Nightmare in Night Court (4 page)

“I’m not gay!” Mr. Bates yelled again. Apparently, the possibility that he might be a necrophiliac, or a narcoleptic for that matter, didn’t seem to bother him, as long as we knew that he was heterosexual.

“Why did you toss Mr. Peterman at Officer Gallagher, Mr. Bates?” Judge Epstein asked my client.

“It was North Philly at night and some guy dressed like a deadbeat, no pun intended, ordered me to stop. I was scared!” It said something about North Philly that the guy carrying the dead body was scared.

“It's true, Your Honor, that Officer Gallagher wasn’t in uniform, but he did identify himself as a police officer,” Mr. Brenner offered.

“And I was supposed to believe him?” Mr. Bates asked, sounding incredulous. “You know what kind of crazy people are walking around out there these days?”

“All right! Enough already!” Judge Epstein broke in. “That explanation is
so
stupid that I actually believe it.”

“You do?” I asked, wondering if I had heard her wrong.

“Yeah. I do. But he still couldn’t just walk out the door with a dead body. Charge him with Receiving Stolen Property. Did he spend the night in jail?”

“Defendant served 24 hours, Your Honor,” Mr. Brenner answered.

“Time served. Fines and costs.” She banged her gavel.

“Wait a minute! That’s it?” Gladys screeched.

“That’s it!” Judge Epstein snapped back. Her clerk handed her a paper, which she quickly read. “Half hour recess!” she called out and got up to leave. The minute she was gone, the lights seemed to get brighter.

As I escorted Mr. Bates off to meet with a deputy, who would take him to fill out his paperwork, Braden walked over to the courtroom door and gestured subtly for me to join him. I smiled with anticipation, and followed.

We walked down the hall casually. I was about to turn the corner toward the vending machine room, when Braden steered me in the other direction. “Where are we going?” I asked, looking up at him, intrigued.

“For a trip down memory lane,” he answered with a smile, and I saw that he was headed for the District Attorney’s on site office suite.

“We can’t do that in there anymore,” I said coyly, feeling my tummy flutter at the memory of how we had utilized the negotiation rooms back when Braden was a prosecutor and I was a public defender.

“I asked Mr. Brenner earlier if he would mind if we discussed a case in there privately, and he said it was no problem.” He held the door open for me and I walked inside. Thankfully, we were the only ones there. “I think that he may have suspected, though, because he did remind me that the negotiation room doors don’t lock.” 

He led the way down the hall to the furthest room, and then stepped aside to let me pass by. I went in, flipped the light on, and turned to face him. I immediately recognized the look on his face, and my breathing quickened in response, as my pulse shot up. The hot Braden sex look always did me in.

“Just like old times,” I said in a husky voice.

“Watching you in court always turns me on,” he said crossing the room in one stride and pinning me up against the wall. He began trailing kisses up my neck and along my jaw. I sighed happily and buried my fingers in his hair.

“Watching that case turned you on? What are you a narcoleptic?” I teased and he laughed, which tickled my neck deliciously.

I pulled his mouth to mine, and took the initiative, letting my tongue explore freely. Suddenly, I wanted to make this beautiful man, whom I loved so much, feel
really
good. I grabbed that sexy ass of his, and ground my hips against him, reveling in how hard I could make him so quickly. I pushed him back and undid his trousers. Giving him a naughty smile, I dropped to my knees as he placed his palms flat against the wall to brace himself. “Oh yeah,” he said, his voice vibrating with arousal, as I freed him from his boxers.

Looking up into his eyes, I leaned in and ran my tongue teasingly around his tip, and then gripped him at the base, and slid him into my mouth until he hit up against the back of my throat. He let out a low groan that sent a surge of tingling warmth flowing between my legs. Exciting him excited me.

I knew what he liked and I gave it to him, twisting my fist as I pumped up and down, lightly scraping him with my teeth as I pulled him out of my mouth and sucked him back in, swirling my tongue along the sensitive underside, and then finally, reaching down between his legs to gently cup and squeeze his balls. Suddenly, he grabbed my head and held me still.

“Stop,” he bit out in a low, thick voice. “Ladies first.” I knew that making me come was important to Braden, and I wasn’t about to deny either one of us. I eased him out of my mouth and he helped me to my feet. It was his turn to drop to his knees.

