Rough Justice (6 page)

Pressure tightened her chest. Yet she didn’t want Ivan to leave. She wanted to drag him back into the bedroom or at least have him stick around long enough to see if maybe he could…

She didn’t know. Maybe he’d get used to the idea of Jay being with her too. That wasn’t likely, judging by his haste to leave. So as far as tonight, the extraordinary time they’d shared would be an isolated event. Roxie wouldn’t end her
special
friendship with Jay…not after one night with Ivan. No matter how much she liked him. A dejected sigh escaped her slightly parted lips. “This sucks.”

Ivan pushed his cup away. “I should go.” He went down the hall, presumably to the bedroom to collect his belongings. When he returned, he was dressed. Seeing the baton looped through his belt made her pulse jump.

“I’m not sure what to say,” he said.

She stood and faced him. “Don’t say anything.” Ivan’s gaze roamed over her figure with a feral glint. She glanced down. Her robe gaped open, revealing her breast and one taut nipple. She took a hesitant step forward. “Just kiss me.” She dragged a finger down the button closure of his shirt. His rapid breaths caused his chest to rise and fall. Placing her hand over his heart, she felt the rampant beat matching her own. “Even if it has to be a kiss goodbye.”

Ivan growled and pulled her close. Lips crushed lips. Hard. Demanding. Damn it. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to play out. His hands fisted in her raven hair and pulled, stretching her long neck. His teeth scraped her flesh. Roxie moaned and clutched his shoulders.

Ivan breathed deep, the subtle scent of her fragrance blended with the muskiness of sex still clinging to her heated flesh. Skin he wanted for himself throughout the night. His cock jolted to life and his breath hitched. He didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to say goodbye, but he couldn’t go back into the bedroom with Jay.

He groaned and plunged his hand into her robe, the silky fabric sliding against his rough knuckles. He cupped, lifted and kneaded her breast, her tender skin softer, smoother than the robe. A low moan rolled from her chest and he opened his mouth wider, took the kiss deeper, driving into her wet heat, curling his tongue around hers and sucking it into his mouth.

She wrapped one leg around his calf, arching her mound into his erection and grinding against him. Ivan tore his mouth from hers. “If you want to finish this…” He flicked his tongue against her sweet full lips then briefly sealed their mouths again. “When it’s only you and me…” He rolled her pebbled nipple in his palm. His other hand cupped her buttocks and pulled her flush against him. “I’ll be here.” He released her and took a step back.

A slight smile titled her lips. “Thanks for coming to my rescue, bringing me home…and for staying.”

Ivan took his keys from his utility belt and jingled them. “Get some sleep.” He kissed her cheek, spun around and stalked to the front door.

Great. Jay had parked behind his vehicle. “Will you wake up Sleeping Beauty and have him move his truck?”

“I’ll do it. Let me get his keys.”

Part of Ivan wanted to ticket Jay for parking behind his car, but the real violation was the jerk parking his ass in Roxie’s bed. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it, except maybe lock Jay’s ass up in the county jail. Plenty of men there wouldn’t mind sharing a bed with the baseball player.

* * * * *

The sound of running water woke Roxie. Sunshine streamed through the bedroom window. She stretched her arms over her head and flinched at the delicious ache between her legs and in her limbs. Then memories of last night came crashing over her.

Jay, Ivan, the incredible sex and the disappointing end.

Jay broke into song while he showered and Roxie chuckled. She swiveled her legs over the side of the bed and went into the bathroom.

“Good morning.”

He opened the glass shower door. “Do you want to join me?” He wagged his brows.

“Ha ha. No. I’ll shower after you. Then will you take me to get my car?”

“Sure. So where’s the fuzz?”

Roxie faced the mirror and ran a brush through her tangled hair. “He went home last night. Jay, we need to chat about what happened.”

“I had a good time. It was fun.”

