Curves Ahead: a romantic suspense novel

by Andi Jaxon

  BANG BANG BANG

  “Kristen! Open the door!”

  “C… Ca… CAN’T!” How did I get on the floor?

  So tired. Sleep…

  Alex

  KRISTEN FUCKING COLLINS. MY favorite person to tease, her blush is addictive. I have no idea why she hates me so much, but the more she drinks, the clearer that picture becomes. I think I remind her of someone. Someone she either couldn’t have or did her wrong, probably someone with power.

  Sitting next to her, knowing she watched me and Jill and was turned on by it, is its own kind of torture. I want to dissect her reaction. I want to know what she thought, what she felt, and just how wet she got. She’s strung so fucking tight, it’s a wonder she hasn’t snapped.

  The waiter comes to take our order but Kristen isn’t back from the bathroom. “We’ll wait a few more minutes, one of our friends had to run to the bathroom.”

  “Not a problem, I’ll be back shortly.” The waiter closes his order pad and walks away, checking in with other customers.

  “Where the hell is Kristen? Did she fall asleep?” Ben is starting to get concerned.

  “She’s been gone a while; I’ll go see if I can find her.” Dropping my napkin onto the table, I head to the bar to make sure she’s not getting more alcohol. After a quick scan of the room, it’s obvious she’s not there. The only other place I can think to look for her is the bathroom.

  The women’s restroom is locked but doesn’t have a sign saying it’s closed. Opening the men’s room, I know it’s not a single stall, so someone locked the door on purpose.

  “Kristen are you in there?” my knuckles bang on the door.

  The garbled response of a drunk chick can barely be heard through the door.

  “Are you drunk?”

  It’s quiet for a minute and I’m not sure she’s going to respond when “Maybe,” comes through.

  “Unlock the door, we want to order food. We’ve been looking for you for almost 20 minutes.”

  She doesn’t respond and I have a feeling she’s falling asleep.

  My knuckles crack against the door again, trying to wake her ass up.

  “Kristen! Open the door!”

  Something slides along the door before “CAN’T!” rings out. Great.

  ***

  Since Kristen stopped responding to me through to the door, I found a janitor with a key to unlock it. “Thank you, John.”

  “You’re welcome. Are you sure you don’t need an ambulance?”

  “I’m sure, she’s drunk. I’ll make sure she gets to her room to sleep it off.”

  John doesn’t move away from the door, his shoulders tense and his grip on the keys tighten.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He’s defensive, his voice rising to get other people’s attention.

  “I’m sorry? So, I should leave her in the bathroom, drunk, where anyone can find her and take advantage of her?” My arms cross over my chest. If this dude thinks I’m going to leave her here, defenseless, he’s fucking wrong.

  “Do you know her? How can I be sure you’re not going to take advantage of her?” He’s strong in his convictions, obviously not one that will be pushed around easily. I like him.

  A half smile tugs on my lips. “I’m a cop with Seattle PD and yes, I know her. She’s about to be my sister in law.” Close enough.

  John visibly relaxes and moves away from the door. The door gives a little but doesn’t want to open all the way when I push against it. I have a feeling a very drunk girl has passed out against it. The thought makes me smirk. Girl cannot handle her liquor.

  “Alex, why are you going into the women’s bathroom?” Ben startles me, making me jump.

  “Hey, you’re smaller than me, see if you can fit through here and move Kristen away from the door.”

  “Kristen? What? What is going on?” His eyebrows pull together but he walks toward me and is able to slide through the opening I have in the door. “Jesus, Kristen.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “Yeah, she wreaks of booze though.” The strain in his voice as he slides her makes me laugh. She’s got to weigh 100 pounds, maybe.

  “How are we going to get her upstairs?” Ben opens the door, Kristen’s legs laid out on the floor behind him.

  “I’m going to carry her.” I push past him and scoop her up in my arms.

