Auctioned to Protect [The Spectrum Auctions 2] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Doris O'Connor

  “So it seems. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m bushed. I’m gonna go grab a shower, and you make yourself comfy in my bed.”

  She stiffened but she nodded her head and he carried her through to his bedroom.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be right outside, sleeping on the couch.”

  “No, please don’t.”

  Her voice sounded so small and frightened it cut him up inside.

  “No?” he asked.

  “No, please stay with me and hold me. With you here, I might stand a chance of falling asleep.”

  She didn’t look at him, but the way she bit her lip and her hands trembled told him all he needed to know. His brave little Lady was frightened out of her wits, so he did the only thing he could do.

  He kissed her hand.

  “Your wish is my command, My Lady.”

  Chapter Nine

  Scarlett stretched lazily and for one glorious second all was well with the world, and then she remembered. She screwed her eyes shut and curled into a ball, willing her breathing to slow down. She could do this. She was safe in Mike’s bed. The bad guy wasn’t going to get her here. Slowly other memories surfaced and pushed the blood-soaked ones away. Mike holding her all through the night. His steady heartbeat under her ear. His hands shaking her awake when her sleep was invaded with gruesome images of poor Eric being mutilated by a masked intruder. Through her tears she smiled. Mike had sung to her at three a.m. in the morning. An almost unrecognizable childhood lullaby, in his gruff off-key voice, that had made her heart feel lighter and she’d eventually fallen back to sleep with a smile on her face.

  Slowly the cloud of misery lifted and new sounds and smells registered. The delicious aroma of brewing coffee, the unmistakable smell of bacon, and Mike’s off-key humming coming from the kitchen. A quick look at the huge chrome wall clock opposite the bed showed the time to be eleven a.m., and Scarlett shook her head to clear it of the fog for brains she’d woken up with. She never slept in past eight a.m., never. Then again, these weren’t ordinary circumstances. When was the last time she had woken up in a man’s bed?

  Scarlett couldn’t even remember. She didn’t do sleepovers or relationships, yet here she was in Mike’s bed with no desire to leave, other than an urgent need to find the bathroom. She was still wearing Mike’s fluffy bath robe and she had to hitch the thing up to not trip up over it as she padded across the hall to the bathroom.

  The bathroom like the rest of the house was clean and tidy. Even her discarded catsuit had been folded and placed on the wicker chair in the corner, her boots placed underneath. For a bachelor pad this was almost too orderly. Even the towels were in a perfectly straight line on the towel rail and Scarlett barely resisted the childish urge to riffle them about a bit.

  Where Mike seemed to thrive on order, Scarlett liked her surroundings messy. Every nook and cranny of her flat had been filled with knick-knacks, mementos of the places she’d been to, the people she’d met, a snapshot of who she truly was. Scarlett grabbed the sink for support and fought another bout of useless tears.

  Jesus, she had to get herself back under control, before Mike came to find her. She was supposed to be the one in charge of him and her fucking life, yet it had all spiraled out of control. What she wanted, needed to do was curl up in a ball in the corner and just wail her misery to the universe.

  Instead she used the toilet, washed her hands, splashed some fresh water on her face, and brushed her teeth with the spare toothbrush she found in the cabinet.

  A pang of jealousy coursed through her at the sight of that toothbrush, welcome though it was. No doubt Mike had plenty of women stay overnight, so naturally he would keep a spare tooth brush. Scarlett, on the other hand, forgot to change her own far too often, let alone keep a spare for visitors.

  A knock on the door shook her out of her dark musings.

  “Are you okay in there, My Lady? I’ve rustled us up some breakfast. I figured you’d be hungry.”

  His deep voice washed over her, and the fine hair on her body rose as though that sandpapery quality he put behind his words was really roughing up her skin. It had been way too long since she last had actual sex with anyone, and she wanted Mike with every fiber of her being.

  “My Lady?” The door slowly opened and revealed Mike wearing nothing but low slung jeans. Her libido immediately jumped into overdrive as she watched the play of muscles on his huge chest as he moved. His left eye was fully open today but a nasty bruise marred his skin and made him look even more delectable.

