Chapter 22
You remembered.
Ben
I got the best night of sleep I’ve ever had in my life. Annie’s warm body was tucked close, and when I woke up before the sun rose, she didn’t let me leave the bed. She begged me to touch her, and I happily obliged, and then she gave back as good as she got.
She worked me so good I thought I was dreaming, and by the time I was close, she was again, too. It was no surprise that once I slid inside her tight, wet heaven, it wasn’t long before we came together.
What surprised me was that after that, I fell back asleep until almost seven.
And now for the past fifteen minutes, I’ve been watching her sleep. She seems so peaceful, and I hope that I can give her that for the rest of her life—it’d only be fair since that’s what she brings to me.
Her eyelids flutter, and she arches her back, slowly waking. She flinches when she sees me, then smiles softly. “Morning.”
“Mornin’, sweetheart.” I lean down to kiss her. “I like the way you look in my shirt.”
“It’s comfy.” She sits up and pulls the blanket over her bare legs. “How long have you been watching me sleep?”
“Not long.”
She covers a yawn and stretches. “What’s the plan for today?”
“I want you to file a police report, so we’ll go to the station first thing. Then I’m going to take you shopping to get everything you need to stay here for a while.” Forever, if I have a choice. “I need to do inventory at the bar after that.”
“Okay.”
I hesitate to tell her the next part because I don’t want to make her anxious. “Tonight is our monthly family get-together.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, don’t worry, I’m fine being alone.”
I’m genuinely confused about what she’s saying. “Why would you be alone?”
“When you go. I hope you’re not thinking of canceling because of me.”
What the hell… “You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“My God, woman.” I pluck her out of bed and make her sit astride me. “You’re mine. We’re together. So that means when I have something to attend—a dinner, dance recital, Dad’s yearly yard clean up—you’re there with me.”
Her lips are pressed together, and they make a little popping sound. “Oh.”
“What did you think?”
“I think maybe, I just wasn’t sure?”
“You’re lucky you’re pretty.” I pull her closer and kiss her. It’s wet, deep, and when I reluctantly separate, I ask her, “You sure now?”
She bites her lip and nods.
Unfortunately, we have shit to do, so we’re forced to leave the bed. I washed her clothes last night, so she grabs them out of the dryer, then jumps in the shower while I make some calls.
The first is to Kit to give her an update on what’s going on so she can cover the bar for me.
The second is to Charlie, who assures me she likes Annie a lot and I have nothing to worry about tonight.
Then I get an uneventful update from Fitz. Poe’s cell phone is pinging at his house, and his car is in its spot. He still hasn’t been able to locate Tara, which leads me to believe even more that it was her.
As soon as Annie’s ready, we’re gonna go, but I need to grab my wallet.
I go to the bedroom, and to my pleasure, Annie isn’t dressed yet. Her towel is pooled at her feet, and she’s hooking her bra. I love her here, in my space, and I need to show her right fucking now just how much.
Eyes locked on mine, she crosses her arms and takes a step back. “You said we have to leave here by ten.”
We haven’t had a lot of time to play, but with how sexy she is and how feral I feel, we’re gonna have some fun before we leave.
Her chest is naked, the swell of her breasts taunting me, her legs are bare and smooth, and the strap of thin, red lace on her hips can’t be mistaken for anything other than a thong.
I advance.
She shakes her head. “Ben, we have to go.” She skirts the bed.
“You’re too hot. I can’t wait.” I stalk her until she has nowhere else to go but the corner. I skim my finger down her arm and whisper, “Let me see.”
“You’re doing this now? Seriously?”
“Seriously. I gotta get my fill before I don’t see you for eight hours.” Her chest is rising and falling much like my own, and I wet my lips as I fight for control. “Need a quick taste, baby.”
She shivers when I trail my fingers down both of her arms. When I reach her hands, tucked under her biceps, I gently tug them free. “Just a taste?”
I hum. “A quick one, followed by a little feel…but I wanna start with a peek.”
Her eyes flare, and she starts to pull her hands away, but then she stops and stands her ground. “You know what’s going to happen if you start touching me.”
I fucking love this side of her. “Oh yeah.”
The tip of her tongue glides across her upper lip. “You can explain why we’re late, then.”
“I won’t have to because as soon as he gets eyes on you, he’ll know.” I cradle her jaw in my hands, lean in, and kiss the corner of her lips. “I’m done talking.”
“Good.” She doesn’t wait for more, doesn’t tease, but she fights for control the second my tongue sweeps inside.
Her head tilts opposite mine, and the kiss gets deeper as she works her mouth against mine with a ferocity that takes me by surprise. God, my dick is throbbing, and I’m so far beyond my breaking point it’s not funny.
I grab her ass in my hand and squeeze. She whimpers, and then her fingers are in my hair, and she has her leg wrapped around my thigh, urging me closer.
My chest hits hers, her nipples poke at me through my shirt, and I seize her other cheek. She hops up, and I press her against the wall, grinding my hips into hers. I keep toying with the strip of material between her ass cheeks, and every time I give it a little tweak, she moans.
I clutch it tight now, fisting the flimsy piece of panty and tug it up, hard. “Shit,” she gasps, sucking my tongue into her mouth. I do it again and again, simultaneously rolling my hips. “God, Ben. This isn’t quick.”
