Chapter 35
thirty-five
. . .
LANE
After leaving the school, I went back to work. I’d just lifted my ice-cold coffee to my mouth when the door to my office burst open, revealing Sutton wearing a stricken expression.
I was out of my chair in a flash, pulling her in and closing the door behind her.
“What happened?”
“I’ve been put on administrative leave,” she said flatly.
“Baby,” I breathed. “Fuck, I’m so sorry.”
For her sake, my tone remained gentle, but inside, I was seething. She had given so much to the community over the years in her role as a paramedic, and for them to spit on that over some bullshit accusation made me want to burn this entire fucking town to the ground.
“It’s temporary, right?” she said, offering me a sad, half-smile. “Until they catch the real perp.”
It fucking better be.
“What can I do?”
“Hold me,” she said.
I obeyed easily. Pulling her into my arms, I squeezed her probably a little tighter than was necessary, but she didn’t protest. Then she added, “And find whoever is doing this to me.”
“Consider it done,” I vowed. I wouldn’t tell her I was already working on it, not until I actually had something to report. And I wasn’t about to bring up the Boyd family if I didn’t have to.
She squirmed a little in my arms, and I loosened my hold only enough so she could prop that pretty little chin on my chest and stare up at me with those gorgeous, glowing amber eyes.
“Have I ever told you how sexy you look in your uniform?”
I grinned, some of the tension bleeding from us both. “Nope.”
“Well you do.” She smoothed her hands over my chest and shoulders, across the badge pinned on the left side. “So sexy.”
I traced my fingertip over the Dusk Valley Fire Department logo emblazoned on the front of her shirt. “You too.”
“Do me a favor.”
“Anything.”
“Kiss me.”
“Happily.”
Ducking my head, I captured her mouth with mine, keeping things light.
At least, I tried.
Sutton, however, dug her fingers into the hair on the back of my head and tugged me closer, licking at the seam of my lips and stroking my tongue with hers when I let her in.
“Make me forget, Lane,” she murmured against my mouth.
“We’re in my office, sunny.”
“I don’t care. Please,” she begged as I peeled away from her mouth, trailing kisses across her jaw and down her throat, suctioning my lips against that spot on her neck I knew would drive her crazy. “Please.”
I’d entirely deluded myself in thinking I could deny her.
“Get on the desk.”
She easily obeyed, climbing up, heedless of the papers strewn across it. Then she kicked off her boots. After crossing the room to lock the door, I returned to my girl and made quick work of her pants, tugging them over her thighs and down her legs, discarding them behind me.
Kneeling in front of her, I ran my thumb through her slit. “You’re already wet.”
“It’s that uniform,” she groaned. “Just does something for me. As does you on your knees.”
I chuckled as I gently toyed with her. A loud sigh escaped her, head lolling on her shoulder.
“You have to be quiet. Can you be quiet for me, baby?”
“One way to find out.”
Leaning in, I kissed her cunt, dragging my lips up and down, slurping, collecting her arousal on my mouth and licking it from my lips. I wanted to taste her for hours after this.
“It’s not nice to play with your food,” she mused from above me, her voice breathy.
I glanced up at her, raising a brow. “Is that a challenge?”
She grinned, her hand finding my hair, tugging hard enough to sting.
Fuck, that made me hard, and she knew it.
Returning to my task, I licked her from entrance to clit, all while undoing my belt and shoving my pants down enough to free my cock. I gripped it at the base, squeezing hard enough to delay what was always an inevitable orgasm where this woman was concerned.
I had a change of clothes here. I could afford to get a little messy.
“Hold on,” I warned her.
With one hand, I tugged at my cock, already adopting a rhythm far quicker than I would’ve liked, but we had no time for slow and gentle.
This was going to be fast and hard. With the other, I inserted two fingers into Sutton and flicked her clit rapidly with my tongue, curling my fingers in time with the movement of my mouth.
I knew exactly how to get her there quickly, and she rewarded me by gripping my hair impossibly tighter, holding me in place.
Simultaneously, she shoved her fist in her mouth and bit down to stifle her moans.
“Fuck, sunny, that’s it,” I growled against her clit as she began to rock against my face. “Take what you need.”
Her muffled sounds, her taste on my tongue, the pressure coiling at the base of my spine, drawing my balls up tight—it was all too much at once.
