Evergreen

by Jessica Florence

  “Are you on any birth control?” he broke the kiss to say. His words were almost a plea. I nodded. He continued, “I’m clean. I swear I’ve never gone without a condom, but after fucking you bare last night, I don’t wanna go back.”

  Shivers took over me. I bit my bottom lip and nodded. My hands went straight to his boxers, shoving the fabric down and releasing him. He was so hard. I wrapped my fingers around his velvet- smooth cock. He groaned at my touch. His hips started to flex with every stroke of my hand.

  “Enough,” he growled.

  He grabbed my panties on the sides and pulled them down my legs. Once the blasphemous panties were gone, he gripped my hips and entered me quickly. I held on to him as he drilled into me over and over. His heavy breathing and my pants of pleasure mixed together. Every part of my body was alive with need.

  “You feel amazing, so warm and tight. Come for me, Andi. I wanna hear you scream while you scratch my back.”

  His words did me in. I did exactly what he wanted. I screamed as my orgasm took me. I couldn’t help it when my nails dug into him. I just held on tightly as he kept his relentless pace. Just as I started to come down, he pounded into me harder, finding his release. I’d never felt anything like him coming inside me. It brought me over the edge into another orgasm. I felt weightless. He turned me into jello.

  I looked into his eyes and saw a possessive edge to them. I was kinda getting caveman vibes off him. But in reality I doubted that’s what it was; we hadn’t known each other long.

  He eased out of me and went into the bathroom; a minute later he came back with a washcloth and cleaned me up. A gentleman.

  I looked to the door to see my babies staring through the glass. I eased myself off the counter, put on my panties, and let them in.

  I turned back around and looked at Ryder. I wasn’t sure where we went from here. Were we going to keep doing this? He didn’t strike me as a relationship type of guy.

  “So…” I said.

  “Don’t,” he said as he held his hands out for me.

  I went to him, and he wrapped his arms around me, his hands on my ass. Men. I giggled. He gave me a little smack on the ass.

  “I want to explore this, do you?”

  I looked up at him. How could I not want more time with this man?

  “Well…” I tried to look like I was thinking about it.

  He smacked my ass again.

  “I’m just kidding. How could I say no when you’ve given me a bunch of orgasms in not even twenty-four hours?”

  It was a true statement. But he was so much more than just a dick for me. He listened when I talked. He was attentive, and we got along flawlessly.

  I glanced over at the clock and panicked. I leaped out his arms and ran for my room to put on clothes.

  He walked into my room with a grin on his face. “Your employee called about an hour ago to check on you. She said she has it taken care of for now, so we let you sleep.”

  I was hopping on one foot while trying to put on my other shoe. I still had so much to do at work. I needed to have a cake done for a wedding tonight and to make some more chocolate seashells for cupcakes for tomorrow.

  “I have to run. I’ve got so much I gotta do!”

  I grabbed a scrunchie from my nightstand and put my hair up in a messy bun. Once I was all set, I ran past Ryder then turned around, and kissed his smirking face.

  “Let yourself out when you are ready. Um, just lock up. I’ll talk to you later.”

  I gave him another kiss—which he took to higher places—then reluctantly pulled away. I got the leashes on the dogs, and we ran out to my car to head to work.

  CHAPTER 10

  Ryder

  “Ready?” Rex asked

  “Let’s go.” I nodded.

  With our guns ready in our hands, we burst through the backdoor leading to the illegal poker game. We had located our target from the other night and were going to bring him in for questioning. As soon as we entered the room, two of the goons sitting around the table drew their guns. Neck-tattoo man looked cocky—so sure that we couldn’t possibly win this fight.

  I let out a laugh. There was no way we were losing this one.

  There were four of his men total; all big bouncer-type guys. The one closest to me was about to shoot, but I saw his move coming and rolled to the ground before he fired. I shot him in the leg, and he went down in pain. Rex incapacitated the guy closest to him who was holding a gun.

