Hart & Stocker

by Max Ellendale

  "Oh my God. Are you a phone sexer? You seem like you've done this before." I covered my face with my free hand and she laughed hard.

  "I haven't. You're different."

  "So are you."

  "Answer my question."

  "You are very bossy," I teased, moving the camera back to my upper half. "You know that?"

  "I do. You like it."

  "Yeah. I know."

  "We're bossy equally sometimes," she said, her eyes softening again. "Do you have a busy day tomorrow?"

  "We are. A routine day. It's puppy season so a lot of new patients come in. When you come home tomorrow, why don't you come to my place? I'll have dinner ready…"

  "Will you?" Her brows lifted, and now it was her cheeks that tinged pink.

  "I will." A smile settled on my lips and made its way to my heart.

  Dax's attention shifted and she lowered the phone a fraction. "Baby, I think our warrant is about to drive up. I'll text you when I'm heading back, okay?"

  "Okay. Be careful," I said, biting my lip because I wanted to say so much more.

  "I will. Sleep naked so I can think about you."

  I laughed at that, and settled into the pillows, then pulled the blanket up to my shoulders. "I'm already there. G'night, Dax."

  "Night, babe."

  The video chat closed, and I set my phone down. My smile never left as I settled into the cool sheets. Despite the fact that I slept alone, I didn't feel as such. Of course, I worried about Dax being in a dangerous career, though I was grateful that she had a colleague with her in that moment. A change came over her recently, and her true personality began to emerge. Dax's confident, strong demeanor lifted me up and made me want more with her. Thoughts like that weren't usual for me. Mom's criticism of my flighty nature annoyed me mainly because it was true at times. Though now, building a life with Dax felt like something I could do. Something I could get used to.

  With only thoughts of the future in my mind, I drifted into a restful sleep.

  ***

  Dax's warrant hadn't turned out the way she wanted, and she got held up in Seattle for a second day as well. That night, I waited for her to call like the night prior, but I fell asleep, my phone clutched in my hand, wearing nothing but a towel after yet another end of day shower. My last thought saddened me as it was about missing the opportunity to have Dax come home to dinner at the apartment.

  I woke up at some point in the night, my room almost pitch black, to the sensation of the bed sinking by my hip. Panic struck my chest, but before it could manifest, cool arms wrapped around my naked torso as lips pressed my cheek. The smell of Dax's shampoo brought an immediate smile to my groggy exterior.

  "Dax."

  "Hi, baby," she whispered, her hand sliding across my stomach. "Go back to sleep."

  "What time is it?" I croaked, nuzzling her as she lowered herself over me, the blankets pushed aside at some point during my overheated sleep.

  "Two in the morning." She kissed my neck, and the grip of her gun brushed my inner thigh as she lay between my legs. The weight of her soothed me and I hugged her, my face buried in her hair.

  "I missed you, honey."

  "I missed you, too." She licked and nipped my shoulder, sending deep shivers up and down my body. "I'm so tired, but you're so delicious when you're sleepy."

  "Am I having a dream?" I tensed suddenly when her jeans rubbed against my pussy as she moved her hips. "Do you have a penis?"

  "What?" She laughed softly against my shoulder. "Are you sleep-delirious?"

  "I think so." I smiled and rubbed my hands up and down her torso. "Let me feel you. I need to feel you."

  Her body shifted above me, and the thud of her gun falling to the nightstand had me envisioning her stripping out of her clothes. I writhed at the thought of her fully naked body pressed against mine. When the heat of her returned to me again, her breasts met mine and the heat of her bare thighs between my knees had me gasping. She still wore panties and socks, as I could feel them when I writhed under her. My clit sprung to life with unexpected vigor and I nearly lost my breath when she moved against me, perhaps by accident.

  "No peeking," she said, her finger against my lips.

  "Dax." I sucked in my breath as the ache of a budding orgasm rose of its own accord. "Ah."

  "What's wrong?" she asked, her lips against mine after she kissed me.

  "I...I'm gonna come." I gasped, my fingers digging into her back as my body erupted without any instigation. "Dax." A moan tangled on her name as the climax spread to my fingers and toes, lifting my hips against hers. She claimed my mouth as goosebumps rushed my flesh, and my breath shuddered as it left me.

