Authors: Kassanna
Some of their friends burst out in laughter around them.
He couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s antics. “Kiss my ass, Andersen.”
“I’m trying, big boy. I am trying,” Andy replied in a high-pitched voice.
Rick shook his head in amazement at his old partner. He needed to jump in the shower and follow up a few leads on his latest case. Later, he had an appointment with Indiana to finish what she started.
A tremor of anticipation rippled through his core. He gripped the ends of the towel and moved toward the locker room at a brisk pace. It was her body; he wanted to go deep and make her scream in delight as he locked her ankles behind her head.
Rick exhaled. That was it—an animal attraction he wasn’t sure how long he could deny, even if he wanted to.
Chapter Three
Indiana put the phone down in the cradle after confirming with the babysitter that the kids were okay. After a little clean-up, she could lock up and head home.
She peered over at the door; the deadbolt was in place. Marty must have locked it when he’d left earlier. She gazed down at the desk calendar, Dick the cop hadn’t shown up for his final appointment.
Softly, she tapped her fingers on the paper. He was a policeman; maybe he got a call. People missed their appointments for various reasons, she reminded herself. She dragged her fingers across the paper as she turned away.
There were still a few chores to do, like putting away the ink and setting all their instruments up for sterilization. Indiana also liked to wipe down all the chairs, counters, and trays down with diluted bleach before she left, even if the other artist told her they’d already done it. It was better to be safe than sorry. She reached under the stand and pulled out the cleaner.
Insistent banging made the glass insert rattle in the door. She released the neck of the bottle and wrapped her fingers around the bat lying on the floor at her feet. The cops had kept her metal one for evidence, but first chance she got, she picked up a new one, a solid wood Louisville slugger.
Knocking replaced the furious battering. She flicked the light switch, throwing the room into darkness, and approached the door. Gently, she placed her hand on the thin barrier and moved her face close to the frosted glass, trying to see through it. The hazy figure weaved from one side to other, the shadow looming large before shrinking.
“I know I’m late. Really late.” A husky, muffled voice drifted through the door. “I saw your Jeep, I know you’re in there, Dirty.”
She reared back. The voice was familiar and only a friend would call her by her nickname. But anyone coming by would have let her know they were coming…
“It’s me, Rick.”
She stared at the door, debating. Thoughts about him popped in her head at the oddest times. Dick tased and arrested her, while all she’d been trying to do was protect her niece and nephew from a bad situation.
*
The room was rancid with a miasma of foul odors. Marva was passed out on the couch with her head hanging over the edge of the cushion. Vomit pooled on the floor below her face. A bent spoon with burn marks rested on the scarred surface of a cocktail table with a syringe across it, needle side up. Periodic slamming noises interspersed with screaming reached her as she took steps toward Marva—there was no time to check on her brother’s girlfriend. She spun on her toes and ran past the kitchen toward the back of the residence.
Kevin had Calista by the hair, slamming her small frame against the wall. A hollow thud followed each hit. Eighteen-month-old Caivin stood in the open closet, wailing his little lungs out.
Her first thought was to get Kevin’s attention. If he focused on her, the children could get away. She ducked her head and ran at him, plowing into his side with all her strength. He lost his balance and stumbled into the wall, dragging Calista down with him.
Indiana lifted the bat, and yelled, “Get off her, damn it!” at Kevin. The diversion was enough for her niece to get free. She yanked the girl behind her and prayed she could get to Caivin before Kevin’s attention shifted to him.
Then she looked in Kevin’s eyes and realized the man before her wasn’t the one she raised. He didn’t register her presence. He stared at her through sunken, bloodshot eyes. Dry, cracked lips peeled back to reveal yellowing teeth as he grunted. The drugs had a hold on him she realized might never be broken.
For the umpteenth time in her life, fear skittered through her. She tightened her grip on the bat and braced for the fight she knew was coming. Kevin pushed off the wall and charged her.
*
“Dirty?” Rick’s stifled tone broke through her reverie.
