Serve ‘N’ Protect by Tee O’Fallon
Chapter Twenty-One
Cassidy set down the gel pack she’d been holding against her bruised, swollen cheek. It was 12:05 a.m. Christmas Day had officially arrived.
She looked up from the brand-new laptop that had arrived just before dinner and stared out the window to the empty driveway next door. It had taken hours to install the necessary accounting software she needed and then to reload the partially completed spreadsheets from the external hard drive. After her last conversation with Walt Teedle, she worried that this was all a waste of time. Blissfully, though, it had kept her mind occupied. That and finishing making cookies for the kids in the neighborhood.
Lights twinkled on the tree and the scents of pine and cinnamon filled the air, all part of the holiday ambiance she’d surrounded herself with, yet the celebratory vibe eluded her.
Worrying about Markus took precedence over any cheery thoughts. He hadn’t heeded her warning that he wasn’t ready to be running around chasing after bad guys. At least his friends, Matt and Kade, were with him, and Ghost. Ghost would always have Markus’s back.
She logged into her email account and clicked on an old message from Teedle Tech, the one containing the password for the files Walt Teedle had originally forwarded in a separate email. After copying the password, she clicked open the other file and pasted it into the login box.
Incorrect password.
She tried again, typing it out this time, but got the same result, then tried one more time, pasting to be sure she wasn’t being sloppy. Ditto.
Incorrect password.
“Great.” Another hurdle to get over. What should have been a simple business audit had turned into an embarrassing mess that made her seem totally incompetent.
After tapping out a quick message to Walt requesting a password refresh, she closed the laptop, running her fingers across the clean, shiny cover. Without the laptop, she’d doubtlessly lose the Teedle account. She still might. In that case, there’d be no referral and she’d have to go back to placing more ads for new clients. Somehow, she’d pay Markus back as soon as possible, but having the laptop now was a godsend.
Markus might have difficulty putting his feelings into words, but she saw this for what it was. A very kind, thoughtful gesture, one that left her wondering what other facets of his personality lay hidden beneath that hard, emotional shell. If only he’d let them out for her to see.
Needing something else to stave off the worry that refused to diminish in the slightest, she lay on the floor, doing some of the stretching and leg-lifting strength exercises he’d taught her.
Markus and Ghost had driven off nearly eight hours ago. Aside from her friends calling to wish her happy holidays and her family to confirm Christmas breakfast at 9 a.m. sharp at her parents’ house, her phone had been eerily silent. Reaching out to Markus had been at the forefront of her mind since the moment he’d driven off. She’d grabbed her phone then set it down again no less than four times.
If things had gone well tonight, that meant he’d found the person who tried to kill him. She wanted that for him, of course, but then he would go back to his own world and leave her behind.
She raised her leg up, slowly let it down to the floor, and repeated the movement twenty more times. Her heart was full yet empty. Full of sadness that he wouldn’t be a stone’s throw away. Empty because he’d become a friend and… And what? All she knew was that she didn’t want to lose him.
Feeling so strongly about someone again was frightening. Hugh had hurt her terribly, so much so that she’d thought she might never recover. Giving her heart away again, let alone to a man who would leave her, was a bad, bad idea. Worse than bad. It was like, no cookies for the rest of your life kind of bad. And unlike Hugh, Markus accepted her for all that she was and all that she wasn’t. As much as she tried—as much as she knew it was for the best—tamping down her feelings for him was impossible, and they were intensifying with every moment they spent together.
She pushed up from the floor and tugged open the end table drawer for the remote. Maybe if she stared at the cold, flickering flames of the Yule log long enough, it would knock her out. Otherwise, she’d lie awake for hours, fretting about Markus until she was fifty shades of freaked out. She reached for the remote but stopped. Next to it was the gun Markus had insisted on leaving with her.
Gingerly, as if she might set the thing off, she closed the drawer. With the new security system in place, she hadn’t seen the need for him to leave her with a gun she barely knew how to use. But it seemed to make him feel better knowing it was there.
She reached for her cane but decided to go the short distance to the kitchen without it. There were more and more instances every day where she’d discovered the cane was no longer necessary to get from point A to point B, so yay for that.
At the counter, she adjusted several daffodil and orchid stems, leaning in to inhale their delicate floral scents. The brimming bouquet of rich yellow and deep pink blooms had arrived late, at around eight o’clock. At first, she’d been annoyed, thinking they were from Hugh still trying to get back in her good graces. The first time she read the card, her jaw had dropped to the floor, followed by so much joy in her heart she’d nearly tripped over her cane.
She picked up the card, smiling as she reread it for what had to be the tenth time.
