Donovan's Heart
A sequel to Donovan's Curse
By Ladybug

Rated R

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3 months later . . .

Donovan’s brother-in-laws house
Sunday afternoon

Frank Donovan lay stretched out on a lawn chair, staring out at his brother-in-law’s well-manicured back yard.  Timmy and Sabrina played nearby, making him smile.  They were good kids.  Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the warmth of the sun on his face and arms as he relaxed for a little mid-afternoon nap.  He sighed softly as Amy Peterson’s face once more came unbidden to his mind.  Had it really been three months since he walked away from her?  According to the twisted pain of his heart, it was only yesterday.  He wondered how she was doing.  Was she still jogging in the park?  He had never returned to the park after leaving her at the hospital.  He’d found other places to jog.  He just couldn’t bear the thought of seeing her, afraid that if he did, he would only make a fool of himself begging her to forgive him.

What really surprised him though was how his own team seemed pissed off at him.  Eventually they had learned that he’d broken off with Amy and in a moment of weakness, he had confessed to Monica why.  She was the only one who wasn’t treating him like a leper, though she’d made it clear what she thought of his actions.  Alex had pretty much quit talking to him, but that was nothing new.  They had this kind of love/hate type of relationship going anyhow, though Donovan suspected it was more like a dislike/hate thing on her part.  Cody was Cody.  He didn’t say much to Donovan’s face, but Donovan knew that Cody probably gave an earful to the others in private.  It was Jake that surprised him the most, though.  Usually when he and Jake had a disagreement, they had their face-off, then everything was cool.  This time, however, Jake didn’t seem to want to let it go, letting Donovan know any chance he got what an ass he was.

“You want to talk about it?” a male voice asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.  Donovan opened his eyes to look up at Randy, his brother-in-law.  Randy held out a cold bottle of beer to him then sat down in the lawn chair next to him.  Stretching out, he took several long swallows from it.

“About what?” he asked, pretending ignorance.  Randy gave him a knowing look that said he wasn’t buying it.  Donovan took several swallows from his beer, but remained silent.

“About the woman who has been tearing your guts out and making you moody,” Randy finally commented.

“I’m always moody.”

Randy grinned.  “True, but this particular moody you’ve been in lately is something that only a woman can cause.”  Donovan smiled, but still said nothing.  He took another long swallow from his bottle of beer, enjoying the taste of it.  Randy sighed.  “Listen, Frank.  You have been like a rock for me and the kids since Sarah died.  Let me return the favor, will ya?”

Donovan turned his dark gaze to his brother-in-law, and they stared at each other for a few minutes before he finally gave in to the overwhelming need to talk to someone about her.  “Her name is Amy Peterson.”  He went on to tell Randy how he’d met her jogging at Central Park, that she was a nurse in the ER at Chicago Memorial, her father and brother were police officers with Chicago P.D.  He told Randy how on their one and only date, a bank robber by the name of Robbie Jensen decided to seek revenge against him by trying to shoot his date and then later that evening when he was trying to hunt Jensen down, discovered that Jensen had gone to Amy’s house and had attacked her.  “She was almost killed that night and all for just being with me.”

Randy finished off his bottle of beer and smirked.  “I must say, dude, you do have interesting dates.  So I take it you aren’t seeing her anymore?”

“No, I broke it off with her.  What else could I do?”

Randy was silent for a moment, studying the other man closely.  In all the years he’d known Frank Donovan, he’d never seen him get close to a woman.  He dated here and there, but they were always casual relationships that ended before things got too serious.  But there was something different this time.  His brother-in-law rarely gave it a second thought after breaking off with a woman.  Why was he so torn up over this one?  Guilt?  Some of it probably was, but Randy thought it might be more than that.

“You fell in love with her, didn’t you?”

Donovan started to frown and deny it, but he suddenly sighed heavily and looked away from Randy to gaze out over the large backyard.  There was a swing set on the far end, and several outdoor toys were strewn about the green grass.  Timmy was playing with his army men in the sandbox while Sabrina sat quietly with several of her dolls.  He had struggled with his feelings for Amy, trying to keep a lid on them.  To examine them too much hurt like hell and made him want to do stupid things.  “It doesn’t matter what I feel for her, Randy.  I won’t endanger her life because of my line of work.”

“Are you sure that’s all it is?”  Donovan turned to look at him and this time he did frown.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve known you a long time, Frank.  You’ve dated a lot of different women and I’ve never seen you get serious with any of them.  Now here’s this woman, Amy, who apparently has managed to do something no other woman has and you break it off with her because of what happened on one date.  One date, Frank, one date where she ended up a target because you managed to piss off the wrong person, which somehow doesn’t surprise me.  But let me ask you something: how many times has that happened?  How many times have you been out and had someone you pissed off try and kill your date?”

“That was a first, but I don’t see your point,” he said, getting angry.  Randy sighed in frustration.

