Coup De Grâce

by Lani Lynn Vale

  “She’s not gone,” I said softly. “She lives on in your memories.”

  Shit, now I was quoting Big Hero 6!

  I knew I shouldn’t have watched that movie with Reggie!

  “She tells me I should think before I act. I don’t know how to do that,” he admitted, looking down at his hand and dropping his gun to the floor.

  I didn’t move.

  Not time yet.

  My heart rate picked up when I saw the movement in the side window of my place.

  A distinctly blonde head popped into the side window before disappearing just as quickly.

  Luke.

  Good.

  Only a little bit longer now.

  “Women have a way about them. They think they’re right…but most of the time they are right. I’ve found that out myself just the other day,” I told him, thinking back to the night Nikki saw me with Lisette. “They’re smart creatures, women. They instinctively know what is best for us, and they move heaven and earth to make us happy.”

  And Nikki did do that.

  Every day.

  I saw that now, with the threat of my life being taken from me from a man that felt such pain over the loss of his own woman.

  Stan’s eyes moved to the table, and my breath caught in my throat when I caught sight of the sonogram picture that I’d dropped there when I arrived home.

  I’d seen it in the cab of the truck, and on instinct had grabbed it to make sure it wouldn’t get ruined.

  Now the man that wanted to take her away from me was staring at it like it was the lowliest of life forms.

  “Cops don’t deserve to have a happy life,” he muttered darkly. “You don’t deserve to live.”

  He dropped down scooping the gun up off the floor and pointing it for real this time and I knew my time was up.

  He wasn’t going to wait, and if I didn’t do something, I’d be lying in a pool of blood.

  “May you rot in he…”

  Boom!

  I closed my eyes, sick to my stomach.

  The smoking gun still in my hand.

  Stan was dead before his body even met the floor.

  “Shit!” Luke said, rounding the corner of the back hallway with his gun in his hand. “You scared the shit out of me, man!”

  I raised my head and looked at my boss, and one of the best friends I’ve ever had.

  “I don’t think we need that warrant anymore,” I said softly.

  Luke’s face lit in a brief smile before he moved around the table where I was sitting and took a knee on the floor beside Stan’s prone body.

  “Dead,” he confirmed, standing up. “Gotta call this in.”

  With that, he put his phone up to his ear and reported the shooting.

  Slowly, I placed my gun on the table by my right elbow, and moved to stand.

  Blood was slowly filling up the floor beneath Stan’s body and I had to step over it in order not to track it throughout the house.

  “Want me to go outside?” I asked.

  Luke shook his head.

  He was the assistant chief as well as the SWAT team leader; so, as the more superior officer, I wanted to make sure I was where he wanted me, seeing as I’d just shot a man.

  “We always miss all the fun!” James, with his sniper rifle in tow, whined.

  “Sorry I couldn’t provide that for you,” I said with semi-amusement.

  “He fucked up. His usual MO is to make the cop empty his pockets and get rid of the sidearm. Had he done that with you, he might still be alive,” Luke muttered, arms crossed across his chest as he glared at the dead man at his feet. “Fuckin’ paperwork. Did you get anything out of him?”

  I nodded.

  “It was because of his wife. She was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop,” I explained what I knew.

  “Fuckin’ A,” Miller growled.

  “You found me faster than I thought you would,” I admitted to Luke.

  “Put a BOLO out on his car. Stan drives a shiny Maserati. It’s hard to miss something like that driving down the road. Officer Lyons saw it the moment he pulled into the RV park to turn around. Was parked off to the side, as if he was broken down,” Miller explained. “Luke called you to tell you we had the warrant, you didn’t answer. He started to head this way because he said you didn’t look right, and then passed the same RV park where the car was found. Put two and two together. Made twelve. End of story.”

  I shook my head.

  Amazing.

  “Two and two make four, not twelve, dumbass,” Foster tittered from the front door.

  Neither had breached the front door since they knew it was a crime scene, and I was talking through the screen door.

  The entire team was occupying my patio furniture.

  James was kicked back in the lounger. Miller and Foster on the couch. Bennett, Nico, and Downy were on the final three chairs with the umbrella over their heads, eyes closed.

  And I had an irrational desire to tell them how much I loved them.

  Would that be weird?

  To have their support, and to know they were all there for me when I needed them was exactly what I needed in that moment.

  All my self-doubts were gone.

  And it its place was relief and thankfulness.

  Relief that I had lived to breathe another day.

  And thankfulness that I’d have good friends and a good woman around to do it with.

  ***

  Later that night

  Nikki walked into her bedroom, glanced at me, and went straight to the bathroom.

  She was mad at me.

  Hell, I was mad at me.

  I’d left her thinking I’d be right back, and she hadn’t known where I’d gone. I hadn’t said goodbye. I didn’t even wave.

  She also hadn’t known that my life had been in danger.

  She only found out two hours later when I’d arrived back at the station and had promptly been whisked into questioning to answer a shit ton of questions.

