Hating to Love You (Houston's Finest #1)

by Erin Rylie

  “Do you have any particular attachment to this?” Rafe asked, fingering the strap of her underwear.

  Sophie shook her head and Rafe wasted no time, ripping it off of her and tossing away the scraps. She was a fucking wet dream come true. Her cheeks were tinted with a slight blush, her chest rising in fast breaths. With her naked like this, Rafe could see the slight swell of her stomach and he became impossibly harder. He needed to be inside her now.

  Reluctantly, he tore his gaze from hers and looked at the floor in search of his pants. He needed to get a condom on before he lost his damn mind.

  “Rafe, I’m clean.”

  He looked up at Sophie—was she saying he could fuck her raw? He’d never had sex without a condom, had never wanted to risk it. Now that the thought had entered his mind, Rafe wanted to fuck her with nothing between them more than he wanted his next breath.

  “Thank fuck, I am too.”

  “Then what are you waiting for? It’s not like you can get me pregnant again,” she said with a wry smirk. Before she’d even finished her sentence, Rafe had returned to the bed, settling himself between her legs. His cock brushed her wet slit and he groaned, running his hands up her arms to join their hands.

  Sophie squirmed under him and his cock head slipped into her entrance. Rafe kissed her gently, teasing her with shallow thrusts. She moaned in frustration and Rafe found himself smiling.

  “What do you want, sweetheart? You sound frustrated.”

  “Fuck me, you smug bastard!”

  Hearing the filthy words from her mouth, Rafe couldn’t hold back anymore. He entered her in one hard thrust.

  Fuck, I’m not going to last long.

  Her tight heat wrapped around him and he couldn’t recall a better feeling. He knew he would never get enough of her. He pulled all the way out before thrusting back into her.

  “Oh fuck, Sophie. You feel so damn good.”

  Sophie groaned in response and Rafe let loose, pumping into her in uncontrolled thrusts. He took her hard and fast, his hips snapping into hers, the sounds of their fucking filling the room. He felt his balls draw up and knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. He leaned down and kissed Sophie hard, his tongue fucking her mouth to the rhythm of his dick. When he felt her tight pussy clench, her heels digging into his ass, he knew he would be coming in a matter of seconds.

  “Come with me, Sophie. Come on my cock,” he gritted out, sweat beading on his forehead as he fought to postpone his orgasm. He swiveled his hips, finding her sweet spot, and felt her orgasm sweep through her. As Sophie came, she bit his shoulder and he couldn’t hold back anymore. He came with a shout, seeing stars as the most powerful orgasm he’d ever had rushed through his body.

  Rafe collapsed on top of Sophie, his arms suddenly too weak to hold him. He’d never felt anything like that in his life, had never known sex could even be so mind-blowing. Realizing he was probably crushing her, he rolled to his side, pulling her into his arms as she kicked her heels off.

  He pushed one hand through her hair, the other cupping her cheek. He loved seeing her like this, her eyes drowsy and sated, her cheeks flushed and lips swollen from his kisses. Rafe lowered his lips to hers, kissing her gently, reverently. He released her lips, kissing her cheek, her nose, and each of her eyelids. When she opened her eyes and smiled at him, he could feel his heart pounding, beating for her.

  “Soph, that was—”

  “Fucking incredible,” she murmured, tucking her face into his shoulder. He ran his hands up and down her back, fingertips caressing her smooth skin.

  Before nerves got the best of him, he spoke the words he’d been holding back all night. “I don’t want just three dates. I want this—us. I want to give us a real shot.”

  She lifted her head and placed a hand on his chest over his heart. “You’re just saying that because you’re all sexed up and happy.”

  Rafe took her chin in his hand, kissing her lightly. “No, I’m not. I was going to talk to you about this at dinner, but the whole waitress fiasco kind of got in the way. I’m serious—I don’t want to just co-parent with you. I want to be with you.”

