by Jillian Neal
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, baby, it definitely is,” he flirted shamelessly and reveled in her giggle.
“Well, I look forward to seeing that, Officer Vindico.”
The Unappealing Past
It was nearing one in the morning when Fionna emerged from a hot shower, glowing pink. She blew dry her long hair, and crawled into bed beside Dan.
“Can I ask you something I already know the answer to, but I just need to hear you say it?”
Smiling down at her as he kissed the top of her head and cradled her closely, Dan nodded. “Of course.”
“Okay,” she drew a deep breath, “I know you’re not going to do this, and I’m really excited for your friend to stay here and you two to go out and hang out or whatever but…” she hesitated.
Dan leapt. “No, honey,” he shook his head, certain he’d figured her out, “I’m not going out and hanging out in a bar with Fitzroy and leaving you all alone. Fitz works long hours, but when he isn’t working, he’s home with Maddie and the boys.” Dan pled Fitz’s good character. Fionna gave him a goading grin and let him finish.
“That wasn’t what I wanted to know, but I guess I’m glad you told me that.”
Dan decided to shut up and listen, as he’d obviously completely missed the mark.
“I just sort of wanted to make sure that you weren’t going to talk about us with Fitz.” The pink glow of her face from the shower deepened dramatically, which was the clue that Dan needed.
“Honey, no.” He tried not to be offended, but then recalled Fitzroy’s question at the end of their phone call. Maybe he did need a reminder. “I’m not fifteen, Fi, and I certainly don’t kiss and tell. What we do, that’s for you and for me. As shocking as this probably sounds, coming from someone like me, I actually don’t take that lightly.” His past was haunting him yet again. “When I get you like that, baby, when we’re together with nothing between us, that’s a private show just for me and no one else.”
He wanted her to trust him. He desperately wanted her to let him have her deepest, darkest fantasies and to believe that he’d not only turn them to reality for her, but that he would never betray her. He longed to learn the deep, seductive secrets that Fionna Styler kept hidden, even from herself. He knew they were there. He just had to access them. He’d already uncovered a few, but he wanted to own them all.
“I know,” Fionna sounded thoroughly relieved, “it’s just, sometimes guys are guys, you know, and that’s all Garrett ever talks about.” Realizing that he not only had to combat his own reputation, but Garrett Haydenshire’s as well had Dan sighing dejectedly.
“Yeah, I do know.” He cupped his hand and pulled the light from the overhead light leaving only the lamp on the bedside table softly glowing. The last thing he wanted to discuss in bed with her was Garrett.
“So,” he teased, “do you think if I spend the week here with you that, at some point I might get to see your inner sanctum, Miss Styler?” He tried not to laugh at his own joke as she giggled.
“I’ve let you see more than any guy ever, and you should be able to see that again tomorrow night.” Losing his own battle, Dan laughed outright.
“Well, I’m really excited to hear that, but I was talking about the shoe closet.”
She guffawed. “It’s not just shoes.” She blushed again, a reaction Dan was quickly becoming addicted to.
“Oh yeah? You don’t have an old boyfriend tied up in there, do you?”
“No,” she sassed, “but I did threaten to tie Garrett up in there once, if he didn’t stop making fun of me for….” She abruptly stopped talking.
Dan racked his brain, trying to think of some way to get her to continue.
“Come on, baby doll, you can’t do that.”
Her giggling continued. She seemed to enjoy torturing him. “I’m dying here,” he chided, “and if you tell me and Garrett makes fun of you again, I’ll beat him up for you.”
“I do like that idea, but no more fighting with Garrett.”
“All right, fine, but tell me.”
“Okay, okay. A couple of years ago I might’ve joined a shoe-of-the-month club and a lingerie-of-the-month club for half price because I joined the shoe club… maybe.”
Dan cracked up, mostly at her adorable reaction to her own confession.
“Stop laughing at me. You’re supposed to love me.” Fionna smacked his chest with her hand, only serving to make him laugh harder.
“I do,” he vowed with a broad grin, “I really do, but I don’t think I can beat Garrett up for that.”
