Never Hold Back (First Responders #2)

by JA Essen

  Once everyone finishes, and her father notices the time, we decide to split up. The women continue gossiping and begin clearing the table as us guys make our way to the parlor for the start of the second football game and some brandy. Just as I’m turning into the hallway behind the other two, I catch Rachel making hand gestures to get my attention. I cock my head at her and she just gives me a ‘come here’ motion with her finger, the look on her face not giving anything away.

  “What, babe?” I ask, curiously.

  She grabs my shirt by the buttons and pulls me through the door she’s standing next to. “You took my play-thing away from me at the table.” Her pout is adorable. “Now,” she lifts up the hem of her dress, revealing that she didn’t wear any underwear, making my eyes go wild, “you’re going to make it up to me.”

  “In your parent’s house, just around the corner from the kitchen? Are you insane?” I take my hand and run it through my hair. “Why don’t I just promise to cuff you to the headboard later and make you come on my mouth.”

  “This is not a negotiation, Zander Brooks.” Oh shit, she used my full name. “You’re going to fuck me hard and fast, right here on the counter, and make me come all over that talented cock of yours.”

  “Sorry, no can do. No condoms.” I turn out my pockets to make a point.

  Rachel reaches into her bra and pulls one out.

  Fuck. Double fuck. Now, normally I wouldn’t have even spoken after she showed me her perfectly waxed cunt, but her mom and Macy are literally about fifteen feet away. I spread my fingers across my eyebrows and then drag them down my face. I know, and I know she knows that she’s going to get her way.

  “Fine,” I unzip my pants and rip the condom wrapper open while she pulls my jutting cock free of my boxer briefs, “but you better be quiet.”

  Hoisting her up onto the cool marble countertop, I situate her ass on the very edge. “Here,” she takes my hand and places it between her soaked lips, “see how fucking wet you make me.” She bites her bottom lip as I slip two fingers easily inside of her, “Mmm.”

  “I told you to be quiet. Since you can’t listen,” I pull her off, turn her around, and bend her over, “we’re doing it my way.” Slowly, I press myself into her, my eyes glued on her sparkling blue eyes in the mirror. Grabbing the hand towel hanging nearby, I twist it lengthways. “Open your mouth my kinky little slut.”

  She smiles a huge Cheshire cat grin and does so very willingly. Once she bites down on it, I grab the two ends like a horse bridal, pulling her head back, and I slam into her. Her cries of pleasure are muffled into the thick towel so I go to work, giving her exactly what she wants. The towel is long enough that I can wrap it to the back of her head and hold it with one hand, so I do, and use my free hand to pull the top of her dress down and grab at her breast roughly.

  The slapping of our bodies together is probably louder than it should be to safely conceal what is going on, but by the way her eyes are already crossing, I know we won’t be here much longer. With great satisfaction, I watch as her grip on the faucet and edge of the countertop suddenly gets much tighter and her eyes shut completely.

  Pausing for the briefest moment, I lean into her ear and whisper, “Come for me, Rachel.” With furious thrusts, I bring her over the edge as she screams her orgasm into the towel. Taking the towel from her mouth, I turn her head and replace it with my own as I press deep into her several more times and find my own release.

  Pulling free from her, I remove the condom, tie it off, and flush it down the toilet. Glancing at Rachel, her hair is a disheveled mess that she’s currently trying to repair, but the look of complete satisfaction on her flushed face tells me she has no regrets.

  Resituating my pants and shirt takes only a moment, and that’s when I remember what I have in my pocket for her. “So, you got what you wanted, right?”

  “Mm, I sure did ‘bacon’.”

  “Good, because now I get what I want.”

  “Didn’t you? You know?” She looks confused and I love it.

  “Yep, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” Bringing my hand out of my pocket, I take hers in mine. “Open.” Placing it in her hand and reclosing it, I smile my own Cheshire grin.

  “You’re keying me Zander?” Rachel’s eyes are wide.

  “Yeah, you know, since the boot came off, I thought you should be able to just come over, without having to knock.”

