by J. H. Croix
There was something so damn mundane about it all, and I loved it. While waiting a few minutes for the pizza to be ready before I left to pick it up, I rested my elbow on the counter surrounding Maisie’s desk. Levi was betting with Beck on who could get home sooner.
Rex came out of the hallway on the police side of our shared station. He glanced amongst us and smiled. Pausing beside me, he commented, “Good to have you back. Seeing Rachel tonight?”
“Yeah, not that it’s any of your business,” I replied.
Rex rolled his eyes. “Trust me, I don’t give a damn about your love life. But Bruce showed up at her house the other night. We arrested him and charged him with violating the restraining order. He posted bail and got released the same night. Far as I know, he hasn’t been back out there, but I’ll be damn relieved if she’s not at home alone. I know she’s got her dog, but…” Rex’s words trailed off, and he shook his head.
Levi and Beck had meandered out to the parking lot to look at Levi’s new truck. Maisie glanced up, her eyes bouncing from me to Rex and back again. “Don’t worry, we’re all looking out for her,” she said.
As the primary dispatcher here, Maisie was usually up to speed on any police contacts. Anger coursed through me. “What the fuck? How is it okay for him to pull that shit and stay around town? Plus, I thought he had a new girlfriend.”
Rex shrugged, his mouth twisting. “No matter what people do, it doesn’t mean they can’t live somewhere. Trust me, I wish the asshole didn’t live here, but he does. And yeah, he’s got himself a new girl and charges related to her too. Just like I told Rachel, I’ll tell you. Even with a new girlfriend, guys like him take it real personally when a woman actually ups and leaves like Rachel did. He’s not the brightest bulb, but I think he gets that he isn’t going to get Rachel back. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t wanna make her uncomfortable. He just wants to fuck with her. That’s how I see it.”
“Rachel’s going to be fine,” Maisie said firmly. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she’s got you now, but she’s one of the strongest women I know.”
If she intended to say anything else, she was interrupted by the dispatch line. Spinning away, she took the call.
Glancing to Rex, I nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.” I didn’t know what else to say. I wanted to hunt Bruce down and beat the hell out of him, but I certainly wasn’t planning to share that with Rex.
Rex nodded slowly. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”
“You mean, like kick her ex’s fucking ass?”
“Exactly like that.”
“I’m not stupid, but I can’t make any promises. I’ll leave it at this, though. It’ll definitely be something he starts.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Remy
Rachel stood in front of me, her hair loose and cheeks flushed. I’d arrived at her house a while ago to find her playing fetch with Henry in the yard. I stayed outside with her, wanting to ask about Bruce, but unsure how she’d feel about that.
Between the lust that jolted me anytime I was near her and the intensity of my feelings for her, worrying about the bullshit Bruce was pulling had me tied up in knots.
We’d just come inside a few minutes prior. The sound of Henry lapping water from his bowl was in the background as I looked at her. “I heard about Bruce.” My mouth got ahead of my brain. Fuck.
Rachel’s eyes widened. She was silent long enough that I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.
“What did you hear?” she asked softly.
“Rex mentioned Bruce was here. He told me he arrested and charged him, but that Bruce was already back out.”
Emotions flashed across her face—frustration, sadness, regret, anger. Underneath it all, that sense of vulnerability flickered.
She caught the corner of her bottom lip, worrying it. She twirled a loose lock of hair around her finger and tapped her foot, her body practically vibrating from nervousness.
I wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her tight. Because of everything Shay had gone through and because I’d come to know Rachel, I guessed she felt ashamed, that maybe she thought she should’ve known better, or she assumed just about everyone judged her for ending up in that situation. Perhaps all of it tangled together.
When none of it was true. Much as I wanted to argue the point, I also knew from Shay that all I could do was show that wasn’t the case through my actions.
