by Ashley Ladd
Haley nodded. Behind her, she heard Lois Lane giving Clark Kent the brush-off, so she turned around to watch, feeling as if she watched herself and Cole. “Boo! Hiss!” She threw popcorn at Lois Lane. “Open your eyes, lady!” The fluffy white missiles bounced off the TV screen, littering the floor.
Sher grabbed a handful and joined Haley in booing Lois Lane and cheering on Clark Kent.
Haley burst into spasms of laughter and rolled on the carpeted floor, howling with mirth. Sher’s laughter almost drowned hers out.
She smelled the cookies baking and climbed to her feet, still chuckling. Deciding four trays worth of cookies were enough to take to the office the following day, she shut off the oven and carried the rest of the raw cookie dough to the living room. Holding out both bowls, she asked, “Sugar cookies, or peanut butter?”
Sher practically drooled and snatched the peanut butter cookie dough. “Girlfriend, you really know how to throw a party.” Through a mouthful of dough, Sher asked, “Will you teach me how to jump like Evel Knievel?”
At that moment, a fist hammered Haley’s door, almost splintering it, and she gulped, almost choking on a mouthful of cookie dough. She exchanged worried glances with her friend as she stood and grabbed her slacks off the couch. Who could be at her door after ten o’clock? Sher was the only one who ever dropped by so late, and she was already here.
“Who’s there?” she called through the door, wishing she had a peephole. She hopped into her slacks and yanked up the zipper. Then she tightened the sash on her robe.
“Cole!” The voice was very deep, very sexy, and very weary. “Can I come in?”
Oh, no! Was he here because he suspected her? She finger-fluffed her curls, licked her lips, and squared her shoulders. “I’m dressed for bed. Give me a sec to get decent.”
A sec? She needed an hour!
She tore out the bobby pins in her hair and finger fluffed her curls. Then she sprinted to the bedroom, nixed the robe, and pulled on the first t-shirt she tore from her dresser drawer. On her way into the living room, she grabbed up the cookie dough like armour.
Thrusting out her chest and pasting a smile on her face, she opened the door, once again cradling the cookie dough in her arms. “Sorry to make you wait. Isn’t it rather late?” Despite trying hard to sound friendly and perky, her voice came out husky.
Cole’s muscular frame filled her doorway and a naughty smile played about the edges of his lips. “You didn’t have to change out of your bed clothes for me. I know I said we’d wait ‘til Sunday or Monday, but I couldn’t wait to see you.” He strolled into her living room, and stopped when he spied Sher throwing more popcorn at the television. “Uh, did I interrupt something?” He gazed at her friend as if she were from a different planet. Then his gaze zeroed in on the mess.
“We were just watching Superman. It’s just ending.” Crimson stole up Sher’s ruddy cheeks. She crawled on her knees to the television and started cleaning up the popcorn mess.
It was the first time Haley had ever seen Sher flustered. Haley waved her off and wrinkled her nose. “I’ll vacuum that up later.”
Sher rose unsteadily to her feet and made a beeline for the door. “Wow, I didn’t realize it was so late. I really have to get going.” She paused at the hall, her hand on the knob. “We’ll get it tomorrow night, right?”
Haley gulped, and nodded. “Sure thing.” She willed her friend not to slip up and say the wrong thing, mentally pushing her out the door. “G’night.”
Sher waved as she backed out and closed the door softly, leaving Haley and Cole alone.
Cole came up behind her and grasped her shoulders in his large, calloused hands. His heat seeped into her, making her unbearably aware of him. “I couldn’t wait until Sunday to see you.” He nuzzled her ear, his tongue delving into the sensitive canal.
Shivering deliciously, she closed her eyes and leaned back against him. “Umm, wonderful.” She hoped he wasn’t seducing her only as part of a second, deadlier trap. But even if he was, she was on the verge of not caring as long as he didn’t stop.
“You taste wonderful.” His breath tickled her neck making her giggle. He scraped a finger along the bowl’s edge, and then carried cookie dough to his mouth. He did it again, but offered her the dough, his finger hovering in front of her mouth, teasing her lips.
