Grier
Maybe I shouldn’t have hit her. And I probably should not have done it in front of three cops and an entire neighborhood of witnesses.
It wasn’t exactly my proudest moment—that was for sure.
Hilary didn’t have a fighting chance, what with her hands cuffed behind her and two deputies holding her in place.
But she said what she said about Waffles, calling my boy a monster and saying that he deserved to be poisoned. She’d wanted him to die. I knew that. There was no way she hadn’t understood something terrible would happen when she’d placed that rodenticide.
A strong arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back several steps before lifting me off my feet and carrying me away. Behind me, Hilary screamed obscenities and demanded I be arrested for assault. Carlos told her to shut her mouth.
Finn opened the passenger door of his truck and carefully sat me down. Cupping my face, he kissed my forehead. “Are you okay, baby? Does anything hurt?”
“Just my heart,” I muttered. “She’s evil.”
“You don’t have to worry about that crazy idiot again, Grier. I promise.” His hands were still moving over my body, as if he needed to check for himself that I was okay.
“Sheriff, do you want to put her in the back of my cruiser since Carlos is taking Hilary?” Otis called out.
He inhaled sharply. “Someone really wants me to put a bullet in their skull today,” he growled before raising his voice. “Why would I want to do that, Otis?”
“Because she hit Hilary,” he called back, and then his face drained of color when Finn snarled something vicious. That was when I really noticed the number of Angel’s Halo brothers gathered along the sidewalk across the street. “I-I mean… Never mind. My mistake, Sheriff.”
Finn shifted his gaze from Otis to Carlos. “Since it’s Sunday, take Hilary straight to the regional jail. They have a full staff on the weekends to process her, unlike the county jail here. No use in getting the DA out of bed when there won’t be a judge available until tomorrow morning.”
I watched through the window as Carlos struggled to get Hilary into the back of his cruiser.
“You’re going to catch more charges if you don’t stop resisting, Hilary…
Aw, Now, you see that? I have to charge you with assault on a LEO times two because you spat on me.
Don’t make me have to hobble you and put a spit mask on.
” His annoyed huff was loud since Finn had finally turned off his sirens.
“Put your feet inside. Don’t kick me. Christ. Assault on a LEO times three. ”
“Take me to the hospital. I have a broken nose!”
“We’ll have someone from the medical ward come over to check you out after you’re booked. Your nose ain’t even bleeding that bad. Just a trickle, really. You’ll be all right after they put ice on it.” Carlos finally got the door shut. “I don’t get paid enough for this shit.”
Once he left, Finn told Otis to follow Carlos and help get Hilary booked. I had never seen the regional jail. It was in another county, north of Trinity, supposedly holding the more volatile and long-term inmates who were awaiting trial in several of the surrounding counties.
“What about that 10-37 over at—”
“I’ll take care of it,” Finn barked. “Do what I told you.”
“Yes, Sheriff,” Otis replied with a resigned sigh.
As he drove away, the crowd began to disperse, and a few of the bikers crossed the street.
I recognized Finn’s uncle. He gave me a slow grin, and I could almost picture how Finn would look in twenty years.
Same dark hair with gray sprinkled throughout, same blue eyes with deep laugh lines around them.
“Hello, Miss Grier,” Max greeted. “Are you doing okay?”
“I’ve been better,” I answered honestly, my shoulders drooping. “The last twenty-four hours feel like they belong in a very bad dream.”
Finn lifted my hand for a closer examination. I winced when his thumb prodded my middle knuckles. “Who taught you how to hit like that?”
“Emerson.”
“She’s a good teacher,” Max praised. “That was a whole work of art, the way you popped her dead center in the face. Heard the crack from the neighbor’s driveway.”
My head started feeling too heavy for my neck. “If I’m not going to jail, could someone drive me home?” I hugged Finn’s waist, pressing my forehead to his chest. My eyes closed, and I didn’t have the energy to open them again. “I’m just going to take a quick nap.”
“Yeah, babe. You sleep.” Finn guided me back into the seat before reclining it. “I’ve got you.”
I barely heard him, already drifting off as the adrenaline fully faded. The next time I opened my eyes, I was in my bed, the sheets around my waist, my head pillowed on Finn’s chest.
