Taken by Tuesday

Chapter Seventeen



The conversation back to Beverly Hills was as platonic as it came, though Rick had a hard time concentrating on anything other than the image of Judy in skintight workout shorts and a skimpy shirt. The date had been everything he wanted. Easy conversation, no secrets, heat, and promise. It killed him not knowing when the world was going to crash down. Killed him not to know how much time they’d have before the detectives either took him away or placed doubt into Judy’s mind.

There didn’t seem to be any doubt now. Not in the tiny glances she offered when she didn’t think he watched her. Not in the way she fanned her skin in a car that was cooled to sixty-seven degrees. Not in the disappointed sigh when she mentioned Meg being home.

A gentleman would thank her with a kiss for the perfect date and promise to call.

Only Rick never thought he was soft enough to be labeled a gentleman. He carried her design plans into the house and set the alarm behind them.

“How was the pasta?”

“I’m stuffed,” Judy told her friend while Meg turned down the volume on the TV.

“What? No leftovers? You must have been hungry.”

Judy nodded his way. “Leftovers aren’t possible with this one.”

Meg laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

The girls chatted briefly about her first day back and Rick took the opportunity to do a sweep of the house.
     



With everything clear, he glanced at the clock on Michael’s side of the house. In two hours, Dennis would begin his shift of watching the house. Even if Rick stayed on the inside, the new rules were clear. If Rick left the house at nine, the night patrol would come inside the gates and keep watch from the inside. If Rick stayed . . . which he sincerely hoped he would, even if it was across the hall, then the night team would watch from afar. At least for now.

He clicked off the light and moved into the main living area of the huge home. With Rick’s presence, Meg abruptly ended her conversation with Judy and jumped from the couch. “Wow . . . would you look at the time.”

Judy growled at her friend and Rick hid a smile. It was early . . . really early.

“I’m in the middle of a good book?”

“Meg!”

“Whatever! You two kids have fun.” She grabbed not one, but two beers from the refrigerator, and moved down the hall to her bedroom. Just when it appeared Judy was about to regain her composure, Meg yelled, “The walls in this house are really thick.”

“Margaret Catherine!”

Meg laughed until Rick heard a door shut.

“Margaret Catherine? Really?”

Judy hid her face behind her hand, her pink cheeks a testimony to her embarrassment. “Sorry about that.”

“The only roommates I ever had were in the Marines. I think Meg would make a good Marine.”

“Fit right in, would she?”

“Probably.” Rick removed the space between them and ran the backs of his fingers across her cheek. “Did you ask her to leave?”

She studied the buttons on his shirt. “I-I . . . yes.”

He didn’t even try to hide his grin. “It’s the ink, isn’t it?”

“You’ve figured me out,” she said with a giggle.

He cupped the back of her head, careful with the tender parts left over from the abuse she’d gone through. When she met his eyes, his smiled slipped into something more serious. “Not worried about plan A any longer?”

The gold flecks in her brown eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the room. “Most guys would freak if a woman they hadn’t even started dating told them what I told you. But you’re still here.”

“Well, we’re now officially dating, and plan A doesn’t scare me at all.” He wasn’t even sure why.

“Would you tell me if it did?”

“I see no reason we can’t be completely honest with each other, do you?”

She placed her hand on his chest and lifted her lips closer to his. “Honesty is a good thing.”

He molded his body to hers and offered a grin. “What do you want to do with the rest of the evening, Judy?”

She sucked in a deep breath, for courage, or maybe she was finding the oxygen in the air thinner than normal like it was for him. “I want to see you . . . all of you,” she said.

He hardened with her words and tightened his grip on her neck. “You sure?” he whispered.

Her answer was a timid kiss and Rick responded with a hunger he didn’t recognize. Her lips passed over his like a feather of an angel tempting everything inside of him, and he threatened to engulf her like a devil staking his claim.

He cautioned himself and eased his grip but held her closer. Her tongue matched his, searching and tasting. A hint of the wine they drank flavored her scent.

Judy lifted her knee and slipped off her shoes. He had a good foot on her and had to lean over to keep their lips together. Rick’s palm met the small of her back and moved lower.

