by Shirl Anders
He shook his head. It was not practical, but he fucking loved it.
“Good thing you asked Caval for the week off, baby,” she told him. “If it’s going to take two trips to move my stuff.”
She blew him a kiss, and then she wiggled her fine, round ass out of view. He thought he could get pissed, because once again what she’d said and what actually was were not lining up. But he just couldn’t. Instead, he decided he would use the second trip back to pick up her things, which they were moving to their house by the lake, to fuck her in her old house until she begged to come on his cock.
“Now that plan has some damn merit,” he said.
He could exorcise all kinds of ghosts with some hip-thrusting action. Which he got every day, from a woman that wanted it every day, now that things were right in his world. Since Cabe and Rusty’s wedding, he and Coco had spent every day together, and their relationship just kept getting better.
From Patty Ann he had learned some of the lengths Coco had gone to in her previous marriage to entice her ex. It had floored him how a man could ignore Coco doing those sexy things, and he’d made a point to do most of those with her, which had led to some memorable marathon sex between them.
So he was the damn winner all over.
Now that Patty Ann was coming into town at least a few times a month, and both he and Coco thought it wouldn’t be long before Link convinced her to move in with him. Coco was all about that.
Since he’d left the ATF and hired on with Caval Rome, he’d worked enough with Link to know the man was serious, where he’d not been like that about a babe before.
“We might need three trips, if I keep this bedroom set,” Coco called from upstairs.
Finn planted his hands on his hips. “Babe,” he called. “We are not keeping your old fucking bed.”
Coco peeked downstairs at him. “It was my grandmother’s.”
Finn shook his head.
She didn’t look upset when she said, “You’re probably right. It would just be weird.”
Then she disappeared. It was all settled.
See, easy.
Sweet.
Passionate.
That was his woman.
“Two trips, if you want to make it to Justice and Angel’s engagement party, babe,” he called up to her, reminding her.
Just then, his cell rang, and he thumbed the call open. “O’Neil here.”
Ty Booth said, “Finn, just a heads-up that Gordon Maxwell is done testifying and into the program tomorrow. I heard his divorce went through, so we are clear.”
“Yeah, it was good timing on the divorce,” Finn said. “How much time do you think Coronado will get?”
“Looks like the full amount. The arrogant bastard wouldn’t take a deal. He thought to the very end he could beat it.”
“Good,” Finn said. Then he asked, “Any word on Creed yet?”
“Hell no,” Ty said, sounding aggravated. “He’s on reservation land some damn place, and looking on that land with the ATF has its own problems.”
“Yeah,” Finn said. He knew that. “I’ll keep a lookout.”
“Good. Thanks,” Ty said. “You like your new job, then?”
“Yeah,” Finn said. He wouldn’t tell Ty he loved it, as that might not go over well with his old boss, but he was really glad he’d made the switch. “The money is unbelievable.”
“Really,” Ty said, sounding slightly interested. “Next time I’m in town, we will talk. Gotta go, buddy.”
“See you soon,” Finn said, as a goodbye.
Finn went to load a damn loveseat Coco just had to have out of a house she’d said she only wanted a few things from. But he figured her being happy now eased those feelings she’d had, which had hurt her into saying that, and besides, she was worth moving the whole damn house, boards and all.
Coco looked at the picture of her mother and father, with her standing in front of them as a little girl. She’d asked Finn last night if he ever wanted children, and his immediate answer was, “Hell yeah.”
“It might happen, Mom,” Coco whispered to the picture, before she packed it away.
Maybe she had the baby fever after being around Tess, who was halfway through her pregnancy. But Finn being so easy like that had loosened the last tight place she had inside her from her old life. It was as if she could move past all that now, without it hurting.
Maybe that was why it didn’t bother her to come into her old home and pack it up. Except for anything of Gordon’s, which was going in a burn pile she would happily light, she found that she wanted to keep most of it.
