by LK Shaw
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered, but Charity didn’t even seem to hear me. I felt sick to my stomach. Who the fuck would do that to their child?
“One day, children’s services showed up at the house telling me I was going to be living with my paternal grandmother—a woman I didn’t even know. That bitch was almost as bad as my mother. She was mean and hateful, constantly berating me for being useless. Because of what my mother had done to me, I was small for my age. I had no social skills. I didn’t know how to do anything, really. I hadn’t needed to. My mother had done everything for me. I’d even forgotten how to tie my own fucking shoes.”
Charity shook her head, as though shaking away the memories. “The second I turned eighteen, I got the hell away from her. I was so angry all the time. I was angry at my father for leaving. At my mother for…everything. And at my grandmother for being a shitty human being who couldn’t see that I was just a kid who’d lost everything. I had bouts of uncontrollable rage. The school shrinks couldn’t help me. Social services finally managed to hook me up with some mental health services. All they did was give me anti-anxiety meds and some worthless coping mechanisms to help me manage my anger issues.”
Everything started making sense. Her need to feel safe. The anxiousness. All that anger inside her. Christ, who wouldn’t be angry after everything she’d gone through? I was angry. I wanted to punch something. To rage against all the injustices this woman had suffered her entire life.
“I’m sorry for everything you went through.” Such an entirely useless thing to say, except what else could I? How did I even respond to that? Charity didn’t need to worry about anything though. I was here, and no one would ever hurt her again.
Chapter 32
The only person who knew everything about my past was Yvonne. Not even Shan knew the worst of it. Except I just spilled every last one of my secrets to Oliver. I should probably be feeling a lot more anxiety, and there was definitely that itchy sensation under my skin that liked to make itself known, but it was quieter than ever before. It would never go away, and anything could trigger it, but the fact that Oliver seemed to accept that part of me made it easier to handle.
I mean, he’d seen me having a full blown panic attack at the shelter, then again later that night. He hadn’t even blinked at my almost frantic need to leave the hospital. Instead, he’d offered to stay the night and held me, just like the day he rescued me from that basement. He’d kissed me. Told me he had feelings. It was almost too much to take in. It all felt like a dream.
“Can I ask you a question?” My voice was more hesitant than I’d hoped.
Oliver glanced over at me. “Of course.”
“How am I the first woman you’ve ever woken up next to?”
His expression grew shuttered, and his hand stopped moving along my leg. I almost regretted putting him on the spot like that. Except, he knew everything about me, and I still knew next to nothing about him. Oliver let out a heavy sigh.
“My mother left when I was four,” he began. “Ever since then, it’s just been me and my dad. My entire life, I’ve watched him pick up almost any woman he’s wanted. His moves were so smooth they became an art form. It was a game he’d taught me, and I soaked up everything. Perfected my technique to emulate him. My dad was my hero, and I wanted to be just like him.”
Oliver paused with a head shake. “I was, too. I was exactly who my father had taught me to be. The ultimate playboy. The guy who could get any woman he wanted, but only for a night or two, because women weren’t worth more than that. He taught me that emotions were weak. You didn’t get attached to a woman, because as soon as you did, she’d leave.”
“Like your mother.”
His eyes met mine. “Exactly. My whole life I’ve used women, and I told myself it was okay, because I let them know ahead of time just where we stood. I told them I didn’t do commitment. I didn’t do feelings. The only thing between us was sex. I was happy with my life.”
“What changed?” I asked.
Oliver’s smile was soft. “This tiny but determined woman showed up at my precinct begging me to help her, because she felt safe with me.”
My heart stuttered, and then raced.
“Everything began to feel shallow. I met my dad out one night not too long ago, and I watched him. It shined a lot of ugly truths on me, and I didn’t like what I saw.”
“That sounds pretty lonely.”
One side of his mouth tipped up, but his eyes showed sadness. “Yeah, I guess it does.”
“I’ve been lonely my whole life, too.” I worried my lip, uncertain how much more of my soul I wanted to bare, but I had nothing to lose. “Except, I don’t feel quite so alone when I’m with you.”
I didn’t think Oliver knew what real love was, not growing up the way he had. Maybe I didn’t either, but I was pretty sure this bright, warm light inside my heart was it. All I could do was let it shine on him and hope it was enough for him to shine back.
Making a decision I might end up regretting later, I sat up and swung my legs off his lap. I stood, his eyes following my movements, until I resettled myself on his lap. We sat face-to-face with me straddling his hips and my ass cradled between his thighs. Oliver’s eyes heated with arousal, but a flicker of worry flashed in them.
“You’re going to hurt your leg sitting like this,” he cautioned.
I placed my arms on his shoulders, lacing my fingers behind his neck. “Why don’t you let me worry about my leg?”
His hands went around my waist. Taking the initiative, I leaned forward and claimed Oliver’s mouth with mine, sliding my tongue along the seam. He opened for me, but then took control of the kiss, deepening it even more. I was helpless to his demands, and the only thing I could do was submit.
“Make me feel not so lonely. Please,” I begged against his lips.
