A Hope City Duet

by Kris Michaels

  His hands grabbed her hair, fisting it. He didn’t pull or demand, simply held her as she worked his cock like it had a chocolate center, and she wanted that sweet candy treat. She was good at this. Her ex always wanted her to go down on him. No. He wasn’t welcome here. Kallie looked up. Brock was here with her. Once she’d slicked his cock, she opened her mouth and drew his hot shaft inside her mouth. He was big, deep throating wasn’t going to be an option, not with her gag reflex, but she would make sure he felt good. Her hand circled his cock and stroked from the bottom of his shaft to her lips. She sucked the head hard and then teased the slit with her tongue before she lollipopped his crown and started all over again. His low words of encouragement and praise fueled her hunger, and she devoured him.

  His hands tightened in her hair. “Close. So close.”

  Good. She swallowed his crown and sucked hard, letting her hand fly up and down his cock. He tugged at her hair again.

  “Kallie, fuck… yes.” A guttural sound accompanied his orgasm.

  She drank everything he gave her, and when he moved away, sensitive and sated, she focused on him and licked her lips. He looked as melted as she’d felt earlier. His hand cupped the back of her head and brought her to his lips. She settled on top of him, and the kiss they shared was nothing like the previous ones. It was slow, sensual and sated. A kiss between two people who felt right in each other’s arms.

  His hand slowly caressed her back. As the kiss slowly ended, she sagged onto his chest and closed her eyes. He was using the bed as a backrest. He kissed her hair and continued with that slow circular motion of his hand. “Thank you.” His words rumbled under her ear.

  “Right back at you, Detective.” His stomach rumbled beneath her and she smiled against his skin. “Dinner was sidetracked.”

  “I enjoyed the detour.”

  “So did I.” She ran her fingers through the hair on his chest, debating on whether or not she should delve into the specifics of what the detour meant for them. Probably not. Men had different wiring than women. If she brought up a possibility of seeing where this went with them, Brock could freak. She didn’t want that. She’d keep her questions and concerns to herself. They’d already set the ground rules. Professional at work and outside of work? Friends-with-benefits. A casual relationship. She could do that.

  His stomach rumbled again, long and low. She laughed and sat up. “I’m going to go get dinner going again. Meet me in the kitchen?”

  “Deal.” She liked the way his eyes lingered on her as she pulled on her yoga pants and sweater. It had been a long time since she’d wanted a man to look at her that way. A lifetime ago. She leaned over and kissed him before she made her way to the kitchen. It was time to let go of the past, of Rich, the deceit, the lies and the disappointment. Brock might not be ‘the one’ but she wasn’t going to let the past disrupt her future any longer.

  Brock watched Kallie as she swayed seductively from the bedroom. He drew his hand through his hair and scrubbed his face. His new partner was fucking amazing. The attraction between them was off the charts, at least on his end. He could see himself with her long-term. She understood what being a cop meant, knew the dangers, the mind fuck of a death scene, and the anguish of not being able to find closure for some of the victims.

  He got up off the carpet and padded into her bathroom to clean up. He snatched up his jeans on the way. The smell of something wonderful drew him down the hall. Kallie was ladling huge bowls full of stew. There was bread and butter on the table. “Sit down. The stew was warmed through by the residual heat in the oven. I heated up the bread in the microwave.”

  “God, it smells fantastic.” He slid a chair away from the table and waited for her to come over. “You sit, I’ll grab the other bowl.”

  She did a double take at him before a shy smile spread across her face. She placed the bowl in front of his seat before she sat down. “That’s yours. Larger portion.”

  Well shit, wasn’t that interesting. His little detective wasn’t used to common kindnesses. What kind of bastard had her ex been? He waited until she sat and helped scoot her chair in. He grabbed her bowl from the counter and placed it in front of her. He’d watched his father treat his mother like a queen his entire life. Hell, Colm McBride was the exact same way with Sean’s mom. They treated their wives like precious gifts.

