Wild Hearts Read online

  “I’m beginning to think I should have put some whisky in it.” He surrendered the cup to her grasping hands and watched her take a long drag on the coffee cup as if she was jonesing for a fix.

  And maybe she was.

  She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Sorry you had to be here for that little sexist show.” Kate took another long sip and he wondered if she knew she was drinking something one degree cooler than lava. “If they’d let me strangle people who offended me things would work so much better around here.”

  “I know I came at the wrong time. I finished my shift a little early and thought I’d take Pilar out for dinner.”

  The tight pull of the skin around Kate’s mouth told him he’d really missed the mark.

  “She went home straight after that... meeting.”

  “I know you can’t talk about it here.”

  “You know,” she looked up at him with a disturbingly cold expression in her eyes, “in the old west, they would have let me hang him upside down over an anthill and dribble honey all over him.”

  “You know,” he had to remind her, “in the old west they probably wouldn’t have let you carry a badge at all.”

  She stared at him with wide-eyes. “Are you trying to get me to beat you up?”

  That was telling.

  “Do you think she went straight home? I could meet her there and take her out for dinner.”

  “She might not want to go out. Maybe order something in? I was going to ask her if she wanted me to bring something over for her, but she might not want to see me right now.”

  “What happened?”

  She shook her head. “That’s really a question that you should let her decide if she wants to answer. If I tell you-”

  “Yeah,” he agreed, “that would be a strange dynamic between the three of us and no one likes to be talked about when they’re not there.”

  Leaning in, Roan pressed a kiss to Kate’s forehead and pressed the brown paper bag he still held into her hand. “There’s some sugar in here. Sounds like you might need the pickup.”

  Kate leaned her head on his shoulder for a moment and then stood back with a sigh. “I need it like my next breath,” she assured him. “Go. I think you might be just the person she needs to see right now.”

  When he walked up to her front door, he could see her standing in the kitchen looking down at the counter. There weren’t any groceries or dishes there, just her badge. He couldn’t quite see her expression, but her shoulders looked like they carried the weight of the world on them.

  Roan raised his hand and softly knocked on the doorframe. “Pilar? It’s Roan. Can you let me in?”

  He kept his gaze lowered, but he could see her out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t want to put her on the spot or make her feel like he was watching her. If she needed time to think before she-

  The door opened and he looked up into her guarded expression.

  “Did Kate send you over?”

  That seemed like a loaded question, but he answered it head on. “I went to the station to see you and Kate told me you’d gone home.”

  Pilar nodded slowly. “Did she tell you what happened?”

  He shook his head. “I heard some yelling. That big guy with the wannabe handlebar mustache had a few stupid things to say to Kate. How she didn’t kick his ass, I don’t know.”

  She smiled... a little.

  “Burke mouthed off to her?”

  “She stopped him before she had to deck him, but yeah. He said a few things.”

  He could tell that she wasn’t ready to talk yet and she might not even be ready to talk the next day, but he also didn’t get the feeling that she wanted to be alone.”

  “I was thinking of taking you out for dinner, but-” he continued on before she could turn him down, “I don’t think you’re in a mood for it. I think we could get some really good food delivered if you don’t mind me staying for a bit.”

  She stepped back and opened the door fully. “I’m not going to be good company, but you’re welcome to stay until I start growling at you. After that it’s all up to your sense of self-preservation.”

  At least she still had her humor.

  “Come on in before I jump you where you stand.”

  Although he couldn’t find much of an argument against that idea, he didn’t want to worry about his sister or anyone else for that matter to see what he was about to do. Roan stepped inside and moved just past her. She shut the door and set the lock. Turning back to him, she opened her mouth to talk, but that was as far as she got. Leaning in, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. The first kiss was at an odd angle, given their difference in height, so he lifted her up and stepped in, pressing her against the front door.

  The soft gasp that escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck disappeared into his mouth.

  Thank god he didn’t think she was kidding. The way he was kissing her felt like it was more than just arousal jumping between them, it felt like he was taking some of her pain from her.

  A slight shift of his hips was all she had in warning before he curled into her and she felt as if she was riding him without even having to move.

  Pilar tilted her head slightly to the side and swept her tongue over his bottom lip. They’d gotten this far before, but they’d both stopped, deciding to take a breath and not go any further. Heaven help her, she wanted... needed this from him.

  Call it frustration or just blind rage bleeding into hunger, she wanted him and hoped he was right there with her.

  There was so much running around inside of her head that she didn’t think she could manage a coherent explanation if her life depended on it. Still, there was one sure and solid thought in her head.

  They’d come to this moment time and time again and she felt like she was the one holding them back.

  She didn’t want to wait any longer.

  Sliding her fingers through the hair just above his neck, she gave him a little tug.

  Roan leaned his head back, letting her take the reins.

  She hadn’t anticipated how that would affect them in other ways. Leaning his head back pushed his hips into hers. The hard line of his dick was now fitted tightly between her legs and the rush of sensation seemed to push her blood faster through her veins like water through a fire hose. It made her want... more.

