“Let me know when,” he said tightly.
Lita took a deep breath, trying to adjust to the feel of him inside her. He was so big. So hot. And so incredible. Bit by bit, she relaxed. Hesitantly, she lowered her legs until they were wrapped intimately around his hips. He thrust forward instinctively, but all she felt was pleasure. Pure, white hot pleasure.
She threaded her fingers through his hair. “When.”
The trust in her voice nearly overwhelmed Troy. He wanted to make this good for her – the best she ever had.
He tried to keep his first thrust slow, but she groaned with delight. Her hands gripped his shoulders convulsively and it shattered whatever control he had. Letting himself go, he began fucking her like he’d always wanted.
He’d been dreaming about this girl forever. She was just as sweet on the inside as she was on the out and it scared the hell out of him how close he’d come to losing her. He pulled her butt right to the edge of the counter and let his instincts take over. He thrust in and out of her tight heat until he felt his balls constrict.
“Shit,” he cursed.
He was going to come before her. He could feel it. He was ready to pop, but she wasn’t quite there.
Pushing his hand between their sweaty, clinging bodies, he fingered her clit.
“No,” she said, flinching away.
He could tell she wasn’t used to such intimacy, but he had to. Not letting her back away, he tightened the arm he had locked around her hips. Tickling her pussy with his finger, he found her clit again. This time, he didn’t let her shy away. He thrummed that magic little button and felt her body begin to shake.
By the time he started to spurt into her, she was coming.
And it was like nothing he’d ever felt before.
Reaching out, Troy grabbed the top of the nearest bathroom stall to keep himself on his feet. He held her tightly as her body quivered. Each tiny tremor squeezed another drop out of him.
When it was finally over, neither of them moved. Lita rested with her head against his chest. He could feel her warm breaths as they wisped across his nipple. And that was all it took for him to start hardening inside her tight little snatch all over again.
“Oh I feel better,” she said in that smoky voice of hers. “A lot better.”
He smiled against her hair. He felt invincible.
“Go out with me tomorrow?” he whispered.
Her eyes were sparkling when she pulled back to look at him. “Yes.”
Leaning down, he kissed her. “What do you want to do? Movie? Dinner?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her breasts against his chest. “I don’t care. Anything.”
“You like to play with fire.”
“I like to play with you,” she said, kissing his breastbone.
Troy felt his heart begin to pound. It was almost too much to believe. “I’ve wanted to ask you out for a long time,” he confessed.
“I know.”
Okay, so his casual little trips to his locker hadn’t been so casual after all. “I would have asked you sooner, but –”
The bathroom door suddenly started to open.
“Fuck,” he hissed. Reaching out, he slammed it shut using one hand.
He felt Lita stiffen around him. Everywhere.
“Relax, baby,” he crooned as he flicked the lock. He was damn near full-size again. She couldn’t send him out into the cold now. If she did, he’d be in serious trouble.
Somebody began pounding on the bathroom door. “Hey, open up.”
The voice was like a shrill air horn. He would have recognized it anywhere. Normally it would have made his dick shrivel up, but inside Lita, he only got harder.
“Lita, are you in there?”
“It’s Piper!” she hissed.
“Don’t answer her,” Troy said. He couldn’t help it; he had to thrust. Lita’s back arched in delight, even as she pushed his shoulders away.
“I can hear someone in there,” Piper yelled.
“Then you can tell we’re busy,” Troy snarled. He watched his and Lita’s reflections in the mirror as the knock on the door became louder and more insistent. God, they looked good together. Her, tiny and dark. Him, big and blond. He fisted his hand into her long, swaying hair and thrust harder.
“Troy,” she said, her voice going tight. “We can’t.”
“But we are.”
“Troy, stop!”
He went rigid inside her. God, she was serious.
“Let me in, damn it!” Piper hollered.
Troy scoured Lita’s face, but already, she wouldn’t look at him.
“Please,” she whispered, shifting uncomfortably.
She was uncomfortable? He bit the side of his cheek as he pulled his raging cock out of her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, sliding off the counter.
Her feet touched the floor, but the way she reached back for balance told him she wasn’t too steady. Still, she began reaching for her clothes.
Stiffly, Troy pulled his T-shirt back over his head and zipped up his jeans. The tightness was nearly unbearable. “Lita,” he said, his frustration clear.
“I’m sorry.”
Was that all she was going to say?
Apparently.
She flinched away when he tried to help her with her bra and he retreated to the far wall to stand next to the hand dryers. He couldn’t believe what was happening.
Piper finally found somebody with a key. When the vice principal finally unlocked the door, he and Lita were fully clothed, but facing each other stiffly from opposite sides of the room. Even so, Piper knew what had happened.
And she did what snotty, stuck-up bitches always did to embarrass their not-quite-so-wealthy “best” friends.
She laughed.
Even worse, Lita didn’t stop her.
* * * * *
She hadn’t said anything, Troy remembered as he came back into the present. She hadn’t said anything to him for the rest of their senior year, as a matter of fact.
