The Monroe Sisters

by Aliyah Burke

  She closed the door to the dishwasher and a tingle ran up her spine. She peered under her arm to see a set of long legs that had been poured into a mouthwatering pair of jeans standing by the edge of the island.

  “If you’re needing something to help you sleep, Shai, I’m more than willing to volunteer for the task.”

  Heat surged through her and it took all the dignity she had within her to stand up and, as if his words held zero effect, meet his gaze without flinching. She cocked an eyebrow and, in a very slow, deliberate action, dragged her gaze down his form only to return it up the same long length of him. With a blatant pause as her eyes focused on the juncture of his thighs.

  “Is that fact?”

  “Nothing but, Professor.”

  “I hate not having control of my life.” She shifted toward him, unable to stay away.

  He blinked and just stood there tempting her beyond all reason in a way that only this man could pull off.

  “So call the shots. What do you want?”

  “I want to forget. I want to be taken away from everything that’s happened to me the past few days, and I want to remember what it’s like to feel alive. Feel passion. Feel life.”

  He pushed away from the wall holding him in a fluid singular motion that made her mouth dry and her panties damp. Sav stopped just shy of being able to touch her. Lord knew, she craved his caress like no one’s business but he didn’t give it to her. Instead, he kept a distance between them. Far enough she couldn’t feel the heat that emanated from his large, strong body but close enough that his scent wafted to her and teased her olfactory senses.

  Her palms burned with the need crawling through her veins, alive and hungry for something only this man could ever give her. Ever provide.

  “What. Do. You. Want?”

  Four words that fell from his bow-shaped lips to her ears with a swath of temptation wrapped around them.

  “I want you.”

  Shai had to be honest with him and her. She wanted him—for however long he was willing to give himself to her.

  The hard planes of his features eased slightly. “You have me, Shai. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere. What do you want, need from me?”

  “Touch me.”

  His green gaze flashed dark and heated. Her pussy clenched in return. He canted his head to the side and reached out with one hand to stroke it down the pixie cut she wore her hair in.

  Touching the violet streak, his lips turned up at the corners. “When did you get this? I like this color on you.”

  “All three of us had a spa day and got the cuts and color we have now. I just go get it touched up every now and again.”

  “What more do you want from me, Shai? Tell me and I’ll do it.”

  “Undress me.”

  He closed his eyes for a second before opening them again and nailing her to the spot. “It will be my ultimate pleasure.”

  He finished closing the distance between them and reached for her silk button-down lavender shirt, only to stop and take hold of the lapels on her suit coat and remove that first.

  She caught herself swaying toward him, doing her best to initiate contact with this man but he didn’t allow it. He didn’t lay hands on her to remove her suit coat. He draped it over the counter and returned his attention to her as she stood there in her shirt, skirt and shoes, waiting for him to touch her once more.

  “You know,” he remarked as he reached for the first lavender pearl button on her shirt, “the first time I saw you I wanted to do this.”

  “Touch my shirt?”

  “Undress you. You were yelling at me about not protecting your sister and all I could think about was how fucking sexy you are.”

  One. Two. Three. Four. Buttons fell open beneath his light touch. He wasn’t watching her but following along with where his hands went.

  “Oh,” she gasped as the back of one knuckle brushed against her hypersensitive skin.

  He tugged up on the shirt, removing it from the waistband of her skirt. She captured her lower lip in her teeth and stared down at the top of his head, covered with thick brown hair that at the moment remained back.

  The faint brush of his fingertips as he skimmed her shirt off over her shoulders sent a wave of tremors through her. Her heart pounded so hard she wasn’t sure she would ever get it to slow.

  That green of his eyes, which had mesmerized her from the start, deepened further to a decadent jade hue. He exhaled on a long, drawn-out breath and ran his gaze over her once more.

  “You were nothing but fire and passion. A passion I wanted to claim as my own. You were in a dark blue pantsuit. And then, like now, I couldn’t wait to see what was hidden by the layers of material that had the privilege of touching your skin.”

  He inched closer and kept them chest to chest as he reached around her, hands skimming over her hips and her ass until he found the zipper.

  “I wanted nothing more than to do this then.”

  Sav, with painstaking slowness, drew down the metal tab down until he hit the curve of her butt and it could go no farther. She stared at his torso covered by a taut sage-green and gray mock turtleneck. He pulled back a bit, gave a slight smile then dropped to his knees before her.

  Shit.

  “Watch me, Shai.”

  She couldn’t disobey. Tipping her head forward, she stared down at the man there, who drew her skirt down over her hips and legs. His fingertips trailed behind the material, teasing her skin as he moved along her thigh and calves. Then he lifted one foot and the other to free her from it.

  “Holy fuck.”

  He rocked back on his heels for a brief second before returning to where she could feel his breath against her stomach.

  “You’re in a goddamn thong?”

  “This skirt is better if I have that on.” She licked her lower lip. “Sav.” The word slipped from her mouth on a shudder as he skimmed along the lower edge of her lavender brocade-lace thong.

  He shifted and she screamed in the next second as he covered her pussy with his mouth, hips bucking into him. Desperate for more contact.

