We married young. He was a Marine. He died after September eleventh, when he was deployed to Iraq. It was a roadside bombing. I raised our two children, Elijah and Evelyn, without him.
There was never another for me.
No man could ever fill the void Darren’s death left inside of me.
Until Jordan.
Jordan has brought me to life again, even though I fought against it. He brought the light back. He made my heart beat once again. He made my body crave what it went so long without.
But I don’t know how he feels, and for all I know, my feelings are one-sided.
He cares about you, my heart whispers, but it’s my brain that wins this one because he’s never given me a reason to believe I’m anything more than a fling to him.
Fuck, it’s too early for these thoughts. I shake my head, pushing down the insecurity suddenly choking me.
I groan, flipping the coffee maker on and prepping the counter for the influx of men who’ll be traipsing through any time. Nine coffee cups for the nine men who risk their lives to put the bad guys behind bars. It the first time in years they’ve all been here at the same time.
“Annabelle,” King’s voice calls to me from behind the closed door of his office. He’s been locked away since arriving twenty minutes ago. I barely got a ‘good morning’ from him before the phone calls began to pour in. It’s never a dull moment at Cole Securities.
“In here,” I call back, before opening the fridge to take out the coffee creamer. I hear his door open and the quiet clomping of his booted feet as they approach the coffee maker. His large hand reaches for one of the nine mugs, and he greets me properly, finally.
“How was your weekend?”
“Exhausting,” I laugh because it’s as close to the truth as I can get. It was exhausting, but I’m not about to tell him it’s because of his good ole buddy and the multiple orgasms he’d pushed my body to. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
He looks at me with puckered brows.
“Missy told me the news,” I explain with a smile, and he gives me a wide toothy grin as his face lights with his joy.
“I should have known she wasn’t going to be able to keep it to herself,” he chuckles and shakes his head.
“If it helps, I’m under strict orders not to utter a word to another soul. But seriously, I’m over the moon happy for you two. This baby is lucky to have you both as parents.”
“Anna.” He swallows, and for the first time since I started at Cole Securities, I see a familiar doubt hiding in his eyes.
“It’s going to be all right, boss man,” I assure him the best I can. I know what he’s worried about. Losing her. Losing the baby. They’ve already gone through so much. They deserve this happiness. “Everything is going to work itself out. You just need a little faith and a whole shit ton of tequila.”
He bursts out laughing, and as I reach for the coffee pot to pour us both a cup, Hudson and Dizzy enter the building, ending the topic of our conversation. They give us a nod and disappear down the hallway toward their respective offices. The team shares a large room since they’re always out on assignment in shifts.
“By the way, were you able to get a copy of that file I asked about last Wednesday?” he asks, bringing the coffee mug to his lips.
“I called the APD about it, but I haven’t heard anything yet.” I pour two more cups, one for Hudson and Dizzy. “But it is just after Christmas, and I’m sure they have their own fires to put out with all the crazies.”
“All right.” He sighs deeply. I can hear the stress in his voice. He’s got a lot on his plate. Between the cases hitting his desk and his men coming back less than they left, he’s got a lot to worry about. “Give Lockwood a call and see if he can hurry the process. I want all the information we can get on this case before I decide our next move.”
“I’ll let you know what is going on after I talk to him.” I nod, taking my cup and walking over to my desk. Minimizing the open window on my computer screen, I pick up the phone on my desk and dial the detective’s direct line.
I drag a deep breath into my lungs before releasing it slowly, wishing I could take away the worry I heard in Kingston’s voice. I hate when he worries like this. It usually means his current case is going to take more to solve it than he initially anticipated.
The line rings three times before he answers, “Detective Lockwood.”
The sound of his deep, silky voice sends a wave of shivers throughout my body, and the memory of this morning fills my body.
His hands roaming my body.
His tongue tasting…
“This is Annabelle George, calling on behalf of Cole Securities—” I manage, struggling to push aside the image of his dark head in between my legs.
“Bella,” he half-growls, making my heart skip a beat and my thigh clench in response. The way he says my name, it’s almost like he knows what I’m thinking about. “Always so formal, especially since it wasn’t but two hours ago that my tongue was covered in the sweetest honey I’ve ever tasted.”
“Stop it,” I half squeak, lowering my voice and glancing around the small reception area. I know the guys are locked away in their offices, but I can’t help double checking. His words hit me at my core, leaving an ache only he can take away. “I’m at work.”
“Admit it, Bella, you might be at work, but you were thinking about—”
“Detective Lockwood.” I clear my voice, feeling the heated flush of my skin intensify. I don’t know what it is about this man, but there is something about him that makes me feel like a sixteen-year-old girl all over again. “Kingston needs your help with a case, rather he needs your help obtaining a file for something he’s working on.”
“Okay, Bella, I will let you off the hook… for now.” He chuckles, amused with himself. “Tell me what he needs.”
“He’s looking for a file, and we requested everything through the right channels last Wednesday, but I haven’t received any word.”
“The department’s pretty busy this time of year. It might take some time to get to the request.”