“The point, man, is that maybe you are using that as an excuse to stay away from her.  That maybe these feelings you have for her are scaring the hell out of you and rather than just deal with it, you’re grabbing on to the first excuse like a life preserver to keep from drowning.”

Donovan pushed himself out of the lawn chair and turned to face his brother-in-law.  “That’s bullshit!  I don’t have problems with admitting my feelings for her and if I did, it doesn’t change the fact that I almost got her killed!”

Randy still sat calmly on his lawn chair, looking up at Donovan.  Not much ruffled his feathers, not even Donovan’s moodiness.  “Don’t be so damn defensive, Frank.  Sit down before you have a coronary.”

The anger he’d felt moments before rushed out of him as quickly as it had appeared.  Randy was right, he was being defensive and if he was being defensive, then maybe there was an element of truth behind Randy’s words.  Donovan sat back down in the lawn chair, but didn’t stretch out as he had been before.  He set his empty beer bottle down and clasped his hands together in front of him, letting his elbows rest on top of his thighs.  His eyes stared out into the backyard, seeing the kids playing, hearing their yelling and laughter, but not really tuned in to it.  In his mind’s eye he was seeing Amy.  Beautiful, sweet and caring.  He took a deep breath and said aloud the three words he thought he would never admit to anyone.

“I need her!”  Lifting his head he looked up at his brother-in-law with real fear in his eyes.  “I’ve never needed anyone, Randy, but God help me, I need Amy.  I need her like I need air to breathe.”

Randy knew what it had cost Donovan to admit that.  Donovan didn’t admit to needing anyone.  He was a loner who needed to be in control.  “Then go talk to her.”

Donovan laughed, but it held no humor.  It was filled with pain and sorrow.  “She hates me now, Randy.”

“Did she tell you that?”

He shook his head.  “But I was a real bastard to her at the hospital.  I know she hates me. Hell, I hate me!”

“Try it, man.  Just call her and try.  If she hangs up on you then you know, but if she’s willing to talk . . .”  He let his words trail off.

“We’ll see.”  Donovan stood again and faced Randy.  “I need to go.”

Randy stood with him and continued to meet his gaze.  “Call her, Frank.  You’ll regret it if you don’t.”  Donovan only nodded and walked past the younger man.  He entered the familiar house, grabbed his jacket and slipped out the front door as if he was trying to escape, but from what, he wasn’t sure.

~*~*~*~*~

UC Headquarters
8:00 a.m. Monday Morning

Donovan entered the large warehouse type building that housed the UC office.  He had just reached the bottom of the stairs that led up to his office when Monica shouted at him.

“Damn it, Frank, where the hell have you been?”  He turned and gave her a surprised look.  Monica never talked to him that way, so something had definitely gotten under her skin.  “I’ve been trying for the past hour to call you.  I tried your house, your cell phone, your beeper!”

“I had them turned off, Monica.  What’s the problem?”

Monica stood at the top of the steps that led up to the crib staring down at him.  “There is a hostage situation.”

Donovan shook his head.  “I don’t do that anymore, Monica.  The AG was a special case.”

“It’s at Chicago Memorial, Frank,” she nearly whispered.  “Some small time thief on his third strike.  He’s holding Amy.”

Donovan felt his heart drop to his feet.  He stared at Monica for several heartbeats, then he was running for the door.

~*~*~*~*~

Chicago Memorial

Willy Simmons was a petty thief.  He was short, with dirty blond hair that hung down to his shoulders.  He’d lived on the streets all his life and even though he was a thief, he was a nice thief.  Amy knew him from his various visits to the ER.  He tended to get into fights with other street punks and needed stitching up here and there.  But this time was different.  He’d been caught breaking and entering for the third time, and he was on his way to prison.  In an attempt to escape, he’d jumped through the plate glass window of the storefront and had gotten cut up on his arms and face.  The police had caught him, then brought him to the hospital to be treated before hauling him off to jail.  He didn’t want to go.

“Willy, please don’t do this.”  Amy stared at him from across the small room where he was holding her.  “Don’t let them add more to what you’ve already done.”

“I don’t want to go to prison, Amy.  They do terrible things to you in prison.”

“Then you should have chosen a different kind of life style, Willy,” she answered, unwilling to feel sorry for him.  She liked Willy a lot.  Other than the stealing, he was a good kid, but she refused to feel sorry for anyone who chose a path, then was unwilling to live with the consequences of that choice.

“I had no choices, Amy.  I’m from the streets.  I-”

“Cut the crap, Willy,” she interrupted him.  “You know that song and dance doesn’t work with me.  I know plenty of people who came from worse backgrounds than you that made a life for themselves.  It’s hard work, but you have to be willing to make sacrifices.”

“I’m not going to prison, Amy.  I can’t.”  There was real fear on his face and for the first time Amy was afraid of what he might do to keep from going to prison.  The phone in room rang, causing them both to jump.  Willy walked over to it and picked it up.

