Let's go home, as in the two of them to the same place? It wasn't the reaction she'd expected from Bud. Lonnie stood in the shower as the warmth washed over her aching body, and to that it was soothing but her mind was beyond respite at the moment. Somewhere deep within the gray matter was a vision of the shower curtain being ripped back by an angry man with a knife. Damn it, she watched too many movies. Bud's reaction to all of this was either the calm before the storm or he'd already worked it all out.

A moment of fear came when what her mind had projected seemed to be transpiring. The shower curtain was pulled back but instead of a knife wielding Norman Bates like event, Bud just turned the water off. He grabbed the bath sheet from the towel rack and held it up for her.

"Let's go. Get out of there."

She couldn't read any particular emotion in his voice. It wasn't a comfortable feeling. Bud's volatility was something she'd accepted, expected on occasion. The complacency in his tone was a warning sign to Lonnie. She watched his eyes as she stepped into the towel and he didn't look away.

"Bud, if I'd have known you before, I'd have never - "

"Shut up and listen to me, Lonnie." His voice was monotone and the way he locked his arms around her made her shiver. "If I could turn back the clock and start over knowing what I know now, I'd have never …never got involved with you. I don't know what I am. Pissed off, hurt, who gives a fuck about that shit. All I know is you're fucking stuck with me now, just like I'm stuck with you.

"You're not stuck with me."

"Yes I am. I thought about it a lot. I tried to tell myself to move on, but you keep coming back into the picture. I don't know how the fuck I let this happen to me but it's a done deal."

She shook her head. "No. I've no doubt regarding how I feel about you, but there'll always be tension between us. I can't spend the rest of my life walking on egg shells. I have to go back east, Bud. I can't stay here."

"Lon, listen to me. I knew about some of the stuff Stens did and I didn't rat on him. I couldn't, I guess it makes me just as guilty. You're my punishment for being loyal."

"Punishment? So you want to stay with me to martyr yourself in a way? This is bullshit, Bud. I'm not going to stay with you just to be your...your...penance."

Letting go of her, he laid his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. Bud let out an exasperated sigh before dropping his head to look at her. "I ain't no good at saying things the right way. I guess the bottom line is I don't want to live without you. Take away all of the job stuff and what's left. Us. Just us."

She stood there staring at him. Clutching the towel tightly, Lonnie could feel the scales tipping in his favor. "Are you trying to tell me that despite the fact I was investigating you, despite the fact that I could have ruined your career, you still love me, Bud?"

"Yeah," he nodded. Bud prepared himself for the worst. He expected her to tell him to fuck off just like every other person he'd ever cared about did, all three of them. After all, that's how things went for him. Fathers loved their sons, but his didn't. Mothers didn't leave, but his did without intent. Partners didn't keep stuff from their partners. His did.

"Bud, it was so hard for me, keeping the truth from you for so long. I knew I loved you and it hurt me to think you could have been involved in anything shady. Baby, I'm sorry I doubted you, ever."

Raising his hand, he pried her fingers from the towel and let it drop. Bud pulled her damp naked body against him and held her tight. He could feel her sob and the last thing he needed was her crying. Fuck! He hated it when woman cried. Who had the top rung of the ladder? She was wet, naked, crying. He was dry, fully clothed, and unable to cry.

"I'm safe with you, Bud. I feel like nothing else could happen to me now."

"At least I'm good for something," he responded. With a mind of its own, his left hand slid under her breast. She looked down at the indention his thumb made in her flesh then she tilted her head up with perfect timing. Their mouths met, kissing tentatively at first but chemistry fed passion spread like a puddle of gas toward a flame. Whirling around to put her back against the wall, he tugged at his tie and she pulled at his belt. Turning again and moving forward always, by the time they reached the bed he was hard, naked and wanting her as much as she wanted him. They lay down together, bodies touching, melding, fitting together like two pieces of broken glass from the same pane. Seamless.

Bringing a knee between her legs, he kissed her and stroked her still wet hair.

