by Jenny Penn
Tara was no different.
She didn’t even want to be. Bryant was that good looking. In fact, he was the best-damn-looking man she’d ever met, but that might just be the uniform. Dressed in all black, his slacks clung to the thick bulge of his thighs, and his shirt highlighted the strength of his chest and arms, making her mouth all but water.
He could have been butt-ass ugly and his body would have guaranteed him action. Fortunately, though, he was far from hard on the eyes. Instead, it was she who was almost mesmerized by the rugged cut of his features and those amazing eyes that glinted with a sense of humor that had her smiling for absolutely no reason.
“So? You going to tell me what it is I signed up to do?” Tara asked as Bryant led her back to the main entrance of the small administrative building. She paused as he shoved open the door and held it for her to offer him a simple warning. “Because I’m not much of a screamer.”
“Maybe you just haven’t been with the right man yet,” Bryant suggested as his grin took on a lecherous curl that sent a wicked little thrill racing down her spine.
“Maybe not,” Tara agreed softly, though she was absolutely certain of it in that moment.
With a smile of her own, she fished out her sunglasses from her purse and stepped out into the blinding mid-day light, strutting right past Bryant, knowing he was watching her every move. Watching and liking what he saw, he made no attempt to pretend otherwise, which was a novel experience.
Tara wasn’t normally the one hot men noticed. Hell, she wasn’t normally noticed by any man. She was too tall, too full of oversized curves, and normally had a head of messy, mousy-brown curls. Not anymore. Ever since her divorce, Tara had been working on her confidence.
That had started with a haircut and a dye job. Now she had rich color and layers that worked with her curls. A new wardrobe, job, and whole new life…and maybe a one-night stand with the hottest man she’d ever met. That thought had Tara putting an extra bit of sway in her hips as Bryant followed her out the door.
“Come on.” Bryant took her by the arm, his hold strong and secure as he steered her across the street. “My cruiser is over here.”
“Well, this is exciting. I’ve never been in a police car,” Tara confessed, finding the idea sort of thrilling. Then again, he wasn’t showing her to the rear door.
“That good of a girl, huh?” Bryant asked as he opened the passenger door for her.
Tara stepped up beside him, pausing only to cast him a speculative look before responding. “Maybe.”
Bryant laughed out loud at that as she slid into her seat. He didn’t shut the door but leaned down to bathe her in his rich male scent. “You ever been cuffed?”
Tara didn’t even have to answer that. Her look said it all. Bryant’s grin grew only wider as he offered her both an assurance and a promise.
“You will be.”
With that, he shut the door, giving her the opportunity to watch him strut a little as he walked around the white sedan to open his own door. He slid in and cast her a quick smile as he told her to buckle up. Then they were off.
To where? Tara still had no idea.
* * * *
Travis looked at his watch and wondered where in the hell Bryant was, and he wasn’t the only one. All around him the rest of the deputies were decked out and ready to raid, only they didn’t have a bad guy to catch. A fact that was quite clearly irritating just about every man there. Not that every man counted, but the sheriff did.
“Where the hell is your partner?” Alex demanded to know as he looked toward Travis for a clue.
Travis had none and could offer the sheriff only a shrug that had Alex rolling his eyes as he muttered to himself.
“How long does it take to pick out one hostage?”
“Oh, you know Bryant.” Killian snickered. “He’s probably flirting with all the women.”
“He better not be, or I’ll have his ass,” Alex shot back, making just about everybody smirk.
Alex was a decent boss and a good sheriff, but he also knew how to make their lives hell. There wasn’t a deputy among them that tempted that fate. Well, not a deputy other than Killian, who, along with his partner, Adam, managed to stay firmly glued to the hot seat.
That was one of the reasons Travis liked both Killian and Adam. They kept the pressure off the rest of them, though, if Bryant didn’t show up soon, he’d be crawling into the doghouse along with those two. That was a limit Bryant liked to push, and this day was no different.
