Chapter 14

"Jenna, dammit, it's me."

Ethan, she thought as relief flowed through her. She'd thought it would be Justin, she thought she'd have to have another go around with him here in the parking garage. She let go of his arm, waiting until he turned around and then threw herself into his arms. "God, Ethan, I am so sorry."

He closed his eyes, the wonderful weight of her in his arms making him almost weak with relief. His head tipped forward and he breathed in the sweet scent of her hair, the faint trace of the perfume she'd worn last night and under that, the spicy aroma of warm, sweet, Jenna. Her body against him felt right, almost as if she'd been split off of him somehow and now that they were together, they were complete.

"What is going on, Jenna?" he mumbled in her hair. "You know I didn't kill those girls. You know that don't you?" He lifted his head, looking down into her tear filled eyes.

Jenna stared into his eyes, looking deep. She saw warmth and love, caring and worry, passion. But she didn't see death. She nodded slowly. "No, you couldn't have killed them, Ethan. I know you couldn't have done it."

His arms tightened around her, drawing her back against him. Relief flooded through him, relief that the woman he loved believed in him, that she trusted him. "Thank you," he whispered.

She let him hold her, for both their sakes, soaking up the way he felt against her, memorizing his scent, the curve of his body against hers. His heart beat against her ear, the sound reassuring and strong. Her eyes closed and a single tear slipped down the curve of her cheek.

She pushed away, not relenting when he tried to draw her back into his arms. "I believe in you Ethan, but there will be a lot of people who don't and won't. A lot of people are going to look at you and believe what they see, that you killed those women with your hospital badge being the proof of your guilt. But I'm not one of them, okay, baby?" She reached up, touching his stubbled cheek with gentle fingers.

He closed his eyes, letting his head rest against her hand, turning his face to press a kiss into her palm. "All I needed to know was that you believe in me, Jenna. I'll deal with everyone else when I have to."

There was a tone in his voice, a note that told her he expected her to walk away. Her eyes closed for a moment, but when she opened them, her decision was made and her heart was clear. "We'll deal with them, Ethan. I'm not going to walk away from you."

"But what about your job? What about Justin? Won't he have something to say about this?" He settled back, leaning against her Mustang and pulling her closer so she tilted against his body.

"I'll deal with it when I have to, Ethan," she said, unconsciously mimicking his words. "There are other jobs and other ways of life. I'll be fine." She stood straight, reaching up and letting her lips touch his and linger.

She felt his lips curve against hers and looked up at him. "What?"

"You love me."

She tipped her head to the side, staring at him as if he were crazy. "You're nuts," she said.

"No, I'm not. You love me. You're ready to drop everything, to go against your partner, to go against the job that you hold so sacred that you'd die for it, for me. That's got to be love, Jenna." His smile grew as he stared down at the look of consternation on her face.

"Ethan," she began. "This isn't the time or place to be talking about this. We have to get you out of here."

"And you're afraid of it too, aren't you?" His smile was wide, love shone in the warmth of his chocolate brown eyes. "That's just... cute, Jenna."

"Cute?" She looked at him as if he'd completely lost his mind, especially when he started chuckling. "You think I'm cute? I'm not cute, Ethan." She pulled away from him, opening her car door and unlocking his side. "I'm a lot of things, but cute isn't one of them. And this isn't the time or the place for this conversation. Get in, we'll go back to my place. We've got some stuff to figure out."

He slid onto the leather seats of the Mustang, admiring the high tech, sleekly styled interior of the car. "Yeah, like who is trying to set me up."

"That's a start. Once we figure out who's setting you up, then we can figure out who's killing these girls." She started the car, putting it into reverse and backed slowly out of her spot.

That's when she saw him, Justin, standing in the pool of light from one of the overheads. He watched her back out, his head up, his eyes gleaming like ice so cold it shone pale blue. His hands were in fists and she knew he'd heard what she'd said to Ethan.

"Shit," she said, under her breath. Putting the car in gear, she headed towards the ramp that led to the weak watery light of outside.

"What?" Ethan said, looking up and around. "What's wrong, Jenna?"

"Justin," she said, nodding with her head to where he stood, the light creating a halo affect in his hair.

"He's not going to be happy to see you with me."

"That's the understatement of the year," she said, cursing again as he stepped out of the light as if he were going to stop her from leaving. She sped up slightly and he ended up slapping his hand angrily on the back spoiler of her car.

