Addison

WE PULLED UP to Trapper Dan’s Pawn and Loan twenty minutes before they closed. “We’re cutting this awfully close,” I complained.

“We’ve got plenty of time,” Jake said. I gathered my file while he walked to my side of the car and opened the door. “Let’s just hope this is the only place we need to investigate. I’ve got plans for us tonight.”

I grinned, climbing out of the car. “As long as it’s a full body massage, I’m good.”

“Absolutely.” He chuckled, leaning down to kiss me gently. “After I fuck you into submission.”

We headed inside, and I decided I’d let Jake do all the talking (my mind was on everything Jake had promised would come after...which made my nipples and nether regions tingle). A woman in tight jeans, wife beater (her bra showing around the edges...trashy), and her cleavage pushed up almost to her chin approached us, her gaze eye-humping my man as she approached. “Can I help you, handsome?”

Jake pulled out his badge. “Portland Police, ma’am. I’m here with my colleague.” He nodded toward me. “We’re investigating some stolen jewelry, and we have it on good authority several of the items are here.”

She raised an eyebrow. “A detective from Portland in our little town? Aren’t you way out of your jurisdiction?”

“This is true, ma’am, however, our investigation has led us here.”

“Hmm-mmm.” She eyed us suspiciously. “Do you have pictures of the missing pieces?”

“I do,” I said quickly and opened my file, pulling out pages.

She shuffled through them and frowned. “I had a feelin’ that lady was shifty.”

“Lady, ma’am?” Jake asked.

“Yeah. A woman’s been comin’ in about once a week for a little over a month pawnin’ various things. Danny decided not to put it out on display on accounta him thinkin’ she was off. He’s got a sixth sense about people. He even did some checkin’ with the authorities, but none of this stuff’s on any missing or stolen reports.”

“So, you still have these items?” Jake asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, honey, we got ’em. Come on back and I’ll give you what we got on her. I’m not givin’ you anything physical without a warrant, like the property you understand, but I’ll give you her name and you can see if what she brought in’s what’s been stolen.”

“We appreciate that, ma’am,” he said, and we walked to the back of the store.

“Bonnie. Might as well call me somethin’ other than ma’am...that shit makes me feel old.”

“Thank you, Bonnie,” I said, forcing down a giggle.

We followed her into a back room and she brought out a copy of the ID used to pawn the stuff, some woman named Stella Wheeler, her address in Klamath, and the box with each item neatly bagged and labeled. We cross-referenced the items reported stolen with the box of goodies, and everything missing from the nursing home was in the box except for two things. A ruby ring and a diamond tennis bracelet Ms. Long lost.

“She probably kept those for herself,” Jake mused, as he took photos of each item.

“It takes a special kind of a-hole to steal from old people,” I said.

“I agree,” Jake said.

I sighed. “I think I should pay for all this stuff.”

“Why? I can get it back once I get a warrant.”

“And where are you going to get a warrant from, Jake? Bonnie’s right. You’re way out of your jurisdiction here, and the DA isn’t going to go to bat for a Portland detective not on the job and get a judge to issue a warrant on a weekend. Remember how we couldn’t even do that when Dylan got arrested? I can’t imagine they’ll do it for some missing jewelry.”

He sighed. “Yeah, but it’s a lot of money, Addie.”

I riffled through the bags. “It’s less than ten thousand. I’ll buy it and you can keep record of it, so that we have some legal recourse if it needs to go to the DA. You can even take an official statement from Bonnie. At least we’ll have the jewelry and these old folks can get their treasures back.”

“It’s ‘less than ten thousand’ she says,” Jake ground out.

I smiled. “If you’re going to be with me, honey, you’re going to have to get used to me spending money. Especially for such a good cause.”

He studied me for a few minutes then shook his head. “It’s a good plan, Addison. Just wish I could come up with something better.”

I kissed him quickly. “Maybe next time.”

Jake muttered things under his breath, but I’d won this argument so I smiled and tallied up all of the items. In the end, my total was under two thousand because, as Jake pointed out, they could either get back what they paid or run the risk of legal action since they took possession of stolen goods. It really was a win-win, and even if I never got reimbursed, it was an amount that I could easily lose.

