Slow & Steady #3: A Shameless Southern Nights Novel

by Ali Parker

  She was making an effort not to push me to talk about my dad right off the bat. God, I love her.

  Walking over to wrap my arms around her waist, I lifted her clean off her feet and held her to my chest, my face buried in her sweet smelling hair. “You can still eat the whole thing if you want. I just want you.”

  I surprised myself with my raw honesty. The cake looked amazing, and the food smelled great, but she was really all I wanted. She brought her arms around my neck, wiggling so I would set her down but stay in my arms.

  “Lucky for you then, you have me.” She leaned up on her toes and touched her nose to mine. “You feeling up to some food?”

  I nodded, my stomach grumbling its agreement. “I just want you, but looks like my stomach wants the dinner you made us.”

  “Good.” She smiled up at me. “Your stomach and I are on the same page. You need to eat. I only realized after you left you never had breakfast.”

  I hadn’t realized it either. My nerves wouldn’t have allowed me to eat, but the fact she even noticed it did strange things to my heart. She cared about me, in a way no woman had ever cared about me before. Maybe it was time I told her how much I cared about her too.

  She spun out of my arms before I could make a final decision and headed over to the counter where she started assembling our burgers. When she was done, she handed me my plate and carried hers to the dining room.

  “I’m not going to ask you how it went today,” she informed me, sitting down at the table and pouring a chilled glass of wine before unrolling a napkin neatly over her lap. “I figure when you’re ready to talk about it, you will.”

  I mulled over her words, grateful she was willing to give me space. But I didn’t need it, not from her. I was still pissed about what happened with Dad and talking it over with Niki felt like the most natural thing in the world to want to do.

  “He says he’s guilty,” I blurted out without any warning, my grip tightening around the fork I held. “I told him all about Harris and that the GBI was going to go after whoever else was involved, and you know what he told me? To stay out of it, to move on with my life.”

  Her blue eyes widened. “That’s unexpected.”

  “Right?” Believing my father was innocent was probably foolish. I knew that, but I couldn’t help what I felt in my gut. “It feels like he’s trying to cover something up, just like everyone fucking else. Why won’t he accept my help?”

  I didn’t get it. About ninety percent of the prison population, if not more, insisted they were innocent. If they weren’t innocent, they proclaimed to have made a mistake. There was always some kind of excuse. I’d heard them all a million times.

  Just this once, I would’ve done anything to hear an incarcerated man say he was innocent. Give me some bullshit excuse or lament about how he’d been set up as a fall guy. Especially since I knew that, at least to some extent, my dad was a scapegoat.

  I didn’t know how the pieces of the puzzle all fit together, not yet. What I did know was there was a lot more he wasn’t telling me. He was, at least partly, set up.

  Yet, despite my knowing all this, Roy Lovett wouldn’t tell me the truth. Instead, he was perpetuating the cover-up, and it was driving me up the fucking wall.

  “Do you have any idea how many in that godforsaken place would literally kill to have a cop walk in there and tell them he thought they were innocent and wanted to help them prove it?” I carried on, unable to stop venting now that I’d started.

  I never got like this, but it felt like everything I’d been stewing over since I left the prison came tumbling right out of my mouth. Gone was the numbness I got from driving around after my visit along with the calm I felt after working with Evan in the garage. My mouth was like a geyser.

  “But no, the one man that does happen to, lies to said cop and tells him to move on with his life. I can help him, doesn’t he see that?”

  Blinded by my frustration and the rush of emotion tumbling through me from letting all my thoughts and questions flow free, I didn’t notice Niki stand up or walk over to me. It was only when she sat down on my lap and placed her hands on my cheeks that I noticed she was there.

  Cobalt eyes burned into mine with an intensity of emotion that gave my heart a swift kick.

  “I’m sure he does see you can help him,” she said softly. “You’re excellent at your job, Sonny. If he doesn’t know that, it’s because he’s lost touch with reality beyond that of those walls trapping him.”

