She felt a definite relaxing of tension in him of which she hadn’t been previously aware.
“You like it rough?”
“Oh my God.” She started to sit up but he simply pulled her back into him.
“Nothing wrong with finding out what we both like,” Mike stated calmly.
“I don’t think neighbours discuss this kind of thing.”
“After neighbours have shared what we have - twice now, may I remind you - I think it’s a fair call.”
“Have you done this often?”
“Not with a neighbour. You’re my first.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not.”
Of all the things he could have said, that particular announcement stunned her, but then she regained her senses. “Nice of you to say so, but unnecessary. Really.”
“Really, huh?”
“Really.” Folding her arms, she continued to watch his toes slowly curling and uncurling.
The quiet intimacy of the moment was almost unreal. Cuddled up to him on the sofa, it could have been a scene straight out of a romance novel, if one didn’t count the fact that she was a nymphomaniac when around Mike and made him have sex with her. Which brought her to the next thing she had to do…
“I’m so sorry…” She almost choked on the words. If she’d thought she was mortified before, this particular sentence was going to top it off nicely. “I’m sorry I made you mad and have s - sex with me.” Oh God, how could anything get more awkward than that? She just wanted to go home and-
“Don’t even think of moving,” Mike chided her, hauling her back against his side. “I’ll only follow you over there and break your door down.”
“I’ll call the cops.”
“I am a cop.”
“You have some strange ideas for a cop.”
“I’m also a man.”
“A man cop. That explains it all.”
“Sharpen your tongue on me all you want, Maddy, it doesn’t make an iota of difference.”
Folding her arms again, she frowned once more at his big feet, which seemed a safe place to look. At least she didn’t have to meet his eyes,
His fingers resumed tracing patterns on her shoulder. “You didn’t make me have sex with you,” he continued in his typical blunt fashion. “I wanted to have sex with you.”
“Whatever.”
He ignored her mutter. “Sure, you made me angry with your threats to troll for a man, and trust me, if you ever do it and I find out, you’ll not sit down for a week.”
“Cop violence.” But she couldn’t stop the inner thrill from coursing through her. Whoa, she was one sick puppy.
“It only comes to the fore with you. Odd, isn’t it?” There was a trace of laughter in his tone.
“Bloody Neanderthal.” She could actually feel herself relaxing.
“Quite. Now to the other matter that’s troubling me...”
When he didn’t say anything further, she risked a glance at his jaw, only to find it as rock-hard looking as always. “What?”
“What the hell,” he asked in a mild tone, “was all that shit about no one wanting a hefty sheila like you?”
Every relaxed muscle in her body stiffened.
“Calling yourself a fatty? Degrading yourself and saying that no man would want you because of your body?”
A mortified flush went through her, her cheeks growing crimson with embarrassed heat. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Tough.” His fingers continued to trace patterns on her shoulder while his voice remained calm. “I do.”
She remained silent, biting her lower lip. Mike was determined to get answers this time and she knew he wasn’t going to let her just walk away. But to tell him, to talk about it - “Geez, you can see me, Mike! That’s what I’m talking about!”
“I see you.”
“So you know what I look like, what I am.”
“You’re a voluptuous lady. Curvy.”
“Plus-sized, fat, and hefty.”
“I think you look pretty.”
She was dumbfounded for several seconds.
“I think you look just right.”
“Maybe you need glasses.”
“And maybe you should tell me why you, a confident lady who didn’t seem to have hang-ups about her weight when I first met her, suddenly bursts out with what you did?”
“Just goes to show what you know about me,” Maddy muttered. “Zilch.”
“Would it have anything to do with the ‘good authority’ on which you base your self-degradation?”
“Big words.”
“Don’t try to change the subject.”
“I don’t want to talk-”
“Tough.”
“Damn it, Mike!” Angrily, she sat up straight and turned to face him.
He arched up one brow and regarded her steadily while his hand dropped from her shoulder and he hooked his fingers in the waistband of her skirt. “Just in case you decide to run,” he said.
She took a deep breath and his gaze dropped to her breasts before returning to her face. She could swear there was a flare of heat in the pale depths of his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came, if it was ever there at all.
“Tell me,” he said, “was this good authority an ex-boyfriend?”
“No.”
“An ex-lover?”
Her cheeks were burning so hot she was amazed she didn’t go on fire. “I’ve never slept around!”
“Never said you did.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“I’m trying to find out who hurt you. It seems obvious it was someone close, a lover, maybe a boyfriend.”
“Neither, if you must know.”
His gaze was shrewd. “You haven’t had many lovers, Maddy.”
“How would you know?” she retorted. “Going by my weight? After all, you didn’t expect to want me either, remember, so why would anyone else, right?”
“No, I’m going by the fact that you’re quick to cover up after we’ve made love, that you are easily embarrassed by me seeing you naked, and if you were an experienced woman in the arts of sex you’d be a lot more confident about yourself. You’ve also admitted that you don’t sleep around. So if it wasn’t a boyfriend or lover who hurt you, then it was someone else.”
