ToServeAndProtect

by KyAnn Waters

  “I won’t let him or what he did define who I am…who I want to become.” They stood several feet apart. Taking a deep breath, she blurted, “I’m in love with you.”

  He took a step toward her. “I love you, too.”

  She briefly closed her eyes then opened them again. “Oh, god.” She couldn’t turn away, couldn’t not accept his comfort. She needed him.

  “Mickey.”

  Hearing her name, softly spoken in his deep seductive timber, shattered the last her false show of strength. She stepped into his arms, wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him.

  “I’m so sorry.” He kissed her temple, and stroked her hair.

  “Don’t be sorry.” She leaned back and looked into his eyes. “Call Janie. Tell her you want to see her, want to be a part of her life.”

  “Don’t worry about me and Janie. My situation is nothing like yours and Elliot’s. I’m always there when she needs me.” He stepped away from McKenna. “Trish is remarried. Janie has a little brother. She doesn’t need me coming around and rearranging her schedule…interfering in her life.”

  “I’m not telling you what to do, but I think you’re making a mistake.” She walked to the French doors and looked past the balcony to the city stretching into the horizon.

  Dustin came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “What is this really about, Mickey?”

  “I want a family.” She turned around. “Until you, I never thought I would. I need to know you won’t walk away.”

  He cradled her face in his palms. “I never walked away from Janie. I make it easier for Trish.” He sighed and took her hands in his. “No, that’s not true either. It was easier for me, too. There is something I need to do.” He kissed her quickly, making contact with the side of her mouth, then turned. “I’ll see you later,” he said and walked out of the room.

  McKenna listened to his feet take the stairs two at a time. The kitchen door closed and then the garage door hum was followed by the sound of the truck pulling out of the drive.

  McKenna left Elliot’s room and went to her own. Her eyes burned, and her body rejected the idea of staying awake a moment longer. She was having a hard time stringing two complete thoughts together. The day couldn’t get much worse. Better to sleep the rest of it away. She stripped down to her panties and sought refuge beneath the covers. Sleep didn’t take long to come and steal her away from her miserable thoughts.

  The room was dark when McKenna felt movement beside her. The clock on the nightstand glowed, telling her just how long she had been asleep.

  The bed dipped as Dustin sat on the edge.

  McKenna leaned up on her elbow and blinked him into focus. “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t want to talk.” His voice was rough from lack of sleep and husky with innuendo.

  McKenna scooted over and lifted the sheet. “Then come to bed.”

  Dustin slipped off his shoulder holster, set it on the nightstand, and quickly discarded his clothes. Her eyes adjusted to the dark and watched his movements. Finally, he slid beneath the covers until his nude body touched her from shoulder to toes. “I need you.” She shivered as his fingers trailed over her flesh. “I need this.” His voice was low and smooth as he crushed her body to his. He cupped her buttocks and brought their centers intimately together. His arousal, thick and heavy with desire, rubbed against her.

  On a breathy sigh, she rolled to her back. “Make love to me,” she whispered into the darkness.

  Dustin’s sipped at her skin. Her breath caught in her throat when he tugged on her panties. She lifted her hips and he slipped them down her legs. He wrapped his hand around her calf, bent her at the knee, and eased her legs apart.

  Gripping the pillow at the side of her head, she arched her pelvis. A moan broke from her lips as Dustin slipped two fingers deep inside her slick channel. “Dustin.” Her legs opened wider, and he continued to thrust his fingers in and out. The scent of her cream wafted on the air in the darkened bedroom.

  “I want to taste you.” Dustin kissed down her body, plucking her nipple between his lips, before suckling the taut tip fully into his mouth. McKenna cried out and arched. Trailing lower, he touched his lips to her tummy, tunneled his tongue around and into the cave of her navel, then pressed his face into the soft pillow of her abdomen.

  McKenna threaded her fingers through his hair and he went lower, between her thighs. He stretched her channel with his fingers and heated her arousal with his movements. Oh, his incredible movements. Fingers, lips, and tongue. He bent his head, pressing an intimate kiss to her curls, and slipped his tongue between her drenched folds.

