"No, we will just do the scans another day then," Lacey said as she began to grab at her weapons once more. "Dammit, Zhu, give me my weapons back."
"You can't go into the field without being cleared, Lace," he said, shaking his head at her. He held the weapons out of her reach. "Get the scan, I think I have a better plan to rid you of your headache and get you working faster. Do it, Lace." Zhubin looked down at her with a gentle expression.
"Dammit. All right, fine. I will do it but you should know that I will be very, very cranky if I'm not able to go and hunt this bastard as well. Just for your own self-preservation you need to keep that in mind."
"Trust me, I fully understand." Zhubin gave her a slight bow. "I'll just be outside when you are finished with the scan. Don't tarry," he said, stepping out of the MRI room.
Nearly an hour later she walked to him, a hand to her head and a snarl on her lips. Zhubin just put a hand on her back and guided her into an empty room. He set the weapons down, then he moved her to the exam bed and helped her hop up and then lie down. "Close your eyes," he said softly as he moved to the head of the bed. His fingers came to rest on her temples a moment later and lightly rubbed.
She sighed when he began to rub at her temples, and let her body start to relax somewhat. "That feels spectacular. Why in the world didn't you tell me that you could do this before?" Likely because she would have torn his fucking head off. Yep, she was a total bitch. "How in the world have you kept from shooting me all these years?" she muttered angrily, more at herself than anything or anyone else.
His lips brushed against her forehead making her look to him. "Because you are my mate and you're allowed to have whatever feelings you wish," he told her quietly. His hands moved to cup her cheek and held her face lightly. "I could no more hurt you than I could myself or Ansell. You are a part of me, Lace, always will be no matter the outcome of our lives." He brushed his lips over hers lightly before he drew back. "Close your eyes again and just let all the stress and strain pour off you."
She sighed and nodded. "I know. I'm hopeful that the outcome will be us together. For now relaxing sounds good after that fucking nightmare of a time. Thank you," she whispered and caught his hand with hers. "Can you stay with me for a few? At least until I can walk without seeing two or five of things?"
"Not going anywhere, little mate," he promised with a smile. "Close your eyes, I'm not yet done with helping you rid yourself of the headache. But it works better if you are relaxed, at peace and pushing all negativity out. So, eyes closed, push all pain and negativity out of your pores and just breathe slowly and deeply."
Doing as he instructed, Lacey forced herself to calm, forced herself to relax and instead concentrated on the happy feelings that he made her feel. The calm, the peace and the intense rightness of being there with him as she was.
His fingers moved at her temples, then slid down to her neck to massage the muscles there. Slowly he worked down to her shoulders and rubbed. Eventually he worked down each arm before he had her roll to her stomach. His fingers dug into her back muscles finding each ache and pain, pushing them all away.
She sighed as she felt her whole body relaxing at his touch. "God that feels absolutely amazing." She whimpered at his touch and felt like she was turning to putty in his hands. "God I think that you can continue this for as long as we both shall live." She teased, but only a little.
Laughing softly he moved her shirt up and pressed a kiss to her spine. His tongue slid over her flesh lightly. "Any time you want, little mate. Absolutely any time you want," he whispered, his breath causing goose flesh to rise along the damp portion of her skin. Then he pulled back, "How's your head doing?" he asked quietly.
"Good." She was panting now though. God she had never gotten so hot, so fast before in her life. "I seriously think that we need to talk to Ansell because at this rate I'm going to be the frustrated bitch who shoots her mates so that she can attack them. Sorry babe, but you are killing me here," she teased.
"I can help ease you if you want," he offered helping her to roll onto her back again. "I can't be with you fully but I can ensure you aren't so frustrated. If you want that is," he said with a slow smile. "I'd hate for you to have the urge to shoot me because you're so horny you ache."
"I would rather ache and share that with you than you hurt even more because of easing my pain. This will just make us get our asses in gear and talking to Ansell sooner. The sooner the better in my opinion. I want you, I need you and I know that you want and need me too."
"I've been tamping down the need a long time Lacey, but if you're sure." He stepped back and held out his hands. Pulling her up to a sitting position, his eyes were focused on her like a laser. Finally he nodded, obviously satisfied with whatever he saw there. "Weapons back on and let's go. We have to hit lock-up and see what they managed to save. Then we should go and talk to the coroner, see what she'll tell you about the bodies."
"Let's do this." She began to pull on her weapons and before they left the room, took his hand in hers. "Thank you. Seriously, thank you for everything. Now, let's go and talk to her and then we have to track Ansell down so that we can talk to him. I want this to all begin so that we can figure out just what we are going to do with our lives, and if there is a ‘we.'"
"There is definitely a ‘we,' Lacey," he said softly. Helping her back into the weapons, he pressed a kiss to her cheek lightly. "Come on, you get to talk to her since she pretends I don't exist. I think she doesn't like me." He chuckled rolling his eyes at her.
Lacey laughed. "I think that is only because you scare the hell out of her." She paused and then frowned. "Wait, you mean I know something that you don't know about someone? Seriously? You really don't know why she's so afraid of you, do you?"
"I didn't know she was," he said, staring right back at her. "She's always around a body so I can't pick up scents like I normally would, Lace. It's hard enough blocking out the smell of the dead let alone picking up other scents. Why the hell is she scared of me? I've never done anything to her damn it."
"You didn't but one of the officers from north attacked her about a month and a half, two months ago? If you notice she's still walking with a limp. He forced her, hurt her during that and it hurt her, physically and mentally. She's not in a good place right now and all of you guys terrify her."
"Why didn't she report it?" he asked with a horrified look on his face. "I would have heard about it if she had and I know for a fact she didn't love. Fuck." Zhubin ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "I'll stay as far from her as I can, damn it."
"I don't know why. I just know what. Thank you. I know that you would never hurt her, you know that you would never hurt her but she's not in a good place right now, Zhu. I will go in and see her, get my clearance and so that you can hear all that's happening, I will keep my comlink to you open, okay?"
"You don't have to do that," he said, shaking his head. "I'll go and look at the remaining evidence while you talk to her. Come find me when you're finished there," he muttered as they walked to the elevator. Leaning in, he kissed her forehead. "She can't avoid me forever Lace. If you get a chance ask her why she never reported it, she really should, even now."
"I will ask. But what if … " Lacey chewed her lower lip and thought over the question in her mind before she finally asked it. "What if she didn't report it because he was her mate? He forced the mating between them? Is that even possible?"
"No." He took her hand in his. "A mating bond cannot be forced. She might be his mate but unless she goes into it with an open heart and mind and is willing, it won't form. If he was her mate all he's done is damage any potential future they might have. But talk to her Lacey, find out the why's of it all and whatever he said to her. That could give us more clues than anything else, but do it in private where you're not watched by everyone."