Chapter Twelve
“Come here.” Mike locked the door to Cassie’s house behind them.
The low timbre of his command sent a shiver of pleasure up her spine. She was wound so tightly from anticipation, she could barely breathe.
Mike held out his hand, a movement that molded his blue dress shirt to his powerful shoulder. Glare from the fluorescent ceiling lights reflected off his eyes, casting them in a turbulent midnight blue.
When Cassie slid her hand into his, he tugged her closer and without breaking eye contact put her hand to his lips. Starting with her pinkie, he kissed every one of her fingers. By the time he progressed to her thumb, her hand trembled. If the way her body responded was any indication of what the night had in store, it promised to be one hell of a hot night.
Raven lay down next to the refrigerator and made what sounded like a dissatisfied hmpf at having her nightly walk cut short.
Sorry, girl. I have needs, too.
Mike began kissing each of her fingers again in reverse order. When he reached her middle finger, he slipped it slowly into his mouth. When he began sucking on it like a Popsicle, Cassie nearly choked. His mouth was hot, wet, teasing as he slid his tongue up and down and around the length of her finger from the tip of her nail to the base of her hand.
“Where’d you learn that?” she asked on a sigh.
With her finger still in his mouth, Mike laughed, sending vibrations through Cassie’s finger to her toes.
He slipped his mouth from her slicked finger. “I’m a highly trained professional.”
“I can see that,” she whispered. “And feel it.”
The color of Mike’s eyes turned darker, more evidence of the passionate storm brewing in those azure depths. With an animalistic groan he hauled her against his chest and covered her mouth with his. He slanted his lips across hers, angling her head for deeper access as he probed with his tongue. He tasted minty and earthy at the same time.
Heat radiated from his body like an industrial oven, seeping through her clothes and skin directly into her blood. Cassie dug her fingers into Mike’s back, resisting the urge to claw through his silky shirt to get to his firm flesh.
With their lips and tongues fused, he pressed his erection against her lower belly, thrusting with the same rhythm of his tongue in her mouth. She surged her hips forward, straining to increase the contact of his hard body against the entrance to her core.
Mike pulled her hands from his back and gripped both her wrists in one of his hands, holding them over her head. Her breasts jutted against her T-shirt, her nipples grazing his chest until they pebbled. He teased her by skimming his free hand over the incredibly sensitive peaks with soft, feathering touches.
“Mike, please.” Cassie let her head fall back, astounded at the way her words sounded like a pathetic plea.
“Please what?” His deep, throaty voice was more a command than a question.
“You know damn well what. If you don’t put your mouth on me, I’ll die.”
“Baby, anything you want.” He grasped her breast and bit her nipple gently through her T-shirt. He plucked with his teeth until the bud turned harder than a diamond.
More.
Cassie strained to free her hands from Mike’s grip. Her chest rose and fell from the effort, shoving her tight, aching nipple deeper into his mouth.
“Easy there, wildcat.” Mike chuckled as she twisted to free herself.
“I don’t want it easy.”
“Your wish is my command.” He released her wrists and in one fluid motion, yanked her shirt up and over her head, then flung it against the wall. He unclasped her bra, and the next thing she knew, that, too, slithered down the wall. Cold air from the air-conditioning vent blew over her nipples, puckering them harder, making her shiver with delight.
The corners of Mike’s mouth lifted, and he uttered an undecipherable, thoroughly male sound. He cupped her breasts, squeezing lightly, massaging them until Cassie wanted to scream from the sheer pleasure of his touch.
“Your breasts are perfect,” he murmured, then grasped her buttocks and set her on the counter. Stainless-steel sugar and flour bins rattled as they were shoved to the side.
Mike bent his head and pulled her bare nipple into his mouth, laving it with his tongue, rolling her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Cassie held his head tighter to her breast, sifting her fingers through his dark, close-cropped hair. When he caught her nipple firmly between his teeth, she cried out.
