by Ann Cory
He folded his hands in front of him and gave her a hardened look. “I’m going to need you to stick to answering my questions and not get off track. Okay?”
She restrained from pointing out that he was the one who rambled on about the house and not her. Instead, she returned his serious look and nodded. “Okay.”
“By the way, don’t you have any clothes to put on?”
She raised a brow. “Why, does my body offend you?”
“No,” he all but shouted. “No, it doesn’t.”
“Then why should I cover it up? I’m very comfortable in my sexuality. Seems to me you’re getting off track again, officer.”
His jaw clenched. “And you’re being cheeky.” He turned the page of his notebook and tapped the pen against it. “Now, we’ve established you were alone. So how were you able to get inside?”
“I used a key.”
“How would you get a key? Did you steal it and have a second made?”
She crossed her arms, appalled by the assumption she’d steal anything. “What? Of course not. I found it in the garden hidden inside a fake rock. If you slide open the black piece, there’s a place to hide a key. Whoever thought that up was pretty clever.” She watched him scribble on the paper and wondered what it said.
“I see. And what possessed you to break the law by trespassing on private property?”
Cassidy chewed her lip. Now the questions were getting a little dicey. There were two ways she could go: tell him about her ability to change form, or keep her true identity a secret.
“The truth?”
His brows knitted. “It would be preferable.”
“I’m not sure you’d believe me.”
“I’ve heard a lot of stories and a lot of excuses in my time as a cop. You would be surprised at what I believe now.”
She worried he would think her truth as only a story. “I understand, but my situation is different. All I can say is that I’m safer in here than out there.”
He stopped writing and looked at her. “Out where?”
“Outside. In the forest.”
His eyes widened. “Forest? Are you trying to say that you don’t have a home?”
“I do have a home, at least a temporary one. It isn’t safe to be there right now.”
“Miss, I—”
“It’s Cassidy.” She could sense his irritation, but couldn’t help the evasive answers. If there was even a remote possibility to get with him tonight, telling him might ruin that.
“Fine. Cassidy.” He exhaled forcibly. “Look, I can follow you home and check it out if it would make you more comfortable.”
Right, she thought. And he’d think her a crazy person to live in an underground burrow. “It wouldn’t do any good. You don’t understand, and I’m reluctant to explain further at this time.”
She’d lost her nerve to tell him the truth. What if she put herself out there and he didn’t believe her? It would show that he was like every other man she’d thrown herself at, and for some odd reason, she cared what this guy thought. Aside from the intense cravings of her body, she felt there was more to him. She could only find out by pressing him to see how open-minded he could be. If he could be the Master she wanted, she would come clean with him.
Cassidy took another step forward. “I think I’ve been more than accommodating with your line of questioning. Would you mind answering a few of mine?”
The crease in his forehead deepened. “That’s not how it works.”
“Are you worried?”
“No, why would I be worried?”
“Then why not answer my questions? I promise they’re harmless.”
He shifted his weight and tucked the notepad and pen in his back pocket. “Fine, I’ll humor you. What do you want to know?”
“Did you enjoy the show?”
“Pardon?”
She ran her tongue along her bottom lip. “Did you enjoy watching me pleasure myself earlier?”
His face paled. “I—”
“I know you did,” she interrupted. “Are you in the habit of watching women? Are you the voyeuristic type?”
“No, I’ve never. I thought you said harmless questions. These sound personal to me.”
She enjoyed seeing him squirm. “I think you can handle a couple more.”
“No.” He looked around the room and then returned his gaze to her. “I think it’s time we wrap things up here.”
Cassidy held her hands out and smiled. “Perfect. You can start with my wrists.”
“Your wrists?”
“Yes. Wrap them. Bind them. Cuff them. Anything.” Her pussy clenched at the images her mind concocted.
“Listen, miss. I appreciate that you’ve been cooperative so far, but there are procedures I need to follow, especially when I’m on duty. If you can’t answer my questions here, I’ll have to haul you down to the station.”
She made a subtle move forward, her eyes fixed on his. “What if I refuse to go?”
“Then I’ll have to take you by force.”
The words sent little pings to all her nerve endings.
“I have no objection if you get a rough with me, officer,” she said coyly.
“Pardon?” His face turned to a deep shade of red.
“You plan to restrain me, yes?”
“The handcuffs are just precautionary. If you come willingly, then I don’t need them.”
“Oh, but I want them.” She sashayed a half-inch closer without him even realizing.
His eyes darted from her face to the door. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
She understood that the extent of her need for him was becoming too much for her to handle. “If you’re going to use those cuffs on me, then I expect you to take full control, Master.”
“Master?”
Cassidy reached forward and grabbed his handcuffs. Before he had a chance to react, she lay on the soft rug near the fireplace, wrapped the chain around a piano leg, and then cinched the cuffs around her wrists.
She smiled up at him and watched his face change from one expression to another.
“Let me be your number one suspect tonight, officer. I promise you won’t be sorry.”
