Asher

by Piper Davenport

  We arrived at the nursing home a little past six. Brandy was working. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened when she saw Asher, but I didn’t have time for her barrage of questions. “Brandy, Asher, Asher, Brandy. Asher’s my boyfriend. Yes, Dakota knows and gave us his blessing. So does Dad, and he didn’t. In a hurry, gotta see Grandma.”

  She stood there, flabbergasted, as we rushed by. It was exactly the reaction I was looking for.

  Grandma’s door was open, so I marched right in. The nurse from Ms. Long’s room—Helen—stood by the bed with a little cup of pills and a glass of water. Grandma took her pills and washed them down, and then the nurse left. As soon as the door closed behind the nurse, Grandma spat her pills into a napkin and headed toward the bathroom with them.

  “Grandma! What are you doing?”

  She shushed me and kept going. I looked to Asher, who was chuckling, and shook my head. A toilet flushed, and Grandma reemerged.

  “Gotta get rid of the evidence before those Nazis come in and force it down my throat.”

  “Why aren’t you taking your medicine?” I asked.

  “That nurse doesn’t give out medicine.”

  It sure looked like medicine to me. “Okay, what does she give out?”

  “Poison. Makes you think you’re losing your mind until you do. The folks in here are dropping like flies.” Her expression softened. “Today they got Martha.”

  “Ms. Long?” I asked.

  “Yep.” Grandma shook her head. “It’s a shame, too. I told her not to take those damn pills.”

  Now probably wasn’t the best time to point out that Ms. Long was old and that the nursing home was a like a corral for people who were on their way to the big rodeo in the sky, so I decided to change the subject and introduced Grandma to Asher.

  She looked him up and down and nodded. “You shacked up with my granddaughter?” she asked.

  “Grandma! No. You know I live with Addison.”

  “I sure do, and everyone’s talkin’ about it. I’d rather you live in sin with a man.”

  “I told you she thinks Addie and I are lesbians.”

  Asher’s eyes laughed, but his mouth did not. Chalking it up to lawyer skills, I turned back to Grandma.

  “Well it’s good to meet you,” she said.

  “Thank you, ma’am. You too.”

  “You know, most of the girls Dylan went to school with are havin’ babies now.”

  Heat flooded my cheeks and I shook my head. “I chose to go to college. And now I’m working and paying back my school loans. But I’m not here to talk about that. I need to talk to you about Dad.”

  “I was older than I should have been by the time I had Chad. All my other kids were pert near grown and I didn’t know the plumbing was still working, if you get my drift.”

  God, I did not want to get her drift, but I did. Cringing, I looked to Asher, who appeared to be enjoying himself, and fought to keep myself from kicking him. This wasn’t what I’d envisioned for our conversation about my father.

  “It was like having an only child, and I was too tired to keep up with him. I let him get away with far too much.” She looked out the window. “I should have beat his ass good a hundred times, but I didn’t. Then your momma came along and made him behave. She was good for him until she up and died and left him worse off than he was before. A lot of this mess is my fault, Dylan, which is why I didn’t tell you who was takin’ the jewelry. You know how things are around here, anyway. Nobody will do anything about it. No sense alienating the last person who comes to see me.”

  Oh, the guilt. “Grandma—”

  She held up a hand. “I’m not blamin’ you. Gettin’ out of this town was the smartest thing you ever did. I know I never told you, but I’m proud of you. You made somethin’ of your life. None of us made it easy on you, but you did it on your own.” She smiled. “You get that determination from me.”

  For the second time that night, I was speechless. I stared at my grandmother, wondering how to respond to her unexpectedly kind words.

  “Oh, don’t look at me like that, and don’t pay me no mind, neither. I’m just an old woman tryin’ to get into heaven.”

  “Thank you, Grandma,” I said, giving her a hug anyway.

  “You two go on and get out of here before you get the old folks’ stink on you.”

  “Yes ma’am,” we said, turning to leave.

