by Dawn Dugle
"Yep. He laid it all out. How we'd be a power couple in the police department. How we got along. We didn't fight at all, which as it turns out - is probably a sign that you're not compatible."
"How do you figure?" Luke asked.
"We didn't care enough to fight."
"Ah."
"He was cold, though. And was never there, not a hundred percent. I always thought he was holding back from me. Keeping secrets. And it caused me to hold back from him. The one time he did get excited was when I found out I was pregnant. He would talk about our Mini Me, what he or she would look like and sound like. I was having a hard time with that, because it was so early in the pregnancy. We also decided to wait to tell anyone, which turned out to be a good thing. One night while I was on duty, I got terrible cramps and passed out. When I woke up in the hospital, the baby was gone."
I looked at Luke. "Besides my ex, no one else knows."
Luke pulled me onto his lap and put his arms around me. I didn't cry when I lost the baby, because it still hadn't seemed all that real to me. It had been twelve years, but there was something about being in Luke's arms that stripped me bare to the emotional core. I didn't realize the tears were falling until I felt the damp shirt under my cheek and sat back to look at his face.
"Sorry about your shirt."
Luke said nothing but leaned in to kiss me. His lips were warm and soft and he applied just the right amount of pressure. His hands went around the back of my neck, and his thumbs caressed my cheekbones.
I placed my hands flat on his incredible chest and leaned into the kiss. He pulled back and feathered kisses over my eyes, my cheeks and my chin. Then he tilted his head and kissed my neck just behind my ear, which made me gasp.
He stopped cold. "Are you okay?"
"Ohmygod yes. Don't stop."
"Actually, I think we should, because if I keep going, I won't be able to stop. And I don't think this is the right time for taking this to the next level."
Damn chivalry.
Luke laughed. "You have the worst poker face!"
"Yeah, well..."
"I didn't say I wanted to go home..."
"Good." I stood up, pulled up the skirt of my dress a little bit, then straddled his lap with my knees on either side of his legs. I grabbed his face in my hands and leaned in for another kiss. He kissed me back with a scorching response that was all tongue and teeth. His hands were slowly moving up from my ankles to my thighs, and he moved my dress up a little higher.
He reached around and placed one hand on the flat of my back and moved his kisses along my jawline and down my neck, into my cleavage. His other hand reached between my legs, pushed my lacy thong to the side. With his thumb and finger, he began slowly tracing the outer lips of my sex.
I was so turned on, I knew it wouldn't take long to make me fly right over the edge into orgasmic awesomeness.
"Don't stop," I whispered as my mouth found his again.
He stroked me as I bucked against his hand, bringing me right up to the edge of release, then backing off. I ground harder against him, desperate for relief that never came. It was torture. Pleasantly awful torture.
Luke slowly stilled his hand and pulled back to look at me. "I think we need to stop there."
"What? No!"
He laughed when he saw my crestfallen face. "I don't mean stop altogether, I mean stop and go inside."
"Ah. Yes. Good idea." I stood up and readjusted myself.
"Plus... it's nighttime."
I looked around. "That it is."
"I like nighttime naked."
I have seen the devil and his name is Luke Nelson. How can you say no to that? I nodded and pulled him inside the house, locking the back door behind us. He took our wine glasses to the kitchen, rinsed them out and put them in the dishwasher. Sweet Oprah, a man cleaning up my kitchen after rubbing my feet? Damn, that was hot.
Neither of us said a word as we went into my bedroom. He turned me around and slowly unzipped my dress, then pushed it off my shoulders to where it puddled onto the floor. He kissed along my shoulders and down my spine to where my bra was clasped in the back. It didn't stay closed for long and he pushed that off my shoulders and onto the floor too.
I turned around and his eyes were traveling all up and down my body, looking at me like I was an oasis in the desert and he was a thirsty, thirsty man. He stroked my breasts and rubbed his hands down my sides to my waist. He grabbed the waistband of my thong and dragged those to the floor. When he stood back up, he grabbed me for another scorching kiss.