  “Dustin.” She cried out, gripping the sheets in her fists. Long slow licks lashed at her folds. More heat surged into her clit. Reaching between her legs, she slid her fingers into her dewy softness. Making a v with her fingers, she spread her folds for his questing tongue. Tasting, teasing her hole, her clit, discovering every heated crevice. In a burst of energy, she crashed into a million flashes of light. Waves of pleasure rolled through her body and cream flowed from her core. Before she could recover from the dizzying effects, his silhouette hovered above her.

  In one swift motion, the thick, full length of his solid erection slid hotly into her tight sheath, filling her body while his presence in her bed filled her heart.

  In a rhythm of gliding in and slowly withdrawing, he built to a crescendo of erotic need. Words of love whispered against her ear. She held to his shoulders, melting from the heat of his shaft thrusting within her quivering sheath. She lifted her hips to meet his. Desire coiled tight in her center then shattered and she plunged into another orgasm. After several passion-filled moments, his body tightened. Harder. Faster. With a feral growl, he erupted. McKenna gasped and clutched him close. His strong honed back was slick with sweat. Her fingers trailed along his spine. Muscles bunched beneath her hands.

  Still joined, he collapsed to her chest. She welcomed the heavy weight. Wrapping her thighs around his hips, she hugged him with arms and legs.

  After several breaths, he rolled to his side, adjusted on the pillow, and pulled her close. “I’m sorry I left earlier.” He kissed her temple.

  “I’m glad you’re home.” She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep in his arms.

  * * * * *

  Dustin picked up his cell phone as it vibrated on the nightstand. Rays of sunshine streaked through the split in the curtains. McKenna stretched her leg that was entwined with his.

  “Pearce,” in a voice rough from sleep. He listened intently for a few minutes and then said, “I’ll tell her. Thanks.”

  Lying back on the pillows, he pulled her against him until they were spooning with the round curve of her buttocks snuggled against his hardening shaft.

  “The blood was a perfect match,” he said then kissed the nape of her neck. The scent and texture of her hair tantalized to his senses.

  She tried to sit up, but he kept her anchored by wrapping his leg over hers. “Does that mean he isn’t dead?”

  He hummed affirmatively as he burrowed his lips into hair and found a delicate spot on her neck to kiss. “Butler officially dropped the investigation. Under the circumstances, he’s not filing charges against Elliot until he has more evidence.”

  She shivered.

  “Don’t think about him. Focus on us. On this.”

  Dustin maneuvered until he found the sweet place he needed to be. She felt so good in his arms. What before he wasn’t willing to give up, he’d toss away if it meant spending the rest of his life just like this—with this woman, her body wet and responsive to his.

  He thought about his divorce. Trish had the courage to leave. He would’ve hung on knowing their marriage was doomed to fail from the beginning, and never experience what it was to be complete. He and Trish had love for one another, but it wasn’t the same type of connection he had to McKenna. This was special. Being here…in her bed was a very good thing.

  “Beautiful,” he whispe
red. McKenna arched her back, and Dustin slid deep into her silken channel, until fully incased in her heated sheath. Running his hand along her leg had his dick hardening further. He grunted as her soft moist inner walls clamped to his shaft. He stroked her a few times from behind then pulled out. She whimpered.

  “Get on me, sweetheart.” He rolled to his back and lifted her onto his groin. She grasped his cock and positioned him at her opening. He sighed as she took him into her body. Perfectly joined, she began to rock on his lap. Bracing her hands on his sternum and using the strength in her legs, she lifted and lowered on his length. “That’s it.”

  Her heavy lids slid closed and her head fell back. She bucked and bounced on his cock. His abs tightened and he squeezed his buttocks to give her more of his dick to ride. She mewled her pleasing response.

  He caressed her outer thighs, helping to set a frenzied rhythm. Small, perfect tits with luscious rosy nipples bounced with the violence of her movements. God, he wanted to suck on them. His mouth watered, but he couldn’t move. Her pussy felt too good closed around his erection.

