I hated how she felt like she was being followed, but glad she had called me. I almost forgot who I was around her, but still knew I could protect her because of how my job trained me. I just kind of wished I didn’t have to. I wanted to be in the moment with her, not constantly glancing at the window, flinching when I heard noises outside the door.
Not even the guns blazing in the action movie we were watching could distract me. Rose was tucked under my arm and the vanilla, flowery scent of her hair matched her perfectly. Sweet, and so perfectly edible. Granted, I hadn’t tasted her yet, but I damn well wanted to.
“You didn’t have to stay. I think I was just being a little paranoid.” Rose spoke softly to me, her voice a little more than a whisper. I held back a snicker at the absurdity of it. I would never hesitate to be there for her when she needed me. The reality of that was a little scary, but I wasn’t going to shy away from it.
“You don’t need to thank me, Rose,” I said back. I pressed my lips to the top of her head softly. She stirred slightly and pressed her body closer to mine.
I could only barely feel the swells of her breast on her right side on mine. I willed my dick not to get hard about it, only because I didn’t want to assume anything. Much as I wanted to fuck her right into the couch.
“I know, but…this whole thing, it just feels like I’m underestimating it.”
“Yeah?” I tilted my head and tried to get her to look at me. Her eyelids twitched, and she twisted her lips around as she stared at the television, clearly not watching what was on it.
“I don’t know. It sounds silly. It’s just when I followed Parker down that trail I expected to find a dead squirrel or something. He literally hunts those things. But instead I found…I don’t even know what I found.”
I felt her body tightening by the second, the more she spoke. It made me so worried about her, I didn’t even really know what to say. Or what the right thing was to say at that time. Rose was very head strong, and I could tell that once she had even a small idea in her head, it would be hard to convince her otherwise.
For a little bit, I just held her tighter, rubbing her arm until her body started to relax again. It took me a while to figure what I should even say back.
“When I was in that convenience store, the first thing I wanted to do was run. I didn’t even want to think about what was going to happen to that old man, I just wanted to get out of there. But something didn’t let me. I don’t know if it was stupidity, or real bravery—I still don’t know even now, but I do know I’m glad I did it. So, it’s normal that you’re having second thoughts. Or…maybe wising you didn’t even do anything.” I sighed and chewed my inner lip, something I did when I was nervous and couldn’t tell a joke. I liked to pick the most appropriate moments, and comforting Rose was not a good one.
“How did you know that?” Rose finally looked up at me with wonder in her eyes that I wanted to look at forever. God, her eyes were so beautiful. Deep, soulful globes of wit and beauty.
Every part of her was amazing. The soft arch of her brow, her button nose, and the perfect cupid’s brow of her soft, full lips. I was just in awe of her, and her body wasn’t even the forefront. Granted, she had an amazing fucking body. I hadn’t seen hips like hers in…well, ever. I loved how she wasn’t thin and every part of her body had shape.
I blinked rapidly and brought myself back to the current situation.
“Because I’ve been where you are. But I know you’ll be okay, because you’re brave. And you’ve got us.” I shrugged and gave her an easy smile.
The hard ridges of her brows finally softened, and she gave me a small smile that made me feel better. She nodded slightly and rested her head back on my chest.
For a while, we just watched the movie. We had already gone through the popcorn and beer, but I wasn’t hungry. Well, I was hungry for her but also trying to be on my watch. I didn’t want her to notice though, she was already so set on thinking she was being watched. But, part of me knew that she wasn’t seeing things, and she wasn’t being paranoid.
Me and the guys knew the risks of keeping her involved with the case, and we wanted to keep them at a minimum. But we couldn’t control everything. The results of the autopsy were fucking disturbing—they matched those other two victims exactly. Amy was damned good at her job, so we knew to trust her. Every criminologist assigned to the case was doing their due diligence, and found it way too easy to link the cases.
We were dealing with a serial killer, or serial murders; depending on if these guys actually did something, and weren’t just targeted arbitrarily.
I had to stop thinking about it or I would cave and come clean to Rose. My hand started drifting farther south and rested on her hip. Just the warmth of it was enough to do me in. I had to shift closer to her, and pull her even closer to me. The desire I felt for Rose was a need and not a want at that point.
“Nate…” her voice was breathless as she looked up at me. Our faces were inches apart and her scent swirled around me, clouding my better judgement.
“Rose.” I smirked. She almost rolled her eyes, but then shook her head once.
I knew what she was planning to go on about before she even said anything. “I…”
I shut her up in the best way possible by pressing my lips to hers. I didn’t even press against her, I just trapped her lower lip between mine and sucked ever so softly. The smallest mewl of surprise left her mouth and it made my dick twitch in my pants. I cupped her face softly and tilted her head back. She turned her head and deepened the kiss, and I took the opportunity to graze her lips with my tongue. She didn’t even hesitate before dropping her jaw slightly and allowing my tongue in her mouth. I pulled back and swirled my tongue around hers before coming back and kissing her even harder. She moaned fully and reciprocated. Her fingers were soft and hesitant as they rested on my chest and then glided down to my abs. I kept kissing her, our lips pulling at each other, sucking at each other. Until we needed air.