  She jumps up and grabs me around the neck, burying her tongue in my mouth and wrapping her legs around me.

  I guess she’s happy about it.

  Rachel wanted to stay and continue to chat with her mom and Macy even after the second game was over. I told her that the tryptophan from the turkey was kicking in and I wanted to head back to my place. Her mother was a sweetheart and sent me home with lots of leftovers, and Rachel promised to call me later.

  As I pull in to the condo parking lot, I notice that some jackass has parked in my spot, so I’m relegated to grabbing a visitor spot on the backside and walking up. Snapping a quick shot of the license plate with my phone, I decide to look them up tomorrow at the station.

  When I open the door, I nearly get bowled over by the feisty redhead who bull-rushes me. “Surprise!”

  “Raven! Holy shit!” I hurry to the kitchen, set down the bags of left over Thanksgiving dinner, pick her up and twirl her in my arms.

  “Glad to see me big brother?” Her emerald green eyes sparkle under the bright fluorescent lighting of the room.

  “Fuck yeah I am. But why didn’t you call and let me know you were coming in?”

  “I have a key, and since your schedule at the precinct keeps you so busy, I didn’t want to hear any excuses about how you might not get to spend much time with me or anything.”

  “Damn it’s good to see you, Raven.” I squeeze her tightly again.

  “Fuck, Zander, you’re hard as a rock.” She picks up the bottom of my shirt which I untucked as soon as I stepped out the front door of Rachel’s. “Jesus H. Christ. If any of my bi ‘friends-with-benefits’ saw you, I’d lose them for sure. These girls,” she grabs her chest, “can’t compete with a body like that. You’ve been working hard. I’m so proud of you!”

  “So, what’s in the bags?” She starts riffling through, pulling out container after container.

  “Leftovers that my girlfriend’s mom sent home with me.”

  Her jaw hits the floor. “Zander. Elias. Brooks! Since when do you have a girlfriend?” She makes the little air quotes.

  “It’s a long story; you hungry? We can talk while we eat.” We fill our plates and then I start to fill her in on everything that’s transpired since the first day Rachel and I met in the hospital.

  Our laughing must have gotten pretty loud because I never heard the door open, but what I do hear from behind me is very shrill.

  “What the fuck?!”

  As I turn, startled, I see Rachel turning on her heel and shuffling quickly back to the front door.

  Raven looks at the door, then at me, frozen in place. “Was that Rachel?”

  “Yep.” My mind is racing.

  “I’m guessing she wasn’t planning on seeing you with another woman in your place.”

  “Nope.” My heart is pounding in my ears.

  “Yeah, you might wanna do something about that then.”

  I don’t even bother throwing shoes on as I sprint out the door, Raven dying laughing at me in the background.

  Bitch.

  Six

  Rachel

  How could he?!

  My head is spinning as I press the ‘L’ button on the elevator. As the doors close, the burning behind my eyes starts to intensify. Pounding my fist against the gold colored metal wall of the elevator car, I scream, “You son of a bitch!”

  The flurry of emotions is all consuming. On the one hand, I’m hurt; so hurt. Hurt like I haven’t felt ever before.

  Betrayal.

  On the other hand, I’m so fucking pissed that I can’t se
e straight. How the hell could he have Thanksgiving dinner, spend time with my family and closest friend, and then turn around and come back to his place to another woman?

  When the chime dings, notifying me that the doors are about to open, I wipe away the tears threatening to pour down my cheeks with the back of my hands and clutch my purse. Stepping clear of the doors, I’m thankful there’s no one to see me in this condition.

  Pressing the bar on the door leaving his building, the cool night air hits my face and helps to soothe my heated skin. I clumsily reach into my purse for the keys to the Audi SUV, causing it to fall off my shoulder and hit the ground, spilling a portion of the contents. Hastily I scoop them back in and retrieve the keys I was aiming for.

  Half way across the parking lot towards the back where I parked next to Zander, I hear the whoosh of the same door I just left from and Zander calling after me.

  “Rachel, wait, please! Let me explain.”