  "Mmm. Delirious half-sleep orgasms? Wow, baby."

  "I-I don't even know how that happened." I ran my fingers through her hair, unable to see her in the darkness which gave me the liberty to explore all of her. Soft, sweet solace settled around me and all I could do was hug her. The weight of her body pressed on me and she kissed my neck. My body melted into the comfort of the plush bedding, and the delicious warmth of safety lulled me back to sleep.

  Chirping birds and bright sunlight disturbed me the way it did every summer morning since I'd moved back to Sequim. I peeked open my eyes and found Dax asleep with her head on my stomach. Her hair spread up my torso, a single strand circling my breast. When I breathed, she lifted with my stomach and the hot palm of her hand on my inner thigh had me bargaining with the universe that this moment would last.

  I ran my fingers through her hair as my eyes wandered over her nearly naked form. She wore nothing but a pair of purple boyshorts, and the expanse of her hip-to-knee tattoo exploded to life under the morning sun. She stirred when I traced the curve of her ear, and rolled forward so that her lips pressed against my stomach. I couldn't see her face, so I wasn't sure if she'd opened her eyes. The way she stroked my thigh with her thumb, and how her lips moved over my flesh had my stomach quivering. When my breath sharpened, she turned her head to meet my gaze.

  "Morning, honey," I said, my voice groggy. "I had a weird dream."

  "Morning." She yawned, her body curling up in a fetal position against me when she must've felt her nakedness. "What was it about?"

  "You coming home after work in the middle of the night. And I got off when you hugged me." I stretched, then ran my fingers through her hair again.

  Dax chuckled, leaning into my caress. "That wasn't a dream, Willa. You were half asleep when I got home last night."

  "Oh." Confusion narrowed my brow. "Did I really come from a hug?"

  "Yes." She grinned, her eyes shimmering in the morning light. "You also asked me if I had a penis."

  "I did not."

  "You did." Now she laughed hard, raking her teeth over the angular bone of my pelvis. "For the record, I don't have a penis."

  "I'm aware!" I covered my face and laughed. "How'd you get in the house by the way?"

  "I picked the lock." She rolled on her side, her chin resting on my stomach again but her hand pressed up my thigh. "We need to get you a deadbolt."

  "Or get you a key—oh." I sucked in my breath when her fingers brushed my clit.

  "You're sensitive in the morning, I noticed," she said, and I felt her belly flutter against my knee. "What time do you have to be at work?"

  I nodded. My whole body always felt sensitive when I woke up naked. "Nine. What time is it?"

  "Eight-thirty," she said, shifting her position so that she lay between my knees. "Just enough time for me to…" And she licked the full length of my pussy, before flicking her tongue over my clit.

  "Dax!" I gasped, grabbing fistfuls of her hair. "Oh my God."

  "I think you have a fetish about me going down on you," she said, and I about died from the way she exposed my secrets. Second only to my excitement over how much she talked to me this morning.

  "God, I do." I bit my bottom lip. "And I fantasize about doing it to you."

  She laughed, and bit down on my inner thigh. "You tell
me all your secrets in the morning." And she was gone again, devouring me with bravado that she began to show recently. With my guard down, and my core on fire, I couldn't hold back even if I tried.

  Dax's arms wrapped around my thighs as if she strapped me on to her face. The blush didn't just meet my cheeks this time, but it must've spread through the rest of me as well. I cried out her name, and I bucked against her mouth as she urged me up a strong, sharp slope toward release. Her mouth and tongue slipped against my core, and she sucked my folds firmly, one after the other until she made for my clit again.

  "I—oh!" I drew in my breath as hot, sweet ecstasy split me apart. A rush of wetness left me and I shrieked at the sensation, and the way Dax trembled as she lapped me up. I grabbed a fistful of her hair, braced my heels on the bed and bounced against her until I came a second time. A primal, lusty shout rolled from my throat and I collapsed on the bed in a heap.

  Dax let up on me then crawled up my body when I urged her so. She kissed me and I wrapped my arms and legs around her while I attempted to catch my breath.

