Chapter Eight
Dominic
God, I was so fucked. Seeing and feeling Emmy fall apart under me was the sexiest thing I’d ever witnessed.
We took our shower and soaped and rinsed each other, sending us into another frenzy of lust. Now that the blinders were off, we’d become insatiable.
I had to touch every inch of him, and he couldn’t stop running his hands over me.
A decade of hidden desire had been unleashed, and we refused to be denied.
Dry and dressed in clean clothes, we took bowls of ice cream and lay together on the bed as the rain continued to pound the windows and roof. Lightning flared and thunder boomed, shaking the house.
“What did you want to talk about?” Emmy asked.
“I’m not really sure what all this means.” I knew I loved touching him, and I liked seeing him in my clothes.
“You mean us having sex?”
As someone who hid so much of his life, I’d always admired Emmy’s straightforwardness. “Yeah. I mean…we don’t have to tell anyone, do we?”
He ate another spoonful of ice cream, then set it on the nightstand. “Is that what you want? To keep it a secret?”
I winced because I knew what it sounded like.
“It’s not what you think. I’m not ashamed of being with a man.
Even if it is you.” Emmy rolled his eyes, and grinning, I ran my toes up his foot.
“I’m serious, Emmy. If I were, I wouldn’t have brought you here.
You think I give a fuck about melted ice cream? ”
Emmy’s lips twitched. “I had a feeling it was bullshit, but I wanted to see your game.”
I snorted. “Yeah? So you were playing me?”
His green eyes glittered. “You’re not that difficult to read. Especially after last week in your living room.”
It was impossible to deny, and with Emmy lying next to me, why would I want to? Opening up to people had never been my strength, but finally admitting who I was freed the part of me I’d kept locked away for years.
“I don’t really understand it, but for the past few months, you flip my switch every time I see you.
In a good way.” It took effort to speak, as if I were underwater, attempting to push my way to the surface with a thousand pounds of pressure holding me back.
But I’d never been a liar and wasn’t about to hide the truth now.
Not with Emerson. “I-I think about you. A lot.”
“Yeah?” Emmy shifted closer. “Funny, ’cause I think about you too. And have for a while.” His foot rubbed up my leg. “Not only sex, though.”
“No?” I said roughly, my hands roaming his body, touching the hard muscles. I caressed the roundness of his ass, and Emerson shuddered. “What else do you think about? My sense of humor? My pretty face?” I could lie here for hours, exploring him.
Emerson twisted away. “No. I’m serious, Dominic. There’s stuff you’re not telling me that I know is bothering you. Like, why did you get so worked up about that guy McGill?”
At his name, my hand dropped from his body and all thoughts of continuing what we’d started fled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I picked up my bowl and shoved a giant spoonful of ice cream and fudge sauce into my mouth.
“Liar.”
I swallowed. “The fuck you call me a liar,” I growled and glared.
“Ohhh, there’s the big, bad Starr we all know.” Those green eyes danced. “You’d be a lot scarier if you didn’t have a big old smush of chocolate sauce on your upper lip.” He ran his finger over it and licked it off.
Heat flared deep in my belly, and I grabbed his hand and put his finger to my lips. Emmy locked eyes with me as he slipped it between my lips. I sucked it clean, then released him.
“I’m not kidding, Emmy. There’s nothing to talk about.”
“And I’ll repeat myself.” Glaring, he poked me.
“You’re not telling me the truth.” His harsh expression relaxed, and he rested a hand on my shoulder.
“If you don’t want to confide in me now, that’s fine.
It can wait. I’m used to it. You and I are masters at that game.
” He trailed his hand down my chest to rest on my telltale pounding heart.
“Whatever we want to call what we’re doing here, it’s been brewing for years and you know it.
” He arched a brow, and I grew hot under his piercing gaze.
“Yeah. I’m not denying it. I wouldn’t be here with you now if I didn’t want to be.”
Emmy’s tone softened. “I’m okay keeping all this quiet and between us. Not because I’m ashamed of what we did, but because no one needs to know our private life. But to be an us, you and I need to be truthful with each other when we’re alone. I’ve had enough secrets in my life.”
