Sheriff in Her Stocking (5 page)

Upon her return
to Rick’s office, she’d taken a shower and scrubbed as much grease from her
hands and nails as possible. With a sigh, Delaney took off her jeans, lay down
on the cot, and settled her head on the pillow. She closed her eyes and didn’t
resist this time when the daytime fantasy she’d denied herself for the past
hour filled her mind.

Even though her
eyes were closed, she knew Rick stood in the doorway of the cell. She’d
deliberately shifted the cot so the foot faced the open cell’s door. She wanted
Rick to have a clear view of everything she was about to show him, every nuance
of her femininity, every detail of her body, down to the exact shape and
fullness of her clit. It was all for him, just for him and him only. She pulled
up the hem of the nightshirt she wore exposing the lower half of her naked body
to his view. With a slight smile on her lips, she moaned softly as she raised
her knees and opened her thighs. Cool air wafted against her, but she knew very
soon her own arousal would warm her from the inside out.

Easing her hand
down between her legs she rubbed her middle finger over her clit, then she
rubbed it again and again until she felt the fluid of her own body begin to
trickle out and coat her skin. The force of her self induced fiery response
began to build inside her like a warm wave. She opened her eyes to slits and
saw him standing in the doorway, his gaze riveted to her hand moving in sensual
motion as she pleasured herself. Having him watch made her feel hotter and
sexier than she’d ever felt in her life. As she stroked her clit, he took off
his belt, unzipped his pants and lowered them to his ankles.

He stepped out
of his slacks and kicked them aside. The sharp tent of his arousal inside his
briefs urged her to caress her clit more vigorously, to allow the orgasm to
take her. With a quick jerk, Rick lowered his briefs. The plump, glistening
head sprang free to taunt her. She smiled knowing her actions had made him want
her. Slowly he walked to the cot, climbed on top on his knees so that his penis
jutted proudly between his legs. He moved the tip closer and closer to her
opening until the head nudged gently inside her . . .

“Anybody home?”

Delaney’s eyes
popped open at the sound of Mark Griffin’s voice. Adrenalin pumped through her
aroused body. Panting, she sprang from the cot and shrugged into her panties.
The fluid still clinging to her body dampened the crotch, but there was nothing
she could do about it now. Her breasts tingled; her skin felt tight and
unfulfilled sexual need pounded through her. As she pulled on her jeans in
record time, Delaney glanced up at the window above the cot. Snowflakes tapped
against the pane. She tried desperately to think of snow and icy wind in an
attempt to cool her body’s erotic pique, but the fantasy of having Rick naked
on his knees ready to push inside her filled her mind instead. Delaney shook
her head to clear the vision. Footsteps moved in her direction. “I’ll be with
you a second.”

Mark’s footsteps
halted. “Okay, take your time.”

She breathed a
sigh of relief and chuckled at his choice of words. She had definitely been
taking her time enjoying every minute of her hot, carnal illusion. Realizing
her fingers were still damp, she wiped them against her jean covered thigh.

Quickly, she
brushed her hair and applied some lip gloss before heading toward Rick’s
office. Pasting a smile on her face she stepped inside. “Hi Mark. Sorry, but
Rick isn’t here.”

He turned from
where he stood facing the window. His face was flushed from the cold and
snowflakes were scattered over his heavy jacket and knitted cap. “Actually I
wasn’t here to see Rick. I’m here to see you.”  He took off his coat and
hat and flung them on a bench which sat beneath the window.

“Oh,
okay.”  She walked to one of the chairs in front of Rick’s desk and sat
down.

Mark strolled
over and perched on the edge of the desk. Once again he spilled the container
of pens and pencils. He straightened them then turned his attention toward Delaney.
A slight blush stained his cheeks. “Sorry.”  He raked a hand through his
curly hair then rested his palms on his thighs.

A frown creased
his brow as he studied her. “Are you all right?  You look kind of
flushed.”

Damn her fair
skin. Delaney forced a smile to hide her embarrassment. “I’m fine. I
was...lying down.”

“I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to wake you.”

 “You
didn’t. I was reading and had started to nod off.”  Yeah, right. She had
nodded off into an intimate world of need. “What’s up?”

