The Real Estate Connection Ch. 06

"Okay... I'll be back after I've finished the rest of my rounds. One more thing. I want to see you every day until the stitches are ready to come out. There is no negotiation on that point, understand?" His winning grin brought one from me.

"You're a hard taskmaster Doc but I'm sure I can manage that. See you soon then."

Brian was as good as his word. I passed the examination and was on the phone to Stevie by lunch time.

"Come and pick me up baby. I'm busting out of this place so bring a file baked into a Black Forest Gateau. That and some clothes so I don't have to go home naked. Brian says I can go home today so I need a ride." Her squeal of happiness nearly blew out the speaker on the phone along with my eardrum and sent a brief bolt of pain through my injured skull.

"I'll be there in an hour honey... you just sit tight."

I spent the next hour walking around the ward stretching my legs and anticipating my freedom. In retrospect it was similar to what a convict must feel on the day of his release from prison. I'd managed to con a robe out of one of the nurses which was handy to cover my ass that was still hanging out of the back of the hospital gown. My IV lines had been removed after the successful completion of my gruelling ordeal with Brian, which actually wasn't too gruelling. During the exam I'd managed to drag a promise from him that he would come out to the house for dinner one night. I met the two cops who were doing guard duty on me and they were more than a little surprised that I was getting out so early. A quick call to Lee at police headquarters got my bodyguards released from duty just as soon as I was released from hospital. I assumed I would have a different set of guards when I got home. I skipped the offer of another hospital meal. I figured I might be able to con Stevie into stopping off at Killer Muffins on the way home.

One thing about my Stevie... she was punctual. She breezed onto the ward two minutes before she was due dressed to kill in a mini skirt that was only an inch or two away from being described as a belt, a halter top struggling to contain her gorgeous breasts and a pair of boots similar to the ones that KJ had worn the day I got shot and Stevie got her tattoo. She was carrying a sports bag which I assumed contained my clothes for the trip home. She grinned when she saw me up and about and almost ran the length of the ward to hug me tight. I winced as I made a mental note to talk to her about the strength of her hugs over the next week or so but at least she didn't break any stitches.

Twenty minutes later with a little help from Stevie I had changed into cargo pants and a loose shirt. It was an embarrassing procedure with Stevie having to help me with everything from putting my pants on to tying my boots but finally I was ready to face the world. After a round of quick goodbyes to the staff who had looked after me, we were on our way. As I stepped out of the hospital into the sunshine I breathed a sigh of relief. I really did hate being in hospitals. Stevie wound her arm through mine as we slowly made our way to the carpark.

"I brought your car honey. I had to take it in to the dealer and get the side mirror replaced anyway so I figured it was easier just to bring it in and pick you up." The side mirror had been smashed by one of the shots fired by Liz. "You want to grab some lunch in town, or would you just like to get home?"

"Killer Muffins. I'm suffering Killer Muffin withdrawal baby. I'm feeling generous so I'm going to let you buy me lunch at Killer Muffins. Now is that good of me or what?"

"I see those shots didn't damage your sense of humour. I feel honoured that you're going to allow me the privilege of buying your lunch baby... but it comes at a price. You have to do everything I tell you over the next few days baby. We had a talk with the good healer and he has given us a list of things that you are and aren't allowed to do. And honey we will be watching to see that you do as you're told. He's going to be coming out to the house later in the week for dinner so he'll be giving you a check up when he arrives." Alarm bells went off immediately.

"What do you mean 'we' and 'us'? And what about the daily visits I'm supposed to be making to the good pill roller?"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it baby. I've got it all under control. We'll make sure you mend as quickly as possible. Got to get you back in the saddle as quick as soon as we can, if you know what I mean." The grin she threw me left me under no illusion of what she was referring to. I could see I was in for a very interesting recuperation period.

The mystery over the 'we' Stevie was referring to was cleared up as we arrived at the car. Standing next to the Tahoe was KJ who, like Stevie, was dressed to kill in one of her impossibly hot ensembles; painted on leather pants and a tube top finished off with a pair of four inch stilettos. Yes it was definitely going to be a very interesting recuperation period.

