by Peyton Banks
“Not sure if you know this.” His lips skimmed her skin and sent an electric current through her body. “But there was an invention that allows you to get in and go to whatever destination you want. You can travel quite a distance in it, too.”
She giggled. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, they call them cars.”
He licked and nipped her skin until he came back to her lips. He captured her mouth in the sweetest of kisses that completely took her breath away. She could still taste the tanginess of herself. She returned the kiss with the same fervor.
“I think I’ve heard of ’em.” She laid her country twang on stronger, and his dick jerked against her leg.
Hmm…someone liked her drawl.
“Good. Now when do you leave?”
“Tomorrow after our final sign-out with your captain.”
“Is that so?”
Myles pushed off the bed and flipped her over onto her stomach. He hefted her up onto her knees. She spread her legs wide, anticipating what was to come. The blunt tip of his cock nestled itself between her slick folds.
“Well, looks like we are going to have to make the most of the time we have left.”
He sank deep into her, and they both released a groan.
She balled her hands into tight fists, bunching the sheets in them.
Myles pulled back and slammed hard inside her, eliciting a cry to spill from her lips.
She prayed morning didn’t come too fast.
Chapter 13
“If you check your phone one more time, I’m going to take it and throw it out that window over there,” Ash murmured.
Myles lifted his head and glanced at his friend. They were seated in the conference room waiting for Mac and Declan to enter. Leaving Roxxy’s hotel this morning had been one of the hardest things he had ever done.
Her mussed hair, swollen lips, and perfect skin had him wanting to stay, but they both had to get to work.
“I’m not doing anything but browsing the internet,” he replied.
“Sure you are. I know that look.” Ash chuckled. He leaned back in his chair with an all-knowing glint in his eyes.
Here we go.
“We all know that look,” Iker chimed in from behind him.
“Shut up.” Myles tried to ignore their heckling.
“Where’d you go when you left the bar last night?” Zain asked.
“None of your fucking business, that’s where.” He turned around and found all eyes on him.
The entire team had gone out to their favorite pub and had a few rounds of drinks. Whenever they had a hard call, they blew off steam. By the third rounds of drinks, he couldn’t get Roxxy out of his mind. He didn’t have her number to call or text her so he did the next best thing.
Showed up at her hotel room late at night.
He had been half expecting her to close the door in his face, but instead she had opened the it, standing in nothing but a silk robe holding a pink Glock.
Now that’s a woman.
There was no way in hell he was telling them anything about what went on between him and Roxxy. Before Roxxy, he’d share a story or two with women he’d been with.
But not this time.
Not Roxxy.
His lips were sealed.
“I think I know where he went,” Iker teased.
“Oh, I know my friend quite well. I’m sure I can guess, too.” Ash barked a laugh. “It had something to do with a little sexy auditor.”
Myles raised both hands in the air with his middle fingers extended.
“Myles not sharing details means only one thing,” Brodie announced.
“He’s pussy-whipped,” Iker and Zain shouted simultaneously.
“A pussy has tamed the all mighty Myles Burton.” Brodie cackled.
Myles snickered and shook his head. He couldn’t help it. His teammates were nutcases, and there was no one else he’d rather be on a team with. He turned around in his seat at the sound of the door opening.
“Glad you men are in better sprits,” Mac said, entering the room.
Declan followed close behind and stood next to him. This was a standard meeting SWAT had to discuss important business.
The room simmered down. By the looks of Mac and Declan, they were getting straight to business.
“There’s a few things on the agenda we need to go over.” Mac paused and placed his hands behind his back. His legendary scowl was on his face.
The room quieted, waiting for him to continue.
“We’ve gone back over all the notes and details about our potential candidate to join our team. We have extended the offer for an interview to Officer Knight who has accepted. We will be hosting a team interview with her first. Then she’ll meet with Dec and myself. We’ll regroup afterwards and vote. If she has majority of the vote, then she’ll interview with the captain.”
“Here’s her CV. Take your time and review it. This will give you a background on her and her work history.” Declan walked around and handed out the papers to each member of the team. “Make sure you have some good questions for her.”
Declan took a seat in the front of the room once he was done.
Knight seemed like a solid candidate. Team interviews gave the men a chance to speak with the prospective member to get to know them, get a feel for them and see if they would blend in. Tryouts were to get a taste of their skills.
Fitting in with the team was everything.
Every man had to be sure they could trust each team member to cover their six.
The meeting continued, with Mac announcing they would be interviewing Knight on Monday morning. Mac spoke about training and upcoming vacations.
Myles reached for his phone. Now that he and Roxxy had officially exchanged numbers, she had promised she’d text him when she was about to leave the precinct. He wanted to at least see her one last time before she got on the road to go home.
Never would he have thought he would consider a relationship with a woman, let alone one who lived a little way away.
Glancing at the screen, he saw he had not missed any messages.
The sound of a whip being cracked filled the air.
Myles’s head flew up.
Ash had his face covered, his shoulders shaking.
Myles looked around and found Brodie, Iker, and Zain dying of laughter.