When she and Finn had moved all his things from his old house with Katie, he had said it didn’t bother him much, that he was long over it and just wanted all his stuff in their new place. Right after that, Katie had sold the house she’d gotten in the divorce, and moved out of town.
Finn had barely blinked an eye at that.
It was pretty lucky for them that both their ex’s were going to be out of the town they lived in and therefore completely out of their lives so—
“A perfect place to start a family,” Coco said.
Something she’d always wanted.
So when she came downstairs to find Finn struggling with the huge entertainment center, she said, “Leave it, baby. Let it sell with the house.”
Finn let go of the dolly and looked at her. “I’ll get it in the truck,” he told her.
She shook her head.
“No. I don’t need it. I only need you.” Then she moved into him and wrapped her arms around him. “I love you, Finn.”
His eyes went dark, and he got the sexy aura she knew well that meant her hot alpha man was going to get all hot and bothered and give her climaxes like in the next minute.
“Love you too, Coco,” he growled, right before he started untying her halter top from behind.
****
Thank you so much for reading Finn and Coco’s story!
Next, you will find a short story about the first Redrock couple, Tess and Vincent Whitehorse. Chronologically, this short story happened before the one above, and I have given it away free in my newsletter. But I thought I would add it here for those that missed it.
Tangled In Redrock: Worth It
By Shirl Anders
“What the fuck,” Vincent growled into his cell, as his body turned lethally tight. “Luna, no!” he yelled.
“If I kill her,” Luna screeched, “you’ll come back to me!”
***
Tess looked at Navaho; he was preteen, maybe eleven or twelve. Nobody knew for certain, because he was an orphan and no one had kept track. It broke her heart that he didn’t even know his birthday. He was probably more than half Native American, a little muscular, especially since he’d been working out with Vincent.
Out of nowhere, the two had hit it off.
She was pretty sure Navaho worshipped Vincent, and she was kind of surprised with the way Vincent had taken to the boy. Sure, Vincent mentored young abused women, and he was good at it, in a very no-nonsense way. But it was different with the boy, whom she agreed was infectious with his slash of a smile seen more and more. But Vincent treated him more like a son than a duty to fix.
Navaho was wily and smart. He also protected the younger orphans. Tess smiled. He was a bit of a con man, and she thought Vincent liked that best about him, calling him fearless. So maybe she and Vincent spent more time at the orphanage because of Navaho, and she was going to talk to Vincent about that soon. There were so many kids at the home, it broke her heart, but Navaho was working his way under their skin.
Vincent probably thought she’d never consider adopting, especially an older child. They’d never discussed anything about it, except for Vincent’s newest desire to “put a baby in her belly,” as he called it.
And she absolutely loved the way he worked at that.
“Missy!” Navi called as a greeting, from out front of the five-story brick orphanage building.
Navaho
called her “Missy” because at first he’d gotten jumbled between Miss and Mrs. And she and Vincent called him Navi for short.
“Navi,” she called, greeting him back, while she wandered his way to see what he was doing. “How come you didn’t go on the outing to the picnic at the fairgrounds, Navi? There are going to be families there who are looking.”
Tess saw that he was sanding wooden planks, and she bet they were for the big porch Vincent was working on with him. But sometimes Vincent was too busy and pulled in so many directions, with tribal council, running Redrock casino, and working his charity Whitehorse Training and Security.
“Missy, they are looking for the younger ones,” Navi said with a grin, which showed he wasn’t disappointed at all.
She reached him and stood beside him to ruffle his thick black hair as he kept up the long rhythm of hand-sanding the board.
“I wanted you to go,” she said. “There are many different people, Navi. Not all of them want the babies.”
He shrugged and kept sanding. “I don’t want to do foster. I’m done with that. It’s good here now with you and Boss helping.”
Tess hugged him from behind. “Okay, I’ll quit nagging you, and once I talk to Julia inside and drop off these papers, I’ll come back out and help you with your sanding. It looks like fun.”
Navi turned and looked up at her cross-eyed for a second, and then he laughed. “You are crazy if you think this is fun.”