“Listen to Detective Carson. When is the promotion coming through?”
A carnal glow suddenly back-lit his pale blue eyes and he swept his gaze down her body to where the material of her skirt gathered at the apex of her thighs. “You’re also deliciously tight when I enter you.”
Maddy didn’t know whether to die of mortification or slap him silly.
His gaze lifted to lock with her own and she could only stare at him.
“So,” he said, the carnal light still there but fading as he refocussed his attention, catching her off-guard yet again, “Talk to me.”
“Talking dirty, Officer?” She managed to ask snidely, trying to regain her composure.
“Just answer the question. Who hurt you? It’s not hard.”
“Not for you.”
“There’s no difference.”
“You think? You sit there, all hard muscle and good looks, with a perfect body and wanting to bloody talk, most women’s wet dream, and you think there’s no difference?”
He grinned a little. “I’m most women’s wet dream?”
“It’s not funny, you boofhead!”
“Am I your wet dream?”
She blinked. “What?”
He gave her waistband a tug. “I asked, am I your wet dream?”
“I’m starting to think of you as more of a nightmare.”
“I’ll settle for that to start with.”
“I can’t believe I’m actually listening to you and answering your questions.”
“This would go a lot quicker if you did answer my question.”
“I’ve kind of forgotten what it was in all this drivel you keep spewing out.”
&nbs
p; “Who hurt you?”
“You’re not going to give this up, are you?”
“Nope.”
“What if I don’t tell you?”
“You’re only hurting yourself. Frustrating for me, yes, but hurting yourself.”
“I’m not into confessions. Never have been.”
“Tough lady hiding her feelings.”
“Tough lady surviving. I don’t care what other people think of me.”
“Really?” He raised one brow.
“Damn it, Mike, until I met you I didn’t care what other people thought!” The words hung in the air between them and she wished she could snatch them back. “I mean, I don’t…I never…oh shit.” Horrified, she tried to leap to her feet, only to have him yank hard on her skirt.
Overbalancing with the force of his tug, she toppled onto his lap.
In a calculated move, Mike wrapped his arms around her waist and used the momentum of her fall to ensure that her bottom slid over his lap to land on the sofa cushions. With her legs draped over his lap and the dip of the cushions beneath her bottom making it hard for her to struggle free, he leaned one arm on the armrest beside her head and laid his other hand flat on the gentle swell of her belly. Spreading out his fingers, he gently flexed them while looking down at her.
Maddy gulped. Propped up on her elbows with the armrest behind her, she was intensely aware that he effectively had her prisoner. Unless she started screaming and he took pity on her and released her, there was no way she was getting off the sofa.
Damn him and his dirty, underhanded tactics.
Damn her for finding it all a little daunting and…yes, thrilling. And scary.
His gaze swept over her face slowly, studying her. His smile was small, a simple tug of the corners of his lips. “So, Maddy.”
“So what?” she retorted. “Let me up.”
“Not yet.”
“You have a real control problem, cop.”
“I have handcuffs, lady, and I’m not afraid to use them.”
“Tough talk.” She couldn’t stop the sudden amusement from bubbling up at how ludicrous the situation had become. One minute she’d been horribly embarrassed, the next minute thrilled, and now - yes, now she was actually finding his teasing a little funny.
Or maybe her nerves were finally shot and she was having a breakdown.
“So here is how the situation lies, Maddy,” Mike continued, with that same quirk to his lips. “You’re embarrassed because you consider yourself to be hefty. I like you just the way you are. I know you’ve been hurt at some time, mostly recently if my instincts are correct. Nothing I can do about that unless you tell me who it was…?”
No longer so amused, she glared up at him.
“Hmmm, thought not. So let’s lay down some guidelines.”
“Guidelines? What, did you fall off your motorbike today and hit your head or something?”
“No. Now, you’re obviously a passionate little thing-”
Maddy gaped at both the ‘passionate’ and the ‘little thing’.
“-and I’m a hot-blooded man. We’re attracted to each other.” His hand slid lower on her belly and she sucked in a deep breath. “Yep, we surely are.”
“Was there much interbreeding where you came from?” She managed to choke out, both mortified by her nipples pebbling against her shirt and the heat coiling low in her belly. “Or are you the only product?”
His smile was sudden and devastating. “There’s only one Mike Carson.”
“Mothers the world over are thankful.”
“Tsk, not nice.” His gaze grew serious and direct. “You ever want to make love, Maddy, you come to me.”
“What?” Her eyes grew rounder in disbelief.
“And when I want to make love, I’m going to you.”
That had her coming up on her hands to face him, incredulity streaking through her. “I beg your pardon?”
He regarded her through lazy eyes. “You heard.”
“What the hell? You think we’re going to be neighbours with benefits?”
“Nope. It means we’re entering a relationship.”
She didn’t know whether to be amused or furious. “A sex relationship?”
“That’s part of it.”
“Part of it? What’s the other part?”
“The other part, Maddy, is getting to know each other, being together.”
