Clothing the Naked Sheriff [Celestial Nights 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Rebecca Joyce

  “Fuck you,” Ace growled, lightly dancing around the ring.

  “Oh, Princess, you could have had this body easily this morning, but instead you want to fight for it. So your wish is my command. Come get it, baby,” Pisces taunted with a wave of his leather-gloved hand, and then shouted, “Music, Hercules!”

  Instantly the sounds of M.C. Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This” were heard through the gym sound system. Getting into the groove, Pisces shuffled and danced around Angelica, making her work for what she wanted. While she jabbed and missed, Pisces watched her movements. He had to give his Princess kudos. His beloved knew what she was doing. Light on her feet and swift with her hands, she would have made a great fighter. However, Pisces didn’t care about her sporting attributes. He wanted in between her legs. She was stunning. Her white-blonde hair was pulled back into a braid that fell down her back. Her milky skin, unmarred of blemishes. Her breasts, full and luscious, bounced gently in the black sports bar she wore. Yet it was her long legs that led to the promise land, stopping at the most perfect, juicy ass in Celestial.

  Oh yeah, Daddy’s gonna get me a taste of that!

  The bell rang… Round one ended. Moving to his respective corner, he waited patiently as the longest thirty seconds in history slowly ticked by, when an idea came to him. Yeah, he knew it didn’t happen often, but when clarity presented itself, Pisces knew not to pass it up.

  “I was thinking—” he started when Angelica interrupted him.

  “A first for you?”

  Ignoring her comment, Pisces began again, “Anyway, like I was saying. I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

  “The wrong foot, the wrong block, the wrong universe.”

  The bell rang… Round two started.

  Pisces kept his gloves up and tried to measure the woman before him. He attempted a right jab, and thud. Leather met leather. Pisces easily blocked her punch with his gloves. He countered with a left hook to her jaw, and she crumpled to the canvass on her knees. Dancing around her, he said, “How about a date?”

  Angelica rose to her feet, lightly shook her head, and then asked, “Why would I want to go out on a date with you when all you need is yourself?”

  “That’s true, I am irresistible,” Pisces replied just as Angelica sucker punched him in the stomach and then, with a right upper cut, struck him on the side of his face.

  “You are such a narcissistic bastard.”

  “Hey!” Pisces shouted back. “I’m no bastard. Momma put Daddy’s name on my birth certificate when I was born.”

  “Oh yeah, what was his name, Albert Einstein?” Angelica asked sarcastically.

  Pisces straightened, and clearly said, “No, his name is John Doe.” Angelica lunged with another upper cut straight to the underside of his jaw.

  Okay, that stung a bit, Pisces thought, moving his jaw around. “So what do you say, Princess, you and me, tomorrow, a date?”

  The bell rang… Round two ended.

  Moving to his respective corner, Pisces watched as Ace took several deep breaths. He was wearing her down. She was exerting too much energy moving about the ring, and if his calculations were right, within the next round, she would start making mistakes. A simple rookie mistake, but he would forgive her for that. When he had her beneath him, writhing in ecstasy, he would offer to give her a few pointers to better her skills. Until then, he planned on keeping all of his trade secrets to himself.

  “So what’s your answer?” Pisces asked.

  The bell rang… Round three started, and Angelica came out fighting. She was tenacious, that was for sure, but the moment she shifted her weight, Pisces didn’t hesitate and jabbed a quick punch to her nose and then a hook to her jaw.

  Stunned, Angelica fall backward and landed on her ass. “That is not going to get you a date, asshole.” Getting to her feet, Pisces leaned against the ropes and waited for her to regain her balance. However, when he heard her growl, Pisces laughed and jumped out of the way. Angelica came out swinging wildly, and Pisces covered up with his gloves and blocked her punches. He could feel some of her punches against his forearms. He was right. She was losing some of her traction. Pisces countered with an uppercut, but Ace didn’t go down. Impressed, Pisces braced for her glove as she flushed his skin, barely touching his jaw. “Come on, Angelica. One date.”

  “You want to date me? Then tell me what my favorite song is.”

  Huh?

