“Okay.” She sighed. “It’s going to be awkward working with him, but I feel better now that I know you don’t think he’s a killer.”
We broke apart, and I held up the evidence bag with the silk flower in it. “I’m still going to run his prints to make sure he’s not wanted for something else.”
“Okay. I better get out there.”
I cupped her face and placed my lips on hers. If I could kiss her every second of every day, I would. I was head over heels for that woman, and I would do anything to keep her safe. That included hiring my own security for her even though she’d had less than a week of police details. Unfortunately, given the lack of evidence, I wasn’t hopeful I would solve the murders anytime soon and needed to keep Reagan safe until I could.
“Let’s try this again. Have a good day at work, Buttercup. I love you.”
She smiled. “I love you too.”
One week later…
I parked my truck in the underground parking at the courthouse and cut the engine.
“Hey,” Reagan stopped me from getting out by grabbing my arm. “If this doesn’t go in your favor, remember I said I would leave town until this is all over with.”
“I don’t want that,” I admitted. We had spent every night together for months now, and I couldn’t imagine going to bed or waking up without her next to me.
“I can’t have you choosing between me and your kids, Eth.”
I took a deep breath. Even though I never wanted to spend a day apart from Reagan—my Reagan—she was right. These were my kids, my blood, and I’d do anything for them. I’d also do anything for Reagan, which made me feel as though I was wedged between a rock and a hard place. “And I can’t do this,” I confessed. “This is killing me.”
Reagan turned as best she could in her seat and grabbed my hand. “If the judge goes in her favor, it’s only temporary. We’ll find a place for me to go to until you catch this guy.”
“It really fucking sucks that it might come down to that. The killer is a pro. He leaves no evidence.”
“You know as well as I do that there’s no perfect murder. Eventually, he will screw up, and you’ll catch him.”
What Reagan said wasn’t something new, and I knew she was trying to put me at ease, but I just wanted something to go right.
“Yeah,” I agreed because there wasn’t more I could say. My future was going to be told to me by a fucking judge.
“We should go before we’re late.”
“I need another minute,” I replied and without another word, leaned over and took her face in my hands.
I needed more than a minute. I needed to get lost in Reagan the only way I could at the moment, so I kissed her as though it would be our last. I kissed her as though my heart was breaking because it was. Some asshole was playing a fucking game with my life and was giving my ex ammunition to take my kids from me.
“Okay,” I finally said after I pulled back. “I guess I’m ready.”
After we both got out of my truck, I rounded the back and grabbed Reagan’s hand. She pulled away from me, and I stopped walking, wondering why the hell she had let go.
“Maybe we shouldn’t hold hands?”
“And why the hell not?”
She shrugged and blew out of breath. “I feel like it might fuel Jessica’s fire.”
“I don’t give a shit. She can’t dictate who I date,” I snapped. I was a ball of emotions. I hadn’t seen my kids in over two weeks, and I hadn’t solved the fucking murders. But Reagan was still breathing and safe, and if I wanted to hold my girlfriend’s hand, I was fucking going to hold my girlfriend’s hand.
“I don’t want—”
I followed Reagan’s line of sight when she stopped talking. Jessica was walking toward the elevator, looking at us. She, of course, didn’t have my kids with her, but she wasn’t alone either. Her father was with her. They didn’t stop, but their steps faltered a bit. While Jessica kept her gaze on Reagan and me, I grabbed Reagan’s hand and began walking again. Reagan didn’t say anything as we followed behind Jess and her dad, and after a curt nod at Jessica’s father, the four of us rode the elevator up to the floor the hearings were on.
“You know you’re violating the order, right?” Jessica spat in the awkward silence.
“Then have me arrested.”
Technically, Reagan and I were violating the temporary order, but I didn’t give a shit. Plain and simple. I didn’t care anymore because as soon as the hearing started, I was going to get my kids back. I would keep my kids safe, and if Jessica didn’t want to be anywhere near Reagan and me, that was on her. She divorced me, and she had to have known I’d eventually date again. Granted, no one knew a serial killer would threaten my girlfriend, but that wasn’t a good enough reason to keep me from my boys. I couldn’t control a criminal.
The elevator dinged, and without a word, I pulled Reagan out of the lift with the hand I was still holding. I saw my attorney sitting on a bench outside a courtroom and walked toward him.
“Randall,” I greeted.
He stood and stuck out his hand. “Ethan.” Then he turned to Reagan and shook hers as well. “Reagan.”
“Morning,” she replied.
“Ethan, your case is first on the docket.”
“Great, let’s get this over with.”
We walked into the courtroom and sat on the opposite side of where Jessica and her father were. When the bailiff called my case number, Reagan stayed seated while Randall and I walked up to the wood tables, Jessica and her attorney on one side, Randall and me on the other. I let Randall do the talking—of course—but when it got to the reason behind the request for the protective order, and Randall told him the matter was classified, the judge turned to me.
“Is this true, Sergeant Valor?”
“Yes, it’s connected to a few cases I’m working on.”
The judge turned his attention to Jessica and her attorney and then back to me. “All parties, let’s move this to chambers.”
