by Tatum Throne
He wanted Wade to suck him off and then he wanted to paddle him with a wooden paddle. That wouldn’t be happening anytime and that made Malachi rev his bike, taking it faster than he should have on the narrow streets.
When he got to Wade’s quiet neighborhood, he came to a stop outside a darkened forest that surrounded his property. He shut off the bike and stood up, taking off his helmet and setting it on the back. He cut across the yard, hanging back by old growth trees.
Malachi saw Wade in the upstairs window, crossing to his bed. He was naked and obviously didn’t care. His cock hung heavily as if he was half aroused.
Malachi couldn’t believe he was actually stalking and keeping tabs on a man he worked with. As it was, Malachi was doing everything in his power to make sure Wade had every reason to hate him. Malachi couldn’t fuck a guy who hated him.
As he hung along the tree line, Malachi watched that window for another sign of his obsession. He wasn’t disappointed when Wade moved past a second time, revealing that hard, muscled body.
What the fuck was wrong with him? And how was he going to get out of this situation without fucking up either of their careers?
He needed to leave before he was caught. That thought had him heading back through the woods to his bike.
He was so fucking stupid for coming here tonight.
He went straight home and parked his bike in the garage, closing it behind him. He trudged upstairs and tried to forget all about the encounter he had with Wade, but it lingered hard on his mind. Guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders. How was he even going to make this situation right? And did he want to make it right? Maybe it was better to keep this feud going so the man stayed away from him.
Instead of changing for bed, Malachi kicked off his boots and lay down, hoping and praying sleep would come quickly. In only a few short hours, he would be seeing Wade and that scared the hell out of him.
Chapter Two
As Wade walked into District Two headquarters, the thought of seeing Malachi again put his nerves on edge. He did not want to run in to him right now. Nor did he want to be alone with him ever again.
That thought had him wondering if he should do a preemptive strike and go to HR to talk about the situation before it spiraled even further out of control. No. He didn’t want to do that yet.
Instead, Wade threw his stuff down under his desk and went to roll call like normal. He did not want to deal with Malachi, but he knew it was almost a matter of time before he would. To his surprise, Tim Malachi was in the morning meeting. Malachi didn’t always make it to roll call. After last night, he hoped he wouldn’t see him for a while. He was looking even smugger as their gazes connected in passing.
Tension radiated through the room as Wade tried to focus on what Chief Rask was saying and not on the way Malachi was practically staring him down. He didn’t like this. Their encounter over the weekend was too much to handle. It had obviously done Wade more harm to their situation than good.
As the meeting wrapped up, Wade stood up ready to get out of there. He did not want to deal with Malachi right now.
To his surprise, Chief Rask came his way. “We need to talk.”
“What’s up?”
“I heard about the situation that happened between you and Malachi over the weekend.”
“How?”
“That’s not important. I think we need to deal with it before it gets even further out of control.”
Out of the corner of Wade’s eye, he caught sight of Malachi looking down at his phone. The man looked completely unconcerned. “Is Sergeant Malachi aware that you know?”
“Not yet. I think we should go to my office where we can talk. I can sense the tension between you two and it has to stop.”
This was not the conversation he wanted to have this morning—especially with Malachi hovering over his shoulder. “There’s nothing to say. Everything’s cool. You don’t have to worry about me or him.”
“Then why did I get a report of a fight between you two in an alley outside of a bar over the weekend?”
“You must be mistaken then.”
Chief Rask looked as though he didn’t believe him, but he wasn’t going to fight him on the situation now. Wade did not like the idea of lying to the chief but didn’t want to have this conversation about Malachi when he was standing so close. How was he supposed to deal with the person who absolutely hated his guts?
“Then if there was something that happened, I have your word that the situation will be worked out.”
“Yes. You won’t have any more problems between the either of us.”
“Good.”
Determined to put the morning behind him, Wade slipped out of the conference room, but he didn’t make it very far before he heard the door practically slam shut behind him. Malachi was staring him down and looked as though he was going to fuck him up good.
Malachi came in close, not caring that they were blocking the hallway. “What was that about?”
“Nothing. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“No, there’s nothing between us. We don’t need to do this here and now. Let’s just do our jobs and keep to ourselves.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be possible now that you’re training with SWAT.”
Somehow, Malachi had stepped in closer, blocking him in so that their private conversation was becoming something more intimate. Despite his resistance, Wade felt his heart starting to beat a little bit faster for all the wrong reasons.
Annoyance flashed through his mind. “Why won’t you just leave me alone? It’s getting old really fast.”
“What is your problem?”
“We have to work together. This needs to stop.”
“Oh, it will. I’ll make sure you never work with SWAT.”
As Sergeant Malachi started to turn, Wade reached out and grabbed his arm. “Someone saw us arguing in the alley. We both know this needs to end before it causes problems for both of us.”
“Who saw us?”
“I don’t know.” Wade sighed. “Chief Rask knows and someone else obviously does, too. This tension between us needs to stop.”
“Just stay out of the way,” Malachi said.
