by Taryn Quinn
Most of the time without Jared, since he was married to the badge. But there had been a lot of amazing memories made on it. And just maybe, we could make one more.
I slid down him slowly, every breathtaking muscled inch of him, until my heels hit the deck. He held up a finger then moved to the front of the boat. He crouched in front of the small locker and swore a few times as he spun the dial on the old-school combination lock.
I twisted my wildly flying hair into a loose tail over my shoulder. There wasn’t much to the boat, but what it lacked in amenities, it boasted in space. My heels clicked along the slip-resistant flooring as I crossed to the railing to look out on the vast Crescent Lake. Houses dotted the landscape in the distance. This side of the lake wasn’t as populated and was almost desolate this time of year. The beach was public, but it was most definitely the off-season.
His warm hand slid along my middle, sneaking into the loose folds of my wrap dress to cup my breast before pulling me back to rest against his chest. “Do you want me to take you back?”
“No, why?” I twisted my neck to look up at him.
“You look a little sad.” With his other hand, he played with the tie of my dress at my hip.
“Just thinking about how lonely it feels out here. There’s always so much going on in town. Why I love your house so much. It’s away from everything and so quiet.”
He dropped a kiss along my shoulder and slowly moved up my neck. “Ahh, but I’m never lonely with you, Bee. Ever.”
I sighed. “No. Even before we…” I swallowed. What? We had been moving so incredibly fast I didn’t really know what to call us. I just knew he was the love of my life. “Before we were an us.”
He hugged me tighter. “I can’t believe it took me so long to make a move. Without Sami, I wonder if I would have.”
I laid my head back against his chest. “We both were afraid to ruin anything. I’m trying not to be afraid anymore.”
“Of me?”
“Of losing you.”
Of you finding out that I may never be everything you need.
“You’ll never lose me.” He turned me into his arms and his kiss was firm and fierce. “Never.”
I went onto my toes and held on. I let him sweep me up into his arms, into the wildly raging passion that erupted between us. As if all of it had been corked for so long that it had nowhere else to go but up and out. I just hoped it didn’t disappear into frothy lace like the waterline.
He hooked his arm under my knees and set me on the seats he’d pushed together to create a makeshift bed. It was prime real estate for laying out under the sun in the summertime, but it would do for us now. Especially with the blanket he’d found in that locker.
Thank God Mason was just as fastidious as his brother. It smelled of fabric softener and a bite of cold. Jared laid me out on the blanket and inched my dress up my thighs. “God, you’re so damn beautiful.”
He trailed his nose up my thigh to find the scrap of bronze lace I was wearing. He groaned over the thin silky panel hiding me from him. “Gingerbread and my sweet Bee,” he murmured before tracing his tongue over me through the material.
I went up on my elbows to watch him. I was still amazed by how generous he could be. He slowly kissed his way over my thighs, up to my hip and then back across to my belly as if we had all the time in the world. I squirmed under his touch, lifting my hips to get him where I wanted him, but he wouldn’t be deterred.
He had a plan in mind, and when Jared Brooks had a plan, he never deviated.
I tugged at the tie to my dress and was rewarded with his blue eyes darkening. I was wearing a matching copper bra under the brick red sweater dress.
He kissed his way up my belly to focus on my breasts. He smiled up at me as he glimpsed the center catch on the bra. “I might wonder if you had this planned, Miss Ramos.”
With a teasing smile, I shrugged and hooked my leg around his back to urge him up. Again, damn that man, he didn’t care what I wanted. Instead, he took a lazy path around the lace cups before sucking my nipple through the material. The bite of air on my flesh tightened my nipple even more.
His thumb drifted into the top of my panties as he sucked hard on my other breast. The pad of his thumb grazed the top of my clit, but instead of giving me some sort of friction or relief, he simply pressed lightly just above where I needed him.
He rose over me and grabbed my wrists with his other hand, holding me down as he rocked his thumb along my clit.
I arched under him, his name a whisper on the wind. I tried to free myself. I needed to touch him and make him just as crazy as he made me. He lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me deep, his tongue matching the relentless stroke inside my panties.
Hot, empty, unmoored—my emotions scattered out into the lake. My back arched to get some sort of relief even if it was just to rub against his chest and the soft polo shirt that buzzed against my skin.
Suddenly, his fingers were gone from between my legs and I reared up. “Don’t you stop.”
He grinned against the lace of my bra and tugged my nipple. “Patience, Bee.”
“Screw patience. I’ve been patient for years.”
His teeth raked over my skin as he fumbled in his pocket. “If you can’t be patient...” He pulled out his cuffs and slowly teased the metal over my ribs and between my breasts. “Those brown eyes just went so very dark.” I could feel the curve of his lips along my neck. “Ever wonder what a pair of cuffs would feel like?”
“I didn’t know you had it in you, Sheriff.”
He rose up over me. “Is that right?”
“Cuffs in a non-police situation? How very against regulations.” My voice was taunting and I knew it, but I didn’t care.
He hooked the cuffs around the railing and dragged me up against the pillowed bump on the seat. I locked my legs around him and ground my soaked panties against the bulging zipper of his jeans. I wouldn’t go easy.
