“Hello. I haven’t seen you here before.” She plopped down at the computer next to me. I rolled my eyes at the thought of her actually trying to talk to me. I couldn’t believe I was being such a bitch about it, but then I realized it was exactly what Dina was talking about in terms of losing my head.
“I’m from the ER. I just had to bring the police up here.” I gestured to the three globes of muscle questioning the victim.
“Oh. Cool. I wish they would just do away with guns. Unless the cops are wearing them.” She giggled as she swooned over the men in uniform.
I managed a smile and finished updating my files before I logged out and took a walk around the corner just to clear my head. I kept running over the faces they made in the elevator. There must have been some sort of break in the case they hadn’t told me about. I didn’t expect to be told everything, but if it had to do directly with me, I would want to know.
It was the possibilities that were running crazy in my head the most, so I just wanted to set things straight.
When I came back around the corner, they were out of the room and nurse chatty was at it again. I nearly gagged but still came down the way. When I was a few feet away, they spotted me and charged at me like bulls or something.
“What the—” I started, when Alex grabbed my elbow and tugged me into the nearest supply closet, followed by Nate and Max.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Alex gave me a stern look as he released my arm. Nate leaned against the wall, scratching his neck like he wished he had something to say to lighten the situation. That couldn’t be good.
“Look, Rose…” Alex trailed off.
He didn’t seem to be very good with words. Which made sense. Max stepped in, with a comforting voice I was sure he probably used on children. I tried not to frown.
“We think the guy, our suspect, is part of the Irish mob. The victim today matched his MO.”
“But…he was robbed.” I dropped my shoulders. “The others were killed.” I chewed the inside of my lip. I glanced at Nate, who was trying to drill a hole in the ground with the tip of his toe.
“Yeah. Um. A few years back there were a string of robberies similar to this one. We’re thinking the suspect either got sloppy three times or didn’t finish the job this time. The attack happened in a more public place this time as well.” Max continued.
I found the edge of a shelf and sat down slowly. I rubbed my eyes in frustration and tried to comprehend everything. But it was no use. I still wasn’t seeing the big picture.
“And…” I pressed, looking at all of them. “You guys don’t have to treat me like some delicate flower you know. I spent my morning digging a fishing hook out of some frat boys’ ass, so nothing can be worse than that.” I laughed humorlessly, and Nate actually laughed.
“Shit. I feel sorry for you.” Nate cracked a smile. The ease of it was exactly what I needed to loosen my chest. I took a deep breath and prepped for their explanation.
“We need to put some extra protection on you for the time being. But we’re going to do it off the books because we don’t want to have any records of it that someone can get into,” Alex said.
I stared blankly at him for a few seconds before I could respond. I was already used to them watching me, so I wasn’t sure what the difference would be. Except they obviously seemed more worried about it than before. But what had changed?
“O—okay…um, why? I mean why do you not want to have records of it? Why do you need to watch me more? If it’s about that guy from yesterday, he was probably just some creep. There are a lot of them in my neighborhood,” I rambled, standing up and pacing.
Nate touched my shoulder gently and looked right into my eyes. “We don’t think it was just a neighborhood creep, Rose.”
The severity of his voice seeped into me and I let it settle in. It was worse than I was thinking, and if they were worried about it, I knew I should be too.
“Oh,” I whispered. I turned and looked at Max and Alex, who stared me down with concern.
“We want to keep you safe. And we don’t want to put it on paper officially because there are some moles in the precinct. Not much can be done about that. But just trust us, we can protect you.” Max said.
I sighed and nodded. “Okay, but…why do care about that? Isn’t this more isolated? It isn’t like I was the one who was shot.” I almost laughed, but their faces were too grim.
Max circled around me, and Nate rubbed my shoulder gently. Alex finished, “We think the Irish mob has a hit on you, Rose. That’s why we need to watch you, and keep you out of the system.”
