Evelyn's Journey Read online

  Logan’s eyes widened, and then he laughed. “Well, I’m going to have to investigate that, and if it’s true, I can’t wait to see her use it.”

  Whenever she went to weddings, Evelyn always felt happy for her friends. But there was a little part of her that was jealous, knowing she would never find someone who would put a ring on her finger, or in the case of what she was witnessing right now, a collar around her neck.

  Sabrina glowed as she pledged herself to Mac and then kissed the collar. She held up her hair as he locked it into place.

  When he kissed her, the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head in Evelyn’s mind. She tried not to let it show, keeping a smile in place as Korey and Suzanne clapped. Evelyn put down her drink—she’d lost count of how many she’d had—and joined in the applause. The happy couple started to greet their guests, but Evelyn held back. She would wait until later in the evening.

  When she started to pick up her glass, she noticed that her hand shook. She didn’t have to drive that night, since she was staying at Suzanne’s house in Denver, but she needed to lay off and eat some more food.

  She’d barely taken two steps when someone called her name. She looked up to find Carl—a thin woman hanging on his arm—heading in her direction.

  “Oh crap,” she said under her breath. There was no way out of it, since their gazes had locked for a few moments. She’d managed to avoid him for the two hours she’d been there. She just wished she’d been able to avoid the bathroom scene with Logan.

  She was shocked that Logan was here and according to Sabrina, a top-notch Dom.

  “You could have told me,” she’d said to her friend, “you know, since the two of us live in the same town.”

  “I thought you’d sworn off men,” Sabrina had answered.

  Evelyn had waved it away. It wouldn’t have mattered if she knew there was a good Dom in town. And then she’d had a drink and another one and another one. For a person who had, maybe, two glasses of wine in a week, the amount of alcohol swimming around in her system was enormous.

  Run, run, run, her inner self said as Carl came closer. Instead she took a deep breath, determined to steel herself against whatever he had to say. She’d faced criminals before—those whom she wrote about after their arrests or trials, and those who came into the office, determined to keep the story of their arrest out of the newspaper.

  If she could stare down a man who’d robbed a grocery store, she could stare down a lawyer who once thought he owned her.

  “Carl,” she said as he drew closer. It was hard not to add, you ass, at the end. But she didn’t want to ruin Sabrina’s collaring. She just hoped she could control herself, and the liquor in her body didn’t take over and make her say something she would regret.

  “Evie,” he said. “You’re looking well. Lost a few pounds, have you?”

  “Well, Carl, your powers of observation do you credit. Do you use those in the courtroom, or are you still on a losing streak?”

  The glare he sent her made her smile. “Someone needs to teach you some manners. I’ve always said that.”

  “Carl, I’d like to stay and discuss that idea with you, but you’re making my skin crawl,” she said. She started to move off, but he grabbed her arm.

  “I’m talking to you.”

  “Let go of me, Carl.”

  “Address me properly.”

  “Crappy Carl? Cranky Carl?” She leaned a little closer. “Clown Carl? All you need is a red nose and some face paint. Maybe you can get a job in a circus and get the hell away from Denver.”

  The grip on her arm tightened, and she tried to pull away.

  “I said let go of me.”

  “Someone needs to beat some respect into you,” he said, his voice low and angry.

  “Respect for you?” She huffed. “You could use every whip in Denver, and I’d always think you are lower than dirt.”

  She tried to shake him off, but his grip was tight. “Let me go.”

  When he didn’t comply, she said, “What’s the matter, Carl, you still hung up on me? I’ve forgotten you. Trust me. So let go of my arm, I’ll leave, and the two of us never have to see each other again.”

  “You will call me Sir Carl.”

  “Not even if, as the old saying goes, Hell freezes over.”

  “You little—” For a minute, she thought he was going to hit her. And then she looked over her shoulder.

  Logan Hendricks stood next to her, his anger evident.

  “Let go of my sub,” he said in what she thought of as his cop voice, deep and full of authority.