“I told my uncle
about you.”

She raised her
brows. “Your uncle?”

Mark smiled.
“Yeah, he’s the mayor. He and the town council want to make some improvements
in the look of Avery to make it more desirable to tourists.”

Delaney lifted her
hands palms up. “What does that have to do with me?”

He cleared his
throat. “Montana is sponsoring a state wide contest for the best Montana
vacation destination. There are some hot springs and a hotel being built
outside of town. I told my uncle about you being a window display designer and
he was wondering if you could attend the council meeting tonight and offer
suggestions in a couple of different ways. We need not only a window display
set up at the mayor’s office but brochures as well. Food is brought in from the
diner.”  He paused for a moment. “What do you think?”

She hadn’t
planned on staying longer than it took to get her car repaired. Linc had to
order the part from Billings and he said it would take a day or two maybe
longer. At least helping the town council would give her something to do with
her time other than sit around and fantasize about Rick. “Sure, why not.”

Mark grinned.
“Great, I--“

The sheriff’s
office door swung open and an attractive woman walked in.  “Hi.”

Mark jerked his
head in the woman’s direction so fast Delaney imagined he nearly gave himself
whiplash.

She was dressed
in tight jeans, leather boots with a fur cuff around the top and a hooded, navy
parka. The woman pushed back the hood and revealed, straight, red-gold chin length
hair. Her eyes were bright green, her makeup perfectly applied.

The woman had
former beauty queen written all over her. Delaney remembered her type from high
school. Beauty queens shunned anyone who didn’t fawn over them, feed their ego
with compliments and practically beg for membership in their sacred circle of
admirers. These social empresses donned a glossy, but false pretense of
friendship only for personal gain.

 Delaney
gave friendship and loyalty to her circle of friends without reservation down
to the checker at the supermarket.

The empress
glanced around the office with regal disdain.

Mark popped up
from the desk and somehow got his foot caught on a leg of one of the chairs
sitting in front of Rick’s desk. He teetered on his feet and started to fall.

Delaney jumped
up from her chair and grabbed his upper arms to steady him. The chair crashed
to the floor.

He glanced at
the woman then back at Delaney, his face and neck turning red right down to the
tops of his ears. “Thanks, I’m okay now,” he murmured.

Delaney let him
go. He straightened smoothing down the front of his shirt with the palms of his
hands. He turned toward the woman and looked at her as though she’d just
floated down from heaven. “Hi, Lenore.”

The woman barely
glanced at Mark. “Oh, hi, Mark.”  She fixed her gaze on Delaney and gave
her a quick once-over.

Slipping off her
right glove, Lenore stepped forward until she stood directly in front of her.
“You must be the stranded traveler Rick picked up last night.” 

Her rapid
scrutiny made Delaney feel like a slug. Word got around in a small town.

She held out her
hand. “I’m Lenore Shaw. I own the local bed and breakfast.”

Delaney clasped
her hand with a brief glance at the woman’s nails. They were perfect of course,
just like the rest of her. No chipped polish or ragged cuticles. They looked as
though they’d been pampered in a salon all day. “Nice to meet you. I’m Delaney
Moore.”  Suddenly Delaney noticed the traces of grease still lodged under
her nails. Mortified, she dropped Lenore’s hand and held her own hands behind
her back   If only she’d had a nail brush to scrub them while she’d
been in the shower. She made a mental note to pick one up at the drugstore.

Lenore gave her
a cool smile. “I was hoping to see Rick.” 

Typical frosty
attitude for an empress.

Lenore brushed a
stray tendril of hair away from her cheek. “Do you know where he is or when he
might return?”  Her voice was courteous but patronizing.

“I’m not sure
exactly. He’s checking on some downed street signs and arranging repairs for a
broken street light.”

She pursed her
full lips, lifted her left hand and lightly slapped the glove she’d removed
into the palm. “Hmm, that’s too bad. I can come back I suppose.”

Mark started to
move toward Lenore and tripped on the chair still lying on its side on the
floor. He looked at Lenore, his eyes widening marginally, then stooped and
picked up the chair. He cleared his throat and threw her a sheepish smile then
looked at Delaney. “Lenore is also Avery’s only reporter for the Gazette. She
can probably help you design the brochures for the beautification project.”

