The Unlucky Ones, page 27
And a lot of time to explore each other.
Then I’d come home and start classes….in criminal justice.
With a sigh only I could hear, Lincoln stepped away and took the list from Nat. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” She winked at me, getting over her shock at catching us. “Desk…nice.”
“Bye, Nat.” Lincoln waved her back toward the front.
“Remember these walls are thin,” she sang as she made her way back to the front of the bar.
“Actually, I had this room soundproofed.” Lincoln set the list on his desk, coming back around to me, cupping my face. “But I don’t want any interruptions.”
His blue eyes blazed with implication. Lincoln had prepared an explanation for when people noticed they were no longer brown. He said he was trying out colored contacts. People like Miguel and Julie totally bought it, but Nat was smarter. Her eyebrow curved up with “yeah, sure” expression, but she didn’t ask. I knew she never would say anything. She understood when to leave things alone.
Lincoln grabbed my hand tugging me off the desk. “I know of this place really close by where we could go. Finish what we started.”
“Oh really? Close, huh?”
“Really close.”
“I better not. I have to work soon, and my boss is a real asshole about me being on time.”
“He sounds like he needs to get laid.” Lincoln smirked, tugging me out of the office.
“Do you think it would help him? I don’t know; I think he’s just a dick.”
Lincoln snorted, leading me back outside, then up another set of stairs to his loft.
“Guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” He unlocked the sliding door, hustling me inside as he shut it behind him, turning to hungrily face me.
He stalked to me, his gaze already devouring me, my heart slamming against my ribs. He pressed against me, granting me the privilege to feel every inch of him.
“You’re not just going to be late for work.”
“Oh?”
“The things I have planned…you’ll have to call in sick. Maybe tomorrow too. I don’t think you will be able to move for a while.”
“My boss will be really mad,” I breathed out in a whisper.
“I think he’ll understand.” He leaned over, his words trailing down my neck as he spoke in my ear. “I am going to take my time. Taste every inch of your skin before I fuck you so deep and thorough, you won’t be able to move for a week.”
My lungs sputtered in response, my body reacting to his claim.
“And if your boss has a problem with that.” He walked me back into the bed, stripping me of my shirt and jeans. My knees hit the edge and I fell back on it, his body crawling over mine. “Then I think you need to fuck him again, to shut him up.” His lips came down, opening my mouth with a kiss so deep and intense, I didn’t think I could handle slow.
I wanted him now. I ripped off his shirt, grabbing desperately for his pants.
“No, Freckles.” He grabbed my arms and locked them above my head as his mouth started moving down my body, licking a path between my breasts. “I’m going to see how far I can push you until you break. Torture you.” He flicked the clasp of my bra and flung it to the floor, his lips wrapping around one nipple.
“Shit.” I inhaled sharply, arching my back beneath his warm tongue. I groaned as he moved to the other breast, then kissed a trail down my stomach, slipping off my underwear as he moved down my legs.
But if I thought he was kidding about torturing me, I was painfully mistaken, and I mean excruciatingly. Tying my hands to the bed frame, he toyed and played with me, keeping me on the crest of orgasm for what felt like hours, but not letting me go over. Nipping, licking, and sucking until I couldn’t see straight, then backing off.
“Lincoln. I swear to god….” I hissed, bucking against him, my entire body shaking with desire. “Retribution will be tenfold on you.”
“It’s one payback I will look forward to.” He winked, and slid his fingers out of me as he crawled back between my legs. “Sounds as if you are getting a little cranky.”
“Asshole,” I said as my legs wrapped around him, squeezing, needing to feel him. “Please…” I was not above begging.
“Say it.” His thumb moved around my core, a smirk dancing on his lips as severe coiled pleasure through my body. “If you want it dirty, you need to ask for it.”
The moment he smiled, I remembered almost the exact phrase coming out of his mouth the day we met. Even then, he seemed to recall exactly what made me cry out.
He dragged himself back and forth across me, creating pulsating friction that made me whimper.
