then fidgeted in his chair. “God, I wish I had enough energy for all that tonight…”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, baby.” I patted his forearm and grinned my most evil Dom grin. “We plotted and schemed a few things, but it wasn’t going to happen tonight.”
“It wasn’t?”
“Nope. But soon.”
“How soon?”
“As soon as your Dom is damn good and ready.”
Aaron’s breath stuttered. So did Kelly’s.
And I just grinned.
Because I couldn’t wait.
Sixteen
Aaron
It’s on tonight. Be ready.
Will’s text had me counting down the minutes until I could bolt out of the office and head home. Especially after the day I’d had, I was hungry for whatever Will and Kelly had in mind for tonight. Quite frankly, that was the only thing that had kept me putting one foot in front of the other for the past several hours.
The morning had started as they often did—at the courthouse. The DA was generally a decent human being and a solid lawyer, and we could usually negotiate deals that were in the best interest of both the state and the defendant. We both favored rehabilitation over punishment, particularly with first-time offenders, so—for example—we sent a lot of my DUI clients to rehab programs if they hadn’t hurt anyone and appeared committed to not doing it again. When it came to things like domestic violence, repeat DUI offenders, and child abusers, I negotiated deals that my client would agree to in order to avoid going to trial. Fair deals, but also reasonable ones that didn’t let them off the hook. It was a delicate dance, but the District Attorney and I usually worked well together.
Except when it came to meth or heroin.
He was sympathetic toward alcoholics and those who’d been busted with other recreational drugs, but dear Lord, did that man have it out for those involved with meth and heroin. Not just those who cooked it and distributed them, but the users themselves.
I was all for throwing the book at the people who provided the drugs. Addicts, though? Especially heroin addicts, whose lives were completely consumed by the pursuit of the next high because the comedown and the withdrawal were so terrible? Come on, dude.
Today, I’d had three separate clients—all heroin addicts—arrested after the same incident. The DA had given them two choices: prison, or they give up all of their dealers and the state puts them through rehab.
I’d argued that wasn’t reasonable. Rehab didn’t have a great success rate with heroin, and there was a good chance at least one of them, if not all three, would wind up using again. Most people busted for using might be persuaded to give up one or two dealers, but they’d never give up everyone because then they’d be cut off from any future supply. For a heroin addict, that was unthinkable.
We’d failed to come to an agreement today, and I’d asked the judge for a continuance. Hopefully I’d be able to persuade the DA between today and the next court date, and we could come up with something to help our three addicts instead of treating them like criminals. It was frustrating and demoralizing, coming away without a deal and with an increasing possibility of taking this to a courtroom (which was never good for clients like these, since juries didn’t tend to take a lot of pity on “junkies”).
So after that spectacularly aggravating day, I got a rush of preemptive relief when I saw Kelly’s Camry parked in the driveway. Fuck, yes. Whatever he and Will had in mind, I was in.
When I walked inside, they were both in the kitchen. As I put down my briefcase and jacket, I paused. Will already had a drink in his hand—just water this time—and he wasn’t in his office. So I didn’t need to make him a cup of coffee and bring it upstairs.
Which… I mean, it wasn’t like we did that every single day—sometimes he was out, or he’d finished working by the time I got home, or I worked late—but the break in routine threw me a little this time. Probably just because my head was jumbled from today’s bullshit.
Will put a hand on my waist and kissed me softly. “Long day?”
“Ugh. Is it that obvious?”
He smiled, though his forehead was still creased with sympathy. “Only because I know you.” He glanced at Kelly, then back at me. “You still up for playing tonight?”
“Yes.” The word came out as almost a groan, and my shoulders slumped as some of the day’s tension fell away. “I think