Maria thought the day before had to be the worst day of her life, but she was wrong. The next day started sucking immediately when her cat threw up in her bed, and already late for work, she realized that she would have to take the GTO or catch a cab, since a police officer took her to the police station in a squad car, and then Guerin and Evans brought her home.
The headache from the previous day was still hanging on behind her right eye threatening to re-emerge. As soon as she hit her department, and was trying to make it to her office and coffee so sludgelike it could wake the dead, her Department Head, Kenneth Price, otherwise christened, "Large Fat Toady Jerk" by Maria, stopped her in the hall to encourage her to kill herself.
Tess saw her coming, and looked down the hall to make sure his royal toad was gone. "How bad was it?"
"Bad," Maria rubbed her eyes and refused to cry reminding herself that she didn't cry. Seeing a cup of swamp sludge waving before her face, she smiled at Tess and took the cup, sipping, and then closing her eyes to savor the buzz running over her body to give her another chance of living through the day. "According to Kenny boy, I'm stupid, lazy, inept, lacking in any redeeming qualities, responsible for the mess the museum is in now, responsible for Chris Delaney being murdered in the Peruvian room, and the Antichrist. Oh, and my next chapter draft of my thesis is due at the end of next week, no excuses."
"Jerk."
"Yeah, that's about the half of it." Maria downed the rest of the coffee. "Okay, back to bigger and better things. Did you check out 'The Guerin Body'?"
"I did. But I think cheesecake boy Evans, has a better body." Tess smiled as Maria sorted through her stack of material getting ready for her first class.
"Hellooo!! Ears!! If a large wind came he would flap away, though I thought he was very nice." Maria grabbed a stack of finished exams relieved to be getting rid of them, and another stack of finished essays. "Now 'The Guerin Body', that's another story. There's nothing, and I mean nothing wrong with that tall drink of cool water. Delicious! I could start at one end and kiss my way up his entire body, stopping to savor some choice juicy spots along the way." Maria smiled as Tess laughed herself sick. It was good to hear her laugh. Tess had few reasons to laugh or even to enjoy life. A year ago her young husband, Jack Hardy took a bullet in the line of duty. He never made it out of surgery, so Tess at twenty-five was widowed.
"Did you notice those eyes? Those lips, oh yeah, those lips are totally suck and nibbleworthy." Maria was just warming on her subject. "But I think it's his hands. My god, I think I had a wet dream last night just about his hands!" Maria kept organizing her stacks as she talked, never noticing someone coming to stand at the door. Tess just shook her head at Maria. After the last year she was used to Maria's brash and outspoken manner over anything that came into her head. It was freeing to see someone so comfortable with themselves to be so forthright. "Geez, do you think it's true about a man's hands being indicative of his size? I sort of brushed up against it yesterday, and it wasn't a Gerald Tiny, no sir! It had discernible ridges and everything even through two layers of denim. I think..." Maria was interrupted by a small cough from the door.
"Excuse me?" Maria turned quickly and looked at the figure in the door. The young girl in the doorway looked lost and very embarrassed. At first Maria thought it was one of her undergrads, but looking closely she noticed that despite slimness and looking young, the woman was just that, a woman. "I was looking for a Professor DeLuca."
"That would be me," Maria came around the desk and offered the woman her hand, "and you would be...?"
"Liz Parker, I'm affiliated...I mean the Department...um...the Police Department sent me to help with the artifacts." Maria's head was starting to hurt again just from trying to wait for the girl to spit it out.
"Okay, cool, the more the merrier. I've got a full crew, but I know the PD wanted their people on hand in case we found anything illegal. Right now we're trying to get everything catalogued and checked against inventory to see if anything is missing." Maria worried about the young woman. She seemed so timid, so ready to fade into the wallpaper. There were undergrads in her class that had more confidence. "Okay, so let me drop you there on my way to my first class. This is my assistant, Tess Hardy."
Liz smiled at the other young woman with pretty blond hair, and colorful clothes wishing she could dare to wear anything that bold. Suddenly her faced clouded as she recognized the name. "You didn't know a Jack Hardy, did you?"
Maria quickly looked at Tess and then Liz. It was hard to see the smile leave Tess's face and a wash of paleness followed by sadness take over her usually animated face. "He was my husband." Maria felt moisture behind her eyes, knowing Tess must be feeling worse, she quickly asked Tess to get Liz a cup of coffee.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think." Liz watched the other girl flee and felt her ineptness at social settings painfully. "He was a nice man, always friendly."