  He sat down and glanced at the blush that spread over Kallie’s cheeks. She was fascinating. A ball-breaker, tough-as-nails homicide detective with a laser sharp mind. When she laughed it was with her entire body, her amusement complete and compelling. She wasn’t beautiful in the classic sense, but she was striking and to him, mesmerizing.

  “So…” Her face blushed darker as she stirred her stew.

  “Regrets?” He leaned back in the kitchen chair, the cold, painted wood against his spine a sharp reminder that he’d come to the table half dressed.

  Her head popped up. “What? No. You?”

  “None.” A smile spread across his face. “You were saying?”

  “Right… yeah, good. That’s good. No, what I was going to say is, I don’t really have the right to ask you, but while we’re decoding what is going on between us, could we just keep it between us?” She slathered a piece of bread with butter, studiously avoiding his gaze.

  Okay, there were a couple ways to take that comment. “Just between us as in, tell no one that we’ve been together, or just between us, as in we only see each other?”

  Her eyes jerked up. “Would you be embarrassed to tell people that we’ve…” She motioned between them with her knife.

  “No, but I’m a stickler for details. Goes with the job description. Tell me what you meant, Kallie. I’m not going to jump up and run for the door.” He had a feeling that was what she anticipated. This uncertainty had to be the work of her bastard ex.

  “I’d like to be exclusive,” she whispered to her plate. She put her bread down and squared her shoulders. She met his eyes and with a stronger voice, she continued, “Tonight when I invited you up here… I thought I could do casual sex. Hell, even lying on top of you ten minutes ago, I told myself I could, that asking you to be exclusive now would make you run for the hills, and I get that this is way fast. But see, I've experienced the disaster of a year-long adulterous relationship, one which was dissected in detail in a courtroom full of my peers. When you live through something like that, sliding into casual relationships becomes difficult. I’m sorry if that is too much for you, and I get it if you want to leave–”

  He reached over and placed his hand over hers, stopping her rambling. “We’ll get a handle on what is between us, and while we are doing that, it will be just you and me.”

  Tension left her shoulders, and one of those shy smiles spread across her face. “That works for me.”

  He leaned back in his chair and pointed to her bread with half a pound of butter mounded on top of it. “Are you going to eat it like that, or are you willing to share some of that butter.”

  Laughter filled the small kitchen and the awkward silence disappeared. They ate and talked about nothing and everything until he started doing the dishes. She picked up a towel and bumped him with her hip. “Thanks for not freaking out on me earlier.”

  He rinsed the soap suds off one of their bowls and handed it to her to dry, gauging his response carefully before he spoke. “How bad was it?”

  Kallie’s fluid movements stuttered at his question. She drew a deep breath and wiped the bowl carefully.

  “You know, looking back, I could see signs about him. He was abusive, mentally more than physically, and there were nights when he said he was at work that didn’t compute, you know? No open case, but he claimed he was stuck with surveillance. I didn’t want to see it. I looked the other way. I hoped the man I married would suddenly reappear.” She took another bowl as he finished rinsing it. “Not all marriages will last. I get that, but marriage counseling is off the table when you hear from several people how hard your husband could make his girlfrie
nd and several others scream during sex.” She gave a rueful laugh. “The thing is, I rarely orgasmed when we had sex, and usually those times I did climax was because I stimulated myself while he was going through the motions. And you know what? I was okay with that. I was okay with my life. I was willing to bob along on the water and move with the tide. How pathetic is that?”

  He turned off the water and used the towel in her hands to dry his. “It isn’t pathetic. It is hindsight. Our vision is always perfect looking back. The future is uncertain, and I think it is human nature to want to cling to the status quo.”

