At the time. “And now?”
“What you do is your business. Like I said, you need a life.”
He was the saying the same thing her father had told her more than once. Although she’d never confided in him about the true nature of her and Omar’s relationship and why she’d ended it, a part of her felt he understood. Her mother could not. She saw Omar as a successful man who would be perfect for her daughter.
“I’ll take your suggestion to heart, Chief, although I feel I already have a life. The one I want without any drama. Without any controls. No disrespect, sir, but having someone in your life on a constant basis is not always a good thing.”
He shrugged massive shoulders. “Depends on the person.” He leaned forward. “Enough about that. It’s your life, and as long as you continue to do the job I know you can do, everything will be alright.”
“Thank you.”
“I plan to wait and make the announcement tomorrow. That way anyone who wants to be an ass about it will have the weekend to sulk, because come Monday I won’t put up with any bullshit.”
Joy nodded again. “Alright sir.”
“That’s all, Lieutenant Ingram,” he said, stretching out his hand to her. “Congratulations.”
She placed her hand in his and he shook it. “Thank you, sir.”
* * *
“WELCOME BACK, WORLD TRAVELER.”
Stonewall paused in the open doorway of Summers Security Firm to gaze at the man sitting behind the huge desk. “Thanks, Roland.”
Eight years ago, when Stonewall, Quasar and Striker had left Glenworth Penitentiary, Roland had given them their first jobs. Since they hadn’t known the first thing about security work, Roland had enrolled them in one of the top tactical training schools in the country. He’d also hooked them up for a full year with former Secret Service Agent Prescoli, a man who had a reputation as being one of the best in the business after serving under three presidents.
Although the three of them had lacked in-depth knowledge in security, what he, Quasar and Striker had possessed was an ingrained ability to survive and a drive to safeguard and defend anyone left in their care. Roland saw the potential in them, something Stonewall was forever grateful for.
Roland interrupted his thoughts. “I talked to Navarro a little more than an hour ago. He wanted me to know that he was pleased with how you carried out your duties. He also told me you’re on his payroll for another thirty days. Lucky you.”
Stonewall couldn’t help but smile as he slid into the chair across from Roland’s desk. He had come here straight from the airport. “Yes, lucky me, and don’t think I won’t use it.”
Roland chuckled. “There was never a doubt in my mind that you would. Got plans?”
“A few.” He had plans, alright, and they all centered on one particular woman, especially after reading her recent text messages. Joy had no idea that while they’d been texting, he’d already arrived back in Charlottesville. She didn’t expect him to return until Saturday.
“It’s not like I was gone long this time around. Just a couple of weeks. What’s been happening?”
Roland leaned back in his chair. “Nothing big, unless you’re a Sunnie Clay fan. That woman who froze to death that night in Sofia Valley a few months back was her sister. But I figure you know that since you’re friends with Detective Ingram, and I understand she’s been assigned to the case.”
Stonewall didn’t say anything for a moment. To say he and Joy were friends was putting it lightly, especially when the people who knew him were aware of just how hot he was on her tail. Although he’d tried downplaying his desire for her over the past six months, the guys had still picked up on it. And no one was surprised they were together at Striker and Margo’s wedding.
“I knew about the body, but I hadn’t heard it had been identified. I haven’t talked to Joy in a couple of days.” No need to mention they’d been sexting quite a bit, though. “Joy doesn’t know I’m back in town. She wasn’t expecting me until this weekend.”
“Wasn’t expecting you? Sounds like the two of you are—”
“Friends. Just like you said. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“If you say so.”
He did say so, Stonewall thought, and decided to change the subject. “I talked to Quasar. He and Randi have set a date for their wedding.”
“Yes, and I’m happy for the both of them.”
Stonewall heard something in Roland’s voice that made him ask, “Roland, do you think you’ll ever marry again?”
If the question was a surprise, Roland didn’t let on. But he said firmly, “No.”
Stonewall waited a beat before asking, “Why?”
“Because I could never love another woman. Knowing that, it wouldn’t be fair to a woman to pretend that I can.”
Stonewall nodded. “I know what you mean. I don’t believe in forever, either.”
Roland stared at him intently. “Don’t get it twisted, Stonewall. I do believe in forever. Otherwise, I would never have married Becca. She was my forever. I lost forever with her.”
Stonewall didn’t say anything. He could actually feel the pain in Roland’s words. Deciding to try to shift their conversation from dismal to lighthearted, he asked, “So, how are the pregnant Granger ladies?”
A smile curved Roland’s lips. “I understand they’re anxious for it to be over. I know Carson is, and I figure Shiloh and Jules feel the same way.” Roland had become close friends with Carson Granger when his wife Becca had convinced Carson, who’d worked for the state attorney’s office at the time, to reopen Roland’s case. Although Becca had gotten killed, the dirty cops had placed a hit on Carson’s life as well, but had been unsuccessful in carrying it out.
“What about the fathers-in-waiting?”
