by angelaw
Never mind.”
“Tell me when I can come see you. We’ll discuss the penal code in detail and how it applies to various sexual activities.” Jonas uncrossed his legs as his cock lengthened painfully into a constrictive area of his pants. He had no clue what on earth they could get busted for, providing they were both consenting adults of legal age.
He was consenting. Damn, he was more than consenting. He was ready to run around with a sign on his forehead saying Gimme hot bondage sex with my pixie girl.
There was a soft sigh on the other end of the line. “Jonas, I don’t do relationships.”
“Who’s asking you to?”
“You are.” Dini sounded tense. “Seeing you more than once would break every rule I’ve set for myself when it comes to this stuff.”
“Rules were made to be broken, Dini. I want you. I want to know more about you, spend more time with you and I’ve got a whole book of kinky stuff I’m aching to try out. With you.”
“Really?” There was no mistaking the undercurrent of interest in Dini’s voice.
“Yes, really. I did research.”
“Good God. Don’t tell me you went to the library and got a book on BDSM.” 46
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He laughed. “The Internet, honey. Every damn thing you could ever want to know about anything. Including some incredibly erotic ideas involving— Well, if you don’t want to see me, I guess there’s no point in my telling you.”
“Shit, Smith. You’re a bastard, aren’t you?”
“If it gets me what I want, yes.”
“Look, I wasn’t kidding about being on a deadline. I’ve got some rush edits back and a message that they need a few changes in the next Suzie issue.” She paused, made a sound of exasperation and Jonas could almost see her running her hands through her spiky blonde hair.
He waited, scarcely daring to breathe.
“How about Saturday night?”
“Deal. I’ll be there at eight.”
“God, that was quick. Don’t you have to check your schedule or something?”
“Nope. See you Saturday, pixie girl.” Jonas hung up before she could change her mind.
And then punched his fist in the air with a muttered “Yessssss.” He’d have gone to her place that very minute if she’d asked him, but this way he got to finish up his research, check out the twenty-seven articles he’d bookmarked but hadn’t actually read yet, and also talk to the desk sergeant, whose wife had one of those sex-toy party businesses and call his mother.
Yep, when he saw Dini again, he was going to be ready for her. Ready to counter any arguments she might have about seeing him, ready to strip her naked and do some really wonderful things to her—and ready to lose himself in her, the way he had the first time.
And no way in hell was this going to be the end of it for them. Detective Jonas Smith had a goal. Dini might not know it yet, but they were going to start a relationship.
All he had to do was convince her it was a good idea.
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And he knew that wouldn’t be easy. He had to persuade her of something very important. His job had included several psych courses and he’d developed a solid intuition about people. He had a pretty good idea what Dini was afraid of, and it wasn’t beginning a relationship with him.
It was her fear of losing it.
* * * * *
“I did it.”
Dini sounded grim as she faced Fenny and Dee, both of whom were watching her with pretended unconcern.
“Did what, Dini?” Fenny sipped her wine.
“Made another date with Jonas for Saturday night.” She felt her mouth tremble.
“Shit. Shit shit shit. I broke my rule. First time ever. I broke my fucking rule.” She grabbed the bottle and poured herself a healthy glassful, slopping some over the side as her hand shook. “I’m so going to regret this.”
“Oh, that was Jonas on the phone?” Cool, calm and collected, Dee blinked at Dini innocently.
“Knock it off. You know damn well it was.”
“So what made you change your mind?” asked Fenny.
“He did. I don’t know. The devil made me do it. I’m nuts.” Dee bit her lip as she tried not to laugh. “Honey, stop it. You’re going to have to admit that you really like Jonas. I mean reeeeeallly like him.” Fenny nodded. “And great sex is always great sex, Dini.”
“It’s not about the sex.”
Two snorts and somewhat disbelieving looks greeted her words.
“Okay it’s about the sex.” Dini ran her fingers through her hair and tugged on the short spikes. “No it’s not. That’s what’s scaring the crap out of me.” She looked up at 48
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her friends. “It’s not about the sex. You’re right, Dee. I really do like him.” Dini paused.
“Shit. Shit shit shit.”
“Repetition. Bad thing for a writer.” Fenny shook a finger at her.
“I don’t see the problem.” Dee frowned. “You like the guy, he’s hell on wheels in bed and he wants to see you again. Two and two make a very neat four here, as far as I can tell.”
“It’s not that.” Dini sighed. “It’s just I’m breaking my rule, you know?”
“Silly rule, Dini.” Fenny’s gentle tone took the sting out of her words. “You’re afraid of going any further with Jonas, aren’t you? Going beyond liking the guy.” Staring into her wine glass, Dini nodded silently.
“And this might be the one guy you could—um— more than like.”
“Yes.”
Dini folded her arms on the table and laid her head on them with a groan, missing the glance of understanding that flashed between Dee and Fenny. “I daren’t.” Fenny reached over and rubbed Dini’s shoulder. “Dini, sometimes things happen whether we want them to or not. You can’t decide when or when not to like someone.
That decision doesn’t come from the brain, it comes from your heart.” Dini snuffled into her sleeves. “I don’t want to hurt him. I don’t want to hurt me.”