Oh, God. More, more, more.
The sounds of his lips and tongue sucking and licking her bare flesh drove Cassie to let out a high-pitched moan. Mike’s large hands caressed her breasts, nipples, and belly in erotic little circles, driving closer and closer to the waistband of her jeans. His fingers delved progressively lower, below her waistband, then sliding over her now hot, wet panties. The sweet ache between her thighs built and built to a throbbing crescendo.
What would he feel like inside her?
Strong. Thick. Powerful.
Her muscles turned to molten lava, barely able to hold her upright. She slid her hands to his back, trying to pull the shirt from his waistband. “Too many clothes.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” He brushed her hands away and pulled her off the counter. One flick of his finger and the button on her jeans popped open. He tugged her zipper down and yanked her pants, along with her panties, to her ankles. She toed off her shoes and kicked them aside.
Raven let out a woof.
“Sorry, girl.” She must have hit Raven with one of her shoes.
Her socks came next, and Mike helped her out of her pants. The kitchen tile was cool beneath her bare feet. He pushed her against the counter until the edge pressed into her bare backside. Mike cupped her face, his thumbs gentle as he skimmed her cheeks. His eyes burned hotter and bluer than the tip of a welder’s flame.
“You are so, so bad. A cop with a naughty side.”
“Don’t spread it around.” He kissed her on the mouth, whispering, “I have a reputation to protect.”
“Don’t worry.” She arched her neck as he dropped wet, tantalizing kisses on that oh-so-sensitive spot in the hollow beneath her earlobe. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
Pressed together as they were, the metal of his belt buckle was cold against her belly and the fabric of his shirt abraded her bare nipples. Cassie looked between their bodies to see her full breasts pushed into mounds. Mike brushed the tops of them with his fingers, softly caressing her delicate skin. Watching his hands as he touched her so gently was sensual as hell. She was naked, powerless against anything he wanted to do with her.
Mike slid his hand between her legs and pushed two fingers inside her slippery folds. She hooked her leg around the back of his thighs, urging him on. He pumped his fingers in and out of her, while at the same time rocking his hips against hers, driving her closer and closer to the edge.
“Come for me, baby.” He kissed her, sucking on her lower lip.
The edge of the counter jabbed into her back, and she couldn’t have cared less. Every one of her senses focused on Mike’s long, strong fingers delving inside her tight walls.
Through half-closed eyes, she glimpsed his intent, darkened gaze. Still pistoning his fingers, he flicked his thumb over her sensitive bud, and she nearly jumped from the spark his touch set off. Stroking, up and down, back and forth, around and around in ever-tightening circles.
Cassie’s abdominal muscles bunched. Her breath quickened, and she threw her head back as the first pulse slammed into her. She cried out, digging her nails into Mike’s shoulders, gasping as she clung to him while wave after wave of the most incredible orgasm rolled through her like a tsunami.
He held her tightly, kissing her throat, her ear, and then the top of her head as her breathing slowed. She wanted to laugh at the look of pure masculine satisfaction on Mike’s face.
Cassie licked her lips. “Now it’s my turn.”
She grabbed the sides of his collar and ripped his shirt open to his waist. Buttons flew and skittered on the tile floor. Fabric ripped as she pulled the shirttails from his slacks and yanked the garment off his shoulders. She let it drop to the floor, where it landed with a silky swish.
Mike’s laughter echoed in the small confines of the kitchen.
“Ah…” Cassie opened her mouth, but no other words came. Her gaze traveled over Mike’s tanned shoulders, down his chest to the light coating of dark hair. His entire upper body was covered in a sheen of sweat. Totally ripped abs. Not an ounce of fat. God. The man was a god.
“Hey, I feel like a piece of meat here.”
“Sorry.” Cassie shrugged. “Consider it payback for staring at my ass.”
“Fair enough.” He chuckled.
Then she leaned in to flick one of his nipples with her tongue.
He hissed in a breath. “You’re killing me.”