Yeah, it was for her and Jay—but not for Ivan. Maybe because he was a little older or because he held a position of authority within the community, but last night wasn’t his scene. Regardless how much she wished he’d enjoyed himself enough to get together again, that simply wasn’t going to happen.

Jay turned off the shower and Roxie handed him a towel. “Okay, let’s talk about what happened.” Rivulets of water trickled down the chiseled contours of his incredible physique. His smooth, tanned chest muscles tapered to a trim waist and rippled abs. His cabled arms bunched as he moved the towel over his thick, heavy thighs and his flaccid penis hung from a thatch of dark hair glistening with water.

Roxie thought about dropping to her knees, putting his penis in her mouth and feeling him heat and harden between her lips. A little piece of her heart ached to turn back time, but another part of her—the sane, rational woman—knew going back would be pointless. What they had now was better for both of them. Jay had dreams of his own to follow.

They were better friends…friends with incredible benefits.

“I changed my mind,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about last night. It won’t happen again anyway.
Parties
aren’t Ivan’s thing.”

He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the tub. “I’m getting the vibe that bothers you more than you want me to know.”

She dropped the lid on the toilet and sat down. “Don’t you think it makes me a slut to want you both?”

He chuckled. “Rox, I know you well enough to know you don’t sleep around.”

“How can I convince
him
of that? I’m a dancer so he’s going to think the worst of me.”

“Then you are going to see him again?” Jay picked up the brush.

“Ivan said he’d be around if you weren’t.”

Jay turned and leaned against the counter. “What did you tell him?”

Roxie stood. As she walked past Jay, she trailed her fingers over the tight muscles of his abs. “I told him goodbye.”

He caught her wrist before she could walk away. “We’ve had good times.” He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I’d hate it…but we can have good times without having sex.”

She gave him a snort. “That’s not what I want. I like Ivan—a lot—but I think he’d have a hard time trusting us together. Hell, if I were him,
I
wouldn’t trust us together. We’d end up in bed. And by the way, that
is
what I want. I love you, Jay. You’re my best friend.” She let go of his hand and jerked the towel. “Don’t worry about me. Get dressed.”

“Roxie?” She turned. “I love you too.”

She smiled. “I know.”

* * * * *

Ivan was tired when he went on patrol, and he had a hard time keeping his mind on the road. Once on the clock, the first thing he’d done was go see if Roxie had retrieved her vehicle from the side of the road. She had, and emotion churned in his gut. He didn’t want to be jealous of the man who must have remained at her house until morning so that he could bring her to her car. But damn it, he was.

Why couldn’t Ivan push Roxie from his mind? Her husky laugh, the way she responded to his touch. He’d suspected sex would be good between them. And not because she was a stripper and supposedly exotic dancers knew how to fuck.

No, it was the easy bantering between them, her smile and the way her copper eyes took in details. He wrote out warnings and tickets slowly because he knew she watched, staring at his hands. After last night, he suspected her thoughts lingered with him. He’d imagined how he’d touch her, how she’d respond…and she’d responded. Again and again. The sex hadn’t just been good. Burying his tool in her tight, sweet heat had felt incredible.

He shifted on the seat, cupped his crotch and adjusted. After he’d left her this morning, all he’d wanted to do was turn around and go back. But he hadn’t and now that he was on duty, he couldn’t resist driving by her place to see if she was home and if anyone—not anyone,
Jay
—happened to be there.

She wasn’t, and he released a sigh of relief. But that didn’t stop him from making her house part of his patrol. The hour grew late and he found himself not only driving the section of highway she traversed as if it were her personal drag strip, but continuing on, passing her house. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he eventually discovered her car in the drive.

Hell, he knew. He’d stop—because the woman wouldn’t stay out of his head.

Ivan still had a few hours on his shift, but he didn’t want to work. He wanted Roxie…again. After flipping a u-turn, he headed back to the station. A few moments later, he parked his cruiser and jogged into the small county offices. “I need the night off,” he said to Debbie, the dispatcher.

“It’s slow and Frank’s on call if we need him.”

