“What the fuck! Somebody called the fucking cops!”
A female mumbled but Leah couldn’t make out what she was saying. And she couldn’t see her either. She wondered if the victim was in the corner where her assailant had come from. In a blind spot. Son of a bitch.
The chief pounded on the front door again. “Police! Come out now!” Max’s voice sounded strong and steady, not even a slight waver. Not a speck of fear in that man. “Jason Fisher! Come to the front door with your hands up now!”
“Fuck! If I have to go to jail again, bitch, I’m going to come back and kill you. Do you hear me? You tell them that there’s nothing wrong and they can get the hell out of here.”
Fisher raised a fist to threaten someone out of her view. The female whimpered. He reached down and pulled the female up by her hair. She was badly cut and beaten, her face red and swollen, and one of her eyes already shut. Her shirt was torn open and bruises in the shape of fingers already blooming into colors on her arms.
Yeah, this guy was bad news. And he had nothing to lose. The most dangerous kind.
Gripping the female by the upper arm, he shook her and then dragged her out of the kitchen toward the front of the house.
“Open this door now or I’ll kick it in,” Max’s deep voice resonated loud enough to be heard and not ignored. Leah hoped Marc was with him.
Leah tried the knob on the back door and, with relief, it turned. Unlocked. She carefully opened the door and slid in, clearing the kitchen. It looked like a war zone. Blood smeared on the counters and floor, but the room was empty.
She pinned herself against the wall that separated the kitchen and the front of the house, then peeked around the corner and pulled back quickly. Fisher stood by the front door, the female gripped in one hand, a sawed-off shotgun in the other.
Fuck and double fuck. This guy was no laughing matter. He was serious with a capital S.
Leah took a deep breath to calm herself and then she heard the female call out to Max through the closed front door. “I’m… I’m okay. There’s…nothing going on. I’m…fine. It was…all…a mistake.” The sobs between her words indicated otherwise and even a blind man would see right through the bullshit.
“Then just open the door and let me see for myself that everything is okay. I can’t leave until you do.”
“No… I…” The asshole whispered something into the female’s ear. “I’m…not dressed. I was in the…the shower.”
“Ma’am, you’re going to have to open the door so I can close out my report then. Okay?”
A long pause. The silence was deafening. Leah peeked around the corner again. Fisher was pushing the female out of the way, pointing to the couch. She went and sat down, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them tightly. Even from where Leah stood, she could see the woman was shaking.
The male stood back from the front door and raised his shotgun to chest height. Before Leah could warn Max, Fisher shouted, “Go ahead and kick the door in, asshole!”
As the sound of splintering wood hit Leah’s ears, she only had eyes for her target. She sprinted to the front of the house, pulling her ASP baton and swinging it until it expanded. In what seemed like slow motion, she raised her arm and swung the long metal baton down until it struck the wrists of Fisher. She had taken him by surprise, but it was the crack of his bones that made him drop the weapon at the same time the door swung open.
Leah glanced up for a hot second to make sure Max was okay but the entryway was empty. With another raise of the ASP, she struck the man again behind his knees, taking him down to the ground. She dropped on top of him, shoving the baton horizontally across his throat. She put more pressure on then what was needed, not that she cared at that moment. The man was moaning and writhing in pain beneath her. Two snapped wrists will do that to you.
Max appeared in the doorway, as did Marc. Marc turned his head and yelled, “Call for EMS!” to someone behind him.
They both rushed in and held the man down, turning him over and checking for more weapons.
Once he was cleared, Marc knelt next to her, a mixture of emotions crossing his face. “You should have fired.”
She gave him a look of disbelief. “I couldn’t. I might have hit the chief.”
“You should’ve double tapped the son-of-a-bitch,” Marc snarled.
“No.”
“Yes!” Pure anger emitted from him. The emotion was so thick that she shifted away from him. But way at the bottom of his anger was his fear. She could see it in his eyes.
Why were they arguing about this here, now? What the fuck was wrong with him? She scowled at him.
Max broke into her thoughts. “Marc, damn it, give her a break. She did fine. Fisher is in custody. No one is dead. It couldn’t have gone better.”
“You could have both been killed.” Marc jumped to his feet and turned to so they couldn’t see his face.
“We weren’t,” Max assured him. The chief turned to her and helped her to her feet. She still kept one eye on the injured man on the ground.
Tommy Dunn rushed in and over to the victim. “EMS is on the way. Two units.”
Max nodded his head. “Good. Dunn, I want you to ride with Mr. Fisher here to the hospital. I’ll meet you there when I can. I’ll get the victim’s statement.”
“No problem, Chief. I’ll get the EMTs to strap him down on the gurney.” Dunn eyed Fisher’s injuries. “Though I doubt he’s going to try to escape.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Max answered.
“True that. Good job, Grant.” Dunn patted her on the back and then escorted the abused woman out of the house to wait for the ambulance.
“Help me get him up,” Max said to Marc. When they hauled the guy up, Fisher’s arm hung uselessly by his sides and he favored one of the legs Leah had hit to take him down. “Marc, take him outside.”