  A big guy, who must have been a wrestler, came at me as I tried to get up. Coming at full speed he speared me into the wall; I grunted from the force. Even with my vest on I felt that one. He pulled back to throw a punch; I elbowed his nose forcefully and heard a crack. Good. I maneuvered myself around him and gained the higher position. I punched him in the face to make sure he stayed down. I looked over at Rex and saw he had his man down, and was getting up with his man still on the floor.

  Finally I turned my attention to tattoo man. His face said it all. He was no match for us. I got up and walked over to the seat across from him.

  “Ready to talk?” I asked.

  It was a rhetorical question. He would talk; I would make sure of it. Rex stood behind me, keeping an eye on the groaning guys on the ground. Tattoo man looked around nervously, obviously not wanting to talk but not seeing a way he could weasel out of here.

  “Let’s start with your name.”

  I was taking it slow with him. Didn’t want him to grow some nuts if I pushed him too quickly. Some guys got defensive if you jumped them from the start. He was still looking skittish.

  “We can do this the easy way, where you tell me what I ask, or I can shoot you if you’re not going to be of use to me. I don’t think the world will be sad to have one less drug dealer on the street, so I wouldn’t fuck with me.”

  His eyes widened at my choices for him.

  “Garrett.” He cleared his throat. “Garrett is my name.”

  “Garrett, I’m going to get right down to it since you picked the easy way. I want Draco Skeller. What do you know?”

  He looked around at the guys on the ground.

  Easy, I knew what to do to get what I wanted. I responded, “Yeah, you are a shithead. Rex, call it in and have these guys picked up. I’m taking Garrett here for a ride.”

  Rex nodded.

  I walked around, grabbed Garrett by the shirt, and tossed him around for show; then I pushed him toward the parking lot.

  Once we were outside, I tried again. “Now no one will know you snitched, so what do you know?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “Skeller is hardcore, man. Um, he’s been taking a backseat lately, trying to stay under the radar for a minute. You know? His kid has been the top dog for a few weeks now. Mostly cocaine deals.” He put his hands up in surrender. “I swear, man, that is all I know.”

  I gritted my teeth—I’d figured something like that was going on—and then nodded.

  “Whose man are you, Garrett?” I stared him down and cracked my knuckles for the added fear effect.

  “Um, yours?” he answered correctly.

  “That’s right, Garret. You are my new man. You are going to help me take down Skeller. If you do that, I won’t bust you right now for selling and having possession of an illegal substance. I want you to weasel your way into their circle. I wanna know everything that family does.”

  He would agree, otherwise he would be facing some jail time. He nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”

  “Alright, get out of here. I’ll contact you.”

  Garrett walked away briskly. Scum.

  Rex came out the back door seconds later. “You got him?”

  I nodded.

  “Anything useful?” he asked.

  “Yeah, he said Gavin is playing kingpin right now, keeping his old man under the radar. Our friend Garrett is going to keep an eye on them for me.”

  Hopefully.

  I wanted to finally take down this family. I’d been waiting for years, and now I
felt like it was coming to an end. This would happen.

  Just then my phone beeped with a text. I reached down to my cargo pocket and read it.

  Andi—Orgasms in the morning make the day go by faster ;)

  I laughed. Yes, they did. I’d been thinking about Andi all day; I wanted to go see her and give her a couple more orgasms in her office.

  “Is that the girl you’ve been tracking?” Rex peered over curiously.

  I put my phone back in my pocket; that conversation would have to wait. “She is something.”

  I watched as Rex lit himself a cigarette and took a hit. We had some paperwork to do after this. Those guys we took down were going to have to stay in the hospital.

  “She your regular M.O.?” He spoke on his exhale.

  I ran my fingers through my hair. “She’s different. Something. I don’t know man. Slept with her last night. You know sleeping in bed. It definitely has its advantages in the morning.”

