Playin’ Cop (Heroes of Henderson ~ Prequel)

by Kelly, Liz

  Her legs instinctively circled Duncan’s waist when he lifted her up, backing her to his bed where he lifted one knee, guiding them both on to the top of his comforter. Annabelle slid backward to the head of the bed, digging her fingers into the end of the comforter and pushing it under her body as Duncan helped drag it down beyond them. He laid her down, her head on his pillow and took his time to look his fill of her naked breasts, narrow waist, and long shapely legs.

  “How the hell did I get so lucky?” he asked, sliding one hand up and down the side of her body as his eyes roamed freely. “Underneath all your stylish perfection, there is this sinfully, smokin’ hot body.” He lowered his head, closed his mouth over a nipple and sucked hard, causing Annabelle to gasp and buck her pelvis. He covered her lower body with his own, feasting on her breasts while drawing her hands up over her head.

  His own hands slid back down languidly, caressing the sensitive insides of her arms, the ticklish depression of her underarms, the rounded sides of her breasts, and the indentation of her waist before tucking themselves under her back and massaging her buttocks. “I’ve been dying to get my hands on your shapely derrière,” he said leaving a trail of kisses down her stomach and over her navel as his hands fondled her hips and rear-end.

  He pulled the silky threads of her G-string down her hips and off her legs. Annabelle closed her eyes, feeling the contrast as cool air hit her warm, wet pubic hair, leaving every part of her exposed. Duncan traced his thumb through the thick of it, making her body bow when it slid over her clitoris and continued down her slick center. “So perfect,” he said, his breath tantalizing the engorged nerve endings. His mouth lowered and he lovingly kissed her right where she could feel it most.

  “Oh baby, there’s so much I long to do to you,” he moaned, lifting up and crawling forward over her body. “But I can’t get what you did to me the other night out of my head,” he said looking into her eyes. “Here,” he offered his hand and helped her sit up. Then he moved back against the headboard and fumbled with a condom before taking her hand and bringing her to him.

  “Just like you did before,” he begged, clasping her hips and maneuvering her on to his lap. “Rub yourself against me,” he pleaded as she slid her body along the back side of his erect shaft. “God yes,” he breathed, his head thrown back as Annabelle started to rub her aching center up and down the long length of his cock, her body providing lubricant for the condom. “I fantasized about this,” he said bringing his gaze down between them to watch the action. “Every night since.” He cupped her ass with his hands and set the rhythm for the both of them. “Feel good?” he asked when Annabelle started to moan.

  “So good,” she said, closing her eyes, licking her lips. He smiled. She could hear it when he spoke.

  “That mouth of yours is one hell of a turn-on,” he said, moving her body a little faster. She tilted her hips and pressed harder, targeting her swollen nub. Duncan’s hips started to pump causing an “even better” to spill from her lips.

  “You like this, baby?” Duncan asked, his breath coming faster. His fingers gripping her ass tighter. His cock sliding quickly within the folds of her flesh. “Is this what you needed? Finish what you started New Year’s Eve, Annabelle. Come on, baby. Come for me,” he breathed, “Come for me so I can take us where we both want to go.”

  He reached between them to press his cock hard against her. When Annabelle first started to spasm and shake, he moved his thumb over her nub and manipulated her into a soul-wrenching orgasm. And as the hollow need inside her grew desperate to be filled, he lifted her up and then slid her down, sheathing his erection. Another orgasm erupted immediately, causing her body to go loose everywhere except where it counted for Duncan. Her internal muscles milked him hard, setting off a wild chain of events.

  Duncan pushed Annabelle to her back while she still came, whimpering his name, squeezing his cock inside the very core of her body. “Holy shi—” he began, but the blood drained from his head down to his groin, erasing all thought. His hips worked like a piston, ferociously fucking the girl of his dreams. Every muscle from his toes to his forehead strained, his shoulders and neck were rigid, his jaw clenched. He heard himself grunt louder and louder, out of control with every pump, until his entire body shook uncontrollably with a long, hard climax.

  “Holy Mother of God,” he panted, lying on top of her, sweaty and spent.