I worked her as quickly as I jerked myself, and it wasn’t long before we were both coming. Sutton’s thighs clamped around my head, her moans dampened into heavy breaths, and I spilled over my fist.
When I withdrew my fingers and rose to standing, Sutton’s chest heaved, but a blissed-out smile had taken up residence on her face. Grabbing a tissue, I cleaned myself up, tossed it, and took another to wipe her up.
Once I tucked my cock away, I helped her back into her pants, then returned her to her feet.
“Thank you,” she said, rising up to kiss me, humming a little as she tasted herself on my mouth.
“Just doing my duty.”
“Oh? And what duty is that?”
“My boyfriendly duty.”
We hadn’t yet defined the relationship and, truth be told, “boyfriend” was woefully inadequate when it came to how I felt about Sutton, but it was the best we could do at the moment.
“Boyfriend, huh?”
“If you’ll have me, of course.”
Sutton wrapped her arms around me and kissed me again. “As if I’d ever let you go.”
My heart soared. Despite the shitstorm awaiting us on the other side of these walls, within this room—hell, anytime we were together—we were solid. Steady. In love and in it for the long haul. That’s all I could ask for.
With a final kiss and pat on her ass, I turned her and directed her toward the door.
“I’ll see you later at home.”
“Home,” she agreed, then left.
Thanks to Sutton and our earlier hookup, I spent the rest of the afternoon with an erection, and I barely left my office. I wasn’t particularly impressed with my team at the moment anyway.
All I wanted was my girl. I was worried about her, not only because she’d been suspended from work, but also because she was home all alone. I knew Trey was keeping an eye on things because I’d asked him to, but I only wanted to be there with her.
And I desperately wanted to finish what we’d started here earlier. I was painfully aroused, and I couldn’t wait to get the out of here so I could fuck Sutton into oblivion and make us both forget these shitty few days.
Finally, I caved and decided to text her.
ME
You know I love you, right?
SUTTON
Of course. Why?
ME
Because the second I get home, I’m about to fuck you like I don’t.
SUTTON
Do your worst, Chief.
Fuck, I’d met my match with this one.
Her trust in me floored me every single time.
I couldn’t believe that after all the years of living in her trauma and never being able to experience the pleasure of physical intimacy, she’d given me the luxury of being her partner in reclaiming her power.
I loved that she let me be the one to remind her how fucking good it could all be.
Of how safe and cherished and loved she was.
I would never take it—or her—for granted.
Shortly before five, I gave up pretending I was going to get any more work done and left, stalking through the bullpen without sparing a single one of my deputies a glance.
Oblivious to the obvious tension in the office, Bertie, my desk sergeant, offered me a wave and said, “Have a good evening, Sheriff,” on my way out the door.
I drove well over the speed limit on the way home, practically throwing myself from behind the wheel and racing into the house when I got there.
Sutton was in the kitchen, and I didn’t utter a single word as I swept her into my arms, abandoning the meal she’d been prepping—though I did pause to turn the burner on the stove off—and hauled her to our room.
Once inside, I set her on her feet, wrapped the length of her hair around my fist a few times, and tugged her head back.
“You can say no,” I reminded her.
Sutton shook her head. “Not a chance.”
“I won’t be gentle.”
“Fuck me like you hate me, Chief.”
I crashed my mouth into hers, consuming her. Sutton met me with equal fervor, our kisses wet and sloppy and doing absolutely nothing to ease the ache in my cock.
“Get on your knees,” I demanded when I yanked my mouth from hers.
Sutton dropped instantly, not needing further instruction as she reached for my belt, pulled it free, unbuttoned my pants, and shoved them and my boxer briefs to my ankles.
Her hand wrapped around my shaft, which was flushed a deep, rosy pink.
The sight of it was obscene—her slim, delicate fingers working up and down my length.
She gave me a few experimental tugs, using her free hand to toy with my balls, before leaning in and brushing her lips over my head.
A sigh escaped me and, needing something to hold onto, I settled my hand atop her head. Not grabbing or keeping her in place but anchoring myself to the moment.
At last, she sealed her lips around me, swirling her tongue around the tip before taking me deep. When my head hit the back of her throat and she swallowed around me, breathing through her gag reflex, I grunted, my knees nearly buckling.