Shelter for Sharla Read online

  Her eyes were sad when she asked, “What was the tipping point?”

  “We had a big drug bust and in the process, I was grazed. Nothing serious, just a flesh wound, but it totally freaked her out. She said she couldn’t take wondering if the next phone call she got would be from the coroner. I told her that could happen with anything―car accident, heart attack, stroke―but she said the chances were so much greater for me that she wasn’t willing to live like that anymore. She moved out and I haven’t spoken to her since.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. Five years down the drain.” He sat for a minute, wondering if he should ask the twenty-million-dollar question, and decided the time was right. After all, she’d brought it up. “So I have to ask … Could you live that way? Knowing every time someone you loved left the house, they could be stabbed or shot?”

  Her voice was soft and a tear rolled down her cheek. “After what’s happened with Tam, I think I could live through just about anything.”

  “Doesn’t matter. This is different. It’s the constant threat. Long nights. Long days. Weekends. Holidays. Not everyone would want to deal with all that. You need to think about that. You need to be sure before this goes any farther.”

  A sound came from her throat, a tiny choking sound, as she reached for his hand and clutched it. Another tear rolled down her cheek, but her eyes were clear. “I’m sure. Carter, I’m falling for you, and if you don’t feel the same way, you need to tell me. Please. I’ve had so much heartache and disappointment in my life. I don’t need more.”

  It wasn’t how he’d pictured it, but with the air moving across the surface of the water and the light fading, Carter had one simple, shining moment, and he had to make it count. “Honestly, I think I fell in love with you the first second I saw you.”

  There wasn’t a chance to say another word. Sharla stepped up to him and kissed him, her arms locking around his neck almost as though he were saving her from drowning. Clutching her to him, Carter could feel it all around them, the magic of love newly found, of broken hearts mending and tired ones starting over. When she broke the kiss, she gave him a smile that he’d remember on his deathbed. “I love you, Carter. No man has ever done to me what you do or given me as much of himself as you have. I know it’s fast, but I don’t care. If you disappeared from my life tomorrow, nothing would ever be the same.”

  He chucked her under the chin and whispered to her, “I’m not going anywhere, little girl. I’m here to stay. It’s a shame that it took a tragedy for us to find each other, but we have, and I won’t apologize for that, not now, not ever.” The kiss he gave her was sweet and warm, and his tongue teased the seam of her lips until she parted them slightly. When he deepened it, she opened to him as her tongue explored his. They stood like that for a time they’d never have again, the first kiss of confessed love, and Carter hoped that kiss would go on forever. He’d given up, and just when he’d thought it was hopeless, he’d found her, the woman he’d always wanted. As the kiss cooled, they both leaned in, their foreheads touching, and he heard her sigh. “Sharla, we’re going to get through this. I promise. And we’re going to come out the other side and have a good life.”

  “You sound so sure of that.”

  “I am. Come on. Let’s go home.” Taking her hand, he led her back up the hill, walking together in silence until they reached the truck. Once he’d helped her in, he patted her hands as they lay in her lap. “The kids will be home tomorrow night because of the funeral on Wednesday. Want to come to my house tonight?”

  The nod she gave him was almost childlike. “I’d like that.”

  “Okay. Let’s stop somewhere and pick up something we can have for breakfast. You’ll have to get up early tomorrow to get to work.”

  “Doesn’t matter as long as I get to be there with you tonight.” Her fingers stroked down his cheek and he felt that little quickening in his chest, the one that told him it was really happening. A woman was giving him her heart. He couldn’t break it, bruise it, or drop it. He’d be the man who kept it safe. He had to be.

  They picked up a package of cream cheese Danishes, the coffee she liked, and some half and half for it. Before they left, he pointed to the health and beauty section. “Go get yourself a toothbrush and whatever toothpaste you like.”

  “If you’re sure …”

  “I’m positive,” he said with a smile and watched her head off that direction. That was the moment it hit him. I’ve got a girlfriend! It was all he could do to keep from bursting out laughing. Wouldn’t his mom be surprised?

  As soon as they walked through the door, he headed to the bedroom. “I’m going to find you a big tee shirt to wear. I know I’ve got a few.” As he prowled through the dresser drawer where he kept them, he heard her call out something. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “I said, is this you and your parents?”

  He knew what she was looking at and grinned to himself. “Yeah. That’s us.”

  The incredulity in her voice was loud and clear when she asked, “You and your parents went skydiving?”

  “Yeah. My dad was dying with cancer. You know that song, “Live Like You Were Dying?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, he took that to heart. He had this whole list of things he wanted to do, and that was one of them. There was also mountain climbing―”

  “And did you―”

  “Yep. Black Mountain. Tallest peak in Kentucky. Then there was deep sea fishing. We did that off the coast of Florida. He wanted to live through a Maine winter. I didn’t get to go for that―I had to work, of course―but he and Mom rented a little house up there and stayed the winter. She made it clear they’d never be doing that again!” Carter laughed as he remembered his mother telling him about the day they couldn’t open the door until a neighbor came to their rescue with a snow blower. He stepped into the living room with a dark green tee shirt in his hand and held it out to her. “And he wanted to go gambling, so we went to Las Vegas and he blew five thousand dollars.”