“Yeah.”  He was silent a moment, then he started cursing softly.  He looked over at Amy and held the phone to her.  “Someone named Donovan with the FBI wants to talk to you.”  Amy blinked in surprise and walked across the room to where Willy stood holding the phone.  She could tell that Willy was visibly shaken by this latest development.  The hand that held the small revolver was shaking uncontrollably.

Taking the phone from him, she put it to her ear.  “Frank?”

“Has he hurt you?”  She immediately closed her eyes and let the sound of his deep voice cover her like a warm blanket.  She felt the pain of her broken heart slice like a knife in her gut and she took a deep shaky breath.  Glancing over at Willy, she saw that he’d backed up to the wall and had slid down until he sat leaning against it.  His legs were drawn up and his arms were wrapped around them with his face buried between his knees.  His shoulders were shaking and Amy realized he was crying.

“No Frank, he hasn’t hurt me,” she answered when she felt she could speak without sounding shaky.  She paused a moment, then asked, “Why are you here?”

“Why do you think, angel?” he asked softly.  Donovan cleared his throat, then said, “I’m going to get you out of there.  Will he let you go?”  Amy knew that he was essentially asking, ‘am I going to have to kill him or not?’

Amy turned away from Willy so he would not overhear her conversation and spoke quietly.  “He’s a small time thief, Frank.  I know him. He’s been in the ER many times over the years.  I don’t believe he would hurt me, but he does not want to go to prison. He’s scared to death of it, so I’m not sure how he’ll react if pushed.  I’m trying to talk him in to giving up and he’s listening, so don’t screw it up for me.”

“Let me deal with this, Amy.”

“I don’t want him killed, Frank.  Do I make myself clear?”  She heard his soft sigh across the phone line.

“I have no intentions of killing anyone, angel, as long as he doesn’t give me a reason.  This can all end peacefully, but it’s up to him.”

“Then let me keep trying.  He’s scared to death now that he knows the FBI are involved.”  She peeked around at Willy, but he was still sitting on the floor staring off into space, his cheeks stained with tears.

“The FBI is not involved, Amy, it’s just me. I’m not here in an official capacity; this is personal.  I came as soon as I heard you were involved.  I’m only here to lend my experience and to get you out safely.”

“Then let me keep working on him.  He knows me and trusts me to a degree.”  Her palms were sweaty and she wiped them against her uniform.  Knowing that Donovan was here, that he’d come to save her, was messing with her head and her heart.  She was just starting to recover from that wound. She didn’t want it reopened.

“I’ll give you twenty minutes.  After that, it’s my way.”

“Thank you, Frank.”

“Please be careful, Amy.”

“I will.”  Neither one of them wanted to hang up, but there was nothing more to say, so Amy quietly put the phone down in the cradle and turned to face Willy.

~*~*~*~*~

Donovan cursed softly as he hung up the phone.  The room that Willy Simmons chose to hold Amy had no windows and had only one door leading into it.  There was no way to get a sniper into position to take him out.  He was forced to rely on Amy’s judgment and he didn’t like it.  She was putting herself at risk.  If this kid was truly unstable and desperate enough he might just shoot her out of fear.

“Did you talk to her?”

Donovan turned to find Jake standing behind him.  “What are you doing here?”  He looked past Jake to find the whole UC team there.

“Monica called us. We wanted to come down and help.”

“Can you see through walls?”  A hint of sarcasm tainted his voice.

Jake ignored him.  “No, but I can crawl through air ducts.”  He glanced up to the vents on the ceiling.  Donovan followed his gaze and seemed to be thinking.  When he dropped his gaze back down to Jake there was a gleam shining there.

“Cody-”

“Yeah boss?”

“Get me the blueprints to this hospital.”  Cody turned and hurried down the hall.  Donovan brought his attention back to Jake and smiled.  “Looks like I found a good use for you after all, Agent Shaw.”

“Kiss my-”

“Agent Donovan?” a voice interrupted.

Donovan turned to the police officer that approached them.  “Yeah?”

“Captain Peterson wishes to speak with you.”

Donovan froze as he recognized the name.  Amy’s father.  “Alright,” he answered and turned back to Jake.  “Let me know as soon as Cody has those blueprints.  Amy knows this kid and is trying to talk him into giving himself up.  I gave her twenty minutes.  After that, it’s up to you.”  Jake nodded and Donovan left with the officer.

~*~*~*~*~

Amy knelt down next to Willy and waited for him to look at her.  It would have been so easy to just reach over and snatch the gun from his hand, but she didn’t want to do it that way.  She wanted him to do the right thing and give himself up.

“Why are the FBI involved, Amy?” he glanced up at her a mixture of confusion and fear in his eyes.