  Moments later, still breathing heavily, he reached for Annabelle’s hand and squeezed it.

  She squeezed back.

  Finally finding the strength to move, he rolled off and sprawled flat on his back, both their heads at the end of the bed. “Annabelle, sweetheart,” he whispered, his heart rate still off the chart, “I’m afraid you’re gonna have to marry me.” His other hand collapsed on top of his stomach and he closed his eyes as Annabelle rose up on an elbow to peer down at him.

  Through labored breathing he told her again, “You’re gonna have to marry me, baby.” He opened his eyes and wiped sweat from them. “Because there is no doubt you have just ruined me for all other women. And, more importantly,” he went on, “I know damn well there isn’t a condom in this world built strong enough to survive a fuck like that.”

  He glanced over as Annabelle choked out a laugh at his ungentlemanly choice of words. Giving his spent body a long, cool once-over, she shrugged a shoulder. “Okay,” she said before flopping back down and snuggling in against him. “I’ll call Daddy.”

  He smiled at that, his arm going around her, his fingers playing over her deliciously soft skin. And then he smiled broader because he was a lawyer. And although Miss Devine might be somewhat unaware, she’d just entered herself into a verbal contract.

  And he had every intention of holding her to it.

  ~*~*~

  Interested in what romance has is in store

  for Duncan’s friends Brooks and Vance?

  Enjoy a sneak peek from

  Good Cop

  Heroes of Henderson ~ Book 1

  Prologue

  Brooks Bennett ran a hand through his short copper curls and blew out a long breath as he studied his surroundings. Their favorite college haunt seemed smaller and dingier, though the same stale smells of cooking grease and spilled beer lingered. They’d celebrated their College World Series win right here almost seven years ago. Seven years. Fucking A.

  “Hey, Third Base,” he said, his mouth pulling into a broad grin. He hadn’t called his buddy that in years. Vance Evans’ expression also showed a little oomph for the first time in days at hearing the nickname. He stopped picking at the label on his long-neck bottle and started looking around.

  “We had a hell of a run. State champs in high school. World Series champs here.” He tilted the bottle to his lips.

  “That we did,” Brooks agreed.

  “Though, I gotta tell ya,” Vance said, shaking his head. “The team we’ve put on the field this year? They would have handed us our jocks.”

  Brooks laughed. “It’s true. I know it’s true, but please don’t tell them that. We’ll lose complete control.”

  “Are you kidding me?” He squinted his eyes and twisted his mouth. “No way would I ever admit that. I parade them by our State Championship trophy every damn day.” He smiled then and leaned forward, tapping his finger on the table between them. “But it is damn good fun being their coach.”

  “That’s good, since you’re not much of a cop,” Brooks teased.

  “Fuck you,” Vance said good-naturedly and then sat up straight and scowled when he heard their long-lost fraternity brother, Duncan James, hailing the bartender. “Show time.”

  Brooks appreciated the irritation he saw in Vance’s eyes, though he wasn’t convinced driving an hour into Raleigh and staging an ambush was the smartest way to handle this. But since the college kids were spring-breaking their asses off in Florida or wherever they went these days, the bar was quiet. Maybe the three of them could calmly talk this out.

  “Hey, y’all. Sor
ry I’m late,” Duncan said, sliding into the booth next to Brooks. He wore his big-deal-lawyer suit more comfortably than a pair of jeans. “The call I’d been waiting for all day came in just as I was about to leave. Had to take it.”

  “Y’all? When the hell did you start sayin’ ‘y’all’?” Vance asked.

  “Did I? Must be from hanging around you rednecks too long.” Duncan glanced at a menu before setting it aside. He took a deep breath and blew it out as he looked at his best friends. “God, it’s good to see you guys. How the hell are you?”

  Brooks and Vance exchanged a look before casting their disgruntled expressions on Duncan.

  “We’re bent,” Vance told him.

  Raising an eyebrow, Duncan sat back and eyed his buddies again. “Never one to mince words,” he said, and nodded to Vance. “What’s going on?”

  “Annabelle Devine is what’s going on.”

  “Annabelle?”