  Sophie shook her head. “That’s the thing though, Rafe. Things like that will always happen. You’re Houston’s Finest. There are girls all over the city who are just dying to sink their claws into you. I don’t know how to compete with that.”

  “There is no competition. You’re all I see, Sophie. None of them matter to me.”

  She smiled and kissed him. “Let’s talk after that third date, okay big guy?”

  It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but before he could argue further, Sophie’s hand moved down his chest, slowly tracing his abs. Within seconds, he was ready for round two. Her hand moved down to his cock, and she stroked his shaft slowly.

  Rafe’s head fell back onto the pillow and he thrust into her hand. If she kept touching him like that, he’d spill all over his chest in minutes. He grabbed her hips and hauled her on top of him. Placing her hands on his chest, Sophie sunk down onto him, one excruciating inch at a time.

  Two orgasms later, Rafe curled himself around Sophie’s body, fitting her back to his front, and drifted to sleep. She didn’t know it yet, but he wasn’t letting her go.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sophie woke up the next morning feeling deliciously sore. As it turned out, both she and Rafe were insatiable. They’d fallen asleep after their first two rounds of mind-blowing sex only for her to wake him up with a blow job. Before the sleep had even cleared from his eyes, he’d flipped her over for the slowest, most passionate sex she’d ever had. Just thinking about it had her ready for another round.

  Rolling over, Sophie reached for Rafe on the other side of the bed only to find it empty. It was then that she heard sounds coming from her kitchen; she could make out the light chatter of James’s voice followed shortly by a rumbling laugh from Rafe. She quickly dressed, throwing on a tank top and yoga pants, before making her way out of her room. Sophie followed the voices and found Rafe flipping a pancake high in the air before catching it in the pan.

  James, comfortably seated in his booster seat, watched the path of the pancake, clapping and giggling when it found its home in the pan. Sophie leaned against the entrance to the kitchen, nothing short of entranced by this side of Rafe. He’d slipped on his dress pants from last night but left his upper body bare, his muscles flexing as he scooped one pancake out of the pan, laying it on a plate, before using a ladle to fill the pan again.

  This comfortable scene was one that she could see herself waking up to in the future. James replaced by Rafe and Sophie’s small child, his dress pants replaced with pajama bottoms. She fought the urge to stride across the kitchen and wrap her arms around his torso. One good date did not a relationship make.

  If she were being entirely frank with herself, Sophie could admit that the ease of this thing with Rafe terrified her. He was a calming presence in her life, logical and stalwart, but easy to crack a smile. He said that she was giving him this, giving him a family, but it scared her to realize that he could give her the same thing. They could be more than co-parents if she let herself fall for him, for this relationship. Given the way their relationship had begun, however, she couldn’t help but wonder where Rafe’s feelings stemmed from.

  While she was falling for him fast, he could be only giving this a shot because of the baby. Would he have ever pursued her, contacted her, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant? Maybe he was only in this because he was trying to create the family he’d never had. Though she could understand his need for that, she wanted to be more than that, to be more than just the girl he’d gotten pregnant and ended up with. She could easily see Rafe becoming more than that for her, but what if he only stuck around for their baby?

  She had seen what that kind of marriage could turn into. Her parents had gotten married young after her mother had gotten pregnant in college. Her father had been unhappy, but he had tried and tried to make the marriage work because he wanted So
phie to have a family. Their relationship had been tumultuous—constant fights and screaming when they thought Sophie was sleeping. Finally, when she was ten years old, her mother left and never looked back. Her dad had been devastated, not because he felt any love for her mother, but because he’d wanted Sophie to have two parents.

  Initially, Sophie had been wary of Rafe because he reminded her of her exes. Rafe was attractive and he knew it; he’d been so damn cocky in their initial interview—an insufferable flirt. The more she got to know him, however, she realized that he must have been putting on an act. Sure, Rafe was attractive, but he didn’t clamor for attention like Carlos. He actually seemed to abhor the minor fame he’d received as a result of the Instagram incident and her subsequent interviews. Any doubts she’d harbored about him in that aspect had been vanquished on their date last night when he’d shut down their waitress soundly.

