by Becca Van
“He won’t.” Jasmine drew out of Cooper’s embrace and headed toward the entrance to the alley. She hurried over to Misha’s car, grabbed her purse, closed the door, and locked the car. She walked toward Clay and handed him the car keys. “You’ll need to organize a tow truck.”
Clay pocketed the keys and then clasped Jasmine’s hand. “Thank you for everything. I’m honored to have worked with you.”
Cooper’s eyebrow quirked when Jasmine went up on tiptoes at the same time she grabbed hold of Clay’s shirt and tugged him closer. As she whispered in Clay’s ear, a wide smile graced his boss’s lips. Clay straightened, his gaze locked with Jasmine’s, and then he nodded.
“What was that all about?” Tanner snarled.
“Don’t know.” Coop sighed and threaded his fingers through his hair. He blanked his expression as Jasmine turned toward them.
“Let’s get this show on the road, boys.” Jasmine smiled and winked.
Chapter Seventeen
It had been two weeks since the serial killer case had been wrapped up, and Jasmine had left Wyoming. There was a hole in Tanner’s heart that was so big he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel normal again.
He rubbed his aching chest and stared out the Park County Sheriff’s Department window. He hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything since Jasmine had left. He’d seriously been thinking about asking Clay and Spence for some vacation time. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough leave time up his sleeve.
Other than the occasional speeding fine and car accident, things had been quiet in Cody and the surrounding county. He and Cooper had avoided spending time with their friends and their women. It just hurt too damn much to see their loving interaction.
Cooper was missing Jasmine just as much as he was. His friend had reverted to grunts or total silence. He was hurting as much as Tanner was.
Tanner glanced at the clock and sighed with relief. Their shift was over in five minutes.
He glanced toward the hall when Clay came striding toward him. The man had a big grin on his face, and while Tanner didn’t think there was anything to smile about, he kept his opinions to himself.
“It’s a quiet day. Why don’t you two head home a bit early?”
Cooper snorted, his lips in a straight, tight line. Tanner didn’t need to ask what his friend was thinking. Clay could have let them leave half an hour ago. Tanner nodded, shut down his computer, and headed out. Coop was right on his heels.
“You two have the rest of the week off with pay,” Clay called out.
Tanner waved his hand in acknowledgment but kept right on going. He slid into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition.
“Want to get a drink before we head home?” he asked Cooper.
Cooper didn’t turn from staring out the side window but shook his head.
“Why do you think Clay gave us the rest of the week off? It’s only Wednesday.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” Coop snarled.
Tanner sighed again and headed home. Fifteen minutes later he parked the car and stared at the unfamiliar sedan parked in the driveway.
“Who the fuck is here?”
“Do I look psychic to you?” Coop shoved his door open and strode up the front steps. He opened the front door so forcefully the handle banged into the wall behind it.
* * * *
Jasmine let herself into Cooper and Tanner’s house with a tired sigh. Clay had given her a spare key before she’d headed back to Washington. What her guys didn’t know was that, as soon as she’d filed her statement against Anthony Wood, she’d typed up her resignation and e-mailed her boss. Effective immediately. She hadn’t cared one way or the other over losing vacation pay or any other entitlements due to come her way. All she cared about was heading back to the lonely apartment she’d called home, packing up her stuff, and heading back to Cody, Wyoming, and Tanner and Cooper.
Her things were due to arrive tomorrow, but even if they didn’t, she’d packed plenty of clothes.
As soon as she’d stepped inside, she’d texted Clay to let him know she’d arrived. Now all she had to do was wait for her guys to get home. Her heart was racing with trepidation, and she hoped like hell they would be glad to see her. There had been a gigantic hole in her heart from the moment she’d left the ranch.
Said heart flipped in her chest when she heard a vehicle coming up the drive. She hurried over to the window and peeked out. Her palms grew sweaty, and she began to pant when she saw Coop and Tanner staring at her car. She’d already changed the registration on her vehicle to the State of Wyoming and wondered if they knew she was here. She shook her head. Clay and Spence wouldn’t have given her surprise away. While she’d been back home, Jasmine had also had the dye removed from her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. A nervous giggle escaped as she wondered if they’d recognize her.
She turned her back to the window when they got out of the vehicle and headed up the stairs.
It was do or die time.
* * * *
Coop followed Tanner inside but stopped just inside the entry. Something wasn’t right. He slowly turned his head toward the window and stared at the blonde-haired woman watching him and Tanner warily. Her arms were crossed beneath her breasts, and her shoulders were hunched defensively.
His heart stopped beating when he met her blue-eyed gaze, and his knees would have buckled if he hadn’t locked them. “Jasmine?”
She nodded, a tremulous smile curving her lips.
“Jas!” Tanner’s shoulder knocked against his as he rushed over to her. “Look at you. You’re blonde.
Jasmine nodded. “My natural color.”
“Why are you here?” Coop asked and immediately wished he could take his words back.
Jasmine planted her hands on her hips, spread her legs shoulder-width apart, and met Coop’s gaze. “I live here.”
“You…”
She relaxed her stance, a slow beautiful smile curving her lips.
“You came back.” Tanner lifted her into his arms and slammed his mouth over hers.
The emptiness and pain Cooper had been carrying around in his heart slowly waned. Joy, hope, and love took its place.
Tanner released her lips and asked breathlessly, “How long are you here for, honey?”
“Forever.” She met Coop’s gaze. “If you’ll have me.”
