“This is nice,” she sighed, stroking his arm where a scar marked the one and only bullet he’d taken in the line of duty.
He kissed her forehead. “Yeah.”
“Everything go okay last night?” Tanya never asked for details, but he knew she felt better hearing them. And talking it out sometimes helped him feel more certain about his actions or helped him view missions in a different light.
“Yeah and no.” He sighed and scrubbed the side of his face. Last night had turned into a nightmare. He didn’t relish telling Tanya about this one, but he needed to because it wasn’t going away. “It was a raid we’d practiced for, which I told you. We were waiting for more information before we went in.
“It was supposed to be a joint bust with narcotics since it’s a meth house, but when we went in, there was a back room that wasn’t drugs. My heart’s never stopped before, but I thought it did then. We went into the room and there was this pipe with wires and a digital timer on it.”
Tanya gasped. “A bomb?”
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her back against his chest. “It wasn’t a live bomb, but yes, it looks like someone there was making bombs. The guys we picked up were peons. Said their boss rented out a room to someone they didn’t know. The guys had just left after our pizza delivery guy finished dropping off their order.”
“Did they catch them?”
Cole shook his head. The sense of dread from the night before returned. “They just have a description of a couple of guys, nothing more. The others didn’t even know what they were doing back there. I hate to say it, but the guys are all talking like it might be connected to the Ali Saed threats.”
“Shut up. Cole, that’s not good.”
“Easy, babe. We’re on to them. They won’t get away from us, and now we can be prepared.” It was easier to defend against attacks they knew were coming. It would have been worse had they not expected it and something happened.
“Now I’m going to worry about you even more.”
He kissed her temple and swallowed the words to tell her not to worry. “What do you have going on this week? Preparing for the game next weekend?”
“Yeah, just practice Wednesday and Thursday. Work should be pretty light, so I’ll be around. I was thinking I might take off a day or two, and actually, I think I will. I want to be around when you are.” She clung to him tighter, her unspoken words coming across loud and clear. She was worried and wanted to stick close to him.
They continued to chat about the week, the pauses growing longer, eyes getting heavier until blissful sleep overcame them both.
Chapter Five
Tanya slammed on the car horn and brakes. Her heart pounded ninety miles an hour.
“Fucktards,” she grumbled at a car stopped dead in the street. In the middle of the one-way street.
As if traffic weren’t bad enough because of the Olympics, even her backup routes were experiencing a dose of stupid. She waited for the driver with out-of-state plates to turn around, nervously tapping the steering wheel.
“Come on, come on, come on,” she chanted.
Cole had to report for patrol at the Olympic Village by three for a twelve-hour shift. They hadn’t spoken much since their postcoital discussion the day before, but it sounded as though his team was being extra cautious. She was proud and worried for her husband, but right now all she wanted to do was get home so she could eat lunch with him.
The car blocking the road was doing a sixteen-point turn. Vehicles were piling up behind her, drivers laying on their horns. A few times she was pretty certain the driver of the car in the road just went back and forth, wasting more of her precious time.
“Finally.”
Twenty minutes later than she’d wanted to, Tanya pulled into her driveway. Cole’s city-issue SWAT SUV and his personal truck, which had seen a better decade, were still in the drive. She grabbed her things and rushed inside.
“I’m home,” she called as she kicked the door shut.
“Hey, babe.”
Tanya dumped her stuff on the entryway table and entered the kitchen. “Oh no, you’re eating a sandwich?” Her shoulders slumped.
Cole stood at the counter still in his sweatpants, a sandwich halfway to his mouth and more than a quarter gone. He glanced from his meal to her.
“I was going to cook you something.” She circled the bar as he took another bite and pulled up a stool, accepting defeat. This time.
“Sorry,” he said around a mouthful of food.
“It’s okay. Traffic is stupid out there.”
He nodded and wiped his mouth. “They’ve shut down more streets around the complexes and there are a lot of detours.”
“Oh.” Well, that made sense, but she didn’t have to like it. “You’ll be home really late, won’t you?”
“Yup. You’ll probably be getting up by the time I drag in.” He tucked into the sandwich, demolishing what was left in a few bites. “Everything go okay this morning?”
“Yeah, client really likes my ideas, and that some will cut costs in the long run. People always like to hear they’ll spend less money.” She hadn’t driven halfway across the city to talk about work with her husband. If she couldn’t feed him, she could pleasure him.
Pandora’s Box and her husband’s adventurous streak inspired her.
“I’m going to go get ready.” Cole finished wiping down the counter and headed toward the bedroom.
Tanya followed him and sat on the bed, legs crossed and her skirt spread out around her while he brushed his teeth in the bathroom. The navy-blue uniform was already spread out on the comforter on his side of the bed.
It was a pity she hadn’t gotten home earlier. She’d thought herself so clever coming up with this plan. Lunch had been just the start. They hadn’t talked like they had yesterday in ages. That was what she wanted back. Tanya consoled herself with the fact that there were still plenty of things in Pandora’s Box to go through, and Cole seemed more than willing to use them.
