Slow & Steady #3: A Shameless Southern Nights Novel

by Ali Parker

  “You’re sure?” He held still, waiting for me to nod. The moment I did, he stepped back, shoving his jeans and briefs down his hips. Stepping between the cradle of my knees, he gripped his cock and dragged it back and forth through my folds. The tip of his hard cock strained at my entrance.

  “Sonny, please,” I murmured, desperate for him to fill me.

  Sliding into my slick core, he moaned. He pushed in slow and deep, a groan rumbling in his chest when he sank inside to the hilt. “Thank god you said we didn’t need to go yet.”

  “I would never leave you hanging,” I gasped, curling my legs around his hips and slipping my arms around his shoulders. I started rocking into him, leaning toward him to kiss him as we both lost ourselves to the sensation.

  His rough groans, low growls, and the hot, dirty words he whispered only served to spur me on. They threatened to undo me. Sonny moved with me, thrusting into me as I rocked toward him. Dipping his head, he caught my nipple in his mouth and flexed his fingers on my hips, his thighs starting to quiver against mine.

  Moving a hand between us, he stroked my clit with the perfect pressure. Stars exploded behind my eyelids as he strummed me. “Yes. Oh yes.”

  “Fuck, Niki.” His harsh groan sent me hurtling over the edge. I pulsed and clenched around him, coming fast and hard. His moans ran together. His breathing became ragged before he let out one long moan that ended with a sigh of pleasure.

  He held me close for a few minutes before whispering, “We should go.”

  “I know,” I breathed. As I came down from the intensity of our coupling, the sudden silence in the library seemed deafening. With my heartbeat loud in my ears, I hurried to find my clothes and got dressed as fast as I could.

  I made sure the computer and everything was just the way we found it before we headed to the door. We were starting to walk out when we saw lights in the parking lot. Sonny flattened himself against the wall, pulling me with him.

  Our chests heaving together, we stood facing each other until the lights bounced off the glass windows and disappeared. Sonny smirked, tugging my hair. “That was close.”

  A thrill ran through me. Being with Sonny was worth every risk I took in coming here tonight. Even getting caught by security with my dress on the floor would’ve been worth it. I knew he would protect me. I also knew the information we found was vital to the case.

  The Chief of Police was corrupt. Someone had to expose him. In our small community, there was no place for those in authority abusing their power. There never was, but here it felt more personal. We had to put him away. Even if it was only me and Sonny against the whole corrupt bunch of them.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sonny

  “Officer Lovett. This is a surprise. What can I do for you?” Darren’s voice boomed over the phone. He didn’t sound pleased to hear from me. His words were curt and clipped.

  I knew I shouldn’t have been calling him, but I’d been sitting on the information I had for three days, and there hadn’t been an opportunity to pass it along yet. The man was conspicuously absent from everywhere I tried reaching him.

  "I need to see you." It was a risk, phoning to ask for a meeting. I didn't know how else I would be able to get hold of him, though.

  "You've been relieved from your duties for the time being. You shouldn't be calling me,” he stated the obvious. I sighed, wondering how to give him the information without really telling him anything as he had done with me when he gave me Rylen's name.

  "I know. I heard some news from a mutual friend. I thought you might want to hear about it." It was thin, but if the call were somehow being recorded, at least there wouldn't be a record of us directly talking about the case.

  "I'm just headed toward the diner. I should be there promptly at 4 p.m. You and I really shouldn't be talking, Officer Lovett. Goodbye." He ended the call.

  I smiled. He really was quite good at saying things without actually saying them. I glanced down at my watch, noting that I had about an hour before I met him at the diner at four.

  Nicky was lying in bed reading. She claimed it was the absolute best way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Her blond hair was spun into a knot on top of her head. Looking up from her paperback when she heard me come into the room, she grinned and patted the spot beside her on the mattress.

  "Did you reconsider my offer of joining me? I really think you would enjoy that book I was telling you about." After breakfast this morning, Niki dug a fantasy adventure novel from her bag and proudly presented it to me.

  Grinning contritely, I shook my head. "I'm sure I would, but I have to leave soon."

  She frowned, slipping an old-school bookmark into her novel before closing it and setting it down on the bed beside her. "Where are you going?"

  "To meet Darren," I told her. This whole being honest with her thing was a huge relief. Being able to be myself with her and not have to count my words, talking to her about the case and not having to hide where I was going or who I was meeting allowed us to get close to each other in a way we hadn't been able to before.

  For the first time, I felt like I had a true partner in crime. I only hoped we wouldn’t actually have to commit any crimes together.

  Niki sat up, her eyes boring into mine. "How did you finally get word to him?"

  "I called him." I shrugged and watched as her eyebrows hitched up and her eyes widened. "I didn't know what else to do. I can't run into him coincidently at the station anymore, and he was never at the coffee house or the diner when I went there. It was this or smoke signals."

  "You forgot the carrier pigeons." She smiled, but she couldn't hide her worry completely. "Do you want me to come with you?"

  "Absolutely not," I said harshly, softening my tone when I realized it might have been a bit much. "I'm sorry. You surprised me. It's not that I don't want you there. I don't want Darren or anyone else to know that you know anything."