He pulled back to look at me. "You're beautiful."
I didn't disagree with him because in that moment, I felt beautiful. And I wanted him to feel as good as I did. I reached out to unbutton his shirt and he helped me pull that away. It was my turn to feast my eyes on a welcome sight. His chest and abs looked like something that would be perfectly at home on the cover of Men's Health Magazine. I ran my fingertips down the ridges of his body, down to his pants.
Thankfully, he had already taken off his belt, because I couldn't be sure of preventing another hot mess like Thursday night. I unbuttoned his pants, pulled down the zipper and pushed his slacks to the floor. When I stood back up, I discovered he was wearing a very tight pair of boxer briefs that were having a hard time of containing his manhood. He slipped them off in one smooth movement.
I openly stared with my mouth hanging open at his huge... feet... yeah feet. That's what I was staring at.
"Eyes up here Ward!" Luke pointed two fingers at his face and laughed at me.
I gave him a wicked grin. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever."
His eyes darkened, he cocked his head and then grabbed my ass with both of his hands, pulling me to his chest and kissing me. I returned the favor and grabbed his rock hard butt and I do mean rock hard, like hard enough to cut diamonds.
Luke pulled out of our kiss, scooped me up and laid me down on my bed. When he stepped back he looked at me from head to toe. "You really are so beautiful."
My response was lost as he covered my mouth with his and kissed me deeply again. His kisses trailed down my neck and landed on my left nipple, sucking and teasing. He rubbed his thumb over the right side as he playfully nipped at the left one. A lightning bolt zapped right down to my core and I cried out. I could feel him smiling against my chest as he switched to the other side and repeated his maddening seduction. Another electric shock nearly sent me over to the edge.
I reached down to touch him and he grabbed both my wrists in his hands, shaking his head. Luke looked at me with a devilish grin and said: "This is all about you right now."
Oh Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes. Pleeeeease. And. Thank. You.
"Don't move," he ordered as he got off the bed and went over to his pants. He pulled something out of his pocket and fiddled with a wrapper.
He resumed his spot on the bed and grabbed both of my wrists in his hands, pinning them to my side on the bed. He kissed my breasts, my stomach then lightly licked his way down to my inner thigh. I tried to squirm, but between his hold on my hands and the weight of his body, I didn't really have anyplace to go. Not that I wanted to go anywhere.
I moaned and I could feel his cock bounce against my ankle, and my calf. Damn, he was huge.
Luke kissed up my thigh to my core. A strange cooling sensation shot through me. It was a welcome relief from the hot flashes that had plagued me for weeks and being lit on fire from this God Among Men.
I gasped. "What is that?"
He lifted his head and smiled, showing me something in his teeth. "A cough drop. Changes the sensations."
Sweet Oprah drinking tea.
Luke went back to teasing my core, alternating between sucking and blowing and licking into my holiest of holies. It felt soooooo good. No one had ever been this meticulous with me when it came to oral sex. Or sex for that matter.
Someone I used to have sex with, I can't remember his name. Maybe I was married to him? I forgot. He didn't believe in going down on a woman. H
e...
"Oh my god!" I cried as Luke slid one finger, then another inside me kissing my folds at the same time. I tried to squirm and buck, but his other hand pushed my hip into the bed. His rhythmic pulsing became faster and faster until I shot up over the edge of the universe and floated back down to earth, surrounded by stars.
"Holy shit! That's amazing!" I panted.
Luke trailed kisses over my thighs, my hips, my stomach and lazily worked his way back down to my core, causing me to orgasm once again.
When I came down he kissed his way up to my breasts, my shoulders and right under the jaw. Then he sat back with a grin that would make a Cheshire Cat jealous.
I sat up and grabbed his face, kissing him hard. I could still taste the cough drop, but had no idea where it disappeared. Nor did I care. I ran my hands down his back to his ass, then around toward his front. It was time to return the favor.