“We should take a vacation when all this is over. Maybe just stay home and veg out,” she suggested. The key was getting away. Even when he was on vacation Cole could get called in, unless they were across the country.
Cole wiped his face and didn’t reply for a moment.
Tanya sighed and rolled her eyes. She could practically feel him resisting her suggestion. She didn’t know if it was his workaholic tendencies or that he was really opposed to going away.
“It could be nice to stay home for a while. I need to do some work on the backyard,” he countered.
“Have the landscapers not been going back there?” She frowned and tried to remember the last conversation with the company’s owner. With what they paid him, their yards should be amazing.
Cole threw the towel on the counter and stalked into the bedroom. “Yeah, it’s fine.”
His sudden anger was completely from left field.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I think I’m missing something. Why do you sound mad?” How had her amorous lunch turned into the beginnings of a battle?
“It’s nothing.” He snatched his uniform pants and began getting dressed.
“Cole, it’s not ‘nothing’. Will you tell me what’s bothering you?” Hello, two steps forward and five steps back.
He continued pulling on his uniform, resolutely not answering her. God, she loved the man, but his stubborn streak could drive her up a wall.
“Cole—”
“I would really rather not have this conversation.”
“I’m just supposed to be okay with you being upset at me?”
“It seems that every time something comes up, instead of taking care of it yourself, you throw money at the problem until it goes away. The house isn’t nice enough? Get a new one. The yard isn’t green enough? Hire someone. Your clothes aren’t pressed enough? Get someone else to do your laundry. We used to do all these things ourselves, and now it’s like, I don’t know, I’m obsolete in my own house.
”
Tanya stared at her husband, no idea how to reply to that. She had been ready for something about her being late, working too much or even their sexual escapade the day before. This was unexpected and left her speechless.
He was upset because they had enough money to pay people to do some of the chores? She knew he’d never loved the house design as much as she had, but the idea he flat-out hated it had never occurred to her.
All the stuff he mentioned was miniscule compared to the one major thing that stuck out to her. Tanya had always had a gift for picking up on the deeper issues at hand, but this one had blindsided her.
Cole felt obsolete.
She got off the bed and went to where he was furiously shoving his shirt in his pants.
“Cole?”
“What?”
“Will you stop for one second, please?”
She thought he would tell her he needed to go, that he didn’t have time for this, but he stopped and turned toward her, his lips tightly compressed and his gaze going over her head. That didn’t matter. He was giving her a moment. He’d told her what was wrong. They had communicated.
Tanya wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him as tight as she could.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way. You’re not obsolete. You’re why I want to try to make everything easy for you. You work so hard, I just wanted you to be able to come home and relax. Not do chores. I’m really sorry. Can we talk about this later? Tomorrow? Figure something out? I’m not sure when our schedules will align.”
Cole sighed and hugged her back, resting his chin on the top of her head. “Yeah, I think we should talk about it.”
“I’m sorry,” she said and meant it.
“Me too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.” He kissed her forehead.
“It’s okay. You’re under a lot of stress and I probably haven’t helped any.”
He chuckled and slid his hands down to squeeze her hips. “I think you’ve helped just fine.”
Tanya laughed, relief washing over her. Cole was like her. He didn’t carry grudges, which was a blessing. They’d be okay. “Well, I’m sorry there’s not any time left to help you before you go to work.”
All her plans of surprising him were pointless now. She wouldn’t make him late when things were so stressful right now.
He glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. “I don’t know. Fifteen minutes is longer than a lot of operations I’ve run.”
“You can’t be serious.” Tanya leaned back and stared up at him. Deep down she wanted him to be serious.
Cole spun her in place and lifted her in one motion, setting her ass on the edge of his dresser.
“What are you doing?” she managed to get out through laughing.
“Whatever I want,” he said, pressing his face close to hers.
Cole grasped her arms and brought them around behind her. Cold metal wrapped around one wrist, then the other, followed by a click click click.
“What—?”
Tanya jerked her arms, but she was handcuffed to the spindle that supported a large mirror attachment. A thrill shot through her. They’d used his police-issue handcuffs once after he got them in a giggle-fest that had been some of the silliest sex they’d ever had. But they’d also been all of nineteen.
“Don’t make me put you under arrest,” he purred. Cole’s hands were in her panties before she could get a grip on the back edge of the dresser. She giggled and lifted her hips enough for her panties to be whisked away.
Whatever had set Cole off was long forgotten, judging by the way he gazed at her through heavily lidded eyes and his almost lewd grin. She wanted to touch him, but the handcuffs didn’t allow for much movement. He seemed to read her mind, holding her face with one hand, lowering until his lips were almost within reach. Tanya strained toward him but he remained untouchable.
“My rules,” he said.
“Fine,” she huffed.
“Good.”
Cole swooped in, digging a hand into her hair to hold her in place and nipping her lower lip. He followed it up with a sweet, sucking kiss that stole her breath away.
