Caught Unaware

Chapter 30

HOME OF COL. JOHN CASEY

ECHO PARK, LOS ANGELES CA

Casey woke before Amelia, his arm under her sleeping head and her body tangled up in his under the covers. He laid there with her, feeling her breathe against him; her chest rising and falling against his side and her soft breath exhaling through her nose tickled his chest hair just slightly.

Much happened in their lives since that night they met, her eyes wide in fear as he had a gun pointed in her face. She was shaken but stood her ground, the first of many times he gained respect for the woman now by his side. He thought about how he saw her that night in the darkness of her closet. She stood with a soft, silken nightgown in her closet, her eyes large and not once leaving the threat that stood before her. Her hair was soft, he could tell just by looking at it and he physically had to restrain himself from reaching out and combing his fingers through her tresses.

Casey sighed. The woman beside him was not only attractive, she was intelligent, driven, focused, mature...and she looked damn fine with a gun in her hand, Casey thought, as he smirked to himself. Most importantly, she knew him. He didn't have to hide who he was or who he worked for. He didn't have to go to great lengths to stash his guns from her eyes or tone down his temperament in front of her for courtesy's sake.

Amelia shifted against his body, bringing him to focus back onto her. Any woman he fell in love with either died or was left by him. It brought his smirk to a halt and a sense of dread filled his chest, adding about eighty pounds of weight against his heart. Amelia's arm went from around his waist to up around his chest, wrapping her hand around his chin and resting by his ear, disappearing almost under his neck.

Casey debated on having her leave him. His world was dangerous by any means. Moreover, he wasn't so sure he wanted her to change by the agency, to learn to be hard and to have what it takes to kill without any remorse. She was untainted by his world, could he help her stay the way she is, retain her sense of self as she was now, laying in his arms and trusting him to keep her enemies at bay.

But the thought made him sad; genuinely, deeply sad. When Amelia shifted once more, the hard gem of her bracelet was pressed against his cheek. He smiled when he thought of her reaction to his gift and he secretly was on the lookout for her to be without it. She never was.

Casey sighed again. He was tethered to this woman. Casey chuckled softly, he was doomed from the start, like that poor sap Bartowski when Walker stepped into his life and caused him to literally drop everything to pay attention to her.

Walker. Shit.

The replay of her getting hit by the bullet overwhelmed his mind. Over and over again for the next few minutes he tried to look at the situation from all angles, trying to find a way he could have protected his partner from getting hurt and, to his frustration, finding none.

Amelia groaned and pulled herself closer to Casey, who turned and wrapped both arms around her lithe body, his black NSA-issued watch catching itself on the tank she wore. Her soft skin was exposed at the waist to her ribs while they settled into a more comfortable position, facing each other on their sides. Amelia opened her eyes and smiled when she found herself immediately looking into Casey's blue ones. She sighed.

"Good morning, John," She said softly. He kissed her forehead.

"How did you sleep?"

"Really well," she answered, kissing his lips in return. "You?"

Casey was silent for a moment.

"Oh, honey," Amelia crooned softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him the best hug she could for the moment. "Maybe we can grab breakfast to go? If we get dressed now and head out we can spend most of the day with Sarah, to keep an eye on her situation and be there when she wakes." Casey grunted.