Just when they were all sure that Alex was about to lose it, Bryant turned the vehicle into the large field where they’d gathered. Off in the distance sat a burnt-out house the fire department used to train with as well. It was built out of cinderblock and damn near indestructible. That was a limit they had all tested.
Travis turned back to glare at Bryant as he got out of the car but forgot about the effort as their new hostage followed suit. She was fucking gorgeous. Tall, full of curves, and with an angelic face that filled him with very wicked thoughts. Travis grew hard almost instantly and knew, in that moment, he was going to fuck her.
He had to.
It was a physical necessity.
In the next second, Travis realized that Bryant was thinking the very same thing. It was there in his eyes. They were glittering with mischief. He already had plans for their sexy hostage, plans that had better include Travis. This was definitely not a go-it-alone situation. With that in mind, Travis turned to pin Alex with a hopeful look.
“Don’t you think this would work better with two bad guys?”
The answer was obviously no given the dark look Alex cast him, not that he bothered to waste his breath saying it. Neither did Alex bother to take a second for polite formalities, like an introduction, before he lit into Bryant.
“Where the hell have you been?” Alex demanded to know as he charged forward. “You’re damn near a half-hour late!”
“Got lost.” Bryant shrugged as Alex all but smoldered with his irritation. “What? It happens.”
“You’ve lived in this town your whole life,” Alex snarled. “How the hell could you get lost?”
“I’m sorry, Sheriff.” The woman stepped into the middle of the brewing argument, pulling Bryant’s ass out of the fire with a clear lie. “It’s all my fault that we’re late. I’m afraid I asked Deputy Black to stop so I could grab a water at the gas station.”
“Hmmm,” Alex all but growled, clearly not believing a word she said. It would have helped if she’d actually had a bottle of water, but the sheriff strangely didn’t disagree with the girl. Instead, he slowly nodded and greeted her. “Miss Winters, it’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise, Sheriff.”
Winters. Travis repeated that name silently to himself, feeling a sick twist in his stomach as he wondered if she were related to the mayor. If she was, then that would make things more tricky because he sure as hell didn’t want to piss that man off. That didn’t mean he was backing off, though.
No. This challenge had just begun.
Chapter 2
Tara stood back and watched as the deputies gathered around the sheriff and got their orders. Actually, she was watching only two men—the two men watching her. Bryant had moved off to stand beside a man who was equally tall and breathtakingly good looking.
This one had dark hair, too, but it was cut a lot closer to his head in a style that emphasized the bold, blunt cut of his features. Nothing compared, though, to the warm glint softening his big, chocolate eyes. They fairly glowed with an intensity that promised all sorts of sensual delights.
Tara was pretty sure those delights included Bryant, given the way the two of them stood together. They were clearly tight, and tight in Cattleman’s terms, according to everybody, meant they doubled up on a lady. Tara had never had that kind of pleasure, but she was looking forward to trying it.
She was also looking forward to playing hostage, especially if it involved being handcuffed by the sexy Deputy
Black. He was playing the role of hostage taker that day, or so he’d explained on the car ride over. Her job was to do what he said until the other guys rescued her. Rescued. Now there was a word that enticed her in a strange way.
Strange because right then she was supposed to be rescuing herself. That was the plan. Tara was on a mission to save herself from a life of boredom and being cheated on constantly by her ex-husband. There was a turd and a half. Richard had always thought she should be so grateful to even have his attention. Sickeningly, for the longest time, so had Tara.
Not anymore.
Now she had Deputy Black’s attention, along with his buddy’s, and they were definitely a step up from Richard. A slug, though, would be a step up from Richard, so that wasn’t much of a compliment. What had been was the way that Bryant had taken his time getting here, and using it to ask Tara about herself.