Thanks for the cookies. Thanks for everything. Alex.
A nice sentiment, although she wasn’t completely certain what he was referring to by everything. As much as she wanted this to be more than just a platonic thanks between friends, that it was a purely romantic gesture filled with hope and the promise of something wonderful yet to come, she didn’t dare risk it. If she did, she’d only wind up hurt, and that pumping muscle in her chest would be stomped into a giant puddle of goo all over again.
Maybe it was better this way. Better for Markus to find the killer and leave before it was too late and she did something totally and utterly stupid. Like fall in love.God help her. Just thinking the word made her heart beat faster, in a rhythm definitely not friendship-esque.
When her phone beeped with an incoming text, she snatched it from the counter, her heart crazily pitter-pattering in her throat as she read the message from Markus.
Home in a few minutes. Making a quick stop.
She shut her eyes for a moment, resting her hand on the counter so she didn’t sink to the floor. He was obviously okay, but did that mean that Mansfield was the killer? Had he confessed? Did Markus arrest him? If not, what had he been doing all night? The most confusing thing of all was his use of the word home.
There was no use speculating. He was safe, and that was all that mattered.
After blowing out what felt like the most relieved breath of her life, she went to the bathroom and checked herself in the mirror.
Purple goose egg aside, the royal-blue Henley she wore made her eyes look pretty, but the face staring back at her was plain, so plain she wished she was one of those women who could swipe on mascara and eyeliner and look like a million bucks. The kind of woman she imagined Markus was accustomed to. Women probably threw themselves at him, what with that whole muscular, man-in-uniform thing he had going on and totally rocked. There was no chance of him ever seriously wanting her over one of the glamor goddesses he could no doubt snag with a snap of his fingers.
That didn’t stop her heart from pumping madly again when the sound of a car door shutting filtered into the house. A few moments later, she heard Ghost’s clawed feet on her porch. Excitement and nervous energy made her hands shake as she deactivated the alarm, flipped on the porch light, then flung open the front door.
Ghost’s tail wagged and he danced around in excited circles. Markus took the steps two at a time. Puffs of white air condensed in front of his face. With his typical emotionless expression, she couldn’t tell if things had gone well or not. But he was here and looking more drool-worthy handsome than ever.
She unlocked the outer door, holding it open. Ghost bounded inside, licking her hand while she scratched the top of his head. Markus shut the door behind him but didn’t speak.
“Well? Was it him?”
His lips flattened, his expression turning grim. “Yeah. We arrested him.”
“So tell me what happened?” The suspense was killing her.
Instead of giving her any answers, he clasped her face in his big, warm hands then leaned down, his eyes never straying from hers. “That can wait.”
Vaguely, she was aware of Ghost settling in front of the door. She swallowed as her mouth turned as dry as sandpaper. When her lips parted, his gaze dipped to her mouth, his breath washing over her face like a warm caress. In that moment, she’d never wanted to be kissed so much in her entire life, and it was all she could do not to scream the words out loud, damn the consequences. Kiss me.
The second their lips touched, her heart felt as if it had wings, flapping around and trying to fly right out of her throat. The kiss was soft and gentle, yet stole every ounce of breath from her lungs. She flattened her hands against his ridged abdominal muscles, sliding them higher to his hard pecs. When their tongues met, she willingly melted against him, pressing closer to his body and inhaling his clean, fresh, citrusy scent.
With an utterly male groan, he wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her in tighter, angling her head to kiss her hungrily, like a starving animal that hadn’t eaten in a week. A deep rumble came from the back of his throat, sending a rush of need directly to her core.
As their tongues tangled and danced, she fisted her hands in his shirt. Being held so firmly within the circle of his strong arms should have felt like being trapped in an iron vise. Instead, it was as if she were cocooned in a circle of hot, steely strength.
Breathing heavily, he lifted his head. “Do you want this?”
Through the thick haze of desire clouding her vision, the honest, naked truth of his question got through to her. He wanted her, and he wasn’t asking for anything more.
Uncertainty and fear wound their way to that teensy part of her brain that could still think rationally. Could she really do this, give her body to him and make love knowing he would leave her? Could she somehow keep her heart out of it? As to the part about her body, yes. That fuse had been lit and the sparks were racing to the point of no return. As for the other part, it was a question she couldn’t answer. Not yet, anyway.
“Yes,” she whispered, standing on her toes and linking her arms around his corded neck. “Yes.”
He turned and set the alarm on the new keypad then pointed to Ghost. “Guard.” Then he lifted her in his arms, carrying her up the stairs and beelining for her bedroom. Once inside, he set her on her feet and flipped on the lights.
