20. March 6th-7th

MARCH 6TH-7TH

Kai

"Serrano.Where the hell are you? Call me. And don't screen your calls. I expect you to be available when I want you." Click.

Insufferable dick-smoker. I do not have time for you and your molting fits.

With a sigh, she leaned back in her desk chair and slouched, one elbow resting on the arm of the padded chair as she massaged her temple. Whatever he wanted was going to piss her off. Then again, everything he said, did, thought, and wanted pissed her off.

Waters walked into the War Room, thankfully clothed, and handed her a Crankiness Bomb and a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. "Thank you. Breakfast for dinner is awesome. I'm going to need the fortification."

He perched his ass on the desk. "Brick was cooking and made you extra. What's up?"

Kai sighed. "Big Bird is molting again. He just called me."

"Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. Other than he called once, and because I didn't answer, he accused me of screening my calls and avoiding him. That man is annoying even half a continent away." She sipped her hot chocolate and then started to devour her food.

Ohmygodeggs! Yet another clue this was a unique situation—starvation after sex.

She noticed the fucker was smirking at her as she shoveled the food down. "I'll be in the room when you call him. Be sure to put him on speaker."

"It's a phone call. He's not going to be here," she grumbled as she tore into a piece of bacon.

Stealing the remaining half of a piece of bacon from her fingertips, he reminded her, "Rule four," then put the strip in his mouth.

He's even sexy when he's eating. What the hell?

"Stop chewing," she grouched and forked more eggs into her mouth.

He grinned. "Too sexy for you. I know."

Then, the jackwagon stole her toast. Unreal.

She sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You're killing me, Waters." Her fingers went to rub at her temples.

"Headache?" His voice went serious, suddenly filled with concern.

She gave a short laugh. "Yep."

"Do you have anything for it?" he asked.

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and laid her head against the chair back.

"Hand."

Kai extended her hand to him, and he immediately pinched and held the pressure point in the webbing between her thumb and index finger.

"Better?" he checked with her.

She nodded. "Where did you learn that?"

"Out in the field, I learned how to cure some simple stuff with reflexology. Some things work better than others."

She smiled. "So many talents," she teased.

He winked at her again, then pulled himself off the edge of the desk, leaning his lips into her ear. "I've heard I have magic hands."

She smacked his arm. "Humble much?"

"Not something I'm known for, no." He grabbed her empty plate and put it off to the side. "Call your boss." Before she could say a word, he reached back and removed his T-shirt from over his head. Pushing aside her laptop, he pulled her up out of the chair, then picked her up and sat her on the open space in the center of the desk. He lowered himself into the desk chair, pushed her legs as far apart as he could get them, and rolled all the way into the desk.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

Grabbing her legs, he placed a bare foot on either arm of the desk chair and started kneading her calf muscles. "I'm taking care of your headache."

"You're what?"

He pressed a kiss to the inside of her knee. Her foot shot out, almost kicking him in the shoulder, which made him laugh. "Glad I had my hand around your leg." His eyes looked up at hers, their green flames blazing. "Call him, Kubrick."

Mesmerized, she picked up her phone and dialed blindly. "No funny business."

"Scout's honor."

As she listened to the phone ring in the background, she looked at him through squinted eyes. "I don't trust you."

He laughed as he pressed a kiss to the other knee, both hands wrapped around her respective ankles. "Those are good instincts. I was never a scout. And there's nothing I'm about to do to you that's funny. But I am getting down to business, so move it along, or you will have serious issues."

Before she could even think of hanging up the phone or chastising him, Big Bird picked up his phone.

"Serrano! About fucking time. I tried to call you, and you didn't answer."

"Craig, I've missed you, too."

"I want a status report. What's my money getting me while you waste time soaking up the sun and surf down there for five weeks?"

Kai felt a nip on the inside of her calf. "Relax, Big…" She received another nip, which helped her catch herself. "Guy, your money is being well spent."

He grunted. "I doubt it. I have half a mind to come down there and oversee the work to make sure everything runs smoothly."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Craig! We're training nonstop. The actors are spending fourteen-plus hours a day learning all the shit they need to do, and we haven't even gotten them onto a cliff wall or into a plane yet for rappelling. And when they're not training, they're working on character development and line memorization. With me in the room, I might add. And then they're sleeping off the exhaustion."