My eyes widened in shock and I stared back at them as my breath hitched. I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do. Of course, I trusted them, but how could I ever sleep okay again knowing I wasn’t safe? Knowing they were putting themselves on the line for me…I couldn’t ever fathom one of them getting hurt.
And that thought was even more scary than the possibility of getting killed.
Chapter Eighteen: Max
A few years back I tried the whole dating scene, but I was never good at it. It wasn’t that I was not interested or couldn’t be faithful, but more that work was time consuming and no one understood I wasn’t intentionally cancelling plans all the time.
Needless to say, hanging out with Rose with the premise of watching her kind of eased me into the whole thing. Even when I was just outside her building and not inside her apartment, I felt like I was spending time with her, and having her around was just nice. I enjoyed her personality, even though the whole case had put a little bit of a damper on things.
We kept on with our usual watch shifts, keeping a closer eye on not only her but her surroundings. Everyone in that building turned into a suspect to me, and I didn’t like seeing everyone that way, but it was just the way things went.
It had been a few days since the gunshot victim gave us his full statement. The guy was a massive prick, but that was beside the point. He was loaded, some kind of investment manager with his own firm. Actually, five across the continental US. I didn’t know what he could have done to be attacked in a parking garage, and apparently, he didn’t know either. Or he wasn’t being honest. My gut told me he was doing something on the down low that got him in trouble. We all thought that, but we had to be careful because he screamed lawsuit against the city if we rubbed him the wrong way. We left him with a blanket statement and hadn’t talked about it since.
There had been no other updates since then. Only the increasing worry that someone was coming after Rose. I wished it could be otherwise, but it was the truth.
I always watched her after her work shift, since I sleep most of the day away for my night patrol. I loved and hated it the most because it was so damned frustrating. I would sit in the living room while she showered, and I pictured her naked and on that day, I highly considered getting rid of my hard-on while I imagined her wet, sexy body in the shower. Not even the close football game could distract me.
“I can make you something to eat.” I jumped up from the couch, taken by surprise, to find Rose wide eyed and shocked from my outburst.
“You uh, startled me.” I tugged on my sweatshirt. “If it isn’t too much trouble, I would love some food.” I grinned.
She let out the cutest little giggle and shuffled over to the kitchen, looking like a fucking strawberry drop. She was wearing bright red leggings and a matching, fluffy sweatshirt that still didn’t even hide her delicious curves. I followed her into the kitchen and sat on her bench. She had a bright kitchen that reminded me exactly of her. Blue cabinets, white countertops; it was all so innocent, like her.
“How was your day today?” I asked her.
“The same as always. What about yours?” she asked over her shoulder. I wasn’t sure what she had thrown in to the pan already, but it smelled amazing.
Maybe it was over said, but a woman in the kitchen was a beautiful thing.
“Uh, pretty annoying. The Lieutenant ha
s been up my ass about some old cases.”
“Why?” She stopped and handed me a glass of orange juice, which she squeezed freshly herself. It tasted like sunshine.
“I don’t know. He has pretty strict rules with paperwork. It can bring units down if it isn’t done right, and the seventy-eighth makes everyone else our bitch. So, we have to keep up that image.” I chuckle.
She smiled at me and shook her head in mock disappointment.
“Hmm. Well, ER nurses are known for how badass we are, I guess,” she laughed.
“I think you are pretty bad ass, Rose.” I bit my lip and winked at her when she looked at me. I noticed her cheeks flushed before she turned away.
I wanted her so bad, and I knew she wanted me too. Shit just got complicated, and it continued to get even worse. But I couldn’t hold out anymore. I needed her. Once we ate, she had to take Parker for a walk so I went with her. She had started taking a different route since that crime happened, and I was glad for it.
About halfway in, I held her hand and started teasing her a bit. She was just so distracting, with her scent blowing in my direction.
“You seem in better spirits today.” Rose swung her arm a little bit to get my attention, tightening her hand in mine.
