ToServeAndProtect

by KyAnn Waters

  She pulled back the shower curtain. Dustin crossed his arms over his chest. No, she wasn’t coming, but if he joined her in the shower, she would be. “Why not?”

  “The Marino’s, the neighbor, the unknown. I’m not going to worry about your ass when I’m trying to watch my own.”

  She let the shower curtain fall back into place. “You didn’t mind watching mine earlier. Give it up, Detective. Tonight we’re partners.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  She peered out again and his eyes snapped to hers. He sat on the commode. A tingle tightened her nipples. Only the thin curtain separated them. “I’m going.”

  “We’ll talk when you’re done.”

  “You won’t change my mind.” What if she just flung it all the way open and invited him to join her? “But you can try.” She opened the curtain.

  His scorching gaze blazed a trail over her flesh. He slowly stood. “More likely, you’ll use your charms to get your way.” He jerked off his shirt and dropped his shorts. “You’ll go with me, slow me down, and we’ll make easy targets for the Marino’s.”

  “Wonderful, we can put to rest that you think my going is a bad idea, but that I am going. As long as we’re both cognizant of the situation.”

  “It isn’t the first poor choice I’ve made when it comes to you.”

  “What was the first?” She swallowed as he stalked toward her.

  “I don’t know. But last night and now this,” he touched her breast, brushing his thumb over the wet nipple.

  She took a step back, and he joined her in the shower.

  Moisture flooded her pussy. Her mind dizzied and her heart pounded. In bed, she hadn’t been able to stare her fill. Corded muscles carved his shoulders and arms. A thin trail of hair divided his torso and feathered along his defined abdominals. Two prominent muscles created a vee leading to his cock. Dark in color, thick and surrounded by tight black curls. Pulsing veins stretched the engorged length and pearly moisture seeped from the slit.

  Water sluiced over his sculpted torso. She swallowed and her heart hammered against her ribs. She licked her lips and stared into his eyes. Heat surged into her sex. Everything about the man made her tremble with desire. “You’ll see. I’m good to have around.” Her fingertips followed rivulets of water over his corded abdominals. Then lower.

  His cock was thick and erect, thrusting toward her and bobbing in the heated spray. McKenna leaned forward and laved his nipple. Ripples chased across his flesh and his cock poked into her chest. Kissing lower, she drew out the anticipation. Resting her hands on his lean hips, she knelt in the tub.

  With the first touch of her fingers, his balls drew up tight in their wrinkled pouch. She cupped him gently with her left hand and circled the base with her right. His crown was large and flushed with color. Her lips wrapped around the ridge. Hot taut skin slid like velvet against her tongue. She lapped at the slit and sucked the knob. Dustin groaned, braced one hand on the shower wall and fisted his other in her wet hair.

  Slick with the shower and her mouth, his cock glistened, pulsed, and stretched harder. She devoured his flesh, running her tongue the length then sucking the crown. Glancing up, her eyes locked with his. Heat flared in the smoldering depths. Keeping her eyes on his, she fisted the shaft, sliding the silken flesh up and down in a measured rhythm. Water cascaded over her head. The encounter was wet and erotic. She sucked, teased, and pushed him closer to ejaculation.

  “Enough,” he said through clenched teeth. She smiled and stood. “Turn around.”

  “I love a man of authority.”

  “Then turn around, put your hands against the wall, and put your ass in the air.”

  “Ohh and commanding.” She did as he asked, loving the way his palms caressed circles into her buttocks.

  “Does this mean you’ll listen to me now?” He whispered the words near her ear. Shivers tightened her nipples at the dark, demanding tone. His cock nudged her folds from behind.

  “Yes.” She inhaled harshly as he thrust up her channel. “Oh, yes!”

  He banged into her pussy, stretching her walls and hitting the deepest most sensitive depths of her core. Relentless lunges bombarded her with overwhelming pleasure. She tensed as her orgasm robbed her of breath.