“It’s not the FBI, Willy.  Frank is . . .” What was Frank anyways?  They’d only had one date, so she couldn’t consider him an ex-boyfriend, yet in the short time she’d known him, she had fallen in love with him.  “He’s just a friend.  He was a hostage negotiator for the FBI a while back, so he’s only here to help out.”

Willy shook his head in denial.  “He’s here for you, Amy.  Before he told me to put you on the phone he said that if I harmed you in anyway, he would bury me so deep that even the worms wouldn’t find me.”

Amy’s jaw tightened in anger.  “I won’t let him hurt you, Willy, but you have to give yourself up.  If you don’t then they will come in after you and I can’t guarantee your safety then.”

Willy’s face began to crumble.  “I don’t want to die, Amy.  I don’t want to die.”

Amy reached out and wiped the tears from his cheeks.  “Then let me help you.  Give me the gun and let’s walk out of here together.”  She held her hand out, palm up.  Her eyes were locked with his, waiting.

“Will you walk out with me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Will you make sure they don’t rough me up?”

“Absolutely.”  Willy lifted the small revolver and placed it in her hand and released it.  “Let me go to the door first to announce we are coming out, then we will walk out together.”  He nodded and stood with her.  Amy walked over to the door and opened it just a crack.

“Frank?” she called out loudly.

“I’m here, Amy.”

“He’s giving himself up.  I have his gun and I’m going to slide it out first, then we will come out together.”

“Alright, slide the gun out.”  Amy opened the door wider and placed the gun on the floor and shoved it down the hall.  A police officer stepped forward and collected it, then disappeared.  Amy didn’t know that Willy had come up behind her and seen the line of police officers at the end of the hall.  She didn’t see his eyes widen in sudden panic as thoughts of prison once again filled his mind.  She didn’t see him spin around and begin frantically to look for anything he could possibly use for a weapon, nor was she aware that in Willy’s mind, she had suddenly become the enemy.

“Frank?”

“Yes?”

“We are coming out together.  I promised him he would not be hurt.”

“I give you my word, Amy.  He will not be hurt.”  Donovan glanced over at an older handsome uniformed man standing next to him.  Captain Peterson nodded and looked to his men.

“When he’s taken into custody, it will be firmly, but with care.  Understood?”  They all nodded and his attention returned to the empty hall.

~*~*~*~*~

Jake watched from the air vent from above the small room.  It looked like some kind of storage room, with no windows and only one door.  He quietly removed the screws that held the vent in place and then watched and waited.

He saw Amy stand with the gun and walk over to the door.  She slid the gun out and continued to talk to Donovan.  He watched as Willy approached her from behind, then started looking around the room almost frantically.  Jake frowned as a bad feeling began to form in his gut.  He watched as Willy opened up some drawers to a large storage cabinet against the wall behind him.  He reached in and drew something out of the drawer.  Jake couldn’t see what it was at first.  He watched closely as Willy turned and started walking towards Amy.  Her back was to him; she was talking to someone down the hall.

Suddenly Jake caught a flash of steel from the overhead light and realized that Willy had gotten a hold of a scalpel and he was planning to stab Amy in the back with it.  “Damn it!”  He raised up his foot and kicked out the vent just as Willy started to raise his arm.

The vent clattered loudly to the floor and Amy spun around with a shriek.  She saw two things happening at once: Willy standing before her, his arm raised with a scalpel ready to slice down on her and a man dropping from the ceiling, hitting the floor, rolling to his feet and coming up with both his guns in hands and firing.  Amy screamed.

Seconds later, the door burst open as Donovan came in with his gun at the ready, her father close behind him.  They quickly took in the situation and when he saw the room was safe, Donovan put his gun away and turned to Amy.  She was trembling, shaking her head in denial, tears streaming down her face.  He pulled her into his arms as she sobbed against his chest.  “It’s over now, angel,” he whispered against her ear.  “You are safe.”  Amy burrowed deeper into the circle of his arms as his lips grazed her temple.

“Sorry, boss.”  Jake came up to Donovan as he stroked Amy’s back soothingly, rocking her.  “He was about to stab her in the back.”  Donovan nodded his understanding and Jake left to help with Simmons body.

“Amy, are you alright?”  Captain Peterson appeared from behind Donovan and Amy pulled away to step immediately into her father’s arms. 

“Daddy!”  Reluctantly, Donovan let her go.  He felt a twinge of jealousy, but reined it in.  He didn’t have the right to feel jealous. 

“Thank you, Agent Donovan.”  Donovan nodded and watched as Captain Peterson led his daughter away.  She never looked backed.

~*~*~*~*~

Frank Donovan’s house
One week later

Donovan sat in the recliner with a beer in hand watching the Chicago Cubs lose yet again in extra innings.  He shook his head sadly and muttered, “Wrigley Field was never meant to have lights!”  In his mind, it took the magic away.  Lights at Wrigley Field and no more Harry Carey.  Baseball sucked.  He frowned when he heard a knock at his front door.