Pleasure rushed through me as he tasted and teased. He licked and nibbled, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip before soothing the pain with the swipe of his tongue. His arms tightened, pulling me closer against the hard planes of his chest. The rigid line of Oliver’s cock hit me in the perfect spot, and I sucked in a breath. My hips rolled, trying to increase the friction.
Then he stood, lifting me, and my legs automatically wrapped around his waist. “What are you doing? Put me down, you lunatic,” I screeched, worried he’d hurt himself.
Oliver stared intently at me, and my mouth snapped shut.
“I don’t want some quick fuck on the couch like teenagers. You deserve better than that. I want to make love to you the first time in a bed. My bed. I want to spend the day exploring each other’s body, learning all the places to touch you that make you moan and squirm. I plan on worshipping you, pleasing you, and making you come so many times you’ll beg me to stop. Most of all,”—he laid claim to my lips, leaving me breathless again—“I want to wake up tomorrow with you lying beside me.”
A tiny flicker of hope flared at his words. I held on with my arms and legs while Oliver cradled my ass in his hand and carefully climbed the stairs. He continued down the hall until we reached his room. Sunlight filtered through the windows. Gently, he laid me on the bed and followed behind, his body slightly to my side so he didn’t crush me.
“I choose happiness,” he said, brushing my hair back, his eyes focused on me.
My gaze dashed across his face, searching, not sure what he meant. Before I could ask, his lips covered mine, and any thoughts I had drifted away. All I could do was feel. The kiss went on for what seemed like forever, yet not nearly long enough. Oliver cupped my breast, and I pressed myself closer, needing more.
He answered by sliding his hand under my shirt, his warm skin gliding across mine, making me tremble with arousal. It wasn’t enough. I gently pushed him, and he pulled back, looking at me with a questioning stare. I tore my shirt off and shrugged out of my bra, tossing both of them on the floor.
Oliver’s lips turned down. “I wanted to do that.”
“You were taking t
oo long.”
He raised a brow. “Oh, I was, was I?”
The look in his eye made me nervous. Maybe I shouldn’t have been in such a rush. His expression promise torture.
With painstaking slowness, he lowered his lips to my breasts, and he proceeded to worship them, just as he said he would. My fingers threaded through his hair, clutching him tightly to me. He teased my hard buds, his teeth biting down, and then he’d soothe the sweet sting with his tongue.
No matter how hard I pushed, trying to get him to move further down, or how much I begged, he didn’t budge. He played with my breasts, molding them with his hands, lapping at them with his tongue, sending zings of a pleasure pain straight to my core. The place I wanted his touch most.
“Please,” I pleaded, unable to take the sinful torment any longer.
Oliver lifted his head and stared down at me. “Please, what?”
“Please touch me.”
He rolled my hard, aching nipple between his finger and thumb, pulling it taut before releasing it. “I am touching you.”
I clutched his bare arm and growled. “Not there.”
The smug bastard smiled. “Where would you like me then?”
My legs separated, and I lowered my hand, palming my throbbing center. “I need you here.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to touch you there. I want to take my time.”
I nearly cried in frustration, but Oliver took pity on me with an evil chuckle. He shifted and his fingers went to my waistband. Way too slowly for my liking, he slid my pants down, bringing my panties with them. I raised my hips, and he continued tugging, careful with the bandage on the side of my leg, until at last, I was free of the confines and blissfully naked beneath him.
“You next.” I gestured toward his body.
Faster than he’d been with my clothes, he disrobed, tossing everything to the pile that had accumulated on the floor. He reached across me, opened the bedside table drawer, and pulled out a condom. I plucked the package from his fingers and tore it open. Oliver chuckled at my eagerness. He took it from me and rolled it down his length, giving me my first full look at his cock.
He was gorgeous, and I couldn’t wait to feel him inside me. I looked up, and the expression on his face made my heart skip. Not wanting to think too long on what it could mean, I pulled him down for a kiss. Soon, Oliver’s lips trailed from my mouth down to my jaw before gliding further south.
His tongue licked between my breasts as he continued trekking a path along my body, pressing kisses to nearly every inch of my torso. I opened my legs further, and he settled between them. His breath teased my clit seconds before he latched onto it. My back arched off the bed, and my fingers curled into fists gripping the bedsheets.
I writhed beneath him, gasps of air and sounds of pleasure escaping my throat. Oliver feasted on me as though he was starving. My body tightened, and the tension built inside me, until I was tingling with the need for release. He was relentless, driving my pleasure higher and higher until, at last, it crested the rise and shot into the sky like a rocket. I cried out, riding the orgasm, my entire body shuddering in ecstasy.
Oliver slid back up the bed and crashed his lips against mine. I tasted myself on him. Then, I felt his hard cock against my opening. He broke the kiss and stared down at me as he slowly entered, inch by excruciating inch, until he was fully seated inside. My pussy clenched down on him, and he groaned.
With his gaze still locked on mine, he began to move. Neither of us looked away. It felt as though unspoken words seemed to pass between us.
I want you.
I need you.
I love you.
Oliver shifted angles, and I gasped at the new spot he hit inside me. The friction increased, and that familiar tension built again. His thrusts quickened. I locked my ankles under his butt, trying to pull him in deeper with every upward rocking motion. His green eyes shone down on me, and he reached between us, finding my clit.
