He kicked his shorts off. Boy went commando! I didn’t even notice when I dove in a minute ago! Mama liked. He settled over me and when his flesh met mine, fireworks fucking went off.
Stilling, Colt’s head hung down. “I forgot a condom. Fuck me.”
I smiled. “I’m on the pill and I’m clean. So if you’ll let me, I will do just that, Officer Stone.”
Another growl and he surged forward, filling me like no one else had. We rocked together; tasting, feeling, and taking each other over the edge we had teetered on since I first found Swift Rapids and found him.
He was a gentleman, making sure his thumb found my sweet spot and pounding me until neither of us could breathe. Both of our bodies were coated in sweat when I cried out, unable to stop the waves of pleasure pulsing through me.
A roar from his throat meant he was right behind me.
He collapsed with a smile on his face. “Holy shit, B.”
I swallowed. “Yeah.” And I knew in that moment that he’d kept his promise. It would definitely be hard to leave now.
He brushed a strand of hair off my face. “Ready for round two?”
I looked down and was shocked to see him long and thick and ready.
“Hell yes.”
The hot, dry air slammed into me when I stepped out of McCarran. I hailed a cab and told him where to go. I needed to talk to Manny. STAT. It was early afternoon, so he would be at the gym.
I found him there, yelling at a new kid he was trying to train. Telling him to hit harder, move faster, anticipate the next move. The kid was sweating and panting and looked downright pitiful. I wondered if Shane ever looked gangly like that. Manny was the best in the industry, or so I’d heard.
He smiled when he saw me and opened his arms for a hug. “Hey, Brooky! I heard you were coming back and that they finally caught that piece of shit.”
I smiled proudly. “I popped a cap in his ass.”
“I know,” he laughed.
Shifting on my feet, I asked him for a minute of his time. He knew what was coming.
***
I’d spent the day in the air, landing at LaGuardia at four o’clock in the evening. Sin was already there, of course. She had been gearing up for the exhibit for days, or shopping, as I liked to call it. When I spoke to her yesterday, I told her to wear the red dress she’d texted a picture of. Red was a power color. It would draw every eye in the room.
Somehow, the traffic was on my side. I was able to hail a cabbie who knew his way around and wasn’t trying to get an extra buck, and he managed to carve a pathway to Times Square and drop me in front of my hotel in record time. I still needed to check in, get a shower, and get ready!
At seven, I caught yet another cab and made my way to the gallery. It was set in an old building with rustic brick walls and artfully placed lights illuminating each painting and sculpture on display. A hostess greeted me. “Welcome to Greenleaf Gallery. Are you here for the unveiling?”
“Yes. I’m a personal friend of the photographer, Mrs. Justice.”
Her eyes lit up. “She’s very talented, and I recognize you now. I’ll take you right to her.”
She led me through the room of people, all dressed in black ties and evening gowns; glitter and grace between every wall. They perused the artwork in the main room while the woman led me behind a curtained off area.
Morgan and Shane stood in front of an enormous portrait. It was of me, wearing Colt’s shirt, stirring the yellow paint. Tears pricked my eyes. She did an amazing job. There was one of me reading a book with my skin painted the maroon color of the binding, a portrait from the pool when Colt was so mad I was showing so much skin, and then the one of me wearing his hat, sitting in his cruiser. We took a series of photos in the rapids; all serious pictures except for a goofy one of me jumping up from one of the rocks, pumping my fist in the air with a huge smile on my face. She chose that one.
Only one thing was missing.
Morgan bum-rushed me and almost tackled me to the ground. “Did you see your paintings?”
I looked around and the three canvases were located in three of the room’s corners. Seeing my work in a real gallery was more than I’d ever hoped. “If I knew this was a real possibility, I’d have painted something happy,” I admitted.
A man in a penguin suit stuck his head in. “Mrs. Justice, we’re ready to begin the unveiling.”
She nodded and Shane stepped up, kissing her deeply and rubbing her tiny baby bump. “Showtime, babe.”
She sniffled and fanned her eyes. “I’m so emotional.”
I giggled. “Mood swings. Perfect title for the exhibit, Sin.”
Following them outside the curtain, I watched as the crowd gathered around. Servers made sure each patron had a full glass of bubbling champagne. The penguin suit man stepped up to a small podium and leaned in to the microphone. “Thank you for attending tonight’s unveiling. Mrs. Morgan Justice is an incredible young talent. Her work is available for sale and the exhibit will remain at Greenleaf for the duration of the month. Now without further adieu, please raise your glasses.”
Glasses raised toward the air.
“To Mood Swings.”
The crowd echoed his toast and then drank. Greenleaf employees removed the curtain and opened the exhibit to the art-hungry crowd. And they devoured it. Morgan, Shane, (and since she forced me to stay by her side) and I, shook hands and accepted thanks from those who praised both her work and mine.
I was shocked and in seventh heaven. This…this was what I wanted. This and Colt Stone.
You know the phrase…speak of the devil and he will appear. Well, the sexy devil that was Colt Stone sauntered into the room wearing a suit that was cut just for his body; drawing across taut muscle and slanting over tapered hips. I knew the glorious ‘V’ that lay beneath and wanted to claw the suit off of him. Too bad there was a public indecency statute.
