Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
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ANSON
“Hold on, you really had a boyfriend named Ben Dover?” I jog around the hood of my car to catch up to Rae Lee, who is standing on the lawn.
“Yes.” Rae Lee’s goofy grin breaks into a snort. “No. I had you going there.” She doubles over laughing as if we’ve had one too many at dinner.
I’m aware that’s not it. Rae Lee and I each had two beers and a full dinner. I’d stolen her fantastic fries, and we split dessert when she saw pineapple upside down cake on the menu. The classic taste is evocative, reminding me of Sunday family dinners when I was a kid. Rae Lee mentioned licking the spatula when her nana baked it in a blue cornflower Corningware dish was one of her earliest recollections.
Once you break past her outer shell, Rae is silly. She can say the absurd with a straight face, though it cracks as soon as she’s got your number. The silliness, merriment, and the way she relaxes when she delivers the punchline for a joke makes her light up.
“Okay. You got me.” The rumble of laughter that comes from deep within my belly takes me off guard. I hold my hands up in surrender. Neither of us are in control of our riotous smiles.
I should admit to Rae Lee that she has me entranced. No matter what I believed about her abilities before, I hadn’t gotten her out of my mind. Helping people is serious business. Her method is simply unconventional. But I sorta like that she can break free of it and not take herself too seriously.
We shut down Mark-39. It’s late and both of us have work tomorrow. Well, I do. Not that Rae Lee’s circumstances bug me now that she’s shared about her health issues. For the second time, we’ve had the kind of fun together that neither of us wants to end.
I grab her hand and pull her towards the back door that she used to enter the older house the first time I dropped her at home.
The night we met, I was attracted to a pretty woman, who simply wanted what I did—a good time. Raleigh was sexy and seductive. Rae Lee is beautiful and intelligent. She’s also mysterious. Yet something tells me I wouldn’t have to dig too much further to find out she has a heart of gold. It’s a stroke of luck that the two women I find so alluring are wrapped up in the same package.
Even though I shouldn’t, I place my hand on her waist. Rae Lee looks down at her skirt where I’m touching her. The streetlamp makes her blush appear deeper.
“I’d invite you upstairs, but I think we both know where that leads.” Her lip catches between her teeth.
“I’m not offended.” I still can’t sit on my couch without thinking of Rae Lee. I have new callouses to prove it. Being a gentleman aggravates my dick. However, I understand no means no. “You didn’t answer my original question, though.”
“Which one, detective? You’ve asked quite a few.” She takes a calming breath to hide her amusement, oozing confidence.
“I thought we agreed on Anson.” I toss my shoulders back at her cheeky remark. “It was ‘Do you date?’”
Rae Lee asked me. So it’s fair game.
“People don’t understand what it’s like to be me. I got tired of explaining the unexplainable, pretending I was—I don’t know, normal? Healthy? Not a complete head case? Softening my rough edges to make anyone else comfortable is irritating. So no, I don’t date anymore.”
Rae Lee’s reasoning makes perfect sense. I’ve never appreciated when anyone I was dating pressed me for details on an active investigation. I had a retort ready in case Rae Lee was curious about which leads she provided panned out. Except she never asked, simply accepted there were certain aspects of my job I couldn’t discuss. And her easy acceptance of that fact was a relief I haven’t felt in ages.
I wasn’t up to the task of a full-fledged relationship until I met Angeline. My partner got me. Before I knew it, Grant was all that remained of the woman I loved. So I pivoted, focusing my attention on him.
“What if someone asked you out who understood?”
“Are you that someone, Anson?” Her brow raises. “Or are you looking for an invitation to my bed tonight?”
Maybe it’s neither. But uncertainty has me wondering if maybe it’s both. What I do know is, “I want to see you again, Rae Lee.” I dip my mouth, tentatively brushing my lips to hers. She doesn’t hesitate kissing me back. I lean my forehead to hers and grip her neck, threading my fingers through her blonde hair. “I’ve held off on saying good night because walking away from you feels like I could be walking away from something important.”
She reaches up. Her thumb caresses my five o’clock shadow. “Going upstairs might be a bad start to a relationship, and having sex with me now that you know who I am is unprofessional.”
Rae Lee turns, unlocking her door. I step off of the porch, intending on telling her to sleep well. I direct my attention to the grass, attempting to compartmentalize any emotion. I have her number. If I want to pursue Rae Lee, I’m not against using the case updates as a reason to contact her.
“Anson?” One hand on the knob, she looks over her shoulder, calling my name. “Are you coming?”
Rae Lee doesn’t have to ask me twice. I press my palm to her back ascending the stairs and walking down a short hallway.
“This is really you,” I say as we enter her apartment.