"Aah the walking wounded return. How're you feeling Craig?" KJ walked over to meet us and hugged me with a little more restraint than Stevie had shown.

"Feeling as good as I expected KJ and worse than I want to. Going to join us for some lunch?"

"Yep. Stevie, Becky and I still have a bit of work to do so I'll be with you for a few hours yet. I hope you don't mind but many hands do make light work." I was lost; I had no idea what she was talking about. Stevie laughed as she spotted the puzzled expression that I was wearing.

"The girls are helping me move some stuff into your place. Remember we talked about it the day before you got perforated? With you out of action, Matt working, and Hemi and Sam on the hunt for god knows what, I had to recruit the ladies to do all the moving. Don't worry baby... we won't change your surroundings too much."

We climbed into the Tahoe with KJ taking the back seat and Stevie driving and in no time at all we were pulling into the parking area next to Killer Muffins. A leisurely lunch accompanied by lively discussion was just the prescription I had been looking for. By the time lunch was finished and we were back in the car heading home, I was feeling 100% better. I wasn't going to be fooled into thinking I could run the Boston Marathon but I was feeling up to a bit of exercise. On the trip home I planned a short walking excursion. I was starting to feel a little cabin feverish and needed to get back outdoors for a while. It was hardly surprising really. Up until a couple of weeks before I had basically spent all of my working time outdoors and since I had moved back to civilisation and abandoned my military lifestyle I had spent nearly all of that time indoors. I have to admit that my hospital stay had given me a bit of a scare. When I was fully healed I was going to have to get my ass down to a gym and get back into some sort of workable exercise regimen.

All that went straight out the window as we pulled into the driveway. The furniture truck blocking access to my front door was the first indication that things weren't going to be as relaxed as I figured. Then there was the police car sitting off to the side. It was a marked cruiser which was a big departure from the unmarked cars we were used to seeing in our dealings with Lee and the SWAT crew, and leaning on the trunk were a couple of the biggest, baddest cops I had seen in Richmond to date. They would have been at home in professional wrestling.

"There goes my restful afternoon." With a sigh I dismounted the vehicle and walked toward the cops. They pushed off from the trunk of the car and walked to meet me looking very serious indeed.

"Mr. Miller? I'm Sergeant Baines and this is my partner Officer Watts. I have been asked to talk to you about the weapons you have. Chief Wallace told me we have to pick up any and all weapons you have on the premises for ballistics testing in regard to the murders here of the two gentlemen the other day. I'm sorry sir but it's an order." The look on his face told me how distasteful the order was for him to follow. "The Chief made it a slam dunk by getting a warrant for the seizure. I'm sorry Mr. Miller but we have to ask you for your guns."

I silently cursed my stupidity. I shouldn't have stood on Wallace's dick in the hospital like I did... especially not in front of his people. His petty response was quick and deadly. As Stevie joined us, I sighed in resignation and nodded.

"Come on in guys. We'll make you a coffee while I round up our arsenal. And don't worry about it. You're just following an order given by a king sized asshole with teeth." The cops went to their car to grab the warrant while we made our way to the front door. On the short walk to the house I updated Stevie on the newest development. I asked if she could make the officers a coffee while I grabbed our guns. I needed to have a little time to hide the M4 Colt Commando and the two Heckler and Koch MP5N's. I couldn't see the Richmond PD readily accepting the presence of two controlled access military weapons in my house. As usual Stevie didn't need to have an in depth explanation of the plan.

"I'll bewitch them with coffee and long expanses of thigh while you do your thing honey." Her sexy grin was reassuring to say the least. Twenty minutes later the cops had the bulk of my home arsenal on the back seat of their car as they drove out the gate and headed back to town. The furniture truck had left while I was organising the weapons for the police. It was finally time for me to sit down and relax.

As I wandered back inside after bidding farewell to the cops, I noticed an unnatural calm. Becky and Matt were there along with Stevie and KJ. My friends were sitting at the table sipping coffee and talking quietly among themselves so I grabbed a cup and joined them. As I sat down the discussion stopped and an uneasy silence settled over the room. I wasn't going to push it so I just sat and sipped coffee while I waited for them to tell me what was going on.

