by Carew, Opal
“Does an old friend try to have sex with me while I’m blindfolded?”
“No, apparently only a stranger can do that.”
The sight of her with her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing, especially while she wore that sexy black leather bit of nothing, sent hormones blasting through him. God, he wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss the life out of her.
Next, she would scream at him, and fly into a rage. That would be a sight to see.
But to his surprise, she sucked in a deep breath, calming herself. Her hands dropped to her sides and she drew her shoulders back, standing straight and composed. One would think she wore a tailored business suit and faced someone a rung or two down the corporate ladder rather than wearing a skimpy bit of cloth and facing a man in full police uniform.
“That’s the problem with you, Granger. You always find something to criticize.”
“I don’t criticize. I just want you to be safe.” His jaw clenched at her rolling eyes. “For God’s sake, Janine. Having sex with a stranger? I could have murdered you.”
“Yeah? I don’t think Derek would have let you.”
She glanced toward Derek, who stood in the background, leaning casually against the wall, his arms crossed and an amused grin on his face.
“Okay, this time, but for all I know, if it hadn’t been for Derek, you would have picked up a strange guy in a bar.”
Her eyes blazed to life again. “Who the hell do you think you are? Don’t judge me.”
He held his hands at his sides, palms toward her. “Janine, I’m not judging you. I just worry about you. I want you to be safe.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “You sound like Ben.”
“Your brother loved you very much. He just wanted you to be careful.”
Janine had always been a free spirit. Ben had worried that she was too naïve and that men would take advantage of her. He’d been protective and watchful. A typical older brother.
“Yeah. And ain’t it ironic that despite all his urging to be careful and stay safe, that he’s the one who’s dead now.”
The bitterness in her voice showed the depth of pain she still carried at her brother’s death.
“He was a cop,” he said gently. “It happens.”
He saw the pain flash across her blue eyes, but she quickly quelled it.
“Yeah, so I’m told. The point is, life is a crapshoot and I could live my life closed up in a shell, never experience anything, and still get killed crossing the road one day. Or I can simply choose to live my life to the fullest every day.” She stepped toward him and poked his chest with her finger. “I choose the latter. And not you or anybody else has anything to say about it.”
With that, she turned around and walked away, her sweet ass swaying in a way that made his groin fill with heat. Oh, God, this woman drove him insane.
* * *
Janine strode to Derek’s bedroom and closed the door, barely blinking back the tears springing to her eyes. She leaned against the door and sucked in a deep breath. She caught her reflection in the mirror. Black studded leather encasing her breasts, the swell of soft flesh pushing over the top, a skimpy black triangle covering her pussy and nothing covering her ass.
Damn, she must have looked like an absolute fool. He thought of her as a bimbo who didn’t know what was best for her, and standing there spouting at him, looking like this, would only have accentuated that opinion.
She’d like to think she didn’t care, but she did. She’d always respected Sloan, ever since they were kids. Ben and Sloan had been best friends in school, and Janine had always had a bit of a crush on him. Actually, more like a tempestuous, wanting-to-throw-herself-at-his-feet-and-give-him-her-virginity kind of crush. He’d been her first kiss. A kiss that had totally blown her mind and set the bar against which she’d measured every kiss that had come since.
Knowing they were playing with fire, however, they had both backed off. Ben was Sloan’s best friend. She was Ben’s little sister. If they had continued beyond that kiss, they would never have been able to keep their hands off each other, and there was no way Sloan could have lived with himself if he had defiled his best friend’s little sister.
Janine clasped her hands together and her finger automatically found her ring and stroked the blue stone.
After Ben died—shot by some thug during a holdup—Sloan took over Ben’s role as her protector. He’d also decided to become a cop. He seemed to thrive on the rules, and on getting some sense of bringing order to the streets, but she wished he could have just been a man—someone to hold her, to help her grieve. Someone to love her and, as much as it rankled her to think it, to take care of her. Not by imposing rules and limitations on her, but by being with her, holding her. Loving her.
After Ben’s death, Sloan seemed incapable of touching her. Even at the funeral, when she’d hugged him and cried on his shoulder, he’d stiffened and patted her back, clearly uncomfortable being that close to her. She wasn’t stupid. She knew it was probably because he felt it would be a betrayal to Ben. Somewhere along the way, Sloan had equated having sex with Janine to hurting her.
Once Sloan became a full-fledged cop, he’d enlisted his buddies to watch over her, too. It got so that she couldn’t turn a corner or talk to a guy without a cop showing up with an eagle eye on her. It made it tough to get a boyfriend.
Finally, she’d left L.A. She needed to find her own way, needed to get away from Sloan and his overprotectiveness—and her intense yet unfulfilled yearning for him.
Now she had her own gaggle of uniformed men around, but not to protect her. And she’d come to really dig handcuffs.
A knock sounded on the door behind her and she jumped.
“Janine, it’s Derek.”
She hesitated, her hands balled at her sides.
“Sloan’s gone. May I come in?”
She turned and opened the door, then stepped back to let him in. As Derek stared at her, understanding glowing in his warm brown eyes, she feared he saw too much. He drew her against his solid body, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, then rested her head against his chest.
