LincolnI park at the curb in front of our unit. “You might not like it but I need your schedule.”Shelby opens her eyes and her head snaps in my direction. “You’re right, I don’t like it,” she grumbles.“Look, I’m working to stop this guy from killing someone else and now I’m saddled with you. You’re a grown woman and you should be able to monitor yourself. But, your uncle sees differently. We’ll make it easy. Take my cell number and text me your whereabouts throughout the day. I couldn’t care less what you do as long as you stay out of trouble, but it’s that or I put handcuffs on you and attach one end to something in your bathroom.”Her laugh tells me she doesn’t believe a word of my threat. “Does that line work on the bad guys you deal with?”I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. “What the hell do you want from me, Shelby?” I say wearily. “Please. Meet me halfway.”Her expression changes and my anger dissipates. “Was that so hard? Be nice and I’m more likely to follow your
LincolnShe laughs and ignores my order. “You’re disappointed Daisy’s not appreciating your leg. Heel, Daisy,” she says with another laugh and walks the dog to my couch. “Down.” He lies at her feet like a perfect gentleman.Damn her. I’m too tired to fight and have absolutely no willpower at all when I remove the lid from the warm dish. It smells heavenly. “Sure you don’t want any?” I ask tiredly as I grab a fork and remove the first bite straight from the dish.She shakes her head, watching me. I carry the casserole over to the couch along with my beer. “Sorry, shit,” I say as I sit down and then quickly stand back up. “A drink—beer, water, soda?”“I’m good. Eat. You must be starving and exhausted.”I sit and dig in. “Yes, I’m exhausted,” I manage to get out after three bites. “This is delicious.”“My uncle Pat thinks so too. Of course hell will freeze over before I make it for him again.”“He should have recused himself at the hearing this morning,” I grumble.“I’m sure he will for
LincolnAnother day of nothing. I hit the street and talked to every hooker I came across. There’s fear in their eyes. The local news stations released the story at noon. I hoped it would get the women talking, but they tell me little. I even had a sit-down with a sergeant in vice. The asshole didn’t approve of laying off the hookers for a short time so they wouldn’t be afraid to talk to me. I don’t have sergeant stripes, so all I could do was pass it to my supervisor so he could deal with Sergeant Dickhead’s supervisor.I don’t have a working partner at the moment because of our two-year hiring freeze, so I head to the ME’s office to speak with Kurtis. He has a level head, keeps his mouth shut, and works a lot of high-profile homicides.He’s walking out of the autopsy room when I open the outer door. His bloody gloves go into the hazard bin after he removes his goggles. “Hey, Linc, let me scrub and I’ll meet you in the break room.”“Deal. I’m in need of your spidey senses.” This gain
LincolnI scan my phone contacts looking for a badge bunny. I’m sitting on my couch with my feet kicked up on the coffee table, beer resting on the table within reach. It’s a little after five in the evening and I’ve been home for an hour. This is what my life’s come to. I want a steady relationship and my next door neighbor has me so horny I’m sinking just about as low as I can go. My conviction to settle down and have the two point four children is out the window. I need to get my rocks off.I glance down at a name that catches my attention. I haven’t spoken to Candy in a long time; like her name suggests, she’s usually up for a hot night between the sheets. My finger moves over her number. A steady knock starts on my front door. Shit. I know it’s Shelby even before I check outside.She’s standing with Daisy.I open the door and the full effect of what she’s wearing hits me. Skimpy skin-tight black running shorts and sports bra. The colorful head visor is the only sign of her quirky
LincolnWe decide on dinner first. I need to eat to keep up my stamina. We hit a small Italian place a few miles away. I drive my lifted truck. Shelby’s in a short pink skirt with a white girly blouse, a cowboy hat, and pink cowboy boots. The ever-present scarf is knotted around her neck. How she stands it in this heat is beyond me. I help her step up on the side-runner and admire the flash of pink panties as she adjusts herself in the seat.“I wore them for you,” she says.“Nice to know. Hope you don’t mind if I take them off as soon as we get home.”“A man of action, I like that.”“You’ll like it more later,” I come back with.Our sexual banter continues through dinner and the wood I’m sporting below the table would be embarrassing without the checkered tablecloth hiding it. Even nicer than the sexual overtones of the evening is not thinking about work. As a detective, it’s a rare luxury.The drive home is mostly quiet. I think we’re at our max for verbal foreplay. I turn into my dr
LincolnWe make it to the bed and I pull a condom from the bedside drawer. I removed her skirt and bra and wrangle her boots off before laying her on the bed. I leave the sexy scarf on because the longer I’ve watched her tonight, the more I’ve liked it, and fuck, her nipples are pierced too. I remove my jeans and boxers barely able to take my gaze from the pointed tips of her breasts. Her eyes remain on my cock as I slide the condom over it. I rest my knee between her splayed thighs as soon as it’s on.“You’re big,” she breathes.Exactly what every man wants to hear. I know I’m big. Again, good genes. “I won’t hurt you,” I say gently.“Don’t take all the fun away now,” she says with a smile.She’s every fantasy and wet dream I had as a teenager combined. Where the fuck has she been my whole life? “You want it rough, honey?”“As rough as you can make it, buster.”That makes me smile. She doesn’t take my shit and I like it. I lift her and angle her onto the bed before coming down on top
