His hands grip the covers beside my head as he grinds into me. “Wanna fuck you, baby.”
Baby. He called me baby. He’s never called me baby. I hold the endearment in my pocket, tucking it away for a cold day. Going from someone who never thought they’d have any piece of Nick Kepler, to what’s going on right now? I kinda want to pinch myself and pray I won’t wake up.
“Please,” I beg, thrusting against him.
He lets go of the cover with his left hand, holding himself up with the right. Stronger than I ever imagined he was, he brings the left hand down between my legs, testing my core against the invasion of his fingers. I moan as he curls his index finger inside me, touching a hot spot, one that makes me thrust harder against him.
“So wet, so hot, so fucking tight.” He drops his head into my neck, mouthing at my skin as he pulls his fingers from their haven.
That’s when he thrusts home, and I have a feeling of belonging like I’ve never had before. I hold on tightly to him as he swings his hips in and out, back and forth, bumping, grinding against me. He holds on tightlyto the covers as he uses the fabric to help him set his pace. There aren’t any words between us, only the sounds of two people going after their physical release. I’m moaning each time he pushes and pulls, he’s grunting with each thrust. Sweat drips down my face, it covers his chest and back, making it hard for me to grip his muscles. My legs are tight around his waist, digging my heels into his back as I feel myself start to build again.
“Ahhh.” His mouth is right next to my ear, his teeth nipping, his tongue soothing. I close my eyes tightly, imagining what he looks like, letting him sweep me away with the feelings of him deep inside me. I’m drunk on lust, drowsy on passion, and one hundred percent here for whatever this man wants to do to me. “Never felt this goddamn good before, baby.”
I can’t even answer him as I feel his arms wrap completely around my body, hugging me close. My thighs widen as much as they can, I cross my ankles at the small of his back, hold tightly to his neck as he thrusts with abandon into me. Our bodies slap against one another, a vulgar sound in the otherwise quiet room, and God help me, but it turns me on.
“Come for me, Nick,” I whisper in his ear, giving him a little nip of my own. Plastering myself against his body, wanting to feel every little nuance he has. Who knows if I’ll ever get this chance again.
It’s a guttural yell as he plunges deep, letting go, yelling, cursing through it as he empties into me. When he lays his mouth against my neck, sucking harshly, I’m surprised by another fall into pleasure.
As the two of us pant, arms wrapped tightly around each other, I think to myself nothing will ever be more perfect in my life again.
Four
Kelsea
I’m fighting to open my eyes as I hear rustling the next morning. To be honest, I’m surprised he’s still here. Given what I know about him, I figured he’d take the chance to slip away in the dead of the night. Tiredness washes over my body, along with a relaxation I haven’t felt in months. There’s even a soreness, courtesy of what I spent the night doing. The stress of helping Stella get married and my worry over Nick has finally caught up with me as I sink further against my mattress.
“Kels.” I hear a deep voice whispering in my ear. I feel the scratch of a beard on my shoulder.
“Hmmm?” I stretch, before burrowing deeply into the arms wrapped around me.
Moist lips land on my bare shoulder before the heat of his breath pulses against me. “I have to be at work in an hour, but I don’t want to go.”
“I don’t want you to go either,” I whisper as he tightens his arms around me. Pressing myself against him, I feel his hard length at my back.
“So that’s how it’s going to be? You’re going to make it hard for me to leave?” The words are gruff as he kisses my neck.
Feeling a little ornery, I tilt my head to the side, giving him free access to the flesh he’s mouthing. “That’s not the only thing hard.”
He chuckles loud enough that I can feel the rumble against my back. “Damn right about that.”
His hands cup my breasts from behind, his fingers plucking at my nipples, while I arch back against him. “Nick.” I let it out on a sigh.
His voice is deep as he commands. “Roll over.” His hands move down my stomach, latching onto my hips, pushing me over onto my front.
