The Cop

by Cara Summers

  “Could you just let me finish?”

  She’d fisted her hands on her hips and impatience radiated from her in waves. It occurred to Nik that he was dealing with two different women here—the vulnerable one who had to eat to chase off nerves and the fiery one who dished out killer looks and ordered people around like a drill sergeant. Was that why she fascinated him so? He couldn’t help but wonder which one he would find when he took her to bed. Then he firmly pushed the thought away. “Go ahead.”

  “I had some time to think while that nurse was giving me a tetanus shot. I hate needles so I had to distract myself some way. We agree that we have a problem. We’re attracted to one another, but hanky-panky between a bodyguard and his assignment is not on a good cop’s to-do list. Right?”

  “I’m with you so far.”

  “Now, I can only speak for myself about this part. But whenever you’re close to me, I lose brain cells—and I don’t seem to have any control whatsoever. Each time you touch me, I want you.”

  He wasn’t happy about the fact that she could have been speaking for him, too.

  “I thought at first that it was related to the danger I was in—a sort of side effect of the adrenaline rush, you know?”

  Nik nodded.

  “But I’m not in any danger right now, and I still want you.”

  The woman had a mouth that was going to get them both in trouble, he thought.

  “And then we’ve got this other thing—the fact that someone is trying to kill me.”

  “I’m with you there, too, Pipsqueak.”

  “Well.” J.C. drew in a deep breath and let it out. “I came up with a kind of solution while I was trying to ignore that needle at the hospital. I figure if we have to put a lot of effort into not kissing again and keeping our hands off of each other, that’s going to distract us from figuring out a way to get Snake Eyes. So I think we ought to give in to our mutual attraction and get it out of our system.”

  Nik should have raised a hand, or said something. But the hell of it was he could hear his own brain cells clicking off.

  “What I propose is that we use each other, the way sex buddies do.”

  He blinked and said hoarsely, “Explain sex buddies.”

  “A sex buddy is someone you call on when all you want is really hot sex. No strings. No romance. No emotional involvement. And no work. Relationships are always such a lot of work, while sex buddies are very low maintenance. I think it fits our situation to a T.”

  Something twisted hard in Nik’s gut as he circled the counter toward her. “You have sex buddies? Who? How many?”

  “No. I don’t have any.” She backed away three steps. “Yet. I read about it in Cosmo and I maybe was thinking about it, but I’ve been too busy. Anyway, right now I’m talking about you. And me.”

  She backed up another three steps, and he followed, but she didn’t stop talking.

  “I think this sex buddy thing is perfect for us. We’re going to have to work together to stop Snake Eyes, and we have this kind of primitive attraction for one another, and…”

  It gave him a great deal of satisfaction to see her eyes grow huge when he used his hands to cage her against the wall.

  “And…” he prompted.

  She moistened her lips. “It just seems like the logical solution.”

  The one thing it wasn’t was logical. There wasn’t anything in the least bit rational in the way he felt about her. Or about her solution to their problem.

  “How about it?” she asked.

  Nik tried to think about it. The problem was, his brain had lost a lot of blood. Hell, he thought, if J.C. Riley was in the market for a sex buddy, he’d fill the bill. “Okay.”

  “OKAY?” He was close again, and J.C. could feel her brain cells clicking off like so many little electric lightbulbs.

  He rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip. “Has the cat finally got your tongue, Pipsqueak?”

  “Did I…convince you that it…won’t be a mistake?” His mouth was only an inch from hers, and any brain cells that hadn’t shut down had dimmed.

  “No.” Nik angled his head and nibbled his way along her jaw. He was barely touching her, but she could feel it right down to her toes. “This is definitely a mistake. A big one. So we’ll have to make it count, won’t we?”

  “Mmm-hmmm.” Every single part of her—blood, bone, muscle, sinew—went suddenly into meltdown. She wanted to wrap her arms and legs around him just as much as she had in the parking lot, but she didn’t have the strength. If her back hadn’t been against the wall, if he hadn’t been standing right there in front of her, she would have been in a puddle at his feet.

