by Linda Verji
It had been different with Jasmine. Every moment with her had been a moment to savor. Every encounter had left him aching for more of her. She’d drawn out a sensitive side of him that he didn’t even know existed. He’d been happy with her in a way that he’d never experienced before and likely would never experience again.
“Lucas!” Rosa cut into his thoughts. “Did you hear me?”
“Huh?” Lucas came alive.
“Come for some play time?” Rosa repeated.
“No, not today,” Lucas rejected the offer. “I’m here for something else.”
“Oh, what else?” Rosa sat back in her seat. “I thought we already closed your case.”
“We did. We did.” Lucas hesitated a moment before revealing, “I’m here for Buddy’s case.”
“Buddy’s case?” Rosa frowned. “Buddy doesn’t have any pending cases. We just closed his last one.”
“That’s the one I’m talking about.” Lucas explained, “The suicide. York Emerson.”
Instantly, Rosa was all business. She sat straighter in her seat and her sharp gaze pierced into Lucas. “Why are you poking into Buddy’s case? You know he doesn’t like it when people do that.”
“I’m not poking,” Lucas denied, but the knowing look in Rosa’s eyes had him wincing. “Okay, I’m poking but just a bit. I just want to take a look at the body.”
“Sorry!” Rosa made a face. “We already released him to his family. I told you, Buddy closed the case.”
“Crap!”
“What do you need to see the body for anyway?” Rosa watched Lucas keenly. “I already sent in my report. Didn’t you read it?”
“I read it,” Lucas admitted. “But I thought I might find something new if I took a look at him.”
“Really? You were going to look at the body and find something new?” Rosa’s eyebrows arched. “I didn’t know you’d finally completed your fellowship in forensic pathology, Dr. Gallo.”
“Ouch!” With a laugh, Lucas grabbed his chest as if her barb had struck him right there. “You don’t have to be so harsh.”
“You deserve it.” Rosa grinned before her gaze turned somber. “Why are you poking into this anyway? Did that woman get to you too?”
“Woman?” Lucas lifted his eyebrows.
“Yeah, woman! Jasmine or something. Buddy came in here to complain about her.” Rosa shook her head and clucked disapprovingly. “An armchair detective if I ever saw one – thinks she can do a better job than the pros. Apparently, she doesn’t believe that it was a suicide.”
This wasn’t a good time to reveal that he knew Jasmine a.k.a. ‘that woman’, right?
“Look, I’m good at my job. I’m really good at my job,” Rosa ranted on. Looking highly offended, she suggested, “If you people don’t trust my reports then you should stop dumping your stiffs on me. Find an M.E that you trust.”
“We trust you,” Lucas soothed her. “You’re the best M.E we’ve ever had.”
“You’re just saying that,” Rosa said with a pout.
“I’m serious.” Lucas grinned. “All the other ones before you were jokers.”
Though he used a teasing tone, the truth was that Rosa really was the best at her job. She had the sharpest eye in town and could spot discrepancies that examiners with more years on the job missed. If she said this was a suicide, then it was. However, that didn’t erase the possibility of it being an assisted-suicide. Lucas was about to throw out the possibility when Rosa’s extension rang.
Rosa wheeled her seat to the spot where the phone was and picked up. “ME’s office.” She listened to the person on the other end then pointed to Lucas and mimed ‘you’. A moment later, she said into the phone, “Okay, I’ll send him up.”
“Send me up why?” Lucas asked when the call ended.
“Captain wants to see you,” Rosa said. “Sounds urgent.”
Captain Harrison West wasn’t a man that one kept waiting. With a brief goodbye to Rosa, Lucas bounded out of the basement and headed up to the Captain’s office. The sight that met him when he pushed the door open brought his steps to a halt.
Standing in front of the captain’s desk were Shane, Buddy and Buddy’s partner, Thomas McGee. Though McGee was calm, Buddy was spitting fire. The moment Lucas entered the office, Buddy spun around to glare at him.
