Saving Cheryl

I knew Dick had been with the Captain watching both interrogations on the closed circuit TV system. When I walked out of the interrogation room with Andrea's signed confession, he was standing there grinning.

"Great job, Mike. You saved me a lot of work and a lot of time in court. I'll set the arraignment hearing for tomorrow."

The Captain shook my hand.

"Mike, you did good. I think you can take Cheryl home now, and I don't mean Belle Venica. I have four officers on the way over there to arrest the manager and the doctor. They probably won't be accepting any more residents for a while."

I felt pretty good when I drove up to The Imperial Gardens and knocked on Cheryl's door. She grinned when she saw my smile.

"Did you do it?"

"Yes. Your son and Andrea both confessed, and Andrea told me the manager and doctor at Belle Venica were both in on it. They're being arrested right now. You can go home, Cheryl."

"Well good. I can get out of these clothes, take a bath, and get into something clean. Lacey bought me some jeans and a top but I haven't had time to change yet. Come in and meet her."

Now, I'm probably the least romantic guy you'd ever meet. I always laughed when one of the female officers told me about finding love at first sight. I'm not sure it was love, but when I saw Lacey standing there, something in my head sort of went "Wow".

She was tall and slender with a figure that looked just about perfect. She was also about my age, or so I guessed. Her dark brown hair cascaded in waves over the soft shoulders bared by her tank top, and the way that tank top fit let a lot of cleavage peek over the low neck. Her jeans were tight enough I didn't have to imagine how slender and shapely her legs were.

I figured Lacey looked a lot like her mother had when she was younger, and as I quickly learned, Lacey was every bit as feisty. She grinned at me and stuck out her hand.

"So you're the man who took care of my mama. You look like you could take care of a woman pretty well."

"Well, I found her and hid her here if that's what you mean."

Lacey giggled.

"Mama said you wouldn't take her home with you. She was disappointed. I can see why."

Cheryl chuckled.

"Lacey, that's why I said you had to meet him. You're young enough he probably wouldn't tell you no like he did me."

"Well, I don't think I'll ask him...not yet, anyway. What I will do is take you both out to dinner. Mike, can you give up your pizza for a decent meal? Mama said that's all you eat at home. It must get boring."

Dinner was probably great, but I don't remember what I had. I couldn't take my eyes off Lacey. We talked a lot. I do remember doing that. I just don't remember what we talked about. The other thing I remember is that when we sat down, Lacey was talking with both me and Cheryl. As things went on though, it seemed like she was only talking to me.

I drove them both to Cheryl's house and was going to go home so they could spend some time together. Cheryl stopped me by asking if I'd come inside for a while. I couldn't really say no. I didn't want to say no anyway.

Cheryl turned over what looked like a rock in the plants by her steps, picked up a key, and laughed.

"I put this key here after I locked myself out one time. I never thought I'd get locked out by my daughter-in-law."

Cheryl's living room was pretty nice. It wasn't as feminine as I'd expected. There was a fireplace on one wall and over that fireplace was a heavy, wood mantle. I was looking at the pictures that sat there when Lacey came out of the kitchen with a beer in each hand.

"I found these in Mama's fridge. She doesn't drink beer, so I guess Randy must have put them there. Want one? I don't think he'd care."

She handed me one of the bottles after she unscrewed the top.

"I see you're looking at Mama's pictures. That's Daddy in his uniform. He was a police officer in Louisville for thirty years before he retired and they moved to Nashville."

"I didn't know that. Cheryl never said what her husband did, or even that she had a husband for that matter."

"Well, Mama doesn't talk about him much anymore. I think it hurts her too much to remember him. I remember him though. He taught me how to shoot a pistol and how to defend myself, but he also taught me about what life means and why I should follow my heart instead of doing what everybody says I should do. It's been working pretty well so far."

"He must have been a great guy then."

"He was. I always hoped I'd find a man like him. Haven't so far, but I'm still hoping."

"So, how long will you be in town?"

Lacey tipped up her bottle and took a small sip, then smiled at me.

"I don't know. Long enough to get Mama settled in again and maybe long enough to see how long Randy has to go to jail. It doesn't really matter. I teach classes in computer software so I fly all over the place anyway. Why?"

"I just thought maybe you'd like to have dinner some night."

Lacey grinned at me.

"And then you'll take me home with you like Mama said?"

