Fire and Ice, Novella Sequel to Trial by Fire

by Lee Taylor

  Before she could process the sensations flooding her, he slipped a furry cuff over her wrist and tightened it. He did the same to her other wrist, then raised her hands over her head. Tugging on the tether attached to the cuff, he fastened it to the bedpost. As he moved over her to secure her other arm above her head his hands were gentle, but firm. She struggled against the bindings but they were tight, secure, her outstretched arms tied in a victory vee over her head. His voice was low, encouraging. It soothed her rising fear.

  “You know, honey, when you cuff a criminal, how they sort of melt, give in? Did you ever think about why they do that?”

  She tried to focus on his question, but she was too overwhelmed by the sensation of being restrained, not knowing how she should respond. Not understanding the excitement that was coursing over her.

  Sam continued talking. His husky tone betrayed his desire.

  “It’s because they understand there’s no reason to fight it, nothing they can do except give into the reality of the moment.”

  She couldn’t see him but she sensed Sam was next to her, gazing at her. She could feel his presence. It was overwhelming and strangely comforting. Annika could sense his excitement. It matched her own.

  “Don’t worry, Princess. Unlike the gangbanger, you’re in charge. Your feet are free. You can kick me in the balls if you want. Or, better yet, you can tell me to stop and I will.”

  He hesitated then moved closer to her. She could feel the strength of his powerful body next to hers. The thought of him straddling her, lying on top of her sent a tremor of excitement straight to her core. She cried out as her body shook in anticipation.

  His chuckle was low, sexy.

  “But, you’re not going to do that are you, Princess?”

  Before she could answer, he tugged at the towel that was covering her. The rush of cool air against her naked body amplified the whisper of fabric as he pulled it away. She struggled for a moment knowing that she was bare, open to him.

  His soft groan, thick with passion, chased away her fear.

  “Damn, Annika. You are so beautiful. You take my breath, Princess.”

  Annika laid back, stunned. It was as though she could see herself through his eyes. Her body was spread before him—ready, eager for the taking. And he was right. She was beautiful. The thought was so erotic, so overwhelming her body shook with anticipation. His sexy chuckle confirmed that he saw her excitement.

  At some deep level, Annika understood the brilliance of what Sam was doing. Absorbed with the blindfold, the cuffs, the sensation of being restrained, she’d forgotten her fear of making love. Instead she was doing what he told her to do. To feel. All of her sensations raced madly through the various gears, and were now on overdrive.

  Before she could ask him what he was going to do, he slipped his big hands around her waist his thumbs tugging at her belly button ring. His voice was husky, amused.

  “I like this, Princess. It shows how you play with yourself. How you acknowledge and decorate your beautiful body. You love your body, don’t you? As you should. You just don’t want anyone to know. But now I do. It can be our secret. And Princess, we’re going to have so many secrets. So many things that we do and say that are ours alone.”

  He tugged on the bauble attached to the pierced ring, sending fiery sensations to her groin.

  “Mm hmm. I can think of some other places we could put pretty jewels.”

  He gently pinched one nipple, causing her to cry out.

  “Hmm. Yes. And here too.”

  He leaned over and gently kissed the other hard-beaded nub.

  Annika gasped for air. She couldn’t believe the sensations rolling over her. She felt his warm lips on her neck, his rough tongue on the excruciatingly sensitive divot of her throat. He’d crawled up beside her now. She couldn’t see him but she could feel him, sense where he might be going. But she wasn’t sure. The anticipation of where he would go, what he would do next, was as erotic as the actual touch. His hands, his mouth were all over her. On her breasts, her nipples—pinching, licking, sucking. But he never stopped talking to her. He anchored her with his murmuring, sexy, outrageous words. Telling her what the sight of her did to his body. How her smell drove him wild, and how she tasted like honey—like sweet candy.

  She whimpered, and squealed. She tried to make him understand that she couldn’t take it. That the sensations were too much, too intense. But the only words that made it past her lips were her pleas, begging him not to stop.

