“You’re kidding me, right, Marty?” This fucker, always with his sexual exploits. Never actually caring if the women he takes to bed become more than a fun night once they’re out the door the next morning.
“Come on, Onyx, tell me you aren’t jealous. You’d like to be me you big bastard.” At six feet six and over two hundred pounds, I tend to scare women off rather than attract them, even if I get told I’m attractive all the time. “It’s that fucking scowl, that one right there.” Marty points to my face. I’m sure I am scowling. He pisses me off.
“You gotta stop treating them like a piece of ass, man. How you ever gonna find something real if you don’t give them a chance?” My friend looks at me like I’ve grown two heads. Maybe it’s because, after five years as a beat cop with the NYPD and another five as a homicide detective, I know what I want in my life, while he’s still mid-twenties and thinks it’s all a game.
“Here you are, boys. On the house.” Tom, the guy who owns the best hot dog stand in the city, hands us two chili cheese dogs with everything. Never lets me pay, though. Not the first time, and not once since. I’m sure to tip twice as nice for it.
“Thanks, Tom. Have a good one.” He nods as I walk away.
Before I take my first bite, the sight of lavender flowing in the wind across the street catches my attention. Darting through traffic, I toss the dog in the trash can nearby and chase after the impression I’d seen heading into the park entrance.
I don’t know why I’m so quickly enamored, but I know I need to find out who it is. Who she is.
Flowing light blonde hair in the distance captures me, and when I see the matching lavender color again, I know it’s her. Running to catch up, I immediately recognize the tension in this young woman’s body. Tucking the edge of my t-shirt behind the badge on my hip, I want to make it clear I’m friendly.
“Ma’am?” I tap her shoulder lightly, but she still jumps and stumbles as she spins. Before she can crash to the ground, I grab her arm and pull her into my body. I’m consumed by the soft way her breath hitches and by the scent of fresh cherries in the spring. Lost in her gaze, I don’t recognize the fear overshadowing her clear blue eyes at first.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. Even though she’s terrified, she doesn’t try to pull away, doesn’t call for help, nothing. And that’s confusing as fuck.
“No, ma’am, my apologies. It wasn’t my intent to startle you.” Fuck, she can’t be a ma’am. She’s barely a teen. Christ. “You were looking a little skittish; I wanted to be sure you were alright.” I smile, hoping to ease some of her anxiety.
“Oh.” She looks around as if someone will jump out any moment to attack her. In the middle of Central Park on a sunny day like this, I doubt it. At night, I wouldn’t be so sure. “I think, maybe”—she chews on her lower lip—“maybe I’m lost?”
“You think?” My brows draw together, and I have this sudden urge to protect this little waif of a woman from everything wrong in the world. She holds an air of not just innocence but naïveté as well. She seems to have no idea what her surroundings are really like.
“Well…” She licks her lips, and I have to bite back the moan that’s about to break free. “I can’t seem to remember where I am. I took a wrong turn, and now I don’t recognize anything.”
“Are you from around here? Maybe I can help?” In all honesty, I want to know more than where she’s from. If I can find out where she lives, maybe I could convince her to go on a date. Or something more.
Nibbling her lower lip, I fight the urge to do the same. To taste her. “I moved recently. I thought this was the park, but I must be wrong.” Her gaze strays around us again.
“What’s your address?” With how big the park is, I understand how she might have gotten turned around.
Fear and panic worm its way through her as she answers. “I just moved, I don’t…I don’t remember.” Her uncertainty has got me slightly worried.
“Onyx!” Marty calls from the park entrance. “We’ve gotta go! Suspicious death in Upper Manhattan.”
“Fuck.” I don’t want to leave her. Spying a bench near the entrance, I guide her to it with a plan in mind. “What’s your name?”
“Grace.” Of course, it is. Soft, sweet, just like her.
“Stay here for me, Grace, please.” The terror in her eyes softens as I say her name. “I’ll have an officer get you home, and I’ll come check on you tonight. Okay?”
“Okay,” she says softly. Her grip on my arm tightens briefly before she lets me go with a sad smile. “I’m coming back, Gracie.” She nods, but I don’t think she believes me.
“Onyx! Let’s go!” Marty calls again.
As I turn to leave, I know I have to taste her first. I need to know how she feels. Placing my lips over hers, her surprised gasp allows me entrance to her mouth.
Delicious.
Sweetness rolled into savory, and I know I’ll be back for more. Something about her calls to a very animalistic side of me.
“I’m coming for you, Gracie.”