“Am I usually a damper to be around?” I smiled a bit. She glanced up at me and flashed her sexy smirk.
“No, just…I don’t know. I just don’t know much about you.” She shrugged. Parker tried to pull off in another direction after a squirrel.
“Well, I’m pretty boring. All I really have is work and the guys.”
“What about your parents?”
“Distant. But we’re on okay terms, just one of those things…” I ticked my jaw and felt her looking at me. I pulled her in closer.
“One of those things?” she pried softly.
“They wanted me to take over the family business. I don’t give a shit about penny stocks. So, they chill in upstate New York while I’m down here. But I’m really not mad about it.”
We stopped walking while she let Parker forage in some bush. She glanced up at me and then buried her face in my chest as she hugged me. It took me by surprise but I gladly reciprocated, wrapping my arms around her lithe waist. Her scent swirled around me and her body molded into mine. I knew she was communicating with me silently; she was more bothered about the case than she let on. But it was okay, because I was there for her.
“Ready to go?” I asked her softly.
She nodded, “Yeah.”
Chapter Nineteen: Max
Back at her place, she set Parker up in his crate and then washed her hands. I usually only stayed for a few more hours, and the sun was going down. She was standing on the other end of the room when she let her hair down and shook it out and I just couldn’t do it anymore. I crossed the space between us and clenched my hands on her waist, she had but a second to lean in as consent before I kissed her.
I let my lips explore hers as I turned her around and pressed her against the wall. She sighed into my mouth and I deepened the kiss, letting my tongue swirl around her sweet mouth. She tasted like mint and the tang of our orange juice. She was so fucking edible I couldn’t hold back. She hitched her leg onto my waist and I lifted her up and carried her into her bedroom.
I dropped her onto the bed and she looked up at me in shock. I quickly shucked out of my jeans and sweater before climbing over her on the bed. She was biting down on her lip and I used my thumb to draw it out and kiss her again, slow and deep, letting my hard cock rub between her legs.
She moaned, and I had to get her naked. Fast. Her sweater and leggings came off swiftly and I kissed my way down her body to taste her, stopping at the globes of her breasts to suck her dark nipple.
“Max…” she sighed breathlessly.
I kissed her over her wet mound, seeping through her pale pink panties. I rubbed her clit hard and then pulled at it with my teeth through the fabric. She groaned and clenched my hair, latching me to her. I got rid of the damned panties and licked her from her opening up to her clit, and sucked at her wet folds.
“Oh—ugh Max!” she cried out. I loved how loud her moans and screams were as I went down on her.
She tasted so sweet and hot, her feminine scent masked to my tongue as I buried my face in her. I let her writhe and scream beneath me until I felt her clenching under my tongue as she came, her clit throbbing and hardened. I pinched her nipples and kissed up her body until I reached her lips.
She wrapped her legs around me and ground herself against my cock, and I nearly screamed. She pulled back and looked at me and she pulled me from my boxers and gripped my cock in her small hand. She flicked her thumb over my tip and used the moisture to stroke me even more. I held her gaze until my eyes fluttered closed and I started suckling the skin beneath her ear, and then across her collarbone.
“Fuck me, Max. Please.” There was all this hesitancy in her voice, but her eyes were sure as ever; darkened and wide for my cock.
I entered her slowly, inch by inch; pulling out only to go in deeper the next time so I could let her adjust to me. Her warmth clenched around me and it was almost paralyzing. In a few thrusts I was driving into her deeper and deeper, until I felt like I was touching her very core.
“Fuck baby, you feel amazing. So good, Rose,” I murmured against her lips before I took them in a soft kiss.
I drove my hips faster and faster into her, feeling every inch of her for what she was worth. Fucking everything. I could fuck her for hours, but I already felt every nerve in my body screaming for her. She had this way about her and it was even more heightened this way, with her naked body against mine and my cock deep in her pussy.