  “Okay, text me if you need any help. And I swear to God, Alex, she better be wearing clothes when you leave.” He waves her purse around before dropping it on her stomach. The concern he has is written all over him. From the stiff set of his shoulders, eyebrows pulled together low over his eyes, it’s obvious. He’s never talked to me about it, but I’ve overheard Ben and Alister talking about her since she moved back last summer. She’s different. Something is off and he can’t figure out what it is.

  “Hey, I prefer for my conquests to be coherent when I screw them. Then I don’t have to worry about rape charges.”

  The confusion that crosses his face makes me chuckle as I walk past him to the elevators.

  “I didn’t mean to insinuate that you would rape her, but I wouldn’t put it past you to strip her down and make it look like she had sex. You know, just to mess with her.”

  Ben stands with his hand on his hip and an eyebrow raised, it reminds me a lot of Kristen. “Thanks for the idea,” my words barely make it out when the elevator doors close. I’m sure Alister will be calling me any second.

  When I get to our floor, I realize that I’m a dumb ass and don’t know where her key is. Or what room she’s in. Laying her on the floor, I frisk her pockets and search her purse. Thankfully, no one has come down the hall because it would be really difficult to make someone believe that I’m trying to help her.

  With the key to her room in my hand, I scoop Sleeping Beauty up in my arms.

  “Nnmmuuugh…”

  The room has a large king-sized bed. Shifting her around, I sit on the edge of the bed with Kristen in my lap so I can get her shoes off. The only light is coming from the entryway but it’s enough.

  “Kristen. Hey, Kristen wake up for me, baby.”

  Her face scrunches and turns into my neck, breathing against my skin. A shiver runs down my spine as my dick wakes up. This is not the time to spring a woody, but there’s a hot girl moving around in my lap, there’s not a whole lot I can do about it.

  “Mmmmm… you smell so good…” Twisting against my painful hard on, she straddles my lap and runs her nails up my neck, the back of my head, and grips my hair.

  My eyes roll back in my head as her nails scratch across my skin, her mouth on my neck and the heat of her pussy grinding onto my cock. Fuck.

  “Kristen.” The authoritative tone I use at work snaps her name. Drunks usually start cooperating when I use it, but Kristen just moans in my ear. I can’t take anymore. Rolling us, I flip her onto her back and move her hands above her head.

  “Yes,” a breathy moan floats on the air.

  “No. Kristen, knock it off.”

  I’m on my hands and knees, trying to keep as much distance between the heaven hidden in those jeans and my dick. I know for a fact this is the alcohol and if she really knew who she was talking too, she’d lose her shit.

  “Please, it’s been so long.” The ache and desperation in her voice are enough to break a man, but I have to hold strong. I’m a better man than that. I know not to take a drunk at their word. I’ve seen it happen over and over again, a guy has sex with a drunk girl and they next day, rape charges. I won’t put myself in the position for any charges to be brought up against me. Drunk does not mean consensual.

  She lets out a loud moan, squirming in my hold, and flushes red. Sweat pops up on her forehead and her arms wrap around her stomach. I don’t have time to come up with a plan, I act on instinct, grabbing her off the bed and racing to get into the shower. One foot hits the bottom of the tub and she vomits down the front of my shirt. She keeps going, covering both of us in alcohol and stomach acid, the combi
nation burning my nostrils.

  I don’t know how much she actually drank tonight, but from the amount liquid I’m covered in, it appears to be about a gallon. She’s finally down to just a few dry heaves, her stomach finally empty. She’s still not awake though, which means I can’t leave her alone tonight. If she pukes again, she has the real possibility of choking to death.

  Sitting on the edge of the tub, I get her turned so her back is to me, making undressing her easier. We’re both covered so I’m not worried about getting her dirtier. It’s a pain in the ass to undress an unconscious person, it takes much longer than it should, but I get her stripped down to her birthday suit. I’m going to have to rinse us both off and sleeping in wet underwear sucks.

  Setting her down in the bottom of the tub, leaned against the side, I get my clothes off and bundle everything together in a towel on the tile outside the shower. I have a feeling all those clothes are going in the trash. I don’t want to think about getting it all clean.