  “Oh, Dustin.” Her thighs shook from the sensation of him filling her. Again and again. More heat pooled in her clit. Her mind numbed, and the hot needles of water continued to stream over their joined bodies. Steam filled the room, and he continued to plunge into her.

  With a growl, Dustin exploded. She felt each pulsing contraction of his release. A moment later, he slipped from her body and sagged against the tiled shower wall. A lazy grin stretched his lips.

  “You win. You can go.”

  She stepped beneath the spray and rinsed her hair. Hot cream trickled onto her thigh. Her body was replete. They had a lead to follow, and she had Dustin’s hands on her hips. She couldn’t contain her own smile. “I swear I won’t slow you down.”

  “I know you won’t mean to. Now hand me the soap.”

  A few minutes later, they were getting ready.

  “You need to wear black.” He stood in the bathroom doorjamb. Black jeans hugged his hips, and a black T-shirt clung to his chest. She was reminded of the way he looked the first time she saw him in the hospital. Then he’d intimidated her. Now desire thrummed through her system. She was becoming Dawn. She couldn’t stop thinking about sex.

  He came into the room and placed his palm on her neck. His thumb stroked her cheek. She inhaled, calming the flutter in her tummy. The clean scent of soap and shaving cream clung to him. “I still think you should stay here.”

  “No.” She backed up and tugged a black tank over her head. “I’m going.” Then she fished in her suitcase for black jeans. She slid a room keycard into her back pocket.

  “McKenna—”

  “Enough, Detective.”

  “Dustin.”

  “If you don’t want me calling you detective,” she yanked open the hotel door, “stop treating me like I’m your assignment.”

  He growled and ran his fingers through his hair. “You are my assignment until this case is solved.” They stopped in front of the elevator, and he turned to her. “Until then, you need to trust in my decisions.” They stepped through the doors as the adjacent elevator opened and two men walked past.

  “I do trust you. Just hurry up and figure out who killed my father. I mean Elliot,” she said a little more quietly.

  “Easy champ, I’m doing my best. At least you’re officially off the suspect list.”

  “What?” McKenna’s head snapped around. “When?”

  “The FBI decided you didn’t fit the profile for the murder of Elliot, which I tried to tell them from the beginning. And then the Marino brothers went looking for you.”

  They walked through the lobby, out the double doors to the car. The warm California sun cast long shadows across the parking lot.

  “Do they think the Marino’s fit the profile?” Dustin opened the passenger door, and McKenna slid into the vehicle and strapped on her seat belt. He walked around the convertible, sat behind the wheel and keyed the ignition. “In your investigation, wouldn’t you have discovered if more than one person was in the house?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Too many variables at the crime scene. I know I haven’t talked much about the evidence we collected from the house. I couldn’t because I was still the only one involved with the investigation who knew you couldn’t have done it.” He looked at her across the console.

  “You don’t need to explain. I understand.”

  “Is there a reason all the evidence points to you? Who benefits with your blame?”

  She shook her head. “No one. I don’t have any other family. Well, maybe now I do if I can find the name of my biological father.” She raised her eyebrows. “How can I find out?”

  “There are registers on the Internet. If your father knows you exist, perhaps he’s searching.�
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  “If the Marinos don’t get us, I’m going to look for him when this is over.”

  “Think positive.” He laughed and patted her thigh.

  They stopped off at the store for basic supplies needed to break into Roslyn’s house. “There’s a great Mexican restaurant on the way. At least it used to be great.”

  “I could use a margarita. Until I got involved with a cop, I was a law-abiding citizen. Now I’m a burglar.”

  He chuckled. “The house is vacant. We’re trespassing, not burglarizing. I’d still feel better if you were safe at the hotel.”

  “Dustin, safe is boring.” She smiled in spite of herself. Ironically safe is exactly how she’d been living until she met Dustin. Now she couldn’t keep her head out of the sheets. When she wasn’t thinking of Dustin and the investigation, she was thinking for how much she wanted back in bed with him between her thighs.

  The streets were quiet as they parked the car behind Roslyn’s house. Dustin turned off the engine but left the keys dangling in the steering column.

  “What’re we waiting for?”