It was Matt who finally broke the silence.

"So Craig... what do you think of the place?" I didn't understand what he was talking about for a few minutes but as I looked around I noticed the not so subtle changes that had been made to the arrangement of the interior of my house while I was in hospital. I now had art on my walls and vases of fresh cut flowers decorated sideboards that weren't there a couple of days ago. Rugs and small side tables were dotted around the rooms and my kitchen actually looked like a working kitchen rather than a display room from some glossy magazine layout. Stevie was making her mark and by the look of things so far I liked her style. Getting up from the table I wandered through the house with coffee in hand, sipping and viewing the changes in my home and lifestyle. It didn't take long for me to decide that the changes were more than acceptable. I liked them. I wandered back into the dining room and sat back down at the table. You could have heard a mouse fart it was that quiet. I sat and drank coffee, aware that all eyes in the room were on me.

"So... honey... what do you think? Is it all okay? I mean I didn't know if you'd mind if I put a few feminine things around the place but it really needed it... I mean the whole house screamed MAN! I thought a little touch of femininity would even things out a little. Is it okay baby?" This was a new experience. For the first time Stevie seemed unsure of herself. So unsure that she was babbling. I briefly considered stringing it out for a while but I took pity on her. She looked so anxious it would have been mean to draw it out.

"I like it. In fact you have the run of the house. You can redecorate any room you like... with the exception of the library. That is off limits. It's a big enough room so you can put a desk and a chair in there for yourself if you want baby but that is my domain. Okay?"

"Deal!" Her squeal of happiness and the grins on the faces of KJ and Becky told me I had made the right move.

"Oh god... there goes another good man." Matt's forlorn look had me laughing in no time. "Today the house, tomorrow you'll be wearing make up. It's so sad to see a good man fall." This earned him the expected thump on the arm from Becky and a kick under the table from Stevie.

Stevie came around the table and hugged me carefully. "I love you baby. Why don't you grab some rest while we carry on here? Matt's going to help us bring the rest of your stuff in from your container. We're gonna stack it all in the library. If you want you can lie on the couch and direct operations while we put your books and stuff away."

"See what I mean buddy? You gave in with the furniture and decorating and now she's organising your time. Run... run while you still can. Put some distance between you and this female conspiracy before you're a lost cause like me." Matt was in fine form today.

And so my day was organised. I lay on the couch and watched as the books, CD's and DVD's I'd collected over the years were brought in in boxes and stacked in a corner of the room. Stevie and Becky took the books from the boxes and stacked them on the shelves while KJ and Matt kept the procession going from outside until finally the container was empty. Eventually I'd rearrange them into an order that made sense to me, but for the moment it was good enough just to get them out of the boxes.

The afternoon slid by quickly and soon dinner time rolled around and coincided perfectly with the arrival of Hemi and Sam. The fact that they had managed to arrive after the bulk of the work had been done didn't escape anyone and the ribbing that followed was brutal and merciless culminating in the assignment of dinner duties to the late arrivals. The guys acquitted themselves well and soon we were sitting down to a meal of pork satay and rice. It wasn't long before the events of the day started to catch up with me. I was tired and was looking forward to sleep but Stevie had other ideas. When I started making 'heading up to bed' noises she revealed her master plan to me.

"Come on baby. You haven't been upstairs yet and I have a couple of surprises for you. KJ's going to help me change your dressings after you've had a shower, then we can relax." She had it all figured out.

"Hey brother, we've been on a bug extermination crusade while you were lazing your ass off in the hospital so you don't have to worry about sharing any info you don't want to share," said Hemi with a wink. His oblique reference to the listening devices that Carmichael had planted in my house was for KJ's benefit. I didn't know how much Stevie and the others had told her about our situation and the involvement of Carmichael and the CIA.

"Becky and I are going to take off Craig. We'll see you tomorrow at some stage." We exchanged goodbyes as Becky and Matt headed out for the night. KJ had appointed herself in charge of the cleaning up and Hemi and Sam had parked themselves in front of the television. Looking forward to a long shower and maybe a soak in the tub I climbed the stairs with Stevie. After the changes I had seen in the downstairs areas, I was ready for anything that Stevie had done upstairs... and she didn't disappoint me.