  Pisces was struck stupid, and before he could recover, Ace landed a hard blow to his face. Taking a few steps back, Pisces felt a light trickle of blood. Raising his glove to his nose, he wasn’t surprised to see the red wetness. However, he was surprised that she had just given him an in.

  The bell rang… Round three ended.

  “Let me get this straight. If I guess your favorite song, you will go out on a date with me?”

  “Yeah. I’m here for the next three days, until the bureau apprehends Mr. Hummel. You’ve got three days to figure it out. If you do, then I will uphold my end of the bargain and go out on a date with you. However, if you fail, you will never contact me again. You will erase me from your memory. I don’t want a text, tweet, private message, a letter, a phone call, nothing from you ever again. Agreed?”

  The bell rang… Round four began.

  Walking toward the center of the ring, Pisces said, “Three days? Then I get three chances.”

  “No, you get one,” Ace said, taking another swing at him but missing.

  “No, three days, three chances. Do you know how many songs there are on this planet? It’s going to be like picking a needle out of a haystack. Three chances or I make it my life’s mission to mount you.”

  “Fine, but in the meantime, you will help with this case. No gimmicks, no harassment. I want total respect and manners. Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” Pisces said as his leather glove connected with two quick straight jabs to her face. Ace fell to her knees, her head down. She looked up, and Pisces could see blood streaming from her lips. She appeared confused, her eyes circling, attempting to focus. With one last swing, Pisces lightly touched her forehead, and Ace fell backward. Smiling, he bent over her, and said, “Oh, Princess Sugar-Britches, it’s going to be so much fun claiming you.”

  However, before he could move away, Angelica swiped her leg around, throwing Pisces flat on his back. Winded, Pisces was about to roll away when his Princess did the unthinkable. Rising from her stupor, her right elbow connected with Henry.

  All the stars in the universe converged and sucked the air out of his lungs. His Princess played dirty. Rolling to his side, he cupped his best friend, gasping for air. Pisces barely heard the bell ring or felt when Angelica knelt over him. But he did hear her clearly when she said, “Three chances, Pisces, and then I’m gone forever.”

  * * * *

  Ace emerged from the gym only to run into Landon. Ace felt like hell, and the fat lip she was sporting angered her more than anything else. Who the fuck hits a woman? A conniving bastard that’s who. And what the fuck was up with agreeing to his idiotic request! God damn, Ace, you really are losing it. Running up to her, Landon grabbed her face and asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. What are you doing in town?” she asked, trying to avoid the conversation altogether. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her hurt, but for some reason the look in his eyes and the way he had turned all aggressive worried her. Landon was good at hiding his emotions, yet, right now, he was concerned and looked rather pissed that she was hurt. He was confusing her, and she didn’t like it.

  “I’m looking for Pisces.”

  Nodding her head toward the gym, she replied, “He’s inside, holding his balls.”

  Landon quirked his eyebrow up, and smiled. “He do that to your face?”

  Touching her fat lip, she said, “Nothing that I can’t handle. Look, I’m heading back to the house after I pick up a few things. I’ll see you there.”

  “Okay, sure. Uh, Ace, you need me to come with you?”
r />   “No, I’m good. Go make sure your lover boy’s jewels are intact. I think I hit him pretty hard.”

  “Oh God, Henry!” Landon shouted, and ran for the building as if death was nipping at his heels. Angelica didn’t want to know who the fuck Henry was, but if Landon’s concern was her only hint, she already knew. That kinky bastard Pisces had named his dick.

  Dropping her duffle in the backseat, she locked up her vehicle and walked the few feet to Starshine’s Cosmic Emporium.

  Celestial’s only grocery store carried everything and anything. It was more like a mini Walmart, without the rollbacks. Making her way down the aisles, she surveyed most of the items and wondered if she had walked into a drug dealer’s dream. Picking up a small bottle, she read the tag. “Dragon’s blood?”

  Putting the bottle back, she slowly moved to another and quietly said, “Goblin semen, what the hell?”

  “Can I help you find something?”