  “Better the evil you know than the one you don’t.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I really loved Houston. I mean, minus the traffic, it is a great city. I would have liked to have stayed.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “His attorney branded me as a liar and alleged I was having an affair with one of my superiors. He theorized I lied about what I saw because I wanted to send my husband away so I could continue my illicit affair. Rich had friends, and that rumor spread like a California wildfire. It took on a life of its own and morphed into me setting up and framing my husband for murder. Made him the wronged party. After his conviction, I thought things would return to semi-normal. I was so wrong. I rolled up on an armed robbery in progress, called in for back up and the response was tanked, on purpose. I sustained a GSW to the arm, and almost died. I figured it was time for a change.”

  Motherfucking sons of bitches. He wrapped her in his arms and dropped his chin on the top of her head. “People suck.”

  She huffed a rueful laugh. “Yeah, they do. But then I accepted a job with Guardian. That was like a breath of fresh air. Guardian is all about integrity, but I missed doing the job, you know?”

  “I do. Even though we see the bowels of humanity, what we do… matters.”

  “Exactly.” She leaned away from him and cocked her head. “But I don’t want to talk about my ex or my baggage.” Mischief danced in her eyes.

  “No? What do you want to talk about?”

  “How about I show you instead?” She pressed her palm into his semi and the sensation moved more blood into his cock, forging a steel bar under her hand.

  He cupped her neck in his hand and brought her closer for a kiss as her hands undid his jeans. She was pushing the denim down his hips when his brain engaged and decided she had far too many clothes on. While he stepped out of his jeans, he was pulling off her sweater. Damn, she still had that green bra on. Sexy. As. Fuck. With a flick of his fingers that green material loosened, and she shrugged it off. Fuck. Just as he pictured her. So damn sexy. He swooped in for another kiss as he pushed down her pants. Sex this time was going to be hot, fast and from the way things were progressing, up against the kitchen counter.

  Her skin was so damn warm under his hands. The softness over firm muscles was an instant turn on. Kallie kept herself fit, but her softness hidden by clothes and a cop’s hard veneer was all his right now. Didn’t that make him feel like he’d won the lottery. She was just as excited as he was. Her hands grabbed his biceps and those fingernails bit into his arms. Fuck, that little slice of pain brought his lust to a laser-like focus. He consumed her lips. Any thought of slow, sensuous sex flew out the window when she broke the kiss and spun around, leaning down onto the counter and wiggling that gorgeous, ripe ass at him. She looked over her shoulder and said, her voice low and heated, “I want to feel you in me.”

  Fuck. Yes. Literally. He drew his hand down her spine, moving her long brown hair to expose her skin. “Stay right here. I need to grab some protection.”

  “Hurry.”

  Fuck yes, he’d hurry. It took five steps to get to his duffle that he’d dropped in the hallway. Five steps back and he had the package of the condom open. He sheathed his cock and dropped over her back, kissing her shoulder, needing a minute to calm down. He didn’t want to come the second he entered her. She wiggled her ass and ground into him. He groaned against her skin, “You are going to make me come.”

  “That’s the idea.” She laughed and wiggled her hips again.

  “Minx.” He found her center. The slide in was excruciatingly wonderful. Tight, slick heat gripped his cock. He braced his hands on her hips, stilling them both.

  “Oh, God. So damn big. So good.” Kallie’s words were exhaled in the sudden silence.

  Yep, she was going to kill him. Death by orgasm. It was a thing. Had to be. He closed his eyes tightly and slowly moved away only to thrust back in until he couldn’t go any farther.

  “Yes, fuck… harder, Brock. Please.”

  Harder? God, yes, he could do harder. He leaned over her, drawing his hands up her back. He kissed her neck before he wrapped his arms under her, crossing his arms and grasping her shoulders. Fuck, they fit perfectly. He withdrew and used his grip on her to brace her as he slid home again. He set a fierce, almost brutal pace, but fuck him, the whispered words of encouragement from her kept him going when he would have slowed.

  She bowed under him and pushed back to meet each thrust. Sweat dripped from his brow onto her back. He lost his grip on her sweat soaked skin and leaned away from her back. He regripped her hips and leveraged forward.

  “Yes! God, yes!” Kallie shouted, and her body spasmed around him. She pushed against the counter as he thrust again.

