ToServeAndProtect (32 page)

“I want a family.” She turned around. “Until you, I
never thought I would. I need to know you won’t walk away.”

He cradled her face in his palms. “I never walked away
from Janie. I make it easier for Trish.” He sighed and took her hands in his.
“No, that’s not true either. It was easier for me, too. There is something I
need to do.” He kissed her quickly, making contact with the side of her mouth,
then turned. “I’ll see you later,” he said and walked out of the room.

McKenna listened to his feet take the stairs two at a
time. The kitchen door closed and then the garage door hum was followed by the
sound of the truck pulling out of the drive.

McKenna left Elliot’s room and went to her own. Her
eyes burned, and her body rejected the idea of staying awake a moment longer.
She was having a hard time stringing two complete thoughts together. The day
couldn’t get much worse. Better to sleep the rest of it away. She stripped down
to her panties and sought refuge beneath the covers. Sleep didn’t take long to
come and steal her away from her miserable thoughts.

The room was dark when McKenna felt movement beside
her. The clock on the nightstand glowed, telling her just how long she had been
asleep.

The bed dipped as Dustin sat on the edge.

McKenna leaned up on her elbow and blinked him into
focus. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t want to talk.” His voice was rough from lack
of sleep and husky with innuendo.

McKenna scooted over and lifted the sheet. “Then come
to bed.”

Dustin slipped off his shoulder holster, set it on the
nightstand, and quickly discarded his clothes. Her eyes adjusted to the dark
and watched his movements. Finally, he slid beneath the covers until his nude
body touched her from shoulder to toes. “I need you.” She shivered as his
fingers trailed over her flesh. “I need this.” His voice was low and smooth as
he crushed her body to his. He cupped her buttocks and brought their centers
intimately together. His arousal, thick and heavy with desire, rubbed against
her.

On a breathy sigh, she rolled to her back. “Make love
to me,” she whispered into the darkness.

Dustin’s sipped at her skin. Her breath caught in her
throat when he tugged on her panties. She lifted her hips and he slipped them
down her legs. He wrapped his hand around her calf, bent her at the knee, and
eased her legs apart.

Gripping the pillow at the side of her head, she
arched her pelvis. A moan broke from her lips as Dustin slipped two fingers
deep inside her slick channel. “Dustin.” Her legs opened wider, and he
continued to thrust his fingers in and out. The scent of her cream wafted on
the air in the darkened bedroom.

“I want to taste you.” Dustin kissed down her body,
plucking her nipple between his lips, before suckling the taut tip fully into
his mouth. McKenna cried out and arched. Trailing lower, he touched his lips to
her tummy, tunneled his tongue around and into the cave of her navel, then
pressed his face into the soft pillow of her abdomen.

McKenna threaded her fingers through his hair and he
went lower, between her thighs. He stretched her channel with his fingers and
heated her arousal with his movements. Oh, his incredible movements. Fingers,
lips, and tongue. He bent his head, pressing an intimate kiss to her curls, and
slipped his tongue between her drenched folds.

“Dustin.” She cried out, gripping the sheets in her
fists. Long slow licks lashed at her folds. More heat surged into her clit.
Reaching between her legs, she slid her fingers into her dewy softness. Making
a v with her fingers, she spread her folds for his questing tongue. Tasting,
teasing her hole, her clit, discovering every heated crevice. In a burst of
energy, she crashed into a million flashes of light. Waves of pleasure rolled through
her body and cream flowed from her core. Before she could recover from the
dizzying effects, his silhouette hovered above her.

In one swift motion, the thick, full length of his
solid erection slid hotly into her tight sheath, filling her body while his
presence in her bed filled her heart.

In a rhythm of gliding in and slowly withdrawing, he
built to a crescendo of erotic need. Words of love whispered against her ear.
She held to his shoulders, melting from the heat of his shaft thrusting within
her quivering sheath. She lifted her hips to meet his. Desire coiled tight in
her center then shattered and she plunged into another orgasm. After several
passion-filled moments, his body tightened. Harder. Faster. With a feral growl,
he erupted. McKenna gasped and clutched him close. His strong honed back was
slick with sweat. Her fingers trailed along his spine. Muscles bunched beneath
her hands.

Still joined, he collapsed to her chest. She welcomed
the heavy weight. Wrapping her thighs around his hips, she hugged him with arms
and legs.

After several breaths, he rolled to his side, adjusted
on the pillow, and pulled her close. “I’m sorry I left earlier.” He kissed her
temple.

“I’m glad you’re home.” She closed her eyes and
drifted back to sleep in his arms.

* * * * *

Dustin picked up his cell phone as it vibrated on the
nightstand. Rays of sunshine streaked through the split in the curtains.
McKenna stretched her leg that was entwined with his.

“Pearce,” in a voice rough from sleep. He listened
intently for a few minutes and then said, “I’ll tell her. Thanks.”

Lying back on the pillows, he pulled her against him
until they were spooning with the round curve of her buttocks snuggled against
his hardening shaft.

“The blood was a perfect match,” he said then kissed
the nape of her neck. The scent and texture of her hair tantalized to his
senses.

She tried to sit up, but he kept her anchored by
wrapping his leg over hers. “Does that mean he isn’t dead?”

He hummed affirmatively as he burrowed his lips into
hair and found a delicate spot on her neck to kiss. “Butler officially dropped
the investigation. Under the circumstances, he’s not filing charges against
Elliot until he has more evidence.”

She shivered.

“Don’t think about him. Focus on us. On this.”

Dustin maneuvered until he found the sweet place he
needed to be. She felt so good in his arms. What before he wasn’t willing to
give up, he’d toss away if it meant spending the rest of his life just like
this—with this woman, her body wet and responsive to his.