  “Then why doesn’t he want my help?” I whispered.

  Niki was so beautiful looking down into my eyes, her blond hair loose for once and falling in a curtain to my shoulders. She wasn’t only beautiful though. The look in her eyes was fierce, like an avenging angel.

  “I don’t know.” Her fingers stroked the hair at the nape of my neck. “Maybe he’s covering something up like you think, or maybe he thinks he’s beyond redemption. There’s no telling what’s going on in his head. You don’t need his permission to continue working on it.”

  She kept going, speaking in a determined tone that punctured my anger and frustration. My world narrowed only to her. Everything but her fell away. Didn’t matter anymore. “I am so proud of you Sonny, so proud of everything you’ve done. I know you’ll keep doing it. Don’t let your father pull you down.”

  Her eyes locked on mine, one emotion shining through above all the rest. “I love you, and I believe in you.”

  Fuck the world falling away; the whole galaxy exploded when she said those three little words. Before I could reciprocate, she brought her lips down on mine, kissing me hard. I wound my arms tighter around her and felt her heart thundering against mine, as fast as mine. As one.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Niki

  Oh my God, I told him I loved him! The words I fought back so many times came out before I could stop them. I kept telling myself I was waiting for him to say it first, or for the right moment. And then it just happened.

  Even if I could take it back though, I wouldn’t have. I was waiting for the perfect moment and that moment was perfect. I needed him to hear the words, regardless of what his response might be. I kissed him so I didn’t have to hear it yet.

  Sonny kissed me back, his hands winding into my hair as he held me against him, his grip tight at the nape of my neck. His tongue swept into my mouth, tangling with mine.

  A rush of need swept through me. Need for his body, for his heart. For everything. Held fast in his embrace, I felt cherished. Like he never wanted to let go of me.

  I lifted my legs, wrapping my arms around his neck as I curled my legs around his back. Sonny caught my bottom lip in his teeth, tugging it lightly before fitting his mouth over mine again, taking our kiss from hot to overpowering inside of a hot second.

  My core brushed against the hard, hot shaft in his jeans. He hissed at the contact, and I moaned. He felt so good against me, and his response only notched the need inside higher and higher.

  Without breaking the kiss or releasing me, he stood up from the table and carried me to his bedroom in sure strides. We were on his bed, breathing heavily and tearing each other’s clothes off the next minute. I couldn’t get closer to him fast enough.

  I needed to feel his skin against mine. I gasped when I finally got my wish. Sonny rained light, butterfly kisses down on my neck, sending hot shivers racing through me.

  For as rushed as we were, his touch was light, almost reverent. Almost like he was telling me with his touches what he hadn’t been able to tell me in words. I could feel how much he loved me. It was there in every kiss, every touch, every sigh. I could live without the words if he kept showing me I wasn’t in this alone.

  His mouth trailed lower from my neck, nuzzling at the undersides of my breasts. My nipples tightened to an ache, desperate for his attention, while goosebumps prickled over my skin.

  I writhed under his teasing, crying out when he finally sucked an aching peak into his hot, wet mouth. He swirled his tongue ar
ound it, groaning against my skin. He didn’t ease his mouth away from my nipples until I was a panting, whimpering puddle of need.

  Sonny was the only man who’d ever done this to me, and I hoped he would be the only man who ever would. Pushing away my doubts about how he felt about me, I focused on how he was making me feel.

  Adored. Revered. Loved.

  I squirmed underneath him, arching my back to push myself into his mouth. Every lick of his tongue and brush of his teeth against my sensitive skin was driving me out of my mind. “Please, Sonny.”

  “I’ve got you, love,” he gritted out against my tender flesh, lifting his head from my breast. His eyes reminded me of the color of a deep ocean shimmering in the moonlight. The blues and greens melting together seamlessly in my love-drunk haze.

  I could feel him as hard as a rock against my thigh. He was holding back, though I couldn’t imagine why.