The steely look in Rachel’s eyes faded, and her breath came out in a soft puff as her shoulders slumped forward. She looked defeated, and I hated it. She took a step back from where we stood near the kitchen counter. Sliding her hips onto a stool, her mouth twisted to the side, bitterness flashing in her gaze.
“It sucks. It totally sucks. I mean, he’s got a new girlfriend. Why keep bothering me?”
Staring at her, I spoke the plain truth, at least the truth as I knew it in my heart. “Because men like that are fucking assholes. It’s not about logic, or what makes sense. It’s about power and control. Look, I don’t talk about it much because it’s not my story to tell, but like I said, my sister went through something similar.”
Rachel’s eyes held mine, sadness flickering in the depths again. “Too many women went through something similar. It makes me sick. You said she’s okay, right?”
My heart squeezed just thinking about what Shay went through. “Yeah, she’s okay. She swears she’s never going to date again now.”
Rachel let out a bitter laugh. “I was saying the same thing. And then you came along.”
Rachel, usually guarded, looked bashful and vulnerable for just a flash, just enough to set my heart to thudding against my ribs.
“Are we dating then?” I asked softly.
The feeling in the air around us shifted rapidly. The space felt electric, like a live wire shimmering in the air, vibrating hot and steady.
Rachel’s cheeks flushed pretty and pink, and her eyes darkened, answering the desire I knew was contained in mine.
“I don’t know. But I swore off sex, and you made me break my promise really fast,” she said with a husky laugh.
Stepping closer to her, between the cage of her knees, I lifted my hand, brushing a few tangled locks off her cheek and threading my hand into her hair. My thumb brushed along the side of her neck.
“I’m so fucking glad you broke that promise.” I could feel her tight nipples against me, and lust lashed inside, the sting of it sharp. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but this is more than sex to me.”
Rachel was quiet. I could feel the rise and fall of her breath as her breasts pressed against me. Henry padded across the floor and leapt onto the chair in the corner, promptly sighing into sleep.
Rachel’s tongue darted out, swiping across her bottom lip and sending a hot shot of blood straight to my groin. I didn’t quite know how this feeling between us had built so rapidly, but I didn’t doubt it.
It was everything, and I wanted to shout it to the world, or at least to her. Yet, I knew how skittish she was. I knew how much it took for her to let down her guard. So, I would wait until she let me know it was okay to be that direct. In words, that is.
In these moments, intimacy wound around us like gossamer ribbons.
“Me too,” she finally said, her words so soft I almost missed them.
Then, she slid her hand around my hips, nudging me just a little bit closer. I closed the distance between our lips, catching hers in a hot, wild kiss. I was beginning to realize the moment I was close to Rachel like this, there was no such thing as control. At least, not how there usually was when it came to women and sex.
Her mouth was warm and mobile, her tongue tangling sensually with mine. The little soft gasps and whimpers from her throat drove me fucking wild. I groaned when I slid a hand over her belly, growling when I cupped her breast and teased a tight nipple with lazy strokes of my thumb. Time dissolved when I was with her, everything blurring.
She broke free from our kiss, her lips, teeth, and
tongue blazing a fiery trail down the side of my neck as she tugged at my T-shirt. Lifting her head, she ordered, “Shirt off. I need to feel you.”
“Sweetheart, I’ll do whatever you say.” Reaching behind my neck, I lifted my T-shirt up and over my head. As it drifted to the floor, she pulled her shirt up and got her hair tangled.
With her shirt halfway over her head, I had an absolutely delicious view of her breasts pressed together, her nipples taut through the navy blue silk of her bra. Leaning forward, I sucked a nipple into my mouth, straight through the silk.
She gasped and then muttered with a giggle, “A little help, please.”
Reluctantly drawing back, I made quick work of her T-shirt. She flicked open the buttons of my jeans, eliciting a rough growl from my throat when she freed my cock from my briefs and curled her palm around it.
“Sweetheart, I…” My words were lost in a ragged cry as she dipped her head and swirled her tongue around the head of my cock, taking care of the pre-cum rolling out the tip.