  "Of course." She didn't look hurt or offended. If anything, there was understanding in her gentle gaze. Sinking her teeth into her lower lip, she worried it for a beat, her gaze considering. "Just be safe, okay? I know Darren has been helping you, but we really don't know much about him. With how many people are already involved in this, we can't be too careful."

  I walked over to her, bending down to kiss her softly on the lips. "We're meeting at a diner, so we'll be out in public. I'll be fine. As for trusting him, I won't. I do need to give him this information, however, and hopefully, find out what he's planning on doing with it."

  "I hope he tells you,” she said. Reaching behind her to fluff her pillow, she gave it a couple of punches and picked up her book again. "Text me when you're done?"

  "Bet on it." I grinned. Since she came back to me, I was in constant contact with her.

  Not that we texted a hundred times a day or kept tabs on each other. I simply respected her wishes by letting her know when I was done following a lead or doing any kind of interview. In return, she checked in from time to time to assure me the coast at the library was still clear.

  It still scared me to know that whoever was after us knew she worked at the library and had gone to see her and warn her off more than once. Getting a message from her every once in a while helped to soothe my nerves and make me feel more at ease about not keeping an eye on her while she was there.

  I suggested it once, but she shot me down. She told me she didn't need a bodyguard and that me hanging around her all day would be weird. Much as I didn't like her point, she was right.

  "I shouldn't be long," I told her, grabbing my keys and phone from my nightstand. "What to do you feel like for dinner? Should I stop at the store?"

  Niki laughed. "That was the most domestic thing you've ever asked me."

  A couple of weeks ago, I might have blanched at her mention of domestic, but now I shrugged it off. "I was hoping for more tacos."

  "We agreed on once a week,” she said, then smiled mischievously. "How about we have nachos instead?"

  "
I like the way you think." I gave her another kiss on my way out and headed off to the diner. I would be a little early, but I would rather wait than miss him.

  Choosing a table in the back when I got there, I ordered us each a coffee like Darren usually did and waited for him to arrive. A few minutes later, he was there and sat down across from me.

  "This better be good,” he said, smiling and thanking the waitress when she delivered our coffee. However, when he turned his gaze back to mine, there was no hint of a smile anywhere.

  "It is." I reached back and dug into the pocket of my jeans to retrieve a flash drive. Niki copied everything from the library's database onto it. I pinched it between my fingers and held it up. "I had a meeting with Mr. James. He gave up Chief Harris."

  Putting the flash drive on the table with a soft thud, I slid it over to him. "There's all the proof you need against Harris. You only need to trace the account where the money came from, but if Rylen is to be trusted, the trail should lead you right to Lyons's doorstep."

  "To think you learned all that from one silly little, off the record discussion with Mr. James." Darren sighed, the corners of his lips finally twitching into a slight smile. "It never ceases to amaze me what people will tell you when you show up without a gun and badge."

  "We had a lovely chat," I told Darren, pausing to take a sip of my coffee. "You know, nothing official. Just a nice talk about how his business is doing."

  "It's always good to keep up with local professionals. You never know when you might need their services." He followed my example and lifted his cup to his lips to take a sip of his own coffee. To anyone watching us, we would look like nothing more than two guys catching up over coffee.

  I lowered my voice and scanned the diner anyway, no matter what it looked like from the outside, Darren and I really shouldn't be seen together. "There's a much bigger force at play here then we might have thought. It's all on the drive."

  "Harris is working for a bigger fish?"

  I nodded, taking another swig of my coffee. "Looks like it. You'll see what I'm talking about when you open it."

  Darren pocketed the drive, drained his coffee and pushed up from the table. "Thank you for this. I'm sure it's going to be a great help. Remember, you have to stay away from it. You're no longer a part of this investigation."

  He winked at me before turning and walking out of the diner. As usual, the place was mostly empty. I made my way to the counter and slapped a few bills down on it to pay for the coffees.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Darren walk past two men in suits in the parking lot. It didn't look like they said anything to one another, but they definitely looked at him.

  I turned to look fully out of the window, making sure to stay half-hidden behind the yellowing blinds on the windows. Darren ignored the men and got in his car, but I watched as he pulled out his phone and pressed it to his ear.

  He drove away, and the two men got into a car of their own and followed. Just before they exited the parking lot, I saw the one in the passenger seat was on his phone.

  My eyes narrowed. Heavy suspicion draped itself like a mantle around my shoulders. I had no reason to believe the call Darren had made was to the man in the other car. It was entirely possible that both were calling someone else when they left the diner. I couldn't help but question it though. What if Darren was a part of this too? Fuck.

  Chapter Twelve

  Niki

  "It's so good to see you," Karen squealed as she opened her door to me. We were doing Saturday afternoon drinks unexpectedly. Shortly after Sonny left for his meeting, she called and practically begged me to come over.

  "You too." After nearly two weeks of living with her, it felt strange not to see her every day. I was happy to be back together with Sonny and more than happy about staying with him, but my time at Karen's had felt like an extended sleepover.

  A sleepover where my heart was broken and bleeding all over her floor, but it was still good for my soul to be with my best friend. Her home was my safe haven, a place I could fall apart or be giddy and everything in between. I never had to fear any judgment there.