“I’ve barely gotten started.” She pulled his nipple into her mouth and sucked on it.
“Then I’ll die a happy man.”
She began to undo his fly when steely fingers clamped around her wrists.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said.
She should have guessed from the way his eyes glittered and the sly tilt of his mouth, he was about to take charge again. Macho or no, this time she wouldn’t have it any other way. He hefted her over his shoulder as if she weighed no more than a feather, his hands on the backs of her legs and ass tantalizing and arousing.
“Put me down.” Cassie laughed and tried to slap his butt.
Her heavy breasts hung and bobbed against his naked back, her bare nipples brushing his taut skin. Despite Mike’s Neanderthal method, Cassie was equally turned on and excited by the way he totally out-muscled her. A warrior claiming his woman.
“Not a chance, babe.” He gave one of her bare cheeks a little smack that resounded off the kitchen walls.
“Ouch.” She swatted at his back.
“Serves you right. You are a pain in the ass.” He gave her other butt cheek a smack and headed into the hallway and up the stairs.
Cassie’s butt stung, but it was a sweet burn that sizzled straight to her core. She imagined both her ass cheeks sported red marks in the shape of Mike’s hand. In the dim light cast by the chandelier at the top of the stairs, Raven padded behind them, her claws silent on the carpeted runner.
Once inside her bedroom, Mike kicked the door shut. Raven gave a little snort from the other side. Moonlight streamed in through the open curtains, illuminating the room in an ethereal glow.
As Mike laid her on the bed, he followed her down, spreading her legs wide to accommodate his hips and thighs. The smooth sheets were cool beneath her, contrasting deliciously with the heat from Mike’s bare chest pressing into her breasts. He kissed her deeply and ground himself against the wet spot between her thighs. Suddenly, he pushed off the mattress and turned on the bedside lamp.
Cassie squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. She rose up on her elbows and watched him lift one pant leg, revealing a black ankle holster. The Velcro fasteners made a tearing sound as he stripped the holster away.
“You always pack heat on a date?” She raised her eyebrows in mock surprise, knowing full well that even off-duty, all streetwise cops carried a firearm. “Or were you going to shoot me if I tried to spike your dinner with hot sauce?”
“Spank you, maybe.” He smiled as he set a Glock 26 9mm onto her bedside table.
Cassie laughed while Mike kicked off his shoes and socks, but when he yanked down his pants and tight jockey shorts she nearly choked on her tongue.
Chief Michael Flannery was seriously well-endowed and seriously hard, jutting out at her like a spring-loaded diving board. She could probably hook a full-sized beach blanket on him.
Mike grabbed his pants from the floor and pulled several packets of condoms from a pocket and tossed them onto the table where they landed with a slap.
“You sure you brought enough, sailor?” Humor had become an essential part of their relationship, and she couldn’t resist teasing him.
He grinned and reached into the other pocket of his pants. Three more packets went flying onto the table. “What do you think?”
As Cassie laughed, Mike eased back onto the bed, resting his weight on his forearms and capturing her head between his hands. The tender, passionately fierce look on his face was enough to silence her.
He kissed her slowly at first, as if savoring the taste of her mouth, her lips, her very essence. Cassie slid her hands over his broad back to his ass. Her hands couldn’t reach enough of him, to feel all of him, rippling, naked, and magnificent.
When he nudged his erection between her thighs, she pushed her hips forward and upward until his hard cock was completely enveloped by her slick, wet folds. Her body throbbed and trembled from the sweet friction building in her core. Their hips ground together as she stroked him again and again, coating his length with her juices. Every cell in her body quivered as he kissed her relentlessly, his tongue again mimicking the thrust of their hips. She moaned into his mouth, nearly coming. God, how she wanted him, needed him inside her more than her next breath.
The mattress shifted beneath her as he rose and snagged one of the packets on the bedside table. He tore it open and quickly sheathed himself. He eased back onto the mattress and pushed two fingers inside her. She was so, so ready.
