Free Forbidden Fantasies by Jodie Griffin

her forehead. “Okay?”
    “Thanks.” She dropped her chin to her knees. The closeness they’d shared earlier this morning was gone, and things felt nearly as stilted as they had before their blowup. Her eyes burned, and she forced the tears away with nothing but sheer willpower. Was it just the fact they’d been interrupted? Or was it more than that?
    She didn’t get much chance to think, because moments later, Ben woke up and got sick, completely missing the bucket. With an ease born of years of practice, she helped him to the bathroom, then changed his sheets and got him settled back in bed. Exhausted, he drifted back to sleep almost immediately.
    She left his bedroom door open and carried the sodden, stinky mess downstairs to the laundry room. The phone rang once, but it stopped before she could get it. Shrugging, she tossed the pile into the wash and headed back upstairs.
    Alex stood in Ben’s doorway, watching his son sleep. He turned his head as she came up the steps. “What happened?”
    “Missed the bucket.”
    Alex winced. “Sorry. You ready to grab your shower?” he asked as they walked to their bedroom, where she realized Alex wasn’t in his usual weekend attire of jeans and sneakers. He had on a button-down shirt and khakis, and held a tie in his hand. Work clothes.
    She frowned and leaned against the door as he picked up his badge and unlocked his gun from the cabinet in their closet. “I thought you didn’t have to go in until six.”
    “The whole squad just got called in.” His brow creased with barely suppressed fury. “Details are sketchy, but there was a multiple homicide that includes children. There’s some question of whether it’s murder-suicide, or if the killer is still out there somewhere.”
    Jess’s heart clenched, as it always did when he caught cases like this. The ones with kids were the hardest on him. “Go. We’re fine here.” She took his tie and looped it around his neck, tucking it under the collar of his shirt. When it was tight enough, she used it to tug him toward her as if it were a leash. She pressed a soft kiss to his lips, then rested her forehead against his. “Be careful. I love you, Alex. Always and forever.”
    He cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss until her knees went weak, then broke away with a jerk and a sharp indrawn breath. “I love you too, Jess. No matter what, don’t ever doubt that. Call me if Ben gets worse.” His voice was low, sexy, but she could tell he was already thinking ahead to the case.
    With one last glance over his shoulder, he was gone.

Chapter Seven
    Alex stepped into his bedroom as quietly as possible, trying not to wake Jessica. He locked his weapon away and stripped down to his boxer-briefs. His wife lay curled up in their bed on her side, one rosy-tipped breast peeking out from the edge of her nightgown. His body stirred, and he wished he had the energy to wake her and make love, but damn, he was bone tired. And he felt like a shit of a husband and father, anyway.
    Kara had caught Ben’s stomach bug, so it had been a long week for Jess too. She’d had to handle the kids herself. Even if they’d wanted to continue their mind-blowing conversation from last Sunday, there hadn’t been a moment alone they could. All week he’d seen the wounded, worried look in Jess’s eyes when she didn’t think he was watching, but after dealing with two dead kids under the age of ten, the last thing on his mind had been talking about their sex life.
    But finally, with long hours and some pretty damned fine police work from their squad, they’d captured the son of a bitch who’d done the deed. Now he could put those children and their mother to rest, and focus on his own family.
    His kids were healthy again, he had four days off, and tomorrow, he and his wife were going on a grownup sleepover. He couldn’t wait to tell her about it. He all but fell into bed, pulling Jessica into his arms. She never moved, and minutes