“He’s here,” Buddy pronounced as his cheeks reddened with the heat of his anger.
“I can see that, Buddy.” The captain’s eyes swept past the other men in the room to Lucas. “Close the door.”
“You wanted to see me?” Lucas strolled further into the room to stand between his partner and McGee. Shane immediately gave him his ‘we’re screwed’ look.
“Gallo. West.” Harrison’s narrowed gaze switched between the two men as he tapped a pen on his huge mahogany desk. “What’s this I hear? Are you two investigating Buddy’s case?”
“No,” Shane said, right as Lucas said, “Yes.”
“See. See. See.” Buddy exploded as he stepped forward so he could glare better at Lucas and Shane. “I told you they were poking their noses in my case. This is my case. They… they have no right to interfere in it.”
From the way he was reacting, one would’ve thought that Lucas and Shane had killed his cat and strung it on the flagpole outside the station.
“I heard a no and a yes.” The captain’s laser-sharp gaze fixed on Shane. “Why did you say no?”
“Because we’re not really investigating it.” Shane gave the captain his best smile. “We’re just taking a little look.”
The smile didn’t fool Harrison. He narrowed his eyes. “Sounds like you just used a crap load of words to tell me that you’re investigating Buddy’s case.”
“Okay, fine. We’re investigating it,” Lucas confessed unrepentantly. “But it’s only because he’s doing a piss-poor job at it.”
“Piss p- oh!” Buddy looked like he wanted to punch Lucas. He even took a step towards him.
“Easy, easy.” McGee stepped in front of his partner to stop him but Buddy tried to shove him to the side. Lucas’ just smirked. He could take Buddy. Bring it on.
“Don’t even think of it.” Captain’s voice cut into the pulsing tension like a whip stopping Buddy in his tracks. “My office will not become a wrestling arena, gentlemen. Everyone take a seat.” He pointed to the two couches in the room. When none of his men made a move towards the seat, he barked, “Now.”
There was something about the precise, solemn rumble in that bark that had everyone taking their corners, albeit reluctantly. Once everyone was seated, Harrison resumed his interrogation.
“Why are you working Buddy’s case?” Harrison asked Lucas.
“Because there are too many things that don’t add up,” Lucas said.
“Things like what?” Buddy piped in angrily. “Everything adds up.”
“Things like what?” the captain asked more calmly.
Lucas started from the top. From the missing phone, typed suicide note, the malfunctioning security system to the suspiciously missing visitor’s log. He finished with, “To make matters worse, everyone who’s directly involved with this case seemed to have disappeared.”
“We tried to find the woman who lost the visitor’s log,” Shane added, “but apparently she’s also gone on vacation. How could she afford to go on vacation when she’d just been fired?”
“Maybe she used her savings,” Buddy retorted.
“She used her savings to go on a vacation when she’s just been fired?” Lucas guffawed. “Really? You cannot be that dumb.”
“Did you just call me dumb?” Buddy exploded off the seat, looking like he might jump over the coffee table that separated he and Lucas. “Did you call me dumb?
“Sit down, Buddy,” Harrison said without even looking at the man. All his attention was on Lucas and Shane. “Everything you’ve told me is circumstantial. There’s no hard evidence that this wasn’t a suicide, and if you read Rosa’s report, which I’m sure you did-”
The captain paused as if waiting for Shane and Lucas to pretend that they hadn’t read that report. Both men’s blank looks didn’t fool him.
The captain shook his head disapprovingly before he continued, “If you read Rosa report, then you know that all the real evidence points to this being a suicide. How do you explain that?”
“There’s nothing to explain,” Buddy piped up, “because it wasn’t a-”
The captain’s sharp look quelled his words.
“We can’t explain it yet,” Lucas revealed reluctantly. The assisted-suicide angle was too premature to start tossing around, so he hedged, “But if you give us a little more time maybe-”
“No.” Captain Harrison sat back in his seat. “No more time for you. You know why? Because this isn’t your case.” His gaze hardened as it switched between Lucas and Shane. “You have your own cases, right?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Focus on them.”
