by KB Winters
“Really?” He meant no disrespect, but a woman as beautiful as Teddy was expected to date nonstop, to use her beauty to land a rich and successful husband.
“Yes, really. And the guys I shoot down have no clue where I live.”
“But they could find out. Anyone stick out as not being able to take no for answer?”
She let out a bitter laugh. “You know men, they all think ‘no’ is a starting off point in negotiations. If I’m not interested, I say so. If they don’t get it, I say it clearer, so yeah, I’ve pissed off a few guys but I’m sure they found someone more willing to take home that night.”
Shit. Was that what she dealt with when she went out? I couldn’t even imagine having to deal with that and it pissed me off that she had to deal with it. “That’s fucked up.”
She laughed again. “That’s called being a woman.”
“Any angry girlfriends?”
“I don’t fuck other people’s men, detective.”
Haynes held his hands up. “I meant no disrespect, Ms. Quinton.”
She shook her head to brush off his apology. “If I did it was unknowingly, and it would’ve only been for a night, maybe two. And certainly not at my home.”
His green eyes flashed but he quickly got it. “Thank you. I’ll let you know what’s going on, but you’re free to go.”
She nodded and turned to me as I wrapped my arm around her slender shoulders. “Thank you,” she mumbled and I led her away.
“Come on Cover Girl, let’s get you out of here.” I planned to take her home and get her mind off this mess, at least until morning.
***
“I can’t believe you chose tonight to work out the details of the engagement party.” Shaking my head in disbelief at all the shit she’d laid out on the dining room table.
Teddy laughed. “Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad. Besides I needed a non-naked distraction for at least a few hours,” she said but those blue eyes burned white hot as they landed on my mouth. Teddy had been insatiable over the past couple days, reaching out to me in her sleep, in the middle of a movie, or hell, even in the middle of dinner.
I knew what it was, too. Every time she got that faraway look and she wanted to banish it, she turned to me. And I didn’t mind, not one damn bit, that a beautiful woman wanted me to make her forget some pretty awful shit. She did the same for me.
“It wasn’t bad, just surprising. Whatever works, right?”
“Exactly. But now that we’ve got everything settled with the engagement party, maybe you can be what works?”
Her gaze darkened and she licked her lips, carefully setting aside lists, both handwritten and digital, and leaning her elbows on the table.
I nodded. “So you want to use me for my body?”
She nodded. “And your skills, but the good news is you can use me for my body.”
And if that wasn’t the kind of offer a man waited his whole life to hear, no one passed the message along to my cock because he was already twitching, hardening beneath the table. “And what a mighty fine body it is.” Especially the way she looked right now, no makeup and her hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail. Fresh-faced and sexy as fuck.
“Bringing out the charm?” she asked as she stood and slowly walked around the table to straddle my lap. “I appreciate it. Besides,” she licked up my neck and nibbled my ear, “you look really hot when you’re charming.”
I didn’t know what to say but she didn’t give me a chance, capturing my mouth in a scorching kiss that had me clawing at her back, squeezing her ass to get as much friction as we both wanted.
She drove me mad as she kissed me with a wild fever unlike any kiss we’ve shared, down my throat as her hands grabbed the hem of my t-shirt and pulled it up and off. Again, she licked her lips as she took in my body, even harder and more sculpted from six years of nonstop weight training.
“Like what you see, Cover Girl?”
She nodded, gaze darkening to damn near black. “Damn straight.” Before I knew it, she was off my lap and on the floor between my thighs, tugging down my zipper to set my cock free. “This,” she said with a breathless hunger that made my cock twitch. My hips lifted on their own and she pulled my pants down to my ankles, biting the tip of her tongue in anticipation before she licked my cock, over the head and up, down and all around my shaft.
“Teddy.” Her name was ripped from my lips by pleasure, by the feel of her hot, wet mouth, the slide of her tongue licking from my sac to the head of my cock. “Fuck.”