  She took the tee and turned for him to unzip her dress. “Five thousand? Good grief!”

  “Yeah. My mom sure could’ve used that money later, but she wanted him to be able to check if off his bucket list so she’d have no regrets.” The skin revealed under the zipper made his palms itch with desire, and he didn’t even ask, just unsnapped her bra while he was at it.

  It didn’t seem to faze her in the least as she dropped the dress and the bra and pulled the tee over her head. “Why didn’t you just go to one of the casino boats closer?”

  Carter snickered. “Because he also wanted to see the showgirls.”

  “Ah. Dirty old man,” Sharla said and winked.

  “Yep. Guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, huh?” He reached for her waist with both hands but before he could grip it, she grabbed his shirt, untucked it from his pants, and languorously began to unbutton it. “I’m glad you can’t read my mind right now. Or maybe I wish you could,” he whispered as he watched her fingers work the buttons loose.

  She gave him a wicked grin. “Oh, I can read your mind. I know what you want, and I want it too, so I guess that makes me a dirty old man just like you, huh?” Pushing his shirt open, she lifted it up and back over his shoulders and he let it fall to the floor. Her fingers trailed up his abs and through the hair on his chest until they came to rest on his collarbone. “You have to be the sexiest guy I’ve ever met, Carter.”

  A chuckle rumbled from his throat. “Don’t get out much, do you?”

  “Just say thank you, baby,” she whispered and kissed the side of his neck. His already-primed manhood sprang upward in an instant.

  His voice was more of a groan when he whispered back, “Thank you, baby.”

  “You’re welcome. Come on.” Taking his hand, she led him to the bedroom. They were almost through the door when he broke away, ran into the living room, turned off the lamp, and jetted back into the bedroom with her.

  “Now whe
re were we?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her toward the bed. When the back of his knees hit the edge, he let himself fall backward onto its soft surface, taking her with him.

  “I think you were about to tell me how much you love me,” she whispered and kissed his chin.

  “Ah, yes. That was it. And I do, Sharla. I love you and I want to show you how much I love you.”

  “And I love you and want to show you how much I love you.” She kissed his chin again, then down his neck, down his chest, down his abs, and Carter almost prayed aloud that he was right about what was coming next.

  It only took her a few seconds to undo his belt and unbutton and unzip his slacks, and when she gave them and his boxer briefs a hard tug, every inch of his manhood shot straight up to greet her. She licked up his length once, twice, three times, and then teased the head with her lips. “Oh, Jesus, girl, you’re killin’ me.”

  “I’m just getting started.” Her tongue teased his slit for a few seconds before she opened wide and took almost his whole length in. Carter let out a moan that he was sure made the curtains flutter as Sharla sucked him hard and moved up and down his shaft. Wet. Hot. Tight. God, he needed that, needed her, and his hands wound into her hair, not tightly, but more like a sweet caress. He let out a little chuckle as she worked until she let loose with a pop. “What’s so funny?”

  “You said you’re just getting started, but I won’t last long at this rate,” he said, starting to laugh in earnest.

  “Well, then, let’s get it going, shall we?” she said, laughing along with him, and went back to sucking him with even greater gusto.

  Carter was in heaven. No matter what happened, as long as he knew she was hanging on, he’d be okay. They had to get to the other side of all the mess that had brought them together and they’d be fine. When she wrapped her hand around his cock and pumped as she sucked, he wanted to die from sheer happiness. In seconds, he felt it, that point of no return, and his balls emptied into her throat. “Oh my god. That was … Oh my god. You’re good at that, girl.”

  Still licking him clean, she stopped and grinned up at him. “Thanks.”

  “Get up here with me.” As soon as she scooted up the bed, Carter sucked a nipple into his mouth and let his hand roam downward until it found that sweet little rocket launcher that could make her lift off. She writhed against him, her lips on his, as he drove her upward, and when her hand found him at half mast, it didn’t take her long to get him hard again. He devoured her, every inch of her he could reach, and he considered burying his face between her thighs, but he wanted to kiss her and look into her eyes as he made her come.

  Sucking his lower lip until she could nip it, she turned loose and gasped. “Oh, god, Carter, make me come. I need it. I need it so bad, baby. Please?”

  “Oh, you will, precious,” he whispered against her skin and watched her nipples peak twice as hard as they were seconds before. Rolling them to their sides, he slipped inside her and kept stroking her tiny pearl, listening to her cry out and feeling her twitch against him. She was growing more frantic and he gave her two little strokes of his cock, just enough to rub her G-spot and tip her over the edge. Her belly clenched, her hands gripped him, and her hips thrusted against him until he stopped and flipped her onto her back, rising above her, his hardness still buried inside her. Two hard, driving strokes pierced her when he whispered to her, “I love you, Sharla. I’m not letting this go.”

  Her voice was raspy and breathless as she whispered, “Oh, Carter. Yeah. Please, fuck me, babe. Just like that.”

  “I’m not fucking you, baby. We’re making love. I want you to know what this is, what it means to me, what I hope it means to you.”