  Heat surged into his rod. Fuck, he wasn’t going to last with her gyrating movements spurring him into a powerful orgasm. Pressure tightened his balls. She ground against him, fucking him numb. “That’s it, Mickey. Come for me. I want to feel all that sweet cream on my dick.”

  “Almost there.”

  He placed his hand where they were joined and barely grazed her clit. But it was enough.

  She cried out and buckled onto his chest. Convulsions in her core brought about his release. He surged hard and came. He banded his arms around her narrow frame and held her close. She shuddered, gulped air and melted into him.

  “Good morning.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.

  “Excellent morning.” She glanced to the clock. “Only it’s late afternoon.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Their relationship had changed. She could feel the connection crackling between them, sexually charged, yet completely comfortable. So strange that the awkwardness she expected wasn’t there. Dustin sat at the table drinking coffee. Amazing what a difference a few days, even a few hours could make.

  “The developments in the case will be on the news. You can bet reporters are going to give chase. They’ll want a statement from you.”

  She sat across from him. “I’ll call Albert. I’m going to need an attorney. I don’t know what happens now. We’ve had a funeral. I won’t be entitled to the insurance money if Elliot is still alive.” She rested her chin in her palm with her elbow on the table. “I wish he were dead,” she said quietly. “That sounds horrible, doesn’t it?”

  “If the Marinos find Roslyn and Elliot’s with her, you might just get your wish.”

  “Oh, no.” She set her cup down and covered her mouth. “I didn’t really mean it. We have to find a way to warn them.”

  Dustin shook his head. “If Elliot and Roslyn are as smart as I think they are, they’ll be watching the newspapers. Once the story breaks, it’ll be up to them to find a safe place to stay low. Our experience with the Marinos doesn’t leave much hope. We couldn’t shake them. I doubt Elliot and Roslyn will either.”

  “It’s hard to say this, but he deserves everything he’s going to get.” She stood and put her cup in the sink. “I can’t believe I lived with him and never knew who he really was.” She took a breath. After yesterday, so much was still unsaid between her and Dustin. Wanting to ask him why he left, where he went, she couldn’t. Obviously he wasn’t ready to talk about his life away from her. And she wasn’t willing to push again.

  Glancing over her shoulder, seeing Dustin made her heart beat a little faster and her blood flow a little hotter. She loved him. Nothing else mattered.

  “Out with it.”

  She turned away from him and stared out the window. “I don’t have anything to say.”

  “Bullshit. Mickey.” He crossed the kitchen with purposeful strides, placed his hands on her shoulders and spun her to face him. He smiled.

  “I was going to ask you what happened yesterday…when you left.”

  He sighed. “I met Trish for a cup of coffee. We talked.”

  A pang of guilt fired through McKenna. The last thing she wanted was to force Dustin into his daughter’s life. She wished he wanted it for himself. “I shouldn’t have interfered.”

  He shook his head. “You have nothing to do with this. I suppose in part you do because I invited Janie to spend the weekend with us. I think for myself, Mickey. You haven’t forced anything. And actually, I’m happy that you think my relationship with my daughter is important.” He brushed her bangs off her face with his knuckles. “You’re an amazing lady.”

  McKenna wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Dustin stroked her back. Now that she was in his life, he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. He’d talked to Trish about more than Janie. He’d asked her what had gone wrong with them. Were they meant to fail from the beginning or had they drifted apart? After the hell Tyson had been through three times, Dustin didn’t want to see his second attempt at marriage end in disaster. Trish said she never worried about him being injured in the line of duty until it happened, and then she couldn’t stop.

  “The last few weeks haven’t been routine.” He took her fingers in his and led them to the table. “Dealing with murder never is. Homicide, Mickey, it’s a nasty place to work.”

  “It must be difficult to work in an environment revolving around death.” She moved to sit on his lap, draped her arms around his shoulders, and said, “Thinking about coming home to me should make it a little more bearable.”

  He briefly kissed her lips. “I worry about you waiting for me.”