  He smiled at her and opened his arms and Scarlett flew into his comforting presence. Mike gave the best cuddles, as she discovered last night, and she took in a deep breath of his clean male scent. He’d showered not too long ago, because there was still a residue of moisture clinging to his chest. Scarlett gave into temptation and licked the flat nipple in front of her and Mike tensed. His groan trembled through her and she didn’t miss the way he instantly hardened in his jeans.

  “My Lady, you’re killing me here.” His voice sounded strained and Scarlett drank in that lustful need that matched her own.

  “You don’t have to keep calling me that. We’re not in a scene now, and we’re not in the club, Mike. This is just you and me, and I want you.”

  She stepped back and let his robe fall to the floor, and Mike swore. He ran a hand through his short hair, and a shiver went through him when she took one of his large hands and put it on her breast. His hand was so large that it completely engulfed her small handful and shards of need shot down to her clit when he rubbed his rough palm over her hard nipple.

  “Yes, oh yes.” She whispered the words and reached for the buttons of his jeans. Mike stepped back until he made contact with the wall and she yanked his trousers down his hips with more haste than finesse. His huge cock jumped up to his navel and her pussy clenched in need. Mike kicked the jeans off his legs and she jumped into his arms. Mike caught her automatically as his mouth slammed down on hers and he twisted until she was pinned against the wall.

  Scarlett locked her legs around his waist and rocked herself upward until the tip of his cock slid through her soaking wet slit. Mike’s fingers dug into her ass and he broke free of the kiss, holding her just off him with almost superhuman strength.

  “Protection?” He ground the words out through clenched teeth, and she drunk in the sight of his passion-glazed eyes, and the way the veins stood out on his neck with the effort to hold himself back.

  Tears filled her eyes anew and she hastily blinked them away.

  “I’m clean and I’m on the pill, and I know you’re clean from your records, so please, just fuck me. I need to feel you in…oh.”

  The breath whooshed out of her lungs as Mike thrust into her core.

  “Jesus, Scarlett, you’re so tight. Relax, let me in. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  He pulled out, and then thrust deeper again. Scarlett threw her head back and watched in the bathroom mirror as his thick cock, slick with her juices, disappeared into her cunt. Mike, too, turned his head, and he pulled out and thrust in again.

  “Fuck that’s so hot.”

  Scarlett could only nod as the slide and drag of his shaft set every one of her nerve endings on fire. She felt so incredibly full and he was only halfway in.

  “Faster, fuck me harder! I want all of you inside me. I can take it, use me. Please make me forget.”

  Their eyes met in the mirror, and their gazes held as Mike bent his knees and thrust up. Pain exploded in her cervix as his cock slammed against it, and Scarlett threw her head back and screamed. That felt way too fucking good. Mike pulled out and slammed into her again and again until finally he bottomed out.

  “Fuck, you feel so damn good around my dick, Scarlett. Look at us. Look how I stretch your tight hole. Jesus, baby, tell me this is as freaking good for you as it is for me.”

  Scarlett dug her fingernails into his shoulders in answer and clenched around him, and Mike roared. He pulled out and thrust back
in again, ramming her into the wall as she hung on for dear life. Pain mixed with pleasure so intense she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t talk, just hung onto his big shoulders and took all the passion he gave her.

  Here was a man brutally taking his own pleasure and sending her body sky-high in the process. When he pulled out of her and dragged her over to the sink, Scarlett bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. Mike kicked her legs apart and then slammed back into her from behind. This position drove him deeper than before and when he reached around and stimulated her clit at the same time, Scarlett saw stars. Her whole body tightened in ever closer spirals of pleasure that started from deep inside her core. Impaled by his hot member, his harsh breath in her ear, one hand digging into her hips, the other mercilessly fingering her swollen clit, he pushed her toward a mind-splintering release. Higher and higher she climbed, and when Mike grasped one of her legs and shoved it over the edge of the sink, the move sent her over the edge.