  “You going to come for me, love?” he asked, his voice hoarse and thick. His hands danced up and down my thighs, fingertips caressing and teasing. “You want my mouth on you? Or maybe my fingers?”

  I shook my head. There was only one thing I wanted, and I knew he wanted it as much as I did. “You. Only you.”

  My quiet plea broke through whatever self-control he’d been trying to hold onto. In a flash, he positioned himself at my entrance, his broad head nudging at me. Taunting me. Staring down at me with so much emotion I could feel it seeping into me.

  He reached for my hands, sliding his fingers between mine. Dipping his head, he claimed my lips as he pushed forward, kissing me deeply as he sank into me, stretching and filling me in one deep surge.

  I felt possessed by him. Like he was taking me for his own. Though I had no comparison, the way I felt with Sonny was all-encompassing. I felt spun into a web of intimacy. There was a sense of completion I’d never imagined.

  His thrusts were slow and gentle at first, but they grew faster, harder without me needing to tell Sonny what I wanted. He kept a steady rhythm with his hips, an intoxicating rhythm I couldn’t resist. With each stroke, hot sparks scattered through me, pleasure tightening inside to an almost painful pressure.

  His movements took me higher and higher, closer to the edge with every perfectly timed thrust of his hips. I came with a shout as the pressure snapped, pleasure rippling through me and leaving me boneless.

  Pulses of pure ecstasy flowed from my core and outward. Tiny white lights exploded in my vision, making me see stars.

  Sonny kept his rhythm steady, riding me through my orgasm. His thighs started shaking. I felt the first twitch of his cock deep inside me and saw the look of pained bliss on his face. My name a rough cry, his grip tightened on my hands as he emptied himself into me with a final surge.

  I felt as if my heart might beat its way out of my chest when he rolled off me, a satisfied smile playing at his lips. Instead of lying down on his back, he hovered over me, supporting his weight on his elbow. “You know, you said something earlier we need to talk about.”

  I was too sated, too filled with emotion over what just happened between us to even absorb much else. I didn’t have space to feel more. Or so I thought. Bringing my hand to his cheek, I shook my head slowly.

  “We don’t need to talk about it. You don’t need to say anything about it, really. I just wanted you to know.”

  Bending his head, he placed a kiss on my shoulder. Another on my collarbone. The last right over my hammering heart.

  He lifted his eyes to mine. They danced in the pale moonlight shining in through his sheer curtains, burning bright. “What if there’s something I need you to know too?”

  My eyes fluttered closed, my lungs refusing to operate normally. What if he shot me down? Told me he liked me but didn’t love me the way I loved him?

  “Niki?” His rumbling voice broke through the distressing questions. “Please look at me.”

  I opened my eyes reluctantly, warily. His face was only inches above my own, his lips curled into the tiniest of smiles. “There you are.”

  Resisting the urge to throw my arm across my face or turn away from his piercing gaze, I looked up at him. A glimmer of hope bloomed in my heart when I saw the expression he was wearing.

  He brushed a soft kiss to my lips, reaching down to wind his fingers through mine. “I love you too, Niki. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I love you so damn much it hurts. I told you once, but you were asleep. I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell you again ever since. I love you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Sonny

  "Over there," Niki said, pointing to a couple of empty seats in the third row of the public gallery of the courtroom. In all my years on the force, I hadn't seen the courthouse this packed before.

  Well, that wasn't true. I had seen it this packed for one other trial. My father's. Figured the two defendants' cases would be related, given the amount of public interest Chief Harris's emergency hearing had attracted.

  It seemed like the whole town was here, trying to get a look at what was going to happen to their former chief of police. I couldn't blame them; it wasn't like I was there in any official capacity.

  Necks craned as Niki and I walked past. Faces fell into disappointment when people saw we weren't any of the major role players arriving for the events of the day.

  The courtroom doors weren't even closed yet, and it was already stuffy in there. It tended to happen from having so many people in one old, mostly enclosed space. The windows were open, but several passers-by standing were outside trying to get a good look in to see what all the fuss was about.

