Heart Trouble (8 page)

“I guess Pete called and told you what happened in the parking garage.”

Sean nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay? He didn’t hurt you in any way?”

She rubbed her throat. “Nothing serious. It could’ve been a lot worse if Pete hadn’t been there.”

“Did you get a look at his face?”

“Not really. It all happened so fast. He had on a dark hoodie. It looked black, but I suppose it could’ve been navy blue, with something written across the front of it in faded yellow letters.” She frowned, spacing out on him a second while she tried to remember details. “I want to think it said Navy, but I can’t be sure. The lighting’s not the best inside there, and that was made worse by the storm.”

“Can you guess at his height and weight?”

“About your size, maybe a little smaller.”

Sean hummed in acknowledgment, processing what she’d told him. Her ID badges from the hospital had been stolen with her purse. Would the guy be so bold as to try to grab her in public?

“You think it was him, don’t you?” she asked.

The short answer was yes. He didn’t want to shake her up even more, but she didn’t deserve to be lied to. “It doesn’t fit his pattern, but I don’t think we can accept that it was some random event either.” He rubbed her shin reassuringly, though he wasn’t feeling it himself. “We’ll tighten up the security detail when you’re outside your apartment.”

“That might not be necessary now. Courtney Meldon died tonight. My boss all but ordered me to take time off.”

They’d already gotten word of Courtney’s death. “I’m sorry. I know how much you love your job, and how important it is to you.”

She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, then blew it out slow through her mouth, blinking back more tears as she worked to get her emotions under control.

“I thought I could handle it. Then we had a sexual assault case, and I almost lost it right there in the exam room, staring at her battered face. She looked so empty and broken, just…gone. My hands started shaking so badly I hid in a fucking closet. I hate being afraid. I hate not knowing what’s going to happen or what to do with myself.”

She tossed back the rest of the bourbon, set the glass down on the end table. “Explain what you’ve done today while I’ve been gone. I need to hear a plan. Not in excruciating detail, but an outline.”

Sean pointed toward the door. “I installed silent alarms on the front door and the slider, so don’t open them until I show you how to switch it on or off. Luke, Tony, or Pete will come running, guns drawn, if they don’t hear otherwise from me. There will be at least one officer stationed outside your apartment at all times, if not two, and I’ll be inside.”

“Won’t you get claustrophobic, being cooped up inside without any fresh air? What about clean clothes or personal errands?”

“If I need a break, Luke will come in dressed as a pizza delivery man and we’ll switch places for a bit.” Yeah, like that was going to happen. “We’re close enough in build and looks to pass for the same person with a hat and a pair of sunglasses.”

She gave him a weak smile. “Smart. I like it, and I like pizza, so it’s perfect.”

Thunder rumbled outside, rattling the windows in their frames. The storm was settling in for the remainder of the evening, and it wasn’t expected to clear out until midday tomorrow.

“As far as communication goes, I’ve got my phone, a radio, and an earpiece for when I’m asleep.” Sean tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “We’re covered, honey. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Until he breaks in and tries to rape and kill me. What then? Will you be hiding behind a door or in a closet? What if we’re sound asleep? What if he has a weapon?” Tears pooled in her eyes again. Sean pulled her across his lap.

“First of all, we’ll know he’s coming in because one of the other officers will see him at your door. In the off chance that he was to get past them without being seen, the alarm will let me know via the earpiece when the door’s been opened. I’ll take him down before he ever gets to you.”

He prayed he wasn’t making promises he couldn’t keep. In theory, their plan was foolproof, but he knew in reality things sometimes didn’t go according to plan.

She snuggled against his chest. Other than what fell under the umbrella of his badge, Sean had never felt this protective of someone before, besides the members of his immediate family. He’d never felt so helpless as when Pete called to tell him what had happened. Had he already become that attached to her?

“Promise?” she asked.

He squeezed her tight, ignoring the matching tightness in his chest. “I promise, sweetheart.”

She felt so good in his arms, warm and soft. He could feel the tension seeping from her body, bit by bit. Her fingertips drew lazy circles on his chest, as if her mind was still chewing away at her fears. What she could use was a distraction.

