by Tatum Throne
Hard Hits 5
Training Cole
As an American Sign Language interpreter and certified expert in nonverbal communication, Cole Vanstone’s job is to facilitate communication for a SWAT instructor. Life suddenly changes when he’s thrown into a SWAT standoff as lead negotiator. Forced to make a call in the field he’s unprepared for, Cole knows he’s in over his head.
Master K-9 Officer and tactical instructor Bane Duncan’s job is to train Cole for future SWAT interactions. Bane quickly discovers that there is nothing ordinary about Cole. He’s smart, sexy, cocky, and completely alone. Bane is a Dom, and he wants Cole as his sub.
Cole can’t hide how he feels about Bane when they are together, but he’s not about to make the first move. One fiery kiss leads to an affair that spins both of their lives out of control. Cole has fallen for Bane, but knows they can never be together. Will Cole tell Bane how he feels before it’s too late?
Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), BDSM, Contemporary
Length: 27,796 words
TRAINING COLE
Hard Hits 5
Tatum Throne
EROTIC ROMANCE
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove
TRAINING COLE
Copyright © 2013 by Tatum Throne
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-292-7
First E-book Publication: July 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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Regarding E-book Piracy
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DEDICATION
I’d like to say a special thank you to Fast Freddie who lost his hearing when he was a young child. He was not the inspiration for this book. He just wanted a dedication! x
For the Throne boys. xoxo
TRAINING COLE
Hard Hits 5
TATUM THRONE
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Cole Vanstone was in over his head.
Rain hammered down over everything. Cole was soaking wet and shaking inside. The spring storm pushing through Cincinnati was punishing. Police cruisers blocked off both sides of the Roebling Suspension Bridge. The car in the middle of the bridge was stopped but still running.
Cole raised his hands as he approached the car, showing the driver that he was unarmed. It wasn’t the driver Cole was worried about. His gaze darted to the kid in the passenger seat. Cole stood on the middle of the bridge. SWAT blocked both sides. They wouldn’t be going anywhere without a fight. The guy stepped out, dragging his son with him.
They were going to try to run, but there was nowhere to go.
Little Simon’s eyes were wide with fear. His non-custodial father kidnapped him from St. Ann’s School for the Deaf. This situation was a big fucking deal as the kid’s mother was once an ambassador for England. As a trained expert in lip reading, linguistics, and American Sign Language, Cole was the only person who was qualified to deal with this situation.
The bullet-proof vest covering Cole’s chest was tight. A two-way radio was lodged into his ear. SWAT negotiator TJ Raines was at the end of the bridge, guiding him through the situation.
“Reason with him to let the kid go,” TJ said.
TJ’s voice was cool and calm from years of experience that Cole would never have. Cole lifted his hands, shocked to find them calm and steady. “You need to let Simon go.”
Confusion swam in the kid’s face. He was old enough to understand that his day was going very wrong. He tried to pull away from his father, but was jerked back by the collar of his shirt.
“Dad?”
The man shook his head and signed, “No.”
Cole eased slowly closer. He knew if he got close enough, the kid would come to him. The man pulled a gun from the back of his pants. A silver flash swung in front of Cole’s face. Cole froze, feeling his heart sink. Cold fear tightened down hard in his gut. It wasn’t fear for himself, but for the child. The kid’s world was never going to be the same. Best case scenario, the father did a little time in jail. End of story. Cole knew that things were never that simple.
“Easy now. No one needs to get hurt. Put the gun down,” Cole signed.
The man shook his head “no” as he started to back away, pulling his kid along by the arm. They were heading for the bridge walkway. The gun was steady on Cole’s face.
A cry of fear tore from the kid. They started backing away toward the bridge walkway. Cole knew they wouldn’t make it across without SWAT taking action.
“You don’t want to do this. Trust me. Let your son go. We can work this out,” Cole signed.
Rainwater dripped from the guy’s face. The gun shook within his hand. He shook his head no again.
“I’m the only one who can help you out of this. Let me help you.”
