by Dani Marie
There was a warrant bust coming in that Vic needed to be in charge of and he had to head back to the police department fast. Tori finished getting dressed and suggested she go with him and get a ride from his office to her car that was still at the bar.
They arrived fairly quickly at the police department and walked to the back where they were greeted with some unusual snickers and comments. Both were confused and Tori was starting to feel embarrassed although she wasn‘t quite sure why.
“Did you have a tasty weekend?” One officer asked.
“You get hurt there Vic?” Paul laughed as he handed Vic some paperwork.
“Ears ringing buddy?” and “Just how talented were you?”
These were just a few of the comments made in passing to Vic from other officers as the couple walked toward Vic’s office. With a frown, Vic finally caught up to Paul and asked him what the hell was going on. With a chuckle Paul told him that he’d forgotten to turn off the recorder in Vic’s car even after they’d left the station yesterday. Vic groaned and Tori, getting the gist of things, blushed and said nothing. Tori couldn’t believe that others had heard the sound of them making love and the wicked things she’d said to Vic. It was so out of character for her that even thinking of others knowing what she’d done was shocking and had her blushing. This was sure a far cry from what her life had been like just a few days ago.
Vic was used to being ribbed by others at the station, but this was a bit more than normal. He tried to think back to what was said and done as he drug Tori into his office and shut the door. “I’m sorry baby, I completely forgot they were recording everything in the car,” Vic told her. “If it’s any consolation, I’m guessing I’m considered the luckiest man alive at the moment by every male in the station,” Vic whispered to her, still holding her.
Tori reached up and kissed Vic, knowing she had to leave soon. “It’s ok, I wouldn’t take back what happened,” she told him. Vic knew his time was limited. He arranged for Tori to be driven to her car and walked her out to the waiting patrol car for her ride, both trying to laugh off the additional comments made as they went.
“I’ll call you as soon as this operation is over,” he told her as he kissed her one last time and headed off to do his job.
Tori left the city that same afternoon and headed back home, a changed woman.
Chapter 11
Tori didn’t realize the changes the last few days would make in her attitude, thoughts and self-image. She was smiling, laughing and even hesitantly teasing others. People were noticing and surprised at the new Tori, her Mother was livid. One afternoon, just two days later, while having lunch with her Mother, Tori stopped to say hello to one of the officers as they walked toward their table. It was a quiet, one minute chat, mostly just saying hello and being friendly.
“When did you start acting like a slut?” her Mother asked. Tori was shocked, she knew her Mother was over zealous, but this was over the top. Tori sat there staring at her and realized this was always how her Mother was and that negativity had been her mother’s way since her father had left them. She blinked and decided then and there, that this was no longer going to be how her life was going to be.
“Mom, I love you, but that was uncalled for and hateful. I’m leaving and if you want to change your attitude then give me a call. Until then, take care and try to remember that you are not the judge of me or anyone else for that matter.” And with that she stood up and with her head held high walked out of the restaurant, smiling. It was again a brand new day for her. She called her sister and let her know what had happened, and that she was ok. Lisa was frantic, not really understanding why Tori had made a scene and why she was acting this way. “You know how Mother gets,” she reminded Tori. But Tori wasn’t sorry and she stood by what she’d said telling Lisa that their Mother was being judgmental and that they shouldn’t have to live their lives this way. “We shouldn’t have to be perfect for her to love and respect us,” Tori told her sister.
The following week was bitter sweet for Tori. Her mother wasn’t talking to her but she was slowly turning her life around. “Girl, you are sure looking good,” Gloria told her when she breezed into the courthouse. “I like the new look.” Tori just laughed and thanked her. She was smiling more than ever.
There were a few men that were definitely starting to take notice as well. Tori wasn’t wearing the drab clothing, was smiling, wearing a little make up, and generally becoming more outgoing. She was still wearing what would be considered conservative clothes, they were just not as bad as they had been. But underneath it all was a building sadness.
Vic hadn’t called, hadn’t contacted her in any way. Part of her knew that what they had was special, but insecurities kept her wondering if that was just on her side as day after day went by with no word from him.
Three weeks later, Tori decided that she had had her first, and only, one night stand that had just lasted a little longer than one night. Even as she felt the hurt she was thankful. Because of Vic, Tori was happier than she’d ever been. She had even turned down a date with a local man that before had never even said hello to her. It amazed Tori how once she had become more open to people how nice and friendly they had become. Tori was blossoming under the glow of new friends and her hard won new confidence.
Chapter 12
Vic was tired, bone tired. He had worked too many hours with not enough sleep. Damn that woman, breezing into his life, work, and dreams and then disappearing on him without a trace. He still couldn’t believe that she had left without a word, leaving him with no way to find her. He’d had friends looking for her, but with only a first name to go by, so far there had been no luck finding her. His only clue was that she worked at a courthouse somewhere and that wasn’t getting him very far.
Not only that, but his case had been made that much more difficult without having her testimony to use. The Captain wasn’t very happy that an unknown woman had been involved to the extent she was. That was hard for Vic to take. Between the ire of his superiors to the continued taunting from fellow officers regarding the recording of Tori and him in the car, Vic was getting grumpy.