Looking in her rear view mirror, she could see him standing behind her, glaring at her with an expression upon his face that she couldn't, or maybe it was didn't dare, decipher.

They drove the few miles to Jenna's apartment, hurrying inside before anyone could see them together. It didn't matter how quiet the department tried to keep it, leaks happened. Jenna had no doubt that Ethan being questioned in accordance to the three murders would make front page news. And right after that would be the fact that he was dating the ex-lead investigator in the case.

She unplugged her phone, leaving only her cell phone on. The department would call her on that if they needed her. But then, again, so would Justin. She stared at the phone, her finger brushing the off button. Duty won over the instinct she felt to hide, to be alone with Ethan for a while, and she left it on. Dropping her jacket on the back of a chair, she stood, peeling off her shoulder rig and watched as he walked around her apartment, before collapsing on her couch, his face falling in his hands, his shoulders tightening.

Ethan sat there for a moment, numb, his brain blank. He felt like he did after the long hours and days he'd put in as a resident, his body moving because it was trained to move until it finally shut down and demanded he do what was best for it.

Now, though, he knew he was in shock. He felt her presence before he felt her touch, turning his head up to face her and dropping his hands to his lap.

Jenna hated to see him looking like this, defeated seemed the only way to describe his mood. She knelt in front of him, resting her hand on top of his just to feel him close to her. A small smile touched his lips and he turned his hand over, entwining their fingers.

"We can work this out, Ethan. We just have to stay focused and not get discouraged."

"Those women he killed," Ethan said slowly, looking into her beautiful green eyes, "they all looked almost uncannily like you. Is he after you, Jenna?"

How to answer that question? "He might be. I don't know, Ethan. If my guess is right, than yes, he is fixated on me which is why he's framing you for the murders. He saw us together, maybe at the first crime scene and decided to make you his patsy."

"You need protection," he said, reaching out and pulling her forward until she sat in his lap once more. "Is Justin sending an unmarked car or whatever it is you people do to protect victims in danger?"

"Oh God, don't you go all macho and protective male on me now too. I'm a cop, Ethan. I've been protecting myself for a long time." She sighed and shifted on his lap, feeling more tired that she'd felt in a long time. "I've told Justin no unmarked or undercovers. I'll just lose them if he tries it to force them on me."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, Jenna. I think Justin is right. If this killer can go into a hospital with all its personnel and security and steal a doctor's badge off of his lab coat, he can get to you no matter what your experience. You need official protection, or to go into a safe house of whatever you cops do." He lifted her face with a gentle finger under her chin and kissed her softly, staring down at her.

Before Jenna could answer, she saw his face change, grow hard, his eyes darkened. And she knew he'd seen the marks on her neck, marks made by Justin's hand. She jerked her head away but he grabbed her chin in his hand and lifted it, his other hand stroking over the bruises on her skin.

"Who did this to you?" he snarled. "Who marked you? You didn't have these last night." His tone was rough but his fingers were incredibly gentle as they traced the marks, marks made by fingers.

"It doesn't matter, it was a misunderstanding and it's taken care of. I'm fine, Ethan so let's just let it rest." She pulled away and pushed up and off of him, pacing the short confines of her living room.

"It was Justin, wasn't it? He went after you after he found out about us, didn't he?" His eyes searched her face, seeing the answer in her eyes before she could drop them. "I'll kill the son of a bitch," he growled, pushing off the couch with rage growing in his stomach. "He had no right to touch you, no right at all."

"It's all right, dammit Ethan. They don't hurt. I'm fine. I handled it like I handle everything when it comes to Justin." She walked over to him and pushed him back on the couch with one hand on his chest. He was stiff, his hands fisted. "I'm fine," she repeated, seeing his eyes light upon the bruises.

"He hurt you. He put his hands on you."

"And I dealt with him and with his hands. Ethan, he won't do it again. He's not like this. He's usually a very decent guy when it comes to me. Besides, I get hit harder than this at least once a week. Are you going to go nuts every time I come home with a bruise?"

Ethan wasn't buying it. Jenna could almost see the gears spinning in his mind and knew he was thinking of what he was going to do the next time he had Justin in his face. She wanted to scream and pull out her hair. "Listen to me, Ethan, dammit," she snarled in his face. "You are in way too much trouble right now as it is. You can't go after him. They'll throw your ass in jail if you try anything right now. Don't you know how bad that will look? You'll look guilty as hell."