  “Always know your surroundings.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ll enter the house through the backdoor. Not a sound until we’re in and wait, listen, and be sure we’re alone. Don’t forget we aren’t the only ones interested in Roslyn’s whereabouts. Inside the house, keep the flashlight directed at the ground and don’t let the beam cross a window.” He grabbed his bag and ripped open a package of hotdogs and took two out.

  “What are those for?” She crinkled her nose. “You can’t still be hungry?”

  “No, but the dog in the neighbor’s backyard might be. We’re going to be fast friends.”

  “How do you know they have a dog?” She squinted into the darkness.

  “It was barking when we were here before.” He handed McKenna a hotdog. “Small, yappy, and in a dog run on the right side of the house. Hand him the hotdog through the chain link and let him get a good whiff of you. Hopefully, he won’t have a short memory.” He put the rest of the hotdogs in the duffel. “I’m leaving the keys in the ignition. If there’s trouble, start this car and get the hell out of here with or without me.”

  “Think positive. And I wouldn’t leave without you any more than you would leave without me. Besides we’re not going to have any trouble.”

  Dustin took her hand. “The Marinos won’t think twice about disposing of me to get to you. Nothing is outside the realm of possibilities when they want information.”

  “I get it!” She pulled her hand away. “I believed Elliot to be my father when they killed him. If they killed him. Shit,” she said, pulling her hair into a black baseball cap. “I don’t need you to scare me.” She looked over at him. “I’m already afraid.”

  Slinging the duffel bag over his shoulder, he said, “Okay, let’s go.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dustin crept stealthily along the side of Roslyn’s neighbor’s house with McKenna close behind him. The backyards bumped up against each other. The furry black mutt yapped and ran in frenzied circles as they approached. Drool dripped from his jowls. Dustin hurried to the chain link and poked a hotdog through the fence. “Take the fucking hotdog and shut up, Skippy.” Crouching close to the ground, he wiggled the limp treat, but the dog jumped on top of his doghouse and howled.

  “Move over.” McKenna stepped around him. “Here puppy,” she cooed. The dog stopped barking and wagged his tail. “Good boy.” The mutt took the hotdog and sniffed her fingers.

  “Good boy.” Dustin stood up. The dog dropped the hotdog and started barking again. His menacing growl vibrated his furry body. “What the hell?”

  McKenna laughed. “Stay on your knees and crawl past. Don’t say anything to the dog. He doesn’t like mean detectives.” She wiggled her fingers in the fence and the dog licked them.

  Dustin hurried past and she followed. The dog did two circles and lay down on the roof of his plastic house and choked down the two hotdogs.

  “Keep watch,” he whispered. Dropping his duffel at the back door, he quickly took out his pen-sized flashlight and held it to the lock for a moment. Then he worked in the dark with his picks.

  Kneeling next to him, she continually scanned the backyard for movement. The lock clicked, and she turned around and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “You did it,” she whispered excitedly.

  “You had doubts?” He gave her a quick kiss and slowly opened the door.

  They were in a small mudroom. Hooks along the wall for coats, a box for shoes on the left, and a mirror with three small key hooks hung on the right.

  Dustin put the duffel bag on the ground and handed a flashlight to McKenna. “Remember, keep the light on the ground.” He put the duffel back over his shoulder and shined his flashlight down the hall. The bite of the barrel of his gun digging into his back gave him a small degree of comfort, but he was still unsure of their safety. He could almost feel the breath of a Marino on his neck.

  “Feel this.” She took Dustin’s hand and putting it to her chest. “My heart is racing.”

  “Mine, too. Let’s look around and get the hell out of here.” Dustin crisscrossed the living room with his light. A couch, loveseat, and rocking chair, but otherwise void of any personal touches, Roslyn’s home reminded Dustin of a decorated model home in a new subdivision.

  McKenna followed him to the rear of the house. In the first bedroom, the bed was stripped of its sheets and the drawers in the dresser were off track and askew. “Definitely a woman in a hurry. She must have dumped her clothes into boxes.”

