EIGHT
I exhale harshly,staring at my reflection in the mirror. There are dark circles under my eyes that I hadn’t even tried to hide with makeup. Oh, well. It’s not as if everyone I’m coming into contact with wouldn’t be at least vaguely aware of why I’m both physically and emotionally wrecked today.
My ears perk up as I try to catch the names being called. Not mine. Not Wilder’s either, but they could be looking for us anytime now.
The underhanded altercation with Detective Kilroy has me increasingly worried about Wilder and his state of mind. I know I was overcome with panic last night, replaying all sorts of things in my head, but that doesn’t mean I was oblivious to the guys either. And I don’t trust Wilder’s weasel of a brother-in-law not to come back into the station and wreak havoc for one or more of them.
Tucking a few stray strands of hair behind my ears, I hurry to the door and pull it open, only to glimpse Wilder’s back as he ducks through the doorway across the hall. The door shuts with a quiet click. My brows dart together as I glance both ways down the hall, and my stomach does a little flip. Confusion slides through me. That’s not the men’s restroom. There’s a plaque on the door that clearly reads Detective Brian Kilroy. There’s no doubt in my mind that Wilder went into his brother-in-law’s office on purpose. But why?
A noise from the far end of the hall simultaneously grabs my attention and makes my heart jump into my throat. There’s a man exiting at the back of the building. He’s not wearing a uniform, but neither do a lot of the detectives. He’s a little awkward getting the door open and stepping out. Oh, no wonder. He’s using a cane. Something niggles at the back of my brain, but then a noise from inside Kilroy’s office makes my head swing back toward the door across the hall from me.
I take a deep breath, debating with myself for only a fraction of a second before I scoot across the hall. Fuck it. I think Wilder might need me right now. He’s supported me through so much. I’ll be damned if I don’t do the same for him. Besides, something must be going on if he thought it was wise to bust into his brother-in-law’s office. Trying not to make it look obvious that I’m doing something I shouldn’t be either, I turn the knob and let myself into the asshole’s lair.
Wilder must have moved fast because he’s already poking around at all the stuff on Kilroy’s desk. His head whips up. “Fuck.” He exhales sharply, but his eyes remain pinned on mine for only a second or two before he grunts, “Shut the door,” and goes right back to it. He’s definitely looking for something.
“Wilder. What are you trying to find?” While I wait for his answer, my eyes wander the room, noting the tidy office with various awards on the wall. Detective Dickhead’s desk is organized chaos. There are six stacks of files, each with a Post-it Note on top.
“I’m doing an errand of sorts for my sister.” Wilder’s lips quirk into a disbelieving grimace as he fiddles with the mouse, bringing the monitor to life. “Fuck. I need his passcode.”
Oh boy.My brow furrows hard as I watch him. I don’t know what to make of this breaking and entering or the fact that it’s somehow at his sister’s request. Wilder’s told us she’s in a shitty marriage, so it can’t be good. “You gonna tell me what it is?”
His jaw locks, and he gives a jerk of his head as he does a full 360. The strain on his face is about to break me. “Better if you don’t know, Echo.”
I bite my lip, then step in front of him, shaking my head. “I thought we were in all this shit together. That asshole showed up last night to SIN on purpose.” I point at the wall of awards I’d noticed. “If he’s supposedly so good at his fucking job, he knew better than to show up at SIN when his brother-in-law lives there. He was there to mess with your head.”
“Yeah, well, he doesn’t care so much about the rules.” Wilder’s dark eyes lock on mine, and he releases a heavy sigh. “I’m not fucking perfect. But I don’t deal in cruelty. He does.” He goes right back to sorting through the files on the desk, flipping through the stacks of papers inside them. He shrugs. Opens the deep desk drawers at the right side of the desk. Closes them.
Footsteps sound in the hallway, and I hold my breath as our anxious gazes connect. Are we going to get caught? No. Whoever is out there passes this office and continues down the hall. I slowly nod, keeping my voice to a whisper. “Wilder, I’m trying to tell you I fucking hate the guy, and I don’t even know hardly anything about him except what you’ve told me. I wasn’t sure if I should bring it up, but I did hear some of what he said to you back there. He assumes there’s nothing that you can do about anything he says while you’re in this building because you’re on his turf. He’d like nothing more than to provoke you into trying to fight him in the middle of a police station.” While I’ve been speaking, Wilder’s actions have become more frantic, reaching frenzied levels of searching. I lay a hand on his back, and he pauses with a shuddering exhale, meeting my gaze. “Please let me help you. I want to help.”
The muscle in his jaw twitches, and I put my fingertips to it, tracing the movement. He sighs, then in a hushed tone, murmurs, “The short story is he’s told River he’s going somewhere on their anniversary. September 16. A weekend work trip. But she can’t find anything on their shared calendar.” He sighs, and it breaks my heart to see how much of his sister’s pain he absorbs into himself. All he wants to do is help her, protect her from anything that might hurt her.