He slid his hands beneath the hem of her shirt and tugged it over her head. Beneath her satiny bra, cool air tightened her nipples to hard peaks. He cupped her breasts, kneading them gently and rubbing his thumbs over the sensitive nipples. Thumbs were great, but she wanted his mouth right there, teasing and tasting and suckling on all the parts of her body that craved his attention. And there were a lot of parts.
With shaky hands, she reached for the top button of his jeans, popping it open and dragging the zipper down the hard bulge straining to be freed. When she cupped the cottony-soft black fabric covering him, he groaned, thrusting his hips forward, and shoved his hands down the back of her pants beneath her panties, clasping her bare ass and hauling her against him as he took her mouth in another fiery, toe-curling kiss. With their mouths fused, she shoved the jacket off his shoulders, wanting—no, needing—to touch every inch of his magnificent body.
They tore at each other’s clothes until they were completely naked, standing only inches apart at the side of her bed. She hadn’t thought Markus’s eyes could go darker, but they did, glinting like hard obsidian as his heated gaze lowered down her body. For a moment, self-consciousness rose to the surface, but he’d already seen the worst of her scars and hadn’t cared.
He reached for her, his big, rough hands at her hips then seeking every curve of her ass and waist. His long fingers traveled slowly, teasingly, across her sensitized skin, sending uncontrollable shivers rippling through her body.
“You are so beautiful.” His voice was low and husky.
“I’m not, and you don’t have to say that.” There’d been a time, before the accident, when she might have occasionally considered herself pretty but never beautiful. Now, even pretty was a thing of the past.
“Hey.” He took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. “I didn’t say it because I had to. I said it because I meant it. Anyone who thinks you’re not beautiful is shallow and superficial.” While he didn’t say it, they both knew he was referring to Hugh. “You’re beautiful and perfect just the way you are, and you never lost that.”
“Thank you.” Tears stung her eyes and she quickly blinked them away, her gaze landing on the angry pink scar on his abdomen. With the tip of her finger, she traced the raised ridge, unable to stop imagining the blade that had caused it.
Markus tugged her hand to his lips, kissing the backs of her fingers. “Don’t think about that, either. Right now, there’s only you and me in this room.”
As much as he was right, it was still a tall order to follow. But all thoughts of Markus’s injuries and her ex disappeared as he smoothed his hands down the sides of her rib cage to cup her ass, and a pulse of heat shot straight to the juncture of her thighs.
“Now, where were we?” The grin he gave her was so sexy and filled with promise, her belly fluttered as if it were filled to the brim with tiny, beautiful hummingbirds. “Oh, yeah.” He caressed her breasts then leaned down to suck hungrily on one nipple.
“Ohhh,” she moaned, letting her head fall back, arching her back and wanting so much more from him. Openmouthed and panting, she clung to him, digging her fingers into his shoulder muscles then dragging her short, blunt nails through the springy hairs on his chest.
He lifted his head then began a steady trail of wet kisses up her breastbone to her neck. “How long has it been?” he asked, just before sucking her earlobe into his mouth.
“How long has what been?” she murmured on a sigh, desperately trying to increase the contact between their bodies.
He released her lobe with a slippery pop. “Since you’ve been with anyone.”
Oh, that. “About a year.” Since before the accident. After that, self-consciousness about her body had tanked her sex drive into the negative numbers.
“In that case, baby, we need to get you wet.” Markus’s lips tipped up in the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. “How about I give you a different kind of deep tissue massage?”
Her inner walls clenched just thinking about what he had in mind.
He laid her gently on the edge of the bed then spread her thighs, draping her legs over his shoulders as he knelt on the floor.
With his fingers, he parted her folds and she nearly arched straight off the bed to the ceiling. Oh, God. Calm down. If she didn’t, this would all be over before it began, and she wanted it to last. Because she might very well not have many nights with him, and she wanted to savor every single moment.
As he settled his mouth and tongue right where she wanted him to, her insides melted like the center of a chocolate lava cake. The shock of having him down there dissipated as his tongue probed deeper, stroking and sucking on that special spot, laving it until she was ready to scream.
He inserted two fingers inside her, still focusing his lips and tongue on her clit and leaving her undulating her hips in a frenzied rhythm she could barely control. Well, he’d wanted to get her wet and she was.
A deep, appreciative rumble came from the back of his throat, the vibration sending tightly coiled waves of pleasure arrowing straight to her core. Pressure continued building until her body began shaking with tremors, and still the stroking and licking of his relentless tongue drove her closer and closer to the edge.
She fisted her hands around the duvet, whipping her head from side to side as the powerful orgasm ripped through her like a raging inferno. Her body bowed off the bed, and she cried out at the intense waves crashing over her.