The guy looked at the SWAT team blocking both ends of the bridge. Cole could see the desperation play out through his eyes. He glanced over his shoulder as though he considered jumping from the bridge. Everything around Cole seemed to slow down. He became very aware of everything, TJ’
s calm voice, SWAT’s movement, and the rapid fire of his heartbeat. Cole’s eyes locked with Simon’s. Understanding and fear raced through his young eyes. The father’s hand shook as Cole crept closer. Cole knew he had to change tactics. He knew the resolution of this situation was through the kid.
“How old are you?” Cole asked.
Simon’s eyes brightened, but quickly dimmed. “Ten. My birthday is in two weeks.”
The father startled as though he’d forgotten the love he felt for his son.
Cole smiled. “Do you play sports?”
“Soccer and volleyball.”
“I wasn’t ever good at sports,” Cole signed.
“Our team is playing in the championships next weekend.”
“Oh, wow.” Cole looked at the father. “You must be so proud.”
The guy’s hand tightened on his son’s shoulder. He slowly lowered the gun. Anguish crushed through the father’s face. It was clear to Cole that this abduction had been a complete act of desperation. Tears fell down the father’s face, as Cole crept closer.
“I bet you can’t wait to play next weekend,” Cole signed. “You’ll see all your friends. Run around with them.”
The kid bit his lip as their eyes met. Cole sensed SWAT getting into position to take action. The father backed away toward the edge of the bridge. There wasn’t much time. Cole knew he was the only one who could help this kid. It started to rain harder. Raindrops hit the puddles of standing water on the bridge with powerful force. The bridge was slick beneath Cole’s feet.
“I bet you can’t wait to see all your friends. Run around.”
Cole nodded his head once. Simon’s eyes went wide as understanding moved through them. The kid broke away, running from his father. The man screamed for his son. Cole lunged forward, stopping the guy from pursuing Simon. Cole felt his life spin out before his eyes. His gaze dropped to the barrel of the gun pointed at his head.
He never expected things to end this way. There was so much he wanted to do, so much he hadn’t yet accomplished in his life. He’d always wanted to go sky diving, and join the mile high club. He’d never gone skinny dipping or taken that chance on love. He fought the man as SWAT rushed from both sides of the bridge. They wouldn’t make it in time.
Cole knew his time was over, but at least he saved the kid.
The gun swung around at Cole’s head. Cole lifted his hands to block the blows, but they still connected with his head. Cole staggered backward, tripping over his feet. Cement smacked against his face as he fell to the ground. SWAT went after the father. They disarmed him, taking him down to the ground.
Voices were around him and someone was rousing him.
“Stay with us, Cole.”
“TJ? The kid? What happened?”
“We got him. He’s okay.”
Cole moaned. He lifted his hands to his head. His hands. Thank God his hands were okay. He couldn’t live if he didn’t have his job. It was the only thing he had left. Sirens wailed in the distance. His eyes grew heavy. Cole gave in to the darkness pressing in on him and passed out.
* * * *
“Who the fuck made the call?”
Bane Duncan flinched as Chief Anderson leaned his fists onto his desk. The man was like facing a fucking pissed-off bull on a hotter than hell day, Bane thought. Bane, TJ, and Trent were called to the chief’s office as soon as the SWAT standoff was over.
“Who?”
“I did,” TJ said.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” The chief wrote fast and glared at Trent next. He quickly held up the piece of paper as he yelled at Trent. “Why the fuck didn’t you stop him?”
“He has training,” Trent said.
“With who? The fucking boy scouts?”
“He’s been helping us for months on cases,” Bane said.
“What the fuck? This shit is not supposed to happen within my house.”
A knock on the door had everyone stopping. The chief’s office assistant was there with a woman at her side. “The interpreter is here. Trent is the officer in the blue shirt.”
“Thanks,” she said.
The woman went to stand off to the side of the chief. The door shut with a quick click that signaled the second round of the fight to begin.
“His background is as a linguistics expert. He’s been contracted with the FBI and local law enforcement for years,” TJ said.
“He’s not a fucking cop! He’s not a fucking SWAT member!”
Bane flinched, but TJ just looked away, crossing his arms like someone had just taken his parking spot.
“This is going to be a PR nightmare when the press gets hold of this. Not to mention the international implication. The BBC has already picked the story up,” Anderson said.
