Flames (A Special Agent Novel Book 3)

by C. P. Mandara

  “I’ve been sent to deliver your spanking.” My mouth folded up into a thin, hard line. I figured it was best to be upfront about it. If she was going to bang me over the head with something, we might as well get it out of the way. Bracing myself for the worst, I waited to see what her reaction would be. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  “Why that fucking bastard! You tell him to get his ass in here, now! How dare he get you to do his dirty work for him.” Lois was now spitting mad, which wasn’t a good sign, and I was beginning to wonder if James was trying to give her an opportunity to kill me. I wouldn’t put it past him. There had better not be any weapons hidden about in this room or I was going to be pissed.

  “He’s my superior, Lois, so I do what he tells me, and so, therefore, should you. Next time the man tells you to eat toast, eat the fucking toast and save us all a great deal of trouble, why don’t you? Now roll over on to your stomach and let’s get this over with.”

  Lois pulled the duvet up to her chin and glared at me. "Go fuck yourself," she spat. From where I was standing, it looked like we were going to do this the hard way. Approaching the bed slowly, I then quickly took hold of the edge of the duvet and yanked it sharply. She hadn't been expecting the move, and the whole thing came away easily in my hands. I flung it behind me. My breath then whistled out in a hiss as I laid my eyes upon her body. She was covered in nothing more than a black t-shirt, which shouldn't have been in the least bit erotic, but she wasn't wearing a thing beneath it. The outline of her breasts was clearly visible through the cotton, and her nipples were punching holes in the fabric. Strangely, I found this more enticing than if she had been naked.

  “Roll over, Lois,” I barked. “Let’s get this over with.” She paid no attention to me whatsoever, of course.

  Already scrambling over the side of the bed, she edged her way around it carefully. I hoped to hell the woman hadn't managed to find a weapon since we'd arrived here. I still hadn't recovered from the neurotoxin incident.

  “Get out,” she hissed, “or this time when I try to kill you, I’ll make sure I do the job properly.”

  I sighed. If I didn’t know better, it wouldn’t be a stretch to have suspected James had done this on purpose.

  “I’m not who you think I am.” She wasn’t going to believe me, but I needed to get it out there.

  "I don't give a fuck who you are, but I'm your worst nightmare. Come and get me." She then put her hands out in front of her and curled her fingertips towards me, beckoning me forward. Lois was in fight mode and damned if that didn't turn me on. If this was how she wanted to play, so be it.

  “Fine.” Having first-hand knowledge of what Lois was capable of, I wasn’t going to tiptoe around her this time. As much as I didn’t want to hurt her, I wasn’t taking any chances, either. I would bring her down, and she would stay down until I’d delivered her damn spanking.

  Diving over the bed towards her, I brought us both down at once, rather solidly, on the beige carpet below. Lois took the brunt of it, unfortunately, but there was little I could do about it. At least this way was quick. Immediately searching for her hands, I got hold of her left and pinned it above her head, but her right eluded me. As my hand continued to search underneath me, I suddenly felt something very sharp press up against my chin. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Finally gathering the courage to look down, I discovered that Lois had managed to steal one of the kitchen knives, and the woman looked like she could do some damage with it.

  “Drop the knife. We’re supposed to be working together, idiot,” I hissed. Letting my body sink into hers like a dead weight, I waited to see what her next move would be. If she stabbed me, I was probably going to lose it. The jury was out as to whether it would be my temper or my life.

  "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you now?" Her pale grey eyes bored into mine, and I realised it wouldn't take much to push her over the edge right now. If she'd been back to full fitness, I'd probably already be dead, but I could feel her hand shaking against the blade. Swinging up with my right hand, my fingers closed around the knife she held, pushing it away from me. As I did so, I felt the thing scrape against the skin of my neck, but thankfully, it wasn't sharp enough to do much damage. Although I'd have a nasty graze for my efforts, at least disaster had been averted.

