“God, Luke. God.”
“I know,” he said. “Oh shit.”
I kissed his temple.
His body tensed over me, against me, and I knew he was coming. I wouldn’t make it, there wasn’t time, but it was okay. And then his mouth sought out my nipple, sucking and—oh God—biting. It was too much, too hard and fast, too hungry and desperate and too damn close, and my body launched into another orgasm, my hips strained against his, and he forced them down, riding his release in the cradle of my body.
We curled up together afterward, catching our breath.
I rested my chin on his shoulder. “Hey.”
“I’m a mess,” he said, amused.
Glancing at the dark spot on his crotch, I suppressed a smile. “Was that second or third base?”
“I have no idea. But I’m pretty sure this means you’re officially my girlfriend.”
“If you insist.”
“I do.” He grew quizzical. “You know I want more than that, right? In the future. That’s where we’re heading.”
I looked down where my finger drew figure eights on his chest. “I know. I want that too. But I kind of like this high school stuff.” I felt a blush heat my cheeks. “I didn’t get to have that.”
He lifted my chin and kissed my nose. “Me neither. And I like it too.”
After a few minutes, he checked on my leg, but the wound hadn’t opened. It was a little sore from rubbing against the sheet when I was in the throes of climax, but so was my entire body. A session like that was draining, and I would have been more than happy to take that rest Luke had badgered me about, but I was restless. I opened the window. Fresh air wafted in, rich with the scent of twilight. We wouldn’t be able to do this back in the city.
Luke groaned from the bed. “Why are you vertical?”
I swallowed. “You want to go back.”
He was silent a moment; then he came to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around me. He spoke in a low tone. “I do. But I’m happy here too.”
I shifted in his arms, turned my face into the soft hair of his chest. “What would you do here?”
“I’d find something.” His shoulder shrugged beneath me. “I’m sure they need cops out here too. It would probably be less stressful.”
I snorted. “Less stressful because you’d be handing out traffic tickets.”
“I wouldn’t mind, Shelly. Whatever we have to do, wherever you need me to be.”
“Why so accommodating?”
“Would you rather I drag you back to the city and demand you have supper ready on the table?”
It didn’t sound so terrible. Maybe what I had really meant was that I wanted to go back. “I think the work you do would be more meaningful there. I think you’d prefer it.”
“But…” He raised his eyebrows.
“You might be ashamed of me. Word will get out about me in the department. It’s one thing to grab a quickie on patrol; it’s another to date me.”
“Marry,” he corrected.
My breath stuttered. “Excuse me?”
“It doesn’t have to be now, but it will happen.”
I blinked, incredulous and giddy that he would propose to me. Though he hadn’t, really. “Isn’t it supposed to be a question?”
“Would you have preferred rose petals and champagne?”
“God, no.” I’d had more than enough seduction in my lifetime, more than enough false charm. I wanted the real thing. I wanted forever. “So what now?”
“Now we go back. I’ll do the work I’ve been doing, cleaning the streets—” His hold tightened as I tried to object. “And if anyone has a problem with my wife, we’ll deal with it like adults.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. I don’t want any more violence.”
He chuckled softly. “At night, I’ll come home to you.”
“Naked, except for my apron and high heels.”
“Wearing whatever you want, doing whatever you want.”
Which was what, exactly? That wasn’t a question for Luke but for myself. I had never been the domestic type, and hadn’t I already figured out that a regular job wasn’t for me? I had been raised to do one thing only. Even the love of a good man couldn’t make me forget all my training.
The bookstore was ages ago, a million miles away, but I might as well have been walking out the door, the rejected application damp in my hand. The life was the only thing I knew, the only one I had.
Chapter Twenty
I stared at the unmarked building, red brick and blackened bulletproof glass. Luke sat quietly in the driver’s seat beside me, giving me the space I needed.