Chapter 18
Who Buys One Condom?
Clay
There’s a moment when I wake up, and I don’t know where I am. I tighten my arms instinctually, pulling something warm and soft deeper into my embrace. I open my eyes to a headful of brown waves tucked below my chin. Lilacs and vanilla flood my senses as I bury my face in her hair.
Home.
I’m home.
Leni gives a little sigh, one that has my morning wood straining against my boxer briefs.
I slide my hands down to her hips, intending to rub her ass into my erection, when I realize how little clothing she’s wearing.
I swear she went to bed wearing more than this.
There’s skin everywhere. She’s soft and warm, and the more I let my calloused hands explore, the more receptive her body is to my touch.
I trail my fingertips up her thigh and over her ribcage, taking note of the way her whole body shivers into me.
I trace my way up to her shoulder, down her collarbone, and in between her breasts.
A breathy gasp escapes her as her back arches.
Continuing down her center, I trail my fingers along her stomach, pausing to toy with the little bow on the waistband of her panties.
When I slip a finger below that waistband, I pause, asking a silent question. Leni hums her approval, rubbing her tight little ass into my crotch, giving me the best kind of friction. I let my fingers explore her further, brushing over her smooth mound, into the warmth between her legs.
“Jesus, Leni,” I breathe into her hair, barely able to contain the groan that’s trying to rip through my chest when I feel how wet she is. “Is all this for me?”
“Mhm.” She arcs again, putting more pressure into my groin, swirling her hips.
Fuck. Me.
I need to see her. All of her.
Pulling my hand from between her legs, I rip the covers back, baring her whole body to me.
She pouts at the sudden loss of warm blankets, but I hardly have it in me to look at her face right now.
Not when her perfectly curvy body is splayed out before me.
She’s wearing a light pink bralette, the material so sheer I can see her nipples.
A matching pair of underwear covers her mound, the little triangle of her thong wedged up between her pussy lips.
Her long, tanned legs are thick at the hips and thighs, her calves toned and muscular.
God, I want her squeezing my head between those thighs.
When I glance back at her, she’s watching me with the same desperate intensity in her gaze. Her eyes drift down my face, to my chest, and then lower. The way they darken with arousal makes it hard for me to breathe.
“Leni,” my voice breaks. I have no fucking words to describe everything I’m feeling right now. She is perfect. “So fucking pretty.” I let my hand wander down the same path from earlier, stopping at her hip as I give a gentle squeeze.
“Clay,” she whines, squirming a little under my gaze.
I hook a finger under her chin to bring her face to mine.
Her lips part when my hand lowers to her chest, thumb grazing over her nipple.
I take the opening and claim her mouth with mine, swiping my tongue against hers with aggressive, needy strokes.
She kisses me back, bringing her hands up to my hair, fingernails scratching deep into my scalp.
Closing the space between us, she rubs herself against my leg, needing more from me.
I flip her onto her back, lining my body over top of hers to press my leg into her core. She grinds on my thigh, her arousal soaking my skin, and I’m going out of my mind with how badly I want this girl.
“I need you,” I murmur as I kiss along her jaw, taking a minute to tug at her earlobe. As my kisses draw further down her neck towards her chest, I shift my weight further down her hips, my leg moving from between hers, drawing out a whimper.
“So needy,” I suck a nipple into my mouth, sheer fabric and all.
Her gasp is all I need to keep going. With the tight little bud between my teeth, I bite enough to sting, but not to hurt her.
By the time I switch to give the other side attention, she’s writhing underneath me, breathy little pants coming from between those perfect pink lips of hers.
They’re puffy from my kisses, her hair a tangled mess up on her head.
I pull away to drink her in. This is how I want to wake up every morning from now on, with Leni underneath me, hair a mess, body wild with the need building up inside of her.
“Clay, please,” she begs. And fuck if that doesn’t do exactly what I need it to.
I slide off the end of the bed, pulling her thighs with me so that her pussy is right where I want it.
I kiss her inner thighs, light teasing touches that have her squirming.
Starting at her ankles, I make my way past her thighs, hooking my fingers into her lacy thong, and I drag it back down her legs, my eyes never leaving hers.
