Page 126 of Detectives in Love

Xavier doesn’t say a word. Just keeps looking at me—face unreadable, carved from stone.

“You lied on purpose,” I say, studying him. “Are you testing some theory? Or just trying to throw Willand off?”

Still nothing. Just silence. But then I notice: his pupils are huge, swallowing almost all the blue. His gaze drops as he shifts closer, his knee brushing mine. Without a word, he takes my left hand, his fingers playing lightly with mine, then leans in and kisses me.

It starts soft—his lips warm and a little dry—but it doesn’t stay that way. His tongue traces the seam of my mouth, slow, insistent, until I part my lips and let him in. The moment our tongues meet, something shoots through me—hot, electric, molten low in my belly.

Xavier lets out a quiet moan, barely masked by the hum of the car. He pulls my hand forward and presses it against thethick shape in his lap—hot and rigid beneath the fabric—and it takes me a second to register that it’s his cock, straining through his pants. I freeze, caught off guard. Then he pulls back from the kiss and whispers, voice hot against my ear, “I want you.”

My whole body jolts. I’m hard in an instant. God—he’s not out of it, just high from whatever the paramedics gave him. And apparently, horny.

I don’t move. I try to hold it together, but then he bites my neck, sucking hard, and I know that’s going to leave another mark.

“Xavier,” I whisper, breathing hard, trying not to draw the driver’s attention. “Pretty sure that’s the drugs talking.”

But Xavier doesn’t stop. His eyes are glazed with want, his hand sliding down to grab my ass, kneading it like he’s done it a hundred times. He leans in again, voice rough against my ear.

“I want you so bad, Newt.”

“Oh God,” I breathe, my heart pounding so loud it drowns out everything else, my cock twitching at the words.

“I think about you all the time,” he goes on, nuzzling my cheek, his breath hot against my skin. “All day. All night. Especially at night…” His voice dips even lower. “I’ve imagined how I’d make you come…so many ways, Newt. Tell me—do you want to come in my mouth?”

“Fuck, Xavier,” I whisper, eyes squeezing shut as I claw for the last shred of self-control. “Please.”

I don’t even know if I’m begging him to stop—or begging him not to.

“I want to taste your cock,” he breathes, his hand sliding into my lap, pressing against the hardness in my pants. “Can I taste you, Newt?”

He rubs over it once—focused, unhurried—and I curse under my breath. His palm drags along the length, slow enough to make my hips twitch.

“I want to taste you,” he whispers. “And then I want to put you on all fours and fuck you until you’re leaking and begging—”

“Stop. Please.”

The words tear out of me, shaky, barely a whisper. “Please, Xavier.”

He does. Instantly.

The space between us rushes in like cold air. When I open my eyes, he’s already pulling back, breath heavy, gaze turned away, his cheeks flushed like he’s ashamed and barely holding it together. He pinches the bridge of his nose, jaw tight—and when I reach out to touch his shoulder, he flinches, jerking away before I even make contact.

“Sorry,” he mutters, still not looking at me. “I just need a second.”

He cracks the cab window, letting in a blast of icy air, and pulls his coat tighter around himself, breathing like it’s the only thing keeping him grounded.

We sit in silence for the rest of the ride, and I think my brain’s fried—my head buzzing with everything that just happened. Hearing Xavier say all those filthy things… It felt like something out of my wildest fantasies.

The kind I barely even knew I had, let alone let myself think about.

I know it was the drugs talking. I know he wasn’t fully himself. But now that the words are out there—now that I’ve heard them, felt them—

God, I don’t think I’ll be able to let it go.

By the time we pull up to Hickory Road, Xavier’s asleep—slumped against the car door, turned away from me.

And that’s when I see them.

Some of the journalists from earlier, still posted across the street, waiting to ambush us the second we step out. They haven’t noticed us yet, so I reach over and gently shake Xavier awake.