Chapter 35
Parker
Soft lips pressing against my neck wake me up. The warm hand splayed across my chest starts to lower, and I release a low moan.
The digital clock on the bedside table reads midnight as my eyes adjust to the darkened room. It took me a minute to register what was going on. My mind was on a different wavelength than my body.
“Evelyn?”
Just a few hours ago, she was falling apart in my arms. I didn’t want her to regret anything between us.
“I want this. I want you.”
Evelyn’s face was hidden in the crook of my neck, I couldn’t trust her words, not after last night. She continued, her tongue made a path up my neck, making my dick twitch.
I pulled her face toward mine, needing to see her. She looked at me, her eyes filled with need, something a bit darker lying beneath it, making me think this was more than a need for connection, but a way to erase her memories.
Carefully, I rolled our bodies over until I was positioned on top. Her hair spread out like a halo on my pillow as the soft glow from the moonlight shone on her face.
She looked perfect. Her supple breasts were pushed close in the tank top she wore, and her shorts only covered so much.
Evelyn started to pull her top over her head, but I stopped her hands. “There’s no rush, baby girl, I want to take my time with you.”
She was trusting me with her body, and that meant something to me.
Charles tried to crush her spirit, he tried to take something he wasn’t owed, and it broke her.
The scars on her body told a story. They said she was a survivor—that Evelyn was here despite it all.
She was choosing me, and I wouldn’t take that lightly.
I claimed her lips in a kiss, she whimpered as my fingers danced over her soft middle, trailing to the rounded curve of her hip. Her breath came out in tiny pants as I left kisses across her stomach.
Each scar was acknowledged with a kiss, a hitch in her breath every time my lips focused on a new one. Her eyes were closed, but I wanted them open. I didn’t want her drifting to that darker corner of her mind. I needed her here with me.
“Eyes on me, baby.”
Evelyn’s eyes fluttered open and focused on me.
“There’s my girl.” I held her gaze as I slowly lowered her underwear, making her completely bare to me. “It’s just us.”
Her eyes glistened, but she nodded. “Just us.” Her body relaxed underneath me.
Lying between her legs, I placed her luscious thighs on my shoulders, leaving kisses wherever I found a raised line or a jagged mark.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” I stopped to ask and admire as my mouth made its way to her slick heat. She gasped as my tongue rolled over her slit. I groaned as I felt her wetness pool on my tongue, lapping her sweet nectar up like a man starved.
Her hooded eyes watched me from above as my fingers pushed into her core, moving in and out as my mouth latched onto her swollen nub.
I was lost to her scent, the taste of her, the warmth of her thick thighs wrapped around my head as she took her pleasure.
Evelyn chanted my name like a prayer as her body shook and her legs quivered around me as she reached her peak.
Propping herself up on her elbows, she reached for me, and I met her with a kiss, pouring every ounce of my feelings into it.
My body hummed with arousal as she licked the seam of my mouth, tasting herself, moaning her approval.
We kissed, claiming each other, our hands slowly exploring one another like the night would last forever.
I wanted to be familiar with every spot that elicited those little gasps, know every place to touch to see that shiver of pleasure take over her body.
Evelyn leaned her forehead into mine, closing her eyes before releasing a sigh. “I don’t want anything between us tonight—I want all of you. Don’t hold back. Please don’t treat me like I’m fragile.”
I found myself between her legs again, staring into the most bewitching hazel eyes.
“You’re the strongest woman I know. I just want you to be comfortable and feel safe.”
She laughed softly. “You’re the only one that makes me feel safe.”
Evelyn’s hands reached down to bring me to her entrance. I hooked one of her legs over my shoulder and slowly entered her. “I need to see your eyes, baby girl.”
I waited for her to give me them before I began thrusting in and out, her supple breast bouncing as I rocked into her.
Sweat coated our skin as our bodies move together. Every time I look into her eyes, I see the future, one I never planned for. I didn’t plan to fall in love, but then Evelyn came ripping through my life like a tidal wave, making it so easy.
“So good,” she moaned as her nails clawed at my back, tightening around me.
“You take me so well, baby. You were made to take this dick.” She preened under my praise, letting out a whimper.