Her laughter vibrated through my dick, bringing me closer to the edge. She licked and sucked, taking me deep and pulling out until the cool air hit me and made my hips buck.
“Mmm,” she moaned and I lost it.
“Oh fuck. Teddy!” She tugged on my balls and took me deep, so deep I could feel the back of her throat squeezing the tip of my cock. “Teddy,” I warned again but she only moaned deeper and practically ate my cock as I came down her throat, my body jerked as her throat constricted around me. “Ah, fuck!”
I watched her head bob up and down, ponytail bouncing as she used her lips and tongue to bring me back to earth. “That’s next.” She stood and peeled off her shirt just as my phone rang and she froze. “Dammit.”
With a laugh, I picked up my phone. “Yeah, what’s up Max?” I listened to him talk, my hand roaming up and down the silky skin of her midsection, grazing a hard nipple. She gasped and my cock, still leaking, twitched. “Fine. We’ll be there.”
“No,” she groaned. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“Jana is freaking out so we’ve been summoned for dinner.” That was putting it mildly since Max’s words were, “Get the fuck over here and calm my girl down.”
“Oh shit!” Teddy grabbed her shirt and ran to the bedroom we’d been sharing since we first slept together. “I totally forgot to call her after the fire. She’s probably freaking out.” I found her in the bedroom shimmying into a pair of jeans and a bluish-green tunic that made her eyes pop. “Why are you just standing there? Let’s get a move on.”
With a smile I wiped off my cock and changed clothes. “Ready.”
With a grunt she marched out of the house to the passenger side of her car, tossing me the keys. “And you so owe me when we get back tonight.”
I turned over the engine and backed out of the driveway. “When we get back. You’re mine.”
“I’m holding you to that,” she said, then blasted the radio and rapped along to some shit I’d never heard before.
By the time we pulled up to Max and Jana’s, I’d gotten to hear her skills as a rapper. “Thanks for the concert.”
She rolled her eyes, took a deep breath for strength, and slid from the car. At the door she was met with a very angry and emotional best friend. “Hey babe, looking good. And a little flushed.”
I would’ve laughed if it didn’t look like Jana might kill her. “Flushed? I drove by your house on the way back from the store, Teddy, and imagine my surprise to see your whole front yard and half your house black from fire. Fucking fire, Teddy!”
Teddy opened her mouth to protest, to explain or something. Whatever it was, Jana cut her off. “No. No excuses, Theodora! I was terrified that I lost you,” she said, sniffling and exhibiting all the warning signs that tears were imminent. “Because that was the only reason I could think of why you didn’t call me to tell me what had happened.”
“Shit, Jana.” Teddy wrapped her arms around Jana, looking a little bit guilty and a little bit weary. I was damned impressed by her, comforting someone else when just twenty-four hours ago she had been the one standing there traumatized, watching her house burn. “In my defense, I was a little shaken by watching my house go up in smoke so I went home and crashed. Besides you’re pregnant and easily excitable.”
“And?” she pulled back and asked indignantly.
“And your job is to keep that little peach safe, and I’m not letting my shit interfere with that. Deal with it.” Her arms crossed and
a defiant tilt of her chin dared her friend to say anything.
But Jana was emotional as hell, and clearly still upset by what she’d seen. “And how do you think I would feel if something happened to you?” She turned to me, green eyes flaring with accusations. “And you, Tate. Why didn’t you fucking call me?”
I held my arms up and took a step back, right into Max. “I was more worried about her, honestly. She was kind of in shock after watching her house burn.”
I would’ve apologized but Jana had sucked in a shocked breath and wrapped her arms even tighter around Teddy. “Shit, I’m sorry. That must have been terrible for you, Teddy!”
Max groaned and loudly clapped his hands. Right by my ears. “All right ladies, let’s dry those tears and fill our bellies.”
And just like that, the emotions had been diffused and we sat down to a fucking feast, but all I could think about was the feast I would have later. Between Teddy’s long, silky legs.