A line forms down my forehead as I think things through. “Okay, but if their anniversary is coming, could he be trying to surprise her?” My face immediately rebels, pulling into a I have a hard time believing that, even as the words leave my lips.
Wilder obviously doesn’t buy it either, as he gives me an Are you for real? look. “I will eat a fuckin’ jockstrap if he’s actually doing something for her. I highly fucking doubt it.” He moves over to peer into the trash can, but I can tell he’s not really looking at anything in particular. “He beats her, Echo. I’ve seen the bruises.”
My stomach twists, and I lift a trembling hand, covering my mouth with a few fingers. Wide-eyed, I shake my head. “No. Oh my god, no.”
He nods, then turns around. I watch his broad back as he struggles to take a few deep breaths.
Biting down on my lip, I lower myself into the desk chair. I can’t imagine how it feels for Wilder to know his sister is in physical danger at the hands of her own husband. “Wilder? Why doesn’t she leave? Does she love him?” From the few times I’ve had interactions with him, I can’t imagine what it’d be like for her. He’s no match for Wilder, but he’s certainly capable of hurting a woman. And he’d be nasty about it, too, judging by the things he said to his brother-in-law.
Wilder pivots, bringing his hands up to thread them through his hair. He tugs, and not gently either. “I honestly don’t know. Once upon a time, she may have.”
I can’t imagine. My gaze falls to my hands, which have been absently grasping the edge of the desk, and that’s when I notice the slim drawer in the middle of the desk. I catch the lip with the tips of my fingers and tug it open. It’s actually more like a pencil tray, which is why I find it a little strange to find several pieces of folded paper shoved toward the back of it. I pull them out, unfold, and lay it all out on the desk. It’s mostly printed receipts for various online stores. The final one, though, appears to be documentation of a booking at a popular local hotel. For the exact weekend in question. “Holy fuck. I found something.”
“What? Are you sure?” Wilder frowns, then hurries over to me, planting one hand on the desk as he scans over the printout. “Well, fuck.” He exhales hard, clenching his jaw.
There’s no way we’re leaving here without proof. I quickly pull out my phone and snap a photo. “Got it. This doesn’t necessarily tell us that much. But this is definitely what he’s doing on the dates in question.”
Wilder paces the small office, his hands laced together on top of his head. My eyes land on the desk, and for the first time, I notice there’s a large paper calendar underneath all the neat stacks of files. “Hold it.” I shift one of the piles slightly, so I can quickly scan for mention of the supposed work trip, but what I find is Brian has been careless enough to jot down his infidelity on a paper calendar. I snap another photo. “Wilder, you need to look at this.”
He joins me, staring down at the highlighted area spanning the three days Detective Kilroy told his wife he’d be out of town for work. “That fucking ass. Weekend with K, huh? Last I checked, River’s name begins with an R.” Fury slashes over his handsome features and makes him appear like he’s another person entirely. He stands there for several moments, his chest heaving. He lets loose a strangled groan as he picks up the papers, folding them the way I’d found them before opening the drawer in front of me and shoving the evidence of the affair to the back.
I nibble on my lip, standing up. “Do you think that’s enough to send her?”
“It tells her a lot. But I don’t know what she’ll do with the information.” Wilder wets his lips before turning to face me. “Thank you. I don’t think I’d have found that without you.”
“Sure. What else can I do to help?”
He rakes his teeth over his lip. Before I see what he’s about to do, he grips the nape of my neck with one hand, dragging my face to his. His lips crush mine, moaning as he invades my mouth with his tongue. The intensity is overpowering, and I give into it, putting everything I have into this kiss. He needs this. Me. Wilder is a whirlwind of emotion, and I find myself knocked sideways by the unexpectedness of it all.
I reach up, gripping his shoulders before moving my hands to the back of his neck to tug him more securely to me. I go back for more of his lips, then run my mouth over his smooth-shaven jaw, and down his neck. Inhaling his fresh scent, a surge of need barrels through me, ending with a deep throb between my legs. Oh, hell. Leave it to Wilder to be able to make me feel this way in the middle of a police station while we’re sneaking around where we shouldn’t be.
He takes my head between both hands, guiding my mouth back to his and worshipping me. Stroke after stroke of his wicked tongue turns my insides to molten lust, and it rushes through my veins, making me yearn for more and more of him.
With a frustrated groan, Wilder pulls away from me only to tilt his head to the side, fire in his eyes. “I need you, Echo,” he breathes out. Lifting one hand, he thumbs my bottom lip, staring intently at it. I have no idea if this was his answer for how I can help him, but— I draw in a breath as we study each other.