  “Christ, Dunc, it’s the end of March. The last time we saw you was New Year’s Day.”

  Duncan’s mouth hung open for a moment, and then he snapped it shut. “You do recall that it was the two of you who introduced me to Miss Devine, right? On New Year’s Eve?”

  “We didn’t introduce you. She was the target of our damn bet.”

  “A bet where I came out on top, in more ways than one.”

  “Clearly,” Vance scoffed. “And since you’ve hooked up with our infamous ‘Keeper of the Debutantes,’ you haven’t been back to Henderson for one poker night. We can’t get you on the phone unless we call your office. For God’s sake, we even had to beg you to fill out your NCAA bracket.”

  Duncan turned wide eyes to Brooks. “Is this for real?”

  Brooks clenched his jaw.

  “Oh, you too, huh?” Duncan looked back at Vance. “I neglect you two for a few weeks and you drive into town to, what? Stage an intervention?”

  “We’re just here to save you from yourself, bro.”

  Duncan laughed at that, and Brooks watched Vance’s temper spike. Luckily they were interrupted by the waiter.

  “Three more beers, three shots of tequila, three bacon cheeseburgers medium-rare, two with onion rings, one with fries, and bring some extra pickles, if you don’t mind,” Duncan ordered. He handed the menus to the waiter and folded his arms across his chest. When the waiter was out of earshot, Duncan cleared his throat and leaned forward.

  “You two are closer to me than my own brother,” Duncan said in a low, no-nonsense growl. “But I am warning you one time and one time only. Tread lightly when it comes to Annabelle. If you have a problem with me, it’s on me. You do not now, nor will you ever, find fault with Annabelle Devine.”

  Dead silence.

  “We clear?”

  “Clear,” Books mumbled along with Vance, each taking a sip of beer to dilute the tension at the table.

  The beverages arrived before any of them could find another word. Together they upended the shots and chased them with their beers. Silence fell again while Duncan smoothed his hands over the rough table surface.

  “I apologize. Not for blowing you two rednecks off while I spend time with Annabelle, but for not keeping you in the loop. I guess I just assumed….” His voice trailed off.

  “That we would figure it out,” Brooks finished for him, starting to feel like a real idiot.

  Vance slapped his hand on the table throwing Brooks a ‘come on, man’ look. “Really?” he said. “You’re going to let him off that easy?”

  Duncan grabbed Vance’s arm and shoved it off the table. “Look, asshole. What the hell do you expect? The three of us are pushing thirty. For all your talk over the years about raising your families in your hometown, you had to expect there would come a time when women would actually be part of that equation. Well, I’ve found mine, and I’m ready to move forward. So if that means missing a few poker nights while I’m trying to seal the deal with Miss Devine, from Henderson, I might add, I expect the two of you to suck it up and act happy for me. I mean, Jesus H. Christ! Did you think the three of us were going to adopt kids and raise them together?”

  Brooks shook his head, feeling every bit the self-important, spoiled child he was. But he almost laughed when he noticed the expression on Vance’s face. There was shock, yes. But also a dawning awareness, as if Vance hadn’t considered he’d eventually have to find a mate.

  Brooks reached out and tapped the table in front of Vance. “Hey. Third Base. You okay?”

  Vance shook his dark head like a wet dog and snapped out of his stupor. “Holy shit!” he said, looking between Brooks and Duncan, starting to laugh. “Are we really almost thirty?”

  “’Fraid so,” Duncan assured him as heaping platters of burgers, fries, and onion rings were set in front of them.

  Vance picked up his beer and saluted Brooks. “Then it’s time.”

  “Time?”

  “Time to do what he’s doing.” Vance pointed his beer at Duncan. “Because we have plans. Big plans.”

  Brooks looked up from his plate and into Vance’s eyes. “We’re not thirty yet.”

  “What plans?” Duncan asked.

  “You know! Our plans. Get Brooks elected mayor,” Vance said, setting down his beer and ticking off his fingers one by one. “Institute our economic plan to bring new businesses and services to Henderson.”

