by Caisey Quinn
The triangular patch of close-cropped hair between her legs matched the locks he loved on her head. As he caught the scent of her arousal, animalistic need and raw emotion began to take over.
“I missed you so fucking much, Viv. You don’t know. You can’t know how bad I needed you.”
He pulled back, used his hands to spread her legs wider apart, and rejoiced at the sight of her glistening folds. She was already so wet for him. Just as he was already throbbing and hard for her.
She whimpered when his tongue sought her clit.
“I do know, Chase. God, I do. I needed you too. I ached for you, for us. I mourned us and it hurt so damn bad. Believing that one day we might be able to—oh God.”
He thrust two fingers inside her tight heat while suckling her clit into his mouth.
“You were saying, sweetheart?” he asked innocently.
“Only thing that got me . . . through . . . this . . . you . . . ahh. Don’t stop.”
Chase fucked her steadily with his fingers while licking up every drop of arousal she gifted him. Her tight channel gripped his fingers so hard he suspected he’d black out when it got a hold of his dick.
“Come for me, sweetheart. Let go, baby. Just let go.”
The steady pulse of her G-spot against his fingers told him she was close.
Her head lifted suddenly, wild eyes locked on his. “I need you, Chase. I want you inside of me. Now.”
Who was he to deny the woman what she wanted?
“Yes, ma’am.”
He sat up on his haunches and opened the condom he’d pulled from his pants pocket. Rolling it down his sensitive length made his cock jerk in his hand.
Glancing at her face, he saw Vivien eying him hungrily.
He smirked, confidence surging in his chest at knowing she wanted—no, needed—this as badly as he did.
“Ready, baby?”
She spread her legs wider, cradling him between them. “Past ready.”
Sliding inside of her felt like coming home.
Chase grunted in triumph as her body accepted him inch by inch. Her head fell back, and he used the opportunity to lick her neck from the base of her throat to her jawline.
“I wanted to make love to you,” he whispered against her lips. “But I’m going to die a thousand deaths if I don’t move faster and fuck you right now.”
Her head jerked again and her body lifted against him. “Then fuck me, Chase. All night. Fuck me, make love to me, whichever. It doesn’t matter how. I just need you—all of you.”
His hips ground hard against hers as he gave her every inch of him. As he picked up the pace her moans of pleasure nearly had him coming already.
Her second release followed quickly after her first, and then Chase gave in to his own. Together they rode the wave of mind-shattering ecstasy until they lay trembling against each other’s sweat-slicked skin.
“I can hear your heartbeat,” Vivien said softly against his chest in the dimly lit room.
“It beats for you, Viv. Only for you,” he said quietly. He’d never been one to verbalize his feelings so openly, but he’d already wasted enough time. After what they’d been through, he wasn’t going to let another day go by without letting her know exactly how he felt.
He had two purposes in life. That much was clear now.
Defusing explosives and loving her.
She kissed his chest and he sighed contently. Lying there, he could understand how she could feel his heartbeat. He could feel it like a ticking time bomb.
He stroked her hair, holding her to him for as long as the universe, or the federal government, would allow.
The time would come when it wouldn’t be as effortless, when he’d have to fight to hold on to her. Just like before. But he’d lost before, because he hadn’t known what he was up against. This time, when the fight came to their door, he would be ready.
***
Chase woke up to the scent of strong coffee. He reached for Vivien, but her side of the bed was empty. And cold.
Of course. Because she was an early riser. He stretched, adjusted his well-pleasured dick, and blinked himself awake.
She stood there like a mirage, clad in black capri workout pants and a matching sports bra, smiling at him over a coffee mug. The sweat that clung to the ends of her hair said she’d already gone for her morning run.
“There’s coffee and pancakes, compliments of the US government,” she told him.
Chase grinned. “All I want for breakfast is you.”
A blush swept across her cheeks. “We only have about an hour until we need to be at the station. I still need to shower. I’d actually like to go in a little early. Annalise texted that she tracked down more information on the artists performing at the venues and she has some notes on the suspect list that she wants to share.”
Chase’s eyebrows lifted. “You and Annalise text now?”
“Only about the case, of course,” she clarified. But the coy tone in her voice told him otherwise.
“Uh-huh. I bet.”
Vivien grinned. “Get up already, lazybones. You’re missing the day.”
Chase sat up in bed and retrieved his cell phone from the night table. The display told him it was still five minutes until seven. “This is not a part of the day I have a hard time missing.”
Vivien moved forward to stand in front of his naked body. “Even if it includes dirtying me up so you can wash me off in the shower?”
Chase reached out and gripped her ass to pull her waist to his face. “In that case, this is my absolute favorite time of day.”
“Mine too,” she said quietly.
Chase had something to say, something he’d wanted to say since the moment he read the note attached to the IED at the Ryman. He’d learned his lesson about not saying what he felt when he had the chance. It wasn’t a mistake he wanted to repeat.
“Move in with me,” he said softly against her hipbone.
He felt her intake of breath. “What?”
