Quake (5 page)

       He lowers our hands and keeps them connected when he rests them on my leg. “My partner and I got a domestic call from an address we had been to a handful of times before. It was a seemingly nice middle aged couple with a husband who would get a little too loud when he drank excessively. They were always surprised to see us and would immediately quiet down without hesitation, apologizing repeatedly as we walked out the door. This time was different.” He pulls his hand out from under mine and runs his fingers through his short hair.

      He flags Sam down for another beer and waits until he can take a few sips before continuing. “We knocked on the door and the wife answered hysterically with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. When she stepped back to let us inside I noticed movement out of my periphery and turned to see what it was. By the time it registered that her husband had a gun aimed at her, there wasn’t time to draw my own weapon. I pushed her to the side and the bullet hit me instead. I don’t remember anything after until I woke up in the hospital two weeks later.”

      “What happened to the man who shot you?” I ask before I take another sip of my mojito.

      “My partner fatally shot him.”

            ***

      I’ve never wanted to be Elle more than in this moment. She would know how to act—she would know what to say—she would know what to do to help dispel the dark mood that’s settled over Kyle. The pall of our conversation still lingered while we finished our drinks and it’s still here, on the walk back to my apartment. I wish I hadn’t brought it up. While we walk along the mostly empty sidewalks, the street lamps illuminate his brooding profile and I know this is my moment. This is the time when I need to say something, anything, anything at all. But nothing comes. No words—no actions—nothing. He reaches out, and as our hands come together, I know we’ll find our way through this emptiness. It just won’t be through something I say or do because the more I try to come up with conversational ideas, the more my mind draws a total blank.

      He stays with me all the way to my door and as I unlock the deadbolt I can feel the heat of him against my back.

      I push the door open and step inside. “Would you like a drink?” I ask, turning to face him when he closes the door.

      He shakes his head and steps toward me with a feral gleam in his eyes. I stand frozen in place until he grips my hips with both hands, pulling me forward until our bodies are as close as they can be. He takes my lips in a punishing kiss, sucking and biting on them with more force than I’m used to.

     My hands move up his shoulders and into his hair as I clench fistfuls between my fingers. My knees go weak when his tongue moves in to play with mine. I moan into his mouth when he presses his hard cock against me.

     His palms slide down to cup my ass and control the movement of my hips against his while we continue to kiss. I gasp at the feel of his fingers against my skin when he unbuttons my pants. By the time he slides down my zipper, the air is so thick with anticipation I’m short of breath. He rips my jeans and panties down to my ankles in one hard tug and I kick them off along with my shoes. I unzip my jacket, but when I go to remove it he stops me.

      “Don’t.” His voice is deep and commanding sending tingles to all the right places on my body. He scoops me up and sits me down on the long, narrow console table in my entryway.

      My hands drop to the wooden surface behind me for balance as he lowers to his knees on the floor in front of me. My lips part, a groan escaping when I realize what he’s about to do.

      He pushes my knees up toward my chest and my head drops back against the wall at the first dip of his tongue in my pussy. He licks back and forth along the full length of my slit before slowly circling my clit.

      “You taste fucking incredible,” he says, his face still buried between my legs as he continues devouring me. His stubble rasps the skin on my legs as he buries his tongue in my pussy. He bites my inner thigh and I moan.

      My hands move to grip his shoulders and pull him closer.

     “Hands on the table,” he orders, his husky voice vibrating against my clit. I immediately comply, afraid he’ll stop if I don’t. His fingers slide inside me to push on the perfect spot and he uses his other hand to expose my clit, now ready for his torturous tongue. I thrust my hips toward his mouth as I get closer to finding my release.

      “Hold still or I’ll stop,” he growls out.

      “Please,” I beg. “Don’t stop.” I barely get the words out before his mouth sucks harder on my clit while he works his fingers inside of me. It only takes me a minute before I shake and moan my way through my orgasm.

     
Jesus that was intense.

Kyle

     
If Janny never speaks to me again I won’t blame her. Not after the way our date ended tonight. I left almost immediately after I pounced on her in her entryway. Bringing her to orgasm twice was overshadowed by the mere brushing of our lips. I rushed out of there, without a second glance, like she meant nothing to me. I shake my head, disgusted with myself at the way I treated her—she makes me lose all fucking control.

      I pull off my t-shirt and think about the expression on her face when I said goodbye. She looked shocked and confused. I acted like a complete asshole. I kick off my jeans, leaving them on the floor before climbing in bed, wearing only my black boxer briefs. I adjust my pillow, place my hands behind my head and begin to replay the situation in my mind.

