Wilde Blue (Wilde Brothers Book 4) (12 page)

“I need to see!” she insisted.

“Don’t let her come out here, Ben. She doesn’t need to see this.” She recognized Dave’s voice and her heart leaped for joy. He was alive.

“Dave, are you hurt? Talk to me, damn it! You promised me you’d be careful.”

“I’m fine, Dani.” His tone was flat and dull, but otherwise he sounded like himself.

“And Bobby?” she prompted.

“He’s never going to be a problem for you or Casey again.” There was a long, empty pause before Dave spoke again, and this time his voice sounded even duller. “He’s dead.”

All the air whooshed out of her body in one long exhalation and she had to lean against the doorjamb to keep herself standing. Bobby was dead. Relief made her giddy and she barely repressed a totally inappropriate giggle. The nightmare was over, and part of her wanted to dance even as another part mourned the death of a man she’d once loved.

“You okay?” Ben asked her.

“I will be,” she replied. “But not until I see David. I need to know he’s really okay.”

“Bro, come away from there. They’ve got it handled. Dani needs to see you.”

“Later. Once you two have given your statements can you take her to Mom’s for the night? I’m going to be tied up for hours. You know how long these things can take.”

Feeling rejected and angry, Dani shoved past Ben and stepped out onto the porch. Once she was there, it was easy to see why the officers had been distracted. The playground a few houses down had been torched. There were flames consuming the picnic tables and play area, throwing an eerie orange glow over the neighborhood.

The light made it easy for her to see what Dave had wanted to protect her from. Bobby was lying face up at the base of the stairs, his unseeing eyes staring up at the night sky. David stood a few feet away, talking to two uniformed officers.

She flew down the steps and around Bobby’s body, headed straight for Dave. “Don’t you dare push me away, David Wilde.”

His head snapped around and he stared at her in surprise. “I told you to stay inside!”

“And I didn’t blindly obey you. Get used to it,” she shot back. She stopped two steps away and glowered. “I needed to see you.”

“I didn’t want you to see me like this. Hell, I didn’t want you to have to see what I did,” he said, gesturing to his bloodstained clothes, then to Bobby’s corpse.

She frowned at him. “Why not? You did what you had to do to protect me, and your house. That son of a bitch tried to kill me and my baby, remember? I’m not going to be devastated by his death. You know what I am? Fucking relieved, and mad at you for thinking I couldn’t deal with this.”

“Uh, Lieutenant…maybe you should take a minute to talk to your girlfriend. We can finish this up later.”

Both men were gone before Dave could even answer, leaving them alone.

“You should have stayed in the house,” he said, reaching for her with one bloodstained hand but pulling it back when he saw the gore.

“I could say the same thing to you. What happened to letting the on-duty cops deal with this?” She walked right up to him and threw her arms around his waist, ignoring the blood and the stench of gasoline to give him a fierce hug.

“I heard him out there and figured out what he was doing. Since everyone else was distracted by the fire…”

She stood on her toes and kissed him. “Don’t do it again. When the gunfire started my heart stopped beating.” She slapped his chest. “At least promise me you’ll wear a bulletproof vest the next time. Maybe that’s what I’ll get you for Christmas this year.”

Some of the darkness left his eyes at her words, and a hint of a smile touched his lips. “Christmas, huh. Does that mean you’re thinking about sticking around?”

“It does. So stop trying to push me away.”

He kissed her cheek tenderly. “I thought that—”

She cut him off. “I know what you thought, but I’m not her. I will never reject you for being a cop or having to make the hard choices. You have blood on your hands because you were protecting
me
, and I love you for it. You go do what you need to, and when you’re done come home. I’ll be here, waiting for you.”

****

It was a long, strange night for Dani. It took hours for everything to be dealt with, but eventually everyone was gone and silence replaced the chaos and noise. Both families had been given the news. The fire was out. The gasoline had been washed off the stairs. Bobby’s remains had been removed, and she’d answered every question that had been put to her. The media had arrived at some point, but eventually even they gave up and went home. After everyone was gone, Dani had collapsed onto the couch, too numb to do anything more.

It was the first time she’d been completely alone since Bobby had reappeared in her life. Since then, she’d always made sure someone she could trust was nearby. Sitting in the silence of Dave’s living room, Dani tried to come to terms with the fact she would never have to worry about Bobby again. He was gone. She and Casey would be safe now. They were free. It was hard to believe that the nightmare was finally over.

Dave texted her updates whenever he could, but it was after midnight before he sent one final message saying he was on his way home.

She was watching for him at the window when he pulled into the driveway, her hand pressed to the glass. It had only been a few hours, but it felt like days had passed since she’d last seen him.

He looked up and saw her standing there and waved, his weary expression morphing into a smile. She noted that he’d changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants, both emblazoned with the words
Chicago Police
.” She got to the door before he did, opening it for him. He came in, kicked the door closed and swept her into his arms, crushing her to him in a bear hug that barely let her breathe.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

“I missed you, too. Is everything okay? Are you going to be in trouble for what happened?” Once her emotions had quieted down, that had been her greatest concern.

“I’m not in trouble. There’ll be a proper investigation, but because the whole thing was witnessed by other officers and there was a real and verifiable threat, I’m not worried. I’m taking a few days of voluntary leave, and once that’s over I expect I’ll be back at work with no problems.”

“Good.” She wriggled in his hold until he loosened his grip a little. “Are you hungry? Want a drink? It’s been a long night.”

“What I want is you, but what I need first is a shower. I don’t want to touch you until I’ve scrubbed every trace of this day off of me.”

“You know, I think there’s a way we could combine both those things. I could help you wash it all away if you like?”