  “I…need…” Her breath caught in her throat when he captured her earlobe between his teeth.

  “What do you need, Pipsqueak?”

  Think. “A name for you.”

  He lifted his head and looked at her. “It’s Nik.”

  She shook her head. “No, I mean a nickname. I think…Slick.”

  He frowned. “Why would you call me that?”

  “Why do you call me ‘Pipsqueak’?”

  “Because you’re a tiny little bit of a thing, and you never stop talking.” And then, as if he’d clearly explained everything, he began to use his mouth and his tongue and his teeth on her neck.

  J.C. pressed her hands flat against the wall behind her for support as wave after wave of pleasure rushed through her. He wasn’t touching her anywhere else. He was just using that incredible mouth of his on her neck, but she felt as if he were touching her everywhere. She certainly wanted him to.

  Suddenly he stopped. “Open your eyes.”

  She did. “Did you change your mind?”

  “No. I want you to undress for me.”

  She was willing strength into her arms when he eased away from her. The distance helped. She managed to unknot her tie and pull it off. “You like watching a woman strip?”

  “Always. But I thought I’d try to slow things down for both of us. You came fast when we were in the parking lot.” He met her eyes. “And the next time I do you, I want your clothes off.”

  The next time he did her? Just hearing him say the words had her inner muscles clenching. The man could probably make her come just by talking to her. And she could see in his eyes that he knew it. No wonder. Hadn’t she just spent some time telling him what kind of sexual power he had over her?

  Moving a step toward him, she looped her tie around his neck. Maybe it was about time that she figured out what she could do to him. Keeping her eyes on his, she unfastened her cuffs and pulled her shirt out of the waistband of her pants. Then starting at her throat, she slipped the buttons free one by one. Nik’s gaze tracked her progress—and he was exciting to watch. When she’d finished, she waited a beat, then opened her shirt, shrugged her shoulders and let it slip to the floor.

  His eyes were riveted on her bra. “What an unexpected surprise.”

  J.C. felt heat rise to her cheeks. She had a weakness for pretty and expensive lingerie. The bra she was wearing was cream-colored lace and silk, and as he continued to look at it, she could feel her nipples harden. A hot little thrill rippled through her when she saw that his jaw had hardened and he’d clenched his hands into fists.

  Slowly, she moved her hands to the waistband of her slacks.

  “Let me.” His voice was rough and he moved fast, pushing her hands aside.

  “What happened to slowing things—” She broke off when he pulled down her zipper and snaked one hand beneath her panties to cup her.

  “Change of plan. This is what I wanted to do when we were lying on the pavement.” He slid a finger between her folds and then into her.

  Her muscles clenched around him. “Stop.” But her body was already arching toward him, moving of its own accord. And her breaths were coming in gasps. “I’m going to come again. I can’t help myself.”

  “You don’t have to.” His other arm went around her to support her. “Isn’t this what a sex buddy is for?”r />
  The orgasm shot through her in a widening wave that spread and spread—until it finally tossed her over an airless peak.

  AFTERWARD NIK HELD HER on his lap, his cheek pressed against hers. His fingers were still inside of her and he could feel the last ripples of her climax pulsing against them. He couldn’t seem to pull them out. They were exactly where he wanted to be. Where he needed to be. He’d been wrong when he’d thought she was two women. In addition to the vulnerable woman and the drill sergeant, there was also the passionate woman who exploded whenever he touched her.

  No woman had responded to him so strongly before—and they had yet to progress beyond foreplay. He couldn’t help but wonder how far they could still take each other.

  When he began to move his fingers again, she placed her hand on his and stilled them. “This can’t be all one-sided. I’m your sex buddy, too.”

  The moment he removed his hands, she wiggled off of his lap. “What do you want me to do to you, Slick?”

  Slick. It was a ridiculous name—except when she said it.

