“Maybe a dozen. It’s really nothing. I bet Jacob can hit the bull’s eye almost every time.”
“That doesn’t count. He does it for a living and was trained,” she grumbled. “I don’t like being the only one that doesn’t know what I’m doing.”
“Practice makes perfect,” I reminded her.
We both stopped talking when Jacob took aim and then shot his .45. Within seconds, the clip was empty and my earlier theory was proved correct—the man could hit the bull’s eye almost every time. Only two of his shots had gone outside into the black. Showoff.
“That was so hot,” Kara said as she fanned herself.
“Mmm hmmm,” I agreed even though I probably shouldn’t. There was something about a man being full of testosterone and able to protect a woman. It was almost an elemental attraction instilled in us from the days of cavemen.
“Sunshine, stop looking at me like that or I’ll have to drag you in the woods,” he warned her. You could see the heat in his eyes as he held her gaze. It made me feel like a voyeur witnessing the connection between them, as well as making me long for things I shouldn’t. Okay and it made me horny too. It had been too many days since Mack had been close enough to fulfill my needs.
“Promises, promises.” She fluffed him off with a wink, but only after she thought about it for a moment or two. Hell, I couldn’t fault her. Jacob was hot and if he was warming my bed in any capacity, I would have given it some serious thought too.
An hour later, we were down several hundred rounds of ammo and Kara was doing a wee bit better at aiming than she had been. I felt bad for her because you could tell she was overthinking it and whenever she did, her arm would jerk and her shot would be off. It was cute seeing how patient Jacob was with her though. The two of them were clearly in love.
“Every time I load the clip, I get Nate Dogg and Warren G in my head,” Kara randomly announced.
“Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole,” I sang and we both busted out laughing. Just then the door to the building creaked open, and I turned to see Mack striding through. Instantly my heart skipped a beat before pounding wildly in my chest. He looked mouthwateringly good in khaki shorts and a blue t-shirt that made his eyes stand out even more than they already did. And of course there appeared to be a ketchup stain on the front of his shirt. I swear that man was a mess sometimes. He was constantly getting something on himself when he ate and didn’t care.
“What have I missed?” He asked stopping just mere feet in front of me. It was so hard not to reach out and touch him—Kara’s earlier dilemma now mine. The fact that Kara and Jacob were unaware of our relationship made me afraid to stare too long for fear of getting caught giving him googly eyes.
“Megan is a good shot, which still pisses me off,” Kara added while giving me a glare that was anything but scary. “And of course Jacob is king.”
“Damn right I am,” Jacob concurred.
Choosing to ignore the statement, Mack asked Kara, “And you?” He hooked his arm around her neck, making me immediately jealous. He was just being friendly, but I wanted his arm around me not her.
“Dude. Is that necessary?” Jacob asked with his eyes narrowed on where Mack was touching Kara. I was with him on that one.
Mack gave him a shit-eating grin before kissing the side of Kara’s head. Jacob growled and Kara slapped Mack’s abs. “Don’t instigate him,” she warned him.
“Sorry,” he muttered. You could tell he was anything but seeing as how his cocky grin was in place. “So tell me Kara…. What kind of shot are you?”
“Horrible. I suck,” she informed him.
“I have heard that about you,” he teased her earning him another slap to his abs. “Seriously, I don’t believe it. Show me.”
She pulled away from his embrace and took her stance. Mack stepped up beside her and positioned her a different way, instructing her to hold the gun differently than she had been.
“I don’t like it like this,” she complained.
“Trust me. You need to straighten your arm more.”
“Fine,” she huffed and Jacob cursed. I desperately wanted to laugh that she was listening to Mack’s instruction after discounting Jacob’s advice all afternoon.
After firing a round, it was clear to see that the changes to her hold and stance made all the difference. Kara jumped up and down before hugging Mack tightly.
She turned back around and went back to shooting far more excited now that her performance was looking up. I, too, went back to loading my clip in an attempt to calm myself from Mack’s presence and keep from staring at him the rest of the afternoon.
