Keys To My Cuffs (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 4)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  True panic set in, and I started fighting with everything I had.

  I kicked, punched, scratched and screamed my sixteen year old heart out.

  He held me pinned against the trunk, unable to do anything but hold me down with his body as the fight slowly drained out of me.

  Exhaustion hit, and I knew...

  ***

  Loki

  When my neighbor dropped down to her knees in the corner of the room, I knew something terrible was wrong. Something more than what was going on around us.

  “Hey, honey. You’re okay. Shhh, snap out of it. You’re safe,” I said soothingly to my little next-door neighbor.

  What the fuck was she doing here?

  “Back away from her, Rector. She’s afraid of cops. Deathly afraid,” The Chief said as he walked towards us.

  I’d gathered that over the past four months of living beside her. I remembered her offhanded comments about cops.

  Yeah, nobody wants a cop here, she’d said.

  Then the way she acted the one time I had a patrol comb through the neighborhood on the pretenses of searching for a young child.

  As soon as she’d seen the cop car, she’d bolted inside and locked the door.

  At the time, it’d made me suspicious, but now it was all making a sick sort of sense.

  Reluctantly, I backed away until I was standing beside my boss.

  “What happened to her?” I asked, helplessness prominent in my voice.

  She rocked back and forth, but when the distance between me and her widened, her keening had dropped to small pitiful moans.

  “From what I’ve gathered from my wife, she was the victim of a rapist who posed as a cop. Been that way ever since,” he said grimly.

  My eyes closed in pain. “And she lived on the block with that fucking douchebag all this time?”

  Cabe’s face swiveled towards me, and his jaw was clenched tight. “Yes. Why do you think I gave you that house in the first place?”

  “I thought it was to get me in the same neighborhood as Varian?” I asked in surprise.

  He smiled grimly. “Two birds. One stone. My wife also made me promise I’d put my best man on her. That was the only way she wasn’t telling her.”

  I shook my head. “How could you not tell me this? How’d your wife find out?” I asked.

  “I left my report on the kitchen table. Hell, I didn’t even know Channing was in that neighborhood until my wife started freaking out that a suspected rapist was living down the street from her best friend. I didn’t tell you for the same reason you didn’t run any backgrounds on her. You didn’t want to know, remember?” He asked with a raised brow.

  I threw my hands in the air. “Yes, but I’ve gotten...close to her in the last four months. Had I known...”

  Cabe interrupted me. “Had you known, you wouldn’t have done a thing different and you know it. You’re serving the warrant in a few hours, aren’t you?”

  I nodded. “Yes, after he gets off from work I’ll be on the team to serve the warrant.”

  “Cabe? Loki?” A soft, hesitant voice said from in front of us, pulling our eyes from one another to the woman, Channing, still huddled in on herself in the corner.

  Her eyes looked wild as she took in the crew behind us collecting evidence, as well as the five cops gathered at the door to the room waiting for the okay to come in from the evidence techs.

  “You okay, darlin’?” Cabe asked her.

  For some odd reason, the question set my teeth to grinding. Rage started to swell in my chest at the Chief’s evident closeness to her. However, I tamped it down, knowing it had no place right now.

  No one would benefit from my attitude right now, and I knew that. So I tamped it down, viciously stopping my snarl of outrage that was about to pour out of my throat.

  Her eyes looked warily at me, then my badge; I knew when I wasn’t wanted.

  Giving her a curt nod, I left, even though every cell in my body was telling me not to.

  Chapter 5

  I guarantee I will fill your life with copious amounts of sexual frustration.

  -Life lesson

  Channing

  “What’s that sound?” My brother asked from his usual seat in the recliner.

  I’d thought it was just the game he was playing that was making all that noise, but then he asked what the sound was, which made me get up and investigate.

  Walking to the front window, I took a pull of my beer before flicking the blinds open with two fingers. What I found was our entire street engulfed in police officers, sheriffs, and even an ambulance and fire truck, about five houses back.

  Surprisingly, all of it was centered on Varian Strong’s house, two houses down and across the street from my own.

  There were men dressed in black tactical gear with these big...no massive, rifles held out in front of them. The back of their shirts said SWAT in bold white lettering, and I felt my throat start to close.

  Knowing if I didn’t get my head together, that I’d wind up in another thirty-minute mental breakdown, I turned around and grabbed my bottle of Jack Daniels.

  I didn’t even bother with the glass; I just drank straight from the bottle.

  The burn going down my throat felt like fire, but I kept chugging until I couldn’t any longer.

  Gasping for air to cool the out of control inferno in my throat and to replenish the oxygen in my lungs, I turned back to the window and started to watch.

  The Jack Daniels coursing through my veins gave me courage, which allowed me to go out on my front porch and sit in my rocking chair to watch the activity.

  I watched as seven black clad men entered the premises.

  What in the world was going on? When I came to this town, it was because it was quiet, and had a small population.

  Yet, over the past year, there’d been multiple apartment fires, rapes, and then this. Was I in the Twilight Zone or something?