Chapter 12
Teddy
“Thank you so much, Teddy! This day was perfect, just how I wanted.” Gillian’s eyes welled with tears that she kept expertly perched on the edge of her eyes, right where she wanted them. It was an impressive trick and I was sure it would look beautiful on camera. “This was...everything.”
“I’m happy that everything was to your liking, Gillian. You’re a gorgeous bride.” She flushed prettily and ran off to join Kip, playing the role of besotted groom to a tee. Hell, he might actually love Gillian, I didn’t know. And now that the wedding and reception were behind me, I didn’t particularly give a damn, though I was sure cameras would follow them around during their first year of marriage. Not my circus, not my monkeys. The final check had been cut and the caterers were cleaning up while the camera crews broke down their lights and other equipment.
By the time I left the ballroom, the casino sounds were just obnoxiously loud and I picked up the pace as I headed out into the chilly night air. I couldn’t stop yawning, but luckily the drive home would take less than twenty minutes with weekend traffic. But as I drew closer, I spotted a familiar figure leaning against my car. I smiled and yelled, “Hey! Get your ass off my car!”
Tate wore a mile-wide grin and pushed off the front, giving me a spectacular view of his ass while he walked around the car and pulled open the driver side door. “This ass goes where it wants. Mind if I drive?”
I slid over to the passenger side. When he was close enough, I gave those tight buns a squeeze and then I froze, looking around over my right shoulder and then my left. I had the feeling someone was watching me, but everywhere I looked revealed nothing. No faces or suspicious shadows. “Let’s get out of here.”
Tate frowned and raked a hand through his long hair. “What’s up? Didn’t tonight go well?”
“Oh, it went amazing,” I told him as he put the car in gear. “It went fantastic and I was foolishly about to say how a few days had passed since the fire and there haven’t been any incidents.”
“And now?”
I looked to him and then my gaze darted to the side mirror. Still nothing. “Now, I just had a feeling someone was watching us.” I knew it sounded crazy. I shook my head and let my gaze blur against the stop and go traffic.
“Hey, I believe you. I didn’t see anyone but I know that feeling. It’s saved my life a few times.”
I wanted to ask more, but I hated thinking about the hell he lived in for six years. “I appreciate that, but I didn’t see anyone. It was just a feeling.” I’d hoped that maybe the silence over the past few days meant they’d scared me enough, but like Tate said, that feeling is there for a reason.
“I don’t want to shit all over your good mood but usually these guys take a break before they escalate.” His white-knuckle grip on the wheel told me he hated saying it, but probably not as much as I hated hearing it.
“And you know this how?”
He shrugged. “I shared a cell with a man who stalked two ex-wives and an ex-girlfriend before he killed them all in the same night. He was able to do it by backing off for a few weeks, making them lower their defenses. When they did, he pounced.”
That sounded terrible. “They couldn’t have put you with someone normal? Just a serial killer?”
He barked out a laugh that surprised the hell out of me. He chuckled and smiled, but those bone-deep laughs were rare. And I loved the sound of them. “Since I wasn’t a woman who’d rejected him, he was a pretty nice guy. I learned a lot about a lot of shit I never wanted to know about, though.”
“Well,” I laughed because this was the most ridiculous conversation I’d ever had. “I appreciate the lesson he passed on to you. Really.” I looked around and realized we weren’t headed to his house. “Where are we going?”
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “We’re going to celebrate another successful event. Another week survived. And morning head,” he said, teasing me about the treat I’d given him before he’d barely opened his eyes.
“So, we’re celebrating the fact that you woke up with your dick in my mouth with a steak dinner?”
“I’m a simple man.”
At that I had to laugh. “You are a lot of things, Golden Boy, but simple ain’t one of them.” He was complicated as they came, but not in a bad way. “You say what you mean and you show what you feel, but there’s so much under the surface that you don’t reveal. That, my friend, is the definition of complicated.”
“Do you want steak or not?”
My lips twitched at how uncomfortable he was with the compliment. “Fuck yeah, I want steak — and lobster. But for dessert I think I’ll have some man meat.”
