Arrested Pleasure (3 page)

A stranger was touching her intimately.

She jerked, fully intending to pull away.

"No babe, let's finish this."

Cassie untangled her tongue and lips from his and stared at him. "No—" She couldn't let him get this close to her. She didn't know his name.

"Shh . . ." He placed his free hand onto her lower lip, stroking the delicate skin, while his other hand continued to caress her behind. "Don't ask questions. Just ride the sensation." He lowered his head and claimed her mouth again.

In the back of her mind Cassie told herself this was wrong. The only thing she knew about him was Gavin and he were somehow friends. But the heat of her pulsing body was overruling her reservations.

His finger dipped underneath the thong and into the crevice of her ass. Her legs faltered, and she sagged against him as an overwhelming sensation hit her.

Suddenly, he hoisted her higher, bracing her against the wall of the house and spreading her legs wide apart. Surprised by his actions, she reacted by wrapping her legs around his waist, forcing the heat of her desire against the bulge at his crotch.

This only made her more accessible to him, and he took full advantage. He tugged at the miniscule scrap of her cotton thong. His strong hands were not a match for the flimsy material as her panties ripped apart. She shuddered in reaction. God, she loved a man who took control during sex. Lowering her head, she nipped his neck as a rush of air hit her most sensitive area.

Now using both hands, he brazenly explored her nether regions. He dipped his hands under her ass cheeks using his fingers as to spread her apart. She shuddered when he brushed against the wetness that oozed there. He continued to explore while she bit his neck to keep from shouting out. His fingers drifted upward, until he swirled a single digit inside and found her hot button.

"Yes . . . ." She moaned as shivers racked her body.

"You like that?"

Cassie nodded and closed her eyes. She couldn't respond in either coherent thoughts or words right now. White lights of fiery sparks danced against her eyelids.

His fingers continued to stroke her heat. Wetness built, and she sensed she was about to go off like a volcano.

Without warning, two fingers thrust inside her molten center, causing her body to jerk again. He pulled out slightly, before pushing back in. He appeared bent on tormenting her until she dissolved into a quivering mass.

"Please," she panted
. "Finish
. . . ." Cassie gasped the words against his neck.

His chest reverberated as he chuckled. "I told you we'd finish this, babe," he replied, as his fingers continued to push in and out. He braced her against the hard surface and held her in place. His fingers pinched her clit, sending shockwaves vibrating upward into her body.

"No. Now. Need—" She groaned as she pulsed against his fingers, the sensation of need rushing at her. She tried to fight it, but it slammed into her like an out of control train.

"Don't hold back. Let it go," he cajoled her, his fingers thrusting deeper. "Come on, babe, let me take you over."

His words faded out as the first flash of an orgasm spread throughout her body.

The climax hit her so hard she lost all recognition of her surroundings.

In the arms of a stranger she'd just met.

But that didn't matter now as her body quaked and the spasms rolled through her veins. She bit back a scream, collapsing her face into his shoulder. Wave after wave of pleasure tore through her.

As the shivers faded, he gently lowered her legs to the ground. Though a bit unsteady, she could stand. In the silent aftermath, she faintly became aware of her location. Outside on a patio. In a stranger's arms.

The backyard was private, but she realized if any one of the neighbors happened to glance over the fence and spot them . . .

"Oh. My. God." She dragged her skirt back down to cover herself. Her thong lay in ruins on the ground at her feet.

The man beside her had a satisfied smile on his face. "Good, wasn't it?" he asked her.

She stared at him, speechless for a moment. Good couldn't begin to describe what happened. Yet it frightened her.

She opened her mouth to respond when the ringing of a phone pealed from inside the house.

"Oh, hell," he muttered. "I need to get that. I'm expecting an important call." He started to open the door, but paused, watching her intently. "Stay there. It should only take a minute." He smiled. "We'll continue in a few moments and pick things back up."

Then he disappeared inside.

The ringing stopped, and Cassie heard his deep voice talking to someone.

She gazed around the backyard. The birds chirped and the shadows of shade had begun to darken the area. She shivered slightly. June normally wasn't a very warm month, and after the rain earlier, it felt even cooler against her heated skin.

