Chapter 14

Teddy

The past few weeks had been relatively uneventful as far as my stalker was concerned, but that only made me worry more after Tate’s less than helpful advice about stalker behavior. Every damn time I felt my body relax and the notion of safety began to sink in, all I could think of was that this was a trap. That the moment I let my guard down was the moment I’d end up dead like one of Tate’s cellmate’s victims.

So, I stayed inside. With the exception of work, I rarely left the house anymore because my nerves were such a twisted jumble of anxiety. Even something as simple as going to Jana’s house filled my mind with images of my pregnant best friend getting caught in the crossfire, so I begged off every invitation under the guise of fatigue. Which honestly, wasn’t that far off. I was run down. Fucking exhausted.

Which was why Tate and I were curled up together on the sofa, watching a scary movie. It was the fifth or maybe even the nineteenth, in the franchise, but it was surprisingly good. And gory. Still, just hanging out with a guy and watching a movie was mundane, but completely unfamiliar territory to me. I didn’t hang out with the men I slept with, hadn’t since I realized everything they said was a lie to get more pussy. But with Tate, things were different. Maybe it was because he was easy to talk to or maybe it was just because he had no interest in impressing me, he was just Tate.

Or it could be that he fucked me so good I didn’t give a damn about anything else. Including my appearance, as evidenced by the fact I was lounging around in nothing but a pair of cotton booty shorts and a thin tank without a bra. It was the definition of comfort, something I didn’t often feel around men. Any men.

But Tate was all man and so far, I couldn’t get enough of him. Which was a bit troublesome since we weren’t dating. He was helping protect me and we were sleeping together. That was the sum total of our relationship and I was okay with that, even though things were starting to get...confusing.

I kept my gaze focused on the big ass TV where a man was begging for his life to no one in particular, but when another person appeared, I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Ass,” I told Tate when he laughed at me.

“Sorry, but it’s cute that you’re scared of a made up thing on the screen when, you know, real life.”

He was right, I was being a fool. But I enjoyed this kind of frivolous fear that went nowhere. “Have you ever had your face split into eight pieces by lasers? Because that looks like some very scary shit to me.”

“Good point,” he growled, one hand wrapped around my shoulders, his body crowding mine. His other hand, slid up and up my thigh so excruciatingly slow, my breath caught. “Don’t worry, Cover Girl, I’ll protect you.”

I rolled my eyes at his words and tried for a snort that came out more like a breathless moan as his fingertips brushed my pussy through my shorts. Then he slid a finger past my wet panties through my swollen pussy lips. His thumb moved back and forth over my clit and one long finger rubbed all around my opening, teasing me mercilessly. “Protect me?” I panted.

“I’m distracting you from your fear, don’t you know?” He chuckled lightly and finally, sweet Lord above, he stopped teasing me and slid a long finger deep, twisting and pumping until the only sounds in the room were my grunts and the sound of his finger plunging into my slickness.

“You’re so fucking wet. Your pussy is always so wet for me.”

My hips rolled against his hand and he added another finger, causing my hips to buck even harder. “Ooh, she knows what she likes, and you’re it Golden Boy.”

His deep chuckle vibrated through my body and I pulled him close, smashing our mouths together in a hot frenzied kiss that pushed me closer and closer to the edge.

“Good. I like her too,” he purred against my lips and kissed me again. It was a hard kiss, rough and raw, like he would die if he didn’t keep kissing me. Which was good, because if he stopped now I knew I would die from being too turned on.

His fingers sank deep and curved up as his mouth skidded down my neck and landed on a stiff, aching nipple. “Tate,” I moaned as he sucked harder, his fingers moving faster and faster as I barreled toward orgasm. My hand reached out to his wrist, holding it still while I moved my hips fast and hard, fucking his hand as eagerly as he fucked me with his fingers. His gaze was dark with arousal, staring at me intently, watching for signs of pleasure.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Don’t. Even. Think,” I told him and my hips moved faster and faster as the knocking grew more insistent. “Oh fuck,” I panted out when he added more pressure to my clit as the knocking grew louder. His teeth sank down into the soft, sensitive flesh of my nipple and that was enough to send me flying apart, clenching and pulsing around his fingers. “Damn, Tate. You do a body good.”