  Annika tried to pull back when he nudged her legs apart. But he insisted that he wanted to revel in her beauty, to explore her most intimate parts. The only way she could maintain her sanity was to grip the restraints even harder, so that she could arch her back, lift her hips, her body shamelessly begging for more. He found places on her so sensitive she thought she might faint from the intensity. His hands, his fingers, his tongue played her as though she were an erotic instrument with hidden notes that only he could find and draw out.

  When he’d wrung one more impossible orgasm from her quivering body, he crawled up over her and released her hands. He untied her blindfold and held her face between his hands. His face was tight with strain.

  “I need to take you, Annika.” Sam’s voice shook with emotion. “I need to bury myself deep inside of you, but I don’t want to hurt you. I want you to be able to push me away if it’s… if I’m too much.”

  “No, no!”

  Her voice shocked her. It was ragged, demanding. Grateful that she could touch him, she grabbed at his hair, pulling on the tight wiry curls, dragging him closer to her. She ran her hands over his back then buried her fingernails in his rock-hard buttocks. She nipped at the hard muscles on his shoulders and chest. Now that she was free, she couldn’t get enough of him. She needed to taste him. Bite him. Hold him. She heard the tear of foil and quaked at the thought of him inside of her.

  Sam spread her legs apart and pushed her knees up against her chest. With a low growl, he moved in, murmuring hoarsely at how wet she was, how beautifully swollen, how desirable. His thick shaft felt impossibly big when he nudged it against her entrance… but she knew she would die if he stopped. When he pulled back, she cried out, insisting that he come deep inside of her.

  Sam heard her pleas and prayed to God that she meant them. Nothing could stop him now. He had to have her. But God she was tight. So fucking, incredibly, amazingly tight. He inched inside then pulled back allowing her to soften, to accommodate to his width. He knew how overwhelming it must be. Thank God, her body was as hot as his. Finally he was fully sheathed, buried deep inside of her. He groaned in anticipation fighting against his need to take her hard and fast. And then Annika did the worst thing she could have done. She begged him not to stop. Not ever to stop. And God help him, he didn’t. As a deep shuddering orgasm overtook her, he rose up on his knees and pressed her feet against his shoulders. Dragging her hips tight against his groin, he pounded into her, deep hard thrusts that he should have held back. But he was helpless, overcome with a need so powerful, so intense it shattered him. With a harsh roar he gave in to his release and buried himself in the only place on Earth he wanted to be.

  For many long ecstatic moments they held each other, laughing, crying, stroking one another. Reveling in the smell and taste of their sweaty, glistening bodies. When he could trust his voice and his emotions, Sam pulled her up close to him.

  “I gotta know, Princess. Was I better than your toy? Than those two-minute men?”

  She paused as though considering. “Which of the seven orgasms you gave me, Sam, did you want me to rate? The ones where I begged you not to stop, or the ones where I shrieked like a banshee?”

  He laughed, then buried his face in her hair and murmured, “How about the one when you came with me and made me come harder than I ever have in my life?”

  “Ahhh… yes.” She sighed. “That one.”

  Chapter 13

  “Lt. Nilsson, could I see you for a moment, please. In my o
ffice?”

  Annika reflexively frowned at the interruption—until she looked up and saw Sam standing in the entrance to her cubicle. It took a moment to tear herself away from the copious reports Ralph Wiese had messengered over to her. She’d been poring over them for the last three hours. The day had been frenetic from the time she and Sam arrived until now, mid-afternoon. But what could you expect on the 4th of July in a Northern Minnesota resort town?

  The unaccustomed soreness in places she didn’t know she had was an enticing reminder of the night she’d spent with Sam. As if she needed to be reminded. They’d arrived at the station at 7 a.m. and hadn’t seen each other since. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t thinking about him every minute of the day. Several times she put her head down on the desk and gave in to the sensations washing over her, at the memory of one X-rated scene or another. God, she knew he was sex on a stick, but not even her most illicit imaginings could have conjured up the reality of Samuel D. Carter. From the handcuffs and blindfold to his wicked hands and tongue, she tortured herself throughout the day remembering what it was like to give in to the sexiest man who walked the Earth. Humph! Give in? Damn, by the time dawn was streaking its pink and gold fingers across the dark sky, she was initiating outrageous couplings that she’d never known real people did. His sexy voice praising, encouraging her naughtiness, driving her to unimaginable heights replayed in her brain throughout the day. It was amazing that she got anything done.

