He looked at her and their gazes locked. He looked so … earnest and vulnerable. It always surprised her how a man who was a deadly weapon not only because of his training but because of his heritage could look almost meek at times, at least when Dice was dealing with her.
"After we got out, we got held for questioning by our own people. We couldn't contact anyone, it was complete isolation until all the talking heads were properly satisfied that we weren't double agents. They didn't release any info on it because we were an elite team and frankly, we weren't supposed to be where we were when we got captured. Not by any records the public could ever see."
He quirked his nose and it made the bridge wrinkle a little like it had always had. While Meredith and Dice had not been together for very long, maybe half a year before he had shipped out for his second tour, it had been enough to learn those things about each other. Somehow, it seemed that their relationship had lived at least three lives during those six months while other people barely seemed to get past the 'hellos' and the rabid bunny sex phase by then.
Of course for them, the rabid bunny sex phase had never passed, something that was coming back to her in abundant detail now that she was sitting so close to Dice.
Her body seemed to hum on the same frequency as his and the kiss they'd shared only made it more painfully apparent.
She nodded dully, digesting the information. Deep down inside, she'd hoped for something like that but it was hard thinking about best case scenarios when the man you cared about suddenly disappeared without a trace.
"And when you got back, I wasn't around anymore," Meredith said softly, feeling tears well in her eyes.
Dice reacted immediately. He shoved the laptop on the table close to him and rose from his seat, crossing over to her. She was enveloped in a warm embrace, soft and firm at the same time, perfectly encapsulating her from the world and keeping her in a bubble that couldn't be penetrated. At least for the moment.
"You weren't around anymore," he said, echoing her words. "Did you … did they … "
Dice struggled with his words as Meredith snuggled up against him, throwing her arms around his sides. She nodded into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent which made her shudder all over. It smelled familiar. It almost smelled like home, and definitely like better times. Times she'd almost made herself forget.
"The Arctics heard about my research in reconstructive genealogy. And my sister's research in energy consumption and expenditure apparently was right up their alley too. We were driving to Annapolis to see our parents one night and suddenly, they just … came for us. We were stopped in the middle of the highway, ripped out of the car, shoved into a van and then the car was set on fire with two bodies in it. I don't know who they were. They never let me browse unsupervised but it didn't take much to realize that our deaths were faked."
The memory still made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
"Your parents believed it," Dice said, squeezing her to him.
"Are they okay?" she asked, finally looking up at him.
She hadn't heard anything from her family since that fateful night. Bits and pieces had reached her about Marilyn, her sister, but even that was only hearsay and felt more like crumbs being thrown at a dying man to keep him only nourished enough to keep hope alive. The main reason why she hadn't dared to do anything about getting away from The Arctics was the fear that they'd retaliate by doing something to her sister.
Considering the kind of murderous psychotics that particular collection of werewolves was, it wasn't at all out of the scope of possibility.
"They struggled. But your brother helped a lot. I went and saw them when I got back from Iraq. They … well, we didn't have a lot to say to each other. I've gone to your gravesite every time I've been in Maryland. I never believed it was true, though," Dice said, whispering those last words. "I never believed you were dead. I would have felt it. I knew I would have."
Their eyes met and Meredith wasn't far from sinking into that gaze of his. A distance lingered between them even when they sat wrapped up in one another, built by years of not seeing one another and doubting they ever would. But all the good was slowly coming back to Meredith, all the hope she'd felt and the future she'd looked forward to.
All that she knew she would probably lose again, but not right now. Right now, she could hold onto hope a little while longer, right?
She felt herself being drawn closer to him inch by inch until there was little more than the thought of air separating their lips, her heart thrumming heavily in her chest.
"Should we be … What's going to happen next?" she asked, breathless.
"A lot of shit neither one of us wants to deal with. Later."
With that, he kissed her again, his hand going behind her neck to pull her close as her tongue darted into his mouth.
Later. They could deal with everything later.
Five
Meredith
Dice growled into the kiss almost immediately, his other hand going around her to tug her on his lap. Meredith gave in without a shred of reluctance, straddling his strong thighs and letting his hands roam up and down her body, rediscovering everything that must have been imprinted in his mind from years before.
She pawed desperately at his gear, feeling his cock harden against her as she grinded on him, loathe to pull away from their kiss even for a second to try and get a better understanding of all the little straps and bolts and so on of his belts and gear holsters. Practically snarling, he tugged his mouth away from hers, undoing them one by one with the practiced ease of a man who has gone out killing far more times than Meredith could imagine.
She still had so many questions, so many things she needed to know and ask and tell, but six years of frustration came before anything else at this point.
"Oh thank God," she muttered as he pulled the heavy gear belt off of himself and then let her help him take off the bulletproof vest.
She pulled the shirt off of him along with it, leaning back a bit in her perch to marvel at the man that had come out from underneath all that stuff. He looked even better than she remembered, the years obviously having been very good to his body. He'd never been anything resembling a weak man, but the years they'd spent apart had made Dice even harder, stronger, thicker in all the good ways.
Meredith ran her hands down his chest, stopping her fingertips right over his heart, where a tattoo in her handwriting read her name. He hadn't had that before.
"When did you … "
"After I got back. After I heard what had 'happened,' I got the handwriting off of one of the letters you sent me in Iraq," he said, his hands stopping on her hips as she traced the tattoo quietly.
Just another thing to make her eyes well up with tears. She shook her head quickly, smiling before she kissed him again.
"I love you," she whispered between heated kisses, clinging to him.
"I love you too, baby," he answered back, and it was like both of them were unleashed when they said those words.
She moaned into the kiss when Dice pulled her back close, both hands on her neck and cheeks, cradling her face gently though his mouth was anything but. Grinding against him, Meredith felt the heat grow and coil in her, years and years of feeling almost nothing now twisting inside of her and building a flame unlike any she'd ever felt before.
Her fingers went to his hair, tugging and pulling as she demanded more, his hands beginning a labored, rough trek along her body. The shirt came off first and the bra a moment later, unclipped easily and tossed aside. She was sweaty and exhausted from the day, but it was all immediately wiped away when Dice's hands touched her and his mouth tasted her, bringing back memories she'd buried for far too long.
Her back arched and she whimpered as he kissed a trail down her chest, her nails digging into his shoulders. He traced both of her nipples with his tongue, ever so gently, before sucking one of the buds into his mouth and teasing her with his teeth as he sucked on it. Dice's hands cupped her tits, kneading, and she felt every roughness, every callous on his hands that still felt silky soft because she'd missed them so much.