  Lois didn't go down without a fight, though. Her fist grappled with mine, anxious to retain ownership of the knife. While the woman might have been half my size, she was as strong as an ox, even when sick. Eventually, I resorted to repeatedly banging her hand against the floor until she relinquished the thing. Even so, it took about ten tries before she finally decided enough was enough. Pocketing the knife, I released her, confident that my body weight wouldn't let her move far. Her hands then tried to move to my neck, but this time, I was ready for her, and I managed to pin her down. Thankfully, by now she was exhausted, and I could feel her chest heaving for air beneath me. Pulling myself up, so my weight was now resting on my forearms, I let her breathe.

  “Next time you have a chance to kill someone, you take it immediately. In your line of business, there are no second chances, Lois. You know that.”

  “If I’d wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead, asshole.” That much I’d already figured out.

  “Get on your hands and knees, Lois.” I let her go abruptly and stood up.

  “If you think for one moment…” her eyes spat daggers at me, but that was too bad. I had the advantage now.

  "Are you forgetting who has the knife? Get on your hands and knees now, or I'll rip that dressing off and finish what I started, and believe me, you don't want me to do that." My eyes were flat and dull. Carte Blanche's Adie was back, and he was here to stay for the foreseeable future.

  Lois wasn’t about to make it easy for me, though. Her eyes filled with tears, and the corner of her lip wobbled. It looked like we were about to have waterworks before the main event.

  "Don't even think of pulling that stunt, Thirty-Eight. Besides, you know how much I enjoy tears. If you could do a few days worth of torture without batting an eyelid, a spanking is hardly cause for hysterics, is it? Just close your eyes and pretend you're back in the wet room with me. It'll all be over before you know it." To give Lois her dues, she knew when the game was up. Assuming the position on the floor with as much dignity as she could muster, she waited there, facing the wall, and the only way I could tell that she was madder than hell was by the rapid rise and fall of her chest. The bad news was that I was about to pour fuel on the fire.

  "Lift up your t-shirt and bunch it around your waist." The thing fell to mid-thigh at the moment, and if I were using my bare hands, she'd need to feel it on naked flesh. At a guess, I'd say she was wearing one of James's tops, and for some reason, that made me angry.

  Again, she did as she was told, though her hands were slow and uncoordinated. They worked perfectly well a moment ago, when she was trying to wrestle her knife away, so I could only assume she was trying to delay the inevitable. Still, we were in no rush. She could mess around a bit if she wanted to.

  When the t-shirt was residing exactly where I’d requested it to be, I crouched down beside her and ran my fingers gently over her ass cheeks. They were still bright pink from the whipping yesterday, and utterly delectable in every way.

  Taking a handful of her hair, I yanked it back sharply until her ear was level with my lips. “Still sore?”

  “I’m sore everywhere,” she said through gritted teeth. “Heroin has that effect on people, or so I hear.” Lois was not amused. Too bad. Reaching a hand between her legs, I let the warmth of my palm linger on her sex - just enough to torment her.

  “Are you wet for me, Lois?”

  “Go fuck yourself.” I’d take that as a yes, then.

  “Be a good girl and curb that nasty mouth of yours, or I might get out that knife you gave me, after all. I haven’t forgiven you for the stunt you pulled yesterday, by the way.” I still couldn’t believe she’d
duped me. What was even more interesting was the reason behind it. Why hadn’t she killed me? I knew she didn’t trust me, which was fair enough, but why hadn’t she put a bullet in my head by now? I’d more than earned one.

  “I should have killed you while I had the chance,” she muttered, her voice full of resentment. I smiled.

  The first smack landed on her ass with a painful thud, and I watched her body jolt forward on impact. She didn't make a sound, but she would. Ordinarily, I'd give her ten minutes before she'd lose the plot, but in the state, she was in today, it would be five, tops.

  "Could of, should of, would of," I whispered in her ear, thoroughly amused by her spunk. Another three blisteringly hard spanks followed, and I could feel her whole body tense up like a bowstring, although she should know by now that her reaction would only make things worse. "Relax, or you're not going to get through this with your dignity intact," I murmured.

