"I don't want to fault him either, but he picked a fight with a trash can outside the O'Keefe place shortly after one a.m. last night. The O'Keefes called the station thinking it was a bear. Lincoln pummeled the damn can until the boys rolled up. He broke both hands in the process." He laced his fingers around his iced tea, glanced up at me. "Did you see him at any point?"
"I did, but he left before nine o'clock," I replied. "He had a couple of beers, bitched about the Red Sox, and took off before the fourth inning. If he was tanked enough to beat up some cans after midnight, he didn't get there on my watch."
Jackson lifted his shoulders. "I didn't expect so, but I think it's time someone had a conversation with Lincoln about getting help. I'm going to gather some resources and see about sitting down with him and his wife, but I wanted to give you the heads-up."
"What would it be like for you to leave anIundotted? Have you ever tried?"
"Is it safe to come out now?" Nate asked as he swept in from the back room. Seeing the sheriff seated at the bar, he stopped, glanced around the tavern. "First the blonde, now the cop. This is a lot of excitement for one afternoon." He fluttered his hand over his chest, but I knew his sarcasm was too dry for the sheriff to translate. "It's a lot for me to process."
Much too dry. "You're right about that, kid."
"My apologies." Jackson pushed to his feet, nodded at Nate and me. "I'll keep you updated on these matters. I expect you'll do the same." He stopped several paces from the bar, turned back toward us with a grin. "Give my best to Brooke when you see her tonight."
* * *
When I mademy way home that night, Brooke was awake and waiting in my bed as I'd requested. She was stripped down to her skin, her knees bent and her hand lazily moving between her legs. That picture was enough to incinerate me on the spot, but it was the screaming sadness in her eyes that slowed me to a stop.
Her legs fell open. "Make me regret this." My jeans hit the floor. "Make me regret itall."
There was no thought, no plan. Only Brooke and the absolute certainty I wouldn't allow her to regret anything, ever.
I wrapped her legs around my waist and watched while she taught me how her clit preferred to be treated, glancing away only long enough to snag a condom from the drawer.
"Keep doing that, Bam." With one hand on her waist and the other supporting her backside, I positioned myself at her entrance. "I want those fingers moving while I fuck you."
I thrust into her and that immediate wave of heat rolled up my spine and stole everything from my mind but Brooke. Everything but this woman and the way she was destroying my world.
"Maybe you should fuck me better," she said. "Then I wouldn't have to take matters into my own hands."
My hips moved in slow rolls, giving her the kind of deep, dragging slides of my cock I knew she loved. "You want that? Earn it."
Her eyes darkened at the challenge but it didn't stop her from trembling when I angled her hips to hit the soft spot that made her wild. "You're theworst," she said, her words dissolving into a beautiful moan. "The fucking worst, Jed."
"That's right, baby. The worst," I agreed. I shifted my hold on her, pressing my index finger to her back entrance. "You hate it when I tell you what to do, when I throw you on the bed, when I make those French panties of yours all wet, when I tease your ass. You hate it so much, Bam.So much. But you come on my cock like you think you can break me."
With her free hand, she parted her folds, exposing that perfect pink pearl and the place where her most intimate flesh stretched around me. Still rubbing her clit, she said, "Save the sermons. I'm the one doing all the work here."
"You want me to take over?" I asked, my index finger sliding between her cheeks. She clenched and, yeah, this was the kind of pain I wanted in my life. "You want to stop arguing and let me do this?"
She turned her face to the pillow, her eyes closed. "I want you to shut up and fuck me like I am the biggest mistake you've ever made."
"That's what it is for you, Bam? That's what you need? You've been getting it since the start. Never once has this been anything but a mistake." Brooke ground into me, her hips snapping to meet my thrusts while the headboard pounded the wall. "And never once did I think I'd be able to stop. You bring me this cocktease body and I'm gonna want it every damn time. Doesn't matter whether it's any good for me—"
"It's not," she whispered. "It's not, Jed."
"Doesn't matter," I said, bowing my head to drag her nipple into my mouth. "Doesn't matter. I'm not stopping. You hear me, Bam? You can't make me stop. Don't you try."
She blinked up at me, her sapphire eyes as clear as the dawn. "Don't stop. Please, don't."
"Never." She nodded, her hands still working between her legs. My balls were full and aching, and I was long overdue to empty myself into her. I gradually pulled out and then drove into her, lingering on that sweet spot, the one that felt deep and tender andall fuckingmine. I stayed there as the cords holding her together frayed and she broke apart, as gorgeous and strong and fucking furious as I'd ever seen her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brooke
Initial Public Offering: a company’s first sale of stock to the public.
Annette:Jackson just told me the most fascinating story!