Suddenly, he felt the bite of the snow and the twenty degree wind chill.
He looked at Lita sitting so sexily on the hood of her car. Oh, he’d seen her in the hallways and in classes; she just wouldn’t talk to him. She’d barely even look at him. She’d chosen sides and it had been a bitter pill for him to swallow.
He hadn’t measured up.
Swearing under his breath, he pushed himself away from her.
Only her legs gripped him tighter.
“Let me go,” he said. “I’m on duty.”
“I was stupid,” she said hurriedly. Snowflakes clung to her eyelashes as she looked up at him. “I was an incredibly stupid, easily manipulated eighteen-year-old with snotty, stuck-up friends.”
He couldn’t argue with that.
“But go out with me now.”
His head snapped back. “What?”
Her eyes brightened and she gripped the lapels of his jacket. “Be my date for New Year’s Eve.”
He looked at her incomprehensibly.
“Lita, this was a mistake,” he said bluntly. “I got over you a long time ago.”
“Well, I didn’t get over you. Go out with me, Troy.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Please.”
“I’ve got to work.”
“So do I. I get off at midnight. Come by my house when after your shift.”
“Lita,” he growled. “This is not a good idea.”
“I don’t care how late it is.”
“No.”
“But…”
“I said no.”
Chapter Three
Lita couldn’t stand still. She was broadcasting live from KIWU’s New Year’s Eve Ball and time was winding down. She danced to the beat of the music as she cued up Auld Lang Syne. The ballroom of the Envoy Hotel was packed with revelers. A big digital clock on the stage showed the countdown and confetti was ready to fall when the clock hit zero.
She looked at the ceiling skeptically. She’d better not get any of that crap in her hair. She was dressed to the nines tonight, but not for this.
She had plans.
The song on the air slowed to an end and she adjusted her headset.
“That was Regeneration with Can’t Stop the Bee-Bop – and isn’t that just the truth?” She grinned at Crank as he came up on the stage and got ready to take over for her. “Get ready, everyone. There are only a few minutes left until the New Year. It’s time to get your party hats on and your noise makers in hand. A quick spray or two of breath freshener wouldn’t hurt, either.”
“Why do you look at me when you say that?” Crank said, coming onto the airwaves with her.
She laughed. “Dream on, Crankster. I’m not kissing you.”
Her tattooed friend looked at her sharply and devilishness filled his eyes. “But from the sounds of things, you will be kissing someone tonight. What’s up, Lita? Hot date?”
She bit her lip when she realized she’d admitted more on the air than she’d wanted. “It’s more of a… New Year’s resolution.”
Whistles went up from across the room.
“Care to give us a few more details?” Crank asked, enjoying her discomfort.
She let her voice go to its smokiest best. “Use your imagination.”
Everyone laughed, but then the countdown had begun. Turning, Lita faced the clock. She ticked off the numbers aloud and, with each second, the crowd’s excitement grew. It was contagious. By the time the digital numbers hit 00:00, adrenaline was coursing through her system.
“Happy New Year!” she cried as the celebration began.
She punched the play button for the traditional song, took off her headset, and gave Crank a kiss on the cheek.
She was out of here!
Grabbing her purse from under the table, she skipped down the stairs off the stage. People parted as she made a beeline for the door and a few even wished her luck.
She was going to need it.
“New year. Fresh start,” she said more confidently than she felt.
Troy was going to pull her over again tonight. She was going to make sure of it.
Then they’d both see just how resolved she was.
She slipped inside the ladies room and was happy to find it empty. Anxiously, she looked in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed. She’d finally found that “special excitement” within herself, but it had nothing to do with the holidays.
It had everything to do with one stubborn, hurt cop.
As excited as she was, though, her nerves were worse. Her hand shook as she pulled a few confetti stragglers out of her hair.
“He kissed you,” she reminded herself out loud.
She’d thought of little else over the past few days – especially at night when he was following her home.
Steadying her hand, she reapplied her lipstick. Then she looked at her dress one last time. It was a snow white, Grecian style that clung to her curves and left one shoulder completely bare. If it didn’t get him going, nothing would.
Before she could lose her nerve, she left the restroom and headed to the coat check. She was tying the belt of her wrap when she stepped outside.
“Oh great.”
She’d been inside for the past five hours and hadn’t realized they were in the middle of a full-blown blizzard. Snow was coming down fast at nearly a forty-five degree angle.
“Brrr!” Ducking her head, she hurried to her car. Once inside, she quickly turned on the engine. As she was waiting for it to warm, she leaned over to the glove box. Reaching inside, she pulled out her owner’s manual.
“Now down to business,” she murmured as she flipped through the pages. “Just how does one go about loosening the bulb in one’s tail light?”
* * * * *
The New Year arrived with a vengeance that had tree limbs breaking, power lines snapping and traffic skidding. The windshield wipers on Troy’s cruiser couldn’t keep up and the windshield was fogged over on the inside. He used his scraper to try to get rid of the frozen condensation. His car had gotten cold as he’d worked that last accident.