  “Your sub?” Carl glared at him. “I heard she was with no one.”

  “You heard wrong.” Logan nodded to where Carl’s hand grasped her arm. “You’ve got two seconds to let her go before I get mad.”

  For a moment, Evelyn thought Carl was going to argue. But then he let her go. “She and I have unresolved issues, including her lack of respect. Make her call me Sir.”

  “You have to earn respect, Carl, and from what I hear, you didn’t. You come near my sub again, and you and I will have a problem.”

  “I can sue you for threatening me,” Carl said.

  “Not a threat, just an observation,” Logan responded.

  The two men stared at each other. After a moment, Logan put his arm around Evelyn. “Come on, Inky, let’s go outside.”

  She melted into his side, allowing him to lead her out the door and down the steps. The party was going strong, and quite a few people were milling around near the deck, smoking.

  Evelyn waved her hand through the fumes, and Logan grabbed her other hand and led her away from the crowd.

  “It’s cold out here,” she said.

  “Of course it is,” he answered. “It’s November in Colorado.”

  She stumbled over a rock, and he put his arm around her. When he did, Evelyn turned to him and put her hand on his neck. She pulled his face down and kissed him, using her tongue to lick his lips.

  “Thank you,” she said when the kiss broke. “I appreciate it.”

  “You’re drunk, Inky.” He stepped back, and this time it was him waving his hand around, right in front of her face. “I can smell it from here.”

  “I am.” She kissed him again, happy when he didn’t pull away again. “Would you like me to give you a blowjob as a thank you?”

  She put her hand on his crotch and applied a little pressure. She could feel his length under her touch. He was hard. Or so she thought. She pressed a little harder. Yup, he was definitely… tumescent. That’s a word a writer would use, she decided.

  “There’s a bench over there.” She pointed toward a tree. “No one will see us.”

  “Not tonight, Inky.” He grabbed her hand, and she laid her head on his chest.

  “Sorry, Lieutenant, I guess I’m really not your type.” She lifted her face, in the hopes that he might kiss her. But he didn’t.

  “Oh you are,” he responded. “But the first time my dick goes in your mouth, you’re going to be sober.”

  “Afraid I’ll bite ya?” she said with a laugh. “Or am I being too forward for you? You are, after all, a Dom.”

  She took a step away and made a curtsy. She tried to turn away from him, but he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. He pinched her ass with his free hand, then slapped it.

  Evelyn gasped. “Lieutenant!” She wiggled her ass. “Do it again.”

  He kept her close to him, and she liked that.

  “Don’t ever tell me what to do, Evelyn.”

  She wiggled one more time. “Please?” She’d forgotten how good it felt to be swatted, to feel the sting of a large male hand on her bottom. Maybe she could bare her ass and that would tempt him. She was, after all, wearing a dress. If she could just put a little room between their bodies.

  But the minute she tried to move, Logan tightened his grip. “My subs are sober when we scene. Do I need to drive you somewhere?”

  “No.” Evelyn shook her head.
“I’m with Suzanne and Korey. Suzanne is the designated driver tonight. Plus, it’s not a scene. I’m just talking about a blowjob.”

  She pulled free and turned so she could put both her hands on his shoulders.

  She’d never forgiven him for laughing at her after the ink had flown all over the room, landing on her. But she was pretty sure part of her anger had come from the fact she was pissed at Carl.

  Right now, she felt different, though. She’d been three years without sex. Feeling his hand on her ass and cupping his hard dick. She wanted to suck him. Now. “You sure you don’t want a blowjob?”

  Instead of answering her question, he said, “What did you ever see in that guy?” which made her a little angry.

  “I need to go back inside.” She dropped her hands from his body. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her backward. Before long she was sitting in the wooden glider near Sabrina’s gazebo.

  “Answer my question.”

  “He had a nice dick,” she said, as if it should be obvious. “What about you, Lieutenant. Do you have a nice dick?”

  “I’ve never had any complaints.” He sat down next to her. “Is that the only thing that kept you with him?”

