Avoiding the Badge

by Dorothy F. Shaw

  “What’s stopping you?”

  “Not a damn thing.” Derek bent forward, closing the gap in their height difference, and took her mouth.

  She had to be just under five foot six, which meant he was nearly a foot taller, and yet she fit against him perfectly. Rayna rose on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned into his mouth. Her firm breasts pressed to his chest, and the urge to explore them rode him as hard as his dick was quickly getting.

  God help him, she was heaven. Her taste was sweeter than the finest honey, her scent more intoxicating than any flower. The chemistry between them exploded, something he was coming to realize could always be there. He hoped it would.

  The heat burning through him was way more than the typical “new person, new excitement” kind of fire two people felt when they were attracted to each other. It was a fire he’d never experienced with anyone prior.

  She moaned again, and reluctantly, Derek broke the kiss. Sucking in a breath, he pressed his forehead to hers. “I gotta confess, I want you. Badly.”

  Her lips curved into a meek smile, and she let out a little giggle. “I can feel how badly.”

  “Yeah well, you’ve cast a spell on me, Doc. It can’t be helped.”

  Her smile got bigger. “A spell, huh?”

  “Yes.” He brushed his lips over hers. “For months now. All I can think about is you.” He tipped his face back so he could see her clearly and also look into her eyes. “If it’s too soon for me to say that, I’m sorry. But it’s true.”

  “Whether or not it’s too soon doesn’t really matter...” She licked her lips. “I like knowing it.”

  He smiled as warmth spilled through his body. Feelings were growing within his heart and mind, taking root in ways he knew would be permanent. He should be scared. It should be too soon, but it didn’t matter because all he wanted was her.

  There was no stopping what was building—had been building for months. He wanted more of her, he wanted to make her smile, hear her laugh. He wanted to make her coffee, find out if she even liked coffee, or what her favorite food was, her favorite color.

  Of course, Derek wanted to know what she sounded like when she orgasmed. Also wanted to see her in the morning, with her hair all a tangle of red waves, voice and eyes heavy with sleep... He wanted to know what her favorite position was when sleeping and when fucking.

  The list was never-ending, and he had no issue with all it contained. But he knew he couldn’t tell her all that yet. That much information would spook anyone. The last thing he wanted to do was blow his shot with her.

  Instead of blurting every single dream and desire he had for her, and them, Derek took her mouth in a soft, tender kiss, and then as he left her lips, he let her slide down his body, reveling in how good she felt against him. “How about we go enjoy our drinks?”

  Her eyes were a bit glazed, her lips swollen, and then they spread into a sexy-as-hell grin. “I’d like that.”

  “Me, too.” He took her hand, turned and led her down the hall and out to the main bar area.

  The cover band was just starting their set, and a few people were already on the small dance floor. When he got them to the table, Jeff was standing close to Tish, and it appeared they were...arm wrestling? Oh, hell, really?

  Derek looked at Rayna. “Do you see this?”

  She blurted a laugh and covered her mouth. Shaking her head, she reached for her margarita, snaked her tongue along the edge of the glass to gather some salt, and then sucked a healthy sip through the straw. After she swallowed and licked her lips, (God help him) she set the glass down. “Should we wager who wins?”

  Derek was no longer focused on Tish and Jeff, since obviously the two were happily playing out their own version of foreplay. Instead, Derek focused on the fact that he just watched his woman lick the edge of her glass, the sight of her tongue a temptation he wasn’t sure he’d survive much longer.

  He drew in a slow breath, and after he let it out, he bent to her ear. “When you do stuff like that it only serves to shore up the spell.”

  “Huh? Stuff like wha—” Her eyes went wide, then narrowed. “Ohhh, the salt?”

  He raised one brow and smirked. Snaking an arm around her, he squeezed her side. “Ohhh, the salt, yes.”

  “Should I do it again?”

  “You enjoy torturing defenseless creatures?”