Her moan of approval shot through him, threatening his ability to go slow.

He lifted her hips and her legs wound around him. The maze of shoes and living room furniture didn’t deter him as he carried her down the hall to her bedroom. The low pounding of the bass from Meg’s TV met his ears. Once closed in the room, that bass reduced to a soft drum. Thick walls.

He kicked the door closed behind them and crossed to the massive bed in the middle of the room. Without effort, he pushed Judy into the soft mattress and almost lost it when she lifted her hips to touch more of him. She squeezed his ass and tugged at his shirt, all the while attempting to suffocate him with her lips.

Their kiss broke, both of them gasping.

Plump with his kiss, her lips were as round as her eyes when she spoke. “I don’t see that ink yet, babe.”

She could call him babe forever and it wouldn’t grow old. He swiped his shirt from his shoulders and tossed it off the bed.

Judy sat up, ran her fingers over the symbol on his right shoulder, and placed her lips in their wake. “You’re so thick,” she told him.

He took advantage of her sitting up to pull her shirt over her head. Her pale breasts peeked from under a light gray bra and it was his turn to kiss what he wanted to taste. His tongue dipped under her bra. “You’re perfect.”

Tiny rosebud nipples met his tongue when he made her bra follow her shirt. “I could play with these all night.”

She giggled. “The rest of me would be jealous.”

“We could try . . . an evening of tasting,” he muttered as he used his teeth on her nipple and felt her nails dig into his back.

“Or not.”

She raked her nails down over his ass and he pushed closer to her.

“Or not,” he repeated her words. He’d never make a whole night of foreplay, not with Judy.

Rick pulled her hips farther up on the bed and centered them both. He memorized her curves with his slow fingers as they traced the lines of her exposed skin. “You were sitting in that police station,” he said, reminding her of the first day they’d met. “So out of place and trying hard not to look at me.” He leaned over her, kissed a trail between her breasts.

“You just stared at me. So bold.”

He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and rolled her over onto her stomach.

“I wanted you then.”

The zipper on her skirt started from her spine and went down the cheeks of her firm butt. He inched it down, placed his lips on the swell of her hips. The rail-thin frames of many of the women out there did nothing for him. Her full curves made his mouth water. Judy unwound something inside him he didn’t even recognize.

Her skirt met her shirt and Rick took his time rolling his hands down her hips, over her small panties, and down her creamy thighs. As much as Rick wanted to take advantage of this position, he didn’t want to risk scaring her. He rolled her on her side and stretched out beside her. There wasn’t any hesitation when her leg lifted to wrap around his hip. “You were cocky and bold and hot. Seeing you again at graduation . . . I knew we’d end up here.”

He kissed her again, broke when she reached for the zipper to his pants. “This is a great place.”

Judy didn’t leave his boxers with him. “Steroid-free zone!” she said, tracing his hip and touching. Her touch wasn’t timid or chaste, it was bold, leaving him pushing into her. He reached for her then, slid his hands under her panties and spread her open. The desire to rip her clothing, rid her of any barrier, needed to be tamed. She kicked them free and came back for a kiss. Both of them free of any clothing, she moved her kiss to the ink on his chest, her tongue lapping the edges, branding the feel of her deep inside him.

He knew, somehow, she’d be just like this, fire and passion without any worries of the world around them.

Judy rolled on top of him, barely giving him time to reach for his wallet.

“Wait,” he told her, pulled his pants from the floor and removed a condom from his wallet. He fumbled with the plastic, twice, and she removed it from his fingers with a laugh.
     



“Out of practice, hon?”

He stopped her pursuit in opening the small package with his hand covering hers. She met his gaze and looked deeper. “I met you,” he told her. “There’s been no one since.”

She blinked several times, took in the information, and kissed him. “Oh, Rick. I never stopped thinking about you. I couldn’t date, couldn’t sleep.”

Narcissistic as it was, he loved the sound of that.

Together they slid the condom over him, her hands slid lower, cupping him.

Once protected, she moved over him, took him. Her wet sheath was so tight and so needy she was milking him before he could catch his breath.

“Slow down, babe,” he whispered.

“I can’t. You feel so right.”