What the hell?
Ian considered taking a chunk of his skin and squeezing it between his thumb and pointer finger to be sure he wasn’t having some adolescent wet dream. The tightness in his chest and the ache in his groin told a different story. And speaking of stories, he wanted to know what this woman’s story was. She was racking up a series of felonies and he felt powerless. He did a mental checklist of each one. Breaking and entering. Lewd conduct, sort of. Stealing his handcuffs, and…well, he knew there were more, he was just too damned flustered to remember them all. The time for Mister Nice Guy was over. He needed to remind her who was in charge once and for all.
“I’m going to unlock the handcuffs, remove them from around the piano legs, put them back on you, and then we’re going to the station. Understood? You’ve gone too far. I’m through playing games.”
Her long dark lashes batted suggestively. “I’m not playing games, officer. Honest.”
“No, then what do you call it?”
“I call it desire. Hunger. Can’t you tell how badly I want you?”
His throat felt dry and cottony. “No.”
“Take a deep breath in. Smell my arousal? I can smell yours. It’s even stronger now than when you first walked in. I’m throwing myself at you willingly. Won’t you please accommodate me?”
This was crazy. Was there some hidden camera in the room? Had someone from the station decided he needed to loosen up and sent him to the house to get laid? No, he couldn’t think of a single officer who would do that after the years of dealing with his moody ass. He didn’t want to hear she was a prostitute, but the thought crossed his mind briefly.
“Lady, I’m running out of patience here. I don’t want to have to keep writing you up. I look at you and see a woman with so much potential, and it�
�s clear you’re intelligent. I have to wonder why you’re doing all this. Are you just looking for attention?”
She shook her head. “I told you. I want you. I’m not some lady of the night seeking monetary reimbursement. I happen to be secure in my sexuality.”
Ian went red for having wondered in the first place.
“My craving for you is unbearable,” she continued. “I’m soaked just from thinking about your lips on mine. Check if you don’t believe me. I dare you to.”
He couldn’t help but draw his gaze to her thighs. The way she slid them together and swiveled her provocative hips. He moved his gaze up her body to her full breasts. His mouth watered at the thought of suckling the taut peaked tips.
Ian warred with himself. He knew the right thing to do was take her into the station, fill out the necessary paperwork, and question her amid witnesses. Being alone with her in this inappropriate state of undress—with her propositioning him—was career suicide, if not a lawsuit waiting to happen. Or worse, jail time. He should be calling for backup, preferably a female officer to ease the situation and be a witness to testify he wasn’t the one to handcuff her to the piano. And that was the war going on inside him. He knew exactly what the procedures were and had all the rules memorized. The problem was that he couldn’t stop thinking about the lush pink mystery between her thighs. He was thinking with the wrong head. His cock wanted him to fuck the rules and fuck her.
“I have to be honest here. While I find you attractive and sexy as hell, I can’t allow myself to touch you.”
The firelight stroked and kissed her body in its fiery hues. She turned her body side to side. Her breasts bobbled. Teasing him. Crying out for him to reach forward and pinch the hard beads.
“But you want to. Don’t you want to touch me?”
“I can’t answer that,” he rumbled and waved his hand.
She flashed him a wry twist of her lips. “Can’t or won’t?”
Her green eyes held him hostage. Two beautiful orbs that reminded him of the ocean. Good looks alone weren’t enough to capture his attention. There was something else about her. Different from other women he knew. He didn’t fully understand the radiance of this mystifying creature who so adamantly sought his attention, but he longed to know her on a more intimate level.
Ian sighed. It was the damn dilemma again. He wanted to do things by the book. Follow the rules he’d sworn to uphold. But he wanted to please her with every ounce of his being.
She wet her lips with her tiny pink tongue. “You want me. Deny it all you want, but I know. Inside you is a primal urge that you’ve buried down deep and your body aches to experience it again.”
As if in agreement, his cock wrenched hard. “How can you know?”
“I just do.”
She held him spellbound with her gaze. Her beautiful face all exotic angles and almond shaped eyes. He wanted to kiss her small perfect nose. Everything about her was perfect, and it left him in a state of urgent need to take complete possession of her body. Find the control within him that he seemed to have misplaced.
From the moment he saw her in the room, his dick stood up and took notice. He did want her. She had somehow reached in and stirred up the very sensations he fought so hard to ignore. And with it, she left him with a newfound curiosity. To see how far those sensations and urges could go. He wanted to run his tongue along the sensual lines of her body. Replace the lace choker around her throat with a diamond-studded collar that would make her belong to him. He wanted to rub away the scent of all the other men she’d ever been with. Take away their brief imprints on her skin and completely possess her. He’d never felt so predatory before. But damn if he could do anything about it.
Ian watched her hypnotic lips part.
“I’m not used to being denied,” she stated, and he believed her.
He looked down briefly. “I don’t mean to make you feel that way.”
“Then, why won’t you touch me?”
“I don’t know you well enough.” The excuse was poor and he knew it.
