One to Save

by Tia Louise

“Let me go, Stuart.” Blinking up at me, her resistance is so adorable, I kiss her lips, long and soft. Then I swipe my tongue inside, finding hers for good measure.

  When I lean up again, she blinks slowly. “You fight dirty.”

  “You give me dirty thoughts.” Our eyes meet, and I continue. “Princeton is one of the top schools in the country. You might have heard of it.”

  “It’s too expensive, and I have a scholarship at Ocean County College. I like it there.”

  “You’d rather go to a state school than live with me here.”

  She starts to struggle again, and this time I do release her.

  “I have a job in Bayville. Kenny, my best friend is there. Remember her?” She sits up, wrapping the sheet over her beautiful body. I resist the urge to pull it away. “I won’t drop my life to move here and live with you and let you pay for everything like I’m some... some...”

  Her chin drops, but I catch it and lift her face. “You’re here almost every day as it is. How would it be different?”

  “You know how it would be different.” Fire is in those beautiful eyes. I love it. “I’m here because it’s an easy drive back and forth, and I like spending my free time with my boyfriend.”

  “Is that so?” A smile pulls at the corner of my mouth, but I hold on. We’re leading up to a question I’ve been ready to ask since December.

  “Besides, it sets a bad precedent if I let you win every argument by sleeping with me.”

  “Aren’t we supposed to fight it out in bed?”

  A little nose twitch, a teasing glance, and I can’t take it anymore. Snatching the sheet away, I catch her around the waist and pull her body flush with mine. She squeals with laughter, and I cover her mouth, kissing her deeply until her struggling relaxes and her arms slide around my neck slow and easy.

  Pulling back, I hold her body and her gaze a moment. Then I say it. “I want you to marry me, Mariska. I want you to transfer to Princeton and live here with me as my wife. Fuck this boyfriend-girlfriend shit.”

  Her eyes blink fast, and her brows pull together. For a second, my chest tightens. Sick hits the pit of my stomach when her tears spill over, down her temples and into her hair.

  “Baby, what’s wrong?”

  Her body jerks with a sniff, and she cries more. She pulls herself up to me in a hug, burying her face in my neck, and I’m going crazy until she finally speaks.

  “Stuart,” it’s cut off by another sniff. “Oh, Stuart, I want that so much.”

  Relief blasts through me, anxiety gone. I wrap her in my arms, holding her close. Her face is still at my neck, and I feel her tears on my skin. I feel all of her against my skin, shoulders to stomach to thigh to knee, and I think about that old idea of becoming one. She’s the part of me that’s been missing for so long. Inhaling deeply, luscious jasmine fills my senses.

  After a few moments, I slide my hands over her bare back, from her soft shoulders to her soft ass. “So is that a yes?” My voice is low and gentle.

  She nods against me, squeezing me in her arms.

  “Mariska?” I’m smiling now, holding my wife in my arms. Everything has changed. “Look at me.”

  She takes a moment before pulling back, those beautiful eyes shining with her tears. “Will you please call about transferring to Princeton tomorrow?”

  A laugh explodes from her lips, and she pulls up, hugging our faces together. “I guess if you put it that way.”

  Kissing her jaw, her cheek, I roll her onto her back and prop myself on my elbows. “Thank you for agreeing to be my wife.”

  Her eyes roll and she shakes her head. “As if you ever had any doubt.”

  “You are a very strong, independent lady, Mariska Renee.” I pause to scoop her lips in another brief kiss. “I wasn’t sure you’d say yes so easily. I worried you might think it was too soon.”

  “With as well as I know you?” Her cat eyes slant.

  “I thought you might have some old-fashioned notion about finishing school or us needing to date for a year or something ridiculous.”

  “Don’t give me any ideas.”

  My brow lowers. “Is that something you want to do?”

  “Is that something I should want to do?” How she manages to go from sassy to shy in the blink of an eye slays me. I can’t believe how vulnerable she is. Like I didn’t just ask her to fucking marry me.