  I’d been put on administrative leave, pending an investigation, but I knew nothing would amount to that seeing as I had Luke to back me up one hundred percent of the way.

  Nikki had been told by her brother what had transpired, and let’s just say that she hadn’t been happy. Not even a little bit.

  When I’d gotten out of questioning, I’d found that Nikki had been taken home by Georgia.

  By the time I arrived home, it was four hours later and pushing ten o’clock.

  She hadn’t been asleep, though.

  Far from it.

  She’d been sitting on the couch watching the news. Which happened to have me as the breaking story.

  “Michael?” Nikki asked, removing her shirt from her body.

  My eyes took in the bounty before them.

  Nikki had always been beautiful.

  But right now, with the moon at her back streaming through the blinds, and her hair a curly mass falling down her back and draping over her shoulders, I’d never thought she was more beautiful.

  She had the beginnings of a belly, and the pink belly button piercing had a star attached to it, resting on the soft swell...a belly button ring I’d never seen before now.

  “Yeah baby?” I asked, swallowing tightly.

  The next thing to go was the black bra.

  Although nothing special, it held up her breasts perfectly, placing them up and together, allowing my eyes to feast.

  And when Nikki lost it, her breasts bounced free, making my semi-hard erection full blown as all the blood rushed to my dick.

  Her panties were the last thing to go.

  When she bent over, her breasts hung, swinging enticingly as she slipped the panties free of her feet and stepped out of them, one by one.

  I about lost my ability to speak as she put one knee into the bed and started to crawl up between my legs, stopping when she met my hips.

  “Make l
ove to me,” she ordered.

  Swallowing thickly, I sat up slowly and gathered her face into my hands, placing my lips softly on hers.

  “Okay,” I whispered, before breaching her lips with my tongue, curling mine around hers.

  She moaned and leaned forward into the kiss, giving me her weight.

  I rolled with her until we were on our sides.

  My hands still in place against her cheeks, I let one slip down, tracing down her shoulder, curving around her breasts, following the line of her side until it came to a rest against the back of her thigh.

  She moaned when I let my hand move further back to flatten around the curve of her ass, fingers dipping into her overheated core.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I never dreamed that would happen,” I told her.

  A sob caught in her throat and she kissed me harder.

  “You scared the shit out of me. I thought you were going to die,” she said desperately between kisses.

  I moaned when her hand found my throbbing erection.

  “Guide it inside you,” I said, spreading the lips of her ass with my fingers and pushing forward with my hips.

  She angled my cock to let the head rest at the entrance of her sex, and we both flexed towards each other the moment our skin met.

  She gasped into my mouth as my cock filled her to the breaking point.

  “You fill me completely,” she whispered fiercely. “Don’t ever leave me like that again, okay? Always say goodbye.”

  I promised her, and then continued to promise with my body. The way my hands ran along her skin.

  The way my cock thrust in and out of her.

  Our lovemaking was slow, steady, and beautiful.

  Something we both needed right then.

  And long minutes later, when I felt her pussy start to clench around my cock, I let go, too.

  Shooting my essence into her waiting heat, filling her up with cock, my come, and my love.

  “I love you, Nikki. I promise not to leave without saying goodbye…as long as you promise me something in return,” I panted against her lips.

  Her eyes opened, and I stared into her beautiful brown orbs as she asked, “What do you want me to promise?”

  I leaned forward, ran the tip of my nose along the bridge of her nose.

  “That when we’re married, you’ll forgive me like this every time,” I told her sweetly.

  She laughed, and I rolled until she was once again on top.

  My flesh, that was still seated inside of her, started to throb once again at the new position, but what she said next had my entire focus, not the state of my dick.

  “Are you asking me to marry you, Michael Perez?” She smiled happily.

  Her hair spilled over her shoulders, tickling my chest.

  I shook mine. “No.”

  Her eyes, which had been happy, veiled slightly, so I hurriedly explained.

  “I’m telling you that you’re marrying me,” I said, reaching under my pillow to pull out a hot pink velvet covered box that I’d picked out.

  Her eyes widened as she watched me open the box, and then continued to widen as I pulled out the ring for her and held it out to her.

  She raised her hand, offering me her finger.

  It fit her perfectly, sliding over her knuckle and coming to rest just right.

  “You will marry me, Nikki Pena.” I ordered her.

  She leaned forward and placed her lips against mine.

  “I thought you were never going to ask,” she teased.

  I smacked her ass, causing her to jump in surprise.

  Inadvertently making my hard cock ram into her to the hilt.

  Her eyelids lowered slightly and I smiled.

  “Not sure about the asking part yet…It’s just a formality. I only expect one answer, and one answer only,” I informed her.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? Bossiness?”

  I grinned.

  “Yeah, that’s what you have to look forward to. Plus loving all night long. Babysitting whenever you need it. A hug when you want it. Kisses in the middle of the night. Gas in your tank. Your groceries brought into the house. Pants put into the hamper. Steaks cooked on the grill,” I listed out my attributes, purposefully making them sound really enticing.