When I lined up my shot and fired, I was more nervous than I should have been. Something about him watching me unnerved me. It was ridiculous really.
“Very nice,” his low, deep voice rumbled in my ear. My insides clenched at the sound. Until that point I hadn’t realized how close he actually was.
“Thank you,” I whispered and blew out a breath.
Mack walked past me to where Jacob was. The two of them started conferring over Jacob’s gun stash, while Kara and I decided to take a break and get a drink.
We were standing a few feet away from the guys when she attempted to discreetly itch herself. I had to have been wearing a mortified expression on my face, because she gave me a sheepish look before explaining. “My hair, down there, is starting to grow back in and it itches. With it being so hot out here, I had to itch it. I’m sorry.”
“Oh dear God,” I muttered. “TMI, Kara.”
“Sorry!” She exclaimed and then added as an afterthought, “Do you wax?”
“Well, yeah,” I said as if saying duh. I had no idea how the conversation had gotten here. I wasn’t sure I was comfortable talking about this with anyone let alone her. “But I don’t go around itching myself in public either.”
“Fine. I’m gross. I’m disgusting. Whatever.”
“I guess I won’t think any less of you,” I joked so she knew I wasn’t really upset with her.
She let out a small giggle. An evil gleam lit her eyes when she asked, “Do you take it all off?”
“Um, no. I leave some,” I said lowly not wanting the guys to hear our conversation. Why did she need to know this? And why in the hell was I actually telling her?
“Oh my God!” She squealed. “You totally should. Jacob loves it when I’m bare down there.”
“What do I love?” Jacob inserted himself into our conversation. Great.
Kara’s face turned beet red, but to her credit she soldiered on. “When I wax it all off,” she mumbled.
Jacob’s lips twitched like he was fighting a smile, while Mack didn’t even try to hide his smirk.
“I sure do,” Jacob gloated.
“I was telling Megan she should totally do it,” Kara babbled on making me want to smack her.
Jacob groaned. “Can you not talk about Megan’s vagina in front of me?”
“Oh I think we should definitely talk about Megan’s vagina,” Mack chimed in.
“Oh God. Can we not?” It was my turn to groan. The last thing I needed to do was talk about my vagina with Mack when no one knew we were sleeping together. Plus, I didn’t need to get any more heated for him than I already was.
“It feels better. At least for me and guys seem to really like it. We all know Jacob does, what about you Mack?” She asked, oblivious to the sexual tension arcing between him and me.
“A bald pussy is a pussy I would definitely bury my face in.” His eyebrow lifted in a silent challenge.
“Gross.” Kara wrinkled her nose but then laughed. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Nope,” he agreed. His eyes were focused intently on me when he spoke to her. I felt naked in that moment and more than a little compelled to run to a salon and have them wax me to high heaven, so he would bury his face in my pussy all day long.
After that conversation turned to more mundane things with Jacob and Mack talking cases as they shot and generall
y ignoring us.
When it was time to leave, we all headed up the hill to the office where we parked. Kara and Jacob ended up ahead of us. Mack moved closer to me, brushing his arm and hand against mine, sending an electric charge through my body. When we crested the hill, I saw Mack’s bike parked next to Jacob’s Challenger.
“Want a ride?” He asked, but the double meaning wasn’t lost on me.
“If you want to try out the bike, I won’t mind,” Kara said before I could answer. I was too busy thinking about all the ways Mack wanted to ride me to come up with a plausible excuse to go with him.
“You sure?” I didn’t want her to think I was blowing her off.
Jacob whispered in her ear and she blushed. “Not at all. Have fun.”
She hugged me, then Mack, before she practically sprinted to Jacob’s car. Jacob kissed my cheek, shook Mack’s hand and then he was right behind her.
“They’re totally going to fuck on the way home, aren’t they?” I asked when Jacob peeled out of the lot faster than necessary.
“Sure are. Let’s go.”
