Slow & Steady #2: A Shameless Southern Nights Novel

by J. H. Croix

  Gravity commanded the suds to run down his body along with the warm water cascading down over us. As the remnants of our day disappeared, so did my lingering stress and worry. I dropped to my knees after lathering more soap on my hands.

  Running them up and down his muscular legs, I savored the way his muscles tensed and bunched, the evidence of his resulting arousal inches from my mouth. It was the two of us now, just being together.

  Leaning forward, I swirled my tongue around the tip of his cock, sucking it lightly into my mouth. Sonny released a low growl in response, his fingers winding into my wet hair. The sound thrilled me, encouraging me to work him harder, faster. Drawing him in deeper, I curled my palm around the base of his shaft and settled in to taste every inch of him.

  On a muttered curse, his thighs trembled just before he pulled me up, hooking his hands under my arms. Claiming my mouth for a deep kiss, he lifted me against him. His fingers slid between my folds, teasing and driving me wild as he sank one finger and then another inside of me—fucking me slowly with his fingers.

  Turning us, he pressed me against the wall, stretching my hands above my head. I could feel his cock teasing between my thighs as he gripped it and dragged it back and forth. He edged into me slowly from behind—every hard, thick inch of him sinking inside of me. I moaned when he sheathed himself fully, stretching me as he began to move. With every stroke, I arched, pushing back to meet him as he drummed into me.

  Pleasure spun tightly and then snapped loose when he reached around to press over my clit. Crying out, I dimly heard his rough, guttural cry and felt the heat of his release fill me.

  We stayed in the shower until the water started to cool. Sonny lifted me over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and continued to prove to me just how safe and alive we both were when we got to his bed.

  My day ended in the best way possible hours later, my limbs tangled with his as we both drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sonny

  “Sonny, thank you for meeting me. I’m sorry it had to be away from the station, but I’m sure you understand why,” Darren Hanson said as he stood up when I stopped next to his table at a café on the outskirts of town. He shook my hand, and we sat down on either side of a small wrought iron table. “I ordered you a coffee.”

  A waitress collected two mugs of coffee from a window leading to the back of the café and placed them carefully on a tray before delivering them to us. “Thank you.”

  She gave me a tight smile and pulled a spiral notebook from her pocket, tapping it with her pencil. “Can I get you anything else?”

  I shook my head, but Darren smiled and pointed at the pancakes on the menu. “Breakfast of champions.”

  “Comin’ right up.” She scribbled his order in her notebook and took off.

  The café was empty, a good choice of location for what Darren and I needed to discuss. Not too busy and far enough out of the way that it wasn’t likely we’d be seen together. Plus, they served strong coffee, and I needed some.

  Darren leaned over and pulled a slim laptop from the bag he had slung over his chair, firing it up as he sipped his coffee. “Let’s get this done, shall we?”

  “I’m all yours.” It was my day off, but I hadn’t told anyone or made any other plans. Today was dedicated to this meeting, finding out all I could from Darren and then doing some digging of my own.

  “First things first, I want you to walk me through what you witnessed, starting with how you came to be there to witness it.” His tone was businesslike and efficient, but not brash or unfriendly. It set the tone for the meeting, and I found myself feeling more at ease than I had been walking in.

  Thinking carefully about where to start, I explained about Maclin’s behavior toward Zach and I, his following us, and what led us to suspect he was up to something. Darren listened intently, typing his notes as I talked and only stopping me when he wanted me to elaborate on something.

  He was thorough and didn’t skip a single detail. I told him everything, taking my cues from him about the level of accuracy he wanted. I made sure to mention anything that might be useful to him. His questions were deliberate and to the point.

  We took a short break when the waitress brought his pancakes, talking about his work with the GBI and mine with SWAT. As soon as his breakfast was done, we ordered more coffee and got back to it.

  “Okay,” he said finally. “I think we got everything so far. Thank you for being patient with me. I prefer to make sure I get everything I can in one interview to avoid speaking to the same people twice. In your case, I might need to speak with you again anyway as the investigation progresses. Having all this information is already going to put things in perspective, but I might need more context later on.”

  “That’s not a problem,” I assured him. However my father’s case factored into all this, it was a priority for me. I’d sit through weeks of interviews if that was what it took. “I’m willing to sit down with you anytime.”

  Nodding, he thanked the waitress when she brought the next round of coffees and closed the lid of his laptop. “Tell me about your chief.”

  “Harris?” I was surprised the investigator was asking me about him so directly. “He’s a good man. I’ve worked for him for a long time, and I’ve always known him to do right by his officers.”

  Darren tilted his head, meeting my gaze head on. “What about his town?”

  “He cares about this town. He grew up here as far as I know. Always trying to do right by everyone. Why do you ask?”

  “It’s come up in the investigation,” he told me offhandedly, raising his mug to his lips and looking at me over its rim. “Figured you’d been working for the man long enough to give me a clear picture of what he was like.”

  Seeing the opening I’d been waiting for, I hoped his mood for transparency would last. “This investigation of yours, you getting anywhere?”

  “You fishing for an update, Lovett?” Darren asked. “Cause you could just ask.”