  Walking into her apartment, I held up the cocktail mix I picked up on my way over. A wide grin stretched across her face. "I knew I would corrupt you eventually."

  An uncomfortable shiver ran down my spine when she said the word corrupt, but I didn't pay any attention to it. She didn't mean I was corrupt in the same way Chief Harris was. Since she also couldn't know about that, I knew she didn't mean anything by it. Jeez, relax already.

  All this stuff with the investigation had me wound way tighter than I realized. I dug deep and managed a small smile. "You got me. Totally corrupted."

  Karen laughed and pulled me into the kitchen. She rummaged around in her cupboards until she found what she was looking for, which turned out to be a bottle of vodka and a bottle of tequila. She grinned wickedly. "Choose your poison."

  "Vodka," I said immediately. Tequila was never good for me. "Just a bit. Remember, I'm driving."

  "I'm sure the boyfriend will come to fetch you if you ask."

  I shook my head. "He's working. I wouldn't want to bother him."

  Karen rolled her eyes and fixed our drinks. "We'll see. For now, let's not think about it being time for you to leave yet."

  "Deal," I said, shouting now to be heard over the sound of her blender crushing ice for our cocktails. When the grinding noise stopped, I watched her pour the ice into our drinks. "You'll damage the blades if you keep using it to crush ice."

  "When that happens, I'll get a new one. Trust me, these will be worth it." She slid one of the cherry red cocktails over to me and picked hers up, carrying it to her couch.

  I made myself comfortable and noticed that she was unusually cheery. Her cheeks were glowing, and her eyes were bright. "What did I miss?"

  "What do you mean?" she asked coyly, playing with one of her curls as she took a sip of her cocktail and let her eyes close as she released a little moan. "I love this mix. So tangy and sweet."

  "Stop avoiding the question. I can tell something's going on with you. I'll keep asking until you tell me."

  "I've started seeing someone,” she finally confessed, sighing dreamily as she told me about him. "He's in a band, and he's the most amazing guy."

  It was out of the norm for Karen to do anything more than date casually, but I was happy for her. Clearly, this guy did something right. "Intriguing. Tell me more."

  She gushed about him for the next thirty minutes. I probably would have been able to pass a quiz based on his life story by the time she was done, but the pertinent facts were that his name was Clive. She met him at one of his gigs one night, and though it had only been a week, she was crazy about him.

  Karen was a great friend, and this man obviously made her deliriously happy. It warmed my heart to see her like this.

  It had been a long time since she'd given a man a real chance, despite the little speech she gave me before I took Sonny back. I'd been getting worried she wouldn't ever fully trust a guy again. She’d weathered her fair share of heartbreak. After the last time, she’d declared that in the future she was only after a bit of fun.

  "He sounds great," I told her. We were both laughing while we talked until she brought up the absolute last thing I expected.

  "Have you ever thought of having children?" she asked me, slurping the last of her cocktail from her glass. "I love the little ones I work with, but I never met anyone I thought I would take on that challenge with. Clive has the most beautiful brown eyes though. I was looking at him the other day, and out of nowhere, I wondered what our little boy or girl would look like, whether they would have his eyes or mine."

  I choked on my cocktail and thumped my fist against my chest as I stared at her. "You guys have talked about children?"

  Her eyes popped wide open. "Oh no. I would never bring it up to him. It was just a random, fleeting thought I had. It made me wonder if other women sometimes think about it too.
"

  "I don't know." I fidgeted with the glass in my hand, my brows pulling together as I thought of how to answer her question. "To be honest, I haven't thought about it much. In an abstract, maybe-one-day way I have. But I never thought about exactly when."

  "You haven't thought about what it would be like to raise children with Sonny?" she asked, getting to her feet to fetch the pitcher with the rest of the cocktail mix in it.

  I heard her crushing more ice and was grateful for the time to compose my thoughts. The vodka wasn't making my thoughts fuzzy yet, but my body felt warmer. I allowed my mind to wander to that forbidden corner where fantasies of white picket fences and children lived. When Karen got back, I answered her question.

  "I haven't even had a real relationship until now, much less real thoughts about kids," I started, deciding to stop overthinking and just say the words that came into my heart. "I wouldn't mind having a child. In fact, I wouldn't mind having a few. Growing up as an only child, I promised myself that if the time ever came, I would have as many as possible."

  Karen nodded. She was an only child too and undoubtedly had had the same thoughts on that particular subject as I did. "I agree. If I can, I want at least two."

  "As for having them with Sonny, we obviously haven't talked about it. I don't even know if he wants children, but he came from a big family, and you should see him with his brother's fiancée’s son. He adores little Austin."

  "Do you think you’ll have children with him?" Karen asked, refilling both of our cocktail glasses and tucking her legs underneath her on the couch.

  "Maybe." I chewed on the inside of my cheek, taking a fortifying sip of my cocktail to give her my honest answer. "I love him. He hasn't said it yet, but I know he loves me too. I'm not saying that it will happen tomorrow or the day after or even next year, but he’s the only man I can imagine having children with.”