  She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not babysitting if it’s your own kids,” she countered.

  I snorted. “Whatever you say, darling mine.”

  “As long as you know that, I’ll marry you.”

  I laughed and rolled with her once again, pushing my cock into her and grinding my hips against her.

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “You bet you will, big boy.”

  Chapter 20

  For fox sake.

  -Coffee Cup

  Nikki

  “Alright,” Memphis said, laying on the lounge next to me. “How did we all end up in this predicament?”

  I laughed.

  There was no other recourse.

  Seven women were in attendance with me today, and all but one were pregnant.

  Georgia, Memphis, Lennox, Mercy, and Blake were all in different stages of pregnancy.

  Although, I was on my first pregnancy while the rest of them were on their second.

  Seemed the men of Kilgore SWAT liked to keep their women barefoot and pregnant.

  Fighting crime during the day and making babies at night.

  I laughed and rolled over onto my side to face Memphis and the other ladies.

  Today we were having a spa day.

  I was getting married in less than four hours, and the SWAT ladies were having a pamper day while the men did some fishing.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, running my hand over my belly.

  Two months had passed since Doctor Stan Jones had been formally charged for killing fifteen officers, their wives, and three of those officers’ children.

  “You know exactly what she’s talking about, hoe,” Georgia said, stretching and wiggling her toes.

  I smiled.

  Yeah, I did.

  “Guess maybe one of us needs to learn control,” I surmised, sighing in appreciation when the man at my feet rubbed a particularly good spot on the heel of my foot.

  “Hey, I noticed that Dr. Jones name was scraped off the paint at the door this morning when I went to my appointment,” Reese said before she took a drink of her Dr. Pepper. All eyes turned to hers, and her eyes widened in alarm. “I’m not pregnant! It was just my yearly pap, I swear!”

  When all eyes stayed on her, she held up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

  “Scout’s honor is three fingers, not two,” I replied helpfully.

  “Well, whatever it is, I just had my yearly. I got my tubes tied after the little hellion arrived,” Reese promised solemnly.

  That was the truth.

  Her son was a little hellion. Just like his daddy, that boy was.

  “Yeah, they took his name off of everything,” Memphis said. “Printed new business cards. Changed the signs out front. Painted over the wall with his face on it. Updated the website. Anything with ‘Jones’ on it was probably burned.”

  I didn’t doubt that.

  After Dr. Jones was killed, they found evidence linking him to nearly every crime scene in his house. The clothes that he wore. The gun that he used. Hell, even the dog that he took with him.

  He sure was arrogant, but in the end, justice was served for those officers, their wives, and the children.

  “That’s not a surprise. They’d had to do a lot of ass kissing to keep most of their clients. The only thing they had going for them was that they dominate the area. We’d have to drive to Dallas to find a doctor in our network,” I told them all.

  Mercy made a sound of agreement. “Same here. We’re using Miller’s insurance, and they wouldn’t accept anyone else unless we wanted to pay
nearly twice as much for out of network.”

  I grimaced.

  “Let’s change the subject to something better. Nikki doesn’t need this on her wedding day,” Blake yawned loudly.

  I snickered.

  “Tired, Blake?” I asked teasingly.

  She rolled her head in my direction. “Yes. That man of mine doesn’t care that my hours aren’t the same as his. He only sees my ass in the air and wants to touch it. Then touching leads to other things. And then I’m out two hours of sleep. Sleep that I needed because his baby seems to think I’m a superhero, demanding all this energy, food, and drink.”

  “You’re not having a boy. Boys are horrible,” Reese said, closing her eyes and smiling fondly at something only she could see.

  “Boys aren’t horrible. But, I do feel fine,” Lennox said.

  We all rolled our eyes. Lennox thought that everything was ‘fine.’

  She loved being pregnant…most likely because her first pregnancy was a breeze, despite the complications from when she was hurt by a deranged woman.

  She just had no clue how bad a pregnancy could be because she was always floating on cloud nine with the unicorns, her glowing skin, and ample energy.

  She was still in the ‘I have a positive pregnancy test’ stage. The stage where she was floating on air, and loved to put on pregnancy clothes.

  Clothes she didn’t need yet.

  “Hey, what color are you doing?” The man between my legs asked.

  “Purple and pink,” I said. “Alternating.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  Pietro was used to my quirks.

  I’d been seeing him every two weeks for a year now.

  He knew all about Michael. Knew all about my family. Knew about my love of color. My job. The new home Michael and I were building.

  A home that should be done very, very soon, in fact.

  “Why do you always get the muscled guy who has good hands?” Georgia asked, narrowing her eyes.

  I shrugged. “I found him first.”

  “Ladies, ladies. No need to fight over me. I’m just loyal to my girl here,” he teased.

  “Nikki delivered his baby. That’s why he loves her so much,” Georgia informed the rest of the ladies.

  I did. He was my second baby.

  Him and his wife, Trudy, had been contemplating a home birth over a hospital birth for over six months before they’d finally decided to call my mentor, Annalise, in for an evaluation.