“If I may, Your Honor,” I cut in, holding up my file that contained reports and such regarding the murders and Reagan’s break-in. “This is in relation to an ongoing investigation, and anyone but myself—and you, so that you can make your decision—should not be privy to the case. That includes the former Mrs. Valor and her counsel, as well as my own.”
The judge paused before answering. “Okay. We’ll take a five-minute recess while we speak in my chambers.”
I followed the judge through a side door and then down a short hall and into his chambers. After he took a seat behind his desk, I told him the bare minimum of how the murders were related Jessica’s case against me, and then we went back into the courtroom. I gave Reagan a small smile and returned to my place next to Randall.
The judge returned to his place on the bench a few moments later. “Given the measures Sergeant Valor has taken, and that the initial threat wasn’t made against him, I’m denying the restraining order.” He turned his full attention to Jessica. “Mrs. Valor, if you wish to seek protection, your fight isn’t with Sergeant Valor. You will need to file a protective order against the person involved in Sergeant Valor’s case. The children are to return to the previous custody agreement and schedule.”
“Thank you,” Randall and I said in unison.
One down, one to go.
I shook hands with Randall and then went to sit next to Reagan. She smiled, and I wanted to kiss her. The judge was going to rule in her favor too because Jessica’s fight wasn’t with Reagan either. We didn’t have to wait long. Reagan was called next, and as I’d suspected, the judge ordered in Reagan’s favor too.
As Jessica and her dad stepped toward the double doors of the courtroom, I jogged over. “Can we speak for a moment?”
Jessica turned, her brown eyes glaring. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“There is,” I retorted. “I want to see my kids.”
“You heard the judge, you won. Come get them for your weekly dinner t
onight.”
“Okay, but—” I moved aside to let people exit. “I want to speak to you. Can we go into the hall?”
“What is there to talk about, Ethan?” she clipped.
“Come to the hall and find out.” I rolled my eyes.
She huffed. “You have one minute.”
I held the door open for her and she stepped out. After giving her father a brisk nod, I walked over the threshold to where Jessica stood next to a window. “Look, I know you’re worried about our boys, but you know I would never let anything happen to them.”
“Is the murder case closed?” She crossed her arms over her chest. Maybe she didn’t catch when I’d told the judge that the case was ongoing, or when the judge told her that her fight was with the perp.
“No.”
“And why not?”
“I can’t give you any information. You know that.”
“I also know that you always put your work first, and that’s why we got a divorce.”
“I never put it before my kids, and you know that.”
“But you put it before me.” She rolled her eyes and looked off.
“We don’t need to rehash that, Jess. It’s over and done with.”
“I hope you like playing second fiddle,” Jessica said, and my gaze followed hers to see that she was talking to Reagan.
I grabbed Jess’s elbow and pulled her away from Reagan, Randall, and Jessica’s father. “I get it, you’re jealous—”
“I am not!” she seethed, making a face of disgust.
I sighed. “Okay, fine, but I just want to reassure you that I will keep our boys safe when they’re with me.”
“And what about when they’re with her?” She waved her arm in the direction of where Reagan was waiting. “She will have them when you’re at work, right? She’s the one who got a death threat.”
“Look”—I rubbed my hands down my face—“I’ve taken measures to keep Reagan safe, and that will include the boys when they’re with me.”
“Fine, but know this”—she stepped closer and lowered her voice to a growl—“she will never be my sons’ mother.”
I blinked and took a step back. “She’s not trying to be.”
Jessica laughed sarcastically. “Oh, she is. The two of you are playing house and shit.”
She could say she wasn’t jealous, but I knew better. “You had to know I’d move on, Jess.”
She snorted. “And?”
“And I’d remarry, and the boys would have a stepmother,” I went on.
“You’re going to marry her?”
I looked toward Reagan and saw her speaking softly with Randall. “I’ve wanted to marry her since I was seventeen.”
“Wow,” Jess breathed, and I finally looked back at her. “Glad to know the mother of your children was someone you never wanted to marry.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but if she was still in the picture”—she waved her hand in the direction of Reagan—“we”—she motioned to herself and me—“would have never gotten together and those boys wouldn’t have been born.”
I shrugged. I honestly didn’t know what would have happened if Reagan had never dumped me. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. We did get married. We did have our boys. And you did divorce me. Now I’m moving on, and so should you.”
There was a moment of silence as Jessica turned her attention toward Reagan. Without looking back at me, she said, “I am, but so help me that if anything happens to our kids, Ethan—”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“And if she tries to be their mother—”
“Reagan would never.”
Jessica turned and walked away without another word. I didn’t know if the conversation was over or on pause until some other time, but it didn’t matter because no matter what she said, I did want to marry Reagan, and I wanted her to be my boys’ stepmother. I wanted all the things with Reagan: the forever home, the blended family, the first kiss each morning and the last kiss each night. I wanted Reagan to be the one next to me on a porch overlooking Lake Michigan where we watched our grandchildren play in the water. I wanted her face to be the last face I saw before I took my last breath, and then I wanted to wait for her until it was her time and we’d spend forever together in the afterlife.