Ash pulled his hand away to reveal tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Ha, ha,” Myles snapped. He dropped his phone down on the table and glared at all of them before rotating back to Mac.
“I’m sure someone will catch us up to whatever is going on,” Declan said with a small smile on his lips.
“There’s nothing for you to be caught—” Myles was cut off by the shrill ringing and buzzing of cell phones. His gaze dropped down to his phone, and he saw it was the dispatcher.
They were getting called out on an assignment.
“SWAT, let’s roll out in five minutes,” Mac barked.
The sounds of chairs scraping filled the air.
Laughter and jokes were gone.
It was time to suit up.
“Roxxy Lynn, are you going to tell me why you have returned from the city with a glow?”
Roxxy jumped and spun around. Her mother stood behind her with her hip leaning against the counter.
Roxxy bit back a smile. She turned back to the dishes in the sink and washed a plate. There was no way she’d be able to look Shelby Sutton in the eye and tell her a lie.
Her mother could always tell.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” She’d been back in town for a few days and had already spoken to Myles a few times. They’d missed each other when she’d submitted all final reports at the station. Apparently, he and the team had been called out on an operation.
“Oh, I think you do.” Shelby came to stand beside Roxxy with a drying cloth in her hand. She picked up a dish and wiped it dry before placing it in the cabinet. She bumped Roxxy with her hip play
fully. “Go ahead, you can tell me.”
A grin spread across her lips. Shelby Sutton had missed her calling in life. She could have been an FBI agent or CIA with the way she sniffed out information.
“Mom, I’m a grown woman.”
“Oh, is that how it is?”
The twinkle in Shelby’s eyes made Roxxy bite her lip to keep from groaning. They were as close as mother and daughter could be. Growing up, Roxxy had always shared everything with her. From her first crush, her first kiss, to even the crap Korey had pulled on her.
“You’ve never returned home from an assignment with such a pep in your step.”
Did she want to tell her about Myles yet?
That would mean spilling the beans that she’d had a one-night stand with him—twice.
What would she think?
“Okay, okay, okay.” Roxxy faced her. She would only tell her the PG version of the story just to get her off her back. “You have to promise not to say a word to Dad.”
“I knew it!” Shelby jumped in place with a large smile on her face.
Roxxy rolled her eyes. Looking at her mom was like peering into a mirror that revealed what she’d look like in thirty years.
“I can keep a secret from your father.”
“Calm down, geesh.” Roxxy snagged a kitchen towel and dried her hands. “If you must know, I met someone.”
“A man. I knew it.” Her mother paused, her brown eyes growing wide. “Was he handsome?”
“Yes,” Roxxy sighed, thinking of Myles’s devilish good looks. She couldn’t fight the silly grin from spreading now. Just thinking of Myles had her feeling all giddy inside. “He’s tall, muscular, bald head.”
“I’m liking what I’m hearing so far.”
“Mom!” Roxxy burst out laughing at her mom’s response.
“I may be your mother, but I’m still a woman.” Shelby shrugged.
Jesus, help me. Roxxy closed her eyes, not wanting to go down the train of thought of Shelby being a ‘woman’.
“Too much information,” she muttered, turning back to the sink. She dove her hands in the warm soapy water in search of the next plate. After she’d finished cleaning the dishes she would take Sunshine for a run. Whenever she was gone too many days in a row, her faithful mare knew. Roxxy would have to go groveling for forgiveness. A nice bag of apples always seemed to do the trick. Sunshine would be eating out of her hands in no time and all would be forgiven.
“Hush, girl. Now finish telling me about Mr. Tall and Muscular. What’s his name?”
“Myles Burton. He’s on the SWAT team. Former Army—”
“Any good in bed?”
“Mom!” she exclaimed. She faced Shelby in shock. If she had pearls around her neck, she’d be clutching them now. She stood unable to form any words.
“Now don’t go looking at me like that. You got here somehow, and it was not immaculate conception.” Her mother pushed Roxxy out of the way. She gripped the dishrag from the water and wrung it. She let the water out and hummed like it was any other day they’d cleaned the kitchen together.
“For all I care to know I was delivered by a big white stork.” Roxxy threw her hands up in the air and stepped away from her. There was no way she was thinking of her parents having sexual relations to conceive her.
The stork came, dropped off baby Roxxy Lynn, and that was how it had gone down.
“You still haven’t answered my question, but I already got my answer. It’s written all over your face.” Shelby wiped down the countertops and shook her hand in the air at Roxxy.
“I’m done with this conversation.” Roxxy chuckled. She moved back to the sink and ran the water to rinse out the final suds. They had cleaned the kitchen countless amounts of times tougher, and working beside her mother was second nature.
“I just hope he treats you better than Korey,” Shelby muttered.
Roxxy paused at what she was doing. When it came to Korey and Myles, there was no comparing them. Myles didn’t have a dishonest bone in his body. Korey, on the other hand, she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. She glanced out the window and stared off onto the lands that surrounded the house. The Sutton farm was full of lush greenery. It was where she’d grown up and it would always be a part of her. “In the small amount of time I’ve known him, he’s practically wiped Korey from my memory.”