  Kneeling in front of him, J.C. pulled his tank top free of his jeans. “I think it’s your turn to strip.”

  “You like to watch men strip?” he asked.

  When she met his eyes, he saw a glint of mischief in hers, and it delighted him.

  “There’s no time like the present to find out.”

  “Agreed.” He gripped the edge of his tank top and pulled it over his head.

  She scooched a few more feet away. “Stand up.”

  Nik bit back a smile as he did what she ordered. His little drill sergeant had returned. “You’re a constant source of surprise, Pipsqueak.” He’d never stripped for a woman before. Well, yes, he had—but not intentionally, not as a show. Watching her as he unzipped his jeans, he decided that as foreplay, stripping had definite potential.

  He stepped out of his jeans. Her gaze riveted on his black briefs.

  “Very sexy,” she said.

  He hadn’t thought he could get any harder, but he’d evidently been wrong. Slipping his thumbs beneath the elastic, he lowered them slowly.

  “Wow!” She licked her lips.

  “You’re not going to get all nervous on me and demand that I feed you….”

  She met his eyes and he saw the glint of mischief again. “Maybe.” J.C. moved forward then on her knees and took him very carefully into her hands.

  He barely suppressed a moan when he felt those slender, delicate fingers close around him.

  “But perhaps I’ve found the perfect snack.”

  The moan escaped as her mouth closed around him, soft, hot. The quick flick of her tongue had his knees going weak. And when she continued to use her tongue on him, he felt his control stretch as thin and tight as a high wire. Before it could snap, he grasped her head in his hands and eased her away.

  “That’s not fair,” she complained as he shifted his hands to her shoulders and drew her to her feet. “Turnabout’s fair play. I wanted to make you come.”

  “You’re going to.” Then to prevent himself from taking her right there on the kitchen floor, Nik lifted her, tossed her over his shoulder and strode toward his bedroom.

  “This isn’t very romantic,” she complained.

  “Sex buddies don’t need romance,” he reminded her as he dumped her on the bed.

  He’d expected a flare of temper. Perhaps, that’s what he’d wanted. But she surprised and delighted him again by laughing. There she was—spread-eagled on his bed laughing. Her hair had loosened and it looked like bright red flames against the white comforter.

  And he wanted her mindlessly. Moving quickly, he took a condom from the drawer in his nightstand.

  She stopped laughing then and levered herself up on her elbows. “I want to put that on you.”

  “Next time. If I get any more help from you, I won’t last long enough to get inside of you.” She was still wearing her bra and panties, but he couldn’t wait another minute. Joining her on the bed, he spread her legs and made space for himself between them. Then moving aside the thin barrier of lace, he entered her in one hard stroke. She was so hot, so wet, and tighter than he could have imagined. He tried to withdraw and couldn’t, not with her muscles gripping him and pulling him even deeper.

  “Look at me, J.C., and say my name.”

  “Nik.”

  He managed to move, a small rocking stroke.

  “I’m coming again. I can’t stop it.”

  “Don’t try.” He drew out and thrust in harder, deeper, until she completely sheathed him. The first hot ripples of her climax enclosed him, pulling at him, and as he watched her eyes darken and mist with pleasure, the first ripple of his own release pulsed through him. He tried to hold back, wanting to hold on to the moment. But he couldn’t. Unable to do anything else, he began to move, faster, harder, driving them both until sensations overpowered and consumed them.

  WHEN SHE COULD breathe again, J.C. discovered that she and Nik were lying face-to-face on the bed. His eyes were still closed and his hand was motionless at her waist—which was probably the only reason her brain cells were working.

  Her eyes drifted over the thick, dark lashes, the stubble of his five o’clock shadow, then moved downward over the smooth muscles in his shoulders and arms. They were lying too close for her to get a good view of the rest of him; however, the image of him stripping naked had managed to indelibly imprint itself in her mind.