"Yes. Yes he was." Maria didn't know who to feel sorriest for, Tess or this poor timid creature. It wasn't hard really since she knew Tess longer, and her loyalties had to go to friends first. But to ease the awkwardness, Maria smiled and suggested they head over to the library and get Liz settled.
The day was busy and the museum was filled with people lending a helping hand. Maria had moved in and out of the chaos to make her classes and run around, go to meetings, and talk to students. It was a relief after her last class was taught for the day, she could dedicate herself to the museum.
The Liz Parker woman was interesting, smart, but all so reserved. Maria noticed that she tended to isolate herself from the others, only smiling at the antics of the others, but never really joining in. So Maria took it upon herself to draw the woman out as her personal mission in life, very much like the one she assigned herself when Tess's husband died.
"What is this?" Liz asked Maria who was working next to her. It surprised her when Maria had set up her work station next to Liz, and with her the entire room shifted bringing everyone closer until Liz found herself working in the middle of the group. Maria laughed at the gourd.
"That's a penis gourd," Maria tried not to laugh at the confusion on Liz's face. "It's a decorative piece. Some tribes use these gourds, dry them, decorate them, and then slide them on a man's penis instead of pants or a cog piece."
"You mean they used it to cover their...thing?" Maria looked at Liz in concern. Okay, no one on her staff called a man's penis a 'thing' or a "sausage' or any other euphemistic term that was sophomoric and juvenile. They were all adults, penis, dick, c-ock, or even a few other words were acceptable to correctly refer to the male genitals, but 'thing' was not. "But, it's so long and big?" Maria laughed as did the rest of the group at the embarrassment poor Liz was suffering.
"Well, the bigger, the better, the more prestigious." Maria tried to take pity on Liz. It was tough being in a room of crass anthropologists, geologists, and a historian more than happy to be descriptive in a manner that was unsuitable for genteel society. "See the top of the pointy gourd has a braided string that is worn around the neck to keep it from bobbing all about the place, and the base of the gourd slipped over a man's penis with these braided strings looping around their legs and waist and between their ass cheeks to hold it in place." Maria stopped when it looked like Liz was going to faint dead away. "Oh hell, let's just get," Maria looked around and spotted one her best friends and a graduate student, "Eddie to demonstrate it."
The whole group exploded in laughter and catcalls as Eddie stood up and started unzipping his jeans. Some where chanting for him to take it off, real slow, while others were whistling and stomping feet and beating out a primitive beat. Liz looked at the group, and couldn't help but smile. They were so loud, so alive, undisciplined and happy. "Okay, okay, let's put it away Eddie. We've got no time to play. We'll continue this at my place this weekend at group review."
The group continued to laugh and joke making rude comments as they went back to work. Cassie Welsh was working hard with the group, laughing and having a good time, but still she was held off from the rest. It wasn't anything that she did, but something about her personality had the group politely letting her join in, but yet keeping her at a distance. Strangely enough they had no problem with Liz Parker. It was like they found her timid demeanor endearing, almost needing protection, so they gently tried to include her in their shenanigans.
Dianne wandered in and plopped herself down next to Maria and Liz. She was carrying her usual bag of toasted almonds. Maria reached in popped a few in her mouth, munching away as Dianne went into great detail all the gossip of the day. Liz even broke in to ask a few questions, so Dianne finally turned the subject to Gerald Tiny and his mini-me making Liz laugh with color staining her cheeks. That was how the detective team of Guerin and Evans found them. Both were bowled over at the difference in Liz Parker in just a few hours of exposure to Maria DeLuca and her crazy life. The mousy brown woman had color in her cheeks, a twinkle in her eyes, and she was laughing a fun range laugh with her voice altering to make a funny squeaky sounds as she mimicked other members of the group.
Michael turned to make a comment to Max and just gave up rolling his eyes. Max was thunderstruck, practically paralyzed by the Parker beast. Figures. This had to be DeLuca's fault. She found Parker a personality, or at least lent her one for a while, and now Max was lovestruck, practically mooing with big cow eyes. Michael swore under his breath when Liz looked up and her eyes met Max's and they stared across the room at each other oozing sickly sweet looks that had Michael icking under his breath.