“And usually, that’d be fine, but...”
“He’s waiting on this file to decide if it’s something he can pick up,” he knowingly finishes for me, because he’s familiar with how we do things. “I’ll head down to records now and see if they are able to pull it up. What is he looking for?”
“Everything they have on a man named Benito Hernandez. He was the star of some cold case a few years back—”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he cuts in, dragging in a sharp breath a second later. “Tell me you didn’t put your name on the request form.”
“Jordan—”
“No, Bella, I’m serious. Did you put your name on the form?”
I flounder feeling the panic in his voice because I don’t know how to answer. I don’t want to worry him, but all the same, I don’t want to lie to him. Usually, Kingston fills out the request forms, but he was running late that day and didn’t have a chance to do it.
I had to put my name on it because I had to sign it.
“Yes,” I whisper, swallowing hard. “Kingston forgot to fill out the request form.”
“Shit,” he curses.
“I was following APD procedure.” I straighten feeling a pang of irritation over the way he’s reacting. “What is the big deal?”
“The big deal is that Benito Hernandez is not a man you want knowing your name, and putting your name on that form puts you on his radar,” he explains, but I only feel more confused.
“Jordan, I submitted the request through the Aurora Police Department. How in the hell would he know my name—” I cut off suddenly as the pieces fall into place. Benito is well known in this area of Oregon. There isn’t a cop within a one-hundred-mile radius who wouldn’t like to get his hands on the guy, but he’s always been one step ahead. Which is why the case went cold. “He’s the one who got away, isn’t he?”
The one and only time Jordan
took me to his place, I noticed he had what looked to be a giant timeline plotted out on the largest wall in his apartment. Knowing how most law enforcement work, I didn’t mention anything regarding it, but it was difficult to ignore the most current date on the wall and the large red question mark beneath it.
It wasn’t a current or active case for him.
It was one he’s never stopped trying to solve.
“Yes, he’s the one.”
“Can you get us the files?” I ask, knowing he’ll want in on whatever Kingston’s up to regarding this scumbag.
“That shouldn’t be a problem, considering you’ve already seen everything we have on him. I’ll bring him everything we have on file this afternoon.” He’s referring to the timeline.
“I’ll let him know—”
“Just promise me one thing, Bella. You have to be extra diligent about your surroundings.”
“I always am,” I half promise, but only because I still don’t understand why he’s so worried. My request isn’t something that will be public record. There’s no way Benito would even know we’re looking into him.
Unless…
Unless the reason he was always one step ahead is that someone in the department was more interested in the green that lined his wallet than bringing Benito to justice.
I shake my head. Not possible. I know every cop in the department. None of them would stoop so low.
Chapter Three
Joradn
“This is everything we have on and off the record for this scumbag.” I place my hands on my hips to take in the stack of boxes we collected during our investigation of Oregon’s most notorious crime lord, Benito Hernandez.
Both Kingston and Annabelle stand with me, looking at them, taking in the last three years of my life.
It’ll be nice not to see it spread out all over my wall first thing in the morning, as a constant reminder of the chapter in my career I haven’t closed.
“You were the lead investigator on this case?” King asks, crossing the room to the box labeled with a bold number one, indicating its contents in regard to its place on the timeline. The box that started it. Benito was small time then, not one you’d ever believe could climb the power ladder so quickly. But he did, and he left a lot of bodies in his wake.
“Yeah, after Donahue retired, I transferred in and picked up where he left off.” I feel Bella’s eyes fall on me, and it takes everything in me to keep from looking back at her.
I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with her yet. It was a careless action on her part. One that put her too close to the flame. I managed to intercept her request form before too many eyes had seen it, hoping to spare her any part in the dark world I’ve been struggling to keep from falling into myself.
“I’d be grateful to have you on our team for this one.” King turns back to me, and I feel her gaze shift away from me. She hasn’t told anyone about us yet. “Unless you’d like to just sit on the advisory side of the investigation.”
Focusing on King, I nod accepting his offer without a second thought. Benito needs to be brought down, and I vowed three years ago to be a part of the team that would one day do it. “I’d like nothing more than to see this scumbag be brought to justice.”
“Anna.” King’s voice changes when he speaks to her. It always has. While they aren’t so far apart in age, I know he’s always held a deep regard and respect for her. “Hudson and Dizzy are set to take point on this timeline, and Marley’s coming in tomorrow morning for his debriefing with the CIA. Were you able to get a hold of him this morning?”
“No, it went straight to voicemail the six times I’ve tried calling, but I’ve got some paperwork I need to finish at my desk, and I’ll give it another go,” she calls over her shoulder as she crosses the room to the door. I glance at her, catching a heated stare from her as she closes the door.
Giving her the cold shoulder might not have been the brightest idea I’ve had today, but it’s taken everything in me not to find the nearest empty room and spank her sweet ass until she’s quivering with incessant need.
I hate that there is this tension between us, but I’m not used to caring for someone like I do for her. I don’t know whether to spank her or fuck her into submission. Not that she’d submit; she’s not that kind of woman, and to be frank, I’m not that kind of man.