  "I so badly want to do that to you," I whispered against her ear.

  "You will." She smiled, her expression more relaxed than it'd ever been. "But right now, you better go to work."

  "Oh my God." I glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table which told me I had less than ten minutes to show up downstairs. "I...shit. I have to go."

  "You do. With wet panties to boot." She laughed and I swatted her rear as I ran my feet up and down her smooth legs.

  "You did that on purpose."

  "I did. You'll be forced to think of me all day."

  "I already think of you all day." I dragged my finger over her cheek before brushing my knee against her core. "I want you to feel good, too."

  "I do, baby." She swatted my hip. "Make it up to me tonight."

  "Are you going home?"

  "I think I'll sleep here for a bit…"

  "Will you?"

  She nodded. "I like your bed."

  "If you stay until noon, I'll have lunch with you."

  "Deal."

  I raced around to get ready in ten minutes, and managed to make it downstairs by five after nine, with my hair dripping on my T-shirt, but I arrived.

  "How are you late when you live up the stairs?" Nellie asked as she pointed to the waiting room full of patients. "Doctor Harmon is in today too."

  "Life complications." I snatched the chart she handed me and stuck out my tongue at her.

  "Very mature." She laughed and waved me off. "Jo has your first in room two."

  "Thanks."

  And off the day went.

  In the first hour alone, puppies and kittens swarmed my ankles, or so it felt that way. Half an hour before I was due to head up to see Dax, Doctor Harmon poked his head out of exam room one.

  "Doctor Hart?"

  "Hmm?" I spun around with a pencil still clenched between my teeth.

  "Could you assist?" he asked, and my brow furrowed.

  "Sure," I said, dropping the pencil to tuck behind my ear. I handed Joanna the chart I'd just finished when she walked past, then followed Doctor Harmon into the exam room.

  "What've we got here?" I asked, leaning over the table to the little girl who held a tiny bunny in her palms.

  "I found him," she said, her big fat blue eyes gazing up at me. She couldn't have been more than six or seven. "My mom said he was gonna die."

  "Where's your mom, kiddo?" I reached for the bunny and she placed it in my hands. Doctor Harmon lifted a towel from the clean linen drawer and set it on the table.

  "At the donut shop." She pointed out the window.

  "Well then, we should probably tell her where you are. What's your name?" I let the bunny sit on the towel and he hopped a few times right away.

  "Hailey." She smiled at me, then her eyes widened when the bunny jumped a few inches from where he began. "Is he gonna die?"

  "He's doing okay right now, isn't he?" I pet the bunny, and chuckled when its nose twitched. Doctor Harmon stroked the center of his head, grinning almost as much as the little girl.

  "Yeah. Doctor Harmon said he doesn't know anything about bunnies," she said, looking at him with a furrowed brow. "Right?"

  "Right. Doctor Hart is the bunny expert," he said, and threw me under the bus.

  "Well, I wouldn't say expert, but what I do know is that this bunny is old enough to eat some greens and we can try to help him grow up. Where did you find him?"

  "Behind the greenhouse at my house," she said, leaning her chin on the table when the bunny came close to her. "He has no mom."

  "Speaking of moms, how about you and Doctor Harmon go outside and look for your mom while I get this little bunny set up with a comfortable bed?"

  "Well, if you say so." She scrunched her nose at me. "Will you tell my mom he's not gonna die?"

  "I will tell her. How did you get him all the way here?"

  "I put 'em in my lunch box." She pointed to the pink and yellow lunch bag on the floor. "He sleeps there."

  "What have you fed him?" I tried hard not to swoon over this kid's pizzazz. Her black curls bounced when she snatched up the lunch bag to show me. Inside, she had a bed of hay, and sure enough, remnants of carrots and lettuce.

  "Lettuce and carrots. He eats it. See?"

  "I do." I chuckled softly as I scooped up the bunny and wrapped him in the towel. "You did a good job of taking care of him."

  "Thanks!" She perked right up and looked to Doctor Harmon. "Okay. We can find my mom."

  "You got it." He held his hand to her after tossing his stethoscope around his neck. "Come, kiddo."

