never.”

Keegan let out a hum of elation. Her hands pressed against his cheeks and held him in place. Her chest pressed against his in the rapid fire under each breath she took. Matt placed his lips at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, his lips parting and his teeth scraping against the tender skin Keegan arched her neck back, baring more skin for him.

She hummed against the feeling of his teeth nipping at her and marking her as his.
She felt herself get lost underneath the care and attention he bestowed against her. She let her self be wrapped up in his heat and gave up every ounce of control to please him. Drifting off to sleep curled up against him Keegan felt the rumble of contentment in his chest. She felt the way he traced the dark black lines along her back in adoration. Everything felt like it was going to be okay again.

Curious at who was thoughtful enough to have given her something, Keegan
slipped her finger beneath the bows to see who had been so kind to leave her a bit of Christmas cheer. Leeroy, Gary and Melinda had all left her a gift they had all chipped in to buy it looked like. Then there was a small package from Doctor Biggerson. And surprisingly enough there was an envelope that had her name scrawled out across it that appeared to be done in Detective Cassidy’s handwriting. She grabbed the box she toted in with her and deposited her own gifts at each desk and then left the gifts for her favorite homicide detectives and medical examiner. She would pass those on later on in the day.

The smile that stretched against her lips was impossible to avoid when Gary leaped down the stairs belting out one of his favorite Christmas tunes. He clapped his hands together gleefully when he spotted the
gift.

“Thank you!” Gary didn’t waste any time ripping into the paper.
He grinned manically as he pulled out the miniature Aquarium set and starting fixing it up on his desk. “This is so neat.”

“I figured you would like it,”
Keegan chuckled at his enthusiasm. She was leaning back in her chair when Matt slowly stepped from the stairs and headed over towards her. His lips were curled up in a soft smile and Keegan felt her self flush at the heat that spread across her body. The memories of how that smile felt against her skin, how his hands treated as if she were a precious gem and something to be treasured.

Meeting his warm smile with one of her own, Keegan rested her hands over her belly, “What are you doing down here?”

“I thought I would stop by and see how you were doing since it looks like you missed Christmas also.” Matt shrugged as he parked a hip on Keegan’s desk and tugged at her hand. She gladly tangled her fingers with Matt’s and smiled up at him.

“Eh,” Keegan shrugged and nodded towards the gifts on her desk but her eyes completely foc
used on the man in front of her. “I think I made out pretty well.”

“How do you know that?” Matt chuckled as he looke
d over his shoulder at her desk. “You haven’t even opened any of your gifts.”

“Oh, gag,” Gary mimed gagging and he gr
inned at the pair of detectives. “Now I know why I don’t have a girlfriend. They say sappy shit like that.”

Keegan blushed from Gary’s words and Matt grinned before leaning down and pressi
ng a kiss against Keegan’s lips. “Are you saying that you already had a good Christmas?”

Keegan ducked her head, “I think you know that.”

“Oh,” Gary grinned wide, “Bow chicka bow wow! Keegan let loose didn’t she Hollis?”

Matt rolled his eyes and hurt turn
ed to face the facetious dragon. “I don’t kiss and tell Gary.”

“So there was kissin!
” Gary cackled gleefully.

Keegan tossed a bow across the room and shook her head when Gary laughed even louder when the bow fell a few feet from her desk.
“Just think about this Hollis, you are going to have to meet her mother eventually. Just imagine all the food that she is going to feed you and all the drama that will come with meeting her mom. Do you really want to put yourself though that?”

Matt looked down at Keegan and ran
a hand through her hair fondly. “I think I can manage anything that Morne challenges me with.”

Matt looked over the roof of Keegan’s car and up towards the house they were parked outside of. “Do I have to? I mean what if she decides I’m not good enough for you or what if she hates me? Seriously, do I have to meet your mother so soon?”

Keegan tried her best not to laugh at Matt but she couldn’t help it. For being such a hard ass detective he looked terrified at the possibility of facing Keegan’s mother. He didn’t have to meet her on a holiday, just a normal day so he shouldn’t have feared the frantic preparations of a mother readying her home for impending company.

Keegan grasped his arm and tugged him up towards the front porch. “You do not have anything to worry about. The fact that I am bringing you to meet my mother is big enough. She won’t go over board or anything that you are probably imagining. She’ll probably sit in awe and stare.”

“Don’t let her do that,” Matt spun Keegan around to face him, h
is face a breath away from hers. “That would just be creepy.”

Keegan couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up in her in chest and escaped her lips. She pressed her lips to his and smiled
up at Matt. “Everything is going to be fine.”

“It sure will,” Maria agreed as she folded her arms o
ver her chest with a fond smile. “It looks like I might not have anything to worry about if you two are this sweet with each other all the time.”

Both Keegan and Matt ducked their faces into each other’s shoulders in embarrassment.

              “Oh come on,” Maria ushered to two of them into her house. Her Christmas tree still stood proudly decorated in the living area and two gifts still remained. Keegan eyed them suspiciously and Maria grinned. “I thought you might be bringing him around soon.”

             
“You just thought?” Keegan questioned as she followed her mother into the kitchen. She grinned at what she say awaiting them. It was like a miniature Christmas feast with some of her favorite dishes. There was ham, green bean casserole, yams, rolls, and that was what she caught at first glance. It warmed her to think that it was just the right amount of servings for three people.

             
“Well, more like I had hoped you would get your act together and stop telling me all the horror stories about the man and bring him by?” Maria smirked as Matt’s mouth dropped in shock.

             
“Horror stories?” Matt repeated. “What exactly have you been telling your mother about me? Should I make sure you eat everything I do so if I’m to be poisoned you go down with me?”

             
Keegan and Maria began to laugh at his antics. Maria took pity on the Matt and patted him on the arm. “She would just sit and mope whenever you did something she didn’t like. She was always nattering on about you. Matt did this, Matt did that. I can’t do anything because it would compromise the line of communication between the departments.”

Keegan’s mouth dropped open not believing what her mother had given up on her. Matt looked at her smugly as if he knew she were secretly pining over him the entire time they knew each other.

“But she wasn’t the only who was afraid I reckon,” Maria continued on. “By the sounds of it you are just as stubborn as my Keegan is. As bad as it sounds, you getting hurt was what woke both of you up out of your stupor of ignorance and caused her to react.”

Keegan rolled her lips together as she dished out the different foods on to everyone’s plate content to let her mom ruin her image in front of Matt.

“What really made me realize that Keegan felt more for you then friendship was when you were in the hospital. She tends to hermit herself away when she is afraid of something bad happening. She wouldn’t come home to visit me and she would stay home unless she had work. I think she was terrified of the thought of losing you.”

Keegan ducked her head and focused on the fork and knife sitting before her. She didn’t want to look up to
see Matt’s face. She flinched when his arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind. She felt him press a soft kiss on her neck and he whispered into her ear, “I feel exactly the same way that you do. Not seeing you in the hospital made me realize how much I enjoyed being around you.”

Matt moved around the table and helped Maria get everyone settled in. He regaled her with tales of his craziest take downs when he was a foot-officer and the first time he had actually met Keegan when he was chasing down a suspect and Keegan was the one to take the man down.

Her heart warmed at the sight of Matt and her mother laughing with each other. This wasn’t something she thought was even remotely possible. At least not for a person like her. For once in her life, Keegan felt like things were coming together the way they should have.

It was only the beginning but there was so much ground to cover before the end. And she was going to be looking forward to every moment in between now and then with a smile on her face and laughter in her heart.