“Let’s go, Grant,” Marc said to her.
“No. You go. She needs to stay here for a minute,” Max told him, his eyes never leaving Leah.
She squirmed. Was she in trouble?
“But—”
“Go!”
Dread filled Leah’s chest. She banged her ASP on the floor to collapse it and placed it back on her duty belt.
“Nice job.”
Leah looked up at her boss. Was that a compliment? “Thanks.”
“He is wrong. You were right not to shoot. You didn’t know what was behind your target. He wouldn’t have shot either. He—”
“He’s was worried about you,” Leah finished for him. “You’re family. I get it.”
“You don’t think he was worried about you?”
Leah did a half shrug, looking around the room, avoiding Max’s eyes.
“I think the two of you have gotten yourself into a fine mess.”
Finally, Leah met his gaze. “What do you mean?”
“You guys are too attached to each other. You guys were supposed to be coach-pupil. Not lovers.”
“Sorry.”
Max shook his head. “Look, you have one more week of evaluation and training. You impressed me today. I can’t say I regret hiring you. Not one bit.
“And the silver lining of this incident is that he can’t say women shouldn’t be cops. You proved him wrong today. What you did took guts and physical strength. You’re as good as any of my officers…even if you are a woman,” he joked, punching her lightly in the arm. “But seriously, he’s going to be hard on you about you taking the risk of going hands-on. No matter what he says, it was the right call.”
“If I was a man he wouldn’t give me any shit about it.”
“If you were a man he wouldn’t care so much about you.”
Leah looked up at him. “You think he does?”
“More than you know. If you guys just think you’re going to be fuck buddies after next week then you’re seriously delusional. Even I can see what’s going on a mile away.”
Leah had to admit, she’s been ignoring her feeling
s. She thought if she disregarded them, they wouldn’t be true. But apparently, it was obvious to others. She wondered if it was obvious to Marc as well. But she had no idea how he really felt. It was hard to figure out such a pig-headed man.
“And by the way, Leah. If you don’t know it yet, you’re family too.” With that Max walked out the front door, leaving Leah to stand there stunned.
You’re family too.
Leah rubbed at the slight burning sensation in her eyes.
She would not cry.
There was no crying in police work.
When all the ambulances and black-and-whites were gone, only Marc and Leah remained. Leah sat in the passenger seat of the cruiser, scribbling notes for her report. Her bottom lip was tucked between her teeth as she concentrated.
Marc wanted to scream at her. But the desire to take her in his arms was stronger. He wanted to hold her and not let go. Take her home, tuck her into bed, and lock the door. Where she was safe. Where he knew she would be at all times.
She did a great job handling the incident, and it had been only his emotions talking when he said that she should’ve shot the suspect. She did what any good cop would do, go hands-on to prevent loss of life. Take control of the situation and deescalate when possible.
The incident could have gone horribly wrong. She could’ve been killed. His brother could’ve been killed. And he would not have been able to live with himself if either of those things had happened.
But they were cops. This was their job. If they wanted a safe job they could’ve become librarians, where the riskiest part of the job was a paper cut, or a book dropping on your foot.
How boring.
Leah only had a week to go in training and there was no doubt after this incident, she should pass with flying colors. I mean, who wouldn’t, he thought, when you had your chief’s back. There wasn’t anyone at the station who could disrespect her as a police officer just because she was a woman.
Including himself.
Of course, he was the only one that probably had that idea in the first place. Why?
Because he was a dumbass.
There were going to be times, if Leah remained his lover, he was going to worry about her. Hell, he probably was going to worry about her all the time. But he had to let her do her job.
After all, if she hadn’t become a cop, Marc never would have met her in the first place. And that would have been a damn crime in itself.
Fate.
Oh, that fucking fate bullshit.
He sighed loudly and Leah glanced up from her paperwork. She gave him a small smile, then went back to bending over her clipboard, writing away.
He couldn’t imagine his life without her.
He wanted her in his bed every night.
A weird ache constricted his chest and he rubbed at it. Feeling no relief, he shoved his hand down his collar under his vest, desperately rubbing some more. It wasn’t going away.
It wasn’t because…
No.
No fucking way.
Couldn’t be.
Marc turned away from the patrol car and started to pace. His heart thumped in his chest. His skin became clammy.
Maybe he was just having a panic attack. He sucked air in through his nostrils, trying to calm himself.
Breathe. Just breathe.
Leah called out to him. “You ready? The rest I can do at station.”
Was it true?
“Yeah,” he called back. And strode back to the car.
Chapter 13
Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick…tock.
When Marc heard the click of Max’s office door opening, he rushed down the station’s hallway, where he had just been pacing, to go hide in the patrol room.
If everything went as expected, he was no longer Leah’s FTO. Unless FTO meant Fuck ‘Til Orgasm.
He was about to blow a blood vessel. He’d had a perpetual hard-on all day and here it was—he glanced at his plain black watch—two forty-five. And their last shift together was almost officially over.
As long as Max signed off.
She’d still be on probation for another ten months, but their “plan” was coming to an end. Any second now…
“Corporal Bryson,” came bellowing out of the chief’s office. “In here. Now.”