  It did for sure. I could use some more nights like that. Which was not my M.O. Until I met Andi, I met them, fucked them, and was on my way. It was easy, and I didn’t have to worry about some chick getting pissed at me for being out all night for work. Or not showing up to our date because I was tagging someone. My work was unpredictable. Women wanted the nine-to-five type of guy. I wasn’t sure what Andi wanted from me. A warm body and some orgasms I could do, but anything else? I wasn’t sure. Weird part was it didn’t sound like a bad idea for once.

  “Interesting. Must be one hell of a woman.” He looked down the street blankly.

  “She is. Alright, let’s go get this paperwork done.”

  He nodded and put his cig out. I sent a quick message to Andi and then walked back inside.

  CHAPTER 11

  Andi

  I smiled again to for the tenth time after reading Ryder’s text.

  Ryder—I’m thinking morning orgasms should be required every day. Definitely keeps you on my mind all day.

  He was on my mind all day. Through every cupcake and chocolate pretzel, and especially while making muffins.

  “Are you thinking about stud muffin again?” Dallas asked, covered in flour.

  We both were. I shoved my phone back in my pocket and went back to making cookies.

  “He’s hot. I would think about him doing dirty things to me too if I had the night you did,” she said since I didn’t respond.

  I blushed thinking about the night before last, and the morning. I’d been hoping for a repeat last night, but he’d worked late. No way was I going to be upset about that. He was a freaking FBI agent. That was so cool.

  “He is hot,” I agreed.

  I put the finishing touches on the pumpkin cookies and placed them in the oven. I took off my apron and sat down on my little work chair. I looked at Dallas. I considered her one of my best friends. We had grown close since she started working here. We talked about everything. She was fun and spunky. She finished glazing the donuts and sat next to me.

  “How was your date last night?” I asked. She was supposed to go out with some drum player from a band that plays locally. I was hoping it would work for her; she deserved someone nice.

  “My date. Hm, well, he was hot but really stupid. I felt like we couldn’t have a conversation. I think he was high the whole time, and you know how I feel about that.”

  I did. She never dated someone who smoked, drank, or did any type of drugs. It was a strict rule of hers. She never told me why, and I was a little scared to find out, so I never asked. She would tell me when she was ready.

  “Well, maybe another guy will show up and sweep you off your feet.” I tried to be positive. She shrugged it off.

  Seconds later the bell on the door rang letting us know someone had walked in. I smacked her on the leg as I got up and walked out front. A smile grew on my face when I saw who had strolled in. Ryder and a friend were standing there perusing my goods. I giggled at the thought. My goodies. Ciara’s song “Goodies” was now playing in my head. My giggle brought both of their gazes straight to me. I walked up and placed a big, smacking, loud kiss on Ryder’s cheek.

  “Hi, boys! What brings you guys here?” I wiggled away from Ryder, who was trying to ensnare me in his strong arms. I didn’t need to swoon in front of company.

  “Rex has been talking about food for the past hour, about how he was dying for some donuts.” He gave Rex a brotherly smack on the back.

  “I’m always up for sweet stuff.” Ryder winked at me. I shook my head.

  Ryder was looking really good today. He was wearing a simple gray shirt, dark denim jeans, and black boots. He looked delectable. He oozed dominance and good times. I noticed his friend was good-looking too, but Ryder had maybe two or three inches on him. Rex was also leaner; he looked like a runner. Still attractive, but he held nothing for me.

  “Sure thing. Well, since Ryder has forgotten his manners”—I put my hand forward—“I’m Andi.”

  Rex smiled; he had a perfect smile. I’d had to get braces as a young girl to have nice teeth. I bet his were natural.

  “Rex. Nice to meet you, Andi. Ryder hasn’t mentioned you at all,” he said seriously, and then burst out laughing as he pulled away his hand. “I’m just kidding. Ryder seems smitten as a kitten.”

  He winked, and Ryder shook his head like Rex was crazy. I thought Rex was cute.

  A loud crashing noise came from the kitchen area. I turned and saw Dallas with a stunned look on her face. Her hands were empty, and a pan, thankfully empty as well, lay on the ground. My face scrunched up at the look in her eyes. She looked scared. Her face blushed; then she bent to pick up the pan.