Her breath came in little pants, and she dug her nails deeper into his skin. He withdrew his fingers and eased himself between her legs, then inside her, a fraction of an inch at a time. Slowly, too slowly, probably out of concern of hurting her. Cassie stroked his arms and shoulders, feeling the tension and strain vibrating beneath his skin as he held himself to keep from crushing her.
Unable to wait a moment longer, she gripped his butt cheeks and pulled him inside the rest of the way, gasping as he filled her.
“Cassie, no!” Mike hissed in a breath. “Take it slower. I don’t want to hurt you.” His brows bunched and his lips pressed together, as if he was in pain.
The expression of concern etched into his features touched Cassie’s heart. She reached up to stroke his cheek. “I’m fine, and I know you would never hurt me.” She smiled, thanking her body for being so wet, or she might not have been able to accommodate him.
He let out a fierce sound from the back of his throat, his body tensing. “Jesus, do you have any idea what you do to me?” His body shuddered as he found a slow, steady rhythm, rocking into her, branding her from the inside out.
Cassie writhed and strained against Mike’s hips, trying to pull him in deeper, unable to get close enough. Uttering a throaty groan, she locked her legs around the backs of his thighs, angling her hips to take more of him. He pumped harder, his breath ragged.
Mike teased her nipples between his rough fingers until she wanted to scream from the shivers of delight his hands elicited. She arched her back and neck, pressing her nipples more firmly into his hands. He squeezed her breasts, then fastened his mouth to that erogenous zone beneath her ear and sucked.
Their hips slapped together, and Cassie heard herself gasping. Her heart raced, but she couldn’t tell if the pounding against her chest was from her or Mike. Pressed together so tightly, joined so intimately, their bodies might as well have been one.
As their skin grew slick with perspiration, the smell of sex intensified. Sex. Spice. Lilacs.
Beneath her hands, thick, powerful muscles bunched and flexed. Sweat covered Mike’s handsome face, the scar on his forehead glowing a ghostly white.
“God, Cassie.” He slid one hand beneath her back, the other through her hair, holding her head firmly as he breathed into her mouth. “Look at me, baby. I want to see you come, watch you scream.”
As the first pulse lit deep in her belly, Cassie did as he commanded.
“Let it go. I wanna feel you come around me, squeezing me.”
As he gently bit her lower lip, sucking it into his mouth, the next full-blown wave struck her core like a shaft of lightning. Even with Mike’s weight on top of her, she bucked off the bed as the most mind-blowing orgasm rocked her world. The last thing she heard was a throaty, endless scream. Hers.
“Oh, yeah. That’s it, baby.” His breath was hot on her neck as he yelled her name again and again before driving inside her with one last powerful thrust.
Cassie clung to him as they gasped for air, hearts pounding. More tiny white lights exploded, shimmering in the blackness behind her closed lids.
Never like this before. Not ever.
After several minutes, Mike raised his head and studied her from darkened blue eyes. He kissed her first on her lips, her nose, her forehead, then eased to his side, pulling her with him.
His skin was hot and damp beneath her cheek. Perspiration covered them both. His clean, spicy scent mingled with the muskiness of their sex. She ran her fingers over the ridges of his abdomen, feeling and watching his stomach rise and fall beneath her hand.
Mike grasped her fingers, and when he kissed them the unexpected gesture touched Cassie’s heart. After making love, most of the men she’d been with turned away and snored themselves to sleep. When Mike failed to do just that, she realized she might have found the kind of man she’d always dreamed of.
A man she thought she’d never find.
He skimmed his hand over her back in lazy circles. “That was amazing. But I definitely need food before we dig into those other condoms. I hope you know how to cook.”
Cassie laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.” ’Cause she sure as hell wanted the man to keep his strength up. When she began to rise from the bed, Mike’s arms tightened around her.
“I thought you wanted food.” She gave him a questioning look.