Fionna feigned fury, as she crossed her arms over her chest and tried to turn her abashed grin into a scowl.
“I got some really cute boots and a set of rainbow-colored G-strings,” she huffed as he tried not to cry from laughing so hard. “I said, I might’ve,” she managed just before joining in his laughter.
“You are the sweetest thing I’ve ever held in my arms, and I’ve really never been happier, Fionna,” Dan finally regained the ability to talk, as he watched her giggle and cover her face.
She immediately forgave him for his teasing laughter.
“I will only let you see my shoe closet if you don’t make fun of me, and if you pick some out, say, for me to wear to bed for you.”
Dan growled playfully as he pulled her underneath him in one quick move and kissed her heatedly. Her eyes flashed as he pulled away. She’d missed him as much as he’d missed her. The longing danced in her eyes.
“You sure you don’t want Fitz to just stay at my house, honey, because tomorrow night I want to make you scream.” His voice turned deep in his need. She panted as she considered.
“Maybe.” She wound her fingers behind his neck and pulled his lips back to hers. He consumed her mouth hungrily, sucked her tongue, and let his teeth slide over her bottom lip. He couldn’t stop it. He throbbed against her hard and so damn hungry.
“I could take care of that for you,” she offered in a seductive purr.
“No, ma’am.” He moved off of her and ordered himself not to beg her to suck him. “I only play if everybody wins.”
She stuck her bottom lip out in a delicious pout. He turned back on his side as she wriggled her body closer. His entire being was thrumming and his mind was drowned with her scent, her taste, her energy, and of the heavenly space that wrapped around him so perfectly between her legs. He leaned and whispered in her ear. His hot breath caressed her delicate neck.
“Just wait, baby; be patient for me.” He felt her body tense against his. “Just keep thinking about how good it feels when we’re together. Keep thinking about how bad I crave you, and the things I’m gonna do when we’re finally alone in here tomorrow night. All day I want you to think about me sucking you.” He slid his hands over her breasts as she panted in deep desire. She trembled and arched her back, forcing them into his firm grasp. “They’re tender, aren’t they, baby? I know. I’ll be gentle, but I’m gonna make it all better.” He massaged her breasts slowly. They were swollen and fevered. He caught her nipples between his thumb and index finger. With a light squeeze, she shook in his arms. “You just think about me running my hands all over you, tracing you, making you feel me, touching you in all of those sweet, hidden places that are all mine. I know how to make my girl so hot and wet for me. Think about how good it feels when I run my tongue over your body, and mark you where no one else will ever see.” She moaned deliciously as she gasped for breath. He traced his hands down her stomach and slipped them to her lush backside as he continued.
“I want you to think about me leaning you over this bed, honey, driving you wild until you can’t stand it anymore. I’m gonna make you scream out my name, make you tell me you want it harder. You just keep thinking about me sucking you and biting you. I want you to let it build inside of you all day, baby, until I get here, and I drink you, and spank you for being my bad girl, and make you take it until you’re so full of me you explode in my arms, and then I’m gonna do it all ove
r again,” he promised in a lust-filled rasp.
“Stop,” Fionna gasped in heated desperation. “I won’t make it through the day. I’ll crawl naked across the table at dinner, and make you take me in your seat.”
Dan tried to hide his cocky smirk as he continued to run his hands over her.
“That might be an interesting way for Fitzroy to meet you, but if you need it, baby, that’s what I’m here for.” He watched her body react to his promises. Her lips hungry and raw for his kiss, her nipples hardened and aching, her swollen curves so needy, and the tender, the wet heat that he felt gathering against his thigh drove him wild. He wanted her so badly, his entire body vibrated in desperation.
“Well, it’ll be your own fault if, when you get home, I’m splayed out on the table, in nothing but a pair of heels.”
Dan groaned as he let his mind explore the picture she’d drawn for him. “You lay out on the table in heels for me, honey, I’ll kick Fitz out so fast his head will fly, and then we’ll introduce your dining room to some naughty, naughty things.” He felt her energy continue to spin in tight, jagged spirals that needed to be soothed.