“I can’t believe how much places like this mark prices up,” I mused as we climbed back into the car.

“I can’t believe you’d walk into a place like that and pay the list prices.”

“My hero.” I giggled. “You’ve saved me money...I can’t wait to see what you do when you have to vanquish the dragon.”

“Quit gettin’ into things that require me to vanquish the dragon and we won’t have an issue.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I challenged.

He chuckled. “Okay, let’s go check in at whatever this funky motel is and then I’ll take you to dinner. Once I feed you, I’m gonna fuck you, dirty-like.”

“And a massage, don’t forget the massage.” I rolled my shoulders. “Bucky has made my body sore in places I didn’t know existed.”

“Bucky?”

“The horse we’re riding in the Roundup.”

“You gonna fill me in on this horse and why the hell he’s called Bucky?”

I giggled. “I don’t know that I can explain it. You’ll just have to wait and see on Sunday. It’ll be a nice surprise.” Plus, this way you can’t freak out and object to me riding a bucking horse.

That part I kept to myself.

“Why do I feel like I’m going to regret this?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Because you’re all alpha and need to protect your woman. But the truth of the matter is that you’re still working on leaning into the reality that said woman can take care of herself, so you’re dealing with an adjustment period. You’ll get there, honey.”

Jake laughed. “Well played, baby. Well played.”

We drove out to the Running Y and I smiled as we approached the lodge. “I bet this place is amazing when it snows.”

“Yeah,” Jake agreed. “Looks like something out in Montana.”

We pulled up and parked, heading inside to check in. A huge stone fireplace sat proudly in the lobby and the rustic furniture was placed around it for optimum enjoyment of the warmth and ambiance.

“This is so cute,” I exclaimed as we approached the reception desk.

Jake wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close.

“Welcome to the Running Y,” a young woman said. “Checking in?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

I gave her the confirmation number Dylan had texted me, and after getting our keys, we dropped our things off at the room before heading to dinner. We decided to eat at the lodge and, despite the funny name, the Ruddy Duck Restaurant was surprisingly wonderful.

After dinner, Jake took me upstairs and closed us into our room. “Gonna fuck you now.”

“Good. I’m feeling stabby,” I said, tearing at his clothes.

He chuckled and locked the door, still continuing to kiss me.

“Shower,” I panted out as he slid his hand under my shirt and cupped my breast.

Jake continued to kiss me as he guided me into the bathroom. After starting the water, Jake divested us of the rest of our clothes and we stepped into the shower. Unable to stop myself, I knelt in front of him, wrapping my hand around his cock and stroking gently before covering the tip with my mouth. As the water cascaded over us, I took him deeper and Jake threaded his fingers through my hair and squeezed my scalp. I gripped his length and pulled down as I took him further. He grunted as I continued working his cock with my mouth and hand. I cupped his balls, taking his length all the way to the back of my throat, moving my hand faster and faster, practically gagging myself. Holy shit, I’d never been so turned on in my life.

“Now, baby.”

I sucked a little harder, flattening my hands on the back of his thighs as his body locked, and he came in my mouth. I waited until his hands left my head, and then I released his cock and swallowed everything down, just as his hands slid under my armpits and pulled me up. He kissed me deeply as he anchored me to the wall.

“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he rasped.

“Same.”

He cupped my breast, rolling my nipple into a tight bud as his tongue met mine and I slid my hands to his chest.

“Wrap your legs around me, baby.”

I wrapped my legs around him and he guided himself inside of me. Gripping his shoulders to keep steady, I kissed him again, and he held my ass as he pounded into me. “Jake,” I rasped.

“You okay?”

I nodded. “Harder.”

He pinched and rolled a nipple harder between his fingers as he continued to bury himself inside of me, so fast I thought I might fall. Lucky for me, he held me secure, continuing to lavish attention on my nipples as he fucked me soundly.

As my orgasm washed over me, I dropped my head to his shoulder and held on.

“Fuck!” he breathed out.

I smiled.

“I love you, Addison Allen.”

