THE CAPTAIN HADN’T BEEN JOKINGwhen he said for us to be prepared for an early departure. Getting out of bed at five in the morning was not my idea of a good start, especially with Maegan sleeping so peacefully in bed. I wasn’t used to navigating my bedroom in the dark and stubbed my toe on the corner of the bed.
“Fuck!” I whisper-yelled, hopping on one foot while my toe throbbed like a motherfucker.
“I’m not in the mood,” Maegan drowsily mumbled from the bed. “Come back to sleep.”
“Wish I could, Freckles, but duty calls.”
“Well, tell it to call back in a few hours.” I heard the comforter rustling as Maegan turned over then she patted the bed in the dark. “Come back here.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Maegan released a jagged sigh followed by a soft moan. “I guess I’ll have to pleasure myself then.”
My deep growl rumbled in the still of the morning. No fucking way I could ignore the need I heard in her voice. I just wouldn’t be able to take my time like I preferred. Luckily, I didn’t sacrifice another toe in the process of returning to my bed. Maegan held open the covers and I slid in beside her. My throbbing dick pulled my focus off my aching toe as I slid down her body and she parted her legs to make room for me. I much preferred to see her beautiful dips and curves but it was exciting to hear her breath hitch in delight as I trailed my fingers over her soft flesh or placed kisses on her bare pussy.
“Elijah!” Maegan threaded her fingers in my hair and raised her hips, telling me exactly where she wanted me.
If I wasn’t pressed for time, I would’ve drawn out her pleasure and teased her, but I only had thirty minutes to rock her world, shower, shave, and meet Adrian. I was willing to skip the shaving part if I ran short on time, but I wasn’t leaving that bed until I tasted Maegan’s orgasm on my tongue. Damn, my girl was responsive as hell, so it didn’t take long once I found that magic spot inside her sweet pussy while I sucked her clit into my mouth.
“Yes!” and “Elijah!” were two of my favorite words to pass through her delicious lips. I didn’t think I’d ever tire of hearing them nor the way it felt when I slid my dick inside her tight, wet clench. “Harder!” was my third favorite word and I didn’t disappoint her. Too fast, I was filling the condom and collapsing on top of her.
“I’m sorry if you’re going to be late,” she said. I didn’t need to see her to know she was smiling from ear to ear. The way her pussy clenched my softening cock said that neither of them were sorry about what just went down between us.
“No, you’re not,” I whispered. I kissed the tip of her nose then pulled out of her. “Go back to sleep, Freckles.”
“I’m wide awake now,” she protested, but the drowsiness in her voice made me smile.
“Okay, then I’ll take a nice hot breakfast before I go.”
“Wake me when it’s ready then,” she replied cheekily.
She was fast asleep again by the time I got out of the shower, but I stopped to kiss her goodbye anyway. “Have a good day, Maegan.”
She mumbled something indiscernible and snuggled deeper down in the covers. I knew there would come a day that I would whisper words of love to her instead. Yeah, the realization scared the fuck out of me, but I embraced it instead of pushing the feelings away. Scared meant that I was feeling something. It meant that I was alive instead of walking through life like an extra in a zombie movie. I’d been going through the motions of living ever since I found out that Brandy and Jack fucked around behind my back. Maegan made me realize that the life I lived wasn’t enough. Damn, I didn’t want to end up like Renzo’s uncle—old and lonely. Not when I had a chance at something amazing with a woman who was unlike any other I’d previously met.
I knew it was too soon to be having long-term thoughts about a girl I’d known for less than two weeks, but my heart, gut, and brain all agreed that she was the one. We just needed to convince her of that, and we couldn’t do it until the case was behind us. I wanted to take her on real dates and get to know her away from a crisis. I wanted to know the things that made her tick, made her mad, and made her fall apart in my arms. I had a jumpstart on the latter one, but the other ones were just as important if we were to create something special out of our mutual attraction to each other. I wanted Maegan to tell me about her battle with cancer, not hear it from someone else. That meant I needed to open up and talk about my past too. For her, I’d do it.
I expected Adrian to be waiting impatiently for me when I got to the station, but he wasn’t there yet. He showed up five minutes late but didn’t look remotely sorry. I didn’t know him well enough to tease him yet, but I suspected that he was late for the same reason that I almost was. He probably couldn’t make his lady sing as quickly as I could Maegan.
“Let’s head out, partner,” Adrian said.
He did most of the talking during the four-hour ride. He told me about the case that they referenced the day before with Adrian and the captain getting knocked out by a woman. He had me laughing hilariously when he talked about taking down the Christmas Bandits right after I was hired.
“You missed it, Markham. Gabe tackled Santa in his front lawn and I took down an elf that was as tall, if not taller, than you.” He laughed at the memories.
“What the hell did the Christmas Bandits do?” I asked.
“They kicked off their reign of terror by vandalizing Santa’s Village and hanging an effigy of Saint Nick from the flagpole.”
“Brutal,” I said.
“Then they started stealing Christmas decorations and cutting the electrical cords for exterior lights. They messed up when they hit the captain’s house and Josh’s salon though. The cap went all John McClane on their asses.”
“Yippee-ki-yay and all that?” I asked.
“In glorious fashion,” Adrian said.
“The town of Blissville is spunkier than I expected.”