The major addition was the entertainment centre I had seen at her house. It was set up with her 42 inch widescreen TV and sound system facing the bed and the speakers arranged to complement the TV set up. I could also see that she had been a busy wee camper and had cable installed while I was in hospital. This woman's organisational abilities were second to none.

"Now don't think this means you're gonna be able to lay in bed all day watching sports baby. There's also a DVD player there and I thought we could watch a few movies together and see if our taste is similar. Anyway let's get you in the shower."

The walk through the walk in wardrobe was educational. This lady had a lot of clothes and again I marvelled at her organisational ability. Everything was filed away in its own special place in the cubby holes on one side of the closet with skirts in one area, blouses in another, etc. Her shoes were lined up in rows on shoe racks that hadn't been there before. In stark contrast, my meagre collection of clothing was randomly scattered on my side of the closet. I also noticed a few new items of clothing in my pile. Stevie had been a busy girl.

The bathroom which had previously only contained the bare bones of what was needed for everyday ablutions now had a chaise lounge and small side table with a vase of flowers on it. New fluffy his and hers matching bath sheets hung from the towel rails and the cubby holes beside the counter were now full of more towels in bright colours. Stevie wore a proud, expectant, yet anxious look on her face, as she waited for my verdict on her work.

"Okay baby, I have to admit you've done an awesome job. Nice additions. Now throw me in the shower. I'm more than a little tired and want to get some pillow time as soon as possible." She grinned and gently pulled me close for a long soft kiss with lots of lip nibbling and tender swipes of her tongue.

"Sit down lover while I get the shower just right." I parked my ass on the chaise lounge and watched as she bustled around preparing the shower. When the water was running at a temperature that apparently satisfied Stevie, she came over and gently pulled me to my feet. As I stood there she stripped me swiftly and efficiently. In any other situation it would have been an arousing experience but Stevie's businesslike demeanour managed to keep it neutral. Stevie and I stepped into the cubicle and in a couple of minutes I was relaxing under the spray of warm water from the shower. Stevie gently washed me, massaging my tired body as she did. One of the features of the shower stall was a seat moulded into the wall of the shower. I soon found myself sitting there totally relaxed; head back and eyes closed as the water cascaded over me and Stevie rubbed my shoulders and legs. It didn't take much of this before I felt myself nodding off.

It was the cool draft of air rather than the sound of the door opening that woke me. I was still in the shower and Stevie was still gently massaging my aching muscles. It took a few seconds for me to get myself oriented and when I did the figure in the doorway of the shower made my jaw drop in shock. She was totally naked and grinning from ear to ear. As my eyes drank in the sight of her spectacular naked form Stevie wrapped her arms around me from behind. "She's gorgeous isn't she?"

I could only nod my head in agreement. As I've already stated she was spectacular. The first thing that struck me about KJ was her tattoos. Even built as beautifully as she was it was the splashes of colour and intricate designs that grabbed the attention first. Her arms were tattooed from the shoulder to mid forearm. The designs seemed random but when you looked closer the patterns intertwined and fit well with each other. Her beautiful breasts hadn't escaped the needles either. An intricate tribal design curled over and around the firm yet tender flesh of her right breast. Her left had a background of flowers and butterflies, on which there was a wizard reaching out and grasping her nipple that was pierced and adorned with a gold ring. The colours of the tattoo work were vivid yet soft and showed off her creamy complexion perfectly. As I watched her nipples crinkled and erected, a result either of the cool air on them or of my very obvious stare. My gaze moved down over her flat sexy stomach to the shaved juncture of her thighs. A small tuft of hair adorned the very top of her cleft and directly below that I could see the glint of some sort of jewellery through her clit hood. Despite my totally exhausted condition I could feel my cock twitch and start to harden. As it grew in length and girth I shifted my gaze to her legs; long firm and beautifully shaped the right thigh had an intricate pattern of mermaids and marine scenery tattooed on the outer aspect. God this woman was beautiful.