Maria looked up and saw something she wanted. Oh, the Guerin He-Body was in her house, on her turf. Yum. Seeing the looks between Liz and Max, Maria decided to give it a helping hand. "Detective Evans, could I trouble you for a little assistance?" Max tore his glance away from Liz to see a smiling Maria, and without realizing he was doing it, he smiled back. What was it with this woman? Drawn like a moth to a flame, he went to stand by her, waiting for her to command him to her will. "Could you finish helping Liz here with this while I talk to your partner? It should only take a few moments, and Liz will show you what to do." Max took Maria's spot and Maria caught Dianne's look and they both shared a private communication over the couple's heads.
Maria slowly made her way to Michael, stopping to answer questions along the way. By the time she made it to his side, Michael was feeling a slight impatience. "Detective? Could I see you in my office for a second."
Michael looked over at his partner, shook his head in disbelief and then nodded to Maria following her into her office. As soon as the door shut he found himself pushed up against it, and his mouth engaged in a fullblown kiss with Maria DeLuca. He had spent most of the night in his bed and most of the day trying to think of ways to get in this very position with her, and here she was doing all the work for him! Maria DeLuca was definitely his kind of woman. For a man that liked to dominate, to be the controller in everything, her aggressive brash treatment of him and her refusal to shrink from his obvious sexual desire for her licked rivers of molten fire down his body, into places he never felt before. And if he wasn't enjoying it so much, he would have been appalled at how much he liked her messing him up. Pushing him.
The energy burst through them, a shock of pure feeling, intense and powerfully overwhelming. Maria's fingers locked onto Michael's biceps, clinging when their lips met and devoured each other's mouths. Heat rose between them, surrounding and saturating them with this need that was building since the day before. Michael moved his mouth away from Maria's, roaming down the curve of her neck, not so gently sucking the skin between his teeth. Maria breathed in gasps of air as if she was a drowning victim, but she didn't resist what was happening, caught up like Michael in the moment, her body rubbing hard against the obvious stiffness pressing into her.
The surge subsided momentarily and they pulled back, practically shoving away from each other, to stare again at one another in shocked surprise and near panic. Maria didn't know it would take off that fast, that hard. Clearing her throat she tried to smile, but couldn't, so instead she pushed her hair off her hot skin. "I'm sorry. Okay, I'm not sorry, but I promised myself that I would do that the next time I saw you." A spark of interest and mischief entered her eyes. "You want to file assault charges and handcuff me, Detective? Maybe frisk me?"
"It was wrong. This is wrong." Maria just shrugged as Michael tried to make that point clear. She liked the sound of his voice, so much deeper than usual, the halfclosed heavy look to his eyes, and the redness of his lips from where she sucked them into her mouth. He looked...mussed up.
"Why? Because I'm a witness or a suspect in your investigation?" Maria was feeling a little pissed. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why couldn't they just go with what they were feeling?
"No, because you're a pain in the ass." Maria shrugged again, like that was a bad thing. Michael stopped her from making a smart remark with another quick kiss. "I don't have time to do this correctly, at this moment... Max and I are on a stakeout tonight. As it is, I was just checking in before I left, and then you do "this"...Michael pulled her hard up against his body so she could feel and know what the hell "this" was. Damn he was hard! All pokey against her stomach... Maria's eyes half closed and she moved her mouth a whisper's breath from his and moaned. With a growl of frustration, Michael grabbed her and moved her back into the room, up against her desk, and lifted her to sit on it with him between her legs, pushing her short skirt higher up on her thighs. Leaning her back on the desk so she was forced to put her hands behind her to brace herself against him. Papers and books were knocked to the floor.
Michael invaded the junction between her legs, leaning into her to push his hard erection against the soft mound, feeling the heat seeping through her clothes and his jeans. He was going to lose it in his jeans without even getting inside her or taking off any of their clothes! Her legs came around his waist holding him hard and firm while she leaned back on her hands and let her head go back exposing a full length of her neck. His mouth found the skin too much to resist. Maria gave a shocked sound as his hands found the skin at her waist and moved upward towards the soft underside of her breast. She hadn't even realized that he had opened up her blouse until it was hanging up off her shoulders leaving her bare and exposed except for her small scrap of lace she called a bra.