  The water turns on, blasting through the faucet like a firehose. The water warms quickly. Before turning the shower head on, I pick Kristen up to make sure she doesn’t drown and turn us under the spray. The hot water wakes her a bit, making it harder to keep a good grip on her as she moves.

  Trying to keep a wet, drunk, mostly asleep Kristen safe makes me think of mothers bathing babies. How the hell do they do this? It’s nerve wracking and I never want to do it again.

  “Alex…” my name is barely audible over the rushing water. We’ve been rinsed well enough, so I use my foot to turn the water off. “Alex?” her voice is rough from sleep and vomiting but no less sexy.

  “I’ve got you.” Grabbing a towel, I walk to the bed and lay her down, doing a quick wipe down to get some of the water off before putting her to bed.

  Exhausted, I drop the wet towel on the floor after giving myself a quick rub down and climb into bed next Kristen. The fact that we’re both naked has not escaped my dicks attention, the fact that I had sex just a few hours ago meaning nothing apparently. Lying flat on my back, my hands on my stomach, I listen to Kristen’s breathing.

  I’m not sure how long I lay there, starring at the ceiling, just listening to her breathe but when her breathing changes and she starts to whimper, I notice.

  “Unnmhh… no…” her head jerks on the pillow. “No… ow…” tears fall from the corners of her eyes into her hair.

  “Hey, baby girl, it’s okay.” I reach for her hand, trying to get her to wake up. Her body jerks, arching away from me, and she screams. A blood curdling, ripped from her soul, scream that leaves my hair standing on end. I can’t let her suffer like this, not alone.

  “Kristen!” leaning over her, I grasp the back of her neck and pull her onto my shoulder. Hoping the warmth of my skin and scent of my cologne will help her.

  “NO!” Her hands smack against my chest. “STOP PLEASE!”

  Getting my mouth next to her ear, I lower my voice, keeping it calm. “Kristen, you’re okay. Wake up, baby.” Her body relaxes, trembling and turning into me. Lying back down, I pull her to me, cradling her in my arms. Her knee comes up between my legs, forcing my thigh over her hip. It’s a damn comfortable way to lay, my dick is pretty happy about it too. When her breathing evens out, I’m finally able to relax too, following her into a solid sleep.

  Kristen

  BANG BANG BANG

  I can’t tell if the sound is inside my head or outside.

  RING RING RING

  “Oooowwww…” I whimper as I reach for the bedside table for the phone, intent on making the shrill ringing stop. Things fall over or crash to the floor since I refuse to open my eyes to the bright sunlight, but I finally find the damn thing.

  “Hello?” my voice is horse, my throat dry.

  “Bitch, get up! You’re late!” my best friend yells into my ear, making me wince.

  BANG BANG BANG

  Someone is at the door, beating against it with what sounds like a baseball bat.

  “Kristen!” my name is yelled into my ear through the phone, but it’s so hot in here it’s turning my stomach. Pushing the blankets off, I push the warm body next to me away.

  “Ben, get off me…” my half hearted attempt is useless.

  Wait.

  Laughter is in my ear, the body behind me pressing closer and an arm snakes around my waist to pull me back against the impressive hard on he’s sporting.

  “I guess we know where Alex ended up,” the smug tone of my best friend has my brain waking up a bit more.

  I’m naked.

  The body behind me is naked.

  What the fuck happened last night?

  The hand wrapped around my waist moves upward until my tit is cupped in a very warm hand. Cracking my eyes open, the light in the room blinds me and sends shooting pain through my head.

  BANG BANG BANG

  “Fuck… stop…” I force my volume to rise, hoping the person in the hallway will hear me and go away.

  “Kristen! Focus!” it’s embarrassing how long it’s taking my brain to make sense of what’s going on around me, but it’s finally sinking in.

  There is a very warm, naked man pressed against me.

  I’m hungover like a motherfucker.

  My best friend is on the phone yelling at me.

  This phone has a cord.

  Bolting upward it hits me all at once.

