Another Hump Day, another #1lineWed inspiration to share. Today’s theme is **Sugar or Sweet**. This scene is from the current WIP, CRASH & BURN. This unedited scene is the aftermath of a plane crash that our heroine has worked. Kit is a forensic photographer for DFW Airport Fire Rescue Department. She broke down and cried on Derek’s shoulder, despite the fact that they met not long before this moment and he makes her mad enough to spit nails. It’s a sweet moment between them. 😉
***
“I don’t cry,” Kit muttered. Despite swollen eyes, gritty from tears, she studied the face looming above her. He’d held her, almost protectively, until she’d regained control and pushed back from him. A deeply feminine and appreciative sigh escaped before she realized she’d made it. Derek smiled and his eyes twinkled. “Well, I do,” she admitted to cover up her faux pas, “but only at Hallmark Christmas movies.”
Derek shrugged. “You have a tough job, Kit. You’re better off letting those emotions out than keeping them bottled up. That goes for the guys too. Isn’t that the whole reason for CISD?”
She thought about that. “Yes, I suppose so. I’ve only had one critical incident that I needed to debrief. We had a house fire. Lost an occupant and the family pets.”
Kit’s expression turned bleak and Derek wanted to bang his head for putting that look on her face. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing was something he’d undergone numerous times, though he probably needed it less than most agents in his position. Wolves were…stoic, in some cases to the point of being unfeeling. It wasn’t that they didn’t care. Wolves just handled the stuff that could be and put the rest behind them. Of course, it helped that Wolves could handle pretty much everything that came their way.
“I’m sorry, sugar. And yeah, it’s easier when you think of the remains as just evidence. Whatever made them human is gone. What’s left behind is—”
“Evidence.” Kit tilted her head and took a good, long look at him.
He was so tall that his legs were tangled up even with the seat pushed all the way back. He’d left the door open, and even now his right foot rested on the ground outside. She could attest to his muscular build from her up-close and personal proximity to the ridges mapping his chest and abdomen. A stray lock of his dark hair tumbled across his forehead. Kit smoothed it back then let her fingers tangle in the thick softness. A wave of tenderness crashed over her and she discovered that her sexy bits were getting riled up. This so wasn’t the time for that.
Inhaling deeply in hopes of holding her lust at bay, her nose was filled with the scent of him—the spicy sweet scent of cedar chips and the cold bite of snow on a winter day. Kit leaned toward him, eying his mouth. She wanted very much to kiss him.
Derek cupped her cheeks in his palms and drew her head closer. His gaze darted across her face—eyes, mouth, even her chin—assessing her mood, the emotions at play, her need. It was the deepening richness of her scent that brought a small quirk to his mouth as he pressed his lips against hers. She tasted as sweet as he’d anticipated the moment he laid eyes on her.
“What the hell are we doing?” Kit’s words whispered from her mouth when he broke the kiss. He liked the shell-shocked look on her face, and liked it even better that he’d been the one to put it there.
“The best kind of CISD I know of, sweetheart.”
****
So that’s my set of sweet words for today. Any of you have some sugar to add? (Yeah, that was lame but hey–it was way late when I got around to setting up the blog for today! 😉 )
With four days left for shopping and baking, I thought this bit of advice from the Universe was spot on. It also works well with Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Hanukkah, or your winter holiday of choice greeting. 🙂 