“Well, my dining room is a virgin.”
“I can take care of that, trust me.”
“You promise you’ll do everything you said?” Her tone was laced with desperation. Dan clenched his jaw, as he pictured himself doing everything he’d promised her.
“Oh yeah, honey; if that’s what you want, I’ll do each and every thing.” He felt her energy and her heart fly as he held her close.
“And I get all of that just for showing you my shoe closet?”
She didn’t seem to want to fully admit to the items that intrigued her most. She never had to tell him. As long as he knew what she wanted, he’d keep finding ways to make her happy. He chuckled, though his mind was still full of her body and what he wanted to do to her.
“Are we talking a Carrie Bradshaw-style shoe closet or not something quite so extreme?”
“Oh, my gosh! You watched Sex and the City?”
Dan grimaced. He didn’t want to dampen their extremely enjoyable bonding, but he nodded. “It was Amelia’s favorite show.”
“I knew she had good taste,” Fionna’s declaration thoroughly shocked Dan. How could she be so accepting of Amelia? She didn’t mind at all that he’d had an entire life and love before her. “I own the entire pink, leather-bound DVD collection of all six seasons, plus both movies. I keep it in my shoe closet.” Her entire being seemed to glow as he kissed her forehead and chuckled.
“What, you don’t keep them in some sort of titanium safe with a fusible lock and a retina scanner?”
She dissolved into another round of giggles. “Can you get me one of those?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“I would never ask you to watch them.” Her face fell and her laughter drowned.
“It’s fine. I will adamantly deny ever saying this if you tell anyone, but it was a pretty good show. I never actually saw how it ended.”
“Oh, right.” Fionna grimaced. Amelia had been killed before the series finale. She brushed a kiss on Dan’s chest, but then a deep yawn overtook her.
Dan had been so thoroughly enjoying their time that he’d forgotten how late it was, and that she hadn’t slept the night before.
“Go to sleep, baby, and really, if you don’t want Fitz to stay or to even come over tomorrow, I’ll dump him at my house. I’m not one of these jerks who’s gonna drop you because an old buddy of his flies into town.”
“Dan, I want to meet him, and I want him to stay here; unless that interferes with you doing all of those deliciously dirty things you just promised to do to me.”
“I might just know how to set a cast to block the sound waves from leaving this bed, so you can scream for me and I can tell you exactly what I want and how I want it, and no one else will hear us.”
With that exquisite fire still gleaming in her eyes, Fionna grinned at him. “You might’ve mentioned that before.”
Dan chuckled again. “I like to keep you guessing, Miss Styler.”
“I know.” She cuddled closer into his embrace. “I love you,” she whispered in the darkness.
“Me, too.” Dan wished, for what must have been the hundredth time, that he could say it to her with such ease. He put the worries over whatever had made her unhappy before him away, for the moment. Whatever Chloe knew about her, she could keep. He wanted her in the here and now. Their pasts were dark and debilitating. He longed to have her in the light.
It’s Complicated
~Rainer Lawson~
“You wanna grab something to eat on our way back?” Rainer asked Vindico as they headed to the parking deck at lunch the next day.
“Sure. Did you and Logan get everything Stariff needed for the trial Tuesday?”
“Yeah, he has all of the arrest information. I think that was all he was missing.” Rainer watched as Vindico shook his head and folded himself up, to get inside Fionna’s bright yellow, Pontiac Solstice.
“That’s just cruel, man. You definitely get boyfriend props for this.”
Vindico laughed, but he seemed nervous to the point of anger. “Yeah, well I should get something, that’s for damn sure.”
“I think I’ll let Fionna supply you with the rest of your prize, but I’ll let you drive the Porsche back.”
“Thanks. I need to talk to Sam about buying new cars. I’ll get her whatever she wants. This is just painful, and way too recognizable.” He gestured at the dash of the Solstice, as he spread his legs for the steering wheel to be able to turn between them.
“Just follow me.” A broad smile spread across Rainer’s face, the same one he wore whenever he heard the metallic roar and rattle that he’d come to associate with cranking his Boxster.
