Hard SEAL: A Dark Bad Boy Next Door Romance

by Jessica Ashe

  “I’m not that kind of cop. My title is junior detective. It’s basically just desk work for the most part. I only got the job because my dad used to be a detective and ended up quite high up the food chain when he retired.”

  “So you don’t have a gun?”

  “If you’re going to make loads of jokes about me holding your weapon, then you can just save it. I’ve had more than enough of that this week from my sexist instructor. Fortunately, he’s just been suspended for making crude jokes to women.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of making a joke so crass.”

  “So it wasn’t you who mowed the lawn and left a small triangle shape that looks an awful lot like a Brazilian wax?”

  Oops. Forgot about that.

  “I guess I missed a bit. By any chance, do you happen to like the look of a tidy triangle on the front yard?”

  “You’re never going to find out.”

  “Jumped the gun a bit there, haven’t we? Maybe you’ve got something on your mind.”

  I move towards the door, but instead of walking back out into the hall, I shut the door trapping us inside.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I thought perhaps we could break in the bed. We don’t have to use the handcuffs straight away. Not unless you really want to.”

  She reaches out to grab the door handle, but I block her way.

  “Let me out, Tanner,” she says weakly.

  “Sadie seems to think you need to relieve some stress. Why don’t you let me help you out with that?”

  “I don’t need to relieve any stress,” she says, her voice clearly full of tension.

  “What about a massage?”

  Before she can answer, I grab her by the shoulders and pull her towards me, spinning her around the same time until her back is pressed up against my chest. I squeeze the muscles on her shoulders with my thumbs and immediately get a loud groan from her lips.

  “See, you’re stressed.”

  “I can pay someone to give me a massage. I don’t need you to do it.”

  “And yet you’re not moving away.” I’m no expert, but she does feel genuinely tense in her shoulders. There are so many knots, it’s easier to find the places that aren’t tense. “Besides, if you go to one of those professional places they won’t give you the extras.”

  “What extras?”

  I move my right hand over her shoulder, and slide it down her chest, under her blouse until I find her left breast. This time she does flinch, but she doesn’t move away. I find her hard nipple and twirl around it lightly with my forefinger. I’m starting to wonder whether maybe her nipples are just always hard.

  “Tanner,” she moans faintly. I can’t tell if she’s protesting or encouraging.

  I squeeze her breast firmly as my left hand wanders down her stomach towards the waistline of her skirt.

  “We can’t,” she whimpers.

  I silence her protests, with kisses to her neck that have her groaning in pleasure. Her ass is moving ever so slightly against my groin. She’s probably doing it subconsciously, but her ass cheeks are on either side of my cock and the slow movement is enough to get me rock hard.

  Her skirt is too tight for me to fit my large hands under the waistline, so I reach down and start tugging it up. Elena’s hands reach out and touch mine, and I’m certain she’s about to put an end to things. Instead, she quickly lifts up her skirt until her panties are completely exposed.

  Fuck.

  I hadn’t expected this. What happened to dating? I thought this moment was a week away at least. She’s giving in. I can have her right now; within seconds I can free my beast and slide into her dripping wet pussy.

  But then what?

  She’ll hate herself for giving in to me. She might hate me as well. I’ll get my cock inside her, but just the once. Fucking Elena only once might be as bad as never fucking her at all.

  I reach between her legs and touch the outside of her panties. They’re soaked through, clinging to her eager slit, and just waiting to be peeled off.

  “Tanner,” she moans again. This is definitely a moan of encouragement. She wants my fingers inside her, and probably a whole lot more.

  She places her hand on mine, and starts trying to push my fingers inside her, as if she’s forgotten she’s still wearing panties.

  My cock pulses and is about ready to blow.

  That just makes my next decision all the more surprising.

  I take my hand away from her sex and turn her around so that she’s facing me. She’s flustered and confused at how suddenly I stopped. She quickly tugs her skirt down and does the buttons up on her blouse even though they were undone before I got here.

  I walk outside with Elena following quickly behind me. Sadie is sitting in the kitchen with headphones on. Such a considerate roommate. That could come in useful later.

  “What are you doing on Sunday?” I ask Elena.

  “Why?”

  “I want to take you out. On a date.”

  “You want to go on a date? After… what just happened, you want to go on a date?”

  “What can I say, I’m old-fashioned. I don’t like to put out until the third date.”

  Sadie must be able to hear us because she takes off her headphones and makes no effort to pretend she wasn’t eavesdropping.

  “She’s available,” Sadie yells. “She’d love to go on a date with you.”

  “No, she wouldn’t,” Elena says firmly.

  “Yes, she would, because if she stays here on Sunday then I am going to make her life a living hell.”

  Elena sighs. “Okay, fine. One date. And during the day, because I have to get up early for work on Monday.”

  “No you don’t, it’s a holiday. See you Sunday, gorgeous.”

  The front door is barely closed when I hear Sadie start asking questions about what the hell is going on between us. I tear myself away before I hear too much. I don’t need any more confirmation that Elena is into me. I could literally be in her right now if I wanted to be.

  Is this what it feels like to have morals?