Sean brushed his lips across her cheek, tasting the remnants of her tears, until his mouth found hers. She opened sweetly for him, meeting his questing tongue with hers. It didn’t take long for the fire to catch hot between them.

Erin readjusted, propping her hands on the back of the couch as she straddled his thighs. “Did you sleep at all today?” she murmured against his neck.

He gripped her hips to pull her against his swelling cock. “Couple hours. I took a nap after you left for work.” She raised her arms for him to strip her scrub top off. Underneath she wore a plain white T-shirt over her bra. “You have on too many clothes.”

“The hospital’s always cold.” Erin buried her hands in his hair and tugged, tilting his head back so she could kiss him. Her tongue caressed, explored. Deep, hot, wet. When she sucked on his bottom lip, Sean groaned.

As she broke the kiss, he reached up to slide the elastic from her ponytail. That glorious mane of silky blonde hair tumbled down around her cheeks and shoulders. He wanted to feel it caressing his bare skin, draped across his stomach, brushing over his dick.

Her hands found the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, tossed it on the couch beside them. “Do you have a condom close?”

Sean withdrew the one from his back pocket and offered it to her. She tucked it between the couch cushions near her knee, eased back, and worried her bottom lip with her teeth, thinking still.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She shook her head without answering. Coasting her palms down his chest, her hands stopped on his belt buckle. Her fingertips traced the tarnished brass, the dark leather, before she unbuckled it. He watched as she slowly slid it from his belt loops, the worn leather making a steady hissing sound as it slid across denim. Sean was certain he’d never be able to hear that sound again without thinking of her, of this moment. Every damned time he took off his jeans he’d think of Erin, which wasn’t a bad thing.

Rather than drop his belt to the floor, she held it in her hands, staring at it as she curled the supple length around her palms.

“Erin, look at me.” She raised her eyes to meet his. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want…” She swallowed hard, her chest rising and falling with her sharp, panting breaths. The pink tip of her tongue touched her top teeth. “Can I restrain you?”

Chapter Seven

Holy fuck.

He’d played around with light bondage on occasion, especially when women found out he had a pair of real handcuffs at his disposal, but Sean had never been on the receiving end of the restraints, never wanted to be. Until now. He understood why Erin had to do this, why she needed it. It would give her back a measure of control over something.

He’d sensed her need for this last night when she’d held his hands down on the couch to keep him from touching her until she could voice her thoughts. If it helped her stay calm and centered, then he could give her that.

“Whatever you need,” he said, carefully choosing his words and their inflection, not wanting to embarrass her in any way. He wanted her to know he took the request as seriously as she did.

She seemed so fragile to him right now, like she might crumble to pieces if he tapped her with a blunt object. And he knew she hated the feeling of being weak or needy. He already missed her spirit—that confident, brave woman he’d met in the bar. The one who’d later told him about what she thought he couldn’t handle, then burned as hot as the sun when he made love to her.

Sean leaned forward on the couch, placing his hands in the small of his back. Erin wound the belt around his wrists and tucked the end through the buckle. It wasn’t tight, but then it didn’t need to be. It was more an act of submission on his part. He could get free at any time if he needed to. His eyes made a quick sweep, checking for his radio, his phone, his gun—all within arm’s reach. The tiny red light was blinking steadily on the device above the door. His willingness to let her do this would also demonstrate how much faith he had in his team outside and their equipment.

“That okay?” she asked.

“It’s fine.” He relaxed back into the thick padded cushions of her couch. Lucky for him it was by far the most comfortable couch he’d ever been on.

Erin slid off his lap and stripped her blue scrub pants down her legs. Her T-shirt followed, then her bra and panties. The first real pangs of frustration hit him hard at not being able to put his hands on her incredible body. To mollify the need, he focused on satisfying some of his other senses—sight, smell, taste.

He could smell the rain on her hair, mingling with the warm, honeyed scent of her skin. There were still traces of her flavor lingering on his tongue and lips. The sight of her lush breasts, nipples pale and puckered, shut his brain down, leaving only a heavy pulse of desire humming through his veins. It almost drowned out the sounds of the storm raging outside. Rain coursed down the clear glass of the slider, rippling the moonlight that coated her body, making her look almost ethereal.