I like a strong woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind in and out of the bed. A woman who knows who she is and what she wants.
But let’s face it… Annabelle George had me at hello.
I was a goner the moment her dark brown eyes hit mine.
One look. That’s all it took to make my world tilt on its axis. And I can’t get enough.
She knocks the air from my lungs every time she’s near. My hands ache to touch her, to feel her soft skin beneath them, to memorize every line and curve of her body. She makes my blood boil in a way no other woman has been able to do.
It’s almost like she’s the one I’ve been waiting for.
The one I didn’t think existed.
Annabelle George is a force of nature. She’s a woman to be reckoned with. She’s the kind of woman any man would be lucky to call their own.
And I’ll be damned if I ever let her go.
“Earth to Lockwood,” King’s voice interrupts my thoughts, pulling me back to the present, and I realize I’ve been staring like a lost puppy at the closed door she left through.
“What was that?” I shake my head and clear my throat before looking over at him.
He smiles like a sly, knowing dog.
Fuck.
“How long you been involved with Annabelle?”
* * *
“Bella,” I murmur, placing a gentle kiss on the nape of her neck. She’s snuggled into her pillow, lying on her stomach. Her long dark hair is splayed across the pillow. She’s a picture of beauty.
Mine.
“I need sleep, Detective,” she whimpers, exhausted from our night of lovemaking. I feel the tickle of exhaustion too, but after everything this day entailed, I feel the need to push her until she can take no more.
“Bella.” My hand runs down the length of her back, stopping at her hip to slip in between her body and the bed, searching for its target. Her body comes alive the moment my fingers press into her warmth, brushing against the most sensitive part of her.
“More,” she breathes, feeling the same mounting need I do. She shifts on the bed and presses her lush ass against my growing hardness. Fuck, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I just had her less than thirty minutes ago, you’d think I was a starved man, the way my cock begins to throb.
I slip a finger into her wet center, feeling the vibration of her body as I add another. She lifts a leg, draping it over my leg, allowing me better access to her.
Despite this afternoon’s coldness, she lit up like a firecracker the moment I pinned her against the wall when I arrived.
“More…”
“Such a greedy pussy,” I whisper, allowing my tongue to dart out, tasting her salty skin.
“Please…”
“I know, Bella, but first…” I trail off, reaching with my free hand for her wrist. Grasping onto it, I withdraw from her, pushing her forward on her stomach. She moans, but the sharp sting of my hand against her bare ass stills her immediately.
We’ve never played like this, and I’m not sure how she’ll feel about it, but my earlier thoughts of spanking her for her misdeeds causes my dick to pulse hard with excitement.
“Jordan,” she breathes, the shock of what the action made her feel laced deep in her voice.
“Bella, you upset me today,” I say calmly and reach for her hips, lifting her to her knees. She tries to rise on all fours, but I push the top half of her body back down onto the bed. “Spread your legs and tilt your hips. I want to see that glistening pussy on display.”
“Jordan.” Her voice is shaky, but she shows no fear and does what demand of her.
I rub the lush orbs of
her ass, squeezing and kneading them, readying her for what I have planned. “Never place your name on another request form again.”
I lift my left hand and bring it down on the corresponding cheek. The sound of it hitting her pale skin echoes through the room, but her sharp intake of breath is telling. She’s enjoying it.
“You will take better care not to put yourself in harm's way,” I demand before repeating the action on the other cheek.
“Fuck,” she gasps, and her body quivers uncontrollably.
I slide a finger along her glistening folds, amazed at the reaction her body is giving me. She’s fucking drenched.
“I was planning on pushing this a little more tonight, Bella, but fuck it,” I groan, placing the head of my throbbing cock at her entrance. She presses into me and impales herself on my cock before I can move. She lifts her head, allowing a guttural moan release as her pussy walls clench around me and she finds her release. “Fuck.”
“More,” she chokes, and I thread my fingers through her long dark locks. I tighten my hold on her scalp and pound into her swollen pussy as it milks my cock as she rides out her orgasm.
“Reach down and rub your clit, Bella,” I demand, wanting her to come again before we’re done. “Make yourself come again.”
“I can’t,” she moans.
“You will.” I release her hair and grab her hips with both hands to anchor myself as I pick up the pace. She shifts, sliding a hand in between her legs, where her fingers find her sensitive clit, and she fills the room with a loud, long moan. “Faster,” I command, and she submits. I feel her body tense beneath mine as the sensation of her previous orgasm hasn’t quite subsided, but she doesn’t let up. She rocks back into me, meeting every stroke, pushing both of our bodies to the limit. “Just like that,” I gasp, feeling the familiar tightness in my balls. I know she’s there, waiting for me to release her from the torture. “You feel so fucking good. Are you ready to come with me, Bella?”
“Y-yes,” she gasps as her orgasm rips through her, sending me over the edge as she tightens even further on me.
Lost in His Kiss: A Lost Series Novella Page 2
