Curves Ahead: a romantic suspense novel

by Andi Jaxon

  T: You got it. I’ll be there in 5.

  After making sure I have everything I need, I wait outside for him. Pacing the porch, I’m too anxious to sit still. Back and forth, back, and forth, until the squad car pulls up to the curb in front of my house. Jogging down the steps and across the yard, I hop in and close the door.

  “Hey man, I really appreciate this.” Ted reaches over for a fist bump.

  “I got your back, what’s going on and where are we going?”

  I program the address into the computer and start with what I know.

  “First, my name has to stay off the report and evidence, but I’m collecting it.” Ted gives me the ‘that’s a bad idea’ look.

  “I know, I know, but listen. My girlfriend was attacked, and she has no memory of it. I don’t know if she was raped, but she’s beat up and there’s bite marks. She’s not going to be comfortable with anyone but me collecting evidence. I may be able to talk her into you being in the room, but that’s iffy.”

  “You have ideas about who did this.” It’s not a question.

  “I have a suspicion but that’s all it is. I have no evidence, even circumstantial, that points to him.”

  “And you’re not going to tell me who it is?”

  “I don’t want to influence your judgement.” Ted’s head swings toward me, eyes damn near bulging out of his head.

  “That means it’s someone I know. If it was just some jackass off the street, you would have told me his name.” his accusation isn’t wrong.

  “Think what you will.”

  “Dammit, Alex.” He slams his hand on the steering wheel.

  “I know. Trust me, I know.”

  For the rest of the short drive, I tell him what I know about her parents and how unlikely it is they will be helpful. Frankly, I’m not even sure if the gate guard will let us in but I figure showing up in a squad car would help my chances.

  Stopping at the gate, Ted rolls down his window and waits for the sentry to approach.

  “Morning, Officers, how can I help you?” a middle aged man in a security uniform asks.

  “We have some business with the Collins family.” Ted hedges, hoping it’ll be enough to get us through. I keep my mouth shut in case I say something stupid in my frustration. I’m tired of waiting, I’m so fucking close I can taste it. Just let me in.

  “What kind of business? If they were expecting you, they would have let me know.” The guy is skeptical. If I was here for any other reason, I would be glad to know he’s keeping the grounds safe. Right now, I want to deck him.

  “We have some questions for the Collins family, regarding a case we’re working on.”

  He thinks for a minute, each second grating on my nerves like sandpaper, but he steps back into the box and opens the gate. Ted nods to him as we drive through and I let out a breath. One step closer.

  We pull up the driveway and I tell Ted to park behind Kristen’s car. It’s barely in park before my door is open and I’m getting out. I can’t sit any longer. He pops the trunk for me, and I grab the evidence kit and report paperwork we’ll need, then head to the door.

  Since my hands are full, Ted knocks. We don’t wait long before a petite, black haired girl in a maid’s uniform, opens the door. “Are one of you Alex?” she whispers.

  “Yes,” I answer.

  “Follow me,” she beckons us inside and closes the door behind once we’re through. “This way please.”

  “Are you Cynthia?” I asked the girl as she leads us up a grand staircase. I have to admit, I’ve never been inside a place like this where people actually lived. It’s kind of mind boggling. Why spend the money on this stupid shit?

  “Yes, I am. It’s just up here.” She motions to one of the ten identical doors ahead. It’s like a hotel, everything looks the same. Rich people are weird. Why would you want to live in a house that didn’t feel like a home? It’s not cozy, inviting, or warm.

  Cynthia opens a door and steps inside, holding the door for us.

  “Alex!” Kristen screams before launching herself at me. Immediately, I wrap my arms around her, pulling her hard into my body, the fluffy cotton of her towel, soft under my hands. I know I shouldn’t yet, I need to get as much evidence off her as possible, but right now, this is more important. My girl is safe in my arms and come hell or high water, nothing is going to change that.

  “I got you, baby. I got you.” Her petite frame trembles against me. “I hope you like riding around in a car all night because you are never leaving my sight again.”

  A little sob escapes. “I’m okay with that.”