He laughed again as we walked inside the restaurant and I swore that sound shot straight to my core and soaked my panties.
***
“You know Teddy, it’ll only take about an hour or two to finish this thing up.” I could barely hear what the hell Tate was saying because his hand slid up and down my thigh in a slow, dragging motion. It could be the pot we smoked or the margaritas I’d made to go with the spicy beef tacos, but I was pretty sure it was just Tate.
Fucking Tate, who I didn’t see coming. I was starting to have thoughts I shouldn’t be having about any man, but especially Tate. Despite how great he was, how fucking fantastically hot he was, the man was practically family. When this thing, this hot sex we were having, ended, it would be awkward as fuck if one of us was dumb enough to catch feelings. “Fine, let’s do it soon-ish.”
“The hard part is done. Now it’s just some shading and coloring the next time you come into the shop.”
“Because it’s just that simple? You forget, I’ve been through the other stuff and it hurt like a son of a bitch, Tate.”
He chuckled, his hand grazing up and down my leg in lazy motions that shot straight to my pussy. “And that was the hard part. This will be nothing in comparison.”
And he was so damn good. How a man who’d been wrongfully imprisoned could still be a good person was baffling to me. Most of the shitty people in my life hadn’t spent one day in jail, and he was just good. And sweet. And hot. And, goddammit, I liked him.
“Hey, what’s that frown for?”
And that was a problem I wasn’t ready to deal with yet. So I relied on my old standby. “Just thinking of the best method to seduce you right now.”
He flashed that lazy, cocky grin, tugging my leg until one was draped across his lap. “These shorts are a damn good start.”
Using his shoulders for leverage I pulled myself up to a sitting position, right in his lap. “I love this seat,” I told him and ground against where he was already growing hard beneath his sweat pants. “It’s so, ah, comfortable.”
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” he bit out, eyes heavy and dark as I stood, shoving down my shorts and removing my tank top. Standing stark naked in front of the hottest man in all of Nevada, I felt my confidence swell. “Now that’s the right amount,” he practically growled and pulled me back on his lap.
Unab
le to resist, I cupped his face and kissed him hard and fast, hungry as fuck because the moment we touched my body became a greedy little slut, lapping up his taste, his substance like it was going out of style. Tonight, I couldn’t get enough.
I wouldn’t. “Fuck,” I growled against his mouth as he slid a finger deep inside me, curving it at just the right angle to make me insane. “Tate.” Head thrown back, I began to ride his hand, crying out when his lips wrapped around my nipple. Tugging hard just how I liked. “Yeah, like that!”
I felt my first orgasm pushing toward the surface and my hips moved faster and faster.
“You’re so fucking wet. My hand is drenched.”
“How about we get that cock nice and drenched?”
He let out a deep chuckle, using one hand to shove his pants down while he pushed me closer and closer to the edge. But I wanted more. I wanted his long, thick cock pounding into me. Hard, fast and rough. “Great idea.”
His smile was irresistible and I had to taste it with my whole mouth. I kissed him again, hard and hungry as he gripped his cock and ran it through my wet folds. “Oh, fuck me.”
“I intend to, Cover Girl.” And then he lined our bodies up and I dropped down onto his cock with more force than necessary, burying him so deep it was damn near uncomfortable. “Oh fuck!”
He held my hips, but this was my show. Right there on the sofa, I rode his cock like the most award-winning rodeo girl on the planet. Stroking and grinding, I rode his cock hard and fast, greedy for him in a way I couldn’t really understand. “Tate,” I moaned as the orgasm rolled to my skin, ready to shoot through every pore like a supernova.
He gripped my hips and took over, yanking my hips in a frantic up and down motion that sent my senses reeling. He grunted and growled his pleasure and that ended up being what tipped me over the edge into a fracturing orgasm that tore me apart, left me shattered and shaking while he used my pulsing orgasm to reach for his own. “Ah, fuck Teddy,” he grunted, hips still jerking up as emptied himself into my body.