  She was pulled from her thoughts by a squeal of delight from James as Rafe pulled apart a still warm pancake, placing bite-sized pieces on the table in front of him. She stepped into the kitchen as though she’d just woken up and hadn’t been watching the pair of them together. Naturally, Sophie headed straight for the coffee pot, which she was thrilled to see was full of piping hot liquid deliciousness. She reached for her usual mug and had begun to fill it with coffee when she felt strong arms wrap around her.

  Rafe ran his nose up the column of her neck, giving her goose bumps, and planted a small kiss on the skin where her shoulder and neck met.

  “Good morning, gorgeous.” He nipped his way up her neck to whisper in her ear as his hands drifted to her hips. “These yoga pants give me ideas, Soph.”

  Sophie let her head fall back on his shoulder, her coffee forgotten, and let out a small moan. “Four rounds weren’t enough for you, big guy?”

  Rafe practically growled into her ear, “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough.”

  The words gave Sophie butterflies, her earlier concerns resurfacing. She resumed her quest for coffee, filling her mug to the top and twisting out of his arms to lean against the counter and take her first sip. She eyed him over the top of the mug and saw a flash of confusion cross his features at her dismissal. Before he could question her, Sophie changed the subject.

  “What’s for breakfast?”

  Rafe chuckled. “Well I got up to get you a cup of coffee and heard this little guy stirring in his crib. I figured you and Kelsey would want to sleep in so I grabbed him and brought him to the kitchen. Pancakes are my specialty, and I was already awake.” He offered up a small shrug, as though getting James out of bed and cooking him breakfast were some small feat.

  She couldn’t help the smile that overtook her face. “Do I get pancakes too?”

  Rafe nodded at the table, indicating that he wanted Sophie to take a seat. “Coming right up.” He walked over to check on James, ensuring he had a full sippy cup and plenty of pancake bits in front of him, before returning to the stove to make Sophie’s breakfast.

  He looked at Sophie over his shoulder. “So what do you want to do today? Ramirez and I snagged a rare Saturday off.”

  Before she could come up with a response to his offer to spend the day together, they were interrupted by Kelsey’s entrance. She shuffled slowly across the kitchen toward the coffee, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Sophie and Rafe watched the coffee shuffle with amusement, waiting for her to notice that her son was already awake and fed. Kelsey had just lifted the mug to her mouth when James let out a displeased squawk, having apparently run out of pancake pieces.

  He looked to Rafe, his tiny hands reaching as though he could grab the food straight from the counter if he tried hard enough. “More pancakes please,” he said with surprising calm for a three-year-old. Rafe chuckled and obeyed, tearing up a few more pieces of pancake for him.

  Kelsey’s eyes widened, her gaze moving from Rafe to James and back again. “On a scale of one to ten, how horrible of a mother am I for not realizing my child was awake?”

  Rafe let out a loud laugh before responding. “He woke up about an hour ago, but I grabbed him before he could wake you. Figured you could use a day to sleep in.”

  Sophie watched her best friend’s jaw drop. “You...you got him up? I mean, you let me sleep in? What is happening right now?”

  Rafe shrugged. “I’m sure being a single parent isn’t easy, and I was already up.”

  Kelsey repeated his words dumbly, “You were already awake…”

  “Want some pancakes?”

  “You got my son out of bed and made us pancakes? Next you’ll tell me you changed his diaper too.”

  “Well yeah.” Rafe rubbed the scruff on his chin shyly. “Is that okay? I mean I changed him from the diaper into the underwear on the changing table and took him to the bathroom. I noticed the little potty training toilet and made sure he used it before I put the underwear on. Is that okay?”

  Kelsey looked like she wanted to leap across the kitchen and wrap Rafe in a hug. “Who the fuck are you? Superman?”

  The moment the curse word passed her lips, Kelsey slapped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late. James had already plucked the bad word out of the sentence and was now chanting it through a mouthful of pancake.