He laughed and kissed me hard as the knocking was now an annoying fucking pest. “Glad to be of service.”

I sighed with relief. “And I can’t wait to service you,” I told him. “As soon as we get rid of the uninvited guest.” Fixing my shorts and shirt, I gave my hair a quick finger comb as I made my way to the door and yanked it open. As soon as I saw the dark uniforms, I froze. “What is it? Did you find them?”

“No, ma’am. We’re not here about your case.”

I frowned. “Then why are you here, at ten o’clock at night?”

The older uniformed officer stepped forward. “We have a complaint of an assault against Tate Ellison.”

Arms crossed, I let out a bitter laugh. “Oh yeah, by who? And when exactly did this assault take place because I can guarantee you, he didn’t do it.” I felt Tate’s heat when he came up behind me.

“It’s fine, Teddy. I’ll go clear this up.”

“No! The last time you did the right thing, they put you in the slammer.” His lips twitched and I smacked his chest. “This isn’t fucking funny!”

“I know, but this is the easiest way to clear it up.”

“How? With you already where they want you? No!” I turned to the cops. “He has a right to know who accused him and when, or else you might end up falsifying evidence. Again.”

I waited for them to speak. Tate might want to do things their way, but I knew the power of a semi-hysterical woman on men, particularly men who pretended to be good men.

Finally, the older one with the paunch sighed. “Two nights ago, ma’am, but we can’t release the name of the accuser.”

“Whatever.” I turned to Tate. “Tell me what you need.”

“Call Bobby, she’ll know what to do.”

I nodded and squashed the jealousy that rose up in me. I’d seen the pretty attorney who looked like she baked cookies for fun and she’d been the perfect advocate for Tate.

“I’ll take care of it,” I whispered in his ear, taking a long lick of his sweaty, musky skin. “Keep your mouth shut,” I warned.

“Got it,” he assured me and stepped forward between the two cops.

The younger one turned with a sheepish smile and I shut the door in his useless fucking face. I took five seconds to freak the fuck out, letting my body work itself into a full-blown panic before I talked myself down from the ledge. Then I moved into action. Fresh from an incredible orgasm, my mind was clear and energized.

“Bobby,” I said aloud and went to the little notebook that Tate kept beside the phone. I dialed the first one and got no answer, so I dialed the second one. “Bobby, this is a friend of Tate Ellison. He’s been –”

“Miss, this isn’t Bobby.” A deep cultured voice spoke with a suggestion of an accent.

“Oh sorry, this is the number for Bobby Richardson, isn’t it?”

“It is, but Bobby is indisposed at the moment,” he said with a hint of a laugh that made it all clear.

“Well you can pass the message along.” I took a deep breath and told him everything, including where Tate had been a couple nights ago and where he was now. “He needs someone with him now. I don’t know how much you know but –”

He cut my words off. “I know everything, Miss.”

“Teddy,” I added. “Call me, Teddy.”

“I’ll let Bobby know.”

“And she’ll show up, right? Because I need her or you, someone to get their asses down to the station now!”

“Yes, Teddy, someone will be there.”

“Great, thank you, whoever you are!” I disconnected the call, quickly dressed and scanned the area outside the house before I darted to the car, my heart racing so loud I couldn’t hear the phone ringing on my next call.

“Hello?” Max’s voice was groggy and thick with sleep.

“Max, wake up! The police just picked up Tate, something about an assault case. I’ve called his lawyer and I’m on my way to the precinct but I thought you’d want to know.”

“What?”

“You heard me. See you.” I ended the call, stepped on the gas and went as quickly as the laws of physics and the state of Nevada would allow. Tate was doing me a huge favor, taking my personal safety as his responsibility. It was something no one had ever done for me, not until I met Jana. That kind of unwavering loyalty and friendship deserved at least that much in return.

This fighting for him, I could do easily.

And I would.