"I love the way you smell, sweet and delicate. Like a woman should. I love the way you feel, soft in all the right places. Like a woman should."

"I've never heard you talk like this. I could get used to it, Bud," her voice, husky with passion became the last horse in the trifecta of seduction. "I love the way you feel, hard in all of the right places." Long fingers curled around one of those places and she rolled to her back, urging him with her. His body was heavy upon her and she shifted her hips. Massaging the backs of his thighs with her heels she squirmed again and his cool thick cock pressed longwise into her cleft.

"Tease," he murmured accusingly. "Open your legs," he growled as he rose up slightly. She dropped her knees to the side and his cock sprung free from the tender trap. He entered her, tip first. Payback was a bitch. Hovering above her with the pulsing head of his cock just breaching her heat and looking right into her eyes, he drove in to the hilt with a hard sigh. The feel of slick walls tighten around him made his mouth go dry and his mind go blank. He was reclaiming her now.

"I feel every inch of you," Lonnie hissed as she pressed her pelvis upward to meet each one of his deep strokes. His groans came more frequently and he called her name.

"Lonnie. Lonnie, baby."

"Son of a bitch, Bud!" she yelped and came crashing without warning. Her body thumped against his imbedded cock in a ragged rhythm. Tight, wet, hot pulses of needed release washed over her mercilessly in warm waves. How could he hold back? Her body demanded and his responded in one long and many short bursts of the big cop's essence.

It took several minutes for them to catch their breath. He stayed on top of her, his now flaccid cock too sensitive to pull out. When she moved to nuzzle his neck the pressure inside of her caused him to slip out with a puddle of fluid that ran down the crack of her ass to stain the sheets.

"Hey!" he barked. "What did you do that for?" he was actually laughing. "We're going to have to sleep on the floor."

"I could change the sheets," she giggled

"Uh uh."

Winding his hand in the duvet, he tumbled both of them to the floor. This time she ended up on top in a flurry of giggles. "Will it always be like this for us, from now on?" she asked, kissing the tip of his nose.

"I don't know. I hope so, honey, but I don't know. That was good. Yeah?"

"Yeah it was. How soon before round two?"

"Greedy woman!"

Round two came a short while later and round three happened at the crack of dawn. They were still cocooned in the duvet when a knock came to the front door.

"Who the fuck could that be?"

"I'll get it, Bud," kissing him one more time she stood to put her robe on. Feeling moist and slightly battered, she made her way to the front door. Lonnie peeked out before she answered it. "Fucks sake!" Pulling the door open, she smiled at Thomas. "How the hell are you?"

"Not as good as you," he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "You're glowing and you smell like sex. Where is White anyway?"

"Right here," he stood in the hallway, mother naked.

"Damn it. Put some clothes on, White. Lonnie, put some coffee on. I've got to talk to both of you."

Lonnie tightened the tie of the robe at her waist. "What's this all about, Thomas?"

"I've got a proposition for you, for both of you. C'mon I need coffee so I can speak without stumbling over my tongue. I'd make it myself but..." he raised the arm that was in a sling as a result of his gunshot wound.

Fifteen minutes later the three of them were at the kitchen table with steaming mugs of joe in front of them.

"Well, Thomas. Spill," Bud started things off. "What's on your mind?"

"I gave this a lot of thought. In fact, even with the vicoden, I was awake all night mulling it over. How'd you two like to go into business with me?"

Bud sat back in his chair and drew a breath. "I ain't a private sector kind of dick and from where I stand right now; she's not going to be working the streets again."

Lonnie's jaw dropped. She cocked head toward Bud and narrowed her eyes. "When did we make that decision?"

Eyes met but no more words were exchanged.

"I see you two have a lot to talk about. Thanks for the coffee, Lon. I'll see you later."

Thomas set his cup in the sink and Lonnie saw him to the door. It was no sooner closed when she spun around and let her ire fly.

"What the fuck, Bud? What the fuck! When did you take on the job of being my father?"

It was the wrong thing to say to Bud White.