  One flat lap with his tongue and he drew back. “I’m sorry. You’re supposed to be telling me what you want.”

  “That,” she begged, fingers sinking into his hair and ripping out the tie holding it back. “God, I want that.”

  “You’re going to need to be far more specific, Shai. Tell me the words. Tell me exactly what you want me to do.”

  Tightening her grip in his hair, she did.

  Chapter Eleven

  The light, yet persistent buzz of his cell phone broke the dark and roused him from one of the best sleeps he’d had in well over a year. Pressed tight to him was a woman who had ruined him for any other female.

  Shai Monroe was a complex and amazing woman wrapped up in a sinful and sexy package he wanted to learn more about and keep right where she was. Beside him. Cutting his gaze to the left, he watched the phone continue to light up. They weren’t leaving him alone, whoever it was. He had an idea and didn’t like them for interrupting his time with this woman.

  It went dark, then two seconds later lit back up once more. Stifling his groan, he reached for the item and swiped his finger along it to answer.

  “Savvas.”

  “Took you long enough to answer your goddamn phone!” LT barked at him.

  He cut his gaze down to the woman who lay mostly on top of him, naked limbs entwined. She didn’t move and if she was awakened by his lieutenant’s loud voice, she was a pro at playing opossum.

  “Don’t have it with me every second of the day, LT.” He angled the phone up a bit more to his ear as she shifted against him. “What’s up?”

  “I need you in. Lopez is on the way as well.”

  His blood tingled in a way that was different from when it was brought from Shai but he still loved the anticipation. “What’s going on?” He remained still, wanting to spend as much time as he could in her arms. Or her in his. Either way, as they w
ere. Together.

  “Triple homicide.”

  He closed his eyes and sighed. Any homicide was horrible but a triple—the last triple he’d had was a family who’d been taken from this world, far too soon.

  “Where?”

  “I’ve sent the directions to your phone but you didn’t respond so I called.” He cleared his throat. “Repeatedly.”

  He wasn’t about to apologize for loving the woman he was with. “On my way.” Before his lieutenant could say anything further, he ended the call and dropped the phone beside him on the mattress.

  Dropping a kiss to the forehead of the woman in his embrace, he splayed a hand along the curve of her ass before sliding it along the soft skin until he reached the juncture of her thighs. I can’t do this.

  “Shai,” he muttered, bringing his hand back up to a bit safer location.

  “Mmm?” She stirred against him, her pussy rubbing along his upper thigh where she straddled his leg.

  “I’ve been called back to work.”

  “Everything okay?” Her voice lost all trace of sleepiness and had a sharp edge to it.

  “No. I have to go. You stay and rest. I’ll see you later when we’re done.”

  She rubbed against him before sidling to be beside him. Her lips brushed his and she whispered, “Be safe.”

  “I have every intention of doing so.” Unable to help himself, he cupped her pussy and pushed two fingers inside her.

  He was welcomed by her wet heat and the tight grip around him. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She bucked her hips, taking him in deeper. “Goddammit, I have to go.”

  He kissed her, short and hard, before pulling away and leaving the bed. His shower was done in record time and he dressed almost as fast. Adjusting his double holster as he headed out of the door, he made sure it was secure behind him. Then he was on the way, lights flashing in the middle of the night.

  As he drove, he thought about his night with Shai. All her explicit dictation to him of what she wanted, needed from him and he’d been more than willing to provide each one of her demands. Requests. Didn’t matter what they were technically, he did them.

  Even now, the thought of fucking her as she was bent over the island in her kitchen, his cock thickened and pressed against the zipper of his slacks, biting into him. All of it combined for one hell of an experience, her body against his, the scent of her skin, the moans, cries, way she dug her nails into him. The way she held him tight as if she couldn’t bear to let him go or as if she wanted nothing more than to crawl into his skin and share the zip code with him.

  The crime scene rose before him and he pushed the warm thoughts of his woman to the side and pulled himself together in order to do his job. After all, it was what he was here for.

  Lopez waited and had two cups of coffee in hand. The man greeted him with a nod and the cup of java.

  “Thanks.”

  “It’s not a good one.”

  The warm scent of joe wafted to his nose and he cracked his neck. “Are they ever?”

  “This one is worse than usual.”

  Two hours later he pushed back from his desk and went to the coffee pot and refilled the disposable cup he’d received from Lopez when he arrived at the scene. Adding the sugar and creamer, he pulled out his phone and pressed a number before it registered what he was doing.

  “Dr. Monroe.”

  “Just wanted to check on you.” Lord, hearing her voice soothed him in ways he didn’t know he’d needed. “How are you doing?”

  “I was just lying here, thinking about the man who left me a few hours ago. Don’t suppose you know when he’s coming back, do you?”

  “As soon as he can.” He sucked the coffee off the stir stick and left it in his teeth as he pivoted back toward his seat. “Did I wake you?”

  There was almost no one in the bullpen at this time of the day and Lopez wasn’t at his desk, so for all intents and purposes his conversation wouldn’t be overheard.

  “No. I was playing with myself thinking about you.”

  He tripped and damn near lost his drink. “Wh-what did you say?”

  Her chuckle didn’t set him at ease. Quite the opposite.