He slowed her down by sheer force, though it wasn’t easy.

He’d been with enough women to know her first orgasm was close. He kept his own wave back and let her take whatever she needed. He kissed her, held her, and welcomed her moan when she shattered on the inside. Only when she collapsed on him did he tuck her under him to show her his idea of making love.

He slowed down, found her spots, showed her his before backing up his cocky smile and leaving her limp. When his own release gripped him, he called her name and claimed her.

Judy was his.

Now.

Forever.



Rick’s arms erased the pain of the world around her. Judy’s body buzzed and her mind was numb with a post-orgasmic daze. With her head resting on his chest, she ran her hand over his pec, traced a thick vein that ran down the length of his arm. “I know it’s completely shallow of me,” she told him, “but you have the most amazing body.”

His hand caressed her hip. “You’re the one who’s sexy hot.”

She wasn’t going to be one of those women who told her guy she should lose weight. Those words always seemed to need a follow-up of a man telling her how wrong she was. Truth was, she wasn’t unhappy in her skin. Rick seemed to enjoy her . . . thoroughly.

The ink on his arm circled his biceps with decorative black and red Xs. “So what’s the story behind this one?”

He lifted his arm, flexed his biceps. Damn he’s hot. “Marines plus alcohol. Everyone on our team left with something.”

“Do you miss the service?”

He sighed, the hum in his chest tickled her ear. “Sometimes. But I won’t go back.”

“Did it end badly?”

“It did.” He leaned to his side and she saw a white scar across his flank. “Our last mission,” he explained. “I was one of the lucky ones. Mac and I made it out alive.”

“Mac?”

“Neil. We called him Mac.”

“What did they call you?”

“Smiley.”

She laughed, loved the feeling inside her. “I’ve heard Neil call you that. Fitting. It’s easy to tell when you’re serious. Those dimples go away.”

“My grandmother still pinches my cheeks when she sees me.”

“Gotta love family. My aunt Belle is convinced my sister Rena conceived her son before she was married. Never lets anyone forget about it.”

“Was it a shotgun wedding?”

“I don’t know gestational periods in humans to be eleven months. Not that it would matter. Rena and Joe are very happy.” She lifted her head and kissed the tattoo on his shoulder. “What about this one?” On close inspection, it looked like a bleeding star. It was beautiful in a strange kind of way.

His silence made her look into his eyes. The lack of dimples made her pause.

“That one’s for Roxy.”

“A woman?” Now she was sorry she asked.

“My sister.”

Oh. Judy wasn’t expecting that. “I take it you’re close.”

“We were. She died when she was seventeen.”

“Oh, Rick. I’m sorry I asked.”

He kissed the top of her head and encouraged her to lie back on his chest by stroking her hair.

“It was a long time ago.”

She was about to ask if he wanted to tell her about it when he started in with the story.

“Roxy had a big fight with her high school boyfriend and when he left all pissed off he took a curve too fast. Stupid kid. He didn’t survive and Roxy blamed herself.”

She closed her eyes with the image of a teenager dead, another one broken. “It wasn’t her fault.”

“Hard for a young kid to accept. She fell into a depression that left her hospitalized. I used to spend time just sitting with her, talking to her about life . . . anything to make her smile. I thought she was coming out of it toward the end of her junior year. We took dance lessons together and I took her to prom.” He grew quiet again.

“What happened?”

He sucked in a deep breath.

“You don’t have to tell me.”

“It’s OK. She a . . . she slit her wrists, and when that didn’t seem to do anything she took a handful of sleeping pills in a bathtub.”

“Oh, Rick . . . did you find her?”

He shook his head. “No. My mother has to live with that memory.”

Judy looked at him now, saw the shadow of his sister’s death in his eyes. “How awful.”

“I joined the Marines the day after her funeral.”

“It must have been hard on you . . . your parents.”

“I worked my grief out in boot camp and spent every day trying to stay alive . . . make a difference. Now when I think of her I remember the good times, her laugh. This star reminds me to keep going . . . no matter how hard life might be.”

She kissed the star again. “And you’ve been playing hero for the world ever since.”

