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The keys clicked frenetically as Jesse typed away on the keyboard. ”Okay, so Jessica Holt, our victim, ran her own business,” he declared and leaned back in the chair without taking his eyes off the computer screen. ”A company called Endless Sensations…”
”Endless Sensations?” Sarah echoed from where she was perched on the edge of the desk.
”What kind of business?” Charlie asked, but he regretted the question as soon as the words crossed his lips, and Jesse glanced up at them, his cheeks blushing pink. ”The kind that’s for adults only.”
He turned the computer screen towards them, tilting it a little so they could see the page on the screen without the overhead lights blocking the view. Charlie nearly dropped the file he was holding and Sarah’s eyes widened in surprise.
”Oh, wow,” she mumbled, raising an eyebrow—the front-page was not shy about advertising what it was selling.
Jesse cleared his throat, turning towards one of the other computer screens, ”There’s a physical store, too, and it’s also the last location our victim’s phone pinged at before she died…” he trailed off and looked up at them with a sheepish smile.
”Seems like we need to check it out then,” Sarah said, sliding down from the desk.
Jesse hit a few keys on the keyboard in the process, then twirled around in his chair. ”I already sent you the address.”
Sarah glanced at Charlie beside her, who had been strangely quiet for the last several minutes. His face was evidently flushed and he looked like a child who’d been caught looking at something they shouldn’t. But as Jesse’s words caught up with him, his eyes widened and he went rigid beside her.
Sarah pressed her lips together to hold back a rather amusing grin at his expression. Her stubborn, loving, crime solving, running-head-first-into-dangerous-situations-without-thinking-boyfriend; who read the the goriest of mystery novels; brought her to earth-shattering orgasms that left her in a sweaty, exhausted heap of body parts, unable to move even an inch because she was so spent… looked like he was ready to crawl and hide in a corner at the thought of setting foot in a store full of sex toys and god knew what other related products.
Eventually his brain seemed to start cooperating again and he shook his head, eyes flickering between Jesse and Sarah. ”Do we have to?”
”It could help solve the case,” Sarah said, sliding her arms through the sleeves of her coat. ”Especially since it was the last known location for our victim.”
Charlie looked like he wanted to protest, but then his shoulders sank in defeat, he knew there was no way around this—and that Sarah was right. He sighed.
”We better get going then,” he muttered and turned on his heels.”Rex!”
The dog raised his head from where the lay on his usual spot, arching his body in a full stretch, before jumping down with a thud, and trotted across the bullpen towards them.
Charlie pulled the glass door open, allowing Rex and Sarah to pass before he dragged his feet out the door.
”Have fun!” Jesse called after them, a muffled laugh slinking through the door before it closed shut.
***
A bell dinged through the shop as Charlie, Sarah and Rex walked through the entrance door to Endless Sensations. Despite the neon sign in the window had said it was open for business, the shop was as empty as the beach on a rainy day, with not a soul in sight. What it was full of though, were rows and rows of all kinds of items that defined the whole definition of NSFW, and the reason there was an 18+ sign hanging in the sales window—although it was a fair question to ponder if that really had any effect whatsoever.
Charlie stopped in his tracks a few steps inside the shop, shifting his weight on his heels, his jacket suddenly feeling all too warm. Rex halted beside him, while Sarah continued on down the open aisle, seemingly unbothered by to be surrounded by the transparent packages of vibrators, dildos, and butt plugs in every color under the sun, as well as countless other items Charlie didn’t even know what they were an the was pretty sure he didn’t want to either. He swallowed and looked down at Rex beside him.
”Don’t touch anything,” Charlie told him, as being in the atmosphere of all the latex and leather threatened to tarnish Rex’s innocent soul; even though he lacked the ability to understand what kind of place they’d set foot in—a fact Charlie was silently very thankful for. It was awkward enough brining a dog to a sex-shop to begin with, but it would have been ten times worse if he had been able to understand the context of it all. Charlie shuddered at the thought, just as Sarah’s voice came from further down the store.
”Oh, this is pretty funny.” She held up a book with a colorful cover, and a title in an unusual large font: A Guid to a Woman’s Anatomy: How to locate the clitoris in three easy steps… Sarah flipped the book open, skimming through a few pages. Then she shook her head lightly, putting it back on the shelf. ”Although it’s also kind of sad how many men would benefit from reading it...”
Sarah threw a glance at Charlie over her shoulder, winking at him. ”Lucky me that you are not one of those men, though.”