  Evelyn searched her mind. “He was nice, in the beginning. But it didn’t last very long, and then he—” She closed her mouth.

  “He what?”

  “Nothing.” She clasped her hands in her lap. “I feel as if the world is spinning.”

  “That’s because the chair is moving,” he said. “Have you missed having a man in your life, Inky?”

  “I’ve managed to get by,” she responded.

  “By using the fucking machine in your basement?”

  Evelyn gasped. “Logan Hendricks, have you been peeking in my windows?” She groaned. “I may have to file a complaint with someone.”

  “So it’s true.” He laughed. “I’d like to see that.”

  “In your dreams,” she muttered.

  “Dreams can come true, or so they say.” He massaged her shoulder. “I’ll find out when you give me that blowjob.”

  Evelyn moved away from him. The cold night air had a very sobering effect on her.

  “After tonight the offer is off the table, Logan. Take it or leave it, but it won’t be made again. Ever.”

  He was silent for a few moments, and she thought that maybe he would take her up on her offer. If he did, it could open a big can of worms that could get messy, especially in a town the size of Clearwater. The twenty thousand residents would find out soon enough that the town’s newspaper editor and the police lieutenant were playing mattress hockey. When that happened, she would be accused of keeping things out of the paper for her boyfriend, or ignoring a situation if the cops screwed something up.

  When he spoke again, she shivered, this time not from the cold.

  “I’ll be at your house in a few days, Inky, when you’re nice and sober. You can show me that machine, and then you can suck my dick.”

  “Never gonna happen,” she said. “You take it here or forget it.”

  “You’ll do as I say, Inky,” he said. “In this part of our relationship, it will be me on top, which is exactly the way you want it, whether you admit it or not.”

  Maybe she should start an argument. If she made him mad, he might decide she wasn’t worth the trouble. But then she decided not to. She could turn him down later. Tonight had been hard enough, what with peeing in front of him, and then having Carl try to lay claim to her.

  “I need to go home,” she said. She knew tomorrow was going to be an ugly morning for her.

  “Yes, you do,” he responded. “Let’s go find your friends.”

  He stood, and then helped her to her feet. When they were both on their feet, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, deeply. He nibbled at her lips, and Evelyn sighed as he cupped the back of her neck and held her in place as his tongue plundered her mouth.

  When he finally let her go, she gasped for air.

  “I’m looking forward to feeling your mouth around my prick, Inky. Something tells me it’s going to fit perfectly.”

  Chapter 2

  “Have a fun weekend?”

  Evelyn looked up from her desk, to where her coworker, Marsha St. James, was sipping coffee.

  “You look like you drank the whole keg,” Marsha said with a laugh.

  “Do I look that bad?” Evelyn reached into her desk drawer for the mirror she kept there. She held it up, then plunked it down on her desk. “You made it sound like I had dark circles or something.”

  “You’ve got a headache,” Marsha said. “I can tell by the way you’re holding your head, and there are bags under your eyes. Better put on some concealer before you have to go to the police station for the morning reports. They’ll all laugh at you.”

  Evelyn knew she was right, and she didn’t want to set foot near the police station, but not for the reasons Marsha mentioned. She couldn’t believe she’d thrown herself at Logan Hendricks, and he’d turned her down. It was so embarrassing. Sure, he’d said he planned to come by, but that was on Saturday night. He hadn’t shown up at her remote cabin on Sunday, and something told her he wouldn’t be there tonight either.

  “Do you want to go for me?” she asked, hopefully.

  “Are you kidding? There’s always a mess of reports to go through on Monday mornings, and I have no desire to weed through the drunk and disorderly tickets, or minor in possession of alcohol, to get to the real stuff. That’s your beat, boss.”

  “I’ll give you twenty bucks,” Evelyn cajoled.

  “No way.”

  “Thirty?”

  Marsha leaned on her elbows. “What do you know that I don’t?”

