by Ella Frank
Bailey took another quick look over his shoulder to make sure he was alone, and when he was happy that he was, he hit call.
The phone only rang twice before it was answered, and without even thinking, he said, “So, what happened to one night?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to bite them back, not wanting Henri to think he was annoyed by the call.
But then that seductive chuckle he dreamed about rumbled in his ear. “You did,” Henri said, and all the blood in Bailey’s head went south.
Henri’s words were straight to the point, and so damn sexy that Bailey moved further away from the back door, just in case the people inside could hear his thumping heart. “Did I?”
“Yeah, you fucking did,” Henri said in a voice that made Bailey’s dick remember every little thing those teasing lips had done to him. “I don’t know what kind of spell you put on me, officer. But I can’t stop thinking about you.”
As the raw honesty behind those words hit him, Bailey braced a hand on the rail just in case his knees gave out. But Henri wasn’t quite done reminding him just what a powerful impact he could make.
“I think about you when I’m awake. I dream about you when I’m asleep. I even think about you when I’m telling myself not to—”
“Why would you tell yourself that?”
There was a pause, and then Henri said, “Because it’s the smart thing to do.”
Bailey frowned. Smart thing to do? What does that mean?
“I should let you go. You have guests over.”
“Just my brothers and a friend,” Bailey said, but as what Henri had just said registered, he straightened and looked around.
How did Henri know he had people over? There was no way he could’ve just guessed that. But when all he saw was the dark stretch of land in front of him, Bailey said, “Where are you?”
“If I tell you I’m trespassing, will you shoot me?”
Shit. He’s here? Bailey’s cock throbbed as though it were a homing beacon for the guy, and then he looked to the opposite side of the deck, to the side of his house that was shrouded in shadows, and zeroed in on it.
With the phone still glued to his ear, Bailey could hear the wind rustling through trees through his cell, and as he headed down the stairs and around the side of his place, a hand reached out and grabbed at his wrist.
As he was tugged out of sight and shoved up against the side of the house, Bailey’s pulse skyrocketed as a rush of adrenaline flooded him.
Henri was right there, right in front of him, and as he boxed him in, Bailey knew he would do just about anything to get one more kiss, one more touch, from the bad boy who couldn’t seem to get enough of him.
Chapter Seventeen
CONFESSION
Being good’s never really been my thing.
But being bad? That’s where I truly excel.
HENRI STARED INTO the stunning face now only inches from his, and all of the reasons he shouldn’t be there vanished—right along with his common sense.
With the soft glow from the window on this side of Bailey’s house, he could see the rough stubble shadowing Bailey’s jaw and wanted to run his tongue along it. He could also feel Bailey’s excitement pressed up against his own, as Henri crowded in and placed a hand on the siding by his head.
Bailey slowly lowered the phone from his ear, and when he slipped it into his pocket, he said, “Hi.”
“Hi yourself, officer.” Henri wedged a foot between Bailey’s legs, and when he automatically shifted them apart and reached for his waist, Henri rolled his hips forward and groaned at the contact. “Fuck. I just want you to know, I tried to be good and stay away from you.”
Bailey licked his lips and then hooked his fingers through the belt loops of Henri’s jeans, and it was all Henri could do not to grab him and attack.
“I failed.” At those two words, a grin curled Bailey’s lips, and Henri brought a hand up to trace his thumb along his jaw line. “Should I apologize?”
When Bailey shook his head, Henri smirked and then leaned in to brush their lips together. “Thank God for that. ’Cause good’s never really been my thing. But being bad?” He nipped at Bailey’s lower lip. “Well, I’m a fucking expert at that.”
Bailey cursed and dug his fingers into Henri’s waist as he thrust his hips forward. “This is crazy. I have a house full of people, and—”
Bailey’s words cut off as Henri kissed his way down the line of his neck and then tugged at the zipper of his hoodie. “And what?”
Bailey’s head fell back against the side of the house, his breathing coming much faster now. “And all I want is to feel your hands on me again.”
Henri slowly slid the zipper down, and when Bailey’s naked chest came into view, Henri groaned. “So I’m not the only one who wants to be bad tonight. Is that what you’re telling me?”
Bailey chewed on his lower lip as Henri began to kiss his way down his neck to his chest, then he scraped his teeth over Bailey’s nipple.
“I don’t do things like this,” Bailey said, as he gripped the back of Henri’s head. “Not ever.”
His cop wasn’t telling him anything new. Henri already knew that Bailey was more the commitment type, just as he had always been the no-strings-attached type. But with each look, each touch, each run-in the two of them had, Henri could see they were both starting to change their minds. They were both looking for ways to bend their rule for just another moment with each other, and he was starting to think that being caught up in this man’s strings just might be the best fucking experience of his life.
Bailey looked down at him with sex-hazed eyes, as Henri moved lower, kissing and sucking at Bailey’s smooth skin, making his way down past his abs until he was on his knees, right there in the dirt.
Henri’s eyes roamed up Bailey’s body to his face, and when his hips bucked forward, Henri reached for the button of his jeans.