“If you’re gonna live out the fantasy of being with a bad boy, then tell me what you want.”
“Fuck me,” I demanded, almost angrily. “Now. Fuck me. Hard.”
He grinned, untying my hands. As they dropped down, tingling from blood loss, he thrust into me, parting my lips in a full cry that clogged my throat. The pleasure of him ripped air from my lungs.
His teeth bit into the flesh of my shoulder, both of us freezing as if it were too much for our bodies to handle. Two weeks of waiting had clearly been far too long. “Fuck…” He started to roll his hips, slowly, moving over me, biting his bottom lip. “Jesus, Freckles…you feel so fuckin’ unbelievable.”
He picked up the pace, my desire matching his with even more need. Noises and a string of nonsensical words spouted from my mouth in between my demands for more. More of him. More of everything.
Heat started to build in my stomach, filling every limb with electricity. I didn’t want it to ever end but couldn’t stop the chase, the high almost in my reach.
The bed slammed against the wall, our bodies frantic as cries filled the room. Sweat dampened my skin, my eyes shutting as I felt myself tighten around him.
“Open your eyes, Freckles. Remember I prefer them on me.”
I lifted my lids as he grabbed my leg, hitching it higher, plunging even deeper, hitting my G-spot. I exploded beneath him.
I clenched down, and he roared as my body greedily took from him. He thrust so hard and spilled deep inside me. Another quake rattled through my nerves, ripping me from my body. Bliss. So much, it was as if I no longer existed, where nothing could touch me but utter pleasure.
Slowly, reality seeped back around me, my chest heaving to be filled, my heart still hammering under my rib cage. Lincoln breathed heavily, his body still slumped over me. Still inside me. A dazed smile wobbled his mouth.
“Damn, Freckles.” He leaned over kissing me, his voice husky. “I think I blacked out there for a moment.” His lips brushed mine again. “That was…” He shook his head.
I had no words either. None of them felt worthy of what it was. If I thought it was intense and earth-shattering before…it was only getting more powerful between us.
Leaning up, my mouth took his, claiming him with everything I felt. Instantly, I felt him start to harden inside me, his mouth demanding, his fingers digging into my hair.
“I warned you.” He nipped my bottom lip, launching a surge of desire down my spine. “You’re not only not making it into work tonight, but you might be bedridden tomorrow too.” He tilted his hips forward, moving us together, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. “And damn you for giving me whatever you got.”
“Do you think my boss will be okay with it?” My hips lurched with his, parting his mouth in a groan. “He might fire me.”
“If he had any idea how you feel? What you feel like wrapped around his dick?” His throat was husky with desire. Lincoln set his arms on either side of my head, our tempo unhurried, but if it were possible, even deeper. “He’d demand you stay right where you are.”
“Look at that, my boss does lighten up after he gets laid.”
Lincoln chuckled, sending a vibration through me that twisted up to a slow building heat, clipping my breath. As his mouth commanded mine, I knew nothing else in the world mattered. Death and loss forced you to really understand what was important in life. What to hold on to. Life would always deliver ups and downs. But in this moment, being with him right now and sharing a life so full of possibilities, my heart felt free. Happy.
Chance. Fate. Whatever it was that made him walk into the bathroom on such a horrific day, I didn’t care. Out of the bleakest points in my life, when I was drowning, a force brought me back to the surface. A single light in the darkness.
I had a long way to go, but it was the first time I felt real hope. A life that was mine. A future to discover. And a man to love with all my heart. I planned on doing it. A lot.
I was one of the lucky ones.
Epilogue
Fifteen months later
Puffy white clouds passed over the lowering sun, a chill running down my spine. Shadows darkened the tombstones lined out before me as my fingers brushed at the dirt collecting inside the carved letters.
Alyssa Ann Thorpe
“Happy birthday, Mom.” I squatted down, laying a bundle of tulips—her favorite flower—on her grave. Tears stung the back of my lids, emotion choking the words in my throat. “Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve come to see you.” I cleared my throat, blinking up at the darkening sky. “But I doubt you’re here anyway.” I believed deeply in Chief Lee’s sentiment that Dad and Mom were together somewhere, soaring like eagles, pieces of their souls finding each other.