“I do, but it can wait.” He pulled her head back to his chest and let out what sounded like a contented sigh.
Cassie smiled, thinking she could definitely get used to this.
Don’t go there. I don’t have a clue how he feels about me. And I haven’t told him the truth yet.
Mike’s eyes were closed. The look on his face was peaceful, content even, and she hoped she had something to do with that. The urge to ask him questions, talk about things couples normally discussed, welled inside her like a stream about to overflow its banks. What she ought to do was tell him everything, but a remnant of fear held her back.
What if he didn’t understand? What if he didn’t want her? This was a beautiful moment, and the last thing she wanted was to ruin it. They needed more time to get to know each other better. Timing was everything.
“Why do I have the feeling you’re about to interrogate me?” Mike’s eyes remained closed, but his voice held a note of humor.
Cassie twirled her fingers in his chest hair. “Because you have excellent cop instincts.”
“How would you know?” He slanted her a cynical look.
“I watch a lot of TV. Half the shows these days are about cops.” She leaned down to kiss him, but when he tried to cup the back of her head to deepen the kiss, she twisted away.
Mike exhaled loudly through his mouth. “Okay, lady.” He stuffed another pillow under his head. “What’s on your mind?” The look on his face was one of a man about to be tortured.
“Don’t be such a baby.” She poked his rock-solid bicep. “I only want to ask you a couple of things.”
Mike tugged on her hair. “So when you have a question nothing gets in your way, but when I want answers it’s a one-way street.”
“That about covers it. I like being a woman of mystery.” Surely waiting until morning to confide her secret couldn’t hurt.
“I give up.” Mike sank deeper into the pillow. “What’s your first question, detective?”
Cassie nearly choked at his unintentional direct hit. “You’re from New York City, so how did you wind up in Hopewell Springs?”
Mike turned onto his side and began gently stroking the curve of her waist. “My parents used to take me and my sister and brothers camping here when we were kids. I keep telling them they should move up here, but they won’t leave the city and the tavern.”
“And you decided to move here out of the blue?”
His hand stilled. “Pretty much.”
“There’s more to it, isn’t there?” Cassie reached out to trace the white scar on his forehead with her fingertip. The ridge was longer than she’d first thought, extending into his hairline a good two inches. Whatever injury he’d endured must have been horrific, and her heart went out to him.
In his eyes she glimpsed the same pain she’d seen the other night after the robbery when they’d spoken on her back porch about making choices. About making mistakes.
He took a deep breath and stared blankly at the wall over her shoulder. Cassie wondered what he was really seeing, what he was reliving.
“You think you made a mistake once,” Cassie said, and when she touched his cheek his jaw tensed.
Mike shut his eyes, his forehead creasing with deep furrows. The only sound in the bedroom came from the curtains billowing against the windows. Cassie was sure he’d closed down on her. Then he laced his fingers with hers, squeezing them tightly.
“It happened six years ago.” His throat worked as he swallowed. “I was a night-shift supervisor in the South Bronx. All units were tied up, so I covered a domestic call. I should have waited for backup, but there wasn’t any close enough. A neighbor heard a woman screaming, but when I got to the apartment I didn’t hear a thing. No screaming. No TV. No kids, no nothing. I knocked and identified myself. A woman answered the door. She lied, said everything was fine. I didn’t see it that way.”
Mike took a ragged breath.
“She’d been crying. Her makeup was a mess. Her cheek was red and swollen. The floor behind her was littered with broken furniture and smashed lamps. I called again for backup, but there still wasn’t any available. I tried to get her to let me in. She refused. Said she was alone and she’d fallen down and broken things.” Mike shook his head. “She was either protecting the bastard, or he’d threatened her. Or both. I worked on her for a few minutes, and she started to give in. She was about to let me inside. That’s when I saw a shadow coming at her. I lunged into the apartment and pushed her to the floor. When I turned around, my skull exploded. I was distracted that night, and it never should have happened.”
