by Fast
The frightened woman pleaded with her ex-boyfriend to release the boy and come out. The bull horn was heavy and it wobbled as she held it in both hands.
The noise around her would do nothing to settle the problem. The guy probably thought he would be shot if he stuck his head out.
Carmen moved away to yell at the K-9 cops. “Quiet your dogs but stay close. We may need to send them in for a search if this guy decides to hide.”
“Affirmative, Captain.” The Sergeant led his dog to his patrol car.
She worked her way to the front line where a mop of red hair caught Carmen’s attention.
Stella Wells stood with her hand on the butt of her revolver, gaze fastened on the market entrance. She didn’t look like a smart ass strumpet now, just a cop on full alert.
The radio on Carmen’s shoulder buzzed crazily for a second before Thomas’s calm voice came through.
“He’s let the juvenile go but he isn’t coming out.”
She waited a split second before making her decision. “Get the dogs in there.” She quickly added more instruction. “Double the uniforms in the back.”
Sending men and dogs after someone was a last resort. The officers were in danger, and the dogs wouldn’t quit until they found the man. She could hear the animals barking as they headed for the entrance, but they stopped the moment they were inside the building.
The boy had run out into the arms of Wells. The scene was touching. Stella gave him bottled water and talked to the boy as if she knew him.
Carmen walked around the line of officers to speak with the wide- eyed boy and the woman still holding the bull horn. “Are you okay?” He nodded and stared up at the second floor windows. “Officer Wells will ask you some questions about what happened and contact your parents. Are you up to it?”
Some of the fright had gone from his face, but his voice shook as he spoke. “He said he didn’t want to hurt me, just use me to get his woman here.”
What went through Carmen’s mind wasn’t fit for the boy to hear. The fool was going to leave the outcome to whatever the woman did. From where Carmen stood, she could see dark purple underling the woman’s eyes and marks on her arms that looked suspiciously like cigarette burns.
Listening to the woman’s pleas for her brutish boyfriend to come out irked Carmen. She swallowed her hot resentment and picked her words. “You’re parents are coming this way. You can stand with them if you want to.”
He ran off before Carmen could say more. A tiny twist of yearning to run away from the scene bothered her. That feeling vanished when the sound of gunfire echoed from inside the building.
Pulse racing and body tense, Carmen hurried to where the sergeant had taken cover near the entrance. “What the hell happened?” She couldn’t keep the anger from her words. “Give me your radio.”
He unclipped the small radio from his collar and handed it to her. “We’re not sure who fired the shots, ma’am.” She didn’t care that he was forced to follow her like a dog on a leash as she moved for a better view of the door. “What’s the K-9 officer’s name?”
Wincing as she tugged him forward, the sergeant answered quickly. “Patrolman Jenkins, ma’am.”
Carmen gripped the radio in her clenched fingers. “Officer Jenkins, who fired those weapons?” She scowled at the delay of his response. “Jenkins.”
The crackle of Jenkins radio was music in her ear. “I fired the weapon, Captain. The guy threw down on me and I had no choice.”
“Is he alive?” Carmen tugged the sergeant several more steps. “The EMTs are coming up.”
“He’s alive and still screaming for his woman.”
Carmen heard the dogs raising hell and the yowling demands from the wounded man.
She’d never been nearer vomiting on the job than at that moment. Stress dried her mouth out and twisted her gut into knots.
Hell and damnation. What happened to people when the weather got hot and sultry?
Something was wrong with her. She actual felt relief when Bill Gentry came to stand beside her. His grin was a little crooked as he wrote in his notebook.
“Damn good job of handling things, Redstone.” He dropped the notebook in his jacket pocket. “I’d ride with you anytime.”
“Thanks, Gentry.”
She appreciated his comment, but she still had the unquenchable yearning to be out in the night with Don Genonese.
Chapter Ten
Sunday night, lonelier than she’d ever been, Carmen dressed in an ankle-length red floral silk skirt topped with a scoop neck white Tee-shirt.
She wasn’t going for glamour. September was setting records for heat, and she was only interested in comfort.
Going to a bar where cops hung out said a lot about her life. She didn’t have one. Not really. At least no one would give her shit there, and she didn’t need some clown trying to pick her up.
She laughed under her breath. No one wanted to mess with the girl who’d shot Genonese in the ass.
That was probably a good thing, since she wasn’t in the mood to explain to a masher she was already taken.
She fastened the single braid she’d made of her long hair and sighed with disgust. So much for looking entrancing for the boys. Eight o’clock and the bar should be filled with people looking for a place to unwind. She was one of them.
Several blocks from her apartment, Carmen thought about turning her car around and going home.
No, you have to stop holing up like a hermit.
She considered going to one of the downtown movie theaters, but scoffed at the idea. In her opinion, there hadn’t been a good movie made in years. She wouldn’t waste the money.
Before she could change her mind, she reached the bar.
As expected, The Shot was packed, and she had to park a block away.
A wolf whistle from a passing car was lost on her. Carmen hurried, giving the pair of men leaving the establishment a wide berth. They gave her appreciative smiles, the youngest stopping to attempt conversation.