  “My dignity flew out of the window a few days ago. Besides, tears turn you on, so you might as well give it your best shot,” she said, and her voice sounded utterly defeated. This was not the Lois I adored and admired, but if anyone had a right to fall apart, she did. After what she’d been through for the past few days, I had no idea how she’d managed to hold it together.

  Taking pity on her, I decided to get this over with. My hand flew down with vicious thuds that landed one over top of the other. I didn’t hold back, nor did I let her catch her breath. There was only so long she could withstand this kind of punishment for, but she fought me with everything she had. She remembered to relax when we were a few minutes in, but by that time the damage had been done. Her breathing was now coming in hard little pants, and the sounds coming out of her mouth were ones of distress. My hand didn’t stop. Attacking the sweet spot of her butt, I continued to lay into her, right cheek, then left, until two bright red spots of colour had bloomed. When they did, I knew it wouldn’t be long before the tide turned.

  Dealing out blow after blow, the force so hard my hand hurt under them, I listened to Lois making choked sobbing noises, though she did her best to hold them back. When we reached that point, I knew it wouldn’t take much to send her over the abyss. Increasing the force of each blow, so they almost physically moved her forward, I only needed a further five spanks before she dissolved into fits of tears. Although I couldn’t see them, or hear them, I knew they were there because her whole body shook with the force of emotion she was battling to hold back. Stopping immediately, I picked her up, sat us both on the bed, and pulled her close to me.

  At first, she tried to pull away, but her anger at me was misdirected this time.

  "Hey. I was asked to deal out this punishment. Don't shoot the messenger." Angling her face towards mine, watching malevolent fury shoot sparks beneath her eyes, I raised my finger to her cheek to trace the path of a tear. "You look so fucking beautiful right now, Lois. I swear I could devour you whole." Scooping up the little bead of salt water, I put it to my lips and sucked. I hadn't lied when I'd said tears had turned me on back at Carte Blanche. A woman in torment was one of the most divine creatures alive, and at the moment, Lois ticked every box. Desperately wanting to lie her down on the bed and fuck her until she couldn't stop screaming my name, I reigned myself in. For starters, she was sick, and most importantly, she didn't want me yet. There was desire there, for anyone who cared to look, but it had no substance behind it. If I wanted to win Lois over, and I wasn't sure I did just yet, I'd need to play very carefully. We didn't know each other well enough for me to make that decision, but I had a feeling we'd get very intimate in the next few days. So for now, I'd be my usual ruthless self and give nothing away. I could play with her - I just couldn't get too close.

  Sniffling, Lois decided not to keep me at arm's length, probably because being comforted was more important right now. Wrapping her arms around me, she did her best to stifle the sobs that were pouring out of her, but the storm hadn't passed yet.

  “I’m… sorry… can’t… stop,” she said, trying her best to speak between hiccupping sobs of misery.

  “Don’t stop on my account. Like I said at Carte Blanche, this shit turns me on. Feel free to cry your heart out, and I’ll see what I can do about mopping up the damage.” I gave her a penetrating stare, somewhere between desire and a thousand shades of lust, before I stretched out my tongue to lick up a dribbling, getaway tear. Amazingly enough, she let me, and I continued on my quest until her body stopped its shuddering heaves of torment and her misery turned into something else.

  “I shouldn’t find that arousing,” she eventually said, in a breathless little voice that had my cock hard and aching.

  "You shouldn't have found the spanking arousing, either, but you did, didn't you?" I could usually tell when they enjoyed it. It's quite unusual for someone to enjoy what I would call a ‘punishment spanking,' but for some, the pain or humiliation tipped them over the edge. Usually, the pain won out, cancelling the desire, but in Lois's case, it was always there – if a little muted towards the end of the session. She didn't reply to my question, which was answer enough.

  “Are you going to eat some soup and toast now, or am I going to have to put you back on the floor and do it all again. My hand still stings like a bastard,” I said, flexing my rather red palm, “but I’m game if you are.”

  “You’re an asshole,” she whispered, but this time there was humour in her voice.