His hands moved to take the weight of her breast and his thumbs rubbed across the nipples pressing swollen against the lace causing her to moan softly at the ache. Watching him with a look of hunger she held her breath as his hand went to unclasp her bra from the front. But before he could unfasten it, his cell phone rang. For a second in time they both stoodstill, staring at each other, until Michael sighed and took one hand away to try to reach something in his pocket. The wad of bills he finally pulled from his tight jeans surprised her, as he pulled a ten dollar bill free and gave it to her. Maria's mouth opened in disbelief. He was paying her for what? A dry hump on her office desk? Balling her hand up into a fist she was ready to give him a right cross when he leaned over and licked her lip, gently pulled the bottom one into his mouth and sucked, and then he said hoarsely, "that's for all the cussing I'm going to do over the next few minutes." She relaxed her fist and instead ran her hand up his arm.
Michael straightened himself away from Maria and pulled out the insistently ringing cell phone to answer it, never once taking his eyes from her. Maria smiled at his gruff voice, thick with passion and all so very pissed off as he took the call. As one obscenity after another left his lips, Maria folded the ten dollar bill and put it in her bra knowing he was watching her every move with hawk-like interest. Hopping down from the desk, but continuing to lean against it, she pulled down her short skirt and rebuttoned her blouse while leaning back with her legs casually crossed at the ankles, watching him watching her.
When he turned off the phone he gave her a thoughtful look, and then leaned in on her with one hand resting on the desk next to her, and the other moving up the line of buttons on her refastened blouse. "How'd you get to work this morning?"
"What?" Maria hadn't expected that question and it left her momentarily lost and without words. Clearing her throat and looking into his eyes. "The GTO." Michael leaned his head against her forehead and groaned. That was a car worth a hard-on. "Why?"
"Give me a set of keys, you can't drive two cars home, and you can't leave the GTO overnight, or tomorrow you'll be forced to take it again." Michael held out his hand while she reached around to find her bag surprisingly still on her desk. (Little else was!) Taking the keys she paused handing them over.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to drive your car home and park it after I finish work tonight. That way when you need to get to work in the morning you won't have to drive the GTO and leave it out in the parking lot where any idiot can ding it or even steal it." Michael quickly kissed her again. "So give me the damn keys." Maria chuckled and dropped the set of keys in his hand, moving her now freed hand up his body to wrap around his neck and bring him to her for another kiss. God, he tasted good! His tongue was rubbing against hers, sucking her into his mouth. Her hand came around to gently stroke his cheek liking the feel of his late in the day stubble rasping against her skin. "These for the GTO?"
Maria snorted and pulled away from him. "You wish! No, the red Jetta in front of the Anthropology building." Michael swore under his breath. He should've known it would be harder to get into that car than it would be to get into Maria. She wasn't as uptight about her body as she was about the car. She kissed him again before he pulled away.
Michael looked at her, liking her mussed up look, liking it a lot. "You okay?"
"Oh yeah--I'm juicy." Maria laughed at the expression moving across his face, and he rubbed a hand across his eyes not even trying to suppress the groan.
"Dammit, Maria!" She laughed again just because he was so cute, all aroused and frustrated.
"Got to go to work, huh?"
Michael kissed her again, convincing himself it was the last time then he was leaving. "Yeah...Stop teasing me."
"Oh Detective," Maria said pulling away from him and going to open her office door despite his protest, "teasing implies that I've no intention of following through." Maria grabbed his shirt front as he came up to her at the door, "and there couldn't be anything farther from the truth."
Michael settled his face close to hers threatening her in a dark voice, "This is far from over, Professor. I'm not through yet."
"I hope not, Detective. I sincerely hope not, otherwise I would be disappointed in your..." Maria looked down at his body and then back up at his eyes, "staying power."
Liz looked up and away from Max to see Guerin and Maria standing in her office door. They were leaning towards each other talking, and from the look of it, the talking was very close and intimate. Liz gasped when Michael moved in and kissed Maria hard, pulling away slowly letting his tongue linger in her mouth. Max followed Liz's glance and swore under his breath. Damn that was fast, faster than he had ever seen Michael move on anyone before! Suddenly he heard Maria's happy laughter and a dark growl from Michael.
Dianne looked over too and made a comment that made Liz blush from head to toe, "wonder if she did him on her desk." Everyone looked at her, at voicing the same question they had, but didn't express. "Hey, if Gerald Tiny can do it, then why shouldn't Maria, or any of us? It's not like he's a student. Sure when a man is caught with his pants down there are token censure and ramifications, but if it's a woman, she is threatened with moral conduct review and possible dismissal. I'm just saying double standards, that they stink!"