  Swinging her legs over my arms I carry her into the bathroom and set her on the counter. Movement behind me has her head snapping over my shoulder to stare. “Kristen, this is Ted. He used to be my partner, until he couldn’t keep up with me anymore.” I wink at her.

  He scoffs behind me, “You wish old man.”

  “Hey, I’m two years older than you.”

  “And yet, I have no greys…” jerking my head to look in the mirror, I pretend to frantically look for grey hairs.

  “I do not have grey hair!” Kristen chuckles and gives me a small smile. Exactly what I was hoping for.

  “Okay, baby. Ted is going to help me collect any evidence, but I’ll be the only one that touches you.”

  She gives me a little nod and waits for instructions.

  “Let’s start with nail scrapings. I’m just going to scrap under your nails in case you were able to scratch the person that attacked you.”

  Ted places the kit on the counter next to her and opens it for me. Finding gloves, we both don a pair and get to work. Ted holds a creased piece of paper while I scrape.

  “You’re really big.” Looking up from her hands, Kristen is eyeing Ted.

  “Are you saying he’s bigger than me?” I feign indignation.

  Ted smiles at her, “I ate a lot of Wheaties as a kid.”

  I scoff, shaking my head at his response.

  “I can’t help it if I’m the sexiest motherfucker the SPD employs,” Ted shrugs with a smirk.

  “You wish pretty boy.” I snark back

  “You’re one to talk, pretty boy.” He fires back. Kristen has a ghost of a smile on her lips and is no longer trembling.

  “Okay, babe, I need to see and take pictures of the bruises. Are you naked?” the blue of her eyes is darker than normal, sadder. She hugs the towel tighter around her body but shakes her head. “I need to see, baby.”

  Leaning my forehead against hers, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Were you raped?” my question is a whisper I’m praying the answer to is no.

  She takes a shuddering breath and my heart drops into my stomach. “I… I don’t think so.”

  I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding on too, cup my hands around the back of her head and kiss her. I kiss her hard, fear and relief coursing through me and taking over. She submits to me, letting me take my pent up emotions out on her. My mouth ravages hers, no holds barred, it’s a bruising, punishing kiss.

  Ted clears his throat and I let her lips go. “Sorry.”

  “I get it, man. Let’s get this over with.”

  Using my fingers to lift Kristen’s face to mine, I hold her bloodshot gaze with mine. “Whatever is under here, won’t make me think any less of you. Understand?”

  A tear slides slowly down her cheek and I wipe it away with my thumb. “Okay, Gorgeous?”

  “Okay.”

  Lifting the edge of the towel, she lets me open it. When her body is revealed, Ted and I both suck in a breath between our teeth. Mother. Fucker. I’m going to kill whoever did this. It’s deliberate. Done just to torture and torment.

  “Good God,” Ted drags a hand down his face. Kristen jumps at the movement, the clear frustration in his tone making her cringe away from him.

  “He’s not going to hurt you, baby. I need you to drop the towel and stand, can you do that?”

  Kristen nods and slides off the coun
ter, side eyeing Ted as she does. With a square ruler, Ted and I measure and take pictures of all the marks we find. Kristen is tense the entire time, her face blank like she’s not here.

  Even the hickeys I left get documented, just to be thorough. It takes a while to get all the damn bite marks, sixteen in total and all varying degrees of intensity. Some are simply red rings while others are perfect imprints of teeth which had bled. I check every inch of her skin, determined to find every place this bastard touched her and replace it with my own touch.

  Kneeling in front of her, I get the swabs and drag them over every bite. All around the ring left on her flesh to make sure I get any bit of DNA that was left. I want to know who this is so I can find them. I hate that she’s shaking. I hate that I have to do this, that it’s fucking necessary. A tear drops onto the back of my hand. Looking up at her, the pain written on her face damn near breaks me.

  “Do you have clothes here you can change into? We need to take everything you were wearing.” I look up at her.

  “Yeah, I have clothes here.”

  “Ted, can you grab an evidence bag?” I asked over my shoulder, not taking my eyes off of Kristen’s skin. “Where’s the dress you were wearing last night?”

