Cop Tales an Anthology for a Cause

by T. R. Cupak

  My body flushed. “There’s only one way to find out.”

  He smirked and then led me to his bedroom. Before I realized what was happening, he picked me up and tossed me playfully onto the bed. The softness cradled me, and I bent my legs as Ethan spread my thighs apart. The moment his wet tongue met my pussy, I shivered.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  “No,” I breathed. “Keep going.”

  And he did.

  The first man to ever taste me was between my legs again, making me wetter and wetter and hotter and hotter until I was moaning, my body spasming as I came. It didn’t take long. This was Ethan, and it had been years since any man had pleasured me. I wanted more.

  “You taste even better than I remember.”

  My body heated further at his words to the point where I couldn’t speak. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a condom from the drawer. After opening the foil packet, he slid the latex on. I wanted nothing more than for him to crawl between my legs and sink into me, but I also didn’t want the same old missionary sex I’d had with my ex-husband. This was Ethan. My Ethan.

  I stood before he could move another inch. He raised an eyebrow, questioning me silently. “Sit,” I instructed. He sat on the edge of the bed. “Scoot back,” I said, moving to place my hands on the side of his hips.

  He scooted back as I’d asked until he was in the center of the bed. “This isn’t what we used to do. You’ve learned new tricks.”

  I laughed, crawling toward him. “I just know what I want.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “You,” I said simply.

  “Me?”

  As I positioned myself on his lap, I replied, “I’ve always wanted you.”

  Ethan grabbed my chin, making me look directly into his oceanic eyes. “Then why did you break up with me?”

  I swallowed, feeling a slight lump form in the back of my throat. A part of me had hoped we’d never bring up the past, but never in my life would I have thought that we’d be having this conversation naked, in his bed, and about to have sex.

  “Just tell me,” he pleaded. “I won’t be mad. I thought you didn’t like me anymore or something and now… Now I don’t know what to think.”

  Taking a deep breath, I looked off to the side, not wanting to meet his eyes. “I got drunk at a party and kissed another guy.”

  The air grew still as I waited for him to say something. “Did you date him after me?”

  My gaze moved to his. “No, I don’t even know who I kissed. I was too drunk to remember.”

  “Then how do you know you did?”

  I shrugged. “I just remember kissing someone.”

  We stared at each other for a few moments as my heart beat fast in my chest. “Things happen for a reason, right?”

  I nodded slowly, still not sure what else Ethan was going to say.

  “I won’t hold some drunken kiss over your head. The past is the past, and we’re adults now. We’re no longer children, and it’s been two decades since it happened. Let’s start over.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Okay.”

  Nothing more was said as he adjusted to sit cross-legged. The movement made me slide closer to his cock, and I wrapped my legs around him too. My arms draped around his neck as he guided himself inside of me. Once fully in, we started to kiss, and I tasted myself on his lips, tasted what he’d done for me.

  We rocked together as his arms reached around my back, moving as though he wanted me to get closer. We were as close as we had ever been, and having the weight of our break up off my shoulders made me relax.

  Our lips broke apart, searching for air. We weren’t only fucking. We were in sync, rocking together, Ethan’s shaft going as deep as it could and hitting the spot that he was the first to find.

  “I didn’t realize how much I missed this—missed you,” he stated.

  My gaze locked with his and I smiled warmly at him. “I know.”

  What would have happened if I had never got drunk at that party? Would we still be together? Would we have kids together? Married? Divorced? He was right, things did happen for a reason, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t sad about it. My heart ached for the twenty some odd years we’d missed.

  I leaned back onto one hand, angling so that he was hitting the spot with every roll of our hips. My pace quickened as I held onto his neck.

  “Fuck,” he hissed.

  “I’m close,” I panted.

  Ethan groaned and stilled my hips, coming as I climaxed around his cock, pulsing to work every drop from him. After my body stopped convulsing, I wrapped both arms around his neck again and brought my lips to his. We stayed like that until he was ready for round two, and then round three in the shower before we both had to leave for work.

  Chapter Nine

  Ethan

  It had been a month, and the murder of Amy Kenny still hadn’t been solved. The roommate’s alibi was solid, and there were no traces of Amy leaving her house that day. The night before she had been at a nightclub downtown, but after reviewing the security cameras, it was clear she hadn’t left with anyone. The friends she’d been with had put her in an Uber, and then they’d left, walking in the opposite direction. We followed up with them and the driver, but nothing had panned out.

  Tonight, Reagan was going on a ride-along with Shawn and me. Ever since our nooner—the first nooner of many—Reagan and I had been spending every night together. She had started classes, and while our studying in high school wasn’t really studying, I helped her each night with homework if she needed it. It felt as though we’d picked up right where we left off.

  After Reagan got done with classes for the day, I drove to her place to pick her up. I let myself in with my key and went into the kitchen area where I knew she’d be sitting at the dining room table doing homework.

  “Need help?” I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers.

  “Nope. Almost done.”

  I slid the NDA next to her. “Sign this when you’re done and then the fun begins.”

  “What are we doing tonight for the ride-along?”