“I love you, too.”

“I’m so, so fuckin’ sorry, baby.”

“You should be,” I said, lowering my feet to the floor. “My vagina’s magical and you’ve been without it for a few days.”

He smiled. Slowly. Deliciously. “From this second on, my life will be spent worshiping at your magical vagina.”

“I’d prefer you worshiped in it, but around it, or at it, will work too.”

“Fuck me, you’re funny.” He stroked my wet cheek. “I think I missed that part the most.”

“Does this mean you’re going to start sharing?”

“Sharing?”

“Your feelings, in the moment, not a day later, F.Y. information, and your life. I want to know everything about you. I get snippets from you, but I feel like you hold stuff back, and if you really love me, you’ll share it all.”

“I hear you, baby. I’ll be better.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that, Detective Parker.”

“Good,” he said. “I’m gonna hold you to somethin’ else.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. I’m gonna hold that magical vagina to my dick.”

I licked my lips. “Yes, please.”

* * *

Dylan

By the time Asher and I left the nursing home, my emotions were on overload. I climbed into the passenger’s seat, buckled myself in, and closed my eyes, wishing I could block out the whole damn town.

“You okay?” Asher asked, starting up the car.

His voice reminded me that I wasn’t beaten yet. I still had the hottest, sweetest, funniest guy on the planet on my side. Opening my eyes, I smiled at him. “Actually, yes. You’re here, and that makes everything better.”

He grinned. “I do what I can.”

Despite all the crap going on around us, Asher’s smile still made my heart race. “How did I get so lucky?”

He grabbed my hand and brushed his lips across my knuckles, still watching me. “I’m the lucky one, love. I can’t believe all the shit you’re going through. You’re so strong...brave...beautiful. Honestly, I wish you’d back down from this case and let me whisk you out of here, but I love you because I know you won’t.”

I wanted to kiss him, but not with a console between us. In fact, I wanted more than just a steamy make out session. I wanted to be with him completely. The realization of all I wanted dried out my throat and made my hands tremble. Refusing to back down, I said, “Let’s go back to the hotel, Ash.”

The look he gave me made me wonder if he could read my thoughts. It didn’t matter, though, because the real beauty of Lakeview appeared to me when it only took five minutes to get from the retirement home to the motel. I let Asher and I into my room and poured us each a plastic cup of wine.

He arched an eyebrow. “Addison drank wine from a plastic cup?”

I took a sip. And then another sip. “Yes. And she even lived.”

He gasped.

“I know! Forget the jewelry thief, that’s the real scandal.”

He sipped his wine and eyed the bed. “Oh, I don’t know. You dragged me back to your room, alone, with a bed. That could be considered a little scandalous.”

“Dragged you, huh?” I asked, draining the last of my wine and pouring myself a little more. I knew what I wanted to do, but everyone says the first time hurts, and I needed a smidgen more courage than sober me would allow to make sure I didn’t chicken out.

I took another mouthful, and Asher’s hard chest pressed against my back. He brushed my hair over one shoulder, and gently kissed the exposed side of my neck. Usually my neck was ticklish, but the heat in his lips was not tickling me now. I took another sip of wine and leaned against him, closing my eyes.

“Dragged, charmed, enchanted, bewitched,” he whispered against my neck. “I can’t explain what you do to me.”

He took my glass of wine and set it on the table, turning me around to face him. His lips pressed against my forehead, drifted down my cheeks, whispered across my jaw line, and finally landed on my lips. He tasted like wine and smelled like Asher, a distinct scent that made me feel safe, loved, and horny. Every inch of my body heated as he deepened the kiss, exploring my mouth with his tongue while his hands slid under my shirt.

I gasped, pulling away. This was as far as we’d ever gotten. This was the moment someone always walked in, I lost my nerve, or his phone rang with an important client. Only this time, none of the above happened.

Asher’s normally intense blue eyes were almost feral with need. I expected him to attack me—wanted it actually—but he held himself back.

“We don’t have to do this, Dylan,” he said.

And that reinforced all the reasons I wanted to. Before I could lose my nerve, I grabbed the hem of my shirt and tugged it over my head in answer.