There were so many things he wanted to do to her, experience with her. Every single inch of her smooth skin needed to be touched and memorized. At some point in the future, when this nightmare was over and behind them, he would reciprocate—have
her
tied up and at his mercy to explore at his leisure. But for now, he was all hers to do with as she pleased.

She unbuttoned his jeans, and Sean lifted his hips for her to slide them and his briefs down and off his bare feet. His stiff cock rested against his stomach, achy and arrogant. Rather than straddle him again, Erin went to her knees between his feet. His breathing picked up, right along with his heart rate. God, she was breathtaking. The sight of her made his chest ache.

He watched the tip of her tongue glide across her top lip and nearly moaned. It took a concerted amount of effort not to pitch forward and capture her mouth. But this was her show now, her way of dealing with the turmoil inside her head. Her palms smoothed up his thighs in a slow path of fire on the way to his groin. When she looked up at him, her ice-blue irises appeared almost colorless around her slightly dilated black pupils.

One warm hand cupped his balls as the other encircled his shaft, tipping it away from his belly. Sean sucked in a sharp breath when she squeezed with both. A bead of fluid leaked from the head of his dick. Erin leaned forward and licked it away, making a small purring noise in her throat that echoed the groan rumbling from his chest.

“I wanted to do this last night,” she murmured, watching her hand stroke him down, then back up in a slow drag of friction. Sean watched as well, both of them caught in some erotic trance by the simple motion of her fist. His cock felt impossibly hard, the skin tight and sensitive.

She slid her hand down to the base and lowered her mouth over him. Sean willed his hips to stay put as Erin’s tongue bathed him with wetness, made him slick with her saliva. Her mouth was hot and heavenly. Immeasurable pleasure pushed heat through his midsection, made his toes curl into the rug.

It wasn’t so much the perfect suction of her mouth, the soft rasp of her tongue, or the firm grip of her hand as it was all those things being done by Erin. How breathtaking she was, lost in what she was doing to him, the creamy satin skin of her full breasts brushing his thighs, and that cascade of silky hair sliding over his hips.

When she formed a tight ring with her lips and focused on the head of his cock, Sean groaned. “Christ, Erin. That feels so fucking good.”

She hummed her assent, and the vibration caused his balls to tighten. The tip of her tongue worked the underside of his dick, traced the crown, finding every sweet spot he had. Her hand followed the slide of her mouth, using the perfect amount of pressure. Orgasm built rapidly, crawling through his groin, coiling at the base of his spine. The leather of his belt popped and creaked as he flexed his wrists, then curled his hands into fists behind his back.

Releasing him with one hand, Erin reached between her legs. Sean thought she might be touching her clit, which only made him hotter. And a little envious. He wanted to be the one to make her come, with his fingers, his mouth, his cock, but she didn’t linger. Instead, she pushed her damp fingers under his balls toward his ass. He tensed, and she lifted her head, breaking the slick seal she had on his dick.

“Do you trust me?” she asked, her voice husky.

He cocked an eyebrow, flexed his shoulders. “I let you tie me up, darlin’.”

“Then relax. I think you’ll love this,” she said, a wicked smile curving one corner of her lips.

Sean gave in to it, dropping his head back on the thick couch cushions as her mouth covered him with wet heat once again. “I already do,” he mumbled.

When the tip of her finger pushed against his tight ring of resistant flesh, he bit his lip, blocked out the alarm bells in his brain, and relaxed, letting her in.

Damn, was he ever glad he let her in.

Erin took him deep, the head of his cock bumping the back of her throat. Breathing through her nose, she swallowed around him, and Sean’s hips bucked. Her finger pushed deeper, then curled forward, finding his prostate and massaging it firmly. His hips jerked again.

“Oh, fuck. Erin, I’m done,” he said, trying to warn her, but she squeezed him harder, sucked him harder, and Sean lost it. Groaning, he emptied himself down her throat. He came and came and came. His entire body shook with the force of it, as if he’d been hit with a sizzling bolt of lightning from the storm outside.