  Turning on a dime, Angelica shouldn’t have been shocked to run into another hulking man with looks that belonged on the cover of GQ Magazine. Holy Hell, this town had an abundance of hot hunky men, and though it churned her stomach to admit, that even included the naked sheriff. The man before her was tall, muscular, with a dark caramel tan. His jet-black hair was in desperate need for a cut, but the shaggy look worked well with his strong bone structure. However, it was his sparkling Caribbean-blue eyes that seemed as if they were glowing, totally mesmerizing.

  Gathering her wits, Ace replied, “Yeah, I’m looking for IcyHot packs.”

  “I’m Helios. Welcome to my store. So, your body’s sore?” His voice purred seductively, and every nerve in Angelica’s body went into overdrive. Holy fuck, he could get her off just by talking! What a voice.

  Angelica blinked a couple of times and took a deep breath, saying to herself, “Come on, Ace, and stay on track here.”

  “I just got done fighting the sheriff in the ring. I’m not sore right now, but I will be in a couple of hours. Do you have any?”

  “No, I’m sorry. This store doesn’t carry any of world’s commercial poisons. I run an all-natural establishment that boasts only the best of Mother Nature’s cures. If you will follow me, I know what will ease you.”

  Well fuck! He was just a loony as the rest of them. What a shame, too.

  Nodding, Angelica didn’t give a damn what Mother Nature created, as long as it helped with her sore muscles in the morning. As it was right now, her lip was throbbing, and her body desperately needed a hot bath. The sooner she got her cure, the sooner she could get out of this crazy place.

  She was about to follow the gorgeous man, when she heard someone shout, “Warrior goddess! Oh thank the cosmos I found you.” Ace looked around just in time to see the perky blonde woman from the night before come barreling toward her with her coven of witches in tow.

  What the hell now! What was her name again? Freckle? Fern? Fairy! Fairy was her name.

  “Many blessings, warrior goddess.” Fairy bowed. “But I need your counsel once more.”

  “Huh?”

  “Got a few minutes, I really need to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “Well, I tried what you suggested, and it didn’t work.”

  “What didn’t work?”

  “The honey and the beekeeper.”

  “Oh, yeah, the cheating bastard boyfriend who slept with your sister,” Ace quipped more to herself, the asked. “So what happened?”

  “Well, I did like you suggested. I called Buzzy’s, and he said he would help. So after I picked him up—”

  “Hold on,” Angelica said, interrupting Fairy, and asked, “Who’s Buzzy?”

  “Oh, his name is actually Walter Fescue Stinger, but we all call him Buzzy. Anyway, he runs Buzzy’s Bee Farm. Like I was saying, after I picked Buzzy up, we went to see Apollo, but nothing happened. He didn’t repent.”

  “Did you put the honey on his penis and let the bees swarm him?”

  When Fairy blanched and turned white, Angelica knew the woman didn’t understand and totally misunderstood the meaning of “payback’s a bitch with a stinger.” Taking a deep breath, Ace asked, “Fairy, what exactly did you do with the honey?”

  “I gave it to Apollo. He told me thank you, and then he and Buzzy had a few drinks.”

  Closing her eyes, Angelica took a deep long breath and tried to explain to herself that Fairy was an innocent human being and that shouting at the naive woman wasn’t going to accomplish anything. After centering herself, Angelica opened her eyes and calmly asked, “Okay. Do you still want him punished?”

  “Oh yes. He was vile in his endeavor with my sister, and he should weep from the discord and strife he caused. Only a true repentance will free his soul from the madness which lives within.”

  “Yeah, sure, Fairy. Here’s what I want you to do.”

  After Angelica gave explicit instructions, she braced herself, knowing that Fairy was going to hug her again. It wasn’t that she minded. It was just that she hadn’t had that kind of physical attention in years. It was kind of unsettling. Soon, Fairy and her coven scampered off, and Angelica when in search of the beautiful man who was trying to help her. She didn’t have to look far, for he stood by watching the whole scene.

  “Weird, I know,” Ace said sheepishly, and the man grinned.

  “Actually no, it was very sweet of you to help Fairy. Apollo has done her wrong, and he does need to pay,” the man said roughly. Ace looked up at the man and recognition set in.

  “You’re in love with her.”

  The man blushed and nodded. “I have been from the moment I moved here, but she only has eyes for Apollo.”

