STORY EXCERPT

Harrison dropped to the floor and scooted under the table next to her. Gina could think of worse places to be stuck during a tornado warning than under a table with a gorgeous cop, but she’d still rather it be under better circumstances. “Where were your detectives going with Thayer and Evan in the middle of a tornado? Did they find her?”

He glanced at her sharply but didn’t say a word.

“Why didn’t you go with everyone?”

“I’m desk sergeant tonight. Someone has to stay here.”

“What’s a 207?”

He didn’t answer, and his expression gave away nothing.

“You might as well tell me, Harrison. I won’t stop asking.”

“Maybe I should throw you into a cell then?”

She crossed her arms. “Maybe you should.”

He gave her a look of complete exasperation. “Gina, are you always like this?”

“Yes.”

The light in his eyes danced and the corners of his mouth turned up again. “You must give them all hell down at City Hall.”

“Only when they don’t give me what I need to do my job.”

He gave her a thoughtful look. “It must be horrible working for the mayor.”

“It is.”

“I’ll bet you keep him on his toes.”

The wind began to howl outside, and Gina shivered as she imagined Cherilyn outside in this. “Harrison, please tell me what’s happening. I’m so afraid for her.”

Harrison’s gaze softened and he put an arm around her, pulling her close. Gina breathed in the faint scent of his aftershave and shivered again, only this time it wasn’t from fear. She’d fantasized about this man so often that he’d be shocked if she told him even half the things they’d done together in her dreams.

Olivia said he’d changed since his divorce two years earlier. He’d been badly burned by Sylvia and practically lived like a hermit now. Gina would love to bring him out of his shell, but she’d been burned a time or two herself and was no longer in the mood to be the pursuer. It never seemed to turn out well. It would be nice to have a man chase her for a change.

“If I tell you, you have to swear to me that you will never rat me out. I mean it, Gina. I’d lose my job.”

His voice was soft but commanding. It sent a delicious tingle straight to her pussy to realize he trusted her so much. She drew in a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “I promise not to say anything.” And she never would. If there was one thing Gina knew how to do well, it was to keep a promise.

“Not even to Olivia?”

Gina sighed. “You drive a hard bargain, Harrison.”

A flicker of fear passed over his face.

“I was teasing. Seriously, I promise. Not one word. Not even to Olivia.”

* * * *

Harrison seriously wanted to kiss the dark-haired beauty huddled next to him. Then again, every time he saw Gina Santori he wanted to kiss her, among other things. The fact that she was one of his sister’s friends only made things worse. Because Olivia treated him as her personal gossip depository, she kept him abreast of every piece of knowledge, real or rumored, that passed through City Hall, including Gina’s disaster of a dating life.

Olivia was one of the administrative assistants at City Hall, like Cherilyn, and she and Gina had been friends for years. Gina was in charge of IT for the entire city, and Olivia always described her as one of the ballsiest women she’d ever met, but also one of the most loyal. Once you had her friendship, you had it for life.

But every time Gina so much as had lunch with a guy, Olivia felt the need to tell Harrison all about it. It was torture for him, but then again he’d never done anything about his long-standing crush on her, so there was no one else to blame for his unrequited lust.

“Well?” She looked at him with narrowed eyes, as if she now believed he wasn’t going to tell her after all. He shouldn’t say anything, but he knew she was terrified for Cherilyn.

“They tracked her through her cell phone. She’s only ten minutes from here.”

“Oh, Harrison.” He thought for a split second that Gina was going to throw her arms around him, but then she reined it in. “Why couldn’t you just tell me that? That’s good, right? They found her. She’ll be okay now.”

“Not exactly.”

The expression on her face nearly broke his heart. She put a hand to her mouth. Her luscious mouth with full lips that begged to be kissed. “Oh my God…is she—”

“No, no, Gina. That’s not what I meant. We have no reason to believe she’s dead.”

She punched him in the arm. “Don’t scare the shit out of me like that. I don’t care if you are a cop.”

He rubbed his arm, but in reality it hadn’t hurt that much. “I could arrest you for that.” The thought of Gina in handcuffs made his dick hard.

“Harrison, please stop playing games and tell me the rest of it.”

“We think a man named Jay Nichols has her. He served with Chuck, and is AWOL. We also think he’s the man who broke into The Fit Bod and hacked into their computer a few weeks ago.”

Gina blinked a few times, and he watched her carefully. She visibly swallowed, and he guessed the words had sunk in. From the way her bottom lip began to quiver, Harrison was certain she was going to cry. He wasn’t sure he could handle that, and not because he hated it when women cried. If Gina began to cry, he’d melt like butter and do something he most definitely should not do.

The tornado sirens stopped wailing, but she didn’t move. There was now no sound outside, which was more ominous than the thunder and wind had been. He faintly heard noises from inside the station, but Gina’s quick breathing next to him was louder.

She looked into his eyes. “If he has her…is she going to be all right?”

“I don’t know, Gina. I wish I did.”