I massaged her breasts, weighing them in my hands as I pinched her pert nipples. I trailed down her neck and kissed every inch of her soft, sweet skin.
“You’re so beautiful, Rose.” I went harder, faster, “So perfect.”
She started to meet me thrusts for thrust, her nails digging deep into my back until she slid them down and gripped my ass driving into her.
“Holy…Max, you feel so good. I’m coming…I’m—” her shrieks went off to a high pitch and stopped as she was coming down, her body throbbing and clenching and shaking.
It didn’t take long after for me to bury myself in her and fill her up. She continued to clench around me more and more, until she was practically begging for more.
And I wanted to give it to her. All of it. I rolled her over onto her belly and shucked my boxers off. She damn near wiggled her ass at me and I nearly lost it. I was inside her again, fucking her so hard the headboard clanked against the wall and her ass cheeks shook with every thrust.
I gripped her hips so tight there would no doubt be a bruise, but I didn’t care. I wanted to claim her, and I wanted every part of her. It was fast and rough, and she was coming again soon. Her clenching brought me to the edge and I blew the last of my load inside her.
I collapsed against her, the softness of her body lulling me into a dream state I had to resist. Her fingers idly traced my chest until she fell asleep. I wanted to watch her sleep forever, but I knew I would be distracted next to her.
I gently got out of bed and sat on the small couch in her room. After I put my pants on I got my gun from the belt. I was always strapped as a cop. The urge to protect her took over me, and I didn’t care if I had to stay in that seat with the gun clenched in my hand.
She would always be safe with me.
Chapter Twenty: Alex
“She’s asleep.”
I wondered why Max had been whispering. We had all learned that Rose was a very light sleeper in the past few weeks. She worked hard shifts, so we wanted her to get as much rest as she needed.
“Oh, got it.” I stepped inside and shut the door behind me softly. Parker peeked around his dog bed, but he got acclimated to us being around pretty fast, so he no longer barked at the sight of us anymore.
“How was she today?” I asked Max.
He
gave me a weird look before he took a breath unscrewed his face. I understood exactly why he was confused for a second afterwards.
“Pretty normal, but I think it is starting to get to her,” he said quietly.
I nodded in understanding. I figured as much. I knew it would only be a short time before she started to really feel the effects of her situation. It was tough, being watched all the time, even if it was by us. And not only that, but knowing that she wasn’t even safe to begin with. I was trying really hard to keep my grip on things, too. Any other case, I would be looking at it completely from a subjective level. But now, feelings were involved, and it made it hard to keep them out.
I wanted Rose safe and protected, but I didn’t want to be overprotective and keep her from living her life. Keeping her locked up in the apartment kept running through my head, but I knew I couldn’t do that. I respected her too much and she was way too damned stubborn to even let me do that.
“I’ll see you later.” Max nodded to me on his way out.
Rose insisted I keep myself comfortable when I came over, so I made a cup of coffee. It was pretty much the middle of the night, but I had been running on a very odd sleep schedule since I got the detective job. I drank the cup down like water and went in her bedroom.
Rose looked beautiful as ever, even tangled up in her sheets with an oversized shirt on. I loved how she didn’t wear over the top nightwear or anything. The dark curls of her hair fell over her cheeks and blew with the snores of her open mouth. She didn’t snore like a sailor or anything, just natural, little snorts that made me smile.
I set my gun on her nightstand and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, hoping I wouldn’t wake her. But she started to shuffle, and I turned to stare at her glazed open eyes. She smiled softly, still a bit half asleep.
“Hey, go back to sleep.” I tucked some hair behind her ear and smiled back. She looked at me like she didn’t recognize me for a second. I understood why though, I wasn’t in my usual attire. I had changed into jeans, a simple tee shirt, and a leather jacket. I hadn’t gotten tired of wearing the suit, but sometimes comfort just won out.
Cuff Me Page 8