“Just another taste,” Henri said, as he flicked the button free and pulled the zipper down. “That’s all I want…that’s all I need. Another taste of you.”
“Oh shit…shit.” Bailey was rolling his hips forward now, thrusting his erection in Henri’s face, and when his fingers tightened in Henri’s hair, a grunt of pleasure escaped his throat.
Henri aimed his eyes in Bailey’s direction as he inched his briefs down and pulled his cock free. Then he moved up to his knees and dragged his tongue from root to tip.
“Henri,” Bailey said, shaking where he stood, propped up against the side of his house. “You… I… Oh God.”
The last two words were a tortured moan, as Henri licked over the head of Bailey’s dick. But when the hands in his hair began urging him to his feet, Henri took one last taste before obeying.
When he was back to his full height, Henri once again caged Bailey in by plastering himself to his front and wedging a foot between his thighs. As his jeans rubbed up against Bailey’s naked cock, a desperate sound left him and he grabbed Henri’s hips.
“Shit, you’re driving me insane,” Bailey said. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.”
The high Henri got from the arousal he could see, feel, and now taste on his tongue drove him forward, drove him that much closer to the most dangerous edge he’d ever stood on. “And how do you want me?”
Bailey’s eyes locked on his, and the raw honesty Henri saw there was unlike anything he’d seen before. “Any way I can have you.”
And that was it: Henri jumped off the edge.
He crushed his lips down on top of Bailey’s in a blistering kiss, and if there’d been any doubt that his cop was upset that Henri had shown up there tonight, the intensity of Bailey’s response would’ve banished it in an instant.
Bailey shoved off the side of the house, his fingers tightening on Henri’s ass. He parted his lips and Henri dove inside; Bailey groaned, and the sound went straight to Henri’s dick.
Not a second later, Henri had Bailey back against the wall, the despe
rate push and pull between them reigniting the wildfire, as Bailey all but climbed up Henri’s body to get closer to him.
His cop felt incredible, all those hard muscles straining against his, and it wasn’t long before Henri was moving like they were already naked, and he was balls deep inside.
The wind in the leaves, and the muffled sounds of Bailey’s guests, was a gentle reminder of where they were and that someone could walk out at any moment. But Henri didn’t give a shit, and neither, apparently, did the man who was all but fucking his leg, as he bit and sucked at Henri’s lower lip.
Henri grinned against Bailey’s greedy mouth, and when he dragged a hand down to cup Bailey’s erection, Henri had to crush their lips together to stop the loud shout that nearly escaped his cop.
“Jesus, you’re on fucking fire tonight. But if you don’t stop…” Henri squeezed the stiff dick. “How long have you got until someone comes looking for you?”
Bailey swallowed but punched his hips forward, his eyes a little dazed as he stared into Henri’s face. “Not long enough for what we both want.”
“Now that’s a fucking shame.”
“Yeah” was Bailey’s intelligent response, making Henri chuckle.
“Hmm. Well, what if I come back later?”
Bailey’s eyes fell shut as he angled his head to the side, and Henri licked a path right up to his ear and kissed his temple.
“Yeah, I like that idea,” Henri said. “You go back inside and be a good host, and I’ll come back later and be a bad influence.”
As Henri gave him another rough stroke, Bailey grabbed the back of Henri’s neck and slammed their mouths together in a kiss that just about blew the top of Henri’s head off. It was a kiss full of pent-up frustration, and by the end of it, Henri was convinced he just might die if he couldn’t get inside Bailey right this second.
But then, as if Bailey had come to his senses, he pulled back, nodded, and took a step away, giving himself a little more distance as he got himself under control and zipped up.
“Wow…okay,” he said, his voice much deeper than usual. “Clearly, I lose my mind when you’re around.”
A smug smile hit Henri’s lips at that confession, and when Bailey spotted it, he laughed.
“That makes you happy?”
“So fucking happy, you have no idea. I thought it was just me.”
Bailey looked down at the obvious proof in his jeans that it wasn’t and shook his head. “Trust me, it’s not.”
At the sound of laughter inside, Bailey jerked his head around to look at the deck, and when he saw they were still alone, he turned back to Henri. “You’ll come back later?”
“What time?” Henri said as he began to walk backward toward the front of the house.
“Is midnight too late?”
He could’ve said three in the morning and Henri would’ve been there. “Midnight is perfect.”
Bailey nodded, and was about to turn to leave when he stopped and pinned Henri with serious eyes. “I’m really glad you came by tonight.”
The confession was honest and…dangerous, because it made Henri want things he knew he couldn’t have—at least not with this man. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
As Henri took another step back, increasing the distance between them, Bailey gave him a searing once-over and said, “I know you told me to stop thinking that night. But you, and it, are all I’ve been able to think about since.”
Henri’s feet froze, and as the last thread of his conscience struggled to be heard, he said, “That’s probably not smart.”
“Probably.” Bailey licked at his lips as if to get one last taste of Henri. “But I don’t seem to care anymore.”
Henri shoved his hands into his pockets, not sure he wouldn’t go to Bailey and drag him to the ground. “You should go inside now.”
“Or…?”