Roland chuckled. “They are anxious, too. I talked to Sheppard last night, and the doctor has told him not to be surprised if the baby comes early. Sheppard and Carson are excited about that.”
Stonewall glanced at his phone as he stood. “Need to get home,” he said. More than that, he needed to get ready to pay Joy a surprise visit tonight. Normally he wouldn’t just show up at any woman’s home without calling first, but her last text said it all. A diversion.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
JOY TOOK A sip of her wine as she stared at the flames in her fireplace. So what if the flames were the remote-control kind and it was the beginning of summer? None of that mattered. She was in one of her moods. And it was a good one.
Why wouldn’t it be when she’d gotten a promotion today? She’d been tempted to pinch herself more than once to make sure it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t and she felt so good about it. She’d come home, taken a shower, changed into a lounger and poured herself a glass of wine. Since no one at police headquarters had been told yet, she could not celebrate with any of her coworkers tonight. She wanted to think there would be some who would be happy for her and truly believed her promotion was well deserved. She couldn’t worry about those who didn’t.
She had called her parents and siblings and told them her good news. They were happy for her. She had talked to her dad for a few minutes longer than the others and, like always, he had given her words of encouragement. Joy knew he was truly proud of her and that meant a lot.
She couldn’t wait to share the news with Stonewall. Normally, because of the nature of his business, she refrained from contacting him in case it was at an inopportune time. Instead she was satisfied in letting him contact her. But not tonight. Tonight she decided to take the initiative. She was too happy and excited to wait.
She placed her wineglass down and moved across the room to her phone on the coffee table. It was close to seven. Was it too early to text him? Should she be doing it at all? What if he was in the middle of something?
Joy shrugged of
f the thoughts and was about to pick up her phone when her doorbell sounded. Who would be visiting her? It was probably her neighbor and friend, Cherish. She crossed the room to the door and glanced out the peephole. Her heart suddenly began pounding at the same time her body tingled with full awareness of the man standing on the other side of her door. It was Stonewall.
Removing the chain, she quickly opened the door. “Stonewall. This is a surprise.” She truly meant that. For someone who never liked surprises, she was starting to like his. Joy tried not to notice how good he looked standing there in a pair of jeans and a pullover shirt that stretched across his broad chest. And why did he appear bigger than life tonight? Of its own accord her gaze moved to his crotch and remembered. Then she thought that yes, he definitely was bigger than life, especially certain parts of him.
“I hope it’s a pleasant surprise.”
If he only knew, she thought, her eyes moving back to his face. She saw the smile that touched his lips and figured he did know...or had a pretty good idea...what she was thinking when her gaze had lowered to his zipper. “Definitely pleasant. Please come in.”
She stepped aside and when he passed by her, his aftershave, a woodsy, masculine fragrance, ignited a response inside her body.
Feeling all bubbly at the realization he was really here, she closed the door behind him and when she turned around, he was standing there staring at her. The dark heat in his gaze was blatantly clear, and she met his gaze with a force so powerful it licked through her body.
“I thought you were still in Vermont. When did you return to town? Why are you here?”
He moved toward her and she appreciated his walk. It was like a panther stalking its prey. He came to a stop in front of her. “I returned today, and the reason I’m here is because of your text.”
Desire was blossoming in her stomach. “My text?”
“Yes. The one that said you were in need of a diversion. I answered the call, baby. Here I am.”
* * *
THE MOMENT JOY had opened the door, a need Stonewall hadn’t counted on ripped through him. Oh, he’d known he wanted her, which was the reason he’d shown up tonight. To appease his desires as well as her own. But what he hadn’t counted on or expected was such gut-wrenching heat blasting off inside him.
He’d just said he was here because of her text when deep down he knew that wasn’t completely true. Even if she hadn’t sent that text, he would still have been here because Joy Ingram had gotten into his system in a way no other woman had. His jaw tensed at the thought.
“Do you have to frown about it?”
His jaw relaxed. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
“What?”
She would have to ask him. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t tell her. But he would tell her something that had been on his mind during the drive over here. And it was somewhat connected to the issue at hand. “That I’m here for you tonight, and I shouldn’t want you so much.”
She smiled and reached up to run a finger across his bearded jaw. “That’s okay. I think there will be enough pleasure to share.”
Both her words and her touch were doing him in. “Hell, I hope so.”
He leaned down close to her ear. Placed a kiss there. “You know what I’ve been thinking about a lot since the last time I was here?”
“No.” He thought her voice sounded breathless.
“You. Me. In your bed again, with you curled up beside be. But only after I’ve been inside your body for hours.”
“Hours?”
“Yes, hours. You got the time?”
He felt her smile against his face. “Only if you’ve got the stamina.”
Did she honestly think he didn’t? In that case...
He moved his lips from her ear to the nape of her neck. Her skin was sweet and felt soft. Using the tip of his tongue, he began to lick her in slow, penetrating strokes. He couldn’t help but feel pleased when he heard the choppiness of her breathing and felt her shiver.