Marc’s stomach jumped.
He had been totally honest on his evaluation of Leah. He hadn’t given her a break once, he had even been a little tougher on her than normal. For her own good, obviously. But maybe he had been too harsh in his notes?
Nah. There was just no way that Max wouldn’t sign off on her training today. Not after what happened the other day.
He peered around the door. Max sat in his comfy desk chair and Leah stood at attention before him. He had his fingers steepled in front of his face and he looked toward Marc.
“Get in here.”
Marc moved to stand next to Leah, his eyes not leaving Max’s face.
“What’s up?” It was a lame attempt at sounding casual, even though he wanted to shit his pants.
“Corporal Bryson, I have to commend you for the job you did during coach-pupil. Even with your beliefs you did very well showing Officer Grant the ropes. An FTO’s job is tough, but important, and you will have an impact on her future as a police officer.”
Max stood up and offered his hand to Marc, who stared at it like it was a piece of liver. He guessed they were being professional at this moment. Marc took his brother’s hand and shook it firmly, his stomach finally settling down. “Thank you, Chief. It’s been a—” Pleasure. “A good experience for the both of us.”
Marc finally snuck a peek at Leah. Her face was serious. She could at least crack a damn smile. Maybe her asshole had been just as puckered as his was.
Max shook hands with Leah. “Congratulations, Officer Grant, you are now a part of this department, though keep in mind you’re still on probation until your first year is up. However”—he stabbed a thumb toward Marc—“you won’t have to ride with this one anymore. Unless you get stuck on a midnight shift together.”
Marc was actually going to miss riding with her.
“Let me say we’re just glad to have you on board, Grant. And keep up the good work…like the other day with that take down. You have a good head on your shoulders and those are the type of officers we need.”
“Yes, Sir.” She finally cracked a smile
“You two are dismissed.” He lifted a brow. “I’m sure you’re both anxious to go…celebrate.”
If his older brother meant “fuck fest” by using the term celebrate, he certainly was correct. Marc’s cock was already stirring. Down, boy, down!
“Don’t forget to eat, breathe, and drink plenty of fluids!” Max called as they both rushed out of the office. Marc had to stop to let Leah through the door first, otherwise, in their haste, they both would have been stuck in the jamb at the same time.
In the locker room, fingers shook in anticipation as they removed their uniforms and hung their equipment in their lockers. Their eyes never left each other. It was foreplay without the touching.
“My house.” He tossed her the house key. “I’ll be there by four o’clock. That’ll give me enough time to pick up take-out. Max is right, we’ll have to take a break sometime to eat.” He chuckled at the picture in his head of them locked in his bedroom for hours. And hours.
“I need to stop at your parents to shower first.”
“No! Just go shower at my place.” Last thing Marc wanted was for her to be delayed because of his parents playing twenty questions with her. They tend to be a cock block without meaning to be.
“Hurry,” Leah whispered before rushing out of the room.
He was glad to see he wasn’t the only one anxious to get naked and sweaty.
Marc opened the front door and was met with silence. Menace didn’t even come greet him.
“Leah?”
Her voice came faintly from down the hall. “In here.”
He ratt
led the plastic bag that held their dinners. “Food now or later?”
“Fuck the food.”
Marc smiled as he put the take-out in the fridge. She was his type of woman. Fucking before food. Priorities.
“Where’s Menace?” he asked, taking long strides down the dark hallway.
“I let him out and then put him in his crate.”
The bedroom door was only open a crack. He pushed it wide. “Good—” He lost his train of thought for a second as he saw the luscious sight before him. “Thinking.” He closed his gaping mouth. “Damn.”
Leah was wearing nothing but a smile. “About time you get here.”
“I didn’t want to get pulled over for speeding.”
Her chuckle was low and sultry, causing his whole body to react. His nipples hardened, his cock was at full attention, and his breathing shallowed. Someone must have thought it was his birthday. Or Christmas. Because this was the best damn present laid out before him that he’s ever gotten. And he didn’t even have to unwrap it.
She cocked an eyebrow. “You just going to stand there?”
“I think I’m paralyzed.”
Leah sucked two fingers into her mouth, wetting them, and then found her pussy. She pulled her knees up and let them fall to the side. Her pink smoothness called a siren’s song to him. Right now, someone could come up behind him, try to knock him over the head, and he wouldn’t even resist.
“You’re still just standing there.” Her free hand kneaded her breasts, one then the other.
Marc swallowed hard.
She dipped her two fingers inside herself, and Marc watched them disappear. Hot damn. He wanted to be those fingers.
Picking up a feverish pace, she worked them in and out, small sounds escaping her lips.
“I want to watch you come.” He moved closer to the bed, but not close enough for her to reach him. He was loving this display. She writhed as she pleasured herself, tugging on her own nipples, fucking herself with her fingers, thumbing her own clit.
As her delicate skin became slicker, his heart pounded out of his chest. He resisted tearing off his clothes, because once he was naked, he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself from diving into her, taking over her pleasure. Making her his.
Brothers in Blue: Marc Page 17