Coop smiled, stalked toward her, and snatched her from Tanner’s arms. “You bet your sweet ass we’ll have you. You’re never leaving again.”
“No, I’m not.” She grabbed his head and brought his mouth down to hers.
Cooper took control of the kiss, slanting his mouth over hers, their tongues tangling and twirling. He lifted her into his arms and raced toward the bedroom.
Minutes later, they were all naked on the bed.
“I love you, Cooper Ellis.” Jasmine punctuated her statement by squeezing his cock. She turned to gaze at Tanner. “I love you, Tanner Collins.”
Coop tugged her hand away from his hard dick, clasped her waist, and lifted her over him. She straddled his thighs and then wiggled her hips. He grabbed the base of his cock and held it up for her. She moaned, and she sank down over him.
“So fucking sexy.” Tanner sucked in an audible breath and then drove his condom-covered, lubed cock into her ass.
“Fuck yes!” Jasmine screamed. “Give me everything you’ve got.”
Coop drew back, and as Tanner pulled back from her ass, Coop slammed his hard, aching dick back into her cunt. She moaned and then groaned as he and Tanner began to piston their cocks in and out of her ass and vagina at the same time.
He grunted and groaned, fire already forming at the base of his spine. Jasmine’s internal muscles rippled around his dick, coating his cock with a slew of cream. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” she chanted. “Love you…both…so much.”
“Too,” Tanner gasped as he pounded into her ass.
“Love you…baby,” Coop rasped out between panted breaths. When the fiery burn began to encompa
ss his balls, he slipped his hand down between their bodies and pressed the tip of his finger onto her clit.
Her undulating hips froze, and then she was screaming.
Her pussy grabbed hold of his cock, and the fire hit the base of his shaft and up along his hard dick. Cooper drove into her twice more and came with a yell.
Tanner growled low in his throat. “Gonna—ahh!”
Coop slumped back onto the bed just as Jasmine flopped down on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her, one around her shoulders and the other around her waist, and sighed with contentment. The last two weeks had been the hardest of his entire life, but now he was content with happiness and his heart was so full of love, it felt as if it was about to burst open.
Tanner kissed Jasmine’s shoulder and eased his dick from her ass. He slumped down onto the bed, brushed the damp hair away from her face, and kissed her softly, lovingly on the lips. “How does a soak in the tub sound, honey?”
“Like heaven.” Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at him.
Tanner rolled from the bed and strode toward the bathroom on shaky legs.
Cooper sat up, his arms still wrapped around Jasmine and his softening dick still inside her drenched pussy. “Hold on to me, baby.”
She clung to him as he scooted to the side of the bed and hooked her legs around his hips as he rose. She sighed and nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder.
His cock slipped from her body as he stepped into the filling tub. He shifted her until she was sitting on his lap with her back pressed against his front. Tanner stepped into the bath and sat beside her, threading his finger with hers.
“You know I’m not ever leaving again. Right?”
Love and hope filled his heart and soul. “Damn right you’re not. We’re getting married.”
“We are?” she asked and blinked rapidly when tears filled her eyes.
“We are.” Tanner lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.
“Good. When?” The slow smile which spread across her face lit up her beautiful blue eyes with happiness.
“Whenever you want, baby. It depends.”
“On what?” She frowned at him.
“On whether you want to get married in a church and the whole shebang or in front of a justice of the peace.”
“Justice of the peace,” she answered. “As long as I have you two, I don’t need anything else. I’ll also be working with you all. I’m starting as a deputy sheriff in three weeks.”
“Next week. Friday night. We’re so glad you’ll be working with us.” Tanner grinned. “We’ll put in for leave first thing tomorrow so we can have a two-week honeymoon.”
“Ooh! That sounds perfect,” Jasmine replied.
Cooper picked up the sponge and shower gel and began to wash his woman. Even though Wood still had a trial to face and they’d all need to give testimony, he wasn’t worried about the sick bastard getting off. They’d all made sure their statements were true and accurate so that his defense attorney would have no grounds in getting the psychopath off. It turned out that Anthony Wood hadn’t been legally married to Lucy Granger Wood. The poor woman had been so enamored with the bastard she just started calling herself by his last name. He’d also been shacked up with another woman in Wapiti. How Wood had divided his time between two women Coop would never know. What he didn’t understand, nor ever would, was how neither woman had had an inkling of the evil that had lurked beneath the psychopath’s visage.
He pushed his disconcerting thoughts aside when Jasmine giggled as he rubbed the sponge over her ribs.
Cooper was looking toward a long happy life with his best friend and the love of his life. Nothing and no one was going to take away the happiness they’d found in the midst of conquering evil.
No one. He wouldn’t let them.
His life was finally perfect, and his cold, numb heart had thawed. He’d never have to go back to being the cold mute bastard again. Jasmine loved him and Tanner for who and what they were.
Life couldn’t get any better.
THE END
WWW.BECCAVAN-EROTICROMANCE.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Becca Van. I live in Australia with my wonderful hubby of many years, as well as my two children.
I read my first romance, which I found in the school library, at the age of thirteen and haven’t stopped reading them since. It is so wonderful to know that love is still alive and strong when there seems to be so much conflict in the world.
I dreamed of writing my own book one day but, unfortunately, didn’t follow my dream for many years. But once I started I knew writing was what I wanted to continue doing.
I love to escape from the world and curl up with a good romance, to see how the characters unfold and conflict is dealt with. I have read many books and love all facets of the romance genre, from historical to erotic romance. I am a sucker for a happy ending.
For all titles by Becca Van, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/becca-van

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