Her chest is heaving, breaths coming in quick and uneven.
I take my time exploring her, using my fingers to spread her open. She has the prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen, and she is soaked for me. My fingers glisten with her desire when I pull my hands away. She withers, her thighs clenching to give some much-needed friction to her clit.
I’m done playing, now, I need to taste her.
Gliding my hands beneath her, I cup her ass and bring her center right up to my face so I can give her entrance an experimental flick of my tongue.
Her head drops back down to the mattress, fingers sinking into the sheets in a death grip.
I take my time, figuring out where she wants me and what she likes.
Her body responds to the slow, steady pressure I give her clit while I undulate my tongue against it.
She’s so damn responsive to me. Every little flick gets a moan from her. Her hips buck off the bed when I hit the right spot. I shift my hands so that I’m holding her in place, reaching to play with a nipple when I feel her muscles start to tense, coiling beneath me, but she doesn’t let go.
“Clay.” Her fingers leave the sheets to twist around my hair. “I need more. Please.”
“So fucking polite. What do you need, baby? Do you want me to fuck you with my fingers while I eat this perfect little pussy?”
“Oh, God, yes. That—that, Clay.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I give her nipple one last pinch before I trail my hand back down her body and slip my finger inside her tight, wet heat.
Bringing my lips back to her pussy, I suck her clit between my teeth, making her buck as she starts to ride my hand and face.
Her muscles clench tightly around me, breath coming in shallow pants now.
I slip another finger inside of her and lick her exactly as she liked it earlier.
When I curl my fingers inside of her, she cries out.
“Yes, Clay!” She jolts into me, her back arching as her hips take over the rhythm she set.
I snap my own hips forward, finding the edge of the bed exactly where I need it.
The more she builds herself up, the more her body shakes with the need to come.
I curl my fingers inside of her, using deep pressure on my fingertips while I suck her clit.
My mind spins as she shatters around me, chanting my name when she comes.
I keep my eyes on her, watching as she falls apart, my own release spilling into my boxers.
She rides out the waves of her orgasm, pulling my hair tight enough that it stings, but I don’t mind the pain. Watching Leni come apart at the seams is what dreams are made of. Kissing my way back up her body, I bring my lips to hers, taking my time to memorize every little thing she does.
I pull away, my own chest heaving now. Glancing at the clock, I groan. “Fuck.” I plant a final kiss on her lips before I shove off the bed and head for the bathroom.
“What about you?” Leni whines from the bed.
I turn to face her, pointing at the wet spot in my charcoal grey underwear. Her eyes widen, a feral grin taking over her face.
“Clayton Traeger, did you…”
“Come in my pants like a teenager? Yeah, I might have done that.”
“Holy shit.” She flops back down onto the bed, curling up with the sheets. I want to stay and revel in the fact that I’m the one who did that to her, but the clock is ticking, and it looks like I might be late to work again.
I expect to find her on the bed when I rush out of the shower and toward the stairs. Only the bed is empty, and my girl is waiting at the door for me with a travel mug of coffee and something wrapped up in a paper towel.
“Goddamn, you’re perfect.” I slip an arm around her back to haul her into me for another slow kiss.
She smiles, a blush painting her cheeks. “Be safe, Cowboy. I’ll be waiting for you to get home.”
Slipping into my boots, I grab the breakfast she has ready for me and head into town. I’m trying my best to wrangle my face into something passive, but my cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so much. If I can’t get things under control, I will never hear the end of it from Mercer and Ethan.
When I arrive at the Sheriff’s office, Ethan is hanging around in the break room, talking to a few of the other dayshift guys.
“Hey.” He nods, making room for me near the coffee pot. “How you been, brother?”
“Good.” I pour myself a cup of black coffee and head back to the deputy’s room. I wonder if Mercer is hanging around there, seeing how he’s usually here in the mornings.
“You talk to Mercer recently?”
“Uh, yesterday, during shift,” I offer, surprised that he’s not somewhere in the office already.
“Something’s up with him.” Ethan leans against the cubicle wall, a scone in one hand, coffee in the other.
I try to keep my face neutral, it’s bad enough I brought up that night to Mercer, telling Ethan would be much worse.