  She closed her eyes tight, then opened them to be sure the tall muscular man in the doorway wasn’t one more figment of her overwrought imagination. But even blindfolded she would know it was Sam. The combination of his subtly expensive cologne and the unmistakable odor of a strong man was an aphrodisiac like none other. The slight flush on his cheeks and the banked excitement in his dark eyes threw a powerful switch in her wayward body. Clinging to the edge of her desk to keep from falling, she dumped the forensic reports she’d been studying on top of the desk and nodded.

  “I… I’ll be right there.”

  As they turned the corner a beefy cop hollered out, “Sam, been lookin’ for you! Marion said I could find you here. Can I talk to you for a minute? Just got a call from the dispatch. Another possible drowning at Lake Pleasant. C, double-F, D is there, but they could use some crowd control help. Didn’t know who you want to assign.”

  If Pete Wilson noticed the energy flaring between her and Sam he didn’t let on. Sam’s voice was cool. Ever the consummate professional, only a brief flash of annoyance betrayed his frustration at being interrupted.

  “Lieutenant. Wait for me in my office, please.” Sam let his hand rest for a minute on her lower back. His fingers tugging at the elastic of her racy thong sent shockwaves racing over her sensitized nerve endings. Heat hit her core, remembering Sam’s delight at her reverse strip tease when she put on a scanty thong and lacy bra under her nondescript jeans and body revealing t-shirt. If Pete didn’t see the flush on her cheeks, he was blind. As he looked down at the sheaf of papers in his hands the curve of his mouth confirmed the hardened cop hadn’t missed a thing the two lovers were saying silently to one another.

  Waiting in Sam’s office, Annika heard the door close behind him. Before she could catch her breath, Sam had captured her in his arms. Dragging her against the wall, he lifted her up over his thigh, pressing her stomach against his prominent arousal.

  He groaned. “Damn, Annika. I’ve been fantasizing about this since I dropped you off this morning. How the hell are we going to make it through the day? I need you, Princess. Like this!”

  He wove his hands in her hair and jerked her head back exposing the vulnerable place on her throat that screamed for his touch. He sought her lips. Surprisingly gentle at first he nipped at the tender flesh then bit down harder. Running his tongue over the seam of her mouth he murmured a low husky sound.

  “Open for me, Princess. Let me in. I want to come in deep inside of you.”

  A wrenching flood of heat pooled in her belly at his sexy command. She groaned in reply, and didn’t resist his powerful tongue tangling with hers. Demanding, pushing against her nonexistent resistance, he sucked on her tongue while his hands sought her nipples through the lace of her bra. When Annika clutched at his hair, he grasped the perfect globes of her ass in his big hands. Raising her higher, he pressed her legs apart, driving her harder against the wall. Annika gasped for air, a sob of need rising in her throat.

  A peremptory knock on the door was the only warning they had before Nate burst in.

  Nate reeled back, then his eyes lit with amusement at the sight of them. He shook his head in mock dismay. “I’d ask if I was interrupting something, but even a fucktard like me can see that I am. Sorry as hell, bro. But we got another emergency on Hwy 2. Did you ever think you’d be spending your 4th of July chasing down methheads on jet skis?”

  Annika tried to ignore Nate’s amusement at her clumsy efforts to smooth her shirt and tug her tousled hair back into its controlled twist. He winked at her, then spoke to Sam.

  “So much for making it to our party on time. Not sure when I’ll get there. Erin is going to kill me. Of course if anyone will understand, she will. Connor said he’s pulled in help from three outlying districts just to handle the water-related emergencies.”