  On a scale of one to ten, one being the Hunchback of Notre Dame and ten being Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity, Nik Angelis was about a twenty. With a lot of potential for increasing his score.

  Which objectively speaking should be great for a sex buddy. Eye candy in a guy was always a bonus, right? And when looks were combined with style and expert technical ability—well, there was no way around it, she was a very lucky girl.

  But somehow J.C. didn’t think that the fun, palsy-walsy guy you invited over for no-strings, buddy sex should be someone who could set you off like a rocket every time he touched you. The article in Cosmo had listed several drawbacks to the sex-buddy scenario, but they hadn’t mentioned that one. Or the danger of choosing a sex buddy you might get addicted to.

  Of course, addictions took time to develop, J.C. reminded herself. She and Nik were not going to be in this situation much longer. Their little affaire had “short term” written all over it. As soon as Snake Eyes was in custody and Nik’s captain figured out what had happened at St. Peter’s, she and Nik Angelis would go their separate ways. And in the meantime, well, she’d just have to get a handle on what it was about him that made her react like a…sex fiend.

  Another thought occurred to her. There was always the possibility that they’d gotten each other out of their systems. As if to directly refute that theory, J.C. felt Nik’s penis probing against her again. And her legs, traitors that they were, were already opening. One of them had even moved over his thigh to give him easier access.

  But she would have moved back—she was almost sure of it—if he hadn’t opened his eyes and tightened his grip on her waist. “Going somewhere?”

  “I…no.” She couldn’t go anywhere, not when his fingers and those laser-blue eyes were sending fresh waves of heat through her.

  He moved his hips forward, let her feel him growing harder. “Good.”

  She nearly protested when he released her waist and moved slightly away. Then she realized he was getting another condom from the nightstand.

  “I’m not done with you yet.”

  “Good,” she managed as he urged her onto her back and settled himself between her legs again.

  He framed her face with his hands and brushed his lips over hers. “In fact, we’re just getting started.”

  And Nik Angelis was a man who kept his word.

  8

  NIK PUT THE finishing touches to the sketch he’d made, then set down his marker and stepped back to survey his work. The whiteboard took up one wall of the small, eight-by-ten office in his a
partment, and he’d used nearly all of it to draw a floor plan of St. Peter’s Church, the rectory, the parking lot and the streets surrounding them.

  This was his “thinking room,” a place away from the station where he came to sift through the details of whatever case he was working on. If he couldn’t walk through the crime scene in person, he could at least mentally walk through what had happened.

  Opening a small cabinet, he turned on a CD player, punched the volume down to low and the soft sound of a jazz trombone filled the space. The room was furnished with only the bare essentials—a desk, a chair, a small sofa, because he often thought better when he was lying down—and an enlarged color photo on the wall of a seascape in Greece. His dad had brought the photo back from his recent trip, and Nik had asked for it and had it framed.

  The photo helped him to think, too. Usually.

  Nik took a long swallow of coffee. Trouble was, his thoughts kept returning to the woman who was sleeping in his bed. It hadn’t been easy to leave her. There’d been that moment after he’d taken his shower when he’d wanted nothing more than to wake her and make love with her again. And he might have—no, he would have—if she hadn’t looked so…right lying there. Just as she’d looked somehow right straightening his kitchen.

  He didn’t understand it. J.C. Riley was…Nik ran a hand through his hair. Hell, he didn’t know what she was. How long had he known her? Five hours? Setting down his coffee, he began to pace in the small room.

  Treat her like a case and review the facts, Angelis. Her father was the mayor, and everyone knew that Mayor Riley had married into money. His second wife’s family owned Hansen Foods, whose products lined at least thirty percent of most grocery stores’ shelves.

  So J.C. Riley was a rich girl. On the other hand, she’d opened a catering business and seemed determined to make it a success. His father would like her, Nik thought. The success of his restaurant had always been very important to Spiro Angelis. And Nik knew that his father had suffered a great personal disappointment when none of his sons had wanted to take over The Poseidon.