“Ah, Utah,” he said, cupping her face and drawing her closer. “I don’t mind playing hero for you. The world at large can go bite themselves.” His kiss was tender, just like the way he made love.

She drew away and sucked in his beautiful eyes. “The world needs more heroes.”

“The people close to the hero keep him fueled . . . that person for me is you.”

Judy knew his words took a chunk of her heart and handed it to him with a big red bow. “I like being your fuel.”

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You’re not scared anymore?”

Only two things scared her at this point . . . the threat of the police taking Rick away, and her attacker returning. “Not of you . . . not of this.” She shifted a finger to both their chests.

He made love to her again, slowly, with soft words and occasional laughter. Dreams of laughter and lazy beach days helped her sleep the entire night.



“It’s four thirty, woman! The day’s half over.”

A hand slapped her naked ass, crashing all her dreams. “What the?”

Rick climbed over her, fully clothed in shorts and a tight T-shirt, and kissed her briefly. “My workouts are early, babe. We gotta go, get sweaty, and get you back here showered and dressed before work.”

Judy glared through slitted eyelids. “It’s dark outside.”

“It won’t be when we start running. C’mon. I’ll wake Meg.”

“Wait! I didn’t even tell her about the workout yet.”

“Saw her last night in the kitchen when I went for water. Told her to be ready bright and early.”

Judy nodded toward the dark window. “It’s not so bright, buddy.”

Rick pulled the warm blankets back, leaving her cold and bare to his stare.

She squealed.

He licked his lips. “Tempting . . . so tempting.” He slapped her butt instead.
     



Right as the sun started to make an appearance Rick had her and Meg running up a long trail and back down as a warm-up. On the second lap they stopped at a station where Rick had them doing push-ups. Every time she dropped, he was there to push her to do five more. All the while, he’d switch between one-handed push-ups, or one-leg push-ups . . . anything to make it harder on himself. Meg cussed like a sailor halfway through the circuit and swore revenge. “I need coffee for this shit.”

“Coffee is your reward, Margaret Catherine,” Rick teased. “Now get your chin over that bar.”

Meg glared at Judy. “You just had to tell him my full name, didn’t you?”

Judy struggled to pull her body weight up with her arms and didn’t have the energy to snark on her friend. Rick grasped her hips and helped her with her last three chin-ups. She dropped to the ground and struggled for a breath. “You’re killing me.”

Rick grabbed the bar sailed through twenty-five reps.

“Five more, Utah.”

She managed three, and two with help.

“You just want to play with her ass,” Meg teased while she controlled her breathing during her break.

“It’s a nice ass,” Rick said. He started running up the hill to the next station.

When they finished, they picked a patch of grass to stretch.

“Half an hour and I’m beat!” Meg fell on the grass, her arms stretched beside her.

“We’ll start on the self-defense stuff tomorrow. Give your muscles a chance to wake up.”

Judy leaned over her legs. “My muscles are awake and cursing you.”

Rick winked.

“It feels good though,” Meg said. “And so much cheaper than those classes we did in Seattle.”

“Think of all the money we’ll save feeling this beat-up.”

They finished their stretches and made their way back to the car. A few more cars were parked close by than when they arrived. At the far end of the lot sat a car with a man wearing a suit leaning against the door with his arms crossed over his chest.

Judy peered closer. She elbowed Rick, who had opened the passenger door for her and Meg. “He looks familiar.”

Rick followed her gaze. His smile fell. “Detective Raskin.”

She paused. “Why is he here?”

The detective slid into the unmarked car, turned over the engine, and waited.

“Watching me.”

She didn’t like it, not one bit. “This isn’t right.”

“He’s doing his job, Judy.”

“No he’s not. He’s working to nail the wrong guy.” She wanted to scream.

Rick ushered her into the car. They drove in silence until Meg interrupted their thoughts. “How about we work on some self-defense stuff in the evenings . . . starting tonight.”

Rick glanced in the rearview mirror. “You think you’ll both be up for that so soon?”

Judy watched her friend and knew she had more to say.

“I’m ready . . . what about you, Judy?”

The uncertainty of Rick’s long-lasting freedom was the reason for the rush.

“I’ll be ready,” Judy said.

Rick picked up her hand, kissed the back of it.