The situation was frustrating him to no end. He’d started taking on extra work last week to try and work himself to the point that he wasn’t dreaming of her every night, waking up needing her sweet body to ease the ache.
Picking up the file for the Claytonville Police Department a few towns over, Vic reviewed the training request and information for his planned training session with their department next week. They were a small department so the training would combine the next small town over and the county sheriff’s office as well. With a grumbled oath Vic decided that since it was Friday he’d head over there today and spend the weekend getting a feel for the area. So he gathered his paperwork, let the office know what he was doing, and headed out the door.
It was a great drive to Claytonville. Vic had decided to ride his Harley over and have his assistant trainer bring the training rig and trailer over Monday morning.
He wore worn jeans with leather chaps, a black t-shirt, leather vest with gloves and heavy riding boots. His hair was too long to leave down so he’d tied it back with a string of leather since he still hadn’t cut it from when he’d been doing the undercover work. He just hadn’t cared to take the time to get a haircut since then. He didn’t look like a cop as he roared into town. Sometimes it’s pays to see how the local LEO’s react to someone new in their town, especially someone that has a potentially dangerous look about them, he thought smiling. He rode a big black Harley Road King Classic with its fat wheels and somewhat retro look. The big bike fit his larger frame and he loved the power of the machine. He made it through town and to the police department and courthouse building without incident although he did get a couple long stares from one of the local patrolmen.
Parking the bike at the courthouse, Vic sauntered into the building, intent on letting the police chief know he was here early, although he didn’t necessar
ily want him letting his officers know.
Vic was walking by the court clerk’s open office window when he heard a laugh that made him stop in his tracks. He backed up and leaned against the wall listening. He knew that laugh, he’d recognize it anywhere.
“Tori, come on you can tell me what happened, it was a man wasn’t it?” Vic heard a woman asking her.
Hot damn, he thought, I’ve finally found her, as he continued listening. He got a wicked smile on his face. Who would have thought he’d find his woman here in this little town. This was a definite bonus.
Laughing back, Tori replied to the question with a comment that made Vic cringe. “Yeah, it was a man, a really really good – bad boy. But, I guess I wasn’t good enough since I haven’t heard from him since. Still, it was amazing Gloria, I never knew it could be like that,” she told her friend.
“He was just an idiot,” the woman replied, and then Vic heard the sounds of whoever was talking to Tori leave the office.
What the hell did that mean, he thought. How did she expect him to contact her when she left without even telling him her last name, he thought. Well, he wasn’t going to let that stop him at this point. He’d found her, and he was going to have her again; Vic looked at his watch saw that it was pretty close to five, and thought Tori should be leaving the office soon. With the police chief forgotten, Vic left the building and moved his motorcycle to the employee parking lot and waited for Tori to come out.
He watched as Tori and a few others left the building. With his helmet on he knew she’d never know it was him. He saw her climb into a non-descript sedan and chuckled, yep she was his now. He watched as she left the lot and then followed her home. She seemed to be in a hurry as she jumped out of the car and raced into a modest home in the middle of a nice, tree lined, neighborhood.
Vic sat there a few minutes and decided it was time to say hello. Parking the bike and taking off his helmet he headed up the walkway smiling. He knocked on the door and waited.
Tori was just doing up her jeans after changing from her work clothes and was heading to the kitchen to grab the sack of food she’d made for the town employee picnic they were having this evening. Once a year the employees of the town would have a BBQ and picnic at the park near the river. Tori had only gone once before and found she’d felt so out of place that she’d never gone again. But this year she wanted to go, to join in, and have fun with the people she worked with. It was another big step and she was proud that she was taking it. She’d even put on a modest tank top, these clothes would reveal her body shape more than anything she’d ever worn in public other than those two days with Vic.
At the sound of knocking she changed directions and opened the door without looking too see who was on the other side. Small towns lend themselves to making one trusting.
Tori froze, she couldn’t have been more shocked. Her mouth opened but nothing came out.
“Hello Darl’n, I’ve been looking for you,” Vic said then slowly took a step forward and leaned in without touching her and softly kissed her lips. Tori wasn’t thinking she just responded. Her hands lifted and slid into his hair, her body moved forward and she kissed him back. The flare of passion was instantaneous and hot.
“I’m thinking we’d better take this inside,” Vic told her as he lifted her and walking into her house, shutting the door behind him with his foot. He was hard, just from that one kiss, but he wanted to clear things up before they went any further.
When he stepped back, disengaging himself slightly from Tori, she was still stunned, looking at him as if he was a dream.
“What are you doing here?” She finally asked.
“I’m doing some officer training for a few days for the PD and sheriff’s office. I was at the court house to check in with the chief when I heard your voice.” He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her. “Baby, why didn’t you give me your number or even your full name? Not only so I could see you again, but I needed it for work. You just disappeared on me. I‘ve been going crazy looking for you.”