The next thing she knew he had her in his arms and he was jogging up the stairs. “There’s nothing I’d like better.”

Dave hip-checked his door open and walked inside without putting her down. Last night’s tour of the house hadn’t included the master bedroom, and Dani looked around with avid curiosity. Unlike the rest of the house, the bedroom was furnished and decorated in a way that reflected Dave’s personality. The king-sized bed was set in a four-poster bed frame of solid wood, and the rest of the furniture was clearly from the same set. The walls were pale gray with dark blue trim. The curtains and linens were blue and gray as well, and the overall effect made Dani giggle.

“What are you laughing at?” he asked as he carried her through the room and through another door into the en suite bathroom. The décor in here echoed the bedroom, soft grays and blues with white tiles on the floor and the shower.

She waved her hand around them. “You. I swear if I cut you, you’d bleed blue blood. You need some new colors in your life.”

He nodded. “I think you might be right. Want to help me pick them? We could start with some sunshine yellow.” He stripped off her top and held it up to the wall. “Or maybe some of this color. What is this color, anyway? Pink?”

“Coral,” she corrected him. “You’re serious about this?”

“I’m very serious. I wanted to make this place more welcoming before I invited you and Casey over. Since that didn’t happen, I’d like your help making this into more of a home…that way when I ask you to move in with me, you’re more likely to say yes.”

Her heart stuttered, then did a complete somersault. “You’re asking me to move in?”

He gave her an affronted look. “Not yet, no. That would be rushing things. First I want you to help me make this place over.
Then
I’ll ask you and Casey to move in with me.”

“I guess we’ll have to add that to the list of things we need to talk about.” She slid her hands under his sweatshirt and started easing it off his body. “But first, we shower.”

His mouth crushed down on hers and they finished undressing each other in silence, every caress and kiss fueling their passion until it burned away everything else. Somehow they made it to the shower without letting go of one another. Water poured over them from a rain forest style showerhead, making their bodies slick and only adding to the heat of their embrace.

Dave let go of her with one hand to start scrubbing at himself. Understanding what he needed, she grabbed the soap and lathered it between her hands before laying them on his chest. “I’ve got you,” she crooned to him in soothing tones.

He hung his head so that the water poured over him, hiding his face. “I didn’t want you to see me covered in his blood. I wanted to protect you from that part of my life.”

“I know. But I saw it, and I’m still here. I still want to be with you. You don’t need to protect me from the darkness, David. I’ve seen it before. I’ve
lived
it, and it doesn’t scare me.” She carefully washed every inch of him, starting at his shoulders and working her way down. When she reached his stomach, he covered her hands with his and drew her against him, lifting his gaze to look her in the eye.

“You’re so perfect for me, it’s scary,” he whispered before kissing her upturned lips. “I love you, Dani.”

“I love you, too.” She let her hands glide lower, brushing over his rapidly hardening cock once, then again, before finally taking it into her hand and pumping him slowly in her fist.

He groaned and thrust his hips against her hand. “Need you.”

“Then take me. Make me forget everything but this. Tonight is the beginning of my new life. Share it with me.”

“As my lady wishes.”

He backed her against the nearest wall and kissed her again, sweeping his tongue into her mouth as he lifted her until she could wrap her legs around his hips. He kept her pinned to the wall as he worked a hand between her legs, stroking her clit, then testing her readiness with one thick finger. He slid into her slick channel easily, and his low groan of approval vibrated through her as he withdrew his hand and positioned his cock at her entrance.

“Fuck me,” she told him, arching her hips so that he slid a bare fraction of an inch inside her.

He chuckled, a dark and dangerous sound that made her clit throb and her body tingle with anticipation. “Believe me, I intend to.”

He drove into her in one long, smooth thrust that didn’t stop until he was completely sheathed in her body. Her inner walls clamped around him, gripping him tight in welcome. He pulled almost all the way out of her body before thrusting back inside. He took her hard and fast, driving into her again and again.

Possessive and hungry, they devoured each other, skin sliding across skin, mouths mated, breath mingled. Soon she was drunk with pleasure, letting go of everything but the joy of being in his arms. The world vanished, leaving the two of them alone in a timeless place where every heartbeat lasted an eternity and every kiss was an unspoken promise.

He lifted her higher, changing the angle so that the head of his cock rubbed against her G-spot. It was all she needed to send her flying, carried away by a cresting wave of pure bliss. Her pussy fluttered and squeezed around his cock as she came, pushing Dave past his breaking point. Still lost in her release, Dani could only hold on as he shouted her name and began pounding into her, the wet slap of their bodies meeting and parting filling the air as he lost himself in the moment.

His orgasm tore a wild groan from his lips as he came, his thrusts becoming wild and unsteady as he emptied himself inside her. When he was spent, he didn’t pull out. Instead he blindly groped for the faucet handles, shutting off the water before carrying her out of the bathroom, both of them streaming water and his cock still buried inside her.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, then lay back so that she straddled his body. Without a word, he reached up to cradle the back of her head in one hand, drawing her down for a slow, leisurely kiss.

“We forgot towels,” she said when she next found breath to speak.

“We did. Guess we’ll just have to drip dry because I’m not moving and neither are you.”

“You’re being pushy again,” she informed him, deliberately shaking her head to shower him with droplets of water.

“And you’re being sassy. It’s fucking sexy.”

She smiled down at him, her heart overflowing with love. “That’s one of the things I love about you. I’m free to be myself, flaws, scars, and all.”

He cupped her face tenderly in his hands. “Your scars are proof that you’re a survivor, and I don’t see any flaws in you, sunshine. I only see the woman I love.”