  “What? No!” She laughed and swatted at his chest. “You’re in no way defenseless, Officer Hansen!” She laughed again and picked up her glass. “Just for that...” With a devilish glint in her eye, she swiped her tongue along the edge of the glass again, and then wrapped her sweet lips around the straw.

  Derek let out a groan and ran his palm over his short hair. “Doc, you keep doing that, and we’re not going to be in public much longer.”

  She raised her brows. “Oh no? Where would we be?”

  He bent to her ear. “Any place where we can be alone. That way, if you want to use that sweet tongue of yours, you can do it freely where the only one watching is me.”

  It was her turn to groan, but hers carried a bit of a whimper to it. It was a tempting preview of what she might sound like if he was able to touch her in all the ways he was aching to. Derek ran the tip of his nose along the shell of her petite ear. “I like the sound you just made.”

  “I think it’s you who’s doing the torturing now.” She ran her palm down his stomach, then gripped his shirt.

  “Nah, just building it.”

  “Building what?”

  “The anticipation.” He nipped her earlobe, then pulled away. Though only so he could straighten and take a swig of his beer.

  She gazed up at him but didn’t say anything more. He didn’t need her to, though. Derek knew she was feeling every spark igniting between them as much as he was.

  At that moment, they were in total sync, and that just made the fireworks dancing between them even hotter.

  * * * *

  Anticipation might just be the death of Rayna. Her mouth had gone dry as the Mojave Desert in the dead of summer, but her panties were a completely different story.

  As it had been from the first time he touched her earlier that week, Derek was hitting every sexual button she had, and some she didn’t even know existed. It was, if she allowed herself to think about it too much, a bit disturbing.

  She wasn’t a prude, by any stretch, but she definitely had never had her panties soaked through in public before. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure she’d ever been this turned on in private, either.

  Her libido was working on overtime, making her want to do things like take him out back and lick salt off his body from head to toe—an idea that, in her entire life, had never crossed her mind but was completely appealing now, and in every way.

  Derek placed his palm on the small of her back as he talked with Jeff over the music. A shot of heated tingles pulsed up and down her spine and then arrowed straight for the spot between her thighs where it counted most.

  She took a healthy sip of her drink, swallowing the groan that she couldn’t suppress, and prayed Derek didn’t hear over the band. The group finished their song, and most of the bar applauded.

  Sheesh, Rayna had always heard that women hit their sexual prime in their thirties, so maybe this was it for her? Maybe her body was going to take over logical thought and reason and go all Uninhibited Lolita with an officer of the law.

  Derek gave her a smile and caressed her lower back, and Rayna wondered if it was possible to keel over from sensory overload...or pass out due to spontaneous orgasm? Was that a thing? Oh, wait...spontaneous orgasm actually was a thing. A serious medical condition. She remembered a few people making a bet in veterinary school about it.

  Chuckling at the memory, Rayna took another sip and glanced over at the band. A female had joined the gang of men on the small stage, and the b
eat of the next song began. Ooh, Rayna knew this song! A new one by Lady Antebellum called “You Look Good.” Rayna shifted her hips ever so slightly to the beat as she watched a handful of pairs take to the dance floor.

  “Looks like we found our song.”

  She glanced at Derek. “Our song?”

  “Yep. Ours as in you and me, Doc.” He held out his palm. “May I have this dance?”

  Rayna’s eyes went wide as she shifted her gaze from his eyes to his palm. “Really?”

  He winked. “Yes, really. You’re not gonna break my heart, are ya?”

  Heat spread up her chest to her face, and Rayna couldn’t stop the smile that bloomed across her lips. She put her hand in his. “Not on purpose.”

  “Good to know.” Derek turned and led her onto the small dance floor.

  Rayna absolutely could not believe this was happening. Of all the guys she could’ve but never went on dates with over the years, she’d picked this one. And he knew how to dance, too. Well, maybe he did...

