Take Me in the Dark (Take Me #2)

by R. L. Kenderson

  Tommy breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You’re fired,” I told him.

  “No, I’m not. You said you’d fire me if I called 911. I didn’t. I called a non-emergency number. Besides, you need me.”

  Dammit, he was right.

  “You’re on probation then.”

  He rolled his eyes at me, but I was serious. I needed to talk to him about who was his boss and who he should be taking orders from. It was just like a man to listen to another man.

  “Stop looking at me like that, Olivia,” Derek said. “You know it was the right thing to do.”

  Two police officers arrived about an hour later and put the letters and envelopes in an evidence bag. They took all three of our fingerprints to rule us out, but they pointed out that the sender had probably worn gloves. If we were lucky, the person had licked the envelope, but it was about a fifty-fifty shot. Then, they interviewed all three of us even though Tommy had only been around for the last one.

  “Who is this guy?” Derek asked while Tommy was with the officers and we were alone.

  “Hopefully, the police will find out; otherwise, this is all for nothing.”

  “It’s not for nothing because even if there is no DNA or fingerprints, there is now a record if something happens to you. But that’s not what I was asking. I meant, who is Thomas Morelli?”

  “Oh.” I’d been so focused on the letters that I hadn’t even realized Derek was asking about Tommy.

  “He’s friends with Maddox and Addison Wolfe. He was one of the SEALs who helped Maddox protect that lady and her child from her ex-husband.”

  “I remember that. But what is he doing here, and why is he so protective of you?”

  I frowned. “He’s here because he had to come into town to pick up something for a project he’s doing with Maddox. I hitched a ride with him. And I don’t think he’s so protective of me. He’s protective in general. He’s former military.”

  “Uh…”

  I narrowed my eyes. His response made it sound like he understood, but the skepticism in his eyes said he didn’t believe me.

  Speaking of not believing me…

  “About your probation.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I am serious. I’m your boss. What are you doing, listening to a guy you just met over me? Where’s the loyalty?”

  He put his hand over mine. “Olivia, I’ve been with you since the beginning. I left our old firm when you started this one despite not knowing when I was going to get a paycheck. You will never find someone more loyal to you than me.” He held up a finger with his opposite hand. “But just because I’m loyal doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore my gut instinct when it comes to your security. Because loyalty means keeping you safe, too. I’ve wanted to call the police since the second letter—the second out of twenty-two, I might add. Hearing another person confirm that I wasn’t overreacting is what made me call.” He squeezed my fingers. “Understand?”

  “I suppose.”

  He pulled his arm away. “Now, let’s put this whole probation thing behind us because you’d be lost without me.”

  “I’ll consider it.”

  He laughed as the door to my office opened.

  “I think we have everything we need, Ms. Mayer,” one of the officers said when the three men stepped out into the hall. “Until then, do you have a security system? Somewhere you can stay?” The officer glanced at Tommy when he asked the last question.

  “I’m actually staying with a friend in Brook Creek for about a week.”

  The officer nodded. “Good idea.” He handed me a business card. “If anything comes up before I call you, please feel free to give me a ring.”

  I read the card. “Will do, Officer Klein. Thank you for coming.”

  Both officers shook all our hands and went on their way.

  17

  Tommy

  “I think we should go to your place and pick up extra clothes for you. You might end up staying in Brook Creek longer than you originally planned.”

  Olivia opened her mouth and looked like she was going to say no. “I’ll think about it.”

  She wasn’t happy with me right now, so I wasn’t going to push. I’d work on convincing her before we left Des Moines.

  I looked at my watch. It was well past lunch and heading toward dinner. “Why don’t we get something to eat? I’m starving. We can worry about clothes and driving back to Brook Creek after our stomachs are full.”

  Olivia rubbed her head.

  “Unless you need to do more work?”

  “No.” She dropped her hand. “It’s fine. I’m just worried about Addison and Maddox. Doesn’t he want his windows?”

  “I already texted Maddox and told him we were going to be late and that we’d explain everything later when we got back.”

  Her shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you.” She looked at her assistant. “Derek, go ahead and take the rest of the afternoon off.”

  “Thanks, boss,” he said, his tone slightly mocking.

  “What was that about?” I asked after Derek was gone.

  “Oh, we just had a conversation about him going against my wishes while you were talking to the officer.”

  “Everything okay?”

  She smiled softly. “With Derek? Yeah, we’re good.”

  “So, where should we eat?”

  “I’m going to need something a lot stronger than food,” she answered.

  Olivia’s office was in downtown Des Moines, and when we left, we walked a few blocks to a tiny bar.

  “Wow,” I said, holding the door open for her.

  “Don’t worry; they have food. It’s bar food, but it’s good.”

  “No. I wasn’t saying that because I’m hungry, although that is good to know. I was saying that because it doesn’t look like your kind of place.”

  It was clean but very dark and old. Classic rock filled the room. I took Olivia for more of a classical-music kind of woman.