Warm, openmouthed kisses were trailing the inside of her calf slowly toward her knee.

"You're far too forward, Serrano," he growled.

I'm not the one who's forward. If that mouth gets any further forward on my leg, I'll be moaning Waters' name and eventually screaming the walls down.

Instantly, she knew that she had pushed too hard. Be too aggressive with Big Bird, and he would be on the next plane just to fuck with her. The last thing she needed was him dogging her every step and getting in the way. And not just in the way of the filming. "Look," she tried another tactic, her voice softening its edge, "you want to come down and supervise, be my guest. You'll enjoy the weather. It's been nearly a hundred degrees every day. Everything is gorgeous here, including the snakes, the spiders, and I think I saw some sort of rodent the size of a small dog.

"There are some downsides, I'll admit. The house is drafty, damp, and the plumbing doesn't work well. We don't have hot water most days. Food is simple—eggs, coffee, bottled water, maybe some fresh fish, fruit, and vegetables if we're lucky. We're crowded in this derelict, but the idea of a luxury hotel in Coxen Hole is definitely going to be more Bates Motel than Ritz-Carlton."

Waters' hand gave her butt cheek a couple of gentle taps communicating "good girl" regarding her strategy for talking Big Bird out of joining them. Then he resumed sliding his palms up and down Kubrick's thighs, slowly going just a little bit higher to her hips each time.

He wouldn't dare while I'm on the phone!

His fingertips had reached her hips, hooking into the waistband of her leggings. She put the palm of her hand onto his forehead, attempting to push him back. He merely looked at her with an expression of "Don't test me!" and then began to pull the leggings down. When his hands hit the desktop, he nudged her with his shoulders pressing against her thighs. When she refused to lift her ass up off the desk so that he had a clear path to removing them completely, he just gave a violent tug that pulled them out from under her. As he dragged them down, his eyes never lost hers.

Oh my God, he does dare. Eek! That is hot, hot, hot!

"Craig," she implored, the warmth of Waters' mouth on the skin on the inside of her thigh and the caress of his hands on the outside causing her voice to rise. "I really need to get back to work." The muffled chuckle against her bare skin made it feel like her whole body was flushing. "Stop it!" she hissed, covering the speaker portion of her phone.

"Stop what?" She could feel Big Bird's suspicion all the way through the airwaves.

Shit! Missed covering the speaker.

"Nothing, Craig. One of the, ummm, farmers brought some fresh plantains over, and his, uh, his dog is trying to jump in my lap."

Waters' shoulders were shaking with laughter as he looked up at her and mouthed, "Arf." Then he leaned down and pressed his mouth to the lace gusset of her underwear, pulling at it with his teeth.

"Please, stop," she moaned. His head went back and forth, like a dog pulling on a rope toy.

"Are you all right, Serrano? You sound ill."

"No, no, not ill," she squeaked.

Holy fuck. Definitely have a fever, but I'm not ill. Unless you count an addiction to that mouth.

Big Bird gave an exasperated sigh over the line. "I want a deep accounting of your actions there. No minute can be unaccounted for or wasted. This is costing far more than it should."

"Yes, yes, you'll get your update. Hanging up now!" She clicked off her phone and threw it across the room. She heard it thunk off something, and it sounded like something cracked.

Oh, who the hell cares? If it's broken, he can't call me, and I'll only be able to talk to him through email.

She put her hands to Waters' ears and pulled his face up to look at her. He still had a portion of lace in his teeth. "If you wanted to become part of the troop and go for the sex badge, you should have also paid attention to the part of the Boy Scout motto that talks about being prepared."

His teeth let go of her underwear, but his left hand was holding them off to the side. He held up his right hand, three fingers in the Boy Scout salute. "Oh, I'm prepared enough for right now." Then his grin went wicked as he turned his fingers and slid them inside her and proceeded to show her how helpful and friendly he could be.

Needless to say, her headache was forgotten.

Sun streamedin the window of her room through the sheer white curtains when Kai woke the next morning. Waters was not in her bed, and he wasn't in the War Room. Disappointed, she showered, dressed, and wandered into the kitchen. The others were sitting around the breakfast table running lines for a scene with Vixen watching the script for accuracy.