  It’s not all bad. I’m frustrated as hell now, but there’s going to be a sweet reward at the end of it. My weekend is going to end with me blowing my load inside her perfect, tight wet pussy. That’s more than enough incentive in my book.

  Chapter Nine

  Elena

  “This might be my last weekend of freedom,” Sadie says the second she walks in the door on Friday night. “Can we please make the most of it, and get stupidly drunk together?”

  “You’re starting work as a lawyer, not getting locked up,” I point out. Sadie always has been a touch melodramatic, but this is extreme even for her.

  “It’s just hit me how much work I will have from next week onwards. I spoke to some of the other associates, and apparently they’re happy if they only work sixty hours in a week.”

  “Do I need to remind you how much you get paid? More specifically, do I need to remind you how much I get paid? Haven’t you just been paid $3,000 to sit in seminars for a week?”

  “I know, I know, but the pressure is already getting to me. I need a good fuck.”

  How did I know this would all end up back at sex? It usually does with Sadie. She treats sex like it’s the most important thing in life, which is easy to say when you already have a great job and very little student debt thanks to her rich parents.

  “I was so desperate for a decent lay earlier,” Sadie continues, “that I nearly propositioned one of the other new associates over lunch.”

  “Maybe you should have.”

  “I’m not sleeping with a lawyer,” Sadie says with disgust. “I’m not that desperate. Yet.”

  “I’m sure they’re not all bad.”

  “That’s easy for you to say when you have your tattooed hunk next door to call on whenever you need the big O.”

  “I’ve not seen him since yesterday,” I point out.

  I made sure of that by leaving extra early and practic
ally sprinting up the road to get inside the house while the coast was clear. It’s bad enough that I have to fight an intense desire for him; he makes it worse by bringing me close to the edge and then walking away.

  Seriously, who the fuck does he think he is? I nearly gave in. I was so, so close as he ran his fingers over my wet panties. He could have had me, and he knows that. So why didn’t he? Was it all about the chase? Maybe he’s already bored of me now he knows he can have me? Maybe I should’ve given him more of a fight?

  “Why don’t you invite him over tonight?” Sadie asks. “I can disappear if you like?”

  “No, I want an early night. I could sleep for twenty-four hours after the week I’ve had. Besides, thanks to your meddling, he’s taking me out on a date at the weekend.”

  “You’re welcome. I can’t believe he asked you out.”

  “Oh, thanks.”

  “I don’t mean it like that. I mean he doesn’t look like the type of guy to ask girls out on dates. I hope you’ll make it worth his while.”

  “I’m not going to sleep with him just because he took me out on a date. Don’t you have to have at least three dates first?”

  Sadie shrugs. “Personally, I don’t bother with any of that crap. There are plenty of guys I enjoy fucking, but don’t want to sit and eat dinner with in a restaurant. In fact, nearly all the guys I enjoy fucking I don’t want to spend time with outside of the bedroom. And vice-versa.”

  “We are complete opposites. It’s amazing we get along at all.”

  “Don’t give me that crap. Underneath, you’re the same as me, you just put on a different image. Don’t think I don’t know what was going on in your bedroom with Tanner the other day. I heard the moaning and whimpering.”

  I’ve heard Sadie have sex countless times, and never once did she get embarrassed the next time I saw her. So why is it that my cheeks burn and go bright red the second she mentions overhearing Tanner and I yesterday?

  Probably because I’m still thinking about it. If I close my eyes, I can imagine he’s there behind me again, his hard cock pulsing against my back. It’s a big one, I can already tell that much. What’s it like to have a big cock stretching my insides? Will I be able to take it? I imagine his hips thrusting his cock deep into me. He’ll have to be gentle, but I’m not sure he’s capable of that.

  “If you keep talking about Tanner and me, then I’m going to need that drink sooner rather than later,” I say. Once Sadie’s had a few drinks she usually moves on to talking about her own sex life instead of mine. Although, come to think of it, that might be because I don’t usually have a sex life to talk about. I do now—almost.

  Sadie cracks open a bottle of wine, pours herself a large glass, drinks half the glass, and then tops it up again. She pours one for me as well, and I’m surprised to find I do much the same as her. I needed the drink more than I’d realized.

  My job is going to be stressful too, I can already tell. Not for the same reasons as Sadie’s. For the most part, it looks like I’ll be working forty-hour weeks, and I imagine I’ll usually be home before her. However, dealing with real-life criminals can be as stressful as writing corporate memos. I might be putting pressure on myself, but I’m determined not to make them regret hiring me, for my dad’s sake as much as my own.

  “Where is Tanner taking you on this date, anyway?” Sadie asks.

  “I’ve no idea. Where do guys like that go on dates?”

  “Dive bars, usually, but maybe not in this case. Tanner manages a dive bar so I can’t imagine he’ll want to hang out there on a date as well. I like the element of surprise, it sounds romantic.”

  “No it doesn’t,” I snap. “It’s a pain. I have no idea what to wear.”

  “You can always go over there and ask him?”

  “That would involve talking to him. I just want to get this date over and done with so that he will realize we make an awful couple and leave me alone.”