Funny considering, he was the one who got in Wade’s way most times.
He needed to collect his thoughts before he went out on patrol. He did not need this distraction. Especially, with this SWAT training starting up. Wade’s hot cup of coffee was getting cold. He wanted to get out of there before he did something stupid. “Excuse me.”
As Wade was trying to sidestep him, Malachi moved forward, purposely blocking his way. It took everything for Wade not to dump the coffee on him. When Malachi took another step forward, the coffee tipped, dumping all over Malachi’s shirt. His reaction was swift and menacing.
“You did not just do that.”
“It was an accident.”
“I doubt that very much.”
As Wade moved around Malachi, he caught sight of the audience that was now watching them. Sergeant Malachi took off, heading for the locker room to change. Had it been an accident? Not so much, really. He probably could have kept hold of his coffee a little bit better but it just didn’t happen. And what he wanted in the end was Malachi away from him.
As the smirk lifted on Wade’s lips, he saw Chief Rask standing at the far end of the corridor, watching every moment of their interaction. His chief looked pissed. There was going to be hell to pay for this. Wade was sure of it. He just had to be ready for when it came raining down upon him.
Wade was on his way to his office to clear his head, but Chief Rask came in fast.
Chief Rask sauntered his way. “Go fix this mess before I change my mind about SWAT.”
“Yes, Sir.”
As Wade watched Malachi disappear for the stairwell, he knew he needed to give the man a few minutes to cool off before he went to grovel for his forgiveness.
* * * *
&nb
sp; The coffee wasn’t hot but it still burned Malachi’s pride. He wanted to get to the locker room fast. His white uniform shirt was probably stained beyond repair. Malachi looked down, taking a whiff of the coffee, realizing that it actually smelled pretty good—that burned even more
When he was alone in the locker room, Malachi went straight to his locker and ripped off his shirt. Several buttons went flying but he didn’t care. He stood in front of his locker trying to forget all about how good Wade looked this morning in his uniform. His tactical pants hugged athletic thighs and a tight ass that was perfect for bottoming.
This Monday morning was not starting out well for either one of them. Things were only going to get worse if they didn’t fix the situation. Malachi shoved his ruined shirt into the locker and grabbed a new one from his gym bag, pulling it over his head.
As he did, he realized his chest was sticky from the coffee that had spilled through. He went to the sink, grabbing a few paper towels to wet them. Malachi rubbed the towel over his chest as he tried to get the stickiness off.
Just as he did, he heard the sound of the locker room door opening and footsteps coming in behind him. He looked up in the mirror and his gaze connected with Wade’s.
“Look, I’m sorry about spilling my coffee on you. It was an accident.”
Malachi crumpled up the towels, tossing them into the bin. He turned around, leaning against the sink and crossing his arms. “What are we going to do about this?”
Wade ran a frustrated hand through his hair, shaking his head. “I get it. Neither one of us get along. It doesn’t mean we can’t work together.”
“Why is it do you think we can’t get along?” Malachi purposely raised an eyebrow and gave him a hard, punishing stare. “Tell me.”
A flush crept up Wade’s cheeks. There it was. The attraction that wouldn’t be going anywhere—not that it could go anywhere now. They needed to resolve this situation before it got even further out of control.
“Let’s just stay out of each other’s way from now on. Okay?” Wade said.
“Deal.”
As Wade turned to go, Malachi watched him leave. It was the wrong thing to do. Malachi’s gaze lingered over his athletic ass. All he could think about was in a few short hours he would have Wade in the Training Center pinned to the mat.
TJ and Chief Rask were adamant about Wade training with SWAT. That didn’t mean that he would pass at the end of that training. In fact, Malachi was going to make sure he didn’t have an easy time of it.
After cleaning up, Malachi went upstairs, getting down to work. Despite the drudgery of the day, he couldn’t shake his thoughts from Wade. That had him going to the Training Center, changing into his tactical uniform to get ready for training the new recruits.
To his surprise, Wade was already there in the weight room. Sweat lingered on his brow as he lifted. He couldn’t believe how fucking beautiful he was. Every muscle in his chest was flexed hard, revealing a really nice six pack.
Wanting Wade scared the hell out of him. How was he supposed to protect him from the dangers of the job? As a Dom, he loved protecting his submissive. How was he supposed to protect when the man he wanted was able to take care of himself? That was the problem, he couldn’t.
Guilt lingered too close to the surface when he thought about how he was hurting Wade. He was going to swallow his pride and make it right.
His mind should have been on work and the task force he was assigned to regarding the serial killer.
There were rumors going around that the serial killer they had caught a week ago was actually working with someone else. That scared the hell out of everyone in the department. The woman they had captured had done a number on one of their own. Everyone seemed as though they were on edge and uneasy over everything nowadays.
TJ came to his side. “I heard about the coffee this morning.”
“Oh yeah? I’m sure everyone has.”
“Everyone knows you two don’t get along. Why do you think that is?”
Malachi rolled his eyes. “You don’t want to know.”