He placed a gentle kiss on her lower stomach and looked up in her eyes. It was the most vulnerable he’d felt in a long time. “That note . . . they know about you, about us. I want to keep you safe, Viv. You can have my room. I’ll sleep on the couch. At least while you’re here. I’d feel better with you under my roof.”
Her wide hazel eyes regarded him lovingly. “Chase . . .”
“Don’t say no, yet. Just think about it, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Fourteen
By the time they reached the precinct, Vivien was practically skipping from the multiple orgasms Chase had given her. One with his mouth. One with his fingers. One with both and a fourth while his perfect cock was buried deep inside her body.
She was so spent afterward, he’d practically had to dress her limp body.
“You sure are glowing this morning,” Annalise greeted her. “You must’ve gotten a decent night’s rest.”
Vivien felt her face heat. She actually hadn’t gotten much rest at all. “Something like that.” She followed Chase to his office, grinning widely when they stepped inside. “This brings back memories.”
Chase turned and tossed her a mischievous grin. “I might have to bend you over this desk the same way I did at Fort Jackson.”
“You talk to all the Feds like that, Fisk?” Luke Foster teased as he poked his head in the room.
“If they’re lucky,” Chase joked in response, surprising Vivian with his nonchalance. “And beautiful,” he added, patting her lightly on the backside.
Vivien rolled her eyes. But inside she was a giddy twenty-two-year-old all over again. Hooking up with her sexy-as-sin CO and risking both their careers had been a thrill she’d never wanted to end. This ran much deeper than that. This was being openly involved with the man she loved.
“I
have a few leads I’m going to run down this morning,” Luke said, addressing them both. She was glad he was including her in the update.
“Any promising ones?” Chase asked.
Luke cleared his throat. “I need to get with Annalise to see if I can cross-reference my short list with her longer one. If I can tie any of the guys I’m looking into to her list, I might have a viable suspect or two.”
Chase looked relieved at the update. “Sounds good. After yesterday, I’d really like to have something more substantial to go on as soon as possible.”
“I’ll do my best,” Luke promised before ducking out.
Vivien lifted one of the maps from Chase’s desk. “What zone are we sweeping today?”
He hesitated, and her blood pressure elevated. Surely he wasn’t going to try to shut her out of this investigation for her own good—or whatever nonsense he’d been ranting about the day before. Not after everything. Not after last night. She knew sex wasn’t a cure-all for every issue they faced, but she’d hoped they’d at least made some progress.
“Actually, I need you to go somewhere else with me this morning. The others have got the zones covered for now.”
Vivien arched an eyebrow. “Okay. Where?”
“The hospital. I need to check in on Ethan Meadows, and I’d really like it if you could come along.”
Vivien nodded. She knew about the young officer’s injuries from the report. They’d kept it quiet as not to alert the media and incite chaos, but the local reporters had inquired about it so it probably wouldn’t be long before the story went viral.
“I can do that.”
He was quiet on the ride to the hospital. Vivien risked the sting of rejection and reached for his hand as they walked along the sterile-smelling hallways to the room the charge nurse had said was Ethan’s.
Chase took what she offered, gripping her hand tightly.
With his free hand he knocked lightly on the door until a male voice said, “Come on in. I’m decent. And even if I’m not, you should still come in.”
Vivien stepped around the curtain with Chase.
“That’s how you’re picking up the nurses, huh?” Chase greeted the attractive young man lying in the bed with a bandaged hand.
“Yeah, well, gotta keep myself entertained somehow.”
She’d seen the extent of his injuries. They were severe. How this man continued joking despite that was beyond her.
“Ethan, this is Vivien Bro—um, Montgomery,” Chase introduced her. “From the FBI.”
Ethan nodded and reached out with his uninjured hand to shake hers. “The navy jacket with the giant yellow letters gave her away.”
Vivien grinned at him. “It’s good to see you in such high spirits, Officer Meadows.”
Ethan smiled but she could tell it was forced. She’d forced a smile or two of her own in her day.
“I’m on drugs,” he told her, gesturing to the IV bag beside him that led to a line in his arm.
“How are you? I mean, really?” Chase asked, pulling up a seat beside the bed for Vivien to sit on.
She waved it off and remained standing.
“I’m okay,” Ethan told them, absently fingering the silver cross around his neck. “Good days and bad days, you know?”
Chase nodded. Vivien’s heart ached.
“I owe you an apology,” Chase said evenly. “I shouldn’t have let this happen. I should’ve—”
“Stop yourself, Fisk,” Ethan broke in. “This wasn’t your fault. I acted impulsively and I paid the price. How’s Mishka?”
Chase glanced away. Vivien had no clue if that was his girlfriend or what.
Finally Chase met Ethan’s eyes. “She’s . . . she’s adjusting to Officer Chan. She misses you.”
“I miss her, too,” Ethan said, seeming somber for the first time since they’d arrived.
Unable to take being left out of the loop any longer, Vivien looked from Chase to Ethan and back again. “Um, who’s Mishka? Your partner or something?”