One of the students looked over, checking out Michael and Maria. "So do you think they did? I mean there was that loud crash before, and..."
Max said without looking up, "No, not possible. Not enough time. Michael likes to take his time--a few hours or so." Max looked up to see all the women staring at him. "What?"
Dianne cleared her throat twice, "A couple of hours? That's normal?"
Max with a devilment in his eyes just shook his head no. "Nope, that's a quickie. Now if he's real serious, then he needs more time and space. Michael hates not being thorough." Max looked up when he heard his master bellowing across the way. Quickly getting up he waved goodbye to everyone, leaving them gawking after him. Michael had a dark look on his face and with a quick look down, Max knew why. Giving a radiant Maria a wink as he passed her, Max went to hang with the devil.
Dianne looked at the others and whistled under her breath. "Think he has brothers, or something. I need me some of that." Liz looked down as the others started discussing sex, staying power and other subjects. Occasionally, she would look to find Maria with a worried frown between her brows. Liz never bothered to look over at Cassie and her reaction to the conversation. It was well known in the PD that Cassie considered Michael her personal property.
When Janhie Kovitch found her she was immersed in requisition orders and invoicing trying to find a better system for them to get through the artifact faster. Dr. Kovitch was a Professor in the Anthropology Department specializing in dead languages, and one of Maria's favorite people. This was his last year of teaching because the University was forcing him to retire at the end of the academic year, and the retirement wasn't a happy one. Maria felt bad for him, part of her was ready to sic her mother on the situation and let her work up some sympathy for the man. Dr. Kovitch was a survivor from a WWII concentration camp. After the war, what was left of his family immigrated to America instead of returning to war torn Poland.
"Marietta, my little one," he looked around at the crowd of workers, some he knew, and others he did not. "What have you gotten yourself into, my child?"
Maria laughed. She was used to him calling her a little dumpling, and numerous terms of endearment. "Janhie, what are you doing in this place of horror?" Maria quickly hugged the old man and led him to a seat. Kovitch looked closely at the group of people, a shudder running through his body, and then looked at his sweet Maria. The child was a ray of sunshine in a world full of ugliness. The addition of her to the staff of their department was the first breath of fresh air they had in years. He didn't like seeing anything so horrible as death touching her. She was his angel.
"I came for you," Kovitch held her hand in his. "I said to myself that this burden is too much for my little kugel, so here I am, to give you my services, such as they are. Here, command me to do as you need."
Maria leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You know that this mess will wreak hell on your blood pressure, but if you think I will send you away, forget it. I love watching you. I need an overseer to keep the troops working. Look at them," Maria gestured at the group who posed for the beloved professor. "Tell me, in truth, my darling Janhie have you ever seen a more ragged group so in need of guidance?"
"Then it is best that I came. This is more work than a small thing such as you should withstand. Janhie will fix it for you." The older man stood and wandered over to check out the process, and as they worked over the next few hours every member was given his personal attention. He seemed to especially take time with Liz, giving her instructions with the greatest care, and finally rolling up his sleeves and helping her, telling her stories from civilization long since gone. Then entire group quieted and listened to him as he wove stories of epic heroes, legends of valor and greed, and the coming of kings.
It was hours before he finally had to take his leave. Pulling Maria to the side, and having her walk him out, Janhie became very quiet. "Maria, I worry about you. For you." Maria just smiled and patted his hand. "There is much in this world, much that needs to never touch you. The evil that lives in men, it's a thing, a living demon that feeds itself on the pain and despair of the innocent. When it devours a pure one, it becomes stronger, powerful, and even more vicious." Maria listened politely.
"I know. I can't imagine he is gone, that this could happen, here of all places." Oh Chris, poor sweet man.
Maria stopped to help him into his coat, but as she drew back he grabbed her arm and held her tight. His kind eyes changing, becoming dark and deadly serious, and seeing the horror that only a man who lived through the holocaust could see. "No, Maria, it's more, so much more. You must never be alone. Never. Lunch. Tomorrow. You and me only. There are things to say and things to know." With that said he looked back into the museum and Maria felt a tremor run through his old frail body. And before she could question him more, he turned and left.