Cop Appeal by Ava Meyers

later.
Knowing he’d immediately contact his man to get an update on
Richard, she grew serious. “I was just kidding. That was nice, but
I’m not sure I’ll want to do it again. I mean, I’m not saying
never,” she said quickly. “But… That is, I mean—”
    He laughed. “Don’t worry, babe. I know
exactly what you mean. And I meant exactly what I said. I’ll be
doing my best to tire you out all on my own. I’m always open to
granting a fantasy or two, though…”
    She pinched him in the ribs, making him
yelp. “That’s for springing Noah on me with no warning.” She pulled
his head down and soul kissed him. “And that’s for springing Noah
on me with no warning.” She kissed him again, and this time they
didn’t come up for air for quite a long time.
    “And what was that for?” he rasped out.
    “That…” she said teasingly as her fingers
found him through his jeans. He was already hard again. “That was
for inspiration,” she said. “Because I’m really, really looking
forward to you trying to exhaust me.”

CHAPTER SIX
     
    They talked about Richard after that. About
how the gentle, supportive man she’d married had morphed into
someone scary soon after their honeymoon. About how his
possessiveness and jealousy of Luke had manifested itself in so
many different ways, over and over again. First, he’d called her
repeatedly whenever she was out. Then he’d tried to control when she went out and who she saw. He’d started hurling
accusations, calling her filthy names, and throwing things when he
got mad. One time, he’d punched a hole in a wall. She’d finally
left him six months after the wedding.
    “You were separated that long? But why—” He
forced himself to stop speaking, even though it pained him that she
hadn’t let him know. He knew why she hadn’t contacted him. She
hadn’t trusted her feelings for him. But she did now, or at least
she would; he’d make sure of it. That was all that mattered.
    “At first, he let me have my space. When I
mentioned divorce, he began courting me like crazy, but in very
disturbing ways. Ridiculously expensive gifts. And love letters
that failed to recognize the troubles we’d had or even that we were
separated. When I persisted about wanting the divorce, he got ugly
again. So I just let it go for a while. For years,” she admitted.
“Eventually, though, I needed to know I was severed from him,
legally, so I could move on with my life. It was…it was after the
divorce was final that he really started to scare me, but he didn’t
truly get violent until—”
    “Violent how?” Luke interrupted in a quiet
but deadly voice. Noah had refused to give him the particulars,
although he had told Luke the physical abuse was limited. Limited
was still far too much, and he needed to hear what Sarah had
suffered in her own words.
    “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this.”
    They were lying propped up in bed, her back
resting against his chest. He tipped her chin around so she was
forced to look at him. “I want to know everything about you. No
secrets. Tell me what happened.”
    She swallowed, and he sensed her grow cold
until she shuddered. He gathered her deeper into his arms, and she
smiled up at him before she turned away. Glancing down, he saw that
she was twisting her hands together so tightly that her knuckles
were white. “It was late. I ran to the supermarket to buy more
cereal.” She sucked in a breath. “He was waiting for me in the
parking lot. He started talking about you. About how I’d never
gotten over you. How I probably imagined it was you making love to
me whenever he’d touched me. He acted…crazy.”
    “And…” he prompted when she stopped
speaking.
    “And I was so tired of his bullshit. Of the
years I’d wasted, that I’d thrown away, by marrying him, when I
could have been with you…” Her voice cracked.
    He rubbed her arms and kissed the top of her
head. He had plenty of his own regrets, but nothing would be