The Consequence

by Karin Tabke

  “My cell.”

  “Nothing here on your laptop?”

  “Just my research notes and personal stuff.”

  “I want you to back up everything on this lap top then destroy the hard drive and your cell too.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want your cyber footprint anywhere near those texts.”

  “But—”

  His green eyes flashed fire. “No buts, just do it.”

  “Simon, you’re scaring me.”

  He stood and grabbed her by the arms. The hard angles of his face tightened. “You should be afraid, this information has global implications. If anyone knew you had this information, you’d be dead.”

  “I don’t understand. It’s just research to help sick people that he’s stealing and selling.”

  “And some of that research can kill millions with a single germ.”

  She gasped. “The bacterium lab break in?”

  Simon nodded. “There’s more but I can’t get into that right now, Kat. Just trust me when I tell you to destroy the hard drive and your cell.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “Get a drill from Rosie’s husband and drill the drive a few times, you can fry your phone or short it out.”

  “Okay.”

  He caught her up in his arms and kissed her soundly. “I won’t be gone long, but I’ll call SFPD and have them send over a uniform to keep an eye on your building while I’m gone. Don’t open the door to anyone you don’t know.”

  “I won’t.”

  Then he was gone.

  An hour later, with her laptop backed up on several flash drives, Katy strode down the hallway with it under her arm and knocked on Rosie’s door. When there was no answer, she frowned. That was odd. It was ten o’clock on a Sunday night. Usually the two of them were holed up in their living room watching Law and Order reruns.

  As she was walking back to her apartment, the elevator dinged as her floor number lit up. Her heart rate accelerated. Instinctively she knew it wasn’t Rosie or Elliot and it was too soon for Simon who didn’t have key to the front door of the building. She ran to her apartment door and hurried in just as the elevator doors opened. Body shaking, she watched through the peephole as Evan stepped out. Clasping her hand over her mouth to keep her surprised gasp quiet, she shivered.

  He looked leaner. Meaner. A stranger.

  Her heart hammered against her rib cage. What did he want? Did he know she had stolen his texts? How did he get up here?

  Ugh, he still had the key to the downstairs door.

  When he knocked on her door, she jumped.

  “Katy?” he called when she didn’t open it. “It’s Evan. You remember me, don’t you?” His voice was rough, confident, and not very nice. It made her skin crawl to think of what she allowed this man to do to her.

  He knocked again, louder. “I know you’re in there. Open up, it’s vital that I speak with you.” Impatiently, he shifted from one foot to the other.

  Why wouldn’t he leave?

  Hugging the laptop to her chest, Katy choked back a gasp when she realized that Evan knew where she left her spare key in the planter by the elevator.

  He realized it the moment she thought it and made his way over to it. She hurried to her cellphone and quickly called Simon as she rushed back to the door. Grabbing an umbrella from the closet, she slid it through the door handles, then shoved her face back to the peephole and watched as Evan dug around the planter looking for the key.

  “Hello,” Simon’s deep voice said.

  Backing away from the door, Katy whispered. “He’s here, Simon, Evan’s trying to get in my apartment and he knows where I hide my key!”

  “Barricade the door then run to your bedroom. Lock the door then lock yourself in your bathroom, I’m sending men right now. Don’t hang up, baby, stay calm.”

  Hastily she dragged the kitchen table and chairs in and shoved them against the door then hurried to her bedroom, locked the door, then locked herself in the bathroom.

  “I’m locked in my bathroom.”

  “Good girl. Did you take care of what I told you to take care of?”

  “Elliot isn’t home.”

  “Do you have the items with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fill the bathtub with a few inches of hot water, turn the devices on and dump them in the water.”

  Katy did as she was told.

  When it was done she got back on the phone. “Mission accomplished.”

  Loud banging on her door startled her. She screamed.

  “Those are my men, princess, open the door,” Simon calmly said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “One hundred percent.”

  Katy had never been so happy to see cops. Not that she didn’t like cops, she did, especially her hot cop, but sometimes cops had a way of being intrusive.

  They moved her kitchen furniture from the foyer back to where it belonged then settled her and reassured her she was safe.

  Just as she was about to ask the Sergeant where Simon was, he strode in. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. His commanding presence shadowed those of the uniformed officers. She ran to him, throwing herself into his arms and holding on for dear life.

  His warm strength and low reassuring words were the soothing balm she needed, but it also made her realize how vulnerable she was. What if Evan had broken in? If he knew what she’d done, he’d do anything to protect his own butt.

  According to Simon, he’d probably try to kill her, and she’d have no clue how to defend herself.

  “Did they catch him?” she asked.

  Shaking his head, Simon answered, “He must have taken the stairs when he heard the elevator bell. There was no trace of him when the officers arrived, with the exception that your door was unlocked and slightly ajar.”

  Katy pulled back and looked up at him. The strong column of his throat tightened.

  “I put an umbrella through the door handles on the inside.” She turned to where it lay on the tile near the front door.

  “He must have used the key, and slid it out,” Simon said. “There was no sign that he tried to force entry.”

  “He knew where it was in the planter,” she said. “I need to get my locks change tonight.”