Getting up, he glanced over at the clock on the mantel above the fireplace.  It was 10:30 p.m.  Who in the hell would be knocking at his door at 10:30 at night?  He slid his gun out of the shoulder holster he still had on and made his way cautiously to his door.  “Who is it?”

“It’s Amy.”  He froze for a split second, then put his gun away and opened the door.

“Amy.”  He could only stand there and stare.  He was too dumbfounded to do anything else.

She smiled apologetically.  “Sorry about the lateness.  I’m working the afternoon shift now and I just got off.”

“That’s all right.  Come in, please.”  He stepped back to allow her to pass and he caught a whiff of her cologne.  It smelled outdoorsy.  It smelled good on her.

She turned and faced him as he shut the door.  “Everything happened so quickly at the hospital, that I never got the opportunity to thank you.”

“You don’t need to-”

“Yes, I do, Frank,” she interrupted him.  “If it hadn’t been for you, I might not have made it out of there alive.  I misjudged Willy badly.  I thought he wouldn’t hurt me, but I was wrong.”  Tears began to build in her eyes and she blinked them back.

“It could have worked, Amy, but his fear overrode his common sense.  Sometimes that happens, even to the nicest of people.”  He ached to hold her, to take away the pain, but he stayed where he was.

“Why did you come, Frank?” she asked suddenly.  She watched his face closely for any emotion, any at all.

“I told you why I was there.”

Amy shook her head, indicating that she didn’t believe he’d just come to help.  “Why did you come, Frank?” she asked again, her voice a soft whisper.

Donovan’s heart jumped into his throat.  He swallowed hard and licked his dry lips.  “I will always come for you, angel.  Always.”

She could see the struggle going on behind those deep brown eyes.  Molasses, they reminded her of warm, sweet molasses.  “Why?”

Donovan closed the distance between them, taking her lovely face between his hands.  “Because I love you, damn it.”  Her breath caught in her throat an instant before his mouth claimed hers.

Amy clutched at the front of his shirt to steady herself.  His mouth moved against hers in such a way that left her dizzy and unable to breathe.  His tongue stroked across her lips, exploring, tasting, seeking entrance.  With a soft sigh, she leaned into him and parted her lips.  Donovan groaned as his hands left her face to circle around her back.  He crushed her against him as he deepened the kiss, his mouth devouring hers as if he’d been left to die in the desert with no water and she was a fresh spring.  Amy let go of his shirt and moved her hands up around his neck, her fingers moving to his hair.

Donovan’s lips moved away from hers, leaving a wet trail along her jaw line to her throat.  His tongue stroked the soft skin, tasting the saltiness and tasting her.  He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent, and a picture of them making love under the midnight stars flooded his brain and his knees nearly gave out.  With a groan, he nipped at the delicate skin just below her ear and smiled when he heard her soft gasp.  Soothing the spot with his tongue, he gently drew the bit of skin into his mouth, suckling it.

Amy gasped again.  “Frank Donovan, if you give me a hickey I’ll hurt you!”

She felt a rumbling in his chest before she heard the laughter bubble up out of his mouth.  It was deep and sexy and it made her shiver.  He lifted his head and smiled down at her.  Again, Amy felt like she couldn’t breathe.  At that moment, Frank Donovan wore his heart in his eyes and she knew without a doubt that he loved her.  He bent his head to kiss her again, but stopped when she placed her fingers against his mouth to stop him.  He kissed her fingers, his dark expressive eyes questioning her.

“We need to talk, Frank.”  She watched as sadness crept up into those beautiful brown eyes.  “We need to talk about what happened three months ago and why you walked away from me.”  Her heart pounded loudly as she waited to see what he’d do, what he’d say.

Donovan crushed her against him in a bear hug, burying his face in her neck.  “I know,” he whispered softly against her ear.  She felt his body shudder against her and she tightened her arms around his neck.  He held her like that for several moments longer before he finally released her and stepped back.  “Okay, let’s talk then.”  He took her hand and led her into the living room.  He shut off the TV as she settled on the couch.

“Would you like anything to drink?”

“No, I’m fine, thanks.”  She watched him closely.  He was nervous and she smiled as she watched him remove his shoulder holster and place it on the coffee table.  He settled on the couch next to her and wiped his palms against his pants.  “So talk to me, Frank.”

His heart pounded so loud he was sure she could hear it.  His hands fidgeted in front of him and he frowned.  He never fidgeted!  Why was he having such a difficult time with this?  It wasn’t like him to be so tongue-tied.  His frown turned into a scowl.  He heard Amy laughing softly next to him and he looked over at her, giving her his worst scowl that had undermined many criminals.  She only laughed harder.

“You are crushing my ego, angel.  Have mercy on me!”  He gave her a devastated look and Amy had to bite down on her tongue to keep from howling.  Her eyes watered with the effort and she had to clear her throat several times.