Normally Ivan hung around the station, exchanged a few pleasantries. He socialized with the people he worked with.

Not tonight.

After leaving the station, he went home, grabbed a shower, changed into civilian clothes and headed into town.

* * * * *

Ivan pulled into the packed parking lot of the club. The vibration of his motorcycle matched the tension strumming his nerves. He wouldn’t make a scene…wouldn’t even let her know he was there. The plan was to hang in the back and get a fix on Roxie by watching her dance.

Music thumped from inside the building. His heart beat the same rhythm. The heavy door swung open and a couple of guys stepped out and lit cigarettes. They acknowledged him with a “Hey” and “How’s it going?” as Ivan passed.

Inside, red and yellow lights sliced through the darkened club. Loud music blasted from the speakers. The heavy beat pulsed with the blood surging into his cock as his eyes adjusted to the darkened ambiance. The woman on the stage wasn’t Roxie, but she certainly knew how to ride a pole. Grinding and humping, the stripper smiled and the men cheered. Lights flashed and a strobe blinked as she flipped her hair. Dollar bills were tossed at her feet.

Ivan scanned for an empty seat near the back. The dancers waited tables when it wasn’t their turn to strip and he didn’t want to inadvertently sit in Roxie’s section. Staying along the back wall, he found a location where he could see the stage but remain concealed. A buxom blonde weaved between the tables.

“What can I get you?”

“Coffee. Black. Thanks.”

When she returned a few minutes later, he handed her a Lincoln and sat back to wait for Roxie’s set. The wait wasn’t long and then she was there, on the stage. The performance started with a tease, a little bump and grind. Facing the crowd, hips gyrating to the music, she slowly trailed her fingers over the creamy swell of her breasts. Fingers splayed wide, she inched her hand over her stomach, slipping the buttons of her pirate-style blouse free. Her movements were slow, meant to tantalize. Roxie licked her lips, closed her eyes and appeared to enjoy touching herself.

Ivan swallowed but his mouth was dry. He took a sip of coffee. The bitter taste sweetened in his mouth as Roxie shimmied to the stage floor, trailed fingers over her widespread inner thigh, caught her bottom lip between her teeth and went to her hands and knees. Her short, pleated skirt hiked higher, giving a glimpse of her ass. Bills were tossed on the stage and she crawled with her back in a feline arch.

Ivan’s cock ached and his balls tingled. He liked her position…a lot.

The music changed. Roxie jumped to her feet, bending at the waist. When she flipped up, her hair a wild mess, she tore off her shirt, revealing her pert breasts. She stomped to the front of the stage. Her nipples tightened and she pinched and rolled them between her fingers. Ivan groaned. He knew how sensitive those taut tips were, how they tasted against his tongue. Staring, unable to pull his gaze away from her erotic movements, he imagined she danced for his eyes only. She thrust her hips, stretched her neck, worked her body.

“Hey, Soto.”

“Shit!” Ivan startled. The cup tipped, spilling the dark dregs of his coffee. He grabbed a napkin. “What do
you
want?”

Jay smiled and sat on the barstool next to him. “I’d think that would be obvious.” He turned to the stage. “I want the same thing you do.”

“Roxie.”

Jay lifted his beer in a salute then drank. “Have you watched her dance before?”

“None of your business.”

Jay shrugged a shoulder. They sat in silence for a moment, both watching Roxie play to the crowd. Stripped down to nothing but a thong, she leaned back—way back—until her hands reached the floor behind her and she did a backbend. Ivan hadn’t realized how limber or talented she was. Like a gymnast, she went into a handstand and split her legs in the air. Muscles, slick with sweat and oil, glistened under the stage lights.

She didn’t just dance, but worked as an artist—and her body was the medium, creating lines and form, all erotic.

Roxie flipped her legs around and landed in full Chinese splits on the ground. A round of cheers erupted from a group of guys in the corner. “Hey, Jay, that’s your girl!” one of them shouted.