  It was a Thursday, late afternoon, but there were more people in the bar than I’d thought there would be. It wasn’t crowded though, and we found two free stools at the end of the bar, near the wall.

  There was a stack of menus on the bar top, and Olivia grabbed two and handed one to me.

  “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do,” she said to me. Thankfully, the music playing wasn’t too loud, so neither of us had to yell to hear each other. “We might have met a few years ago, but we haven’t spent that much time together.”

  “Maybe I’ll just have to get to know you better.”

  She flipped over her menu. “We’ll see about that.”

  I looked at my own menu. “Why do you say that?”

  She put her elbow on the bar and her chin in her hand. “A couple reasons.”

  At that moment, a bartender came over and asked us what we wanted.

  “I’ll take an old-fashioned.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “What?”

  “I saw you as more of a wine drinker.”

  “I like wine. It’s just not all I like.”

  The bartender slid her drink over. “And for you, sir?”

  “I’ll have a whiskey, neat.”

  “I saw you as more of a beer drinker,” Olivia said to me.

  “Touché.” I leaned close to her ear and said, “I like beer. It’s just not all I like.”

  “Here is your drink, sir. Do either of you want to order food?”

  We requested several appetizers because I was a big boy and needed lots of calories to keep me fueled.

  “I’ll put your order in,” the bartender said. “It’ll be about fifteen to twenty minutes.”

  “Thank you,” Olivia said.

  After the bartender walked away, I asked, “What are your reasons for me not getting to know you better?”

  “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

  “I think you already know that about me.�
�

  “True.” She turned in her stool toward me. Whoever had bought them went the cheap route because they didn’t swivel. She rested her arm on the back of the chair since it was now at her side. “My first reason is that you were a little high-handed back at my office. I said I didn’t want to call the police, and you didn’t listen to me. You didn’t respect my wishes. And the second reason is, you said you were going to test my boundaries last night. While I admit that the sex was good, I had expected a little more.”

  I tilted my head and studied her. “Noted.” I shifted in my seat to face her, too. “I’m sorry that I didn’t respect your wishes, but when it comes to someone’s life, I’m never going to ignore a threat. Not even if it were Maddox or someone else from my old team. Understand?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I figured you’d say as much. Derek said something similar.”

  I laughed. “Of course, you scolded him for not listening to you, too.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I am the one in charge.”

  “As for your second issue”—I pulled her stool over to mine until her chair hit my knees—“who said I was going to push all your boundaries in one night?”

  Her breathing deepened as her mouth opened slightly. “No one. I just assumed…”

  “Uh-uh-uh. Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to assume anything?” My leg was on the outside, and I moved it up a rung to block anyone from seeing what I was about to do. I ran my hand up her thigh that was facing the bar, and I put that leg over my inside knee and spread my legs to open hers.

  “What are you going to do?”

  I didn’t answer. Rather, I continued moving up her leg, switching from the outside to the inside and up her skirt. When I reached her underwear, I hooked my fingers in it and ripped the material apart.

  Her eyes grew wide.

  “Sorry. I don’t like anything in the way of my workspace.”

  “Wh—”

  I pushed two fingers inside her.

  “Holy shit,” she said as she bucked against my hand.

  I leaned close. “Be careful. People are watching,” I teased.

  “Then, stop touching me.”

  “Not a chance.” I curved my fingers toward me, and within two seconds, I found the spongy spot inside her that was her G-spot.

  “Oh God.” Her head fell back.

  “Olivia.” I snapped my fingers.

  She looked up, and I looked at my watch.

  “The food will be here in ten minutes. If you don’t come by then, you’re going to have to suffer the whole ride back to Brook Creek.”

  She whimpered.

  “Don’t worry. I have faith in you.”

  I rubbed her G-spot, keeping my eyes on her as she grew wetter and wetter, her special spot swelling under my fingers. She gripped the back of the chair and the bar until her knuckles were white.

  It seemed like she wanted to move her hips, but I was sure she didn’t dare since she was in public. I was honestly surprised she was letting me touch her. I’d thought she would push me away, but maybe she really did want me to show her a thing or two about sex.

  We were inching toward the ten-minute mark, and while I had threatened her with the female version of blue balls, I would never leave her in pain like that.

  When I felt like she was as close as she was going to get to an orgasm, I slammed my thumb down on her clit, and she went off like a rocket.

  She fell forward into my arms and cried out into my chest.

  The angle was difficult, but I kept my hand on her, making sure I saw her climax through.

  “I have your food,” a young woman said from behind the bar in front of us.

  I smiled. “You can just set it down.”

  The woman frowned. “Is she okay?”

  “Yeah. She just had a rough day at work.” I rubbed Olivia’s back like she had been crying. “You okay to sit up now?” I asked her.

  18

  Olivia

  I nodded against Tommy’s chest.

  It was a good thing he’d told the woman who had brought our food that I had been crying because I had no idea what my face looked like.

