The Sound of You **on hold**

Chapter 21

Adelaide

Leaving work on Sunday morning has me swirling with more than just fatigue. I'm grouchy, because the night never slowed. The city and metro just kept coming at us with disturbances, suspicious people and erratic drivers. There were a few more serious incidents that needed our full attention, but otherwise the calls and files kept coming, and they didn't seem to ever stop. I'm hungry, because I hardly had time to eat all night. I'm anxious, because I'm not sure I did my best on the last few calls that I took.

I'm excited, because I got a text after I got to work last night from Dawson telling me he'd arrived home safely, and I get to see him today. I'm annoyed, because I'll have to wait until this afternoon, because it's too early to wake regular humans up, and I'm so tired, I don't know if I'm going to make it home without nodding off.

Pauline and I play Rock Paper Scissors to determine who's going to drive since neither of us are volunteering. I win. Thank God.

She drives with the window down and the music blaring to keep her awake. I lean my head on the window and close my eyes, trying to drown it out. She pulls the car into the back lane and we can tell there's a figure standing at the door on the side of the house, but we can't quite see from our vantage point of the parking pad. It's probably Brooks bringing back Stella, though I can't imagine why he's up this early.

I saunter behind Pauline, up the sidewalk that leads around the house to the side door. I notice the grass is starting to grow back in some dead spots lining the sidewalk.

"You better have croissants." Pauline says.

My head jerks up to see Dawson kicking himself off the house where he was leaning. My eyes go wide and my mouth makes a shrieky sound I'm not familiar with. I throw my arms around him and he squeezes my body to his. I nuzzle my face into his shirt where his jacket isn't zipped and take in his fresh pine scent. He reaches up and cradles my neck with a hand, he quickly strokes his thumb on my jaw to free my face from his shirt. I look up at him and he smiles at me. Dimples and all.

He lowers his head and kisses me chastely on the lips. He pulls away and I take him in. His hair is slightly longer, after being away for three weeks. The top is falling lusciously over the sides in messy waves. A couple of months and the sides could catch up in length. The stubble on his face is fresh, as if he shaved yesterday or the day before. I reach my hand up and rub the hair on his jaw, letting the soft bristles tingle on my palm.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I didn't want to wait." He pulls me close again and leans down and crashes his lips on mine. No chastity this time. Just pure desire. His lips take mine one by one, leaving a sting on my bottom lip when he nips on it and makes his way to my throat. He plants a rough kiss on my neck and squeezes my body, lifting me against him. He reaches behind him and turns the doorknob since Pauline shut it behind her when she went inside. "You must be tired."

He lets me down inside the door. "I am. I am in desperate need of sleep." I turn to make my way to my room.

"I'm in desperate need of you." He retorts. I whip my head and give him a look of mock shock, hovering my hand over my mouth. He winks at me.

"I'm disgusting." I say. It's true. The only thing that I have working for me is that I showered yesterday before work. But my hair already has a layer of grease on it from a stressful night at work and my teeth feel furry. Oh God. I let him kiss me. I scrunch my face and hold up a finger just as he's about to respond. I leave him shaking his head. I run to the bathroom to brush my teeth and spray my hair with dry shampoo. I splash some water on my face for good measure.