He looked up at me with those eyes like the blue part of a flame, and eased my skirt up over my hips, tugging my panties down around my ankles and helping me out of them. He lifted my right leg, hooked it over his shoulder, and began trailing kisses along my inner thigh above the lacy top of my stocking.

I felt his warm breath caress me intimately a moment before his tongue did, and I gasped and leaned back, feeling the cool concrete press against my skin through the fabric of my blouse. His tongue lapped against my entrance, teasing me, and making me ache for him to fill me up. I whimpered and grabbed his hair, pressing myself harder against that silky mouth. The strokes he made grew broader, as he inched higher and higher. My muscles felt as tight as piano wire, while I waited with anticipation for the explosion of pleasure that I knew was seconds away.

The sounds of my rasping breath, and my low moans, echoed off the walls. He was still moving higher, getting so close, almost there. I was starting to shake, and then the velvety wet heat of his tongue rolled over my throbbing clit, and the leg supporting me gave out. He held me up in place with a steel grip at my waist, never even pausing, as he continued to drive me out of mind with his talented mouth. The ache grew so intense that I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to feel him inside me.

“Braden, please. Oh God, please Braden,” I begged in desperation, my voice rising in pitch. He knew what I wanted.

“Shh,” he warned and I felt him smile against me. He eased my leg down, stood up, and took me into his arms, guiding me toward the center of the room. “Do you think you can be quiet?” he whispered in my ear and I nodded mutely. I tended to be a rather noisy lover, but I had gotten better over time. “Bend over the desk, I’m going to take you from behind,” he instructed firmly, and I almost swooned.

I nodded again and leaned across the desk, feeling him ease my skirt up higher and caress my bottom. His fingers slid between my legs, stroking me, and testing to make sure I was ready for him. Mother Nature had blessed Braden abundantly, and he was always careful not to hurt me. His fingers withdrew and I felt his hard length slide up against my wet heat. I braced myself.

“I’m ready,” I mumbled thickly, and he positioned himself to enter me, grabbed my hips, and slid home. I softly sobbed with pleasure and held onto the edge of the desk. “Yes.” I gasped. “More.” He rubbed my back with one hand and started talking to me in a low, seductive voice, while he pulled back and pushed into me harder.

“Baby you’re so sexy, so confident. I love watching you.” He pulled back again and thrust forward, filling me completely. I bit my lip so I wouldn’t cry out. “Love how strong you are, so beautiful. You get me so hard.” He started building his rhythm while he told me how much I excited him. God, I loved it when he talked to me like that while he took me. Braden and I knew just what to do to make each other feel good.

I got lost in sensation, somehow feeling every inch of my body, while at the same time, so intensely focused on the pleasure that flowed from between my legs, where he was pounding into me, up into my belly. I was dizzy with it, floating on a wave of bliss, and then I felt the delicious pressure begin to build and my tummy got tighter. I started to climb quickly, losing control of my body, half out my mind with ecstasy.

“Oh God. Oh God. Braden. Oh God!” My legs stiffened and I went over the edge as my inner muscles contracted forcefully. He knew I was coming, and he started pumping his hips harder and faster. The waves of heat crashed over me and I clenched against him over and over, shivering and moaning with orgasmic delight.

He slammed into me one final time and I felt his fingers dig into my skin as he ground out “Gabrielle,” groaned, and went still. A few seconds passed with only the sound of us breathing heavily before he pulled back and eased me up, turning me around and pulling me into his arms as he leaned on the desk. We stood there holding each other while we recovered. 

He looked down into my eyes. “It’s not just in court. I love watching you.” He paused and began to stroke my hair. “I love you.” I swallowed around the lump in my throat.

“I love you too, Braden. I can’t even express how much.”

“Let’s get pregnant,” he said, watching my reaction carefully.

“I think our half hour’s almost up,” I joked.

“Not now.” He laughed. “Even though I’ve always loved these sexy courthouse trysts of ours, I don’t want our child to be conceived in Night Court. Why don’t you make an appointment with your doctor? We’ll find out the healthy way to have you off the pill.”

“You’re serious,” I said, feeling a tingling down my spine and a nervous flutter in my tummy.