  “There,” I track her movement to the balled-up dress on the floor. “I had a scarf. Where did it go?” she’s not asking us, but herself. “Cynthia?” her call rings through the bathroom.

  “Yes, Miss?” she appears in the doorway.

  “My scarf. Its blue, orange and white.”

  “I’ll take a look and see if I can locate it.” Turning on her heal, she goes into the room to search.

  “Okay, baby, why don’t you get some clothes to change into so we can have what you’re wearing. Then we’ll take your statement.”

  Kristen swallows hard but nods. I know she’s trying to process, trying to remember what happened, but I would give just about anything for her smart-ass retorts to return. This quiet obedience turns my stomach.

  Following behind her with an evidence bag, we enter a closet as big as my bedroom. “Jesus. Who needs this much shit?”

  “Hmm?” Kristen picks out a soft tan sweater, leggings, a sports bra and a simple cotton panty. Dropping the towel, I unhook her bra and put it into the bag, followed by her underwear. Closing the bag and sealing it, I drop it on the ground and pull Kristen’s naked body against mine. This time no one is watching, we can have a minute together.

  She buries her face in my neck, inhaling deeply. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll never not come for you, ever.” Cupping the back of her head, I bring her lips to mine and kiss her slowly. “I hate that someone else touched you. Someone touched my girl, mine, and I want to rearrange their face for it. I’ve never felt so possessive over a person, over a woman. Not in my adult life.”

  A little smile lifts Kristen’s lips, her brilliant blue eyes a little lighter. “I want to soak in the tub.” Something close to love burns in her eyes now and I suck in a breath. The desire to give her what she wants is damn near overwhelming.

  “We need to take your statement, then you can soak in the tub.” My hand covers one entire ass cheek and squeezes the firm globe. “Then, I’m going to replace every one of these fucking marks with me.”

  “I like your uniform.” Her tone is almost sultry but I know she’s using it as a way to gain control. The sass she dishes out is a weapon she uses when she’s uncomfortable. “For once, it makes me feel safe.” She kisses my jaw, my cheek, then my lips. I let her lead this kiss, I have a feeling she needs the control. She needs to feel that it’s okay to still have sexual desires, that whatever happened to her, it doesn’t change her.

  Kristen lifts onto her tip toes, both hands on the back of my neck as she drives our kiss into a frenzied mating. I can feel her desperate need to feel anything other than fear. What I wouldn’t give to be inside her right now, her pussy clenching my cock while she rides out an orgasm.

  Ripping my lips from her, I make her let me go and take a step back. “If you don’t stop, I’ll fuck you right here in this damn closet, but that won’t be right for either of us.” Air is screaming in and out of my lungs as I fight the urge to take what’s mine. “Later tonight, when we’ve had a chance to calm down, I’ll gladly fuck you to exhaustion, give you the outlet you need, but not right now.”

  She gives me a shaky nod and gets dressed. Watching her cover the marks eases some of the ache in my dick. I’m still hard enough to pound nails but seeing the evidence of her attack breaks through the lust.

  Once she’s fully covered, we walk hand in hand into her room and she sits on her bed. Ted has come out of the bathroom and I hand him the evidence bag with the rest of her clothes in it. He gives me a knowing look, a ‘I know what you were doing’ look, but I don’t care. Frankly, he could have listened to us fucking and I wouldn’t care, because she’s mine.

  Kristen

  SITTING ON THE EDGE of my bed with my feet resting on the bed frame, Alex stands next to the bed and holds my hand. In his uniform, he looks like an impenetrable wall. He’s fucking massive and it’s a big damn turn on. I’ve never found cops attractive, but Alex is a whole different story.

  “Okay, Miss Collins can you tell me what you were doing before the attack happened?” Ted is all business and I appreciate his want to get this over with.

  “Mother called yesterday to tell me to be here for dinner.”

  “Were you here for a special reason? Was there a party or something?”

  “Father had a guest. Drinks start at five.”

  Ted's forehead scrunches but he doesn’t comment. I’m fully aware that it’s weird to most people. “Okay, you arrived at five and what happened next?”

