Partners

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“How about that one? That one’s nice,” Faith said, jostling his arm and pointing.

Chad squinted in the shop window, trying to figure out exactly which one she was talking about – there had to be over fifty pieces of jewelry in the display. “Way to narrow it down for me. What am I supposed to be looking at, and-oh, salesperson’s coming out! Run!”

They took off down the street, laughing. “Think she’ll run after us like last time?” Faith asked, clutching her sides. “Boy, they can smell tourists coming from ten miles away.”

“Actually, since they use the metric system here…”

“Let’s just call it ten miles and leave it at that, Mr. Anal Retentive. God, my stomach is killing me right now,” she complained.

He grinned at his partner. “That’s only what you deserve for eating blood sausage, having two beers, and then going in McDonald’s for fries because you just had to see how theirs were different.”

“Well, I can now say with complete confidence that Mickey D’s at home is way better than the one here.”

“Really. How so?” Chad allowed himself to be towed over to yet another shop window and dutifully admired the ring she pointed at excitedly. “No, that’s not it.”

Faith threw up her hands. “It’s an American company, and it stands to reason that an American company’s food would taste better on American soil. And why are you being so picky about the rings? I’ve shown you hundreds of them by now – just choose one! We’re leaving in the morning,” she reminded him.

“American soil? That’s probably where the food really is prepared – on the floor. Why do you think I stay away from those types of places? Only half of the reason is the fat content.” Chad folded his arms and glared down at her. “I haven’t found the one I’m going to buy because I never confirmed that I was going to buy one in the first place.” He thought about telling her that he’d already found the one he wanted, but then decided against it –if there was one thing he didn’t need, it was an overexcited SWAT team.

“I give up,” Faith said in disgust.

She looked so pissed that he had to laugh. “I was going to buy her something else, though – she likes necklaces.”

Faith perked up immediately and dug for a piece of paper in her pocket. “Ooh, there were some nice ones in this store I saw last week with Justin; just let me get the address…”

After Chad had an intricate rose-gold necklace with green stones securely tucked into an inside jacket pocket and ignored to his partner’s advice about getting a haircut before they left as they walked back to the hotel to meet up with everyone for their going-away party. Several of their trainers were there amongst the group –which unfortunately including the one woman who’d tried her best to lure him into bed with her despite his clear lack of interest – and he found himself protecting the honor of First Team’s newest member, Sarah, after she had one too many.

In the morning when the rest of the team were sleeping it off, Chad slipped out early to purchase the engagement ring and was back in the room double-checking his bag before anyone noticed he’d left in the first place. After glancing at the open doorway Chad opened the ring box and stared down at it, his hands trembling. Why did I buy this? Why the hell did I buy this? Swallowing hard, Chad closed the box and shoved it deep within the pile of neatly folded clothing as he tried to shift his thoughts away from Detweiler and back towards Andrea. He’d be seeing her soon and wanted to make the most of whatever time he had left with her before it all went to hell.

The flight seemed to last forever; Chad sighed in relief as they finally touched down at LAX, unconsciously jiggling one leg in his impatience to get off the plane and see Andrea. “Well, back to the old grind,” Steve Romero said suddenly. “Shauna’s probably chomping at the bit to have me fix a million things for her.”

“Uh huh,” Chad said absently as he stood up to stretch.

“Are you even listening to me?” the senior lieutenant demanded.

“Nope.”

He forgot all about his irritation at their late arrival when he walked through the doors and heard a very welcome voice calling his name – she was supposed to be still at work! Chad saw Andrea bouncing on her toes excitedly, and smiled as he lifted a hand in greeting. She tore across the arrivals area and flung herself at him so quickly, he barely had time to drop his bag before he had an armful of Andrea. When their lips parted, he rubbed his face into her neck and apologized for the fight they’d had before he left. Andrea kissed him again, and towed him off to a nearby hotel where she’d gotten them a room. They barely made it inside before he couldn’t control himself any longer, and their subsequent lovemaking served to drive any remaining anxiety out of his head.


_ _ _ _ _ _ _


Andrea woke suddenly, momentarily disoriented by the feel of a warm body beside hers before she remembered that Chad had finally returned from Germany. Andrea hated that she’d nearly gotten used to sleeping without him, and now she’d have to grow re-accustomed to sharing a bed with him again… but that part wouldn’t be hard at all. She rolled over to look at him, sprawled out across the bed, and smiled at the way his curls went every which way. This was the longest he’d allowed his hair to grow and in combination with his goatee, it was one of the sexiest things she’d ever seen.

Easing the sheets down, Andrea grinned and leaned over to trail a finger down Chad’s stomach, circling it down around to trace his cut lines. Chad shifted slightly and sighed in his sleep so she moved one finger down his flaccid length, which immediately began to respond to her light touches. He shifted again, muttering something and Andrea smiled before scooting down around his hips. Placing one hand over him, Andrea bent down after flipping her hair out of the way and started to place tiny licks around his navel, steadily working her way down between his legs where a part of the slumbering lieutenant was very much awake.

Settling between his thighs, Andrea swirled her tongue around the crown of his cock before taking him into her mouth and sucking gently – Chad groaned in his sleep, one arm reflexively reaching out for her side of the bed. His eyelids flickered and a smile curved his lips as she ran her nails along the inside of one thigh, right where she knew he was ticklish. “Good morning.”

Chad’s reply blended into a soft moan as she wrapped her lips around his shaft once more, swirling her tongue around him playfully before moving to settle her legs on either side of his hips and sinking down on his cock slowly. “I could get used to waking up this way,” Chad murmured, sliding his hands up and down her thighs as she rocked on him.