“I didn’t before, but now I do.” TJ chuckled. “You better tell me so my overactive imagination doesn’t run wild.”
Malachi smiled. “I’ll let you know when I figure out what his problem is.”
TJ put his hand on his shoulder and leaned his close. “Seems like you both need to cool off.”
With that, TJ walked away. TJ was right. They did need to cool this thing off. It was getting a bit too hot for either of them.
One by one, the new SWAT recruits filed in to the gym. A long bank of mirrors hung on one wall with gym equipment sitting to the left of the mats.
“Good morning. Welcome to day one of your tactical and hand-to-hand combat training. With me is Sergeant Tim Malachi, who will be working with me in tactics. Tim…”
“Let’s pair up.”
Malachi took his position at the front of the room with TJ, who was making sure that everyone had a partner for training purposes.
It didn’t go past him that TJ had made sure that Wade was without a partner. Malachi stepped forward. “I’ll work with you.”
As he came in close to Officer Wade Harder, Malachi brushed his lips across the top of Wade’s ear. “A little payback for this morning. That’s okay with you, right?”
Malachi let amusement dance within his eyes.
“Perfectly fine with me. I figured we need to exorcise some of our demons we have going.”
“Bring it on. I’m ready to deal with you.”
“I’m not sure you can handle what I can give you, though.”
“Less talking more fighting.”
“As you wish. I’m ready to bring you down a few notches.”
Wade smiled as his body took a fighting stance position. Malachi came in fast and swept out Wade’s legs, taking them both down to the mat, proving a point. “You are not ready to be part of this team.”
Wade’s eyes went wide at how quickly he was taken to the mat. He pushed against Malachi but he didn’t move. Without warning, Wade looked as though he was frozen in fear. What was wrong with him?
Malachi backed off for just a moment to see if Wade would take control, and he did. When Malachi was flipped hard to the mat, he felt his shirt rip across his chest.
Before he could stop it from happening, dangerous laughter spilled from his lips. “That’s the second shirt you’ve ruined for me today.”
Wade’s elbow clipped his nose, sending blood pouring. “Keep it up and you would just might lose a third.”
Blood dripped down what was left of his shirt. That didn’t stop the fight. Malachi flipped him over, sending Wade flying over his shoulder. Malachi jumped to his feet, giving chase. He tackled Wade to the ground, pinning him with a chokehold.
Malachi let his teeth scrap the curve of his ear. “Tap out.”
“No.”
The muscles in his arm were starting to bulge as he tightened his hold. “Tap. Out.”
“Fuck off.”
Wade was floundering with his legs, trying to push off the mat. It was no use. He couldn’t break the hold. Blood continued to weep from Malachi’s nose in a stream that was now flowing down his chin.
“You two…in my office now!” TJ bellowed. He came in close to both of them, leaning down on his haunches as he tossed a towel into Malachi’s face. “We’re going to work this out. Today.”
As Wade jumped up, Malachi sat up, putting pressure on his nose. He watched as Wade backed off. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think we just need to go our separate ways for a while,” Malachi said.
TJ looked as though he wasn’t going to fight him on the issue, but there was a good chance he would. “I don’t like this.”
“It’s only a matter of time before Chief Rask finds out you two aren’t getting along.”
Malachi stood up. “What am I supposed to do?”
“You need to figure it out fast. I don’t like this type of tension on the SW
AT team.”
“Will do.”
With that, TJ walked away, leaving Wade staring at Malachi. “Well?”
“I don’t think there’s anything for us to do about this tonight. I think we’re done here.”
Wade walked away. Malachi couldn’t blame him for the way he was feeling. They had put way too much energy into hating each other. Malachi ran his hand through his hair as frustration moved through him. How was he supposed to fix this?
He should go after Wade, but now was not the time. Instead, he headed toward the locker room to change and leave for the night. He was going to have some nasty bruises on his face and body in the morning, but he didn’t care. All he was concerned about was Wade and the fact that he had totally screwed things up.
Chapter Three
It was raining hard by the time Wade finished with his second shift patrol duties. Instead of changing in the locker room, he went straight to his car. He was ready to put the day behind him.
His car was across the parking lot just out of reach of the lights from the building. He hurried to his car and fumbled with his keys, dropping them to the ground. As he leaned down to grab them, he turned around to see someone rushing toward him.
He had no time to even contemplate who it could be, but at the last second lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating Malachi’s face. A gasp of surprise moved through Wade as Malachi pushed him up against the car.
“We’re going to finish this now and this time I mean it.”
A groan echoed through Wade’s body at the feel of Malachi’s hard muscle mass pressed against him. It was too much to handle.
“You’re not going to fight me?”
Wade wanted to smooth his palms against Malachi’s chest, but he couldn’t move. Oh, he wanted to fight him. He wanted to prove he was good enough, but this man wouldn’t let him. As their bodies pressed against each other, Wade felt his cock grow hard.
“Please let go of me,” Wade said.
“Make me.”
“You love hating me.” Rain hammered down on them. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it—you want me to hate you?”
