Numb3rs Fic: Virtue - Prologue
Title: Virtue - Prologue
Series/Universe: Vice / Virtue
Pairing/Characters: See Series Post
Rating: NC17
Spoilers: Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Summary: It's a time for beginnings and endings (AU)
Notes/Warnings: Read the disclaimer on my LJ
Friday, 6/29/07 - Night (Continued)
Kim knew the way to Don's suite.
She walked as if on autopilot, dimly aware of Charlie turning off the porch light and heading for the kitchen behind her, his footfall diminishing as he got farther away in the mansion's depths.
The door to Don's suite appeared before her and she halted, uncertain. She'd never actually had to knock before; Don had given her free rein to come and go when they'd been together. Still, it felt wrong - and probably dangerous given the number of guns she suspected there were in the house - to just walk in.
She laid her hand on the door, gathering her nerve, a rush of memories warring with curiosity. Had the room changed or would it all be comfortingly the same?
Would Don be the same?
She formed a weak fist and rapped lightly. When there was no response she tried again, a little harder. Nothing. Biting her lip, she glanced back the way she'd come, but there was no sign of Charlie to ask. He'd said Don was in his suite.
Tentatively she turned the knob, opening the door just enough to peer inside.
As she did, Don exited the bathroom, in the middle of putting on a silk robe over his silk pajama pants. With a gasp, she realized it was the same dark brown set she'd bought him for his last birthday.
At the tiny sound Don froze, his head snapping towards the door. His mouth fell open in shock and he simply gazed at her, blinking in disbelief.
"Kim?"
"I..." She gestured nervously. "Charlie said to just come up."
Don's paralysis broke and he took a few urgent steps towards her before she put her hand up to make him halt, still several feet away from her.
"I need to know some things," she made herself say, pushing the door the rest of the way open, but making no move to actually enter the room.
Don just nodded, waiting, his eyes never leaving her.
"I need you to swear that you, your organization, everyone involved, has nothing to do with illegal drugs."
"I swear," Don said. His tone was solemn, but his response was quick, assured.
"That none of the prostitutes are under age, illegal aliens, or being forced to do anything they don't want to."
"I swear."
"You said that everything the organization does is legal in Las Vegas. Is that true?"
"The gambling, the prostitution and the security? All of it is," Don stated firmly. "Technically we're probably on the hook for some tax evasion, which isn't legal anywhere." He tried a little smile and Kim almost caved in.
"I'm serious, Don. Are you trying to tell me with all these guns nothing illegal happens?"
Don let out a breath. "Do you want me to tell you I've never shot anyone? Never killed anyone? I can't. I killed someone when I was eighteen, Kim. You knew that when you met me - before you met me. Hell, the whole world knows that about me. So yes, there can be violence and it does get covered up instead of reported to the police. But I swear to you that all of it - all of it," he stressed. "Was to protect the people I cared about. Someone shoots at us? We shoot back, whether it be as part of our security client jobs or just turf wars. But I don't condone the use of violence. Everyone in the organization is prepared to protect themselves and I have no authority to take that right from them." He took a subtle step closer. "But all of that's over. Charlie and I are retiring."
"I've heard that before," Kim said warily.
"It's true. This thing with Edgerton? That was the last straw. Charlie and I made up our minds on the way back here."
"You can just as easily change your mind again," Kim pointed out.
"I won't." Don broke away and grabbed his cell phone from his valet, speed dialing then waiting for an answer. "Howard? Yeah, sorry to bother you. No, everything's fine. I'm just calling to ask you to prepare the paperwork for Charlie and I to hand over the business to Megan. We're officially retiring. What was that?" He paused for a few seconds then laughed. "Tell Megan she can whoop it up all she wants later. I want that paperwork as soon as you can get it to me." He paused again then laughed harder. "Howard, I should know better than to underestimate you - and Megan for that matter. Good night." He hung up the phone and put it back on the valet.
"Well?"
"He's had the paperwork drawn up for weeks now," he said with a residual chuckle. "It will be on my desk in the morning."
"So, you're really doing it? Really retiring, as in no more crime? Ever?"
"No more crime," Don said, nodding serenely. "It's over."
Kim slid the rest of the way into the room and closed the door behind her, leaning her back up against it.
"Last time I was here I... I said some things."
Don took a step closer. "We both did."
"I was angry. I thought you'd gone after Tim to spite me."
"I was trying to protect him." Don's voice softened. "Even if you hated me I couldn't bear to see you hurt if something happened to him."
Kim stared at the floor. "I never hated you. But I thought, maybe..."
"Maybe?" Don edged nearer.
"Maybe I'd blown it. Maybe you'd given up on me." A little sniff slipped out. "Maybe I was too late."
"Kim..."
Don closed the distance between them, burying his hands in Kim's hair as he pulled her face up, their mouths meeting with equal desire as she sank against him in relief, feeling his comforting weight press her into the door.