  When he reached the center, he pulled her around him, and before she’d even gotten her left hand on his shoulder, he’d hooked his right hand under her left arm, on her upper back, and started them moving.

  Good grief, yes, there was no maybe about it. Derek Hansen knew how to dance.

  Rayna gazed up at him as he two-stepped them in time with the beat, then pushed her out to spin her, crossed her back in front of him and spun her again, before promptly tucking her back in.

  Oh dear, yes indeed, he knew how...more than how.

  And she was definitely liking him. A lot. A whole lot.

  Quick quick, slow...quick quick, slow...turn—Rayna smiled as Derek spun her once more, then took both of her hands, raised them up, and then came under her arm, around to her left and into a cuddle move—their hands still linked as they rocked side by side.

  Her smile got bigger, and a giggle escaped.

  Derek came around, rotating her so she was once again facing him. He grinned. “She’s smiling. I like it.”

  “Is there anything you can’t do?”

  He pushed her out for another turn; this time she rotated twice and then came back around to pick up the step. Derek kept them moving. “Oh, I’m sure there’s lots I can’t do.”

  “Now you’re just being modest.” As he turned and dipped her, she giggle-squealed.

  Derek pulled her up and resumed his hold. “I like the giggling, too. You should see your face right now, it’s—”

  “Oh dear, I’m probably flaming red.”

  He moved them around the edge of the dance floor. “I was going to say beautiful.”

  At a loss for words, Rayna felt her face get hotter. Coming around him for another turn, she took his other hand as he ducked under her arm then pivoted in front of her, once more picking up the step, then dipping her one last time as the song ended.

  After he righted her, he pressed her against his body, his lips close to her ear. “Beautiful and unbelievably sexy.”

  Rayna ran her palm up the back of his close-cropped hair, the softness tickling her fingers. “I could say the same of you.”

  He nuzzled the spot just below her ear. “Are you saying the same?”

  “Yes.” Rayna glanced out over the crowd as the next song began. No one was watching them, except...Tish and Jeff. Both sporting grins the size of the Grand Canyon.

  She felt his fingers press into her lower back, holding her tight to him. And Rayna suddenly wanted to know what it would feel like to be skin to skin, completely naked against him. Her soft curves molding themselves to his ridges of hard muscle.

  She drew in a slow breath as he started an easy sway with her to the next song. “How late did you want to stay out tonight?”

  He shifted against her. “As long as you want.”

  As long as she wanted...and boy, she certainly wanted. “Good to know. But what if I want to go home sooner rather than later?”

  His brow creased. “Sure. I mean, whatever you want, Doc.”

  Rayna wanted a whole lot of things. One of those things was to go home sooner rather than later...but to bring him with her.

  Head tilted to the side, she traced his lips with her fingertip. “Don’t frown. I’ll be needing you to give me a ride. Are you willing?”

  As Derek’s frown disappeared, one of his eyebrows twitched, and then his lips curved into a lust-filled grin. “You can have a ride anytime, anywhere, whenever you want, Doc.”

  Gazing into his eyes, heat swirled low in Rayna’s tummy and lust pulsed through her veins. She dragged her teeth over her bottom lip.

  A ride was exactly what she wanted.

  Chapter 6

  “Later, Jeff. Nice to meet you, Tish.” Derek nodded to both friends before he and Rayna walked away from their table toward the exit of the bar.

  He had a grip on Rayna’s hand...because no way he’d take any chance of losing her in the crowd—or losing her, period. Derek would give the woman damn near anything she wanted. Her request? An escort home. He could do that. Absofuckinglutely!

  Even if he only dropped her off at her front door, and she didn’t invite him inside, he’d still get some significant alone time with her. Of course, if she did invite him inside, he’d count himself the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. But either way, he’d be happy.

  He glanced over at her and squeezed her hand. “I’m right down this way.”

  “Okay.” She gave him a small smile.

