“You haven’t seen the news?”
“I don’t have a TV. Or internet.”
“But you’ve been staying with Curtis…”
“That’s over. Whatever it was, it’s over.”
“Why?” Nia spoke softly, forcing Sara to press the phone tight to her ear.
Because she was an idiot, that’s why. Because she’d let him in, almost all the way in, before pushing him out hard. One mistake after another. “Because it’s for the best this way.” God, she was getting tired of that phrase. “Now tell me what’s going on.”
“Shootings at the university. Reports say the gunman has a semi-automatic rifle and he’s on foot somewhere on or around campus. Dozens of police have converged to seal and sweep the area, and…”
“And what?” Sara barely found her voice to whisper.
“Two officers are down. That’s all it said on the news. No details or names have been released.”
Curtis was working right now. And he might not be at his sharpest after what happened this morning.
She dropped the cell on the futon and ran for the bathroom. Breakfast and lunch came up in a rush, followed by bile and dry heaving that morphed into sobbing. She slid to the floor, curling into the tightest ball possible. Stupid. She’d been so stupid.
Never again. She had to get out of this city, away from everything that’d happened since she moved here. As soon as they heard about Curtis—one way or another—she’d hug Nia goodbye and pack the car. Anything that didn’t fit could sit here and rot.
Until then, she had to pull it together. She couldn’t let Nia see her this way. Especially now. Nia would be stressed enough, worrying about Curtis for Conn’s sake.
Sara didn’t need a heart-to-heart anyway. What was the point? Blubbering about emotions wouldn’t change anything. It’d been a long, bumpy road, but she’d allowed herself to love three living people—Nia, Meredith and Peter. That was hard enough, knowing they could leave her, permanently, at any moment. She couldn’t love anybody else. Wouldn’t.
The first day she’d met Curtis, she’d accused him of being a cliché. He’d countered with, “There’s a reason clichés exist, babe. They work.”
She hoped he was right, because she had one that needed to work—out of sight, out of mind. And she would put as much time and distance as necessary between her and Curtis to make it come true.
Chapter 14
Curtis
Curtis took the stairs in Sara’s building two at a time. He’d driven like a madman to get here after making quick calls to his family to let them know he was okay. Conn had offered to let Sara know. Save Curtis any awkwardness, since he’d heard about their breakup.
Not so long ago that would’ve raised his hackles. He didn’t get to the girlfriend stage all that often, and when those relationships ended, they ended. His choice. No looking back.
His relationship with Sara didn’t fit in that box. It was wild, addictive, combative, and messy as hell. And it was not over.
He stepped into the fourth-floor hallway. A few sprinted steps and he stood at her freshly painted door. A shiny new lock had been installed at some point too. He’d figured she would come back here after what happened between them this morning. At the time, he’d been too furious to try to stop her. He hadn’t even been sure he wanted to. Now he knew differently.
He knocked harder than necessary, given the late hour and size of her apartment. To hell with subtlety or patience. “Let me in, I need to talk to you.”
To his surprise, the door opened immediately. Sara stood back from the entrance, not motioning him inside, but not telling him off either. He stepped in and closed the door, turning the new deadbolt in the process. She threw her arms around his neck the second the lock clicked. Hadn’t seen that coming, but he’d take it.
“I hate you right now. I wish I’d never met you.” The hitch in her voice contradicted the harsh statements. So did her body pressed tight against his.
“I know.” He got it. He’d seen plenty of his fellow officers’ relationships fall apart because of this kind of strain.
Since they met, Sara had tried repeatedly to push him away. To insist she didn’t care about him. He’d thought it was part of her independent-to-the-extreme personality. He hadn’t realized the deeper truth of it until he read her book. Until he was crouched behind a cruiser with a 9mm Smith & Wesson in his hands, searching for a shooter who could be anywhere, including training a gun on him.
The stubborn, independent woman with figurative balls of steel had cultivated those traits to keep people at a safe distance. To protect herself from further loss after her parents died.
If she needed to hate him right now, he’d let her. But that wouldn’t stop him from everything else he’d come here to do. Starting with kissing her.
He cupped her face in his palms and sealed their mouths together. Her hands moved to his chest, pushing at first, then clawing at his buttons and tugging his shirt from his pants. His uniform hit the floor, along every other piece of clothing they wore.
“I want it hard,” she said as they tumbled onto her futon.
“Good thing.” He pushed her legs against her tits and bore down on her, burying his cock inside her with one thrust. “Because that’s how it’s going to be.” He pulled out, then filled her again. “So you remember, always, who you belong to.”
She struggled against him. “Don’t say that.”
“Get used to it.” He caught her wrists and pinned them above her head. “You’re mine. All mine and only mine.” He crushed his lips against hers, fucking her mouth with his tongue as he rocked in and out of her writhing body.
She moaned her surrender, tipping her hips to take him deeper. She sucked his tongue, circling it with hers. She tasted like heaven.
He pushed deeper, rolling his hips and grinding hard to hit her hot spots. Her body jerked in response, throwing off his rhythm as she found her own.
“Come for me, babe.” He whispered the words against her lips while giving her more pressure, more friction. “I need you to come with me.”
Every inch of her shook. Her mouth beneath his. Her wrists in his palms, her thighs against his chest, her pussy around his cock.
“Jesus… You’re so beautiful, you feel so fucking good…” Heat raced up from his balls, lighting him up like a bonfire as he came. Fucking amazing. So tight and hot and—
Bare.
He truly owned her now. For better or worse.
He released her wrists and eased up enough for her to get her legs down. His cock slid from her body in the process, but he didn’t move. He just held himself there—his sweaty forehead pressed to hers, his damp, spent cock against her thigh.
He’d already had so much to say to her. Now this too. Shit, where to start?
“Don’t worry, you won’t catch anything from me,” she said, beating him to it. “I get checked out regularly and believe it or not, I’ve never had unprotected sex.”
“Same.”
“Guess that makes us virgins. Well, until five minutes ago. I’ve never done a virgin before. You were pretty good.” She tried for one of her saucy smiles, looking away when the attempt morphed into a frown. “That was the last time, lawman. I can’t be with you again.”