“Sounds like he’s a good man then,” Shelby replied quietly.
Roxxy turned and met her mom’s wise gaze. “He is.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.”
Roxxy shut off the water and glanced around the kitchen. She hadn’t realized how much time had passed. The kitchen practically glowed. Now she would go for a ride. She couldn’t wait. The feel of having her horse beneath her and the wind blowing through her hair was one of her favorite outdoor activities.
“We’re going to take it a day at a time. You know, test the waters out.”
“That’s smart.”
“Yeah. I just don’t want to be hurt again the way Korey did me.” She grew silent thinking of all the hateful things Korey had said to her. As if she’d driven him to cheat on her. He hadn’t been a man and taken responsibility for his actions—no, according to him, it was her fault.
“Listen, baby.” She took Roxxy by her hands and entwined their fingers together.
Roxxy stared up at her and felt as if she were a teenager again. Shelby had a knack for calming Roxxy down.
“The man upstairs didn’t mean for you to end up with Korey. That was divine intervention to show you the type of man Korey truly is.”
Roxxy blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Leave it up to her mother to go deep.
“He didn’t have to make it hurt so bad,” she whispered. She could have thought of about ten different ways God could have told her that Korey wasn’t the one.
“How would you learn? If it would have been an easy breakup, then you wouldn’t have appreciated the valuable lesson. You know I always say there is something to be learned from each situation we find ourselves in.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Roxxy mumbled.
Korey had taught her a very hard lesson.
One she hoped to never repeat again.
Chapter 14
Myles walked out of the locker room sore, pissed, and tired. That combination did not go well together. He was on a short fuse. In the last three days, SWAT had gone out on four missions. He didn’t know what was going on in the city.
There was a reason for this.
He headed toward the exit. He was going to attempt to make it home and get a few hours of shut-eye.
Zain and Iker had chosen to stay and nap in one of the bunker rooms. Ash, Declan, and Mac all had women at home waiting for them. They would be headed out in a minute. Myles couldn’t stomach the domestic chatter between the guys and opted to leave now.
What waited for him was his king-size bed and massive pillows. They were currently calling his name.
To go home and have Roxxy lying across his bed, naked and waiting for him…
Shit.
Slow down, man.
Myles wasn’t one to have a relationship, so this was foreign territory for him.
Well tonight, he may not have Roxxy waiting in his bed for him, but he’d have the next best thing.
FaceTime.
“Burton!” a voice shouted out behind him.
Myles turned and saw Reeves striding toward him with a furious expression. His partner, Cruz, was right behind him.
“What is it, Reeves?” He adjusted the duffle bag strap on his shoulder.
“I’m going to kick your ass.”
Myles let go of his duffle bag, uncaring that it landed on the floor. Reeves had another think coming if he thought he could take on Myles.
“Watch what you say, Reeves. I might take that as a real threat,” he growled. Myles grew tense as Reeves approached. He had about a good four inches and around thirty pounds on the man.
“Why
didn’t I get chosen to move forward? This is my second time trying out. I did everything that was recommended.” Reeves stopped in front of Myles.
“Come on, man. Let’s go walk it off,” Cruz said, grabbing Reeves by the arm.
“Get off me.” Reeves snatched his arm back. He turned to Myles with hatred brimming in his eyes. “I want Burton to explain to me the reason I didn’t get to move forward.”
“Back up off me, Reeves,” Myles warned. He really didn’t feel like ending up getting his ass chewed out by the captain for knocking Reeves out. The suspension would not be worth it.
“Or what? If you hadn’t had had your eyes on the auditor bitch, maybe you would have seen my skills.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” Myles stepped forward.
Reeves had crossed the line.
“I mean, she was a nice piece of ass to have around, but you’re fucking with my career.” Reeves stepped closer. He pressed his pointer finger against Myles’s chest.
Myles knocked Reeves’s finger off him. He didn’t take his eyes off the asshole.
“Don’t touch me.” His voice dipped low. He could feel his rage rising. No one would speak ill of Roxxy.
No one.
“What the hell is going on over here?” Mac stormed out of the locker room with Declan and Ash right behind him.
“This motherfucker here blew my chance for SWAT.” Reeves pointed in Myles’s face.
Myles knocked it out of the way and pushed Reeves away from him.
“I blew your chance?” Myles roared, no longer able to control his fury. Reeves should be man enough to take responsibility for his own fuckups. If he didn’t make SWAT, it was his own damn fault. “How about you’re not fit to wear SWAT on your chest!”
“You son of a bitch!” Reeves swung his fist.
Myles blocked it and shoved Reeves back into Cruz. Arms clamped around him, keeping him from following Cruz.
“He’s not worth it,” Ash snapped.
“Let it go, big guy. Walk away,” Declan ordered. He pulled Myles backward.
“Reeves, leave! Now!” Mac positioned himself between the two of them.
Myles glared at Reeves from around Mac. His muscles were tensed, and his breaths were coming fast.