She took his finger in her mouth, sucked off the dough and then licked off the vestiges, almost collapsing when he groaned into her ear.
“I bet you’d taste even more exquisite if I spread that dough all over you.” Before she could react, he spread cookie dough on her neck, his magic fingers mesmerizing her. Then he proceeded to prove his theory by licking it off.
She moaned, twisting in his arms. Emboldened by his actions, she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled the tail from his pants. Taking a glob of dough, she rubbed it across his chest, totally engrossed in her job. Putting her lips to his chest, she licked the dough from it, swirling her tongue, delighted when he trembled against her. She became achingly aware of the bulge straining against his black jeans, pressing against her stomach. If this was another trap, he was ensnared just as deeply as herself.
He shrugged out of his shirt, letting it pool on the floor by their feet. Stepping back a pace, he cracked the sexiest grin she’d ever seen, stealing her breath. He lifted her shirt over her head, and then he unfastened her bra, his gaze feverish and smoldering on her breasts. His voice raw and rugged, he mumbled, “Gorgeous.” He spread dough over one breast, paying particular attention to her pebbled nipple, and then turned his attention to the other.
Just when she thought she’d die from ecstasy, he suckled a pert nipple deep in his mouth. His hands spanned her bare waist. His thumbs caressed her searing flesh. His groin strained against her feminine core.
As he swept her into heaven, she spread her palms flat against his chest, spreading the cookie dough from his shoulders to the rim of his slacks. Longing to taste him, all of him, she unsnapped and unzipped his pants, and slipped her hand inside seeking his very hot, sexy cock.
He moaned against her breast, writhing in her hand. “I’m so hot I’m going to explode.”
“Not without me.” Stepping back, she shimmied out of her remaining clothes, delighting in stripping before him as his hot, randy gaze traveled slowly and appreciatively over every inch of her.
When he started to remove his slacks, she shook her head and knelt before him. In her sultriest voice, she ordered, “Don’t. Let me.” She peeled his pants off his long, powerful legs, and helped him step out of them. All that was left on him was a pair of the sexiest and briefest men’s underwear she’d ever seen and which didn’t begin to hide his very erect cock. Passion dried her mouth, and she licked suddenly parched lips. Even covered as it was, his size was every bit as impressive as she recalled, only now she had better lighting to view true size that she had only felt the first time.
She trailed a fingernail lightly down the thin line of black, coarse hair on his flat, hard stomach that started at his navel and widened as it disappeared under his briefs. Eager to see his cock unsheathed, she pulled down his underwear, speechless when his silky, hard length hung heavy and throbbing before her gaze.
Quivering with lust, yearning to taste cookie dough on his throbbing cock, she took the burning monster in her hands, feeling his power, and almost swooned. Then she took his velvety cock in her mouth as far as she could, licking and sucking as he moaned and buried his fingers in her hair. Losing herself in his power, she delighted in his scrumptious taste.
“You’ve bewitched me.” But he didn’t sound as if he minded in the least. In fact, he seemed to enjoy her bewitching spell. He pulled back, and swooped down on her, scooping her into his arms. Plundering her lips with his, he kissed her deeply as he carried her to her bed and lay down on top of her.
“It took long enough,” she quipped, a lopsided grin tilting her lips. “You don’t know how many different spells I cast on my cookies to find one that worked on you.”
/> He chuckled and said, “Witchcraft is a no-no in our precinct.”
“So arrest me, officer.” She held out her hands, daring him to cuff her. Dreaming about how kinky that might be, she was half-serious and wiggled them before his nose. “Tie me up, Lieutenant,” she said in her huskiest voice.
He quirked a dark brow as he eyed her arms. “You serious?”
“Deadly. Go for it if you have your cuffs on you.”
A rueful smile curved his lips as he nuzzled her earlobe. “Unfortunately, I don’t carry them off duty. But I can start.”
Disappointed, she pondered their dilemma. She had a pair of handcuffs stashed in the back of her closet, a souvenir from her days in the police academy but did she dare confess? He could add two plus two as well as the next guy and she was already teetering on the edge of detection. Either he’d come up with four or he’d think she was into this kind of kink with every man she lured into her den.