“Stonewall?”
Why did she have to say his name like that? With such heated passion? “Hmm?”
“Are you going to play games?”
He released a light chuckle. “No, I’m going to prove just how much stamina I’ve got. I hope you can handle it,” he said, brushing her hair aside to press even more kisses to her neck.
He leaned in closer to her, wanting her to feel his erection. Wanting her to know just what she would be dealing with. “I want you so damn much,” he murmured, moving his tongue to lick around her chin.
“Not as much as I want you.”
“If you think that, baby, then I need to prove you wrong.” He swept her off her feet and into his arms. Moving quickly, he headed toward her bedroom.
* * *
WHEN HE PLACED her on her feet by the bed, Stonewall gave her a long, hard kiss. Joy couldn’t help the moan that started low in her throat before working its way from her mouth. She felt a throbbing between her legs and even felt her panties getting wet. There was no doubt about it. Stonewall had the ability to stoke her fire in a way that left her ablaze.
By the time he released her mouth, she felt like she’d been kissed into oblivion. And when she looked into his dark eyes, she saw something in their depths that was even more erotic than what had been there earlier. Her heart began pounding, and her senses were on overload.
“I am your diversion tonight, Joy. Forget every damn thing except me and how I will make you feel. Things will get wild. They will get raw. Even urgent at times.” He gave her a quick, heated kiss. “And another thing.”
She licked her tongue around her lips, tasting him there. “What?”
“This bedroom isn’t the only place where we’ll be doing it. I like different locations even if they’re under the same roof.”
At that moment, the image of being taken on the floor in front of her remote-controlled fireplace heated her blood, and another groan escaped from her lips.
She licked her lips again, and he said in an almost fierce growl, “Let me do that, Joy.”
The moment his tongue touched the corner of her mouth, she felt her stomach do a quick somersault at the same time her pulse began pounding near the base of her throat. It took all she had to stand there while he licked to one corner of her mouth and back, while the entire length of his body pressed against her, as if he deliberately wanted her to feel the bulge behind his zipper.
She had no other choice but to feel it and remember how it felt inside her while her muscles clamped down on him, milking him and pulling all she could out of him.
The memory made the center of her ache, and desire throbbed through her veins. He had wrapped his arms around her waist, but now his hands had shifted lower to cup her backside. She could feel the heat in his hands through the silk material of her lounger. He continued to ravage her mouth, licking all around her lips while gently rocking his hips against her so she wouldn’t miss the feel of his erection. She knew Stonewall was deliberately toying with her. Nearly driven mindless with primal awareness and intense need, she decided two could play his game.
The next time his tongue moved to lick around the center of her mouth, she snared it with hers. Drawing it into her mouth, she began sucking hard on it, the same way she intended to suck hard on him later. She intended to show him that she knew a little about kissing, even if it was pulling out the mental playbook from the last time he’d been here. That night he’d taught her to kiss in ways Omar never had, and she had no problem showing him that she remembered it all.
He removed his hands from her backside to clamp them to her face and hold his mouth to hers. Or hers to his. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that although he deepened the kiss, her tongue was the one in control. Holding tight to his, even though he was trying to make it a full-contact, wet-and-tasty, all-
over-your-mouth probing kiss.
She could feel him shudder deeply right before he lifted his head to disengage their mouths. He stared down at her with wet lips, and she figured hers were the same. Suddenly he swept her up into his arms and carried her the couple of feet to the bed.
She pulled him down on the bed with her. There was something about their bodies together on a mattress and the restful feel of her comforter beneath her back. But she knew Stonewall had no intention of letting her rest. At least, not for a while. The next thing she knew, he had whipped her lounger over her head, leaving her bare except for her panties. She felt a surge of need when he pulled the skimpy lace down her legs.
While she lay there, wearing nothing at all, his gaze moved over every bare inch of her. “You are beautiful,” he said in a voice that sounded like an aching rasp.
The words curled through her body on vibrations that shivered right to her soul. Intense heat throbbed between her legs. She couldn’t help the blush that stained her cheeks when she felt a flow of wetness deluge between them.
“I missed this,” he said, stroking his fingers along her feminine folds, deliberately easing a finger inside to stroke her clit. “God, that feels good,” he said as he continued to stroke her as if trying to generate even more wetness from her. She held his gaze and then, as if he was the one in control of her body, a stream of juices flowed down her thighs.
Her heart began beating rapidly in her chest when he withdrew his fingers, but then he parted her thighs as if he needed a closer view of what was between them. And then she watched as he lowered his head. Before she could catch her breath, he thrust his tongue inside her.
“Stonewall!”
His mouth was greedier than before. Ravenous. Voracious. Gluttonous. He was making predatory moans as he locked his mouth to her, taking control of her clit. She began gasping, not for air but for more, and he gave it to her. She moaned, whimpered, tossed around on the bed until the firm grip of his hands on her hips held her in place.
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