"Well, no. I wouldn't do that on a first date, probably not even on the third."

"Damn, I was kinda hoping you'd ask."

Well, that first date turned into six months of weekend dates. Lacey did fly back to Utah to get what she needed to run her business from Cheryl's house and to put her furniture in storage. After that, I started seeing her every Saturday. On our fourth date, we were sitting at Capelo's finishing our coffee after dinner.

Lacey put her hand on mine and smiled.

"It's our fourth date. You said after the fourth you'd ask me to go home with you."

I was a little stunned by that, but over the past four weeks, I'd learned that Lacey was a lot like her mother in that she said what she thought.

"No, I said I wouldn't ask you to do that even after the third."

She stroked the back of my hand with her fingertip.

"Well...if you were to ask me, I'd probably say yes."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Shouldn't you let Cheryl know you're not coming home?"

Lacey smiled.

"I did that before we left."

Lacey was a pretty woman when she was dressed and she wasn't bashful when we got to my apartment. I'd just closed and locked the door when she put her arms around my neck.

"Remember when I said I hadn't found a man like Daddy yet?"

"Yes."

"I think I might have found him now. It all depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On if what Mama said was right or not."

I really didn't know what that meant, but after she stood on her tiptoes and kissed me, I forgot all about it. There was something different about that kiss. At the time, I didn't know what that was. All I knew is I wanted to hold Lacey like that forever.

She wouldn't let me do that, though. She eased back down on her feet and grinned at me.

"So far, so good. Where's the bed?"

Lacey was a pretty woman in tight jeans and snug top. Naked, she was more woman that I'd ever been with. Everything about her, from her perky breasts to hips that swelled sensuously from her narrow waist, was making me want her like I'd never wanted any other woman. When she pressed her soft breasts into my naked chest, I slipped my hands down and cupped her ass cheeks. When I stroked a finger down her butt crack, Lacey voice was a low, sultry, purr.

"Mmm...I like that. Show me what else you can do."

I showed her a lot of things that night. I showed her how much I loved fondling her breasts and how much I loved the feeling of her nipples in my mouth. I showed her how hard my cock got when she found it and slowly stroked my shaft. I showed her how gentle I could be when I stroked her slit through the trimmed, dark brown hair between her smooth thighs.

It seemed to not take long before Lacey nibbled at my chest and then whispered, "roll over on your back". After I did, Lacey straddled my thighs, then leaned down and kissed me. Her rigid nipples brushed my chest hair as she worked her body down until my cock felt soft, wet hair. I felt her reach between us then, find my cock, and rub the swollen head between her lips.

A few seconds later, Lacy found her entrance with my cock head and began slowly impaling herself. After a short push, she raised back up and then pushed her body back down again. I felt my cock pushing into a narrowing and then the zing as it went through. Lacey caught her breath and kept pushing down until she was laying on my belly with her breasts mashed into my chest.

She raised up then, and my cock slid deeper inside her. Lacey moaned and pulled my hands to her breasts, then started riding my cock. Her up and down motion was slow and deliberate. The little gasps and moans she made when I stroked, pinched, and pulled on her nipples were almost as exciting as the feeling of her rippled passage stroking my cock.

For a while, that's all she did, just ride my cock and shudder when I tweaked her nipple or stroked her hip. I'd been with several women in the past, and had enjoyed them, but Lacey was different. With those other women, I'd made them cum and I had too and it was great. I hadn't gotten to that point with Lacey yet but it felt even better.

I sort of got lost in her that night. It was a joy to fondle her breasts and feel her shiver at my touch. It was a joy to hear her moan when I lightly pinched her nipples and twisted them. It was more than I'd ever imagined when she leaned down, poked her right nipple in my face and then shuddered when I sucked it. She moaned then and a second later I had to groan and push my cock up into her stroke. The little contraction that squeezed my cock head wouldn't let me do anything else.

I was at the point of needing to hold back when Lacey gasped and ground her lips into the base of my cock.

"Oh God, Mike...I'm almost there."

Lacey sped up her strokes and when I pinched her nipple between my teeth, she shrieked and slammed her body down over my cock. She started to pant and her strokes pushed my cock deep inside her. Then, she did this rocking thing with her hips and pushed my cock into something so soft and so wet I was having trouble holding back. I knew it was useless after the second time she did this. I was going to cum and there wasn't anything I could do about it.