“I didn’t know you had a brother. Sloan told me how he died.” He tightened his arms around her. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
The tears welled, and one escaped and fell on his chest, leaving a damp splotch on his uniform shirt. He stroked her hair behind her ear, then kissed the top of her head.
“If you want to talk about it…”
Ah, damn. She didn’t want to dredge up the pain. She didn’t want him to see her vulnerability.
“Sure, I’d like to talk.” She stroked her hand down his solid washboard stomach, then grabbed the tag of his zipper and tugged it down. She dipped her hand inside and stroked his bulging cock through the cotton of his boxers. “I want to talk about bringing out this bad boy”—she slipped her hand inside his boxers and wrapped her fingers around his swelling erection—“and you shoving me against the wall and driving into me.” She squeezed. “Hard.”
Two
Janine tugged Derek’s uniform pants until they fell to the floor with a thump, then freed his erection from his boxers and stroked its considerable length. Grinning, she stepped back and unfastened her leather bra and eased it slowly from her breasts.
His simmering chocolate eyes watched intently as she drew it downward. She revealed the edges of the aureolas, which were all puckered and nubby, then the tight buds of her nipples. She tossed the garment aside and smiled.
Her fingers found her nipples and she teased them while he watched.
He leaned over and picked up his pants, then retrieved the pouch from his belt. Then he stepped forward and grabbed one of her wrists. Before she knew it, he’d pulled his silver handcuffs from the pouch and flicked one cuff around her wrist. Her breathing caught at the bite of the cold steel and the hard, metallic click as it locked around her wrist.
He turned her around and tugged her hands behind her, then imprisoned
the other wrist. His hands gripped her shoulders and he turned her around to face him again.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you’re under arrest. For indecent exposure.”
She grinned at him and nudged her head toward his groin, where his cock stuck straight out of his boxers. “What about you?”
“You’re also under arrest for exposing an officer.”
She pursed her lips, falling into her role.
“I’m sorry, Officer. I don’t want to go to jail. Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”
As he stroked his chin, his gaze dropped to her exposed breasts, which, with her arms cuffed behind her back, arched forward. He grabbed the knot of his tie and eased it down, then pulled it over his head and tossed it away. He stepped toward her, unbuttoning his shirt as he walked, and she stepped back. As she watched him reveal his muscular chest, she felt the bed against her thighs and dropped onto the mattress in a sitting position. He stepped in front of her and stroked his long cock.
“I can think of a couple of things.”
With that, he pressed his cock to her mouth. She flicked her tongue out and licked the tip, then opened. He fed his cock-head into her mouth and she closed around him. As she sucked the mushroom-shaped head, he cupped one of her breasts and stroked. He pushed his rod in deeper, her lips stroking his shaft as he glided forward. She opened her throat and he eased deeper still.
His hand stroked her cheek, then cupped her face. He drew back until only half his cock filled her mouth.
“Suck it, baby.”
She swished her tongue over the head, then sucked, her cheeks hollowing. She moved up and down on him, speeding up as she heard his raspy breathing accelerate. He groaned and pushed deeper. Knowing he was close, she let him glide from her mouth, then opened her legs wide.
“Are you going to fuck me, Officer?”
He groaned, but quickly pressed his cock to her exposed pussy and nudged her opening. She gasped as he drove forward, impaling her in one, sure stroke. He eased her back, but her hands, still cuffed behind her, got in the way.
“Damn.” He put one arm around her waist, positioned the other under her ass, and lifted her.
She wrapped her legs around him as he carried her across the room, his cock jostling inside her, driving her insane with need. Finally, he sat her on the edge of the dresser, then forked his fingers through her long, blond hair and twisted it around his hand. Tilting her face upward, he captured her lips and drove his tongue deep, pillaging her mouth with his forceful strokes.
Still holding her head immobile with his tight hold on her hair, he released her mouth. With their gazes locked, he drew back, then impaled her again. She gasped, her eyelids falling closed.
“Open your eyes.” His commanding voice broke through her haze of pleasure.
She opened her eyes and became mesmerized by his heated, intensely sensual gaze. He drew back and drove into her again. Then again. She moaned at the depth of his thrusts. As he pounded into her, her insides quivered. She squeezed him, then gasped as pleasure erupted inside her. He drove deeper, then clutched her body tight to his as he groaned and exploded inside her.
They remained like that, his arms holding her close, as their breathing returned to normal. Finally, he eased back and drew her lips to his, kissing her gently.
He grinned. “You really are a bad girl.” He nuzzled the base of her neck, then sucked deeply.
That will leave a mark.
Not that she cared. In fact, it helped remind the other men in her life that she was not exclusive property. Not that any of her current men would protest. She picked them carefully.
Too bad Sloan couldn’t be just as cooperative.
* * *
Sloan walked toward his car, wondering what the hell he’d been thinking when he’d suggested to Derek that he could take part in that fantasy scenario. Sloan had transferred from L.A. to Kenora knowing Janine lived here, intending to find her and to try to take up where they’d left off when they’d been teens and had discovered the powerful attraction between them.
