by Eve R. Hart
Lake
“How’s it going with that thing?” Ky asked when he walked in from his late lunch break finding me looking at Bridget’s car but not really working on it.
I took one look at his relaxed face and tousled hair and knew he’d taken his break with Chris. Working within walking distance to the compound had its perks. Not that you had to go back there. Clearly, there was a perfectly good break room here and I was sure I wasn’t the first person to get dirty in there.
Just thinking about it made the blood start to rush south and a smile to spread across my face. That dopey kind of smile.
I couldn’t get the image out of my head of her red ass streaked with black grease from my fingers.
“Lake?” Ky’s voice brought me crashing back down to earth.
“Oh, yeah.” I looked down at Bridget’s car which was one step closer to being done. “It’s going.” My shoulders rose and fell in a small shrug.
I didn’t want to. But I had no choice.
Because I knew as soon as it was done, she would be gone.
The sex in the break room had been an odd contradiction. There was something going on with her but I had a feeling she wasn’t ready to talk about it. Which said something because from what I’d seen so far, Bridget was an open book. She didn’t hide shit. All I could think was that she was having a hard time, just like I was.
It was definitely the most confusing sex I’d ever had. I mean, there was an easiness to it in the way that we just seemed to work really well together. And obviously, I wasn’t shy around her. Or maybe, my brain slipped into some other world. I had no clue how to explain it. But I could tell you that I’d never really thought about spanking someone before and that shit came out of nowhere. I hadn’t even realized I’d done it until the sting tickled my palm.
One minute I was there, pounding into her with everything I had, desperate to feel her clench around me as I watched her perfect ass jiggle with every thrust.
The next, well, my hand was leaving marks on one of those perfect ass cheeks.
But that wasn’t even it. There was something else there hidden under the brutal almost desperate fuck. It wasn’t desperate in a way that we needed anything to fill some sort of void or satisfy a lust driven need. No, it was desperate in the way that we both needed that punishing connection to prove to each other that we wouldn’t shatter.
But we did, in more ways than one.
I hated that she shut down on me.
I wanted to talk about it.
I could feel the end nearing with each second that ticked on and I kept searching for some little sign that she wanted me to beg her to stay. After what happened earlier, I wouldn’t even hesitate to do that.
But that just wasn’t the way life went sometimes.
You didn’t always get to keep all the pieces of your heart.
“You’re almost done with it, aren’t you?” Ky asked me and surprisingly his tone was a little soft. Like he knew what was running through my head at the moment.
“The last part should be here before close.” I swallowed hard.
I had thought it would have taken longer but it seemed like luck had been on Bridget’s side. And the car wasn’t as bad as I originally thought. While I wasn’t able to make it like new, I knew I’d be able to fix it up enough to get her home. Well, I hoped anyway. There was no telling what else might give out because the thing was seriously on its last leg.
I hated to think that the moment I got that part in my hands it was another couple of hours and I would no longer have an excuse to keep her here.
She wouldn’t have a reason to stay.
I knew she still had a case to solve, but if I was being honest, I felt like the whole thing was about to come to a close one way or another. Either she’d figure it all out or put the pieces together that there was nothing here. Which was what I was beginning to suspect from what she’d told me. That this was all a strange dead end.
I stayed in the garage long after the sun went down. Yeah, I was avoiding. Just a little. But I was also trying to ready myself for what was to come and sort out the mess in my head.
I ended up at the bar. Had two beers then walked my ass back to the clubhouse, where I flopped down on one of the couches and closed my eyes.
I wanted to go to my room and check on her but something stopped me. Maybe it was my heart cracking a little and the distance I needed to breathe. And I realized that was sappy as fuck but it didn’t make it any less true.
After a sleepless night on a lumpy couch that smelled faintly like sweaty balls, I shuffled to the kitchen finding it empty. It must have been too early for everyone else.
I made coffee, fixing one of the mugs with a dash of sweet creamer and one the way I liked it. Then I did my best to make the journey to my room without spilling the hot liquid and burning the shit out of my hands. I somehow managed to keep a steady hand as I used my elbow to knock on the door.
She answered a second later, showered and already dressed for the day.
“Hi,” she said a little strained.
“Hey,” I said looking into her beautiful eyes that were full of sadness. “I brought you some coffee.”
“Thank you.” She seemed to perk up at that but there was also a bigger wave of sadness that hit her eyes as she stared at the mug in my hand. If I wasn’t mistaken, they seemed to shine with a hint of tears.
She took the cup then walked further into the room. I followed behind and closed the door.
“How is the case going?” I asked.
She let out a long breath and flopped down on the edge of the bed.
“Something is going on. I have not one single fucking clue what and I feel like I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Nothing is making sense and it seems like nothing in that file has been true.”
“You talk to Cable?”
“Yeah, and he just told me what I pretty much already knew,” she said shaking her head. “Then he came to me last night and told me he did some more digging.”