  When I sat up, Tommy pulled his fingers from my body, and I flinched at the sudden withdrawal.

  I straightened my bunched-up skirt and faced forward as he did the same.

  “Do you need another drink?” the woman asked.

  Tommy stuck the two digits that had just been inside me into his whiskey and swirled it around. He lifted the glass and took a sip. “Nope. This is perfect.”

  “And you, ma’am?”

  I stared at him. Even though he had just given me a fantastic orgasm, I thought watching him mix my juices with his drink was the hottest thing I’d ever seen.

  “Olivia?” he said.

  “Hmm?”

  “The nice lady asked if you needed another drink.”

  “A water—” My voice was hoarse, so I cleared my throat. “A water would be great.”

  She smiled sympathetically at me. “Of course.” She filled up a glass and pushed it in front of me. “I hope your day goes better from here on out.”

  I smiled. “Thank you.”

  Tommy was already eating but managed a muffled, “Thank you,” as well.

  The woman walked away, and I shifted in my seat. “I think I’d better go to the restroom and fix my makeup and hair.”

  Tommy reached over and ran a finger under my eye. “There. You look beautiful.” He went back to his food and pushed one of the baskets I’d ordered over to me.

  “How can you eat right now?” I asked in disbelief.

  He wrinkled his forehead. “What do you mean?”

  I leaned over to him. “After what you just did to me?”

  “Got you off?” he said kind of loudly.

  “Shh.” I scanned the room, but no one was looking at us. “Yes, that.”

  He smiled. “Eat, Olivia. You’re going to need your strength for later.”

  I nibbled on my food at first, but soon, I discovered that I was famished. Tommy and I finished our drinks and all our food in comfortable silence.

  I was actually done before he was, and for it being still early in the night, I was getting tired.

  “You ready to head back to Brook Creek?”

  I’d been thinking about that while we were eating. “Can I tell you something that is going to sound a little weird?”

  “Always.”

  “Even after getting that letter today, I really want to go and stay at my house tonight.” I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. It’s as though I don’t like the fact that someone can scare me out of my own home, you know?”

  Tommy didn’t say anything, and I looked down at my hands, embarrassed.

  “I know; it’s stupid. Let’s pay the bill, and we’ll get on the road.” I summoned my courage and lifted my head. “I do need to go back to the office to grab my computer and briefcase.”

  He lifted his hand for the bartender to come over. “I parked by your building, so we need to head back that way anyway.”

  “Thanks.”

  He put his hand on my knee. “And if you really want to stay at your place tonight, we can.”

  A slow smile spread across my face. “We can?”

  He rolled his eyes. I felt like it was more at himself than me. “Why not?” He looked at me. “But I’m sleeping in the same bed with you to make sure you’re safe. No sneaking out.”

  I tried not to smile. I liked the idea of him sleeping in my bed.

  A stern look crossed over his face. “Please tell me you have a security system.”

  I shook my head.

  He sighed. “Olivia. Even without the threats you’ve been getting, your job—”

  I started laughing. “Fooled ya.”

  “That’s not funny. I don’t want to have to constantly worry about you when I go back to Virginia.”

  My first thought was, I didn’t want him to go back to Virginia.

  My second thought was
that my first thought was silly. He had to go back to Virginia. He lived there.

  The bartender brought our bill, and Tommy and I fought over who was going to pay.

  “I’m the reason you’re here, eating,” I argued.

  “But I ordered more food than you.”

  “How about we split it?”

  He sighed, probably realizing he wasn’t going to win. “Fine.” He put some money down on the bar. “We need to go to a store, so I can get some things before we go to your house.”

  “Kinky things?” The question popped out before I could stop it.

  He chuckled. “I was thinking more like a toothbrush.”

  “Oh.”

  He put his arm around me and led me out. “Don’t be so disappointed. I already did my kinky shopping this morning.”

  I laughed. “That’s funny.”

  “That’s what you think.”

  I looked at him in confusion, but he didn’t say anything more.

  19

  Tommy

  Olivia and I were in the health section at Walmart, picking up a toothbrush and a few other toiletries for me.

  “I also need to go back to the books.”

  “What for?”

  “Since I didn’t know we were staying here tonight, I left my book at home. I need something else to read.” I grabbed a deodorant, dropped it in my basket, and took off for the back of the store.

  “Why don’t you read on your phone? They have apps for that, you know.”

  “That’s blasphemy.”

  She laughed. “For suggesting you read on your phone?”

  “Yes. I would never do that to my books.”

  “You’re a strange man.”

  “Why?”

  She shook her head and smiled. “Because I can’t believe that—”

  I stopped walking and faced her. “That I’d be a reader?” I finished her sentence. “Yeah, a lot of people think I’m a big, dumb jock because of the way I look. I’ll have you know, I was salutatorian of my class.” I took off, walking faster now.

  Sometimes, people assuming I was unintelligent worked in my favor. But I didn’t like it coming from Olivia.