“Hey, slim.” He pointed to his companion. “Me and Greg would love to buy you a drink.”
“No thanks.”
He rocked back on his heels.
“I’m meeting someone.” Carmen hurried on, glad to find the doors of The Shot standing open. The place must have lost its air conditioning for the owner to do that. Just great.
The lights were low, and she practically had to feel her way to the end of the old-fashioned oak bar.
“What can I get you, Redstone?” The bartenders smiling greeting gave her a sense of belonging. She’d frequented the place a lot in the beginning of her so-called career. It had been the place to go, until she’d partnered up with Genonese. After the incident, she stopped going. Damn, that man had always been a boil on her ass.
She glanced at the bottles behind the bar, trying to think of something that wasn’t too deadly. “Vodka and orange juice with lots of ice.”
Music from the jukebox played too loudly, and several couples moved toward the small dance floor. Carmen paid for her drink and sipped slowly, leaning against the bar to check out the crowd.
She didn’t look up when someone moved into the space beside her. It was crazy, but the scent of a special aftershave overcame the dozen different smells drifting around her.
There was no mistaking the voice that melted her heart.
“Come here often, pretty lady?”
Carmen sipped her drink, praying her legs would hold her up. “Not often.” She worked her tongue in her mouth, fearing the thing had frozen solid. “How about you?”
Don made her weak with emotions too wild to keep at bay, reducing her to a quivering idiot. He took a long drink of the beer he’d ordered.
He stood so near his arm brushed hers. His voice was low as he delivered a bullet to her soul. “Not since I lost my girl.”
Damn the tear that threatened to spill down her cheek. She knew him well enough to note the bullshit in his words. But, god she wanted to believ
e him.
“So, what did you do to lose your girl?”
“I don’t really know.” He curled his fingers around her braid, moving his hand down to her waist. “I want her back.”
What was he saying? That he wanted her for tonight or forever?
He wasn’t smiling his sexy, come-on-baby smile. His gaze held hers in soft seduction.
Taking her hand to swing it gently, he placed her arm around his waist.
The music changed from rock to a love song. She followed him to the dance floor, going into his arms without resistance. What could it hurt?
More than you can handle if you don’t freeze him out.
They didn’t dance, but clung to each other, the beat of their hearts one sweet rhythm. Her blood sang with joy at being in his arms with the warmth of his body pressed to hers.
She loved him so much it hurt.
“Carm.” He whispered against her burning ear. “You’re pretty. I get hot just thinking about you.”
She pressed her cheek to his broad chest and smiled at his comment. “I had to pull a forty-five on you to hear that the first time.”
“No need for that, Carmen.” His lips touched the corner of her mouth. “I miss being with you. Life’s gone to hell since we’ve been apart.”
The thing she’d avoided happened without summoning it from its hiding place. Desire overtook her mind and body. She lifted her arms to encircle his neck and pressed her lips to the fast beating pulse under his ear.
She melted into him, drinking in his clean scent, reacquainting her senses to the hard frame of his body. Carmen knew it would never be enough.
Just like the first time, she had no resistance and she didn’t care.
She’d found heaven and couldn’t tear herself away.
Being bumped by another couple didn’t bother her. She didn’t want to ever leave, not until Don broke the misty spell.
“Want to go talk?” He squeezed her tight, his voice deep and smooth. “How about my place?”
“Yes.” She didn’t have to repeat her answer. He quickly captured her hand in his and led her from the dance floor, walking fast and ignoring the calls from his buddies at the bar to stay and have a drink. “Do you want to stay for a while?”
He didn’t speak until they were out in the sultry night air, and his arms were around her. “Are you kidding? I thought about not coming tonight. But, damn I’m glad I did.”
She knew she was breathing because her heart was pounding and sent her blood pressure off the scale.
He opened the door to his GMC wagon, helping her in before running to the driver’s side to jump in beside her.
She tried to match his calm attitude, but the effort was useless against weeks of hungering to be with him. Don draped his arm across her shoulders while he drove, but kept his eyes on traffic. His self-control drove her crazy, no fast hands in a rush, no wise cracks or suggestive remarks.
After what seemed like hours of torture, he parked in front of his apartment building.
She stayed put while he got out and came around to help her from the car, surprising her when he picked her up to carry her to the entrance.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you before, but you’re a damn good looking woman, Carm.” He set her down and opened the heavy door, letting her walk in first.
Carmen wasn’t accustomed to sweet talk from him. She liked it, but felt a little embarrassed at such flowery prose coming from the toughest cop in Kansas City.
Inside his apartment, the air hung heavy with apprehension and her growing desire to touch him.
He made it easy for her, taking her purse to drop it on the floor. She was glad he didn’t turn on the lights so he couldn’t see the blaze of passion in her eyes. So far, she seemed to be the only one being consumed by flames of desire.
He stood near a small credenza, emptying his pockets when she decided it had been long enough.
“Don.” Her fingers shook and her legs weakened, but she had already stepped out of her skirt when he turned to look at her. “Enough conversation. I haven’t waited all this time to hear what you think of the weather.” She took several steps toward him. “I want you Copper, and if you don’t feel the same, tell me right now.”
