STORY EXCERPT

Eve looked outside and narrowed her eyes. The Crime Scene Unit and police officers were present. A crowd had gathered around the yellow tape surrounding a tree. “Why is everyone looking at a tree? Wait, I can’t believe this.”

“The scent of blood coming from that tree is strong,” Victor said as he got out of the car. The others did the same.

Eve looked up as she approached the yellow tape. Of the two trees on the front yard of the house, it was the bigger one closest to the sidewalk. A lifeless man leaned against the tree trunk, seated between two thick branches a ways up. Blood had flowed from a small hole on the side of his neck, all the way down the tree trunk and the grass.

She approached one of the officers and showed her badge. “Can you tell us what happened here?”

“Arthur Connelly was found dead by his wife, Georgina Connelly, after she returned from her gathering with other elderly friends. The victim was seventy-two years old,” the officer said. He looked over at a young man, who sat by the edge of the sidewalk. “This gentleman told us he saw two drunk neighbors exchanging gunshots at four in the morning.”

“In this quiet neighborhood?” Duke asked with a raised brow. “I’ll talk to him.”

Eve regarded the officer. “Where’s Mrs. Connelly?” she asked.

The officer pointed toward the house. “She’s waiting to speak with you, detectives. Four of her friends arrived a few minutes ago to keep her company,” he answered. “We got her to calm down and talk to us, but she might start crying again at any moment. She’s very shaken up, of course.”

“We’ll handle things out here for now so she can have a moment, then,” Eve said. “What about the two shooters? Any injuries?”

“Seems like it was only to intimidate each other, so they’re in those two police cars ready to go,” the man said. “Both of them told us they had an altercation at a bar on A7 Street. Since they live a few houses apart from each other, the conflict continued here. But they insist they shot upward. There are no bullet holes in sight, except for on the victim. Given that they were drunk, it’s probably a stray bullet.”

Eve nodded. “We’ll talk to them at the station. Thank you, officer,” she said, and the man went back to work. Eve looked over when Troy walked up to the tree with the usual hazmat suit and protective accessories. They set up a ladder away from the stopped blood stream. “Let’s talk to the neighbors?”

“They look eager to tell us something,” Victor said.

They approached the other side around the yellow tape, where the small crowd had gathered. Two news station vans were stopped by the police car parked in the road. “Hello, everyone,” Eve said. “Do any of you know what kind of individual Arthur Connelly was?”

“A very nosy man,” one of the middle-aged women said with her arms crossed over her pink cardigan. “Before he retired, he went up this tree every now and then to watch everyone. After his retirement, that became hell for our street. Every single day he was on that tree, just watching us. We called the police on him multiple times, but they kept telling us he was on his property.”

Eve took note of everything on her notepad. “Is this the first time the two men fired guns in this neighborhood?”

The woman nodded. “We live in a peaceful place. There’s no need for that sort of drama,” she said. “It’s what happens when young people don’t care for human lives. I’m glad they’ll be out of here. They killed old Connelly over some stupid argument. If I’m honest, I don’t mind not having that old man looking at everything I do. I couldn’t even keep the curtains of my house open.”

Something like this created motive, yet it didn’t add up. What had Arthur Connelly been doing on that tree at four in the morning? Eve hummed. “I’m sure that’s a big inconvenience for everyone, but would someone on this street go as far as committing murder?”

“We don’t really talk to each other,” one of the men said. “We keep to ourselves, save for a few old friend groups, just like Georgina Connelly’s group. They’re all very nice, so I doubt his wife would do something like this. And they have no kids. From what I know, Mr. Connelly was infertile.”

“He had a thing for telling us about his personal life and our lives. Always talking,” an older woman added.

Eve tilted her head. “He spread the news about the things he saw on this street?” she asked, and they nodded. “Has something been going on around here?”

The pink cardigan woman spoke again. “Only mundane things. For example, I was returning home from work two days ago. He told me from that tree that he saw Ada struggling to carry her groceries.”

“I can’t even carry groceries without being watched,” the middle-aged woman said with a scowl. “But yesterday he wanted to tell me something he saw. He looked nervous, which is unlike him. It’s strange, because he changed the subject and talked about seeing a stray cat.”

Eve nodded in thought. That could be something, or nothing. The small crowd went quiet, with nothing else to say, so Eve thanked them for cooperating. Their statements would need to be collected soon. She made her way to where Duke spoke with the young man, who wore black clothing and a beanie. “What do you think?” she asked Victor as he accompanied her.