He stared up at her, seeing the worry and the weariness on her face. It broke apart his fury like a sledge hammer, seeing her look so incredibly tired. He sighed, feeling his own exhaustion like a thick fog, weighing him down. "Okay, Jenna, I won't go after him now." He took her in his arms, his hands gentle against her sensitive skin. "But one of these days, when this is all over with, your partner and I are going to have a talk about him putting his hands on you."

Jenna reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "How long before you have to go into the hospital, baby?"

"Why?" A small smirk curved his mouth. "Are you getting ideas about seducing me or something? Cause you know, I'm pretty unseducable."

I think I'm up to the task," she said, pulling open the shirt that he'd barely buttoned. She kissed his throat, smelling his now familiar scent, stepping in so her breasts pressed against him as she pushed his shirt off his shoulders. "But, I was thinking actually of something else. When I left last night, you mentioned something about holding me in your arms while we slept."

"And then waking up to make love to you while your body is all sleepy and warm," he said tipping his head to give her more access to his neck. He opened his eyes, glancing across the room to where a small Teddy Bear shaped clock sat amidst the chaos. "I guess, since you are being so convincing, I can give you a couple of hours."

"You ain't seen nothin' yet, Doc," she said, making him laugh.

He stood, pulling her with him, and then lifted her in his arms and started down the hallway.

"You know," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, "I could get real used to this."

In the bedroom, he let her legs down, holding her against him still with one arm around her waist. "I want to get used to it, Jenna." His lips found hers, softly, full of emotions and caring too many to name. He felt danger, for her or for him, he didn't know which. Right now though, they had this small amount of time, like the eye of a hurricane where all is quiet and calm. He needed her to know how he felt about her, now, before it was too late and the storm winds gathered once more, blowing through their lives and destroying everything.

A sense of urgency, of impending danger, swept through him. He tore his mouth from hers, gasping as he stared down at her. "Jenna, I don't know what's going to happen or if things are going to go completely to shit. I have to tell you..."

"Shh," she whispered, stopping him from saying the words she knew he wanted to say. It wasn't that she didn't want to hear them. She just didn't want to hear them now, not when their lives were so uncertain. "Tell me later, when this thing is done. But for now, make love to me, Ethan."

He pulled her shirt off of her, staring at her heaving breasts lightly confined in red silk and lace. The dark color of her nipples could be seen through the lace, taut and pushing at the clinging fabric.

"Like what you see?" she asked him as he didn't move, just stared at the pale mounds of flesh. She pushed them together with her hands, cupping them and stroking her nipples through the lacy fabric. "Don't you want to touch them, Ethan? Don't you want to kiss and lick my nipples?"

Like a man possessed, he reached behind her, yanking at the hooks until they parted. The bra was torn from her and thrown behind his back, landing on the small ceiling fan that was spinning lazily above them. Jenna's chuckle rang out, smoky and husky, catching as he bent down and took her nipple into his mouth. Her laugh turned to a moan of need as he sucked it into his mouth, laving the taut tip and suckling upon it until her knees began to give out.

He laughed in triumph as she clung to his shoulders, little gasping whimpers of pleasure mixed with desire so urgent, she clawed at his back. He rose, picking her up once more and dumping her on the bed, his brown eyes gone almost black with the own desperate needs that burned through him. She bounced once before he was on her, his lips tracing the welts upon her throat, his teeth nipping at the skin over her collarbone.

Her breasts got his attention again, licking and nibbling his way from one taut peak to the other feeling her hands holding his head against her flesh as he sucked as much of the firm mounds into his mouth as he could.

He pulled away from her, yanking at the belt at her waist until it pulled free. Opening her jeans, he pushed his hand inside, slipping it under the lacy silk he could feel and finding her, the heat of her, wet and pulsing with need. Her clit was distended from its tiny hood, a hard kernel of need under his finger. He circled it, stroked over it, before plunging his finger inside of her wet opening.

Jenna could barely breathe. Her head spun as more sensations were heaped upon her overloaded nerve endings. She could sense the pleasure coming, even as her muscles tightened. Tiny white lights exploded behind her closed eyelids and her body bowed as her back arched, trying to get closer to the source of her pleasure.