“I need you, too.” My brow furrows before I sway toward him, my palms meeting his abdomen, and I brace myself against him. All of a sudden, I feel unsteady. Maybe a little lightheaded, in fact. He reaches for my hips, tugging me closer, and my stomach practically bottoms out. I have to be reading him wrong. But no, I don’t think so. There’s a hungry look in his eyes, and he’s pulled me snug against his body. His erection prods my stomach, and he dips his head, mouth coming in for yet another lethal kiss. He’s driving this entire encounter, and for once, I don’t care. I feel safe letting Wilder take that control from me.
His mouth plunders mine, licking inside with the fury of a raging storm, over and over until he finally tears his lips from mine. He raggedly groans out, “I wanna fuck you right here on his desk, Legacy.” He picks me up, planting my ass on the edge of it.
My heart pummels my chest from the inside. I blink, glancing quickly over my shoulder at the door, then back, and suck in a breath, wondering if I’ve gone absolutely fucking crazy. I lean back on the desk, hands behind me, and spread my legs, allowing him to notch his hips between them. “Do it.”
His eyes flick back to mine as he leans in to nip at my lips, and he stares and stares until it feels like he’s looking into my soul. He needs this right now—some way of fucking sticking it to this asshole who has been mistreating his sister and antagonizing him. “Yeah?”
I drag my sundress up my thighs, glancing down as I expose my panties to him. “I’ll do whatever you need.” He touches his forehead to mine, and I shudder. “I want you to fuck me in here so every time that asshole mentions his work, this moment will bring a smile to your face and he’ll wonder why. But only you’ll know that you had me right here on his desk.”
His mouth covers mine again in a series of savage kisses that excite the shit out of me. He cups my head with one hand, while the other slides up my inner thigh, my entire body quaking with anticipation. I lose all train of thought as he dips his fingers under the hem of my underwear and rubs them through the arousal that has already soaked my panties in a matter of a minute.
My breath catches, and he gives me a sexy, smirking smile as he quickly unfastens his jeans and tugs the zipper down. He shoves at the waistband of his pants and boxer briefs, yanking them over his ass so he can take his cock out.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get over his piercings, both the way they look and the way they feel inside me. He strokes himself several times—the sight of which has my blood sizzling along my veins—before he hooks an arm around my back, tugging me to the very edge of the desk. I try to regulate my breathing, but I can’t. I’m gasping and panting, and we haven’t even gotten started. Every touch is driving me mad with lusty thoughts, and the idea that we’re about to do this here, well that’s making me wetter than wet, and all I can figure is that the anxiety over whether someone will bust in here when Wilder is mid-thrust makes everything even hotter. It takes it to volcanic levels of eruption.
“You ready for me, sweetheart?”
“Yes.” I quickly nod my head as sparks of desire ignite all over my body.
“Good girl. Now, spread your legs wide for me.” I do, and he tugs the scrap of fabric between them to the side and notches his dick there instead. He’s only still for a second before his pelvis rams forward, impaling me on the long, hard length of him. All the air rushes from my lungs, but before I can catch my breath, Wilder’s withdrawn almost all the way, then powers back into me. “Hold on, baby.” He clasps me to him as he fucks me with wild abandon. The pace is incredibly fast, and I can hardly keep up with the sensations going off inside my pussy. The way he’s fucking me is ruthless and hot and so damn good I could cry.
Wrapping my legs tightly around his hips, I hang onto his shoulders while a maelstrom of feeling tears through me. I would say the are-we-gonna-get-caught factor is at least partially responsible for how fucking amazing it feels, but it’s also Wilder’s wicked dick and how he uses it. Desire pools between my legs, and my nipples tingle behind the fabric of my sundress where I’m pressed to Wilder. I have the urge to rip the dress over my head and say fuck it if someone walks in on us. I’m clinging to rational thought with the thinnest thread right now, otherwise I’d be completely naked.
Wilder’s hand sneaks between us, tugging the top of my dress down and letting my breasts spill out, almost as if he could hear my inner thoughts. With unfettered access to them now, he tweaks at my nipples, sending sharp zaps of pleasure down to my pussy. I’m so freaking hot for this man, I’m beginning to sweat. The sounds we’re making as our bodies come together are sinful, wet smacks of delight.
Breathless, I hang on for dear life as the tension in my lower abdomen coils and coils. Every stroke of Wilder’s thick cock inside me is dangerous, like striking matches next to a flammable substance. The likelihood of explosion is very real, and I know I’m on the verge of an orgasm if we keep going just like this. The thought of it sends lightning strikes of pleasure bursting through me, all centered on my pussy. The way he’s holding me, his pelvic bone rubs over my clit with every thrust. Oh fuck. “Fuck. Wilder,” I gasp out. “I’m so close.”