“I’m sorry, Frank.”  His look told her he didn’t believe her.  “No, really,” she continued.  “You just looked so damn cute.  I’ve just never seen you look so uncertain before.  In the past, you’ve always had such an air of confidence around you.”

“I don’t know anything where you are concerned,” he replied softly.  They stared at each other in silence for several minutes.  Finally Donovan sighed.  “I lied to you in the hospital.  I said that it was only physical, but I already knew then that I was in love with you.”  Donovan reached out and his fingers caressed her cheek.  “I fell hard and fast for you.”  He watched her as she reached up and covered his hand with her own.  She turned her face slightly into his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm.  After a moment, she lowered his hand to her lap, but continued to hold it in hers.

“When Jensen tried to shoot you at the restaurant, it scared me,” he continued.  “I had expected him to come after me, but not to take his revenge on me by hurting you.  At that point though, I figured that I could catch him quickly and remove the threat.”  He paused a moment, giving the impression that he was thinking about what he was going to say next, but Amy knew better.  She knew he was mentally reliving that moment at her house.

“What happened is not your fault, Frank.”  His dark eyes gazed over at her.

“Isn’t it?  He went after you because of something I did, Amy.  He discovered my weakness and he went after it.  Because of me, you almost died.  How is that not my fault?”

“You couldn’t know how Jensen would react.  You couldn’t have known he would decide to come after me.  You are only human, Frank.”

He shook his head in denial.  “You don’t understand, Amy. I should have known!  We had his file.  Monica profiled him.  He had a history of going after people who thwarted him.  We knew he would come after me.”  In frustration, he pushed himself to his feet and began to pace.  “I was an idiot.  I asked you out knowing I had someone like Jensen looking for me.  I should have waited.  I should never have put you in that position!”

“Waited until when, Frank?  Until it was safe?”  Frank spun on the balls of his feet and glared at her.

“Yes, damn it!  I should have waited until it was safer!”  Amy remained unruffled.  She knew he needed to work this out and until he did, there was nothing for them.

“Safer for whom?” she asked.  “You’ve never told me much about what you do, Frank.  But from the few instances that I’ve seen you and your team at work my guess is that you are part of some kind of special forces.  If that is the case, then when would it be safer?  Someone in your position will always have enemies.  You will always have someone that you put away that will want to seek revenge.  So if that is the case, then when would it have been a safer time to ask me out?”

Donovan had no answer.  She was right; he would always have someone seeking revenge against him.  Not only for the work he was doing now, but for his past.  He’d made a lot of enemies in his past.  A past that Amy knew nothing about, a past that might change how she felt about him.  He stared at her from where he stood in the middle of the living room.  He couldn’t bear for her to know the truth of his past.  He couldn’t bear for her to look at him in horror and disgust for the things he’d done.  That life was behind him now; he’d buried it seven years ago when he put in for a transfer to the FBI.  He had needed something different. He had been losing himself, becoming the monster that he had sworn to destroy.  Getting the chance to give back life was his salvation.  Becoming a hostage negotiator for the FBI had provided him a way to make amends.  He had been doing well until his sister had been murdered.  Then the monster that he had created within himself had come roaring back to life and he had hunted down Rikker, and without a second thought, snuffed his life.  It had almost cost him his own life.  He had spent many months in the hospital, many months in physical therapy.  He tried to live with it for two years, then he snapped.  He spent the next six months seeing a psychiatrist.  He had put his life back together but he couldn’t go back to what he was doing.  So the FBI offered him his choice of assignments.  They wanted him back.  He was too good to let go, and they would do anything to keep him.  At first he almost turned them down.  He almost walked away completely, but then at the last minute, the job with the UC team opened up.  Their leader, John Keller, had been killed bringing down a cop gone bad.  He’d made the ultimate sacrifice and took a bullet meant for one of his team.  Working undercover intrigued Donovan.  It was something different and they promised him he would be in control.  Of course, that had been a partial lie.  They didn’t tell him about Paul Bloom nor did they tell him about the problems with Jake until after the fact, but that was fine with Donovan.  He could handle Bloom and he could handle Jake.  What he didn’t know was could he handle Amy?

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “I suppose it would never be a safe time to ask you out.”  Their eyes met across the room.

“So then we have a choice.  We can either:  a) take the risk, or b) say goodbye now.”  They stared at each other in silence.  Amy’s stomach churned as she waited to hear his answer.  She watched as he struggled with his choices.  Would she be able to deal with it if he rejected her again?  She hoped so.  She was beginning to wonder if he’d ever answer when he suddenly started moving towards her. The look in his eyes was predatory and made her heart skip a beat.

“I’ll take the risk.”

Amy was on her feet before he finished answering.  Her heart soared as she nearly leapt at him.  He caught her, lifting her up.  Her legs wrapped around his waist as their mouths came together in a nearly violent kiss.  His arms came around her, holding her weight easily.  Her hands framed his handsome face, his day’s growth of beard scraping against her palms.  She moved her hands up into his hair, pushing her fingers through the coarse thickness of it.