Her lips pinched tight and I saw a flash of anger in her unfocused eyes.
“And?” I prompted.
“I just need to get home. I’m not sure what is going on or why there is a fuck ton of money now sitting in my bank account— well, fuck ton to me.”
My eyes widened. Even I couldn’t come up with a reason for her. That seemed shady as hell and I suddenly didn’t want her going back alone.
“Well, at least I can pay to get my car fixed.”
“About that…”
“What? Don’t tell me you can’t fix it.” She jumped up and started to pace while muttering something about how it didn’t matter and she could just rent a car to get home.
“It’s done.”
“What?” she asked whipping around to look at me.
“Your car is done. I finished it last night. You’re good to go.”
“Oh,” she said looking a little deflated. I couldn’t figure out why.
Okay, maybe I had some idea.
Probably the same reasons why I sounded so sullen when I’d delivered the so-called good news.
“I’m good to go?”
I nodded.
“It’s parked right out there.” I pointed in the direction of the front lot.
“How much do I—”
“Nothing,” I said because I just couldn’t take her money. It didn’t matter that it sounded like she had more than enough to cover it.
“Lake.” She went soft on me as she said my name. Her eyes. Her body. Her tone.
Then she was turning away from me, trying her hardest to cut off the thick emotions that were hanging in the air.
“I need to pack. I don’t have much out.”
She didn’t because she’d done her best to take only what she needed out of her suitcase and then put it back once she was done. Her dirty clothes were in a mesh bag sitting in the corner where she kept her things neatly tucked out of the way.
I stood there like a dumbass, froze
n in place. I couldn’t bring myself to help her because I didn’t want her to go. I knew it was coming but I wasn’t prepared for it to be this fast.
I watched with observant eyes like I didn’t want to miss a single thing about her. I filed it all away as if I would pull it out later. Like I would really want to cut the wound deeper.
She was beautiful to me. Her brown hair was thick and shiny. As I stood there, I could almost feel how smooth the long strands were between my fingers and against my skin as her head rested on my chest. It was long but I could tell that she hated it getting in the way because it was always pulled away from her face.
Her face which was soft and hard at the same time. Her expressions always pulling at her features making it impossible for her to hide the way she was feeling.
Those eyes.
I’d miss those eyes.
The ones that twinkled with gold and honey and were endless when she looked at me.
“I think that’s everything,” she said jarring me out of my daze. “I…”
“What?” I asked softly as I closed the huge gap that separated us, but still felt gutted by the miles between us.
“I don’t want to make this into some big thing.” She couldn’t look at me as she said it. “I get people. I know how to read them, to know them in the blink of an eye, to see what they’re feeling.”
I bet she did. She had to in order to do her job and by the way she talked about her dad, I knew it was something that was almost weaved into her from the start.
Not that I was trying to hide what I was feeling.
“Just say goodbye and let me go,” she whispered like it was the hardest request she’d ever had to make.
“No,” I said and my voice was raw and choked with emotion. I wasn’t going to let her off that easily. But I silently promised I wouldn’t draw it out with words or some long, winded declaration of how I felt.
“Lake,” she said again, my name rolling off her lips like a plea.
“Love the way you say my name, hellcat.”
“Hellcat?”
“Yeah. That one work for you?”
“Maybe.” Her lips tipped up in the sexiest smirk as she looked up through her lashes at me.
I said nothing else as I lowered my lips to hers. I didn’t take them sweetly. I took them like I’d never get them again. My tongue swept over the seam of her lips and slowly her lips parted for me.
My fingers dug into her back, holding her tightly into my body. Her fingers tugged at my hair. Our tongues met in an angry dance.
Who knew I was such a fucking poet.
But it was all her, she brought out that side of me.
We stripped each other in silence, only breaking apart long enough to free our clothes. Then I had her under me, caging her in my arms.
“I want to feel you,” I whispered against her lips before kissing my way along her jaw. “Every part of you,” I whispered against her ear and as I took her lobe in between my teeth, I felt her body began to tremble with need.
My lips met the curve of her neck and I felt her nodding in approval.
Maybe it was stupid. Maybe it was selfish. Maybe it was reckless. But I didn’t care because I wanted every inch of her to be mine and I wanted to leave her filled with me.
I didn’t need to stop and ask the questions that were important because I trusted her to tell me no for all the reasons one might be thinking. And I would never put her in any kind of harm no matter how badly I needed to feel her.
The moment I slid inside of her, I knew there was nothing that would ever compare to her silky, warm, tight heat. Nothing. It was as if she was made for me. And as she worked her hips against mine, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make this last like I it wanted to.
“Lake, please.”
Her nails dug into my back as her head pushed into the mattress. She fought to keep her eyes on mine as tiny moans slipped out of her parted lips.
All too soon I felt my balls tingle with the need for release.
“Bridge,” I whispered before I took her lips again.