He grips my chin in his hand, kissing the shit out of me again. “Me too,” he mumbles, holding himself deep inside of me as he rocks his hips. “Fuck me, Echo. Fuuuck, your tight cunt is so good at swallowing my dick. She’s such a greedy girl.”
Those dirty words tip me right over the edge, and my body is no longer my own. I’m his for the taking. I practically convulse, the orgasm hits me so hard, and I see stars as I look up toward the ceiling. The edge of my vision blurs, then goes a little black. All I can concentrate on is the pulsing between my thighs and the slick slide of Wilder’s dick as he moves quickly in and out of my pussy, groaning and intermittently blurting out curses and indeterminate words of pleasure.
“Fuuuck, Echo. Fuck. That’s it. Your pretty little pussy is taking my dick so good.” He holds me tightly in his arms as he slams into me a few more times, then on a grunted exhale, his cock pulses inside me.
We cling to each other, gasping for air and some semblance of rational thought. Logic tells me we should right ourselves and get the fuck out of here, but I want to savor every final second of the way his cock fills me up. The knowledge that I’ll be taking that interview with the detective with Wilder’s cum inside me makes me hot all over.
It feels like forever that we remain joined, but in reality it might have been thirty seconds or so. In that time, I’ve allowed myself to melt into everything Wilder is. He’s protective and passionate and loyal to a fault—and I get to call myself one of the lucky ones he cares for. My chest squeezes involuntarily at the thought, and I gently sink my teeth into the curve at the base of his neck.
He groans, then skims his lips over my temple, kissing me there before he sighs heavily and pulls out. “Fuck.” His cheeks have a pink hue that give away his post-orgasm satisfaction. I’m sure mine are the same, in fact, I know from experience that my entire chest, neck, and face now carry a pink glow that I’ll have to walk out of this room with.
Wilder doesn’t back away from me as he tucks his dick inside his pants. Instead, he shocks the shit of me by taking hold of my panties at the waistband. “Up.” My eyes widen, but I lift my ass the barest amount, so he has room to slip them down my legs and off. I watch him, mouth agape as he tucks them into his pocket before planting a hand on each of my thighs. He bends at the waist, bringing himself to the level of my swollen and sated lady parts, a low rumble emanating from his chest as he studies me. I suck in a breath, watching as if outside my body when he drags his fingers through the cum that’s begun to leak out of me. Ever so slowly, he pushes it back inside my pussy.
His gaze is locked on what he’s doing until I let out a ragged breath. Those dark eyes of his flick up to find mine right as he slips his fingers from me, leans in, and plunges his tongue into my pussy. My entire body trembles at the sight of it, and the animalistic groan he lets loose as he’s tasting the two of us only makes my legs quake. And through it all, I feel the weight of his stare, even when my eyes flicker shut at the rapture he’s bringing me.
“Oh, shit.” I can’t think, can’t even breathe, and I definitely can’t stop myself from panting at the sight of having this beautiful man’s face between my thighs. Every swipe of his tongue and nip of his lips brings pleasure so incredibly close to crashing down on me, I don’t know how much more I can take.
Footsteps sound in the hallway again, and my heart kicks hard, galloping inside my chest like a prize-winning racehorse. “Wilder,” I whisper, “there’s someone out there.” On instinct, I try to close my legs, but Wilder grips my inner thighs and holds me open to him.
“If they find us, they fuckin’ find us. They’d assume we came in here to fuck, nothing more.” His determined eyes bore into mine. “But whatever they think, whoever walks through that door, we’re not done until you come all over my face.” He licks me slowly, as my heart thunders. “Understand?”
Heat flashes through my veins, and I moan, then stutter out my answer. “Y-yes.”
He gives a satisfied nod, then sucks on my clit until I think I’m going to lose my mind. The orgasm hits like lightning crashing, fast and dangerous, whipping through me until I’m nothing more than a shaking mass of limbs sprawled on top of Detective Kilroy’s desk.
Wilder licks every inch of me until I stop shuddering, then kisses me softly, mumbling something that sounds an awful lot like “pretty pussy” before pulling my sundress down over my lap and helping me sit upright. He tucks my breasts back into the dress, too. I can’t even think, still in a daze, so when he catches my chin in his hand and delves his tongue into my mouth, I’m rocked by the taste of us.
After kissing me for another few seconds, he stamps his lips firmly to mine, then pulls away. “Just so you know why I couldn’t stop feasting on you.” While I stand there, speechless, he rearranges the stacks of files on Brian’s desk to his satisfaction, looks around, then takes my hand, meeting my eyes. “I really am going to think of you and me and his motherfucking desk every time he opens his mouth from here on out. Thank you for that. Let’s get the fuck outta here.”