by Jenesi Ash
Whatever it took, Liam was going to make her listen to what he had to say. There was a deeply sensual woman underlying that stubborn and headstrong exterior. If it took sex to bring it out in her, it was his duty to hunt her down and shag her senseless.
Chrissie drove her car into the driveway in front of her small suburban house, parked and sighed with relief. Well, she convinced herself it was relief. Maybe it was resignation. The important thing was she’d survived day one back at work. It was hard. Theresa had been the only other woman in the office, and Theresa had turned out to be the weak point. That made her feel bad, even though she knew she herself was a strong link. Meanwhile, Liam had filled her e-mail box and her voice mail, but hadn’t, thank God, turned up to bug her in person. She’d been ready for that—expecting it, almost.
Now she was safely home and it was her haven. It had felt a bit lonely over the past few days, while she was off work, but Liam didn’t know where she lived, which meant he couldn’t hassle her here. He’d give up soon. Maybe he had already. Her head dropped back against the headrest. Just thinking about what had happened between them and how misguided she’d been made her feel uncomfortable, even now, a week later. She’d meant to confront him over his devious behavior around the office and get to the bottom of it. Somehow he’d got her on her back instead. She sighed as the physical memories flooded her, her pulse tripping when her body flared into life at the mere thought of him.
“Snap out of it,” she told herself, and reached for the door handle. It was then she noticed the blue lights flashing in her rearview mirror. There was a police car parked up behind hers. “What the hell?”
She grabbed her keys and got out of the car, watching as a tall uniformed police officer walked up her driveway. Stern but attractive, he was built like the side of a house, and he looked vaguely familiar. There was another man in the car, and the way the vehicle was parked, it was completely blocking the driveway, hedging her in like a criminal. What would the neighbors think?
The officer flashed a badge. “Good evening, madam. Are you aware of any traffic violations you might have made in the last ten minutes of your journey home?”
“No!” Chrissie was shocked; she was a very careful driver. She was mortified to think she’d done something wrong. Then she realized she’d snapped at the policeman and tried to soften it with a non-offensive smile. “I’m sorry, officer, I know it’s no excuse, but I’ve had a lot on my mind recently.”
She wished he wasn’t wearing sunglasses. It unnerved her that she couldn’t see his eyes. His jaw looked as if it was made of granite and he had a scar across one cheekbone.
“Turn around and put your hands up against the roof of the car.”
A rush of humiliation hit her as she did as instructed, resting her keys on the car roof and then flattening her palms against it.
“Can I get some assistance here?” The officer shouted toward the parked car.
Assistance? Something wasn’t right here. Surely you didn’t have to be searched for a traffic violation—or even several road traffic violations—and especially not by two of them. She heard a car door slam, then footsteps. The tension at her back intensified, the scrutiny of the two men behind her making the skin on her back prickle. She moved her head, trying to see their reflections in the windows of the car.
“Hold it right there.” Strong, male hands moved under her arms and down her sides, patting her down. Blushing furiously, she prayed the neighbors weren’t watching. His hands slowed to a stroke at thigh level and he lingered there a moment, before he stood up and drew her hands together behind her back. Whoever it was—and she guessed it was the second bloke—she could feel his breath warm against her neck.
“You’ve acted inappropriately, but I’m willing to let you off with a verbal reprimand, if you take what I have to say seriously.”
Something like déjà vu tickled her mind. Her spine straightened, her faculties gathering. Oh, that voice. Her head jerked as she tried to look back at him. Something cold and metal slid into place around her wrists, and she heard the click as she realized who and what it was—handcuffs.
“Liam,” she said in disbelief, staggering on her heels. “You followed me home!”
“Step inside.” His voice was gruff. “I need to talk to you.” One strong arm around her waist held her steady, the other snatched up her keys from the car roof. “Do you agree to hear me out?”
“You bastard—you can’t just come around here and tie me up like you’re some egotistical caveman.” Jolting forward, she leaned against the car, pulling away from him with all her might.
“If that’s what it takes.” He grunted, hauling her away from the car, where she had pinned herself. “I’ll do it. Chrissie, we have to talk.”
She wriggled and twisted in his grasp, but he lifted her off her feet, and despite her kicking back at him with her heels vigorously, he managed to turn her around and wedge her against the car so she couldn’t move. Her cuffed hands were slammed hard against the car door and one heel was bending under her as she tried to lever away.
Liam grinned.
“You are getting some sort of sadistic pleasure out of humiliating me like this!”
“It’s a means to an end, but you do look extra sexy when you’re angry.” His eyes burned with lust, and it triggered a response in her that made her press her lips together with annoyance, afraid she might say and do the wrong thing.
“Jesus, Liam,” the other man said. “I thought you said she would enjoy this.” The police officer standing by had his hands on his hips and looked perturbed.
“She is enjoying it, she’s just a stubborn, iron-willed little vixen who refuses to admit when she’s having a good time.” He lifted his eyebrows, letting her know exactly what he was referring to.
Riled, she stuck her tongue out at him.
Liam laughed, and then goaded her under his breath. “What, you can’t deny you enjoyed it back there on that desk when you had your legs wrapped around me?”
