Cop Appeal (2 page)

Her eyes widened slightly, probably because
she registered the arousal edging his words. Just as he suspected
she would, she ignored it. For all her eagerness in the beginning,
Sarah had turned out to be a bit of a coward when it came to truly
pushing boundaries. Too bad for her he was back and intended to
push them harder than ever.

She snorted and glowered at him. “I know
Meredith told you about the divorce.”

He smiled wickedly. “Then you know why I’m
here.” He tsked. “A year’s a long time to renege on a promise,
Sarah. You should have called me.”

“So you could show up gloating that much
sooner? Tell me, did the boys at the country club find it amusing
that
Sure-Thing-Sarah Larson
couldn’t even keep her own
husband satisfied?”

Any trace of amusement fled his body.

She knew he hated it when she called herself
that, not because he gave a rat’s ass how many guys she’d fucked
when she was younger but because she used the moniker to push him
away. “From what I heard, it was Richard who couldn’t satisfy
you
. The fact he screwed around so publicly was a patently
obvious cover.”

She gave him an unreadable look, keeping a
firm hand on the door.

“Is that what you think I’ve been doing,
Sarah? Discussing our personal business at the country club?” As if
he’d actually hang out at his parent’s club while he was in town.
He’d rather eat his mother’s favorite pâté, which he detested, for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“Haven’t you?” she grumbled.

“No,” he said, then tilted his head
inquisitively. “But it sure makes me wonder why you’d think that.
Was that why you ended things between us? Why you married Richard
Walters? Because he was adequately middle class? Or because you
thought I talked trash about you with the Palm Springs elite?”
Either thought pissed him off. Even if they’d only gone out a few
months before she’d met Richard, she knew him better than that.

Didn’t she?

He might have been born with the proverbial
spoon in his mouth, but he’d never felt entitled because of it. In
fact, he’d spent most of his time living his background down. He’d
never used his money or connections to hurt others. Hell, he
despised anyone who would. He’d fought his father tooth and nail to
stay out of the family business. To make his own way in the
world.
His father had even disowned him when he’d become a cop. They’d
eventually reconciled, but it hadn’t been because Luke had gone
crawling back to him. He made his own decisions and formed his own
opinions. Screw what anyone else thought. That had been just as
true when he’d gotten involved with Sarah despite what his peers
had said about her. Apparently, however, their differing
backgrounds had been a bigger deal for her than he’d known.

When he’d been sucking her nipples and going
down on her and thrusting himself into her warm, wet body, some
part of her had doubted him. That knowledge made him want to kill
someone, starting with whoever had made her believe the shit people
said about her.

Her glance momentarily flickered away before
she tilted her chin up. “I don’t need you coming over telling me
you ‘told me so.’ I’ve gotten enough of that as it is.”

She tried shutting the door again. Luke
stopped it, this time pressing inward until she was forced to step
back.

He’d let her push him away once before. He
hadn’t fought for her. Hadn’t told her just how very important to
him she’d become. Maybe it had been male pride. Or maybe he’d just
believed she’d come around. But he’d been miserable ever since and
he wasn’t about to let that happen again.

Entering her apartment, he silently closed
the door. With her flushed cheeks, glittering eyes, and disheveled
hair, she looked mad. And turned on.

Which described how he felt to a tee.

But she also looked the slightest bit
scared.

Of him? Of his changed exterior—his hair,
cropped short and the tips bleached but now growing out, his
pierced ear and his dragon tattoo on the side of his neck, all
accoutrements of his undercover life?

Or of what he made her feel?

He sure as hell hoped it was the latter
because if she really feared him—if she
really
thought he
could harm her—then there was no hope for them.

He folded his arms across his chest and
leaned back against the door, doing his best to look harmless.
“I’ll admit, I’m glad you divorced the prick.” He hadn’t known
Richard well, but he’d gone to school with him. Money aside, the
guy had always acted as if he was entitled to more than the average
human. “But I’m not gloating. I am, however, looking forward to
what comes next.”