Better not chance it yet. Later, if and when she ensnared him in her web. So what other materials did she have that could work as a makeshift handcuff?
“Do you have any pantyhose?” he whispered in her ear as his tongue bathed it.
Shivers shot down her spine and she trembled uncontrollably. Nodding, following his naughty thoughts, she said on a sultry breath, “Of course. Just let me up to get them.”
“Oh, no. Just tell me where they are. I want to keep your engine purring.” He rose and stood expectantly by the side of the bed.
She pointed to the top drawer of her dresser. “In the top, rightmost drawer.”
When he started to open the left where her Catwoman wig resided, she almost went into heart failure. Jumping up and screaming, she raced across the room and slammed it shut. “The other drawer.”
Puzzlement lit his eyes as he snatched back his hand in the nick of time to save it from being maimed. His gaze riveted back to the forbidden place. “You hiding something from me, missy?”
Fear almost strangling her, she grasped his hand and grabbed several pair of loose hose. Tugging him back to her bed, she sent him a sly, come-hither glance. “Of course not. I’m just anxious to get you back in my bed, and lather you with cookie dough. I’m starving.”
He gazed at the drawer for several long seconds as if torn, but then finally returned his gaze to her. “So am I, babe.”
Never taking her gaze from the hottie, she didn’t want to give him pause to get interested in the drawer’s contents again. She lay down and stretched her hands and legs toward the bedposts. “Tie away, stud.”
A real animal, he growled as he knotted the stretchy hosiery around her and then secured it to the bedpost. Gently, he asked, “These aren’t too tight, are they? They’re not hurting you?”
Tingling with more excitement than she’d ever known, eager to be at his complete mercy, she smiled up at him. “I feel better than I ever have. Do with me what you will.”
He stopped, a slight frown marring his forehead. “Not so fast. Not that I’ve ever done this before… From the little I’ve heard, we should have a safe word that will signal me to stop should you get uncomfortable or should I unintentionally hurt you.”
Warmth flooded her that he cared enough to think of her comfort and safety. Nodding, she agreed. “Like ‘Armageddon’?”
He winced and shook his head. “How about ‘Battleship’?”
It didn’t matter to her what word they used and battleship was as memorable as any. She only wanted to start their little adventure. “Perfect,” she crooned, her pussy clenching.
He tightened her bonds. “How’s that feel?”
Deliciously dangerous. Decadent. “Uhm… Exciting.”
“Most definitely. You’re at my mercy now, babe.” He rubbed cookie dough down her length, pausing to lick it from her nipple, then pulling it deeper into his mouth and sucking. When she squirmed, he pulled it deeper into his mouth and then nipped the end.
Then he put a large glob on her pussy and rubbed it in. Just when she could stand no more, he pulled back and knelt between her legs. “Had enough?”
Going insane with intensified desire, she squirmed. Tugging on her bounds, she quivered with sweet uncontrollable desire. She was truly at Cole’s mercy. “Never.”
“Oh yeah!” He leaned down and buried his face between her legs and licked the dough from her thighs, and worked his way up to her mons, paying deliberate, intense concentration to her clit. Lapping it with his tongue, and inserting his finger deep into her pussy, he gave her his undivided attention.
Quivering intensely, she arched her back. Her muscles strained against her bounds and she moaned loudly. “Don’t stop now. Deeper!”
Just as her dam was about to burst, he pulled back again with cookie dough smeared across his face that was lit with a boyish grin. He climbed on top of her and with one smooth, gliding stroke into her pussy, his cock claimed her.
She gasped, writhing against him. When he pressed her into the mattress, he captured her lips and their tongues dueled. The cookie dough made their bodies slick so that they slid deliciously against one another.
He stoked a raging inferno inside her womb. The wildfire flamed through her veins. If she thought she had loved this man from afar, she was helplessly in love with him now that they had explored and worshipped each other’s bodies and traveled to paradise together.
Bottle rockets shot through her, and then the giant fireworks finale rocked her. She dug her fingernails into her palms as she strained against her ropes.