“You were saying?” she teased.
At the sound of her husky voice, I looked down. Her hips were still resting on the stool, but she’d shimmied back a little and was leaning over. Her breasts were on glorious display for me. I had a perfect view of the valley between them and one of her nipples peeking over the silk.
Reaching forward, I took care of matters, flicking my thumb on the clasp between them. “Fucking perfect,” I murmured as her breasts tumbled loose. Capturing one in my palm and rolling her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, I savored the hiss of her breath between her teeth.
Her eyes had that hazy look I loved. Rachel was a woman almost always in control, so it made it that much more meaningful when she teetered on the edge. I fucking loved the surge of power that roared through me realizing I could make her lose control. Even more though, I loved knowing she felt safe to let down her guard with me. It was a gift. One I would never take for granted.
“I bet your pussy is fucking wet as hell,” I murmured.
She shifted her thighs, a sly gleam entering her eyes. “Maybe so, but you’re gonna have to wait.”
At that, she leaned forward and sucked me all the way to the back of her throat. My hand slapped on the counter as I groaned, tangling the other hand in her hair and hanging on.
She licked, she stroked, she sucked. Making me fucking crazy. Her mouth and tongue worked magic on my cock.
I meant to tell her I wanted to be inside of her. Thought fled, my climax weakening my knees and roaring through me. If I hadn’t been holding onto the counter, I’d have fallen. Rachel took it all, every last drop of my release poured into her mouth.
She drew back slowly. At the sight of her, her lips puffy and damp from sucking me off, her eyes dark with passion, and her cheeks flushed, my cock stirred again instantly. As she rose up, I kissed her. Because I had to. I tasted the salty evidence of my release on her tongue, and I loved it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rachel
Remy lifted me, and I curled my legs around his hips. There was something about a man with such easy strength. When Remy held me, I knew he’d never let go. He held me with his strong arms high against him, his body a haven and a bulwark against anything.
One of his big hands sifted through my tangled hair as he murmured against my temple, “I need to be inside you, sweetheart.”
He carried me, striding quickly into my bedroom and kicking the door shut behind him. In a matter of seconds, he eased me down and nearly yanked my jeans off. They caught on one of my ankles, and I stumbled.
He steadied me at the hip, kicking his own jeans free. My mouth went dry. He was all man. Tall and fit, every inch of him put to good use. We’d been together enough now that I was familiar with the map of his body, and the few scars here and there—a jagged one cross the back of one of his upper arms, a long one across his back, which he told me happened when he was a little boy playing on a rope swing. The rope caught under his arm and whipped across his back.
I loved these details, each of them adding up to more of the man standing before me. Remy was one of the strongest men I’d ever known, and one of the gentlest.
In a flash, we were on the bed, a tangle of skin, and his hands were everywhere as he mapped my body. Teasing my nipples, grazing with his teeth, just enough of a bite that it blurred into pain, and I savored it. There was a rough edge to him. Or perhaps, there was a rough edge to us. The need was so great, it seemed nothing could slake it. It ebbed and flowed like the tide, flashing like storms in the sky.
I felt the scratch of his stubble on the inside of my thigh, one of his palms pushing my knees apart. His fingers dipped into the core of me. I was gripping his hair and crying out as he fucked me with his fingers and tongue, bringing me to a rough, noisy climax.
It was always like this with him. I never wanted it to end, and yet it crashed over me so fast because it was so intense. Not to mention, the man was a fucking god in bed.
As he started to rise up, I caught him with my knees, rolling us over so I sat astride. My juices were slick on his cock. I rocked my hips, loving that he was already hard again. I meant to tease him, but I teased myself, sweet pleasure radiating from my clit as his hardness slid over the swollen button.
I wasn’t thinking. At all. Rising up, I started to reach between us because I needed him inside of me, needing him stretching me and filling me completely. Suddenly, he was gripping my hips tightly. “What?” I asked, looking down.