  “I had one of the uniforms call a locksmith, he’s on his way over now. Evan won’t be able to get into your apartment with a key. But the downstairs door is another story.”

  “It’s electronic. I should have had his key deactivated. I’ll have Rosie do it tomorrow.” She looked shyly up at him. “Would you like one?”

  “Key?”

  “Yes.”

  His features softened. “I thought you’d never ask”

  “We’re all clear, Capt’n.” One of the uniformed cops said.

  “Thanks for getting over here so quickly, Kinder.”

  “Just doing my job, Captain.” The cop nodded to Katy then headed out.

  “Those are San Francisco cops. Why do you call them ‘your guys’ if you work for Santa Clara County?”

  “We’re all on the same team, Kat.”

  “I thought you were going back to Santa Clara. Where were you?”

  “At the federal building, presenting my case for a subpoena.”

  “Oh.” She was no dummy, but—“So this thing with Evan, you’re personally working on the case?”

  “There’s been a task force in place for several years. Stone is one of several primary persons of interest.”

  “And you’re part of it?”

  “Of the task force, yes.”

  “Oh.” She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about that. Did he suspect Evan before they had met?

  “Were you investigating Evan when we met?”

  “We were watching BioGen and had Genomtec on the radar.”

  “Oh.” Exhaling loudly, Katy was oddly relieved he had not been investigating Evan before they met.

  “Why didn’t you tell me all of this e
arlier?”

  “Aside from the fact that I’ve been working an undercover angle this past year, I didn’t want you involved. But things changed when you involved me,” he seriously said. And he was dead serious about his work. Gone was the teasing Simon she loved. In his place stood one bad ass dude with a badge and gun.

  A knock on the door jarred them from their conversation. It was the locksmith. Simon gave him quick instructions and soon the elderly gent was changing the locks.

  “Excuse me,” Katy said to the grizzled grey haired man. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like two dead bolts and a heavy duty chain lock as well as replacing the existing locks.”

  Simon stood behind her and honestly said, “None of it would keep me out if I wanted you bad enough.”

  “Simon! You’re supposed to reassure me, not scare me.”

  “It’s the truth. I don’t know why Evan was here, but whatever the reason, it was no good. You’re safer at my place than you are here.”

  “I can’t go to your place tonight. I have to be at Veronica’s at nine. I don’t want to fight the 101 traffic tomorrow morning from your place when all I have to do is take a cab downtown from here. Maybe tomorrow night?” She was dying to ask him to stay the night with her. Instead she asked, “Are you going to arrest Evan?”

  “I think it’s better if we don’t show our hand just yet.”

  She didn’t like that Evan had come to her home. He wanted something from her and whatever it was, she was sure she didn’t want to give it to him. She shivered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

  Simon pulled her into the warm cocoon of his embrace. “I don’t want you to worry, princess. No one is going to hurt you. I’ll die making sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Her heart did a funny thump-thump and she got all flushed at his gallantry, but then the vision of Simon’s cold lifeless body lying in a pool of his own blood chilled her to the bone. “Don’t say that even in jest!”

  “I’m not laughing, Kat.”

  Looking up into his fierce eyes, she bit back a cry of surprise. His primal aura scared her as much as it excited her. Heat pooled low in her belly. “Simon,” she breathed, “Stay with me.”

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  She hugged him tightly and wished the locksmith would hurry up.

  ust after eleven that evening, Katy left Simon with the locksmith and went to bed emotionally exhausted. By the time Simon’s big warm body slid beneath the cool sheets beside her, the clock next to her bed indicated over an hour had passed.

  When he gathered her into his arms, she rolled over and pressed her lips into his neck. His pulse beat strongly beneath her lips. And just that easily, warmth flooded her. There was just something about Simon…

  “Simon,” she whispered against his warm skin.

  “Hmm,” he answered.

  “What’s going to happen?”

  “Before or after I ravish you?”

  She smiled against his neck. “You have a one track mind.” But then, so did she.

  “I can’t help where my mind goes.”

  “When you came striding in after the cops and took control, I just wanted to jump your bones.”

  “I always want to jump your bones.”

  She rose up on an elbow and looked at him, the soft moonlight wafting through the open curtains gently stroked his face. “You like being a cop?”

  He nodded without hesitation though a long release of breath came with it. “There are parts I don’t care for, but are necessary to close a case. Though the good parts far outweigh the bad. I love it. It’s who I am, what I do.”

  “If you couldn’t do it, what would you do?”

  “Pull the trigger.”

  “Simon!”

  “I’m teasing, but I’d want to. Being a cop, just like being a soldier, fits. There is nothing else I want to do and nothing I do better.”

  “Why didn’t you go career military?”

  Simon sighed then said, “Mark was getting in trouble. My dad died my first year in the Army and mother worried herself into several heart attacks, so I did my four, got my brother squared away, went to college and became a cop.”

  “What about you? When this is all over, will you go back to the lab?”

  Letting out a long sigh, she laid back and stared at the shadows on the ceiling. “I’m not sure. I mean I love research, but I think I need a break from it. And frankly, I doubt my reputation will come through this ordeal unscathed enough for me to return to work. In my profession, the fact that I’m a woman with a decadent past makes me a laughing-stock.”