It was the cop on the other side of the door that had stopped her from beating some sense into Kevin’s drug-addled brain. She understood that he had a job to do. After the initial shock of having thousands of volts flow through her body and the pain of having metal barbs dug out her shoulder the only person she could blame for her situation was herself.
Kevin had become increasingly erratic. The boy that she’d tried to protect had become a shadow of the man she’d wished for him to be, and that knowledge cut her to the core. Kevin and Marva were drug addicts. She should have taken the kids and told them to kiss her ass, but she wanted to do things the right way and have everything documented. The social worker knocked on her brother’s door a day after the fight.
Her problem now was she had a fresh and shiny criminal record. It was another hurdle to overcome in her pursuit to get custody of the kids. That was why she’d been so angry. She should have beat Kevin’s ass in the apartment instead of kicking him through the front door. It wasn’t Dick’s fault, but she needed someone to place the blame on for her stupidity.
“Listen, I got stuck. An informant I hadn’t expected to find appeared out of nowhere and it was an opportunity to clear a case…”
Indiana flipped the deadbolt and yanked the door open. “Did you do it?” she asked as she leaned on the jamb and crossed her ankles.
Dick stared at her a long time. His brows came together. “Do what?”
“Handle your case?”
“I’m another step closer to giving the family resolution.” His grin was crooked.
Helpless, she smiled back in return. The shitty turns that her life had taken weren’t his fault.
Indiana looked him up and down. She knew he was hot, but the way his shirt stretched over a solid chest and his jeans clung to muscular thighs…A visceral appreciation formed for the way this man was built. He looked better out of his clothes; or his shirt, at least.
“Is it too late to finish my tattoo tonight?” He leaned in close.
She had the sudden urge to skim her hands through his hair. Faint lines etched the space between his brows.
Indiana made a fist. This man could mean bad news for her. She had a hearing soon, and the kids were only in her custody temporarily. If the courts deemed her unfit, she would lose them.
Dick waved his hand in front of her face. “You still with me, Dirty?”
“Only my friends call me that.” He didn’t know her that well.
She narrowed her eyes. “I need to get home.” Even though her babysitter was a trusted neighbor, a nice older woman, she didn’t want to take advantage of any situation.
“I’ll double the payment.” He crossed his arms, stretching his shirt tighter.
“Sixteen hundred dollars? Are you desperate?” She couldn’t keep the disbelief out her voice.
The money would go a long way to supporting the shop and increase her cut of the profits. She might actually be able to make another payment to her lawyer before he dropped her again. The cutthroat motherfuckers were expensive. “Give me a minute.” She turned and strode toward the phone.
The click of the door closing made her tighten her hold on the bat. She stabbed the buttons on the phone. She was caught between hoping her babysitter would tell her no to leaving the children another few hours, and a little excited that the woman might say yes.
She was bipolar; she had to be.
There was something about the man she wanted to know more about. She peeked at him through her lashes. He didn’t have an answer, yet he already pulled his shirt off. It was folded neatly in the chair. What was it about the guy that made her lose her common sense?
As the call connected, she twisted to gaze at the clock behind her. She would be out of there by midnight at the latest. All she needed to finish was the rolling clouds behind the Buddha and shade in the color.
Dick moved drawing her attention back to him. He had his back to her and she peered at the play of muscles as he picked up a magazine from the rack bolted to the wall.
“Hello?” Her babysitter’s quiet voice floated through the line.
“Ms. Berkstrom, I am sorry to be calling again. I know I should be there to pick up Calista and Caivin, but I have a last-minute appointment. Would it be oaky if I picked them up late?”
“They’ve already fallen asleep. A few more hours won’t hurt them, but if you keep calling you’re going to wake them,” the older woman gently chided. “It’s been so long since I listened to babies’ laughter. Of course they can stay. Knock on my door when you get home.”
Elation made her skin tingle. “Thank you, Mrs. Berkstrom.” She replaced the handset in the cradle and looked over only to meet the clear green gaze of Dick. “You’re in luck. I can finish your tattoo.”