Luke grabbed my hands and pulled them away. "I told you, tonight was about you."
"What about your needs?" I cocked my head.
"We'll come to that later," he smiled and laughed at the double entendre. "Now, we sleep."
"You can sleep after that?"
"I'm going to try. And so should you."
He laid me down on the bed, spooned up to me and put his hand in the dip of my waist, just above my hip. "Do you feel that?"
"I feel a lot of things. I'm going to need you to be more specific." I was still breathing hard, as if I had done any of the hard work.
"Can you feel how well my hand fits here? It's like you were made for me," he kissed the back of my neck.
Damn. I tried to think of a snappy comeback, but I was all out of words. It wasn't long before I fell into the deepest sleep ever.
∞∞∞
Chapter Sixteen
WEDNESDAY
I woke up the next morning in a cocoon of warmth, but not a pool of sweat like I normally do. My head was resting against Luke's shoulder, but he had arranged the pillows so I didn't have a crick in my neck. He thinks of everything, and once again Mr. Morning Person was already awake and smiling at me.
"Good morning!" He kissed my forehead.
"Good morning, right back atcha," I rubbed my hand across his chest and down his side. The God Among Men didn't have an ounce of fat on him. He was solid muscle, and this muscle was not the kind you get from the gym. This was the kind of muscle you earned by working hard outdoors. Since he didn't have a garden at his house and wasn't working as a farmer, I could only assume he got this ripped with his real job that we couldn't talk about because it was classified.
"You want some coffee? Breakfast?" I asked and started to get out of bed.
"I want you," he pulled me closer to him and kissed me deeply. I moaned and wrapped my arms around him.
When he pulled away, I looked over his shoulder at the clock. "The feeling is mutual, but I have to be at work in an hour and a half. Unlike some of us, I'm not a morning person. I need some caffeine."
I started to get up again and he flipped me over onto my back and straddled me. I stared into his one brown eye and his one blue eye and smiled. Luke leaned down and kissed me again, this time a slow and languid exploration of tongues and teeth that sent my temperature from already hot to scorching. I'm surprised the sheets didn't catch fire. Finally, he pulled back and tugged me up. "Okay, let's go get your caffeine."
I got off the bed and went for my robe, hanging on the back of my door. Luke came up behind me and slid his hands around my waist. Leaning down he kissed me behind the ear and whispered: "Have I told you about Naked Wednesday?"
"Naked Wednesday?" I stood still as he caressed my hips and my back.
"Yes. It's where we stay naked all day, no matter where we are in the house."
"I like the sound of Naked Wednesday, but unfortunately my boss would probably frown upon that. He didn't even want to see me naked when we were married," I laughed.
Luke stopped moving, then turned me to face him. "Your ex-husband is your boss?"
"Yeah. Good times," I put on my robe and walked into the kitchen. Luke followed me.
"Aren't there rules about fraternizing with subordinates?"
"We were divorced a few years before he became my boss," I explained. "So the Powers That Be didn't think it would be a problem."
"The Powers That Be, like your dad?"
I nodded. "He was one of them."
"And has it been a problem?"
"Only every day," I laughed. "He likes to push me and he continues to call me 'Firecracker' - the pet name he had for me when we were married."
"Firecracker?"
I pointed to my crotch. "He couldn't believe I was a natural redhead when we first became intimate. Then, he complained that I was 'too passionate' - like a firecracker."
Luke stared in disbelief. "He complained that you were too passionate? What the hell does that even mean?"
"It means he didn't want to have sex with me. He thought I wanted it too much," I shrugged and started to make my latte. "His idea of a healthy sex life was once a month, like clockwork. He even wrote it down on our shared kitchen calendar. He called it coupling."
"Stupid name," Luke frowned.
I nodded in agreement.
"And he calls you 'Firecracker' at work?"
"Yep."
"Does anyone else know what that means?"
"Thankfully no."