  “Who is this cretin anyway? I mean, a man who would cheat on a sweet girl like Fairy with her sister is just a loser.”

  “Apollo Humperdinck is the mayor of Celestial, and he runs the Rainbow Room.”

  “The mayor?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow.”

  “Exactly, he does have the wow factor and then some.” The man blushed.

  “Oh good lord, you’re in love with him, too!”

  “Does it show?” His blush deepened.

  “Like a fucking halogen light. Just show me where this cream is. I need a break from the crazy around here.”

  Laughing, Helios simply said, “I like you. You say what’s on your mind, as if you have no filter. You’re going to fit right in around here. Come, what you need is this way.”

  Chapter Eight

  The sun was setting as Angelica lounged in the oversized bathtub. God, she felt like total shit, but thanks to Helios, that bubble bath he sent her home with was working wonders on her sore muscles. Of course, she didn’t have one clue as to what was in the homemade brew, but she didn’t care. That shit worked better than BENGAY and IcyHot packs. She had no clue how long she stayed in the tub, nor did she care. She was in ten kinds of la-la-land. Add in the fact that the water never got cold, and well, if there was a real heaven on earth, she was smack dab in the middle of it. Hell, she was half-tempted to call in some movers and take the damn tub home with her.

  Her nerves were still rattled about the hug that Fairy gave her, and the warm welcome she seemed to be receiving everywhere she went in town. She wasn’t used to it and at first it made her feel uncomfortable, but the longer she stayed in town, and the more the town’s residents were kind to her, she began to feel something.

  Growing up in Denver’s foster care system, she never felt that pull of sisterly or brotherly love. She had no clue who her parents were, because thanks to dear ole mom, she was left at a local firehouse, wrapped in a towel, only two days old. After spending the first two weeks of her life in a St. Angelica’s Hospital, she was handed over to Denver’s Department of Children Services, with a new name thanks to the staff at the hospital.

  She would have thought that some family out there would have wanted to adopt a newborn, but apparently, that wasn’t the case. After a few years, she realized that wh
ile she saw many kids come and go, finding a family wasn’t in her cards. She was destined to live alone and make her own way in this cruel world. That was when she decided to study and study hard. School was everything to her, and she excelled at almost everything she did.

  As she grew older, she worked overtime to accomplish what most kids took twelve years to accomplish. She managed to graduate early, a full two years early, and with her high school diploma in hand, she walked to the nearest university and enrolled in class and participated in the university’s work program. She had just turned seventeen and was all on her own, and thanks to a seasoned counselor, he helped Angelica choose a degree program and the rest was history.

  Through it all, she never had a BFF, a bestie, no one, just herself. She chose not to be encumbered in all the drama of teen angst, and thank god for that. She hated those whiney teenyboppers and their ways. She had a goal, and nothing was going to stop her from getting what she wanted. Moreover, she thought she had gotten it all when she graduated from the Federal Academy. Her first assignment was in her hometown, and lo and behold, she was partnered with a legend. She knew everything about Agent Landon Michaels, and couldn’t wait to absorb as much as she could from him. However, that was not the case.

  At first, he avoided her like the plague, and then instead of calling her Angelica or Agent Emerson, he gave her the nickname of Ace. A man’s name. Brushing off the disappointment, she accepted the name change. But what came later was harder.

  Angelica was a female for all intents and purposes, and as such, yes she may have not known who Gucci was until her college years, but she learned and learned fast. She wasn’t really into fashion, but she did like to dress nice. When she first started at the Denver Bureau, she wore some of the nicest clothes she had ever known. But after a few weeks, she realized that her clothing choices were deterring her abilities and those of the other male agents. So, doing away with the tailored skirts and heels, she chose to conform and fall in line with wearing slacks and sensible shoes. Her hair was no longer free, but tamed in a tight bun at the base of her neck. Forgoing her favorite perfume, she would just roll on some speed stick and be done. Hiding herself was never a problem for her. She had done it most of her life. Yet, no matter how she dressed down, the beauty queen stigma followed. No matter, she overcame and adapted, and for the last four years, she was finally making a name for herself. She was happy, or at least she thought she was.