  “I got this, no worries people!” she said nervously, which was so not her. She practically ran back into the kitchen.

  What in the world just happened?

  I turned back to the men; Ryder shrugged and brought his eyes back to me. Rex, however, was staring at the spot where Dallas had just been. He looked kind of curious. Not sure what that was about. The wheels started to turn in my head toward a romantic story brewing, but then Ryder spoke.

  “So, food?” he said, looking between Rex and me.

  I giggled, then turned toward the display and waved my hand like Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune. “I’ve got the norm—muffins, chocolate pretzels, cookies, cupcakes. Oh, I just made these really yummy pumpkin sandwich cookies this morning, and Dallas finished the donuts not long ago!”

  The pumpkin cookies were my new favorite. I had trouble not eating them all myself. Ryder seemed to ponder while Rex looked back and forth between the kitchen and the glass display of goods.

  “I’ll try those pumpkin cookies. If you are so hyped on them, then I bet they are good,” Ryder said, then licked his lips.

  Down, boy.

  I looked at Rex, waiting for him to tell me what he wanted.

  He finally looked at me. “I’ll take some donuts.” His voice wasn’t laced with the humor it had held earlier.

  “Okay, I will get those for you guys. Have a seat and relax.”

  I strutted my way back into the kitchen and confronted my lovely employee. “What’s the deal?”

  She looked at me while cleaning dirty dishes in the sink. “Nothing’s wrong.”

  I gave her a look that let her know, I could tell she was full of shit. She would tell me if she wanted to. Right now, she didn’t want to. So I just said, “OK, I will just take these donuts out for you.”

  She gave me a grateful smile as I grabbed the pan and walked out toward the front. I noticed when I rounded the corner that Rex was sitting alone. He seemed to understand my look and answered my silent question.

  “He had to take a call outside.” He smiled and then looked like I’d just put heaven in front of him.

  I laughed. “How many do you want?”

  He looked at me and then the donuts. “Um, all of them?”

  He sounded so sincere, I laughed again. “Okay, there are twelve here. Let me get you a box and Ryder his cookies.”


  After I set down the cookies and donuts, the doorbell rang again. My excited gaze looked toward the door to see a familiar face. Just not the one I was hoping for.

  CHAPTER 12

  Ryder

  Seriously? This was beginning to piss me off.

  I’d gone outside to take a call from my boss, Mack. He gave me the go-ahead to make my case priority number one. Use as many men as I wanted. Anything. Our new spy gave us an edge we hadn’t had before. None of the other scumbags we’d caught had been willing to play both sides.

  After the call I walked back toward the door, but I stopped short of going in.

  Gavin Skeller was here again.

  I was stuck outside again.

  He obviously was coming in just to see her. Her pastries were delicious, but he was looking to get more out of her cookie jar than what she actually baked. I turned back around and made a call to Mack and told him I needed someone to watch the shop since Gavin wasn’t going anywhere.

  Taking a look back through the window, I saw that Rex had his back turned—good man. Gavin was smiling big, obviously working his game flirting with Andi. She looked amazing today. She was wearing a flowing, green skirt that fell just below her knees and a gray short-sleeve shirt that hugged her torso.

  I wanted to run my hands up and down the curves of her waist. She gave Gavin a smile, but not like the smiles I had gotten out of her. He gave her a kiss on the hand, took his bag, and walked my way. I took a few steps back and hid around the corner as I watched him make his way toward his fancy Mercedes.

  The little door bell rang as I made my way back inside. Andi wasn’t out front, so I took the moment to get deal from Rex.

  “Details,” I demanded.

  He nodded. “Well, I’m guessing this wasn’t a first-time meeting between the two. He made her laugh. If I didn’t know him, I would have thought he was a normal guy. He is very good at pretending. He asked her out for dinner, but she turned him down. She said she was sorry, but she just started seeing someone.”