  She smiled and put her hand on the side of his face. “Of course, I’ll fear for your safety. That wouldn’t change if you were a bus driver. So don’t worry about me. Well, yes worry about me and I’ll worry about you and we’ll take care of each other.”

  She moved to her own chair again. “Dawn asked if we wanted to come over to Tyson’s for beers and brats.”

  Dustin chuckled. “I guess she’s feeling cozy.”

  “She should. He asked her to move in.”

  Dustin choked. Tyson had to be insane or in love to get involved again.

  “Don’t say anything you might regret. They haven’t known each other long, but neither have we and I’m asking the same of you.” Silence filled the air as they stared across the table at each other. “I don’t know what to do about the house. If this is even my house. If they find Elliot—”

  “They will and he’ll be doing some time for his crimes. I don’t think you have to worry about finding another place to live.”

  “Could you live here?”

  He looked around the spacious kitchen. Rich woods, granite countertops, subzero refrigerator, a room built to feed a family and entertain friends.

  “Where would you put my couch?” He asked with a serious expression on his face.

  She smugly smiled. “In the trash.”

  He leaned back in the chair. “It’s a complicated request. I’d need a few promises from you. I have more to think about than just myself. As you’ve frequently reminded me, I have to think about Janie.”

  “That you have a girlfriend will bother her?”

  “She won’t be happy to hear you’re my girlfriend.” He stood and knelt before her. “Especially after I told her you’re going to be my wife.”

  Tears filled McKenna’s eyes. She launched out of the chair, sending Dustin off balance. He landed on his rear and she on top of him.

  “I hope this means you want to get married.”

  McKenna plastered herself to Dustin. Nothing would please her more than getting rid of her maiden name. “Absolutely,” she promised, and then she kissed him. Breath blended and mouths mated. His tongue slid between her lips and his hands cupped her buttocks.

  “I love you,” he whispered.

  She moved off him then sat next to him on the
floor. “I love you, too.”

  “I know how much this means to you.” Dustin slipped the ring she always wore from her finger.

  “It was my mother’s.”

  “I know.” Their eyes met. “I can afford whatever you want, but I thought we could have a band made to match.” He slipped the ring onto the third finger of her left hand.

  “When?” She giggled. “You know,” she said snuggling against him. “I don’t have any family. I won’t want an extravagant wedding.”

  “This weekend in Vegas with Dawn and Tyson?”

  McKenna crinkled her nose and shook her head.

  “We could do it Sunday, here at the house while Janie is with us.” He combed his fingers through her hair and held her close.

  “I think that sounds perfect.”

  * * * * *

  Dustin leaned back in the lawn chair and laughed at something Tyson said while he manned the barbecue. McKenna stood in the kitchen watching as Dawn mixed margaritas.

  “Funny how life works out.” McKenna looked away from Dustin. Dawn added more ice into the blender. “Elliot tried to destroy my life, but in fact Dustin is the best thing to ever happen to me.”

  Dawn salted the edge of four wide-mouth goblets. “If the Marinos don’t kill him, and he somehow makes his way home, I’ll thank him just before I hit him with my car.” She poured the drinks. “I’m happy, too. I don’t know if my dad wanted to jump for joy or kick my ass when I told him I was moving in with Tyson.” They each grabbed two glasses and headed back out to the patio.

  “How are the brats coming?” Dawn asked as she handed Tyson his drink. Mouth-watering aromas hung heavy in the air. “I’m hungry, baby.”

  “I’ll give you something to eat,” he teased.

  “We don’t want to be witness to any perversion today.” Dustin laughed. “Because this is an important celebration.” He took a large drink of margarita. “Not to take any thunder away from the enormous step the two of you are taking.” He took McKenna’s hand. “But we’ve got a little bit of news.”

  “Are you moving into the princess’ castle?” Tyson moved the brats into a beer bath. “It’d sure be a step up from your place. Not to mention how good the races will look on her big screen with surround sound.” He nodded at Dustin to acknowledge he approved of the upgrade.