  "We'll be right back." Hailey pointed at me and I laughed.

  "Yes, ma'am." I toted the bunny to the treatment room after they left for a proper exam while Joanna looked on.

  "How long was she keeping it?"

  "Long enough for it to respond well to humans and eat greens while in her lunch bag. He looks generally healthy," I said, checking his ears first then his fur. "No fleas or ticks either."

  "She must've kept him young."

  "But old enough to not need formula. He's a cute little thing." I stroked the space between his ears. "Downstairs we have small spare cages. Grab one and fill it with hay and some greens. We'll teach them how to care for it."

  "You got it." Joanna hurried off while I played with the little rabbit.

  Joanna returned and we spent the next half an hour calming down the hysterical mother who thought her kid ran off or got kidnapped. By the end of her tenure, she agreed to harbor the orphaned rabbit until the wildlife rehabilitation folks came for it, probably out of sheer guilt for losing Hailey for a brief period.

  By the time I made it back upstairs to check on Dax, it was nearly twelve-thirty. I expected to find her either watching television or asleep in bed. Instead, she slept on the sofa, curled up in a ball with a blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Other than her face, only her sock-covered feet poked out of the blanket. As mismatched as always, she wore one red sock and one purple. I crouched in front of her, brushing her bangs from her face. The second my fingers touched her skin, her eyes shot wide open with panic and she jolted.

  "Easy, honey. It's just me." I held my hands up, showing her that I wasn't touching her, but her eyes welled up straightaway. She blinked away whatever emotion accompanied her difficult arousal, then dropped her head back on the pillow.

  "I'm sorry I scared you," I said.

  "It's okay." She pushed the blanket off her arms and she had her jeans and T-shirt back on, as well as her gun clutched against her chest.

  "Give that to me." I held my hand out for the weapon.

  "Will—"

  "Nope. I keep you safe. No guns." I wiggled my fingers and she checked the safety, as always, before handing it to me. I set it on the table by a stack of unread magazines then rolled to kneel in front of her. "I'm sorry I spooked you."

  "It's not your fault. I always wake up like that." She stretch
ed her legs, her gaze falling on me again. "Any noise or whatever."

  "When you're alone?"

  "Yeah." Her voice faded and my talkative Dax went with it. It hurt my heart to see how quickly a stroke of fear could knock her down.

  I moved up to sit on the sofa beside her, then held out my arms. "C'mere."

  She hesitated for a split second before pivoting her rear and moving in to my outstretched arms. Her legs tucked against my side and I hugged her, pressing my lips to her forehead at the same time.

  "You smell like hay," she said, and I laughed.

  "I spent the last half hour building a nest for a bunny that a kid stole from its mom. From feral to family in a heartbeat."

  "Yikes."

  "A little. Yeah. The mom thinks the girl was taking care of it for at least a week so it's separated from its mother officially. Now, it's theirs to take care of until he's big enough to be wild again," I said.

  "Kids are stupid."

  I laughed hard at that, shaking my head. "I think they're supposed to be."

  "Do you have to go back to work?" she asked, and she snaked her hand over my thigh as her body began to unlock again.

  "In an hour or so. Want to come with me? No one will notice. When I left, Nellie had no shoes on after getting a pedicure on her lunch break."

  "What will I do?"

  "You can watch me with the patients or hang out in the treatment room and play with the two puppies waiting for their owners to pick them up after work. Whatever you want."

  "Do they know who I am?"

  "I'm pretty sure everyone knows who you are, honey. If you're asking if I'll introduce you as my girlfriend, yes. They know that, too." I kissed the end of her nose and she smirked.

  "Mind reader."

  "Sometimes."

  "I'll come with you."

  "Great. But first, what do you want for lunch? Yesterday I picked up some cold cuts, or I can make tuna salad. Soup. Or whatever we can find in the fridge."

  "Sandwiches are fine. Do you have chips?" She smiled and I laughed, nodding.

  "An abundance of chips."

  "I'm in." She patted my thigh and stood, tossing the blankets off her shoulders. Her gaze flickered in the direction of her gun and I popped her on the rear.