He hadn’t teased at all in the beginning. She loved it that he did it with her and Vincent now, and she hip-bumped him.
“You’re doing it, so you must be crazy too,” she teased.
She laughed, and then went inside to find Julia and drop off the papers that were needed to secure the orphanage property in trust to the tribe. As soon as she and Vincent had started coming out to the orphanage to offer their help, Vincent had looked into their books and deeds. He’d found that the land and property weren’t secure enough, and he’d set about securing it for the tribe.
He amazed her so much ... she never would have thought about that. She was so lucky to have such an exceptional husband, but lately even with her help, everyone was pulling him in so many directions—it was getting hard for them to find time alone.
She didn’t want to complain and make it worse for him, but she really wanted to talk to him about giving some of it up. She thought Sam could run Redrock Casino and Vincent could be the second or even just an advisor.
Then at WTSF, Cabe and Tag could handle it more, because if she did get “a baby in her belly,” she didn’t want it to be just her and the baby, always waiting for Vincent.
Tess fluffed her hair as she walked one of the long hallways in the orphanage, while thinking about how she could approach Vincent about her thoughts. Her head was down while she was thinking, and that was why she never saw what was ahead of her before it was too late.
“Oh, Miss Perfect, you think you have it all, don’t you!”
Tess’ head jerked up at the sound of the venomous voice. Holy hell, it was Luna, Vincent’s ex-wife.
Tess gasped, lurching to a stop. Then she saw that Luna was holding a big-ass gun!
Ah—
All the defense classes Tess had taken flashed through her mind. One or two of them had dealt with knives ... but never guns.
Tess put her hands out in front of her, waving the papers as if she could ward off the .357 pointed at her.
“God, you look freaking amazing, Luna!” Tess exclaimed, knowing she had triggered Luna’s ego by doing the same kind of ego-boosting thing before. “There are so many babies around here, Luna. Let’s you and I go out back to talk.”
“Bitch, you do not tell me what to do!” Luna shouted, with the gun waving back and forth, but always back toward Tess.
Tess cringed; she didn’t think she should try to attack Luna, because of the gun she held.
“Okay,” Tess whispered.
“Now move! Back the way you came,” Luna ordered.
Oh no, Navi was that way! Tess nearly whimpered. The last thing she wanted to do was go back out the front of the building where Navi was, and her mind whirled with thoughts about what she could do, and her cowboy boots shuffled, instead of tapped, while she tried to keep her pace really slow.
But that only got her poked in the ribs from behind with the gun, and then Luna painfully grabbed her arm to shove her forward.
“Luna, you can’t get away with this, honey. Just tell me what is wrong,” Tess pleaded.
“Shut up!” Luna yelled sharply. “I am getting away with it just fine. And he’s going to see how much he needs me.”
Tess stumbled, trying desperately to think of what she could say to get through to Luna, who had obviously gone over the edge for some unknown reason. Then they were at the big front doors of the orphanage building, and Luna pushed her through them.
Tess saw Navi’s head come up as he turned toward them with a smile.
Tess risked it: “Don’t come near us, Navi. It’s all right!”
Instantly, Navi’s usual smile faded, with intensity following as his gaze darted between her and Luna, who was shoving Tess down the long front sidewalk. Luna was not hiding her gun.
“You little rez Indian,” Luna screeched at Navi. “You don’t tell anyone you saw anything.” She swung the gun toward Navi. “Or I’ll be back for you, you hear me!”
“Luna!” Tess cried, trying to bring Luna’s attention back toward her, and away from Navi. “He won’t tell anyone, Luna!”
Luna’s attention and the gun stayed on Navi, as Navi exclaimed, “Yes, Miss, yes!”
Tess couldn’t stand the direction of that gun, while Luna thought about Navi seeing her there so she tugged with all her might, making Luna stumble forward, because she was gripping her arm. The gun waved back to Tess.
“Don’t you try anything, you bitch!” Luna screeched.