He shook his head as he thought of the couple they’d had to put in the back of that ambulance. They’d been going way too fast for the road conditions and they’d paid for the mistake.
They’d also made him miss Lita.
“Shit,” he said for the thousandth time. His already agitated nerves jumped and he glanced at his watch. It was way past the time that he normally met up with her. Not that he was considering that date she’d offered… He just wanted to make sure she’d made it home safely. She’d been driving like his grandmother for the past few nights, but with this weather anything could happen.
“And it is Lita,” he said to himself.
He tossed the scraper onto the passenger seat and brushed the ice shavings from the dashboard. Feeling heat finally come out of the vent, he turned the defroster on high.
Snowplows had already made a pass down Hyde Avenue and he took the major artery. It hadn’t been salted yet, though, and it was slick. Still, it was better than the side street he took to get to her house.
Troy shook his head. Not that he was considering her offer… Right.
Lita Lopez had taught him a thing or two about women – and neither of them had been good. Yet here he was, several girlfriends and one wife later. Seven years had passed, but he was listening to her radio program… following her home every night… making sure she was safe…
He had no idea what he’d do once he got to her house.
Unfortunately, he never got a chance to find out.
Her place was dark when he got there. Too dark.
He felt a warning tingle at the back of his neck.
There weren’t any tracks leading to her garage. None. Snow was whipping around like a banshee, but it couldn’t have had time to fill in the heavy depressions left by a car. Not yet. Not if she’d worked her normal shift.
He rubbed his chin, trying to get himself to think straight. His brain was moving too quickly to bad outcomes, but there were other possibilities. Maybe she’d stayed at the ball for fun. Maybe she’d just taken a room at the hotel once she’d seen that the weather was bad.
And maybe he should start looking for her.
“Shit!”
Something was wrong. He could feel it.
Snow flew from under his tires as he stomped on the gas. He tried to take it easier as he started backtracking along her normal route, but it was difficult. His mood worsened as he considered all the things that could have happened.
Turning onto Main Street, he headed back to the spot where he’d pulled her over the other night. The other night when she’d been safe and secure in his arms…
He never made it that far.
He was inching his way past the high school when he stomped on the brakes. “Oh God.”
A blue coupe had gone over the curb and smashed into a tree.
Troy pulled over to the side of the road and tore off his seat belt. Wind and snow pummeled him as he opened the door and hurried over to the scene to investigate. He pulled his bomber jacket up higher around his neck and switched on his flashlight. Tension grabbed him as he hurried up to Lita’s car.
He held his breath as he looked inside. The airbags had deployed, but the vehicle was empty.
He knew better than to relax. He trudged through the shin-high snow drift, praying to God he wouldn’t find her lying in a heap.
She was nowhere to be found.
“Lita!” he yelled. The wind took the words away the moment they left his lips.
He shone his light on her front fender and was relieved to see that she hadn’t hit the tree that hard. He swung the light back along the trail she’d followed.
Black ice.
His rampant mind finally started to put the pieces together. She must have hit a slick spot and lost control. Momentum had thrown her over the curb and the tree had finally stopped her.<
br />
“So where the hell are you?” He flashed his light over the area, trying hard not to lose it.
How long ago had this happened? He hadn’t heard any calls from the dispatcher on this. Had someone already responded?
“Lita!” he yelled, turning around.
He suddenly remembered where he was. Lincoln High opened as a storm shelter when things got this bad. Hunching his shoulders against the wind, he shuffled across the street. The tips of his ears were numb when he finally made it inside the building.
He found a familiar face stacking blankets in the hallway outside the gymnasium. “Mrs. Howe, have you seen Lita? Lita Lopez?”
The school secretary looked up at him, tiredness circling her eyes.
“Oh, Troy. Are you working out there in this storm?”
He’d gone off duty almost half-an-hour ago.
“I found her car across the street. She had an accident.”
Mrs. Howe put down her last blanket and her arms hung tiredly at her sides. “She took the last cot in the school nurse’s room, the poor dear. She’s was a little shaken up.”
“Was she hurt?”
The woman’s eyes softened. “She’s fine, hon. Not a bump nor bruise on the pretty little thing.”
Troy wouldn’t believe it until he saw it with his own eyes. Anxiously, he looked into the gym. It was dark, save for battery operated lanterns that had been spread around the edges of the cavernous room. The nurse’s office was at the other end, though, too far away to see.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a cot left for you.”
“I’ll manage,” he said. He started to go for Lita, but took note of Mrs. Howe again. She looked asleep on her feet. He caught her hand when she reached for a stack of pillows. “Why don’t you lie down? Everybody who’s coming for the night is already here.”
The older woman glanced at the clock on the wall and seemed surprised at how late it was. When she turned back, there was a weak smile on her face. “Okay.”
Troy pushed the door to the gym open and saw her empty cot right up front. He pulled back the covers and patted a hand on the mattress. She looked relieved when she finally sat and took a load off her feet. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Thanks,” he whispered.
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