Tanya would like to savor this giddy, carefree moment, but their fifteen-minute window of opportunity was ticking down. Cole glanced over his shoulder and spat out a curse. He made quick work of his pants, unfastening and shoving his clothing and underwear down. They hadn’t done quick in a long time. Hell, just doing sex was a rare occurrence for them. But she could remember stolen moments between classes when they’d been complete sex junkies.
Again she jerked against the handcuffs. She wanted to get her hands in there, grab his cock and pump it. She knew the transformation her handling his stiff flesh brought about on his face, but her hands were tied.
Cole studied her for a moment, one side of his mouth hitched up in an infuriating, mischievous grin. He wrapped his hand around his stiff flesh, stroking it up and down. She bit her lip and glared at him. This whole bondage idea was a bad one. It completely sidelined her.
He grinned and scooted closer. “I think I’m onboard with this whole tying you up idea.”
“Well, I’m not,” she snapped.
Maybe that was a lie. There was something hot about watching Cole, knowing he was aroused for the same reason she was. They might have disconnected for awhile, but they were getting back on the right track. They weren’t broken, just a little rusty.
Cole gathered up her skirt, revealing her nakedness. He slid his thumb between her folds.
“Mm, yeah,” Cole muttered.
“Ten minutes.” She threw the words down like a challenge.
Cole pushed her knees open wide. “Fuck being on time.”
“I think I’d prefer it if you fucked me.”
“I can do that, babe.”
She hitched her leg up around his hip and leaned back on the dresser. The sensation of Cole’s cock thrusting up into her pussy hard and fast drove the oxygen from her lungs. He pulled her closer to the edge and she perched one foot on top of a drawer pull, wrapping her toes around it for leverage.
“Look at me,” Cole growled out.
Tanya opened her eyes, unaware that she’d shut them. Cole’s gaze bored into her, demanding and owning her as he thrust into her. Her breathing hitched with every joining. His pelvic bone ground against her clit, driving her into a spiral of lust.
She squeezed her inner muscles tight and pushed back against him, working in tandem to the rhythm he’d set. Thrust, withdraw, repeat. Each time her vision narrowed until all she saw were the two brown-black points of Cole’s eyes.
“Babe?”
“Oh yeah.” She nodded.
Cole surged into her, going deep and hard, again and again. Tanya’s jaw dropped and she groaned as climax rippled through her, hard, fast and devastating, as if it were pulled up from her toes by force. Cole’s body went taut, his jaw dropped on a silent moan, his grip on her thighs almost bruising and their breath mingling and bodies going lax.
Tanya could have rested there for an age, but Cole gently pulled out. He produced the key to the cuffs and unlocked them, taking a moment to massage each wrist and press kisses to the pink marks. Once she’d caught her breath, he helped her off the dresser.
It didn’t hurt her feelings that he so briskly went about getting ready.
Again.
“Guess it is a good thing someone else does the laundry,” he chuckled and gestured at the evidence of their lovemaking on the front of his uniform.
She climbed up in bed and smothered a laugh in the pillows.
In less than five minutes he’d changed and was ready to go.
“Bye, babe.” He leaned over her and gave her a slow, lingering kiss. On the mouth, not her forehead or cheek, but full on the lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him there for a moment longer, relishing this deeper intimacy they were rebuilding.
“Bye. Stay safe, okay?”
“I plan on it.”
Tanya listened to Cole’s movements through the house and the beep of the front door as he left.
So there were more issues than she realized. At least it was something they could fix. It was more than she’d had before to work with, but she felt up to the challenge.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone. Since she’d put out feelers to a few of the derby girls for some afternoon skating, she lugged herself out of bed, jogged to the table and grabbed her phone on the last ring.
“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Lea from Honey. Is this Tanya?”
“Yes, it is. Hi, Lea.”
“Hey, I was just calling to let you know we have the book in stock you wanted. Do you still want me to hold a copy for you?”
“Yes, please. I’ll be down in an hour to pick it up.”
A book and the Olympics on TV—maybe she could take today off. And tomorrow, she’d pick the card from Pandora’s Box.
* * * * *
Cole watched the thinning crowds. It was evening and the Olympic Village was emptying out for the most part. People were headed out for dinner or to take in some of the Games, while others were packing in the last rest before their events.
Aaron rested his shoulder on the opposite side of the column supporting Cole. There were still at least six hours left in their Olympic shift, but after a regular shift and then being called out to execute a warrant, Cole could have slept the day away. Instead he was on crowd control duty. Typically he wouldn’t be on duty for more than twelve hours at a time without a twelve-hour break following, but with the Olympics, everything was flexible. It didn’t hurt that the overtime would make a nice addition to his bank account. Maybe after this he should look into a trip for Tanya and him. Someplace they could explore this kinky side of her. He was warming up to the idea of a more active sex life.
“What the fuck is up with you?” Aaron asked without preamble.
“Excuse you.” Cole turned toward his friend with a snort. “You are speaking to your commanding officer.”
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