Tori looked at Vic questioningly, “I don’t understand, I left all my information with your clerk. I knew you’d need it and I was hoping I’d hear from you.” Tori was blushing, admitting that she had wanted to hear from him.
Vic knew just who she was talking about and knew that this time he was going to have to do something about Dot. If his clerk was jeopardizing cases with her behavior it was time to get rid of her.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’ve had people looking for you and drove myself crazy wanting to find you,” Vic told her in between kissing her neck and face.
By this time Vic had stepped farther into the house. He sat down on the sofa and pulled Tori down onto his lap. He was just starting to kiss her again when she squealed and jumped up. “I almost forgot, I’ve got a city employee BBQ to go to and I’m going to be late,” she told him. Then she smiled at him. “You should come with me. “ That sounded good to Vic, he didn’t want her out of his sight for some time to come. If that meant he had to wait to be alone with her, well that was just how it would have to be.
Vic did warn Tori that he didn’t want the officers that might be there to know he was their trainer if they were at the picnic. At this point as he was still going to observe the officers and how they interacted with the community and especially to newcomers to the area. The fact that he looked like a biker just added to the test in his book. Tori was so happy to see him and excited that he would be going to the picnic with her. She couldn’t wait for Gloria to meet him.
Soon they were both on Vic’s Harley heading to the park. Tori was a bit nervous but was loving the ride on the big bike. Thinking the best part was getting to hold onto and lean against Vic. She couldn’t believe that he was here, she’d just finally given up on seeing him again, and then poof, there he was at her front door.
The couple pulled up to the park, causing a bit of commotion since no one knew who they were at first. The Harley itself was an attention getter as it rumbled into the parking lot. Vic looking like a big sexy bad boy was attention getting but the shock of seeing Tori climbing off the bike with the stranger was causing quite a stir and there was a lot of talk about going on about the pair. The only thing more shocking was the tight jeans, tank top and curves that Tori had been hiding under the frumpy court clothes they’d always seen her in. The softening of her features just by letting her hair down was another surprise. More than a few men were shocked to see what they had been missing and wondering why they didn’t notice how appealing Tori was.
Gloria was there smiling as they walked up to the group. “Hmmm, guess he wasn’t such an idiot after all,” Gloria said with a wink at Vic.
“I was ma’am but not about wanting to see her again,” Vic told her as he pulled Tori back against his front, wrapping his arms around her middle in a frankly possessive manner. Gloria chuckled and laughingly introduced Vic to a few of the other city employees.
Tori continued introducing Vic to anyone else they talked to as they wandered around, including a few of the officers only telling them his first name.
It wasn‘t long before a few of the officers were off to the side talking amongst themselves when they heard laughing and turned to watch as Tori was tackled to the ground by the new comer. A few of the men groaned as the couple rolled and Tori ended up on top straddling the large man, sitting on him in a way that would make almost any man think of sex. She seemed so relaxed, fun and sexy. Several men who hadn‘t noticed her before were definitely surprised.
Chief Walter Darius was also taking notice. He asked his officers if any of them knew Vic or where Tori had picked him up at. Of course none of them had seen him before. There was some talk about the changes in Tori lately and that this new man seemed a bit rough around the edges for her. It was with concern that the chief told his officers to keep an eye on the newcomer.
Owen, one of the newer officers, fresh out of the academy, had just begun to notice the changes in Tori and had e
ven contemplated asking her out, now there was some unknown horning in on his territory and he didn’t like it one bit. Not only that but Claytonville was a fairly quiet town and he didn’t want some out of town’er causing trouble. He looked at Vic again and decided that the man was definitely trouble. He called the dispatcher and got her started looking up the license on the big Harley and running it through the system.
Chapter 13
Owen was getting another soda from a cooler near where Tori and Vic sat enjoying the sunshine, when he overheard Tori and Vic softly talking to each other. He listened in trying to find out more.
As new lovers often do, the conversation had become a little wicked. But because of where they were, they were trying not to be as obvious to others about what they were talking about. Lovers do love their secrets.
“Damn I’ve missed you, wasn’t fair getting me addicted to those pearls then taking off,” Vic was telling Tori as his hands were stroking up and down her arms.
“I thought you were just high off out-running the cops,” Tori chuckled adding “that car of yours is so fast it should definitely be illegal.”
“What you did to me, in that car should be illegal, in fact I believe it just might be,” Vic replied back, softly chuckling.
“What, you expected me to deny a man that carries a gun?” Tori added as she tapped his ankle with her toes drawing the young officer’s notice. Sure enough, Owen could now see the outline of a gun under the man's pant leg and the pearls the guy was addicted to must be a new street name for some form of drug that unbelievably, Tori got him addicted to. Owen was angry and knew he had to tell his boss right away what was going on.
Owen quietly headed back to his chief. “Sir, I can’t believe it but those two are running drugs, and he’s got a gun, they even said they had run from the cops not long ago,” he told Chief Darius.
“Damn it, you sure?” Owen nodded. “This is not good, Ok boys, I want them followed and a report on all activity and let’s do some digging. I don’t want more drugs coming into my town,” Chief Darius said as he glared over at the couple in question.