His gaze drifted south, and he let out a hiss.

My bra was the next article of clothing to hit the floor.

Asher advanced. His hands landed on my waist, and then slid up to my breasts. He gently caressed them, and then my breath caught as he pinched my nipples and grinned at me.

“You are so damn perfect. I knew you would be. I want to see the rest of you.” His fingers drifted down to hook into my jeans.

I couldn’t help but smile back, amazed by the way he could set me at ease while my insides felt like a volcano.

“Hold up,” I said, grabbing his hands to stop him. “This isn’t gonna be a one-sided dance. I want some eye candy too.”

He chuckled and whipped his shirt over his head before returning his fingers to the top button of my jeans. “Now can I?”

I was too busy drooling over his well-defined chest and abs to speak, so I nodded. Sure, I’d seen Asher without his shirt on lots of times, but I would never tire of the view. He was the kind of stud every woman wanted in her corral.

He stripped me out of my jeans and then boosted me in the air by my ass to pull them over my feet. Laughing, I brushed kisses across his face as he carried me to the bed. Once he set me down, he drew back and looked me over, heating my body with the fire behind his gaze.

“I’m definitely the lucky one, love.”

Still burning up my body with his eyes, he tugged off his own jeans and climbed into bed beside me. Before I could freak out about the size of the tent in his boxers and how he was going to get that thing inside me, his hands were tracing the lines of my body from my neck, over my breasts, to my waist. I sucked in a breath as gentle fingers roamed from my belly button to my sex, and then lingered there. Warmth flooded my core as his lips joined the exploration, beginning at my neck and drifting south to suck in one of my nipples.

The hand that wasn’t heating up my sex played with my other nipple, pinching, squeezing, driving me out of my ever-loving mind. I gasped.

The vibration of Asher’s chuckle against me almost drove me over the edge. “Trade you my boxers for your panties,” he said.

Again, I nodded. Yes, I wanted to be naked with him, and I was suddenly glad Addison had talked me into waxing.

Asher started sliding my panties down, and his lips followed the trail his fingers had taken, dusting my skin from my belly button down to my...ohmigod! I gasped as he licked the most sensitive part of my body.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he said between strokes of his tongue.

I kinda wanted him to hush and focus on what he was doing, because damn, it felt good.

Something blunt slid inside me and I swore, tangling my fingers in the sheets. When I looked down, Asher was smiling up at me. He pulled away far enough that I could see his hand, and slid a second finger inside me.

“Ohmigod,” I breathed.

He laughed again. His fingers began to twist and pump inside me and I shook with desire. God, I’d never experienced anything like this...then his thumb pressed against my clit, and I erupted. I cried out his name and released the sheets, suddenly wrapped in a warm blanket of bliss.

Asher crawled up my body and gave me a sexy smug smile. He must have lost his boxers, because I could feel the skin of his hard cock resting between my legs.

“Like that, did ya?” he asked, sounding way too full of himself.

“Nope. Hated it. You clearly need practice and should therefore do it every day until you get better.”

His eyes darkened as he rubbed his shaft against my folds, heating me up again. “Challenge accepted.”

He kissed me, shifting his body until the blunt head of his cock was at my entrance. As his hands once again played with my breasts, he slid an inch inside me. Anticipating the pain I knew was coming, I sucked in a breath.

“You okay?” he asked, stopping.

I nodded. “It’s...uh...my first time.” Heat flooded my cheeks and I wanted to bash my head against his muscular chest.

“You don’t say?” he said with a smile. Then he brushed my bangs out of my face and his expression softened, drawing me in. All the doubts I’d ever had about the way Asher felt about me evaporated in that instant. “I got you, Dylan. You have my whole heart. I won’t hurt you. Not ever.”

True to his word, Asher carefully took his time, bringing me to another ear-popping climax before he finally buried himself inside me. By then, he was building me toward orgasm number three, and I didn’t mind the pain that came with the pleasure. In fact, as I drifted off to sleep in his arms, I couldn’t for the life of me remember why I’d waited so long for this.