  Sam’s controlled voice contrasted with the flush on his cheeks, and the way he was positioning his body to protect Annika from Nate’s amused perusal.

  “You are still having the party. Right, Nate?”

  “Hell yes. If nothing else, the wives and kiddies deserve a family day. The guys will come when they can. With the reinforcements you brought in from the Tribes, we should be able to hold to eight hour shifts. And there’s not a better place to watch the fireworks than over the Chief’s and our private lake. I’ll see you both at the cabin. Be great if you can host for me if I’m late.”

  Stopping in the doorway, he glanced pointedly at Annika’s wrinkled shirt, red swollen lips and Sam’s still bulging erection. He flashed them an appreciative grin.

  “Damn, Hollywood. Didn’t know there was a bigger jagoff than yours truly, but you two are giving me and Erin some serious competition. Whooee. You two are hot!”

  His audible chuckle echoed down the hallway.

  ~~~

  A chorus of welcoming calls greeted them when they arrived at Erin’s and Nate’s cabin. Even with the string of emergencies, the driveway and grassy area on the side of the cabin were filled with cars. Childish shrieks from the lake and the smell of barbecue signified the party was underway. Picnic tables and large coolers of beer and soft drinks were set up between the majestic cabin and the shore. There had to be at least a hundred people there, ranging from infants in shoulder packs to every age kid, along with their parents and grandparents. The boisterous crowd testified to Erin’s impact on Nate. Sam had told Annika that until Erin came into Nate’s life, Nate had never invited anyone but close family to his sanctuary cabin. Annika could relate. Until Sam, the idea of attending a 4th of July party would have been anathema to her. Now with Sam’s arm over her shoulders, pulling her close to him, she gave in to the excitement of the crowd. With a sigh of appreciation, she couldn’t help but notice that as many people who called out to Sam also welcomed her.

  Paul Michols, one of the rookie street cops and a former college football sensation, hollered out to Sam.

  “Hey Commander, I heard you bragging the other day about your Delta squads’ touch football team. How about putting your record up against some of the real football players. The ones who grew up on dirt fields and play as dirty as they talk.”

  Sam laughed, “Hell, Michols, you haven’t heard dirty talk until you’ve met up with a gang of Delta Force. A little warning, buddy: I played with guys who never knew a rule they didn’t break. Same thing goes for the way we played football.”

  There were hoots and hollers as the men divided up into teams, then chose from among the women… who were as eager as the men to hit the gridiron. Sam tu
rned to Annika.

  “Looks like this venture is coed, Princess. Ready to get some mud on those tight pants of yours?”

  Annika laughed. “I keep telling you not to underestimate a former biker babe. But you go ahead. I’m going to go in and see if Erin and Kait need any help. Don’t break anything.”

  Sam frowned then relented. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Okay, but don’t be long. I need an Annika fix at least every two minutes or I start acting like the big guy and we all know what that’s like.”

  Annika had just said her hello’s to the women bustling in the busy kitchen when her phone vibrated. Glancing down at the caller I.D. she saw it was Ralph Wiese, the upstart accountant who was as devious and semi-crooked as his older partner.

  “Erin, is there some place I can take this call?”

  Erin directed her to Nate’s study with a big smile. “If that’s a business call, Annika, you better close the door. This party is right on the verge of mayhem.”

  Ralph’s southern drawl spilled from the phone like warm honey, every exclamation more outrageous then the former. If not for the seriousness of his information, Annika would have laughed. As it was, she grabbed a sheet of paper and rummaged in the desk drawer for a pen.

  “Go for it, Ralph. What have you got?”

  “Everything your sweet little heart could want, Sugar Cakes. I’m tellin’ you Ahh-ne-ka, when I’m finished you’re gonna be kissin’ that righteous black dude good bye, and hoppin’ aboard the RW Express. And, honey, when you park that pretty little caboose of yours on my engine, I promise you a ride you’ll never forget.”

  When Annika laughed. Nunn’s voice came over the speaker.

  “Cut the bullshit, Ralph. Lt. Nilsson doesn’t have time to deal with your nonsense.”