Forbidden Fires Read online

  Forbidden Fires

  By Jodie Griffin

  Book three of Bondage & Breakfast

  A year ago, Detective Delia Robinson and Fire Marshal Colin Butler got up close and personal while working a case. But their sizzling relationship didn’t last. Now there’s a serial arsonist on the loose, and it’s up to Delia and Colin to bring him down—if they can resist their attraction long enough to concentrate on the investigation.

  Delia quickly sees the connection between the crime scenes: elements of BDSM. Though she denies it, Colin is stunned by the realization that his former lover is aroused by the idea of bondage play. And suddenly he can’t stop fantasizing about being the one to bind her…

  Unsure how Colin would react, Delia never revealed her desire to be dominated in the bedroom. But she’ll finally have the chance to find out when they go deep undercover—as a married couple at a B&B offering classes in domination and submission…

  Look for Forbidden Fantasies and Forbidden Desires, available now.

  52,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  April is when the romance conference season really starts to get busy for me. Every spring, I attend the RT Book Reviews convention, a gathering of about 500 authors, readers and publishing professionals who come together to celebrate their love of both romance and genre fiction. Each year, I come away from that conference, and the many others I attend that are focused on the love of books (like the Lori Foster Reader Get Together in Ohio), with a renewed enthusiasm for diving back into my to-be-read pile. As well as a long list of authors and books to add to that to-be-read pile! But because it’s a busy travel time of year for me, that also means more time on the plane and in airports for reading.

  Maybe you’re like me—traveling to conferences and in need of some plane reading. Or maybe you just need one more book to add to your to-be-read pile. Possibly you’ve got a newborn baby who keeps you up at night and gets you up early in the morning, and you need something you can read on the ereader in one hand while the baby is in the other. Or perhaps you’re just in search of a good book. You’re in luck; our April books can fill all those needs!

  The first book in our newest genre addition, New Adult, releases this month. If you love contemporary romance, sports romance, a (mostly) Jewish, spunky heroine and a hero who will make your heart melt, you’ll want to read Rush Me by debut author Allison Parr.

  This month, I’m pleased to introduce the first book in a six-book series written by four authors. Ginny Glass, Christina Thacher, Emily Cale and Maggie Wells kick off a series of contemporary romance short story collections with Love Letters Volume 1: Obeying Desire. Each volume will center around a different seriously sexy theme. I’ll bet you can’t guess what the theme of the first volume is, with a title like Obeying Desire! Look for the second volume, Love Letters Volume 2: Duty to Please, releasing in May 2013.

  Fans of contemporary romance will enjoy Saved by the Bride, the first book in a new trilogy by RITA® Award-winning author Fiona Lowe. Who knew that being a klutz and combining it with a distrust of wedding bouquets could lead to a black eye?

  Joining Fiona and Allison in the contemporary romance category is Kate Davies, with Cutest Couple, book two in Kate’s high-school reunion trilogy, Girls Most Likely to… Look for the conclusion of the trilogy, Life of the Party, in May 2013.

  Co-authors Anna Leigh Keaton and Madison Layle deliver another scorching Puma Nights story with Falke’s Renegade, while Jodie Griffin joins them in heating up your ereader with her third erotic BDSM Bondage & Breakfast book, Forbidden Fires.

  On the paranormal and science fiction front, we have a number of titles for fans. Veteran author Kate Pearce begins a new series with Soul Sucker, in which Moonlighting meets The X-Files in San Francisco Bay and two worlds collide. Kat Cantrell, winner of Harlequin’s 2011 So You Think You Can Write contest, joins Carina Press with her first science fiction romance, Mindlink, while returning author Eleri Stone gives us another jaguar shifter in Lost City Shifters: Rebellion, book three in this compelling series.

  Clockwork Mafia by Seleste deLaney brings us back to the Western steampunk world of Badlands. Inventor Henrietta Mason is retiring from airships and adventuring to return home to Philadelphia. Determined to erase all trails leading to her late father’s duplicity, she dismantles his lab and removes all records of the Badlands gold. And last but certainly not least in the paranormal category, Night of the Dark Horse by Janni Nell continues the adventures of Allegra Fairweather, paranormal investigator.

  This month, Bronwyn Stuart follows up her fantastic debut historical romance, Scandal’s Mistress, with her unique regency romance, Behind the Courtesan, featuring—you guessed it—a courtesan heroine.

  On the non-romance side, Jean Harrington brings us the third Murders by Design cozy mystery installment, Killer Kitchens.

  And joining Carina Press with an epic fantasy trilogy, Angela Highland tells the story of a half-elven healer with no control over her magic. Faanshi has always been a pawn of the powerful, but after healing two mysterious and very different men, she faces a choice that may decide the fate of a whole kingdom. If you love fantasy, pick up Valor of the Healer, book one in the Rebels of Adalonia trilogy.

  As you can see, April is full of books to distract you wherever you are, whatever you’re supposed to be doing, and even if you have a baby in your arms. I hope you enjoy these titles as much as we’ve enjoyed working on them.