“Baby, I—” Fuck. This wasn’t the time to tell her. We had time. Instead of continuing, I switched places with her, rolling our bodies until she was on top of me. Evelyn began to ride me, and I almost exploded then and there.
She looked like a goddess. Her curves drove me crazy, from the way her hips swayed when she walked to the softness of her stomach. She took her pleasure from me as she rocked back and forth, sending me into a frenzy.
I couldn’t stand even the slightest distance between our bodies any longer, so I sat up, taking her mouth in a fiery kiss. Her breast pressed against my bare chest, and her skin felt hot enough to burn. The sounds she was making had me struggling for control. I needed her to come again.
My hand moved between us, finding her clit as the other alternated between massaging and pinching her nipples. Her pussy was contracting as she slammed down on my dick, making a mess of it. I could tell she was close.
“Come with me, baby,” she said after releasing another low moan, “please.”
“Let go, baby girl. Come for me.”
Her legs began to shake before her orgasm rocked through her. I continued to pump into her as her tight core milked my dick, sending a shiver throughout my body.
We lay in silence as we caught our breaths, Evelyn on my chest with my arms wrapped around her.
The clock said the sun would be up soon, so I carried her to the bathroom, and we got ourselves cleaned up.
When we returned to bed, she resumed lying on my chest.
“I wish we could stay like this,” she whispered into my skin.
“One day,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “Sleep now. You’re safe with me.”
Charles couldn’t have her. I wanted to make more lists with her; have more days with her. Maybe she’s right, and I’m not thinking clearly. But I heard love makes you do crazy things.
Her breath turned heavy as she fell asleep on my chest. Looking down on her, my heart ached in my chest. The thought of losing her made me feel sick.
I stroked her head as my mind searched for the right thing to do. Grabbing my phone off the bedside table, I texted Danny. Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. We needed all hands on deck.
When I woke up, I was alone. Padding out to the common area, I saw Evelyn sitting by the pool, her journal in hand.
Not wanting to disturb her, I returned to my room and grabbed my phone before heading for the shower.
I had a few missed calls from Danny and a text from Janae asking to talk when I came out.
I dialed Danny’s number and waited for him to pick up.
Most of the night after Evelyn had fallen asleep, I stayed awake staring at the ceiling.
My thoughts drifted to Ezra as they often did in the early hours of the morning.
At first, I viewed Evelyn as my second chance, then I fell in love with her, and it became so much more than that.
I wasn’t just fighting to protect her, I was fighting for our future.
“Brother—you straight?”
It was weird that he was asking me that. It wasn’t like I was the one attacked while conducting an investigation.
“Far from it, you? Run into any more problems?”
“I finally got some answers about who Charles may be using in the police department.”
“You got a name?”
I dressed as I waited for him to respond.
“Someone at Charles’ old firm finally spoke to me. They had nothing but glowing things to say. I thought it was another dead end until the guy mentioned Charles having family out in Orlando."
“Evelyn said he only had his mother, and she passed away. She never mentioned that he had any other family.
“That tracks. She wouldn’t have known. This guy, Baron, gave me just enough information to narrow my search and find them.
Christa and Nadia West, mother and daughter, are living out in Orlando.
She was open to talking and mentioned her ex-husband was a former officer as well, but when I showed her Charles’ photo, she started acting a little funny. Her whole demeanor changed.”
“Red flag right there,” I muttered while throwing a pair of basketball shorts on.
“My thoughts exactly, which is why I eavesdropped on her phone call. It had to be her ex on the other line because she was scolding him about trouble finding them again. But that’s not even the craziest part.”
“Don’t leave me hanging here, Danny. I’m on edge.” This was the most information we had had in a long time. After weeks with no updates, hope was scarce. I already decided in my head that if justice wouldn’t be served, then I would dole out my own. I was prepared to cross that line if I had to.
“She said. ‘Don’t forget you told Nadia she could come to Oakland Ridge at the end of the summer.’ Whoever is leaking information is already in Oakland Ridge.
If Charles is there too, we may be able to apprehend both of them.
I’m cross-referencing cops that worked in New York at the time with transfer records for Miami PD. ”
Sitting down on the corner of the bed, I hung my head, frustration overtaking me. Oakland Ridge was never the haven I thought it was.