  “Oh, and one more thing. Asher, you better not wait until she’s in her forties to put a baby in her belly.”

  Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more mortified, Grandma managed to one-up herself.

  Asher handled it like a champ, tilting the hat he’d just put back on like he was in some sort of western. “Yes ma’am. I’ll get right on that.”

  Addison

  WE PULLED UP to Trapper Dan’s Pawn and Loan twenty minutes before they closed. “We’re cutting this awfully close,” I complained.

  “We’ve got plenty of time,” Jake said. I gathered my file while he walked to my side of the car and opened the door. “Let’s just hope this is the only place we need to investigate. I’ve got plans for us tonight.”

  I grinned, climbing out of the car. “As long as it’s a full body massage, I’m good.”

  “Absolutely.” He chuckled, leaning down to kiss me gently. “After I fuck you into submission.”

  We headed inside, and I decided I’d let Jake do all the talking (my mind was on everything Jake had promised would come after...which made my nipples and nether regions tingle). A woman in tight jeans, wife beater (her bra showing around the edges...trashy), and her cleavage pushed up almost to her chin approached us, her gaze eye-humping my man as she approached. “Can I help you, handsome?”

  Jake pulled out his badge. “Portland Police, ma’am. I’m here with my colleague.” He nodded toward me. “We’re investigating some stolen jewelry, and we have it on good authority several of the items are here.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “A detective from Portland in our little town? Aren’t you way out of your jurisdiction?”

  “This is true, ma’am, however, our investigation has led us here.”

  “Hmm-mmm.” She eyed us suspiciously. “Do you have pictures of the missing pieces?”

  “I do,” I said quickly and opened my file, pulling out pages.

  She shuffled through them and frowned. “I had a feelin’ that lady was shifty.”

  “Lady, ma’am?” Jake asked.

  “Yeah. A woman’s been comin’ in about once a week for a little over a month pawnin’ various things. Danny decided not to put it out on display on accounta him thinkin’ she was off. He’s got a sixth sense about people. He even did some checkin’ with the authorities, but none of this stuff’s on any missing or stolen reports.”

  “So, you still have these items?” Jake asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, honey, we got ’em. Come on back and I’ll give you what we got on her. I’m not givin’ you anything physical without a warrant, like the property you understand, but I’ll give you her name and you can see if what she brought in’s what’s been stolen.”

  “We appreciate that, ma’am,” he said, and we walked to the back of the store.

  “Bonnie. Might as well call me somethin’ other than ma’am...that shit makes me feel old.”

  “Thank you, Bonnie,” I said, forcing down a giggle.

  We followed her into a back room and she brought out a copy of the ID used to pawn the stuff, some woman named Stella Wheeler, her address in Klamath, and the box with each item neatly bagged and labeled. We cross-referenced the items reported stolen with the box of goodies, and everything missing from the nursing home was in the box except for two things. A ruby ring and a diamond tennis bracelet Ms. Long lost.

  “She probably kept those for herself,” Jake mused, as he took photos of each item.

  “It takes a special kind of a-hole to steal from old people,” I said.

  “I agree,” Jake said.

  I sigh
ed. “I think I should pay for all this stuff.”

  “Why? I can get it back once I get a warrant.”

  “And where are you going to get a warrant from, Jake? Bonnie’s right. You’re way out of your jurisdiction here, and the DA isn’t going to go to bat for a Portland detective not on the job and get a judge to issue a warrant on a weekend. Remember how we couldn’t even do that when Dylan got arrested? I can’t imagine they’ll do it for some missing jewelry.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, but it’s a lot of money, Addie.”

  I riffled through the bags. “It’s less than ten thousand. I’ll buy it and you can keep record of it, so that we have some legal recourse if it needs to go to the DA. You can even take an official statement from Bonnie. At least we’ll have the jewelry and these old folks can get their treasures back.”

  “It’s ‘less than ten thousand’ she says,” Jake ground out.

  I smiled. “If you’re going to be with me, honey, you’re going to have to get used to me spending money. Especially for such a good cause.”