  He yanked her torso up and pulled it up against his chest, allowing him to sink deeper still into the clasp of her body. Ripples and waves of pleasure crashed over Scarlett, and she let her head fall back and gave herself up to the sensation rocking her body as Mike increased his tempo even more. Every forceful thrust lifted her off her toes, and Scarlett came a second time, or was it the third. Sensations merged into one, fire raced over her skin, and she screamed his name when he grew bigger still inside her and then grunted his release into her shoulder, and warmth spread deep inside her.

  Mike lowered her leg with them both still joined as intimately as two people could be, and he locked his arms next to hers on the sink. By the time her breathing had slowed down enough to speak and her hazy vision cleared, Mike was slowly slipping out of her. She tightened her muscles to keep him in for longer and he groaned and rubbed his morning stubble across her neck. It left delicious tingles in its wake and Scarlett moaned her contentment.

  Their gazes locked in the mirror and Mike smiled. Scarlett’s heart turned over in her chest at the open affection she saw in his azure eyes that seemed to bore straight into her very soul.

  “Good morning, My Lady. I guess this beats coffee first thing.”

  * * * *

  She was so fucking beautiful, staring back at him with her huge green eyes, and her fair skin flushed from the force of her orgasms. A primitive sense of ownership grabbed him by the throat and squeezed the breath out of him, and he shut his eyes and nuzzled into the soft skin of her neck. A shudder went through her when he licked the rapidly beating pulse point and nibbled his way up to her ear. Scarlett ground her ass against his thigh and he groaned into her neck.

  “You’re so fucking wet for me, baby.”

  Scarlett turned around in his arms and gasped when he sat her on the edge of the sink and spread her legs wide. He dropped on his knees and inhaled against her wet slit. Scarlett’s intoxicating musk mixed with his own scent and he watched in fascination as their combined juices slowly trickled out of her pink flesh.

  His cock signaled its interest briefly and Scarlett smiled down on him when he looked up.

  “Have I broken you?” she whispered.

  Mike laughed.

  “Hardly, My Lady. Give me five and we’ll be ready to go again. In the meantime…”

  He bent his head and delivered butterfly kisses along the incredibly soft skin of her inner thighs. It was one of Mike’s favorite places to linger on any woman, especially just after they’d come. Hot, sweet, and intimate, it called him to indulge, and he blew against her slit, causing an allover body shiver as her clit contracted in front of his eyes.

  “Mike, please…I’m so close again…Oh…yeees.”

  It was all the encouragement he needed. Using short shallow strokes he cleaned her cunt, until no traces of their earlier encounter remained. He rubbed his beard-roughened chin across her clit and placed her legs over his shoulder when she started to tremble. Scarlett’s fingers dug into his shoulders, and she pushed her hips up in a seeming effort to hurry him along, but Mike had his own plans.

  He’d been far too rough on her earlier, regardless of how much she had been with him in the moment. Regardless of how much she seemed to have needed that brutal release. Besides he was fast getting addicted to the needy little moans and sighs she couldn’t stop from escaping. The way her fingernails scored his skin and her breaths grew choppier until her body tensed and her pussy clenched and unclenched, trying to draw in his tongue as her cream gushed into his waiting mouth.

  He tunneled his fingers into her channel and her greedy little cunt clamped down on the digits as she came in a series of delightful little tremors. Mike pulled out his wet digits and gathering up more of her cream as he went along, circled her anus, and pushed in.

  “Yes, there, take me there.”

  Scarlett clawed at his skin and his semi hard dick roared into action. He added another finger to stretch her, and Scarlett bucked against him like a wild thing.

  “Easy, baby, I’ve got you. I’ll make this so fucking good for you.”

  Mike lifted her off the sink and rose to his full height. He bundled them into the shower, and turned it on full blast.

  As though she read his mind, Scarlett grasped the handholds and lifted one of her legs up onto the inbuilt seat. The action exposed her little puckered hole and Mike groaned under his breath. He grabbed the waterproof lube he kept on the shelf and slathered his cock and her hole with generous amounts of lube. Scarlett watched him over her shoulder, and their gazes locked when he aligned the tip of his cock with her nether entrance and slowly and carefully pushed in.