“You, umm, don’t really need that bat.” He held his hand up, palm side forward, and gestured for her to move in front of him. “Lead the way.”
“A woman has to protect herself.” She shrugged and ambled down the hall.
“You have nothing to worry about from me.” He hung back, allowing her to get a few steps ahead of him.
“Right now, you’re probably the most dangerous person I know,” Indiana muttered as she stepped into her room, set the weapon in the corner, and strolled to the supply closet to pull out a fresh tray with needles and ink.
“Why?” Dick inched closer.
She glanced over her shoulder and shuffled forward to escape his nearness. The items on the tray rattled as they skidded across the surface. “How about a little room?” His fruity breath washed across her cheek. Her heart picked up speed.
He didn’t retreat.
Their gazes locked. She set the platter down with a rattle and half-twisted to push him back. Warm skin covered solid muscle. “Maybe this is a bad idea.” She licked her lips and his stare dropped to her mouth. “We can reschedule for tomorrow, no problem.”
“Say no right now, and I’ll walk away,” he murmured.
Indiana knew exactly what he was saying. The thought of sex with him had crossed her mind more than once. His heart pounded beneath her palm in time to her own.
She swallowed. “And if I say yes?” A moment of pleasure just for her; all her life she’d done things to keep her family afloat, from taking responsibility for her father’s debts to trying to protect Kevin from the rougher side of their troubled lives.
Peering at the man in front of her, she realized he was offering a moment to forget the shithole existence she was still clawing herself out of. If she said yes, it would be because
she
wanted it to happen. Not to satisfy the pathetic urges of an old man so she could keep a roof over her and her brother’s head. Or as a trophy to some low-level pimp who thought he could collect on her beauty and young body.
She’d avoided most of the pitfalls that littered her path, and she could finally see light at the end of the tunnel. How much would one night of unadulterated sex cost her?
“Say yes, Dirty, and I promise I will show you just how raw we can get.” He pressed his mouth to her collar bone.
Indiana skated her fingers up his arm and across his shoulder. “I don’t want anything from you.” She needed to make it clear that there were no strings attached to what they were about to do.
He lifted his head. “I didn’t think you did.” Dick kissed the corner of her mouth and dragged his lips along her jawline. “We are both consenting adults.” He whispered in her ear. “You are temptation. Good Lord, but you make a man want to find religion.”
She chuckled as she slid her fingers down his torso and hooked them in his waistband. No one had to know what she did behind closed doors. She flicked the button free and eased her hand down his crotch. “Show me what you’re working with.”
****
His cock jerked against her cool, deft fingers. In the small space, there wasn’t much room for movement.
He sucked her earlobe between his teeth and bit down. She moaned and shimmied. Caught between a small table and his body, she was half turned in an awkward position.
Fuck, he needed a condom. Rick searched his mind; did he still have one in his wallet? It had been a few months since he’d had sex. He reared back and she pulled her hand free. Indiana had shut her eyes and her mouth was slightly open. If he didn’t have protection, he would tear the place apart to find some. She worked with men, somebody should have something.
He stepped away and her lids opened. She cocked her head to the side and her brows came together as she pursed her lips. Without thought he caressed her cheek, sliding his palm around the back of her neck. He yanked her against him, crushing his mouth against hers. Her mouth formed a small O and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue past her teeth. Tangy sweetness exploded across his taste buds. He darted his tongue into the deeper recesses of her mouth, as her blunt tip fingers dug into his skin. He delved deeper, tangling his tongue with hers, swallowing the guttural moans escaping her.
Rick slid his hands between them and yanked her jeans button free. Beside their visceral grunts, the distinct sound of metal scraping metal was the only other noise in the room. Keeping his mouth glued to hers, he shoved his hands down her pants and splayed his palms across both cheeks to give them a squeeze. She threw her arms around his neck, combing her fingers through the hair at his nape.