“He’s a hero,” Bane said. “And the only one on scene qualified to negotiate the situation.”
“He’s also sitting in a fucking hospital injured! I do not want Cole’s blood on my hands and I’m sure as shit you don’t either.”
TJ paced. “I’ll have PR write up his CV and give it to the media.”
Chief Anderson looked out the window, running his hand through his white hair. Bane wondered if this would be the final incident that pushed the man to finally retire. Somehow he suspected that it would take a hell of a lot more to get Anderson to retire.
“He needs to go through our training if he ever wants to go into the field again,” Anderson said.
“I don’t know if he’ll go for that,” Trent said.
“You and you.” Anderson pointed at Trent and Bane. “Get your asses over to the hospital. I want both of you to be the first thing Cole sees when he wakes up. You’re going to convince him to do the training.”
“What if he won’t?” Trent asked.
“I won’t have anyone unqualified working in this department. If he wants to continue working cases behind my fucking back, he’ll go through the fucking training!”
“Understood,” Bane said.
“Now get the fuck out of here,” Anderson said. “Not you, Raines. You’re going downstairs to meet with London about your actions in the field today.”
“Can’t wait,” TJ said.
Bane met Trent in the hallway. The interpreter followed them out. “I’ve never seen Chief Anderson this pissed off before,” Bane said.
Trent grinned. “I have. Isn’t it fun?”
“Not so much.”
“Let’s go get Cole’s training paperwork,” Trent said. “I have a feeling it’s going to take a lot of convincing to get Cole on board.”
* * * *
Cole tested opening his eyes and didn’t like it one bit. Light glared through the window. It punched him in the face when Cole opened them all the way. There was a lot of Get Well Soon crap in his room. Flowers sat on every open surface. Pain meds pumped through an IV in his hand. Despite the meds, he still felt like he went four rounds with the greatest boxer of all time.
“About time you came back to us.”
Trent was across the room. Another guy Cole recognized from the department was hanging back by the window. He sat on the windowsill. The guy was all muscle with black hair and the hard body of someone who worked out a lot. A tuft of dark hair was beneath his lower lip. Another interpreter, Liv, was off on the other side of the bed. Cole recognized the woman as a newbie fresh out of college. Cole hated how he suddenly felt pushed to the outside of the department.
Cole lifted his right hand and signed as he said, “What the hell are you doing here, Trent?”
“Checking on you. How are you doing?”
Cole had a hard time meeting their eyes. He didn’t like feeling so helpless. “I’m doing okay. How’s the kid?”
“He’s good. With his mom,” Bane said.
Cole’s heart raced in a funny way when he looked at the guy with Trent. He lifted his hand, feeling the bandages on his head. He signed as he spoke, “When can I get out of here?”
“Soon. I wanted to introduce you to Bane Duncan. He
works as a K-9 officer and SWAT. He does a lot of training for us.”
Bane came to stand beside Trent near the bed. With him so close, Cole could see the deep stormy green color of his eyes. With the shifting sunlight fading behind a cloud, Cole could see the color of his eyes deepen to a passionate green.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Same. Sorry it has to be under such unfortunate circumstances,” Bane said.
“Bane works with training officers in tactical self-defense. He’s a certified use of force instructor. He’s going to be training you,” Trent said.
“Excuse me?”
“Chief Anderson won’t let you back into the field with me until you’ve gone through training,” Trent said.
“No.”
“Newsflash, jackass. No one at the department likes it when one of their own is injured,” Trent said.
Cole felt scared and oddly wounded inside. He didn’t like the idea of fear ruling his life. He didn’t like the idea of the police department ruling his life either. He preferred to be on the outside looking in.
“It’s our way of keeping you safe,” Trent said. “And covering our collective asses.”
“Let me help you through this,” Bane said. “Once your mandatory training is over, you can get back to the job you love.”
Trent crossed his arms. “If you want to work with me ever again or the department, you better do the training. Chief Anderson isn’t happy with any of us for putting you out there today.”
A thick binder was taken from Trent’s messenger bag and handed over to him. Cole reluctantly took the binder.