Ethan is the bruiser of the family. Addy might like to pick fights, but that’s only for entertainment.
Ethan enjoys kicking people’s asses, and I don’t need mine to be one of them.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s doing that thing where he fixates on something. He’s on some sort of trail, but he won’t tell me what it is. You guys running something undercover?”
“Nah, not that I know of.” A stone drops into my gut because I have a feeling, I know exactly what Mercer is looking into, and it’s not going to be good for anyone.
Kane Bros Group Chat
E-Man
My sources tell me our boy who may or may not be fucking someone came in and bought a value pack of condoms
JFC are you kidding me with this shit
Addy
Value pack huh? Got some big plans there buddy?
She didn’t have any smaller packs!
Tobes
That’s not true… you can buy singles at the counter
Merc D
First question
Why do you know that Tobes?
Second… who buys one condom?
Tobes
Totally… yea… who does that?
E-Man
I also heard he took home two burgers yesterday.
Addy
That’s really not that impressive. I can eat three… easy
E-Man
Correction
Two full meals
Tobes
Yea… I’m still not getting the correlation….
E-Man
Jesus. It’s suspicious with all the other evidence
Merc D
Is it?
Fucking hell. I swear these guys are trying to run me off again.
Goddamn small towns with their busybody gossip tree.
If Bertie weren’t best friends with Ethan, I’d probably go tell her off.
As it stands, she’s been around the Kane family longer than me, so I don’t think that would go over well with anyone at this point.
No wonder Leni didn’t want anyone in town to know she’s home. There is no way it’d stay a secret for long. I forgot how little privacy you have in a place like Hillcreek.
I’m about to respond to the group text when dispatch calls my number over the radio.
“2799, Halfor SO.”
“Halfor SO, 2799.”
“2799, we have reports of a domestic at Cross Point, lot twenty-two. Unknown injuries at this time, ambulance and backup have been dispatched, Halfor SO.”
“Copy SO, you can mark me en route.”
“Copy that.”
Dispatch wouldn’t know this, but Cross Point is the trailer park where I grew up.
As far as I know, Caleb Traeger is still rotting in lot fourteen.
I haven’t seen him since the Kanes came for me when I was fifteen, nearly sixteen.
Brooks and Orson came crashing in through the trailer door when they heard him screaming.
He might have killed me that time if they hadn’t shown up.
Brooks hauled him off me and dropped him with one right hook to the jaw.
I’d never been so in awe of someone in my whole life.
He took me out to the truck, and when Orson came back out, he had a bag of my stuff and some kind of understanding with my dad.
He wasn’t to contact me, and I never had to go back.
“2799, Halfor SO, we are unable to get a clear idea of the suspect and the number of victims in the home. RP is a ten-year-old girl. Unknown of any weapons at this time.”
My chest squeezes as I reach for my radio, pulling it close to my mouth. “Copy SO, I’m arriving in the area.”
“Copy that.”
“2799, 2700.” Mercer’s voice comes across the radio as I navigate the little roads to find lot twenty-two.
“2700, go ahead.” I lean forward, watching the lots as I pass by.
“2799 wait for backup to arrive before entering the premises.”
“10-4, I’m on scene.”
I get out of my truck, listening for the telltale signs of a domestic violence situation.
In my own personal experience, there’s generally a lot of yelling and smashing going on.
It’s quiet for a moment before I hear the screaming.
Their shouts are muffled through the trailer walls.
It takes everything in me not to rush the door.
Domestics can turn deadly in a matter of seconds.
Whoever is getting beaten inside that trailer might not have the minutes it will take for backup to arrive.
“Help!” A high-pitched voice calls from the front door.
A little girl appears, with long skinny arms and legs.
She stumbles, tumbling down the stairs. I run to catch her, my strides eating up the distance.
“My mom...he’s going to kill my mom.” She’s shaking when I reach her, a bruise blooming across her cheek, one eye already swelling shut.
This fucking piece of shit hit his kid.
“Please,” she whimpers. “My mom.”
“Go get behind my truck, sweetheart, okay? More deputies are coming, wait for them behind the truck.”
She nods, tripping over her gangly limbs as she makes her way toward my truck.