Hale Series Boxed Set

by Marie James

  “Your what? Penis?” I’m curious as to what he was going to say.

  “Cock, Josie. Say cock.” He smirks at me knowing it’s not a word I would use.

  “Cock,” I whisper timidly.

  His eyes grow heavy. “I like the sound of that.”

  “You like me to say bad words?” I bite my lip to keep from smiling. He nods and leans in for a brief kiss. “What were you going to say?”

  “I was saying that my cock has a mind of its own around you and I can’t seem to control it.” He tugs my arm until I’m lying across his chest.

  I raise my head up and look him in the eye. “Well, I think you and your cock are doing a fine job.”

  He laughs so hard my entire body is shaking on his chest. I grin against his skin and hold him tighter.

  I relax into his chest feeling calm and protected, knowing it won’t last much longer since we will be separated by work tomorrow. I close my eyes and take deep calming breaths, forcing my muscles to calm.

  “Josie.”

  I startle and realize I must have dozed off briefly. “Hmm?”

  “I’m hungry.” I hear him say.

  “So you want me to lie on my back while you eat my pussy?” I grumble into his chest still half asleep. I stiffen when I realize what just came out of my mouth.

  His muscles have hardened as well. A few seconds pass by before he’s roaring with laughter. “Josie! Listen to that filthy mouth of yours!” He continues to laugh.

  “So embarrassing,” I mutter under my breath.

  He cups my chin and tilts my head towards his. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. Are those the types of things bouncing around in your head?”

  I shrug my shoulders and grin at him. “Not until recently,” I confess.

  He watches me for a minute, his green eyes sparkling in the dimming sunlight. “As much as I’d love for you to lie on your back while I eat your pussy, we need a shower and to seriously think about dinner; the sun is already going down.”

  I groan as he shifts his weight from underneath me and sits on the side of the bed. “Come on beautiful,” he smacks me hard on the ass. “Let’s grab a shower and order take out.” He stands. “I’ll eat your pussy and see how many times I can make you come before the food gets here.”

  I bolt out of bed and beat him to the shower. With a promise like that I don’t want to waste any time!

  Chapter 26

  Kaleb

  Four. That’s how many times I made her come on my mouth in the thirty minutes it took for the pizza to make it to the house. I got up earlier than usual this morning. I’m wide awake and fully rested. I’m honestly shocked at how well I sleep with her in my arms. I’m showering alone however, because Josie insisted that she showers before bed and would be too grumpy if she had to get up any earlier in the morning than she absolutely has to. It was difficult untangling myself from her to come in here, but without a warm shower in the morning I just don’t feel normal.

  Just as I’m grumbling to myself and rinsing the soap off my body I feel a cool breeze hit my back and a second later Josie’s arms are wrapped around my waist. I love how she hugs me and rests her head on my back. I turn in her arms and gently kiss her lips. She attempts to deepen the kiss and I have to pull back before I cross over the point of no return.

  “We don’t have time for that, Temptress.” I chide.

  “You want me,” she says stating the obvious as she glances down at my stiff dick.

  “Always, but what kind of boyfriend would I be if you were late to work on the very first day that I’m responsible for getting you there?” She lays her head back on my chest.

  “We could both call in sick,” she suggests.

  “Can’t happen. I work, even when I’m sick.” I can’t even remember the last time I was too sick to drag my ass into the office. I want to tell her to take another day for herself and recommend that she stay here and watch TV all day. I know she’s afraid to go to work, but I remember her emphatic statements about her being strong and people coddling her. So I go the supportive but firm route.

  “You’ll be fine. I’ll drop you off in front of the school and pick you up. I’ll even pack you a sack lunch if you want me to.” I feel her grin against my chest.

  I pull her in front of me and notice the huge smile on her face. “What are you thinking, Josie?”

  “I’m thinking…” she taps her finger on her lips, “that an orgasm this morning will help me get through the day.”