  “Shawn and I need to follow-up with a few witnesses about a shooting that happened yesterday.”

  “I get to watch you interrogate people?”

  I chuckled slightly and kissed the side of her head. “No. These aren’t suspects.”

  She sighed. “Oh.”

  “I’m sure we’ll have fun though.” I didn’t think my job was fun, but I knew people who went on ride-alongs loved them because they got a glimpse into our world. I felt that way when I would go with my dad before I became a cop.

  Reagan finished her homework, signed the NDA, and then we left to pick up Shawn. “So, this is your Reagan, huh?” Shawn asked as he slid into the passenger seat and turned to face her in the back seat of my unmarked car.

  I grinned. “Yeah, this is my Reagan.” She had always been mine. Even when we were living our own lives, she’d held a place in my heart. And now that we were back together, I was never letting her go.

  “So, you talk about me?” Reagan teased.

  “All the time,” Shawn stated.

  “Bullshit.” I laughed.

  “It’s okay if you do. You stalk me at my job,” Reagan stated.

  My gaze met hers through the rearview mirror. “I go to Judy’s for a nightcap. It’s only a bonus that the hottest bartender there is my girlfriend.”

  Before she could respond, dispatch radioed a 10-31 we were needed at, which meant a dead body. They gave the address, and Shawn responded that we were en route.

  I looked at Reagan again through the rearview mirror. “It’s your lucky night, Buttercup.”

  Her emerald eyes brightened. “A dead body?”

  “A dead body.”

  We arrived at the location a few minutes later. I got out and opened the back door where Reagan was sitting. Leaning in, I said, “Stay by the car for now while we make sure the scene is secure and then I’ll come and
get you.”

  She bobbed her head excitedly. “Okay. I want to watch CSI work.”

  “Figured you might.” I winked.

  The sun was starting to set, and the familiar red and blue lights lit my path to Officer Moore, the responding officer who was waiting outside of the duplex. “What do we have?” Shawn asked.

  “Another stabbing,” he said as we started for the front door. Before we entered, we covered our shoes with shoe covers. “Vic appears to be in her late twenties. No signs of a break in and no signs of a struggle.”

  The words echoed our unsolved case, and the moment I saw the body on the sofa, I started sensing a pattern. The victim had long brown hair that was soaked with blood, and I got the feeling it was the same perp because of the amount of blood and the lack of disarray in the room.

  After surveying the scene and making sure it was secure, I went back outside to grab Reagan who was still in the back seat of the car, but with the door open. “Ready?”

  “I’m so excited,” she exclaimed.

  “Try to keep the excitement down while you’re in front of the neighbors.” I nudged my head in the direction of the crowd forming.

  “Sorry,” she whispered.

  I reached out my hand for her to take to slide out of the car. “I get it.” Just before walking over the threshold, I turned to her. “You sure about this?”

  She nodded her head. “If I can’t handle it, then I know to quit school.”

  “Or do another form of investigating like crime scene reconstruction or something.”

  “We’ll see.”

  We walked inside, and Reagan followed me to the body, shoe covers on our feet. I looked over at her, gauging her reaction. Her beautiful green eyes were wide, and it seemed as though she wasn’t breathing.

  “You okay?”

  She swallowed. “Yeah. I just can’t believe I’m looking at a dead body. And you’re right—the smell is indescribable.”

  Shawn leaned over. “Don’t puke on the body.”

  “Not planning on it.” She giggled.

  “Stay close and don’t touch anything,” I instructed. “After you get a quick look around, you’ll need to go back to the car.”

  “Got it,” Reagan replied.

  Just like Amy’s crime scene, everything seemed in order except for the blood soaked couch. Reagan went back to the cruiser while I looked for anything out of place. Whoever this guy was, he had serious anger issues.

  I moved to look at the pictures on the fireplace when Shawn walked up to me. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “Same guy as Amy’s?”

  “Yeah.”

  I was about to respond when something on the fireplace caught my eye. It was a wood plaque in the shape of a heart with a name on it. “What’s the vic’s name?” I asked.

  “Daisy. Daisy Witt.”

  I pointed to the wood carving.

  “Yeah?” Shawn questioned me. “You can get those made at—”

  “I know where you can get them, but Amy had one of these on the wall at her house.”

  “Really?” Shawn questioned.

  “I didn’t think anything of it at the time. There was no blood on it or anything, so it wasn’t put into evidence.” I fished a glove from my pocket and used it loosely to pick up the plaque that was leaning against the back wall of the chimney and turned it over. A #9 was written in black marker on the back. “Do you think this means Daisy’s the ninth vic and we’re dealing with a serial killer?”

  “We need to go back to Amy’s and speak with Heather. Check out the plaque you saw there,” he responded.

  Yes, we fucking did need to. This could be the break we needed. If we were dealing with a serial killer, then we’d have more to go on and databases to scour.

  I drove Shawn back to the station, and then drove Reagan home, but before we left, we interviewed the friend who had called it in. It wasn’t a roommate, but a friend who had checked in on Daisy because she hadn’t heard from her in several days.