  “I would have thought my professor voice carried for most people to hear me well. My mistake. Guess I need to repeat myself. I said I’m lying here, on my back, legs spread with my fingers in my very wet, needy pussy because you’re not here to do it for me.”

  His heart beat in erratic thuds as he made it to his chair and sat with a grunt. The metal springs groaned beneath him from the abuse he delivered.

  “Christ, Shai. You’re killing me here.”

  “You asked. Not to mention you’re the one who called me. I was busy.”

  His cock went rock-hard in seconds. All he could see was her lying back on her silvered purple sheets, her unpolished nails disappearing inside her tempting pussy as she fingered herself.

  Her breath hitched and he knew, as sure as he knew he was sitting at this desk wanting to be with her, she was just about to orgasm.

  “Shai,” he whispered. “God, I wish I was there.”

  He skimmed the room, glad no one was there to witness his ridge in his pants or the way his breathing had gotten short and sharp.

  “Me too. My fingers aren’t quite the same as yours. Or your tongue.” She panted faster and he heard the rustle of her against the sheet. “Oh God, Sav,” she moaned.

  “Let go, Shai. For me.”

  The high-pitched keel poured from her lips and if he’d not been seated already, he would have fallen to his knees, his own need was so vast.

  “Shit. Oh God, I’m coming,” she wailed.

  Eyes squeezed tight, he could envision her hips bucking up as her back bowed in time with her cry. He wanted to be there, wanted his head between her legs, wanted her cream coating his tongue.

  “You’re killing me here, baby,” he muttered, doing his best to will his cock to a semi-soft state so it didn’t get cut in half.

  “Come home.” That was all she said before she hung up on him.

  Home.

  He dropped the phone to the metal desktop and groaned. Chair closer to the desk now, he picked up and drained a good bit of his coffee.

  “Everything okay?” Lopez lowered himself across from Sav, a vending machine sandwich in hand. “I didn’t get you one because you said you didn’t like them. But I can go back and grab one if you’d like.”

  “No thanks.”

  “I’ve typed up the report and I’ve also put in for some time off.”

  Lopez grinned at him. “Gonna spend time with the little woman?”

  Derek nodded as he pushed back from his desk. “Yes.”

  As he walked off, Lopez called after him, “Have some sex for me.”

  The few in there stopped and watched him. Without slowing, he called out over his shoulder, “I promise you this, Lopez. I don’t think of you at all when I’m having sex. Never have, never will.”

  Laughter accompanied him out of the door. He was heading home to be with his woman.

  * * * *

  “Sav, that’s not nice!” Shai squealed as she scrambled back from him, dripping paint moving down over her hair and body as she looked for something to wipe it away.

  “You dared me,” he retorted, not looking the least bit repentant.

  Her mouth moved as she gaped at him, unable to find the words. Her mind had blanked out. She wanted to yell at him but she couldn’t. Laughter was the one thing that bubbled up.

  He’d come back yesterday morning after the phone call and told her he had taken some time off work. She’d thought he’d been joking but as he swept her up in his arms and carried her back to bed, she didn’t give it another thought.

  He was there when she woke this morning and, after a leisurely breakfast, he’d accompanied her to the store to get some paint for her guest room. She needed to get rid of the old pale gray. She’d picked a soft green and an almost pure white for the guest room and right no
w, she wore the green.

  “How did I dare you? I did no such thing. I only stated I didn’t think you would be able to do this without making a mess.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Which one of us is making the mess? Because from where I’m standing, it’s you. Not me.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him and glared. He didn’t look worried, not even in the slightest. And she wanted to make him as dirty as she was. The second she stepped toward him, he shook his head and backed up.

  “No, you’re over there painting and wearing green. I’m working over here in the clean section.”

  “Okay,” she muttered. His smug grin had her pulling her shirt off over her head and using the inside of it to wipe off her face and hair the best she could manage.

  His entire body stiffened in a heartbeat, his gaze locked on her. “What are you doing?”

  She wadded it up and dropped the cotton at her feet. Ignoring the heat in his gaze, she shrugged as if it were an everyday thing for her to stand before him in her bra and a pair of pants.

  “Getting back to work.” She turned her back to him and bent down to pick up the paint can and fill the holder with more. Roller in hand, she stretched out to get the walls done up high.

  The music moving through the room, she shimmied and rolled her hips too as she painted. Pretending she was alone even though in the back of her mind, she knew exactly what she was doing. Stopping, she glanced over her shoulder at him and he had his back to her.

  His entire body tense as he was careful around the window frame that had been taped.

  “Everything okay over there?” She pitched her question over the music.

  “Fine,” he forced out. Not looking back in her direction.

  Hooking her thumbs in her waistband, she shoved her yoga pants down and kicked them away also, leaving her in nothing more than bra and panties.

  “Okay.” Pivoting around, she began painting once more.

  “Holy Jesus, you’re killing me here, Shai.”

  She didn’t even try to stop the smile. While painting the room was something that had been on her to-do list for a long time now, if she were to be honest with herself, she wanted sex with Derek Savvas so much more. And if that meant she had to stack the odds in her favor, so be it.