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  He swore under his breath. “Yeah. I worry about that call all the time, too, but it’s what she does, so it’s just part of loving her.”

  That was surprisingly understanding, and I was starting to really see what Royal saw in this man aside from his obvious physical appeal.

  “I called her mom. So she will be putting in an appearance at some point in time.” I watched as his jaw involuntarily clenched.

  “Thanks for the warning.” He sounded like I had just told him the world was going to end and he was going to have to sit dockside and watch it all happen.

  I wasn’t exactly a fan of Royal’s mom either, but there was something more to why Asa seemed to flat-out despise her. I wanted to ask about it, but I figured it could wait for another time. The pretty redheaded nurse was walking back towards us and this time there was no missing the sparkling diamond on her left ring finger. It wasn’t flashy or ostentatious but it was there and I felt like a total tool and a really shitty cop for not being more observant and getting all the facts before attacking Asa.

  “She’s back in the room. She had a pretty ugly concussion that they want to keep under observation for a little bit and she’s gonna need pain meds for that cut on her arm. She’s probably going to want to follow up with a plastic surgeon.”

  I blinked. “It’s that bad?”

  The woman turned the softest, kindest gray eyes I had ever seen in my direction and looked at me quizzically.

  Asa motioned between us. “Saint Ford, meet the elusive Dominic Voss, and might I say it’s about fucking time.” His twang was anything but sweet when he said it.

  The redhead took a step forward and I thought she was going to reach for my hand, so I was stunned when she went right around the extended offering and went right in for a hug. I had to admit when her arms wrapped around my waist I felt a little better.

  “Uh … nice to meet you, Saint.”

  It sounded like she sniffled a little into my chest, so I patted her on the back. She pulled away from me and her eyes were indeed glassy with unshed tears when she looked up at me. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Dominic. I feel like I already know you. Royal talks about you all the time, and I was here the night they brought you in. Well, here but not on duty. I remember the trauma team thinking the prognosis wasn’t all that great, so I’m really happy to see you up and around.” She cleared her throat a little and turned to look back at Asa. “She’s got two broken ribs and a few that are really, really bruised. She’s not going to be moving around much the next few weeks.”

  He nodded. “I’ll take care of her.”

  She gave him a little grin. “I know you will, but if she needs anything I want you to call me.” She sighed and shook her head a little. “The kid that hit her didn’t get off so lucky. He snapped a couple vertebrae in his neck and spine. He’s lucky to be alive, but his careless act is going to have lifelong consequences. It’s sad, he’s so young.”

  She gave us directions to the room they had Royal in and told Asa that she would check in on her friend before they discharged her. Asa and I silently made our way to the unit, both stiff with tension but maybe just maybe feeling a little stronger that we were facing the unknown together.

  I let him go into the room first and almost ran into his broad back as he came to a sudden stop in front of me. I nudged him and when he moved so that he could reach the edge of Royal’s bed, I saw what had shocked him still.

  Royal looked ravaged and battered. Like a fragile, broken toy all wrapped up in bandages and covered in black and blue marks. Her face was a startling grayish tone, which only enhanced the twin black circles around her eyes and the nasty gash that had little white strips of tape holding it shut over one of her eyebrows. The arm that was injured was swathed up like a mummy where it was poking out of her hospital gown and I could see the purple mark on her collarbone that the impact and jolt against the seat belt had left.

  “If it isn’t my two favorite guys.” Her words were barely a whisper and I could see how much pain she was in just trying to get them out.

  Asa bent down and clasped her good hand in his as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. I saw him close his eyes and whisper something to her that I couldn’t hear. Whatever it was had tears shining in Royal’s eyes and her squeezing his fingers.

  “I guess I finally have to get a new car.” I knew she said it as a joke, but I couldn’t even smile at her. I felt like I was frozen on the spot, helpless and ineffective while she lay there hurt and damaged. I had a startling realization that this was probably exactly how she felt after my accident.

  “Jesus, Royal. You scared the shit out of me. I almost fell down the stairs when Asa called and told me what happened.”

  She blinked her watery eyes at me as I took the steps needed to reach the other side of her hospital bed. The corner of her mouth quirked up. “I know the feeling, hero.”

  I blew out a pent-up breath. “I know you do. How about we make a pact to stay out of the emergency room from here on out?”

  I held out my hand with just my pinky finger sticking out. She let go of Asa’s hand long enough to hook her own pinkie around mine as I gently moved them up and down.

  “We can sure try.” Her tone indicated that considering we both had a dangerous jobs the likelihood of that happening was slim. My gut kicked as I realized she was probably right … well, would be if I could get myself back on the force.

  “I had Dom call your mom so she should be here shortly.” She looked up at Asa and some silent couple communication happened that I was completely left out of. I wasn’t used to Royal having secrets from me and I didn’t like it.

  I glowered at them both and crossed my arms over my chest. “Someone want to let me in on why it’s such a big deal to have your boyfriend and mother in the same room, especially considering the circumstances?”