  The next couple of minutes were a blur as a flurry of activity started to overtake the small house.

  Four large bangs preceded the men, breaching the door with them pushing inside the house, which caused me to laugh.

  They reminded me of the Three Stooges, all trying to fit through the door at once. Somehow they’d gotten their wires crossed, and two men got caught up on each other as they’d tried to enter.

  There was a little bit of fighting to see who got in next, but finally the man on the left, the one in the black BPD shirt, rather than the SWAT shirts, won. Only because he decked the guy on the right that was also in a BPD shirt, with a large elbow to the face.

  I really, really wished I could hear what they were saying.

  Minutes ticked by as I waited to see what would happen, and finally they started to exit the house, dragging Varian’s limp body out by the elbows and threw him bodily into a police car.

  Nearly an hour of the hot afternoon passed by before the form that I’d been unconsciously searching for made his way back to his house after everybody started to disperse.

  He walked sedately across the street.

  He had his helmet in one hand, and his Kevlar vest that he’d been wearing in the other, as he walked across the street with his head hung.

  The cop car carrying Varian honked, making Loki turn his head and glare at the man that was driving the car.

  “Was that you who fought with the other officer to get in the door?” I yelled.

  My face flamed as I realized what I’d said, and I slunk down into my seat a little lower just in case he turned that same glare on me that he’d just leveled at the police car.

  “Yeah,” he growled loudly. “Fucker’s always trying to one up me. Oram’s going to get one of us killed some day.”

  “Want to come sit?” I asked as a flare of courage sparked through me.

  He looked tired. And alone.

  And I didn’t like it.

  Slowly, he walked from the road, through
my yard, and came to a stop at the bottom of the steps.

  My house was pier and beam, and it sat a few feet off the ground with three steps leading up to the porch.

  I was sitting on the porch swing with one leg up, and one leg down, pushing myself softly.

  “Hey,” he said carefully. He was stopped a good ten feet away and watching me warily, giving me the chance to tell him to go away.

  I didn’t want him to go away.

  I had enough Jack Daniel’s courage running through my veins that I wanted him there, and I didn’t care that he still had his gun at his hip, or his shiny badge hanging around his neck.

  “Have a seat,” I said.

  It came out sounding way more husky than I’d intended, but it was what it was. I wanted him there, and my body couldn’t help but show that.

  God, he was so hot.

  He looked so good with short hair.

  The long hair was sexy and all, but this short hair brought the attention to his eyes. Made them almost pop.

  “What’s all that over there?” I said with a wave of my hand in the direction of Varian’s house.

  Loki took a seat

  “Varian Strong is being arrested for the rapes that have been going on around the county. He was installing their security systems, and then coming back months, even years, later and bypassing them to get in their houses,” he said quietly.

  “Holy shit,” I gasped as my eyes went wide.

  He nodded solemnly.

  “Yes. I’ve spent the last four months undercover getting evidence on him. He’s a sick fucker. And an asshole to work for, FYI,” he said grimly.

  I shook my head. Holy shit, I was living next to a rapist all this time!

  And I only thought the cops were bad.

  Jesus Christ.

  “I didn’t know Benton had a SWAT team,” I said offhandedly.

  “That’s Shreveport SWAT. Benton doesn’t have a swat team. Normally we would’ve just issued the warrant and gone in ourselves, but we only have twenty men on Benton’s force, and Varian is known to be dangerous. I didn’t want to take any chances with him,” Loki said softly.

  “I can’t believe he’s been in this neighborhood all this time and I never had a clue! The man gave me the creeps, but what the hell? And you...” I said narrowing my eyes at him. “You could’ve warned me or something. Told me to stay inside. God, anything. I slept with my window open for God’s sake!”

  He rolled his eyes.

  “Why do you think I always had my window open? And don’t think I didn’t notice that cannon on your nightstand. If anyone were to come through that window, you’d have shot them,” he scoffed.

  I blushed even thinking about his open window.

  “Do you really live here?” I asked, as I nodded my head in the direction of his house.

  He shook his head. “No and yes. My boss owns it. You know Cabe, right?” He asked.

  “What? They own that house too?” I gasped.

  I’d known that they owned the house across the street, just to the right of Varian’s house, but I had no clue they owned Loki’s house as well.

  “Yep. They had an opening, and lucky us that Varian set up shop across the street. The only thing better would’ve been if the house beside his had been available for rent rather than that one,” he said as he eyed the bottle of Jack in my hands. “Can I have a drink of that?”

  I looked down at the bottle, then up at him, and offered it to him carefully. “Sure.”

  He took the bottle from my hands, and his fingertips brushed mine, making me gasp.

  Watching me all the while, he set the bottle against his lips, and started to suck the liquid down like it was a bottle of water. His Adam’s apple worked with each swallow, and a droplet of sweat dripped from his chin down his exposed throat.

  My heart started to pound.

  Slow, thudding beats that made the sexual need in my veins start pumping throughout my body.

  My eyelids drooped, and I swallowed thickly.

  I was drunk.

  There was no other logical explanation for the way my brain wasn’t filtering the things that were coming out of my mouth.