Her heels dug into my lower back as she worked her hips harder and faster against me. I swallowed down her long moan as her pussy clenched tight around me, triggering my own orgasm. My hips continued to work, rolling, thrusting in and out of her, drawing out her orgasm as I spilled myself inside of her.
We stilled, my face dropped to the curve of her neck as my nose buried in her hair. Her scent was mixed with mine and a smile played on my lips as I breathed it in. A strange tangling of sweet lavender and citrus and even a hint of something darker.
There were words right there on the tip of my tongue, but I held them back for her.
And I think a tiny part of me died inside then.
I took the hint when she inhaled a huge lungful of air moments later. I bowed my head as I slid out of her and rolled onto the bed.
She moved without sound, getting up and quickly redressing.
I should have smiled that she didn’t run to the bathroom to clean up. That she let me leak out of her and more than likely, soak her panties.
As much as I didn’t want to, I got out of bed and did the same.
“Thank you,” she said softly, moving in to place a sweet, quick kiss on my lips. “I think I’ll have a hard time forgetting you.”
I let out a choked laugh as she smiled widely at me.
“Same here, Bridge.”
“Well, it’s been sweet and all but I should go before I get a cavity.”
I barked out a laugh as she shot me a super cheesy wink.
“Never change,” I said softly.
“Oh, I can assure you that I won’t.”
She gathered her things and with one hand clinging to her suitcase and the other on the handle of the door, she gave me one last, long look. Her chest expanded with a deep breath as she opened the door.
“I’ll call you,” I yelled out like a damn idiot.
“Like I haven’t heard that one before,” she said with laughter in her tone.
Then she was gone, the door closing, cutting off my view of her as she walked out of my life.
Oh, I was going to fucking call her, that was for sure. Somehow, someway, I was going to make this work. Even if all I could do was keep her in my life at a distance.
Bridget was too damn special to let go.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Bridget
I knew even before I set off for home, that something was wrong. And I may have wanted to believe that while I’d been gone Art had somehow had case after case fall into his lap, I knew that wasn’t it. And sure, maybe something big could have happened. Like a missing dog case with a fat reward. Or something. But I just had this feeling of dread in my gut.
I didn’t even go home, choosing to drive all the way past my apartment and straight to the office. I whipped into a vacant parking space right out front. Even as I jumped out of my car looking like a crazy person on a mission, I saw the darkness behind the glass pane on the door. I felt the stillness of the office as I walked up.
Bringing my hand up, I tried to see inside. There was still a glare but I couldn’t miss the lack of anything in the small space. I tried the handle, jerking it violently back and forth when it didn’t turn.
“No,” I said a little too loudly. “No!” That time a little louder.
My hand beat against the glass like someone inside would hear me and come running to let me in. Only, there wasn’t anyone there.
Frantically, I fished my key out of my bag and even as I tried to slide it into the lock, I knew it wouldn’t work. The handle was too new indicating that it had been replaced very recently.
I looked in again. A few papers were scattered on the floor. The table that held the coffee pot was still there, looking as rickety and sad as the last time I’d seen it. The plant that was half dead still perched on the left side but the coffee pot and cups were gone.
My desk was gone.
My chair was gone.
The c
oat rack, the filing cabinet, my dad’s desk— they were all gone.
I turned around, my back hit the door so hard it jarred my whole body. My knees gave out and my butt hit the tiny concrete stoop before I could even register that I was going down.
My phone started ringing from the depths of my bag. I tossed my keys on the stoop beside me with an angry flick of my hand.
Lake.
Seeing his name on my phone caused a tiny smile to push at my lips though it didn’t cure the ache I had in my heart. It may have even made it hurt more.
“Hey,” I said as coolly as I could manage. I wiped my eyes and cleared my throat, but I knew there was no hope in covering up my pain.
“Hey,” he said and I could hear the worry in his voice even in that one simple word. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing,” I replied trying my best to pull it together. “I just got into town.”
“I don’t believe you. Let me see your face.”
There was a heavy sigh from me and I knew I wouldn’t deny him. It didn’t matter that I was a weeping mess on the side of the sidewalk or that anyone walking by would be able to hear everything.
“Hi,” I said after we’d switched over to video and his adorable face filled my screen.
“Bridge, what’s going on?”
He sounded so sweet and it made the tears come a little faster.
“It’s all gone. The office, everything.”
“What? Why? How?”
I had an idea about most of those answers but I really needed to hear it from the source. There were a few things that I hadn’t quite been able to work out and I almost feared for the reasons behind all of this. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it, not even a little. Hell, I didn’t like it right now. I was sad and I knew once I got all the tears out, I was going to be furious.
“I’m not sure yet. I’m going to get answers now, though.”
“Hey, look at me,” he said softly and I hadn’t even realized that I was staring blankly over the top of my phone. “Hold it together and go do your thing. Find out all the answers before you break down. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” I said with a weak smile.