A brief
expression of discomfort swept over Lenore’s face. She glanced at Mark with a
glint of irritation in her eyes then looked Delaney. “Is that why you’re here
in Avery?  To help beautify the town?”

Lenore’s
emphasis on the word beautify crawled under Delaney’s skin like a piercing
splinter. She said it with distinct mockery as though Delaney wouldn’t
understand the meaning of the word. Delaney flicked an imaginary speck of lint
from her sweater to give herself time to sooth her irritation before turning
her attention back to Lenore. “No, I got caught in the storm and my car needs
to be repaired. Mark found out I’m a window display designer and the mayor
asked if I’d attend the council meeting to offer any suggestions I might have.”

Mark stepped
forward until he stood beside Lenore, gazing at her with a wistful expression
on his face. “The meeting is tonight. I hope you can make it. I’m sure Uncle
Benjamin and the council would like to hear your ideas as well.”

Poor Mark,
Delaney thought. The man was toes over ears for Ms. Shaw and she could care
less.

Lenore gave Mark
the sort of smile a queen might bestow like a crust of bread on a peasant vying
for her attention. She started pulling on her gloves. “Well actually I--”

The door to the
sheriff’s office swung open and Rick walked in covered from head to toe in
snowflakes. His gaze locked on Delaney for a millisecond, a gaze she felt to
the center of her core before shifting to Lenore and Mark.

Lenore spun on
her heels and beamed. “Rick, I’m so glad you got here before I left.”  She
practically strutted to his side and laid a gloved hand in the middle of his
chest. Leaning slightly forward she bent her right leg, lifted her left foot
off the floor and kissed him on the cheek.

For some
ridiculous reason seeing her kiss Rick annoyed Delaney more that Lenore’s
blatant sarcasm of a moment ago.

Rick cleared his
throat. “Oh, hi, Lenore.”  He shut the door at his back, stepped away from
her and nodded at Mark. “Are you here to see me?”

“No, I came to
see Delaney.”  Even as Mark said the words he gazed at Lenore in
admiration.

Rick walked to
his desk, shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it over the back of the chair.
Raking both hands through his hair he sat down. Once again, his gaze found
Delaney. Warmth spread over her skin.

Lenore strolled
over to Rick sitting in the chair and laid a proprietary hand on his shoulder.
She glanced at Delaney out of the corner of her eyes sending her a clear
signal.

This man is mine
so don’t get any ideas. Bitch.

Did Rick know
that?

Lenore focused
her attention on Rick. “I was wondering if you could come over for supper
tonight. I’m making your favorite, beef stew with apple cobbler for dessert.”

The way she said
dessert made Delaney think Lenore was hoping for a different kind of after
dinner treat.

Rick casually
leaned back in his chair subtly dislodging Lenore’s hand from his shoulder. He
fixed his eyes on Delaney. “Delaney would be alone if I--“

“Not at all. I’m
going to the town council meeting tonight. Mark tells me they always have
food.”  She shrugged even as her stomach churned with disturbing
bewilderment.

Why should she
care if Rick spent the evening with Lenore?  So what if Rick had almost
kissed her in the garage?  Nearly locking lips didn’t mean anything. To
hell it didn’t. “Go ahead and have dinner with Lenore. But first I was
wondering if you could drive me around this afternoon so I can get a look at
the town before the meeting tonight.”  Delaney cut her gaze to Lenore
whose green eyes speared her with jealousy. Delaney raised her right brow and
smiled. Never underestimate the power of the working class, empress.

* * * *

Delaney had never wanted a man’s penis inside her more than
she did at this moment. Together she and Rick tumbled onto the seat of his
truck. They had both stripped off their clothes in a heated frenzy desperate to
be skin to skin without any barriers. His mouth crushed hers in a kiss that
stole her breath and ignited her blood. She moaned when he traced kisses over
her jaw and down her neck to her bare, aroused breasts. Taking a nipple into
his mouth he sucked hard sending ribbons of silky, hot need through her belly
and into her clit. He grasped her calves, lifted her legs and locked them
around his waist. Looming over her, his stiff cock rose between his legs ready
to take her.  “Now, Rick. Please!”