Amelia, Mia, and I had visited her grave a few times after she first passed, but my schedule was crazy lately, and our visits became more infrequent. Amelia didn’t mind; she hated cemeteries. “Mom isn’t even there,” she’d argue.
Without thinking, I’d driven here today, needing to talk to my mom. Even if she wasn’t really here, I wanted to be close to her. Share my news. Somedays the ache of missing her was so much I could hardly breathe. Both Mom and Dad should be here. Dad would especially be proud.
“So much has changed.” I wiped my eyes, sitting down cross-legged on the ground. “Amelia is doing so well. She and Mia are living in a small place near the salon; it’s cute and safe. Amelia’s one of the most popular stylists at the salon now and is actually dating a guy I like. He treats her well but doesn’t put up with her shit, which is exactly what she needs. He absolutely adores Mia, which is nice because Zak, that worthless piece of crap, refused to help out. Amelia sued for sole custody. He didn’t even try and fight. Mia may want to know him down the road, but for now he’s out of her life. Mia has grown so much. Smartest girl in second grade. Stubborn and so freaking inquisitive. She looks so much like Dad, especially when she gets mad.” I laughed at the memory of Amelia and me cracking up when Mia’s face pinched identically to Dad’s. “She has tons of friends, and scarily, a boyfriend or two. There she takes after Amelia.”
I zipped up my coat against the particularly chilly day.
“You’d also be so thrilled to know Lucy has moved in with Uncle Gavin. He’s still Uncle Gav, and tight lipped about his feelings, but I’ve never seen him smile so much. He’s really happy, and Lucy is the best thing that ever happened to him. After Lisa, we know how much he deserves it.” My uncle told me at Christmas when they came to see us, Lucy had officially moved in with him and Max, even though unofficially she pretty much had been since the summer. To watch them together, his eyes tracking her with overflowing love, burst my heart with happiness. And as I thought, no one at the precinct cared they were an item.
“And me…” A smile tugged at my mouth.
So much in my life had changed. I had South American stamps in my passport and was already planning to put European ones in it later in the summer. But school and the police academy had pretty much taken every waking minute of my time. I lived an apartment with other students for the summer, taking classes, going to a few parties, meeting new people, but it didn’t take long to realize it wasn’t for me. I had never been a party girl, but the freedom of not worrying about everyone’s bills was refreshing. My roommate probably wouldn’t consider me “living” in the dorms, since most nights I was curled in someone’s bed across town. When my roommate first met Lincoln, she told me, “Girl, if I ever see you here, I will be disappointed in you. I would never leave that man’s bed.” Some days it was a tempting idea.
“I never imagined I’d be here, but now that I am…I can’t imagine doing anything else.” I shook my head in awe. “I know it’s going to be so much work, and I’ll think about quitting a hundred times a day at first, but I made it this far. I survived the academy. Top of my class.” My voice went soft. “I think you and Dad would be proud.”
The police academy had been twenty-one weeks of hell. Every muscle and bone were in agony all the time, I cried more times than I’d care to admit, and had obtained so many “war” wounds, I had to take ice baths. It was brutal and unforgiving. Physically and mentally it broke you. But I kept my dad’s image in my head, hearing his encouraging words, pushing me forward, knowing I had the strength and stubbornness to make it through. And this was easy compared to what was ahead of me.
“I start field training tomorrow.” I gulped, my nerves bundling in my stomach, recalling stories from my dad and uncle about how hard a field training officer could be on rookies. Today, I had a walk-through and met the captain and the rest of the station. My FTO gave me a gift, which I had to wear every day for two weeks, no matter the weather. Let the hazing begin.
“Can you believe it? I’m a rookie cop.” Uncle Gavin has been such a help with all my questions. He put in a good word for me at the Albuquerque station, where I was starting tomorrow. It would be a lot of grunt work, but everyone had to start at the bottom and work their way up. Eventually I wanted to be a detective, but it was years down the line.