“Don’t be a coward, Dini.” Dee’s voice was brusque. “You’re running away from a good thing here. You’re letting your fear get in the way of what could change your life for the better.”
“I know.” Dini lifted her head. “I know that, Dee. But—” A lump threatened to choke her as she struggled to voice her emotions. She took a breath, let it out and sat up.
“Whoever said ‘ tis better to have loved and lost—well, they were fucking nuts. I’ve loved and lost. Too many times. Losing my dad, then Alan—I can’t go through pain like that again. I just can’t.”
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Dini was horrified to feel the sting of tears at the back of her eyes. She glared angrily at the wine. “And I think I’ve had enough of that. It’s making me stupid.”
“Aww, sweetheart.” Fenny moved to her and hugged her. “We understand. Life is full of things we don’t expect and some of them tear our hearts to pieces. But we go on.
You’ve gone on. Not only have you carried on living, you’ve done it with flair and success.”
“That’s right, Dini.” Dee leaned forward. “Look at what you’ve accomplished.
You’ve got books out there, you’ve created every guy’s dream date in Suzie—and now you have a chance to create something else. Something more personal. With Jonas.”
“Take a chance, honey.” Fenny reached for her hand and held it tight. “You’re not alone this time. We’re here. We’ll catch you if you fall. But you have to take that chance first because there’s a part of your life that has gone into hibernation. The part that heats up when there’s another body in your bed. The part that gets to do stuff with him other than tear up the sheets. The part you need to share with a man.”
“And those other parts you share with him are sure gonna get a workout too.” Dini giggled at Dee’s words even as she swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “I dunno, girls. It’s n
ot easy.”
“Nobody said it was.” Dee smiled. “But it’s worth it if he’s the right guy. Worth taking the risk. None of us know where we’ll be tomorrow, Dini. We have to make today count.”
Dini gulped. “And he’s a frickin’ cop, too. Talk about a high-risk occupation.”
“And librarians don’t get hit by buses?” Fenny quirked an eyebrow.
“You know what I mean.” Dini shook her head.
“Look, just have fun Saturday night. This is really no big deal.” Dee cupped Dini’s chin in her hand and stared her in the eyes. “Get yourself laid again. Have multiple orgasms. That’s all he’s asking. It ain’t a proposal of marriage, honey.”
“Well, if I must…” Dini managed to slump wearily. “Multiple orgasms, huh?” 50
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“Remember that G-spot.”
“Hmm.”
“I thought it was Remember the Alamo.”
“Oh, for Chrissake—”
“He got your Hitchhiker’s Guide reference, didn’t he? The Zaphod Beeblebrox quote?”
Dee snickered as Fenny delivered the coup de grace.
Dini put her head back down on her folded arms—and groaned. She was caught.
Hook, line and sinker.
* * * * *
“Hey, Ma.”
“Jonas, darling. What a lovely surprise.”
There was a clatter on the other end of the line and Jonas grinned at the possibilities the sound could indicate. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“Nope. Just painting the cat.”
He paused. “What color?”
“What? Oh—no, silly. I’m using the cat as a feature in a painting.” There was another sound, suspiciously like a meow of irritation. “Shit. Get back here you ungrateful feline.” His mother sighed. “They make great subjects, but I can’t get the little fuckers to sit still for more than two seconds flat.”
“Ma.” Jonas winced. “You’re swearing again.”
“Like you’ve never heard it before.” His mother sounded amused. One of the advantages of having ex-hippies as parents. “What can I do for you, sweetheart?”
“Is cousin Lucy still down on the Cape?”
His mother was silent for a moment. “You mean Leather Lucy?”
“Yep.”
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“Hmm. Last I heard she was up in Hull at your uncle Jake’s place for a few weeks.
Some issue with her latest lover.”
“Oh cool.” Jonas sat up. “You got her cell number by any chance?” This wasn’t a casual question, since Jonas knew his mother had every cell phone number of every single member of the family and updated the database regularly. She might have worn love beads and burned her bra in an earlier generation, but his mom took her job as head of the family quite seriously.
She reeled off a number for Jonas then cleared her throat. “So I gotta ask here, honey, since I’m your mother and it’s my duty. You looking to arrest a lesbian—or date one?” Since Leather Lucy had publicly announced her sexual preference years ago, this wasn’t an unexpected question. “Because no matter how good you are in bed—and being my child I expect you to be right up there with the all-time sexual champions—I don’t think you can un-lesbian a woman by fucking her, no matter how well you perform.”
“Jesus, Ma.” Jonas blushed, in spite of the fact he was ten miles away from his mother. “No, I’m not looking to date a lesbian. And I haven’t arrested any lately, either.”
“Hookay. Then it’s the leather and BDSM stuff.” She paused. “Right?”
“Couldn’t I just want to say hi to Lucy?”
“No.” There was a maternal snort on the other end of the line. “Spill.” Jonas sighed then shook his head at himself. “Can’t. Not yet.”
“Someone special?”
“Maybe.”
“Special enough that you’d go see Lucy for tips?”
“Possibly.”
“Don’t hurt her.” His mother’s voice was quiet but firm.