  He studied me for a few minutes then shook his head. “It’s a good plan, Addison. Just wish I could come up with something better.”

  I kissed him quickly. “Maybe next time.”

  Jake muttered things under his breath, but I’d won this argument so I smiled and tallied up all of the items. In the end, my total was under two thousand because, as Jake pointed out, they could either get back what they paid or run the risk of legal action since they took possession of stolen goods. It really was a win-win, and even if I never got reimbursed, it was an amount that I could easily lose.

  “I can’t believe how much places like this mark prices up,” I mused as we climbed back into the car.

  “I can’t believe you’d walk into a place like that and pay the list prices.”

  “My hero.” I giggled. “You’ve saved me money...I can’t wait to see what you do when you have to vanquish the dragon.”

  “Quit gettin’ into things that require me to vanquish the dragon and we won’t have an issue.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” I challenged.

  He chuckled. “Okay, let’s go check in at whatever this funky motel is and then I’ll take you to dinner. Once I feed you, I’m gonna fuck you, dirty-like.”

  “And a massage, don’t forget the massage.” I rolled my shoulders. “Bucky has made my body sore in places I didn’t know existed.”

  “Bucky?”

  “The horse we’re riding in the Roundup.”

  “You gonna fill me in on this horse and why the hell he’s called Bucky?”

  I giggled. “I don’t know that I can explain it. You’ll just have to wait and see on Sunday. It’ll be a nice surprise.” Plus, this way you can’t freak out and object to me riding a bucking horse.

  That part I kept to myself.

  “Why do I feel like I’m going to regret this?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “Because you’re all alpha and need to protect your woman. But the truth of the matter is that you’re still working on leaning into the reality that said woman can take care of herself, so you’re dealing with an adjustment period. You’ll get there, honey.”

  Jake laughed. “Well played, baby. Well played.”

  We drove out to the Running Y and I smiled as we approached the lodge. “I bet this place is amazing when it snows.”

  “Yeah,” Jake agreed. “Looks like something out in Montana.”

  We pulled up and parked, heading inside to check in. A huge stone fireplace sat proudly in the lobby and the rustic furniture was placed around it for optimum enjoyment of the warmth and ambiance.

  “This is so cute,” I exclaimed as we approached the reception desk.

  Jake wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close.

  “Welcome to the Running Y,” a young woman said. “Checking in?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  I gave her the confirmation number Dylan had texted me, and after getting our keys, we dropped our things off at the room before heading to dinner. We decided to eat at the lodge and, despite the funny name, the Ruddy Duck Restaurant was surprisingly wonderful.

  After dinner, Jake took me upstairs and closed us into our room. “Gonna fuck you now.”

  “Good. I’m feeling stabby,” I said, tearing at his clothes.

  He chuckled and locked the door, still continuing to kiss me.

  “Shower,” I panted out as he slid his hand under my shirt and cupped my breast.

  Jake continued to kiss me as he guided me into the bathroom. After starting the water, Jake divested us of the rest of our clothes and we stepped into the shower. Unable to stop myself, I knelt in front of him, wrapping my hand around his cock and stroking gently before covering the tip with my mouth. As the water cascaded over us, I took him deeper and Jake threaded his fingers through my hair and squeezed my scalp. I gripped his length and pulled down as I took him further. He grunted as I continued working his cock with my mouth and hand. I cupped his balls, taking his length all the way to the back of my throat, moving my hand faster and faster, practically gagging myself. Holy shit, I’d never been so turned on in my life.

  “Now, baby.”

  I sucked a little harder, flattening my hands on the back of his thighs as his body locked, and he came in my mouth. I waited until his hands left my head, and then I released his cock and swallowed everything down, just as his hands slid under my armpits and pulled me up. He kissed me deeply as he anchored me to the wall.

  “Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he rasped.

  “Same.”

  He cupped my breast, rolling my nipple into a tight bud as his tongue met mine and I slid my hands to his chest.