  Dustin searched the closet. A gum wrapper, a price tag on the floor, and a few empty hangers hung on the rod. “Nothing here.” They made their way to the back bedroom.

  Dustin immediately went to the desk and pulled open the center drawer.

  “She had a computer.” McKenna ran her latex covered finger through the dust smearing the clean spot left by the monitor.

  “I’m beginning to think this is a waste of time.” Dustin closed the drawer. “The desk is empty, the garbage cans are empty, and in fact, the house is empty except for the few pieces of cheap furniture. She’s not coming back.” He picked up the duffel bag. “We should be at the moving van looking through boxes.”

  “First we finish looking around.” She walked back into the hallway. “What about the basement? We should look down there.”

  “All right, but we need to hurry.”

  The basement was one large unfinished room. Wood framing, run with electrical wires, gave some indication to the potential rooms. Spider webs stretched from walls to bare hanging bulbs in the center of the divided areas.

  “Dustin, come here.” She set her flashlight on the cement floor. “Not all the trash made it to the curb.” She ripped open the top of a cinched black yard bag. “Papers.” She sucked in her breath and scooped out a handful of white computer papers.

  Kneeling beside her, he read over her shoulder. “Look at the header,” he said pointing to the top left hand corner. “From the office of Finch and Lieberman.”

  “Accountants.” McKenna let her hands fall into her lap. “I guess we can guess how Elliot and Roslyn met. She must be his new accountant.”

  “It’ll be easy enough to find out if Elliot was a client. Keep looking.” He reached into the garbage bag.

  “Dustin.” She put her hand on his forearm and sat perfectly still. “Listen.”

  He stopped rustling through the papers. Fuck, all he could hear was their labored breathing. Blood roared through his ears. There it was. The definite creak on the floorboards above them. Dustin clicked off his flashlight. She did the same.

  “The neighbor?” she quietly asked.

  His pulse raced and his heart hammered. He shook his head. “She’d think we’re sex starved teenagers and holler for us to get the hell out.” Standing, he pulled his gun from his belt. He reached for the duffel bag, but McKenna picked it up and flung it over her head and across her shoulder.

  “
I’ll carry the bag and you worry about shooting the bad guys,” she said seriously and moved in close behind him. “There’s no basement door. What about the window?”

  Sweat dampened his palms. “Damn.” He gripped the gun, comfortable with the weight of a loaded pistol. If he pulled the trigger, he had no intention of missing his mark. He glanced at McKenna. “I’ll protect you. I promise.” He had no doubt that one or more of the intruders above them carried the Marino name. “Looks like the window is our only option. Come on.”

  “At least you won’t have to jump.” She unlatched the window and slid it open. Dustin pulled on the black rubber tabs on the edge of the screen.

  Heavy footfalls hurried across the upper floor. “Go.” The door to the basement swung open. “Go!” They’d be down the stairs in seconds. Moving quickly, she climbed out of the window well and hunkered against the back wall of the house.

  “They went out the window,” someone hollered from inside the house.

  “Run!” Dustin yelled, and they took off across the yard. The backdoor slammed. The deafening bang of gunfire pierced the air. “Keep running, Mickey, don’t look back!”

  Skippy barked wildly as they sprinted past the dog run. “Good boy,” Dustin said.

  “Who the hell is out there?” Skippy’s owner hollered through the window.

  Dustin had the car in gear before McKenna had the passenger door closed. “Put your head down!” he screamed as a bullet buzzed past imbedding in a telephone pole two feet from the front of the car. She yanked the duffel bag over her head and tossed it into the backseat then flattened her torso as best she could.

  Tires squealed and the rear end fishtailed. Dustin pulled his weapon from his waistband and tucked it between his legs. “FuckFuckFuckFuck.” He turned to her. “Are you okay? You’re not hit?”

  “They tried to kill us!”

  “Mickey, look at me.”

  “They shot at us!” Her eyes were wild with fright, and her lips trembled. “I thought they wanted to talk. Why would they shoot? Dustin, what am I supposed to know?” Her brows furrowed.