His tongue mated with hers as he filled her completely, trembling as much as she was.
Finally, their passion subsided, and he released her from her bonds and she basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking, secure and warm in the circle of his arms. Her head fit perfectly against the curve of his neck, and she teased his chest with angel kisses.
Lifting her chin with his forefinger, he forced her to gaze into his still smoldering eyes. “That was incredible. I never knew it could be so good.”
“Totally awesome,” she agreed, joy filling her. She sniffed him, and smiled dreamily. “You still smell like cookies.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I guess tomorrow night I’ll have to see your sketches.”
“I’ll be sure to have more cookie dough ready.” An impish grin spread across her face, and she licked more dough off his chest, delighted when he shuddered. She could get used to this.
“I wonder how cinnamon oatmeal would taste?” He pulled her atop him and his hands cupped her heavy breasts, his fingers kneading her nipples.
She swooned, her temperature skyrocketing again, as the velvety wet tip of his rock hard cock brushed her sodden pussy. “Luscious, I’m sure.”
He winked mischievously. “I’ll be sure to bring the handcuffs.”
Chapter Nine
Cole scrunched his nose when it hit him—the ammonia and sickness scents of the hospital. They had to be the worst odors on Earth. He would never have made it as a doctor.
“There a problem?” Brad nudged him, his steps hurried and heavy. “We can’t stay long.”
Cole glanced at the clock hanging on the wall behind the information counter. “Relax. We have two hours ‘til the game.”
Brad rolled his shoulders as if he had kinks in his muscles. “If we don’t have nine players by starting time, we’ll forfeit the whole tournament. Then those snakes in Pembroke Pines will take the championship.”
The elevator bell dinged, and then the doors whooshed open. They stepped aside as two doctors, a nurse, and an elderly couple ambled out of the box. The old silver-haired woman jostled the plant Cole carried.
Cole stepped in and pushed “3” to go to the third floor. Brad clomped on behind him, shaking the contraption. Then they lurched up with a squeaky protest from the machine.
“Don’t worry. We’ll wipe the field with those turkeys.” Cole hankered to see that big, shiny trophy in the Ft. Lauderdale precinct, too.
“We could come back after th
e tournament.” Brad stepped into the hall and followed the arrows to room 323.
“We’re here now. We won’t stay long.” Cole knocked on Archie’s open door and peeked in. Cream-colored curtains were pulled around half of the double patient room. The nineteen-inch TV perched on the wall flashed images but issued no sound. Early morning sunlight cast fountains of light on the mountains of flowers, balloons and cards overflowing from every flat surface on Archie’s side of the room.
“Anyone home?” Cole rounded the curtain without waiting for a welcome. He stopped dead when he almost tripped over Haley who sat beside the fallen officer, holding his hand and chatting. Since when had they been pals?
Haley glanced up startled, her clear, wide-eyed gaze clashing with Cole’s.
He swore guilt flickered across her blue eyes for an instant. But why?
“Hello, Cole. Brad.” She scraped back the chair and rose before leaning over Archie and kissing his weathered cheek. “We’ll go out and do the macarena as soon as you’re well.”
Appreciation smoldered in Archie’s gray eyes as he returned her kiss. “That’s a date.”
Jealousy, fierce and deep, flooded Cole. His hands itched to rip her from the other man’s side. She couldn’t seriously want to date that old bugger, could she? Not after their wild night of passionate lovemaking. Not since their souls had mingled and mated. She was his, and Archie had better not have designs on her.
“You find your mystery lady yet?” Archie pinned him with a curious gaze.
Haley’s gaze bounced back to Cole, too.
But it was unfathomable, making him squirm. Damn! He didn’t want Haley to know he was interested in another woman, also. He girded himself for questions, fury, jealousy, even a snide remark.
But she just froze, apparently drawing her own silent conclusions, possibly damning him.
“We almost got her,” Brad said, smirking. “But she slipped out of our fingers again. Aw shucks.”
Cole stepped on his partner’s foot and glared at him as he gave the plant to Archie. In a gruff voice, Cole muttered, “This is from me, Brad, and Cindy.”