He thought about his divorce. Trish had the courage to
leave. He would’ve hung on knowing their marriage was doomed to fail from the
beginning, and never experience what it was to be complete. He and Trish had
love for one another, but it wasn’t the same type of connection he had to
McKenna. This was special. Being here…in her bed was a very good thing.

“Beautiful,” he whispered. McKenna arched her back,
and Dustin slid deep into her silken channel, until fully incased in her heated
sheath. Running his hand along her leg had his dick hardening further. He
grunted as her soft moist inner walls clamped to his shaft. He stroked her a
few times from behind then pulled out. She whimpered.

“Get on me, sweetheart.” He rolled to his back and
lifted her onto his groin. She grasped his cock and positioned him at her
opening. He sighed as she took him into her body. Perfectly joined, she began
to rock on his lap. Bracing her hands on his sternum and using the strength in
her legs, she lifted and lowered on his length. “That’s it.”

Her heavy lids slid closed and her head fell back. She
bucked and bounced on his cock. His abs tightened and he squeezed his buttocks
to give her more of his dick to ride. She mewled her pleasing response.

He caressed her outer thighs, helping to set a
frenzied rhythm. Small, perfect tits with luscious rosy nipples bounced with
the violence of her movements. God, he wanted to suck on them. His mouth
watered, but he couldn’t move. Her pussy felt too good closed around his
erection.

Heat surged into his rod. Fuck, he wasn’t going to
last with her gyrating movements spurring him into a powerful orgasm. Pressure
tightened his balls. She ground against him, fucking him numb. “That’s it,
Mickey. Come for me. I want to feel all that sweet cream on my dick.”

“Almost there.”

He placed his hand where they were joined and barely
grazed her clit. But it was enough.

She cried out and buckled onto his chest. Convulsions
in her core brought about his release. He surged hard and came. He banded his
arms around her narrow frame and held her close. She shuddered, gulped air and
melted into him.

“Good morning.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Excellent morning.” She glanced to the clock. “Only
it’s late afternoon.”

Chapter
Twenty

Their relationship had changed. She could feel the
connection crackling between them, sexually charged, yet completely
comfortable. So strange that the awkwardness she expected wasn’t there. Dustin
sat at the table drinking coffee. Amazing what a difference a few days, even a
few hours could make.

“The developments in the case will be on the news. You
can bet reporters are going to give chase. They’ll want a statement from you.”

She sat across from him. “I’ll call Albert. I’m going
to need an attorney. I don’t know what happens now. We’ve had a funeral. I
won’t be entitled to the insurance money if Elliot is still alive.” She rested
her chin in her palm with her elbow on the table. “I wish he were dead,” she
said quietly. “That sounds horrible, doesn’t it?”

“If the Marinos find Roslyn and Elliot’s with her, you
might just get your wish.”

“Oh, no.” She set her cup down and covered her mouth.
“I didn’t really mean it. We have to find a way to warn them.”

Dustin shook his head. “If Elliot and Roslyn are as
smart as I think they are, they’ll be watching the newspapers. Once the story
breaks, it’ll be up to them to find a safe place to stay low. Our experience
with the Marinos doesn’t leave much hope. We couldn’t shake them. I doubt
Elliot and Roslyn will either.”

“It’s hard to say this, but he deserves everything
he’s going to get.” She stood and put her cup in the sink. “I can’t believe I
lived with him and never knew who he really was.” She took a breath. After
yesterday, so much was still unsaid between her and Dustin. Wanting to ask him
why he left, where he went, she couldn’t. Obviously he wasn’t ready to talk
about his life away from her. And she wasn’t willing to push again.

Glancing over her shoulder, seeing Dustin made her
heart beat a little faster and her blood flow a little hotter. She loved him. Nothing
else mattered.

“Out with it.”

She turned away from him and stared out the window. “I
don’t have anything to say.”

“Bullshit. Mickey.” He crossed the kitchen with
purposeful strides, placed his hands on her shoulders and spun her to face him.
He smiled.

“I was going to ask you what happened yesterday…when
you left.”

He sighed. “I met Trish for a cup of coffee. We
talked.”

A pang of guilt fired through McKenna. The last thing
she wanted was to force Dustin into his daughter’s life. She wished he wanted
it for himself. “I shouldn’t have interfered.”

He shook his head. “You have nothing to do with this.
I suppose in part you do because I invited Janie to spend the weekend with us.
I think for myself, Mickey. You haven’t forced anything. And actually, I’m
happy that you think my relationship with my daughter is important.” He brushed
her bangs off her face with his knuckles. “You’re an amazing lady.”

McKenna wrapped her arms around his neck.

Dustin stroked her back. Now that she was in his life,
he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. He’d talked to Trish about more
than Janie. He’d asked her what had gone wrong with them. Were they meant to
fail from the beginning or had they drifted apart? After the hell Tyson had
been through three times, Dustin didn’t want to see his second attempt at
marriage end in disaster. Trish said she never worried about him being injured
in the line of duty until it happened, and then she couldn’t stop.

“The last few weeks haven’t been routine.” He took her
fingers in his and led them to the table. “Dealing with murder never is.
Homicide, Mickey, it’s a nasty place to work.”

“It must be difficult to work in an environment
revolving around death.” She moved to sit on his lap, draped her arms around
his shoulders, and said, “Thinking about coming home to me should make it a
little more bearable.”

He briefly kissed her lips. “I worry about you waiting
for me.”

She smiled and put her hand on the side of his face.
“Of course, I’ll fear for your safety. That wouldn’t change if you were a bus
driver. So don’t worry about me. Well, yes worry about me and I’ll worry about
you and we’ll take care of each other.”

She moved to her own chair again. “Dawn asked if we
wanted to come over to Tyson’s for beers and brats.”