  “No.” I don’t even let that idea hang around five seconds. “I don’t want you away from me anymore. I’m getting your ring as soon as I get back from Baltimore. Give your landlord notice and start packing. You’ll start Princeton this fall. Summer if you want to start earlier.”

  She laughs, and her body arches against mine. Her head falls back, and she lets out the most amazing happy squeal. I was above her, but she pushes me back against the pillows. I’m on my back watching her hold her brow and shake her head.

  “It’s like a dream,” she says. Then she catches my face in both hands again and kisses me. I can’t help laughing now. “Do you remember how awful you were in Montana?”

  “Hang on,” I try to act offended and fail. “You came at me out of nowhere.”

  “You are literally the man of my dreams, Stuart Knight.”

  “Don’t forget,” I say, smoothing both hands over her cheeks, sliding her brown hair back. “You’re the woman in mine, too.”

  “Would you make love to me again?” Her lips curl as her hand moves down between us. Her fingers wrap around my cock, and my body immediately responds to her touch, hard and strong.

  “With pleasure,” I say, before kissing her lips, her chin, her neck, making my way down her torso to the place I know will have her screaming my name.

  * * *

  Kissing Mariska goodbye this morning was the hardest thing I’ve done since this nightmare with Derek began. She’s dressed in only my white dress shirt, looking like the most beautiful sex kitten who’s ever agreed to marry anybody.

  “My goal is to hit the prosecutor strong,” I say, grabbing my suitcase so I don’t grab her.

  “Take as long as you need, baby.” Her eyes are round and serious, oblivious to how her words affect me. “I’ll be here doing my assignments.”

  “Your assignments?”

  “You gave me a list last night. Don’t you remember?”

  She smiles and my suitcase goes down. I pull her to me and kiss her one long, last time. “Yes. I want all of that done when I get back.”

  “Or what?” Her expression is coy. “You’ll spank me?”

  “Hell, no.” I exhale a laugh before I kiss her again. “If I say that, you’ll never do it.”

  “Hmm... I suppose you have a point.”

  “If I didn’t have to be in Baltimore...” One more kiss, and I’m out the door, only pausing once to look back at the beautiful creature who belongs to me. Damn, I’m ready to fast track this week’s business and get us all home.

  Patrick’s in the office when I get there, and he’s got three law books out on our shared desk.

  “You could take the office down the hall,” I quip, causing him to look up.

  “You’re freakishly happy,” he turns back to the book he’s studying. “Mariska’s a fucking miracle worker.”

  It’s true, and even my annoying little brother can’t bring me down this morning.

  “Anyway, you left.” He’s making notes on a yellow legal pad. “Derek gave me this office, and it has all my shit in it.”

  It’s true. When I came back from Saudi, I was put in Derek’s old office, but I never felt right about taking my CO’s spot, even if he had moved to Wilmington full-time.

  “Working behind a desk isn’t my thing. What have you found out?”

  “Not much.” He straightens and tilts his head, stretching his neck. Patrick’s five years younger than me, and no matter how much we age, he always seems like a kid. Our little sister Amy is a perennial baby.

  “Hit me,” I say, loading my briefcase with my pick of the worst reports from Dere
k’s “Sloan files.”

  “I need to talk to Melissa. She’s been pretty pissed at me, but her evidence against Sloan is going to be critical. She’s got email receipts of his transactions with hookers, photographs of her face when... he beat her...”

  He pauses to grimace, and I share his sentiment. Melissa’s a beautiful, classy woman. She’s Derek’s fiancée, Dex’s mom. The idea of some fucker hitting her makes us all a little crazy with rage.

  Clearing his throat, he continues, looking guilty. “I hate to ask her for those things. I know how much she wants to put it behind her. But they’ll pretty much make the case for Derek’s taking him out.”

  “You’re sure Sloan has no surviving relatives?”

  He drops into the desk chair and starts clicking. “Only distant ones, and most of them are older, infirm.”

  Pausing, I lean against the doorway. “You realize, if this does go to trial, you’re an accessory to murder.”