Henri couldn’t tell if Bailey was teasing or genuinely curious about what Henri was threatening. But just in case it wasn’t clear to the good officer, Henri said, “Or I’m going to rip your jeans off and fuck you right here, right now. I don’t give a shit about who’s inside and what they see. I’m leaving because I know that you do. Make no mistake, Bailey, I meant what I said a minute ago. I’m a bad influence. You shouldn’t probably tell me to go away—you should demand it.”
The silence that stretched between them made Henri wonder if he’d just cut off his nose to spite his face, but then Bailey said, “I’ll see you at midnight. This time you can come to the front door,” and then he disappeared around the back of the house.
BAILEY SLIPPED BACK inside several minutes later, hoping the other three people in his house were in the living room, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the kitchen was empty.
He’d given himself a few moments out on his deck to get his body under some kind of control, but every time he thought about what had just happened, his body went all high alert on him again.
Jesus. So this is what it feels like to be ruled by your dick. While it was inconvenient, and would pose a million embarrassing questions if someone were to walk in right now, it felt really fucking good.
There was something about Henri that just pushed all Bailey’s buttons, and the second he was around, Bailey found himself doing and saying things that were so out of character that he wondered who they were coming from.
Yeah, kind of like telling the man that you want him any way you can have him.
It was ballsy to say the least, but also…liberating. Plus, it was hardly his fault. In black boots, jeans, and a grey Henley over a black t-shirt, Henri had looked like a thief in the night standing in the dark—a really sexy one—and if it hadn’t been for the obvious fact that Henri felt the same way, Bailey just might think about getting out of town for a few days to clear his head of this insanity.
As it was, he was thinking the best cure for this affliction was to get Henri naked, and in a bed, where Bailey could join him for as many hours as it took to get Henri out of his system—and midnight seemed like the perfect time to start.
Bailey headed to the fridge to hunt down a beer, and just as he opened it, Xander walked into the kitchen. As his eyes widened, he strode in Bailey’s direction, came to a stop behind the open door, and placed his arms on top of it. “Well? Did you call him back?”
Oh yeah, I called him, all right, Bailey thought. Called him. Kissed him. Almost tore his clothes off against the side of my house. But instead of saying any of that, he twisted the top off his beer, took a swig, and nodded. “I did.”
Xander’s brow arched, and Bailey already knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth.
“And what happened? Don’t think you get to vanish for fifteen minutes and leave me to entertain your pain-in-the-ass brothers without giving up the goods. I quit thinking they were cute when I was a teenager; now they just feel like my pain-in-the-ass brothers.”
“Okay, okay. Fair point. Especially Sean.”
“Exactly,” Xander said, as Bailey shut the fridge. “So you can make it up to me by telling me what happened. Are you going to see him again?”
Bailey’s lips twitched—lips that were swollen because of Henri. “I already did.”
Xander, not a fool in any way, shape, or form, frowned. “You already did?”
“Yep.” Bailey raised his beer to his lips and said, “He came over to see me tonight, and when he saw all of you, he snuck down the side of the house.”
“He stalked you?” Xander grinned and shook his head. “I told you that you should’ve done that. Although, now that I think about it, I don’t know if that’s hot or—”
“Oh, it was hot,” Bailey said, as a satisfied grin slid across his lips, and Xander leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms.
“I’m assuming we’re not talking about the phone call now?”
“I always did say you were too smart for your own good.”
Xander scoffed. “No, you didn’t. You always said I
was too arrogant.”
“You’re that too,” Bailey said as he shoved away from the counter.
“Look at you. You’re close to fucking floating around this kitchen. He must be something else.”
“Shut up.”
“It’s true.”
Bailey rolled his eyes. “Shut up anyway. Shouldn’t we get in there? Sean and Kieran will start asking questions otherwise.”
“They think you were on the phone with work.”
“Oh, thanks for that.”
“No problem. But, um, Bay?”
“Yeah?”
“Where is your ghost right now?”
Bailey grinned and winked at his friend. “He disappeared. But I have it on good authority that he’s going to reappear at midnight.”
Chapter Eighteen
CONFESSION
Ding dong, the witch is dead.
And I’m not sad about that one fucking bit.
HENRI UNLOCKED HIS front door, looked around the empty space that greeted him, and knew that the next few hours were going to feel like forever. It’d taken him fifteen minutes to get from Bailey’s back to his place, and now that he was home, he was already wishing the night away.
Walking away from his cop tonight had been a lesson in self-restraint, something he wasn’t particularly good at, or fond of. He was more the self-indulgent type when it came to going after what he wanted. There’d only ever been one person he’d been willing to bend that indulgent streak for, but since that got him absolutely nowhere fast, Henri had decided there was nothing wrong with satisfying his sexual appetites any way he fucking wanted to these days—and he wanted Bailey, and planned to have him.
What had started out as an impulsive decision had turned out to be one of the best moves he’d made in a very long time. Sure, there was still that niggling voice in the back of his head reminding him how risky this was, but it was being drowned out by the sexy sounds Bailey had made tonight, as he’d practically dry-humped Henri’s leg, and nothing could erase that.