“Take it slow,” he murmured.
It felt as if he looked straight into my heart. Emotion tightened in my chest, and I felt restless, almost fearful of the depths he understood so effortlessly.
Just now, so alive with sensation, tingling from head to toe with my body practically beating out Remy’s name with every fiber, all I wanted was him.
“Okay,” I whispered, swallowing through the thickness in my throat.
With his hands gripping my hips, I eased down over him slowly, moaning at the delicious stretch of him filling me. He was thick and hard and filled me completely.
“Rachel.”
My name was a gruff sound in the room, sending a prickle of awareness chasing over my skin. Opening my eyes, I looked down at him, his green gaze dark and intent. There was a slight sheen of sweat on his skin, just as there was on mine. The feel of his calloused palms against my skin was something I had come to savor. He shifted his hands, sliding them onto my thighs where the skin was so sensitive.
“I just want to see you,” he murmured, answering my unspoken question.
I rose slightly, loving how his hips arched up to meet mine. With him propped on the pillows, I angled forward, pressing my lips to his. I couldn’t look away. We rocked into each other, a slow, sensual dance that unraveled me inside—physically and emotionally. My release was crashing over me, and I was crying out, his name a broken shout. He went taut under me, and I felt the lustrous heat of his release filling me.
His palm slid up my back, pulling me to his chest where I collapsed against him. We stayed like that, and I simply floated in a haze. I was warm in his arms and never wanted to move.
Eventually, I heard a rustling at the door. “Henry,” Remy murmured into my hair.
“He probably needs his after-dinner bathroom break,” I said with a little laugh, pushing up slightly.
“I’ll take care of it. If that’s okay with you,” he said, arching a brow in question.
“Of course.”
We untangled ourselves, and I enjoyed the sight of Remy’s ass as he stood to tug on his jeans, not even bothering with a shirt, even though it was decidedly chilly out.
I fell asleep later with Remy curled warm around me, and Henry at the foot of the bed. I’d never felt so safe in my life.
And that terrified me.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Rachel
I came awake slowly, burrowed against Remy’s warm, strong body. Even in sleep, he exuded strength. Lifting my h
ead, I glanced down to see Henry sacked out at the foot of the bed, tucked into a little spot in the crook of Remy’s bent knee. A smile curled my lips.
Remy was still sound asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly, and I took a moment to simply look at him. His dark blond hair was mussed from sleep. He had an arm holding me close, and a hand resting on his chest. His thick lashes curled against his cheeks. Even in sleep, he was too damn handsome. I trailed my fingertips lightly over the sculpted line of his cheekbone and down along his jawline, the stubble prickling against my fingers.
His face was all clean, strong lines with those full, sensuous lips. I couldn’t resist and let my hand trail down along his collarbone, nudging the sheet down carefully. My breath quickened and my pulse kicked up a notch. His chest was a work of art, nothing but hard, muscled planes.
I felt his gaze on me as his breathing shifted. Whipping my eyes up to him, heat flooded my cheeks when his mouth curled in a slow, sleepy grin.
“Mornin’, sweetheart,” he drawled. “Enjoying the view?”
I shrugged, striving for nonchalance. “Maybe,” I teased, letting my palm slide across his chest.
He reached over, casually cupping my breast and teasing his thumb across my nipple, which immediately puckered tight. I was suddenly hot all over, but then, Remy made me hot all over all the time.
He leaned up, dusting kisses along the side of my neck, each point of contact sending a sweet zing of electricity through me.
“Henry’s here,” I gasped when he nipped the side of my neck and shivers chased across my skin.
Remy’s low chuckle sent my belly into a spinning flip. He rose up on an elbow, the sheet sliding down to his waist and giving me an excellent view of his cut abs. I couldn’t resist dragging my hand down, and his gaze slid to mine. “Watch it. You’re the one who pointed out we had an audience.”