Her arms slipped under his robe and around his waist, pulling him close and surrendering to the familiar touch and taste she'd missed so desperately yet denied for so long.
Once they broke for air, Don peppered her face with anxious little kisses as she fought down waves of giddy joy.
"Kim... Kim..." he murmured between kisses. "Love you... Love you so much..."
Overwhelmed, she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight.
"I was so pigheaded and stupid," she opined. "I was sure I'd lost you."
"Never," Don reassured, rubbing her back. "Even after you left me, I couldn't stop thinking about you, I couldn't move on."
She slipped back to look him in the eye. "I fooled myself into thinking I didn't love you anymore. That I was better off without you. But I'm not! I was just miserable and spiteful and hated my life."
Don brushed a lock of hair from her face and kissed her temple. "What changed?"
She blushed a little, embarrassed at the memory. "Tim sat me down and pointed out what an idiot I'd been. How judgmental. Hypocritical... He pointed out that I was condemning you for breaking the law when I'd broken plenty of laws myself: accessory to grand theft auto, destruction of evidence in a felony case, obstruction of justice..."
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?" Don prompted.
Kim laughed, the last of her nervous tension starting to fall away. "Yeah, only there was an actual stone involved. Never mind," she waved off his questioning expression. "The problem was I was convinced you hated me." At Don's protest, she laid a finger on his lips to silence him. "I know. When I saw you in the squad room earlier? I just knew. So I had to come."
"Does this mean," Don asked tentatively, "that you're back to stay? For real?"
Kim ran her hands up Don's bare chest, fingernails curling into the dense dark chest hair there.
"It means I love you. It means I'm yours. So yes, I'm here to stay. Now..." She leaned in, letting her warm breath blaze a trail up Don's neck to his ear. "Take me to bed with you."
She smiled as she brought her gaze back to meet Don's, watching his eyes crinkle up as his smile mirrored hers. In one quick move he swept her up in his arms, tossing her in the air with a playful chuckle as she squealed her surprise.
He carried her over to the bed and laid her gently on the silk duvet.
"You're with me and no one else, no one," she repeated, looking up at him, tone and expression briefly turning serious.
"You have my word," Don responded, equally serious. "I promise."
He sealed his word with a kiss then tossed aside his robe and busied himself with slipping off her shoes, hands caressing each bare foot and ankle in turn before returning for another round of kisses.
"Taking too long," she complained with a good-natured chuckle. "Get down here." She pulled him down to her and he gathered her up into his arms.
"Don't I get to lavish you with attention?" he asked, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Show you how much I missed you?"
"Later," she scoffed, her voice low and husky. "Plenty of time for that later."
With equally excited grins they threw themselves into their endeavor, four frantic hands unbuttoning Kim's blouse at once, her back arching as Don pulled her pants from her, stripped her all the while placing hungry kisses on each newly bared bit of skin.
Her hands scrabbled with the drawstring of his pajama pants, loosening it before shoving her hands down the back, filling her hands with the muscular roundness of Don's ass, grinding him against her.
After a final flurry of activity left them both naked, Don came to an abrupt halt, his sweeping gaze taking in Kim's body head to toe.
"So beautiful..." His hand reached out, fingertips reverently touching her delicate skin, skating across her bare belly before caressing first one breast then the other, his expression almost one of wonder.
"No more making me wait," she admonished, pulling him to lay between her legs, wrapping them around him in invitation. "Need you..."
"Need you," Don echoed. "More than you know."
He hovered over her, taking time for one last kiss, searching out the sweetness in her mouth. Then he shifted, sinking inside her, twin moans rising up in unison at their joining.
"Don..." she breathed, clutching him to her.
Cupping her face in his hand he locked his eyes with hers and began to move inside her, a steady rocking that brought their breaths into sync: from quick and shallow, to deeper pants to little gasps as Don grew more forceful.
She let out a little yelp as Don shifted unexpectedly, sitting up and pulling her to straddle him. She bounced up and down, his hands lifting, guiding her as he buried his face in her chest. She let her head fall back as Don's teeth grazed sensitive skin and his hand wove his way between them.
Her nails scraped across his back as she stiffened, driven to delirium by delight, caught in the onslaught of Don's knowing actions.
"Kim... Kim..." Her name on his lips was like a prayer as his own eyes fell closed, lost in her.
She clutched at him, burying her face in his neck, dizzy with his scent - their scent - slipping over the edge as he stroked her.
A choked off moan escaped her as she tensed, Don following her a second later as they scrambled to get closer, to hold on to sweat slicked skin, to each other, to this feeling of perfect union.
How Don managed to get them into bed afterwards Kim wasn't sure, but she fell asleep head pillowed on Don's shoulder, with his arm around her and his kiss still warm on her lips.
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