The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set (7 page)

“Eight ball in the corner pocket.”

It was a straight shot and Hank sunk the ball easily. Alyssa hopped up from the stool but Celine got to him first. The woman threw her arms around Hank, pressing her body to his along with her red lips to his cheek.

“To the winner goes the spoils,” she whispered in his ear.

Hank stiffened in shock, his gaze darting to Bill who was laughing and shaking his head.

“Celine is so easily excited,” he chuckled. “She gets caught up in the competition. Back off and let Hank’s wife get a kiss in, sweetheart.”

Hank untangled himself from the woman and took a step back. “Uh, thanks.” Alyssa’s arms slid around him and he pulled her closer, wanting both Bill and Celine to know he wasn’t on the market. Lowering his head he kissed Alyssa, bending her back until she was breathless and her cheeks a pretty pink.

There. That should tell them I’m a fucking married man.

Hank kept his arm tightly around Alyssa. “Listen, thanks for inviting us for dinner. It was great but I think we need to be getting home and putting Luke to bed.”

Bill placed his pool cue in the rack on the wall. “Stay awhile and have another beer. If it gets too late you can always sleep here. We have plenty of room.”

In his years as a deputy, Hank had seen and experienced many things. He didn’t consider himself naive in any sense and he was definitely getting the feeling that Bill and Celine might be more than just an innocent married couple. Bill had been eyeing Alyssa, albeit subtly, and coupled with Celine’s overt flirting, Hank was pretty sure they’d stumbled into the home of a couple of swingers.

Hank prided himself on being open-minded. As long as they didn’t hurt anyone else, Bill and Celine were welcome to do anything they liked without judgment. More power to them really since it couldn’t be easy finding like-minded couples in the middle of nowhere. If it made them happy, well, bless them both.

But no other man was going to touch Alyssa while Hank still drew breath. Bill might not be possessive but Hank didn’t share well. Not his toys and certainly not his woman.

No way. Not going to happen.

He didn’t spend any time analyzing his reaction, despite the fact that a few weeks ago he would have said his marriage was over and that Alyssa meant nothing to him.

“We appreciate the offer but I’m beat. I think we need to hit the road. Thanks again for dinner and the company.”

Alyssa retrieved Luke from upstairs while Hank made small talk with Bill about how the fish were biting. The couple walked them out to the truck and goodbyes were said all around, and this time neither Bill nor Celine tried to convince them to stay.

Hank fired up the engine and pulled out onto the dark, deserted road. Alyssa had barely said a word in what seemed like forever but he could feel the tension radiating off of her. They drove back to the house in an uncomfortable silence.

Yep, they were about to have a fight.

Pulling up to the cabin, he twisted around in his seat to see that Luke was asleep in his booster seat. Hank placed his finger over his lips and pointed to their son who looked so angelic. Alyssa’s expression softened and her lips turned up in a gentle smile.

“I’ll carry him to bed,” Hank said so low he thought she might not hear him, but she nodded and scooped up a dozing Hershey into her arms. Walking in front of him, she unlocked the door and led the way into the living room. Between the two of them, they stripped off Luke’s shoes, socks and pants, letting him sleep in his shirt. Luke’s eyelids didn’t even flutter and Hershey curled up next to him, both going off to dream land.

“I wish I could sleep like that.” Alyssa’s soft words dragged his attention away from his son. “The sleep of the innocent.”

“Are you missing your innocence, Lis?” he asked.

“Tonight I am,” she replied and turned on her heel, heading for the bedroom. He trailed after her, closing the door behind them. If they were going to argue, Luke didn’t need to hear it.

“Come on, Lis. Just say it and get it out in the open. You’ll drive us both crazy until you do.”

Hank pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the dresser before toeing off his tennis shoes. He might as well be comfortable if they were going to…talk.

Alyssa whirled around, her expression full of hurt and her lips trembling.

“Why don’t you just admit you wanted to fuck her, Hank? She was hanging all over you and you didn’t push her away. Why don’t you just admit you want to be single and free?”

Chapter Six

A
lyssa had watched that blonde skank flirt and paw Hank all evening and she had damn well had enough. It didn’t help matters that she felt vulnerable, unsure of her own husband’s love. They hadn’t discussed what Hank had done or
who
he had done in the last year as if by mutual consent. She’d hoped that Hank had stayed as faithful as she had but if he hadn’t, well, she didn’t want to know. This was a fresh start and dwelling on the past wouldn’t help them.

But now that Alyssa was back in Hank’s life, she expected her husband to keep his vows. She was pretty sure their vows had included something about slutty blondes in too tight clothes.

“Nothing to say, Hank? That’s a first.”

Her husband calmly shucked his jeans and lounged on the bed in just his boxers. Alyssa had to swallow hard at the sight of her husband’s gorgeous body. He would try and get around her with sex like he always did but she was determined not to fall for it again.

“I was not interested in having sex with Celine. As for hanging all over me, she hugged me once and I pulled away.”

His voice was soft as if she was a horse he was afraid to spook. She took a deep breath and plunged forward. It had hurt to see Celine and Hank all evening laughing and joking, completely relaxed. Alyssa was afraid they would never get back to the relationship they’d once had.