  Royal went to shrug and then shouted out in pain. Asa put a hand on her shoulder and cut me a dark look. “Roslyn and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things where her relationship with Royal is concerned. I prefer not to be in the same room with her, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is getting Royal comfortable until I can take her home.” His amber eyes glinted with a danger I knew he had in him but I had never seen. “I can play nice when I have to, cop.”

  Royal was looking at me with eyes that pleaded for me to just let it drop and because I loved her and she was hurt I decided to do just that.

  I sighed and told her, “I met Saint. She seems very nice. I’m so happy you have a friend like that looking out for you.”

  She gave me a loose grin and lifted up the back of Asa’s hand so that she could rub it against her bruised cheek. “You would like all the people I’ve let into my life, Dom. You just need to give them a chance.”

  I looked between the two of them and nodded solemnly. “Point taken.”

  I hung around until the doctor came in and offered her a mild painkiller for her injuries. They wanted her to stay for observation for the rest of the day, and it was clear Asa had things under control and that he was who she was going to turn to for comfort and help, as it should be. I offered to stay to be the buffer when Royal’s mom showed, but Asa told me he could handle it and I was inclined to believe him. There didn’t seem to be much this southern charmer couldn’t handle. I didn’t want to be impressed by a guy with a criminal record as long as my arm but I was, and there was no denying the proof that was right in front of me that he would do anything and everything for my best friend. He might have her heart, but it was obvious it was a fair trade because Royal held his just as tightly.

  It wasn’t until I was in my truck and headed back towards my apartment building that I remembered I had somewhere else I was supposed to be that day. I tried to call Lando’s cell phone and it went right to voicemail. I thought about going by the clinic but didn’t want to interrupt him if he was with another client, so I called his cell back and left a rambling message about why I had missed my appointment. I didn’t
want him to get any ideas that it had anything to do with what had gone down between us during my last session.

  When I pulled into my spot in front of my building, the sleek sports car that was parked in the spot next to it immediately caught my eye. So did the tall man holding a cup of Starbucks in his hand as he got out and made his way up to the sidewalk where I stopped to look at him.

  “What are you doing here, Orlando?” I sounded as surprised as I felt.

  He stopped before stepping off the curb, so for once I had a height advantage on him. “I was worried when you missed your appointment. Your new trainer called a couple of times and it went to voicemail.”

  I frowned and pulled out my phone. “I just called you and it went right to voicemail. Royal was in a car accident and she’s in the hospital. I turned my phone off when I was in her room.”

  His expression pulled into one of instant concern. “Is she alright?”

  “She’s been better. Do you make house calls when all your clients are no-shows?” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to prod him, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I never could with him.

  He muttered something under his breath and I saw his long fingers tense around the white cup in his hand. “I was worried. About you. About us … I don’t know. I’ve never stepped over the line with a client or a man like that before. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

  His anxiousness was cute. He was cute, and I was really glad he was here. I never really had anyone else to lean on when shit went south. I was usually the pillar that held everyone else up.

  “You and I are fine, Lando. In fact, you and I might be the only thing I can honestly say is A-OK at this point.” I reached out a hand and put it on the side of his neck. A thrill shot through me as his pulse immediately leapt up to kiss my fingertips.

  “It’s been a pretty shitty day, so if you don’t have to go back to work, why don’t you come upstairs with me and we can get naked and do really fun and dirty things to one another?” I said it jokingly, but the way his light eyes sparked at the suggestion made me think there was nothing funny about the two of us getting naked together.

  He hissed out a breath between his teeth and closed his eyes briefly. When they snapped open, I knew he was coming upstairs with me.

  “I’ve got a few hours.”

  I chuckled. “That might be enough time. Let’s find out.”

  Chapter 8

  Lando

  It felt like the most natural thing in the world to follow those wide shoulders up the stairs and into the darkened apartment. There was no doubt, no second thoughts, and I found myself wishing I didn’t have to go back to work for my final client of the day.

  When Dom had been a no-show for his appointment, all manner of the worst things that could have happened to him started running through my mind. I wondered if he had hurt himself again, if maybe our liaison hadn’t left him as twisted up and anxious for a repeat as it had left me. He was assertive and flirty, but there was a chance that things had gone further than either of us intended and that made me panic on a personal and professional level. The last thing I wanted was my rampaging hormones where the hot cop was concerned to taint my reputation. The world was more open-minded than it had ever been, but I could only imagine the way some of my clients would react if they thought they were going to have to fend off my advances during a session.

  My relief that there was a totally logical reason why Dom hadn’t shown was palpable and probably part of the reason I offered no resistance when he took my almost empty coffee cup from me and took my hand to guide me through the run-of-the-mill apartment towards what I assumed was his bedroom. The décor was very typical single-dude style. Heavy black furniture and lots of sleek electronics. There were pictures on the wall of him and two young women that looked so much like him that I knew they had to be his sisters. There was also pictures of him in his uniform with an attractive older woman that I assumed was his mom.