We both put our helmets on and mounted the bike. I wrapped my arms tightly around his middle and rested my head on his shoulder.
The ride back to the city was so relaxing. There’s something freeing about being on the back of bike with the sun warming you while the wind cools you. I loved being able to turn my mind off and feel peace settle over me. It didn’t hurt that I had Mack pressed tightly to me—his hard muscles under my hands, flexing each time he shifted gears.
I wasn’t naïve enough to think him showing up today was a coincidence. The man came for a reason, and I couldn’t wait to find out what he had planned for me.
* * *
My fingers tingled as they slowly dragged the cold ice cube up the center of my body, over my belly, my naval and in between my breasts.
“Around your nipple,” Mack’s low voice commanded me. I willfully obeyed. My nipples tightened and pebbled. The cold trail of water beaded on my skin. I wouldn’t be surprised if it started steaming with how hot my body felt.
When we arrived at my house from the shooting range, Mack immediately took control. Under his heated gaze, I stripped in the foyer before he led me upstairs to my bed. When he left the room, I laid motionless staring at the ceiling waiting with bated breath for what would happen next and straining to hear what he was doing. Anticipation coursed through my veins, and my mind raced through a million scenarios that might play out when he returned. Never would I have assumed that what happened next would have been it.
Mack came back to the room with a bowl full of ice cubes. Walking up to the bed, he had a wolfish grin on his face. He kissed me gently, slowly building the burn, taking my mind off what he was doing. There was no stopping the gasp when he started laying ice in the apex of my thighs, right over my mound. Looking down the length of my body, there were almost a dozen rectangular cubes covering me, slowly melting on my fevered skin. It was the most erotic thing I had ever done or seen.
Now I was following his direction, driving myself crazy with need while he sat naked next to me on the bed slowly stroking his very hard cock. It was a pleasant view and a nice distraction from the torment he had me inflicting on myself.
“That’s it, buttercup. Now the left one.”
A whimper escaped my lips as I circled my left nipple, and he leaned over to do teasing flicks with his tongue against my right nipple. The pulse between my legs matched his rhythm.
The top of my legs and my outer pussy lips were frozen and wet from the ice. I was losing control of holding my legs closed so it wouldn’t slip through. I knew if I wasn’t successful, Mack would punish me. His command had been clear.
I pinched my eyes together tightly to stave off my need to come. It was completely crazy that without touching me, I was ready. So very, very ready. I wouldn’t think it was possible if I wasn’t experiencing it at that very moment.
The piece of ice in my hand was a small square when his mouth enclosed over my fingers and sucked them and the shard into his warm mouth. He pressed a larger piece into my hand and instructed me to keep going. I was so far gone that I didn’t realize he was picking the remaining cubes up from the lower half of my body until he pried my legs apart and settled between them.
My eyes flew open when his fingers pushed a cube deep into my pussy. My back bowed off the bed with the sensation.
“Like that did you?” He asked in a huskier voice than usual. It was heady to know he was just as affected as me by this extremely tantalizing scene.
“Yes,” I cried out when a second cube joined the first. Mack’s warm tongue followed, probing my body before sucking my clit. The warmth and the coolness were at odds with each other, driving me out of my mind and closer to the precipice I craved so badly.
Within seconds, my thighs started to tremble, and I felt the telltale tightening that signaled my release. Before I could give into it though, he was gone.
What felt like forever later, he returned. This time he had an ice cube in his mouth that he then ran over my inner thighs and up over my slit, dropping it into the indent of my naval only to leave it there to melt.
Again his mouth moved over my ribs and the sides of my belly with an ice cube, up over the swell of a breast, around a tight nipple, before heading south again and joining the first shard left in my belly button.
“Roll over,” he ordered and I quickly obeyed.
He propped my hips up with a pillow and spread my thighs before driving into me hard and fast. His body covered my back as he fucked me into the mattress. His hands circled my wrists, pulling them up over my head, completely pinning me to the bed.