  Like hell, asshole.

  I increase my pace to a power walk, as I’m still gun-shy of trying to run this soon out of the boot. Clicking the button on the remote receiver, I start the engine and unlock the doors. My need to get away from this and from Zander has my hands shaking as I reach for the door handle.

  “Rachel!” There’s a sense of fear in his tone.

  Snapping my head back in his direction, I respond, “What? What the hell do you want?”

  He’s hobbling across the ground barefoot, still half way between me and the building. “Just wait, please. I need to explain.”

  “Explain? Seriously! I should get in and run you down!”

  Why I’m still standing here with my hand on the handle and not already inside I haven’t a clue. He’s obviously cheating on you, Rachel. Get in, put it in reverse, and get the fuck out of dodge.

  My conscious wins out as I open the door and start to step in. There’s a slap on the side of the SUV before I close the door, causing me to look back out.

  “Rachel, listen. I’m not cheating on you.” He’s obviously in pain as I can tell from his voice and the fact that he’s picking pieces of gravel out of his foot.

  “So I just imagined that beautiful redhead sitting in your living room, having my mother’s leftovers with you for dinner?” The sarcasm and disdain is just absolutely seeping from my words.

  “No, she was really there. Her name is Raven, and she’s my sister.” Zander doesn’t even bother looking up at me, but just continues to pick pieces of the disheveled rear parking lot from his right foot.

  Oh fuck me.

  What a complete twat I must seem like right now. As is par for me, I assumed the absolute worst about the situation as soon as I saw it. You really screwed the pooch on this one, girl.

  “Your sister?”

  “Yes, Rachel, my sister. You know, the one I’ve told you about that I left behind in Montana when I moved here four years ago. The one that had to be the stronger of us and tell me it was alright to leave all of that part of my life behind.”

  “So, you’re not just telling me all this to get me to come back inside, find her gone, and then let you try and beg for another chance?” My eyes are dancing all over the place as I roll my bottom lip between my teeth, deciding whether or not I believe him.

  Zander finally sets his foot down and looks up at me. “Nope. Believe me, she’s still up there, probably laughing her ass off just like I left her. She thinks the whole situation is a riot. Bitch.” I hear him mumble the last part under his breath, even though I probably wasn’t meant to hear it.

  Turning the engine off, I remove the key from the ignition and cautiously step back down to the ground. “Here you big baby, let me see.” I motion for him to lift his foot up. Oh shit! “Well alright, that’s a little worse than I thought. Let’s get back upstairs and deal with it.”

  The bottom of his right foot is cut open, making me feel even worse than I already do for how I acted. Walking on the outside of his foot, his arm draped over me for support, we make our way back inside, up the elevator ride and to his door where Raven is already waiting, still nibbling on a leftover roll from lunch earlier.

  “Should’ve put shoes on you big dummy.” She steps aside giving us a wide berth to get Zander in and to the couch.

  “Where’s the first aid kit, Zander?”

  He motions towards the kitchen. “First drawer to the left of the sink.”

  I quickly retrieve it and tend to doctoring his macerated foot. Once I have it cleaned and bandaged, I turn to Raven who’s sitting in the chair ninety degrees to my right. Slightly flushed and definitely embarrassed, I introduce myself, “Hi. I’m Rachel, Zander’s girlfriend.”

  She smiles at me and shakes my hand. “Yeah, I kind of figured the way you went flying out of here. Nice to meet you, even if it was a little bit of an awkward first impression.”

  “And you!” She points to her brother. “Zander Elias you’re in big trouble mister. How could you have hidden this beautiful young woman from me for…” she looks back and forth between us.

  Zander lowers his head before he comments, “Four months,” he mumbles.

  Raven huffs, stands up, takes two steps toward him and full on slugs him in the left arm. “There, something to make you forget about your foot you jackass.”

  I can’t hold back the stupid grin as Zander rubs at his arm. I already love Raven.

  “So, Rachel. Tell me all about you since this lunk obviously doesn’t love me enough to do so.” She cuts her eyes back to her brother and purses her lips at him. “How did the two of you meet?”