  "Come on, you know you want to go another round. Don't go all defeatist with me at the first hurdle," I moaned. Biting my lower lip, I rolled my teeth slowly back over it and flashed her a grin.

  "I promise I'll eat whatever you bring me, and a couple of aspirin would also be appreciated," she said, pulling away. I was reluctant to leave her, but judging by the pale, bleached look to her cheeks, she needed some rest. Tucking her carefully back into bed, I told her to have a little nap and that I'd be back with her soon. She nodded and rolled up into the foetus position, looking like a small, lost child. All I wanted to do was scoop her back into my arms, but that wouldn't do either of us any good right now. We needed to take things one step at a time.

  “Do we have anything stronger than beer?” Holding the bottle of Bud in my hand with a wry twist to my lips, I took a swig. It wasn’t my usual drink of choice, but it looked like it would have to do. Walking into the lounge, I then sat down heavily on the sofa.

  James looked up at me from the newspaper he was reading and grinned. “That’s an attractive scrape you have there. I take it everything went well?” He went back to reading his paper, and for a moment, I considered ignoring him, although there was one question that had been niggling at me for some time. In the end, it got the better of me.

  “Did you know she had a knife?” I swear to God if that bastard knew, there was a good chance I might kill him.

  He didn't look up at me, and for a moment I wondered if he would answer me at all, but finally, he cleared his throat and said, "I may have noticed that one of the knives from the kitchen block had disappeared, yes."

  "You bastard," I fumed. "Don't you think it might have been wise to tell me that before I went in empty-handed?" My voice had risen an octave and had a bitter edge to it.

  “If you can’t handle yourself against a mere slip of a girl, you’re going to be of no use to me where we’re heading next. Besides, it was your job to notice one of the knives was missing, as much as it was mine. I’m not your babysitter, and don’t look at me like that,” he said, even though he had no idea how I was looking at him, as his nose was still buried in the paper. Fucker.

  Slugging the beer back as if my throat were on fire, I controlled the urge to annihilate the man across from me. I wasn't going to beat him in a fist fight if what I'd read in his file was correct, nor would I use the gun he’d recently given me because I had some morals. Besides, as much as James's words had stung, he was correct. I was getting sloppy. The last few days had been intense, and I needed to refocus. That being said, it didn't mean I couldn't get my o
wn back, I just needed to be more creative about it.

  "So, if I get her to eat a slice of toast and a bowl of soup, am I allowed to have my wicked way with her?" And there it was — the merest flicker of movement at the corner of James's lips. A barely imperceptible tightening, but I noticed it. That had hit him where it hurt.

  “Absolutely. You go and have fun, sunshine. You’ve earned it.” He then winked at me and smiled, which almost led me to believe I was going crazy - almost but not quite. James was good. So good, in fact, that you’d be lucky to ever be able to read him. I was pretty sure I was right on the money, though, but time would tell. Meanwhile, I intended to go and make good on my promise.

  “Thanks. I think I will,” I said pleasantly enough, adding, “you aren’t aware of any more weapons that she might have stashed away, are you?”

  “Nah, I think you’re good for now.” James waved me away with the back of his hand, and for all the world, he looked like a man engrossed in his paper. Only I knew differently. At least, I thought I did. It wouldn’t do to underestimate that man – that much I knew for sure.

  When I walked back into the room carrying a bowl of steaming hot vegetable soup and two rounds of toast, Lois grimaced.

  Laying the tray down across her lap, I said, “We can always go back to spanking. I much prefer that, for the record.”

  She gave me a dark look and picked up her spoon. “My ass is a disaster area. No one is going near it for at least a week.” I wasn’t so sure about that, but I thought it best not to mention it.

  "Still feeling as if someone’s broke all of your ribs and is trying to pull them out of your body one by one?" Sitting on the chair beside her bed, I watched her blow on her soup to cool it down before bringing it up to her lips. I found the move strangely erotic, which probably meant I had it bad. Mind you, I went through women like pairs of socks, so I didn't intend to get worked up about it.