Charlie’s mouth fell open, had the setting been different, he’d have thrown some flirty remark back at her, but he was too overwhelmed to find the words, instead he just shook his head—apparently Sarah was set out on a journey of making him blush as much as possible.
”Oh, look at this,” Sarah quipped, and held up a package with some sort of colorful mass inside that looked much like play dough. ”It’s a kit to mold your own toy, imagine if we made a replica of your—”
”Sarah, for gods sake…” Charlie threw his hands in the air, not wanting the mental image of whatever was inside the box near his body, let alone on his dick—the thought alone made him want to quiver.
”Yeah,” Sarah bobbed her head, ”You usually say that…”
Charlie groaned, rubbing his temple. ”I can’t with you today, can I?”
“I’m just having fun at how jittery you are being in here, especially when we have a whole box of—” she paused, catching his eyes, before continuing in a lower voice, “toys under our bed...”
“I’m not jittery,” Charlie protested, but the flush on his cheeks signaled the opposite. “It’s just, just—” he struggled to find the right words, ”a private thing between us alone…”
“Good thing we’re the only ones here, then,” Sarah pointed out and casually wandered deeper into the shop. Stopping here and there to look closer at something that peeked her interest, flipping through a clothing rack of rather erotic lingerie that left little to the imagination. The further back they got, the more intense the stuff became, but to Charlie’s relief, Sarah stopped short of the BDSM section, she did however pick up a pair of pink, fluffy handcuffs.
”No way these are as effective as real ones,” she mumbled thoughtfully, spinning around to face him, the cuffs dangling on one finger. She tilted her head, wiggling her eyebrows.
”Maybe we should buy a pair to compare? We had pretty fun with—”
”Don’t even,” Charlie interrupted her before she could get the next word out, his ears burning hot and the perspiration shiny on his forehead.
Sarah chuckled, but dropped the subject and circled back to the front of the store.
”I think we have one of these,” she mumbled, stopping in front of a woven wood basket at the check out counter, picking up a small box.
Charlie lifted his head, his eyes in a squint. ”We have what?”
”A Bluetooth vibrator.” She shrugged, and dropped it back down, turning towards him.
”I think that little bullet one you’re so fond of has a remote setting, if I remember correctly.”
Charlie unclenched his jaw, and for the first time since they’d set foot in the shop, a curious smile tugged at his lips.”It does?”
Sarah crossed her arms over her chest, eying him with a smirk. ”That peaked your interest huh…”
”Oh, hello!” A chirp voice sounded through the ship, and a woman with curly, red hair and big glasses appeared from a door to the side. ”I’m sorry I didn’t hear you come in, I was packing some orders for our online shop...”
She smiled broadly, revealing a full set of pristine, white teeth that would have fitted in a toothpaste commercial.
”You two need help find anything?” she asked, but before either Charlie or Sarah could get a word out, she was already chattering on, throwing out a sales pitch that was as well rehearsed like dialogue in a script.
”If you’re looking for something fun to spice up your love life, we have a buy-three-for-two-sale right now on everything in our couple’s section, or if you shop anything over eighty dollars, you get a surprise gift to go with your purchase—”
”We are not here for shopping,” Charlie interrupted, before she could blaze on, and held up his badge.
”Detective Hudson, SJPD. This is my partner, Rex.” He nodded towards Rex at his feet.
”And Dr. Truong.” He gestured towards Sarah, whose previous playfulness were replaced with a simple nod of professionalism as she shifted back into work gear.
”We are investigating the murder of Jessica Holt,” Charlie continued, the woman’s face paled at the sound of the name, her mouth falling open in shock.
”Wait, what? Jess is dead?”
”I’m afraid so,” Charlie said, reattaching his badge back onto his belt. ”Can we ask you a few questions?”
She blinked at him as her brain processed his words, then she shook her head.
”Of course. Whatever you need,” she lamented slowly, grabbing the counter to support herself. ”I can’t believe this...” she mumbled.
***
“I got us something…” Sarah announced, reaching for something beside the couch, revealing a black paper bag, with the initials ES printed in shiny gold on the side of it. Charlie stiffed beside her, his forehead turning into a wrinkle and eyes narrowing as he recognized the logo.
“Relax,” Sarah chuckled when she noticed his face. ”It’s just condoms, some lube, and spare batteries. Oh, and some kind of sensitivity gel, apparently it’s supposed to intensify stimulation if you apply it on erogenous zones… I’m kind of intrigued to see if it works or not, because it sounds kind of bogus.”