Andrea tossed her hair out of her face and smiled, clenching around him to make him groan loudly. “I wouldn’t want you to start taking me for granted, Lieutenant Shelten,” she teased breathlessly.

“No danger of – ooh – that.”

She guided his hands up to her breasts and arched into his touch as he caressed her skin. “Really? I don’t know about-” Andrea squealed in surprise when Chad suddenly pushed his upper body off the bed, curving his arms around her.

“You sound so cute when you’re startled,” he grinned.

Gasping as he pushed up into her, Andrea grabbed onto his shoulders. “Is now really the time to be laughing at me?”

Chad sucked on the side of her neck gently, scraping his teeth over the sensitive skin. “I was laughing with you, not at you.”

“I don’t recall laughing at anything…”

“It was in anticipation of an upcoming, ah, burst of camaraderie,” Chad replied, lifting an eyebrow suggestively before tumbling her onto her back and taking control of their lovemaking in what was doubtless an energetic attempt to make up for lost time. When they’d finished testing out the soundproofing of the walls, Andrea settled against him with a happy sigh as Chad ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her temple lovingly. “So, about that vibrator…”

She laughed and pinched his hip. “Of course you wouldn’t have forgotten about that.”

“The mental image is quite inspiring.”

“The checkout time is eleven, so hopefully inspiration can wait until we get home,” Andrea said pointedly, feeling that he might try to turn this conversation into an excuse for another escapade like the morning after Faith and Justin’s wedding.

“Fine, but we should take a shower. Together.”

“Do you promise to keep your hands to yourself?”

Chad stared at her incredulously. “Of course not!” She wriggled out from under his arm and ran to the bathroom, intending to lock herself in, but he caught her before she could jump out of the bed and flopped down on top of her. “I veel now make ze love to you,” he said in a ridiculous French accent that made her start laughing.

She tried to tickle him to get him off. “Get off me, Pepe LaPieu! You already made ze love to me,” she giggled.

“Mon cheri, once ees never enough for making ze– hey!”

Andrea finally succeeded in finding a ticklish spot and he let go of her long enough for her to scramble from the bed and barricade herself in the bathroom. “You can come in after I’m done,” she called through the door.

“You can’t leave me out here like this,” Chad threatened, rapping his knuckles against the wood.

“It’ll go away soon enough.”

“I could call for a maid to take care of it – they don’t call it ‘room service’ for nothing, you know,” Chad yelled back, thumping the door again.

“Don’t you even think about it, Shelten!”

The thumps subsided to a few meek taps. “C’mon, Andy; let me in. You know as well as I do that you can’t get your breasts as clean as I can,” Chad wheedled. “It’s my specialty.” Against her better judgment – or maybe in spite of it – Andrea caved in and opened the door. Chad arched an eyebrow at her immediately. “I knew you couldn’t resist me….wait, wait, don’t close the door…!”

After showering and emerging to laugh at Chad’s look of reproach as he shouldered her aside, Andrea hurriedly threw on her clothes and tossed his at him as soon as he came back out. “Ready to go home? Meredith’ll be so excited to see you, he’ll probably pee all over the place,” she sighed.

“He must have learned that from you,” Chad snickered, snapping the towel at her before reaching for his jeans.

“Oh, ha ha! Let’s not forget that I’m the one with the car keys, Buster.”

Chad laughed, looking around. “I’ve got mine in my… shit, where’s my bag?”

“I didn’t see it…”

He ran a hand through his hair agitatedly. “I can’t believe I just left it – do you have your phone?” She tossed it to him and after a few calls he sighed in relief. “Steve said he dropped it off already, so that’s good…”

“I doubt anyone would want your dirty socks, Chad.”

“I sincerely hope not; I saved them just for you.”


_ _ _ _ _ _ _


Meredith was still wagging his tail so hard he nearly flipped himself over when they got home and Chad scratched the pitbull’s head a final time before carrying his bag inside the house, straight to the washing machine. He’d made sure to get his clothes cleaned regularly, but everything smelled like cigarette smoke… a glance over his shoulder showed that Andrea was bending over to pick up something, so he quickly transferred the jewelry boxes to his pocket.

As soon as everything was put away and the ring box was carefully hidden in a safe place, Chad came up behind Andrea and instructed her to close her eyes. Quickly pulling out the necklace, he laid it around her neck and guided her to the nearest mirror. “You can open them now,” he whispered.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped as she saw what he’d picked out for her. “Oh, Chad…! It’s gorgeous!”

Chad wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple lovingly. “So, you think Mom will like it when I-”

Andrea elbowed him in the ribs. “Forget about it – possession is nine-tenths of the law.” Turning in his arms, she raised her face for a kiss. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Chad watched as she turned back to the mirror to admire the necklace once more before pulling him by the hand to the living room couch. Andrea curled up on his lap as soon as he sat down, and he eyed Meredith as the dog jumped up into one of the other chairs. “I take it we’ll have to re-train him again?” She made a noncommittal noise and snuggled closer as he started to stroke her hair. “How’s work been?”

“Same old, I guess… Preisser’s sure been a blister on the ass of humanity lately,” she sighed. “I heard he was taking a three-week leave of absence next week though. I wonder who they’re gonna get to fill in?” Chad’s hand stopped in mid-stroke, and Andrea looked up at him. “What’s wrong?”

He forced a smile and brushed a lock of hair from her eyes. “Nothing – just a little tired from the time change.”

Andrea accepted the lie and cuddled close once more, telling him a story about her newest informant that he didn’t hear… he was too busy wondering how Detweiler had managed to suborn Preisser to listen to a word she said.

tbc…
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