He let go of her hand and pressed his fingers to his forehead, rubbing his scar, as if reliving the pain of his injury. Tiny lines fanned at the corners of his mouth.
Cassie rested her hand on his chest. Her throat constricted as she tried to imagine what he must have gone through. Alone, injured, unconscious. “What did he hit you with?”
“A baseball bat. Put me in a coma for a month. When I woke up, the doctors told me they’d about written me off. Too much swelling of the brain.”
Cassie knew there had to be more. “What happened to the man and woman at the apartment?”
Mike took a deep breath. “The guy killed his wife. Stabbed her with a kitchen knife thirty times. Probably because she let me inside the apartment, although I’ll never know for sure.”
“What happened to the husband?”
“Shot himself in the head. With my gun.” His eyes hardened to blue ice. “I should have waited. Should have waited for the damned backup.”
“No.” Cassie sat up. “It was a choice. You said so yourself, we can’t Monday morning quarterback. You almost died trying to save that woman. You’re a good cop. If it hadn’t happened to you that night, it would have happened some other night to someone else. When a person has that kind of violence in him, that kind of evil, it comes out sooner or later. You made the best decision you could at the time.” She cupped the side of his face in her hand. “You know that.”
Cassie gazed into Mike’s troubled blue eyes, watching the emotional battle warring inside him as if it had happened only yesterday. The events he’d described suddenly struck a chord. The NYPD was a huge department, but she had a vague recollection of the incident from news broadcasts and an internal departmental notification. Gray might even have mentioned it.
“I should have waited,” he repeated hoarsely.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Cassie gently stroked his face. “But that woman would still be dead, I guarantee it. Maybe not because you tried to help her, but because she was late getting his dinner on the table. Or because the house wasn’t cleaned to his satisfaction, or a hundred other things that might have set him off. You know it’s true.”
“Maybe.” Mike paused. “But I didn’t have my head on straight that day.”
“You said you were distracted. What about?”
“Something that happened earlier in the day.” He pulled her hand from his face and kissed her fingers. “It’s in the past.”
“Doesn’t seem like it is. Seems like it still weighs heavily on you.” Cassie wasn’t encouraged by Mike’s closed-down expression. “Last night you made me feel a whole lot better about the decisions I made at the Nest during the robbery. Let me help you this time. I’m a good listener.”
He gave her a weak smile. “Tonight wasn’t supposed to be about me unloading on you.”
“I don’t mind.” Despite wanting to make love to Mike all night, if talking was what he needed, she’d do it without question.
He tugged her down for a kiss, but she recognized it for what it was. Avoidance. It was his way of changing the subject, but she wouldn’t let him and pulled away. “Men like you have a habit of erecting solid walls around themselves and not letting anyone help them.”
Mike’s lips quirked. “Men like me?”
“The kind others rely on. The kind who spend their whole lives helping others, so when they’re in need of assistance, they don’t know how to reach for it or how to accept it when it’s given freely.” Deep worry lines creased Mike’s forehead, and Cassie knew she was hitting close to home. “It can’t be easy when you’re a born leader, respected and admired by your men and the townspeople. Everyone looks up to you, depends on you to be strong for them. That kind of man would never wear his heart or his emotions on his sleeve, and it would be hard for him to admit his own pain or fears. That takes another type of strength and courage.”
For several long moments, Mike said nothing. Then he frowned. “Last night you said I should have been a shrink, but, baby, you take the cake.”
“Yeah, well, good thing you have a thick skull or else—” Her voice cracked, and she blinked back the welling tears. The thought of Mike dying, of him not being here with her…
With the pad of his thumb, he wiped away the tear tumbling down her cheek. He eased her back to the mattress and gave her the softest, most tender kiss. She understood this was his way of dealing with the pain, and she’d give any part of her body or soul to ease his torment.
The irony of the moment was far from lost. No maybes about it, she was definitely falling in love.
With a cop.