He’d been sweet and charming and clearly checking out her legs, which he was still doing. Tara smiled as the men broke and Bryant came sauntering up to her. His buddy trailed behind him. Both wore matching expressions of intent, which made her feel like prey being cornered. She kind of liked that feeling.
“Hey, Miss Tara, I want to introduce you to my buddy, Travis.” Bryant greeted her with a nod to the man eyeing her like a juicy morsel he had every intention of gobbling up.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Tara’s words came out in a husky murmur that betrayed the desire thickening within her veins.
It didn’t embarrass her, though. They were all on the same page. That became clear as Travis took her hand and brought it to his lips to brush a tingle-worthy kiss over her knuckles.
“The pleasure is all mine.”
“Check out Casanova.” One of the other deputies smirked, causing a hint of amusement to ripple through the group and a blush racing across Tara’s cheeks.
It was one thing to be attracted to the two men, but it was another for everybody to be aware of the tension thickening around all three of them. Neither Bryant nor Travis seemed to care. Both men simply ignored the snickering and smiled down at her.
“Miss Tara here is afraid she won’t make a good hostage,” Bryant informed Travis, pausing to add a sensual weight to the rest of his revelation. “She says she’s not much of a screamer.”
“Well then, I guess we’ll just have to work to prove her wrong.” Travis’s smile took on a wicked curl as his voice rumbled out in a soft, sexy whisper that left no doubt of his meaning.
Tara felt the heat in her cheeks spread across the rest of her face, but she didn’t let that stop her from teasing him back with a smile and a lift of one brow. “Yes, deputy, you’re going to have to work very, very hard.”
It was no doubt a dangerous thing to taunt these two men, but Tara was tired of living the safe life. She wanted to have fun, to have an adventure, and the matching smiles that Bryant and Travis wore assured her that she’d found one.
“Well then, maybe we ought to get to it, huh?” Bryant held out a hand to her. “Come on, beautiful. We’ve got to get you tied up and ready for action.”
As ominous as that sounded, there was no denying the thrill that shot through her as Tara slid her hand into his and allowed him to lead her across the field toward the old, burnt-out house in the distance. It looked like it belonged in a horror movie. Tara wasn’t much into horror movies, but she was into the big man explaining everything as they made their way toward the burnt-out building.
“I don’t want you to worry or anything,” Bryant started, his words making her do the exact opposite of what he said. “But you are going to need to wear a bullet-proof vest.”
“Really?” That took the fun out of the moment in an instant. “They’re really going to shoot at us?”
“Not with live rounds, but that doesn’t mean that duds won’t hurt, and we don’t want to bruise any of your pale skin, do we?” Bryant cast her another appreciative glance.
This time the heat in his gaze did not burn away the sudden worry over what she’d just gotten herself into.
“What about my head?” Tara shot back, definitely not interested in breaking any of those bones.
“Nobody will be aiming for it,” Bryant assured her, though Tara was not comforted by that.
“Doesn’t mean they wouldn’t hit it,” Tara muttered back, earning a chuckle from Bryant.
“Trust me, sunshine. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. In fact, I’m going to tie you up and stuff you in a closet, so nothing bad can happen to you.”
“Gee, be still my beating heart.” Tara rolled her eyes as Bryant laughed once again. The man had a big smile and a deep chuckle that warmed her through and had Tara grinning despite herself.
“Come on. Let’s get you suited up.”
Bryant led her into the burnt-out building. The place was a real dump and full of equipment. There were doors and barricades and weapons along with life-sized dummies and furniture that had obviously seen much better days.
“I’m going to get you set up,” Bryant explained as he led her over to a rickety looking table that was loaded down with supplies. “Then I’ve got to get this place staged. So, the fun won’t begin for a while.”
“And I’m going to be stuck in a closet the whole time?” Tara asked, not thrilled by that idea.
“You can chill out here for a while, but you’ve got to put your vest on now.” Bryant lifted a heavy-looking, black vest off of the table and turned toward her.