“I love you, Frank.”  Amy rained kisses all over his face as he moved through the house to his bedroom.

He set her on her feet next to the bed and reached over to switch on the small lamp on the nightstand.  Turning back to her, he began to unbutton her blouse.  Pushing it off her shoulders, it fell to the floor forgotten.  His brown eyes darkened with desire as he gazed down at her full breasts.  “I feel like a kid on Christmas morning,” he whispered softly as he bent his head to kiss her.  His hands rested lightly on her shoulders, his thumbs lightly stroking her shoulder blades before they finally hooked underneath the bra straps.  His tongue thrust into her mouth as he pushed the bra straps off her shoulders, and he continued to drag them down her arms until she pulled her arms up and out of them.  He reached around behind her and easily unhooked the back and let it fall to the floor between them. 

Crushing her against him, he smoothed his hands down the soft warm skin of her back and groaned softly.  He moved away from her mouth, trailing wet kisses down her throat, moving lower, arching her back against his arms until his mouth closed over a dark nipple.  Amy cried out in pleasure as he drew her deep within the warmth of his mouth.  His velvety tongue wrapped around the areola drawing it to a hardened peak.  Amy could feel the pull deep inside her as an ache bloomed between her legs.  The gentle scrape of his goatee against her bare skin was enough to drive her mad as she buried her fingers into his hair.  She looked down in time to see him draw his head back but keeping the suction around the nipple, stretching it before finally releasing it.  Her knees buckled on a moan and Donovan lowered her to the bed.

“Amy, Amy,” he breathed against her neck.  “My sweet angel.  You are so beautiful.”

With trembling fingers, Donovan unfastened the buttons of her faded blue jeans and placed a kiss on the exposed skin just above the lacey line of her panties.  He trailed his tongue along that same line of exposed skin, then blew softly, smiling when Amy jumped with a gasp.  Amy raised herself just enough to grab the back of his shirt and pulled.  Donovan moved his arms so that it slid over his head and off him easily.  Tossing it behind her, she lifted her hips as he worked her jeans down over her hips and down her legs.  He stood up next to the bed to admire her.  Amy rose up on her elbows, returning the heated look by allowing her eyes to roam over his muscular chest and flat stomach.  Her eyes dropped down to the obvious evidence of his arousal and her body tightened in anticipation.  His hands moved to unfasten his trousers, but Amy shook her head quickly.

“No!”  It came out breathy as she rose to her knees to stop his movements.  “Let me.”

Donovan groaned at the devilish look in her eyes as her hands brushed against the bare skin of his stomach.  He swallowed hard as he tried not to imagine her small hands wrapped around his hard manhood.  Her fingers easily unfastened the trousers and carefully eased the zipper down over the large bulge hidden behind silky black boxers.  Amy grinned up at him.

“My, my, we are full of surprises, aren’t we, Frank Donovan?”  He growled menacingly at her, but she only laughed as she hooked her fingers into the waistband of both his trousers and his boxers and pushed down until they puddled at his feet.  His sex stood out hard and erect and her eyes widened at the size of him.  “Yes,” she murmured softly.  “You certainly are full of surprises.”

Donovan’s soft laughter turned into a groan when she wrapped her hand around his length and squeezed.  “Amy,” he pleaded softly.  His breathing quickened as he clenched his hands at his sides.  His head fell back, his eyes drifting shut at the feel of her small hand stroking him, working him until he swelled painfully.  But nothing prepared him for the feel of her mouth on him.  His head snapped forward, his eyes flew open and he watched in utter fascination as her tongue came out to circle the velvety tip of his sex.  His knees nearly buckled as she moved forward, taking him into the warmth of her mouth.  His groin tightened as he fought for control.  Her mouth moved on him, her lips tightening around him firmly.  He wouldn’t last if she kept this up much longer.  “Amy, please,” he pleaded again.  His hips bucked forward of their own accord as her tongue swirled around him, bringing him closer to the edge.  He was helpless to push her away; he was so close to losing it. He was afraid if he moved it would be all over. 

Then suddenly her mouth was gone.  He watched her move back on the bed away from him.  She stretched out and opened her arms to him, inviting him to join her.  Slowly he moved forward onto the bed.  He ached to the point of pain.  His only thought was to be buried deep inside her, to find relief and to share the beauty of it with her.