She sighed and looked down at her unpolished
nails, feigning boredom. “I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

He smiled at her sassiness. No, she wasn’t
afraid he’d hurt her.

The look in her eyes told him she knew
exactly what he’d meant. She remembered her hasty promise…a promise
he would be collecting on. Now.

Shaking his head and making a chastising
noise, he straightened and advanced on her. She took several steps
back until she came up against a wall. Bracing a hand on either
side of her head, he leaned down until they were nose to nose. Her
scent and warmth invaded his pores, and he welcomed her in like a
crack addict getting a fix.

Too long.

He’d been without her for too long.

“Like I said, you know exactly why I’m here,
Sarah. I’m here to collect on what you promised me.”

“Promised?”

He reached out one finger and trailed it
down her cheek. Her skin felt as soft and velvety as the rose
petals she’d once sprinkled across the bed before they made love.
At the gentle contact, she closed her eyes and trembled. His dick
swelled and lengthened until the pleasure-pain was a sweet kind of
torture. “You don’t remember assuring me that Richard was exactly
who you needed? That your marriage was forever and if you ever
divorced, you’d do me a different way, every day,
my
way,
‘Monday through Sunday.’ Let me do all the ‘nasty things’ I’d
fantasized about but you’d never acquiesced to?”

Her eyes flashed open, and she batted his
hand away, making him laugh.

“I was joking. Being sarcastic! I was
pissed, Luke, and you know it.”

He stepped back. “A promise is a promise. I
told you Richard had sold you a bill of goods and the relationship
wouldn’t last. You convinced yourself otherwise and were willing to
back up that delusion with sex..sex any way that I want.

She narrowed her eyes, but looked more
turned out than angry.

It gave him the encouragement to
proceed.

“Maybe you regret it now, but I’m taking you
at your word. So you might as well get used to the idea, baby.
Because I’ve got a whole year due to me, not to mention four years
without you to make up for, and I’m not skimping on one single
second of any of it.”

***

Sarah hadn’t had sex with a man in a long
time. Over the last few lonely years, she’d convinced herself she
wasn’t interested in it. That her vibrator gave her what a man
never could—guaranteed orgasms with no strings attached. At least
it had until recently.

Be that as it may, with Luke right in front
of her—hard flesh and warm blood and smooth muscles all amounting
to a big, broad hunk of male yumminess—her body was suddenly and
vociferously protesting the idea of ever having to rely on a piece
of latex again regardless of its dimensions or fancy
capabilities.

When it came to making her long for physical
pleasure, Luke had always had the right touch.

Too right.

He’d been capable of pushing her to enjoy
things she’d never thought she’d try. The 69 position. Bondage.
Even anal sex. She’d drawn the line at letting another man into
their bed, but he’d accepted her refusal the way he did most things
in life—with good manners and good nature. In an odd way, that had
simply heightened the insecurity she’d already felt about their
relationship.

He was so…
good
.

It was why he’d become a cop, because he had
a genuine need to help others and make the world a better place. He
was willing to risk his own life to make that happen.

Deep down, she’d always known she wouldn’t
be enough to satisfy him for long. Not only was she less sexually
daring than he was and less altruistic as a general rule, but she
was the epitome of the wrong side of the tracks. So stupidly, she’d
chosen traditional, missionary sex with a man she seriously liked
even if she’d never loved him. She’d protected her heart and
thought it would be enough.

It hadn’t been.

She’d tried, but she hadn’t been able to
fake happiness with Richard.

And now, even when she’d managed to
extricate herself from that relationship, at least physically, she
still had to face Luke. Face him, as well as the truth.

He’d become even more alluring over the
years. She’d never be able to satisfy him for more than a short
time. He’d tire of her and long for something more. Someone without
a shady past. A woman he’d be proud to have for his child’s mother.
But most likely, being the good guy he was, he’d probably settle
for her—like she’d once settled for Richard. She couldn’t let that
happen.

He had her on that promise though.