  “That so?” I run my hands down her back, gripping her ass as I tug her against me. She nods. “Well, I want you to have a good day.”

  I kiss her lips briefly and nip and lick my way down her body, making a quick line to her slick center.

  She grabs my head before I can make it, stopping my descent. “Not that way,” she says as I stand back up. She reaches down and claps my manhood in her hand, props her leg up on the tiled bench and begins to roll her hips, rubbing her hot pussy on the tip of my oversensitive head.

  “We don’t have much time, baby. How fast can you make me come?” She nips at my bottom lip and releases a moan.

  “Count back from thirty,” I challenge as I turn her around, press my hand on her shoulders causing her to bend at the waist and slam into her from behind.

  ***

  I watch as a wide range of emotions come over Josie’s face as we pull up to the school. Kids are bustling around and teachers interact with some and watch as they make their way safely inside. Her hands are clasped in her lap and she’s trembling slightly.

  I reach over and take her hands in mine, once again reminding myself she wants to be seen as strong and struggling with my urge to coddle her when she looks so sad.

  “Do you have your phone?” My question diverts her attention from the kids going into the school.

  “Yes,” she whispers softly.

  “The threats have been made to your apartment,” I explain. “There’s a chance that whoever sent them has no clue who you even are. Have you had issues or seen suspicious behaviors that make you feel unsafe here at work?”

  “No.”

  “Do you think I would ever send you into danger?” She shakes her head no. I smile at her. “What time do you get off?”

  “I have pickup duty this afternoon so it will be close to four-thirty before I can leave,” she informs me.

  “I’ll text you when I get here.” I stroke the side of her face with my thumb. “Call me if you need me before then.” She nods. “What do you want for dinner?” I ask as a distraction.

  “You,” she whispers, her eyes on my mouth.

  “Me it is then,” I reply huskily as I slide my thumb between her lips. She gently bites the tip before sucking it into her mouth; I swell in my pants, “Fuck, Josie.” I watch as she grins around my thumb. “You have to go inside. Now, Mariposa.” She frowns and releases my thumb from her mouth. “If you don’t we’ll both be in jail by lunch.”

  I want to lean in and kiss her senseless, but that would be beyond inappropriate to do in front of an elementary school. The cop car and K9 with her head half out of the window is drawing enough attention.

  “Keep your phone close, baby.” Her request is sensual, rolling off her tongue sweetly and dripping in sexual innuendo. “I may need to text you later.” She winks at me and gets out of the car quickly and walks into the school.

  Every day.

  Every day I want to spend with this woman. I want to wake up with her in my arms, her wild hair tickling my nose. I want to kiss her awake and run my hands all over her body. I want to make her come like a freight train every morning in the shower. I want to make her a cup of coffee each morning and cook her dinner each night. I want to fall asleep with her across my chest, her legs tangled with mine.

  I pull away from the curb and drive slowly off the school campus and my mind turns to work mode as soon as I pull up to the station. The best way to make sure Josie is not only safe but also feels safe is to catch whoever this ass
hole is that sent the threats.

  I open the back door of the car and Mia jumps down. Her ass end is waving so much she looks like she may tumble over. She’s so happy to be back at work it’s ridiculous. I feel sorry that she’ll more than likely get to do nothing more than sit in the office all day. I may send her out back with the other K9’s later; some same species interaction would be good for her.

  I swing by Holt’s desk the second I make it through the doors. No new info. It seems Blake Evans was friends, and enemies, with just about everyone in the drug world so there are hundreds of sets of prints that have to be shuffled through. Not what I wanted to hear, but it’s what I expected because I know he will call the minute he gets anything.

  I settle in at my desk and run through voicemails on my phone. Not as many as usual since I wasn’t on call this weekend. Once they are taken care of I start on emails, which are more numerous than the actual voicemails. People are much more likely to drop a line than actually use their voice on the phone, texting and emails are quickly becoming the most common form of communication in the police department these days. I think it has a lot to do with having a paper trail of sorts to refer back to.