  White hot lightning bolts of one hundred percent pure octane pleasure pumped through him. White spots exploded behind his eyelids and morphed into red when he came. He ground his teeth together, but the feral sound he made couldn’t be stopped.

  Breathe. Fuck. Air in. Air out. The concept was simple. He braced his arms on the counter next to Kallie, for her comfort and his safety. At the current moment there was a real debate as to whether or not he had legs. He’d face plant if he had to move.

  “Holy shit.” Kallie panted, dropping her forehead on his hand. “Detective King, you are under arrest.”

  He chuckled, kinda. “For what?”

  “Murdering my idea of what constitutes good sex because that… that was ah-mazing.”

  She moved, and he managed to stand without getting dizzy. Good. His blood supply must have rearranged a bit. He slipped from her, but held her with her back to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. “Just wait until I actually get you into bed, Detective Redman. Your charges may increase.”

  She turned in his arms. Her sex-tossed hair fell wild around her face and tumbled in waves over her shoulders, dropping over her breasts. Her rose colored nipples peeked through the drape of thick locks. Her face was flush and her lips full and dark red. She glanced up at him with her big brown eyes, and the emotion he saw there wasn’t humor. He saw vulnerability. Wrapping his arms around her, he drew her closer, his protective instincts roaring like a lion announcing his claim on his territory.

  She reached up and caressed his cheek. “I just had the best sex of my life.” Wonder filled her voice.

  He could have easily turned the moment into a joke, played the comment off, but her honesty deserved the same from him. He cupped her neck with his hand and brushed his finger over her cheek. “I agree. The sex was amazing, but what made it special for me, was that it was with you.” He leaned down and kissed her. A soft gentle sweep of his lips against hers. A thank you.

  “You better watch it, Detective King, or I’m going to end up liking you. A lot.” She smiled up at him, leaned into his chest, and shivered.

  He reached down and scooped her up. She squealed and then threw her head back and laughed, a full body, completely happy, laugh that filled the apartment. As he took them back to her bedroom, he decided that sound should be bottled. It would stop any bitter argument and could quite possibly heal the wounds of the world.

  13

  Brock slapped at his alarm.

  “Ouch, damn it. Chill the fuck out, I got it.”

  His eyes popped open. His hand fell off Kallie's back as she rolled and silenced his phone. “Shit. Sorry.” He sat up and squinted at Ka
llie and then around the room. He’d slept so damn hard he’d forgotten where he was.

  “You shower first, I’ll get breakfast.” Kallie made a move to get up.

  He snaked an arm around her and tugged her back into him. “Or we could both take a shower and then grab a bite on the way to work.”

  She wrapped her arms around him, and he pushed her hair away from her face. “That would be an amazing idea, but my shower is barely big enough for one. Two people in that space and we would flood the apartment downstairs.”

  Brock frowned and dropped his head to her shoulder. He flicked his tongue across her skin and smiled at the shiver that ran through her. “Or… an alternate possibility. We take a moment for ourselves, then shower.” He hoped she'd agree.

  “Drive through food?” Her nose scrunched. "I have a confession. I abhor fast food."

  He laughed and dropped his head to his hand, propped up on his elbow. "What? Are you telling me you're a food snob?"

  "Guilty. I'm a foodie from way back." She shrugged and ran her hand up his chest nearly freezing any chance of cognizant thought.

  He rolled over on top of her. “Or we could go to Casey’s Diner. He does a damn good breakfast. We can stop by the office, grab the trace reports, and go over them while we eat.”

  “I like that plan.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he slipped between her legs. The kiss they shared was slow, searching, and hot as fuck. He rolled them and reached to the correct nightstand to find the strip of condoms that had migrated into the bedroom when they'd relocated. Shifting her so she was on top of him, he reached up and tangled his hands in her hair. “Ride me.”

  She pushed up on his chest and smiled down at him. “Lazy first thing in the morning, are we, Detective King?”