“You want me to go faster?”
“I want you to fuck me.”
My cock twitches, and I drop my forehead to hers. “Yeah?”
She tightens her legs and rolls her wet pussy against me. “Yes.”
“All right, baby. If you ask me nicely, I’ll fuck you.”
Her legs are steel bands around my waist, but she loosens them as she reaches between us for my belt. “Fuck me, Benny.” She tugs the zipper and grabs my cock before it can spring free. “Please.”
“No.” I take a step back, turn around, and fall on my back. I push her hair off her face and grab a fistful and pull her down to me. “I want you to fuck me.”
She holds my eyes, positions me, then sinks down. “God.”
“Fuck, Annie. Move.”
She moves. She fucks me hard, and I watch her orgasm wash over her. Then I fuck her harder, and we watch each other as we come together.
And when we walk into the police station, we’re only seven minutes late.
Rome is waiting for us, so I lead us to his office. “Sorry, we’re late.” I toss my arm around my girl and introduce them. “This is Annie Farrow. Annie, this is Detective Rome Lewis.”
“No worries.” He comes around his desk, and we shake hands. “I understand. Annie,” he smiles at her. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too, Detective.”
“Call me Rome.” He motions to the chairs in front of his desk. “Please, take a seat.”
He settles opposite us and opens a small notebook. “You didn’t tell me what this was about, so what can I do for you?”
Annie hesitates, but I put my hand on her leg. “I’d like to file a report. Someone broke into my apartment yesterday and, uh, vandalized it.”
“Did they steal anything?”
“Not that I can tell. They just destroyed everything, my couch, TV, everything.”
He looks at me. “You got leads?”
“Got more than that.”
Rome grins, and the leather chair creaks when he leans back. “Love it when you guys make my job easier.”
“I don’t think you’ll be saying that when you find out it was Tara.”
The expression on his face flattens as does his voice. “Fuck, seriously?”
“Yup. But we can’t find her, so there’s that.”
“Dammit.” He scrubs his hands down his face. “I don’t want to hear anything other than Annie’s statement. And you tell Fitz that any evidence he has, it only crosses my desk if he obtained it legally.”
“Yeah…that might be a problem.”
He puts his elbows on his knees. “Max is gonna be all over this, so I’m telling you now it has to be by the book.”
“Who’s Max?” Annie asks.
“Tara’s brother.” Rome points across the hall to a darkened office. “And my partner.”
“Oh crap.”
“You can say that again,” Rome mutters, handing Annie a pen and a piece of paper. “Fill that out for me. A word, Ben.”
I follow him into the hallway and hold my hands up. “I know.”
“We’re going to be looking at felony vandalism.”
“I know.”
“Do you? Really?”
I narrow my eyes. “It’s not like I’m enjoying this. I have enough shit to deal with. The last thing I want to do is deal with Tara Ellis. She’s becoming unpredictable, and you know it. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Annie, whatever it fucking takes.”
“Uncle Benny!” Mazie runs up to me, her blonde curls bouncing.
“Hey, kiddo.” I pick her up and point to Annie. “This is Annie. Annie, Crazy Mazie.”
Annie smiles. “Hi Mazie.”
“Hi. You’re pretty.”
“Thank you, so are you.”
Mazie grabs my face with both of her hands and pulls me close, then whispers, “Did you bring me candy?”
“Did I bring you candy? Pshh.” I set her down and grab a sucker from my back pocket.
“It’s a rainbow!” She jumps up and down while I take the wrapper off. Drew walks just as I hand it to her. “Daddy! Guess what? Uncle Benny let me get the biggest sucker!”
He glares at me. “Yeah, I see. Seriously, how much does that thing weigh?”
“Only half a pound.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“No. It’s delicious.” I rub the top of Mazie’s head. “Isn’t that right, princess?”
She takes a bite out of it and I flinch at the sound, worried for a second that she broke a tooth. The sugar crunches and she smiles a blue lipped smile. “So ’licious.”
“Wanna see my new dance?” She asks no one in particular and twirls in two circles, her curls getting stuck on the sucker residue by her mouth. She falls on her butt then hops up and does it again, then tugs on my arm. “Did you see?”
“I did. Good job, kiddo.”
“You can have more after dinner. Go put that on the kitchen counter and wash your hands, then see if Uncle Parker wants to play dress up,” he tells her.
“Okay, Daddy.”
“I’d normally make you say thank you,” Drew grumbles, “But your uncle doesn’t deserve manners when he brings you suckers the size of your head, especially after I’ve repeatedly told him you do not need more sugar.”
We watch her go to the kitchen, and I bite back a laugh when she sneaks a lick before she puts the sucker on the counter. “Wait until you have kids, payback’s a bitch.”
The thought of kids before a couple weeks ago would have made me nauseous. But when my mind immediately goes to Annie holding a little blonde-haired baby, my baby, a wave of…elation crashes into me.
“I’m Drew,” he sticks his hand out for Annie. “Good to meet you.”
“Same. She’s adorable.”
“Thanks.” He angles his head toward the kitchen. “You better get in there, Mom’s chomping at the bit to see Annie again.”
I smile down at her, “You ready for this?”
“I’ve wanted a family my whole life, Ben.”
“Well now you’ve got one,” Drew says.
And just like that, Annie is a Lawson. I’ll make if official soon.