  I’m reading a scanned witness statement in email when Detective Jessica Riley sits down in the chair across from my desk. I know what’s coming next and six weeks ago she’d be a welcome sight. She’s a welcome sight now, for me, probably not for her. Today she’s a chapter in my life I have to close.

  “Hey Kaleb.”

  “Hey, Jess. What’s up?” I close out my email. Jessica is a sweet girl and deserves my full attention. I hate that I haven’t even given her a second thought in the past few weeks.

  “You were here later than usual this morning.” She smiles at me and I return hers with a grin.

  What do I tell her? That I had the most incredible reason to be late this morning? She doesn’t need to hear that, we aren’t buddies like that.

  “Technically, I wasn’t late. I got here on time it was just substantially later than I normally arrive.” It’s the truth. I’m not scheduled in until eight but I’m usually here no later than six forty-five.

  She shrugs her shoulders and leans across my desk conspiratorially. “You got plans tonight?” The sexy draw of her voice would normally be what I want to hear from her. Things have changed substantially over the last few weeks.

  We’ve had an understanding the past year or so. When we had an itch, we would use each other to scratch it. We weren’t exclusive because that’s not what either of us were looking for. We’ve been together a handful of times or so and it was just always easy between us. I’ve never gotten the vibe from her that she wanted more, so I’m hoping she takes the end of this in stride.

  I take a minute to really see her. She’s gorgeous, so pretty that when she’s undercover for the prostitution busts she actually has to be dirtied down. I suddenly feel pang of guilt for what we’ve done, like I used her even though she was the one who approached me with the whole fuck buddy idea.

  I clear my throat. “I do actually have plans, Jess.”

  “Tomorrow then?” She asks.

  “Look, Jess.” Fuck this is harder than I thought it would be. “I’m seeing someone.”

  She nods and briefly tilts her head trying to hide the pain I see flash in her eyes. “It’s serious then? I mean it has to be if you’re turning me down.”

  “I’m not trying to hurt you, Jess.” I shrug my shoulders because what else can I say. She doesn’t want to hear that even though I don’t believe in Cupid and love at first sight I’ve apparently been hit in the ass with his arrow.

  “It’s the Bennett girl isn’t it?” Her voice is calm but there’s a small inflection that tells me she’s not only jealous but a little more upset than she’s letting show.

  I give her a ‘what the fuck’ look and it’s her turn to shrug her shoulders. “Chad Mills mentioned an attraction he thought you guys had.”

  Ah, yes. The patrolman who called Friday when he responded to the break-in at Josie’s apartment. It appears Denver Police Department is full of gossips.

  “Pillow talk?” I give her a tight smirk, letting her know that I’m well aware of her agreement with Mills. I could mention several of her other ‘agreements’ but it’s not my place. Just like it’s not her place to question me about Josie.

  She grins back at me, giving me the feeling like she thinks I’m jealous of what she does in her free time.

  “Look, Jess, our encounters were great, but we both knew it would never go anywhere.” I’m trying to hide the irritation in my voice. “Yes, Joselyne Bennett is the woman I’m seeing. In fact she has actually moved in with me.” I hope I didn’t just jinx myself but technically all of her clothes are hanging in mine, our, closet.

  I almost want to laugh at the look of pure shock on her face. I’m pretty surprised by it myself.

  “To y..your house?” She sputters. I nod and smile. “You never even invited me to come over to your house.” Her statement catches me by surprise.

  “We weren’t dating, Jessica. That was the agreement.” She cuts her eyes away from mine, having an even harder time hiding her pain with this latest news.

  She nods her head up and down several times, like she has to convince herself that we weren’t more than a good time to each other.

  She stands and I stand with her. “I’ve still got Mills, right?” She steps around the chair she just vacated. “Right, well I wish you the best.”

  I watch her walk away and even though she’s upset and obviously had more invested in me than I had in her I can tell that she means it. I’m hoping she finds someone long term. She really deserves that. I’m confident that she’ll take this in stride and we won’t have any issues or problems where work is concerned.