Shane started, “But-”
“But nothing,” the captain cut him off. “Until you have actual, hard evidence proving your suspicions, I don’t want to hear about this mess again. Got it?”
Both Lucas and Shane nodded.
“And you-” He pointed to the now widely grinning Buddy. “Check your case. Make sure there aren’t any loose threads.”
“I’m telling you there’s noth-”
“Check it again!” the captain ordered. He sat back in his seat. “Now, all of you! Get out of my office.”
The four men meekly tramped out of the room. Buddy and McGee smirked triumphantly as they filed ahead of Lucas and Shane.
“You could’ve done a little more to help in there,” Lucas scolded Shane as they headed to their desks.
“Like what?” Shane scowled. “I backed you up, didn’t I?”
“I don’t know. You’re the captain’s son, not me. I’m sure you know tricks to get him to listen to you.” Lucas suggested, “Maybe you could’ve threatened to never speak to him or your mom again if he didn’t let you investigate.”
“Dad would be ecstatic if I stopped speaking to him.” Shane laughed. “I know because I’ve tried.”
“Well, you could have tried again.” Lucas sighed. “Maybe then he wouldn’t have ordered us to stop investigating.”
“Is that what you heard?” Shane’s lips lifted in a mischievous smile. “I heard differently.”
Lucas narrowed his eyes. “What did you hear?”
“I heard him tell us not to bother him unless we have actual, hard evidence,” Shane’s grin widened. “Translation; don’t let Buddy catch you investigating again. Bring me evidence and I’ll open the case.”
“That sounds like a conversation you made up.”
“No, no. It really happened. You won’t understand it. It’s a West thing. Trust me though,” Shane coaxed. “Dad wants us to keep investigating.”
“Well.” Lucas sighed dramatically. “If the captain wants us to keep investigating, who are we to disobey him?”
“We’ve got no choice,” Shane agreed with a grin.
CHAPTER 7
Jasmine was sleeping.
Deep in her dreams, she could sense the window in her bedroom opening. She could feel the cool breeze that immediately swept into the room. Someone was coming in. Hushed footsteps echoed in the eerily silent room as the intruder quietly snuck in.
She should’ve been scared. Yet she wasn’t. She knew who it was.
There was a faint rustling sound as if he was getting rid of his clothes. Moments later there were more footsteps; he was coming to the bed. Cold bit into Jasmine’s scantily clad body as the covers were lifted. The bed dipped as a heavy weight settled on it. Then it was warm again. He was in bed with her.
Jasmine smiled when she felt him shift closer to her. He was so warm that she scooted backwards so she could get more of his heat. Their bodies met. The temperature in the bed went up a notch as she realized that he’d gotten rid of all his clothes apart from his boxers. He was so tall that her body fit perfectly into his, like a little spoon cuddling into a bigger spoon. Even though her back was turned to him and her eyes were closed, she could’ve sworn that she felt him smile as his hands settled on her waist the squeezed.
He lifted slightly off the bed to kiss her cheek. “Did I wake you?”
Of course he’d woken her, but she found herself shaking her head and whispering, “No.”
“Good.” His hand slowly eased up her torso.
When he suddenly cupped her breast, her eyes flew open. The clock beside her bed said that it was three-thirty a.m., but the time didn’t even make a dent on her subconscious. She was too enthralled by the instant electric sensation that swept through her body at his touch.
He was squeezing, molding, flicking, pinching.
“Oooh!” With a needy whimper, she ground her ass back into his groin.
His response was instant. His already burgeoning rod jumped against her flesh. Even through the fabric that separated then she could feel every long, hard, swollen inch of him. When he fit himself in the crease between her buttocks, she couldn’t stop herself from dancing on him.
“Jasmine.” His pained groan was filled with unrestrained desire.
He squeezed her breast one last time before lowering his hand. His fingers were moving over her tank-top, down her tummy, past her navel, down to the waistband of her shorts. Her breath caught in her throat when he slid his hand beneath the elastic, down, down, down…
“Aaah!” she moaned when he reached his destination.