Slowly he moved over her, her legs opening wide to allow his hips to settle comfortably between them.  His lips found hers in a hard kiss, his tongue plunging wildly into the depths of her sweet mouth, wrapping itself around her own tongue and drawing it back into his mouth.  Amy moaned loudly at his assault, loving the feel of his warm, hard body against the length of hers.  He began to move lower, his mouth leaving hers to nip playfully at her chin then trail down the middle of her throat.  He paused to dip his tongue into the hollow at the base of her neck then continued on until once again his lips closed over a hard nipple.  Amy moaned again, arching her back, offering all of herself to him.  Her hands flattened on his broad back, moving along the hard muscles as they flexed with his movements.  His large hand covered the other breast, kneading it, rubbing the palm of his hand against the pebble hard nipple.  Amy felt out of control.  She could hardly breathe and it wasn’t because his heavy weight was crushing her into the mattress.  She ached between her legs and she wiggled her hips back and forth against his stomach, seeking relief.  Donovan growled as he suckled at her breast, bringing a smile to her face.

“Frank-”

“Don’t rush me, damn it!”

Amy choked on her laughter.  “You really know how to charm a girl, Agent Donovan, you know that?”

He lifted his head and grinned up at her.  “I got you where I wanted you, didn’t I?”

“Oh you son of a-”

With a deep chuckle that about turned her insides out, he rose up her body quickly, cutting off her tirade with a kiss.  Her arms circled around his neck immediately as her legs wrapped around the backs of his thighs.  He wasn’t going anywhere now except inside her.  She could feel the hard length of him pressing against the inside of her thigh and she strained her hips up against him to bring him closer to where she ached.

“Please Frank,” she begged.

He shifted his hips and brought the tip of his sex to her wet opening, pushing at the entrance, but not entering.  “Oh sure,” he teased in her ear.  “First you call me names, now your begging me to pleasure you.  I don’t know, angel.”

Amy groaned, torn between wanting to wring his neck and melting into a puddle of goo at hearing him say ‘pleasure you.’  Even though he was born in the U.S., Donovan had apparently spent a lot of time outside the U.S. because he had a strange but sexy accent that made her knees weak.  Her breath caught in her throat when she felt the tip of his sex pressing against her opening.  Her body tingled with the anticipation of his entry.

“I will hurt you, Frank Donovan!”

“Threats will not get you what you want, love,” he continued to tease, nipping at her ear.

“Fraaaank!” she groaned in frustration as she began to wiggle beneath him.  His deep chuckle sent shivers down her spine.  His hands moved up her arms to grip her wrists and pin them to the bed.  He lifted his head and stared down into her beautiful sky blue eyes.  They were heavy lidded and glazed with desire.

“Spread your thighs, angel and lift your hips to me.”  Amy felt her heart spasm at his request, but she quickly did what he asked.  Donovan shifted slightly again, then he was surging into her.

Amy cried out at the suddenness of it.  He sank to the hilt, filling her, stretching her as far as she could possible stretch.  He lay still on top of her, both of them gasping for breath.  “Sweet Jesus, you’re tight,” he finally managed once he felt he’d regained some control.  “Am I hurting you?”

“No,” she answered, just barely managing to keep it from sounding like a squeak.

Donovan eased his hips up slowly, moving carefully until he was nearly completely out of her.  She was slick and wet and when he sank back down into her tight chamber he slid in easily.  Their fingers laced together above their heads, and he began to move with more speed.  He felt himself losing control again.  “Amy,” he groaned in frustration.  “Baby, I can’t hang on.  You’re too tight.  You feel too damn good.”

But it didn’t matter.  The friction of his movements sent her over the edge and she cried out her release as it exploded within her.  Her muscles clamped down around his thick shaft and Donovan shouted his surprise as his body spasmed and his own climax shook him to the core.  He collapsed on top of her, then immediately rolled onto his back, taking her with him.  They both lay there gasping for air, their bodies pulsing and tingling in the aftermath of their releases.

They lay there quietly, both content just to be in each other’s arms with Donovan’s hand stroking the length of her spine.  “You asleep?” he asked softly after a while.

“Mmmm, no.”

“I need to lock up.”  He paused, then asked, “You staying the night?”

She lifted her head and looked into the warmth of his brown eyes.  She raised her fingers to his lips and traced the fullness of his bottom lip.  “Would you mind?”

“As far as I’m concerned, angel, you can stay forever.”  Amy’s smiled warmed his heart as he kissed her gently.

“Well, how about we start off with tonight and work up to forever?” 

Donovan returned the smile.  “Sounds like a plan.”

~*~*~*~*~

UC Headquarters
Next morning

Donovan entered the building whistling a merry tune.  His thoughts were still on Amy and the night they had shared.  They’d made love several times throughout the night and when he’d left this morning, she was still asleep in his bed.  His heart skipped a beat at the thought of waking up to her every morning.  He glanced over towards the crib and saw Jake, Alex, Monica and Cody staring at him.

“Good morning,” he called out happily as he bounded up the steps that led to his office.  Damn, he felt good!

“He was whistling,” Cody commented in shock.  “Donovan never whistles.”

Jake turned with a grin.  “I think our boss may have finally gotten his act together and worked things out with Amy.”

“I think maybe you’re right,” Monica responded with a smile.

“Thank God!”  Alex breathed softly and they all laughed in agreement.


The End.

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