  I struggled to breathe properly in the humid air and was tempted to loosen the tie around my neck when I felt Niki squeezing my hand.

  I looked down at her to find her smiling reassuringly at me. I didn't know what I would have done if I didn't have her—if she wasn't here with me. Tightening my hold on her hand, I led her to the open seats she’d pointed out.

  The worn wooden courthouse bench was hard under my ass when we sat down, uncomfortable and cold. It reminded me of all those hours I spent in seats similar to this one with my dad in the dock Harris would soon be occupying.

  A bitter taste crept onto the back of my tongue. How the fuck did I end up here again?

  Nikki's leg was pressed up against mine, and her arm looped loosely through mine. The warmth coming from her skin grounded me, reminded me of how far I'd come since the last time I was here despite the flood of memories making it feel as if nothing had fucking changed.

  Harris came in a short while after we sat down. Wearing a pale grey suit with a white button-up shirt and blue tie, he looked the same as I'd seen him countless mornings at the station. Then he'd been dressed for court too, but not to fill the same role he was here for today.

  The big difference between those days and this one were the handcuffs bound around his wrists. A chain linked from them, looped around his waist and dropped down to where his ankles were cuffed as well.

  Hanson and the GBI weren't taking any chances with him escaping, not when they knew he had friends in high places and years’ worth of dirty cash squirreled away. Harris avoided eye contact with all but one of the onlookers in the public gallery. The man who caught his eye was in the front row, immediately behind the dock Harris would soon be seated in.

  The man exchanged a swift nod with Harris when their eyes met, pulling him in for a seemingly awkward one-armed hug. With their joined hands between them as they shook while giving each other that quick pat on the back, I couldn't be sure, but I swore I saw the man hand Harris something.

  My eyes narrowed, but there was nothing I could do. I swept my gaze to the court officer on duty, but he was scanning the public gallery. Smart, exactly what I would've been doing in his position. There were a lot of people sitting in this gallery who felt betrayed by the man about to have his first hearing.

  Unfortunately, it meant the court officer wouldn't have seen what might have been an exchange. I needed to let it go
.

  I sighed, urging myself to listen to my subconscious. Harris would be searched before he went back into custody anyway. Even if the man did hand him something, it would be found and confiscated. No need to worry.

  A man from Tyson's office strode in, right in the nick of time. I didn't know his name, but I knew he was one of the prosecutors. I'd seen him with Tyson and around the office when I was there. He snapped his briefcase open and pulled a sheaf of paper from it, setting it down on the desk in front of him.

  "All rise." A sharp voice caught my attention, drawing my eyes away from Chief Harris and the unfamiliar man.

  Shuffling and creaking filled the air as the gallery rose to their feet. The door behind the raised bench belonging to the judge banged open. A suited woman with her gray hair swept back into a severe bun preceded the judge through the door, carrying a slim court file in her hands.

  The judge entered next. A tall, thin woman with an equally severe hairstyle and a billowing robe. Judge Martha Kellerman. She was a formidable woman. Her eyebrows sat high on her forehead and her wide, piercing blue eyes stared down at her courtroom. She lifted both hands and slowly lowered them, indicating we could take our seats.

  There was more shuffling and groaning as the old benches protested the weight of the onlookers. When everyone was settled, the first woman raised the file in her hands and read from the cover.

  "Case number 10156. The people versus Harold Geoffrey Harris,” she called out.

  Tyson's foot soldier rose, smoothing out his tie. "Your Honor, Marvin Holowitz appearing for the people."

  The judge nodded and made a note. Her eyes cut to Harris's side of the courtroom. "Mr. Harris. Where is your representation?"

  Harris clasped his hands in front of him. "I'm representing myself, your Honor."

  Her lips pursed disapprovingly. "I would be remiss if I didn't tell you it's inadvisable for you to handle this appearance yourself, Mr. Harris."