  His lips tighten and he nods. “I’ve never been a more willing accessory.”

  “Tell me what happened that night. How exactly it went down.”

  My brother’s hazel meet mine. His are more green than brown. “It was pretty fast. We were in a small conference room with a tech booth off the side.”

  “Why?”

  “Star was the bait, but Derek didn’t want her to be too far from where we could help her if things got ugly.” He looks down at his hand and slowly makes a fist. “That asshole manhandled her pretty good. Slammed her head against the wall, then he had her pinned, his forearm against her neck.”

  “Shit,” I exhale, stepping forward into my old office, thinking. I’ve only known Star about a week. She’s a little rough around the edges, but she’s sweet with her kid. Despite her painfully obvious crush on Derek, she seems like a smart girl. “So he was killing her?”

  “I think so.” He’s still looking at his hands, remembering. “He had a reputation for liking it rough, and I was pretty preoccupied while it was happening.”

  For a moment, I’m stumped trying to figure out what my little brother might’ve been doing besides keeping his eyes on his target.

  “Derek fought me to get out there. I held him back as much as I could, but he’s fucking strong.”

  Shaking my head, I can’t even imagine. “I’m surprised you could hold him.”

  “When she said the safe word, I let him go. We both rushed out, but when I went to Star, Derek went straight and finished things.”

  “So that’s how it happened.”

  I take a step back, turning to face the female voice addressing us. Melissa is standing in the doorway. Her dark brow is furrowed and her lips are tight.

  “Hey, you’re back.” Patrick’s out of his seat and headed toward her.

  She steps into the office and meets him, giving him a warm hug. “I forgive you for not keeping your promise,” she says, leaning back and mussing his hair. “But I don’t forgive you for not telling me.”

  “None of this was supposed to happen.” He follows her back to the desk. She steps over to where I’m looking out the window at the highway.

  “Marcus is going to help us. He said he’d fly to Baltimore to meet you. He’s scheduled a meeting with the prosecutor, but he needs us to send him everything we’ve got on Sloan and Derek.”

  Putting the case down, I snap it open and pull out the files I’m taking with me. “Fax these to him now. I want to have them with me when I get there.”

  She nods and takes them from me, but she stops to speak to Patrick. “Is there any chance Elaine can come here today or tomorrow?”

  “She was planning to drive up with Lane on Thursday. Her school’s spring break is next week.”

  “We’re going to need her sooner than that.”

  “What are you thinking?” Patrick sits on the edge of the desk facing her.”

  “My photograph, the email receipts I printed off... I’d say she could FedEx them, but I don’t want to take any chances of them being lost.”

  He nods and pulls out his phone. “She’ll do that for you. I need to ask her now so she can find a substitute.”

  Melissa rubs her eyes. “I wish I could have Dex here with me. I miss him so much.”

  “She could bring him with her. Lane needs the company.”

  Shaking her head, she drops her hand with a sigh. “He’d better stay with Mom in case I have to go to Baltimore. I want to be free to do whatever Derek needs on a moment’s notice.”

  God, I hate hustling her right now. I’m concerned as well about the possibility of a long, messy trial. None of us want that.

  “I need to get on the road,” I say, nodding to the papers.

  “I’ll fax these now,” she says, heading down the hall.

  Patrick walks back around the desk and drops into his chair. “Bennett cooked us good forcing Derek to confess like that.”

  “Let me know if you find anything else useful.” He nods, and it hits me he arrived last night. “Why aren’t you sleeping at Derek’s place? There’s no reason for you to be in a hotel.”

  He glances down and manages to look embarrassed. “Star and I have sort of a past. I don’t want to make Elaine uncomfortable.”

  “That’s pretty mature of you, brother.”

  “Yeah, well, I tested Elaine enough in the beginning to last a lifetime.” He glances over his shoulder, out the office window as he says the last bit. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  I’m feeling pretty generous, considering my recent developments with Mariska. “I hear that.” We pause a moment. “Stay at my place. Melissa’s here now, and Mariska will probably be back and forth to Bayville.”