Yet the coolness acted like a bucket of cold water and made her realize she'd made a grave mistake in letting a total stranger do things to her body that she had no control over.

Cassandra Nichols was always in control of her emotions.

Reaching down, she grabbed her ruined thong and picked up the package. The cock ring was still in his pocket and no way did she plan to stick around to ask him for it back.

Not bothering to say goodbye or let him know she was leaving, she hurried across the deck and out the gate. Within seconds she started her car and shot off like a cannon into the street. A passing car honked at her when she pulled in front of a driver onto the main thoroughfare.

She had to get as far away as possible after treading dangerous water with that man, a man she didn't even have a name for. This wasn't something she normally did, nor did she ever act without conscious thoughts. He made her feel something she'd never experienced before—out of control.

And the idea scared the hell out of her.

"Hell, if I had a dollar for every prostitute who told me her pimp was like a father to her, I'd be rich and retired now instead of sitting here drinking cold coffee."

Gabe Banks rubbed his nose as he listened to his partner, Charles "Chaz" Rush.

"You bet. They have to make excuses for what they do." Gabe realized their excuses were lame, but money sometimes did that to people.

Chaz shook his head and tossed his half-empty paper cup into the nearby trash.

They were in the middle of processing paperwork after helping to book several hookers who'd been picked up near Burnside. They were part of the vice squad desk division.

Their duties weren't as exciting as going undercover to apprehend the girls and their johns, but a necessary task. "I know, but when a sixteen-year-old gazes at me with forty-something eyes, I get a pain in the chest thinking what their 'daddy' has put them through."

Gabe's gut tightened at Chaz's words. It was the truth. He'd seen enough in his ten years working vice squad to recognize how easy it was for men to persuade women to sell their bodies. Money and drugs were the big draws.

"That's why we arrest them and hope they realize selling sex is wrong."

"Yeah." Chaz grimaced at the cup in his hand. "Provided they live long enough."

"I agree, yet sometimes it takes getting beat up for them to spot the truth.

Nothing we can do otherwise." Gabe shrugged and turned back to his computer screen.

He had reports to finish and chatting with Chaz wasn't going to write them.

He heard the scrape of Chaz's chair. "Still sickens me, and I want to shove my fist down the pimp's throat. The john's too, since they paid for the sex."

Gabe squinted at the screen, the words blurry as his vision filled with memories of his mother, Dianna. He wished he'd done the same thing to the man who provided the heroin that killed her. Maybe his mother would still be alive.

Chaz wasn't finished. "Here's an example. Check out this one. Olivia Sanchez, age twenty-three. Says here she has a kid. A little girl who's only seven. Bet within ten years the girl will be on the street selling her body."

Gabe glanced at Chaz, who continued to read the arrest report. They were familiar with Olivia Sanchez. She was one of the small numbers who stuck around Portland rather than head north to Seattle or south to California. She had a rap sheet, mostly prostitution. Each time she swore she only sold her body for sex because of her child and promised she'd be done with criminal activity.

Of course, no one bought her claim she'd turn straight. They rarely did.

Maybe a little chat with Ms. Sanchez was due. "Is she in holding? Or has her pimp bailed her out already?"

"Nah . . . her pimp probably isn't up yet. It's still morning. You want me to have Dickens bring her up, and we have a little interrogation?"

"Sure. Wouldn't hurt. Throw a little scare into her and make her think about her little girl for once."

Chaz picked up his phone to ring the jail. While they waited, Gabe returned to his report, yet his mind kept wandering back to yesterday.

He still didn't have her name. He'd been too busy this morning to ring Gavin and find out who his friend was that left interesting tokens behind.

He smiled as he recalled the look of pleasure on her beautiful face as he'd brought her to a climax. She was a beauty with her long black hair and exotic looks.

Dark brown eyes that had flared in anger when she'd discovered Gabe there instead of Gavin. Plus, those hot, smoking long legs. When she'd wrapped them around his waist yesterday afternoon . . .