“Hey. You know me better than that.”
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“Yes I do.” There was another clatter and a voice in the background. “Shit on a shingle. Your father’s burned his finger with that damned soldering iron. I told him it wouldn’t work on a delicate piece of jewelry, but would he listen? Nooooo.” Jonas grinned. “Go baby him. Tell him I said hi.”
“I will, honey.” She sighed. “Jonas, if she’s special…well, just treat her right. Then bring her to meet us, okay?”
“You bet, Mom.”
“I love you, child o’mine.”
“Love you too.” Jonas heard the phone disconnect and found he was still smiling.
Truly his parents were a mixed blessing. Retired, entertaining themselves with a variety of creative hobbies that seemed to differ from month to month, they were anything but the typical mom and pop.
And he adored them. A smile creased his face as he imagined how they’d get on with Dini. Her whimsical and flamboyant personality would fit right in—and God, his mother would be totally enchanted with his pixie girl.
There were none of the uptight New England social niceties about his family.
They’d always listened to their own drumbeat and followed their hearts instead of the paths more traditionally available, and they’d encouraged their kids to do the same albeit with reservations about Jonas’ choice of career.
His oldest sister was a screenwriter in Hollywood, his youngest was part of an artists’ collaborative in the Berkshires, weaving stunning warm things out of wool she personally collected from local sheep.
He had two brothers who ran their own plumbing business and then there was Jonas—a cop. The standing joke was that Megan was about to write a movie revolving around a guy who carried a weapon beneath a woolly poncho and had the best bathroom fixtures in the known galaxy.
It always got a laugh at Thanksgiving. And Dini would get it, he knew.
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All he had to do was get Dini.
He glanced at the scrawled numbers on the notepad and reached once more for his cell phone. Time to pick Leather Lucy’s brain. He needed some basic information on this whole BDSM scene. Not the deep stuff, but the basics. Just enough to weave some interesting coils around this ethereal but sexual pixie who haunted him day and night.
Enough to bind her to him in more ways than the obvious.
Because the more hours that passed, the more Jonas knew his single days were numbered. He’d found what his Mom would call the one. He couldn’t imagine living his life the way he’d enjoyed it before that fateful night. There’d be something major missing from it.
He wasn’t about to let that happen, even if he had to tie Dini down and spank her white and curvy bottom until she said yes.
Pushing down a surge of lust at the mere thought, Jonas dialed his cousin.
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Chapter Six
Saturday arrived far too quickly for Dini’s peace of mind. She’d thrown herself into her work in a futile effort to avoid thinking about it—and him.
There were two chapters of a new book on her hard drive, and a new Suzie adventure taking shape. The fact that this time Suzie had set her sights on a guy who looked suspiciously like a certain detective was, Dini told herself, sheer coincidence. As was the title, Steampunk Suzie and the South Street Sleuth.
The light was dimming as she leaned back in her chair, rubbed her cricked spine and sighed. “Face it, you blind idiot. You’re stuck on this guy.” She gazed blankly at a mostly naked and seductive Suzie who was about to persuade the villain to part with a vital piece of information and give Suzie the chance to go see her new man again.
“You’re as obsessed about him as Suzie is.”
She pushed away from her desk. Time to shower up and find something non-Suzie-ish to wear so that Jonas didn’t think she was som
e hot-to-trot slut who only wanted his body.
She was lying again. She wanted his body. She’d been dreaming of his body and how he’d made her feel. She’d given her vibrator a workout over the past few days every time she’d written or drawn anything that made Jonas leap back into her brain.
Shit shit shit.
The shower simply invigorated her skin, sending rivulets of water over her breasts and her thighs, reminding her of Jonas’ tongue. Every fucking thing she touched reminded her of Jonas.
She turned off the water and grabbed the towel, angry at herself for hiding from the truth. Jonas had touched more inside her than her damned G-spot, nice though that was. Her skin turned pink as she dried off the moisture with a heavy hand, trying to 55
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rub away the fact that there was at last a man in her life she could really fall for in a big way.
Slicking on lotion with an absent move, Dini analyzed her emotions as clinically as she could. There was none of the fresh excitement she’d felt with Alan. She was older now, immune perhaps to that breathless tingle of first love. And she wasn’t the type of woman to be overly impressed with sexual skills, fun though they were.
No, there was something more, something deeper she’d found in Jonas. And it was something she’d connected with on a level that surprised the crap out of her. She’d enjoyed his humor, how he’d made her laugh.
He was intelligent, quick with the comeback and challenged her to think—even while he was making her feel.
She’d never be bored with him, that was for certain. And he had a look about him that was almost old-fashioned in an odd way. Something that said once he took a woman to his side, she’d be there forever. His.
She shivered as she grabbed a simple, white, man’s shirt and slipped it on. No corsets or wings tonight. He needed to see Dini as she was, not through a veil of Suzie-stuff. She needed to show him the simple side of Nadine Summers. Perhaps he wouldn’t like her so much and lose interest.
And the dart of distress that shot through her at the thought surprised her into reaching for her fishnet tights. No point in courting disaster. She dug into her closet and emerged with a pair of fire-engine-red spiked heels.