  His lips poke out and he nods. “It’s a good idea.” Turning back, we exchange what is possibly the first warm greeting in our lives. “Thanks, bro.”

  “No worries.”

  The door opens and Melissa breezes back in. She hands me the papers. “I’ll fax my evidence as soon as Elaine gets here with it.”

  “She texted she could probably be here tonight,” Patrick says, reading from his phone.

  “Perfect,” she’s focused, all business. “Marcus needs everything we have on Derek—medals, service awards...”

  “I can personally vouch for his conduct in the line of duty,” I say.

  Melissa’s brow relaxes, and her eyes glisten with tears. “Bring him home, Stuart.”

  I touch the salty drop off her cheek. “I’ll do everything in my power.”

  Chapter 13: Inside

  Derek

  My lunch tray has just touched the long cafeteria-style table when I feel him standing over me. So far it’s been pretty quiet, but I knew it was a matter of time before the population would start to feel me out. Without lifting my eyes I wait as the large form takes a seat across from me.

  The food is shit. A flat sandwich, bologna on stale white bread, sits in front of me. A banana and a plastic cup of juice complete the meal.

  “We’ve had two new guys since you got here.” My lunch guest pauses, but I don’t look up. “You still have your own cell.”

  Silence.

  I pick up one half of my sandwich and inspect it. Mayonnaise and what I can only assume is fake cheese join the flat processed meat. My stomach turns and I put it back down.

  “You a mole?” The enormous guy isn’t deterred.

  “No,” I say, acknowledging him.

  “A snitch?”

  “No.” My expression is flat. I appear calm, but my adrenaline is ticking up slowly.

  His dark eyes inspect me. “You’re white collar.” A beat, another quick scan. “What you in for?”

  “Murder.” Returning to the food, I decide it’s probably wise to keep my strength up, even if it’s crap, and take a bite. The meat is salty and the bread sticks inside my mouth.

  The fellow across from me bends a dark eyebrow. “How’d you do it?”

  Reaching for the plastic cup of orange juice, I pull the foil off and t
ake a sip trying to get the crap food off my teeth. It takes a moment, and in the meantime, I turn my right hand over, palm up.

  His eyes flicker down to it then back up to me. “Strangled?”

  Shaking my head, I’m able to speak. “Broke his neck.”

  Silence falls between us again. He’s studying me. “You Italian?” I shake my head no. “Latino?” Another no. “Irish?”

  That makes me almost laugh. “No.”

  “Biracial?”

  Lifting my blue eyes, I smirk. “What do you think?”

  He watches me a beat. “You’re military.”

  “Good guess,” I say, trying the banana. Peel off, I break a piece and put it in my mouth. Mealy.

  “I can smell that shit a mile away,” he says.

  I don’t answer. I break off another piece of fruit.

  “Okay, soldier,” he continues. The reference makes me flinch, but I let it go. “You can call me Chairman. I’m your welcoming committee.”

  My brow is lowered as my eyes return to his. “I’m not interested in a welcome.”

  “Shut the fuck up and listen.” I’m pissed, but his brow lowers as well. I notice he’s expanded a few inches in size, and I decide I’ll check out that weight room after all.

  Sitting a little straighter, I decide to hear him out. “I’m all ears.”

  “We do things a little different here. You’re not in the joint. You’re only in a holding pattern. We don’t do white versus black, Dago versus Polack, Mick versus Spick.” I resist asking if he writes greeting cards. He leans forward, and his tone turns sinister. “We do bad-asses versus pussies. Looks like you might be one of the bad-asses.”

  “You’re smarter than I thought.”

  “You want to survive Phase One of your incarceration? Sit at the head table with us.” He nods in a direction behind me, over my right shoulder. “We’ll protect you.”

  “If I’m one of the bad-asses, why do I need protection?”

  “Because if you’re not sitting with us, you’re one of the pussies. We don’t truck with pussies. Somebody needs to blow off steam...”

  Our eyes clash, black iron against blue steel. I guess it’s time to get affiliated. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the table in question.