  “I was in a car accident back in July, and your brother was the officer who was assigned to come take my statement the following day. As much as that trucker screwed up my summer plans, I’m actually quite grateful for the events of that day. I doubt I would’ve ever met Zander otherwise. Fate, it seems.”

  “So, you two serious then? I mean, four months for Zander has to be like some kind of record since coming out here.”

  “Alright, Raven. That’s enough already.” He pushes her with his left arm, causing her to roll onto her side on the couch.

  “I’d like to think we’re fairly serious. I know I’m not seeing anyone else.” I look to Zander for confirmation.

  “I gave her a key to the condo this afternoon, Raven. Does that feel serious enough to you?”

  Raven’s jaw drops. Apparently this is a big deal.

  She leans in to me a semi-whispers, “Can’t get enough of his cock, can you?”

  “Jesus Christ, Raven! For fuck’s sake. That. Is. ENOUGH!”

  My face is completely beet red and if my eyes could get any bigger, well, I’m not sure that’s even possible. She falls back into the couch on her side, rolling in laughing fits. Zander slams a couch cushion down on her.

  “Now you see what I had to deal with growing up with this little brat of a younger sister?” he starts to laugh and I can’t help but join in with the two of them. It’s really sweet, actually. They obviously love and care for each other very much.

  “Well, if you’re Zander’s sister, then you’re now my sister as well.” I smile as she sits up and smiles back at me.

  “How long are you here for, Raven?” Zander seems irritated.

  “Just through Saturday. I have someone back home that will need my, um, attention, when she returns on Sunday, if you know what I mean.” Raven sticks her tongue halfway out and flicks the air with it several times.

  My brows arch up, “So I take it you’re…”

  “Having sloppy tacos with a side of chee-chees? You’re damn skippy!” She rubs her hands together.

  Not a shred of shame in this one.

  “Zander, how could you not have told me just how awesomely unfiltered your sister is?” I’m all giddy as I stare at him with a smartass look on my face.

  He throws his hands up in defeat. “Well I can see there’s no winning with either of you tonight.” He gets up and hobbles off to the kitchen.

  “I can’t believe y
ou’re only here through Saturday. I’d really love to get to spend some time with you.” My mind quickly begins to formulate a plan. “I know, how about you come back for Christmas, or at the very least, the weekend following. My best friend Macy and I have a girl’s weekend of wine, movies, and absolutely no dicks allowed. We just hole up in our PJs, order in, and leave the rest of the world behind.”

  “Hm, no dicks, now that sounds like something I could get behind. And I totally mean that in a non-sexual, not coming on to you kind of way.” We both laugh out loud at her comment. “Yeah, I think I can do that, and I can totally fill you in on all the nitty-gritty, totally embarrassing shit that Zander will never in a million years divulge to you.”

  “The hell you will you little she-devil. Don’t you dare start stirring shit up!”

  Raven flips him the bird over her head, and then whispers, “I’ve even got pictures.”

  Our girl’s post-Christmas weekend can’t get here soon enough.

  Seven

  Zander

  Post-Christmas

  What the hell was I thinking, offering to pick up an extra overnight shift? Especially during the holidays. It’s only two in the morning, with another four hours to go, and I’ve already sent three to the drunk-tank tonight.

  I’ve seriously got to get that detective position or I’m going to go bald prematurely. The stress of being a beat cop is not what I need any more. I used to be all, yeah let’s pop ‘em for not signaling at the light. Now, if you aren’t doing fifteen over the speed limit or swerving all over the road, I’m not even going to give you a second look.

  The badge used to mean something different to me, but after seven years total on the streets, I’m over it. Either I get promoted to a desk, or I’m done. I’ll figure something out.

  I look down at my wrist and I start to think about Rachel. I can’t count how many times I told her ‘no’, but she still bought it. A licensed 007 Omega. Sure, I’ve wanted it forever and figured maybe once I made detective I would save up and splurge on one, but now here it sits, strapped to my wrist, a Christmas gift from my girl.