“She’s an arson dog the fire department donated to us,” Chase informed her. “We have a drug dog also, but Mishka is trained specifically to sniff out accelerants like gasoline.”
It was then that Ethan truly lit up and Vivien realized everything up to that point had been a front.
“She’s a three-year-old black Lab and was trained in Maine at the top training facility in the country,” he said proudly. “Lieutenant Bryce was going to be her handler but his daughter was allergic. So I took her for a weekend, and then I ended up connecting with her. We’ve been living and working together for over a year. Longest relationship I’ve had with a female. She’s a good girl.”
Before Vivien could ask any more questions, an attractive curly-haired brunette wearing pink scrubs stepped into the room. “Physical therapy time,” she announced.
“Sorry to run y’all off,” Ethan said. “But this is my and Olivia’s private time. I look forward to it all week.” He winked at the therapist, who blushed and rolled her eyes.
“He hates it and he complains the entire time until I bring him pudding,” she told them. But something about the light in her crystal clear blue eyes told Vivien the young woman didn’t exactly dread spending time with a handsome young police officer.
“Have to keep you on your toes, sweetheart,” Ethan teased before returning his attention to Vivien and Chase. “Olivia’s going to marry me one day. She just doesn’t want to admit it and make her other patients jealous.”
The woman’s face turned as pink as her scrubs. “For goodness’ sake, Ethan. If you keep saying that, people are going to start taking you seriously.”
He stared at her as if Chase and Vivien were no longer in the room. “Babe, I am serious and everyone knows it. The only person I’m still waiting for to catch on is you.”
Vivien didn’t know if it was the recent developments in her own love life or what, but she was starting to think he wasn’t kidding at all. And she saw the way his words and his presence were affecting his therapist. They were both kind of adorable. So maybe he was right.
“We’ll, uh, give you two some privacy,” Chase blurted. “Call me if you need anything, Meadows.”
“Nice to meet you, Ethan,” Vivien said. “I’ll be praying for your recovery and um . . .” She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Send me an invitation to the wedding. Even if I can’t make it, I buy great wedding gifts.”
“You got it,” he told her, fist-bumping both her and Chase with his good hand before they left.
Once they were outside the room, Chase turned to her. “Thank you for that. For coming here with me. I’d been putting it off. I shouldn’t have.”
“You feel guilty,” Vivien said, taking his hand once more. “I get that. But he’s going to be okay. And I’m pretty sure the therapist is helping with more than just his range of motion.”
“He’ll never be an officer again,” Chase said solemnly. “I don’t know what else he wants to do with his life, but I remember what that felt like.”
“When your military career ended?” Now it was Vivien who felt guilty.
Chase nodded silently as they continued walking.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly once they were alone in the elevator. She remembered a time when an elevator would’ve aggravated her claustrophobia, but as long as Chase was next to her she felt safe. “That what I needed to do affected you that way.”
Chase squeezed her hand. “I don’t blame you. You didn’t tell me to run toward you like a lunatic that day. Don’t be sorry. Things happen.”
She waited a beat before squeezing his hand back. “And Ethan doesn’t blame you and you shouldn’t blame yourself. You didn’t tell him to open that container. Things happen.”
The shadows in his expression receded. “I guess you’re right.”
“Always,” Vivien chirped. “The sooner you realize that, the better off we’ll be.”
Chase smirked at her as they made their way to his car. “I’ll make a note of it.”
***
“Pack your bags,” Lena Levinson said the moment Vivien and Chase returned to the precinct. “We’re outta here.”
Vivien’s breath caught in her throat. The plan had been to find out what locations hadn’t been swept yet and then grab their gear. But Lena had just thrown a major wrench in those plans.
“What?” She gaped at where her colleague stood, next to Annalise’s desk.
She felt Chase tense beside her.
It was Agent Davis who approached from behind and answered her. “There’s a suspected serial killer on a spree in a small town in Wisconsin. Possibly a duo. Victims are being set on fire while they’re still alive. The locals don’t have the manpower to handle it and the Bureau there is spread thin, so we’ve been volunteered.”
It wasn’t the first time they’d been sent out due to both her and Lena’s previous experience at Quantico with Behavioral Analysis Unit One. Unit One’s central focus was counterterrorism, arson, and bombing.
Agent Davis had been with Unit Two, which concentrated its efforts on cyber and white-collar crime. The trio had an excellent track record for closing cases, and word got around.
“But . . .” Vivien didn’t have a valid argument. Active serial killers trumped potential bomber. At least by FBI standards. “There’s still work to do here.” She wasn’t ready to leave Nashville. She wasn’t ready to leave Chase. Not now. Not yet.
Chase appeared stricken. Before Vivien could explain, he moved away from them, heading toward his office with a mumbled, “Excuse me.”
You will never be ready to leave him, her subconscious echoed in her head.
Lena scoffed at her. “You want to stay? You were the one who didn’t even want to take this case to begin with.”
“Carmichael wants an update on the situation here,” Davis told her. “I told him you’d call in and give him one.” He glanced toward Chase’s retreating figure. “Thought you might have more info than we do.”