Reaching up with my hands, I grab hold of the top of the mattress as his hand moves down my back. A sensual stroke from my neck, to the dip in my waist, making me shiver, making my core clench. Cupping his hands over my hip bones, he jerks slightly. “Face down, ass up, Kels.”
My eyes close as I hear the aroused tone of his voice. This is another one of those things I haven’t done much, and I love the way his body dwarfs mine, that I feel so small underneath him. Lifting my hips off the mattress, I grip the edge as I wait to see what he’s going to do. He moans deep in his throat as I feel his big palm slap against my ass, the bite of his fingers in the flesh as he takes a handful. My eyes roll back in my head as his fingertips move down, pushing into my wet heat.
He presses two fingers in between my thighs, opening and stretching, rubbing as I feel my body responding to his. Moaning, I bury my head in my pillow.
“You can be loud, baby, nobody gonna hear you but me.”
He leans forward so that I can feel the heat of his body, the rasp of that stubble against my skin. With more strength than I realize he has, he situates me, rubbing his cock against my wet heat. Nick pushes inside of me as I gasp loudly. “Oh my God, you feel so big this way.”
“It’s because I am.” His words are a grunt as I feel him push in and pull out.
Already the two of us are sweating, his stomach sliding against my back. “Don’t stop,” I beg.
He breathes heavily when his forehead drops to my back, and his hips stop their movement. “Fuck, you feel good.”
“So do you.” I press back against him. Turning so that I can see him over my shoulder. “Please don’t stop.”
“Can’t stop,” he gasps. “Won’t stop,” he pants. “Woke up with morning wood, you against me, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave here without a final taste of you.”
“You never have to leave without a taste of me,” I tell him, hoping he hears what I’m trying to tell him. There’s no reason he has to think this is the end.
“Fuck, I can’t get deep enough.” He reaches up, grasping my hair in his hand, yanking roughly.
No one has ever done this before, and an excited scream leaves my mouth. “Holy shit, Nick,” I moan, feeling my nipples peak harder, tighter, my heartbeat kicks up faster. “Harder!”
“Kelsea, son of a bitch, the condom broke,” he grunts.
“Don’t care, keep going,” I push back against him, gasping. “Please, keep going.”
Wrapping my hair around his fist, he does as I ask, using my hair to help him plunge in and pull out, making my knees widen against the sheet. I’m slipping, slipping, until his knees hook inside mine, pushing them as wide as they can go. I’m almost lying flat against the mattress as he covers me, fucking me, rutting at me like I’d imagine animals going at each other.
“Feels so goddamn good,” he grunts into my ear as he thrusts, making noise each time he bottoms out. “You feel better than anyone else ever has.”
There’s a pride I feel in what he’s said, and I let myself bask in it for a moment. But then he’s riding me hard, pressing my clit against the sheet. Before I realize what’s happening, I feel my body tighten, and I scream out my orgasm as I feel the heat of his release emptying inside me. The two of us are panting, writhing against each other, and as I’m pressed fully into the mattress, his heart thudding against mine, I hear him sigh.
“What do we need to do? Is this a time you could be pregnant?” He questions.
When that sentence doesn’t scare the hell out of me, I know for sure I am completely and totally in love with this man. But I’m also aware that there was fe
ar in his voice.
“It’s okay, I can get Plan B at work,” I intentionally soothe the fear I heard.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive, I don’t think either of us are ready for a baby right now,” even though I would figure it out with him.
“Sounds good,” he kisses my shoulder softly.
“Yeah,” I trail off. “Sounds good…”
Five
Nick
“Running late today?”
Immediately I’m on the defensive as I hear Kelsea’s dad, and my boss, Menace speak to me, even though I can hear the teasing lilt in his voice. I’m almost an hour late, I haven’t showered since the wedding, and I have a three-day-old beard which isn’t like me at all. But I can’t tell him where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing. The only person I respect more than him is my dad, so I attempt to take his teasing in stride.
“Just a little.” I hurry to see if there’s any info in my mailbox, doing my best to not meet his eyes.