  “It does, Carter, I promise. I want to be with you forever. Please, please, never leave me,” she pleaded as he pounded inside her.

  “I told you, I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me. Look down, Shar. Look at where we’re joined. It’s beautiful, babe.” Carter glanced down and watched his shaft disappearing into her body, into that warm, wet haven that had breathed life back into his heart. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on, babe. I’ve never wanted any woman the way I want you.”

  “I’ve never wanted a man the way I want you. You’re everything to me, Carter. You’re, you’re, oh, god, I’m … yeah,” she said with a moan as the orgasm took her.

  Carter was right behind her, and that time when he emptied himself into her, it felt sacred and holy, like a sacrament. They were one, he and this beautiful woman. She was his. He was hers. She made him complete.

  They lay together in the dark bedroom, panting and clutching each other. His lips found hers and he gave her a soft kiss before moving to kiss her forehead. “Sleep, babe. Morning comes early.”

  Her voice was drowsy and small. “Okay. I love you, Carter.”

  “I love you too, baby.” Pulling her close, he smiled as her cheek rested against his pec and her warmth enveloped him. He loved her and he was loved. What else could he ask for?

  To solve the mystery of what happened to Tamara. And then they’d be free.

  Watching her in the morning light from the kitchen’s small window would become his favorite new pastime, he decided. Her hair was a mess and she was wearing his old tee shirt, but she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. As soon as she took the last bite of her Danish, she sighed. “Guess I’d better go get dressed.”

  “Yeah. I’ve got to drive you to Hoptown to do the walk of shame from my car to the house. You gonna be able to handle that?” he asked with a grin.

  “Oh, yeah. I think I will, although I have to say, walking is going to be a little difficult.” He watched with amusement as she stood and winced.

  He let out a snort. “What’s wrong? Can’t handle the big guy?”

  “Looked like I handled him pretty well last night.” She kissed the top of his head as she passed him on her way to the bedroom. “At least it sure seemed that way.”

  “Yeah, you did a good job, and I’m hard to please, so that’s really saying something for you.” He was grinning when she turned and shot him the bird. “Don’t be like that!” he called out, laughing.

  “You taking me home in nothing but your underwear?” she called out from the bedroom, so Carter got up and headed that way to dress. He’d already decided he’d just put on his clothes from the night before, take her home, and come back to shower. It was damn early and he had plenty of time.

  They rolled up in front of her house and Carter stopped the truck. “Want me to walk you up?”

  “Yes, please.” Something in her voice told him she was anxious, and he wasn’t sure why. Had she seen something? Or someone? Didn’t matter. He’d gladly walk her to the door.

  When it was unlocked and she stepped inside, she turned to him. “We won’t get to be together tonight, but I’ll call you when the kids get settled, okay?”

  “Sure. Sounds good. Be thinking about when we want to tell them about us, because we’re going to have to.”

  She nodded. “I know. I think we should wait about a week, don’t you?”

  “Maybe. Let’s see how tomorrow goes.”

  “Okay.” Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him lightly and gave him a tender smile. “I love you, Carter.”

  “I love you too. Talk to you later. Bye, babe.” The door clicked closed as he made his way down the steps and when he got to his truck and slipped inside, he looked back. Her face appeared in the window and she gave him a little wave before disappearing behind the sheer curtains.

  The drive back home was uneventful, but the morning would have its own excitement. He had a rather unpleasant task ahead of him, and he was thankful the coffee pot was full when he reached the office. Durst looked up from his desk and gave a nod, and Carter scanned the room until he found the other deputy. “Edwards, I need to speak to you, please. In my office.”

  “Coming, sheriff,” the younger man answered and Carte
r could hear his footfalls as he stepped through the doorway. “Close the door,” he said without even turning around, and he heard it shut quietly. “Have a seat.”

  He turned to find Edwards sitting in the chair in front of his desk, both feet on the floor and hands on his knees. There was no doubt he was nervous, as well he should be. “Do you know why you’re in here?”

  “No, sir.”

  “I got a visit from Judge Michaels.”

  “Sir?”

  “He’s pretty damn unhappy with you wasting his time in court.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, I―”

  “He threw out four of your tickets the other day, Edwards. Four. Out of the ten we had in there, how many were yours?”

  The rookie’s face reddened. “Five, sir.”

  “That’s eighty percent, young man. Eighty percent of your citations were thrown out. Do you know why?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Because they weren’t filled out properly. So this afternoon, I want you here in the office. I’m going to write out five scenarios for traffic stops and I want you to write tickets for them. Then we’re going to go over them and figure out what it is you’re not doing correctly. In the meantime, I want you to pull some of the copies from Lewis, Watson, and Durst, and compare them to what you’ve been doing. Then when you work on the new ones, I want you to be able to tell me what you did wrong. Got that?”

  The younger man dropped his gaze to the floor in embarrassment. “Yes, sir.”

  “We all have to learn, Edwards, but I thought you’d been taught how to do this properly. Apparently not. And the next time Judge Michaels has to come over here and crawl up my ass, it had better be for somebody else’s screw-ups, got it?”