Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Dan
The lights are on inside my cabin when I pull up a little after nine thirty.
I like the thought of her in my space, even when I’m not there.
When I walk in, I don’t see her at first, but when I close the door, she shoots up on the couch.
“Oh God, what time is it?”
“Twenty to ten.”
She blows out a big breath. “Thank goodness.”
“Did you get any work done?” I ask.
I kick off my boots and remove my socks, heading straight for the closet with the stackable washer and dryer.
“I did, but it’s mind-numbingly boring to scan hours of security video. Especially when you have the same hours from three different camera angles. I’m only halfway through the second… What are you doing?”
I look over as I’m shoving my jeans and boxers down my legs.
“Taking off my dirty clothes,” I point out the obvious. “You’ve seen me naked.”
I stuff all my things in the washer and toss in some laundry soap before closing the door. Then I walk over and brace my hands on the back of the couch, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. I notice her attention is fixed on a certain part of my anatomy which always seems to be on alert when Sloane is around.
“Hold that thought,” I whisper next to her ear. “I’m grabbing a quick shower.”
Tossing my sweatpants and shirt on the vanity, I almost slip on my shampoo bottle when I step into the tub. I’m not sure how it ended up there, but I’m more concerned about getting myself clean in the least amount of time than worry about that. My very short shower is mostly cold, since I don’t want to wait around for it to heat up. I’m in a hurry to get back to Sloane before she disappears on me.
She’s still on my couch, and her enthusiastic, “Guess what?” greets me.
“I give up. What?” I return, heading for the fridge where I grab a couple of beers.
“I found her. Chelsea,” she clarifies when I hand her a bottle and sit down next to her.
She turns the screen toward me and points. The video is frozen on a still shot of a gas station.
“There,” she prompts.
I have to lean in to make out the shape of a girl with long hair just coming into frame, behind one of the pumps, only half in view.
“How can you tell that’s her?”
“Watch.”
She hits play and I watch the girl move away from the pump toward the actual building and slip around the side where you can see her pass an ice cooler.
“Watch,” she repeats.
On the screen, the girl seems to move toward the street when you can see a white delivery truck come into the frame and pull up in front of her. She’s forced to go around the truck where she disappears from sight. A few moments later the truck pulls into the street and drives off. There’s no sign of the girl.
“Did you see?”
“He grabbed her.”
She rewinds to where the back of the truck is in frame.
“Yes, and I have the time, and his license plate,” she says triumphantly, reaching for her phone.
I sip my beer, and enjoy the view as Sloane animatedly talks to her boss, relaying the information she found.
“What time is that?” I hear her ask. “Yes, I can be there. I’ll find a way.”
“I’ll drive you,” I offer as soon as she gets off the phone.
“Because we’re covering a big area, the FBI is putting together a task force and we’re meeting at our office at ten tomorrow for a briefing.”
I grin at her. “I thought you weren’t happy the feds were swooping in on your investigation?”
She shrugs. “I wasn’t, but this guy needs to be caught, and I realize our department is too small, and not really equipped to deal with a case of this magnitude. Especially with these other jurisdictions involved.”
“Makes sense. So, are you done working for tonight?”
I reach for her laptop and let my hand hover while I wait for her answer.
“I think so,” she answers, a knowing little smirk on her lips.
I close her laptop and slide it on the coffee table next to our beers. Then I reach for Sloane and stretch out on the couch, pulling her on top of me. She pushes up and rests her forearms on my chest, playing her fingers through my scruffy beard.
“Are you hurting?” I want to know, sliding my hands down to her lush ass.
She grins. “I’m feeling all kinds of things right now, but pain isn’t one of them.”
That’s all the encouragement I need.
Sloane is ready for me, her fingers sliding in my hair as I slip my tongue past her lips. When her taste hits me, I groan down her throat. I’ve missed her.
It’s been only three days since I first fell asleep with her in my arms, but I already can’t remember a time when she didn’t command all my senses.
I don’t clue in immediately when she interrupts the kiss and presses her lips against the hollow of my neck, but I have a pretty clear idea where this is going when she moves her hands under the hem of my shirt, pushing it up.
I had plans to take my time with her this round, undress her slowly, giving each new exposed part of her my undivided attention before moving on to the next. I fully intended to taste every inch of her gorgeous body and have her beg for me to make her come.