  Because the next thing I knew, words started pouring out of my mouth.

  “God, I want you,” I blurted.

  He let the bottle release from his mouth.

  He licked a stray droplet of Jack that was on his lips, and I launched myself at him.

  I swear, if I hadn’t had so much Jack, I would’ve never done this. I wasn’t this girl. I’ve only had sex with three men, and each of those men were of my choosing. I was on top. I was in control. And I left afterwards.

  I had a feeling Loki wouldn’t let me do any of those things, especially have control.

  I really could care less, though.

  I wanted the man.

  I’d been lusting after him for four months now, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Oomph,” he said, as my body barreled into his.

  My momentum pushed him backwards until his back was resting against the wood of the porch, and my legs straddled his hips.

  His hand went into my hair and yanked me down to his lips.

  I moaned, opening my mouth to his seeking tongue, which swept inside when I gave him his opening.

  His tongue ran along my own, coaxing it, urging me on.

  I obliged, sucking his tongue, curling my own around his and pulling on it like I would the head of his cock, causing him to groan.

  The hands on my hair got tighter, and suddenly I found myself on my back with his hips wedged in between my own.

  Something hard poked me in the thigh, bringing my attention from the need to the feeling of pain.

  “Your gun,” I said in between kisses. “It’s poking me in the thigh. It hurts.”

  He laughed darkly against my lips. “Oh, honey. That’s not my gun.”

  Then I was up and over his shoulder, and he was pushing his way through my front door.

  “Which way to your room?” He growled.

  He already knew the answer to that, obviously, but he was being polite all the same.

  My head turned and I saw the back of my brother’s head with his headphones covering his head. “Back of the house. Very back bedroom.”

  He was already headed in the direction; the house was small, so it was only a few more short steps and he was in my room with me.

  Instead of tossing me down on the bed like I’d expected, he hunched his shoulders, allowing my body to slide sensually against his.

  I came to a stop when I was face to face with him.

  His hands were cupping my ass, holding me off the ground just by his upper body strength alone, and it was revving my engine big time.

  What kind of strength did it take to hold a girl off the ground by at least four inches?

  I wasn’t a small girl, either.

  I enjoyed my Little Debbie’s and donuts too much.

  Sure, I ran; but that was no substitute for eating right, and I sure as hell didn’t.

  I was allergic to every vegetable besides potatoes; okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a tad, but I sure as hell didn’t like them.

  And here he was, holding my one hundred and fifty pounds off the floor like it weighed little less than a sack of grain.

  His eyes were filled with lust and excitement, but in the depths of those pale baby blues was concern and wariness. He was scared of what my reaction to him would be.

  I was giving all the ‘fuck me’ signals right now, and he was afraid that if he pushed, I would freak. However, he couldn’t be more wrong.

  I wanted him more than I wanted my next cup of coffee. More than I wanted the chocolate fudge cookies sitting on my kitchen counter.

  More than I didn’t want him and that was saying something.

  Cops, as a whole, were a no-no for me, but my mind, as I said, wasn’t working right today.

  Su
re, tomorrow I’d probably have my freak out...but right now, I just wanted him more than my next breath.

  “Yes,” I answered his unspoken question.

  With that cleared up, he started ripping my clothes off.

  First, my shirt was yanked over my head; then my spandex capri pants were yanked down my legs, along with my underwear.

  Then my bra was yanked roughly down, and I was pushed backwards on the bed.

  “I’ve wanted to lick this pretty pussy since I saw it last night. Jesus Christ, you sure do know how to tease,” he growled against my stomach.

  Then he descended, and rocked my world.

  His talented tongue was put to use once again as he dove straight for gold. He shoved his stiffened tongue into my wet center, allowing his nose to work the swollen nub of my clit.

  My hands clawed desperately for something to hold on to. They found not his hair, but the chain around his neck, and I pulled.

  He growled. The sound vibrating up my sensitive folds to center along the hyper sensitized bud, and I started climbing.

  Sensing my need, he snaked his hands up the inside of my thighs.

  One held the lips of my sex open, while the other went to my entrance, and two fingers lodged deeply inside of me, making my body arch.

  A scream lodged in my throat, and my body bowed.

  There was something so sexy about him. He was so utterly focused on me, keeping his mouth firmly occupied with my flesh, instead of talking in general. I found it wholly captivating.

  Loki’s attention to detail was exquisite.

  My hips ground against his thrusting fingers, and I worked my hips in time with his thrusts.

  Two fingers turned to three, and my release hit me like a 900-pound hammer. It slammed into me so hard that I physically jolted, causing his fingers to enter me so hard that I screamed in pleasure.

  My core clamped down on those fingers, and I gasped for air as the orgasm tore through me, obliterating every single goddamned wall I’d ever put up to protect myself.

  “God,” Loki said.

  I opened my eyes, unaware that I’d even closed them, and gasped once again at the look in his eyes.

  His fingers slipped from my pussy with a wet sound, and he lifted them to his mouth, licking every one clean. Individually. Slowly.