  “Fine,” I conceded. “I was fishing. Would you give me an update?”

  “We found some suspicious bank transfers.” As he filled me in, I realized they were the same ones I found. “The accounts are linked to Maclin and Chief Harris from what we can tell.”

  So Zach’s gut was right about Harris’s involvement. A bitter taste hit the back of my tongue. As much as I agreed with Zach and had been careful around Harris these days, a very big part of me still wanted to believe we were wrong about him.

  If Hanson could link him to those transfers though, chances of his involvement being a misunderstanding, or someone framing him were becoming increasingly thin. I looked up to Harris. He was a mentor and more than that, a friend and a confidant.

  Finding out he was involved didn’t break my spirit to pieces like my dad’s arrest did, but it brought back familiar pangs of disbelief, disillusionment and hurt.

  “Your links to Harris are solid?”

  Darren nodded contritely. “Hate to say it, but it looks that way.”

  “Fuck,” I muttered. “How are you going to investigate this right under his nose, in his station?”

  He blew out a deep breath, draining the last of his coffee before he answered me. “I’m leading him to believe the only person we suspect in the bank fraud case is Wayne Maclin. It would’ve been better if I could’ve pointed at a red herring, but that’s no longer possible at this stage.”

  “I’ll be honest with you,” I told him. “I found those transfers too, but I couldn’t link them to Harris. You mind telling me how you did it?”

  “It’s always hard to hear someone you look up to might be implicated in corruption.” He smiled sympathetically, signaling the waitress for the check. “I was in a similar situation once—”

  “Just once? Lucky you,” I meant to say it under my breath, but Darren heard me and paused mid-sentence.

  To his credit, the GBI man pretended not to know what I was talking about and to skirt the s
ubject. “I suppose that’s true. You know better than anyone the devastating consequences a revelation like this can have. I only mention my own experience because I understand your need for information, so I’m going to give it to you.”

  “It’s just that I looked into it. Maclin’s prints were all over those transfers, but there wasn’t a trace of Harris.” Evidence, I’d come to learn, was crucial in accepting someone’s role in criminal activity. What I’d seen in my father’s case never convinced me, which was why I could never let it go.

  Darren opened his laptop again and clicked a few times before turning it to me. He started explaining before I could make sense of what I was seeing on his screen.

  “You wouldn’t have found Harris’s personal name, especially not at first. There’s a ton of what our technical assistants assure me are some very impressive measures standing between his name and those that you will find. Do you recognize any of the names on that screen?”

  I nodded, spotting several of the same company names I’d come across. He continued when he saw me squint at his screen in concentration, trying to connect the dots. “The five ones highlighted in orange, those are shell accounts overseas. They were all set up by Harris.”

  “What?” I snapped my eyes to his, finding it hard to believe my boss, who called in technical support pretty much when he switched on his computer on could’ve set this up. “Are you sure?”

  Darren pressed his lips together. “I’m afraid so. Keep scrolling, you’ll see the links we made to him.”

  I did as he said and sure as hell, the company names he had highlighted eventually all traced back to shell corporations registered by Chief Harris. Darren had even opened the proof registration of the companies for me to see Harris’s signature on them all.

  Before I could ask, he told me. “We’ve sent the signatures away for analysis to ensure they haven’t been forged, which is all part of the investigation, but I’m quite certain they’re going to come back positive as his.”

  “He’s covered his tracks well.” I blinked hard, clicking through all the open documents on Darren’s computer. I was having trouble processing it all. “I can’t believe this.”

  “It’s a lot to absorb,” he said, taking the check from the waitress when she held it out to him. I reached for my wallet to pay for my coffee, but he stopped me. “You can get mine next time. Consider your coffees my way of thanking you for your time in helping with the investigation so far.”

  “Thanks.”

  He pulled the laptop closer to himself and packed it up, neatly placing it back in the black bag swinging from his chair. “Learn what you needed to know?”

  I got up from the table, feeling a little dazed. “I did. Can’t say I’m happy about it, but thank you for sharing with me.”

  “I told you I was going to need your help with this, so anything you need, just ask,” he told me, walking with me to the door. “I intend on doing the same.”

  “You got it. You know where to find me if you need me.” I left the café, stunned about everything I’d learned about Harris but feeling mostly relieved. Finally, we seemed to be making some real progress.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Niki

  I opened my eyes, stretching out my deliciously sore muscles. Waking up tangled in Sonny’s arms was the best, especially after having fallen asleep in them as well, sated and beyond satisfied. He smirked down at me, cracking open one of his eyes and catching me in the middle of a smile as I replayed our night together in my mind.

  “Sleep that well?” he asked, humor dancing in his sleepy eyes.

  Nudging his shoulder with mine, I rolled over and rested my head on his chest. “I would’ve, if not for the snoring.”

  “I don’t snore.” He chuckled, propping himself up on one elbow so my head was now on his other bicep. “You, on the other hand. You snore.”

  “No way,” I protested. Karen would’ve warned me if I did, wouldn’t she? Information from her was the only way I could really know. Note to self: Call Karen later to ask if you snore.