They'd made a game of it with the poker chips they had found in the game closet. Each of the actors had one hundred dollars in poker chips. Every time someone made a mistake, she made an annoying buzzer sound. Whichever actor screwed up would then throw a dollar chip into a bucket at the center of the table, usually amidst much groaning from the payer and a lot of ribbing from the non-payers. Then, they went back to the top of the scene and started over. If you lost all of your chips, you had to buy more in five hundred dollar increments, and the money went to the local school for supplies.

"Enigma! Stop staring at Vixen's tits, or we'll never get through this stupid scene," Dawg teased. "Those kids are going to have one-to-one computers the rate you're going."

Vixen rolled her eyes and looked plaintively at Kai. "I want more money. These guys are ridiculous."

"Bullshit, sweetheart. You love us, and you know it," Dawg teased.

Ignoring the banter, Kai dropped down on one knee to the floor and checked out the wrap around her foot. "How's the ankle?"

"Better. The doctor taught Enigma how to re-wrap it in case he's not around and I need it changed." She looked at Kai with an apology in her eyes. "He said I'm not allowed to run yet, so Waters suggested I take Enigma with me to the dock and go practice some diving stuff."

"It's okay. We don't want you taking the risk of re-injuring it. Swimming shouldn't be too strenuous on it as long as you don't push too hard." She checked her watch to see that they were just shy of start time for the day. Standing up, she clapped her hands. "Okay, Lazarus, lead the rest of this motley crew out to the course. We'll start there."

Grumbling and groaning good-naturedly, the men headed out, somebody challenging the others to a race. Kai shook her head as they left. They really were overgrown teenage boys.

Vixen was still at the table, closing up her script and clearing the dishes.

Kai cleared her throat. "Waters isn't here. That's odd. Did he say where he was going?"

That sounded casual, didn't it?

"He said he had an errand to run in Coxen Hole and that he'd be back ASAP. Said he forgot something at home that he needed." Vixen was smiling but not looking at Kai. "I can't imagine what that would have been? I mean, considering the War Room was closed all afternoon and evening, and nobody could find either of you anywhere yesterday, it is a mystery." Vixen looked up at her director with overly innocent eyes and batted her eyelashes rapidly.

Both women looked at each other for a moment, then the corner of Vixen's mouth twitched. Kai couldn't keep the laughter inside, which then led to Vixen joining in. "Oh my God," Kai lamented when she was done laughing, her hands covering her cheeks in embarrassment.

"No worries, Kubrick. Everyone's thrilled you two hooked up. We've been watching him watch you ever since we got here. We were wondering when Soldier Boy was going to finish reconnaissance and head into battle. So to speak."

Kai's head tipped back to look at the ceiling. "So glad to know my actors have nothing better to do than spy on me."

"Lazarus has been trying to push him into making a move by being territorial. And I kept pushing my boobs into him. Wow, did that make him uncomfortable. He kept looking to see if you noticed. Way too much fun. Did it work?"

"I wondered why Lazarus was being overly attentive." She shrugged. "Waters did ask me to clarify what my connection was to Lazarus. I'd say my answer"—she paused—"seemed to satisfy him. As for you, I just assumed you were trying to get his attention."

"Pfft. Waters is way too intense for me. Scares the crap out of me, actually. So." Vixen put her hands flat on the table and leaned over it so she could whisper to Kai. "Is he as awesome as he looks?"

Will she keep this between us? Can I trust her?

As if reading her mind, Vixen drew an "X" across her chest, then put a finger to her lips. "To the grave, sister. As long as I get updates."

"Will you share what's going on with you and Enigma?" Kai was sure that her eyes and voice were giving away her desperation for an outlet to share.

"I would love to share with someone. You know him well, and I'm so out of my league. But he's impossible to resist," Vixen confessed. "And it feels like he's interested in more than just during the filming run." She sighed and shook her head. "So. Deal?"

"Deal."

"I want deets. Is he skilled?"

Kai glanced down the hallway to make sure the men were long gone and that Waters hadn't returned yet. Kai mirrored her stance and whispered back, "Skills with thrills."

The women burst into a fit of giggles.