  Simon smiled and moved over her. “Oh you’re more than decadent. You’re a closet submissive.”

  Heat flushed high in her cheeks. “I am not.”

  “Would you like me to prove it to you again? Because that would be my pleasure. And yours.”

  His hands slid down to hers and brought them above her head. “Simon,” she breathed.

  “Don’t speak again until I tell you to speak,” he rasped.

  She opened her mouth to object, but shut it. He slid his fingers beneath her panties and pulled them down her thighs to her ankles before slipping them completely off. His teeth glittered in the moonlight as he snapped her panties in half then used them to tie her hands to her headboard.

  Katy squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Eyes open, Kat,” Simon commanded.

  Instantly, she obeyed.

  A wicked smile twisted his handsome lips. “You know what I love most about tying you up?”

  Wide-eyed, dry-lipped, and hungry for Simon, Katy shook her head.

  “I love how hard my control makes you come.” He lowered his lips to her neck, his warm breath caressing her sultry skin. “Because when you come, princess, it’s a beautiful thing.”

  “Simon—,” she panted.

  He nipped her. “The next time you speak out of turn, I’m going to spank you.”

  A funny squeaky sound slid from her throat.

  “Watching you come,” he continued as he slid his tongue between her quivering breasts, “makes me so hard all I want to do is sink balls deep into you.” He flicked a nipple with his tongue then gently sucked it into his hungry mouth.

  Katy moaned. It felt so good.

  “I love the sounds you make.” He reached down and grasped himself. “Look at how hard I am for you, princess.”

  Her eyes caught his fierce gaze before they looked down. Nerve endings caught fire. His big hand wrapped around his big cock turned her on as much as his touch. She opened her mouth to ask him for it but slammed it shut. If she spoke out of turn after he just warned her then he would know how much she enjoyed his spankings.

  “I’m going to make you come with my tongue, Kat. Just my tongue.”

  Her entire body shuddered.

  “Does that excite you?”

  “Yesss,” she hissed.

  “It excites me too.”

  He licked a long wide swath down her belly to her smooth mons. “You’re soaking wet and I’ve barely touched you.” He flicked her clitoris with his tongue then caught it in a tight swirl before dragging that lascivious tongue of his around it again.

  Her body strained. Blazing sensation flooded her. She spread her legs wider for him. He grabbed her thighs, digging his fingers into her skin. She bit back a cry of pleasured pain.

  “I didn’t tell you to move.” He pushed her thighs back together. “That’s better.”

  He licked deeply between her cleft. Katy’s fingers grasped at air while her body thrummed for more. More touch. More tongue. More cock. More everything.

  He worked his tongue in and around her pussy, stroking and spanking her clit. The waves built and just as they crested, Simon moved to the inside of her thighs. “I forbid you to come until I say you can come, Kat.”

  She bit back a low groan of bittersweet pain, but his words made her hotter for him.

  “Do you want to come, baby?”

  �
�Yes,” she panted.

  “How?”

  “Like you were doing.”

  “Tell me exactly how you want to come.”

  “Simon,” she pleaded, “I-it’s hard for me to ask for it.”

  “Trust me, princess. Trust me with your words. Trust me with your body.” He leaned over her and swept his lips across hers. “Trust me with your heart.”

  Hot tears stung her eyes. She loved this rare side of Simon. The vulnerable lover who needed her trust to validate that he was worthy of her. And he was more than worthy.

  “I trust you with my life, Simon,” she admitted.

  “Now trust me and tell me how you want to come,” he whispered against her cheek.

  “With your mouth on my pussy and clit. I want you to suck an orgasm out of me,” she panted, and felt no shame. “I need you to do it now.”

  “Like I said before, it will be my pleasure. And yours too…eventually,” he rasped and proceeded to ravage her. And once again, just as the wave built to a blinding crescendo, he pulled away.

  She screamed her frustration as her body undulated, begging for that last vestige of stimulation that would send her careening into oblivion. Simon leaned in and blew on her hard swollen clitoris. It was the final straw. As she unraveled, he sat back on his knees and stroked himself to her orgasming cadence.

  As the waves slowly subsided, he moved between her legs again and tenderly kissed her swollen lips. If it were possible, they swelled fuller. He suckled her clit as his tongue lapped deeply between her swollen folds.

  She came again, and he rode it out holding onto her, gently sucking the orgasm out of her, just as she asked.

  She pulled against the lace ties, her body twisting and writhing, her hips pumping the air.

  His mouth gentled on her. Hot, sweaty and out of breath, Katy lay spread out on her bed as the warm fission of the orgasm slowly receded back into her body.

  Blazing green eyes held her stare, and she knew from his motion he was stroking himself. “You’re a greedy little kitten, Kat. I’ve never met a woman who wants cock the way you do.”

  “Only yours, Simon,” she panted, licking her dry lips.

  Rising up on his knees, he moved into her and offered her a taste. Like a hungry bird she opened her lips ravenously taking as much of him into her mouth as she could.