Jared’s eyes blazed from my sudden attempt to fight back. Fierce and wild, his jaw clenched with his need to control.
I loved that side of him. Loved to tweak it and maybe even make him snap.
He tried to shake me free, but a lifetime of running around the diner finally paid off. I flexed my thighs tighter, and we stared one another down. His gaze dropped to my mouth then to my breasts heaving up over the cups with each undulation of my hips.
“Christ, you are so fucking hot.”
I grinned at him until he unhooked the clasp between my breasts and drew hard on my nipple. He was relentless with the each one until they were tight and a dark raspberry color from his attention and the brush of his beard. Now that he didn’t have to hold me down, he didn’t hesitate with the utter destruction of my will.
He watched me as he went lower, and my hold fell away in favor of the pleasure I’d trade for my melting resistance. As if I really wanted to hold out against the intensity he brought to these moments between us.
No, I’d gladly trade it for whatever he wanted from me.
He peeled me open like a present. My dress, my legs, my will, and in the end, I knew he’d give me everything. The cups of my bra puddled into my open dress as he redirected his efforts.
He flicked his tongue over the dip in my bellybutton and down to the high strings that clung to my hips. He slowly rolled them down then over my boots and tucked the lace into his pocket.
“Need another pair? Damn thief.”
He smirked and then there were no other words. My thoughts dissolved as he hollowed me out with his tongue and lapped me up like I was his favorite dessert. He held my legs splayed with no one around but him and the sky to see every part of me.
His thumb rubbed tight little circles around my clit. He sunk his teeth into my inner thigh and sucked and nipped until a bruise bloomed.
I hissed out a breath as the hint of pain ratcheted up the pleasure. The reminder would last in the days to come. He made another strong pulling mark on my other thigh just above my b
oot. All the while, that damn thumb left me on the edge.
The chain between his cuffs rattled against the railing as I instinctively wanted to touch, to grip his hair, his neck, his shoulders and drag him up and over me.
“Jared.”
He trailed the tip of his tongue along the inside of my thigh and the crease there just beside where I wanted him most. The same patient path wound around my pussy and finally, he brought two fingers in to give me a little relief.
Not enough.
Not nearly enough.
I bore down on those two fingers and saw him finally break. He was a fucking monster—I didn’t know how he held out like he did. My ass flexed as I lifted for more and was rewarded with what I wanted. His tongue and fingers made obscene noises as I flooded around him. Gave him everything.
“Dammit, inside me. I need you inside me.” Mindless, I rattled for my freedom, for him to get moving. To be as crazed as me.
His eyes said he was, as did the clench of his jaw as he finally knelt between my thighs and jerked the end of his belt to get it free from the buckle. I tried to hook my booted foot around his hip.
“Stay open, Bee. I’m too close to the edge.”
Thank God. It wasn’t just me. “What about me? Move faster. I’m going insane here, Brooks.”
Finally, his zipper parted, and he fisted himself. The ruddy tip peeked from the denim and cotton.
“Please.”
“Fuck, Bee.”
“Yes. Yes, that.” I licked my lips, my attention focused on the strong, thick length of him.
He lowered to slick the head along my soaked slit. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back. “God.”
I arched up and took my own version of control. His eyes snapped wide just as he breached me, sliding deep inside me in one filling stroke.
I hissed out a breath then lifted my legs around him and dragged him even deeper. His blue eyes went the color of midnight. One fist bit into the cushion beside my head and the other gripped my hip as he snapped his hips forward to give me more.
Always more.
I couldn’t hold on to him anywhere but with my legs and I let him know it. My thighs were a vise as I demanded all he had. I bit his neck and gripped the railing so I could get a little leverage.
He lifted me off the makeshift mattress and draped my thighs over his, arrowing up into me with relentless strokes. His fingers gripped my hips to put me exactly where he wanted me. Again and again, he filled me until I was a mindless vessel for him.
The roar of the orgasm blindsided me, and I yelled out his name. The boat rocked as he reared up over me and locked one hand between mine on the railing. My nails wrapped around his wrist so I could feel him. So I could hold on to something.
God, he was going to rip me apart.
“Again,” he growled into my mouth as he tried to kiss me through the unrelenting thrusts of his hips. I tipped my pelvis up to get that bit of friction I needed, and my whole body shuddered around him.
The flood of him inside me as he groaned out my name had me wishing I could wrap myself around him. I wanted to climb inside him. I just couldn’t get close enough.
His arm slid up my back to cup me closer to his chest. Then the cuffs were free, and I vined around him.
The plunk of something hitting the water made me laugh.
He peeked over the railing. “Shit.”
“Lose something, Sheriff?”
“A bit of my dignity when I have to order a new pair of cuffs.” He laughed into my neck. “Worth it.”
He was relaxed enough that I took the chance and flipped him over onto his back and straddled him. His eyes were soft from a very thorough orgasm. It was nice to know I could wreck him as truly as he destroyed me. His eyes crinkled at the corners and shone with humor when I braceleted his wrists with my fingers to press him into the cushions.