  We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to [email protected]. You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  www.carinapress.com

  www.twitter.com/carinapress

  www.facebook.com/carinapress

  Dedication

  To N. and E.

  My heart is yours.

  Acknowledgements

  Writing is a pretty solitary gig, unless you spend a lot of time using social media. Many thanks to all the fabulous Carina Press authors who make online time so much fun, with a special shout out to Cathy Pegau and Debra Kayn, who keep me (mostly!) sane.

  And, as always, thank you to Angela James, the Carina Press team and Deb Nemeth, editor extraordinaire. You rock!

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  “Nice job out there tonight. We made some solid arrests.”

  Delia rolled her eyes at her temporary partner. “Good thing too. I’d hate to think I dressed like this for nothing. Next time, you get to be the bait.”

  “In your dreams, Robinson.” Roy’s laughter drifted over his shoulder as he turned into the squad room to start working on their arrest reports.

  Exhaustion dogged her stiletto-clad feet as she headed toward the women’s locker room. She couldn’t wait to get out of her undercover getup and into a hot shower. Pulling a double shift that involved dressing in skin-baring clothes, a platinum-blond wig and three inches of makeup made for a hellishly long day.

  A short time later, cleaned up and back in her street clothes, she sat at her desk in the nearly deserted squad room, sta
ring dejectedly at the pile of papers Roy had left for her.

  She pushed them away, leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, shutting out the sounds around her with an ease born of practice. She sighed with relief. Five minutes of downtime. Five minutes to shake off the slime of the street. Five minutes before tackling the mountain of paperwork from today’s arrests. Five short minutes. That was all she needed.

  One measly minute into her self-imposed time-out, the phone rang. She groaned and reached for the phone. The display read Chief’s Office. And when the chief called, you answered. Immediately. “Detective Robinson.”

  “My office. Now.”

  Yikes. His growled order didn’t sound good. Rather than waiting for the elevator, she tore up the stairs, welcoming the rush of adrenaline. By the time she reached his office, all thoughts of her five-minute respite were gone. She took a deep breath and knocked on his door.

  “Come in, Detective.”

  Her mind raced to figure out what she might have done to warrant a call from her boss. She stood in front of his desk at as relaxed attention as she could manage, her hands clasped tightly behind her back. Warning bells went off in her head as he cleared his throat and narrowed his gaze. “Sir?”

  “The State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating a serial arson case and asked to borrow you for the assignment. They were impressed with your work on the bombing task force last year and thought you’d make a good temporary addition to their team. I agreed. You’ll be on loan to them for the duration. The deputy fire marshal will fill you in on the case.”

  The State Fire Marshal’s office? Oh, no. No, no, no. But a movement by the windows to her left stopped the automatic denial that wanted to spring free from her mouth. She swiveled her head and felt the floor drop out from underneath her. It was proof of her exhaustion that she’d completely missed the man standing there, leaning casually against the window frame. Too bad, because she could’ve used the time to brace herself.

  Deputy Fire Marshal Colin Butler.

  “Hello, Delia.”

  Colin’s voice was smooth and rich like chocolate, and it set off every nerve ending in her body, as it had the short time they’d been lovers. And damn it, she hated that he still had that effect on her. It had been nearly a year. She should be over him by now.

  A long, tense moment passed while she tried to regain her equilibrium. “Colin.”

  The chief raised an eyebrow and she berated herself for the breathlessness that tinged her voice.

  In spite of that, she couldn’t stop herself from giving Colin a quick once-over or deny the shiver that ran through her as she did it. He looked the same as he had a year ago, although the cast on his arm—a souvenir from one of the bomb blasts—was gone. His hair was still thick, sun-streaked light brown and his eyes were still the same hazel as a stormy ocean. Sexy as ever, but that shouldn’t matter. They’d had their time together, and it was over.

  Colin pushed away from the wall. “I asked for Delia to be included in this operation. She was an asset to the case last year, and we can really use a new set of eyes looking at the crime scenes and the evidence.”

  She froze. He’d asked for her?

  The chief nodded, satisfaction on his face. “Great. You can use the conference room down the hall to get things squared away. Before you get started, I need a minute with my detective.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.” Colin exited the room, closing the door behind him.

  She let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. It seemed whenever she was in the same room with Colin, there wasn’t enough air to go around. That had been true a year ago, and it was true now.

  The chief got up from his chair and came around his desk, leaning against it, watching her with sharp eyes. “I agreed to the loan because you’re good at your job, but you’re still family. I want you to watch your back. Not just on the case, but with Butler.” He frowned, and his all-too-knowing gaze hardened into that of a protective uncle. “I get the feeling there’s more than just work history between the two of you. Be careful.”

  His words brought a flood of memories to her mind, rolling through her brain as if she were watching a movie with flashbacks. The long weekend she and Colin spent at the beach. The first time they’d made love. Reading the Sunday paper together in bed. The bomb blast that had broken his arm. The vicious arguments. She shuddered and pushed the memories away, both the good ones and the bad ones.