LincolnI put the MO of my killer into the UCR database. I know there might be look-alikes that will create even more work. At this point anything is worth a try, and sleep is highly overrated.Dan, an older cop set for retirement within the next six months, sticks his head in my office right before I bail from my chair to hit the street again. “Good morning, Detective Street. You have a minute?”Dan’s old school. He uses titles, so I give him the same back. “Sure, Officer Wilder, have a seat. I can spare a few minutes.” He sits down in front of me and steeples his fingers on my desk. “I’m light duty for another week and heard you could use some leg work. My supervisor okayed it as long as I can partner up. That is if you want me?”He’s the answer to my prayers. “I need you desperately. Let’s go talk to my sergeant about getting you some help.” He follows me to Detective Sergeant Sadoski’s door. I knock once and enter. “You got a minute, Sarg?” I ask.He glances up from his computer s
LincolnThe pizza’s good and the company better.“He never hit me. If he had, I’d have ended it then and there and called the police. That shit doesn’t go over with me.” Shelby steals an olive off my slice of pizza. “Mark solves problems by yelling louder than anyone else in the room or at least tries to. I wasted a long time thinking he’d change. He called me two days ago and said he was taking anger management classes. He just wanted to talk. His idea of talking was trying to get back together. He wasn’t raising his voice, but he was being rather insistent even after I told him to leave.”“He doesn’t come back,” I say with finality. “If he does, you call me immediately.”She salutes me and takes a bite of her pizza. Sauce sticks to the side of her mouth and I’m not quick enough to lick it off before she grabs her napkin. “The look in your eyes is scaring me,” she breathes. My mouth is an inch from hers.I take her hand, bring it to my lips, and bite the end of her finger. Her eyes s
I rolled over and yawned, my arms coming from beneath the soft white cotton of the bedding and bumped the hard body next to me. Moon’s hand went into my hair and he moved his leg between mine and something very hard hit my belly making me smile. The smile lasted a few seconds before I covered my hand and jumped from the bed trying to get to the toilet before I lost the contents of my stomach. Yep, that was sexy. This time the hand in my hair pulled it back away from my face while I heaved my guts. He didn’t say anything and just waited for me to finish. It was horrible and at the same time endearing because I loved him so much. I stood and leaned back against his body. “Crawl back into bed and I’ll grab tea and crackers,” Moon said gently. I wanted to bitch and moan about the morning sickness but held it in. When I had my shoulder injury that took me from my career as a cop, I had a small amount of control. I could do my physical therapy and ice as needed and it worked. There was
Duke The wedding night was at the cabin and our honeymoon at the property. We had a week to ourselves. Cori laughed when I carried her over the threshold and straight to my bed. “Do not touch that dress,” I typed into my phone before checking the house was secure and I could fuck my wife for the first time. Her laughter followed me. When I walked back into the room, she was waiting exactly where I left her, smart woman. She opened her legs wide, the stilettos going to either side of the bed. A bit of red showed. The dress was fucking perfect. I crawled between her legs and pushed the yards of black lace up higher in the bed and snagged the red G-string with a finger. The garter wasn’t in my way. Cori sat up suddenly and stopped my exploration. “You spoke your vows.” I smiled even though my dick throbbed. “Thank you,” she added and lay back. I planned to fuck her until she couldn’t walk or talk. I didn’t remove the red nothing lace. I lazily fingered her, then took a long, slo
CoriIf I weren’t lying down, I would have fallen. Of all the things she could say, it was the last I expected and I couldn’t hide my shock.“No, I’m not pregnant yet but we’ve decided to try. We’re leaving and starting a family. Alex and Celina are taking over Moon’s operation.” She turned to Celina. “I’ll call it Alex’s operation eventually.”“Are you sure?” I asked softly.I was having trouble processing.“I’m absolutely positive. I thought I never wanted children but when Moon brought it up, I knew I was wrong. I want Moon’s babies.”“As in multiple?” I asked in horror.Children wasn’t something I ever wanted. I was not a rug rat fan and could tolerate Sofia’s rug rats for a limited time only. I thought Mak and I were on the same page.“We’ll decide if we want another after the first.”“Congratulations,” I offered, my voice uncertain.Melina started laughing.“You’re taking it how I did. The last thing needed in this world is a mini Austin.”I could most definitely second that.“O