“Have you been inhaling the exhaust fumes from your motorcycle? You need to learn to open your garage door before you start that monstrosity.”
“Far from it. My head’s never been clearer.”
She stared up at him for several seconds, then the disbelief curled through her again followed by hurt, and she started to struggle. “This isn’t funny, Mike. Don’t pity me, I don’t need it. I don’t need pity dates like my family arranges for me and I especially don’t need your pity! Thanks but no thanks. Now let me up!”
In a lightening move he twisted, somehow managing to push her flat down on the sofa and covering her body with his. He caught her hands in his and pulled them above her head, holding them there easily. His bigger body easily subdued hers and finally she stopped struggling to glare up at him, unable to hide the sheen of tears in her eyes.
Damn it, when had she gotten so emotional?
When she’d damned well met this big cop.
She really needed to see a shrink.
“It’s not funny,” she hissed. “Damn you, Mike, let me go and get the hell out of my life.”
“You listen to me, you sharp-tongued little shrew,” he returned mildly, though his calmness was belied by the spark of anger in his eyes. “I’m not making fun of you. I’m not pitying you. I’m deadly serious. I never say anything I don’t mean, so you listen carefully. I’m attracted to you, I’m attracted to every lush curve of your body, I’m attracted to your quick mind, I’m attracted to your kindness for that free-loading kitten out on my back veranda, and I’m even attracted to your biting sarcasm. I’m attracted to your smile and I’m even attracted to your tears. So don’t presume to think you know what I’m thinking and meaning because you have no idea. I’m telling you now, though, so listen up, lady, because I won’t tell you again. I’m not the kind of bloke who lays his heart on the line every day with sweet words and nice sayings. I’m just me, Mike Carson, and I’m telling you that I want your body and your mind and your heart.”
Holy Hannah, she didn’t know whose eyes got wider when he added the last two words.
Mike and Maddy stared at each other, the only audible thing in the room the sounds of their breathing. The silence stretched between them.
Had he really said it? Had he really said he was attracted to her, and he wanted her body and her mind and her heart?
Had this dangerously handsome man really said he wanted her? All of her?
Before she could even think to question it, he smiled slowly, and it was a very self-satisfied smile.
“Yeah.” That deep rumble vibrated through his chest and into hers, making her heart stutter deliciously. “Yeah, I want your heart, too, Maddy. I’m never going to be satisfied with anything less.”
She swallowed. “Mike, you don’t really-”
“Yes, I do.” His gaze was steady.
“It’s just the heat of the moment, the situation we’re in. It-”
“It’s a great situation.” His smile disappeared and he continued to study her.
She felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Her thoughts were swirling through her mind, her body hot and heat pooling low, but a part of her wasn’t so sure of this big bear of a man. It was too sudden, too unexpected.
“Maddy,” he said quietly. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Don’t you know?” She managed a small, shaky laugh. “You seem to know everything else about me.”
“There’s a lot to learn about you yet,” he said. “Its something I look forward to doing.”
“You could be very disappointed.” Her heart skipped a
beat when his thumbs stroked slowly over the pulses in her wrists.
“I doubt it.” Mike’s gaze wandered over her face. “You’re attracted to me, or you wouldn’t have allowed me to make love to you.”
“That’s very presumptuous of you,” she whispered.
“No. It’s something I know about you.” His studied her closely. “You’re not the kind of lady to sleep around. You’re loyal. You have a soft heart, but you’re no fool.”
“I think I’ve managed to smash that last illusion to pieces.” She glanced away.
“Not at all. There’s so much to learn about each other, Maddy.”
She looked back at him, really studying him. He simply waited, watching her in turn.
What did she know of Mike Carson? He was a police officer, a man with patience, kind and forgiving, and no-one’s fool. He certainly had hidden depths, and he wasn’t put off by her over-generous curves. He was an experienced lover and even when rough, when dominating, he was still careful not to hurt her, ensuring both their pleasure.
Not that she was that well experienced, there had only been that one time and it was a time she’d tried to erase from her memory. Obviously it hadn’t worked.
But now…could she really build a relationship with this man?
Her gaze slid over his face, taking in every detail. The heavy, dark brows, the straight nose, the firm lips, the square jaw-line, and the blue eyes that were so startling in their paleness. A lock of dark hair fell over his brow, adding a roguishness to his otherwise dangerous features.
He was all strength and muscle, all hard lines and intimidating height, and yet for a fleeting instance she thought she saw a flash of uncertainty in his eyes, but when she blinked, he was simply looking down at her, waiting patiently.
Yes, Mike Carson was a man who would wait patiently for what he wanted, and right now, if what he said was really true, he wanted her, Maddy Lovett, plus-sized body, sharp tongue and all.
“I’m not sure how I feel about this,” she finally said truthfully, for she could do nothing but return his honesty.
“Okay.”
“I don’t really know you. Not in the sense of…you know.” She swallowed.
“Not of the flesh?” One of those dark brows arched and there was a twinkle in his eyes.
“Yes.” A blush crept into her cheeks.
Cop's Passion Page 13