Cassidy strained and bucked through one aftershock after another, and still Markus’s wicked tongue kept its relentless pace, gliding and stroking her hypersensitized, super-wet core. “Oh God, Markus. Please!” Whether she was begging him to stop or keep going, she honestly didn’t know.
Still shuddering and sucking in air as if she’d just run a 10k, she sank to the bed, her body spent and totally sated. Between gasps, her only thought was…wow. Just…wow.
Markus licked his lips, a totally masculine and extremely pleased look on his face.
“Now it’s my turn to give you a deep tissue massage,” she said in a voice so husky she barely recognized it as her own.
“I like the way you think.”
Grinning, she crooked her finger then patted the mattress. When he lay down next to her, she straddled his thighs and took him in her hand, stroking his long, thick erection from his balls to the tip of the head then repeating the motion, all while watching his handsome face contort with pleasure.
He’d levered himself onto his elbows to watch her, but by the time she got to the fourth rep, he closed his eyes and let his head fall back with a throaty groan. As his chest rose and fell faster, he parted his lips, breathing through his open mouth. The sight of him, naked and powerful as he gave his body over to her, was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen.
And she wanted to do more for him. So much more.
Leaning over, she took him in her mouth, as much as she could, that was, considering how his erection seemed to have grown even thicker and longer in the last five seconds. He was hard, hot, and pulsing beneath her tongue.
He gritted his teeth, uttering a low growl. “God, baby. That feels so damn good.” He began raising and lowering his hips in a gentle rhythm that matched the up and down motions of her mouth as she sucked and swiped at him with her tongue.
His ab muscles tightened. His entire body shuddered, then he snapped open his eyes. “Stop,” he managed through still-gritted teeth.
Cassidy lifted her head. “Why?” She was really getting into this and desperately wanted to watch Markus come from what she was doing to him.
“Because.” He uttered a strangled laugh. “Your ‘deep tissue massage’ is making me feel like an amateur, and I’m about to go ballistic.”
“So?” Wasn’t that the point?
“So,” he answered, sitting up and kissing her soundly on the lips. “I’d much rather go ballistic when I’m inside you.”
A delicious shudder went through her body. “Ohhh.”
Markus maneuvered from beneath her then grabbed his pants from the floor and took out a handful of condoms.
“You just happened to have those with you?” she couldn’t help but ask.
Again, he gave her that hot, sexy grin, and those hummingbirds zinging around in her belly took flight. “I told you I had a stop to make on the way home.”
Her throat went dry, and she had to swallow as he expertly rolled a condom down his hard, thick length and stalked toward her like a predator about to pounce. His dark, springy chest hair made a tantalizing trail from his pecs down to the center of his ridged abdomen before making a direct path to his erection. Without any pretense, he leaned over her, holding his weight off her as he took her mouth in a sensual, possessive kiss, his tongue stroking the inside of her mouth with the same finesse he’d gifted her greedy, wet sex.
Lowering his hips, his big body shook as he probed the entrance of her folds, stretching her walls with care. “That’s it, baby. Take me in. Take all of me.”
She gasped, tensing as he gradually nudged himself deeper, waiting for her muscles to relax before burying himself fully with one long, smooth, gliding stroke. He waited a moment longer as she adjusted to his girth then began a steady, rhythmic thrusting. In then out, his glutes flexing and bunching beneath her questing fingers. The raw, sensual pleasure of his body, heavy on top of hers, thick and strong within her channel and fitting so perfectly, drew tears from her eyes.
Like her, Markus breathed hard, sucking in air through gritted teeth, his eyes never once leaving hers. His tempo sped up, each thrust more powerful than the last as their hips crashed together in a beautifully erotic and intimate dance.
She locked her legs over the backs of his thighs, angling her hips and allowing herself to take more of him inside her. Staring into his eyes, so dark now she could no longer differentiate his irises from his pupils, her orgasm began spiraling outward, slowly at first then exploding from within.
Markus thrust faster, milking cry after cry from her throat before throwing his head back on a loud groan.
As they lay there breathing hard and chest to chest in a way that made it seem as if their hearts were beating as one, she languorously floated back down to earth. Markus rolled them onto their sides, grazing his lips across hers then tucking her snugly against his chest.
“That was amazing,” he murmured, nuzzling the top of her head.
“Mmm,” she agreed. It had been amazing. Amazingly beautiful. Amazingly awesome. And frightening. Because she now had the answer to her question.
As for keeping her heart out of this complicated quagmire, it was far, far too late for that, and she’d never really had a say in the matter.