He glanced over at Chaz, but he was busy reading reports between grimaced sips of the newly poured cup of lukewarm coffee. He wasn't sure why his friend didn't make a new batch of brew.

They'd worked together for a while, and normally Gabe shared his personal life with Chaz, but something in him wanted to keep the info a secret until he knew more about the dark-haired beauty. He hoped Gavin would give him her phone number.

Not that Gabe didn't date, but it'd been a while since he felt the urge to make love to a woman. Something about her yesterday had sent him out of control. Watching her come had almost set him off like a rocket. Then the blasted phone had rung. If the caller hadn't been Chaz to update him on a case, he'd have let it ring.

By the time he'd hurried through his call and gone back outside, Mystery Lady had taken off. He'd cursed a blue streak. She'd left before he learned her name and obtained her phone number.

The door swung open and a woman with shoulder-length dark hair paused in the doorway, a jail guard at her elbow. Olivia Sanchez stood barely stood five-feet three inches tall. Her eyes flashed wariness as she glanced around the room.

"Come on in, Olivia." He motioned for her to sit in the chair across from him.

She gave him a slight smile, no doubt recognizing him from earlier "visits" to the Portland Police Department. She slid silently into the chair, with a nod of acknowledgment to Chaz, a curious expression on her face. They didn't usually bring hookers up here. She probably wondered what was up.

Gabe leaned forward and tapped his pen on the desk, considering his words. She gazed back at him with eyes that spoke of maturity learned early on the tough streets.

"This is your fifth arrest. If we had room in the jail, we could easily keep you here a while."

She dipped her head, not bothering to acknowledge his words.

Scared. Good. What he'd hoped for.

"But we won't. You have a little girl." Gabe shuffled papers on his desk. "I'm sure child protective services might be interested to learn you left your little girl alone last night."

Her head whipped up. "No." She shook her head. "I don't leave her alone." She hesitated and flicked a glance at Chaz, then back to Gabe. "We have a home, and the lady there takes good care of my little girl. My baby's smart. She's"—a sob muffled her words—"she's not going to end up on the streets like her mama."

Gabe and Chaz exchanged looks.

"Where are you staying?" Gabe only hoped the girl was with someone decent.

"Rosa Miller's shelter. It's—"

"I'm familiar with the place," Gabe interjected. "Rosa's a good woman. I'm glad you're staying there. Though I thought Rosa frowned on her tenants working the streets?" An elderly woman who took in homeless people and helped them out as long as they remained clean, Rosa was well known and respected by the police department.

Olivia's eyes lowered. "She's not aware. I'm working at a sandwich shop and taking classes at PSU, but that doesn't pay all the bills. I told her last night I was going out with friends." She gazed at Chaz and Gabe, her dark eyes pleading for mercy.

"Please. Please don't tell her I'm hooking again. She'd kick me out, and we won't have a place to go."

"I won't tell her, but you need to stop this. Go to welfare and get some aid," Gabe told her. "What about your child's father? Can't he help?"

Her expression darkened. "Sienna's father is nobody. He doesn't care, and that's the way I want it."

Gabe let the issue drop. Without pressing further, he suspected Sienna's father was likely one of her many johns. He'd seen the situation too many times to realize it was better not to find the father.

"How about I take you home?" he asked her gently. "We can take my car. It's unmarked. Rosa won't know it's a cop bringing you home. I'm sure she's worried about you."

Olivia bit her lip, assessing their promise to not rat on her to Rosa. She must have decided they could be trusted, because she finally nodded and rose. "Can we leave soon? I miss my baby."

"Done." He quickly signed her release papers and grabbed his jacket off the hook.

"See you later," he told Chaz, who only grunted and returned to working reports.

With a light touch on Olivia's back, Gabe escorted her out the door. This was one drive he planned to enjoy. Reunite a mother and child.

* * * * *

"You didn't say what kind of reaction Gavin had to your latest present."

Cassie paused at Dani's question. She'd worked hard all morning trying to balance the spa's books. She didn't want to think about what had happened yesterday afternoon. Her face heated recalling her involuntary response to a stranger's erotic touch. Damn, the man knew how to pleasure a woman.