I guessed I wasn’t the only one, and unbidden, my father’s taunting words sprang to mind. “Another loser like his father.”
“Like why you moved here?” I challenged him, and though he paled, he tossed it right back to me.
“Are you any different?”
Lightning crackled, thunder boomed, and the lights flickered. Saved by the storm. I deflected. “I’ve got a generator, so we won’t lose power.”
Emerson scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and offered it to me, and I held his wrist as I tasted it.
The lamps sputtered their last gasps and went out.
The generator didn’t kick in like the guy from the company said it would, but at the moment, I didn’t care if the whole world floated past my front door.
“As long as the ice cream doesn’t melt.” Emerson took the spoon and licked it. His tongue swirled where mine had been only a minute ago. Damn, that was sexy.
“It’s pretty hard, so it should keep.”
He smirked and set the bowl and spoon aside. “That’s not the only thing.”
I shifted to feel the push of his hot length next to mine and grasped both. “I can soften this up pretty quickly.”
We rolled our hips, and the desperate groans and sighs from Emerson played like music to a song I’d forgotten the tune to until now.
The familiar tingle began at the base of my spine, and I stiffened and came, Emerson following seconds later.
Lightning lit up my room, and the blast of thunder that followed shook my little house.
I glimpsed Emmy’s face, his lips thinned in a feral grin of pleasure.
“Starr,” he moaned and clung to me. “What the hell, Starr?”
“Yeah.” I pressed my lips to his hair. “I know. I know.”
**
My watch buzzed, and I opened my eyes. Damn.
I hated the early shifts as a matter of course, but after last night, even more so.
Waking up with Emmy lying next to me wasn’t as odd as I’d expected.
I watched his sleeping profile—the smattering of golden freckles across his strong nose, the sharp cut of his jaw covered in rough stubble, and those incredibly long lashes, fanned out thick and dark against his skin.
Colorful tattoos covered his biceps, and I had thoughts of running my tongue along the edges of the designs—the twin towers and the Yankees logo; the ubiquitous heart with Mom in script inside; a date—I couldn’t place its significance, as it was after he’d graduated from the Academy.
Maybe his mother’s birthday? And oddly enough, a skull and crossbones.
Out of step with the others. All the tiny pieces that made up the man lying naked in my bed.
And now that I could admit it, the man I’d waited years for.
“How long have you been awake, staring at me?” Emmy murmured, his eyes closed and a slight smile on his lips.
I was rarely caught off-balance, but getting called out on my ogling sent a rush of heat to my face. “Not long.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He stretched, and the comforter slipped to his waist. He opened his eyes. “You…are a terrible liar.”
“Rain’s finally stopped. You have work today?”
He grunted. “Unfortunately, yes. Two to ten. What about you?”
I glanced at my watch again and huffed with exasperation. “I’ve got to be at the station in forty minutes.”
“So much for trying out morning fun.” With a smirk, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and gave me a flash of a naked, taut ass.
“What about later? We could, uh, have dinner.” Was that raspy, hesitant voice mine?
What a turnabout for me—my hookups were the ones who tried to lock down another night.
Yet here I sat, shaky as a rookie, unsure for the first time in my life.
I’d been having sex since I was seventeen.
So many ladies, yet none held my interest beyond the nights we’d shared.
Now here came Emerson Kane, flipping that script, holding my breath hostage until I received my answer.
I wanted him—today, tonight, tomorrow. And beyond.
Those damned green eyes watching me in the showers had followed me for a decade, no matter how many women I’d been with to drown out the noise in my head.
Stopping by the bathroom entrance, Emmy’s unwavering gaze met mine, and I had no idea what was going through that head of his. “Mine or yours?”
Relief mixed with the thrill of anticipation surged through me. “Come here. And plan on staying the night.”
**
At six a.m., I finished buttoning up my uniform and shut my locker. I leaned a shoulder on it, waiting for Bradford to finish getting ready.
“Some storm, huh?” Bradford remarked as he set his cap on.