  At that, Sophie burst out laughing and Kelsey’s head hit the table.

  Once Rafe had made pancakes for the three of them, he set the plates on the table and joined them to eat. He entertained them with stories of Carlos during his first year on the force, which had Kelsey and Sophie laughing so hard they were crying.

  “So he tries to pull his gun from his utility belt, and completely forgets to unclip the holster first. I’m telling the suspect to put down his knife and get on the ground, and the guy is obviously trying not to laugh. When I look over at Carlos, he has on what I’m sure he thinks is his serious cop face as he tries to yank the damn gun from his belt.”

  Kelsey howled with laughter, slapping the table. When they’d all managed to stop laughing, Kelsey stared at her plate, obviously feigning nonchalance as she asked, “So how is Carlos, anyway?”

  Rafe snorted without looking up from his own meal. “You know Ramirez—working way too much and still sleeping his way through Houston’s female population.”

  Kelsey visibly flinched at the words, and Sophie kicked Rafe under the table. He choked on the bite he’d taken and shot Sophie a dirty look.

  “What did I do now?”

  Sophie sighed. “Nothing. So let’s hear about your first year on the force.”

  Rafe grinned back at her. “I was goddamn perfect, of course. Best rookie Houston has ever seen, sweetheart.”

  After they’d eaten and cleaned up, Sophie and Rafe headed back to her bedroom. She wanted to spend the entire day with Rafe, but that was the problem. If she was already feeling attached after a night, what would an entire day in his company do to her? She needed to come up with something, anything, to get some space. Unfortunately, she was a terrible liar and Rafe happened to be a cop. Someone who was literally trained to detect lying in suspects.

  Rafe walked into her bedroom like he owned it, scooping his shirt up off of the floor and looking to her as he buttoned it.

  “I was thinking I’d run home and change and then you and I can do something? Maybe go to Kemah or Galveston?”

  Sophie swallowed and shook her head slowly. “I have plans.”

  Rafe merely raised an eyebrow and continued buttoning his shirt, covering up the literal six-pack he’d obviously spent some serious gym time earning. He didn’t look like he believed her even a little.

  Shit.

  “I, uh, promised my dad I would drive up to Austin to visit him today.”

  Rafe tilted his head. “A road trip to Austin sounds fun. I’d like to meet the grandfather of my child.”

  Of fucking course he would. She’d really walked right into that. Rafe was looking at her as though he knew what was going on in her head. Hell, he probably did; the man was unnervingly perceptive. Knowing that Rafe wasn’
t one to mince words, Sophie figured she had a choice to make. Either she could take Rafe to meet her father, or she could have an honest discussion with him about her feelings. It wasn’t a choice, not really. Sophie knew she wasn’t ready to discuss her feelings, so it looked like she’d be going on a road trip instead.

  Before giving in, she tried one last time to get out of this last minute adventure. “Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

  Rafe shrugged. “Not until eleven at night. Ramirez and I are working graveyard tomorrow. I just need to be back around noon to catch some sleep.”

  Sophie sighed in defeat. “alright, let me shower and we can head to your place and grab some clothes.”

  At that, Rafe grinned triumphantly and began to unbutton his shirt again. She watched him hungrily as the muscles in his arms flexed and smooth; tanned skin became available for her perusal. When he reached for the top button on his pants, Sophie snapped out of the trance his body had put her in and looked up at his face.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You said shower, Soph. In this day and age, we really should conserve water. Plus, I’ve been very dirty for the last twelve hours or so. You really should wash me.”

  Sophie gaped at his words even as her body heated. She could feel the desire pooling in her core and clamped her mouth shut to hold in a moan as the mental image of Rafe’s naked, wet body filled her mind.

  She hadn’t realized she was biting her lip until Rafe stepped closer to her, running his thumb over her mouth and practically growling, “Don’t bite down too hard. I have plans for that gorgeous mouth. You have no idea how crazy you drive me, Sophie. No. Fucking. Idea.”