With breathless pants, we stared closely at each other. Her lips were swollen as she flicked her tongue against them quickly. I groaned softly before placing my hands on either side of her head and coming at her until she laid down beneath me on the couch. Her eyes softened as if in a sort of surrender and then I was on her again. Harder, more urgently that time.
She clutched at my sides and knocked her legs open until I was right between them. Her tongue went wild when I let my crotch sit right on top of her hot pussy. I could feel her heat between our clothes and could only imagine how wet she probably was. Now maybe I was a weird guy, but I was into driving both her and me mad by prolonging the moment. I could kiss her like this until she begged me to rip her clothes off and fuck her, and hope it would happen before my dick fell off.
She tried to murmur something against my lips, but I just kept kissing, kept letting our tongues try and fight for the upper hand. I tilted my head and let my lips fall down her cheeks, to her soft neck I dreamed about tasting.
“Nate, mhmm…” she moaned incomprehensibly as I suckled the skin just below her ear. It must have been her sweet spot, because the longer I did it, the more she writhed.
I soaked up every inch of her womanly curves with my hands; from her luscious hips to the dip of her waist. I massaged her breasts over her sweatshirt, loving how they fit perfectly in my hands. I could even feel her nipples hardening through the fabric, and somehow, I was surprised to discover she wanted me like that. And fuck did I want her too.
I swore I could start to smell her arousal the longer I went on. Down her clavicle, across her neck and back up to her lips where I kissed her long and slow. I pulled at her lips, releasing them with a loud wet noise before I did it again, and again. Her thighs clenched around me and she started to grind on me, I growled deep in response because she was rubbing right on my dick that was growing uncomfortably hard in my pants.
I wanted to reach in to her pants and stroke her to orgasm, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her. This who
le thing with the guys…it wouldn’t be easy for her to just jump into it. And I didn’t want to influence her too much. I just wanted her, however I could get her.
The softness of her lips and her little mewls against me was enough at the time.
Her fingers fisted in my hair and she moved her hips upwards and I swore I felt it in my spine. The hardness of my cock was paralyzing. Our kiss got more and more frantic, and I just couldn’t hold off anymore. She moaned into my mouth as I started to unbutton her pants, and I only pulled back to look in her eyes as I did so. There was permission in them just before there was shock, and then she just about threw me off her.
“Did you see that?” Her voice was so high it was a screech, and I didn’t hesitate to check it out.
I headed over to the window, “See what?” Even my voice was different from the desire. But I knew I had to focus.
I looked out the window and sat it just before it disappeared. A man with a camera just on top of the water tank.
“I swear I saw a flash or something.” She came to my side, flustered with swollen lips and messy hair. Fuck, it was hard to concentrate.
“Are-are you sure?” I met her eyes. I hated to ask her, but I had to.
“Yes. It was like fucking teenagers in the ER documenting their shitty choices.” She just about rolled her eyes and I tried not to laugh. In that moment, I saw Rose and I had something in common. Humor makes everything fucking easier to handle.
“I saw a guy run off,” I said softly, afraid of how it would affect her.
“Are you sure?” She turned my question back on me.
“Positive.”
She arched her brow and blew out a frustrated breath as she combed her hands through her hair. She started pacing around the room and when she reached the end of the couch, she stopped and looked at me. The expression on her face was something I never wanted to see on her again. Fear.
“I’m being watched.”
Chapter Sixteen: Max
It was funny how even a locker room full of adult men could be just like a locker room back in high school, maybe even junior high. I finished a twenty-four-hour stint and was exhausted, but needed a good shower and a very important conversation with the guys before I slept it all off.
Everything I found out was burning a hole in my brain and I needed to pass it on fast. It really got me thinking of Rose, which made my shower very uncomfortable because I couldn’t jack off once I started thinking about her naked, ramming my cock in her over and over. Unfortunately, the thought of her in danger eclipsed everything. We had to figure this out, and fast.
I wrapped my waist in a towel and stepped out into the locker room, which was finally empty just as I knew it would be at that time. I already knew that Nate and Alex were coming in. It just wasn’t private enough in the precinct, and Alex was still getting too many visitors and such about his promotion. This case was already blowing up and if we gave too much away at once, we would lose it entirely. The three of us operated like that sometimes, certain cases that needed to be contained. We were good that way, and the Lieutenant appreciated it. We sort of made the seventy-eighth what it was in the past few years, but we didn’t like to think much of it.
We just did our jobs.
I managed to put deodorant on before they came busting in the room. Fuckers.
“Fuck do you want man, this is my tea time!” Nate just about shoved me into my locker before sitting on the old wooden bench. Alex just shook his head and leaned against the locker. I still hadn’t gotten used to seeing him in a suit all the time.
“I sort of figured everything out.”
“Sort of? Everything? You don’t sound very convincing.” Alex crossed his arms and I about rolled my eyes at him. I mean I love him like a brother but sometimes he can be an entitled prick. His slightly swollen eye hadn’t gone down yet.