After several miles on the interstate and a few turns deep in Arlington, Rainer glanced in his rearview to make certain that Vindico saw him turn into the lot. He shut off the Porsche and climbed out, as Vindico extracted himself from Fionna’s Solstice, with great difficulty.
Sam was chuckling as he watched the men emerge.
“Rain man,” Sam greeted with a handshake and a smile before turning to Vindico, who was stretching his massive body from the rigors of his drive. “Please, please tell me that ain’t yo car, son?” Sam extended his hand to Vindico. “I’m Sam. You can call me Sam.”
Laughing, Vindico shook his head. “Dan Vindico, sir, and no, this is my girlfriend’s.” Rainer watched the smile form on his boss’s face from just thinking about Fionna. Hopefulness began to swirl inside of Rainer.
Sam walked around the Solstice, studying the car.
“Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.” He shook his head.
“The top comes open on its own and then gets locked. I casted it several times and couldn’t get it to move. I’m not sure what’s wrong with it.”
Rainer fought back laughter. No one had to tell Sam what was wrong with the car they’d brought for him to fix. He always knew by just hearing it pull into his lot.
“Uh huh,” Sam drawled, “but judging from the fact that I thought for a minute there that Rain man and I were gon’ have to use axel grease and a rod to get you outta that car, I’d dare say dat if girlfriend’s top came open, you wouldn’t have brought her out here for me to see.”
“No, definitely not.” Vindico smirked, clearly trying to figure Sam out. Rainer watched intently. He was enjoying the show. “Well, you a big boy, son. You either gone hafta lay off the Wheaties, or you gone have ta trade her Pontiac in on a ring. Maybe get you som’um you can both get in. Maybe have room to enjoy a drive, if you know what I mean.” Sam reached and popped the hood on the car.
To Rainer’s shock, Vindico laughed and didn’t seem like the idea was that far-fetched.
“I think it may be a little early for a ring just yet, but I might take you up on a new car.”
“An’ what is it that Dan Vindico drive?” Sam quizzed as he began pulling the dipstick out
of the oil tank and shook his head.
“I drive an Agusta F4.” Vindico supplied as he moved to the hood of the car beside Sam.
“And when is the last time girlfriend had the fluids changed on the car you just wedged yourself inta to bring down to see Sam?”
“I don’t know.”
“She do know that she gotta put some’um else ‘sides gasoline in this thing?”
“Can’t really tell you that, either.” Vindico tried to determine what Sam was seeing under the hood.
“Rain man, go in the shop, son, and get me four quarts o’ oil.”
Rainer raced into the shop. He knew precisely where to go and returned with the oil quickly.
“Four quarts,” Vindico stunned, “how many does it hold?”
Sam laughed, “Oh, I’d say just ‘bout four quarts.”
Vindico’s head lowered.
“Uh huh,” Sam chuckled as he began adding the oil. “Now that I’ma let you crank her again, we’ll take her in the shop. Some brake fluid, coolant, and washer fluid, then we gon’ see if we make her happy, if she might let us go a little further up her skirt.”
Vindico nodded and begrudgingly got back in the car.
Once Fionna’s Solstice was inside Sam’s shop, he refilled all of the fluids and replaced the air filter.
“Now tell me, is girlfriend pretty, Mr. Big Man?” Sam let the hood close and moved to the trunk.
“Hell, yeah,” Vindico agreed with a cocky grin. Rainer chuckled.
As soon as Sam opened the trunk, he chuckled.
“She cook?” Sam moved to a shelf near the back of the shop.
“Yeah, she’s amazing. She’s perfect.”
“So, how come you squeezing yoself into her toy car, but you ain’t getting down on yo knee, boy, an asking Miss Amazing Girlfriend to save you from yo sorry self? Let me tell ya boy, they ain’t nothing sweeter than coming home at the end of the day to a sweet smile and a warm meal. Not too bad cuddling up on some warm curves when you crawl into bed, either.” He popped the cap on a reservoir in the trunk and began pouring fluid in it as well.