“Yeah, I’m serious. We’ve been happily married for a year. Adam and Lily are already trying,” he said, reminding me that two of our closest friends had decided that they wanted to start a family.

“But, what about our practice? We’ll be short two lawyers if both Lily and I are out on maternity leave.”

“Drew will be graduating in May,” he said, mentioning his younger brother who was in his last year of law school. “We can afford to take on more staff.”

“Do you think we’re ready to be parents?”

“We’ve done a great job with Bruno.”

“Braden, Bruno is a Chihuahua.”

“He’s very well grounded for a Chihuahua. It’s a high-strung breed.”

“Okay.” I smiled.

“Okay? You mean …”

“Okay, let’s get pregnant.” I smiled. “Just not in Night Court on Halloween.” He smiled back and pulled me into a tight embrace. I hated to let go of him, but I knew we didn’t have a choice. I also knew that I would be falling asleep in his arms that night, and waking up with him the next morning. As we tidied ourselves up, I looked at him, feeling love warm me. He had that look of sleepy post-coital euphoria that I adored.

“You look like you need a nap,” I teased as I pulled my panties back on and pulled my skirt down over my hips.

“Yeah. I hope the rest of this night goes quickly,” he said as he refastened his trousers.

“Get ready for round three,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Chapter Three

When we got back into the courtroom, Mr. Brenner informed me that an agent from the Immigration and Naturalization Service had finally shown up, and that, as an added bonus, he had brought an agent from the Department of Homeland Security with him.  He pointed out a bland-looking guy in a blue suit, who stood next to a bland-looking woman in a blue suit, who stood next to a stack of papers that they must have brought in with a wheelbarrow. I took a deep breath and the two of us went over to brief Uncle Sam.

“Hello, I’m Matt Brenner, from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. This is Gabrielle Pierce, who represents Mr. Smith.”

“Mike Fisher from INS. This is Susan Brooks from the Department of Homeland Security. We understand you have a foreign national here charged with a crime.”

“I wouldn’t say he’s a foreign national, more an interplanetary visitor.” I smiled.

Mr. Fisher looked at Ms. Brooks. Then both of them looked at Mr. Brenner. I had a feeling they didn’t have much in way of a sense of humor, or possibly a pulse. 

“He’s in need of a psychiatric evaluation,” Mr. Brenner explained slowly, in case the words were too big for the Stepford agents, “But apparently, the fact that he claims to be from another planet, is enough to trigger a federal investigation.”

“Well, he’s going to have to fill out some paperwork,” Ms. Brooks offered in a monotone voice. Interestingly, I noted that she actually kind of resembled the paperwork piled next to her, at least in personality.

I decided to give it a try, “Folks, what Mr. Brenner is saying, is that Mr. Smith isn’t really from another planet; he’s mentally ill. He needs to go to a hospital.”

“He’s still going to have to fill out the paperwork,” Mr. Fisher replied and I sighed. Okay, they wanted Captain Kirk to fill out paperwork, that was fine with me. I went off in search of Mr. Smith. I found him in the vending machine room, talking to a beverage dispenser, and I led him back to meet Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dumber.

When I got back to the courtroom, it was immediately clear that there was some kind of situation going on. A group of deputies were meeting with the Spirit Hunters Team. Burt was gesturing wildly and the rest of them were nodding. I didn’t see Ernie anywhere, though. I led Mr. Smith over to the government think tank, and tracked down Braden to ask him what was going on.

“Is there some sort of crisis in the spirit realm?” I asked.

“Ernie is missing.”

“Missing?” I raised an eyebrow, inquisitively.

“Missing. He went off to retrieve some equipment and he never came back. I’m thinking that maybe he’s with Mr. Marley, who is also still MIA.”

“Oh hey, that reminds me, Edna Manson said something weird.”

“That’s not really surprising. Edna Manson’s pretty weird in general, Gabrielle.”

“Yeah, she is kind of creepy,” I agreed, “but listen to this, she claims that Mr. Marley’s case is just supposed to be administrative, because Mr. Marley died of a heart attack before it could be resolved.”

“What?” he asked turning to look at me. “He was sitting right over there, in the vortex area. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“Wait, it gets better. This fatal heart attack happened in, you guessed it, 1905, in this very courtroom.”