* * * *
Want her! How many wet dreams had he awoke from, sporting a massive hard on because she’d been riding him like a jackhammer on fire?
“I feel the same, Carm.” He gazed at her for a moment before pulling his shirt off over his head. “You have no idea how much I want you.”
He’d left the bathroom light on in his hurry to leave, and the light bathed her golden skin in its warm glow. Just being close to her, he had a hell of a time keeping his balls under control.
He touched the gleaming squash blossom necklace nestled between her breasts. She was perfection with beads of passion sweat glistening on her smooth flesh. He moved his hands carefully, freeing her long hair from the braid to drape around her shoulders and breasts.
She trembled, standing still while her nipples peaked under his palms. His cock tried to claw its way through his jeans, an erection he wanted to share with her.
His reserve fled on clumsy feet when she licked her lips and began unbuckling his belt.
“You have on too many clothes, Genonese.” The brush of her fingers on his belly sent his muscles into spasms. “I want to see your body. I want to lick your nipples and everything else.”
He couldn’t play the pussy any longer. Raw need canceled out his carefully plotted approach.
“You can see and lick anything you want, baby.” He pulled her against his throbbing dick, held her face in his hands to cover her mouth in a hungry kiss. His knees were weak from the taste of her lips and tongue that played with his. Her teeth tugged on his lip in urgent demand for sex, and he wasn’t about to make her wait. He knew firsthand her ability to take him out like a rank armature when she wanted action.
He caught her hand when she worked his stiff dick into a jerking frenzy. The sultry laugh he loved spilled from her lips while he tore her panties off her lush body. He ran his palm down her stomach to brush the soft hair framing her pussy. She was wet, and the scent of her arousal grabbed him by the balls.
“My bra, Don?” She held his cock in a firm grip, her soft gaze following the movement of his hands while he unhooked the front- closed bra.
“My God.” His soft comment expressed everything he felt as he eyed the full mounds of her breasts. She looked exquisite, ripe and his. “I want you, Carmen Redstone.”
Her strong fingers cupped his balls, the sensation fanning the flames of desire to fuck her. He groaned when she spread her legs, making it easier for him to dip his fingers inside her. She gripped his thigh with her leg, moving her hips against his fingers, groaning in erotic pleasure.
He lifted her higher on his thigh, reveling in her soft breasts against his heaving chest, and her sweet tasting tongue plunging deep inside his mouth. Her lips were full and pliant, forming to his in a scorching demand for fulfillment.
For the second time that night, he picked Carmen up to carry her, the warmth of her body matching his own as he took her to his bed. He laid her on the quilt, quickly removing his jeans before joining her.
He moved to settle in between her open legs, trailing kisses up her thigh to her pussy. Her legs jerked and hips bucked at the first flick of his tongue to her clit. She was swollen, ready to bloom in his mouth. He nuzzled in close to pull the throbbing bud into his mouth, sucking gently until she groaned and twisted his hair around her fingers. He worked the nub hard and fast with his mouth, alternating with an occasional nip to excite her to climax.
She came off the bed to hold his mouth close in her fever, crying out in her release.
Her shuddering aftermath slowed and he went to her, lying above her while she guided his cock to her pussy. He loved sex, loved the heat of it, the wild raw excitement of penetration, but with her it was an earthquake off the scales. He loved fucking her.
He had fallen in love with Carmen.
Chapter Eleven
Carmen devoured a third strip of bacon and bolted up-right in bed. “Ten o’clock! I’m supposed to be at Troost Elementary School in an hour.”
Carrying her plate, Carmen got out of bed and ran into the kitchen. Don looked up from the frying pan where he stirred scrambled eggs.
“School?” He turned off the flame and wiped his hands on a dishtowel. “Some kind of drug bust?”
“Nothing so glamorous.” She ran back into the bedroom to dress, searching under the bed for her shoes. “It’s an officer friendly visit.”
“You can’t go like that. Half naked and looking sexy as hell.” His grin was pure invitation, but she was on a mission. “What are you going to talk about?”
“How to stay away from men like you.” She paused to kiss him on her way to the bathroom. “I have to get my car. You have to drive me to my apartment and then to the bar.”
He followed, watching her from the doorway. “I’ll get my stuff while you finish up.”
She caught her reflection in the vanity mirror and warmed to the soles of her feet. She glowed with happiness. “Thanks, Don.”
“I’m your man.” He stepped into the bathroom to pat her ass. “Anything for my girl.”
“I want you to go with me.” She pretended to be absorbed in stacking her hair on top of her head, but her heart thundered while she waited for his answer. “I’m going in strapped.”
He shook his head. “You want to drive those little boys wild?”
“No, I just want them to take me seriously.” She turned to look at him, smiling with a bit of trepidation. “About going with me?”
“I’ll stay in the shadows.” He pulled gently on a wisp of a curl at her nape. “Of course I’ll go. I wouldn’t miss this.”
Fifteen minutes later, they were in his car heading for her apartment. It was the first time they’d driven somewhere together that didn’t involve hunting a drug dealer or chasing a murderer. Or, hurrying to have a round of fast sex.