“I think we’re all a little slower than normal after the wedding last night. Did you get Kels home alright? Caleb said you were taking her when I asked.”
It’s an innocent question. Something any dad would ask about his daughter, but I immediately feel guilty. He’s my superior who’s always treated me with respect and supported anything I’ve set out to do in my job. But I’m also not prepared to tell him how I spent last night and this morning. “Yeah, I got her home, made sure she had what she needed, and then left.”
“Thanks for doing that. Rina and I were having a good time.”
I can tell by the way he smirks they had more than a good time. He and Kari have the kind of marriage my mom and dad do. If I was to ever get married, theirs is the kind of marriage I want. Them, coupled with Ransom and Stella, they do give me hope one day I can be normal.
“All of us were, it was a great wedding.”
It’s surprising saying those words doesn’t feel wrong. Ransom and Stella are meant to be, and they’re going to live an amazing life together. I don’t know what else to say, so I opt to make a quick getaway. “Gotta get going.” I hook my thumb out to where our patrol cars are parked.
“Be safe out there, Nick.”
Nodding, I give him a wave. “Always am.”
When I get into my patrol car, what I like to call my office, I finally feel right. I’m not nervous, not doubting who I am as a person. This right here is where I feel good about myself. As I get checked in, listening to what’s coming over the radio, my phone makes the sound of a notification.
K: I had a great time with you. Maybe we can do it again?
My hands literally shake as I hold the phone. After the way we heated up the sheets together, I know we mesh well. The question is am I willing to give us a shot? Thinking back to how Ransom looked at Stella last night, I think maybe I am.
N: Maybe we can. Let me text you when I get off-shift.
K: Be safe out there!
The smile that spreads across my face is one I’m not accustomed to. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt happiness like this. A really fucking long time. If I’m not mistaken it’s almost a giddiness – and that is shit I’ve never felt. Starting my car, I begin my route through Laurel Springs. The first few hours pass by uneventful; I pull over a few people for going too fast, but then a call comes over the radio. It’s one I hear, but don’t really hear. I need it repeated, to make sure I heard correctly.
“Dispatch, come again?”
“We have a welfare check requested on a child, called in by Laurel Springs Elementary this afternoon.”
Immediately my stomach clenches; it feels like I’ve just gone over the drop off while riding a roller coaster. My pulse pounds, picking up speed just like that roller coaster. “Did they let the child go home?”
“Yes, there was some confusion about the course of action that needed to be taken, and in that confusion he was let on the bus and sent home. Which is why they’re requesting a home visit, rather than going to the school.”
I make sure my finger is off the radio. “Son of a bitch, what the fuck with these people?” Unfortunately I know from experience how most well-meaning people are. They’re well-meaning until it’s time to take action. The only people who ever followed through for me were the Keplers and that’s one hundred percent the reason I call them Mom and Dad now. Keying the radio, I answer. “Give me the address and show me responding.”
The address comes through on the laptop sitting to my side. That roller coaster ride in my stomach comes to a complete stop. Saliva pools against my tongue and I fight against my gag reflex. Fuck me. That’s the same neighborhood I lived in when I was a kid. It’s actually three houses down from the one I grew up in. There are good people in the neighborhood, but they are few and far between. Most are drug addicts, alcoholics, and people who seem to think life owes them something they haven’t yet been given. They don’t believe in trying to do better for themselves. They believe in waiting for someone to hand them the proverbial dream, instead of working for it. This is the place were complacency rules and dreams come to die. Women who think they’ll be with baby daddy forever, and two months later they’re single, trying to figure out how to make ends meet.
As I park, I advise dispatch I’ve arrived at the residence, preparing myself for what’s about to take place. “Can you get me another unit headed this way? I have a feeling I’m gonna need it.”
“10-4.” I hear the voice of Kelsea’s brother. “I’m about five minutes away. I’ll be there.”