He knew it was wrong. He knew this was the worst possible time to listen to his pecker instead of his brain, but he couldn’t help himself. She looked so lost and vulnerable, and she smelled so damn good, that he didn’t stop to think about what he was doing. He merely leaned over and kissed her.

ADULT EXCERPT

“We’re walking, Gina.” Harrison’s tone of voice reminded her of the way he’d spoken to her last Saturday. Gina hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that night, and now it all came back in delicious detail as he led her across the room. He bent her over what felt like a spanking bench, and she sighed in anticipation.

Soft leather cuffs were attached to her wrists, and then he fastened them to the bench. This time she didn’t even try to stop the soft moans that escaped her throat. This was more intense than the handcuffs last week had been because this time she couldn’t move her arms. They were secured to the side of the bench.

“Do you remember the safeword we agreed on?” His breath was warm against her ear.

“Yes, Sarge.”

“Good. I’m going to take off your panties, Gina. You’re facing sideways, but Zach is close. Are you all right with that? Last chance to abort the mission.”

She almost giggled at his use of the expression “abort the mission,” but she didn’t want either of them to think she was laughing at Harrison. Far from it. The idea of Zach sitting that close and being able to see her naked ass sent a wave of passion coursing through her body. “I’m all right with it, Sarge.”

She heard movement to her right and wondered if Zach had stood up. She could see absolutely nothing through the blindfold. Harrison lifted her skirt and she heard someone’s sharp intake of breath, but she couldn’t tell which man had done it. Harrison caressed the delicate fabric. “These are so fucking hot. I hate to take them off.”

“They are very sexy, but if I were you I’d remove them,” said Zach. He sounded very close. She tried to remember where she’d noticed the spanking bench in relation to the sofa when she’d first walked in, but her thoughts were no longer as clear as they’d been earlier. “They’ll get wet anyway.”

Oh my God. As soon as he said that, a gush of wetness rushed to her pussy. Gina could smell leather. Had she been able to earlier? She couldn’t remember. Harrison pulled down the panties and asked her to step out of them.

“But I’m leaving the socks and shoes on,” he said. His voice dripped with lust, and Gina was suddenly so aroused she could hardly stand it.

“Oh, I agree,” said Zach. “The whole look is so fucking hot that it just begs you to punish her ass for being such a bad girl.”

She moaned loudly this time. She simply couldn’t help it. Someone chuckled softly. Who had that been? Did it matter? Harrison massaged her ass cheeks and lightly slapped each one several times, and then he put soft cuffs around her ankles and told her to step apart. She did, and it sounded like he’d fastened those cuffs to the bench as well. She was trapped, forced to submit to whatever he did to her. And whatever Zach did, for that matter.

Gina was used to being in control. Even last Saturday when Harrison had handcuffed her, she hadn’t felt like this. She hadn’t felt vulnerable and exposed. What had Zach said? That it was time for her to relinquish control? She realized now he hadn’t only been talking about control of a scene or a situation. He was talking about being restrained so that she couldn’t escape without using a safeword. She couldn’t move away. She couldn’t move, period, except for her head.

“Gina, baby, you look so fucking sexy like this.” Harrison’s voice flowed through her like warm honey. She’d always loved his voice. “I wish you could see yourself.”

“Want me to take a picture or two?”

Gina counted three seconds of silence, and then Harrison’s slightly hesitant voice answering, “Yeah. Sure. Okay.”

“Don’t worry,” said Zach. “Gina knows I wouldn’t do anything with them. I’d be committing career suicide if I did. Right, Gina?”

“Yes, Sir.” What else could she say? He was right. He knew she’d pin his ass to the wall if he violated their trust. With the sound of a cell phone camera clicking softly in the background, Harrison began to brush the leather tails of a flogger against her ass cheeks. At least, she assumed that’s what he was using. She’d never actually seen the one he’d mentioned buying.

When he swung it and it struck both cheeks at once, she cried out softly. Several strikes later, her ass cheeks felt toasty warm and her pussy was so wet that she was certain they could both see her juices by now. Her ass was up in the air and her legs were spread, after all.

“Move in a little closer,” said Zach. “And try the figure eight we practiced.” His voice came directly from her right side now. He couldn’t be more than a few inches away. She swallowed hard as his words sunk in. They’d practiced? Harrison had practiced with this thing? And Zach had shown him how to throw it?

The stinging on her ass cheeks now felt as though someone were striking them at hyper speed. She could actually hear the flogger whistling through the air. She tried to hold back her sighs and moans because Zach was right there, but she couldn’t. It hurt, but it also felt so fucking good. She liked it much better than the spanking. Her clit throbbed and her nipples ached to be touched.

“That’s good,” said Zach. “See how her skin is nice and red now? This is a good time to back off again and just brush the tails across her, like this.”

Like this? Was Zach the person now trailing the leather against her bare ass? Gina moaned again, and now her breathing was becoming more difficult. This was more arousing than she’d been able to imagine. She wanted it to be Zach. She wanted both of them to flog her.