  My phone buzzes, drawing my attention away from Jessica’s retreating back. I smile when I look down and see a selfie of the most beautiful woman in the world. Fuck, how did I get so lucky to have this woman?

  Chapter 27

  Josie

  I couldn’t resist sending Kaleb a picture of me. Well, I lasted until after the second bell for first period. The day has been completely normal. No one at work even knows about Friday’s break-in and I have no intention of telling them. The last thing I need is everyone crawling all over me or worse yet, watching to wait for me to fall apart. It was bad enough after Alexa was shot. I was pretty upset and it spilled over here at work, which was completely unintentional. I hate for people to fuss over me.

  I’ve not given any clues that I was practically devastated Friday. The smile on my face says the exact opposite. The smile I couldn’t even get rid of if I tried. This smile. This smile is one hundred percent Kaleb’s fault. I can say this past weekend was so incredible, the break-in and death threats barely even registered, and now that I’m actually at work and things are normal, it’s not really even bothering me anymore.

  It’s fourth period now and my conference time. I decide that I need some girl time. Just us girls. We really couldn’t talk on Saturday. Everyone was so afraid I was going to crumble or have some sort of break down; they practically walked on egg shells around me.

  I open my desk drawer, pull out my phone, and shoot a group text to Alexa and Lorali.

  Josie: We need to get together immediately for some girl time!

  I pull out my lesson planner while I wait for them to respond. I know they’re both at work but they have quite a bit of flexibility in their day.

  Alexa: I’m always ready for some girl time!

  Lorali: Eek!!! Yes!!

  Josie: Ampere?

  Alexa: No.

  Lorali: NO!

  What in the world? They always want to go there!

  Alexa: I’m not ready for that type of social scene.

  Ah yes! How did I forget for even a brief second that Alexa has practically sworn off drinking and partying?

  Josie: Sorry, Alexa. Where to then?

  Alexa: No worries!

&nbs
p; Lorali: Why doesn’t everyone come over here?

  Alexa: That works for me. Garrett will want to come if Ian is going to be there….

  Lorali: Well, Ian lives here so chances are he will be around.

  Dang! This is going to be a repeat of Saturday and I’ll never be able to honestly relax. How can I talk about Kaleb with him right there?

  Josie: I was hoping for more privacy

  Lorali: We’ll make the guys go down into the basement. I’m sure there will be some sort of game on they can watch.

  Josie: When are you guys thinking?

  Lorali: This evening?

  Alexa: I have no other plans.

  Josie: I’ll ask Kaleb and get back to you guys. If so what time?

  Lorali: Early. Say 5:30? 6?

  Alexa: Perfect.

  That was easier than I expected. Has Alexa actually turned into the type of girl who is satisfied with just hanging out with a quiet group of friends? I know Lorali and myself have always gravitated to calm and subdued behaviors. I’m glad the plans for the evening have diverted away from a loud club scene. The idea of being out in the open sends a nasty chill up my spine.

  I shoot a text to Kaleb.

  Josie: Want to hang out at Ian’s house this evening?

  I hope he answers soon so I can let Lorali know. I’m sure she’ll want to have time to get snacks and such together. She’s the perfect hostess. I only have ten minutes left in my conference period.

  Just as I’m about to slide my phone back into my desk for my next class it buzzes in my hand.

  Kaleb: Sure. What time?

  Josie: We could head over there right after you pick me up.

  Kaleb: ok. There’s something I have to run home and do first. But it shouldn’t take me too long.

  Josie: Bell just rang. See you soon, baby.

  The remaining few hours of work went by in a flash. This is my first year to teach but I already love the end of the year. My days have been filled with fun games and science experiments we didn’t get around to during the year. Every one of my students passed their standardized test the first time so we have less to worry about than some of the teachers, which I feel is awesome because the kids need a break from the stress that the tests bring.