Shit. Getting out, I casually rest my hand on the butt of my gun. Glancing around, I feel the melancholy of this place, it’s beating down on me like rain in a summer thunderstorm. This home is unhappy, and it doesn’t take a psychic to see it. It’s in disrepair; the brick is faded, the walk leading up to the house looks like it once was concrete, but now it’s just a worn patch of grass. When I get to the entrance, I notice the storm door is hanging off the hinges. Carefully opening it, I knock on the wooden one. This is one of the most nerve-wracking parts of my job, not knowing what’s about to happen. This situation could be numerous ways, and I understand that.
“Laurel Springs Police, open up!” I try again when no one answers my first attempt to make contact.
I’m shifting my feet, getting irritated as I wait when the door opens. The man standing there looks so much like the man I left at fifteen, I have to do a double-take and remind myself this isn’t the man my mom was with back then. All assholes tend to look the same.
“Can I help you?” he snarls.
Dude’s body language is throwing off a ton of signals to me. His eyes are squinted, face flushed, and when I glance down at his hands, noticing they’re clenched into fists. Dip rests between his lip and teeth, and I just know this fucker is going to spit on my shoes.
“Are you the father of Darren Metcalfe?” I check the name I wrote down in my notebook before I got out of my cruiser.
“Yeah, what’s he done now?”
Exactly what I expected. “He’s not done anything, but I would like to see him if that’s alright with you.”
He looks like he wants to say no, and I wonder if he’s going to lie to me, but right when I’m about to give up, he turns around, bellowing the boy’s name. The two of us wait, both staring down one another. When the boy comes to where we stand, he looks up at me, I look down at him, and I see myself. I see everything about the kid I was in the eyes of this child. Caleb arrives, coming to stand beside me, allowing me to take the child off to the side, while he talks to the father.
“I’m Officer Nick Kepler with the Laurel Springs Police Department,” I tell him as he looks up at me with big eyes. “I grew up right over there.” I point to the house that had been my hell as a child.
Me admitting that is a game changer, and I can tell. He relaxes, his posture stoops, and his eyes lose much of the deer-in-the-headlights look. “And you’re a cop now?”
“I’m a cop now.” I nod, giv
ing him a small smile. “And because I’m a cop, I’m here to protect you when things get rough.” I raise my eyebrow. “Are things rough around here?”
He looks down, kicking at the broken concrete of the driveway. “Yeah.” I strain to hear his small voice.
“Things were rough for me too, when I lived over there. Never had the cool clothes that all my friends had, never had enough food to feel full, never enough money to go on field trips with my friends.”
His gaze meets mine, understanding shining brightly. This child gets where I’m coming from, because he’s living the life I did. I purposely don’t mention the abuse. I need him to come around and tell me that himself.
“How are things rough?” It’s important that I don’t coach him, that he tells me on his own. “Has someone hurt you?”
Tears pool in his brown eyes, his bottom lip fucking trembling, breaking my goddamn heart. When he nods, I want to beat the fucker in the doorway. “Can you show me?”
Slowly he lifts up the sleeve of his shirt, showing blue and black bruises in the shape of fingerprints.
“Is that it?” I do my best to keep my anger out of my voice, because I don’t want to scare this kid. He’s had enough fear in his life.
He shakes his head, pulling up the hem of his t-shirt, various bruises in stages of healing can be seen.
“Who did this to you?”
Tears stream down his face. I can’t help it, I reach down, brushing them away. “It’s okay to cry.” I reach into my car, getting a tissue, before handing it to him. “It doesn’t make you weak to cry.”
“My dad,” he sobs. “My dad hurt me.”
He throws himself at me, his little arms tight around my waist. I don’t know how old this kid is, but he’s definitely on the small side. Putting my hands on his back, I look up, making eye contact with Caleb. Nodding, I give him the go-ahead to put the dad in cuffs. After getting Darren situated in the front of my patrol car with a stuffed animal that I keep in the trunk of my car for these situations, I place a call to child services and then walk down to where Caleb has his dad cuffed.
Suppression: Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team #2 Page 3