  Evelyn wondered why she’d tried to get something by her friend. Marsha was a master at sniffing out situations. The older woman was a native of Clearwater and had turned down the editor’s job because, as she’d told Evelyn, she didn’t want to tell her friends she had the choice of running a story, or not, if they were arrested. She wanted to be able to blame it on the editor.

  “Nothing, I just… I’m tired.”

  “Bull.”

  “I’ve got a headache,” Evelyn said.

  “Bull.”

  “You’re beginning to sound like a broken record, Marsha.”

  Marsha laughed. “I’m surprised you know what a record is.”

  Evelyn was about to tell her she wasn’t that young when the door to the newsroom opened and Logan came inside. He was carrying three coffee cups, two grasped in one hand and one in the other.

  “What incredible balance you have, Lieutenant Hendricks,” Marsha said. “It’s a talent I never knew you had.”

  He crossed to Marsha’s desk and put one of the cups down. Then he crossed to Evelyn’s desk and offered her the other.

  “Thank you,” she said as she took it, without looking up at him. All she could think about was her saying, “I could suck your dick.”

  “To what do we owe this honor?” Marsha asked.

  “I thought Inky could use some caffeine,” he said, as he settled himself in the chair next to her desk.

  “Now I know something’s going on,” Marsha said, her voice suspicious. “Was there a big drug bust or something? Does she need the caffeine to deal with what’s happening?”

  “Nope.” He took a drink of his coffee. “We happened to run into each other this weekend, and Inky was, well… drunk.”

  Marsha’s laughter made Evelyn fume. She glared at Logan. “Get out,” she said under her breath. He stared at her for a few moments, then took another sip of his coffee.

  “I wish I could have seen that,” Marsha said. “Where were you? The Broken Spoke? Flannigan’s? And why wasn’t I invited on this trip out on the town?”

  “We were out of town,” Logan answered. “Just a get-together with friends.”

  “Oh,” Marsha said. She didn’t push the matter. Instead, she changed the subject, for which Evelyn was eternally grateful.
r />   “Where are the doughnuts to go with this coffee, Lieutenant?” Marsha asked.

  “Too much of a cliché,” he responded.

  Evelyn didn’t say anything and a long, heavy pause filled the air.

  Finally, Marsha said, “Stay here, Evie. Logan obviously wants to talk to you about something, and he wants to do it away from the station. I’ll go do the police beat this morning, but you owe me.”

  Evelyn stayed quiet as Marsha gathered her things, taking up her notebook, purse and coffee before she slammed out the door.

  “Why did you do that?” she repeated.

  “Marsha figured it out,” he answered. “Too much chance of us being overheard at the station. Here we have a bit of privacy. I know the sports guy won’t be in until later, because his car was parked in front of Carol Busby’s house when I passed by.”

  “His name is Parker,” she said. “Mark Parker.”

  “I know. I just don’t care for him.”

  “Speaking of you seeing his car, you realize there’s every chance Marsha is down at the station telling them you brought us coffee today.”

  “Not a chance.” He tipped his head in the direction of Marsha’s empty chair. “She could keep a secret from the pope.”

  “True.” Evelyn took a drink of her coffee. It was just the way she liked it, with just a little bit of cream. She wondered how he knew, or if he had asked the women at the coffee shop. She decided not to probe too deeply. “Why are you here, Logan?”

  “To set up our date. I’m thinking tonight, unless tomorrow is better for you. I guess I can wait one more night.”

  “I’m not sleeping with you,” she said, keeping her voice stern. “I was drunk, and it was a bad idea when I made the offer. But it’s off the table.”

  “How about nine? That gives me time to make it to my racquetball game at the rec center and then drive to your place. I always wanted to ask why you chose such an out-of-the-way house to buy. It’s not very safe for a woman to be out there all by herself.”

  Evelyn had heard that argument before. “I can take care of myself and don’t come to my house tonight. I keep a shotgun by my bed, and I might mistake you for a burglar, or a bear, and use it on you.”