  Her uncle Joe hadn’t made chief by being stupid, and he’d obviously caught the intimate undercurrents between her and Colin. Still, her sex life wasn’t something she wanted to discuss with either her boss or her uncle. She stepped forward and leaned into him for a quick hug. “I always am.”

  As she left his office, she decided to ignore the clamoring of her body and listen to her head instead. Something she should have done the first time she’d met Colin. Then maybe her heart wouldn’t ache quite as much right now.

  * * *

  Colin waited for Delia in the hall, pacing back and forth. Well, that had gone better than he’d expected. He’d figured she’d tear into him for the way things had ended between them. Then again, maybe she didn’t want witnesses to the massacre. The snarky thought made him grimace.

  It had been eleven months since he’d seen her last, but her impact on him hadn’t lessened in the least. God, she was still beautiful, with dark red hair that fell past her shoulders, creamy pale skin, unbelievably green eyes and a body that wouldn’t quit. Even the Frederick Police Department’s casual uniform of khaki pants and unisex polo shirt couldn’t hide the curve of her hip or the slope of her generous breasts. She was sexy in the uniform and drop-dead gorgeous out of it.

  It was cold comfort realizing she seemed to be as affected by him as he was by her, if the unguarded way she’d checked him out from head to toe was any indication. But she hadn’t been able to hide her shock at seeing him there. A blanch like that couldn’t be faked. Regardless of how they felt, though, they had a job to do and time was of the essence.

  As a division of the Maryland State Police, the Office of the State Fire Marshal was responsible for the criminal investigation of fire and explosive incidents throughout the state. Just over a year ago, he’d been assigned to investigate a series of pipe bombings in the city of Frederick. Delia had been the liaison between city police and his team. She’d been the one to pull the last thread that had brought it to a close. His boss was hoping for another success story, so here he was, looking for her help.

  She came out of the office a few minutes later, looking deep in thought.

  “What was that about?” he asked.

  “None of your business. Why are you here, Colin?”

  The sharpness of her voice made him set his jaw. “Weren’t you paying attention in there? We’re investigating a series of arson fires we believe are related. I reminded my boss we’d worked last year’s bombings together, and he contacted your office to see if you were available to assist with the investigation. Here I am.”

  “Right.” She pinned him with a hot glare that would’ve melted steel. “Because there are no good cops in the Maryland State Police.”

  Colin sighed. “Does everything have to be a battle with you?” The minute the combative words left his mouth, he regretted them. This was no time for personal baggage. He held up a conciliatory hand as her face flushed with anger. “Sorry. It’s been a long couple of weeks. Yes, there are plenty of good cops in the MSP, but they’re not you. Forget everything else between us for a minute. We worked well together and solved a case that had Frederick on edge for months. I’m sure you’ve seen the news, Dee. This arsonist has killed eight people in the past three weeks. We need to find him and we need to take him down.” His tone was vehement, but he didn’t have time to mince words.

  They were the right ones to catch her attention.

  She exhaled sharply and led the way into the conference room. “Fine. Let’s go talk it out.”

  She went to t
he small refrigerator in the credenza and pulled out two bottles of water, handing one to him. He reached out to take it, and his hand accidentally touched hers. She pulled back as if she’d touched a live wire.

  He knew exactly how she felt. The sizzle leaped from his fingers to his groin, and he wondered if his hair was standing on end. He sat in one of the chairs and put the bottle on the conference table in front of him, waiting for her to ask her questions.

  “So tell me about this arsonist.” She twisted the cap off the water and paced the confines of the small room.

  “Here’s what we know. He’s targeting high-value private properties. And he’s only setting fires when the homes are occupied. For each of the three fires, the homeowners had guests. All three were in different counties.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “Baltimore, Howard, Carroll.”

  “That’s it?”

  It chafed him, but the truth could be painful. “Unfortunately, yes. We don’t have a lot more than that. But we’re just putting things together now. It took the third fire to see that this might be serial arson. The fact that they were in three different jurisdictions didn’t help. Now that the OSFM is involved, we can pool the information gathered from the individual agencies investigating each fire and hopefully come up with a viable suspect.”

  She watched him thoughtfully, then took a long sip of her water. In spite of himself, his gut tightened as she licked the moisture from her lips, and he had to shift in his chair, not that it helped much. Jesus, he hoped he could keep his shit together long enough to get the job done. Their short relationship had been intense and, though it hadn’t ended well, the attraction was obviously still there. He forced his thoughts back to the briefing. “In each case, the people present at the fires were couples. Mostly married. We need to see if we can find the thread that links them all. So far, we’ve come up with a whole lot of nothing.”

  When she didn’t make a comment, just kept eyeing him blandly as though he was a bug under a fucking microscope, his temper spiked. “Look, if you don’t think you can handle working with me, fine. Just tell me now so I can find someone else who can.”