  She wanted him closer.

  Wanted more skin.

  Wanted more touch.

  Wanted him all over her.

  Inside of her.

  And she wanted to be so much to him that maybe she would be inside of him too.

  Pilar squeezed her legs a little tighter around him as her eyes moved over his face, down along his throat, and then back up to his eyes.

  “I don’t want food right now.”

  “Me neither.”

  God, he was so easy to please.

  “I don’t want to talk right now.”

  “I’m okay with that.”

  She could hear the shift of his voice deeper in his chest and she swore she could feel it moving through her.

  “I just,” she leaned back, just enough that the way their bodies fit put just the perfect amount of pressure on her clit that stars sizzled at the edges of her vision, “I feel like I’m not doing this the right way.”

  She felt him groan before she heard it, and the smile that lifted the corners of his mouth looked so damn good.

  “Baby, the way you feel pressed against me, and the way I feel pressed so deep into you... there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “It’s just not hearts and flowers.”

  That got his attention.

  He straightened a little, putting some semblance of distance between them. “Is that what you want? If it is, just say it and we’ll wait.”

  “I,” she shook her head and realized that she must sound like an utter idiot, “I just don’t know how to be the right person for you. I don’t know how to be the right kind of woman for you.” />
  He slowly lowered her down to the ground and she knew she’d ruined it.

  “Okay, forget what I said earlier,” he took her hand and lead her over past the empty space where the chaise would end up and into the bedroom, “we need to talk.”

  Roan sat her down on the side of the bed and then he sat down, leaving enough space between them that they could look at each other without her having to get a crick in her neck.

  Even when she was messing things up, he was right there, fixing it.

  “What happened today?”

  She let her eyes drift closed for a moment and gathered her thoughts. When she opened them back up, she looked at him and let it out.

  “Crois had a family emergency and went back home to Grand Isle for a few days. I was paired up with Burke. Most of the day were some pretty common calls. Nothing we had to worry about, just get things done. Then we were called to a domestic disturbance. By the time we got there just a few minutes later, the man saw us coming and took off. Burke was driving so I jumped out at the curb and took off after the man. Burke radioed me before I got to the end of the block and told me to come back to the scene.

  “By the time I got there, the woman was sobbing and Burke was acting like a total asshole. He told me that she was too ‘upset’ to talk. His tone was ridiculous, but I held my tongue, trying to calm her down enough to talk to me and tell me what happened. Burke wouldn’t shut up. He was saying things like... ‘It’s just like a woman to stir things up and call the cops.’ ‘I can see why he’d run away if she’s like this all the time.’ God, he just wouldn’t stop.

  “I’d already asked him to walk away and let me talk to her, but when I said it a second time, he came back with, ‘Well, if you’re going to start yacking with each other I’m going to go inside and watch some tv.’”

  “Had he said things like that before?”

  Pilar shrugged, helpless. “I’ve never been on patrol with him. Goodness knows what he’s said to women before. Maybe his partner keeps him in check, but I doubt it. I was almost happy when he said he was going to go inside the house. At least then I’d have a chance to calm her down and get to the bottom of what happened, but it all went to hell a few moments later when a car driving through the neighborhood slowed down.

  “The people inside the car were probably just curious. People rubberneck all the time when it comes to the police. It wasn’t a big deal, but one moment he was ready to throw in the towel and go inside and the next he was grumbling about how she was causing a scene.

  “Her! Not that his ranting hadn’t made the poor woman feel even worse. So that’s when he reached for her, I can only guess to help her up and inside, but she reared back like he was going to hit her.”

  “I can see how she’d think that if it was a domestic assault call.”

  Pilar sighed. “Exactly! I just don’t think Burke cared about it at all. He just wanted everything out of the public eye and when she reacted the way she did, I had to step in.”

  She felt his hand tense around hers.

  “I stepped between them and put out a hand to hold him back. Burke saw it differently. He said I hit him. I guess that could seem like the truth. I bet Burke’s had his share of fights, but that wasn’t my intent. I just wanted to give the woman a chance to breathe and with his mood and the way he’d spoken to her, I knew he wasn’t going to listen to me so I had to become an obstacle for him.”

  “And he says you hit him.”

  “I guess I don’t see why he’d see it that way. He prides himself on being such a tough guy, why would he tell people I got the drop on him?”

  “And the Captain? What did he think?”

  She couldn’t help the lump that formed in her throat. “He chalked it up to ‘differing styles of police work.’ He gave both of us a few days of unpaid leave. I can see why, but then in a few days we just go back to work. I don’t see how things are going to change when we go back to work. Even if Crois is back then, I doubt Burke is just going to let things go.”

  Roan lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “Can you?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered him honestly. “I’d like to think today was just a one off and that he treats other women better than he did with our victim today, but I don’t think so.”