Charlie’s eyes flickered to the bag and grabbed it from her, not entirely believing she was being truthful about her purchases, especially not after how she’d teased him with all kinds of things at the shop.
He carefully glanced down inside the bag, slowly as if some monstrous toy was going to jump out and bite him in the face. But his shoulder relaxed when he saw that the items were exactly what she’d said. But then he squinted, noticing something else at the bottom that he did not recognize.
”What’s this?” He fished up a small, rectangular box and dangled it in front of her.
”That must be the surprise gift,” Sarah said and grabbed the box from him, turning it around to read the underside. ”Oh, it’s a game.”
Charlie threw his head back against the couch, rubbing his face. ”Do I even want to know?”
Sarah flipped the box over, ”It seems pretty tame.”
She shrugged and read the instructions, ”The first dice dictates an action, and the other one names the body part where you’re supposed to perform it.”
Charlie’s shoulders relaxed a little at that, it wasn’t too bad. Then his lips curved into a coy smile and he pushed himself off the couch.“I almost forgot, I actually bought you something, too…”
Sarah arched an eyebrow, “Really?”
He nodded and headed off towards the hallway, but he reappeared just as quickly as he had disappeared. He sank down next to her on the couch again, handing her the same kind of bag she’d produced just a moment ago.
She glanced up at him, before peeking inside, curiosity evident on her face as she pulled out a set of lingerie from the bag—black, lacy fabric that was surprisingly soft between her fingers.
“I noticed you checking it out at the shop.” Charlie smiled sheepishly, leaning back against the cushions, ”so I figured I’d buy it for you.”
“That’s very sweet, thank you.” She closed the gap between them to kiss him, his lips soft against hers. His hand landed on her hip while she craned her neck to kiss his stubbled jaw, until she reached his ear, her breath tickling his skin as she whispered into the shell of his ear, “I’m gonna go and try this on… Join me in a few minutes?”
Charlie swallowed, his heart beating a little faster in his chest. He nodded, his gaze following her as she disappeared out of the room. His gaze lingered on the spot where she’d been just a moment ago, before he got up to loaded their wine glasses in the dishwasher, then checking the doors to make sure they were locked and turning off the lights.
“Good night, Rex,” he mumbled into the dark, just barely making out Rex’s sleeping form on his bed on the floor. Rex only stretched and let out a deep sigh, making no effort to follow him, which he usually did, but now it was as if he could sense it was better to stay put. Smart dog, Charlie thought, heading towards the stairs, climbing them with a little more pep in his step.
He moved down the hallway and creaked the door open, padding inside, before closing the door shut behind him—as a precaution more than anything, in case Rex decided to venture into the bedroom after all. He’d walked in enough times that Charlie wasn’t about to leave it up to chance.
The only light in the room was the table lamp on Sarah’s nightstand, casting a faint gold glow across the space, but it was sufficient enough for Charlie to make out her form on the bed. The black, silky, lace hugged her breasts and every curve of her body, while her hair fell towards her shoulders. He could have fainted at the sight of her.
She lifted her eyes and met his gaze.“Fits perfectly,” she murmured, running one hand down her side, without taking her eyes off his. Charlie sucked a breath of air, feeling a little lightheaded, pretty sure all of his blood having rushed south.
“Damn.” He licked his lips and stepped closer towards the bed. “Smoking hot.”
Charlie crawled onto the bed and grabbed Sarah’s hips, pulling her towards him so his knees were between her thighs. He hovered over her, pushing her a little firmer into the mattress and his lips found hers again. Sarah pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it on the floor, and wrapped one leg around Charlie’s midriff. She nudged for him to roll over on his back and she straddled his hips, leaning back on his thighs.
She ran one hand over his chest, while brushing her hair behind her ear with the other, before bending down to kiss him. But her lips were faint against his and Charlie craned his neck to keep his lips to hers, but she moved out of reach all too quickly.
Charlie grunted in disappointment, looking up at her through his eyelashes, his blue eyes glowing with desire.
The weigh of her on top of him lifted as she reached for the nightstand, grabbing something off it, before settling back over his crotch, grinding down on him with a little more force—Charlie let out a small gasp and writhed under her, trying to gain some more friction.
Sarah tilted her head, placing one hand on his chest again, a coy smile playing on her lips, while she juggled two small dices in the open palm of her free hand.
Her voice was a low hoarse when finally she spoke, “Wanna play a game?”
Charlie swallowed, his eyes following the dices bouncing in her hand, lingering for a moment, then he shifted his gaze to meet her eyes again, a grin spreading across his face.
”Bring it.”