“Fuck me,” I gritted out, so close to the edge it hurt. It was a delicious pain, but pain nonetheless.
“Wait for me.”
“I can’t,” I pleaded. And I couldn’t. I was going to fall over the edge quickly. I couldn’t wait for the tidal wave to finally drag me under.
“You will.” His tone brooked no argument.
He drove in harder, and I screamed in pleasure.
“Say my name,” he told me.
“Shane,” I whispered.
“Louder.”
“Shane,” I said as loudly as I could muster between moans.
He grunted his approval, still powering home.
“I’m right there with you, Megan. Take me with you,” he murmured in my ear.
A few thrusts later, I was crying out and coming so hard I almost blacked out. My head swam, and my body convulsed under his. Within seconds, I felt him coming too. Hot jets of cum at odds with the coldness that the ice had left behind, making me shudder even harder.
We both slumped fully onto the bed, his weight settling on mine for a moment before he pulled out and flopped on the bed next to me.
Seconds later, fully sated, I purred my contentment into his chest and fell asleep. When I woke the next morning, he was gone. It wasn’t us, but I still wished he had stayed.
Chapter Nine
Mack
Today was a bad day in every way possible. It started with a double homicide and ended with the suicide of a teenage boy. I don’t think it’s ever possible to get used to that aspect of my job. Seeing the devastation in a family’s lives with what is left behind and witnessing the aftereffects of a young life ending far too soon was something I never wanted to become immune to.
What didn’t help my shitty mood on this equally shitty day was the fact that it was the anniversary of Ella’s death. Another thing that I didn’t think I would ever get used to. The pain I experienced whenever I thought about my future without her wasn’t as sharp and bone deep as it used to be. But rather it was a dull ache that was always with me and that randomly flared into something stronger.
I wasn’t sure anything could pull me from the bad mood I was in. Nor was I sure I wanted anything to. It was easier to wallow in the grief and self-pity then to ignore it. So sitting alone at the bar in Murphy’s, I pounded back
beer after beer, drowning my sorrows.
I signaled Bill behind the bar for another beer. He wandered over a minute later and set the bottle in front of me. “You aren’t driving? Are you, Shane?”
Bill was one of the few people who used my given name. Normally it would have bothered me since I prefer people to use my nickname, but I allowed it because he was old enough to be my father. A respect thing I suppose.
“Nah. I’ll catch a cab.”
“Let me know if you need anything,” he said with an understanding and knowing tone. The first year I spent in Murphy’s on the anniversary of Ella’s death, I got majorly shitfaced and unloaded on Bill. Every year since, it’s been a tradition for me to spend this night here. It was nice to know that I wasn’t completely alone and that Bill was there if I needed him.
After I left Jacob at the station tonight, I rode my bike back to my apartment and then took a cab over here. Jacob had offered to bring me back to this end of the city, but I didn’t want his pity. Besides, he was anxious to get home to Kara. I couldn’t blame him. She was a great girl—perfect for him in every way. When she almost died last year, my heart went out to him. I knew exactly what he was feeling in that moment, watching the life seep from the girl you love. As he paced the waiting room in the hospital, I prayed that he wouldn’t have to know what it was like to live as a shell of a human being if she died. Thankfully, my prayers were answered, and they’re able to have the future they deserve.
Doesn’t mean I wasn’t jealous as sin every time I had to watch them together though. I missed having that connection with someone. I missed knowing there was someone waiting for me when I got home to help wash away the grime from my soul after whatever was thrown my way at work that day. But most of all I missed the simple things like lying in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, sharing your hopes and dreams—laughing, crying, or whatever.
You could have that with Megan, my brain reminded me through the haze of alcohol working its way through my system.
I snorted. Right. Megan was fantastic, and she was definitely a permanent fixture on my mind. She allowed me to dominate her in ways that I had been searching for for a really long time. I’d never drag her into a relationship though. It was too much of a risk that she would be hurt when the relationship ended, because it always ended. In my experience anyway.
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