Hide and Seek (14 page)

William looked to Artemais, who innocuously nudged the bound and gagged man writhing on the floor. He shrugged.

“Dom and I will go back with the girls, Samuel can go get the doc and drive him up to the house and check over Josie. You really do need to write a few reports. We can brainstorm a reason for massive fingerprints being found around his neck—right?”

William set his mouth in a hard line. He knew Art was right, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Leveling a hard glare at Josephine, he commanded in his best I-am-boss voice, “You stay in bed!”

She merely smiled at him and handed him a brown paper package. It felt like a bottle of some description.

“Sure thing, lover. Bring this home with you. Sophie introduced me to the…women’s specialty store.”

With sudden clarity, he knew what the bottle was, and what it contained inside of it. His anger melted into instant desire, and all he could think of was the following night.

“Sam, go get the doc. Either take him with you or get him to go and give Josephine a check-over. I have a mountain of urgent paperwork to do.”

William still felt the shaking in his hands and legs, but he now had a purpose, so he pulled himself together. Write the report, lock the bastard in the single jail cell, call his deputy to watch over the moron all evening, and then get back home as quickly as possible to Josie.

Hefting the still gasping ex-cop, who stupidly was trying to mutter warnings of a lawsuit through the gag, William set to work. He had chocolate flavored paintings to draw.

Chapter Twelve

Josephine adjusted the enormous cotton drop cloth one last time. She was exceedingly pleased to see that her hands were steady. They no longer shook in the slightest. It had only taken a drink of hot tea, half a dozen fresh sugar cookies and twenty minutes of deep, relaxing meditation breathing exercises, as well as more than fifteen minutes of fiddling with the cloths in William’s rooms, to achieve this effect.

Satisfied that not an inch of the comfortable couch showed beneath the last cloth, she stood back to admire her handiwork with a deep breath of relief. Having something to concentrate and do had done wonders for her nerves. While drinking the tea, having Sophie, Artemais, Dominic and, after the doctor had checked her over, Samuel hover over her like frantic maiden aunts did nothing but make her relive those moments of hearing the gunshot and watching William attempt murder for her.

At least she now understood the depths of his feelings for her. She doubted he lost his cool like that over someone whom he only felt an obligation toward.

She had scurried back to William’s rooms pleading exhaustion as soon as she politely could. Carting all her bags and purchases with her, she had closed her mind to all the panicky thoughts and begun concentrating on setting up the rooms for her rendezvous with William later this afternoon. She had moved many of the knick-knacks and carefully pushed some of the lighter furniture out of the way, and proceeded to spread out the large, painter’s cotton drop cloths she had purchased, strategically around the set of rooms. Large white cotton cloths now lay under the window, in front of the gas heater, over the mattress of William’s large bed, and over his couch.

One thing she had learned from their previous experience was that chocolate body sauce was a
nightmare
to try and clean away once spilled. Many of the cushions in William’s apartment had found their way to the Salvation Army, and some of the stains in the carpet would probably never come out.

So this time, forewarned by experience, Josephine had set about purchasing large cuts of the inexpensive cotton, to try and stop a repeat of her earlier mistakes. It also helped her focus on the good things in life, and not the mess from Seattle she would soon have to deal with. Everything still felt a bit shocking to her, and the last thing she wanted to do was mull over things in her head and give herself more grief and stress.

She fiddled with the satin sash of her robe, wishing the small store had more in the way of lingerie for the pregnant lady. Sophie had kindly lent her an old robe she herself had ordered specially during her pregnancy, but Josephine had resisted the impulse to order any such garments, as in a few months she would no longer require them.

Josephine crossed over to the window seat, also draped in a large cloth, to make herself comfortable and play with the paintbrush. She had no idea how long William would be. The time had alternately dragged by and simultaneously seemed to pass incredibly quickly. Josephine assured herself it was the stress and her mind decided not to linger on anything too thought provoking.

She knew tomorrow she would have to head back to Seattle, almost certainly with William, and make statements to the police, to explain her side of the story. She also knew William would want to keep tabs on the case as the evidence was collected. It was all a big mess and even thinking vaguely about it made her head pound. Obviously this was what her doctors had been meaning when they told her not to get too stressed.

Josephine rested her hands on her stomach, determined to take her mind off the darker side of her thoughts. Patting the rounded skin that she used to recognize as her stomach, she smiled as she relaxed and began to daydream about the two little boys growing inside her. Closing her eyes to picture two little Williams running around the huge old house, Josephine smiled. Maybe they’d have her characteristics, but she would be very happy with two miniature Williams running around.

Comfortable in the weak sunshine, practicing her deep meditation breathing exercises, Josephine happily daydreamed and truly relaxed for the first time since her nap.

When the door opened a short while later, she opened her eyes sleepily.

“Hey there. Paperwork all done?”

William came into the room, quietly shut the door behind him, and looked her up and down. Josephine smiled at the thought that he was checking to she if she were still in one piece.

After a moment of carefully scrutinizing her, he replied, “The paperwork is done for now. I’ve contacted the Seattle police, they’ll be flying two detectives in tomorrow morning to go over the CDs, and take Petrelli back with them. You might need to testify, but I’ll be with you every second. We can talk about this after dinner. Dominic and Samuel are lighting up the barbeque, but we have an hour or so before we need to go down.”

Josephine smiled in relief. “I knew you’d be with me, but thanks for the confirmation. It’s all a bit of a mess inside my head. I’ve been trying to work it out, but it’s like trying to chase my tail, everything just spins around and around and makes me feel nauseous.”

William removed his shoes and socks and walked over towards her in the window seat. Squatting, he placed his hands over her huge stomach.