Tara frowned, the situation really coming to light as she took in everything. As much fun as she had been having, she wasn’t sure that trend was going to continue. Of course, she could be wrong. Tara’s opinion of the situation shifted slightly as Bryant freed the Velcro straps and stepped up toward her.
“Here, I’ll help.”
By help he meant all but taking a free feel, though Tara didn’t mind. She stood still as he lowered the vest over her shoulders and adjusted the side straps. Apparently, that involved testing the fit, which had his big, thick fingers curling around the edges of the back to tease the sides of her breasts as he tugged on the heavy piece of armor.
“There you go,” Bryant murmured, a husky hint thickening his words as he tugged once more on her vest. This time he let his fingers spread out to brush over the heavy swells of her breasts, making her nipples harden in a rush as tingly pleasure spread out of her chest. “A perfect fit.”
Yes, they were going to be. Tara smiled and stepped slowly back, enjoying this exciting game they were playing. More than that, she was enjoying the roll of the flirt as she lifted her gaze to meet and hold his, the truth of their attraction clear between them.
“Maybe,” she countered before putting it all out there. “I guess we won’t know until we try it out.”
That wasn’t the smoothest line, but it still drew a smile from him. “We’ll get there, sunshine. Don’t you worry.”
Worry? How could she not? Tara was way out of her league. That became only more apparent as Bryant pulled on his own vest and began staging the house for the upcoming assault. He blockaded entrances and windows, setting traps on each one. Then he staged the inside, using the old cubicle separators to make walls and create all sorts of hiding places.
Within a half hour, he’d built quite a maze, one that led back to a bedroom and a small closet that, ultimately, he asked her to step into. Only then did he pull out a pair of cuffs and order her to turn around. There was something deeply intimate about the way he pulled her arms behind her back.
His rough, callused fingers sliding down her bare flesh sent a wave of goosebumps prickling along her spine and had Tara’s breath catching as he turned her back around and directed her into the closet, shutting the door behind her and enclosing her in the darkness.
Light seeped in all around the edges of the door, which had clearly been kicked in many times. Slowly Tara’s eyes began to adjust, but it was her ears that perked up as she heard Bryant tell somebody they were all ready. Then, minutes later, gunfire erup
ted. It was louder than the movies, seeming to vibrate through the walls with an ominous echo as it came to a sudden abrupt halt with extra loud ka-booms that assured Tara the men outside had just run into the traps Bryant had set.
It seemed like the silence lasted forever, but it exploded with another loud round of gunfire, this time much closer. It was followed by a shout as somebody claimed to be hit. The gunfire settled down with only an occasional pop as more shouts joined the fray. Tara could easily surmise that the deputies were pulling their fallen brother back.
Some, though, were clearly moving forward given the loud bangs that pounded through the house. They were followed by curses and commands that Tara couldn’t catch. A second later the closet door flew open and Bryant hopped in, slamming the door behind him even as footsteps pounded across the floor.
A second later a loud voice called out, informing him that he was surrounded and commanding him to come out with his hands up. Bryant hollered back that he had a hostage and he’d kill her if they didn’t back off. Tara knew they weren’t going to do that, but silence greeted Bryant’s declaration, and she couldn’t help but hold herself stiff as she waited for the assault she was sure was coming…or not.
“They’re going to be a while,” Bryant whispered. He was standing close, close enough for the wash of his breath to heat her cheeks. “We’re going to do the negotiation thing, so you might as well get comfortable.”
“Comfortable?” Tara couldn’t help but laugh at that thought. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Then let me see if I can help.”
Before Tara could guess his intent, his lips settled over hers in a warm caress that had her sighing and opening her mouth for the velvety invasion of his tongue.
* * * *
Bryant knew he was going to be in trouble if the sheriff or the mayor ever found out what he was up to, but he didn’t care. Tara’s lips were so soft, so sweetly giving as they parted beneath his, letting him in to drown in her intoxicating taste.
