A Slow Burn // Brian 'Otis' Zvonecek // Chicago Fire ✔️

59 || OTIS'S CANE

On the morning after Otis and Riley returned from their honeymoon, and the morning of Otis's next medical examination, the sun shone brightly into the room. The melodic chirping of the birds outside stirred Otis awake and as he opened his eyes, it taking a few hard blinks to adjust to light of the already opened curtains, he quickly found that the bed next to him was empty.

Normally when he reached his arm out to his side and felt nothing but bed instead of Riley, like he would have hoped to feel, it would have filled him with a small amount of worry or fear that maybe she had left him during the night or changed her mind about being with him. He knew it was stupid, but sometimes he just couldn't help it.

But now that they were officially married, waking up to an empty bed didn't make Otis feel any of that anymore, not after he had heard Riley's vows on their wedding day in which she promised she'd never, ever leave him. Those were words he'd never want to forget and they were words that he most likely never would.

The opening of the bathroom door made Otis quickly shut his eyes again as he pretended to be asleep, hearing the soft footsteps of Riley walking towards their chest of drawers at the opposite end of the bed with nothing but a towel wrapped around her.

"I know you're awake." Riley called over, much to Otis's disappointment as he'd been kind of hoping she'd come over to him to try and wake him up so he could pull her back into the bed with him. So it looks as though he'd have to improvise. "You need to get a move on if you want to make this appointment."

"What's the point?" Otis sighed out, making Riley stop what she was doing and turn to him, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "The doc's just gonna say I'm worse than I was last time?"

"Baby? Where's this coming from?" Riley asked softly as she began to move closer to Otis, who was struggling to hold back his smile as this has been exactly what he'd been hoping for. "What happened to all that optimism you had last night?"

"I don't know." Otis exhaled as he sat up a little bit, watching out of the corner of his eye as Riley got closer to him. "Maybe I should just give up. Let's Cordova have my spot permanently."

"Brian Zvonecek, I know you didn't just say what I think you did." Riley said in her stern tone that didn't often make an appearance. "If you think I'm gonna let you give up that easy, you've got another thing coming. So you better get your fine ass out of this bed otherwise I'll-" Riley was cut off as Otis reached forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her onto his lap and causing a surprised squeal to leave her lips.

"You'll what?" Otis whispered into her ear, sending a chill down her spine that was curved against his chest to allow them to fit together perfectly. "You'll make me?"

"I will." Riley gasped out as she felt Otis's fingers brush her hair to one side and his lips connect with her neck. She pushed herself further back against him, soft hums leaving her lips at the slight roughness of his moustache against her skin. "But not in the way you're hoping."

"Perhaps I can change your mind." Otis teased, his breath hot against Riley's skin and he could feel the goosebumps it had caused to form on her arms. He always loved how Riley reacted in moments like this. The way he could make her feel when he kissed her or touched her, or even when he just looked at her. It was a constant reminder of how attracted she was to him and he still couldn't believe just how lucky he was to be able to call her his wife.

"So what you said..." Riley began, a touch breathlessly. "All that was what? An act?"

"It was." Otis replied, his lips moving slowly down Riley's neck and he could see the way she was biting her lip, stopping those breathy moans he always loved to hear from escaping. "I needed a way to get you over here so I could do this."