  “Which will hopefully stop the mass exodus of young people leaving town,” Brooks interjected. “Like our buddy Lewis who has taken his big brain and multi-million dollar App-designing business right up to fucking New York City.”

  “And like your Annabelle,” Vance said. “There is no reason she can’t travel from Henderson to do her job taking care of sorority girls up and down the East Coast.”

  “Except that I live in Raleigh,” Duncan protested. “I want her to live in Raleigh.”

  “You don’t know what you want!” Vance insisted. “What you want is to move your own Richmond-raised ass out of Raleigh and into Henderson because once Brooks and I start these plans, the town is going to need a good business attorney, fast. You’ll have more business than you can handle. What you want is to open your own damn firm in Henderson and be your own damn boss.”

  Duncan turned his head toward Brooks. “Well, thank God somebody knows what I want.”

  “Then,” Vance continued as if Duncan hadn’t just made a joke, “as Henderson begins to develop, you join Brooks and me in our campaign to get it listed as one of ‘America’s Best Places to Live.’ All this while settling down and having enough kids between us to field a baseball team.”

  “Those are some big plans,” Duncan chuckled.

  “That’s how we roll,” Vance said as he reached for the ketchup. Then he nodded toward Brooks. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  Brooks nodded, having already taken a bite of his two-fisted burger.

  “We need to find ourselves a woman,” Vance said, right before he bit off far more than he could chew.

  Chapter One

  Lolly DuVal had not been back inside Henderson High School since the day she graduated five years ago, and she certainly hadn’t ever set foot in the boys’ locker room. But it was a Saturday in late May, classes had been dismissed for the summer, and she had an appointment with the boys’ varsity baseball coach. So here she was, hobbling around on her sore feet, nervously entering forbidden territory, searching for a door labeled ‘Training Room.’

  Ordering herself not to be tentative, she gave a good rap on the door and was relieved to hear a voice from inside calling for her to enter. Coach Evans, his back to her stood up from a desk shoved against the wall between the training tables and weight machines and turned in greeting, smiling enthusiastically as his eyes registered her appearance.

  Holy crap, it is him!

  Lolly was immediately glad she’d bothered with her appearance instead of showing up sporting a wet ponytail and athletic shorts. She’d blown her brunette hair dry so that her high ponytail had a soft curl at the end.
And since her tiny, kitten-heeled sandals were the only thing her feet would tolerate, she was forced to wear her favorite red sundress that would have been too revealing on anyone with notable cleavage, but fit her body beautifully, showing off her long legs to their best advantage. She’d even put on perfume.

  “Coach Evans,” she said, moving forward and holding her hand out, her head spinning at the sight of him.

  Once big man on this very campus and now one of Henderson’s most notorious bachelors, Vance Evans stood before her in nothing but loose-fitting black workout shorts and a pair of well-worn flip-flops. His naked, tanned, and sculpted chest and the extended length of six-pack abs running below it were like neon signs giving credence to all those sexy rumors she’d overheard her older cousins whispering.

  She dragged her gaze up to the top of all that tall, dark deliciousness and willed herself not to drool. He’d improved with age—that strong chin and chiseled jaw defined a man in his prime. His dark hair was overdue for a cut and starting to curl at the ends, making him crazy gorgeous. “Thank you for meeting with me.” She couldn’t help it. She gave him her most flirtatious smile. “I am Lolly DuVal.”

  “Lolly,” Vance said, taking her hand, his startling emerald eyes twinkling with mischief. “Our graduate student from State. The one who wants to protect our team’s balls.”

  Lolly’s eyes went wide. She blinked and then burst out laughing. “Well, that’s one way to put it.”

  “Figured I’d go ahead and break the ice.” He reached for a gray T-shirt draped over a weight machine and pulled it on over his head.

  “I appreciate that. It’s not easy talking about athletic cups when you’ve never had to wear one.”

  “Now that is a curious thing, isn’t it?” he said, using his fingers to sweep his hair across his forehead. “A female designing a better cup.”

  “Sounds like you have your doubts.”

  He shrugged his shoulders as he lounged one hip against his desk. “Surely you’d balk if I, for example, claimed to have built a better bra.”