  Sonny’s teasing tone and the laughter in his blue and green eyes told me he was kidding, but I’d still be asking Karen. I would be mortified if I was snoring while sleeping beside this man every night. He stretched out, tucking his arm under his neck so his head was angled toward me. “What are the chances of convincing you this last week flew by and it’s the weekend already?”

  “Not quite yet.” I rolled my eyes, but I understood why he wanted to stay in bed. I did too. “But it’s only Thursday, so we’ve got to get to work.”

  “Sick day?” He waggled his eyebrows. “We could both say we have sports injuries.”

  “Sex isn’t a sport.” I sat up reluctantly, not wanting to leave the bed. Yet, I knew if I didn’t, it was only going to get harder to convince myself to get up.

  He scoffed, sitting up but not moving off the bed yet. “Depends on who you ask.”

  His eyes tracked me as I picked my robe up off the floor and pulled it on, tying the sash around my waist. Leaning forward, he grabbed my wrist and tugged me back onto the bed. I lost my footing and fell onto his chest, a peal of laughter escaping as I landed. “We have to get to work.”

  “Not if you keep prancing around in that robe, all naked and stuff.”

  Pushing myself up on his shoulders, I stilled when his arms tightened around me. “I wouldn’t have been naked underneath if you’d let me make it to the dresser to get some underwear.”

  He sighed, shaking his head sadly. “Such a pity you can’t always be naked.”

  Bending down to bump my nose to his, I smiled and planted a quick kiss on his lips before wiggling free of his grasp. “If I were, neither of us would still have a job.”

  “My job could be keeping you satisfied,” he joked, finally standing up from the bed and pulling on a pair of drawstring pants while I got decent enough to go make us breakfast.

  “Ha. Just who do you think is going to pay you for that?” I teased, padding down the hall to the kitchen with Sonny in tow.

  “I would do it for free if I could,” he said, lifting the kettle to fill it with water. Once it was filled and set to boil, he got our mugs ready.

  We’d settled into a morning routine of ours. Every now and then, I had to pinch myself to remind me that we weren’t actually living together as a couple, but as a temporary safety measure. Before I could let myself dwell on that depressing thought, I collected eggs from the fridge and got started on omelets. “Alas, neither of us can afford to stay home for free.”

  Actually, I had no idea what he could and couldn’t afford, but it honestly didn’t matter to me. Sonny filled our mugs with coffee and brought mine to me, dropping a kiss on my head as he turned to get our plates ready.

  We raced through our breakfast and getting ready, pausing for what was supposed to be a chaste, quick kiss at the front door. It turned into a deep kiss that left me flushed straight through, my panties wet, and my heart pounding. Sonny took hot and bothered to new levels with me.

  “Have a good day, baby.” He grinned, his lips brushing against my forehead as he spoke. “Be safe.”

  “Same to you.” The stubble on his cheek stung my lips when I pressed a kiss to his jaw, but I couldn’t help myself. Our goodbyes were too drawn out, every morning. We kept kissing and touching until the very last minute we could.

  I was so caught up in him, I almost didn’t realize I was being followed. Again. By the same damn car. My spine straightened, and a chill ran through me. I thought these people had gotten bored of me, but it looked like I was wrong.

  The forest green sedan stayed in the distance, but there was no doubt it was following me. My suspicions were confirmed when I pulled into my usual spot at the library next to the door and spotted it parking across the street, outside the lot.

  Rummaging around in my purse, I found my phone and tapped out a quick message to Sonny.

  Our friends are back. Followed me all the way to work. I’m okay.
They haven’t made contact. Just thought I should let you know.

  Annoyance flashed inside, twining with a dash of fear. It was amazing how fast I got used to this. I was getting weary of being followed, and the heavy fear I once felt whenever I saw the forest green sedan was quickly giving way to frustration.

  It was starting to get ridiculous. Who followed someone for weeks on end without ever making contact or telling them what they wanted from them? Not me, that was for sure.

  Wondering what the hell to do about it, I yanked my door open and marched into the library without looking back.

  Sonny’s reply to my text came a minute later while I was getting my computer started and packing away my things.

  I’m following up on it. Stay inside and keep an eye out. My patrol starts in ten. Will be there as soon as I can.

  I sighed heavily and put my phone down on my desk with a light clatter. I knew Sonny was worried, but coming here wouldn’t change or help anything. He needed to focus on the bigger picture. I could take care of myself at work.

  Several times since this whole thing started, I’d been approached at work about Sonny. None of those men had hurt me or said anything overtly threatening. The message was always the same—stay out of it, stay away from Sonny.

  Neither of those were real options for me, but I wasn’t getting involved any deeper than I had been at the beginning. I was staying out of whatever new developments there were—thanks to Sonny. That had to count for something.

  Picking up my phone again, I replied to Sonny’s message. I was safe here, relatively. We had a group of elementary school kids and their teachers coming in during the morning, and two book clubs were being held here later. He didn’t need to babysit me or reroute his patrols to stop by.

  I’ll stay inside. It’s going to be a busy morning. You don’t need to come here. I’ll be fine.