“Then get to know me,” she pled. “You’ve no idea how badly I need to feel your touch. My skin aches for your heat. Please. I’m begging here.”
“I can’t,” he said, more to himself than her. “I don’t do this sort of thing.”
“What do you mean? You’re a police officer, right?”
He returned his gaze to her and nodded. “Yes. Twelve and a half years on the force.”
Ian prided himself on sticking with the job, even though he didn’t think in the beginning that he could handle it.
“Then, as an officer of the law, don’t you help women in need?”
“Of course. All the time.”
“I’m in need and you’re going to tell me you can’t help? How is that taking care of me? It’s your duty.”
She was clever. He would give her that. “I don’t work that way.”
Her voice hardened. “What are you afraid of?”
The words bothered him, but only because they had truth behind them. How could she know him so well? It wasn’t his nature to admit to his fears. Not to anyone.
“I’m not afraid. Why would you say that?”
“I don’t expect you to come right out and say it. But your fears keep you from acting on impulse. By not admitting you’re afraid, you’re in part protecting yourself and preserving your masculinity. You’re giving off all the signals that you want to fuck me, but you won’t. Why?”
“This isn’t a conversation I am going to have with you.” He sighed and rested his hands on his hips. He’d let things get too far and he needed to make things right. “You know what; I’ve changed my mind about taking you to the station. I’m just going to let you go with a warning. And since you claim there’s a problem with your home, I can give you money for food and take you somewhere safe for the night.”
Her eyes smoldered. “I’d be safest with your cock between my legs. You’ll have to come unlock the cuffs if you want me to leave.”
A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of touching her. What if he grazed his fingers along hers, what then? Dammit. This was nuts. She wasn’t some convict armed with a weapon. Though her beauty made her dangerous. He had no other choice than to get close to her to remove the handcuffs.
Ian grabbed his key ring. “Fine, just hold still so I don’t hurt you.”
“Anything you say, officer.”
He knelt down and she parted her thighs. She tilted her chin up, her lips close to his ear.
“Tell me you can resist me. I want to hear it from your lips. Tell me that with my scent of arousal and my pussy aching for a single stroke of your cock, that you can deny me and send me on my way.” Her voice dripped with heavy eroticism as she spoke.
A blast of heat zinged from his toes to his ears. “I will tell you that you don’t make it easy.”
“I don’t want it easy. I want it hard. Fast. Rough. I’m not nearly as fragile as I might look. You’d be surprised by what I can handle.”
Each word made his cock pulse. “I just can’t. You’re beautiful. More than beautiful, but—”
He stared into her eyes and his breath stilled. Such exquisite eyes, the color, and how she looked at him. He could see the need deep inside them. He could see the hunger. His resistance waned. When had he last acted on impulse? He hadn’t done a single thing in the past eight years that involved any kind of risk.
She lay there, all supine and sinful. Her dark lashes brushing against the swell of her cheeks. Wrists bound. Captive. He struggled with doing the right thing and with wanting to know the very taste and feel of her body beneath his.
“You watched me before,” she murmured, “so you know how I like to be touched. Only I’ll like it more if you do it.”
He feared how her touch would affect him. But he craved her at the same time.
“Why do you hesitate?” Her eyes sparkled in challenge.
His mouth opened to say something, but he couldn’t respond.
“If you won’t touch me, will you at least let me see you,” she pressed. “All of you. Give me something to get off to on the lonely nights that will no doubt consume me. You aren’t completely heartless, are you?”
Again, he looked into her eyes and felt the urge to please her. She was the one in cuffs but he was the one held captive.
“Whatever fears that you are holding onto, you’re still the one in control here,” she continued. “Do what feels naturally. Be comfortable with who you are and go with the flow.”
Ian’s will dissipated. It was a simple request. “I suppose I could do that.”
He set down the keys and unbuttoned his shirt, watching her eyelids flicker.
“That’s it,” she coaxed. “Nice and slow. One button at a time as if I’m doing it myself.”
Ian liked the way her gaze moved across his body. It had been years since he undressed in front of a woman. So long, it felt foreign.
“Mm,” she purred, “you obviously keep in shape. I’ve never seen such well-defined muscles before. I want to run my tongue along all the grooves and planes of your abdomen.” Her eyes shone wild with need.
If she was trying to stroke his ego, it worked. But the only real stroking he wanted to do was with his cock between her thighs. The way her gaze traveled the length of his body and stopped at his groin made his balls tighten. He felt his composure slip.
He started to unbuckle his belt and paused a moment. “I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m reluctant to stop.”
The corners of her eyes crinkled slightly. “I won’t tell. Honest. I just wish you’d give in to what you really want and have your way with me. If you don’t take me tonight, you’ll look back and wish you’d done things differently.” Her voice was low, breathy. Seductive.
“How do you know?”
“I just do. You’ll never be able to get me out of your mind. You’ll always wonder what it would’ve been like. You’ll see my face when you’re with other women.”