Luke looked mad and I thought he was going to say something else, but he instead pressed his lips together and opened my fridge. "Good lord, woman. You have every condiment known to man. How do you ever fit real food in here?"
"I don't, usually," I laughed and turned back to the espresso machine. "I did some adulting on Monday, though so there might be some ingredients in there."
Luke pulled out eggs, cheese, butter and milk. "Where are the pans?"
I showed him where the pans, utensils and plates were. Listen, if a man wants to take over my kitchen and cook me breakfast, I'll be damned if I'm going to stop him. I walked over and leaned against the counter near the stove to watch this God Among Men work his magic.
"You're pretty good in the kitchen," I smiled. "Pretty good everywhere, come to think of it."
Luke leaned over and kissed me. "I've had a lot of practice. In the kitchen."
I laughed and sat down at the island. "I can't remember if a man has ever made me a meal."
"That's terrible and something we'll fix tonight," Luke stated and turned back to the stove. "I'm making you dinner at my place."
"It might be late, I have to go to a drag club this evening."
"If I had a nickel every time a woman used that excuse with me."
We both laughed. I felt a funny warm sensation start in my stomach and spread throughout my body. This was anything but a hot flash and something I wasn't ready to label just yet.
∞∞∞
Chapter Seventeen
"Good morning everyone," I chirped as I swept into the conference room at the police station, plunking down a cappuccino in front of Bodie.
"My, my.. if it isn't Snow White!" Bodie narrowed his eyes at me. "It's almost like a Delectable Prince Charming woke you up this morning!"
"Zip it," I hissed then smiled at him as my brother and Diana entered the room.
"What did you two find out at the memorial service last night?" Tripp asked.
"I know who did it," I sat down in my chair.
Everyone looked at me in stunned silence.
"It was the cousin, Seth Campbell," I stated.
"Did you find evidence at his gallery?" Diana asked.
"Sort of... in the back of the gallery, in his private studio, he has this plastic covering the floor and walls that I would swear is the same plastic that covered the body when she was found," I started.
My brother interrupted. "That plastic is commonly sold in rolls at big box hardware stores all across the country. Forensics was unable to tell us where this particular brand was sold, so we won't be able to track sale
s receipts."
"But if we were to go look for Seth's roll, we might match the cutting pattern on the piece that covered the body, right?" I asked.
"Yes, but we don't have enough for a warrant right now."
"Okay, how about this - he has four palette knives on his workbench," I went on.
"I told her that they aren't always sold in sets of five," Bodie said. "And sometimes they're sold separately."
"He also had a lot of animosity towards his cousin, although she was his ticket for making money. So, I'm not sure what the motive would be right now," I trailed off.
"You have a whole lot of nothing," Tripp stared at me. "Worse yet, Campbell called to complain about you this morning. Claims you were searching his property without a warrant. And it sounds like his complaint is valid."
"Hey, I was invited into that memorial service, and the door to his studio was open. I didn't need a warrant."
"Nevertheless, you need to tread lightly here," Tripp glared.
I started to protest when Diana spoke up. "We talked to the lawyer yesterday, and he confirmed what Vern Reddy said about the prenup. It was indeed Vern's idea to get that. And Claire changed her will a few months ago so that Vern would get everything when she died."
"Who was the beneficiary before she did that?" Bodie asked.
"Some art colony retreat in New York," Tripp answered.
I frowned. "Why did she change it?"
"The retreat went out of business," Diana finished.
"What about this new business venture that Luke Nelson told us about?" I asked, ignoring Bodie's stare.
"The lawyer didn't know anything about that. So, either Nelson was lying, or some other lawyer drew up the contracts," Tripp sat down. "We've been digging into Nelson's background some more and there are some inconsistencies."
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. "Inconsistencies?"
"Lucio Nelson doesn't exist," Diana pushed some papers across the table to me. "His service record is a fake. A good fake, but fake nonetheless."
The omelette and coffee I had this morning were threatening to reappear.