“Are you gonna marry me or what, Charley Cooper?”
In spite of everything, Charley giggled her one-of-a-kind laugh, making him grin. “Is that your idea of a proposal?”
“Yeah,” Sully said. “I don’t have a ring, but we’ll get one if you say yes.”
“Yes,” Charley replied without hesitation. Unbuckling her seat belt, she leaned over the console and hugged him. He hugged her back and they kissed. She wiped a tear from her eye as she leaned back and said, “I’ll marry you whenever and wherever.”
“Hawaii?”
“Valentine’s Day?” she suggested.
“Yeah.” Sully’s cell phone rang, and he looked at the caller before answering. “Hey Dad.” He listened for a moment and said, “Yes, Charley is okay, I’m okay, and we’re gonna get married.” Sully held the phone away from his ear as his dadhowled with relief and happiness. “We’re on our way to pick you up.” Sully clicked off the call, and to Charley, he said, “Let’s get out of here and leave this nightmare behind.”
“Morning, fiancée,”Sully said as Charley rolled over in his king-size bed and, with her blue eyes still closed, she hugged him.
“Morning,” she murmured and tilted her head so that he could kiss her lips. “Let’s flirt, fiancé.”
“Let’s.”
Sully pulled her closer and slipped his hand to her soft breast. They’d showered the previous night and fallen into the big bed naked. He’d made love to Charley passionately and urgently. She had responded to him as though her life had depended on it. Charley had whispered her love and gratitude. If he’d saved her life, he knew she’d saved his too. He’d told her so, and their happiness and love had spiraled into sex, wild beyond all imagination.
This morning was no different as Sully rolled on top of her. Charley spread her silky thighs and wrapped her legs around him. Gently opening her velvety feminine folds, he entered the unique tightness that was Charley. Enjoying her warm, wet clasp around him, he buried himself to the hilt.
“Mmm, Sully, yes,” Charley purred near his ear. “I love this.”
“Me too,” he groaned.
Sully moved slowly and then faster, with Charley meeting every plunge and thrust. When he sat up, he took her with him. Impaled, she moved up and down, driving him to near madness. Lying on his back again, he placed Charley in the cowgirl position atop him. She ran her hands under her longbrown hair, letting it fall around her body in silky waves. He stacked his hands behind his head to watch her in action. She flung her head backward and stretched. Then, leaning forward, she rested her hands on his shoulders, bowed her head and let her glossy tresses caress his bare chest. Pulling her to him, he rolled Charley onto her back. Between her legs, he moved hard and fast. His release built, and when her orgasm burst, rippling and gripping the length of him, it triggered his own ecstasy, spilling his hot seed deep inside her. When heartbeats slowed, she whispered to him.
“I love you, Sully.”
“I love you, too. Let’s get you a ring today.”
“Let’s.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“Thank you for coming into the station,” Detective Groves said in his office at 705 South Nevada Avenue, located in the southern part of the Colorado Springs downtown area. “I appreciate your statements regarding Dorian Fester.” Meeting the gaze of each, he said, “Sully and Charley, I’m glad we stopped his killing spree once and for all.”
“Me too,” Charley replied with gratitude and relief.
“So am I,” Sully agreed and took Charley’s hand. Sully’s hand was large, warm, and comforting to Charley, and she gave him a squeeze as they sat next to each other on the opposite side of a large oak desk from the detective. As a senior member of the police force, Groves had earned his private office and the respect from other law enforcement and the public that went with it. Sully added, “We were happy to come in and help.”
Charley nodded her agreement. “Detective Groves, I also want to thank you again for catching my mother’s killer.”
“You helped with that, Charley, by securing Vaughn’s gun so I could run the ballistics test.” He smiled and said, “Maybe the two of you missed your calling by not becoming police.”
Sully chuckled and replied, “Thanks, but I’ll stick with my gun club and ranch.”
“I’ll stick with my flower shop on Triple C-South,” Charley said and smiled.
“Fair enough,” Groves said with a laugh. “Well, Fester’s dead and with no one to claim his body, El Paso County will cremate him.” Groves splayed his hands and told them, “Vaughn’s plea agreement from first-degree murder to second-degree murder will keep him behind bars for at least the next fifteen years in the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City.”
“Not long enough, but okay,” Sully said and looked at Charley.
“Yes.” Charley nodded at the love of her life who had been by her side in the aftermath of Rod Vaughn’s crimes and throughout the reign of horror dealt by Dorian Fester’s. To Detective Groves, she echoed Sully’s sentiment. “Not long enough, but okay.”
“You’ll be notified whenever the day comes that Vaughn is eligible for parole, Charley,” Groves informed her. “Should you choose to do so, you can make a statement to the judge as to your agreement or disagreement regarding his release.”