“She stuck her foot on your cock, Hank.” Alyssa crossed her arms over her chest and tried to control the fear and hurt that were churning inside of her. “I grew up with women like that and believe me, she married Bill for his money. He probably looks the other way when she does this as long as he can have his trophy wife. She wanted you.”

She sounded a little shrill so she shut her mouth and sat on the end of the bed, her knees suddenly feeling like jelly. She hated being like this, hated feeling jealous. It wasn’t a worthy emotion and here she was acting like a madwoman. How could Hank want her when she was this crazy?

“How did you know about that?” he asked, sitting up. “Her foot was under the table.”

“I was sitting right next to you.” Alyssa rolled her eyes. “She wasn’t trying to hide it, you know.”

Hank rubbed his chin in thought. “Exactly. Why do you think that is, Lis? Why was Celine being so overtly sexual with me?”

“Well, she wanted you,” Alyssa answered lamely.

“No, it’s more than that.” Hank shook his head. “Think about it. Bill was fine with Celine acting that way and touching me. That’s pretty unusual. Think about what he said to you as well.”

He was trying to confuse her so she would let this drop. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Bill didn’t say anything to me.”

“Didn’t he?” Her husband’s eyes lit up in challenge. “I sure as shit didn’t appreciate it when he made that remark about redheads and how passionate they were. Or the fact that he complimented your dress and your tan? Don’t you see what was happening tonight?”

“You’re trying to turn this around on me somehow,” Alyssa argued.

Hank threw back his head and laughed. “Now that’s the last thing I’ve been trying to do. My sweet wife, I think Bill and Celine are swingers. I think they were trying to see if we were into it too.”

Huh?

“Swingers?” she repeated, her mind not working correctly. “You mean like…wife swappers?”

She hated to admit it but things were starting to fall into place. It made much more sense now.

“I don’t know the technical term.” Hank shrugged his broad shoulders. “But I think they would have been very happy if we’d consented to spend the night.”

Her anger drained as quickly as it had come and she started to giggle. “This is hilarious, Hank Dixon. Only you and I could find a couple of swingers in the middle of Western Montana.”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “I thought the same thing as well. I hope they find what they’re looking for but it’s just not us.”

“You weren’t tempted?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. Hank was still adamantly refusing to discuss any sort of future for them.

“Not in the least,” he assured her. “I don’t share my toys, sweetheart. You should know that by now.”

She was well aware. She remembered clearly when some guy had been hitting on her one night at the roadhouse. Hank had quickly and efficiently dispatched the interloper with a minimum of fuss and violence. He’d told her later he didn’t mind a man looking, but touching was a non-starter.

“You said things weren’t the same anymore.”

Hadn’t he spent the last two weeks repeating it over and over to her?

He ran his fingers through her long hair and tugged her face closer, his lips hovering above hers. “Some things are the same. The way you make me feel when we’re together hasn’t changed.”

“But you don’t love me.”

His lips tightened and his fingers cradled the back of her head. “Leave it, Lis. We’re having a nice vacation. Can’t you let it go for one day?”

An excellent question. “I love you, Hank. It hurts that you won’t say it.” He started to speak but she placed her hand over his mouth. “I know you have good reason not to trust me, to want to hurt me. But I think I’ve shown you that I’ve changed. I won’t let you hurt me forever. This isn’t an open-ended situation.”

“Meaning?” Hank’s eyes narrowed in question.

“Meaning that once I feel that I’ve taken enough of your punishment, I won’t tolerate being treated like a second class citizen in this marriage any longer,” she said calmly. He needed to understand his pouting couldn’t go on indefinitely.

“I didn’t realize that it was your call.”

“It’s my decision to let you be all butt-hurt, Hank. If I didn’t think you had cause, I’d have been long gone. But I have too much self-respect to let you do this to me forever.”

“Because you love me so much?” Hank let go of her hair and sat back. “You said you would never leave and now you’re threatening to do just that.”

He didn’t get it at all. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m telling you that you can act like you’re Luke’s age only for so long, but eventually I’m going to push this. Tonight I’ll let it go but some day in the future, we’ll hash this out, husband.”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but since you’re going to let it go tonight…”

Hank’s lips came crashing down on hers, his rough hands pulling at the straps of her sundress. Her insides melted at his touch and she cursed her weak will. This man was everything she wanted and more.

She ran her palms up his hard chest and curled her hands over his shoulders. She would let the subject drop tonight, but the day of reckoning was coming closer and closer. It wasn’t too much to ask that her husband and the father of her son love her. Just a fraction as much as she loved him.

Hank couldn’t get Alyssa naked fast enough. All evening she’d been driving him wild. Her scent, her smile, the brush of her body against his. He wanted to take his time but he was too hungry.

At some point he’d shed his boxers, and they were now skin to skin. His lips roamed over her soft golden flesh and his tongue traced circles that made her writhe and whimper underneath him. The grinding of her hard pointed nipples and hot pussy against him made him grit his teeth, the pleasure so intense. It never felt like this with anyone else, only her.

He captured a nipple in his mouth and worried it between his lips. Grabbing onto the back of his head, Alyssa arched her back, a gasp falling from her full lips. “Yes, Hank. Harder.”

In the last two weeks he’d learned something new about his sweet little wife. She liked her sex fast, hard, and a little raunchy. He used the edge of his teeth on the already turgid flesh and she moaned, gripping his hair tightly. She liked a taste of pain with her pleasure.