Tess tugged again, pulling Luna toward the parking lot and away from the wide-eyed and very still Navi. Tess was amazed Navi didn’t run ... he was just a little boy.
“Quit it, you bitch,” Luna yelled, and the gun smacked Tess in the side of her head.
Tess whimpered, but held back her outright cry of pain, as she stumbled and nearly went down. However, Luna’s tight hold on her arm kept her upright and staggering toward a black SUV with tinted windows, parked at an angle, right in the middle of the parking lot.
The pain in Tess’ head made her eyes burn with tears and her thoughts jumble, but she knew she couldn’t try again to stop Luna with Navi right there and within reach of Luna’s gun.
She’d have to try to get free once on the road. She hefted her purse strap up on her shoulder, trying to hide her hand reaching inside it, so she could try to grab her cell phone. She had Vincent on speed dial, and if she could just start the phone and push 1, it would dial him.
Luna screeched, grabbed Tess’ shoulders from behind, and shoved her up against the side of the SUV, rattling Tess’ teeth as she did it. Luna tore Tess’ purse off her shoulder, while Luna jammed the barrel of the .357 into Tess’ back, likely leaving a bruise.
Tess bit her lip to keep from crying out and giving crazy Luna the satisfaction that she was hurting her. Luna threw the purse across the parking lot, as Tess looked back at Navi standing stiffly alert by the boards he’d been sanding.
“You think I am stupid enough to let you get to your phone, bitch?” Luna screeched.
Luna grabbed hunks of Tess’ hair from behind and used it to force Tess into the driver’s side of the SUV.
Tess screamed, “Vincent will hunt you down and hurt you, Luna! You know he will!”
The barrel of the gun was shoved into Tess’ cheek, making her scoot across the seats, and Luna pulled herself up into the SUV. The crazy part was the look of excited anticipation on Luna’s face, and Tess realized her threat that Vincent would hunt Luna down was just what Luna was looking for, and it was no threat to her at all. Tess had just given Luna what she wanted.
“Put those on,” Luna ordered, shaking the gun toward a pair of handcuffs lying in the console.
Luna having the gun and those cuffs said she had planned the attack, and it wasn’t just a spontaneous bout of her going crazy, as Vincent had warned she could do.
“Okay, okay,” Tess said, taking the cuffs and putting them on as Luna started the SUV one-handed, and then she shifted one handed.
When the vehicle started to roll, Luna swung the gun out the window toward Navi again.
Tess lunged toward Luna, half crawling over her to go for the gun threatening Navi. Luna cold-cocked her. Tess cried out and fell backward, losing consciousness.
So she didn’t see Luna screeching the SUV tires as she sped out of the parking lot.
Nor did Tess see Navi sprinting after the SUV.
***
Vincent drove with deadly precision, faster than his truck should be able to go, as he sped toward the orphanage. It was either drive faster or slow down and try to call Tess or the authorities, as Luna’s voice rang in his memory.
You’ll come back to me.
Vincent cussed violently ... he should have kept an eye on Luna. He was fucking rich and he could have afforded it. He knew how crazy she could get, and he knew her attacks of madness just happened unexpectedly and for no rational reason. He’d gotten complacent with her being out of town and acting as if she’d finally let go of him for the little bit of fame she could scratch out.
“Should have fucking watched her!” Vincent muttered harshly, pounding his steering wheel.
If anything happened to Tess—
Vincent slammed his brain back on track ... he couldn’t go there. That kind of thinking wasn’t going to save his woman ... who was his fucking life. The truck’s back end started to float, and Vincent cussed, fighting it to stay on the road leading into the orphanage, but he didn’t slow down ... he just went faster.
Minutes later, he was surprised to see Navi running down the long hill from the orphanage, which Vincent was about to turn into, while skidding the truck wheels. The boy ran like a true Indian, all fluid strength and inherent grace.
But he also yelled, “No, Boss! Don’t turn! Go straight!”