“My turn to be at your mercy?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
He lifted his head to nuzzle along my breast, swaying from my position over him. I let out a breath and tried to concentrate. Something out of the corner of my eye distracted me.
I glanced up and gasped, flattening myself onto Jared.
“What?” He tried to get up, but I held him down. “Is there someone out there?”
I giggled. “A lot of someones.”
He tried to crane his neck and cover me at the same time. “Fuck.”
I couldn’t stop the giggles as the boat floated into the shallows right in front of The Mason Jar. We weren’t exactly on the shoreline, but…
“Would you stop laughing?”
His horror only made me laugh harder.
He quickly pulled the ends of my dress closed over me.
I rose enough to peek at how bad it was and saw the dozen customers on the deck waving at us. Mason saluted us before going back into the restaurant with a shake of his head.
A quack from the side of the boat was the last straw. I collapsed into a fit.
Jared was on his back, his hips arched up as he hiked up his jeans. “I can’t believe this.”
“I can.”
He rolled onto his knees and kept trying to tie my dress. “Would you help me?”
A duck flew up onto the railing. Startled, Jared threw up an arm. The duck bobbed his green head in greeting.
Finally, Jared shook his head and sat back on his feet. “Only in the Cove, man.”
And then I was off in giggle-land again.
We’d led the ducks back to the restaurant once more.
Twenty-One
A week out from the boat incident, and I still was getting knowing looks from people in town. Add in the lookout point, the night of the tree lighting, the betting pool, ducks, and…well, if we wanted to keep our relationship a secret—which I did not—we wouldn’t have been able to.
We were officially the town’s favorite topic of discussion.
I’d convinced Bee to donate most of the money from the betting pool to the food pantry. The rest went to a staggering amount of Christmas decorations. I hadn’t thought there was room in my house for any more.
I’d been very wrong.
I sat back in my chair as I waited for my report to print.
There was a knock on my open door. I spun around. The instinctive kick of fear would go away eventually, I was pretty sure. Gina’s mother was a force, both as an employee and a mama bear. “Hey, Bonnie. What can I do for you?”
“I’m just checking to make sure everything is ready for my time off.”
I frowned, and then my memory kicked in. I’d been so scattered with my actual office duties that I’d forgotten. “Oh, right, Erica is damn close, huh?”
She nodded and closed the door before sitting in the chair in front of my desk. “My first—well, Dios, I guess my second grandchild.” She narrowed her eyes at me.
My chest tightened. Guess I wasn’t the only one who thought Bee was more the mother of my child than her biological one.
Bonnie laced her fingers over her knees and stared me down. “Speaking of.”
I swallowed. I was basically living in sin with her daughter. We hadn’t technically moved in together, but she’d made my place such a home at this point that I didn’t want to think about a moment without her.
I opened my mouth.
“Don’t lie to my face when I ask you this question, Jared Brooks.”
I mirrored her folded hands and forced my shoulders to relax. “Okay. You know me, Bonnie. I don’t lie.”
She let out a sharp laugh. “You’ve been lying to yourself for years.”
Okay, I couldn’t really disagree with her there. “I’ve always cared about, Bee—Gina. But now things are different.”
“Because she’s your in-house nanny and baby mama?”
My jaw locked. “Of course not. I called on her for help because she’s my best friend and I didn’t know who else to call.”
“And yet you made her lie to her family for a week.”
&n
bsp; I clutched the arms of my chair. Stupidly, I’d thought we were past all of this.
Go fish, Brooks.
“It wasn’t because I was using her. I just didn’t know how to handle it. The woman who left the—no, my—daughter on my porch threw me for a loop. Bee is the first person I called because she’s the most capable woman I know.”
Bonnie stared at me unblinkingly. “Acceptable. Men take longer to deal with the idea of change. And there’s much change in your life, Sheriff. Just be careful with my daughter. She may act like she’s tough, but she’s very soft.”
“Strongest woman I know.”
She stood. “Even the strongest women can be hurt needlessly. Remember that. She’s more than just a stand-in mother.”
“She’s not a stand-in anything. She’s more Sami’s mother than anyone could be. And if I had my way, she would have been. And maybe will be in the future.”
Bonnie looked at the floor, sniffing lightly. Her eyes were ringed in red, but no tears fell. “You’ll do, Jared. Just remember she’s more than just a mother. She’s a woman and deserves to be recognized for that side of her regardless of the future you have.”
I frowned. What did that mean? “Of course.” I stood and followed her to the door. “I’m not just playing house with your daughter, Bonnie. I’m betting on forever.”
“Good.” She patted my chest and straightened my badge. “You’re a good man.”
“I try.”
“Don’t ruin everything I’ve organized while I’m gone, or I’ll break your pinkies.”
I blinked. “Right. Christian and the temp we brought in have your instructions, correct?”
She nodded curtly. “Doesn’t mean they’ve read them.” She fixed the strap of her body bag-sized purse in a wild rainbow zebra print and shoved it behind her. I didn’t know what was in there, but it scared me a little. Pretty much just like Bonnie did.
“I’ll make sure they do.”
The front door of the station banged open. Instinctively, I put Bonnie behind me.