  “Wrap your legs around me, baby.”

  I wrapped my legs around him and he guided himself inside of me. Gripping his shoulders to keep steady, I kissed him again, and he held my ass as he pounded into me. “Jake,” I rasped.

  “You okay?”

  I nodded. “Harder.”

  He pinched and rolled a nipple harder between his fingers as he continued to bury himself inside of me, so fast I thought I might fall. Lucky for me, he held me secure, continuing to lavish attention on my nipples as he fucked me soundly.

  As my orgasm washed over me, I dropped my head to his shoulder and held on.

  “Fuck!” he breathed out.

  I smiled.

  “I love you, Addison Allen.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “I’m so, so fuckin’ sorry, baby.”

  “You should be,” I said, lowering my feet to the floor. “My vagina’s magical and you’ve been without it for a few days.”

  He smiled. Slowly. Deliciously. “From this second on, my life will be spent worshiping at your magical vagina.”

  “I’d prefer you worshiped in it, but around it, or at it, will work too.”

  “Fuck me, you’re funny.” He stroked my wet cheek. “I think I missed that part the most.”

  “Does this mean you’re going to start sharing?”

  “Sharing?”

  “Your feelings, in the moment, not a day later, F.Y. information, and your life. I want to know everything about you. I get snippets from you, but I feel like you hold stuff back, and if you really love me, you’ll share it all.”

  “I hear you, baby. I’ll be better.”

  “I’m gonna hold you to that, Detective Parker.”

  “Good,” he said. “I’m gonna hold you to somethin’ else.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yep. I’m gonna hold that magical vagina to my dick.”

  I licked my lips. “Yes, please.”

  * * *

  Asher

  By the time Dylan and I left the nursing home, she seemed to be in some sort of emotional fog. She held my hand and let me lead her to the passenger’s side of the car, but I could tell she wasn’t really paying any attention to her surroundings. I opened her door and helped her inside, buckling her seatbelt for her before I got behind the w
heel.

  “You okay?” I asked, starting up the car. She hadn’t said a word since we’d left her grandmother’s room, and I was starting to worry.

  She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. “My world feels like it’s been turned on its axis and the gravity is all wonky.”

  “Break it down for me. Use me as your sounding board, Dylan.”

  “My dad is stealing jewelry from old people and I’m going to have to bust him for it. Dakota has had my phone number this entire time and has never called me, yet he was still pretending to be interested. But he just gave you his blessing to be with me, so I have no idea what the hell that means. Why has he wanted people to believe we were dating all these years? And what suddenly changed? And don’t even get me started on my grandma. I don’t know who that old woman we just talked to is, but she is not the mean old bat I know and fear. Grandma’s never complimented me before. I can handle her low-key insults and rumors about my sexual orientation, but that... How the hell do I handle her being nice? It’s like we’ve entered some sort of Bizarro World. I don’t know what to think or feel or how to react.”

  I reached over the console and grabbed her hand, intertwining our fingers and letting my presence comfort her.

  She opened her eyes and squeezed my hand. “Why did you come, Asher?” She shook her head and sighed. “I mean, it’s not like I don’t want you here, but I know you have a crazy workload of your own and this place isn’t exactly a vacation destination.”

  I let my gaze drift out the front window toward the skyline of mountains bordering the sleepy little town. “No, it isn’t. But you’re here and you need me, so there isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be.”

  She let out another deep breath. “Thank you. If you weren’t here, tethering me to reality, I’d probably float away into the crazy right now.”

  I grinned, loving that I had the power to keep her grounded. “I do what I can.”

  “How did I get so lucky?”

  The way Dylan looked at me made me feel like the lucky one. I’d had a shitty week, preparing for an upcoming trial I had little hope of winning. I should still be in Portland, working on the case, but it had been impossible to concentrate knowing she was here battling her past without me. But now she was staring at me with such love and adoration, I felt like I could win any case. Like I could take down any bad guy. I might have kept her grounded, but she made me feel like Superman.