Lieutenant Simms liked us sharp. Ties, hats, and our shoes freshly shined.
Some of the guys grumbled about it, but I didn’t.
Coming from the NYPD, I was accustomed to a strict dress code, so it didn’t bother me much. “My place was rocking and rolling.”
Mine too, but more from Emerson and me than the thunder and lightning.
“Yeah. Even my generator didn’t work. Lost half the stuff in my freezer.”
“That sucks.”
Coffees in hand, we headed out to the patrol car. We were only on the road for about five minutes before Bradford started talking.
“I gotta say it wasn’t so bad. I was at Lila’s when it began to come down, so I stayed. Man, I so did not want to get up this morning.” He sipped his coffee.
“Good times?” I asked, not really caring to hear an exposé on his sex life, but Bradford would expect me to.
“Better than good. She’s amazing. The more I see her, the more I want. Weird, huh?” He took the road up to the other side of town, where Jet and Harte lived.
“Not if you’re falling for her. Are you?” I settled in and waited for his reaction.
He blinked, as if I’d asked him to perform an algebraic equation. “Uh, I dunno. I mean…we get along great, and since we’ve been dating again, I’ve spent almost every night with her. This weekend I’m meeting her parents—”
“Whoa, whoa. That’s it right there. My man, you’re definitely on the marriage track. Meeting the fam?” I chuckled. “Might as well put a ring on it.”
To my surprise, he didn’t tell me to shut up or deny it. He took off his cap and brushed the hair off his brow.
“Maybe if you’d said that to me last year, I’d say you were full of shit. But I’m not gonna lie. I’m crazy about her. She’s smart and funny and fucking hot as hell. She’s thinking about going to law school ’cause the DA’s office will pay for it.” His smile was that of a well-satisfied man.
“Nice. And you’re no slouch, Bradford. You’re a good-looking guy, and you’ve got the makings of a badass deputy.”
A pucker creased his brow, and he pulled into a cover of bushes, where we hung out for a while, trying to catch speeders that ignored the thirty-five-mile-per-hour speed limit.
“Yeah, but I don’t want her to think I’m not enough, you know? I didn’t go to college, so I’m thinking about what online degrees I could get. Maybe something in criminal justice. The Army will pay for it.”
I didn’t like to see him second-guessing himself. “Listen. Lila knew you were a deputy when she said yes to your first date and every night after. Is she pushing you to do this? Changing who you are for someone else never works.”
“No. No way. She said the same thing. That she thinks what I do is important and she’s proud of me.
” His lips kicked up in a grin. “Plus, she thinks the uniform is hot. Especially the handcuffs…if you know what I’m sayin’.
” He cackled, and while inside I cringed, I played the game and laughed along.
“So she’s like that, huh? Maybe you’re right in getting serious. Sounds like she’s the one then?”
“I’m thinking maybe so. I mean, I’m twenty-five and so is she. I’ve seen enough of the world—did my stint in Afghanistan and now I’m in the Reserves. I’m not like you.”
Amused that Bradford believed he had a clue into my psyche, I checked the radar gun’s calibration and began shooting it at vehicles passing by. “And that means what?”
“You know, from the city…wanting something different. A big change.”
“And you’re not. I thought you were tired of small-town living.” But I knew why. Bradford was in love with Lila. She didn’t want to leave, and so he’d stay.
“I did too, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why. Like, I’m kind of excited about buying a house, maybe a dog, and kids. I’ve got everything I could possibly want here. And Lila has no interest in leaving.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you. I already told you there’s something to be said for the slower pace of life. I’m enjoying it.”
Bradford remained unconvinced, and I gave him credit. He wasn’t the brash party guy I initially thought. My guard needed to be up, especially now with Emerson and…whatever the hell we were doing.
“I dunno, man. I still gotta wonder why you’re here. You and Kane. Both coming to Appleton Falls. It’s a weird coincidence.”
My face remained a neutral mask. “Yeah, well, life is full of those sometimes.”
And you’re full of shit. What would Emerson think if he discovered he was the reason I’d come to Appleton Falls?