Reagan approached. “Everything okay?”
I drew her to me and kissed the side of her head. “Yeah, Buttercup. Everything is how it’s meant to be.”
That night, my boys had dinner with my entire family, including Reagan, and I felt as though everything was finally starting to fall into place. My kids were ecstatic, to say the least. I wasn’t sure what Jessica had told them about why they hadn’t seen me for two weeks, but when Cohen said he’d missed me, I told him I had missed him too and that I’d been busy with work. Which, of course, was true. He understood more than Tyson, but I made sure to spend every minute I had with them by actually being with them. I played in the basement at my parents’ while we waited for dinner to be ready, I hugged them every chance I got, and at the end of the night, I promised that we’d do something fun over the weekend—just the three of us.
When Reagan and I got back to my condo, I was too hyped up and happy to sleep. “Want to go to karaoke?” I asked as we walked in through the front door.
Reagan turned and looked at me, her brows drawn in. “Do you?”
I closed and locked the door. “Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep any time soon.”
She smirked. “I can think of something else we can do.”
She didn’t need to tell me twice.
I picked her up, causing her to squeal, and carried her to our bedroom. “Take your clothes off, baby. I’m going to devour your pussy.”
Apparently, I didn’t have to tell her twice either because, without hesitation, we were both stripping our clothes off. Once I was naked, I got in the middle of the bed, laid on my back and motioned for her to straddle my face. I wasn’t joking when I said I wanted to devour her pussy. I wanted her over my mouth and riding my face as I ate at her like a starved man.
Reagan hovered over my head, and I hooked my arms around her thighs. When she lowered down enough for me to take my first taste, I stuck my tongue out, taking a slow lick over her entire slit.
“Yes,” she breathed, throwing her head back.
I groaned my response against her, not stopping as I licked, sucked, and devoured. From the first time I’d ever tasted Reagan’s pussy, I loved it. It was the sweetest cunt I’d ever tasted, and it would also be the last pussy I’d ever taste. I wanted to eat her every chance I got. I was one lucky man.
She started rocking back and forth, doing the work as I held out my tongue. When I glanced up, all I could see was my beautiful Reagan working her tits as she picked up her speed and fucked my face. I’d wanted to devour her pussy—and I was—but having Reagan take control and ride my tongue as though it was my dick was making my cock ache and leak with pre-cum.
I slurped her arousal as she continued, and I grabbed my dick, needing to relieve some of the ache. This was how I knew Reagan was my soulmate. We didn’t need the foreplay if we didn’t want it. We were so in sync with each other that, with a few licks, we were able to get in the mood. When I had asked her if she thought that our sex life would have faltered if we had been married for twenty some odd years, I actually thought the answer was no. I would still be eating her pussy twenty-three years in the future. We may be a little less nimble, but I would find a way.
“I’m going to come,” Reagan panted.
I groaned, not able to speak, and while she continued to ride my tongue, I reached with my free hand and rubbed her clit until she clenched her legs around my ears and came with jerks, squeezing her thighs against my head.
When she was done, I stopped stroking my dick as well as licking between her legs. “Grab a condom, baby,” I instructed.
Reagan rose and reached to my nightstand, grabbing a silver packet wh
ile I stayed on my back. She reached out to hand it to me.
“You can do it,” I smirked. “You like to take control.”
She snorted. “I did take control, huh?”
“I’m not complaining.” I grinned.
“In that case …”
Reagan ripped the packet open and straddled my hips again. This time she faced away from me and my dick jerked with approval. Grabbing the base of my shaft, she slid the latex over it and then lifted before sinking down all the way. There were no words spoken as I held her hips, her hands on my shins, and once again Reagan rode me to her liking.
“God, you’re beautiful,” I gushed as Reagan moved back and forth over my cock. My hand went to her clit, and I rubbed, needing her to be close again because I was. If she hadn’t come when she had, I would have erupted after a few more tugs.
“Fuck,” she hissed and picked up her pace. “This … is … better … than … karaoke.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, baby.”
Her pace increased again, and Reagan threw her head back. I grabbed a fistful of her long brown hair, making her back arch. Her rhythm didn’t falter, and I didn’t let up on her clit. She was slick with her cum and arousal as I used two fingers to work her faster.
“I’m gonna come again,” she panted.
“Yeah, baby,” I coaxed, trying to hold off from losing myself first. “Me too.” I felt her pussy clench and then pulse, making me blow my load as she milked me with her own climax.
I fucking loved that woman.
As we lay in bed, both of us on the brink of sleep, I asked, “Move in with me?”
Reagan lifted her head from my shoulder. “I have.”
“No, I mean officially. Even after I catch the killer. I want you here every night.”
She stared at me and then slowly smiled. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I asked, making sure I’d heard her correctly.
“Yes, I will move in with you.”
I rolled us, so I was on top of her. “Best day of my life.”
“Even better than—”
I silenced her with my mouth, knowing she was going to ask if it was better than the days my kids were born and whatever else was technically better. I didn’t care. This one was in the top ten for sure.
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