I grabbed Lacey's hips and met her stroke halfway. She shrieked again, and I lost any semblance of control. Lacey's hips started rolling around at the same time she was moving up and down over my cock. I felt a gush of warm wetness around my shaft and then Lacey shrieked again. I'm not sure what happened after that. I was cumming too hard to think.

Lacey made one last push that drove my cock back inside her and then eased down on my chest. For a while, we just laid there. Lacey kept making little moans and with each, I'd feel her passage contract around my cock. When those little contractions slowed down, she raised her head and grinned.

"I think Mama was right about you."

"Oh. What did she say about me?"

"She said you reminded her of Daddy, and that you'd probably make me feel like he made her feel."

"Did I?"

"Mmm...I think it was better than she told me it would be. I'm not sure I can move yet. I don't want to either. I just want to stay like this."

Of course, we couldn't. My cock quickly softened to the point it wouldn't stay inside Lacey though she tried to keep it there. When it slipped out, she rolled to my side, pressed her breasts into the side of my chest and snuggled up to me.

After six months with Lacey, I'd decided I didn't want to be without her. I knew she loved me because she'd said so a lot. I was worried though. It's tough to live with a cop. We don't have the most regular hours sometimes, and there's always a risk we won't come home some night. I was thinking about whether I should ask her to marry me when I drove to the station that day.

When I went past the desk, the desk sergeant said the Captain wanted to see me. When I walked into his office he asked me to close the door and then have a seat. What he said hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Mike, I hate to lose you as a patrol officer, but I'm afraid I have to let you go."

"Why? What the hell did I do?"

He frowned.

"You took it upon yourself to hide that woman instead of taking her back to Belle Venica and then you involved yourself in an investigation of fraud you should have passed on to the detectives. I can't have my patrolmen doing shit like that. They're supposed to be out there arresting people for traffic violations and for sticking up businesses and dragging hookers to jail so the judge can release them an hour later."

"But you said I could and that I did a good job. So did the DA."

He grinned then.

"Gotcha, didn't I? I'm not going to fire you Mike. You did really well on the detectives exam, and after this, I know you'll make a good detective. It just so happens I have an opening. Bill Jenkins called it quits this morning. You go back home and change that uniform into a suit and tie and come back tomorrow. You'll have Bill's desk along with his open case file. Now get your ass out of here and go celebrate."

Lacey and I did celebrate that night. When she'd gasped out the orgasm and then snuggled up beside me, I told her about my promotion. She stroked my chest.

"Is that something you wanted?"

"Yes, it is. I didn't think it would be right to ask you to marry me if I was still a patrolman. There was too big a risk I might not come home some night. Now, well, detectives don't usually get into situations like that."

"I wouldn't have said no if you'd asked me."

"Would you still say yes now?"

Lacey snuggled up a little tighter.

"Mmm...as long as we can do this, I would."

Lacey moved back to Nashville a week later and moved into my apartment. Our wedding wasn't a big affair. We were married by the Justice of the Peace and then went to Cheryl's house. I was a little surprised by all the people who were there. She'd invited all the homeless people from down the block. I was even more surprised when Jeremy walked up and offered his hand.

"Mike, I was afraid that day that you'd arrest me, but Cheryl said I could trust you and she was right. You're one of the good ones, Mike. If you ever need help, Cheryl will know where I live. Best of luck to you and Lacey."

We settled down in my apartment until the lease ran out and then moved into one of the houses Cheryl owned. We're as happy as anybody, I guess. Lacey is flying somewhere at least once a week, but she's always home on the weekends. We make those weekends special times.

I'm still a detective and I like the work, but sometimes I think the patrolmen have it easier. It's that old "grass is greener" thing I guess. When I was a patrolman I thought the same thing about the detectives.

Cheryl is still Cheryl. She makes sandwiches for the homeless people every other day, and when it started getting cold, made sure they all had a couple blankets. She makes a trip every other week down to that same liquor store for a fifth of vodka. She says it helps the arthritis in her hip, but I've never seen her limp. Lacey says she drinks a shot every night because that's what they did when her Daddy was still alive. I guess old habits are hard to break especially if you have a reason to keep them going.

Well, Lacey just walked into the den wearing nothing and crooked her finger at me, so I need to stop typing. She's as feisty as her mother sometimes and I love that. Other times, like I figure tonight's going to be, she's all woman and more woman than I ever thought I'd find. I love that even more.