Her cheeks burned. Her head was reeling, her nerves jangling because he had her locked in his arms. Desperate, she turned her attention to the other man. “Who the hell are you?” She looked from one of them to the other. “He’s not a real policeman at all, is he?”
“Actually, yes, he is. Chrissie, meet my older brother, Colin.”
The police officer gave her a mini salute and an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, madam. It was a ruse.” He looked rather awkward, as if he’d been forced into this. “Your driving is impeccable,” he added in a lower voice.
“Col is the uptight member of our family,” Liam added.
“Fuck you,” the police officer said, then cleared his throat and adopted a serious expression. “Excuse me, madam, but I have to ask, am I okay to leave you in my brother’s capable hands?”
She was about to respond, order him not to leave, when Liam ducked down and kissed her full on the mouth. His sheer strength demanded she submit, his mouth claiming hers. With his hands holding her so tightly and his body against hers, she could feel the passion in him, the hard pressure of his cock through their clothes letting her know how much he wanted her. She melted, her body betraying her as she wilted against the side of the car, her head dropping back to take his kiss, to return it. One gentle thrust of his tongue into her mouth and her sex clenched, eager for his thrusts there, too. When he pulled back, a soft moan escaped her open mouth.
“There, you got your answer, she’s enjoying it,” Liam said to his brother.
The policeman nodded, a sardonic smile on his face. “I surely did.”
Bewildered, Chrissie stared at Liam. He’d done it again; he distracted her from what she was going to say.
“I owe you,” Liam said to his brother. Then he set about moving her in the direction of her own front door, one hand on the bridge of the cuffs pushing her forward, the other examining her keys.
When she saw the determined set to his expression had resumed, her resentment flared
and she pulled herself together. What the hell was it with this guy that he could trick her so easily? She ground to a halt and made him pause long enough to kick out in the direction of his shins. “Manhandling women against their will runs in the family, does it?”
He winced when she managed to make contact, but his expression only became more focused. “No, but determination does, and I am determined you will hear me out.”
Oh, but that determination ran in his voice and in his actions, too, and it was a huge turn-on. Though she struggled and kicked, a secret part of her blazed in response, the part that wanted to hear what he had to say, the part that battled against her logic and will—the essential woman in her that had reveled in the time they’d spent together the week before.
He jostled her up the path, away from the police officer who stood with his arms folded across his chest, shaking his head, a wry smile playing around his mouth. How dare he? He tipped his hat and headed back to his car.
“I will report you for abusing your position,” she shouted out across the lawn.
Liam grabbed her against him, and applied pressure on the bar between the handcuffs, drawing her shoulders back. His breath was warm against her ear as he looked down at where her breasts thrust out through her shirt because of the position he’d got her into.
“He was helping me out, and if you are going to bandy about threats, think about this. I have some nice footage of you on your back, enjoying yourself immensely, on your boss’s desk.”
He’d been filming it? Of course he had, he’d been on a stakeout, for Christ’s sake. She remembered him saying that when Theresa had come into the office. He had footage of the whole thing. Her eyes flashed shut, her entire skin going hot and cold. She was taken right back to that desk, a series of images flashing through her mind, images she’d been thinking about in her silent moments, remembering and reliving. Knowing they were captured on film did bad things to her. The temperature between her thighs built rapidly. “I hate you,” she hissed.
“No, you don’t.” He grinned, sure of himself. “It makes very interesting viewing, believe me. But I’m willing to keep it to a private showing between the two of us.” He laughed softly against her ear, one hand against her waist allowing him to caress her beneath her breasts as he spoke. “If you give me something in exchange.”
His hands on her felt too good. “What? What do you want?”
“Let’s go inside.”
When he unlocked the door, he bowed and gestured her inside.
She took her chance and darted down the hall and across the sitting room, so the sofa was between them. He lunged after her, but was thwarted by the unfamiliar territory, tripping on a coffee table. A moment later he was back on course.
Inadvertently, she’d got herself cornered. “Do you always have to handcuff people? Is that the only way they will put up with your cheek?”
He ignored her remark, glancing around. “Nice decor. I like the black-and-white print over the fireplace. So calming…just what you need for that wild temperament of yours.”
“You don’t know me.” She averted her face.
He drew her back by the chin so she had to face him. “I know you better than you give me credit for. Hear me out, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about you and I want you to give me a break. Listen a moment, I can prove it.” He shook his head. “I know what’s going on here—it’s not just about us.”
“Us? What us?”
Again, he ignored her comment. “You know I couldn’t tell you I was an official investigator. I knew you weren’t behind it, but you could have inadvertently told someone else I was investigating. Think about it.”
She shrugged it off. “So what, what has that got to do with you…handcuffing me?” Even saying it sounded suggestive, and her body liked the suggestion, whatever it was it sounded hot and kinky and parts of her were raring to go.
He stepped back, still blocking her in, but giving her a bit of space as he spoke. “It’s the only way I could guarantee you would listen to me. We had a lot of fun that night, and you enjoyed it every bit as much as I did. I want to see you again, but you’re angry. I think I figured out why.”