  The sight of him dressed in his patrol uniform sent a surprising jolt of desire blasting through my system. I liked boys in uniform, but those uniforms usually involved bulky pads and tight football pants. I had no clue how sexy a man with a badge could be, not to mention the handcuffs.

  He tugged on my hand when I stalled and turned to see what I was staring at. I tapped the picture that showed him a few years younger and actually smiling with his mother on one side and Royal on the other dressed exactly the same.

  “You look good in uniform.”

  Both of his dark eyebrows winged up and a smile slashed across his face. “I look better out of it. Come on we’ve got a ticking clock working against us.”

  It was typically a few weeks or even months into dating before I found myself in a guy’s room or welcomed them into mine. Before I got to this point there was usually the period of getting to know someone and learning what they liked, what they disliked and if we were on equal footing when it came to expectations in the bedroom. Some guys were all about giving, some guys all about receiving and then there were the few that considered sex a team sport and could get on board with either/or. Dominic and I hadn’t even been close to that kind of conversation, and yet I went willingly as he pulled me closer to him by the front of my shirt and placed a bruising kiss on my mouth. It was obvious he was on edge, as rough as he was, normally whenever he touched me he did so with care and this time there was none of that present.

  I let him devour my mouth, nip at my lips and pull my shirt up and over my head. He was impatient and his hands were everywhere. His rush made me feel like I could actually hear the ticking of a clock as he put a hand in the center of my now bare chest and walked me backwards towards his unmade bed in the center of the room. All the while he continued to ravage my mouth like he was starving and I was the only way he could get any kind of sustenance.

  I wrapped my hands around his rock-hard biceps to try and stall him and pulled back a little as my lungs started to burn with the need for oxygen. I’d never been kissed like my lips were the answer to everything that was wrong in the world before and I had to admit it was a pretty intoxicating feeling.

  I ran my hand over the curve of his shoulder and clasped the side of his face as he attacked my belt buckle and started to pull my hips towards him since I wasn’t bending and sitting on the edge of the bed like he obviously wanted me to.

  “Dom.” I evaded his wicked and tempting lips as he leaned in for another kiss. “We should take a minute and talk.”

  His eyebrows slashed down over his celadon-colored eyes. Impatience made every line of his strong body tense as he pulled back and gave me a dark look. “A talk about what?”

  I just stared at him because I thought it was obvious. I put my free hand on the other side of his face and leaned forward until our foreheads were touching. “About how we do this. I like you, Dom, and I think you like me. It would be a shame if we screwed that all up by not taking the time this thing between us feels like it deserves.”

  He let out a heavy breath and the weight of it across my parted lips was an entirely different kind of kiss.

  “Is this the do you wanna fuck or get fucked talk?” It was so crude and blatant that it shocked a laugh out of me.

  “Uh … yeah. Pretty much.” I stilled as his hands slid around my naked waist and into the slack top of my pants so that they rested on the curve at the top of my ass.

  “I don’t care.” He breathed the words out and I tasted their sincerity as they touched my lips.

  “You don’t care?” That was unusual and it raised a flag of alarm. I wanted him to take what was happening between the two of us as seriously I was. I moved my hands to his shoulders and pulled my head back so that we were looking at each other eye to eye. “How can you not care?”

  He grunted at me and moved back so that he could pull his own shirt over his head. I was distracted momentarily by the flex and stretch of his toned torso.

  “Sometimes I care. Depends on the guy and the situation. With
you I don’t care. I’m happy you’re here so I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

  That might be the most flattering thing anyone had ever said to me and if he was down for whatever¸ then I could roll with that. I was kind of in the same frame of mind. As long as I got to have some part of him I didn’t really care about how I got it.

  Now I was the one that was impatient and wanted him naked as fast as I could get him. I finally went backwards on the bed and went after his heavy silver belt buckle with fingers that seemed to have forgotten how to work. The task was made even more difficult as he bent over to finish the job he had started by pulling my pants the rest of the way down my legs. In a matter of minutes, we were both in nothing more than our boxers. I was a cotton or silk kinda guy and it looked like Dom was a boxer brief man. They suited him, but they were in the way, so I reached out a finger and hooked the elastic at the top and tugged.

  “You’re right, you do look better out of uniform.” He snorted at me, but it quickly turned into a sharply inhaled breath as I moved the fabric out of the way so that his waiting cock could fall into my eager hands. I curled my fingers around the width and gave the shaft a pump. His hips arched towards me so he leaned forward as I continued to move my fist up and down so that he was bent over me with a hand on the bed next to my head as I fell backwards.

  “You look good in my bed, Mr. Fancy-Pants.” His voice was raspy and it was my turn to struggle to breathe as his free hand skipped over the contours of my chest and disappeared into the waistband of my boxers. He freed my erection with a deft touch and rolled his thumb over the tip while I continued to work his shaft up and down with a firm grip.

  I cocked an eyebrow and bent a knee to make more room for him between my legs. He seemed to be comfortable where he was, looming over me, looking down at me with heated eyes, so I saw no need to switch places. “I’m not wearing any pants, fancy or otherwise.”