Apparently, Sloane has similar plans, as she shimmies down my body and explores me with her mouth and hands. I’m not about to stop her—only an idiot would—and instead lace my fingers behind my head and watch as she slowly pulls down my waistband and exposes my cock.
She hasn’t even touched it yet and I’m already leaking precum. Every stomach muscle clenches in anticipation as she bends her head and her warm breath brushes the sensitive tip. Then she wraps a firm hand around my length, locks her blue eyes with mine, and with her little pink tongue licks up the drop, before she slides me down her throat.
I have to grab on to the armrest as she goes down on me with the same determination and enthusiasm she does everything else. I use every trick in the book to slow down my body’s response, but there isn’t anything that’ll distract me from that blond head bobbing up and down on my cock. Christ, this exact image fed my fantasies for fucking years.
“Hey,” she protests, when I lift her off my cock.
“I want inside you. Take off your pants,” I urge her, even as I retrieve the condom I slipped in my pocket in the bedroom.
While I roll it on, I watch Sloane struggle, getting tangled up with her walking boot as she tries to get her yoga pants down. She gets them twisted up around her legs.
“Babe, leave it. On your knees on the edge and grab hold of the backrest.”
She doesn’t even question me, simply gets on her knees and bends forward, her ass in the air, and I almost swallow my goddamn tongue when I see she’s already slick. I only trust myself to lean down for a quick taste, using the flat of my tongue.
I can’t resist putting my teeth into the soft flesh of her butt cheek, hearing her hissed, “ Yesss .”
Then I firmly grab her hips, line up my cock, and drive home.
Sheer fucking perfection.
Sloane
“Oh God,” I huff breathlessly.
My face is pressed into the back of the couch, and my body is still vibrating with aftershocks, as Dan’s heart hammers against my back.
“Are you on the pill?” he mumbles against my skin.
“Mmm. Yes.”
“Good.”
My back is instantly cold when he straightens up and slowly pulls out. I’m empty and a bit exposed, but I feel him kiss the butt cheek he bit earlier. Then he sweetly pulls up my underwear and yoga pants, making sure I’m covered before he heads, with his business still hanging out of his sweatpants, to the bathroom.
“I’ve always used a condom,” he announces as he walks back out, his pants in place. “But I’m paying my doctor a visit this week, getting a clean bill of health.”
My mind is still a bit sluggish as I flop around on my back, but when I see the way he looks at me, the penny drops.
“I, uh…there has been no one since Aspen was born. Until you, of course,” I add.
He bends down and brackets me with his arms on either side of me as he drops his forehead to mine.
“Gonna be good, sliding into you bare. Nothing between us.”
A shiver rolls down my back at his low rumble. I slide my arms around his neck and offer my mouth for a kiss. He doesn’t hesitate. The man knows how to use his mouth.
Sadly, the kiss is interrupted when a phone starts ringing.
“Yours?” Dan asks, grabbing my phone off the coffee table and handing it to me.
He grins when I flip it around to show him it’s my mother calling.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Should I lock the door? I’m gonna head to bed soon.”
“No, leave it open. I’m on my way.”
Tempting as it is to stay here, I want to wake up to my daughter’s sweet face.
“I’ll walk you home,” Dan announces as he helps me up off the couch.
“You don’t have to do that,” I automatically say, like some kind of verbal muscle memory.
He shoots me a look. “Humor me.”
I shove my laptop and my phone in the tote I brought over and hobble to the front door. Dan follows close behind, his hand on the small of my back. I sit down on the bench by the door and slip my good foot in the Birkenstock slide I wore here, when I notice Dan shoving his bare feet into a pair of Crocs.
“Now, there’s something I never thought I’d see,” I tease him.
He smirks and shakes his head. “My sister got them for me Christmas of last year. They’re comfortable.”
I raise my hands. “I’m not knocking them. I own a pair myself.”
He plucks the tote off my shoulder, looping it over his. Then he wraps his left arm around my waist to support me, and walks me two doors down.
“What time tomorrow morning?” he asks when we stop outside my door.
“Nine thirty? I need to make a quick stop in at Rosauers, Aspen is running out of diapers.”
Rosauers is Libby’s major grocery and drug store, and not that far from the office.
“How about nine forty and I’ll pick up diapers on my way home. Just shoot me a text with what you need.”
I loop my arms around his neck and smile up at him.
“Be careful. Before you know it, I’m used to this kind of treatment.”
He brushes my mouth with his.
“Mission accomplished.”