  They crossed the back alley behind the bar and traversed the many parked cars in the gravel parking lot. When Derek reached his black, four-door Dodge pickup near the back, he went directly to the passenger door and hit the unlock button on the fob. “Your chariot awaits.”

  She let out a small giggle.

  After opening the door, he turned to her. “Let me help you in, you know, since...”

  “Since I’m short?” She grinned.

  “I was going to say petite.” Stepping close, he placed his hands on her hips and pivoted them around. Gazing into her blue eyes, he walked her backward to the opening of the cab and after he lifted her onto the seat, he took her lips in a kiss.

  Rayna parted her thighs, and Derek slid between them. She moaned. The heady sound of it sent shockwaves whipping through Derek’s nervous system, and his cock went rock-hard. With her arms around his neck, she tugged at the back of his shirt with one hand, and with the other, gripped the back of his head.

  Fuck, her tongue was the sweetest treat he’d ever tasted. As he stroked over it with his own, he let his hands roam her body. Derek smoothed his palms down her slender waist, to the flare of her hips, and then continued over her thighs before reversing direction and running them up her tummy and finding her breasts.

  Rayna tilted her head in the opposite direction, whimpering into his mouth as she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him tighter to her center. Goddamn, he needed more of this...he needed—

  Fuuuuck!

  She rolled her pelvis, rubbing against his hard shaft, and his arousal shot off the charts with such speed, Derek thought he might come in his jeans. In return, he slid a hand beneath her fantastic ass, gripped it tight and rocked his hips forward...giving it back to her. “Feel what you do to me.”

  She broke the kiss on a gasp. “Mmmgod...” Sucking in a breath, she gripped the back of his neck. “I feel you.”

  Eyes locked on hers, Derek did it again. Her head fell back, and she moaned. He bent and ran his lips along her jaw, to her ear, and then nipped and sucked at her neck. God help him, the way she felt, the way she tasted and the sounds coming from her sweet mouth overwhelmed him in a way that made his whole body throb.

  Every part of her seeped into him, pooling beneath his skin and leaving him with a craving he had to sate. “You feel so fucking good, Doc.”

  He rolled his
hips again, and she let out a little squeak before dragging her blunt nails down his back. “Please...”

  Please...

  One word.

  That was all it took.

  The trigger was pulled—and Derek knew, at a bone-deep level, she was giving him everything. Maybe she didn’t realize it, but either way, it was more than he dared to dream he’d get from her.

  Please...

  Derek framed her jaw in his palm and gazed into her eyes. “So fucking hot. So goddamn sexy.” He licked at her upper lip. “Is your cunt wet for me?”

  Her body jerked in his hold, though not away from him or in a negative way, more as if he’d shocked her. Rayna blinked, and a flush came over her face. Then she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, dragging her teeth over it as she let it go.

  Derek grinned, wanting to nibble that lip for her. “Tell me.”

  Her cheeks grew more flushed, and she broke his gaze and nodded. Yeah, she was definitely a little shocked, but he had a feeling it was more shyness than anything else.

  “Ah, I see now.” He rubbed his nose over hers. “Your eyes, please.” Almost immediately, she focused on him again, and he continued. “Anyone ever talk like that to you before?”

  “No.” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth once again.

  “Did you like it just now, what I said?”

  Her brow creased. “I...” She bit her bottom lip again.

  Derek straightened a little, giving her some breathing room. The last thing he wanted to do was push her too far. It was too soon. He ran his gaze over her face. “You can tell me anything. I promise.” He shrugged. “I’m a dominant guy, and I really dig talking dirty. But if you don’t like that sort of thing, that’s okay. If you do like it, then that’s great. But I hope at least you feel comfortable enough to let me know which way to go.”

  Rayna stared at him for what felt like forever before, finally, she leaned forward and kissed him. It was unexpected, but completely welcome. There was nothing timid or hesitant about the way she took his mouth either. Rayna drove her tongue between his lips and held onto his shoulders as if she were drowning.