  Scarlett let go of one of the handrests and grasped his head to kiss him. She gasped into his mouth when he slid all the way past the tight ring of muscle and then began to thrust.

  Mike was big and this was an even tighter fit than her pussy, especially as she tensed her muscles around the base of his shaft as another orgasm built for her.

  When he pushed two fingers into her pussy hole and found her sweet spot, she went off like a fire cracker and sent him, too, tumbling over the edge.

  Mike pulled out and caught Scarlett before she fell. She clung to him as the water washed away the evidence of their latest union and mixed in with her tears.

  They stayed in the shower until the water ran cold, and then Mike turned it off and wordlessly carried her out of it. He wrapped her up in a long bath towel, wrapped a shorter one around his hips, and carried her through to the bedroom, where the cooked breakfast he’d prepared for her had long since gone cold.

  Not that Scarlett was in any fit state to eat right now. Already her eyes were closing, and Mike settled her under the covers with a grin. In truth, exhaustion claimed him, too. It had been a hell of a couple of days and when Scarlett pulled him closer, and asked him to stay, Mike did just that. They would need to talk. He had to question her about her past, and any men she might have come into contact with who now might wish her harm. Mike also needed to check in with his team, and the chief superintendent, but all that paled into insignificance to the need to simply hold the woman in his arms.

  Chapter Ten

  Even asleep with his mouth slightly open and his soft snores filling the room, Mike was a formidable presence. Scarlett had woken up starving hungry after their earlier exercise, and having extricated herself out of his grasp, had gone in search of food.

  Fortified with toast and coffee she now stood at the bottom of his king-size bed and watched him sleep. His broad chest rose and fell in an even rhythm. One of his arms was flung over his head, his wrist almost touching the rather convenient slats in the headboard.

  Now wasn’t that handy? Scarlett didn’t have her toy bag with her, but Mike was a cop, right? Cops had handcuffs. Time to improvise, and to get back control of their dynamic. Lord knows she’d needed him to take charge before, and Mike had risen to the challenge with cunt-destroying efficiency. Scarlett was deliciously sore in all the right places, the physical aches a welcome distraction from the pain tha
t threatened to slice her heart in half.

  Men never went quite far enough when she gave them free reign, which was why she so rarely did. Mike, however, had no such compunctions. He had taken her to heights of ecstasy this morning, and Scarlett’s insides tightened in need at the remembered pleasure. Even when he chose to submit to her, he never lost that exciting edge that meant she had to push him more. He would always keep her on her toes. Scarlett frowned at the turn of her thoughts. She didn’t want a relationship, did she?

  Mike certainly wouldn’t. He was only with her to protect her. To read any more into this was a fool hardy exercise, yet Scarlett couldn’t suppress that kernel of hope and yearning that had been planted in her heart ever since Slade had found his Laura.

  They were so blissfully happy together, after all. If Slade could have it all then why not her?

  Mike half turned over, and mumbled something in his sleep that Scarlett couldn’t quite catch, but it galvanized her into action.

  Where would Mike keep his work gear? The wardrobe showed a carefully pressed dress uniform and rows of color-coded shirts, tees, and jeans in various shades of blue. The next door she opened revealed sports gear, jackets, and coats, but there was no sign of his regular uniform. Then again, the men in his team hadn’t been uniformed police officers. Scarlett remembered that little tidbit of information now. They had arrived in unmarked police cars and had been armed to the teeth—definitely not ordinary police officers.

  Her heart beat faster as she remembered the handgun Mike had produced from nowhere. Scarlett had had no idea that he’d been packing anything, and she highly doubted Slade knew either. As security conscious as he was, guns of any description were not allowed on the premises of Club Spectrum.

  The drawers under the bed caught her attention. Pulling one open, she whistled through her teeth. Carefully boxed away in their locked see-through cases were several fire arms, knives, and other less deadly, yet by no means less effective weaponry.