  “I was late, Mother was unhappy. I had a drink.” I’m merely giving details, like a narrative of my life, but I don’t feel it. I’m blessedly numb and struggling to get sentences out.

  “What were you drinking? Did you make it yourself or was it prepared for you?” he makes notes while tossing questions at me.

  “Dirty martini’s. I made them myself.”

  He nods and motions for me to continue.

  “I drank two.” Flashes of last night are running through my head making it hard to concentrate. “A woman and a man were here…” my voice trails off. Who did I see?

  “You don’t remember who was there?” Alex asks, looking at me with concern.

  “…I…I don’t know.”

  “Do you remember sending me a picture of them?”

  “A picture?” I try to remember but only get a black wall.

  Pulling out his phone, Alex flips through it and hands it to me. Taking the phone, I see our conversation with a picture from my parents living room. Enlarging the picture and zooming in, it’s Jen, JJ’s mom? What was she doing here? Is she with Mike Preston? What the hell is going on?

  Reading through our conversation, I don’t remember any of it. It’s just a black hole in my memory.

  “I don’t remember this,” I whisper, handing Alex his phone back.

  Alex hands it to Ted to see the picture and following conversation. Ted looks at Alex with a lifted brow and they have a silent conversation. It’s both impressive and annoying since I don’t know what they know.

  “Keep going,” Ted prompts me. “What’s the next thing you remember?”

  “Waking up in here. I was laying weird. Everything was sore. Cynthia helped me up and to the bathroom. She unzipped my dress and we saw the bruises and stuff. I called Alex.” I’m still sore but it’s gotten better with movement.

  Ted lets out a sigh and makes some more notes, “I recommend you go to the hospital for a rape kit and blood draw. We could get lucky and they find traces of drugs in your system or DNA.”

  “Oh… I… I don’t want to… do that.” I shake my head almost violently. I don’t want anyone else to see me as a victim. It’s bad enough that Cynthia, Ted, and Alex are seeing it.

  “That’s up to you. If you don’t think
the kit is necessary, I’m not going to try to convince you otherwise.” He takes down my contact information then goes to find Cynthia.

  “Okay, you want your bath now?” Alex asks, lifting my chin to him.

  “Can you take it with me?” I sound like a child. I hate the vulnerability.

  “I’m happy to help you with the bath but I can’t get in, I’ll fall asleep for sure.”

  Sitting up straight, it dawns on me what time it is. “Shit! I’m so sorry! Go home and go to bed!” I hate that I’m inconveniencing him. “I’m fine.” Taking a good look at him, I can see the exhaustion. The dark circles around his eyes, the slight droop in his shoulders. He’s ready to drop. What an inconsiderate ass I am, dragging him into this.

  “I will gladly go without sleep for you. You’re everything to me.” Alex kisses my hair softly, pulling me to stand and wrapping his arm around me. “I love you.”

  My breath catches in my throat and tears fill my eyes. A massive knot clogs my throat, making it hard to swallow. My lips tremble when I open them to respond, “I love you too.”

  Alex’s eyes squeeze shut and his forehead presses against mine. He holds me against him, my face cradled in his hands. I can’t help but watch him. The emotions flying across his face are everything I need right now. I don’t know what happened to me last night, but this man loves me. This strong, capable man loves me, faults, and all. The sarcasm that keeps people at bay was no deterrent, the pompous bullshit my parents make me deal with, he took it all and loves me.

  Wrapping my arms around his waist, I lift my lips to meet his. I need him. With a groan of approval, he takes charge of the kiss, showing me exactly how honest his words are. I need to be surrounded by him, cocooned in his warmth.

  Alex’s lips leave mine and his eyes search my face.

  “Sit with me?” my words are barely a whisper, but he hears them. He looks around the room and finds an over-stuffed chair by the window. Taking my hand, he pulls me behind him to my favorite reading chair and sits down, pulling me down into his lap. My head rests on his shoulder, my forehead against his neck, my legs pulled up into his lap as well. His arms circle me, one hand rubbing my back.