She cursed her temper and how desperate
she’d been for him to believe she loved Richard. That she wanted
nothing to do with him. She’d been desperate for him to leave
before she gave into temptation, wrapped her arms around him,
declared her undying love and, in doing so, trapped Luke in a
relationship that would never truly satisfy him.

And the whole time, he’d remained calm. Told
her she was making a mistake. That no one could satisfy her the way
he could. But he’d also let her walk away from him. And because
she’d recognized the truth in his words at the same time she’d
accepted he wasn’t going to stop her, she’d lashed out without
thinking.

I love Richard, not you. I’ll be with
Richard forever. The day we get divorced is the day you can have me
all day, every day, anyway you want…Monday through Sunday.”
She’d stepped closer to him.
“I’ll even do all the nasty stuff
you’ve fantasized about but I haven’t let you do. That’s how sure I
am that Richard is not a mistake, but is where I belong.”

Now here he was, holding her to her word.
And she was still too rattled by his sudden appearance and by the
craziness of Richard’s behavior to think straight. Her body wanted
one thing and her mind didn’t know what to think. Luke had barely
even touched her and she was ready to—

She moaned when he raised his hand and
cupped her breast. She’d answered the door braless, in her thin
cotton tee, which could have been smoke for all the protection it
offered against his touch. He filled his palm with her flesh,
squeezing and lifting before pinching her nipple firmly between his
fingers.

She felt the pull between her legs, a sharp
burst of sensation that was almost orgasmic in its intensity. “Oh
God, Luke. Don’t—” She whimpered when he pinched even harder and
tugged, at the same time kneading her other breast and kissing her
throat. Involuntarily, her head fell back, giving him better
access.

It would be so easy to give in to him. To
reacquaint herself with this stranger with familiar blue eyes, yet
an unfamiliar ride and dangerous tattoo. But what would happen when
she started to love him again? How could she walk away a second
time and not have it kill her?

“Don’t what, Sarah?” he crooned. “Don’t
pleasure you? Don’t fuck you? Fucking you has been all I’ve dreamed
about for years. Fucking you’s exactly what you’re hoping I’ll
do?”

His arrogance momentarily prodded her to
pull away. “You bastard, how dare you—”

He shut her up by tugging her against him
and covering her mouth with his. Then he used everything he had to
show her what a desirable bastard he still was.

His lips.

His tongue and teeth.

The thrust of his hips against hers, so that
his swollen cock nestled between her thighs with lustful
eagerness.

He angled his mouth over hers. She forgot
his arrogance and instead reveled in tasting him again. In being in
his arms. In being given a second chance at happiness.

Happiness
?

Sarah gasped and raised her hands to Luke’s
shoulders to push him away.

Exactly what did she think was happening
here? Did she think just because Luke had shown up wanting to have
sex with her that anything had changed? That they were going to
live happily ever after this time? Had she lost her mind?

Even if there was a remote possibility that
Luke wanted that, even if she convinced herself she could fulfill
Luke the way he deserved, Richard would never let it happen.

Plus, Luke was an undercover cop. He worked
to save people all the time. He didn’t deserve to be dragged into
her problems. He didn’t deserve to deal with someone like Richard.
Not just for another roll in the sack with
Sure-Thing-Sarah
.
Not when she knew Luke’s honor might compel him to hurt Richard,
jeopardizing his own career and life in the process.

“…amazing. I’ve never felt anything better
than you,” he murmured against her. “Never tasted anything sweeter
than your mouth and skin. I want more, Sarah. I want you. On top of
you. Against you. Inside you. God, I want that more than life
itself.”

Thoughts of Richard evaporated, but she
closed her eyes anyway, trying to protect herself from the allure
of Luke’s words. It didn’t matter. They oozed inside her, sinking
through her flesh to warm her bones, and making her dizzy with the
kind of lust she hadn’t felt in years. Her hands, which had been
pushing against his shoulders, now kneaded them, then explored over
the hard, chiseled planes of his chest.