  “Is that what got stuck in your head about the ‘right kind of woman’?”

  She tried to shrug off the question, but he wasn’t going to let her. He sat there, waiting.

  Giving her the space to calm down. The time to gather her thoughts.

  “You’re the exact opposite of him, you know?”

  His eyes narrowed just a hint. “Burke?”

  When she nodded, his shoulders sagged a little in relief.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re almost too perfect. You’re patient. You defend me, even to me.” She smiled thinking of how he reminded her of the best men in her life.

  “Someone has to. I bet you’re pretty hard on yourself all the time.”

  “I’m in a man’s world, Roan. And before you say it, this wasn’t just Burke thinking things like that. At the academy, most of the training officers pushed the women harder, because the adage would be true for us, they warned. We'd have to be twice as good as male officers because we would be perceived as less or weaker. Being a female officer, for the most part, is not just being good, it’s being great and still having to smile through the hell that people lob at us daily.

  “And when it comes to being a woman and an officer. I’ve been told I have trouble turning it off and when I forget, it becomes a real turn off.”

  “Again, I’m glad you didn’t lump me in with the jerks you’ve apparently dated before.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at that. It might have only been a little lift of her shoulder but it also lifted her spirit.

  “But when it comes to you failing to be the right kind of woman, you don’t have to worry about that. My mother raised two boys. At least one of us was hell to deal with. She single-handedly ran the house in town, volunteered with several charities, supervised the farm, and still managed to get to our soccer and rugby games. My sister can kick my ass and I’m not admitting that she’s actually done it, but she can take down a man twice her size and she still doesn’t sweat. How does my mother put it? She glistens. Their strength can move mountains, but it still doesn’t make them any less of a woman.

  “Strength doesn’t scare me. Worry,” he put a little emphasis on that word, “doesn’t scare me or turn me off, Pilar. The fact that you let me into your thoughts. That you want me to know who you are inside on your good days and days like today, doesn’t just humble me as a man, it makes me damn proud of you too. And, if you remember that little... uh... sparring match we had the other day-”

  “You mean the one where I had you flat on your back in a heartbeat?”

  His eyes changed. Darkened. Narrowed.

  And the hold he had on her hand tightened just enough that she felt the little tug he gave her.

  “Yeah,” he licked his lips and she felt her heart tumble against her ribs, “that.”

  “What,” she had to swallow to get enough air in her lungs to speak, “what about it?”

  “I was wondering if you could do that-”

  She didn’t even let him get the question out. Pilar tumbled him back against the bed, straddling his hips, her thighs snug against his, her hands planted on either side of his shoulders. “Like this?”

  He lifted his hips and the resulting pressure had them both gasping for air as heat rolled over them. “Just like that.”

  “Now what?” She was surprised she was still breathing she felt so tightly wound that she didn’t know which end was up.

  “Now,” he grinned up at her, “I show you that you’re just the right kind of woman for me.”

  She leaned down and pressed a kiss against his lips and felt her breasts swell as he caressed her tongue with his, and then she bent her knees and slowly skimmed his c
hest with her own, the teasing hint of a touch pebbled her nipples into aching peaks.

  “Does that mean,” she rose back up above him with a smile, “that I get to have my wicked way with you?”

  “It means,” his voice rose with his hips under her body, “we get to have our wicked way with each other.”

  “You know what?” It felt like the weight of the world had fallen from her shoulders and she sat up on the bed, pressing the apex of her thighs against his thick erection. “We might just be perfect for each other.”

  9

  It wasn’t all that easy at first. Roan wanted to touch her everywhere at the same time, but he was hampered by the fact that he was flat on his back and she, well, Pilar liked just where she was.

  She took her sweet time undoing her buttons, stopping when she reached the waistline of her pants. The front of her dark blue uniform shirt gaped open and he got a damn good look at what she was wearing underneath. Pale pink cotton. A shade lighter than cotton candy and just the thought made him crazy hungry for the cloying confection.

  He couldn’t help the way his dick twitched under her, any more than she could help the satisfied smirk she gave him when she felt it.

  “Like what you see, Doctor Ashley?”

  Fuck. He didn’t think he could get any harder.

  But he’d been wrong.

  He was damn near aching when she tugged the tails out of her pants and twisted open the last button.

  “Doctor Ashley?” She turned her head and gave him a little side-eye look. “Cat got your tongue?”

  “There are a few things I’d like to do with my tongue, but you’re up there and I’m down here.”

  She started to bend forward, but she didn’t kiss him. No, she picked up his hands and brought them up to her chest. He didn’t waste the opportunity. The first touch nearly set him on fire. The soft caress of the cotton against his palms and then the hesitant scratch of her nipples hardening under the cloth, raising to meet his grasp.

  He’d felt her breasts before, over her clothes, but never with so little between them. Turning and twisting his hands and wrists he cupped and cradled them, pulling soft gasps from her mouth, and tightening the tips of her breasts into harder points.