  “I don’t think he’s going to leave you alone anytime soon. And I’m not sure why you’d want him to. Speak of the devil.” Sadie peers through the blinds towards Tanner’s house. He’s just heading out the door, presumably on his way to work.

  Sadie bangs loudly on the window and then ducks out of the way, leaving me standing there staring at him when he turns around to look in my direction. He smiles and waves. When I wave back, he blows a kiss in my direction, before stepping into his truck and driving off.

  “Thank you for that,” I say sternly. “It’s bad enough he thinks I’m interested in him, he doesn’t have to think I’m desperate for him as well.”

  “You are desperate for him. Know how I know that?”

  I shake my head. Is it that obvious? Certainly what happened yesterday in my bedroom wouldn’t have helped, but I like to think I’ve played it vaguely cool, or at least not completely desperate.

  “I know, because you’re a heterosexual female, with blood pumping through your veins. Every person on the planet meeting those criteria is desperate for Tanner, or they would be if they met him.”

  “You fit that description,” I point out.

  “Yeah, no shit. And if he weren’t so obsessed with you, I’d be breaking into his house and waiting for him in his bed wearing nothing but crotchless panties and a smile. I’d be so bad, he’d have a restraining order out on me already.”

  “You’re exaggerating.”

  Sadie raises her eyebrows. “Wanna bet?”

  “Perhaps not. Anyway, he’s not obsessed with me. He wanted to fuck me that night because he saw me as some uptight law student—”

  “Which you are.”

  “Which I am. Then when I rejected him, he just wanted to sleep with me because he thought he couldn’t have me. Trust me, the second we have sex, he’ll disappear and I’ll only see him when we bump into each other taking out the trash.”

  I’m letting Sadie in. I never do that. I’m revealing all my self-doubt, all the reasons I know this won’t work.

  “That’s what you’re scared off? You think he’s going to ditch you once you put out?”

  “I don’t think, I know. Come on, it’s obvious.”

  It’s obvious that I’m going to fall for him, and that he’s going to hurt me.

  “I don’t think so,” Sadie says with a shake of the head. “I get where you’re coming from, but there’s something about the way he looks at you. It’s not the same now as it was back at the bar three months ago. He likes you.”

  She means it. She might be wrong, but she’s not just saying what I want to hear. Sadie genuinely believes that Tanner wants me for more than a quick fuck. That’s probably a good thing, because quick fucks are not exactly my specialty. It takes me months to build a connection with a guy. That’s why I don’t bother with one-night stands; well, it’s one of the reasons.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I say reluctantly. “Even if what you say is true, this is still going to end badly. What are we going to do? Have a relationship?”

  “Would that be so bad? At worst, it’s regular, mind-blowing sex. I can think of worse ways to spend my weekends.”

  “You remember what I do for a living now? I’m a detective.”

  “And?”

  “And, I can’t be seen with guys like Tanner. If any of my colleagues see me with him, they’ll assume I’m making an arrest, not out on a date with my boyfriend.”

  “Elena, you’re a junior detective. No offense, but you’re too far down the ladder for anyone to care. Besides, I’m sure there’s nothing in the rulebook against dating people with tattoos. It’s hardly a criminal offense to get a bit of ink on your skin.”

  It’s not the tattoos I’m worried about.

  I grew up with a cop for a father and I like to think I have good instincts. Tanner doesn’t strike me as a guy who’s always been on the right side of the law, and I’d be amazed if that bar he manages is completely above board.

  “It’s too early to worry about all this,” I say keenly. “I still think the da
te will be a disaster and that’ll be the end of it. Let’s focus on celebrating your last night of freedom by getting drunk and watching mindless crap on television.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Sadie says. “And since I’m the one commiserating, I get to choose what we watch.”

  “Great British Bake Off?”

  “Hell yes. Oh, and Elena?”

  “Mmm?”

  “Don’t think for a second that I’m not going to grill you on Tanner again when you’re drunk. Just giving you fair warning.”

  By the end of the night, I’ve told Sadie—in almost embarrassing detail—exactly what happened in my bedroom last evening. I can’t entirely blame the alcohol.

  I want her to know, because then she can reassure me that I’m not crazy and that Tanner does want me.

  I’m still not sure I believe her.

  Some things are too good to be true, and a relationship with Tanner is one of them.

  Chapter Ten

  Tanner

  I’m ready three hours before I need to pick Elena up for our date. And by ‘pick up’ I mean walk next door and ring the bell. By ‘ready’ I mean I have on my freshest pair of jeans, and a clean T-shirt.

  I’ve never given it much thought before, but once I’m dressed, I realize that perhaps jeans and a T-shirt is not typical first-date attire. It’s not like I have much choice. Anyway, I don’t have a typical first date in mind.

  I considered a movie or dinner. I might have even enjoyed it. A part of me wants to do the normal thing for once. On the few occasions I have dated women, they’ve not been the type to appreciate dinner and a movie. For once, I’m going out with someone who wants and deserves to be treated like a lady. During daylight hours at least.

  But Elena wants Tanner, the tattooed rough guy. It’s obvious at this point she’s fallen for me—that specific version of me—so it’s a bit late for me to suddenly play the part of a gentleman. Besides, I’m not that good an actor.