  It’s Ben and Alister’s wedding day.

  FUCK!

  “I’m awake! I’m coming!” I slam the phone down and jump out of bed, only for my stomach to violently revolt, sending me to the bathroom to be reintroduced to the contents of my stomach.

  The tile floor is cold on my heated, bare skin but I’m too hungover to do anything about it. Sitting on the bathroom floor, back against the wall, is not how I envisioned starting today, but here we are. I’m still not 100% sure who is in my room but I’m half hoping it’s some rando that I can quickly get rid of. I have a feeling I’m not that lucky though.

  Alex

  THE CURVY BODY OF Kristen Collins that was pressed against me, is suddenly gone, the shouting stopped as quickly as it started, and someone is puking in the bathroom. I have a feeling it’s her. She was wasted last night.

  My bladder insists that I get up and I know I should check on her as well, sure her head is about to explode. The bathroom is dark, but the bedroom is bright enough for me to see the outline of her body leaning against the wall, breathing hard. Grabbing a washcloth, I get it wet and ring it out in the sink before folding it and placing it on her forehead. Even in the dark she looks pale and sweaty. My mind instantly flashes to her flushed and equally sweaty, collapsing after an orgasm rocks her body.

  “If I open my eyes and your dick is out, we’re going to have problems.”

  I can’t stop the chuckle, arguing with this girl is the best foreplay I’ve ever participated in. “I thought your wellbeing was more important than pants.”

  “You thought wrong,” her deadpan tone turning my smirk into a full-blown smile.

  I laugh again as I stand over the toilet and take aim. “Then don’t open your eyes, duty calls.” She starts to ask something but when pee hits water, her face scrunches.

  “Uck. You’re disgusting. You should not be comfortable enough to piss in front of me.”

  “I’ll piss in front of just about anyone. Children and my mother being on the short list of won’ts. Besides, after last night, I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t do in front of you.” Even to myself I sound like a smug bastard, but I can’t wait to have fun with this.

  Looking down at her, I’m watching her face when her eyes crack open and glare at me. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  I finish peeing, flush, and wash my hands before I answer her. “What’s the last thing you remember from last night? You know, getting that out of control is dangerous.” Facing her with my hands on my hips, I pretend not to notice that my dick is basically in her face. “Someone that doesn’t have your
best interests at heart could have come along and taken advantage of you. I would hate to know that someone took you at your word when you said, and I quote, you wanted to be fucked so hard you would feel it for a week. Men are simple beings, Princess.” Her eyes may be closed but despite the limited light, I can see her thighs clench.

  “You’re a police officer, you know being drunk doesn’t constitute consent.” She’s getting some color back in her face as she gets riled up. Fuck do I love riling her up.

  “Are you saying that I was asking for it just because my dick was hard? Pretty sure that’s victim shaming.”

  I leave the bathroom in search of clothes, but her voice follows me.

  “I did not rape you!”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn’t say anything about rape.”

  Looking around, all I can find is my vomit covered suit pants from last night. Girl sure knows how to project. Left with limited options, I pull the sheet off the bed and wrap it around my waist.

  Grumbling and groans come from the bathroom, all I can understand are little snippets here and there. “Pig,” and “bastard” being a few of them.

  Checking the alarm clock, we’re an hour late and neither of us have showered yet.

  “You need to get your ass moving, little girl. We’re both seriously late and I have to go to my room to get my shit.” I use my authoritative cop voice, hoping it’ll get her moving. Kneeling down to dig my wallet, keys, and cell phone from my pocket while trying not to smell the hours old vomit is a talent.

  “Piss off,” comes from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I see her wrapped in a towel. Fuck she’s tiny. She may be the only person over the age of twelve that can actually do that with a hotel towel.

  “Did you become British in the last thirty seconds?” Confused, I’m not paying close enough attention to what I’m doing and end up with cold puke down my arm. “Oh, fuck that’s nasty.”

  For the first time, I hear her laugh at something I did. I usually only get the sharp edge of her tongue, but her laugh is sexy as hell.