CoriLife slowly returned to normal, though my new normal was much different than the old one. Things changed more after the cast came off and Duke could ride again. That’s when I became a true biker bitch.I blinged the shit out of my newly purchased black wardrobe and made that shit look good. I had standing orders from the other old ladies too. The club whores and I had a talk and we seemed to be on good terms. My end of that conversation was short.“Keep your hands off my man and we won’t have a problem. Touch him, even when I’m not around, and you’ll lose a fucking nipple, we clear?”They were fine with it. I understood their world. Respect was key. I had no problem with their choices as long as they respected me and my man.Dax’s club was a community of misfits and I fit in like I never thought I could. They didn’t care that I arrived in five-inch stilettos, looking like I was heading to a ritzy club. They accepted me as Duke’s old lady.Duke spoke to Dax and arranged a week off
Cori“How is Mr. Grumpy today?” Mak asked. She had her overprotective Pitbull at her side. I hadn’t seen Two-dogs since I arrived with Duke. I contained myself to the kitchen and Duke’s room. Two-dogs stayed out of Gabriella’s domain because the two of them stayed at war over what was permissible and what was not. I secretly thought Gabriella slipped the dog treats when no one watched but I had no way to prove it. I guess her new kindness made me think she was something other than Attila the Hun. I needed to watch those stupid fantasies.With assistance, Duke had made it downstairs for this morning’s physical therapy. He refused pain meds afterward and fell asleep exhausted. It gave me time to do something normal. I’d quietly left the room and gone to the outside patio to escape. The heat, even with the water misters, would make it too hot to stay for long but it was nice to be outside.I blinked at Mak who carried a towel. She took the lounge chair beside mine.“He’s sleeping. I’m es
DukeMy biggest problem was boredom. It almost went hand in hand with people poking and prodding constantly. I didn’t live at the clubhouse for a reason. If it weren’t for Cori, I would have found a way to escape Moon’s place the first day. Maybe. I was fooling myself. The ability to lift a spoon to my lips was pushing things.I remembered little about what happened at Wild Fur. Between blood loss and the damage to my stomach, I should have died in oblivion. Things were foggy since waking too. I remembered telling Cori I loved her. It just came out. I hadn’t practiced speaking in years. It was something I did when younger when no one was around. I never felt comfortable with the sound of my voice and eventually decided it wasn’t necessary. That was true until Cori. There were things she needed to hear. Cori hadn’t asked me to speak since it happened. I doubted she even understood what I’d said.My grandfather took me in when my dad went to prison for almost killing me. They were the b
CoriThe air in the room was soft if that were even a thing. There were four rows of chairs. There was a podium at the front. No crucified Jesus hung from the wall, only a large framed needlepoint with writing.“Enter in peace and leave your sorrow.”I sat in the front row and bowed my head. My prayer was to Jesus.“I’ve never asked for anything.”Tears gathered in my eyes and turned to sobs. I couldn’t go on and fell apart. So many thoughts tumbled through my head. I was the whore of Babylon. If there were a man who would hear me, it would be Jesus.“Please,” was all I managed the next time I tried.The quiet settled over me and I inhaled in and out slowly. Within a few minutes, I wiped my tears. The room, like Duke with his silence, gave me peace. It also gave me strength.I went back to ICU and held his hand again. He wouldn’t die because I wouldn’t let him. I spoke to him quietly and assured him all would be okay. I spoke of silly things. I had to keep the connection so he knew I
CoriIt took us more than three hours to get back to the city and another hour through rush-hour traffic to get to Wild Fur. Moon sent his men in first and stayed with me in the SUV. Alex and Austin were with the other women at his compound. Moon didn’t want them here. He’d also left a vehicle behind with four men on Duke’s property to dispose of the bodies.The men cleared inside the Wild Fur quickly. There were two female employees cleaning and handling inventory. The place didn’t open until eight at night. They weren’t harmed and they were assured they could leave after we found Duke. The men hadn’t located him when they cleared the building. Moon and I entered and were shown the entrance to the basement.A light had been turned on. It looked no better than the club upstairs. I saw a rat scurry along the wall. Moon found the hidden door within a few minutes. He pried it open and we entered the dark room.The smell of excrement and death hit us.Death.I couldn’t breathe.In the sha
CoriDuke never left my thoughts. If he was dead, so was I. My life changed that fast. We hadn’t known each other long and it didn’t matter. He was everything I wanted and most of all he was someone who loved me for who I was. I knew he loved me. He shared his silent world and refused to take advantage when he could have. From the time his arms wrapped around me in the car after my escape from Fernandez, we belonged together.My past didn’t matter to him because he lived in a world where endurance and hard work were part of life. Duke and the men like him respected survival.Moon brought more firepower than required and the guns we’d pulled from the cave weren’t exactly needed. I decided to stick with Duke’s weapons because he made sure I was familiar with them. A piece of him was with me.Our plan had been to ambush the vehicles a mile before the entrance to the property. Alex moved the attack to the house. I wasn’t worried about Cartwright’s men knowing the location. None would leav