It’s small—about the size of my living room and kitchen—an eclectic mix of old meets new, similar to the woman herself. Pipe shelving spans the interior wall, holding everything from her hanging wardrobe and folded sweaters and jeans to plastic drawers of her jewelry-making supplies. In between she’s placed framed snapshots, her laptop, a digital camera, and other weird things single guys don’t decorate with because we haven’t been taught to. One area nearest the door is set up as a backdrop, presumably to photograph items she sells online. Seeing her space is like cracking a case. All of the pieces come together. My initial underestimation of Rae Lee was foolish.
The only furniture she has is a large round table with two chairs, a uniquely painted dresser, and a queen-size bed. The covers are indented, making me think back to her comment about how she naps a lot.
“Shoes by the door.” Rae Lee flicks off her sandals, relieving me of any guilt I feel for keeping her awake.
I toe mine off. It’s another thing about her that seems right, and Rae Lee isn’t acting as if she wants me to leave.
Our fingers entwine. She leads me around the table, towards the bed. I take slow, measured steps.
“So you have your handcuffs with you, right?” she asks, working the side zipper on her skirt. The whoosh it makes dropping to her feet mirrors my breath leaving my lungs.
“What!” I’m caught off guard by the woman standing before me, barefoot in only a tee and panties.
“I’m kidding.” She giggles, placing her hand on my chest. “This time.” She winks.
I grab hold of her wrist. My jaw hangs lower than it should.
“If you’re not into… I mean, you can… Go. If you want. I just. You… It was a joke. You seemed tense.” Rae becomes as squeamish as I was outside. Her skirt covering the floor is suddenly interesting.
“I don’t want to leave,” I say, tipping her chin towards me. “I hadn’t planned on this. I didn’t bring protection and…” I wipe my face. There’s no polite way of saying no matter if Rae is on birth control or not, we’re using a condom. “I’m a stickler about it.”
“I’ve got it covered.” She lets go, padding to the dresser and plucking foil square from the top dresser drawer. She hands it to me between her index and middle finger.
“Rae Lee, I think you’re perfect.” I take it and toss it onto the bed.
She blushes. I take her face in my palms and sweep my tongue into her mouth. She reaches for the hem of my shirt, untucking it from the waistband of my pants. Our clothes shed and fall on the floor. Rae Lee scampers towards the headboard. She crooks her finger with a teasing smile, beckoning me to join her.
I clutch her ankle instead and drag her back to the edge. We aren’t strangers to one another’s bodies, but I haven’t gotten the chance to see Rae Lee naked, and here she is laid before me. I intend to soak her in.
“Anson, please don’t make me beg for your cock.” Her left hands glides up, circling around her breast. Plucking a pert little nipple that’s begging for attention.
Her knees fall apart and her pussy glistens, tempting me.
“I won’t.” I’ve wanted a taste of Rae for weeks. When I’m done eating her out, she won’t have the ability to string together two words, let alone beg.
I take a knee, batting Rae Lee’s wandering hand as her fingers attempt to massage her clit. It’s mine. Mine to tease. Her body is finally my playground to play at as I please.
I brace my palms on the soft skin of her thighs, spreading her legs farther apart. I want to see all of her. My tongue slides into her hot, wet folds with a leisurely lick. A moan escapes Rae’s lips. Her hips lift from the mattress and her finger curls around my ear as I lap her sweet juices.
I notch two fingertips, nudging her entrance but not pushing in. My thumb circles her clit. My tongue rasps a hairsbreadth from the swollen pink bundle of nerves, driving her mad with anticipation.
“Please, sto—p,” she stutters, reaching one hand to her head. The other grasps the back of my neck. Her fingernails dig into my scalp, trying to push my face closer to her cunt to stop the torture.
I laugh. I want Rae on tenterhooks. I’m rewarded with her keening squeals when my fingers curl inside of her and her hips buck. My cock throbs, craving its chance. I wrap my hand around my dick, pumping slowly while Rae Lee chases each sensation as I suck and finger fuck her.
Rae Lee has a beautiful mouth. If I blow my load bringing her to the edge, I have no doubt rebounding won’t take long. Hell, since we met, I’ve hardly fisted myself in the shower without getting hard a second time thinking about her lips wrapped around my length. It’s gotten so bad, sometimes I need an immediate encore after toweling off.
Feeling her inner walls tightening, I stand and drag my cock through her wetness. I bend her knees to her chest and collapse on top of her, thrusting into her tight, slick channel and working her body higher until it vibrates.
Unable to catch her breath, Rae squeaks tiny syllables of incomplete words. Yes. More. Please. God. Harder. Fuck me. She gasps clawing at my back, seeking her release.
I have her where I want her. The rhythm of our hips matches thrust for thrust. When I can’t hold off any longer—when her orgasm overtakes every molecule in her body and it grabs hold of me like a vice—my balls tighten and my vision blurs. I spill into her, envisioning taking her like this over and over.
Deep in my chest, I’m positive there’s something about this woman I won’t ever get enough of.
And then Rae says the single word I wanted to hear most tonight…
Again .