Ugh, that was my lack of sleep talking.
“I have a guy on the inside, you remember Keeg?” I asked them. They both nodded.
Keeg was a guy we took down way back in our early days, and got him off by basically hiring him as our inside guy to the Irish mob. It was a little messed up, since he was committing crimes, probably felonies, and we weren’t arresting him. But it helped us close the bigger cases so…yeah, that was the American police system.
“I had a feeling about him after Amy connected all these crimes. His mob was behind those shakedowns a few years back, way before our time.” I start getting dressed because the towel was scratchy. “Anyway, I called him up just to see if he had any ‘idea’ and he didn’t take too kindly to being accused. But that’s besides the point—he knew some shit.”
“Some shit?” Nate chuckled.
“Yeah. A lot of it. Turns out these killings are the same as those robberies back then.”
They both looked confused and I knew why.
Those robberies back then were just that, robberies. They were fairly low on the radar even though they were so many. Mostly because the guys were all rich and no one honestly cared about the few hundred dollars that were stolen from them. Of course, there was an investigation at the time and minimal security once they were all linked, but once they figured out why they got robbed, their wealthy asses skipped town.
“So, they go from shaking to killing? That doesn’t really make much sense.” Nate commented.
I rolled my eyes and finished getting dressed. Once my gun belt was on, Alex got a call and got all stoic. It lasted a few seconds and sounded pretty serious.
“What was that about?” Nate asked him first. Alex ticked his jaw, as he always did when he was tense.
“Some assault in an alley near the crime scene of our vic. I don’t know all the details, but it sounds like our guy’s MO.”
“Another dead victim, then?” I concluded regretfully. A dead victim didn’t do much for us in terms of catching the suspect.
“No actually, he’s en route to the hospital. I need to go down there and get a statement, maybe see how similar he is to the other victim.” Alex went all detective-mode and the realization loomed in the air over all of us.
Maybe we were jumping to conclusions, but another incident meant the suspect was escalating, but why would he leave him alive? If it was anything like the old crimes years ago, then it would get worse.
I thought about getting in contact with Keeg again, hoping he might have some insight to who was doing this.
“What else was there?” I asked Alex.
“All the vic said was that the guy was Irish.” He shrugged.
Damn. It didn’t take me long to put them both together. It was definitely a repeat of those crimes from years ago. Keeg didn’t tell me any specifics about the stuff from back then. Just that the Irish were going after some rich businessmen. It didn’t make much sense since the Irish had tons of cash flowing in from their ‘pursuits.’ I wasn’t understanding why they had to shake people down. Maybe they needed some free lawyer or something? I didn’t fucking know.
“Seriously?” Nate said.
“Yeah, I need to go get all the information down.” He posed to leave but Nate called him back.
“You know what this means right? About Rose?”
Alex and I nodded.
“Look, I hadn’t told you guys yet, but someone was watching Rose last night,” Nate explained.
About a thousand scenarios ran through my head. Rose wasn’t safe—that was at the forefront. I knew I had to be worried about it in the beginning, but I never expected it to actually take form. She lived close to the crime scene, so she was already exposed to any connections with the crime. Not to mention her being a primary witness; at that point no one else had seen anything.
We had been keeping tabs on her since the incident, so nothing serious had happened. But obviously, it wasn’t enough to keep her safe.
“What if she needs real witness protection?” I said, my voice graveled at the severity of it.
She would have to change her whole life around, and not t
o mention she would not ever really feel safe again, even if she was being watched. I didn’t want that for her at all. She had so much life to her. This case—whatever it turned out being, would put a damper on that.
“I don’t know. She might? The guy looked pretty amateur, but he was taking photos of her. That isn’t a good sign.”
We all went silent, doing our own thinking. I had a lot of feelings about Rose but didn’t really know what to do with them. I mean, Rose was beautiful. Really fucking sexy in all the right ways and it kind of drove me mad a little bit, because I wasn’t sure if she was up for what we offered. Rose was really head strong and knew her own way, it was just as intimidating as it was attractive. I didn’t want to change her, and I was afraid putting all that security on her would do that. I was fine keeping tabs on her in my free time, but having extra uniforms would just make her feel…I don’t know.
She definitely couldn’t be changing in the window. That was only for us. Fuck, I knew it was serious when the thought of sex didn’t do anything to stop my thinking.
“Maybe not officially. For now. But if someone is watching her, that’s serious. Obviously, we can’t handle it ourselves. It would be worse for something to slip by us because we didn’t make the right call,” Alex said.
“You just described our job, man. Nothing much different here except our dicks are involved.” Nate said.
“Well, mine is.” Alex cracked a slight smile. “We don’t have to tell her everything. Just let her know we’re just being safe. I just don’t want her to worry.”
“Okay. But it would be worse if she does find out and she thinks we assumed her stupid or something, or couldn’t handle it,” I said.
Alex huffed. “Right.”
Say Yes, Senator: A Best Friend's Little Sister Political Romance Page 42