  “Thank you for taking me tonight,” Reagan beamed as we walked inside her apartment.

  “So, you think you can handle it?” I asked as I closed and locked the door behind me.

  She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me lightly. “Yes. The dead body was creepy at first, but I think it will get easier like you mentioned before.”

  “Good. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

  “I’ll be the low man on the totem pole.”

  “Only for a few years until you can get your degree.”

  “Tru—” She dropped her hands from my neck as she stared past me.

  “What is—”

  I didn’t need to finish. When I turned, I saw the wood plaque in the shape of a heart hanging on her wall with her name carved into it.

  * * *

  The end … for now.

  About Kimberly Knight

  Dear readers,

  It was never my intention to write a short story with a cliffhanger, but as the story of Ethan and Reagan progressed, it became clear that if I wrote the complete story from beginning to end, it would be longer than the allotted word count for this anthology. Good things come to those who wait, right? I promise to finish this story as soon as I can.

  If you’d like to know when their full-length story will be released, please sign-up for my newsletter or visit my website for more information. In the meantime, check out Ethan’s sister’s story in Use Me.

  Happy reading!

  XoXo,

  Kimberly

  http://authorkimberlyknight.com

  OUT OF THE BLUE | Jess Bryant

  Chapter One

  Nick Sloan stepped inside the main office of the Fate Sheriff’s Department with as much confidence as he could muster. He never thought he would walk back through those doors, but he’d been doing a lot of things recently he’d never thought he would do. Like quitting his dream job in Dallas, giving up his gorgeous uptown loft, and moving back to his middle-of-nowhere, smaller-than-a-map-dot hometown. Nearly dying had a way of making a man take a good hard look in the mirror and reevaluate his life choices.

  He’d made some bad ones.

  His entire life he’d wanted nothing more than to be a police officer. Growing up, he and his best friend, Shane, had played cops and robbers every day after school. They’d come to blows over who got to be the cop with the cuffs more than once. As adults,, neither of them had been happy until they had their own set, their own gun, and their own badge.

  That had been it for Shane. He’d wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and he had. He’d joined the FSD and he’d been happy.

  Nick hadn’t. He’d wanted the thrill that came with the big city lights. He’d wanted the excitement of tracking down real criminals instead of rerouting traffic for homecoming parades. Nick had wanted more than this small town offered and when the chance to leave had come, he’d jumped on it.

  He’d left everything he knew behind that day. The town where he’d grown up. The friends who had always been there for him. The woman he’d loved.

  His heart still ached thinking about Kady—it always did. No matter how much time or distance he put between them, just the thought of her had a way of ripping him wide open. He’d tried for a long time not to think about her.

  Since he’d been shot, though, since he’d nearly died, she was constantly on his mind and he’d stopped trying to push her out of his head and out of his heart.

  He’d come back to Fate for her, even if she didn’t know it yet.

  “Can I help you?” A deep voice pulled him out of his thoughts and Nick realized he’d been standing inside the doorway, lost in his own head, oblivious to the man in uniform behind the desk staring at him.

  “Yeah. Sorry.” He shook off the past and focused on the present, on the dark-haired man in the brown uniform. “I’m here to start my first shift.”

  “Nick Sloan.” The man nodded, “We’ve been expecting you. I’m Deputy Lan
ce Nichols. It’s nice to finally meet you. The boss has nothing but good things to say about you.”

  “Well, that’s certainly nice to hear.” He shook the hand that was offered, “Good to meet you too. Are you my new partner? Shane mentioned I’d be riding with one of his deputies until we got all the official paperwork in order.”

  “Nope, not me.” Lance shook his head. “I’m about to head out for a much-needed vacation. You’re paired up with our resident boy wonder.”

  “Boy wonder?” Nick raised an eyebrow.

  “He’s young, but he’s a smart kid. A pain in the ass, know-it-all, by-the-book, never misses a chance to earn a gold star kid. But he’s good at his job.” Lance huffed as if even uttering that last sentence was difficult for him and Nick smirked when the other man shrugged. “Probably why Lowry paired you with him to start off.”

  “Okay.” Nick glanced around the otherwise empty office. “Where is this boy wonder?”

  “In the back, I think.” Lance twisted slightly and raised his voice to shout, “Hey! Shaw! Your new partner is here!”

  Nick’s smirk fell instantly. That name hit him like a punch to the gut. Shaw. He shook his head, wondering if he’d heard wrong. There was no way he’d heard right.

  Surely he’d have heard. Someone would have told him. Shane would have said something if…

  A big man stepped out of a small hallway a few feet away and Nick cursed. He’d know those features anywhere—blond hair and blue-green eyes, just like Kady’s—no matter how much time had passed. Only, instead of being beautiful, on that masculine face and body they were strikingly handsome.

  Connor Shaw, Kady’s little brother, wasn’t so little anymore. He’d grown up. He’d filled out. He was still a good-looking kid, even in the ugly brown uniform that the FSD had issued. At least he was until a look of pure rage overtook his features and he all but growled before barreling across the room, straight towards Nick.