My cell buzzed in my pocket, and I tugged it out of my coat, a smile spreading my mouth into a goofy grin.
Get your ass home now, Freckles. Lincoln’s text lit up my screen. I have plans for you before work.
Heat rapidly filled my limbs. Standing, I brushed the dirt off my pants.
Home.
After the summer, I had moved in with Lincoln. He said it would help me save money because I had to quit the bar, focusing on school and the academy, but we both knew the truth. Besides me being there all the time anyway, we couldn’t get enough of each other. At the end of the day, I wanted to crawl into bed with him. Our time was sparse recently, and neither of us wanted to waste it playing games. Well, not those kinds of games. If my mother’s disease and my father’s death taught me anything, it was to go after what you want. Life could take it all from you in a moment. I didn’t want to live in fear of Alzheimer’s or being shot on the job and not enjoy the time I had. Life was unforgiving and cruel, so when it gave you something wonderful, you had to grab it.
“Happy birthday, Mom. I’ll be back soon. I love you. Tell Dad I love and miss him so much too.” I touched her headstone and turned back to Lincoln’s Bronco, which he’d let me borrow, climbed in, and raced home to the man I loved.
Jogging up the stairs to my loft, all the metal dangling off my uniform pants clicked together. One light was on in the living room, giving the room a shadowy glow.
“Lincoln?” I zipped off my jacket, hanging it on an exposed pipe we used for a coatrack.
“Officer Thorpe…” His gravelly voice came from the other side of the room. I turned toward the bathroom. He leaned against the frame, water dripping off him, only wrapped in a towel, displaying every inch of hard muscle. “Just barging in here? I hope you have a warrant.” He rubbed his beard, raising one eyebrow.
My tongue slid over my lip, desire roasting every nerve. “I don’t. But it’s your word against mine. Who do you think they’ll believe? A cop or an ex-criminal?
“Wow.” He shoved off the wall, stalking up to me, his gaze roving me hungrily. “I see I’m dealing with a dirty cop. Maybe I can offer something then. A bribe, maybe?”
Need coiled through my body. The subtle note of reality, the line we were walking, the truth that penetrated the game, blurred the lines of fiction beneath the game and made my blood sizzle.
“I’m not that kind of cop.”
“Oh, I think you are.” He stepped up to me, smelling fresh from the shower. His fingers tugged at the bottom of my shirt, his eyes rolling over the gift I was given today at the station, a T-shirt. Over my heart was printed: Albuquerque Police Department. In bold giant letters on the back was: Rookie. All of us newbies had them on today, and I didn’t doubt we would be wearing them until we proved ourselves.
“Barely a rookie and already so dirty.” He leaned in so close his breath slunk down my neck. “What can I do for you to look the other way, officer?” His mouth skimmed my throat, slamming desire through me.
I gripped the metal hanging from my belt, curling my fingers around the handcuffs. “You know I can arrest you for bribing an officer.”
“I haven’t even gotten to the enticing part…but those will definitely be part of it.” He pointed at the handcuffs then tugged at his towel, letting it drop to the floor.
At the feeling of his bare skin, his erection pulsing against my hip, I could no longer think, raw craving taking over.
Using a maneuver I learned at the academy, I grabbed his arms, stepped my foot between his, and twisted us around. With a shove he fell back on the bed, fire igniting his blue eyes as I climbed on him, straddling his legs.
“Damn! That was hot.” His hands knotted into my hair, yanking me down until our mouths collided. My blue police slacks and sweatshirt itched against my skin. I unbuttoned my pants, sliding them off with my shoes and socks, then stripping my shirt over my head. He pressed his hands to my hips, grinding me against him, the thin fabric of my underwear the only thing keeping him from entering me.
“I may not be the good cop, but I’m not so easily paid off.” I snatched the cuffs from my pants, looming over him. “And I’m kind of into torture.”