“I’ll definitely keep an eye on everything. Seattle was really helpful, and particularly when I explained Petrelli’s involvement, they were bending over backwards to keep me in the loop. There won’t be any hassles from here on in. So I want you to concentrate on getting much bigger and enjoying our babies.”

Josephine smiled and began to unbutton his shirt. “What was that you mentioned about having an hour until the barbeque will be ready?”

William smiled and began to unbutton his pants. Just as he shucked them over his hips, he raised an eyebrow as Josephine stopped taking his shirt off. “Aren’t you going to finish this?” he teased.

Josephine didn’t reply, but reached behind her underneath the pillows on the window seat.

Brandishing her paintbrush, she hefted herself out of the window seat and crossed over to the table where she had laid his bottle of chocolate sauce.

“I decided to do something with all that nervous energy, and look what I miraculously seem to find! A bottle of chocolate body paint complete with a paintbrush. How convenient,” she teased over her shoulder as she rummaged for the extra paintbrush hidden behind the cushion.

Before she could turn around with the bottle in her hand, William had crept up behind her. She discovered he had stripped his shirt off when he grabbed her in a big bear embrace from behind. The warmth of his chest was a welcome sensation. She giggled as he slowly walked them both plastered together, towards the bed.

“I’m sure there’s a good reason why there are huge cotton sheets draped everywhere around here?”

Josephine laughed with delight. “Do you really want to replace another set of sheets and covers?”

“Ahhh,” he grumbled, low in his throat, “that’s definitely smart thinking on your part.”

Quickly glancing around, he chuckled. “The window seat? In front of the heater?” Craning his head, he laughed at the numerous sheets she had laid out. “The
mini
bar?”

Josephine laughed. “Well, I thought we might get thirsty with all this chocolate, and then not feel like moving, and the mini bar is where all the water is…”

William gave Josephine a slight shove, so she fell down onto the bed. “Let’s start at the beginning, hmm? Work our way around the room and see how long the sauce lasts.”

Snatching the brush from her hand, he opened the bottle and dipped the brush in. Josephine opened and removed her robe, eyeing William’s naked chest.

“I think I should get to start with the brush—I’ve had the biggest shocks this afternoon,” she said with a grin.

William looked seriously at her for a moment, the concern and fear still reflected in his deep blue eyes. For just a second, the tidal wave of emotion swept over them both, threatening to drown her in its depth. With a small smile, William brandished the brush in the air.

“Not a chance, darling. The scares and emotion you felt were nothing to the devastation I felt when I thought that jerk had shot you. Anyway, I have the brush, therefore I get to draw first. Be a good girl and wait your turn. It will take a few years at the least for me to recuperate the years I lost in the stress of this afternoon.”

Josephine sighed, surreptitiously moving her hand under the sheet and pillow. Grabbing the other paintbrush she had bought, knowing she would need it, she pulled it out.

“Fine. Be mean. Now give me some of that sauce, buddy.”

William drew slow, lazy circles around her full breasts, patterns down her stomach, all the while trying to keep the sauce out of Josephine’s reach.

The full bottle sloshed a little onto the cotton, but neither of them paid much attention, both of them too focused on their mini war. Josephine snuck a few decent swirls onto William’s chest herself, but ten minutes later, William set aside his brush, declaring the end to their match. Naturally, she was covered head to foot in the sauce, and he only had a few dabs on his chest and back. Panting slightly from her exertions, she lay back on the bed, snuggling into the warmth of the pillows and incredibly grateful she had replaced the usual sheets with the white cotton cloths.

“This is insanely unfair,” she complained. “My Sauce, My Rules. Now hand it over.”

William merely grinned as Josephine held out one arm, barely able to conceal her panting from their play. When William smiled down at her he showed all of his teeth, reminding her of the wolf he became.

“My Bed, My Rules.”

Josephine crossed her arms over her chest, smearing chocolate sauce everywhere.

“Well, mister, I seem to be lying in this bed, too—so it’s
our
bed.”

Super-quickly, William dropped the bottle on the bedside table and snatched her brush from her hand and laid it aside. Moving back to pin Josephine down with his part of his body, he pressed her into the soft cotton and covers.

“I want to taste my masterpiece.”

With that, he bent down and slowly ran his tongue around the outermost circle on her breast. The sensation of his wet, warm tongue, roughly lapping over her skin, silenced Josephine. Too busy with their play arguing, she had completely forgotten to prepare herself for the sensation of William licking her skin clean.

“Uhhh…” she managed to groan as she grabbed his shoulders to draw him closer.

The wet heat of his mouth penetrated her skin and set her nerves tingling. Rational thought flew from her mind and white noise filled her head, the roar echoing in her ears.

Slowly, William lapped up every speck of the chocolate sauce circle. When he paused, she cracked an eye open, trying to coordinate the words to inquire why he had stopped.

When he saw he had her attention, he smiled softly down at her. “One,” he counted, then bent back down to start laving the next circle closer in to her nipple.

Throwing her head back in defeat, Josephine quickly counted. There were another four circles until he would reach her nipple, and there were three circles on her other breast. There were a number of squiggles on her stomach, and a few on her face. If William took this long on all of her circles, she would be a mindless mess before he even came close to finishing her off!

Determined, Josephine rallied her strength and levered herself up off the soft bed. Surprising William with her move, he tilted himself onto his side, not willing to accidentally squash her or the babies.

Josephine reversed their positions, tumbling William down onto his back as she straddled his thighs. The back part of her brain knew he
let
her shove him around, but because she won, she wasn’t going to complain.

Josephine took both of his hands, and raised them above his head. Half holding them both in one of her small hands, showing him what she wanted him to do, she silently thanked him as he held still. Her smaller hands barely gripped his two much bigger ones, but the glint in his eye told her he would play along—for now.