      Our conversation at the bar wasn’t something I expected to deal with. It’s been three years since my life changed so drastically and I’m still not in a good place about it. I don’t think I ever will be. There are moments where I’m content with the new direction my life has taken, but I’m a cop—I’ll always be a cop. Just because I’m no longer physically capable doesn’t change my mindset. Sometimes the resentment I feel about all I’ve lost churns in my gut and I struggle to control it. I usually end up at the gym, beating on the heavy bag until my anger goes away. Tonight on our date, that option wasn’t possible and when she kept asking me questions I didn’t want to answer, my mood went to a dark place, escalating until I was ready to snap.

      Unfortunately, I took my anger out on her sexually and, although I know I made her come, the whole encounter had a cold, distant feeling to it. It’s not how I wanted our first time being intimate to go. I don’t want to be that guy with Janny. She’s special to me and she deserves so much more. I’ll make it up to her somehow—I have to.

      I reach over and pick up my cellphone off of my nightstand. I have to know if she’s mad at me before I can sleep. I peer at the time on the front of my screen. Eleven o’clock. I hope she’s still awake—I can’t wait until tomorrow to send her this message. It needs to be now.

   
 
I’m sorry about the way our date ended. I didn’t mean to leave so abruptly.

I press send and hope for a reply. It only takes a minute before my incoming message notification goes off.

   
It’s ok. I had a great time with you.

I’m shocked by her answer, I expected to read the opposite.

     
If you agree to go out with me again, I promise to make it up to you.

I type the message and wait to see what she says. When her answer comes in, I read it and it makes me smile.

     
Of course I’ll go out with you again. Call me tomorrow.

Janny is even sweeter than I imagined if she’s willing to give me another chance this early in the game. Thank God she has such a forgiving nature.

     
I will. Goodnight.

     
With the dawn of a new day comes a new sense of purpose, as I resolve to do a better job of keeping a tighter lid on the darkest parts of me. I can’t scare Janny off before she gets to know me and if I act like a moody prick, that’s what’s going to happen.

      I sit down behind my desk to go over my notes on the Moore case and also read the report Ben sent me. He went over Bryan’s financials with a fine tooth comb and didn’t find any red flags. No large deposits had been added to his personal bank accounts, only some international banking, which he’ll be looking into. I just hope, for Janny’s sake there isn’t more to Bryan than meets the eye.

      I called Janny on my lunch break and asked her to come to dinner tonight at my place. She agreed and now I’m nervous as hell. I don’t want to make a wrong move with her and I feel like after last night I’ve already used up my one get out of jail free card. Any more fuck ups and it will be over before we’ve even started.

      I spent the rest of my afternoon booking new clients and cleaning up my place. My two-bedroom condo is in an old red brick building, which was converted in the late nineties.
There are twelve large, open floor plan units with exposed beams and open ductwork. I’ve been here for two years and only know my neighbors well enough to wave hello in passing, which is how I prefer it. I love how this building was originally built in the mid-eighteen hundreds and used as a factory where rifles were fabricated.
I probably appreciate this fact more than most due to my law enforcement background.

      Janny knocks on my door right at seven o’clock. As I walk in that direction, I wipe my damp palms on my jeans and take a final glimpse around to make sure everything looks as it should. The minute my hand closes around the cold steel of the knob my nerves fade away as excitement races through my veins. I pull the door open and a slow smile lifts my lips as I see her. She has on jeans with a Boston University hoodie and her hair is in a messy bun on top of her head. She looks adorable.

      “Hi,” I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her inside my condo. Once the door is shut, her back’s against it and my lips are on hers. I’m amazed at the softness of her cheeks under my palms when I cup her face and continue to gently move my lips over hers. I’m trying to keep this moment innocent, only soft lingering kisses, but she’s making these breathy little sounds, driving me crazy and testing my fucking resolve. When I lift my mouth from hers, her lips cling to mine as though she’s not ready for our kiss to end. My hands remain cupping her cheeks while I gaze down at her captivating flushed face.

      “Hi,” I say again and we both start to laugh.

      “Hi,” she answers me, gifting me with the most dazzling smile. Her natural beauty literally steals my breath from me.

      “Did you run into any problems finding my place?” I ask. I let my hands fall from her cheeks to her shoulders, gently caressing over them to slide down to hold her hands.

      “No, not at all. You actually live closer to me than I realized.”

      I let go of her as she kicks her sneakers off by the door. “Please make yourself at home while I get you a drink. What would you like?”

      She takes a seat on my black leather couch before answering. “I’d love a glass of water.” She tucks her legs up under her so she’s sitting with them crisscrossed like she’s still a little kid. She looks tiny on my huge couch and seeing her there definitely improves the scenery.

      In the kitchen I add ice and water to a glass and grab the bowls of salsa and chips I prepared. It’s not much, but it’s enough to tide us over until the food I ordered is delivered.