“Oh, you do, do you?”
“Yes, you’re not really annoyed with me, you’re focusing on me because you are annoyed you didn’t figure out who was behind the theft.”
She shook her head, tried to find the words, but for some reason they wouldn’t come. Part of her was astonished he’d taken the time to think about it.
“So I was right.”
“You’re unbearably sure of yourself, aren’t you? You think you can walk into my life, make love to me on a desk and then come into my house and handcuff me and do whatever the hell you want with me….” She faltered and ground to a halt when she saw the sharp interest in his eyes. Why had that sounded like an invitation when she said it? That’s not how she meant to say it. “And get away with it?”
She lifted her eyebrows in what she hoped was a threatening manner. Even so, her heart was racing, her anticipation building. God, she wanted him. She wanted to feel the weight of his body over hers again. She wanted to be possessed by this man who was so full-on and sure.
He laughed softly. He was aroused, his bright blue eyes gleaming as he eyed her up in that incredibly sexy way of his.
Resist or submit? She smiled, suddenly loving the dilemma, and growled at him, making ready to run past him. As she shifted, he dropped into a goalkeeper’s stance, arms out to capture her. She ducked this way and that, shot left. His arms went around her. Twisting, she slipped out of his grasp and staggered away, laughing with glee, but was thrown off-kilter because she couldn’t move her arms. The sofa was looming into view as she hurtled across the room. There was no other option but to throw herself on it, sprawling uneasily across the cushions.
“Perfect,” she heard him declare, as he grabbed her around the hips and lifted her onto her knees. The front of her shoulders were pushed into the back of the sofa. Her hips swayed, her skirt riding up.
“You love this every bit as much as I do,” he breathed against her ear as he climbed over her, arms locked around her. She wriggled in his grasp. To underline his point, he moved one hand to her breast and squeezed her erect nipple through the fabric of her shirt. “You’re turned on. You like being handcuffed, don’t you?”
Capturing her earlobe between his teeth, he bit.
Pleasure shot through her. She wriggled her bottom against him, the feeling of his hard cock through his jeans too delicious. “Maybe.”
“Short skirt again, how convenient.”
“I wear a short skirt because it makes my legs look longer, which makes me look taller. Put a long skirt on me and I look like a dwarf.”
“Well, now, is that so?”
“I’m sick of the short jokes from the men in the office,” she added in explanation.
“I had no idea. All I know is it was driving me mad looking at you in that office, with your short, sexy skirts and your gorgeous legs.”
She suppressed a smile.
Pushing the skirt up over her hips, he bunched the fabric at her waist and stroked her bottom through the lacy fabric of her knickers. “And you liked being spanked back there in the office, didn’t you?”
Did she? Her mind flitted back. Yes, when he’d been pushing her underneath the desk. It had been practically impossible for her to sit still under that desk, between his legs, and with her buttock stinging in the most arousing way.
He looped one finger over the top of her knickers, and pulled them off. “Beautiful,” he whispered.
She squeezed her eyes shut, loving his attention and hating it all at once.
“You look so hot when you’re all pensive and thoughtful, it made me want to open your legs and distract you.”
“Well, you managed it. You distracted me good and proper.” She felt the urge to laugh aloud. It felt good, blaming him for the seduction. It felt good letting it out, too.
He strok
ed and then spanked her exposed buttocks several times, making her gasp. The sting shot through her entire nether region, a moment later altering to a different kind of sensation in her core. Her sex felt heavy and hot, tingling with arousal, as if the spank had lit a touch paper connected to the very quick of her.
“Do you know how hard it is for a man to deal with computer equipment and think about security while he has a hard-on?”
Laughter bubbled up and escaped at the idea of it.
“So the ice queen does have a sense of humor.”
“I’m not an ice queen!”
“Obviously not.” His tone was heavy with humor. “My mistake, so sorry.” He spanked her again, alternating from one buttock to the other, and she moaned loudly, her shoulders shuddering. She couldn’t help herself; it burned in the most arousing way, making her want to wriggle and clench all over. Her upper body jerked up when she felt his fingers exploring her, riding the damp seam of her pussy, chaffing her clit.
“This spanking seems to be making you wet, my dear.” He pushed one finger inside her, and her body clenched at it, eager for the hard intrusion. “Oh, yes, you seem very eager. Was it something I said?”
“Everything you said,” she admitted, the words coming out on a sigh as he moved his slippery finger, riding it back and forth, stroking the front wall of her sex. Wave after wave of pleasure suffused her groin, building quickly to a peak. Then he stroked her clit again and her hips jerked, the whisper of pressure on her inflamed clit pushing her to the edge. Her body wavered as the orgasm rocketed through her, leaving her weak and dizzy.
For a moment, all was silent but for the sound of her own labored breathing, and then she heard him sigh loudly. “Guess who’s caught in the act this time, Chrissie?”
She glanced back over her shoulder at him. He met her gaze and then looked back down at her exposed pussy. A moment later liquid dribbled down the inside of her thighs. She closed her eyes, tormented, and yet loving it.