Sigh.
He crossed the room and enveloped me in a hug. “You look beautiful, B.”
“And you look delicious.”
A wicked gleam shone in his eyes when he raised up. “You hungry, babe?”
“Starved.”
I couldn’t breathe. “You really didn’t think I’d come see your artwork in a gallery?”
Shaking my head, I followed his eyes as he looked behind him. Willy stepped out from behind him, also in a suit. It was the most clothing I’d ever seen the man wear and though he looked good, I preferred him shirtless, barefooted, and in jean shorts.
Willy’s hug and sweet words made me cry. I chatted with them and drank a glass of champagne until Morgan pecked me on the shoulder.
“You are not going to believe this!” She was squealing. This had to be good. “All of your paintings sold.” She took a deep breath and continued, “And all of the portraits are sold. The gallery has already asked me to produce an exhibit for the spring!”
I squealed with her and we jumped like little girls, holding hands and spinning around.
Laughter came from those around us.
Colt nodded toward the door with a sly grin. I nodded back. “Hey, Morg. I’m going to head out with them.”
She hugged me tightly. “Love you, Brooklyn.”
“Love you, Sin.”
“When will you come back to visit?”
I promised her I would be back soon and told Shane to take care of her. Okay, so I threatened him a little. He was used to it.
Colt and I walked out of the gallery hand in hand. C on my left and Willy on my right. All was right in the world.
***
“You coming, babe?”
“God, yes!” I screamed.
He pumped into me from behind, pulling my hair and biting my neck. And I came. Hard. The man was insatiable, and so was I. We were happy.
***
We’d just finished lugging all of the crap from my condo to his and collapsed onto his enormous California King bed. I loved those, by the way.
“So what’s the story ab
out Chrissy or Christy or Christine or whomever Dalton let the cat out of the bag on, Colt?”
He sighed. I’d told him everything about me—EVERYTHING—so it was his turn. “I dated her when I first started with the department. We were hot and heavy and things happened so fast, I thought I loved her. She didn’t feel the same. Started going out with my partner behind my back. They tried to keep quiet about it, keep it low key, but word got back to me. I broke it off, obviously, but it was hard seeing her with him everywhere.”
“I get that, but I’m glad.”
He clutched his chest, acting all hurt. “You’re glad she shattered my heart?”
I knew she really did, so treading lightly was the way to go, right? Meh. Lightly was for losers. “I get to pick up the pieces.”
His husky laugh against my ear had me clenching my thighs. “What piece is your favorite?”
“Lay back and let me show you.”
He growled, kissed me, and laid back like I told him. I took my sweet time torturing him, making sure he knew that every inch of him was mine. He may have been an alpha male, but I was an alpha female and I was marking my damn territory and erasing that bitch from his memory.
“I love you, B.”
Looking up at him, I smiled. “Love you more.”
He shook his head. “Not possible.”
I pulled my hair at the root. “Why won’t you let me send her the letters?”
My attorney, a smug-looking asshole, sprawled in the chair across from me. “The judge said no, my friend.”
“I am not your friend.”
“And Brooklyn Harris is not your girlfriend.” He snapped his briefcase shut and threw the letters back at me, scattering them all over the floor. I would have snapped his neck if it weren’t for the handcuffs and the giant guard hovering over me.
“I’ll let you know when they set a trial date,” he said, throwing a smirk back toward me. I hated him. My chest stung, a hollow void where Brooklyn shot me. I wondered if she would ever be able to fill it.
No, I told myself, she just needed time. She was stressed. Colt Stone had confused her. She was still mine.
The guard hauled me upright and shoved me out of the small room.
Acknowledgements
A huge thanks to my hubby and our girls. Not only do they put up with my obsession with writing, they support me along the way and I couldn’t be more grateful for them. I’m blessed beyond belief. God is so very good to me.
A huge hug to my Mom and Dad whose love story is better than anything I’ve written or read.
Thanks to my beta-fabulous ladies: Wendy Martin, Cristie Alleman, Marnie Warren, Brenda Kness, Rachael Brownell and Jessica Watts. Your support and insight is so amazing to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thanks to Stacy Sanford for her amazing editing super-power and Allyson Gottlieb for the superb formatting of both the paperback and e-books of this series! You ladies blow my mind.
Hugs to everyone involved with Utopia Con, thank you for showing me what friendship and the mantra, “Lift as you climb,” truly means.
Love to everyone who voted for Sin in the Utopia Awards (2015) for Best Serial Series…you freaking rock! Thank you so much!
Finally, a huge thanks to the amazing people to take time out of their busy lives to read what I write: I can’t tell you how much it means to me. It’s overwhelming and I’m truly humbled by your support and love. Thank you for adopting my characters and making the boys in my books your own! LOL! Enjoy Officer Stone! This one’s for you.
About the Author
Casey L. Bond can be found on social media on virtually every site, but here are a couple:
www.authorcaseybond.com
www.facebook.com/authorcaseybond
@authorcaseybond on Twitter and Instagram.
Temptation, The Complete Serial Series 1-4 (The Temptation Serial Series) Page 14