With only a few perfect touches, my nerves shot sparks that raced through me. My body jerked and shuddered, pulsing beats hitting my pleasure center. I gasped Oliver’s name, and against my will, my eyes closed, the bliss almost too much to bear. His head tilted down, and the heat of his breath hit my neck as he thrust several more times. Then he threw his head back, his muscles going taut, and he roared out his own release.
His body sagged against me, both of us breathing fast. I ran my fingers up and down the length of his back, unable to stop touching him. He brushed the sweat-dampened hair off my face and lowered his lips to mine. The kiss was less urgent, but just as powerful, as all our previous ones. He raised up slightly and our eyes met again.
“I don’t feel so alone when I’m with you, either,” he whispered.
Chapter 33
“Good morning,” I murmured against Charity’s ear, brushing my lips across the top of her bare shoulder.
She gave a small stretch and rolled over with a sleepy smile, tucking her hands beneath her cheek. “Morning.”
I swept her tangled hair off her forehead. “Did you sleep well?”
“Once this insatiable man finally let me.”
“Insatiable?” I flipped onto my back, pulling her with me so she laid plastered on my chest, and buried my face in the crook of her neck, growling. Charity’s laughter was music to my ears. “If I didn’t have to get to work I’d show you just how insatiable I am.”
She raised her head up and rested her chin on the arms she folded over me. “Do you really think my friend Maria is the same woman you’re looking for?”
“My instinct says yes. Or maybe it’s wishful thinking.”
“She seems like a normal, nice woman. I just can’t picture her as some murdering drug supplier,” she said.
“I hate the fact that she’s been so close to you. I don’t trust her.”
She stretched up and pressed her lips to mine. “Thank you for worrying, but she has only ever been kind to me. Even if she is some ruthless killer.”
The alarm on my phone beeped, and I reached over to shut it off with a groan. “Shit, I have to get going.”
Charity slid off me, and I rose from the bed. I turned to find her watching me. “You’re making it really hard for me to leave, I hope you know that.”
“Well, the sooner you leave, the sooner you can get back,” she teased.
I came around to her side of the bed, and she sat up, pulling the covers up and tucking them beneath her armpits. I leaned down and planted my lips on hers for a far too brief kiss. “Are you going to be naked and waiting for me? Because that is definitely something that would get me home as soon as possible.”
“If that’s what it takes, then you can count on me,” she replied with a sexy smile.
“Great,” I groaned. “Now I’m going to be carrying that image around with me the entire day.”
She covered her giggle with her hand. “You poor thing.”
“I’d watch it if I were you, woman. The insatiable beast will be ready to come out and play if you’re not careful.” I left her with one more kiss.
“Promises, promises,” she called out with a chuckle as I headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth.
Pablo and I trekked the short distance to the apartment building where this Maria was supposed to live. My nerves jumped like a live wire, and I tried not to get too excited about the possibility that this Señora Valesquez might be dropped right into our laps. By Charity, of all people.
“Do you really think it’s her?” Pablo asked. “It just seems too easy.”
“There are far too many similarities. A Hispanic woman named Maria, recently arrived from Mexico, brought here by her son, befriends the victim of the crime in which she is responsible for making us aware. You can’t tell me that that doesn’t make you sit up and take notice.”
“It really does seem too coincidental to not check out. What happens if this isn’t the Maria we’re looking for?” he asked, opening the front door of the lobby.
&
nbsp; “Then we’re back to square one, I guess.”
We approached the friendly looking bellman on duty, and flashed our badges.
“Afternoon. I’m Officer Garrison and this is Officer Rodriguez. I was hoping you could help us out. We’re looking for a resident by the name of Maria. Older Hispanic woman. Been in town approximately six months. I apologize that I don’t have more information than that.”
“Oh, you probably mean Ms. Valencia. Is she in trouble?” He stage-whispered.
“Not at all,” I assured him. “We just have a few questions to ask her. Would you mind ringing her?”
“Oh, of course, just a moment.” He seemed flustered by the request.
Pablo and I waited while the man made his call.
“Hello, Ms. Valencia, there are a couple of police officers here to see you.” He held the phone away from his mouth. “What are your names again?”
“Garrison and Rodriguez.”
He repeated it into the phone and then paused. “Yes, I’ll send them up.”
The bellman pointed to the elevator. “If you take that up to the fourteenth floor, you’ll turn left once outside. Head down the hall to apartment fourteen-oh-seven.”
“Thanks a lot,” Pablo told him.
The elevator doors closed behind us. “Valencia. Valesquez,” I said.
“Yeah, I noticed that.”
The rush of adrenaline spiked in my veins. A mix of D.E.A. field agents, including Landon, as well as several of our own people were stationed randomly outside in case my instincts were right, and the woman inside was Señora Valesquez. Both organizations had initially been hesitant to send back up without any evidence, but I’d somehow managed to convince Cap and Landon.
The doors opened with barely any noise and we both stepped out, alert to potential danger. All was quiet even as we continued down the hallway toward the apartment in question. Pablo and I took a position on each side of the door. Hand on my gun, I knocked.