“Might truly be a stray bullet,” Victor answered. “What makes the difference is that Connelly has an entire street full of enemies.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Troy removing his jacket had been enough to turn her on, but now she didn’t know what to do. If she made advances, Troy could tell her she needed to focus on resting. “So, what do you want to do?”

Troy looked into Eve’s eyes for a moment. “Anything you want,” he said, his tone seductive.

Swallowing hard, Eve leaned closer. “Anything?” she asked, and he nodded. She got on her knees on the bed and held his hand, resting it over her chest. “Is this enough of a hint?”

“Eve, I could tell as soon as I took my jacket off,” Troy said with a grin. He laid Eve back under the covers along with him on top of her.

Eve shared a deep kiss with Troy. Their tongues swirled together as he slowly roamed his hands all over her body, from her thighs to her breasts. She let out a quiet moan when Troy slid his hand into her sleepwear pants and underwear and teased her clit. As usual, his fingers were lukewarm.

Troy pulled away. “I’ll be right back.”

In a daze, Eve watched as Troy went to his jacket. He got his wallet and took out a packet of lube. She laughed when he threw the wallet aside on his way back to bed. Troy pounced onto her, but quickly stopped. “I’m sick, I’m not made of foam. I’ll tell you if I get lightheaded again,” she said.

“You’re not sweating, so you’re not recovering yet. I still want to be careful with you,” Troy said as he took Eve’s sleepwear pants off.

Eve lifted her hips, and he removed her underwear as well. Her heart pounded with desire. Her lips parted when he got under the covers. She jolted at the feeling of his hot mouth on her pussy. She allowed him to part her bent legs to the sides, his hands on the back of her thighs. Eve put her hands on his head, on top of the bed covers, while he licked and sucked hard on her clit. She couldn’t help the moans escaping her mouth.

Troy moved two of his slicked fingers over Eve’s wet slit before pushing one of them into her pussy hole. “Are you all right?” he asked and flicked his tongue against her clit.

A jolt of pleasure coursed through her. “It’s too late to ask that,” she mumbled. Eve melted on the bed while Troy thrust into her with his finger. She closed her eyes as Troy pressed several kisses to her inner thighs. He came into view from underneath the covers and kissed her neck. “Do you want to drink from me?”

“When you’re feeling better,” Troy said and scraped his fangs against her skin.

Eve let out a quiet moan again. Troy added his other slicked finger into her hole, and she wrapped her arms around Troy’s neck, pulling him closer. Her symptoms bothered her, but she tried to focus on Troy. Her headache was especially uncomfortable.

Troy pulled his fingers out. He then poured the rest of the packet of lube all over his prick, and smeared some of it over Eve’s slit. “You want to continue, right?” he asked, pressing the tip of his cock against her slit.

“Of course. I’m just dealing with this headache,” Eve said. She nibbled her bottom lip as Troy filled her with his prick. He thrust slowly into her and kissed the side of her forehead. A feeling of warmth occupied her chest, a tightness traveling to her stomach. Eve tilted her head and kissed him.

He picked up the pace and held her hips in place. “Can you handle more?” he asked close to Eve’s ear.

Eve’s heart pounded. “Yes,” she uttered. Raw pleasure coursed through her. Troy pressed the back of her thighs down and he thrust his prick downward. Eve moaned loudly at the way his cock rubbed against the sensitive walls of her pussy. There was something about Troy’s prick that was a perfect fit, and he always angled his hips in the best ways.

Troy slid his hand under Eve’s shirt and pinched one of her nipples, causing her to jerk. His eyes entered a daze behind his glasses. He gazed at Eve’s reactions toward him. With the ends of his lips tilted upward, he switched them around. He put his feet on the mattress for support and fucked Eve.

She put her hands on Troy’s covered mounds of muscle of his abdomen as she sat on him. He thrust into her pussy fast and hard. Since he still wore his pants, only her moans and his sensual grunts filled the room. She clenched her jaw at how well his dick rammed into her over and over again.

Just like before, Troy held Eve’s hips and tilted them. His half-closed blue eyes focused intently on his cock pounding into Eve’s pussy. “What a great view,” he said mostly to himself.

Eve reached over and took his glasses off. “Stop staring,” she mumbled, leaving his glasses on the nightstand. She gazed when she saw him without glasses on for the first time. His handsome face had two versions, with and without glasses, and that had her heart thumping. The way he looked at her with such desire turned her on.