      “I thought you might be hungry,” I say, setting it all down on the coffee table. “I ordered Chinese food, but it’s going to be awhile until it’s delivered.”

      Her eyes follow me until I’m seated next to her. She turns to face me, tucking one leg under her, resting one of her elbows on the back of the couch and her head in her palm. I turn to face her, mimicking her position and smile at how fucking enchanting she is. I like having her here in my condo, she’s the first woman I’ve ever invited over. 

      “I hope I got all your favorites. I tried to remember what you told me, but sometimes my memory is shit.”

      “I’ll eat pretty much anything you’ve ordered,” she says, placing my mind at ease. “I’m not picky at all so don’t even worry about it.”

      I reach forward, sliding my hand along the curve of her neck until I cup the back of it with my fingers. I pull her toward me as I move to meet her lips with mine—I can’t wait any longer to taste them.

      Her eyes drift shut at the first contact between our mouths. Her lips are soft and warm as I tease them with mine. She gasps when I bite on her lower lip, tugging it with my teeth, before running my tongue along the luscious curve of it. Her hands fist my shirt and pull me to her. I can feel the swell of her breasts through her sweatshirt and it makes me want to feel every inch of her pressed against me. Our mouths meet and when her tongue joins mine, it makes me wonder what it would feel like moving along the length of my thick cock.

      I push her down on the couch, lowering myself on top of her. I groan into her mouth when she tugs on my hair and wraps her legs around my hips. The heat of her cunt is surrounding my painfully hard dick. She’s so tiny, I don’t want to hurt her with my full weight. I’m at war with myself over wanting to be careful with her and wanting to completely destroy her.

      I’m trying to talk myself out of fucking her right here on my couch, when we’re interrupted by a knock on the door. I pull my lips from hers, both of us breathing heavy as I run my nose along the length of hers.

      “I didn’t mean to get so carried away, but I can’t resist your lips.” I push myself up off of her and hold my hand out to help her sit up. While I walk across the living room I push down on my still hard dick with one hand and reach in my pocket for some money with the other. When I open the door and hand it over to the delivery guy, I realize I’ve ordered way too much food. I smile as I take the two large bags from him. I hope Janny’s hungry.

      “Let’s eat,” I tell her, carrying it to the kitchen. I place the bags down on the granite counter and motion with my head toward the end cabinet. “Mind grabbing a few plates?” I ask, as I remove the various cartons. As she crosses the room to the row of walnut cabinets, my eyes follow, roaming over the length of her body. The sight of her curvy ass in her tight jeans makes my dick hard. When she stands on her tiptoes to reach the plates in the upper cabinet, she’s so fucking cute, it gives me an ache in the middle of my chest.

***

      “Have you ever been in love?” she asks before taking a bite of dumpling.

      “No. I had girlfriends in high school and college, but being Kenna’s primary caretaker didn’t leave me time for anyone else. She had to be my first priority and I knew no one would be satisfied taking the back seat to her.” I take a sip of water and try not to think about how uncomfortable answering questions makes me. I school my expression when I glance at her, wanting her to be comfortable asking me more. I know this is important to her and as much as I hate talking about myself, I know it’s something I need to do.

      “What about once Kenna was out of the house? You never had any relationships then?” She tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear and waits for my answer.

      “No, I didn’t do relationships. I dated some, but being on the police force kept me busy. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t behave like a saint. I had enough attention from women, I just never met anyone I felt the urge to be with.”

     
Until now.

      
I hear those words in my head, but I can’t say them aloud. I’m trying to figure out how this is going to go. I’m still trying to talk myself out of becoming involved any more than I already am. I know I’m all wrong for her, but I don’t think I can stay away. I told myself tonight would be the last time I could be with her, the last time I could kiss her, but my desire for Janny is too strong to set her free. She calms my demons and makes me feel whole again. She makes me forget about all the ways my life has changed in the past few years and she makes me feel like the man I used to be.

      I take a sip of water and peer at her over the top of my glass watching her eat a piece of chicken. She doesn’t seem bothered by what I’ve said.

      “What about you?” I ask. “Ever been in love?” I notice her lips tighten before she places her fork down. She uses her napkin to wipe her mouth before carefully spreading it out in her lap.

      “I was in love with my high school boyfriend, the one who died in the fire with my parents. David and I dated for a couple of years and we were going off to college together.” She looks up at me her eyes filled with sadness. “After he passed, I didn’t date anyone until my ex-boyfriend, Josh. He and I were together for a year, but I never fell in love with him. We’re still close friends though and get together when we can. His friendship is important to me.”

      Great, just what I want to deal with—an ex-boyfriend who still wants in her pants. I’m a guy, I know his M.O. He probably still loves her and wants her back. I can’t blame him—she’s fucking perfection.