As he walked past a small corner store, a couple of teenagers leaning against the brick wall noticed him—and the uniform—and straightened up a little, nonchalantly avoiding looking at him. They weren’t trouble, he could sense that. Just nervous around authority figures, especially a man with a badge.
When he’d become a cop, hoping to protect the world from thugs like the one who’d taken Ben’s life, he’d thrown himself into his work. Only later did he realize he’d had a window of opportunity after Ben’s death to be the one Janine leaned on, to allow their relationship to find its way naturally. Not taking advantage of her feelings, but offering her real support. Opening up to each other and becoming close.
But he’d been grieving, too. He hadn’t seen what she’d needed, until it was too late and he’d driven her away. He’d tried to take Ben’s place in her life as her protector but missed that she also needed support and compassion.
He’d blown it. She’d moved to Kenora to get away from him, and now he’d stepped into exactly the same role.
What he’d intended was to show her he’d changed. That he could accept her the way she was. Especially now, with her sexual openness and wild lifestyle. If he could convince her he could be a part of it, then he’d win her heart and draw her into a committed relationship.
His first step was to show her he could be just as wild as she could. After this evening, he’d certainly made his job harder.
* * *
At the knock on the door Janine glanced up from her magazine. She placed it on the coffee table and walked to the door, then peered out the peephole.
Sloan. Her lips pursed. What was he doing here?
He’d probably come to give her a lecture about last night again.
Well, if he’d come here to lecture, she’d give him a reason to. Annoyed at herself for letting him make her feel guilty, she felt the sudden urge to scandalize him. He knocked again. She took several steps away from the door, unbuttoning her blouse as she went. She slipped it off her shoulders, folded it in half and laid it neatly on the back of the couch, then adjusted the cups of her black lace bra, maximizing visibility of the swell of her breasts. She gazed at her reflection in the glass door of her tall bookshelf. Too bad she wasn’t wearing that burgundy bra that barely covered her nipples. Sloan would find that truly scandalous.
He knocked again.
She hurried to the door, and turned the knob. As soon as it unlatched and she pulled it toward her, she said, “Roger, come on in. I’ll be ready in a minute.”
She almost laughed out loud at the dismayed expression on Sloan’s face.
“Sloan. What are you doing here?” she asked innocently.
His gaze raked over her breasts, then he wrenched it to her face, annoyance warring with heated interest in his cobalt blue eyes. Her hormones raged at the fact that he wanted her, despite how much she appalled him. And disappointed him.
She turned her back, walked toward the couch, and retrieved her blouse.
“Do you always answer the door half naked? Without even checking who’s there?” he asked.
“Of course not.” She slipped her blouse over her shoulders and turned back to face him. “Sometimes I’m completely naked.”
* * *
Sloan concentrated on breathing, trying to calm the intense anger pulsing through him at her recklessness.
His jaw clenched as he watched her button up her blouse. It didn’t help that the sight of her soft round breasts threw his body into an intense state of need. Powerful, conflicting emotions raged through him.
He had to try to make her understand.
“I could have been anyone—”
“Like Roger, whom I’m expecting.”
He hesitated. He had slipped in the front door when another tenant exited, so he could avoid using the intercom, just in case she decided not to let him up. It was reasonable that she would assume the knock on the door was this
Roger person. Still …
“But you didn’t know. I could have been some strange man—”
“You are a strange man,” she countered.
His nostrils flared. “—who would push in here, slam you against the wall, and overpower you.” Exasperated, he emphasized the words in an attempt to impart the seriousness of the situation.
Her lips turned up and her eyes glittered with amusement. “Really? Would you care to demonstrate?”
His jaw clenched and he could feel his vein pulsing at his temple.
“For God’s sake, Janine. This is serious.”
She rolled her eyes. “Only to you.” She finished buttoning her shirt, then leaned against the back of the couch. “Listen, I hate to ask, but what did you come over here to lecture me about before you found me answering the door practically naked? Or were you that confident I’d do something to enrage you?”
His lips compressed. Well, he’d blown it again. He doubted she’d listen to his proposition after that. “Could we start over?” he asked. “I came over because I’d like to talk to you about something. I was hoping we could do that now, but if you’re expecting a friend, maybe we could do it later.”
“Friend?”
“Well, whatever you call your … men.” Damn, at the tightening of her lips he realized he’d done it again. “I mean, you thought I was someone named Roger. You said you were expecting him.”
“Oh, right. Roger.” She rocked back against the couch. “Yeah, well … I wouldn’t worry about that.”
Damned little imp. She’d been yanking his chain. He could just throttle her. But then again, maybe he’d deserved it.
“All right. Can we talk now, then?”
She shrugged. “Sure.” She stood up and circled the couch, then sat down in the easy chair. “You can grab a beer or a soda from the fridge if you want.”
“No, I’m good.” He sat on the couch across from her, just wanting to get on with this. He leaned toward her, his hands folded between his knees. “I transferred from L.A to Kenora a little while ago. I’ve been anxious to look you up, but I wanted to get settled in first, then come and talk to you.”