He cupped her already heated mound with his warm hand then rubbed. The little butterfly touches on her lips were amazing yet not quite as satisfying as what she really wanted. He seemed to be reading her mind because right then his fingers pushed between her puffy, moist lips.
God! That felt good.
His fingers were in her slit, spreading her honey up to her nub. She moaned when he finally reached that sensitive button. Slow figure eights with his fingers, flicking, rubbing, circling. Her moan echoed in her room.
“Shhhhh!” he whispered as he strummed at her body. “You’ll wake your parents.”
How many times had she heard that? So many times. Before she’d met him, she’d been a good girl, but he was slowly erasing bits of that good and replacing it with his own brand of naughty. Jasmine arched backwards, teasing him with her ass. If he could make her moan, then she’d make sure he moaned too.
She smiled when she heard his groan of response. But her smile died when his hand moved away from her core to the band of her shorts. Her shorts were coming down, down her hips, her knees. Then they disappeared. When he pressed his body back against hers, she realized that he’d gotten rid of his boxers too. He was naked.
Her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock.
Unfazed by her sudden stiffening, he lifted her leg a little so he could sneak his cock between her legs. Goodness! The sensation that immediately snaked through her was enough to make her bite her lips in unrestrained desire. Feeling that heavy flesh pressed right up against her aching core was more delicious than expected, and when his fingers came back to rub at her clit, flames leapt up. Without conscious thought, she tightened her thighs around him, squeezed him.
“Fuck!” he cussed beneath his breath right before he bit at her shoulder.
The bite should’ve been painful instead it sent sharp need straight to her pussy. She turned and pushed him so she could roll on top of him.
She was over him now, her legs bracketing his, her breasts smashed against his naked chest and her pussy right over his cock. Their lips met in a frantic kiss that was like gasoline to an already blazing wildfire. His hands roamed down her back to her ass, squeezed the flesh as if urging her to ride him. So she did. She ground herself on him, wetting him with her honey from tip to root then back again.
That felt amazing! By his fevered squeezing of her ass, she knew he liked it too.
They’d never gone further than this, but for some reason it was eno
ugh today. She was so hungry for more, and she was hurting. Badly.
She moved further his body until she wasn’t over him. Instead his cock was right below her, its tip tapping right at her core, perfectly positioned. Their eyes met then. There was a tantalizing pause as she waited for him to stop her. But he didn’t. He was just as hungry as she was. Slowly, she slid downwards again, just a little, but enough to make the head of him dig deeper into where it hurt.
She moaned at the instant sensation that flooded her. His breathing deepened, became rougher as his fingers dug into her buttocks. She could’ve sworn that she felt his whole body tremble in anticipation but she was too enthralled by the electric sensations zipping through her to center at her pussy.
Oh, it felt good to have him there! But she wanted more, she wanted him deeper. She moved further down, just a little more. Pressure at her core, he was opening her up, stretching her so he could fit it.
Yes, please, push in deep, push…
Ding dong. Ding dong. The sudden ringing shattered Jasmine’s sweet dream and dragged her kicking and screaming back into the real world.
Ding dong. Ding dong.
She came awake with a groan only to find herself lying face down in a mess of tangled sheets. Even her night-shirt was racked up to her waist. Had she just heard a sex-dream about Lucas? She buried her face into her pillow as both shame and anger pulsed through her. What the hell was wrong with her? Just yesterday she’d been reminding herself how much she hated him, yet here she was dreaming of him.
You’re crazy, Jaz. Absolutely mental.
Ding dong. Ding dong. The doorbell rang again.
Jasmine turned her head to check the clock. It was blinking seven-fifteen a.m. Who the hell was ringing her doorbell at seven in the morning?
Ding dong. Ding dong.
“Hold your horses,” Jasmine grumbled beneath her breath as she clambered off the bed. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”
She only stopped to adjust her headscarf and to put a robe over her night-shirt before heading to the door.