It was dark outside the window, which told me exactly nothing about what time it was.
Beside the bed, someone had left the lamp on, casting soft shadows over my bedroom.
Even that dim lighting was harsh on my eyes.
A headache was pounding behind my nose, and my body hurt in a way that had nothing to do with a good workout.
This felt more like I’d been hit by a train.
Memories of the past few days began to flood my mind. I was surprised I hadn’t been arrested. Or shot, namely by Otis. Carlos had pointed his gun at me too, but Otis had been a little more overzealous about it all.
Hopefully, Otis had up-to-date life insurance. Once my family found out about the near miss, they were going to kill him. I didn’t feel particularly remorseful for him. When those guns had been pointed at me, I’d been terrified.
If Otis was lucky, Dad or Uncle Luca would get to him first, because if MiMi or Mama D got hold of him, his end would be slow and painful.
Then I remembered Waffles, and all thoughts of trigger-happy deputies disappeared from my head. Moaning, I tried to roll over to find my phone. Finn’s arm tightened around me, locking me in place.
“You’re not leaving this bed for the next eight hours. Sheriff’s orders,” he said without opening his eyes.
“But I have to check on Waffles.”
He lifted his lashes, the intensity of the blue irises stealing my breath for a moment. “Your boy is okay, baby. He’s sleeping. If anything changes, Leo will call.”
“I don’t even know where my phone is,” I tried to argue.
“Both your phone and mine are charging. I put them there myself before I showered.” He yawned and pulled my head back down to his chest. “Sleep. You need the rest after crashing so hard.”
“But I’m wide awake now.”
The words had barely left my mouth before he rolled me beneath him and reality fully sat in.
He was naked, in my bed, where he absolutely belonged.
All I was wearing were a pair of panties and one of his T-shirts.
If I’d thought I was wide awake a moment ago, I was wrong, because I was definitely very awake now.
“I’m not going to waste a spare minute of you being awake, baby,” he husked, burying his face in my neck.
“Finn,” I moaned, opening my legs wider to cradle his body between them. “I need a shower.”
“Sure, baby. After I get you good and dirty, you can take a nice, long shower.”
His hands were already working their magic over my body. Everywhere he touched, goose bumps rose, sending electric thrills through my veins until they hit my clit. This man was dangerously delicious. Whenever he touched me, I melted. And his kisses…
Scruff teased my cheek, his minty breath warming my lips before his mouth covered mine. Addictive. The perfect amount of pressure. How the tip of his tongue teased my lips apart before dipping inside and tasting, exploring, intoxicating me until I was breathless.
Rolling us, he shifted so he was beneath me and pulled the shirt over my head. I pushed up onto my knees and straddled his waist. My hair was a mess of blond tangles falling over my shoulders and past my boobs. His callused hands brushed the strands away and cupped both globes.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he rasped, lifting up so he could bury his face in my chest.
He was already rock hard, his shaft pulsing along my wet folds.
All I wore now were panties, and they were a soggy mess.
Hungrily, Finn sucked a nipple into his mouth.
A burst of white-hot need exploded low in my belly.
I arched my back, silently begging for more, while my hands clung to his shoulders.
Releasing my breasts, he trailed his hands along my sides then down over my bottom. Dipping his fingers beneath the waistband of my panties, he peeled them down, exposing my throbbing clit.
He dug his fingers into my hips as he looked down at what he’d uncovered, mesmerized.
Finn’s attention was just as addictive as his kisses.
I wasn’t even sure when I’d started craving it.
It wasn’t as if I’d been sitting around, waiting for him to notice me.
Heck, I never really paid attention to him until he’d started chasing after Waffles and bringing him home almost every day.
In the past, when I’d thought of Finn, all I could picture was the alphahole cop who walked around town like he owned it. There was a high chance he or a member of his family did. That’s what legacy families in small towns did. They owned, ruled, disciplined.
While Finn did whatever Finn did, I lived my life. Without regrets.
But then I finally looked at this man, truly looked at him, and in that moment, I felt my heart leave my body.
Sitting there with my knees on either side of his thighs, dripping for him, seeing everything I was feeling reflected back in his eyes, I couldn’t hold back the words for another moment. “I love you.”